Success!

I am just so happy right now--Amy just pooped in the potty! For those of you without kids that might think I'm crazy, one day you will understand! She just turned 20 months on Thursday and has loved the potty for a while, but only because Samantha uses it. I saw that look--you all know it--and we ran to the potty and sat for a while and talked about whatever I could think of. Then I made a big deal when she was done and we went and told Daddy and Samantha and she was VERY proud of herself. Yea Amy! Let's hope we can keep it up.

**UPDATE** **UPDATE ** **UPDATE** Wednesday, April 23

IT HAPPENED AGAIN TODAY! I was sitting across the room and Amy said "poo poo" and I asked her if she wanted to sit on the potty and she said yes. I sat her on and BAM! She went again! What a happy and proud mom I am!

SLC Marathon

I know I haven't posted in a while....truth be told, I didn't know where my camera was! I guess it's time for some spring cleaning because I found it on my desk, but buried under some papers. Anyway, Saturday was the SLC Marathon and Brandon had lots of family that was participating in all events. We headed up about 8:30 am, but most of the races started at 7 or 7:30 am.
It looked like a promising day outside for the weather...until we reached Gateway which was like the wind tunnel of death. It was only in this spot that the wind just raced through, but I bet the runners thought it was a nice cool down. We had no idea where anyone was, so we just started wandering. First we ran into Jana (Brandon's cousin-in-law, below) You wouldn't know it, but she's pregnant! The poor girl gets super sick and wanted to run in the marathon, but the little baby said no to that, and she's such a trooper that she still ran the 5k. Way to go!
Next came Lindsey (Another one of Brandon's cousin-in-laws). This is her actually finishing the half-marathon. She did awesome!
Here's Jana, Lindsey, Jeff (Jana's husband and Brandon's cousin) and their kids--all little marathoners!
Then we found Kimm (Brandon's cousin) and Scott (Brandon's brother). It was pretty cool because we went from not knowing where anyone was, to finding almost everyone in like 10 minutes. Scott & Kimm both did the 5k. Scott finished at about 23 minutes--he is super fast! In case you don't know, 5k is equal to 3.1 miles.I was most anxious to see this girl--my sister-in-law, Erin, who is my good buddy. She ran the half marathon and didn't know if she could do it, but she did SO AWESOME! We were all walking ahead of the crowd, trying to get a good spot to wait for her, when I saw something flash by. I looked and said to Brandon, I think that's Erin! We caught up to Scott and I asked him if she was wearing a grey shirt and he said yes! So he raced off to try and catch her and we all followed, not knowing for sure if it was her or not. But I knew that blonde pony tail anywhere and she totally surprised everyone at how fast she finished. I think it was 2 hours and 49 minutes--or something close to that. She had never before ran the 13.1 miles until this day. When we caught up to her, she had tears streaming down her face and I gave her a big hug and said, "I SAW YOU RUN!!!!" I really felt like a proud mama!
Here's the proud husband! It was really inspiring being there to see so many people make their dreams come true--not that I ever want to run anything like this! The first place finisher did it in just over 2 hours for the marathon. 26.2 miles in just over 2 hours, are you kidding me? No thanks, but WOW!
And wouldn't you know it that I just happened to be walking by when I ran into an old friend from college. This is Jon and his wife Maggie, whom I've never met, so it was so fun to see them and catch up a little. Then on the way back to the car I saw another girl that used to live across the hall from me in college too. I think her name was Lori--she was friends with my friend Kirsten, but anyway, what a small world! I had so much fun being there and am so proud of everyone that ran. We sadly missed seeing Angela finish. She was the only one we knew that ran the entire marathon and we heard that she did great and finished at about 4 hrs 45 minutes. Can you imagine running straight for that long? Me either! Way to go Ang!

