let me start by saying, this really is a post all about poop. so go away if you can't handle a little baby doodoo.

i received a text several days ago asking me what i was doing. our convo proceeded like this:
nicole: "...what did you do today?"
me: "watched conference, slept, made dinner for family, laundry, dealt with poop. pretty good day."
nicole: "dealt with poop. haha you say that like it's just as normal as washing dishes. haha. i guess it is for you though.
me: "yup! that's living w/ a toddler (and baby)."
nicole: "haha, makes me not so pissed about having to vacuum today."
me: "I'd rather wipe a butt than vacuum. she at least says thank you!"
"thank you mama! i was all yucky!!"

good morning princess!
even G (the original mess maker) was disgusted
have you ever seen something so simultaneously cute and disgusting?

the hubs couldn't help, because he was busy taking pics!
oh yeah, it was EVERYWHERE
after two rinse cycles. really, how could you not?

she pooped.
and joy and rejoicing was heard throughout the land.
i don't know that i've ever been so excited about a bowel movement!
those prunes finally paid off.

SPC: bathrooms

this portrait challenge has been the easiest one for me simply because the bathroom is where my entire life seems to exist. in our house there's a whole lot of pooping going on. so many of the pics we take have happened in this little, tiny room. so it should be no surprise that even *business* is done by teams around here.

for more bathroom shots click SPC

i've just had a baby (well six weeks ago) and i'm feeling like i haven't even blogged about my baby's life. and today, i'm actually liking my kids, so this is probably the best time to try and say nice things about all of them. ;-D this is the face we make when we're doing our business:
and this is the face we make when we're hungry:
so those are pretty much the only two faces we ever see of our lil H.

she's still quite a mama's girl, never really wants to be put down. although the swing works as a substitute for about 15 minutes a day... but in completely fantastic news, she sleeps in a 6-7 hour chunk in the night. waHOO! she loves her family, she wakes up and coo's upon seeing me. she smiles as her siblings crowd around while she's trying to eat, in fact she smiles when she even hears their voices. we've adapted quite nicely to having her sweet little spirit in our house.

on to G:
yup, pretty much everything is funny to her. as i type this she's licking the tray of her high-chair, so as to not miss any jam from her sandwich. she's our tornado and our charmer all in one. as a friend of mine said about her own daughter, "she's the ultimate contradiction." the princess in the dirt. the spider-girl in ballet shoes.

F celebrated his birthday last weekend while we were in idaho. 4 years. it sounds trite but i don't even remember them happening. he was such an easy baby, an easy toddler, an easy child that i don't remember much of his life other than his silly grin. and it doesn't help that his face has not changed since he was about 6 weeks old. so even in the pictures i can't remember or place how old he is.
i think that God knew how much of the spotlight his sisters needed and thus blessed him to be *the wind beneath their wings...* really, the only trouble i've ever had with him has been in potty training. and for as little as his sisters allow him to control in life, maybe the whole pooping thing is just something he can control for a little bit longer.

we finally upgraded his spiderman glove to a manly web-shooter:

my E is in her third week of kindergarten. i'm still not sold on the idea. she still comes home from school yelling at everyone and mean, mean, mean. this obviously isn't working for her either. she complains that school isn't fun, except for recess. she's not learning anything that she doesn't already know. i'm sure that some would stay to just stick with it... but i really do know that i can teach her better. i can teach her how to read while also teaching her love and empathy.

the troubles of last week are over for the moment. and i've had an extremely encouraging weekend. i had just spent so much time feeling guilty for everything that i wasn't doing, that i found i couldn't do anything. i'm feeling much happier again and more hopeful for the future.

i've been going to the gym since E started school. i'm excited that i'm actually making progress! i've lost 5 pounds in the past 2 weeks. only 35 left to go! :-P

after G was born i went 5 times a week for 2 months straight... i ended up gaining 2 pounds. i realize that i had lost fat and was actually gaining muscle, but when you go to the gym you want to see results. all i saw was the scale going up and my pants getting tighter. when i quit going i immediatly lost 4 pounds.

on saturday we spent the evening at my mom's second wedding open house in my home town. it was sincere bliss to be surrounded again by so many of the amazing people that raised me. to hear them telling me that i was doing a fantastic job with my own beautiful family meant the world to me. because after babysitting all of their children and seeing them as such fantastic mothers, i find myself asking, "what would Tana do? how would Anteres handle this situation? maybe i should just call Renae and get her opinion about this predicament."

and even though Anteres teased me for being a human pez dispenser, popping these kids out, i still love her and all of her advice! to know that each of these wonderful women made it through this draining time of life gives me great hope for the future. as Anteres said, "during this time you lose your marbles... you won't ever get them all back, but at least some of them return."