"Because I Learned it From God"

Whew!! We've had a busy few weeks. I can't believe it's been over a month since I've posted on this blog.

I've switched gears at work from real estate law to tax law and I've been working extra days to get as many tax returns out by the deadline as possible. Some returns can take two to three days to complete!! My head is spinning with numbers right now!

On top of that last week was the busiest week of my life! Not only did I work two extra days, but my older sister had her baby, my newest nephew, on my birthday!!! Yesterday we picked up her two year, brought him to our house and had a fun day raking leaves and then re-raking leaves after Daniel and Eli jumped into them repeatedly!! Then last night we headed to her house armed with dinner, and celebrated 5 birthdays!!!!! Those five inlcude mine and Jacob's (new baby), brother in law Brett, sister who gave birth Cathy, and my mom - all five within exactly 7 days of each other! It was crazy, but we had a great time pampering Cathy and holding the baby!!

Today, I am actually thankful it's pouring outside, just so I can take it easy on the couch. Daniel is watching hunting and fishing curled up in Troy's lap.

Now that I've bored you with our busy life, I have some great news to share about Daniel! I know I've posted about potty training several times, and that I think he's trained. Each time I've posted, with a few days, he's gone backwards. I've been at my wits end many, many times. Daniel is 4 and 3/4 and starts kindergarten in the fall. I've spent a lot of time working with him, making the bathroom fun, being discouraged, sad, mad, understanding, proud, disappointed, frustrated, cheering, dancing, crying. We had even put him back in pull-ups for a while. We've been training since right before he turned 3.

If your new to this blog, Daniel has a medical condition, but thankfully we are coming to the end of it we hope. Time will do the rest. His medical condition has made potty training extremely difficult. In fact, I was told more than once he would need a permanent cathedar. I'm glad I was told that because it made me even more determined to potty train him.

I'd been spending a lot of time praying about potty training in particular this past month. Each night before bad, i found myself praying the God would intervene and help my child understand his bladder.

Then I gave up...not praying, but potty training. I just let Daniel know that I would remind him to go potty, but it was his choice to go potty or not. If he chose not to go, that was fine. If he wet, he was responsible for changing himself and he couldn't come out of his room or the bathroom until he had on clean clothes. Everything he needed was at his diposal.

I noticed within a few days he was changing himself without me saying a word. He was still having accidents, but he was noticing and changing himself. Progress. Then he started going everytime I reminded him. Our "Yes Ma'am" strategy helped with this. Then I realized a week had passed and he had not wet at all.

Then two nights ago, I undressed Daniel for his bath and his pants were totally dry yet again! I hugged him, told him how proud I was and said "Where did you learn to keep your pants so dry?"

Daniel looked straight at me and said "Because I learned it from God".

Well, I sure can't argue with that. I've been thanking God ever since. Daniel has been dry for a little more than a week now, including leakage. I expect a few leaks given his medical condition, but I am such a proud mommy. We go back to the urologist in April for a large test, but it's hopefully the last one. I can't wait to tell them they can cross the permanent cathedar right off their charts, because I believe that with God's help, we have kicked this problem right out of the ball park!!

So, now that I've gone on and on...here's some great pictures from our week!!