F is for Fischer

And 7 months later....

2010-10-22T19:43:00.002-07:00

A new post! The kids have grown, we've done some fun stuff, we've thought about interesting topics.... that about catches you up! On to post #2...

Why did I ask?

2010-03-12T04:36:00.001-07:00

Me: "Fischer, do you think I'm beautiful?"

Fischer: "When you are wearing earrings, you look beautiful."

Me: "What's the most beautiful thing about me?"

Fischer: "Your earrings. You really should've worn earring's today."

Seriously! Why would I ask such a loaded question?????

Product Review: Spiral Spin Top

2010-03-11T09:35:00.004-07:00

Maddie and I had the chance to review Infantino's Spiral Spin Top. Ebeanstalk sent it to us to see what we thought. The toy is for 6 months and up, Maddie is 7 months.

I have to say that while she wasn't that interested in pushing the top down, she did like sliding the whole toy across the floor. The button on top is hard to push down if you don't push it directly on top. She liked turning the whole thing on its side and rolling it around, and she spent some quality time trying to figure out why she couldn't grab those little balls.

I found it to be sturdy and safe, but I wish that she could make it work.

We happen to have a similar toy from a different company, and I found that one to be easier for her to operate, and it had a more pleasing sound while spinning.

Neither brand of spin top has held her attention for very long. I probably wouldn't buy one of these for a friend, but it is a fine toy for playing with and passing along to the next little kiddo.

Ebeanstalk is a website dedicated to selecting great toys for 1 year olds and toys for 2 year olds. They have a team of moms and a team of child experts that help them pick out toys by age, so you can be sure your child gets toys that have been specifically matched to his or her age!

I'm sucking at the blogging.

2010-03-10T19:08:00.003-07:00

It has been so long since I posted that I kept thinking that I had to post something really fabulous.... which now feels like too much pressure. So I'm getting this "first post" over with... so I can move on.

I could tell you about all of the things I've been thinking about blogging about... you know, when I plan my blog posts while laying in bed, washing the dishes, or taking a shower... but now I forgot what they were. They were some amazingly deep and very moving prose though, I'm sure.

Instead I'll tell you that I think that:

All Rice Krispies treats should be made with 5 cups of Krispies... never 6.
Quinoa is pretty yummy and makes a good sub when you are super sick of putting rice or pasta with every dish.
I bought that milled flax seed at Costco and am beginning to use it as a sub for eggs, butter, or oils in my recipes. So far, I've tried it in pancakes in place of oil... they were great!
We can eat an entire bunch of bananas in one day, and Andy hates bananas.
I would like to submit Gerber Graduates Puffs to the USDA as a new food group so that I don't feel so guilty for how many of them Maddie eats in one day. They are wonderful because not only do they fill her tummy a tiny bit, but they keep her busy!

I'll try to think of the deep stuff for next time. ;) Phew... got that post over with! Now maybe I'll be able to start writing more and reading yours! I've missed you.

We Are The World 25 for Haiti

2010-02-12T20:49:00.002-07:00

We are the world 25 for Haiti

Pain in the butt

2010-02-08T18:57:00.003-07:00

After I posted the last Maddie update, she got sick. She had diarrhea and some vomiting. No fevers. It lasted way too long, poor baby. The diarrhea caused a major diaper rash. I'd never really seen diaper rash before, Fischer never had it, this was sooo terrible and appeared to be incredibly painful. I was trying anything and everything to relieve her pain, but the diarrhea kept coming, making it worse.

I had kept her lathered in Boudreaux Butt Paste, which has been my cream of choice for both kids. In fact, I credited Butt Paste for the fact that Fisch never had diaper rash... that and my amazing mothering skills -HA! Sorry. The rash started to look like tiny blisters which then popped... once there were open wounds, the Butt Paste seemed to be painful when applied to her tiny bum. The poor sweet thing screamed and looked at me in shock that I would do something to purposely hurt her! I cried too!

The wipes seemed to hurt her sore tush too. I tried everything to get her healed up. I started using wet paper towels and trying to pat her clean, I tried Vaseline, Desitin, Balmex, Neosporin, lots of baths (that she just kept pooping in - ew) and every combination of them that I could think of. Nothing really helped.

Finally the winning remedy was Balmex Healing Ointment and Maximum Strength Desitin. I put the Balmex on first and the Desitin on top... she was totally protected and started to heal. YAY! The great thing about that Maximum Strength Desitin was that it stayed on between diaper changes, whereas some of the others seemed to either get absorbed or rub off on the diaper.

Did you know that when you use diaper creams you are supposed to apply them like a paint rather than a lotion. You aren't supposed to rub them in. I didn't know that with Fischer.

Overheard

2010-01-29T09:11:00.003-07:00

Fischer and BFF were sitting at the kitchen table having lunch and discussing who BFF's little brother, X-man, should marry...

Fischer: "Maybe X-man will marry Maddie."

BFF: "Maybe he'll marry Baby Evelyn".

Fischer: "Maybe he'll marry me."

BFF: "No, I'm going to marry you, remember!"

Fischer: "Two boys can get married."

BFF: "No, because you need a mom and a dad."

Fischer: "Or you could have two moms or two dads."

(I absolutely LOVE listening to them talk to each other.)

Growing up Maddison

2010-01-01T04:06:00.000-07:00

Maddie Moo is five months old! I cannot believe it, she is growing up too fast! She is also growing like a weed! ... a long round weed!

Here are some Maddison Facts:

Nobody ever calls her Maddison. It is Maddie Moo, Maddie Cakes, Maddiekins, Moose, Gorgeous, MadDog, Madd, Pumpkin Bread, Punky Punky, the list goes on...

Maddie LOVES her daddy! She lights up whenever he walks into the room. She can't take her eyes off of him! He makes her laugh so hard she turns bright red and gets the hiccups!

She also ADORES her big brother. Almost everything he says or does seems to delight her and evokes a smile or a laugh. She seems to be studying him always.

Maddie Cakes almost ALWAYS has cold feet. No matter how she is dressed, her feet are like little ice cubes. They warm up when you rub them, or in the tub, but socks, jammies, booties, you name it - none of it can warm up those frigid little tootsies!

She has really small feet. She fits nicely into 6-9 month clothes but her tiny feet can still wear some of her newborn shoes.

She slept in her car seat in order to be upright because of reflux for the first four months of her life. She was in the car seat, in the pack and play, in our bedroom. Now she sleeps in her crib in her own room.

She sleeps like a champ! TWELVE hours a night! I shouldn't brag, I'm sure to be jinxing myself as we speak... but WOW! Fischer never did that... he still doesn't! She goes to bed at 7 pm and usually wakes up around 7:30 am.

On Christmas she rolled from front to back. She hasn't rolled from back to front yet, and doesn't seem to feel the need to do so. Also, she is also perfectly content to not put an ounce of weight on her feet. Who needs to stand?

At her four month appointment, the doctor said that at 26.8 inches, she is completely off the charts in height, well over the hundredth percentile. And at 15.4 pounds, she is in the 95th percentile for weight. He did say that she was "the picture of health". YAY!

She loves to be upside down and especially loves to watch football upside down. I really need to capture that on film.

She doesn't cry often, but when she gets really wound up and inconsolable, the sure-fire trick to calm her is to take her into the bathroom with the light on, the fan on, and the shower on.

She still loves to be squished into the sling like a tiny baby. She'll take a lovely nap, if she can do that.

She loves to "talk" and "sing". She makes lots of fun noises that Fischer is quick to interpret for us.

When we are outside, hiking, playing at the park, etc. She prefers to have her head covered... as shaded as possible. Even in the Snugli.

She already has a best friend of course, her little X-Man. He is 2 1/2 months older, but they are very close in size. X-man is BFF's little brother.
This week she tried rice cereal for the first time. She liked being fed with the spoon, but didn't actually swallow anything. In the end, she was just annoyed at the whole thing... because she was HUNGRY!

Maddison can brighten up a room and light up my life with just one of her happy smiles.

A goal for the new year

2009-12-31T08:01:00.000-07:00

Ok, here is my plan, thanks for your advice. Instead of running for 365 days, I am going to exercise for 365 days minus 52 days (one day off a week). So, I'll be exercising for at least 30 minutes for 313 days in 2010.

I'll be doing a lot of running to get ready for another marathon in October, but by using the term "exercise" I can do stretching or yoga if I am sick or injured (good idea Lauren).

Do you have any fitness plans for the new year, or fitness plans that work for you now? I'd love some ideas and advice to keep myself motivated. There is a 6 week plan in the Women's Health magazine that I think I'll incorporate at one point, and I'll do the Couch to 5k plan too. I'm thinking that if I keep changing it up, I won't get bored. Also, short term goals are good.

So this is where I am starting... I can always amp it up... but this is my overall goal.

I'm prepping right now by cutting out all of the sweet treats and refined sugar in my diet for a few weeks. December had me addicted to cookies! Seriously, they are THAT good! ;) By the way no sugar for me means real withdrawals, like headaches, grumpiness, and ravishing hunger. Yikes!

Christmas in Review - and at length

2009-12-29T19:23:00.002-07:00

We had a wonderful Christmas and were totally spoiled... but hopefully we're not too rotten... yet!

Fischer and Maddison had their Christmas pictures taken right after Thanksgiving.

They also got to see Santa! Although he was super excited to meet Santa, Fischer was pretty shy. He didn't ask Santa for anything, in fact he didn't speak at all... and it was a struggle to get him very close to Santa's lap. The rest of the month, anytime someone asked him what he asked Santa for he'd reply "I'm just going to see what he brings me!" Not too helpful for Santa...

We celebrated Hanukkah earlier in the month with GrandmaBetsy. Fischer loved opening presents for both he and Maddison. His favorite gifts were a Geotrax Cars racetrack and a headlamp. Maddie loved a noisy butterfly toy and I loved her new cozy jammies. Andy and I were drooling over our new Dyson vacuum! Ok, maybe I was the only one drooling! Fischer loved lighting all of the menorahs and listening to Grandma sing the prayers. We had a yummy dinner complete with latkes and applesauce... and of course enough chocolate gelt to go around.

Fischer and BFF had a sleepover the week before Christmas. We took them with my parents to see Christmas lights at a Festival of Lights. They loved it! They ooohed and ahhhed at all of the displays. Then they got to go to McDonalds playland late at night, I thought for sure they'd be the only kids there! It turns out, they were the only ones in their pajamas but the place was packed! Needless to say when they got home they were totally hyped up and silly! I don't think they fell asleep till 10:45! The next morning they popped up bright and early ready to go to their friends' joint birthday. They celebrated two birthdays at a gymnastics gym - so fun!

My Uncle Dick came into town from St. Louis as a Christmas surprise to us all. He is my dad's twin brother, and came to spend the holidays. We were all so excited to see him!

A few days before Christmas, Fischer got sick. He was running a fever (which he never does) it fluctuated with Tylenol between 99.9 and 102.6. It came on Monday night, stayed through Tuesday... where he laid on the couch all day complaining of a tummy ache and a head ache. That night both of our thermometers stopped working, and Andy was at hockey. Maddie was crying, Fischer was crying... they both felt hot and I was getting nervous. I called my dad to bring over a thermometer and he, my mom, and my uncle all showed up with brand new thermometers! We spent the next hour taking each others temps with all three new-fangled expensive thermometers... and let me tell you that none of them work! Not one consistent reading in the bunch. One was a temple thermometer, one was a forehead thermometer, and one was a regular oral/armpit/rectal digital thermometer ... no we didn't test out the rectal feature ... geez you are gross!

Anyway, by morning nobody had a fever (I think), but Fischer was complaining of abdominal pain in the middle and on the right side. Our pediatrician sent us to the ER, for fear of a appendicitis. The ER doc, was suspicious of the same diagnosis. He wanted to give Fisch a CT scan to find out for sure, but told me that a CT scan is enough radiation in a pre-schooler that he had a chance of developing cancer later in life as a result. Ummm? Really? I'm being asked to make a decision about giving my son cancer when he is a grown man?.... Nobody tells you this kind of stuff before you have kids. Well, I decided to have them treat him for constipation, just in case, and wait a little while to see if his pain gets worse. Thankfully, that seemed to do the trick... Praise God. Nobody wants their baby having surgery over Christmas.

We laid low Christmas eve and skipped out on church and Aunt Beth's annual party, Fischer needed to be home to rest and get well for the next day. We watched movies, made cookies and prepped for Santa.

Christmas morning, Fischer woke up to find that Santa had brought him all kinds of goodies. He actually allowed him to come down our chimney this year. Fisch opened both his and Maddison's presents from Santa, Granddad and Grandmom, BFF and X-man, us, the dogs, etc. Definitely spoiled! Maddie just laid on her Daddy and watched all the action. They both received fun toys, clothes, games and ornaments.

Then we stayed in our pjs and headed over to my parents' house to open presents with Grandpa, Grandma Barb and Uncle Dick. We ate cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate as per tradition as we opened and opened and opened! Fischer was in present heaven and quickly turning into the Christmas Monster! After all the gifts were finally opened he was able to open the GIANT present that Uncle Matt and Aunt Jana had sent.... the anticipation had been killing him! It was a kitchen set, he was delighted! "Cuz why I love kitchen sets!" We ate a lovely breakfast together and then headed over to Andy's Grandma's house.

More hoopla at Grandma Pearl's with food, presents and fun. Finally we headed home where we all took a nap. Then gussied up to head back over to grandma and Grandpa's for Christmas dinner with Uncle Dick. We were able to see Uncle Matt and Aunt Jana on Skype. It looked like they'd had a great Christmas too!

Now to chill and enjoy the rest of the holiday break. So great! We are so thankful to God for our friends, family and many many blessings. We hope you all are enjoying the holidays too!

