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.

tinkle tv

look, all we need is one little tinkle.
then we'll be in business.
desperate times call for desperate measures.
and so,
we wait.

 i'm beginning to think max might be potty trained before brennan.

24

if i had 24 hours to myself.
i would:
organize the basement.
watch the food network.
go to the gym.
take a long hot shower.
sleep in.
go out to lunch.
get a new bra.
watch the today show.
go to a movie.
and not in that order.
i don't like the gym anymore, but it used to be one of my favorite things to do,
and i think it would be fun to do something in my pre-mama routine.
just for one day.
like watching the today show.
i always felt so informed.
i barely heard about the earthquake in japan.
thank goodness for texting.
and people knowing that if it's not on disney channel,
i don't hear about it.
the thing i didn't like about the gym was going every day.
where it felt like a chore.
so i think it would be fun to get to go just for one day.
as a relaxing, enjoyable activity.
and really, i'd rather just go for an 8 mile run in the middle of idaho, but we only have 24 hours folks, and we all know i'm not in running shape anymore, so there's no way i'm going to be able to do 8.
man, i used to run!!!
and since we are dreaming,
i would also like to request no sore muscles the next day.
i used to love the food network show where they showed where different kinds of food got their start.
how they were all made.
when the today show is over,
i would have the food network on.
turned up so i could hear it in the basement.
as i threw stuff out.
organized the rest.
in bins.
i like bins.
a lot.
i don't even remember the name of that food network show anymore,
but before i had kids, i used to ALWAYS watch it.
i ate a lot more then.
mainly b/c when you watch the food network you get hungry.
even if you're not hungry,
watching it makes you hungry.
and it was usually on at 10pm.
evil!
evil i say!
so after sleeping in, going to the gym, and taking a hot shower,
i would get dressed.
do a little basement organizing/throwing out.
while having the food network on in the background.
and then need a break.
so.
i'd go out to lunch.
like jen, i would have to say cheesecake factory would be my spot.
i would order:
avocado rolls with extra dip b/c there's never enough.
rasberry lemonade.
refilled at least once.
and another once for the road.
sugar retouched every time.
and a piece of the adam's peanut butter cheesecake.
i've tried others.
they do not compare.
it's all i need.
and want.
i would eat half of it.
ask for extra whipped cream to go, and save the other half for later.
back to the basement.
hopefully by now i would have cleaned out most of my teaching boxes which we all know i won't be using ever again.
god willing.
maybe have the courage to throw out the old cheerleading megaphone.
maybe not.
definitely put the pom poms and prom dress in a box.
good willed some of the toys?
maybe this basement idea isn't so hot.
but it's what i always want to do.
when no kids are around.
maybe it's just one of those things i say i want to do b/c i know the kids will never not be around so it's a safe desire to want b/c i don't really want to do it, i just want to say i want to do it, knowing it might never happen anyway?
wow,
that's too deep for a monday night.
so let's just say i'm working on that basement as planned.
then come up for a snack.
watch oprah.
during it's regularly scheduled time.
watch the evening news.
i'd better be feeling informed by this point during the day.
probably paranoid and a little depressed by all of the negative news too.
then back to the basement.
eat the last half of the cheesecake for dinner.
drop off all of the basement de-junking at the DI/goodwill.
go to a movie.
large popcorn,
layered butter 2 times, 3 if i'm being really honest.
extra salt.
large mug of diet pepsi and dr pepper mixed.
come home.
fall asleep reading a good book.
and if there really were no budget for this free 24 hours,
let's be honest.
i would have squeazed in a $1000 shopping spree.
on clothes.
and shoes.
just for me:)
the end.
who's funding this and watching my kids?!
I'M THERE!!!

the old phat professors.

40 years of the physical therapy department at the university of utah.
exciting business my friends.
EXCITING!
so we got all dressed up.
even did valet.
but only bc we were late and there were no self parking spots left.
after dancing all night,
i was happy for that $6 valet.
less walking on sore feet.
i don't wear heels very often,
and now i know why.
it also happened to be the big byu game against gonzaga.
sweet sixteen spot was riding on the line.
so sean streamed the game to his phone.
and the best part of the night was watching sean sit next to one of his physical therapy idols.
b/c they watched the game together.
i can't decide if sean was more enamored with the game,
or the fact that rod miyasaki was sitting next to him and watching it with him.
it was so cute.
i'm sure he would not appreciate me calling it cute,
but, MY BLOG:)

i couldn't stop looking up at the chandeliers.
it was held in the little america hotel in downtown salt lake city.
we kept saying,
"if this is the little america,
what does the grand america look like?!"
b/c from the outside,
the little america looks like the motel 8 compared to the grand america across the street.
the grand america looks like the plaza hotel.
well, let me tell you.
the little america does not disappoint.

"the old phat professors" was the band for the evening.

they played lots of beatles and classic rock.

it was so much fun.

i can't remember the last time sean and i got to dance together.

the lead guitarist played one song with a salt shaker.

SO AWESOME.

you have to check it out below:

it is difficult to take pictures while dancing.
especially when it's dark.
and you're using your phone.
exhibit A, B, C, and D:

but it's really
really
fun.

tippy toes

saturday is a special day:)
i love this picture.
i came back from putting a load of laundry in the dryer and found him here.
on my emily stool.
on his little tippy toes,
with his fingers in the cookie dough.
this is what it's all about.
...
the finished product:

tonight,
sean is taking me out!
dancing,
dinner,
and big department of physical therapy school 40th anniversary party!
and the grandparents are coming to babysit.

you KNOW i'll have pictures of this one:)

time to go put my face and fancy shoes on!

it's for me.

and the kids think the tramp is for them.

