August, 2012
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Potty Trained Minion!!
This summer, was my first solo attempt at potty training. It was a process to say the least. We first had to break Kai of diapers. that took about 2 days. first day was tears, tears, and more tears. 2nd day there was some resistance but by day 3 we had him on board with pull-ups. A couple of weeks in, we’re still having an accident now and then, but it was mostly because he hadn’t quite figured out the whole “poop in the potty” thing.
About a weeks ago, I was just handing Kai a couple of pennies that were in my pocket so he could put them in his “penny bank”. Alex (older son) asked me if that was for him using the potty. As coincidentally, Kai had JUST come from the bathroom. My response was: “No, they’re not, but that’s a fantastic idea Alex! Thank you.” So, guess what we’ve implemented? Yup! A great and simple rewards system! Peeing on the Toilet = $.01 (penny) and Pooping on the toilet = $.25 (quarter).
Now, that had been working for a good while. less prompting. He’s been dry overnight & nap times for quite a while. As of tomorrow, he’ll have been wearing “big boy” underwear for a week.
Celebrations!! No more Pull-ups, no more wipes! He’s 3.5 years old. A little longer than I’d wanted..but you know what. When the child is fully and completely ready to use the toilet. there will be no overnight accidents, no relapses, and no reminders every 30 -60 mins of using the toilet. All 4 of my kids were fully potty trained by the age of 3 1/2.
So, if you want advice or incentives for training your little minion. Loose change and Pull-ups worked wonders here. Also? a willing child and a pretty ‘steady’ schedule. Obviously patience, and not scolding for accidents are main points too. You can express your upset to your minion. “It makes me really sad when you don’t use the potty.”
I”m not an expert. SO not claiming to be one, but I’m offering up what worked for me. Obviously pennies & quarters, lots of praise and “high 5′s” when he did it right. And just words of ”dislike” when not. I’m not perfect. I didn’t always follow my own ‘rules’ there were days that i was also having a bad day, and Kai got more than some ‘sad’ words from me…as changing a very dirty explosive pull-up when i knew he could use the toilet well.. yeah. he got yelled at. I’m only human.
I do hope that you’ll be able to take something away from my potty training adventures. It took me 3 months.
Now, I wonder- what do I do with all the baby wipes we just made? LMAO!
To Do List: Be awesome like Mom!
To The Stars I Reach
Occasionally I’ll be hit with inspiration of word. Today was one such day. So for a change of pace, I’ll share with you what I wrote, on a whim.
To The Stars I Reach
To the stars I reach
with hope unbound
To the Stars I Reach
my feet off the ground
I can’t look back
not just yet
lest fear grab hold
To the stars I reach
as dreams unfold
To the stars I reach
for life’s destination is
still untold.
Have a Blessed Day!
~Gypsie
From the Kitchen of Gypsie
Sausage & Summer Squash recipe
1/3 – 1/2 cup bottled Italian dressing
2 cloves garlic minced
12 oz polish sausage halved length wise then diagonally cut
3 small yellow summer squash or zucchini (I used both ;D)
4 wedges of Italian flatbread [such as Boboli] (I just used a whole loaf italian bread and sliced it in half)
2 green onions sliced (1/4 cup)
1/4 c. coarsely shredded Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat broiler (I used the oven @350) In a small bowl combine salad dressing and garlic. In an extra-large skillet, heat 2 tbsp of the salad dressing mixture over medium heat. add sausage and squash. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until sausage is heated through and the squash is almost tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile,place bread pieces on broiler pan; brush with 1 tbsp of the salad dressing mixture. broil 3-4 inches (or bake about 20 mins) for 1-2 minutes or until lightly toasted.
3. Drizzle the remaining salad dressing mixture over sausage and squash. Serve with toasted bread. Garnish with Green onions & parmesan cheese.
Makes 4 servings.
*note* if you have to double this, you’ll not have to double the dressing – found this out when I made it
Each serving: 412 cals, 31g fat (10g sat. fat), 62 mg chol., 1182mg sodium, 19g carb, 1g fiber, 15g protein.
(you may be able to reduce the sodium by looking at Italian dressing labels and not using much cheese. also by possibly finding a lower sodium kilbasa/polish sausage)
enjoy! it was a super big hit here 
Please share around I’ll love you forever if you do!
Healthier Me now with more Pics :D
Here it is.. the down side to putting it out there for the world to see- this week’s stats aren’t that great. I’m not making excuses, however, I’m about a week out from my period. I’m seriously retaining water everywhere. I’ve also been tracking my food, and low and behold, I’m actually not getting anywhere near enough calories in -an average day? 800-1000 cals. yep.. WAY TOO LOW! But I’m rarely hungry.. so, now I need to figure how to get proper calorie rich foods into my system. I don’t mean a bag of chips and a can of soda. I’d be swollen 3x my size lol!
SO, for anyone following my journey, here are my stats this week.
- Weight ~ 201
- Waist ~ 39.25 in
- Hips ~ 50.25 in
- Thigh ~ 26.5 in
- Neck ~ 14.5 in
and so you don’t have to look to last week’s post~
As of Today July 27, 2012 my Stats are:
- Weight: 200
- waist: 39 (difference of 3)
- hips: 48.75 (difference of 3.25)
- thigh: 26 (difference of 2)
- neck: 14.5 (difference of .75)
- total to date: 9 inches & 10 pounds gone!
You can do the math. I’m just a little more than perturbed about this. EVERYTHING but my neck has gone up, by a half-inch or a pound. I’m seriously pissed off at myself. Enough so that i just want to give up. That’s how I’m feeling. OH! Also? when using the Wii Fit scale – add 10 pounds on to my weight. It makes me think my scale here at home is severely wrong. Mostly, because it’s closer to the scale weight at the doctor’s office. I wasn’t happy with my weigh in there 2 months ago either- 217. Lucky me, I’m broke so I can’t go grocery shopping. So, it looks like cereal and Luna bars.
So, on that note, I’ll share with you, the small changes in my face over the last month.
very subtle differences. mostly more definition in my cheek bones.
Feel free to share & comment! I love to hear from you! 
Lughnasadh & Corn Moon Blessings
To all my friends and family in the northern hemisphere, I wish you plentiful blessings on this first harvest and first full moon of August.
Lughnasadh Blessings )O(
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/lammas/a/AllAboutLammas.htm
To all my friends and family in the southern hemisphere blessings on the coming of spring and rebirth!
Imbolc Blessings )O(
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/imbolcfebruary2/a/AllAbout_Imbolc.htm
D5 Creation