Deep thoughts

2009-12-17T19:05:00.002-07:00

It is impossible to bake cookies and not eat any of them... or most of them.
"Your hands feel like feet. " That's what my mom always told me whenever she touched my hands when they needed lotion. Right now they are so dry from washing them millions of times a day. The skin under my wedding ring is cracking!
One time I was holding the choir book in middle school and the girl next to me told me that my thumb looked like a big toe. Try holding a book open to share with someone else while hiding your thumbs from view... it is very hard... especially if the book is heavy.
Also, one time in middle school, it was the first day of school and I went to sit down at a desk in my math class, and a girl whipped around from the desk in front of me, pointed to the other side of the room and said "You and your little friends can sit over there!" I was totally shocked at her tone. It could only mean one thing... I went home and announced to my mother that I had just discovered that "I'M a NERD!" Then my mother responded very matter-of-factly with, "You can't be a nerd. I'm not a nerd. Your father is not a nerd. Therefor, you cannot be a nerd." So there you have it - it is genetically impossible for me to be a nerd - take that you middle school girl!
Sophie has a little tumor or something on her lower eyelid that is poking her in the eye... apparently the vet wants $550 dollars to remove it... and clean her teeth of course. What the? I said, I'll wait till Sophie starts winking at me because it is bugging her. Is that wrong? After all remember the million dollar procedure (and teeth cleaning, of course) that Kaia had to have a few months ago?
My family is asleep, my to-do list is a mile long... and yet, I've picked right now to finally write another blog post.
I like my own sugar cookies and chocolate chip cookies better than yours. Don't worry, everything else you make is better than mine... but not these cookies.
I'm contemplating setting an impossible goal... running 365 days in 2010. This is big, since I've only run three times since April. BUT I really want to run the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco next October, and I don't want to be as crappy as my last marathon... so it'd be nice if I shed some pounds and got my groove on instead of just talking about it. I think I'll start with a Couch to 5K plan and go from there. Also... I was thinking that for everyday I run this December, I'd allow those to be my buffer days next year. Like, if I run 5 days now, then I'll forgive myself for missing up to 5 days next year... I'm still thinking about it. I think my stipulation would be that I have to be run/walking for at least 30 minutes. Then, as soon as I can run for 30 minutes without walking... the stipulation would change to running for at least 30 minutes. Do you think 365 days is too big of a goal for this all-or-nothing chick?

I'm back from temporary indecisiveness

2009-12-13T05:32:00.002-07:00

I started thinking that I should make the blog private.... then I thought about quitting altogether... then I got over it. I hadn't invited anyone to read it... I just sort of turned it off... for a few days.
I was thinking that if I went "private" then I could be a little more specific on certain things. I'm stinking at keeping up on the baby books... so I thought I could at least make sure I document things here, so I'll have the info went I want it... when I have time to scrapbook again someday.

Anyway, sorry about that. I hope you find me again.

Oh... and I guess blogging everyday in November just wasn't in the cards for me this year! Oops!

Happy Birthday MOM/Grandma!

2009-11-16T20:13:00.009-07:00

So, I told you my mom was a rock star.... why you ask? Well, actually she is a self-proclaimed rock star, BECAUSE she has just realized that this year I have come to respect her infinite motherly wisdom! :) Actually, it is true. Somehow, my mom finally seems to know a thing or two about life, motherhood, womanhood, family, marriage, friendship, faith, health, etc. It is so amazing.... she went for years (especially my teen years) where she knew absolutely nothing! Poor thing! So basically she is rocking the advice these days... and I'm listening!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Congratulations on your Rockstardom! You are too fabulous for words, too twisted for color TV, and the most beautiful person I have ever known. I am so glad that you are my

Rock Star Mom!

Mom and me a million years ago.

Soup and straw

2009-11-15T21:28:00.002-07:00

A friend of mine has her kids drink up the "juice" in their soup with a straw! Why didn't I think of that? I was always straining Fischer's soup to make it "juice-less" - now he drinks up and eats up! He thinks it is so fun!

Lovin' these links.

2009-11-14T19:46:00.002-07:00

Lately, while I haven't been feeling quite right, I've been enjoying these sites:

Color Me Katie - for her joy and creativity
Improv Everywhere - for making me wish I lived in New York and could join!

Enjoy!

TGIF

2009-11-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

Maddie and her X-Man

Do not read.

2009-11-12T20:29:00.003-07:00

Posting every day leads to a post like this one.... ummm... I don't know what to say. I want to tell you about a few things, but the posts in my mind take a little more thought than I'm willing to give right now and photos that are not on this computer. So, instead, I'll waste your time by posting absolutely nothing... from my bed, before I go to sleep.

Have a great night!

Happy Birthday Grandpa/Dad

2009-11-11T21:45:00.001-07:00

I'd just like to wish a super happy sixtieth birthday to my dad today. Thanks for being my rock and the most amazing grandpa ever! Pretty hot for 60 eh?

Get in Shape Girl

2009-11-10T19:43:00.008-07:00

So, in an attempt to stay sane AND get in shape, I'm getting my groove on. Apparently an hour of exercise every day can possibly be just as effective as medication and/or counseling. As if I actually needed another reason to get my butt in gear... feeling like a crazy lady has given me that last little shove.
Running and a variety of The Biggest Loser workout videos from the library... and I'm well on my way to a new healthier and happier me. I will give my Bod a shout out for losing about 50 lbs after Maddie was born. Way to go Bod! My Bod deserves a little kudos after being so stubborn and refusing to lose weight after Fischer was born! Remember how I even ran another marathon between the two kids? NO weight lost!... or at least not any worth bragging about.

Ummm, wait a minute, did she just say she lost 50 pounds and still needs to get in shape? Ummm, YES - thanks for pointing that out! Jerk.

This is it, there is no reason to wait. I'm not having more kids, I don't need to gain more weight... I can only go up from here right? Or rather, go down from here. I'm outing myself as a chubby mama, now you know. BUT... oh just wait, soon I'll be outing myself as a card carrying member of the "HOT MAMA" club! In fact, on that day, I shall take a picture of myself in a white unitard and post it proudly... nothing to hide! See, now you are rooting for me... just because you want to see me in white spandex. Thank you for your support, and I forgive you for making that sarcastic comment about my 50 pounds.

GoD and DoG by WJ Francisco

2009-11-09T17:05:00.001-07:00

Thanks for the link, Ray.

It is not all or nothing....

2009-11-08T13:53:00.007-07:00

I need to remember that. So often I put a plan into place, then when I make a mistake, I throw the whole plan out the window. I do it every time I'm trying to form a new habit, like daily exercise, not eating sugar, daily laundry, etc. So here I am trying to blog everyday for a month... and I missed yesterday!

I am going to go against all that I am and keep blogging every day for the month. It is a lesson in forgiveness for myself.

Here are a few of my random thoughts for today:

I found out today that fireman do NOT wear jammies at the firestation. Yes, I had to ask.

Maddie is only noisy in church if everyone else is quiet.

I can now run fabulously without any pain in my pelvis.

Kaia cannot run anymore, it makes her too limpy.

My mom has become a rockstar.

Fischer and BFF must wear boots and snow pants if there is even the slightest chance of encountering snow.

Maddison looks so stinkin' cute in babylegs... I just want to eat her up.

Fischer just told me to write : "February 27th we should go to Hawaii, for my present and my birthday party."

That's his birthday, I think he is right! That would be a great present! Ummm, I'd like to go there for my birthday too! Hmmm... someday.

We're on round two of the fall cold... only a few days of wellness in between. How does this happen when I am so careful to keep our hands washed and sanitized? Maybe because my son licked the doors at JCPenney's.

A month of Halloween

2009-11-06T20:27:00.000-07:00

October was such an eventful month, despite how I was feeling. We had a great time celebrating fall and HALLOWEEN!
Fischer and Maddie went to a scarecrow festival with friends and Fischer played played played: bounce houses, giant slides, tunnels, haunted houses, games, treats, pizza, petting zoo and pony rides! Maddie slept through most of it.

They also went to an apple orchard to see how cider was made and a very fun farm with more games, animals, rides, jumping, and slides! Maddie slept through a lot of that too.

Fischer and BFF had a fabulous time at a pumpkin patch, with a maze, a spooky pirate ship, creepy decor and a tractor. Maddie slept through most of that too!

Fischer got into the spirit of Halloween with haunted tattoos (I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of all his tats!), glow in the dark fingernails, and festive toes.

Fischer and BFF put on their costumes to go to a Halloween birthday party with all of their friends. They were so excited! Fischer had been dying to wear his "knight in shining armor" costume next to "Princess Aurora". I don't know how many times he told me that he would be able to save BFF from dragons "cuz why she is a princess and I am a knight in shining armor in real life!" They were so cute together, even if they didn't hold still for pictures.

Maddie and X-man went too. They mostly just wiggled around on a blanket till their legs got tangled together.

On Halloween day, we carved pumpkins as a family - Fischer designed them and wanted to make sure that his and Daddy's looked EXACTLY the same as one another. Fischer and I made pumpkin cookies to take to a friend.... he was in charge of the frosting colors.

Then it was time to dress the knight and the ladybug and meet up with our trick or treating buddies.

Our friend Ann was in town, so Danae, Ann and I rounded up all of our kiddos (which takes 2 minivans now) and drove them to all of the grandparents' houses. First stop was Ann's parents' home.

P7 and Q5 were some kind of Star Wars clones (forgive me for not knowing my Star Wars characters), then their was our knight, I3 was Tinkerbell, BFF was Aurora,

Maddison was a ladybug and X-man was a skeleton (his hat says "bad to the bone").

Next stop was Danae's parents' house.

Then we went to GrandmaBetsy's house.

Finally we stopped at my parents' house to play for a few minutes while Maddie and X-man ate some dinner. Afterward, we picked up pizza, and had dinner at Danae's. Andy met us there and then we all bundled up a little and headed out for door to door trick or treating. We met up with their friends T n' T and they all ran around Danae's neighborhood collecting loot. SO fun! What a great Halloween... and I must say that our little knight did a fantastic job protecting his tiny ladybug from dragons!

Carrot Paint

2009-11-05T20:36:00.001-07:00

FYI for next year, if you run out of orange face paint.... use a carrot!

Fischy questions

2009-11-04T21:33:00.002-07:00

Lately Fischer has been asking a lot of questions about EVERYTHING!

"Do fireman wear pajamas when they sleep at the firestation?"
"How do spiders make webs?"
"Does God have a wand?"
"Well then how does He make people? Does He have a machine to make the people?"
"Does God wear pajamas?"
"How do babies go pee?" .... (later I realized that he thought Maddie maybe hadn't grown all of her parts yet. ;) )
"How old will Maddie be when I am 69?"
"When will Maddie be 3 1/2 like me?"..... and about a million other age related questions.
"When do the space shuttles take off?"
"Did Uncle Dick invent the telephone?"
"Does Elvis live with Jesus now?"
"Does Ursula (from the Little Mermaid) live with Jesus now?"
..... and on and on.... he is definitely curious!

Willow Africa and Daisy Fall

2009-11-03T21:33:00.000-07:00

After Maddison was born, Aunt Beth came to the hospital to visit. She brought cute clothes for Maddie and a doll for Fischer. She told Fischer that he could feed "his baby" when Mommy feeds Maddie. He could hold "his baby" when Mommy and Daddy hold Maddie, etc. At the moment, Fischer seemed interested but not overly emotional about the doll. I have to admit that I wasn't really sure what to think about the doll either.

All of that has changed over the past few months. Shortly after we came home with Maddison, he named the doll Willow Africa. He began bringing her everywhere and taking VERY good care of her. He rocked her, held her, put her in the swing and the bouncer chair. He fed her (even attempted nursing her using the Boppy pillow and everything!), he slept with her, kissed her good night, sang to her, read her stories, buckled her into the car... AND Andy and I had to do all of those things (except the nursing part) to Willow also. He would change the story periodically about who her parents were, sometimes he was the dad and I was the mom, sometimes Willow came out of his tummy... but now he has settled in on the fact that Andy and I are Willow's parents and he is sometimes her brother and sometimes her cousin. He LOVES her. Now he has also added Daisy Fall to the family. She was a friend's doll that he chewed on when he was a baby, and we kept and replaced with a new one for his friend, Alexis. Now, according to Fischer, I have three babies (Maddie, Daisy, and Willow). They are all treated by him with the utmost respect. I mean, he kind of freaks out if I toss them to the side or once I had my leg on Willow and he burst into tears that I was "squishing her and she couldn't breathe"! GrandmaBetsy even made little pillows and blankets for them.

Not a great pic, but this is Fischer watching Cinderella with Willow (in blue) and Daisy (in yellow).

Here is Fisch and BFF with Daisy, the day BFF broke the news to Fischer that only "mommies" can breast feed. So he brought the Boppy to BFF and instructed her on how to do it. Luckily, BFF thinks that breastfeeding happens on your love handles (of which she has none) and over your clothes! Phew! Might I add, that BFF insisted upon washing her hands before holding Daisy and Willow for the first time. She and Fischer also had many heated discussions on just how to best make Willow stop crying... she was apparently a very fussy baby in the beginning.

So, I don't know if Fischer has transitioned and adapted so well with Maddison because of his dolls, or just because he is so sweet and tender.... but the unexpected gift of a doll, has been quite the blessing to him. Thanks Aunt Beth!

Now he wants car seats for them for Christmas! Now I must say, that even thought he loves these dolls and cares for them, and he loves the movie Cinderella, and he has a true admiration for pretty dresses and shoes... he does seem to have an opinion on what is for girls and what is for boys. He just doesn't seem to think that these dolls are girlie.

Who doesn't love a good double chin?

2009-11-02T21:56:00.001-07:00

Maddie Cakes

I've been MIA... obviously.

