Is that POOP?

The following story contains some disgusting information: Reader discretion is advised.



Every parent knows that face… the face that strikes fear straight to your heart and causes a frenzy in the moments that sub sequentially follow. The face I’m speaking of, ladies and gentlemen, is that of a potty training toddler about to poop all over the place.

I’ll start from the very beginning, a very good place to start.

I was visiting with a friend of mine and she was telling me about what a hard time she had getting her potty training toddler to go numero dos in the toilet. She said they were cleaning up spots so much so that her and her husband called them dates. On their hands and knees spot cleaning their poor carpet talking and laughing together. (Ohhhh I know how cute it sounds!) I thought how lucky Shane and I have been that we haven’t had to clean up colossal poop messes while potty training. Oh, we have had accidents in the car, bathtub, outside, but fortunately all the accidents (with the exception of bathtub) have been contained inside the underwear and pants. All accidents that is until last Sunday night.

Our Logan has done shockingly well with his potty training. It really has almost been a pleasure teaching our 2 ½ year old son how to use the “big boy toilet”. He has had his misfortunes, but nothing out of the ordinary and nothing that was too problematical in fixing. We were feeling like champions! Until one Sunday night it all changed.

We had been waiting for and encouraging a poo-poo trip to the bathroom with Logan, consequently he was running around sans underwear. I should have known that wasn't a wise thing to do. He went a tiny bit in the toilet earlier in the day. I should have known then. We heard Brandon yell’ “EWWW is that poop???” There was a small drop on the offender’s leg. I should have known then. Shane asked “Did Logan poop on the floor?” Again a tiny drop and again, I should have known then!!! I go merrily on my way throughout the next 15 minutes and decide Sophie needs to be fed. While I am feeding her, rendering me helpless to any situation that occurs within the home - emergency or not, I see the face which has been aforementioned.

“OH NO! SHAAAAAANE!!!!!!!”

Shane sees the face as well and immediately springs into action. He jumps up, grabs Logan under the armpits, and rushes to bathroom as fast as he can go. Unfortunately it’s too late as Logan is dropping poop bombs all the way to the bathroom.

I hear a “Oh SON!” followed by a small crash (Shane slipped barefoot on one of the bombs) Lindsay, upon hearing all the commotion rushes to see what’s happening and steps right into one of the droppings, squishing it all in between her toes. Of course she does whatever any 5year old girl would do in a situation like this… she sits down and starts sobbing with a simply horrified look on her face. Brandon has by now come to check up on the situation and begins gagging and not only can he not stop gagging, he can't stop looking at the scene that is making him gag. And where is mom during this one minute episode? Sitting on the couch, where she was when it all began, laughing uncontrollably.

After the kids and Shane were all cleaned up the kids were sent upstairs and told NOT to come down lest another poopey toes incident occur. So, as it turns out Shane and I did get our poop scrubbing date after all. There were 10 poop spots in all… so it was a nice LONG date.

Lindsay's chant

We have some friends over playing in the pool and this chant from Lindsay is what I am currently getting a kick out of:

"Brandon and Jackson sitting in a tree.... H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P"

Capturing a Smile

We have been trying and trying to catch Sophie's smile on camera and are not having much luck! This picture is the best we've come up with. It's a cute picture, it just doesn't capture her personality like I want. We DO however have a cute video of her and Brandon "talking" to eachother for your viewing pleasure.

To the mountains!

So last Saturday we went outdoors for the first time since Sophie has been born. They place we were aiming for, Rainbow Trout Lake or something like that, was closed so we just took a small hike that led no where, but did have a teepee in the middle of the forest! It was a really fun discovery, especially for Brandon and Lindsay! They were absolutely convinced we had found an actual teepee used by Indians. It was great! And wouldn't you know our luck continued when a couple of other hikers offered to take a family picture. We had a lot of fun. The hike was super short, but it was nice to be outside as a family again. And the most important part I'm told by my husband, is that Logan had his "right of passage" and "relieved himself" in the woods for the first time. Go Logan!

Taking a little break by the stream.

