No turning back, Part II

Typically, when Morgan is out of town, I have a hard time sleeping. Last night was no different. I barely got 5 hours of sleep, at best. I thought that I would be completely useless today but perseverance and stamina made it's glorious appearance later in the day.

Here are some highlights...

*Other than our make-up swim lesson at 11:00 this morning and a quick trip to Wal-Mart afterwards, the girls were in their panties all day.

*Grace only had 2 accidents and Faith had none- All day!

*Grace woke up from her nap with a completely dry diaper.

*I only used 3 diapers for each of them today. That includes the one they are sleeping in right now!

* No rewards or treats were needed today.

*I kept track of how many times they went pee and it seemed to be fewer than any day this week. Perhaps they are learning to hold it better?

*I have developed a whole new respect and appreciation for diapers and wipees. God bless those women who had to use cloth diapers!

*I started this morning with some much needed prayer. More so than a typical day, I needed to submit this day to the Lord and say, "Here, you take over." Although there were little glimpses of "not so patient" me throughout the day, I was often humbled by the Lord's gentle grace and tenderness. Thank you, Lord!

*Yet again, at the end of the day, I am reminded that I must not turn back. There is obvious and great improvement each day.

*Like it or not, this self- professing, clean and control freak is learning her share of lessons along the way.

*I can't wait for Morgan to get home tonight so that he can share in our adventures the rest of the week!

* I am so proud of my girls!

No turning back

Grace gets a little help from her sissy.

She needs some help getting her panties over her little bum.

OK, so based on how fast the girls have learned to swim, I decided that it was time to initiate some serious potty training. On Monday, I started by putting the girls in their Princess panties from 3:30-5:30 p.m., right after they got up from their nap. I gave them lots of water during that time and although I can't remember the exactly number, they had quite a few accidents. On Tuesday, I did the same thing but this time, they stayed in their panties for 4 whole hours! They made it through dinner and all the way to bath time. They each had a couple of accidents early on but considering the amount of times they went on the potty (10-12x's/each), it was a huge improvement from the day before. Morgan had to work late last night so he didn't get home til about 7:00. Lucky him, he missed all the excitement. Once we bathed the girls and put them to bed, I was completely exhausted. I probably looked like I had been through boot camp. I know that's what I felt like. I had spent an entire afternoon cleaning and wiping two little bottoms. Not to mention cleaning floors, potty seats, doing laundry, coloring, drawing pictures, playing ring around the rosie, losing and finding my patience, and making dinner. It was everything I do on a daily basis but it was packed into a non-stop block of time! While telling Morgan all about our afternoon, I found myself coming to a decision. I couldn't turn back. To turn back now would be to regress. It would probably even send mixed signals. Even in my dog-tired state last night, I decided that I must forge on.

I'm happy to say that today we started the day with no diapers. Other than our swim lessons this morning, the girls have been in their panties and managed to stay dry, right up to their 1:00 nap. Hooray! There is hope around the bend.

Morgan is going out of town on business tomorrow so I half-jokingly call this my "heck" week. We have been including potty talk in our prayers. You know, things like, "Lord, please help us to go pee in the potty, not in our panties and please give mommy lots of energy and patience." :)

By the way, in case you're wondering...
We're not doing any pull-ups. We went straight to the panties and avoided the middleman. The potty chair is now sitting in my kitchen to make it easier for the girls to get to in a hurry. We're spending lots of our play time on the tile floors versus the carpet. They get one M&M for each success during the day and only stickers in the afternoon. Too many M&M's get them excited and wired. I found that out, too. Actually, they are requiring fewer rewards as we progress. A simple high-five and atta girl will do sometimes. They're not ready to go out anywhere yet but hopefully, we can work on that next week. I suspect that the girls will wear diapers for their afternoon nap and at bed time for quite a while still. All in all, I know that this too shall pass. I wonder though.... who exactly is getting trained here?

Them or me?!