2009-11-01T19:05:00.003-07:00

Well, I'm back... I think. I can't believe almost two months have gone by since my last post. We've been busy... but not that busy. We are enjoying fall and excited for winter... or at least I'm excited for winter. Let it snow!

I'm going to try and attempt to update my blog every day in November. I was able to do it last November... so I'll try again... in order to get me back in blogging mode.

Of course the kids are growing like crazy, I'll post pictures soon.

Andy is back to the grindstone full throttle with teaching and taking a class. He is getting his Gifted and Talented endorsement.

I am doing really well right now :). The month of October sucked big time for me mentally/emotionally, but I'm finally feeling better. Shortly after Maddie turned 2 months old, I started having major anxiety attacks. I've never experienced anything like that and it was so not a good feeling. I think it had something to do with hormones and postpartum what not. A similar thing happened to me with Fisch when he was 2 months, except that time it was a sudden surge of depression.

I'm wacky, I know, but I'm dealing with it and I finally feel "normal" again.

What do big brothers do?

2009-09-08T08:20:00.000-07:00

I asked Fischer, "What is a big brother? What do they do? What is important about them?"

Here are his answers:

"Big brothers follow directions."
"They look at their babies and make sure they don't get hurt."
"They love their baby sisters."
"They love to play hide and seek with their babies."
"They love to play with their sister when they get older."
"And that's it!"

Super fun back-to-school Swap

2009-09-06T18:16:00.006-07:00

Fischer and I participated in another fun swap last month. This was our third one! We were paired with a super cute little guy named "B" and his mom. Fischer and B have lots in common... like teachers for parents, a love of the Cars movie and Cars toys, trains, dogs and firetrucks. In fact, B's daddy is even a volunteer fireman - which Fischer just thinks is absolutely fabulous.

The boys have been emailing each other (with the help of their moms) and asking each other all kinds of questions. B is 4 and Fischer is 3, but I think they'd be fast friends. B's mom had a cute idea for them to send each other images from the Internet on their email. Fischer thought that was so great to see the little pictures on B's letter.

Then the boys put together some fun back-to-school items and sent each other a package. Fischer LOVED his package and was sooo excited to receive it! B sent him all kinds of great loot: crayons, notebook, chalk, paper, calculator, books, etc. His favorite part was the calculator! He keeps forgetting what it is called and I've now heard him refer to it as a 'calendar' and a "time machine".

Today he drew a picture and dictated a letter for B. B had asked to see some of Fischer's toys, like his Lightning McQueen cars, his fire truck and his Legos... so Fischer posed them on the coffee table for a photo shoot. He added some other favorite items in also. His favorite blue blanket made it into all of the pictures. :)

Thank you to the girls over at the Little People Swap for organizing such a fun thing! AND a big thanks to B and his mommy for being such great swap partners!

Fischism

2009-08-30T20:39:00.003-07:00

Maddison was wrapped in a white blanket with an embroidered saying on it...

Mom: "Fischer, this used to be your blanket."

Fischer: "What does it say?"

Mom: "Thank Heaven for Little Boys"

Fischer: (genuinely moved, and with a look of deep appreciation) "Awww, that was so nice of God to give that to me!"

My itty bitty is SIX weeks old!

2009-08-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Now that I have lost all the readers I ever had... I've finally found a moment to post an update. I am so sorry, but this blog is competing with my sleep. The only times I'm not holding Maddison are the few moments that she sleeps... in which I want to play with Fischer, attempt housework, cook or... at night - SLEEP! Without fail, whenever I go near the computer, Maddie needs me -both of my hands!

I've been wanting to write down everything about Maddie's first month so that I wouldn't forget... but like I said... I've been holding her instead - I guess that could be important too. ;)

Here is our little Maddison at 3 weeks old. Although I was able to get her pictures taken nice an early for her birth announcements, most of the announcements are still sitting on the kitchen table (along with a pile of written thank you notes) because I haven't had a chance or two free hands to address them! Anyway the pictures turned out pretty cute.

She is six weeks old today!! She loves to eat... but never all at once - she likes to draw out feedings for an hour to an hour and a half! She also loves warm baths (she gets that from me) and she loves loves loves the blinds on the window in front of her changing table. Fischer loved his blinds too at this age. She also loves to be held, but not in a Snugli and not in a sling...my next trick will be to attempt to make a Moby wrap. Maybe she'll like that better. She cries more than Fischer ever did, but I think that is because of her reflux and tummy pain - poor baby! She's tried Zantac and Prevacid, but neither have seemed to make much of a difference. She sleeps pretty well at night usually. She'll sleep for 4-6 hours at first and then wake up every two after that.

I do love to cuddle her, especially when she scrunches up her little body and lays her head on my chest or shoulder. I love to feel her tiny breath on my neck or cheek. It is especially cute when she lifts her little bobble head and head butts me! Seriously... awww so sweet. I need to really savor this time, because it will go by so fast... I can get a bit caught up in wanting her to get older to stop some of the crying... but I know I'm really going to miss this cuddly time.

Maddie is pretty silly with her facial expressions - she has us all laughing... and she just started smiling with eye contact - so we feel extra special to receive a big open-eyed gummy smile! Although, she usually saves them all for her daddy! Andy loves to hold her on his lap and make faces at her until she smiles.

Fischer is still loving his baby sister. He loves to talk to her, kiss her, hug her, touch her, sing to her and play peek-a-boo with her. Hopefully soon, she'll smile for him. He is pretty helpful when it comes to Maddison's needs. He is usually quick to run to her when she cries in her bed, or he is johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to binkies and burp cloths.

All and all our family of four is still adjusting, but we are so very blessed to have one another.

TWO weeks

2009-07-31T08:29:00.003-07:00

We've survived the first two weeks of postpartum and new baby! Hooray! It was a little rough there in the beginning, but we are settling in nicely now.

When we first arrived home on day 4 my hormones went crazy and I was a weepy mess for a few days. I cried if anyone came over, I cried if anyone left, I cried if I answered the phone and the person on the other end said, "How are you?"... yikes, I was a bit of a mess. Andy was amazing (of course he was), he took care of me, of Maddie, of Fischer, of our house, of the meals and visitors coming each day... everything. He made sure that I was able to sneak in extra naps during the day and was ready with a pep talk at a moments notice... often. I am so thankful that God has given me such an incredible husband and I am so grateful that he is off work for the summer (he is a teacher) and can be here to help.

With the weepiness, I kept thinking that I was just going to stay that way or spiral out of control into a deep depression. Andy kept reminding me that I just feel this way right now, and it doesn't mean anything about the future. I tried to focus on that, and I wanted everyone I talked to to tell me that this was normal and that it would pass.

It passed and I am feeling sooo much better now. I'm still healing from the c-section, but I am much more mobile and a lot less sore. So things are going in the right direction... OH - and a few days ago, I got my ankles back! WAHOO! I can fit into all of my shoes again!

Maddie is doing really well and really GROWING! We went for her 2 week appointment and she weighed 9 lbs, 2 oz already and measured at 21 inches. They said that she was healthy and perfect! Isn't that what every mother wants to hear? She's been out a bit... slept through a few family and friend outings - like the Dinosaur museum, playgroup and the farmer's market.

She has been battling reflux and has to take what appears to be the most disgusting tasting medicine ever - poor baby! She also has a very high pitched gasping sound that she makes quite often. The doctor said it was due to her tiny air passages. It makes it a little unnerving to sleep when you hear her make that sound. We've got her in our room so that we can keep tabs on her.

Fischer is still enjoying her, although he could do without her crying. He went back out to the waiting room at the doctor's office when they were about to prick her heel, so that he wouldn't have to hear her cry.

He takes pride in being able to help her in some way. He knows where all of her things are kept and loves to run grab anything she needs. He has been busy with the commentary on what it is that he thinks she needs at any given time. He also says that his head matches mine and Maddie's matches daddy's. (I'm guessing he means our hair). He also said that Maddie's skin is soft and his and ours is hard. He has a special interest in when her "extension cord" (umbilical cord) is going to fall off. He has also been interested in all of the baby stuff and the fact that it used to all be his... like the swing and the bouncy chair and many of the blankets. He is sharing really well, but seems a bit miffed that he can't sit in the swing or chair anymore.

Andy is tired but has been go-go-going with all that needs to be done around here. He says that new dads get an extra burst of testosterone to keep them going and to take care of their family. He is probably secretly anxious to get back to work!

Thank you for all of the well wishes in the comments and on Facebook, thank you to my friends for all of the delicious dinners and presents, thank you to our families for all of the support and cute girlie gifts, thank you to Ann and Danae for the breast feeding support, thank you to my husband for still being Mr. Wonderful after all of these years, thank you to Fischer for being so flexible, thank you to my hormones for relaxing and letting me be "normal" again and thank you to God for our many blessings.

PS- I'll add some pictures to this post when I find my misplaced camera.

M is for Maddie

2009-07-24T13:55:00.008-07:00

Andy, Fischer and I welcomed Maddison Daisie into the world at 7:47 am on Thursday, July 16. She weighed in at 8 lbs 9 oz and 20 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful, and we are so thankful for her.

Andy and I arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am and were admitted into a birthing room so that they could monitor the baby (who still didn't have a name). We had a great nurse who seemed to really know her stuff and was a take-charge kind of gal. Apparently though, she had a bit of a bone to pick with our doctor.... so that was a bit unsettling as she kept making comments about him being in a bad mood! NOT what you want to hear about the guy who is about to cut you open!

Anyway, we walked into the OR about 7:30 and the really fabulous anaesthesiologist gave me a spinal block. Then they laid me down, hiked my gown up under my breasts and left me that naked on the table for the rest of the procedure! Is it only on TV when they drape blue things over all of the parts of you that they don't need to see? A little embarrassing... but then what could I do, I was numb from the chest down. They put the oxygen on, the IV in and then I started feeling pretty crummy... and so did Andy. He turned sheet white and had to sit in the hall for a few minutes to regain his composure. Once in, he sat right by my head and started trying to distract me with naming the baby. (We couldn't see what was going on because of the drape in front of us.) He started listing off a few of our more recent favorites, like Willow and Jordan, but still none were resonating with me. Then he started talking about renaming the dog so that we could name her Kaia... which i really was contemplating... but who would want to find out that their namesake was the word's stinkiest dog?

Next thing we knew, she was out and had a full head of dark hair! We thought it must be the goop from the womb. Andy hustled back and forth between the baby and me reporting on what the nurses were doing and trying to show me the pictures he had just taken of her, so that I could see her.

Then they pushed and pulled and practically jumped all over me, till finally I was sewed up and ready to go... can't really remember what happened next. I think they handed her to me and wheeled me back to the birthing room where my parents were anxiously awaiting their new granddaughter. I think it was around this time that Andy started referring to her as Maddie. I kept saying, that's not her name, and he kept insisting that she looked like a Maddison. Just take her hat off and look at her.

Everything went really well and we couldn't be happier with our little bundle of pink. We feel so extremely blessed.

Sometime Friday, the name Maddison had stuck and we paired it with my grandmother's name "Daisie". Of course right after that one of my aunts was just sure that she looked like my Grandmother Daisie (who we all called 'Omi'). But like Daisie herself would have said... "Maddison looks like Maddison."

Fischer absolutely loves her. He is very involved - wanting to hold her and feed her and kiss her and do everything we do to her. He loves to touch her little hands and feet and pet her head. He keeps asking me, "So, how is breast-feeding going?"

Her daddy now just calls her "Gorgeous".

A birth story (not for the faint of heart)

2009-07-07T09:09:00.004-07:00

I'm beginning to feel a little anxious about the baby coming. On the one hand, I cannot wait to see her and hold her and to NOT be pregnant anymore.... but on the other hand I'm feeling nervous about the c-section (scheduled for 9 days from today). I know it will all go well, but I can't help feeling a bit of anxiety these days.
The whole labor and delivery HAS to go better than it did with Fischer! I thought I'd recount the events leading to Fischer's birth... I fully realize that Fischer and I may be the only ones interested in this story... and even he won't be till 20 years from now (and even then... probably not).

In fact, do not read on unless you are perfectly OK with TOO MUCH INFORMATION. AND, do not read on if you are pregnant now, especially with your first baby... you don't need these thoughts in your head.

I woke up at 6 am one Sunday morning with "surges" (that's what we called it in the hypnobirthing classes), not contractions. It was still 2 weeks before my due date, so I was sure it was Braxton Hicks or as my mother-in-law called it "practice labor". I went about my day and later went to a home dedication for my mother-in-law who had just moved. All the while feeling surges. As evening came I was busying myself with preparations for school the following day. I was teaching second grade at the time. I spent the evening planning, correcting papers, and thinking about meeting my long-term substitute. She was supposed to be coming in on Monday morning and spending a few days with me and my class so that I could show her the ropes and plan with her for the time that I'd be gone.
Well the surges kept getting more and more painful (although after watching the hypno-birthing videos... you wouldn't think there was ANY pain involved whatsoever - nothing a little sigh or slight grunt couldn't alleviate). So now I'm thinking... um, this could be the real thing. So I start working as quickly as I can to get as much planned and prepped for school the next day. I think I must have packed my bags too. Then I got in the tub to make sure everything was as it should be for the "big show".
Finally, around 1:00 am, I woke Andy and told him it was time to go to the hospital... he had a full on panic attack, so we sat on the couch and held each other until he felt better, and we were off.
At the hospital they checked me and I wasn't even dilated! BUT when they checked me, Fischer's heart rate dropped, so they didn't want me to go back home. They checked us in. So, Andy and I hung out, walked around, and around, and around for hours while I clung to him every few seconds with surges. I tried to go into my hypno exercises, but the pain was really throwing me off! By 9:00 am, they checked me again, and there was NO progression! By this time I couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, I'd been having contractions for 27 hours already... I lay in the tub in the birthing room and made the decision to give up my natural-birth aspirations and get some help. Andy had gone home to shower. When he returned, they gave me the epidural... hallelujah! What in the world was I doing to myself before? This was heaven. My mom and Danae came, and we all sat around chatting, I watched The Three Amigos (movie options were limited), and then secretly cursed my mom and Andy while they snacked in my room! I snuck a bite. Everytime they checked me I hadn't progressed. So finally they gave me Pitocin to get things moving. Around 4:00 we started the pushing... and pushing... and pushing...(Andy was huddled by my head on one side and my mom was on the other, My dad and mother-in-law were waiting outside the room) ... two and a half hours later, the nurses and midwife could see Fischer's blond hair, but he wasn't budging. So my midwife called in a "forceps specialist". Well he assessed the situation and announced that with one big push from me and one big yank from him, the baby would be out (a considerable amount of repair would be needed for me- but by this point - 36 1/2 hours later - I didn't care one bit).

