Relay for Life Report

I'll start off by saying, this was a great experience! One that I am so glad I was able to experience and to experience it with my children and husband! Thank you to everyone who supported us! Our family raised just under $500 and our team raised over $2200! For a team that was not corporate sponsored we did well!

Alesa and I were in charge of our camp's decor Alesa suggested "monster" theme because she was doing a birthday party next month with that theme. I thought it was great and Alesa even made signs that said "Beat the Monster" refering to cancer. When it got dark we hung glow bracelets in a chain around our tent- very festive!

We started out the evening with the Survivor Victory lap. The high school band led the way and all the survivors and caregivers walked the lap while the rest of us stood on the sidelines and clapped for them. I don't think there were many dry eyes. It was touching to see those who have beat cancer and those still fighting. I hope they continue to fight with all they have!

We then spent the next 12 hours walking, jogging, eating, selling, reading, sleeping (very little), dancing, playing games and listening to the bands.

The "boys" doing their laps.

Dancing the "Electric Slide"

Just as it got dark (9:30) they lit all the luminarias and read EVERY single name of someone who had a luminary purchased for them. The names on the luminarias represent someone who fought cancer whether they lost, won or are still fighting. At the end they had bagpipes play Amazing Grace. It was quite a touching moment. There were many, many names read and it was amazing to walk around and see the bags decorated. What a beautiful sight! They also had a row boat with a big "hope" sign that was lit floating in the pond through out the night. Hope, that's what it is really all about.

We had a bunch of different things there to sell, with all proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. Katie decided her job was to sell, so she did, and she was fearless! She started with the glow sticks and sold those until just about everybody in the park had one. I would laugh everytime I was out walking and would notice all the old, young, teens with at least one glow bracelet! After she had saturated that market she sold the homemade bread and candied popcorn. She definately has a future as a carnival barker! We made about $700 that night and I'm pretty sure Katie made 1/2 of it! Way to go Katie!

One of the booths was selling necklaces that you got to add a bead on for every lap you made. Alesa and I thought it was a grand idea so we bought one. It was so fun to add the beads. According to my beads I walked more than 8 miles that night and I even jogged about 1/2 mile plus a little more that Alesa and I did together! That jog was at 2:30 am, maybe that's the trick, I need to go jogging in the middle of the night! :) We took our tent for the kids to sleep in. It was perfect for changing also. Bevan and Maddie slept most of the night (and Doug got a few hours) Kaie didn't sleep until about 2:00 then she cuddled up in a blanket and passed out! In the morning I started having flashbacks to when I was a Young Woman at Girl's Camp. Everyone else was wrapped up in blankets trying to stay warm and awake and I was jumping around dancing to "500 Miles" (Don't know if that's really the name- it's from Benny & Joon). Maddie looked up at me with big eyes and said "Now I know what happens to you when you stay up all night." Hee, hee, I don't know that Maddie's ever seen me relax and have fun like that- I definately need to do it more often.
The Relay for Life event was ended with a balloon release to "fight back". Get those screenings, take care of your body so you can "fight back"! The whole thing was really an amazing experience! I can't do it justice through these words- they sound more like a travel log. But I was touched, so much so, that Alesa and I decided we might put together a team next year for our own valley's Relay for Life. But the question is; "Can we do 24 hours?" Anyone want to join us on our team?

Primary Children's

Remember how I told you about the kids selling their toys to earn money for Primary Children's Hospital? Yesterday we took the kids to deliver the money. It was a great exprience for them. Here is the picture of them with their money and below is the letter we received from the volunteer services.



"Attached is the picture of the young philanthropists, so cute.

Thank you for this gift and for thinking of Primary Children's Medical Center.

I think you have done a great thing in teaching your children the importance of caring. It is a lesson that will serve them all of their lives.

Stella Narajowski
Volunteer Office
Primary Children's Medical Center"



As a disclaimer, I had nothing to do with them doing this. It was all Katie's idea and the rest gladly followed along. They are great kids!
When Bevan spent time at Primary Children's they were so good to the rest of us and gave the girls dolls and used those dolls to show the girls what kinds of tubes and things Bevan would have in his body. This was a great preparation for the girls so they were not scared when they saw him. Primary Chilren's is an amazing hospital!

