Potty Training: the flesh is willing, but the spirit is weak

I want to say right up front that this blog is rated PG. My mom taught me better than to talk about such things, but that was a generation ago and so I will blog it.

So we have been potty training for about 3 weeks now, and I can't say things are like I expected. West was showing signs of interest and readiness for over a month before I started so I thought it would be easy. HA!

West will go potty on the toilet. He will hold it and wait to go on the potty. However, he does not and will not tell me when he has to go. So every hour I'm pushing him to go to avoid accidents.

Well this has been irritating him lately so as I walk him to the bathroom he yells "I don't want to go potty!" This has happened several days now.

So yesterday, I was struggling to get him to sit on the potty and he was yelling, so to diffuse the situation I said "I'm going to ask your peepee if it wants to go potty. It always needs to go even though your mouth says no" (I know. Rather crude but affective)

This caught his attention, so he finally concentrated a bit and went. As he was going he looked up and said "My peepee obeyed you."

Then we were off to get his gummi bear -- he always gets a gummi bear after a successful bathroom trip. As I was handing him the candy I said, " Your mouth says no, but your peepee says yes"

He smiled at me and said "My mouth gets the candy!" UUUGGGHHH!

Now tell me experienced mothers, what am I suppose to do with that!

On a side note, for those Austinites out there, West pushed a button today so the rain will stop. We'll see how well his button still works!

The Kiddie Park

A couple weeks ago, we went to Oklahoma to see my brother and my parents. Brady is my brother's son, and West and he get along very well. They had a great time at the Kiddie Park together.

West is so much fun to take to places like this: He's ready to try anything.

This is what happens when you have had dozens of pictures taken of you at Grandma's house, and you've been staying up too late: The "cheese" in your smile gets a little stale.This may be the last photo taken of Daddy on a carousel. It made him quesy. Pretty sad - even worse, last time Matt swung on a swing, he had to lay down to make his head stop spinning! Guess I'll be on the rides with West from now on!
The final ride was in Uncle David's convertible, nicknamed by West as "the race car" or "bertble". My parents live on a small country road, so it was like the little people had their own parade going up and down the street.

The First, and Hopefully Last,Confessional Blog

From the very start of our adoption process in May 2004, we have been asked countless times "why Russia?" Most expect our answer to be b/c we have roots there perhaps, or knew a missionary there, or b/c Matt picked up Russian after working at the CIA, etc. Something concrete like that. No. It's always been b/c God said there were children in Russia for us.

And now 3 years later with the most unbelievable delays and more waiting than we knew possible, the same people and many more are asking us "Why Russia?" with a different tone in their voice now. . . . something more like "why in the world would you go to Russia again?" And frankly, we too have asked ourselves this question.

Ya know, the answer is still the same "because the Lord said we should go to Russia."

I must say, that this is actually a renewed revelation to me. As you can imagine after starting over waiting for our 2nd child for almost 18 months, I have asked many times "why Russia?" Maybe we should try another country? Maybe Ethiopia? Maybe we should try domestic? Maybe we should try foster care? Maybe switch agencies? The frustration in all of these questions is that I don't feel moved by any of them. Not truly moved.

So I share this with Matt on Monday. These questions have been running through my head since January, keeping me up at nights. As he watched the baseball game, and listened to me pour out my frustrations, he said, quite simply, "Maybe since you do not feel passionately about the other options, we are exactly where we need to be --- waiting for Russia"

AH HA! what insight! what revelation! I do believe, and have great peace, that he is right.

This part of me that wanted to ask these questions, and find another adoption path, is the part of me that wants to control. The part of me that wants to take the reins and make this happen. The part of me that will really screw up everything the Lord has planned to bless us with, if I listen to it. It is that part that would say "look what I have done! I planned this, and surely have I done it!" It is the part of me that would glorify myself, instead of glorifying the Lord.

And once again, the lesson I continue to learn over and over and over and over with this entire adoption process is this:
It is not about me. It is all about HIM!

Now those last lines would be worth tattooing!

One last thing: If you are up for it, there is a great sermon out there by John Piper that I just listened to today. Easiest way to find it is to do a yahoo search for "When God Says 'Not Now'". Should be the first to pop up.

Good stuff. Really good stuff.

What Happens When You Push the Button

Matt and I don't know how West learned this, but he has found that when you push the pretend button, anything can happen. What button you ask? We don't know either, but West seems to always have it nearby when it is most needed. For example:

When a scary "Mommy monster" was coming to get West, he said, while pushing a pretend button in the air, "I push d'button. You're nice again!"

When I stood in front of the closet declaring that my shoes were lost, West said "I push d'button. Here's your shoes, Mommy" as he handed me a pair of pretend shoes.

When the "alligators" that often swarm around our couch and are particularly fierce when Daddy is home in the evening, began to close in on West, he declared "I push d'button. The alligators went down the drain!"

And finally, when West needed a sugar-fix, he said "I push d'button. Here's my lollipop!"

A very, very useful button our son has acquired!