This is where things got a little fuzzy until months later when my mother filled me in. Next think I knew I was being wheeled off to surgery to have a c-section. Apparently, when the doc went to give his "one big yank" he braced himself by putting his foot up on the bed - which horrified my mother and she whispered to him "this looks like a law-suit waiting to happen"... and there I went in for surgery, just like that - no yanks, no repair work needed.

In the surgery room, they asked Andy if he wanted them to put up a mirror so that he could see, he responded with a definite "Hell No", and the drape went up in front of us both. I don't know how long it all took, one minute Andy was whispering soothing things in my ear and the next, he was showing me out beautiful baby boy.
After that, everything goes pretty fuzzy.

So you see, although the outcome was nothing short of a beautiful healthy bouncing miracle... the labor was WAY TOO LONG.
So this one has got to be better, right?

Happy 8th Anniversary Andy!

2009-06-30T13:38:00.007-07:00

12 years ago, we met and fell in love, I was 19 you were 21.
10 years ago we bought our pups, Sophie and Kaia... and you asked me to marry you.
9 years ago you graduated with your BS.
9 years ago I graduated with both of mine.
8 1/2 years ago I started teaching.
8 1/2 years ago I totalled my car on the freeway.
8 years ago you graduated with your MS.
8 years ago we moved out of our college town and closer to family.
8 years ago we were married and celebrated with friends and family.
8 years ago we both started new teaching jobs.
8 years ago you bid farewell to your Saturn and bought your beloved truck.
7 1/2 years ago we bought our first home.
4 years ago we found out we were pregnant.
4 years ago you moved from teaching high school to teaching junior high school.
3 years and 4 months ago we became Mommy and Daddy to our beautiful son.
3 years ago I quit my job to stay home and take care of Fischer while you worked to take care of all of us.
8 1/2 months ago we became pregnant with our sweet little girl.
2 1/2 weeks from now we will get to hold her in our arms... a family of four (actually 6 with Sophie and Kaia).

I look forward to our next eight years of marriage and the eight after that and the eight after that and the eight after that and the...

Happy Anniversary Andy, I love you!

Now I know my ABCs

2009-06-27T18:53:00.008-07:00

Out of the millions of alphabet books out there, today I'm loving Tomorrow's Alphabet by George Shannon and Donald Crews. It's a different spin on ABC books and the traditional "A is for apple". I love the thought process involved, and the possibilities for further learning, discussion and activities. The book begins with "A is for seed, tomorrow's apple". Each 2-page spread goes on to show a before and after, or a change... such as "B is for eggs, tomorrow's birds" and "R is for grapes, tomorrow's raisins".
At first, I thought the book was much too confusing for Fischer, if my goal was for him to understand the correspondence between letters and sounds. There are better ABC books for that, but now that he is a bit older and seems to already understand letters and sounds, this book opens up some fun dialogue and thinking for him.
For older kids, I would just love to make a class book and get them thinking along this pattern. I found a fun one here that a 4th/5th grade class made (click on the pictures to see the full 2 page spreads). There were also some interesting ideas for extension activities and discussion on this site.

Fischer really enjoys letters and of course really digs the old favorite Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault, and Lois Ehlert. The simplicity and rhythm of the story seems to snag students of many ages. We also like listening to the songs of it on youtube.

For a unique visual treat, we also really like The Hidden Alphabet by Laura Vaccaro Seeger . Very cool, although probably a bit difficult for the littlest of readers to really identify all of the letters. Once they are familiar with their letters, this is a great one. It is a fun change in perspective and example of optical illusions. There are so many wonderful alphabet books out there... What's your favorite?

Now, for the tiny DVD lovers out there, Leap Frog's Letter Factory is surprisingly enticing.It does a really fun job of introducing the letters and teaching their sounds in a memorable way. It happens to be one of Fischer's faves.

When I was teaching, my students LOVED Gaiam's Yoga kids and especially their ABC video. What a fun way to get a physical understanding of the letters! We'd watch it for inside recess or when we needed a little wiggle time. Although I do have to say that the video never actually fit into the slot of time I allotted and I always turned it off around "V"... now that never really went over to well with my students or the paraprofessionals in the room!

TiVo, DVR, PVR... how did I ever live without you?

2009-06-22T18:53:00.003-07:00

Seriously! How in the world did we ever live without the digital video recorder? How would a person ever get to see their favorite shows AND have kids or a job or friends? People seriously didn't tape everything on their VCR, setting timers every day, did they? Did you? That's so much effort.

In high school my bestie (BFF's mom) often had to work on Thursday nights, it would be my duty to focus and watch all the shows so that I could re-inact episodes of Friends and Seinfeld to her on Friday (as we went on long walks past her crush's house in the most non-stalking manner).

In college, I just didn't watch TV. Til I met Andy, then we had a few shows that we were able to see once in awhile.... I think... he must have had cable. Later when Survivor started, we were taking a community ed Spanish class and had to drop out after only a few weeks... because we just couldn't miss Survivor! Our friends dropped the class for the same reason.

In fact, Survivor is the reason that I can't speak Spanish today. That and the fact that Andy keeps talking about buying the Rosetta Stone software and still hasn't. Spanish would sure come in handy with my next door neighbors. The other day, I went over with a fence slat and some screws to ask them to fix a broken slat on their side of the fence (so that my giant dogs wouldn't eat their wiener dogs)... and no one knew what I was trying to say. Thankfully there is a 11 year-old at home that is bilingual.

The year that we dropped out of Spanish, I was teaching elementary special education. My students ranged in grade from Kindergarten to fifth grade. They had intellectual disabilities of all types. One particular student, G, was in second grade and had Down Syndrome. His family only spoke Spanish in the home, however he didn't really speak Spanish or English. He used a combination of sign language, pictures and a little bit of verbal to get his point across, but mostly didn't communicate with anything much at school. Anyway, I started teaching at this school in January and had never met his family. As the year was coming to an end the second grade was having a big performance. They were to sing and do a myriad of other things. Well, G had been attending all of the music classes and was thoroughly enjoying them (although he never sang or did any actions), so I sent home a letter to let his parents know of the date, time and location of the program. Where am I going with this, you ask? I'm getting there. I didn't know if G would be there or not, but one of my assistants and I came to the performance to help him if he attended. Well, much to my surprise and delight, he showed up! He looked so cute in his dressy clothes and his slick combed hair. I ran right over to his family and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm G's teacher, Lisa." They stared blankly. Then, I said "I'm so glad that you were able to come." They stared blankly. I searched from person to person to see if anyone was understanding me. Then very smiley and animated, I say "G looks so handsome!" No response. Then business like, I say, "The program will start in a few minutes, G's part is toward the end". I get nothing from them, not even a flinch. By this time I am thoroughly squirming and wanting to shoot the older sister a mean glare (because she just HAS to know what I am saying and is choosing not to share) and I am getting more red in the face with awkward embarrassment... and desperately wanting them to understand me after I've repeated the above statements multiple times... Finally I reach far back into my brain to brilliantly pull out the little bit of Spanish I can recall from the few weeks before Survior started... and I proudly say "Me gusta el chocolate!"

What?

What in the hell did I just tell them I like chocolate for? Now completely beat red, I slink away with G in hand to await his performance. To make matters worse, while waiting for G's songs, I recounted the entire story to my assistant... repeating the word chocolate a hundred times... And you know what happened? G got up on stage for his songs and as big as day continuously signed the word CHOCOLATE and pointed at me in the front row the WHOLE TIME!

I just had to pray that his mother didn't send him to school with chocolate for me on Monday!

In conclusion, the DVR could have saved me a lot of embarrassment and maybe I would know Spanish now! So now, nothing embarrassing ever happens to me (yeah right) and I can record every show I want to... like whatever the big announcement is on John & Kate plus Eight tonight. I don't even watch that show... but I can record it... you know, to keep up with current events.

All about my dad...

2009-06-21T07:09:00.004-07:00

Fischer's thoughts on his Dad:

I like when he makes me chocolate milk

I like when he makes me water.

I like when he plays with me like blocks and Lego's.

I like to go to the grocery store with Dad.

I like to weed and dig with him.

I help him with his hockey laces.

Dad's good at putting on my new sandals.

Dad's favorite treat is doughnuts.

Dad's favorite snack is beer and chips.

Dad knows how to make green beans and stuff like that.

Dad likes to eat with us.

Dad teaches his students at work.

Dad likes to make hockey time and work out.

Dad saves us from anything.

Dad smiles when we are home.

Dad smiles when he has doughnut holes and strudel bites.

I love my Dad.

Happy Father's Day!

Writer's Block

2009-06-20T06:28:00.006-07:00

I seem to be having a terrible time coming up with something to write about these days. I start to think of things, and then can only think of a sentence or two OR I plan out an entire thought-provoking (yeah right) post in my head while I lay in bed at night, and then can't think of it in the morning. So I thought I'd brainstorm out all of the little thoughts, in hopes that a deep and powerful post will be around the corner.

Fischer has his new big boy bedroom furniture and twin bed. SOOO cute! He's been a little anxious to fall asleep in it the past few nights, but it is getting better. He is still worried about monsters... even though we've reassured him that monsters are afraid of dogs, therefor there is no way we could have any monsters in our house.

The baby's room is coming together beautifully. My mother-in-law painted it pink and green to compliment the bedding. It is so sweet and girlie in there. I am soo NOT girlie, but I'm lovin' this!

She'll be here in less than 4 weeks! I'm scheduled to have a c-section in less than a month!! I can't wait to see her. Hopefully upon seeing her we may actually come up with a name for her!

I have something called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction which is making life a little waddly these days. Basically, my pelvis is moving and separating. It often hurts to move and it is the worst while trying to turn over or change positions in bed... which I feel like doing about every hour. It also makes walking difficult, especially when I overdo it like today (t-ball, farmer's market, Costco, Home Depot). It should slowly go away after the baby is born. I'm worried about having a c-section with this because the drugs could mask the pain and make me hurt it worse and/or being immobile for an extended period of time can exacerbate it also. I've got to talk to my OB next week about it.

I also injured my knee (doing nothing... I just knelt down on the floor) and now have something called Lateral Patella Plica Syndrome which should be remedied with anti-inflammatories. I went to my sports med doc yesterday and he prescribed Celebrex for 9 days, saying that it won't hurt the baby. I couldn't get a hold of my OB to double check that, so I called a doctor friend. He said to definitely NOT take the Celebrex in the third trimester because it could cause premature closure of the fetal ductus arteriosus and renal ADRs in the fetus. Additionally, NSAIDs are linked with premature birth. So I guess, now I need to talk to my OB about that and whether or not a cortisone shot in my knee would be a safer route.

Andy and Fisch harvested a huge bowl of beautiful juicy strawberries from the garden today. Andy is continually amazed at the difference in flavor between ours and the grocery store's. Yum! We've been chowing them down like crazy.

Slugs were taking over and completely consuming everything in veggie garden... I went out early in the morning to find at least 30 slugs in my little green bean bed, half of the green bean plants were totally missing! We're not talking about a few holes in the leaves of this plant or that, we are talking about complete - without a trace- consumption of green bean plants, cantaloupe plants, cucumber plants, watermelon, etc. So we had to forgo being completely organic in order to save the crops. I bought Sluggo, which I found in the organic section of the garden store... but still. Of course I put that stuff all over right before we had 2 straight weeks of rain...so who knows. I do think it helped a little, but I may have to reapply.

I think that I am one of the only people enjoying all of the overcast skies and rain this summer. My big pregnant body is loving the cooler June temps.

Well I hope that dull list sparked something intriguing for later. Happy rest of the weekend to you!

The ants are marching...

2009-06-17T08:46:00.004-07:00

all over the sidewalks, in the grass, on the patio, through the vegetable garden, in my living room, in my bathroom... What in the world? Anybody have some fantastic ideas about ridding our home and yard of ants safely (for Fischer and the dogs)?

Muscle Juice

2009-06-14T08:05:00.003-07:00

Fischer dumped out his huge jar (Costco-sized pickle jar) of little Lego's onto the family room floor and began to play. I took this opportunity to check my email (not more than 8 feet away). Next thing I knew Fischer sets the "empty" pickle jar on the table next to me... but it wasn't empty. It contained a liquid.

Fischer: "Here Mom, here is some muscle juice for ya."

Me: (Staring... thinking about whether or not he'd had a cup of apple juice... realizing we don't have apple juice...) "Um, what is in the jar?"

Fischer: "Muscle juice"

Me: "You need to tell me what is really in the jar." (and please don't let it be what I think it is)

Fischer: (silence)

Me: "Fischer, what is in this jar?"

Fischer: "Shhh, I'm thinking!"

Me: (bug-eyed) "What is in the jar?"

Fischer: "It starts with a puh puh puh P."

Me: (secretly proud that he knows his letter sounds... freaking out that it is indeed what I was dreading) Calmly, "You peed in the jar?"

