5 Stages of a Toddler Poop - Not a gross post I promise

You know the 5 stages of grief? Well they can very easily be applied to a toddler being forced to stay in the bathroom to poop. Example: When we know David needs to go and he is not cooperating to do it on his own, we gate him in the bathroom. It's a pitiful sight and he does his best to pull at heart strings but mostly Tyler and I just laugh. Anyway, tonight I noticed in about 45 minutes time David goes through stages in this process that can be compared to the stages of grief. And NO KIDDING, it happened tonight in this order......

• Denial

"I don't need to poop! Please, I don't have to! It's not coming! Mommy I don't feel a poop coming!"

• Anger

"AHHHHHH LEMME OUT! LEMME OUT OF HERE! YOU'RE A BAD MOMMY! BAD DADDY! AHAHGHEHRHFDASDHFHAHHHHHH!" ( accompanied by banging and kicking of the gate)

• Bargaining

"Mommy, pleeeeeeeease let me out. I will poop later. I will go to bed. Please mommy. I will try tomorrow."

• Depression

(loud sobbing and crying)

• Acceptance

This would be the part that I would say he finally sat on the potty and tried but he is 3 and doesn't follow all the rules of psychology. He just continued to cry and I felt he had been in there long enough so we put him to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be more successful.

35 weeks

35 weeks now and my doctor said he wouldn't stop my labor at 36 weeks and on. After having crazy contractions Sunday night everything has been quiet in my body. I'm scared I'm in the eye of the storm and the tumult will start again soon. I think that 37 weeks is a better number. So in the mean time I am going to lay low but at 37 I'm going to start walking a lot and doing what I can to get things going naturally. I at the point where I DO NOT want to be pregnant anymore. I want my body back. I love this little guy but Mommy is ready to be able to move, breathe, eat and sleep normally again.

Will Jeremy Look Like David? Comment with vote

Here are some David reruns if you wanna check him out. Looking at all these pictures totally made me cry.

1st day home

David and Cousin Kenadee He loves Daddy slippery tub first solid food The only time he kept a hat on uh oh, look he can crawl first airplane ride, trip to Utah uh oh, he can pull up on furniture wow! first steps! my cute muffin, almost 1 year old

Compare......not cool

Man I miss my body.

End of Day 2, no more pull-ups

Beginning Saturday morning we completely stopped putting David in a pull-up (except at night). We were just using them as diapers and it was confusing David. I have gotten to the point where I just can't take it anymore. Sorry to all of you that think this is gross. This is the most stressful and action packed thing going on in my life so it gets to be on the blog. Usually its a battle to get David to sit on the potty, but tonight was the first time he sat there and we let him play with toys. He spent a good 15min being a good boy. So as embarrassing as it will be to him in the future I had to get some pictures of this momentous occasion.

Something You Should Never Tell a Pregnant Woman

(SPECIAL NOTE: I really appreciate Tina's help today. She taught me how to use the seat belt on the new booster seat so David can't move the strap around at all and made sure the new baby's seat was in properly. It was not her fault this pregnant lady had a cow. )

David is getting bigger and I have been wondering what to do about a new car seat. Lauren works at the Apache Junction Fire Department and they have a car seat specialist that could answer my questions. I thought it would be fun to go down there and let David see the fire trucks and get some info.

We had a great time and even though David was so scared the trucks were going to turn on I think he had a good time too. Tina checked out what David looked like in his car seat and basically told me he was too big for it and I needed to get a booster with a back on it. I said I would get one on Friday and she told me I should go as soon as possible. Well isn't Friday soon? Then again before we left she pressed me to get one pronto. We took Lauren to lunch and I didn't think much about it there. On the way home I thought more and more like my son was not safe in his seat, and that if we were in an accident Tina basically told me he would be hurt. That turned into me being an irresponsible mother, and how could I let him go so long in a seat that was too small? (I am just stating what I was thinking, not whether or not it was rational).

So began my gradual climb of panic. I got to Lawanna's so I could use the computer and transfer money into my spending account. (I have a special debit card that we use for all non-bill purchases. Its just how we do it). The website wasn't working, I had David waiting in the car, and Tyler wouldn't answer his phone and I wanted him to see if he could do the transfer from work. I got more and more frantic. I know Lawanna could tell I was tense and she tired to calm me down by saying she didn't see why waiting till Friday would be a bad thing. Unluckily I was too far gone at that point to hear reason.

The website finally worked and I rushed down to the car to go to Walmart. At this point my pregnant energy level was at 0% and I was worried about how I would get David out of the car, into a cart, and all over the store, then back to the car. I had NOTHING left in me but I HAD to get this seat or David was going to die. David fights me getting out of the car. I finally get inside and waddle ALL THE WAY to the back where the car seats are. The one I want is not there!!!! I don't want to spend $60 when the $30 is the same!

At this point the panic in my head and heart was not for David's life but wondering how I was going to get out of the store and David back in the car AND out of the car again and into ANOTHER store. I sat down on the ground in Walmart and almost started to cry. I was not going to be able to get up for a long time let alone get to another store. Right then Tyler called and blessed be the name of my husband he convinced me that the seat could wait till he got home and that we could go together and almost convinced me that Friday would be fine too. He got me to agree to get David back in the car and just go home. I can do that right? Just get home and then it can be over and I can relax. Okay, I can do it.

