For Shane and Michele...any anyone else who cares :)

Gideon Dancing to Coldplay

Pumpkin-ish Picking

Saturday we thought it would fun to take Gideon to pick pumpkins. After checking out some places, the cost, and the fact that it was going to be a cold and windy day we decided for something a little let extravagant. We basically went to a local glorified farm stand. They basically picked all the pumpkins and put them in big piles according to size outside of the barn. There you can go and "pick" your pumpkin. They also have some cheazy kid stuff like pony rides, train rides, and the like. What drew us here was the there was no entrance fee and the fact that we didn't know how long our 2 year old would last.

Out of the only 30 minutes we were there I think our son had about 10 minutes worth of fun. He HATED how windy it was. Such a wimp, but good call on our part. Here are some pictures...

Checking out the ponies

This one gets me.

Hiding from the wind, but still smiling.

Number One is Number Two!

2 years ago today Gideon Anthony Gehrig was born! Time flies so fast. We started the day by opening his birthday present (his dad just couldn't wait). He loved it and played with it all day.

We got him this:

We thought we would stick with tradition and go to McDonald's Play Place for dinner. The eating part went great, but he definitely didn't like play part this time around. He totally freaked out in the tunnels and daddy had stick with him every crawl of the way. Let's just say it didn't last too long! Funny. Last year he had so much fun. FAIL!

Short video on the way to dinner:

Gideon and daddy

Happy at first...


Then freaked out. Can you tell he is hanging on Byron for dear life?


Sweaty and glad it was all over

After that we decided to stop by the library and check out the new remodle. He loved it there, but I forgot my camera in the car, so no pictures.

We ended the day playing with his cars and track a little more and now he is sound asleep.

Happy Birthday to my big boy-err "happy day" as you say! Love you more than you could possibly know. Thank you, Lord for our little one that proves to be more of a blessing each day.

Potty Training my 21 Month Old: Week 2

All I can really say is that God has been sooo good! Gideon amazes me more and more each day. He is still in his cloth training pants. I purchased those Gerber ones that are just like underwear, but have just a little more absorbancy. They seem to work great. He still feels it if he has an accident, but it doesn't make as big of a mess. He still has accidents here and there, but he goes days without having one at all. The accidents he does have seem to be "half accidents" and always finishes on the potty. I give him pants free time in the morning and then the "undies" go on for the day. He just tells me when he has to go and I help him pull down his pants. Even at the store. He hasn't had a single accident while we have been out running errands. Even if we are at the opposite end of the in the morning and then the "undies" go on for the day. He just tells me when he has to go and I help hie store he can hold it all the way until we get to the bathroom. For whatever reason he seems to have more accidents if we are away from home and at someone elses house. Not sure if he just gets distracted with playing or what it is, but I am hopeful he will get there. I would much rather help him pull down his pants everytime he has to go rather than fighting a 25 lb kid to change his diaper.

Yesterday was an impressive day, except for the morning at my mom's house. We started the morning at my mom's house playing outside with sidewalk chalk and in the playhouse. He had two "half accidents" while we were there. Then we went to Target and to the mall for shopping and lunch. The kid was great while we were there. Not a single accident and told me when he had to go while we were at the mall. We weren't close to a bathroom, but he held it all the way until we could there. A good 2 minutes or so probably. After that we headed to my doctors appointment that was an hour way. This was the longest trip since we started training him, so I put him in a cloth diaper since he tends to fall alseep in the car on longer trips. He did fall asleep, but never wet his diaper. He went on the potty at the doctors office and made it all the way home without wetting his diaper. No accidents for the rest of the day. Woke up in the middle of the night to go potty. Woke up in the morning and went potty with the tiniest bit of wetness in his diaper. Pretty impressive day!

We decided we could roll out the area rug again :)

This will probably be my last potty training post for a while. I feel like we are at a good place right now and progress is continuing. I guess the next step is for him to have a good week without accidents and then we can skip the trainers.

Thanks to all have prayed for us and I still give so much thanks to our good God who is giving my little boy the heart and will to learn.

