Did yesterday really happen?

It all started with a nice hot morning. We were swimming in the YMCA pool, having a blast with the Wennergrens when a thought pops in my head to check Elliot's diaper for poop. (yes, he's potty trained completely with the Pee, but not even close with the poop so I still make him wear a swim diaper in the pool) I ignored the thought because Elliot was headed out anyway to get a snack. Just before he's about to step out of the pool he decides to sit on a fountain that is spraying water high into the air. AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH.......

In an instant poop is spewing everywhere. The water now looks like chocolate milk and I'm about ready to die. I'm frozen! WHAT DO I DO? Ummm...excuse me lifeguard, my son just got poop ALL OVER...not the easiest thing to admit. I wrestled with how and if to tell any one then saw that it wasn't just going away so I marched over and told the life guard "I'm sorry, but there is poop in the pool over there." Notice, I didn't mention it was actually my own son. HUMILIATING!

I marched Elliot to the bathroom and was about to explode. I've been so frustrated with his pooping in his pants. How many times does a mother have to clean out underwear and stay calm about it? I hit my limit. We came out of the bathroom to see the pool totally cleared and the lifeguards hooking up some cleaning contraption.  We ate our quick snack then headed to the car.

Sorry to all the parents who were hoping to have a nice morning swim with their toddlers and ended up having to sit in the grass and wait for about an hour.  Sorry to Natalie for cutting our playdate to just a half hour due to unforetold circumstances.

The day didn't get much better after that, but I'll spare you the details.

I sure hope I'm not the only mom who's experienced this horrifying event.  (Loud exhausted SIGH!!!)

Is this a problem?

"Oops, sorry mom." (He completely ripped my phone in two...nice!)

Can you believe it still works? Of course I can't see anything that would have displayed on the screen, but I can make calls and receive calls on speaker phone. Amazing! This phone has been through a lot. It's just hanging on for dear life.

FYI: I LOST MY ENTIRE CONTACT LIST
(I'm trying to get verizon to restore it, but until then....)

Potty Success for my Elliot boy!

FINALLY we are moving somewhere with the whole potty training thing. It has been such a fight just getting him to try to go. I decided to lay off him and just ask subtly and act like it was no big deal and he could go when he wanted. NOTHING WAS HAPPENING.

Then yesterday our neighbor said he'd heard somewhere to have boys pee in a coffee can because it makes a cool noise and it's fun to aim. It was worth a try. He gave us an old can and we gave it a try that same night. Sure enough he thought that was pretty funny and PEED IN THE CAN! The next day he did it again so we put on underwear and crossed our fingers. We decided to make a quick stop at the library later that day. We were standing there looking at a book when I noticed my shoe was getting wet....He was peeing through his pants and onto my shoe. AAAHHHH! As calmly and kindly as I could we rushed off to the bathroom, but he refused to sit on the toilet. He insisted he wanted the can....(back fire) So we slapped on a diaper and headed for home. The next day was on and off as far as success was concerned then came Friday.

We were headed to the children's museum and I told him he needed to pee before we left if he wanted to wear his big boy pants. That was all it took. He marched over to his little potty and did his business! YES! Then we were at the museum and had another successful attempt followed by wet undies due to intense playing. Finally to finish the day (after stopping at the store for Buzz Lightyear undies) we had another successful attempt! I was so proud of him and we was so excited about it too.

We are well on our way to full time undies! Hooray for no diapers. I'm sure there will be set backs and we still need to deal with the "#2" part, but we've got till January when the babies come so I'm sure he can do it.

What a great day!

Girls Camp 2010

Kristina, Lilli, Ashlie

Ivana, Julia R.

Tvae, Carly, Allie, Julia S.

Leann, Brooke, Olivia, Alexa, Josie, Stephanie, Milani

Makensey, Angie, Anastacia, Laura, Amelia

Beech Grove Ward

Beech Grove girls getting ready for our skit

Me, Sarah, Laura

I had the fantastic opportunity to be a Level Leader for the 3rd year campers this year. It was such a new experience. When I was at girls camp we camped in wards, camped in tents, and it was only a 3 day event. This experience was full of decorations, treats and gift planning for 16 girls from all over the stake for a week. I had no idea the amount of planning and prep that needed to take place before hand. I was so lucky to have Sarah L. as my assistant and 5 awesome Youth Leaders to help prepare, otherwise there's no way it would have come together.
I kept trying to remind myself the details I was working on weren't what was important. The presence of the spirit and creating a learning atmosphere was what was top priority.

The week went splendid. There was TONS I learned and wished I would have thought about, but overall everything ran smoothly. Our camp director and Stake Leaders put so much work into it and it was amazing. From the food to the crafts to the nightly devotionals. All were just awesome!!

I was exhausted. Being 13 weeks pregnant with twins I had to sneak naps during the afternoon just to survive each day. We usually got about 6 hours of sleep each night and that with the ever consuming nausea, it was tough just to keep moving each day.

Aside from all that, the girls I got to spend time with were amazing! It amazes me what these girls face on a day to day basis and how strong and faithful they are. Living outside of Utah is such a new experience. It scares me to death thinking of raising my kids surrounded by the ever increasing temptations and attacks on righteous living. Our youth today are just amazing!

"There's no place like home"