Well, this goes into a discussion about whether or not this was a good thing to do or a naughty thing to do, where pee is supposed to go, and what should happen next. He agreed that it was naughty but thought the consequence should be to "just keep playing".
As he was walking to his bedroom for time-out, he wanted me to promise not to wash it out until he came back. ??? After time-out we poured it in the toilet and he washed his hands. Then he says:

Fischer: "Can I have a potty treat now?"
(See, I reinstated the potty treats because he stopped initiating having to go to the bathroom and was waiting till I noticed him dancing around and forced him to go. So, he gets a potty treat if he thinks of it on his own, goes potty and washes up all without me having to tell him to.)

Me: "NO! Are you kidding me?"

Fischer: "Well, I thought of it all by myself!"

Afterthought:
Me: "Did any pee get on the carpet?
Fischer: "No, (beaming with pride) I just stuck my penis in and filled it right up!"

Rockin' in Reno

2009-06-02T20:01:00.007-07:00

Fischer and I went to Reno for a few days to visit my brother and sister-in-law. We hadn't seen them for sooo long. It was so fun for Fischer to spend time with his Uncle Matt and Aunt Jana... he loves them! I don't think he really remembered them other than from pictures and from us talking about them... so this was great!

Fischer and I drove out there with my parents. It was quite the long drive... but Fischer was busy with movies, snacks and fun (MamaBarb is a great entertainer). Grandpa was able to stay on course with three... yes THREE GPS devices going at once! When all three would start telling him where to turn... he'd start saying "Girls, girls, don't fight!".

The highlight of the drive for Fischer was probably helping Grandpa get gas, and the lowlight was when he tripped and fell at a rest stop while racing his grandma! He skinned his knees and they HURT! After that, he only wanted his daddy and he wanted to go home!

Once we arrived at Matt and Jana's, it took Fisch a little while to warm up... but then he started having a great time... unless he started thinking about his knees again. :(

We all had a wonderful visit. We love playing at their beautiful new house, Lake Tahoe and the pool. We ate lots of great food and did our fair share of bonding.

Fischer loved spending so much time with MamaBarb and Grandpa. He played hard with Aunt Jana.I think he was in awe of his Uncle Matt.We can't wait to see them again late this summer when they come to visit the new baby. BTW, Aunt Jana gave the baby the most adorable and hilarious teeny tiny pink bikini! I can't wait to take her picture in it!

Recently...

2009-05-20T07:38:00.007-07:00

BFF's baby brother was born on May 2! He is absolutely beautiful! Here is my mom holding him:

Andy bought Fischer his first pair of real hockey gloves! Fischer thinks they are great but has a really hard time actually holding the stick with them on. By the way... only the best hockey players practice in their underwear and fireman rain boots!

Fisch has been wearing his fireman clothes everywhere... then complaining that he doesn't like when people look at him!

Fischer tried out mini-basketball... and HATED it. Then he tried mini-soccer and didn't like that one too much either... begged for basketball, go figure. Hopefully mini T-Ball will go well!

Fischer started survival swimming lessons and SCREAMED and CRIED through the first 5 lessons... then suddenly on the sixth, he was all smiles, high-fives and kept saying "I'm good!" Hooray... Mommy couldn't have taken one more lesson of BOTH of us crying! Here he is practicing his floating in the bathtub.

My wonderful friends threw me the sweetest baby shower... so many cute pink things! It was so much fun!

I seem to have permanently borrowed the Stay-Puffed Marshmallow Man's feet... I'll spare you the picture! 2 more months!

Kaia had surgery on Monday to remove a lump from her neck... $850 and 2 drain tubes later...

Mother's Day: The good, the bad and the ugly

2009-05-11T06:34:00.006-07:00

The GOOD:

Saturday night, Andy and Fisch took me out to a fun dinner and gave me this fabulous new video camera!!! This little guy is so portable and easy to use, I'll be posting videos!

Sunday morning, Fischer and Andy made a delicious french toast breakfast for MamaBetsy and me. Yum!

Sunday evening, we had a tasty barbecue at MamaBarb's and Grandpa's house. Yum again! Grandpa grilled up some fabulous pork steaks and chicken. Fischer made salad, fruit salad and ice water. Andy made his famous potatoes. Mmmm.

The BAD:

The beautiful watering cans that I bought for MamaBarb, MamaBetsy, and Great-MamaPearl leaked and warped when I filled them with water and flowers the night before. Yikes! Why in the world would someone sell metal watering cans that don't work? Seriously, they must have been just for decoration. I'm going to have to return them this week. So... we had nothing to give our moms and grandma on Sunday! Grr.

Sophie treed the neighbor's cat when she wandered into our yard. When Andy tried to rescue her, she went up, up, up till she was clinging for dear life to a spindly branch about 20 feet in the air. The poor thing was stuck there for about 6 hours!

Andy got really sick after dinner, and had to go home before Fisch and I.

The UGLY:

After dinner at my parents' house, Fischer went downstairs to watch sports with Grandpa. Well, Grandpa fell asleep while they were sitting together... and guess what happened?

I am very thankful for my beautiful boy and my wonderful hubby. Thank you for a great Mother's Day!

Fischisms

2009-05-09T04:27:00.003-07:00

Fischer: "Daddy, when I was downstairs, I ate one piece of dog food... and it wasn't yucky!"

Fischer, standing normally...

Fischer: "Daddy, will you take my shoes off of me, cuz why - my arms are way up here!"

While eating ice cream at the parlor...

Fischer: "I wish this arm (points to the right arm) was on this side (points to the left) and this arm (pointing at the left arm) was on this side!"

Mommy: "Well, when we get home I'll cut them off and try to figure out a way to glue them on the opposite shoulders."

Fischer: Inquisitively, "How will you do it?"

Loving trees

2009-05-06T18:24:00.009-07:00

Gambel Oak

Last week was Arbor Day. Fischer and I headed up to our local botanical and ecological center to commune with the trees. Plus, they were having a FREE admission day! Fischer actually loved it. We hadn't been there since fall... and had usually always spent all of our time in the children's garden... but on this day we explored the entire garden and participated in some of the learning activities they were offering. He was so interested in the different types of trees and flowers, seriously - he wanted to know the names of the different varieties. He and I really enjoyed a few hours of tree lovin' fun. Actually, my favorite part was when we came across an empty outdoor stage, and Fisch stood up there and belted out "Finkle Finkle Little Taw" while I sat in the grass and listened. What I would have given for a video camera at that moment... or even my camera! Of course, I had to top that beautiful moment with a cowardly mommy moment... when he asked me to sing so he could watch! "Uh... let's go see what else we can find". Trust me, nobody wants to hear that (except Fischer).

They gave us a free Gambel Oak tree which is thriving on our kitchen windowsill waiting to be planted now.

Speaking of trees, we have recently fallen in love with Our Tree Named Steve, by Alan Zweibel and David Catrow. It is all about a beloved tree in a family's yard and all of the wonderful ways that tree was part of their lives, till one day when a storm hit and the tree fell. It is written as a letter from a dad to his children (who are away at grandma's when the storm hits). The book has beautiful illustrations and a thoughtful story line. It really makes for a good story about the love of a tree, but also about loss. Of course, I cried when the tree fell... but, I'm a pregnant mess... so maybe you won't. ;) Anyway, we love this story. I think that the children in the story are named after Zweibel's (the author) own children. A comedy writer by trade, it appears that this is his first children's book. He sure teamed up with a fabulous illustrator (Catrow) - we love Catrow's books!

Interested in saving the world with a tree?

The Arbor Day Foundation has many ways to help.
AND, don't forget about Eco Libris

Looking for more fun tree books? Click here for a few of our other faves.

Fischism

2009-05-01T04:34:00.000-07:00

Fischer is in the bathroom too long, supposedly washing his hands.

Mommy: Fischer, what are you doing?

Fischer: I'm combing my hair with soap (hand soap). It works really really well. How do I look?

Naming baby

2009-04-28T05:43:00.000-07:00

Andy and I CANNOT agree on any names. The same thing happened when I was pregnant with Fischer. Maybe we had both been teaching too long... every name was associated with someone else's kid. We had input from everywhere - including the name jar that my second graders had with all of their name suggestions (which were mostly their own names). We were getting desperate. One day as we drove down the road we started reading random words and names off of business and street signs, that's where we came up with Fischer. We also liked Micah. My mom thought that naming the baby "Fischer" would be a huge mistake. She spent about 30 minutes describing what sort of therapy he'd need for being named that! Of course, she hung up the phone and called 10 minutes later, saying that "Fischer" was a fine name and she would be supportive of any name we choose. What?? My dad must have talked to her! ;)

Anyway, by the time we got to the hospital we still hadn't decided. In fact, Fischer was born on a Monday and we didn't actually choose his name till Wednesday!

Top names for our baby girl (as of today),

I like: Clara, Maya, Hannah, Presley...

Andy likes: Taylor, Jessie, Abby, Allie, Sydney, Willow, Rain...

Some family names (on my side) are: Daisy, Marie, Ann, Lillian, Virginia, Helen

We're open to suggestions.

Pregnancy yuckiness

2009-04-27T04:01:00.000-07:00

My list of complaints:

gaining weight everywhere
all of my pants falling down
peeing my pants when I laugh
waking up multiple times in the night to go to the bathroom
ankles feet and hands swelling
peeing my pants when I sneeze
giant bosom
my pelvis attempting to split in half when I exercise
stuffy nose and occasional nose bleeds
peeing my pants when I cough
getting tired easily
moody
suffering complexion

So, how are you feeling?

Sicky weekend

2009-04-25T10:18:00.005-07:00

Lazy Saturday and Sunday. Andy is at a conference for work all weekend, and Fischer has a cold. Right now he is laid up on the couch with apple juice, snacks, blankets, books and movies.

I am just hoping that I don't have a cold. I think it is just furious allergies... it is that time of year! I don't want to be sick because BFF's momma is about to have her baby any day now! I REALLY want to be able to visit, and we'd love to have BFF hang with us while her mom and dad are in the hospital with baby "mystery" (we don't know the gender yet). Of course we can't afford to get BFF sick when she'll be going home to her newborn sibling. She is very adamant about taking care of that baby all by herself! It will be fun to watch BFF and baby go through that transition before we go through it ourselves in a few months.

Celebrate the earth with a book!

2009-04-22T06:39:00.004-07:00

Happy Earth Day! While I realize that everyday should be Earth Day, it is still nice to have a day to remind us of all that we can be doing to help save the earth. It is also a nice reminder for those that are just beginning to do their part.

Here are a few books from our shelves that might help us celebrate today and everyday:

Michael Recycle by Ellie Bethel and Alexandra Colombo is a fun recycling book with a cool new superhero to introduce. Fischer received this as a birthday gift from his buddy James. We've been enjoying it. I noticed that the Michael Recycle website has a list of great green tips. We also ran across a little computer game about recycling on Funschool. Of course Fischer is into recycling... because he is into the recycling trucks!

Dear Children Of The Earth by Schim Schimmel

One Less Fish by Kim Michelle Toft and Allan Sheather

If the Earth...Were a Few Feet in Diameter by Joe Miller and Wilson McLean

Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children by Joseph Bruchac and Michael J. Caduto

50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth by The EarthWorks Group

There are so many more fabulous earth books for kids, do you have any favorites? We're always looking for new books at our house.

Fischism

2009-04-19T21:31:00.002-07:00

Fischer wants us to sell our house so that we can go live with Jesus.

At the grocery store, Fischer kept pointing to my breasts and asking me: "Are these out of milk?" I don't know what he and Andy were talking about to make him ask me about that later, but...

I guess we have a few little conversations in our future.

Easter In Pennsylvania

2009-04-16T18:33:00.004-07:00

We spent Easter in Pennsylvania visiting Andy's Dad's side of our family. It was so wonderful to spend time with his Grams, parents, siblings, in-laws, aunts, uncles, cousins and our cute little niece. Many of the family members we hadn't seen in seven years!

It was wonderful for Fischer to get a chance to get to know his family and spend time with his Great Grams and his grandparents. His Aunt Bekah made us so comfortable at her house and she planned so many great things! She is also a fabulous cook - and promised me a few recipes!

We enjoyed egg hunts, pizza parties, play time, dinners, farmers markets, lunches. shopping and just hanging out. Fischer's great uncle let him drive his backhoe! That was a BIG deal in Fischer's book!

The trip was great, except for the part where we woke up at 3:30 am to take two flights home! Needless to say, we had a family nap when we arrived home!

Book of the day

2009-04-15T04:31:00.000-07:00

Purple, Green and Yellow by Robert N. Munsch and Helene Desputeaux is one of my favorites and Fischer likes it too. Now, I know I told you how much I hate paint... and the same goes for markers... but I'm trying to loosen up a bit. Even worse than the mess, is the sucking on marker tips and the pounding them on the page till their tips disappear! OK, enough about my pet peeves.

This book is a lot of fun because the little girl in the story LOVES markers and gets her Mom to buy her enormous sets so that she can draw and draw and draw... never writing on the walls or herself... or does she? Who can resist that temptation? I know Fischer can't!

He's Alive!!

2009-04-12T04:16:00.001-07:00

The Girl Who Spoke With Pictures

2009-04-09T05:35:00.002-07:00

Today I'd like to spotlight a very talented artist who has Autism. We talked about Kim Miller's art a lot last year as she and her mother, Eileen, worked to get their book, The Girl Who Spoke With Pictures, into bookstores and ultimately into your hands. (The bookstore story) I've had the chance to read this book and view numerous examples of Kim's art, and I am inspired.

Eileen has written the personal story of her daughter and her autism. She describes the way that Kim began to communicate by drawing. It began very young, age 3 or 4, and has not stopped. Kim is now an adult attending the community college and her art is very powerful. Although she is able to communicate verbally now, her art still speaks volumes. She can relay an incredible amount of thought, emotion, and issue in each of her pieces.

