Anyone need some moolah?

Well Christmas is over and I'm already starting to think about next year.  I spent way too much 'last minute' money on gifts.

Next year I'm going to plan ahead better and have more 'free' money to spend.  How you ask?

Mystery Shopping!

Bestmark is a company that I am very active in and participate at least once or twice a month (But I'm going to increase my number of activities per month to tuck away some more money).  If you have any questions please comment below and I will try my hardest to answer them for you.

Right now they have lots of active recruiting areas - DuBois, Somerset, St. Marys, Altoona, Mechanicsburg - PA; Youngstown, Warren, Akron - OH; Depew, Buffalo, Orchard Park - NY; and Warrenton - VA to name just a few.

Plus - if you have or have access to (you don't have to personally own it) a Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, or GMC you can become eligible for FREE auto services PLUS bonus cash payments upwards to a $100!  My mom has personally done this shop and was very pleased with how easy it was and how much money she was paid to do it.

All you do to sign up is go here - and put my shopper ID - PA7978 in the application as the person who referred you.  If after you sign up and you select a shop please comment below and I'll email you to help you through your first one.  Once you submit everything they will send you a check for your payment (no worrying about amazon gift cards or paypal credits).

I really highly recommend this program :) You'll be pleasantly surprised how quickly the money adds up.

I did it again....

yep. I did it again.

she chomped down on me and I yelled.  ugh... it just hurts so bad and it's so sudden... it's just instinct and reaction. boo. boo. boo.

why can't she just give me a slight warning... a little pressure before she chomps down so I can be prepared and react better. 

so we are now on our 2nd nursing strike.... and she's sick.....and she's tired.... and I'm tired.... and I'm stressed (Christmas is like 5 days away and I am no where close to being ready!)... this is not a good combination at all. 

sigh.  maybe we'll get through it.  maybe we won't.  maybe this will be the end of our nursing relationship.  maybe it won't.  i really don't know.... all i know is right now i could use a good cry, a soak in a big tub, a nice long nap, and three children who were behaving.  but knowing that's not going to happen... i'm off to make use of the 30 minutes of rest time for my oldest, pop open a can of pepsi, find some hidden Christmas cookies and retreat into a good book for about 10 minutes.....  and then figure out what the heck i'm going to do next. 

Some of my favs

So as a blogger you never know who you're helping or annoying by posting links... but just in the past few days I've had a couple friends let me know that they have appreciated some of the links I have been posting lately.  And well that made me warm inside! So here I am sharing with you my favorite articles from the past month or so.  They may not pertain to me directly (no newborn here) but they sure are full of valuable information to tuck away for future use!

Hugs to all of you and I hope you are all enjoying a peaceful holiday season (I on the other hand haven't wrapped one gift yet - eek!)

The Root of Yelling - Sadly having #3 has brought out the worst in me at times :(

Where's the Baby, Ma'am - hilarious post about trying to share unwanted formula!

Breastfeeding a new baby - this letter from a newborn to it's mommy may just make you cry (I did!)

Finding Joy: dear mom who likes everything perfect - This is just a plain awesome post. period.

Avoiding early holiday weaning - I am just thankful some friends found this helpful.

*to anyone who would like to read all the dear mom letters - here's a link to her site. 

Hey Ma! Look at me!

So I will be honest...I have been so busy this past week with...POTTY TRAINING...that I didn't have a chance to start my reviews on the trainers yet!  So while Miss A is at school this morning and Baby J is napping, I decided to fill you in on the HUGE progress we have made this week with my stubborn little potty learner!

Last Tuesday we FINALLY had our first potty hit...Miss A's very first pee in the potty!!  At 3 1/2, it was bound to happen soon!  And mama was *so proud* and just made the biggest deal about it so that Miss A would get the idea that this is a good thing!!!  We did more potty sitting Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday but with school and other things going on, we didn't have a hit.  She seemed to be waiting and specifically going in her trainer.  Even when I kept her naked, she would hold it and then go in her trainer at nap time.  So I knew that naked time would work!!  DH and I decided that we were going to get all of our errands done on Friday so that we could be home all weekend and let Miss A run naked with two parents to watch her and care for Baby J!

