Notty Training and My Valentine

For the past 2 months or so, we've been trying to potty train Charlie. I tried last summer but he just wouldn't do it. A few weeks ago, he decided to take it up again and he did so well for a week or two. Now, I can barely get him to pee in the potty more than once or twice a day much less poop! It's really frustrating. He is so stubborn so if he doesn't want to do something, he just won't do it.

I tried giving him a potty chart and that did help. Every time he used the potty, we would put a sticker in one of the squares. Once he filled up all the squares, he'd be able to go pick out a little toy. It took him a week and a half to fill out 16 squares, but at least we made it. He picked out a "Tormentor" Mater monster truck. He really wanted a "Frightening McMean" one too, so I went ahead and put a picture of it on his new chart to motivate him.

So far, it hasn't worked. He keeps asking for the toy but doesn't want to work to get it. Sigh. He can do this he just won't. "Notty" training, indeed.

As far as my health goes, things have been pretty crummy again. In December, I was feeling better than I had felt in a long, long time. My levels were perfect and my doctor was like, see you in a year! I thought I had finally gotten the right dose of hormone to control my hypothyroidism. But after Christmas, a lot of hypothyroid symptoms started creeping back into my life. I finally called my endocrinologist a few days ago and they said I needed to have my TSH tested. I had the lab done Friday so I'm hoping to hear from my doctor soon. I'm really hoping my levels are off because I feel off. If they aren't right, they'll prescribe me a higher dose of hormones. I'm really hoping that's what will happen since that is the easiest and fastest solution. If my levels are normal, I'll have to go in for an appointment where the doctor will likely sigh and stare at my chart trying to figure out something to tell me. I don't like that. I just want him to fix me pronto! I was diagnosed about a year ago, and so I would really like to finally get better, thank you. My doctor believes this condition came after my pregnancy with Charlie (which is the most common way for women to come down with this if they have a family history of thyroid disease), since I've never felt quite the same after I had him. So technically, I've been struggling for over 3 years. I'm done. Over. No more. Just make me better so I can enjoy my life instead of having to just drag myself through it.

On an uplifting note, I had a great surprise on Valentine's Day this past week. John and I didn't even realize that Valentine's Day was coming up until a day or two before. He had to go out of town Monday through Wednesday and since we got to go on a date the weekend before, we agreed to not do anything on Valentine's. I was feeling very sick that weekend and was not looking forward to not having backup for Charlie for 3 days. After I dropped John off at the rental car place, I took Charlie to Walmart. I got a little sad when I saw all the flowers there and I was seriously considering buying myself a bouquet since I was feeling so sorry for myself. When we got home, there was a package at the front door for me. I was expecting a book in the mail but this box was not book-shaped. I opened it up to find this bouquet and this note:

It was so sweet I just cried and I'm not usually a crier when it comes to stuff like that. I just felt so loved. I've got the most amazing husband!

Defying Gravity

One of the many perks of being married to John is his photography skillz. Yes, skillz. I now for a fact that if I didn't have him as my photographer, my Etsy shop would not have done as well as it has. I'm so grateful he takes pictures for me . . . especially because I know he doesn't like to do it!

I've had my shop for almost a year now, so Charlie has become accustomed to Daddy taking pictures of Mommy and her purses. Now, he wants to be a part of it. He loves to take pictures and even more, he loves getting his picture taken. So much so that he demands John take pictures of him during my Etsy photo shoots. He's even started to pose and act things out for John to capture. This week, he was obsessed with defying gravity by throwing his snow leopard and bouncing on our bed. I have so many adorable pictures of him so I'll just start out with ones from this week. I hope to post some more soon!

Snowed In

A few weeks ago we had a HUGE snow. Well, huge for here. We got 8-10 inches, which is double what we got at Christmas. There was so much, we couldn't sled or do much of anything. It was so deep, Charlie was up to his knees in it!

This WAS sun dial . . . this gives you an idea of how much snow we really got.

We couldn't get out of the driveway for two days. We had tons of fun being lazy at home together. We watched movies and hours of "Tabitha's Salon Takeover" (which is strangely addictive). By Wednesday, however, I was going crazy. Like I said on Facebook, I was feeling very Overlook Hotel. Luckily, I was able to get out of the house on Thursday. By the time I got home, the walls had stopped bleeding so all was well.

This month I started to write on my new screenplay. It's a challenge to try to find time with Charlie around but it's worth it. I'm hoping to be done in time to enter the Nicholl Fellowship Competition in May. I'm still a little nervous that I won't finish in time but at least I have another script to submit . . . I earned a spot in the quarterfinals with that one in the 2009 competition. Hopefully, one of these scripts can get into the quarterfinals or even the finals this time. Fingers crossed!

My Etsy shop is also doing pretty well. I was afraid that once Christmas was over, I wouldn't sell anything for months. But I've been doing just as well this month as I have previously, so yay!