Potty Training my 21 Month Old: Week 1

After the first three days of being trapped in the house, we decided it was time to venture out into the world. We started with a short trip to the post office in cloth training pants. The trip was a success. Throughout the week we spend a couple hours at my parents' house here and there. He had several accidents, but he always seemed to catch himself and then finish on the potty. I have taken a few short trips to the store. I reminded him often about asking to go on the potty if he needed to go. Each trip we made he had to go potty, and he did great going on the big potty in the public rest rooms. I had him stand up on the toilet seat facing the wall and he did great. We took him to a birthday party yesterday. I thought that could be a rough one because of all the destractions and playing with the kids, but he did great. He had one minor accident. We have been putting him in cloth diapers for naptime and a disposable diaper for bedtime. Almost every night since Day 3 he has woken up and asked to go on the potty at least once, but often several times! Not going to say I love waking up in the middle of the night more often, but the hubby has been a great help and I don't mind so much when Gideon is making such great progress.

In conclusion, I believe it is safe to say that Gideon is completely potty trained-WHEN HE IS NAKED. He runs to the potty when he needs to go and can hold it until he gets there like a pro. When he has is training pants on it is a bit more of a challenge for him. In this next week I am going to make a concentrated effort to have him wear training pants most of the time. I still like to give him a little pants free time in the morning (because that's when he seems to go the most and has his bowel movement). I don't feel like I have been doing tons of laundry. I am feeling great about the progress he is making.

Thanks for all your prayers and support, but most of all i thank the Lord for his strength for myself and HIS working in my little guys heart.

Potty Training at 21 months: Days 1-3

Warning: Lengthy Post that has the words 'poop' and 'pee' used often. Post is mostly for my own records, but please read if you are interested in our journey!

Now that I am into my 3rd Trimester I am thinking more than ever about how our new little addition is going to effect Gideon and how to best prepare for it. I have been thinking a lot about potty training him. He will be 2 years old when baby #2 comes along and because I still plan to breastfeed and know how demanding it is in the first several months, I figure the earlier I start the better. Gideon knows what the potty is and knows that 'poo poo' and 'pee pee' go in the potty. He has been telling me when he has to poop for a couple weeks and has been even asking for diaper changes a few times. So, after some advice from friends and family and doing a little reading (not a whole lot) I cleared the schedule for this past weekend and decided to give it a go.

The week before we put him back in cloth diapers. I used cloth diaper for him for about the first year of his life and I regret getting lazy with it, because I know it really helps with the whole process. Being in a cloth diaper really helped him be aware of when he peed and he did not like being wet. We taught him how to take off his diaper and where the potty was if he wanted to go pee pee on there. We explained it all to him and had I had him sit on the potty a few times just to get used it. After he peed I would get all excited for him and we would take the pee pee to the big potty, flush, and get an M&M for a "treat". Over the next couple days I would find him taking off his diaper and sitting on the potty. He peed a couple times and couple times I think were just for fun. The day before the big weekend started I had him sit on the potty while eating lunch and put on his favorite show for him. He had a couple pees and really seemed to understand what was happening. Then, Saturday arrived. I decided to try the "naked potty training" method. Which basically is keeping your baby diaper free from the waist down. I did this for two days. Here is my log for the past 3 days. This is really for my own notes of this journey, so don't bother reading if you are not interested.

Naked Potty Training Day #1

-I Set a timer to go off every 10 minutes. Every time the timer went off he had to sit on the potty.

-Gave 1 M&M for each pee on the potty and 2 M&Ms for each poop

7:15-Gideon wakes up with a poopy diaper. Dad cleans him up and no diaper is put back on for the day. Gideon promptly poops more on the floor. We clean it up and explain to him where the poop goes.

8:30-Gideon pees on the kitchen floor and comes running to tell me what happened 10:30-Runs to tell me he has to poop and poops a little on the floor on the way to the potty. Half makes it in the potty.

10:40-Pees on the floor

11:05-I saw him holding himself, put him on the potty and he went pee on the potty

1:30PM-Put on cloth diaper before nap

3:00-Woke up with wet diaper from nap, put on potty, but no pee

3:40-Peed on the floor, but ran and sat on the potty in realization that was what he needed to do. No pee made it into the potty.

4:25-Pee on the floor, but ran to tell me

4:50-Pee on the floor and some in Potty, came to tell me 6:00-Went pee on potty encouraged by timer and treat insentive

6:40-Pee on potty encouraged by timer and treat insentive

8:05-Pee on potty on his own accord (he seemed to realize he had to go)

**Diaper was put on for bedtime **

Naked Potty Training Day #2

-Timer went off every 30 minutes
-M&Ms for pees and poop

7:00AM-Woke up for the day with wet diaper, put him on the potty and went a nice long pee to start the day.

