A soon-to-be thing of the past

So, this post will be slightly embarrassing for my Scottie, but since this is my journal, I'm going to type it out anyway.

Scottie is 11 years old. And still wetting the bed at night. We've talked to his pediatrician several times about this. Medications were always an option, but I just didn't feel right about using them. For one, the med's stop the wetting, but when the med's are stopped, the wetting starts right back up. For two, I didn't want to medicate my little boy if I didn't have to.

A monitor has always been an option, but they're fairly expensive, and I can find a hundred different ways to spend $80+ dollars. I've liked the idea of the monitor because it actually teaches the brain how to respond when they feel the urge to go, and they can get up and take care of it. But, honestly, I was a little skeptical, and I LOVE my sleep and I was selfish and didn't want to get up to care of it.

So, we kept putting it off and putting it off. But, we decided around his 11th birthday that it was just time to do it. We could continue spending money on pull-ups, or we could spend some money on this, and, hopefully, be able to use it for Gavin, too.

Anyway, we got this around his birthday time - about 6 weeks ago - and he has used it almost every night since then. The first few nights, Brandon got up with him when the monitor went off to help him. (Scott's request. He absolutely REFUSED to have me help him since he's a growing, maturing boy, and I'm a girl.) The instructions state the the trainee needs to actually get out of bed and stand up before they turn the alarm off. That way they're taking action, rather than just rolling over and turning it off and ignoring it. Then, they can go about changing their underwear. (We actually put Scott in underwear, clipped on the monitor, and then had him put pull-ups on so we didn't have to change the sheets every day.)

After the first few nights, Scott was able to take care of it himself. Over the weeks, we have watched the accidents get fewer and fewer. The amount that he wets before he stops himself has gotten less and less. And, the past four nights, he has slept without the alarm at all and has gone the whole night (or getting up once himself to go to the bathroom) without an accident!

He is SO proud of himself, as are we. We looked at several different monitors, and even bought one that was more expensive than the one we ended up with. But, when we got home and read the reviews on it, we decided to take it back and get this other one (which, is cheaper.) I HIGHLY recommend this. It takes parents involvement for a little bit, but it is SO worth it. :)

Next up, is Gavin! And then potty training the Bear.

So, if you're a parent out there dealing with night time accidents, I really recommend a monitor. This is the one we got: http://bedwettingstore.com/wet-stop3-bedwetting-alarm.html. It's got good reviews, and it's just about the cheapest monitor out there. For $50, and the awesome feeling Scottie has that he has now accomplished this, is great!

Great job, Scottie! We love you.


LOVE this kids personality!

King size, please

Remember this? The bed itself has served us well - as has the bedding, though it's not as old as the bed. We've had a queen size bed since we got married 12+ years ago. 5 years ago, we bought a 2 - 3" memory foam mattress to put on top because I was having problems with my back. The memory foam worked wonders - for a while. So, we switched mattresses with Scott (who had one that was given to us by Brandon's brother. It was several years newer than ours.) That, too, worked for a little while.

But, the past couple of years, I've had back problems again. I would get up in the morning and my lower back would just ache. It would take a couple of hours for it all to work out and I'd feel okay again. Then, I'd go back to bed. I headed to the chiropractor a couple of times, which helped, but it would only help for so long.

We've talked about getting a new bed for a couple of years, but we just haven't been able to afford it. But, this year, when we got our tax return, we decided to see if we could squeeze it in. We got Brandon's truck fixed (it needed new ball bearings on the axle), paid some medical bills, etc. and thought we might be able to do it. We even went to a "scratch-and-dent" store and laid on a few and found one we liked - for almost $700 out the door. Honestly, that's pretty good for a king size bed.

We came home to hash out the budget for the rest of the month, only to discover that we hadn't paid tithing yet! *sigh* So, we put it off again, since we were now a couple hundred $$ short.

A couple of weeks went by, and I just dealt with my sore back, just holding onto the thought that we'd get one someday soon. As we were wandering through Walmart one day, we found a lot of their bedding on clearance. So, we looked just for the fun of it. We found one that we liked, for more than half off, in a king size, so we decided to get it.

And, of course, the king size bug bit again. I started looking on ksl and craigslist to see if we could maybe find something a bit cheaper. And, we scored - big! We found a guy in Brigham City that was giving his away for free. It was 3-4 years old, but for free, we decided that we ought to try it. The one drawback was that it didn't come with box springs.

So, we headed to Sam's Club to price the box springs, and found they were more than we wanted to pay. *sigh* So, we started looking around and calling around to see if we could find a better price. Meanwhile, Brandon looked on ksl one more time, and found someone just a few miles away that was selling their mattress AND box springs for $200. Again, it was 3-4 years old, but had only been used a handful of times since it was used in a summer cabin up at Bear Lake.

We decided to take a look. It was more firm than we were used to, but we decided to get it anyway. This one was cheaper than the box springs alone at Sam's. So, we called the Brigham City guy to tell him we found something else, brought it home, and started the process of switching out our bed and re-arranging our bedroom. It took some doing, because our bedroom is quite small, but we managed to make it fit and make it look nice.

The first night, I was SO excited. More room, hopefully no painful back in the morning . . . I didn't sleep as well as I wanted to, though, and was somewhat disappointed. I didn't want to tell Brandon that, though, so I just told him I slept okay, but that it would take some getting used to.

The first several nights were the same. I wasn't waking up with back pain, though, so I figured it was worth it. I just felt so far away from Brandon. :) But, one night, I realized that I was sleeping clear over on my edge - because that's what I was used to. So, I scooted over quite a bit, so I could roll from side to side without having to actually sit up to roll over, and I've slept GREAT ever since! I don't have back pain in the morning, I get a good nights sleep (when Bear isn't waking up), I feel like I'm still sleeping with Brandon instead of in two separate beds, and we've both decided that it was a great $200 spent! And, I don't think we'll ever go back.