The book itself is a great reference about autism and the experiences that can be related to it. What I really liked was the insight I felt that I gained into Kim's mind. Although everyone is different, it opened my eyes to other ways of interpreting behaviors and situations that I have experienced with my students. I was also inspired by Eileen and her persistent support and advocacy for her daughter. Together this mother-daughter team are changing the face of autism... in their community and hopefully in the world.

The Girl Who Spoke with Pictures: Autism through Art by Eileen Miller and Kim Miller can be found on Amazon.com as well as many other online stores.

You can also take a look around their website.

Check out Kim on Youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyJtYU4tA3g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIk1KxEOF7c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9QCm7DdvyI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHf9yUSEFFs

Book of the Day

2009-04-08T04:25:00.002-07:00

A few days ago, Fischer told me that he wants to be fireman AND an astronaut. He has recently taken an interest in rockets and space shuttles. He received a space shuttle toy set for his birthday and a few books about space. Floating in Space by Franklyn M Branley and illustrated by True Kelley is our favorite. It tells all about the astronauts and what it is like to go into space. Fischer was especially interested in the fact that they could walk on the walls or ceiling and that they could slurp their drink out of mid-air! We've been learning a lot about space, shuttles. planets and astronauts through our books. He also likes Me and My Place in Space by Joan Sweeney and Annette Cable. This one tells all about the planets and the solar system in kiddie-friendly terms. Space is pretty abstract for Fischer, but he is interested in the planets (since he has glow in the dark ones on his ceiling with stars). He also loves to look at Rockets and Spaceships by Karen Wallace. He is very interested in the way the shuttles work.

April is Autism Awareness Month

2009-04-07T05:08:00.007-07:00

I don't know if there is anyone left on the planet who is not aware of Autism. I think that we are all aware of it and how many people it affects (1 in 150). The question this month is:

Do we promote finding a cure for it? Or do we promote acceptance and neurodiversity and accomodation? There are many people who are quite offended by the idea that they or someone they love is "broken" in need of fixing or curing. There are also quite a number of people who believe that their loved one can't be who they truly are until we find a cure. The matter is deeply personal and very emotional for all who have autism or love someone who has autism.

You can never have too many sprinkles

2009-04-06T04:50:00.001-07:00

Rolling and cutting the dough is a full body experience and needed a wardrobe change during the baking stage of our project. Independence... frosting and decorating...

OK, so maybe nobody else really wanted to eat one when he was done... but he was so proud, AND he made them especially for Daddy!

You know what totally sucks?

2009-04-02T20:39:00.004-07:00

Kidney stones.

They are even worse when you are pregnant and there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING you can do to help relieve the pain.

I'm fine now... until those little ticking time bombs decide to start moving and hurt me again.

The first time I had them I was 19. It was a hellish day and by the end of it, the ER doctor announced, "Now that you've had them, you'll probably get them the rest of your life."

She was right. They've snuck up on me every few years since then. It doesn't get easier.

I didn't have any bouts with stones while I was pregnant with Fischer, but two months after he was born, I was in pain. It turned out that the stones were so big, I had to have a lithotripsy to blast them into passable bits.

In the three years since then, I've had them a handful of times, but not quite as painful.

I have had them TWICE during this pregnancy already! Bad ones! No pain killers, no help, just had to "tough it out". Tuesday was unbearable! I needed drugs!

Waaa! OK, enough of the sob story.

Self Esteem Winners!!!!

2009-03-31T04:13:00.001-07:00

Thank you for participating in the discussion on self-esteem. Dove has given me some fun gifts for the winners:

Karrie from Trailer Life and Jen from Memoirs of Mommy have won a "You're Beautiful, pass it on" t-shirt.
Jenny from When No One Else is Watching has won the book "Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters" by Courtney E. Martin.

Congratulations and thank you ladies for your comments and posts!!!

Morbid dinner roll creations

2009-03-30T07:17:00.000-07:00

We were going to make some fabulous dinner roll creatures... the easy way. We used Rhodes frozen dinner rolls and let them thaw on the counter (in a greased pan) till they were soft. Then we stretched and pulled and mushed until we had made them just the way we wanted. I made a snail, a snowman and a burrito. Fischer made a "party animal", "whale", "ferret", and TWO "killed owlets". Wait... WHAT? Killed owlets? Where in the world did that come from? Hmmm... It turns out it came from the book, Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears: A West African Tale. We own this book, however we've never read it. BFF has this book and it made her mommy cry. BUT Fischer has heard it numerous times at MamaBarb's house... and he likes it! BFF likes it too, although she is quite bothered by the owlet dying (as she recounted the story for me at IHOP last week). Fischer is... intrigued by it, and he does seem to understand that "killed" means "dead" and "dead" means that the owlet can't fly anymore.

The book is actually a lesson on rumors and telling lies, and is a Caldecott Award winner. It begins with a mosquito telling a lie that sets off a chain of events that affects everyone who lives in the forest.

Next time I think I'll pull out our Rhodes Kid's Ideas Cookbook to give him more positive inspiration! ;)

Don't forget to win a prize.

2009-03-26T20:02:00.002-07:00

If you'd like to win a prize, read this post and leave a comment about self-esteem or a link to your post on self-esteem by midnight Friday night. We'll have 2 random winners.

Clean Mud

2009-03-23T04:04:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't like to play with some good old fashioned mud in the house??? That's just good clean fun right? Actually, YES - when you make your own Clean Mud!

Fischer was so excited to make this. We ripped up lots of toilet paper, grated soap (if we would have had a plastic cheese grater, I would have let him try his hand at this step - but the metal one is much too sharp), added water and started mushing!

This is supposed to be the best part! My students always loved this part... Fischer was not amused by the squishing, he did not want to do it.Finally I convinced him that there was nothing else to do with the mud if you didn't squish it! Squishing was the entire point of making it... so he reluctantly tried it...

For about a second, then he was ready to wash up!

So much for my super fun ooey gooey idea! Maybe your kids will like it! As for me... I'm just embarrassed that we wasted paper for no "fun" reason!

FYI, there is a recipe online if you want to make lots of this for a group... we put it in our sand/water table at school and let the kids mush away! You can also add food coloring, but I've never tried it. For this particular batch, we used half of a bar of soap, 3/4ths a roll of toilet paper and 2 cups of water.

While shredding the tp we talked about small, medium and large with our torn pieces. Before adding the water we predicted what was going to happen to our huge mountain of tp. Then we talked a little bit about the way that the water, soap and tp all mix together into one.

You can only paint on paper for so long...

2009-03-19T18:36:00.005-07:00

Fischer has been doing a lot of painting around here the past few days. FYI - I hate paint. I wonder why... But, because I am trying to be a good mom and let him experiment with his artistic side... we've been painting. The first few times, he seemed more interested in color mixing and paint stirring than the actual end product... which gave him lots of grayish masterpieces. Today he decided that painting his nose and his hands would help his inner Van Gogh escape... So I embraced it, stripped him down and let him go at it (in the tub of course)!

Little did I know that he'd paint inside his ears and up his nose!

Fischy Photos

2009-03-16T11:28:00.004-07:00

I can't believe he is three already!!!!

Self Esteem... Pass it On

2009-03-10T07:19:00.012-07:00

(Reward at the bottom of the post)

Self esteem. What does that phrase mean to you? For me, I think of all that encompasses me and how I feel about me. There are definitely things about myself that I am proud of or content with, my appearance is not one of them... specifically my weight. I have major issues with my body that do affect my life and my activities.

I've started wondering how these issues and feelings about myself are going to affect my daughter (when she arrives). What will she learn from looking at me and listening to me? Will she learn to nit pick her every imperfection? Will she learn to say mean things to herself? Will she learn that her appearance makes a difference in what she can do and accomplish? Will she learn that her appearance is of the utmost importance over all of her other qualities? Man, I sure hope not. Of course I won't come right out and teach her these things, but will she derive these "lessons" from my actions?

Now is the time for me to raise my own self-esteem and get myself in check. I want to empower my daughter to be and do anything she wants to. I want her to see beauty in all things and all people including herself. I want healthy habits to be a part of life, not just something you do to "fix" a problem.

What if I do a good job with all of that teaching and empowering, and then she goes to school and gets another message from her peers... or from the media... or a relative... or the list goes on. How will I talk to her? Will she believe me when I say she is beautiful? Or will she think that I am just her mom and I have to say those things?

We all know that low self-esteem affects so much more than what you say to yourself in the mirror. It affects schoolwork, it affects the types of friends you choose or put up with, it affects the risks you take (good and bad), it affects your self worth which in turns gives yourself permission to do certain things... things a mother doesn't want to imagine.

What can I do to help my daughter cope with adolescence and the pressures she'll experience everyday?

The Dove campaign for Real Beauty has recently launched a new initiative called "Real Girls, Real Pressure: A National Report on the State of Self-Esteem, commissioned by the Dove Self-Esteem Fund ".

"Too many girls and young women develop low self-esteem from hang-ups about
looks and consequently fail to reach their full potential in later life. The
Dove Self-Esteem Fund (DSEF) was established as an agent of change to inspire
and educate girls and young women about a wider definition of beauty. The
DSEF is committed to help girls build positive self-esteem and a healthy body
image, with a goal of reaching 5 million girls globally by 2010. It has
already reached 2 million young women."

They are targeting girls ages 8-17 and their mothers to help build/repair/maintain self esteem. The exciting thing is that they provide FREE materials for mothers and daughters to begin talking and working on self -esteem. They have a mother's guide and a mother/daughter activity guide to help you facilitate conversations and about beauty, body, pressures, self-esteem, and self confidence. The guides have questions and activities to help us build an open-relationship with our daughters and to remind us how our own self-esteem and hang-ups affect our girls.

"A mom is one of the most important influences in the life of a daughter. Whether you are a step mom, an auntie, a grandmother, a big sister or just a loving friend, the role of a ‘mother’ is important and necessary in a girl’s development.
Your love and care sets the foundations for your daughter’s life. Who you are will profoundly affect who she is and who she will be. How you feel about yourself, your looks, your body, your beauty, acts like a script from which your daughter will make choices about how she should feel about herself. In order to give your daughter the strength and courage she needs to feel beautiful in a world that may challenge her values, you need to take inventory of your own feelings of beauty."
-Dr. Susie Orbach and Dr. Nancy Etcoff (Dove's Academic Advisors)

(My mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother )

I read through the materials and found them to be informative, thought-provoking and interesting. They also provide an entire FREE workshop kit with DVD/CD to teach you how to run a self-esteem workshop in your area. Dove is also on the road providing workshops in many different states, you can check their map and schedule to see if there will be one in your area soon.

Self-esteem is an important issue, and I am very thankful to Dove for their initiative and for providing FREE tools to all of us. Click on any of the green links above to read more about the campaign, the National Report, and the booklets and activity guides (under self-esteem tools). You can also find short videos and other resources for you, your daughter, or your workshop.

We can support Dove and their Real Beauty and Real Girls Real Pressures programs by buying Dove products and by helping them to spread the word. In an effort to do my part. I'm offering up a small challenge and reward. Please post about self-esteem on your blog and reference Dove's FREE Self-Esteem tools, then come back here and leave a link to your post in the comments of this post. If you do not have a blog, then just leave a comment here about your thoughts on the subject of beauty and self-esteem. I will award 2 winners (chosen at random) and will send you a gift from Dove. Leave your comment or post link by midnight March 29th. Thank you in advance for your support.

Updates

2009-03-09T06:52:00.004-07:00

Post updates...

The founder of Drop in and Decorate Inc., Lydia Walshin, saw my post and posted about our event on the Drop in and Decorate site. Which reminds me that Emily and I had a fun idea when we were dropping off the cookies at the shelter, you can read about it on the Drop site. I also noticed that Lydia recently posted a much needed tip about how to make perfectly red icing... all of ours turned out different shades of pink... even using and entire container of Wilton red food coloring.
After my massage, I was hoping that all of my neck-shoulder-arm pain and numbness would be gone. AND it was for a few hours, till it came back in the middle of the night with a vengeance. I even woke up with it accompanied by a rip roaring headache and ALL of those fabulous feelings lasted the entire day Thursday. HOWEVER, I haven't had it nearly as bad since, so maybe it DID work.
Answers to my cake decorating questions: First, to frost the crumb sides of a cut cake, it worked out nicely to freeze the cake, brush away the crumbs and put a thin layer of frosting (a crumb coat) on and then freeze it again. Then I frosted it with a wide frosting knife and was able to get a "smooth" finish (OK, mine wasn't that smooth, but it wasn't crumby). Second, the mini cupcake papers worked out just fine for removing the mini cupcakes nicely. Third, the Lego candies were chewable, about the consistency of Sweet tarts, and they Do stack for building. Finally, the Lego Fruit Snacks are no longer available in stores nor online.
Bedtime is an absolute miracle (knock on wood). The new rules and routine are working great... he falls asleep within minutes of me leaving the room, sometimes within seconds! I'm not kidding! He didn't even get thrown off with daylight savings.
Still working on the mealtime problems.

Saving the World through Music

2009-03-07T07:55:00.004-07:00

"Stand by Me" performed by musicians around the world.

The Playing For Change Foundation is saving the world by connecting the world through music. The Foundation provides resources and builds music schools around the world to help artists share their gifts with their community. You can support them by spreading the word about them, purchasing their CDs, DVDs, merchandise, downloading their songs on Itunes or attending one of their concerts. Poke around on their website to find out a little more about them.

Super Fabulous Day for ME

2009-03-04T19:21:00.005-07:00

I'm off to bed... early... but not before I tell you a tiny bit about my super fabulous day alone...