8:50-Pee while standing up in bathtub during his morning bath

9:00-Pee on potty after putting him on after his bath.

9:10-Sat and Peed on potty on own accord with no prompting

9:10-Sat back down on potty on his own accord and went poop

9:20-Insisting on another "treat", he sat back down on potty and squeezed out another Pee

9:21-Sat on potty on own accord and squeezed out some more poop.

9:40-Went Pee outside in his underwear while giving dad some water

11:00- Peed on potty with promptin by mom

12:20- Peed in shower with dad

1:10- poop on potty after a prompting from mom

1:45- Peeds on floor, then pooped on potty with prompt from mom

2:00-diaper for naptime

4:14-woke up from nap with wet diaper saying he to go pee, but didn't pee when I put him on (maybe I didn't get to him fast enough?)

4:35-Went Pee on potty with prompting from mom

5:50-went poop on potty with prompting from mom after he got some on my pants.

6:10-Pee on potty after prompting from mom.

7:45-Poop on potty with promting from mom.

7:55-Pee on potty on his own initiative.

**Diaper on for bedtime**

Potty Training Day #3

-Timer set for ever 60 minutes
-M&M's given as rewards

6:00AM-Gideon wakes up. Mom puts him on potty and he goes Pee. (Naked time starts).

7:00-Pee on Potty with prompting from mom to go.

7:40-Pee on potty on his own accord

7:50-Pee on potty with prompting from mom after seeing him "hold himself."

8:10- Pee on potty on own accord

8:12-Poop on potty because he wanted a treat

8:40-Poop on potty on own accord

8:50-Squeezed out a little more poop and some pee on his own accord

9:15-(Cloth training pants are put on after expaining what they are not to go pee in them) He immediately tells me he has to pee and walks to the potty. I help him pull down training pants and he pees in the potty

10:25-Small pee on potty prompted by timer

11:30-tiny pee on his t-shirt (during short naked time while baby was napping). He was trying to "hold it" with his hand wrapped around his shirt.

12:30-(Training pants back on) Pee on potty after lunch prompted by mom.

1:00-Cloth diaper put on for nap time

4:20-Woke up with wet diaper. Pee on potty with encouragement from mom.

4:40-Went on a 20 min. trip to Post Office in training pants. Came home dry.

5:20-(Resistant to training pants, so left him naked. Baby girl went home for the day). Ran to potty on own accord and went Pee.

6:25-Went Pee after dinner with prompting from mom.

6:35-Poop on potty on own accord

7:05-Pee on potty on own accord

7:20-Pee on potty on own accord

7:40-Pee on floor/potty. I saw him hold himself, look at the potty, and then decide he was thirsty so went for a drink from his sippy. He started to pee on the floor. I immediately said, "hold it! Go pee pee on the potty." He did exactly that.

8:00-**Diaper went on for bedtime**

8:40-(40min. after bedtime) He calls us from his room saying "pee pee! pee pee!" We go to him and bring him out to the potty. He goes pee on the potty and his diaper was completely dry.

9:00PM-SAME AS ABOVE!!!

Thoughts from the day: Day number three was awesome. Although he is very resistant to the cloth training pants (prefers to be naked-uh oh!), he is really starting to get the hang of holding himself. During training pants time he never wet himself. I know that he still needs some time, but in 3 days he has made such amazing progress.

If you are reading this, I am no expert at potty training. This is my first child and I am pretty much just winging it. Got some advice from friends and family and did a little online reading, but I am really just trying to see what works for my child and go with it. Even though I feel stress free about our potty training experience so far, it is still SO MUCH WORK! Today was a great day, but I am SO EXHAUSTED. I hope that the logging of our experience inspires whoever reads it. Every child is different. Go with your instinct and be open to change if things aren't working out how you planned.

A little update

I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping up with my blog lately. Ugh! Here is just a bunch of random stuff and thoughts.

Today marks 6 months into my pregnancy. I can't believe how fast it has gone! Gideon is now 21 months and between him and the 11 month old I watch a couple days week, they sure do keep be busy!

Earlier this month my sister and her husband came to town to visit for a week. It was so great to have them here and spend some good quality time hanging out. Wish it could have been longer!

Me and my sis!

Hanging with his Uncle Shane

Gideon and I walked with them to a local nastalgic candy store. It was Gideon's first time there. It was so fun taking him to a place that I grew up going to.