Projects, pt. 2

Now, time for the downstairs bathroom. Small, no windows, dim lighting, blah white/off white/nondescript paint, ugly gold light fixture with even uglier light covers . . . You get the idea. So, we decided to paint it. Finally. We have had absolutely NO inspiration when it came to this bathroom, so it has stayed the same for the past 4+ years since we moved in. But, we got sick of it. So, we decided that we were going to paint it no matter what. We were going to find some colors that we liked and just do it. So, we did!


A cute Toady with an ugly light fixture


Again, a cute Toady, but with plain, boring, blah walls


Plain. Boring.

We headed to Home Depot to look for paint samples and get the paint mixed, and possibly get a new light fixture. So, while the paint was being mixed, we wandered over to the lighting area and found a fixture that we loved! Brushed nickel (which is our color choice for our accessories in the house), with four sockets for bulbs. And, it was on clearance. For $3!!! So, of course, we grabbed it.

Then, we headed home to prep the bathroom. Brandon fixed, smoothed, and evened out some places while I washed the walls and started taping. The ugly gold light fixture was taken down, and the covers taken off the sockets. Then, it was time for bed. The next morning, after the boys were in school, I headed downstairs to do some painting! Bear was SO good. I turned on Blue's Clues for him (his show of choice) and he's alternate between watching that, and coming in to see what I was doing.

We painted three walls an antique white, and the fourth wall, the door wall, we painted a sage green. Tate Olive is the color, I believe. Of course, two coats were needed, so we got that done, put the light fixture in and the covers back in place and a shower curtain hung up. It was a HUGE improvement!


The green and the antique white


The antique white - doesn't look too much different in pictures, but it's a vast improvement in real life!

But, I decided it wasn't done. We talked about it and decided to put a quote on the wall. We looked and looked and chose a Dumbledore quote from book 1 of Harry Potter: "It's not our abilities that make us what we are; it is our choices." I haven't cut out the vinyl letters yet, but will soon. I still felt like something was missing, though, so I turned to Pinterest for ideas, and came up with a tree!

Yes, a tree! I started looking online for vinyl trees that I liked, and found one that I fell in love with that I could afford. (Vinyl can be REALLY expensive!) But, it was black. And, I preferred brown. So, I started looking at stenciling, but couldn't find a cheap stencil to use. Then, a friend of mine suggested a projector. *Light bulb* Yeah!

So, I printed off a tree that I really liked onto some vellum, borrowed a projector from said friend, and went to work! And, I love how it turned out! It was SO fun to do. I like painting rooms and watching them transform, but this was fun. :) And, every time I walk down the stairs, and glance to my left, I can see my little tree in the bathroom, and I just feel giddy inside!



The projected image - here we go!


Halfway done with the brown


The trunk and branches are complete!


Time to paint the leaves


Halfway done with the leaves


A closeup


I worked right around the light switch and the t.p. holder


All finished! Doesn't it look awesome?


My cute little tree!

Projects

So, for a while now, we've been telling Scottie that we'd build some shelves in his closet. His is the smallest room in the house, and with a big bed in there and his dresser, there wasn't a lot of space to put all of his books and Lego projects. They just ended up piled on top of his dresser until things were almost falling off.

So, when Brandon's parents gave us some cash for Christmas, we decided that we should use that money to get materials to build shelves for the boys closets. So, the first long weekend we had, we emptied Scott's closet, then sat on his bed and drew a few different sketches of what we wanted to do. When we had decided on the one we wanted, Brandon started measuring and calculating what materials we'd need, while I threw out a bunch of "stuff." (And, really, who knew that a 10 year old could have SO much stuff?)

Then, came the trip to Home Depot. With a Bear in tow. For a couple of hours we went back and forth, deciding what would work better . . . All with a Bear in tow. He actually did pretty well, but by the time we were finished, he was more than done.

So, Friday, while everybody was at school, Bear & I washed down the closet, and then painted it. (Okay, I painted, not Bear.) First thing Saturday morning, Brandon was hard at work measuring and cutting and putting in shelves, while I cleaned out Braden & Gavin's closet.

By the end of the day, it was mostly finished. We had some touch-up paint to do, and some final cleaning of the bedroom itself. But, Scottie was very relieved to be able to sleep in a (mostly) clean room that night!


The before color - a non-attractive beigy, almondy, something color


Finished painting - now onto building


A couple of shelves done . . .


All finished!

Monday, it was time for the shelves in Braden & Gavin's closet. Their closet was already white, so it didn't need to be painted. We decided on a layout for their closet, then ran to Home Depot for a couple more things. Then Brandon got started. He was able to get a good start on it by the end of the day Monday, but had to come home each afternoon for the next few days and work on it a bit more. By the end of the week, though, both closets were completely finished!

I bought some plastic bins for the boys toys to go in, then we pulled everything out from under their bed, and arranged it all in their closet. We love it! They're able to keep their room more clean now - except for their clothes. They can't seem to remember that their dirty clothes go in the hamper, not on the floor. One thing at a time, I guess! And, their closets look awesome! Brandon did a GREAT job of building them, and the boys were even able to help a bit!

I forgot to take "during" pictures of B & G's closet, so you just get the finished product pictures!


All built!


All organized!

Shaffer Magic Show

Presenting the Shaffer family in a one-of-a-kind magic show!!

(Please hold your applause 'til the end of the show.) :D

Couldn't resist

I was looking through my pictures and videos yesterday and came across these two. I just couldn't resist re-posting them. Some of my favorites of the little Bear ever! How I miss the little-ness! Enjoy!