oh is it two-ply? cause it it's two-ply I'll take one ply, one ply, one, one puny little ply, I'll take one measly ply

I have great success with potty training, but it hasn't always been so.

When Emily was about a year old, my mean grandma berated me that she wasn't potty trained yet. All of her babies were potty trained at 7 months old. I felt like a horrible mother and went out and bought a book called, "How to potty train in a day." We tried it and it was a disaster. I forced her to use the potty and she had a lot of accidents. She just wasn't physically and verbally ready to do it. She was about 2 before she didn't have accidents. So basically, I spent a year potty training her.

With Christopher I tried the same thing when he was about 18 months. I really wanted them to go to nursery potty trained. He was even harder. He got the pee part down pretty fast but the pooping was another story. He pooped everywhere but in the toilet. He pooped on the other side of a closed door. When I opened the door, guess what I stepped in? He pooped in Anna's shoe. He pooped everywhere. It took about 9 months to get him to not poop everywhere. Nine months is a long time to be scrubbing poopy underwear. And poopy carpet.

I got smart with Calvin and listened to a wise friend who told me to wait until they are ready. Even if they are three. Skeptically, I took her advice. When I thought Calvin was old enough to grasp the concepts and do it, I started asking him every day if he wanted to wear underwear. He said no everyday for about 3 months straight. The stigma of having a child over the age of 3 not potty trained was KILLING me. Finally on the busiest day of my life (I had a million things going on that day), he says yes he wants to wear underwear. And he did and had maybe one accident in a week and never a poopy accident and was potty trained completely in about two weeks. Including bed time.

I was blown away. My friend was right. You just need to wait. Even though all the mom's at play group are trying to potty train their 18 month olds. Even though the commercials show kids barely 2 going on the potty. Even though you have to spend money on diapers for a little longer. Just wait. This method worked with Spencer, Cameron and Lizzie. Lizzie has been wearing underwear for a week now and has had a total of 1 accident. She wants to wear underwear to bed and has woken up dry each time. It's the best method of potty training ever.

You mean she was asking me to wear this ridiculous shirt on national TV, and I said 'Yes'?!

On Sunday in Sunday School we discussed my very favorite story in the Book of Mormon. It was the story of Nephi being told by the Lord to build a boat. I love Nephi's response to the Lord so much. "Whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?" 1 Ne 17:9. He did not doubt. He did not waver. He did not question. He just said "tell me what to do and I'll do it."

Here's what I would have said if I was Nephi: "What? I don't know how to make a ship. I can't do this. You have the wrong person. I'm just little ol' Nephi. Please ask someone else."

Chris and I had been married for about a year when we were called into the stake president's office. We were both given new callings. Chris was called as the Elders Quorum president. That didn't phase me. Chris is awesome. But then the stake president called me to serve in the stake YW presidency. I was floored. My response went something like this: "Do you know who I am? I am Jennifer Vos. I think this is a mistake. You might have the wrong person." He assured me that I was in fact the Jennifer Vos that he wanted to call to this calling. I accepted the calling and it turns out that I was really good at it. The Lord knew I could do it.

I have thought of Nephi being called to build the boat often lately. I have been called to add another child to my family. Although I am always willing to welcome a new baby to our home, I doubt my abilities. My first response is not always, "Whither shall I go that I may find diapers that I may change this baby?" Usually, it's more like this: "I am just Jennifer Vos. I don't know much. I don't do great. Are you sure that this is what you want for me to do? Why are you trusting me to do this?"

Sometimes I just don't feel equal to the task. It doesn't help that most of the world around me thinks I'm led away by the foolish imaginations of my heart. I'm lucky to have some very special Sams who always are encouraging and must see something in me that God sees for calling me to this work in the first place. I truly thank the Lord for Nephi's example and courage. Because of him, I'm a little more willing to trust the Lord's plan in my own life.

Fourteen years down the drain.

I throw up alot. Multiple times a day. Morning. Afternoon. Night. Any time.

Usually it's a smell that hits me. Like chicken or fish or cologne or poop or basically any smell that is strong. Good or bad. My husband is forbidden from wearing cologne for the next four months because I just can't take it. I hugged a woman at church on Sunday and almost threw up down her back because the perfume smell was sickening.

If Chris wants a kiss, he knows the drill. He must scrinch up his lips really tight so not one bit of air or saliva can escape. He can lightly brush my lips but must never ever exhale when he is close to me so that I don't get a whiff of his breath and have to make a mad dash to the toilet.

I threw up at Kroger outside the pop can return area. I threw up at Meijer at the Lobster tank. I threw up while driving the car, inside a bag. After, I hoped the bag just had some trash or something unimportant in it. It had Calvin's scriptures in it. He got new ones for Christmas.

I was going to throw up yesterday and Cameron could tell the signs. "Hurry, Mom," he says, "put a wipe under your nose. And use this cup." As I threw up in the cup, he ran and got me a can of coke, which settles my stomach. Lizzie rubbed my arm and said, "It's ok, Mama. It's ok." Emily laughs at how I can lean over the sink one minute, throw up and then turn and finish making dinner. But sometimes I just can't finish it. And then Chris is wonderful and brings home pizza.

I'm going to be 24 weeks on Friday and I wish, wish, wish that this throwing up would end. But I have a feeling that it's going to be with me all the way to May 5.

Soup and snowpeas

Yesterday in church I was watching a father and his teenage daughter. For some of the meeting he had his arm around her in a nice comforting, fatherly way. For a while she had her head on his shoulder. It was very sweet.