So Saturday morning arrived.  DH and I were both nervous and dreading the fight that was to come.  As soon as she got up, we stripped her and had the potty talk once more!  She got up around 9...it took her until 2:00 to finally pee on the potty!!!  This girl can HOLD IT!  She had 3 sippy cups of milk in her and two meals!  And FINALLY she peed on the potty!  DH and I had promised a trip to Chuck E Cheese when she peed on the potty (my least favorite place especially on a Saturday) so we packed the kids up and headed to  CEC!  While there, I needed to use the restroom and for the first time ever, I asked if she wanted to come and she said YES!  So we marched to the bathroom and she sat on the potty.  After a few minutes she said "all done potty" but she hadn't peed.  So I asked her if she needed to pee and she said "no."  Oh well, I still chalk that up to a success because she is becoming aware!

Sunday we again got her up and stripped her immediately!  It took her until 1:00.  LOL!  This kid is so stubborn!!!  But this is still HUGE progress!

Monday was by far the biggest surprise!  I was nervous to be alone with a potty training naked toddler and a 6 month old...but this was a good thing!  Miss A has reached the point with potty training that she can run around and play and then run to the potty when she needs to go!  TWICE on Monday she peed on the potty!!!!  And neither time did I or DH say or do anything.  She was playing and then ran for the potty and peed!!!  Mama is SOOOO proud!!!  Naked time WORKS!

Yesterday (Tuesday) we had a small set back but also a HUGE success!  Yesterday our internet was out and I had to call the cable man to come out and look at it.  While we were waiting for him to come...Miss A pooped on the potty for the first time!!!  We had been trying all weekend to get her to poop on the potty but she would hold it and go in her trainer at nap time. :(  But yesterday we finally got a poop!  YAY!!!  Then when the cable man pulled up to our house I had to throw a trainer and pants on Miss A...can't have a naked kid running around with a strange man...the cable guy was at our house for an hour and a half and Miss A peed in her trainer.  Boo.  Such a high and low day.

Today Miss A is at school.  Her teachers are *wonderful* and when I explained to them this morning that she was doing so well they were SO excited and agree to ask her later if she needs to use the potty!  I guarantee that she will say no...but they agreed to plant that little seed in her brain! ;)  She tends to hold her pee while at school so maybe she will pee when she gets home!!!  *fingers crossed!*

So naked time is going WONDERFULLY!!!  For those of you dealing with difficult and stubborn potty learners...I highly recommend naked time!  Hopefully your child won't hold it to the point of explosion like mine!!!  I just don't know how we are going to transition back into pants!!! LOL!  She does amazingly well when she is naked!  But ANY time she is in pants of any kind...pull-up (for school), cloth trainer, big girl underwear, etc she just pees.  Not sure how to get her to stop doing that.  We are still early in the potty learning process, so I'm hoping it just *clicks* and she is good to go! :)

One other tip to share...Potty Presents!!!  We first got Miss A to pee on the potty promising Chuck E Cheese!  Obviously the prizes needed to come down in cost! LOL!  So we have a bin filled with toys and treats from the dollar store!!!  She loves to pick out the next prize, we sit it on the entertainment center, and then when she pees she finally gets to have it!  Then she picks out the next one and we have to work toward that prize!  I was just going to keep the bin of prizes handy and let her pick when she goes, but she likes to know what she is getting next!  Hey, whatever works!!!

Next week I hope to start getting the reviews up for the cloth trainers.  That is my plan.  But I may wait and see how Miss A does with the potty.  She definitely has some that she prefers and some that she doesn't love.  I am going to rate them based on absorbency, fit, how mom likes them, how toddler likes them, if they are good for night time, washing, and cost.  Is there anything else you want to know about the trainers?

Stay tuned for our continuing adventure in Potty Training!!

Nursing Status

I've been hitting the blog pretty heavy lately with all my Christmas deals and ways to save or make money - thought I would go a different route this morning.  (But if you're interested in those - click on my label Jess B below and all my past posts will show up!).

Thought I'd give you a nursing update... my little girl is now 1 yr, 1 month, and 1 week. :) It's gone by so fast and she seems to be accomplishing things much faster then my other two.  Except talking - she feels no need and that grunts or screams get her exactly what she needs - which they do because my older two completely dote on her. Eh... it will come eventually.  So yes I am *that* person who is now nursing a toddler! GASP

I worked full-time up until I was 5 months pregnant with our third so day weaning really wasn't an issue with my first two children.  But at 11 months we were still nursing every 3 hours (except night time) with miss N. I had no idea how I was going to start spreading those out (and honestly I wasn't sure I wanted to).  I love to nurse my babies.  While I enjoy being pregnant the thing I really look forward to is nursing - the way God created our bodies to nourish our own offspring just blows my mind. 