Relay for Life

July 17th & 18th our family will be participating in the American Cancer Society Relay for Life
This means that we (with our team) will be walking for 17 hours through the night (cancer doesn't sleep and neither will we- ok, the kids probably will). The American Cancer Society Relay for Life represents the hope that those lost to cancer will never be forgotten, that those who face cancer will be supported, and that one day cancer will be eliminated. Cancer has touched our family and it probably has yours too, so, our goal, as a family, is to raise $500. To help reach that goal, on

Monday July 13th
from 2:30-6:00

We will be having a Jewelry Sale– all proceeds will go to the American Cancer Society.
So, if you are local and would like to swing by, we'd love to see you. The girls have been working hard to make this beaded jewelry.
If you can't make it and you'd like to make a donation or purchase a luminary ($5) honoring someone who has had cancer please let me know. We need to have all money by Wed. July 15th.

Thank you for your support!
Doug, Stephanie, Katie, Maddie & Bevan Austin

We did it!

Bevan is potty trained!!! Woohoo!!! My friend Krysta has been telling me about this 1-day potty training system for years! I'm pretty sure she used it on all three of her kids. I thought it sounded like a cool system but had never tried it. I kind of just let the girls do it on their own and they did but we had a lot of accidents along the way. I decided I was going to try it on Bevan. I wasn't sure he would ever be potty trained (actually he has a little back "thing" and one of the problems it can cause it inability to be potty trained so I was pretty worried). Well, last Monday I had Doug take the girls and they went to the pool while we stayed home and potty trained (Doug sure got the better end of the deal!). I followed all the instructions and about half way through the morning I was so frustrated! Bevan had had about 6 accidents and I thought I was going to go crazy. I about called it quits, but I reminded myself I committed to one day, and I can do ANYTHING for one day. Warning: TMI alert!!!! Finally, one time I "caught" him on the potty. I said; "You're doing it, you're peeing in the potty." He looked down and said "It's coming out of my penis!" And it seemed like the light turned on! He called his grandmas and Dad to celebrate with them and we have had very few accidents since then (only when he get distracted like having water fights). He couldn't stay dry through the night and naps so I decided since I had a whole bunch of pull-ups (my neighbor had given them to me) I would use those for nights even though that's against the "plan". (He'll outgrow that eventually) The pooping issue took another day or so, but even that is now under control! Hooray! Thank you Krysta!!! I've had a couple of people ask for the instructions, so I'm including them below, I hope that's ok, Krysta.

Potty Training in a Day

Supplies to get
Lot’s of candy, snacks, kool aid, juice, sweet and salty things
Underwear (heavy ones for first couple of days and normal ones)
Plastic cover pants for naps and at night
An apron for you to wear with pockets to put treats in (instant rewards for going in potty)
Potty seat for toilet, stool and portable potty chair (so they can decide which to use)
Poster board (you need to make a calling chart, something where he can see to choose who to call when he goes potty, photos helpful)
Baby wet doll
Something to clean the “oopsies” up with



Very IMPORTANT rules not to break
It should be just you and the child you are potty training ALL day- no interruptions
Take your phone off the hook, and put a note up on your front door that says “Potty training in progress, please come back later.”
Tell everyone the day before you start not to call or come over.