Potato Land

This past weekend, we ventured to Scott & Erin's house to play. I was pretty sick with a nasty cough all week, so we didn't even know we were going to go until the night before. Brandon was anxious and wanted to just walk out the door...without packing or anything, but I said no to that. The girls did pretty good in the car, considering Amy can't hardly sit still at all!
The kids were so happy to see each other! Samantha and Kate really became buddies on this trip, and Dylan felt left out, so he bonded with Amy. It was really funny to see them running around holding hands because Dylan is only 2 weeks younger than Samantha, but he looks like a GIANT next to Amy!
Here are the girls after Erin did their hair. That's what you get with an aunt as a hairdresser! We LOVE her! (disclaimer--she did not do Amy's hair--that is her naptime hair!)

I just realized that I only took pictures of the kids all weekend--oh well. Scott and Brandon got to play tennis and go golfing in between conference sessions, and then Cody & Laura came down later too. The sister-in-laws got to have a girl's night out and go to a....football movie of all things! We saw Leatherheads and it didn't start until 10:00 p.m. and I was already tired and the movie was REALLY slow. So I confess I nodded off a couple times. Where are the chick flicks when you need them??? Uncle Scotty read the kids books before bedtime. What a great uncle! Samantha and Amy finally aren't scared of him anymore!
And you have to have cousins in the tub together for blackmail pictures later! :)After tub time was hair time again--don't kill me for this picture, Erin!
Erin and I got to go on a long walk on Sunday by ourselves. If felt so good to get outside. She is training for a half marathon that is in 2 weeks and we were trying to figure out a good route to take--okay, she was, but I watched and agreed! She is going to do so good and I can't wait to cheer her on. Neither Erin or I have sisters, so we really like to hang out when we get a chance. It's so sad we live far away!
I think that shirt Amy is wearing is a magnet for trouble. First she was caught in it with the fingernail polish incident, but this trip, she came up the stairs with a black eye. No, she didn't fall down or get hurt, she got into my makeup bag and found the mascara. I'm amazed that she even knew that it was supposed to go on her eye...okay, it was pretty much all over her face, but a big glop of it was on her eye! I missed getting a picture because I was too scared she would get it on Erin's couch or something. Shoot!
After 3 days of much needed relaxation, it was time to go home. Samantha and Kate thought they should get in some good princess time before it was time to go. I really loved getting to know Kate better this weekend--she is such a funny girl. She does a lot of the same things Samantha used to, like insisting on wearing a dress or skirt EVERY day, even if she has to wear a pair of pants underneath. Cute little princesses. And Amy also found her a prince....

They had this cute little frog with a crown on top that sang whenever you pushed its foot. I don't know where she got it from, but every time the frog started singing, Amy would just kiss it all over. I haven't even read her the fairy tales about kissing a frog to find your prince! She is such a funny girl. We had so much fun in Idaho and can't wait to see everyone again at the race in 2 weeks!

A Weekend of Blessings

This past weekend was when Joe & Jana blessed their baby, Taryn, and Cody & Laura blessed their baby, Zachary. Here's the cute little bundles.Amy decided that she was a baby too and needed to be in the picture, but that wasn't good enough, she had to have her own blanket to lay on too!
One of these is not like the other!Here are the older cousins eating pizza while the grownups went to TGI Fridays. Thanks Leah and Sydney! We also went to the park earlier that day, but I forgot my camera! Shoot! All the brothers played tennis while the kids went on the swings and slides. Amy loved every minute of it, despite how cold it was and the fact that she split her lip open while climbing up to the slides. She actually went down by herself. She's a little daredevil!
And here are a bunch of people stuffing their faces at our house after the blessings. Hey, it's what we do best!All the cousins...can you believe no one is crying??!!One big happy familyNotice Amy with licorice in her hand and a messy face. I think she had black licorice in her hand all weekend. Yuck! Who likes that?
Isn't that sweet?
And here are Samantha and Maylie with eyeshadow on that Grandma gave them.

After being completely terrified of him when he first got here, Amy found her new best friend.


When Cody first came, Amy would cover her eyes and hide from him...she only wanted Laura. But after a little bit, she remembered him again and thought he was hilarious. After all, who else would keep dropping princesses off their head to make her laugh?

We had SO much fun with family this weekend and are sad that everyone has now left. I'm sure it won't be too long before it all happens again!