port-a-potty

have you ever been near a port a potty when it's being emptied?

we were last week.
i plugged my nose and scooted away.
the pork loin?
he went right up to the fence to peek through.

apparently foul smells don't bother him yet...

he stood there the entire 10 minutes it took.

lots of noise, big truck, smelly.

toddler's paradise.

i'm happy when you're happy, little loin:-)

a memory

thankful that the scouts wake up early to put pretty flags up all over our neighborhood:-)
so i can remember.
what i was doing.
8 years ago this morning.
...
woke up early for class.
like 6:30am.
not normal in my college days.
checking email.
dial up internet.
hence, the busy phone line.
cell phone turned off.
roommate sleeping peacefully.
friend ashley pounding on my door.
"terrorists are attacking us em, come to my room. they just flew a plane into the world trade center."
"what?"
"em, come on."
i remember my heart pounding as we walked to ashley's room.
as we walked in, we watched the second plane hit the 2nd tower.
saw a united airlines plane hit a tower.
the same airline my mom flew for.
she was supposed to be flying a trip that day.
got ahold of mom.
safe.
spent the rest of the day piled into the whitney hall rec room watching the news for the rest of the day.
i don't even remember eating.
by my 11am class they hadn't cancelled classes yet.
we went.
the teacher sent us home.
they cancelled classes after that.
it was like no one really knew how bad it was yet...
...
what were you doing?

curly fry, that's me

i don't remember being extremely emotional when i was pregnant with brennan.
or particularly intense about having to have a specific food at odd times of the day.
let me paint a picture for you tonight.
watching america's got talent
(aris's fiance is in jersey boys, performed on the show tonight).
arby's commercial came on during the break.
curly fries.
the ones that are the really tight ringlets.
yum.
had.to.have.them.
return home with curly fries.
play taped oprah season premier.
(no, we don't have tevo. we still use a vhs tape and record our shows.)
so oprah.
22 yr old girl, oprah makes her wish to meet josh groban come true.
(well, she really wanted him for a prom date back in high school).
in comes josh.
girl starts crying.
screaming.
jumping up and down.
hands over the mouth hysterical.
and there i was.
crying.
we're talking tears "a droppin" people.
with arby's curly fries on my lap.
pregnancy at its finest.
oh dear.
i'm there.
i'm really there.
i was the epitome of the pregnant woman that "they" make fun of in commercials.
it was hilarious.
so glad sean was watching espn in the back.
maybe he won't check the blog today...and we can keep this just between us.

not folding his arms

what is the toddler doing during family prayer?
not folding his arms.
that's for dang sure.

does that mean we're #3?

if you're a cougar fan you'll most definitely appreciate brennan's new trick.

GO COUGS!!!!!!!!!!!

way to beat those oakies!

(for the non-college football watchers:

byu (ranked #20) beat oklahoma (ranked #3) last night 14 to 13.)

brat

bananas, rice, applesauce, toast
the worst case i've ever seen in the little guy.
the brat diet is not going over well.

poor little pork loin.

olive

image

wouldn't one with olives on brennan's fingers haven been so much cuter? i know. next time.

is the olive a fruit or a veggie?
i'm convinced brennan would eat olives at every meal, if allowed.
so my question.
can the olive be counted as both

a fruit & a veggie?
i'm no farmer,
but my logic tells me it is "technically" a fruit b/c it grows from a tree.
i think the distinguishing factor of a veggie is growing from the ground.
then there's tomatoes.
an exception.

so can olives be an exception in the veggie world?
my argument for the olive being a veggie:
if they're not a veggie, then why are they always on the veggie platter at every one of our family holidays?
there you have it.
a fruit & a veggie.
there's green in the color black.

then there's the green ones themselves (which i REALLY don't prefer).

so can it be counted as a green veggie?
i think i'm onto something here...

orange juice, who knew?

