while chase was...

i've got a hundred and forty-three more of these little gems,

which i have named

"while chase was trying to poop."

i wish i could say it was WHILE he was pooping,

but that would be a lie.

you'd think that a 3 day strike of not pooping would lead a man TO poop when placed on the potty with a phone for 5-7 minutes,

but no, 'twas not so.

rather,

he did produce 143 photos of his leg,

the abode,

the lou,

the white porcelain throne.

whatever you call it,

this is what he does on it.

apparently,

not pooping.

he saves that up for his underwear.

when he's at other people's houses.

like kara's house.

mmmhhhhhmmmm, so proud:)

oh the AGONY which is teaching boys to poop.

the you know what part

so this happened.

chase dragged me kicking and screaming on monday by the hair on my head,

DEMANDING underpants.

it was monday.

i had every excuse to talk him out of it,

mitigation, costco day, preschool day, speech therapy day,

almost as busy as a wednesday kind of day.

but the man would NOT be put in another diaper for one more day of his life.

and even though i had to drag him all around and potty train him on the run,

with extra pants and underwear in my bag all day,

by the next morning,

he was potty trained.

{god bless the third child and their ability to do everything on the run.}

i couldn't even believe it.

the man was ready.

i had no idea he was that ready.

i stood there watching him wave to brennan as he left for school the next day,

just like he does every morning,

and i looked at my family, and they all looked a little bit older.

like a new phase of life we'd hit.

no one in diapers.

people in school with homework, and friends, and lunches, and stuff.

it took him another half a day to really get the hang of the you know what part,

the hardest part in my opinion,

but man oh man, i've AGAIN by corrected by one of my boys.

there's a common theme here.

my boys teaching me things about the world that i thought i already had figured out.

like the fact that maybe boys can ACTUALLY be easily potty trained, not just the girls.

who knew?

i'm so glad he made me do it.

and i could watch his little proud face all day long.

i will NEVER forget the look on his face and the hug he gave me when he finally got the hang of the you know what part.

i watched him grow up a little bit right then and there.

and i felt our mother son bond squeeze a little bit tighter.

because we got through it together.

and it wasn't even all that painful.

4 months without ANYONE in diapers.

this my friends, is awesome:)

first time in 7 years i have not been changing someone's diaper.

not gonna lie though, i'm so glad to be having another bum to change on the way.

because i'm just not ready for my family to be THAT grown up and out of babyhood quite yet.

this WILL be the first time i've had a newborn baby without a toddler in diapers.

awesome awesome awesome.

awesome baby man.

thank you my sweet little baby man.

sunflower patch

 max came down the stairs this morning with a pair of underwear in her hands.

"i'm ready mom!"

in her high pitch, happy voice.

big smile on her face.

i tried to talk her out of it,
{really, i did. i was not ready.}

but she insisted.

and i figured,

we might as well give it a go before we clean the carpets again.
{and for sure i thought she'd give up after a few hours.}
it was not so.
she's stickin' with it.

i hate potty training.

dun, dun, dun. 

but i do love how cute they are the first time they wear underwear.

so far we're 0-5.

the underwear is losing.

poor chaps.

............

in other news...

i have an entire garden patch of sunflowers growing.

like me,

they have no idea was season it is right now.

I LOVE IT!!!

whoever heard of November temperature highs in Utah in the 70's?!

so very

LOVELY:)

i give you,

my sunflower patch...

{don't mind the weeds}

snow this weekend.
goodbye sunflower patch.
hello warm, cozy, snow fall.
and warm, cozy fall.
i am happy to announce that our brand new furnace was installed last week.
just in time for this upcoming weekend's temperatures.

OUT WITH THE OLD...
{check out all of the rust from the dang leaky AC--BOO!!!}

 IN WITH THE NEW...!!!

feels so fancy i can hardly contain myself.
we haven't really needed to use it with our glamorous summer weather we've been having,
but sometimes in the morning i turn it on just for fun to warm us up a few degrees.
it's the simple things,
like warm bums and noses.
:):):)
JOY!

bonus rules for boys

have i mentioned,
brennan's potty trained?!?
like,
we went the entire day.
in one pair of underwear.
it felt weird.
and normal.
all at the same time.
went out.
of our house.
to two parties.
one birthday.
and one going away.
and survived them both.
kind of.
we made it to the car after the second party at 9pm,
and he lost it.
b/c we forgot the port-a-potty {mcqueen potty}
b/c the big potty is just too scary, he says.
so he was trying to hold it until we got home.
but the poor little guy had chugged one two many glasses of milk with his brownie.
we won't count that b/c he told me he had to go and wanted to go.
just had no where to go.
despite me explaining that there are extra bonus rules for boys,
behind trees and such,
if he wanted to test the waters.
he didn't.
and normally he would have been in bed by 8:30pm,
so anything after 8:30pm doesn't count anyway.
we made it friends.
we made it!!!
and it took less than 72 hours this time.
i guess this is what they meant when they said,
"when they're ready, they're ready."
2 more days of this and he gets the motorcycle big wheels from grandma gibson that motivated all of this potty business.
thank heavens for motorcycle big wheels.

extreme case of stubborn.

how long have you ever seen a child hold their pee?

i used to be a pro.

we are going on almost 12 hours here.

not to fret.

we even visited the pediatrician this morning.

thinking it was a bladder infection.

it is not.

just an extreme case of stubborn.

watching brennan do the potty dance around our house,

running man, while sitting on his potty.

squirming at the doc's office when she tried to get him to go.

i feel no guilt when i say,

it's down right hilarious.

brennan even had the pediatrician rolling.

sean, dr. chamberlin, and me.

all busting a gut as he sat on his knees dancing back and forth.

his little bum bouncing from left to right.

focusing so hard.

i've wondered if i'm pushing him?