There's nothing quite like a dad and a daughter. I was thinking of my dad and how it was a treat when he would sit on the couch and you could sit next to him. He didn't sit on the couch very often because he was usually in his wheelchair. But once in a while, he would transfer over to the couch and I would hurry next to him and snuggle up to him and it was wonderful.

Anna would sit on the back of his wheelchair, kind of like a bird on a perch, and watch TV with him. I can remember when he was in bed, I would sit on the wheelchair next to him and talk and talk. Anna liked to sit on his pull up bar and talk and talk.

I wonder if he ever got tired of all of our girl talking and talking.

If he did, he never let on.

See you know how to take the reservation, you just don't know how to hold the reservation and that's really the most important part of the reservation

Many years ago, back when I only had 4 children and was still reasonably sane, I was sitting in a Primary presidency meeting. We were discussing issuing a calling to someone. It was brought up how this person was so great at everything they did but they were a little scatterbrained and needed a lot of reminding. We would need to call and remind them of meetings, classes, activites, etc... We might even need to remind them to show up on Sunday to teach. I sat there in the meeting and totally judged this person. I couldn't believe someone could be so dumb that they would forget to show up places.

This past week, I missed a Visiting Teaching appointment. I also missed one last month. It just flew out of my brain and I totally forgot. I did have several sick children home from school and so my schedule was out of whack. Also I didn't enter the appointments into the Cozi. If I don't enter them in the Cozi, I don't remember them. The Cozi is my brain. If you need a brain, go to www.cozi.com for help.

So the moral of the story is, I will become everything I judge harshly. I need to stop judging people. It doesn't do anyone any good.

I feel terrible about missing my Visiting Teaching appointments. I genuinely like and love the women I visit. I like seeing them. I have been a horrible visiting teacher lately. Hopefully I'll get my brain together.

They whisked us backstage, the media is sworming, champagne is flowing...whooo! I can't describe how great it is to win.

Anna from Annadotes sent me this award. Thank you! Anna is definitely my favorite blogger and it's nice of her to think my blog is great even though I am not very good at updating it.

So the rules are I have to tell you seven things about myself. And then I am supposed to pass this award on to 15 other bloggers. I know I'm not going to make it to 15. Maybe 3 or 5. We'll see.

Seven things:

1. I am pregnant with baby #8. I am pretty sure this is my last baby. Typing this sentence makes me really really really sad. I want more babies. I want infinity babies. But my body doesn't like being pregnant anymore and my wallet is beyond empty and my time is already stretched as thin as it can go. So I think I'm done. And I am going to savor every second of this baby's babyhood.

2. I have a really good memory for things that happened to me as a child. I can remember very minute details. To keep my memory good, I will go over events before I go to sleep and try to remember everything about it. Birthdays...my bedroom as a child...Chris' and my first date...conversations with my mom. I think I was blessed with this because there would be no one left to remind me of these things.

3. I really like to plan ahead for big events. Holidays, birthdays, parties...I like the details all ironed out and the supplies purchased well before the event is supposed to happen. And I really like to have parties. I'm always thinking of reasons to have a party. I wish my house was bigger so I could entertain more often. Chris, on the other hand, likes to plan the event the morning of the event. It drives me crazy. At this very moment our Thanksgiving plans are up in the air and it is making me nuts.

4. I appreciate how easy it is to communicate with other people in 2011. I love texting, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc. I do not love talking on the phone. I also do not love it when people do not text back right away. It REALLY bugs me.

5. I really have no idea how much expensive things cost. I do most of my shopping at Salvation Army, Aldi and Walmart. This past weekend we went to Chicago and Chris and I went to the mall. I don't go to the mall ever except to play at the play area with the kids for playgroup. We went to the bathroom at Macy's and while Chris was in there I looked at the menswear. There was a tie for $185. It was the cheapest one I could find. Seriously? $185 for a piece of silk that goes around your neck. I wonder if I had money to burn would I spend that much for a tie. I don't know. I get mad when I have to pay full price at Target. It seems like a ripoff.

6. I will pay a lot for a really good meal. Thanks to Chris, I have been to some of the nicest restaurants in the country and I have developed a discriminating palate. Sometimes I wish I could go back to when I thought that eating out at Chili's was really something special.

7. If I had a million dollars, the first thing I would do was to buy two houses next to each other. One for me and one for Anna. And I would buy her a car.

Ok so I'm nominating Michelle at So Wonderful, So Marvelous. And Emily at The Emily Diaries. And Tiffany at The Wicked Washburns.

Thanks, Anna!

Aah, French fries.

I went to Cedar Point on Saturday. We took Chris' Teachers Quorum and Christopher, Emily, Spencer and another friend. It was really fun. I was a little bummed at first because I couldn't ride anything. I am a super coaster lover. I had not been to the Point since 2002. That's a really long time. Growing up, I used to go a couple of times a summer. It was my favorite thing. So it was a little disappointing to watch the Dragster blast off and not be on it and the Millenium Force go plummeting down and not be a part of it. Maybe I'll get a trip next summer.

Here's some things that made it experience worth it for me:

Handcut French Fries with cheese, vinegar and ketchup. I had two servings.

Cheese on a stick.

Going really slow on the Cadillac Cars so Christopher would run into me.

Hearing all the screams.

Running my hands on the railings of the wooden fence at the Gemini. Just feeling the smooth, wooden railings worn down by 30 years of riders made my whole day. I seriously love the Gemini. I know its not the biggest or the fastest but it is definitely my favorite coaster of all time.

Watching all my boys love the Mine Ride.

Boneville

Taffy

Being with Chris and laughing and talking while we waited for kids on rides.

It was a great day. I can't wait to go again and actually ride stuff!