My Excuse..And Exciting News

I haven't posted in almost two weeks - and I have a good reason for it, really, I do!  I've made a commitment to myself to start working out, EVERY night, after the kids go to bed.  It's been tough because sometimes it's 9:00 by the time both kids are down for the count.  But I've been sticking with it for a week and a half now.

I've heard so much about The 30 Day Shred and decided to give it a whirl.  Each of the workouts is 20 minutes long, and even I can find the time and motivation to work out for a mere 20 minutes a day.  I've been seeing results already, so that gives me even more motivation to stick with it.  So I've decided to revise my goal of posting five times a week to my blog, down to once a week.  I guess now I'm going to have to make it count.  :-)

Now for the exciting news!  About a week ago, did you hear it when the heavens opened up and a chorus of angels sang "Hallelujah!"  No?  Maybe it was just in my head, then.  The reason - Sammy is potty-trained!!!!  He's been in his big boy underwear since last Thursday, and we've only had a couple of accidents (and only of the wet variety!) so it's official.  And on top of it all, he's woken up dry four out of the past five mornings.  I guess when he was ready, he was really ready.

We did have one small hiccup.  About three days into the training, it seems that he got afraid of doing #2 in the potty and held it in for a day and a half.  Finally, I gave him a glass of undiluted juice, which produced the desired effect in about half an hour.  He said he needed to go, and I brought him into the bathroom.  No sooner had he pulled down his pants than he changed his mind and very firmly said he didn't have to go.  Ten minutes later, he got a panic-stricken look on his face and again said he needed to go.  Once again, he changed his mind as soon as we got into the bathroom but I matter-of-factly said it looked like he needed to go.  To distract him, I started telling him one of his favorite stories - Little Red Riding Hood - while I helped him onto the potty.  The wolf hadn't even made it to grandma's door yet when the deed was done.  And it's been smooth going ever since, so to speak.

Tuesday evening, we went to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate.  The kids had a blast, as usual, but we were all cranky and overtired by the time we got home.  We have a second reward planned for Sammy, but he doesn't know about it yet.

See, lately he's been asking for a puppy.  We're not ready to take that step just yet, but we've decided to get him a hamster or a gerbil instead.  So Saturday morning, we're going to take him to pick out a small rodent of his very own.  I just hope this one isn't an escape artist, like the previous hamster I owned (whose name was Baby Houdini).  I kid you not, that hamster could escape from any cage designed by man.  That thing was lucky it lived as long as it did, since I also had two cats.  I couldn't tell you how many times I came home from work and walked in the door to see the cats intently staring at the hamster - but they never harmed it.  Sadly, Baby Houdini met his end by escaping in front of a not-so-tolerant cat, after I gave him up when I moved in with Ron.  This time, I've done my research and I think I've discovered what looks to be a hamster-proof and small-child-proof cage.  Let's hope so, anyway.