What to choose

We settled on some sweet tarts

I made some gluten free graham crackers for Gideon this week. They were very tasty, but weren't as crunchy as I hoped. I probably just needed to bake them longer. The little guy loves them, though!

As said, Gideon is 21 months this week. He LOVES letters. We have a alphabet puzzle he loves to do with me and any time he see words (beginning of a movie, books, signs while we are driving in the car) he spurts off random letters. He loves looking at photo albums and picking out everyone he knows. His vocabulary is increasing daily and it is exciting (and frustrating) at times.

I seriously love this kid so much!

Mixed Feelings

Today marks the first day of a huge change in my relationship with my son. It was my first day not nursing Gideon. I have been trying to speed up the weaning process since I found out I was pregnant. It was very much my choice and not Gideon's, which has been giving me feelings of guilt often. It has been increasingly painful to nurse him and I have been anxious for it to end for a while. I am so glad that I made the decision to breastfeed, but sometimes I feel/felt like a bad mom for wanting it to be over. Maybe because he nursed every 2-3 hours during the night until he was 12 months old, maybe because he seems to be such a needy boy, or maybe because I am selfish? I even felt relief that I got pregnant thinking it was a "good excuse" to wean early. I am not sure if breastfeeding is completely over yet, but today marked a big step. The funny thing is...now I just feel so sad. Gideon has never been big on snuggling and cuddling, and nursing was "our time." It was the only time he would let me snuggle with him. Maybe it's also because Byron has been working so much overtime and I haven't had much a husband lately. Maybe it's that and whole bunch of different reasons. Whatever it is...all I want to do now is cry...

If You Haven't Already Heard...

...by the end of 2011 we will have a new addition to the family! We are only about 7 weeks along, but I was having hard time keeping it a secret this time. The morning/all day sickness has taken over and when people start getting suspicious I just can't lie! If my calculations are correct, we should be having another October baby. I was very shocked to see all three of the pregnancy tests I took come out positive. I have only had one cycle since I was pregnant with G and I thought it would take a lot longer than it did to get pregnant again.

Heavenly Father, thank you for this little one growing inside of me.

Here are some pictures of Gideon these days and video of him dancing:

Gideon and Dad sporting their free hats from Home Depot

Haha!




Watching Wheel of Fortune with Dad

Gideon Dancing

The Last Couple Months in Pictures...

Haven't posted in a while, so here are pictures to tell the story...along with short commentary.

Gideon's first snow experience

Very unsure...and hated it in the end-ha.

Trying on Uncle David's cowboy boots

Nick and Danielle's Bridal Shower

Cake made by my cousin

Thanksgiving/Christmas Family Photo


Yes, his bib says, "I love Pasta"

He also loves chips and salsa...hahaha

Wedding Day! N & D XOXO!

Not even half of the Bridal Party

G was infatuated by the lights behind the head table

Yesterday Was the Most Beautiful Fall Day

Gideon is ONE!

Yesterday my little man turned one year old. My husband woke up that morning and said "it's time to go to the hospital"! I definitely had a flood of mixed emotions. Remembering that day and how we had the most amazing birth experience, our first moments as a family, nursing him for the first time, our stressful ride home in the car, the first time he smiled at me, the first time he rolled over.....crawled....NOW HE IS WALKING! Oh how I love this little one and thank God every day for what a blessing he is in my life.

The three of us had a mini celebration and I believe it was the perfect evening.
Byron and I both bought him a balloon independently of each other (we know what our baby likes). We started off the evening at McDonald's for dinner and play time at the Playplace (Byron insisted). We ate, and then it was time to play(closely supervised by mom and dad of course). Gideon was a little shy at first, but when a few other kids started playing he warmed up fast. We then opened a couple presents. A card he got in the mail, a gift from Aunt Michele and Uncle Shane, and a gift from mom and dad-of course. We returned home and sang happy birthday with a candle in a fresh baked gluten free cookie he absolutely devoured. We ended evening with a nice bath and a quick visit from GiGi for a birthday kiss.

He loves balloons!

The two handsomest men on the planet.

Happy birthday boy

Playing with daddy

Looking out the vent...silly Gideon

He made it!

His own laptop from mom and dad

More interested in his balloons

Enjoying his birthday cookie

"Happy Birthday" song with a little help from some aliens

Yes, a perfect day for the cutest boy in the world.