But slowly and surely we started to spread them out - this is how my day looks now:

Either middle of the night or early morning session (between 3am-6am)
After she gets up for the morning she's more interested in eating table food so her next nursing session is about mid-morning (when I'm trying to start school of course!)
Then she eats lunch and will nurse right before she goes down for her nap.
After her nap she may want a quick snack and then eats dinner with us.
Then it's the bedtime feeding. 

The thing is these nursing sessions are only about 10 minutes long each time.... short and too the point.  I'm torn about that.... I love to nurse and I think she's going to be a self-weaner early.  I nursed Miss L until 14 months, and Mr J until almost 16 months - but only first thing in the morning and bedtime.

Who knows... she might become interested again or we'll just slow and steady drift off I'm not sure.  There are times where she knows what she wants and will get it one way or another.... by climbing up under my shirt. ha! I love my little munchkin!  This hasn't been an easy journey with her - we've had some bumps along the way (remember the nursing strike?).  But I'm sad to say I think we're on the tail end of this journey and I'm not sure I'm ready to end it :(

Is that crazy?

Ode to a Potty

Most of you know about our on-going quest for potty training with Miss A.  It has been (and still is) quite the ride!!!  She has been completely anti-potty and still is!  But mama knows that at 3 1/2 she needs to be thinking about it!  She will be headed off to Pre-K next year and HAS to be potty trained or no school!  We were quite lucky to find a Preschool that would take her not fully potty trained.  Since it is only 2 mornings a week it is not that big of a problem!  Most days she comes home and her trainer is completely dry!  She can definitely hold it and is in control of her bladder and bowel!  But trying to get this chick to go on the potty is like trying to climb Mount Everest using only your teeth...it's impossible!!!

Yesterday, we had a break through...or at least I hope we did!  Miss A peed on the potty for the VERY FIRST TIME!!!

Yesterday was day two of the potty sit.  I started making her sit until she pees.  Monday it didn't work because after 2 1/2 hours of potty sitting, Baby J needed me and I had to put Miss A in a trainer.  Within a minute of being back in training pants...she peed!  I was upset but this proved that she was just holding it to go in her pants. :(  So I decided that yesterday she was going to sit there until she peed.  So after 3 hours of sitting and 2 sippy cups of milk...SHE PEED!!!  We had the biggest, loudest, wildest party!!!  We danced, we sang, we yelled, we clapped, she got candy, a sticker on her potty chart, and Daddy came home for lunch with a big cookie for her!

So we partied and made a big deal hoping to put that imprint in her head that she is to pee on the potty!

And then we had a small set back.  After she peed in the potty and we danced and partied...she asked for underpants.  I was getting ready to make lunch anyway and the little chick hates being naked, so I put a Blueberry trainer on her and went to make lunch.

A few minutes later she came to me grabbing her crotch.  She had SOAKED her trainer. :(  Apparently she had not fully emptied her bladder and had finished the job in her underpants.

I was bummed.  I went from excitement and the beaming mother to bummed in no time!  I knew that she wouldn't potty train at the snap of my fingers but DANG that was a blow!

Today she has school, so today is a set back in and of its own because we are not potty sitting.  Tomorrow we will potty sit again and see if she will pee sooner on her own.  Because there was some pee in the potty and then she emptied in her underpants, I am not sure if she was in control of the pee in the potty or if she just could not hold it anymore and some came out.  What do you think?  Has this happened to you while training?

But now that she has gone in the potty once and we made a big deal about it, I am hoping that the concept is in her brain and she will catch on!  If for no other reason than the candy and the party!!! :)

Do you have any ideas or tips for the stubborn potty learner?  I am open to anything!  I think I have tried everything...LOL!!!

Or if you have a child with a speech or developmental delay, how did you overcome potty training?  I still wonder if the speech delay might be part of our problem, but I have found that she uses this as a crutch at times.  She is smarter than we sometimes give her credit! LOL!!!  For more on her speech delay, go here.

Are you currently potty training?  How's it going?

And if you have used or are using cloth trainers, what have you used?  What have you liked/disliked?  For more on what brand I will be reviewing, go here.  If there is a brand that you are interested in seeing a review for, please leave a comment below!

***The Minnie Mouse Potty in the picture above is the same one that Miss A uses.  It is much easier to have this in the living room than trying to potty sit in the Bathroom for hours and hours.  Cute potty is a MUST for the stubborn potty trainer!***