First BFF and her amazing Mommy came to pick up Fischer and take him to playgroup and keep him all day long to play. Then I scooted off to have the most wonderful massage. It was an hour of heaven... and I hope that all of that rubbing and lotioning will make it so my arms do not go numb tonight, as they have been for the past few weeks. If that is the case... then I might just be in love with the girl who gave me my massage.
Next I took in another hour of pampering as I received a very fine pedicure with more massaging of my legs and feet. I came away with pretty toes... it had been awhile!
Then I lounged for a while at a favorite little cafe and had my favorite lunch and a very delicious big cookie!
Next... oh yes, there is more... I spent the next two and half hours getting my hair cut and highlighted while chatting with my friend who is a very talented stylist. So of course, I look fabulous! OH, and she waxed and dyed my eyebrows... that was new for me... I can't say that part was particularly fabulous, but the outcome was nice.
And finally I picked up my happy tired little boy from his day o' play and headed home to my loving husband for some tasty pancakes.
I am so very grateful and so very blessed. Seriously... BEST DAY... I never do things like this, it had been a year since I last got my haircut and ten months since my last pedicure and I've NEVER had a massage (except that one weird time but that was a strange and humiliating experience years ago). Sooo, I feel sooo good! Thanks to my Mom and Andy and to BFF's Mommy for making my fabulous day possible! Now, to do it all again in another 31 years...
Thanks for letting me brag... ;) And no, it wasn't even my birthday... it was no special day at all... which made it that much more special!

Fischer is THREE!

2009-03-01T19:56:00.005-07:00

Well, my little baby is THREE now! He is so BIG! He had a great birthday and two parties! He started off birthday morning by telling me that all he'd like to do is stay home, play toys and jump on the bed. "Nothin' else". No amount of prodding would get him to go to a restaurant or play place... he wanted to spend his day at home! So we did. Then that afternoon when Andy came home, he opened his present from us (the space shuttle and rockets that he wanted and of course a bunch of books on space!). Then we went to Grandma Betsy's (my MIL) house to have a family party with Fischer's other grandparents (my parents) and his great-grandmother (Andy's Grandma) and his Uncle David (Andy's bro). He got lots and lots of great presents there, and Betsy had made him the specific feen (green) cake with a feen _uck on top (green truck - you fill in the other F), he loved it! She let him cut it and do whatever he wanted with it... the rest of us had pie.

That night, after talking to His Granddad (Andy's dad) and his Aunt Jana and Uncle Matt (My SIL nad Bro) on the phone, he fell fast asleep... a very happy boy!

The next morning was the Lego Mania Birthday Party with all of his friends. BFF arrived first and that sounded like this:

Fisch: Hi BFF!

BFF: Hi ya GOOFBALL!

Then, the rest of the guests started to arrive, I think there ended up being 14 kids in all (5 friends were sick at home). They had a great time playing toys, cars, trains, playing in the tents and ball pit, playing in the backyard (the day turned out beautiful)... and NOT ONE kid even touched a Lego! Go figure! Although, I have to say that I was a bit relieved because I wasn't sure how that was all going to go down. Fischer LOVES his Lego's and seems to find them to be quite the personal item... it is the only real thing that he has had a hard time sharing... I mean he bursts into tears if anyone touches them... and he doesn't do that with anything else. However, I'd been prepping him and I'd bought LOTS more Lego Duplos so that we'd have plenty. But I still wasn't sure because he kept wavering back and forth about whether he liked the idea of sharing. In fact our last exchange sounded like this:

Mommy: Do you think it would be OK if all of your friends came over to play and share your Legos with you on your birthday? Then the kids will go home and NO ONE will take any home with them, they will all still be yours to play with by yourself?

Fischer: I think I might freak out.

So, luckily, we never had to go find out! Anyway the rest of the party went well. The pictures were pretty terrible (no offense, Mom), but my Dad took video, so I'll share that when I can get it from him.
The cake turned out OK.... especially if you don't go back and compare mine with Betty's! I also made about 72 mini-cupcakes and put the little Lego candies on top (which, by the way, turned out to be the consistency of Sweet Tarts). Then I gave the rest of the candies to the kids in little goody bags. Oh... and you CAN actually build with the candies! I don't think you could walk around with your creation, but they do stack if you leave it on the table. Here is a picture of the cake and a bad one with the cupcakes in view. We also had a TON of food, but Andy said that we could probably have just dumped out a giant bag of Cheetos and called it good! That was definitely the fave!

The party turned out great thanks to all of our wonderful friends and family! I was exhausted afterward, but Andy did all of the clean-up... so that was totally fabulous! Thanks, Babe!

What does Fischer LOVE right now... now that he is big and three (for the babybook I'll finish someday):

He loves fire men and fire trucks and wants to be a fireman when he grows up. He loves to play games: board games, card games, ANY games... he even has tried some Wii Fit games. He loves vehicles of all types to play with, read about, or talk about. He LOVES Legos... especially the Duplo size and even calls the little ones with four studs on top, his little buddies. He loves to look at books and be read to. He is very interested in letters and letter sounds and likes to play with them, try to write them, and talk about them. He loves his parents and wants to marry us. He thinks his grandparents are all beautiful, but Mommy is not... apparently my toes are "mostly pretty". He loves his friends and BFF is still his forever favorite, even though she is not always the most kind and cooperative of friends. He has been going to the Little Gym since he was 5 months old, and hates it now because it is an independent class (without Mommy). He is very interested in rockets and space. He loves words like "fabulous", "disgusting", "amazing", "terrible", "annoying", actually", and "realize". He loves to be outside playing with sticks, rocks and dirt. He loves to play hockey with his Daddy. He loves numbers and addition and is constantly quizzing me "what's eight plus eight?". He loves fruit, pasta (especially macaroni and cheese), peanut butter and jelly, bread, carrots, grape tomatoes, pickles and treats... not much else. He is my favorite person in the whole world and I love him to bits and pieces! I am so very blessed and grateful to God for my amazing husband and our supremely fabulous son!

Last day of being TWO

2009-02-26T09:34:00.001-07:00

Fisch set up a little scene this morning and asked me to take his picture with his animals and his chocolate milk.

Book of the Day

2009-02-25T04:00:00.001-07:00

Fischer is soooo into Goldilocks. He loves me to read the book or just to just tell him the story. He also loves to retell the story to Andy and I. In fact, he loves it so much... that for weeks he was insisting that he wanted Goldilocks shoes for his birthday! When I asked him what they were... he drew me a picture. I wish I would have saved it to show you. Basically two oval squiggles. When I asked him to describe what they looked like he said, "I drew you a picture!"
Ok, silly me. When I asked what color they were (he had drawn them in pencil)... he started to get annoyed with me because they were obviously yellow since he drew them on a yellow steno pad! OK... getting nowhere. So... I said that Goldilocks shoes are girl shoes. Well, he wants them in white, so ... apparently they are now boy shoes. Now what? I searched the Internet, couldn't find a thing! So I did what (I hope) any good mother would do... hoped he would forget about them. AND, he finally has (at least I think he has, I don't dare bring them up again!).
Anyway, our Goldilocks and the Three bears is retold and illustrated by Jan Brett... and true to her form... the pictures are fantastic.... so much great detail. We love it.

Talk to me Tuesday: Cake decorating HELP!

2009-02-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

I'm attempting to make these cute little Lego cakes for Fischer's birthday party on Saturday. I found the recipe here on Betty Crocker - it is the best looking of all the Lego cakes I've found so far on the Internet. So, today I took a trial run and - YUCK! The frosting is the problem. After making the sheet cake, you slice it into smaller pieces to create different sized Legos... but that means that you are frosting the crumby sides. I froze the cake and still ended up with a very crumby frosting job.

? - Do you have any tips on how to do this? I've decided to do a white cake, so the crumbs aren't as obvious (I tried chocolate today), and I just used the frosting they recommended from the container... but there has to be a better way. Do I whip it or something? Do you know of a better frosting for this sort of thing? I've been using a butter knife, is that the problem?

I did discover, the marshmallows were easier to frost on top of a fork, rather than the suggested tooth pick ... but still they didn't look nearly as smooth and professional as the picture.

HELP!

?- Also, I'm planning on making mini-cupcakes for the kids with Lego candy on top. Do any of you have any tips on the best way to pry the little suckers from the pan without sticking? I've gotten mixed reviews on whether or not to use the tiny cupcake papers. Is there a spray that's better than another? Have you tried those sprays with flour in them?

?- I ordered the Lego candy online and they haven't arrived yet. Have you ever eaten these? Are they the consistency of Smarties or conversation hearts? Will they be easy for 3 year-olds to chew?

?- I tried to find the Lego fruit snacks that Kelloggs had, but they don't seem to be sold in any of my local grocery stores and I couldn't even find them on the Kelloggs website. I saw them on Amazon, but they are unavailable. It is probably too late to order them now anyway... but if you have seen them in a particular store this week, let me know!

Thank you for ANY advice you can share, I need serious help before Saturday.

Guess what?

2009-02-23T04:41:00.003-07:00

Sorry for the racy photo! ;)

Happy Birthday to Andy!!!!!.... three weeks ago

2009-02-21T04:00:00.003-07:00

Thank you Mario Lemieux for standing in, yet again, for Andy's picture!

Super Bowl Sunday was Andy's birthday, which is great because it is built-in entertainment for his party! The only thing better would be if his birthday and the Stanley Cup Finals lined up for him each year!

Of course I'd like to take a minute to gush about my one and only love... best husband EVER! Seriously, thank you Andy for being the man that you are, for taking care of and providing for our family and for being the best friend and life-long companion I could dream of. I love you. AND, he's totally hot too!

Anyway, he is not a big fan of being talked about (or pictured) on the blog... so I thought I'd let his own words give you a peek into him. Andy coaches basketball... freshman girls basketball... it is not always easy, seeing as how every year he is basically teaching the girls how to play the game... BUT he makes it so much more. It seems that his goals are: teach them how to play the game, help them to have fun while playing, give them life-long friendships with one another and new found confidence in themselves (this is me talking... this is just what it looks like to me). So after a FUN season of losing... but having fun... he'll be giving them a little gift next week. He had personalized bracelets made for each of them (by his very talented sister) and he typed up a little letter to go with them. I thought you might like to read some of it:

It is said that when asked about sculpting David, Michelangelo stated he was merely liberating the form within by removing the excess rock. By cutting away,he was adding definition to the shape that already existed. If we think about life in a similar way, we find events, opportunities, and hardships can act as a chisel to “chip away” our excess rock to help us learn who we really are. Basketball was one of these opportunities (and sometimes a hardship depending on the day), and I was fortunate enough to watch this process with you. So what did I learn?

I learned you are strong, courageous, and spirited. I saw you rise up to take on formidable challenges, smile after tough defeats, and reach out to embrace your
teammates. Of course I already knew you were smart, funny, and beautiful, but I also saw these qualities grow, each and every day. I learned what an extraordinary person you truly are.

On your bracelet, you will see several pieces of your birthstone. Think of these stones as some of the chips that have been removed throughout the season. Each one represents a step you took toward strengthening one of your qualities. For those who are willing, life is full of opportunities to add definition to your form within.

You will also find a bead with the first letter of your name. I would have put your whole name, but seriously, some of you have long names and it would have ended up a necklace! This bead is to remind you to be proud of who you are. You are an incredible person, and although you might not always feel as such, that is who you are. When you doubt this, just surround yourself with people who already know the truth (or come back to ___ for a visit and some candy) and you should be back to normal in no time!

I have had an incredible time with you this season and thank you for all the time you committed to the team. I am also thankful for you allowing me to get to know you and teach you a little basketball. Nine months ‘till next season!

"It was so easy!"

2009-02-20T04:00:00.002-07:00

The other day I was rushing Fischer and I out the door to meet up with friends for a playdate. I had our stuff together, I had him buckled into the car in the garage, I had... lost my keys.... grrr!

I search the car, search my purse, search my coat pocket... nothing. I run back in the house (don't worry the garage door was closed and Fisch was belted in) and scanned the kitchen, the bedroom, the office, the bathroom,... nothing. Back to the car, searching between the seats, dump out my purse... nothing.

Mommy: "Fischer, do you know where my keys are?"
Fischer: "No."
M: "Did you play with Mommy's keys? It is ok if you did, that will just help me to know where they are."
F: "No"

Back in the house, search the junk drawer another bathroom, the floor of the closet, the pants I wore yesterday, check another coat... nothing. Back to the car, search under the seats... nothing. Back in the house, search the toys, call friends and say we may not make it, search the train table, under the couch... weird thought...

Check the fridge... Ah HA!

Back in the car...

M: "Fischer, did you put my keys in the fridge?"
F: silence
M: "Fischer, you have been watching me run around like a crazy person for twenty minutes! Why didn't you just tell me that you put my keys in the fridge?"

F: "It was so easy!"
M: "What? What was so easy?"
F: "You just go in the kitchen, open the fridge and there they are. Easy!"

sigh

Drop in and Decorate

2009-02-19T04:00:00.000-07:00

I could have sworn that I had already talked about this last year... but I guess not. I can't find it on the blog anywhere, and I guess since we did it in December and I started this blog in February, I never did post about it. BUT, I would think that I would have since it is about saving the world and all! Geez! Well anyway we did it again... so fun!

Drop in and Decorate is the grand idea of NineCooks' Lydia Walshin, and has spread from idea to a full fledged non-profit organization!

"Drop In & Decorate, Inc., a nonprofit organization based in Rhode Island
and founded by food writer Lydia Walshin, hosts Drop In & Decorate®
cookies-for-donation events and provides financial and technical support to
events hosted by individuals and organizations around the country.