A Fancy Party

The Friday after Lindsay's birthday we had a birthday party with friends. It was her first one and she was VERY excited! She decided she wanted to have a "fancy" party. If you have ever read Fancy Nancy, you know exactly where she got the idea! She loves (or should I say adores) those books! We got her invitations out and waited for the big day. While we waited she practiced being fancy. She made sure she drank with her pinky up and that we called eachother darling. The big day came, and it was oh so lovely! We dressed up, played games, did makeup, ate fancy cupcakes with icecream! It was such a fun afternoon!

Lindsay's fancy clothes and pose! (it's a kissing face)

Everyone came dressed up fancy, but they weren't quite ready yet. We got some play makeup and all the girls got to put makeup on! I have to say, it was one of the cutest sights I've ever seen! They were all very quiet as they concentrated holding their eyelids down with one hand and putting their sparkly eyeshadow on and putting glitter wherever there was ANY skin showing! SO fun!

A fancy girl accessorizes! They all got to make their own fancy sunglasses.

Instead of "Pin the tail on the donkey" we played "Put the lipstick on the princess"

Our oven broke the morning of the party and so the cupcakes were all sunk and horrible looking! I told the girls that truly fancy girls could make anything look fancy and so it was their job to make the poor cupcakes look pretty. They took on the challenge and succeeded I must say!

Blowing out the candles! 5 of them??? She's getting old!

Oh the fanciness!! What CUTIES!

Swimming!

For Lindsay's birthday her brothers gave her a swimming pool. How generous of them right? Give a gift that they will also be able to get some use out of? Anyways, she loved it and the kids have been swimming like crazy! Logan slips and goes under all the way all the time. At first it scared him and he would cry, now he's not even phased. I have to say it's been a wonderful gift to me too. It keeps the kids entertained and happy for hours! We're hoping for some good weather this week so they can get back in without freezing! They will go swimming even if it's a little chilly outside and come in shivering, blue, and begging for hot chocolate!

Isn't she cute??

8 Weeks

Our Sophie is 8 weeks old! She is getting to be so much fun! She smiles (not for the camera we are finding out!) and she coos. She still has some rough nights a few times a week, but for the most part has a schedule now which is helpful, even if it's not an ideal schedule. We just can't get enough of her and are enjoying her participating a little bit more in the family. Especially the kids... they all just love it when she talks to them and smiles at them!

5?!?!?!?

Well, Sunday Lindsay turned 5! She has been so excited for her birthday this year and not shy about telling us exactly what we can do to make the day specail for her. She wanted her chair at the table to be decorated with balloons, she wanted balloons all around on the floor. She wanted a "butterfly cake with sprinkles inside and sprinkles on the icecream". We did our best and I think she ended up having a really nice day. Since it was Sunday she was excited that everyone was going to sing to her in primary. She told me before church that she was "really excited, but a little nervous" because "I've never had so many people sing to just me before!" It was a really great day! Happy Birthday my girl!

This is my absolute favorite picture from the day!

Fishing Season is here!

Shane is quite a fisherman and has instilled this passion of his in the rest of our family. His favorite ways for fishing are fly fishing in rivers and canoeing around lakes. Unfortunately now that we are a family of 6 we no longer all fit into our canoe. He took the kids fishing over Memorial Day Weekend for the first time this year. Here are some pictures (out of order) of their first fishing trip!

In this picture they are coming back to drop off Logan, who was getting a little tired of being in the boat. Brandon canoed them back in. Shane decided that this year is going to be the year for Brandon to learn to canoe. He did really well, Shane is just helping him get up on the rocks to dock.

This is a picture of them leaving. Everyone is all smiles when they leave and then when they come back some of them are tired and cranky. It's kindof funny.

Fishermen Ahoy!

Preschool Graduation

On the night of May 13th my little baby girl graduated preschool!

Here she is recieving her diploma

Brooklyn, Lindsay, Zoiee, Kiera, Taylor and our only dude, Jefferson

It's official. Lindsay will never attend preschool again (whew!) I can't believe how old she is getting!!! Which makes me feel old! We had a fun night. Ate some dinner, the kids played and then had the ceremony. It's been a lot of fun this year with the group that we had and I think I'll always do the co-op thing as long as I do preschool for any of my kids. It's fun, you know exactly what's being taught and you can't beat the price!

A Visit from Gramma Cracker

Grandma Gebs came to visit us soon after Sophie got out of the hospital. Even though it was a short visit, it was a lot of fun. The highlights of the visit included a trip to the zoo and Sunday Night Dancing.