Potty Training

My eldest is three and still not fully potty trained. My mom told me we (myself and two sisters) were all potty trained around this age but lately I've been feeling like it's never going to happen!
We've tried at least ten times over the last two years but failed to find that one thing that would motivate her to keep going. We got her books and dvd's that show characters happily using the potty We even tried bribing her with trips to disneyland and the beach and had jars of candy and temporary tattoos for rewards, but she had zero interest. Finally I made a breakthrough! I know many moms out there aren't going to agree with me on this, but I'm going to tell you anyway and pray for no negative comments! We're rewarding her with iPhone time.
Betsey is a typical three year old who has endless options of educational and fun toys in her room but drops everything when she sees one of our iPhones being unused. She could (and I hate to admit that she actually has) spend hours playing games on our iPhones. Although I don't like seeing her laying down and staring at a 5 inch screen when she could be outside running around with her sister, I am so proud of the fact that she knows more animal names than I do, knows the alphabet and all the letter sounds, and started learning math at two years old! So this morning I thought to myself, 'why not try it? If it works, we will finally have one kid out of diapers and if it doesn't, she'll get less screen time and more time to play (or fight) with her sister.'
So I tried it. Guess what? She's successfully peed on her little pink potty twice this morning with NO accidents! She got to play educational apps on my phone both times and I limited it to about 10 minutes each time. I told her if she wanted to play again later, she can use the potty again! I can't believe how well it's working so far. Of course it's only been a few hours but I can see this working already with her telling me when she wants to go potty and having zero accidents. She's even encouraging her sister (who will be two in two months) to sit on the potty!

What things have you done with your kids to potty train?
I've heard so many stories but I'm trying to remember that because every child is so different, we as parents need to be open to the different ways of teaching them. I already have a feeling that the phone time reward won't work for my other daughter. She's more into treats than electronics..

Erin

My own happiness project.

Hey everyone! Since my last post, I've really been trying to narrow down my list of daily chores and feel happier.

I started reading The Happiness Project a week ago and although I haven't started my one year challenge yet, I have noticed a big difference in my attitude toward life, chores, and being happy!
One of my favorite parts of the book so far (I've only gotten about half way through), is where Gretchen Rubin talks about making a list of what she really likes vs. things she wants to like. This hit me really hard! My husband and I are so different. Like we barely have anything in common. So when I made this list, I realized that most of the 'want to like' side were things that he likes. Of course it's not a bad thing to try to do some of the things that he enjoys if it makes him happy and brings us closer together, but the problem was that I was so stressed trying to do all of the things that he likes on top of the what makes me happy. And I believe that it's been pushing us apart.

Here's part of my list.

What I want to like:
-wearing make up
-cooking
-world news
-going to/hosting big parties
-speaking spanish
-drinking alcohol
-growing a garden
-raising chickens
-having a horse
-exercising

What I actually like:
-coffee
-organizing
-crocheting & knitting
-going to church
-stretching
-creating
-minimalist design
-eating organic (myself and my kids)
-reading
-making lists

I am still working on a few things from the top list because I know (from reading The Happiness Project) that you won't always feel happy doing something that will bring you long term happiness. Some of these include cooking, growing a garden and exercising. I know that if I took the time to cook more often, I would be happy later because Jorge will be happy and my kids will be eating a healthier meal. Growing a garden would bring long term happiness because I will be proud of my hard work and we will be able to save money on veggies. And obviously exercising will make me happier in the long term in many ways. So why don't I take more time for them? That's a good question! I'm still working on putting together my personal happiness project that will last one year. Cooking and exercising will definitely be included somewhere while a few others will be cut out. I can't wait! I'll do my best to keep up with my progress on here.

<3 Erin

I did some organizing immediately after reading the part of The Happiness Project where she decluttered her home and organized some of her kids' toys. I knew my bathroom needed some help so I went straight there and I'm happy with the results!

Drinking coffee while keeping up with a bible plan is my idea of a perfect morning. Right now I'm juggling a few different plans: The One Year Bible, Soul Detox, and Habit of Happiness.

Currently reading! & I highly recommend this book. :)

Some crafting I did recently.

Trying to turn my love of crochet into a source of income. So far I haven't had a sale. But I'm keeping my chin up! I have over 500 favorites on my Etsy shop, so I'm sure a sale will come soon. 

One of my favorite recent purchases. Organic lip balm from this Etsy shop

Surrounding myself with bible verses have been a helpful reminder of how to live my life and grow closer to God. I don't always remember them during the day, but seeing them over and over helps big time. 

Attempting Balance

I renamed the blog today! 

Due to all of the repins on Pinterest, I'm going to leave the old URL of 'erinandbetsey', but it just doesn't fit as a title anymore.. I don't think Beverly would approve. :)

This quote really spoke to me because I am constantly trying to balance the hundreds of things I want to do. I want to read my bible everyday, crochet beautiful things, grow my It Works! business, have a clean home, have happy kids, work everyday, go to church every Sunday, check everything off the shopping list, have the bills paid on time, keep up with instagram/facebook/blogger/pinterest. Now I've added a horse and chickens to that list. 

Wow. There is absolutely no way I can get all of that done everyday! 

My goal is to make time for the most important things, and accept that the rest just aren't going to happen everyday. I can fit them in later, and that's okay! 

Coop in the Making

So here is our coop so far! We were given about twenty roosters from a friend at a nearby farm and Jorge has plans to fatten them up and eat each one. The ex-vegetarian in me is horrified by this, but the meat-eating me is choosing to see this as a blessing! We are going to save so much money by raising these ourselves. 

The coop is nowhere near complete, it doesn't even have a door right now! I'm having to throw their food through the chicken wire haha. I was seriously impressed that Jorge and his friend did all of this last night! I've saved some pictures on a pinterest board for my coop dreams and showed them to Jorge. I can't wait until it's finished.

We also have eight other chickens running around the property. Jorge has plans to make a separate coop just for them to lay eggs. :) Out of those, there are eight hens, three of which lay blue/green eggs! The girls are going to trip when they see them. 

Here are some of my pinterest coop dreams!

Litter or milk containers as nesting boxes. Genius!

I can't wait to have eggs like this every morning! 

Hello again, it's been too long!

31458 pageviews.

All I can say is WOW, THANK YOU!

I always wanted to have a blog, but have such a horrible time trying to manage my time and getting on here. Well it looks like I have a blog!! I think all of these page views have come from only three posts haha, but I'm so glad you guys like them and I hope I can write something else you enjoy reading!

For my first post in a while, I'll just summarize my life right now! We have been through a ton in the past year... Getting married, renting a home, going to church as a family, Jorge getting a new job, and myself becoming an It Works! distributer! 

Jorge and I got married on May 2, 2014! 

Betsey and Beverly are getting so big. They're definitely not babies anymore!

W're taking full advantage of our rental property! In addition to our crazy girls, we now have Heidi the horse and at least 25 chickens!

 I became an It Works! distributer on April 22! 

For more info, please 'like' my Facebook page!

The girls drinking their Greens!! They really do love it.

 Other hobbies include crocheting and gardening. 

So far we have lavender, cilantro, rosemary, oregano, and onions!