How it Works
Start your day like normal, feed him a good breakfast since it will pretty much be junk the rest of the day. After breakfast, as soon as everyone is out of the house, start by playing with the baby wet doll. Say “Look she has big girl (big boy) underwear on! You can wear big boy underwear too! Let’s go put yours on! When he puts his on, have him wear just his underwear and a shirt all day, no shorts or pants. Then go back to playing with the doll again. All of the sudden the doll goes pee, pee on the potty! “Oh my gosh! Did you hear that!? We are so proud of her! She gets to have a special treat!” Make sure that you have your apron on with “special” treats, ones that are only when he goes in the potty, not for snack time. Give the doll a treat and say, “You can have a special treat if you go pee, pee in the potty too.” Have him sit on the potty too and try right then. If he does then get SO EXCITED, he gets a special treat and then gets to choose someone’s picture from the calling chart and tell about going potty on the big boy potty.
This is pretty much what your day consists of: go to the kitchen, start pumping him full of snacks (sweet and salty) and juice and water. Lots of liquid and food to keep him drinking. Set the timer for 15 minutes. In that first 15 minutes, start to play with the doll again and this time have the baby have an accident. When the baby has an accident run with her from the spot of the accident to the potty saying “No pee, pee on the floor pee, pee on the potty!”, really fast 10 times back and forth, each time saying that and pulling her panties down and setting her on the potty. Do that same thing with him when he has an accident. He might start to laugh and think it’s a joke, but don’t give up, before you know it he’ll be saying it too. Make sure and do that every time he has an accident, even if you really don’t feel like it anymore. It’s a really important step in teaching this to them. When he isn’t eating, or running back and forth to the potty, stick to reading books or playing cars or some kind of game. No T.V. or movies. They get too involved in that and lose interest in the day. Stick to activities that can be easily interrupted. Don’t let him go outside, he’ll lose all interest! Eat a normal lunch and put him down for a nap at a normal time. As far as your day goes, the main things are eating lots of things to make him drink, potty every 15 minutes, and running back and forth when there is an accident.


Tips and Suggestions
Stay overly excited!
Try not to get frusturated… you can do anything for a day and it’s completely worth it!
As far as the buzzer goes, sometimes it seems like they go a couple of minutes before the timer goes off. If that happens adjust your time and remember to follow your instincts! If he hasn’t gone for a whole 15 minute interval and he has had tons to drink, don’t set it for another 15 minutes, take him every 5 or however often you think you need to catch him on the potty.
It seems like after lunch or nap time they start to lose interest a little. Save some tricks for when that happens. Make up a potty game or song. Instead of a timer on a microwave use one that rings or sounds different. If he gets tired of the real potty put out the portable one. Brainstorm about some things like that.
When he has an accident make sure and say “EWWW! Pee, pee is so stinky! Yuck! We don’t like to clean up accidents!” not “You stink!, Your pee smells so bad! Or Your Gross!”
Make sure and have some kind of plastic cover over the mattress in between the sheet in case he has an accident at night time.
Don’t go back to diapers, not even pull- ups at night. Once you start it just keep going, he’ll get the hang of it. He has to know that he’s a big boy and they don’t use diapers anymore.


So you train him in a day and then you have to reinforce it for about a week. Don’t expect him to all of a sudden go potty all by himself. You probably won’t want to leave the house unless it’s a very quick errand and take a change of underpants with you just incase for about 4 days. (Keep the change of clothes with you for longer than that) Always have him go potty right before you leave the house. You will probably have to ask him every 15 minutes for the next couple of days if he has to go potty and if he says no you might need to be a little persistent and just get him there to “try” every so often. It’s a busy, tiring week (you might even wish he was still in diapers), but it’s all worth it when you can tell he finally gets it! Don’t forget to have him stop drinking water about an hour before bed and don’t let him go to sleep with his sippy cup until he doesn’t have any accidents at night anymore. Make sure he goes right before bed and tell him to come wake you up if he has to go in the night. If he throws a fit about going to bed with out his sippy cup, just tell him that you don’t want him to pee the bed and when he wakes up in the morning he can drink as much as he wants too!
GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!

Shock

This has been a GREAT weekend! We really know how to celebrate the 4th of July around here, but that's going to come another post... Today I need to write this down- why? I'm not sure, but I know I do.

This morning I was in a Young Women Presidency meeting with our Bishopric, a perfectly normal, uneventful meeting- we have these once a month. All the sudden the Bishop asked me if I realized that Maddie would be baptized on Halloween. This took my breath away. I've been trying not to think about this day, I'm still not sure how to handle it. Why? Well, we had thought that this would not only be the weekend Maddie would be baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints but we could also bless our new baby while all the family was here. Now, that's not to be. How do I handle this weekend and make it a celebratory and happy time all the while knowing I'm missing out on another important event? Ahhh, life is not always how we plan it. Crying through sacrament meeting today was not what I had planned, maybe I should just learn to not plan... Good thing I've still got a few months to figure out how to handle that weekend...