Although this post is embarrassing, it's the truth and I know there are plenty of parents out there that have experienced this. If you don't know what I'm talking about then this post will serve as a train wreck for you because you won't be able to stop reading it. Here we go:
In an attempt to get the grocery shopping done and spend quality time with our two-year-old, Sam, Rob and I decided to divide and conquer. He took Claire to the grocery store and I took Sam to the library. Rob dropped us off and told me he'd be back in 45 minutes. If you've been to the Oshkosh Public Library you know that the kids area is pretty awesome. They have fun furniture, puzzles, and a colorful rug where kids can hang out and read their books. Sam always associates the comfortable atmosphere with "home" so she immediately takes off her jacket and shoes and gets settled in. We literally were there for just enough time to take her shoes off and her little body tensed up and she started crying, "Poopy, mommy, poopy!!" Needless to say she is freaking out about
1.) She has to poop.
2.) She is afraid of public restrooms. 
Thank goodness she had her shoes off because as I was trying to lift her onto the toilet she arched her back and swung her legs behind her just in time for me to stick her feet in the toilet. Fabulous. Tights come off and shoes go back on. 
After some quick pleading I finally get her to go just in time for her to unveil to me that she has diarrhea (Oh yes, this is gonna get ugly). At this point, Rob is gone and I'm stuck. After singing the ABC's and washing our hands we go back out to the children's area and begin to look at the DVD's while I quietly pray for her next bout to hold off. No such luck. A minute later she announces to the world that she has to poop again. At this point I picked her up and ran so fast that I'm pretty sure I looked like a linebacker holding a football as I raced to the bathroom. When she started saying, "I can't do it mommy, I can't do it." I knew the worst had happened. Oh Pumpernickel. I now have a two-year-old going commando while wearing a dress. So, I called Rob to have him pick up some Pull-Ups and we camped out by the bathroom until he came to my rescue. In the meantime, I occupied Sam by reading her Dora and Scooby-Doo books. After I finished one of the books she looks at me with her sneaky little eyes (check out the picture below to see what I'm talking about) and says, "Mom, my butt is naked on the carpet."
After composing myself I realized that this is the stuff that makes life something you can laugh at. Anyone who interacts with young children knows what I'm talking about. If you have a good story, feel free to share it so I don't feel like the only one.

If you follow my blog, you'll know that I spent the last four months training for the Oshkosh Half Marathon. Finally, this past Sunday all the sweat, sore muscles and throbbing feet paid off. It felt so good to complete something most people view moderately difficult.
Now I'm a people-watcher to begin with but hanging out at the start line at 6:45 a.m. on Sunday morning was pretty interesting. I could go on and on about the array of characters I saw but I want to cut right to the point: Did you know that running in an organized race is an amazing opportunity to get a message out to a large audience by advertising on your back!? I wish I would've taken photos of these people. I had my phone with me but was having some difficulty with my new arm band and didn't want to take it out of its case for fear that the race was going to start while I was trying to take the picture and it would throw off my chi.
 Anyway, you name it and I saw it. Call me naive but I thought my sister and I were the only ones smart enough to put messages on our backs! Vicki is one of the coaches for a new all-star cheerleading team, the Elite Oshkosh Knights (@EliteOK) and she used her back to promote her team. I was raising awareness of Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), specifically for a young family in Fond du Lac who has a nine-month-old named Lucy with type 1 SMA. Barb Zahn, the mother, is running a campaign to raise $10,000 by Lucy's first birthday in July.
I met the Zahn's through a Facebook friend and just happened to click on a video link about Lucy from my friend's status update. Words cannot describe how this video affected me. Lucy is about five weeks older than my Claire and struggling with a disease that no child or adult for that matter should have to struggle with. Although I've never met the Zahn's personally, I am compelled to do whatever I can to help them. 
So, you guessed it. My husband and I trotted out to the starting line on Sunday morning with a message pinned to our backs: We love Lucy Zahn! Help fight SMA. www.toshaveornottoshave.com. Although we weren't original, we were hopeful. Hopeful that someone might see our message, remember it and take action. For Lucy.