The Mooney Clan

Well, 5 days of the intense potty training with Evan and it appears that we have gotten no where. Who knows - maybe he is just one hour away from getting it? How can I know? I have decided to let it go for now and give him some more time. He's just so laid back and really doesn't care. He's peed all over the house for 5 days. I am done with that. Thankfully Dylan is still doing well so I don't feel like a total failure. Liam asks to pee all the time so I will likely try the 3 day thing with him this weekend. I'm going to give myself a couple of days off though. This has been draining and frustrating. We took Caden and Evan to swimming lessons last night. Evan seemed to enjoy it. He pays no attention whatsoever to what the teacher is saying to do. He just has fun. He's so in his own world but he's pretty happy there so who says that has to be a bad thing? I'm just glad that they got to get out of the house and do something! Speaking of gett...

It has been a long day and it's only 1230 in the afternoon! I could definitely use an assistant these days. I'm trying to do this 3 day potty training thing with Evan. It's something that works only if you are with the child constantly. Well, I have Dylan who was pretty reliable but today he decides to regress some. Lovely. So I'm in the bathroom with one boy getting him cleaned up and the other one is in the living room, peeing on the floor. I get over there finally to clean him up and clean the floor and the other one is asking to go again. And over and over it goes. The 2 boys have gone through 30 pairs of underwear in 5 hours. WHAT! In there I am supposed to answer the phone and make lunch? Oh brother. What a joke my life feels like right now. I feel like I'm swimming in pee and poop. I hate to be frustrated so early on in the process. But I can't give up now and I know it's only a phase. Doesn't make me any less tired...

Well, Dylan appears to be potty trained with still the occasional accident. We even take him out of the house now!! And it has been 2 weeks today. So - time to start on the next one. I've started with Evan today and am hoping that things will go as well with him. That means I can't be on the computer because I'm supposed to be paying attention to him at all times - that's according to the '3 day potty training method'. The plan worked with Dylan so I'm sticking to it. So - short blog! Be back later!

We are having a very low key January. The boys and I have stuck pretty close to home, not doing much. Just spending time together, playing, coloring, singing, dancing, and doing whatever else I can think of to pass some of this winter away and still keep it from making us crazy. They are fighting constantly and therefore there is a lot of screaming, crying and fit throwing. It's pretty draining sometimes and it makes it really difficult to do things like wash my hair and cook meals. I feel like, as soon as I turn around to do something, a fight breaks out or a toy gets stolen so I don't get much done until naptime. Thank goodness for naptime!! Anyway, here's a recent shot of each of the boys. Caden Evan Liam Dylan

For those of you on the edge of your seats about the potty training (what do you mean you have more interesting things to think about?).... Dylan did a really great job. It's been 4 days and he tells us when he has to go, wakes up dry after nap but doesn't make it through the night yet. He's pretty proud of himself too! I'll give him another week or so before I start on triplet number 2. It's exciting to see all the new things the kids learn and how big they are getting. It's also nice to see all the things they have stopped doing. We have seen big changes over the past couple of months. They don't sleep in cribs anymore. They don't wake up constantly through the night every night anymore. They've stopped crawling on the table all the time. Finally. I love that they don't touch every single thing that is within reach as much. I even have a bit of a centerpiece on my table. Amazing! And last saturday morning they didn't need to be...

Well, since I don't go anywhere or do anything in January, it seemed like a good time to start potty training the kids. I read up on the '3 day potty training method' and am giving that a go. It is impossible to do that with 3 at once and so I decided to start with Dylan. Liam is too headstrong and Evan doesn't care enough. I mean we'll see.... but I felt like Dylan would be the most responsive to praise and he likes to be like the big boys. So - anyway. We are doing not too bad. Today is the beginning of day 2 and we're at about 50% successes. He even woke up dry from his nap yesterday and went on the potty. It's a tonne of work. A TONNE. I'm exhausted by the end of the day. It'll be worth it though. I just can't think about how, once Dylan is doing fairly well and I feel he's really gotten it, I'll only be 1/3 done. I'll have to start from the beginning two more times....

Ok - I'm back onto blogging. I've been having way too much fun and doing way too much 'getting back into the groove' to be on the computer much. I have a few things I want to blog but I'll spread it out a bit. So - we'll start with about 3 weeks ago. You remember - Christmas time. We spent a few days in Calgary for Christmas this year. It was so nice to have everyone together and to see the cousins spending time with each other. Caden and Maggie really enjoyed playing and being silly together. We packed a lot into a few days. We had the kids 'christmas eve' stuff and then we put them to bed and the adults had a gift exchange game time and tonnes of yummy snacks. Judy is a hard working lady and we appreciate all that she does to make our times together so enjoyable and extra special. Thanks! The next day was Christmas with the stockings and gifts and food. Lovely! Our little boys were more into it now that they are older and had fun with it....