Mormon Message

I never followed Nie Nie. Many of my friends did. I knew her story. But I didn't follow her blog and all the details of her accident and recovery. I tell you what, though, this woman is incredeible, and there is a reason that thousands follow her, ready to read her uplifting words that she posts on her blog. She is a woman of faith who is a clear example of being a disciple of Christ. Worth the eight minutes, she makes me want to be a better person.

Return of the Potty

So, marathon news to come later, because we have much bigger news tonight folks!

Tonight, after painting her fingernails and toenails purple, and doing the other nighttime routine, I put Callie down to bed. A bit later, I heard a noisy clamor coming from the bedroom. I went in the room to find Callie sitting on the floor by Samantha's bed (who luckily was so knocked out from her sleeping medication -- hallelujah for that stuff!). I flitted over to her side and quietly whispered into her attentive ear that it was time to go to bed, and if she would be so kind, to stay in bed and stop playing with the window shade and pulling the rigged up curtain off the wall and not go into Samantha's bed with her anymore. That's when I noticed she wasn't wearing any pants. Great. I searched around in the dark, found the pants and corresponding diaper, and began to put them on when she sweetly, and really, it was sweet, told me that she had to go potty. Potty?! Did you say Potty?! Ok.

Off she went to the bathroom, put her little seat on the big seat, moved the stool over, pulled her pants down, stepped on the stool, sat down. tinkle tinkle Yes. Welcome to your feature film, Return of the Potty...and we're quite happy over here.

Then off to bed.

So you see, this was very exciting news and details on the 1/2 marathon will come...but tomorrow. I'm very pleased with this progress...and I'm certainly not convinced that she's going back to the potty 100%, but this is a great first step back to where we were. Wahoo for my little girl!

And This is Sammy...

While we wait for the school bus, Sammy enjoys some roaming around time.

Sister Love

Potty Woes

Well, Callie was potty trained. I have no question about that. She would go to the bathroom herself -- we'd be outside and then she'd disappear, only reappearing to let us know that she went potty by herself. And she had. She had been going diaperless on errands, to church, everywhere we went. And there was never a problem.

But then, one day, something went terribly wrong...and we're not sure what that was....but she has never been the same. She is completely terrified of the potty. She panics and refuses to go. The look of fear is beyond what I have ever seen on her face before. We've had accident after accident after accident.

This has been frustrating for many reasons. One -- we know she can do it. She's been going to the potty all by herself for awhile now, and at her own free will. Two -- taking steps backwards is just a frustrating thing. You think, "Why? What could possibly make this happen? And all this work for nothing?" (And then, of course, this makes me think of my friend Maren who experiences this nearly everyday with her daughter.) And, it was just so nice to have my 2 year old potty trained. Less diapers, less money...she's more independent. I was very comfortable with the situation, and now, we've reverted back to 6+ months ago.

We've debated back and forth about what to do...just be consistent and push through? But when we did that, she was holding it in for so long and the way she was acting -- I was afraid she was going to start getting bladder infections. Go back to diapers? I've heard so many people say they regret ever doing that.

But alas, we have put her back into diapers for the time being. We can't bring ourselves to push her through something that is so traumatic, and I'm afraid we're causing more damage this way. She is terrified. We considered that this may be a control issue...but after only a couple days, we're pretty certain she has some serious fears. Now it's just trying to figure out what caused it.

Anyone else been through this?

Death by Running -- Part 2

Yep. I'm still convinced I may die a grizzly death this Saturday when I run the 1/2 marathon that I'm very ill prepared for. I just got back from running 6 miles, and at one point I'm pretty sure I was looking like this furry friend pictured above -- eyes wide open, struggling for breath as my hair flopped around me. Ok, maybe it wasn't that bad...but still. Whatever picture I was, it wasn't pretty. I ran the 6 miles in little over an hour, but I'm not worried about my time as much as if I'll need to amputate my legs following the race. I may be in critical condition and that's all they'll be able to do for my suffering soul. Anyway. If I'm preparing for death, I might as well have an updated soundtrack. I'm sick of what I've been running to, and I'm thinking something new will mix things up and give me that added umph that I'm so desperately in need of.

Any suggestions out there? What's on your running/workout play list?

Five

Two thousand, one hundred and ninety days.

Three hundred and twelve weeks.

Sixty months.

Five years.

Fourteen birthday celebrations.

Ten states.
(Washington, Utah, California, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, Kentucky, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon)

Eight months of anticipation for Callie.

Seven nieces and nephews.

Six dinners at Outback Steakhouse.

Five different residences.

Five anniversaries.

Four Christmases.

Three computers.

Three cameras.

Three rings.

Three months in Michigan waiting to bring Callie home.

Two family pictures.

Two kids.

One on the way.
(via adoption. No, this isn't a big announcement)

Two BYU graduations.

Two internships.
(Springville High School and Spokane Mental Health)

Two temple sealings.

Two neurologists.

One plastic surgeon.

One neurosurgeon.

One surgery.

One birthmom.

One mom.

One dad.

One camping trip in Arches National Park.

One big trip to Disney World.

One PhD.

One half-marathon.

One car.

One on the way.

One car broken into.

One really cold snowy winter.

One pregnancy and birth.

One inspiring Samantha.

One adoption.

One radiant Callie.

One awesome family and One amazing life.

One perfect match.

Many hopes, dreams, hugs, kisses, friends, smiles, laughs, tears, prayers, hospital visits, therapies, sleepless nights, tired mornings, groggy days, pushes on the swing, trips down the slide, hands held, books read, movies watched, miles driven, and hours spent in pure happiness.

Five down, forever to go.
I love you!