brennan spent the morning at wilder's.
pancakes and bananas.
they are 2 weeks apart.
the boys, not the pancakes.
yup, when his mommy was done being pregnant i still had 2 more weeks.
even though our due dates were three days apart.
or something.
blah.
yes bree, i'm STILL bugged about that!
off i went to my monthly doc apt for babe in belly.
155-160 beats per minute.
doc assures me that, in fact, i am pregnant.
i know, amazing.
i left dr. N's office with my ultrasound slip in hand.
the BIG ultrasound slip.
the one where we find out if everything is happy and healthy in there.
(and if it's a girl?????)
"anytime after the 14th of this month," he said.
well, i've officially paced myself and set it for the 29th.
@3:15 to be exact.
this snazy new place has all of the bells and whistles.
same doctor, just new ultrasound place.
1 hour, 3-D, lots of pictures.
i'm excited:-)
so i picked brennan up, and we brought wilder home with us for an hour or two.
they squealed and laughed the entire way home in the backseat.
so this is what twins is like, i think to myself.
they fought over the walker and the bike.
then they played in the play house together.
somehow wilder overturned the walker and scraped his tummy.
"mommy, mommy, mommy."
it was sad.
what fixed it?
orange juice.
the juice i gave them in their own big boy cups.
which they spilled all over the ground after their 3rd refill.
glad we were outside.
glad they made it through 3 refills.
wilder said, "uh oh."
brennan patted him on the back, looking very concerned.
i poured him some more.
it was darling.
oh. and brennan will be referred to as "talley" from this point forward.
says wilder anyway.

time to feel myself up

this is the part where i almost died.
date: jan 2001, a wednesday night

i'm very cavalier about my health.

i've always been very healthy.

i barely even had a notable case of the chicken pox as a child.

i had a hairline fracture my senior year of high school.

no other broken bones.

a major car accident my senior year of high school.

late for play practice.

wet roads.

stupid 18 yr old (me).

two lane highway.

speeding (about 10 over)

hydroplaning.

smooshed beneath a flatbed truck.

hit a tree.

life flighted.

that was not a great year for me.

nonetheless, i consider myself to be an incredibly healthy person.

no major illnesses or complications in life.

it is rare for me to get a cold or the flu.

although i have had both this year.

as a teacher i never got the flu shot, and i never got the flu.

i've never missed work due to illness.

the only forms of cancer in my family history are skin cancers.

all treatable if caught early on.

thus my annual trips to the dermatologist.

so when my OB asks if i'm doing monthly breast exams i say,

"no, not really."

translation: never.

although when i'm nursing i am constantly checking for anything hard that could cause mastitis.

he smiles and reminds me that breast cancer is possible at any age, even when pregnant.

i always feel like the scary stuff doesn't apply to the mother in pregnancy.

before you start worrying, no, i don't have breast cancer.

it's always about having a healthy baby.

mom should be exempt from all scary "other" illnesses.

sheesh, being pregnant and birthing a baby should be enough for one year, don't you think!?

this of course is extremely ignorant.

as is my cavalier attitude about breast cancer.

did you know that you are at risk for breast cancer?

small ones, big ones, lopsided ones, augmented ones, and the list goes on.

you're a women, you're at risk.

there have even been cases of men with breast cancer.
rare, but still, they have the breast tissue.

"i don't have any history of breast cancer in my family."

this is what i tell myself.

"i eat very healthy foods and exercise regularly."

then i think of lance.

then yesterday, i hear of someone close to me who's mother has just been diagnosed with breast cancer.

without any family history of it.

i guess it's time to go feel myself up.

oh goody:-)

i hope you do too.

"brek-ie"

my college invention.
in the dorm cafeteria of whitney hall.
cottage and english muffin.
...
toast
butter
top with cottage (4% milkfat, small curd)
salt
...
i realize this may sound disgusting, but OH how delightful it is:-)
go ahead,
i dare you!
try it.
happy eating:-)