doc says no.

if you ask him if he wants to wear his diapers,

he says no.

he obviously wants to go.
he tells you he wants to pee in the potty.
he wants his underwear.
and he doesn't want his diapers anymore.
it's like we are stuck in the denver airport,
waiting for our flight into iowa.
can't turn back.
but don't know how long it's going to be before we can get on our way.
except there's no tcby yogurt shop in my house.
no california pizza kitchen to tide us over.
maybe we can get to chicago.
b/c at least if we're in chicago we can walk on the moving sidewalk and look at the squiggly lights change colors overhead.
this coming from a girl who grew up in airports:).
are you following me?!
now he is running around the big room,

knees locked,

grunting.

running in place.

have mercy.

this child is the reincarnate of me and my personality.

and i love him for it.

poor thing, lol.

doc's orders?

lots of fluids,

and dangle every reward in front of him we can think of.

on the table as of yet:

jumping on the tramp.

soda.

bubbles.

halloween bucket treats.

ice cream.

t-minus 5 hours until we have to go back for the catheter.
at least we know he can hold it.
that's great news.

start your seeds

another day of underwear,
lucky charms in the toilet bowl (targets my friends, targets),
and a load of laundry in my washer.
phew!
this is the hardest thing i've ever done.
i feel like i have changed as a person.
and grown as a mother.
just as i was about to call it all quits again,
brennan shocked my socks off and finally figured out what i've been trying to teach him for the past 48 hours.
we're not 100% there,
but man, we're making progress.
BIG progress.
and so is my garden.
it's time folks,
time to start those indoor seeds.
this i have never done.
a gardening virgin.
deflowered???
or just flowered.
that just sounds so wrong.
and so right, lol.
pun intended?
HA!!!
so dannie came over to show me how to get things going.
it was really simple.
i had made it out to be a much more complicated process in my mind.
so get to your local home depot or wherever you see seed packets, and get your seeds started indoors.
a great indoor activity for this weekend.
and from what i've heard,
you can keep some in pots for the entire growing season if you don't have a place to plant.
leroy at home depot told me he always had a garden,
even when he lived in apartments.

you will need: seed starting soil, little egg crates if you don't want to buy the ones they sell at the store, seeds, and if you want to get fancy, buy a gardening tool for potting. i got mine for 99 cents at home depot.
my only seeds that need starting indoors are the bell peppers and tomatoes.
everything else can wait until the frost is gone.
this is what my gardening friends and family experts have told me.
bless them.
and my great ideas. 

STEP 1:
wet soil, and mix it,
so it looks like...
well, like manure:)

STEP 2:
put soil into your trays about 3/4 of the way, and label which seeds are going into which trays. i did one tray for peppers and one for tomatoes. 
(b/c we had little helpers we had to go back and take some soil out, and put some more water in, but they loved helping so it was worth it!)
the crates will need something to sit in for draining water as you water them indoors over the next 4-6 weeks.
i used the top of a small plastic organizing bin.

STEP 3:
poke your finger through the center of each compartment to leave a small hole for the seeds to go into.
then drop 2-3 seeds into each hole (check the packet of your seeds to see if 2-3 seeds per hole is right).

STEP 4:

cover with dirt to the top.

dannie told me to use a spray bottle to water them until i see sprouts coming up.
then to water them with the faucet.
she also said not to over water.
and something about the leaves looking funny if i've over watered.
we shall see if i encounter that!
no idea what i'm doing.
so if you don't know what you're doing,
start not knowing what you're doing with me.
and we can start learning what we're doing together:)
washing machine is dinging.
can't wait to see these puppies grow!!!

9, take away 1.

we went through 9 pairs of underwear.
1 of which could not be recovered.

'nuff said.
3 dish towels.
3 pairs of pants (less leaks onto the carpet if they have on pants, fyi).
1 swim towl.
i held my temper.
had my loving patience.
and dang it,
i want my mother of the year award.
instead,
i broke down crying around 9:30pm.
and it felt good.
really good.
sean sat with me on the couch and told me really sweet nice things.
i love him.
then i stayed up to unwind,
watching some of my favorite reality tv junk.
now i am a new woman and ready to conquere day 2.
the best part of the day,
was at 7pm when bieber came running in from the play room shouting,
"mom!!!! I HAVE TO GO PEE!!!"
i started jumping up and down,
my hands waving in the air,
ran to brennan,
grabbed his little pudgy cabbage patch hand that i adore,
and we booked it straight to the queen potty.
which was still in front of the tv.
where upon he sat and sat and sat and sat.
for awhile.
i don't know how long.
the setting the timer thing is not my forte.
i forget to set the timer to remind him to go pee.
so several times in the morning he peed b/c well, it had been 3 hours and no one had reminded him to try.
myself being "no one."
don't worry,
every time he peed,
i knew about it.
and after a day of him not knowing about it, i was ecstatic with our accomplishments.
telling me he had to go.
GLORY BE!
so he sat on the queen potty for a long time.
i think he may have watched a show.
i'm not sure.
but he did tell me he loved his underwear and that diapers are yucky.
he wanted to pee in the potty.
what i do know is that at some point while i was cutting an avocado and grilling turkey meat for tacos he decided he was done trying.
announces, "no pee is coming."
my neighbor knocked on my door.
love her.
we chatted on the porch,
and brennan took off around the corner of the house.
5 minutes later,
as we are in the middle of sharing our life stories and ailments of the day,
brennan shouts an ear shattering scream.
and holly tells me there's a big puddle in his tracks.
what we have diagnosed?
stage fright.
all day.
and a darn good case of hating pee down his leg.
but man it feels good to have made some progress.
b/c the fact that he knew it was coming,
felt like winning the lotto.
bring it on thursday,
BRING.
IT.
ON.