HA!!!

OH HAPPY DAY:)
takes me back to the birchwood hills house in ottumwa and utah summers as a kid.

st pat's.

GiGi made corned beef and cabbage.

this is what she said on the phone.

so we jumped into the car running.

no other way i'd rather spend st. pat's than eating a festive dinner with some of my favorite people.

the spread.
so pretty.

the byu game was on.

march madness kicked off.

sean had no problem watching the game on grandma's tv instead of ours.

much bigger than ours at home. 

go cougs!!!

i picked them to win the whole cha-bang.

but my bracket never does well.

probably bc i pick my teams based off of color and if i like their name or if they have a good record.

funny thing is that sometimes i pick the upset:)

then grandma explained that st. pat's is the leprechan's birthday so we needed to sing him a birthday song,
complete with candles.
brennan came running.
then he ate the frosting off of four different little cupcakes.

the green milk is finally gone.
we used the last of it for some hot chocolate this morning.
i love how summer teases us with spring and then dumps a few inches of snow.
i love it b/c it melts away with more sun that always comes,
and i love how everyone freaks out about the snow that is going to melt before the end of the day.
i love how we can have all 4 seasons of weather in one day in utah.
why is it that i only eat corned beef on st pat's?
it always tastes so good.
i just forget about it i guess.
maybe that's why everyone gets so angry about the snow.
they forget how miserably hot everything gets in july.
that must be it;)
maybe it's just me.
it probably is.
but i don't love how once you've tasted the tease of summer i yearn for more.
i want more!!!
more heat!
more sun!
now!!!

pinchers ready.

 happy st. patty's day!!!

i found the lephrechan that changed our milk.

looked a lot like max.

it's funny how it tastes better green.

always has.

always will.

the milk,

not max,

but she's a great snack too.

have your pinchers ready!
brennan keeps telling me he has leprechan milk.
and it's going to turn him green.
it turned the pancakes green.
having a 3yr old might be the funnest thing i've ever done.

my great idea.

i went to home depot for a strawberry bush.
i remember picking them in elementary school from stacie's yard in the summers.
crouching down and gorging ourselves on them.
there were never as many as i wanted.
whether it was the birds or the fact that stacie had 4 other siblings,
i don't know.
i just remember loving it.
so i decided to be ambitious and throw in some green beans,
sweet baby tomatoes,
pumpkins,
sunflowers,
and cucumbers.
we'll see how it goes.
i think i'm definitely in over my head.
espeically since i only bought one bag of soil.
which from the picture above, and how LeRoy at home depot told me i needed to space all of the different vegetables apart, is obviously not enough soil.
i'll for sure be needing to go back for some more.

i still have to go back for my tomato cage things and green bean fence.
we just didn't have enough room in the car.
with the stroller.
the ladder we've been saying we were going to buy since oct.
and two kids.
let the gardening games begin!
i have no idea what i'm doing.
this reminds me of crocheting.
and quilting.
have mercy.

i love the imperfections

i stood in my closet today.
left hand/arm full of windex, toilet bowl cleaner, a magic eraser, and a sponge.
i was throwing some shoes in my closet on the way to put away my cleaners.
i really wanted my belt.
i was trying to do the one fell swoop of put away, clean up, and get the belt i'd been trying to put on since i woke up this morning.
it was on my pants from yesterday.
and i wore other old pants downstairs to get my clean jeans i really wanted to wear that were sitting on the dryer.
so i'd already worn the temporary pants downstairs,
so i wouldn't flash my underwear to my neighbors,
changed in my laundry room into the clean jeans i'd wanted this morning,
left the temporary jeans in the laundry room,
cleaned the bathroom in between,
and was on my way upstairs to put everything else away.
pulling my pants up onto my hips for the fiftieth time.
and since i was already in the closet i thought i'd multi-task and grab my belt.
so i stood there trying to take my belt off of yesterday's pants.
but it just kept cinching the pants tighter and tighter as i tried to one-handedly pull the belt out.
shaking the belt, hoping to get the belt to slide out of yesterday's pants.
then some windex sprayed out onto yesterday's pants.
new perfume, yeeeeesssssss!
it made me laugh.
and i thought,
why did i think this was faster?
i could have just gone out of the closet,
put the cleaners away,
and come back into the closet.
but no,
my efficient mind felt like it had to continue holding the cleaners AND take the belt off of the pants at the same time, using only one hand.
i just really wanted that belt now,
and i couldn't wait any longer and risk forgetting about the belt after putting the cleaners away.
i was really wanting that belt on!
yet when i put the cleaners away,
i still had to put the belt down to get them onto the top shelf in the bathroom anyway.
i really don't think i saved myself anytime.
and i really don't think it was any faster.
it was most likely a slower process.
but my mind was stuck in the fact that i was already there,
and i didn't want to come back.
i doubt it was effective multi-tasking.
but still, i was in it already.
and hot dog, i was for sure getting that belt on now!
i love these little parts of my personality that make decisions throughout the day.
i love how after 28 years,
i can finally appreciate the way i do it,
love others for the way they do it,
and love myself,
despite my imperfections.
wait,
no,
because of the imperfections.
because they make me who i am.
they make me more dynamic.
and dang it,
they helped me finally get that belt on this morning.