Just as I was about to hang up I looked over at David in the cart and his shorts and legs where dripping and there was a puddle on the floor beneath him.........

More calming words had to come from Tyler and I stood up and waddled myself and David out of Walmart. When I got to the parking lot and started to strip David down that's when I started to cry. I had to bend over trying to get his pants off and new ones on and then he got 2 legs stuck in one leg hole on the shorts. From the bending over pain and uncomfortable-ness I lost it, frustrated that I couldn't get his pants on right and I had to keep bending. I sat down on the asphalt and sobbed. Got back in the car, back home, and David in his room with a movie. Now I need to go lay down until I can calm myself. I'm all worked up in hyper-crazy mode.

Arizona Railway Museum

David loves trains so I went looking on the internet to see if there was an actual working train yard in Phoenix somewhere thinking we could just sit in the car and watch the trains drive. It doesn't seem to exist and if it does it is not for the public. I ended up finding the Arizona Railway Museum website. It is just an old train yard that is totally run by volunteers and donations. The city of Chandler gave them the land just off the main line of track for the purpose. It cost a $5 donation for all of us and there are tons of trains of all different makes and models. There is one really old engine that David called The Polar Express Train. Some of the railway cars are totally open and you can walk through them all. We had tons of fun. Here are some pictures.

David chillin' on the track

Mommy resting

David meeting The Polar Express train

Inside a caboose

Outside the caboose

Look how big the wheels are!

Inside a passenger car

In front of The Polar Express Train

Baby-Sitting at Kim's

Rylee (to me) - "Mommy..."

David- "Hey! YOU call her ANGIE, that's MY mommy."

Finally a Pregnant Picture...

Ok, I have been dreading putting a picture of me up of the blog for the whole world to see because I didn't want to just look like a fat lady that says she's pregnant. So, I am finally pregnant enough that I look it. So here is me at 30 weeks. Little Jeremy moves A LOT and is starting to shove my ribs out of his way. I feel good though and am happy. I am also sporting a new haircut. I got back from the grocery store tonight and I must have been craving it because I bought a lot of fruit. Well, my fruit drawer in the fridge has been so dirty and I just keep all the fruit in the bags in the drawer. Something leaked in there a million years ago... I don't really know. I'm embarrassed to say I was ignoring it because I didn't want to get down there and clean it. Well tonight with all my lovely fruit I just couldn't stand putting it in the drawer. So I pulled the drawer out to clean it and......OH MY GOSH.....it was way worse underneath. I had to give in to what was needed and I yanked all the shelves out and got to washing. All expired food when bye bye and everything got a good Clorox wash. Now look how beautiful! And I couldn't believe how much room is in there without all the old food. Yay me!

The rest are just some cute pictures of David. He is in underwear here and climbed into my clean laundry basket for a pretend nap.

Here is David's special friend/baby that he takes care of and loves and snuggles and does just about everything with. "Puppy" wanted to get his picture taken.

Here is my sweetness being his cute self.

Musings on the 3rd Trimester- Officially 7 Months Today

• I can no longer sit with my back and lap at a 90 degree angle
• Winding up the vacuum cord is the WORST chore
• I go pee, but when I stand up my bladder feels full again
• Bending over to pick something up precedes 5 mins of heavy breathing
• I am never sure what meal will stick, or which meal will be rejected
• Sleep is never sound with the constant bathroom trips through the night
• I need new garments, because underwear can only stretch so far
• Customers give me dirty looks at work because they think I'm 16
• I cannot go 2 mins without burping
• Light exercise is good while pregnant, but where to women get the energy?

March of Dimes Dairy Queen Night

Most of you that read this blog will get an email invitation and probably a phone call inviting you to this but here it is to read first. My work, Dairy Queen is hosting a MOD Team Tera night for my family MOD fundraising. From 4pm-10pm 15% of sales will be donated to MOD. So come one come all for a burger and some ice cream. You will getting food and donating! Its going to be Monday March 29th and the restaurant is located at Higley and Baseline right by the Gateway Hospital. Put it on your calendar. And like I said, I will remind you all PLENTY of times. :-) We got involved after my niece, Tera passed and attached below is a little of her story.

Our niece Tera was born 5 weeks early with complex congenital hear defects. Her prognosis was guarded but optimistic and positive. Doctors told her parents that her medical condition could cause death, but for 13 days, they focused on loving her and bringing her home. She successfully went through open heart surgery, but passed away on September 12th, 2001.

Along with Tera's parents and siblings, we have walked as a four state "Team Tera" in her honor for the last 8 years, raising over $21,000. It is a cherished family tradition. We appreciate your support as we try to do our small part to help other babies and families who endure the effects of prematurity, congenital birth defects, and infant death.

The mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

Potty Time! < Gross Disclaimer

I caught David in mid-act and ran him to the toilet. He held on tight but he let some slip and we finally got a poop out of David!!!! On the Potty!!! Oh Hallelujah I thought it would never happen.