Drop In & Decorate is a simple concept: bake some cookies, invite friends or family
(or neighbors, or co-workers) to stop in and help decorate, then donate your
cookies to a local food pantry, emergency shelter, senior center, lunch program,
or other community agency serving neighbors in need. (Or, sell your cookies at a
bake sale, and donate the proceeds to a community agency.)"

So last year, our little book club got together and baked and decorated over 150 cookies for the families residing in our local homeless shelter at Christmastime.

This year, Emily (my friend) and I rallied together a dozen or so good friends and baked and decorated over 300 cookies! We had so much fun! We were very excited to have enough cookies for all of the families and all of the men who come to sleep at our local shelter.

Everyone donated so much (cookies, time, decorating supplies, packaging supplies, money, and snacks) and together we had a great time providing Valentine cookies for so many people. Thanks everybody!

The week before, five of us got together and cranked out about 9 dozen cookies and put them in Jenny's freezer. The night before, Emily and I made 14 batches of icing and put them into piping bags. We rented out Emily's and BFF Mommy's clubhouse for the actual decorating. That day, from 10 to 2, people dropped in to decorate cookies and all of the little ones played and played! it worked out great. Emily and I came back later that night after the cookies had set, and packaged them all up to be delivered on Valentine's Day (the next morning). We individually bagged and tied 160 for the families and then stacked the rest in big zip locks for the men (we hoped they'd be ok without fancy bags and ties!). Drop in and Decorate is such a fun idea to get friends together to chat, get creative and ultimately benefit someone else. I think next year will have to be our "third annual Drop In".

The Drop in and Decorate website has lots of fun ideas about how to host your own party and also recipes. We used our own recipes, but I think next year, I'll give theirs a try.

I want to give a big thank you to: Emily L, Emily M, Jenny, Brenna. Danae, Lisa M, Chrissy, Amy, Amie, Vicki, Jolie, Katie, and McKayla. You are such fabulous friends!

Disaster Narrowly Averted

2009-02-18T04:00:00.000-07:00

It was a little too quiet at my house the other day... I went to investigate... and low and behold my little Curious George was in his room playing with... EGGS!

Talk to me Tuesday... Mealtime

2009-02-17T04:00:00.001-07:00

I'm coming to you for ideas.

Problem: Fischer will NOT stay seated to complete a meal in a timely fashion. He is on and off his seat, playing, talking, etc. Mealtime takes forever, he eats very little, Andy and I get frustrated.
How we actually caused the problem: We have eaten one too many meals at the coffee table.
What we've tried: Holding dessert over his head - could care less. Put the high chair back in action - this keeps him in place, but does not ensure that he actually eats.

Obviously, we need to get our family back to the kitchen table, but then what? Any ideas? What works for you? Am I expecting too much?

Garbage Day

2009-02-16T19:32:00.002-07:00

Garbage truck in hand, waiting for the Garbage Man. Aw, it's the little things...

Romp to Stomp Out Breast Cancer

2009-02-12T19:49:00.004-07:00

Recently a group of friends and I participated in a snowshoe 5k to benefit Susan G Komen for the Cure. My good friend Lauren put our team together in honor of her friend Cari. Cari blogs over at UnDomestic: "Writings of a teachermom, choosing to stay home with her kids, while loathing all domestic responsibilities! In late Aug. 2008, I was diagnosed with Triple Negative breast cancer. After surgery, chemo and radiation, I was given the all clear. However, in the late summer of 2008, I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which metastasized to other areas."

Cari has three little kids at home, and after learning of her story and checking out her blog, it was an honor to snowshoe for her. Our team carried fun balloons that said "Team Cari" on them and we had a blast! I actually had my butt kicked by the course... but supposedly it was REALLY easy. Hmmm. AND don't even try to cut me some slack on behalf of being pregnant... because two other of our team members were much further along that I, and they seemed to practically skip to the finish line!

Anyway, thank you Lauren for inviting me to be a part of such a fun experience and important cause!

Bedtime gone wrong

2009-02-08T19:32:00.010-07:00

- Bedtime gone wrong: passed out on the couch at 11:00 PM -

I was about to write about what a genius of a parent I am.... but Andy just messed it all up!* Thanks a lot!

We've been having major trouble getting Fischer to go to bed lately (for at least a month). We'll do our routine, kiss him goodnight and then for the next THREE to FOUR hours he'll be in and out of his room for one reason or another OR he'll be talking, singing and playing with his books and toys till his room is completely destroyed AND he is wide awake!

It has been really frustrating, and very very tiring. Not to mention, when he does fall asleep, it is often restless with frequent night wakings and then inevitably, he'll end up sleeping with us. It is getting old.

So, I've tried a myriad of things to help the situation:

I've tried ignoring him and letting him play and play till he falls asleep - but he never falls asleep.

I've tried consequences for getting out of bed or being too noisy - such as: turning his nightlights off, closing his door, taking away toys - all of this just gets him anxious and panicky, and brings on boatloads of tears.

I've tried giving him snacks, reassurance, incentives (like prizes for staying in bed all night) - didn't help.

All we were getting was an over-tired family and a seriously bad habit. The thing that bothered me most was that I'd put him to bed with love, kisses, songs, warm fuzzies, etc. and then end up being angry with him for hours before he finally passed out. Then I'd feel so guilty about it that I'd kind of want to go in and cuddle him, to let him know that I'm not really mad at him (but I didn't because it is not like I'm crazy - after a three to four hour fight I was not about to wake him!).

So, I hope I don't jinx myself by talking about what HAS worked, but here it is:

First, let me just say that when you are looking for help with toddler sleep, they always talk about consistency... they mention consistent bedtime and consistent bedtime routines. We've always done that.... forever, we've had the same routine and bedtime for him.... so that is one duck we have in a row.

Second, I have eliminated napping to ensure that he is tired at bedtime.

Third, I am waking him up at the same time every morning (which totally stinks for me because waking him up is against the very core of my tired being).

Fourth, NEW RULE: No toys or books in bed. Instead of helping him to wind down, they get his creative juices flowing till his bed is full of sleeping stuffed animals, there is no room for him and he has completely rearranged his room to have every item of clothing and every toy take up residence on the floor. Then, by the way, he wakes up in the middle of the night mad that his room is messy and wants me to clean it! And I do, because I just want him to be quiet and go to sleep!

Fifth, after our bedtime routine, I sound like a broken record. Anytime he wants something or gets out of bed or asks a question, I calmly repeat "go to bed" or "go to sleep". I do not give him any attention after the goodnight kiss. (I know this sounds harsh, but I'm trying to break the habit of him getting out of bed. Obviously if it was an emergency, I'd respond. I do respond calmly and without emotion if he asks about monsters or something scary "We don't have monsters, the dogs would eat them**. Go to sleep".)

Finally, I turn off all of the lights that can be seen from his room and make it very quiet, so that it seems that he is not missing out on any grand parties or fun.

I'm also trying very hard to take my own emotion out of the picture. I am ashamed to say it, but I was getting really mad! Then I stepped back and thought, why am I getting mad at a baby? I can be frustrated, I can be consistent, I can deliver consequences, but I don't actually need to feel angry. I think this realization is helping us both.

It has only been a few days, and he isn't "cured" yet.... BUT He is going to sleep much more quickly (within 15-30 minutes), bedtime is much more positive, AND believe it or not, he is sleeping through the night! Yay! Everybody wins!

* So, I said Andy messed it up, because during the critical moments after I've said "Go to sleep" and Fischer has gotten very quiet... Andy walked in to kiss him goodnight! Seriously, this started up the talking and questions and getting out of bed all over again... he added on 15 minutes!

** About monsters, it has worked very well for us and for Fischer to tell him that dogs eat monsters. Therefor you can reason that a monster would never come in our house for fear of being eaten. AND if the monster DID come in, he'd be eaten right away.... so obviously, there is no way we could have a monster in our house. It makes perfect sense to Fischer, although he does like to be reassured of this "fact" periodically. This works MUCH better for him than simply stating "there is no such thing as monsters".

I was talking to a friend recently who suggested that I arm him with something more proactive like having him yell "Go away Monsters", which would give him some control. I thought it was a good idea, so if ever the dogs stop eating the monsters, we'll try that route. Which, incidentally, is a theme we will be needing to address soon with him because he rarely stands up for himself... but that is another story.

What happened to the blog?

2009-02-07T20:32:00.003-07:00

So, you know when you were young and you kept a journal and you wrote about everything you did every day? Then you missed a few days or weeks and it seemed too overwhelming to try to catch your journal up? Yeah... it is kind of like that.

Take that Tacoma!

2009-01-22T22:15:00.007-07:00

Have you seen this? BFF's mommy sent me this in an email. I've since copied the transcript off of someone else's blog (and she did too) so that you could read it. All I can say is - THANK YOU Carolyn Hax for putting it into words. Usually when someone asks me what I've done today, I say "nothing" which is so very far from the truth, but I feel I can't really explain the importance nor time consuming nature of what I did do.

Tell Me About It by Carolyn Hax
Tucson, Arizona Published: 06.05.2007

● Carolyn:
My best friend has a child. Her: Exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .
OK. I've done Internet searches; I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please, no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners. . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them every day. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day, and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail?
I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events), and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy — not a bad thing at all — but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth?
Is this a contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids, and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.
— Tacoma, Wash.

● Tacoma:

Relax and enjoy. You're funny.
Or you're lying about having friends with kids.
Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.
Internet searches?
I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand — while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom friends are either lying or competing with you — is disingenuous indeed.
So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries and questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.
It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.
It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.
It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family members and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting the constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.
It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything — language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity, empathy. Everything.
It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy — and then when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, you wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend — a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends or marvel at how much more productively she uses her time.
Either make a sincere effort to understand, or keep your snit to yourself.

~reprinted without permission

Book of the Day

2009-01-17T16:06:00.002-07:00

I hate spiders. Andy hates spiders. Fischer is beginning to hate spiders. It is horrible, I know, to transfer such hatred to our children.... oops. ALSO, it is horrible for "gardeners" such as Andy and I to hate one of our best garden allies. It is irrational. With all this hatred swirling around us, why oh why would I get Fischer this book? It was my way of trying to redeem myself and raise a spider lover... or maybe it is just cute and you know how I love books!

Aaaarrgghh! Spider! by Lydia Monks is a fun little tale told from the perspective of a lonely spider. The spider wants so desperately to be a family pet. It does all sorts of fancy tricks to try to catch the attention and admiration of one family... but each time the poor spider ends up scaring the family. You'll have to see if the spider's dream ever comes true... let me just warn you, the last page has seriously given me nightmares!

Anyway, Fisch is liking this book and Andy and I are finding it therapeutic! ;)

Cheers and Jeers

2009-01-16T19:52:00.004-07:00

The goings on of late...

JEERS: The handy man ended up charging us almost FOUR TIMES his original quote without ever updating us along the way to this fact. AND because his original quote was so low, I didn't make a claim to the insurance... and now it is doubtful we'll get anything back. Grrr.
CHEERS: Fischer's BFF had a fabulous sledding party that we all loved. Andy took Fisch and BFF down the hill a number of times, each time they flew further and further away! Fischer actually preferred "sledding" on his snow pant butt to using an actual sled, though.
JEERS: We decided that I had jumped the gun on having Fisch sleep in underwear instead of pull-ups. He is not quite ready for that.
CHEERS: Fischer has told me today that I am "amazing" a "good mommy" and has called me "Mommy Sweetie Pie". Awwww. Everybody needs a guy like him around!
JEERS: I have felt nauseous every day this week.
CHEERS: I haven't gained any weight.
JEERS: My body has expanded and I look WAY more pregnant that I actually am!
CHEERS: I have been nicer to the dogs...
JEERS: Kaia still stinks so bad I could vomit!
JEERS: I thought there was an intruder in my house today... I panicked a bit and got Fisch and I out.
CHEERS: It seems to have been my imagination!
JEERS: I am obviously crazy!
CHEERS: I'm OK with that!
CHEERS or maybe JEERS: I've been going to bed between 7:15 and 8:15 almost every night lately!
CHEERS: I think I'm really back to blogging now. I hope I didn't lose you.

Women Friends

2009-01-08T08:38:00.002-07:00

This one had me thinking of you.

Ummm.... What to say?

2009-01-06T08:16:00.005-07:00

It is 8:20 in the morning, I'm sitting in my nice warm bed listening to Fischer play and sing in the other room. I am desperately trying to think of some fantastic and interesting thing to blog about. You may have noticed that I've lost my blogging momentum. Andy was home for two weeks over the holidays and we enjoyed being lazy and hanging out as a family. I am off routine and am trying to get back together. Somehow, though, after all of that rest and relaxation, I am feeling uninspired to write.

Hmmm...

I could tell you about a few new philanthropic organizations that have recently caught my interest, but it feels like after a long stint of no blogging, I should write about something more personal.

I could tell you about how Kaia is emitting the most horrific smell on a fairly regularly basis and it makes me want to throw up. I've lost all patience with her and am constantly trying to get her to stop following me around... so now she seems depressed and I feel guilty... But talking about dog gas isn't very classy and why would anyone want to read about it?

I could tell you about how the other night when I was giving Fischer a bath, he said "You have good energy, Mom!" But then you'd probably start wondering about what we talk about at our house... Seriously I don't know where he got that.

If I wrote about that then I would start to get on a roll talking about of all of the Fischisms of late. Such as, before Christmas when we were talking about Christmas being Jesus' birthday, and Fischer wanted to bake Him a birthday cake. I said that'd be a good idea, but then he wanted to TAKE it to Him. I tried to explain that Jesus is in our hearts and if we celebrate His birthday and eat His cake, that will make Him happy. Then, after a really long pause.... he gets this worried look and asks me, "How did Jesus get in my tummy?"

But if I told you all of that then I'd have to tell you about the bumbling answer I gave about God creating us and putting a piece of himself into us and while I was talking I realized that to Fischer this might sound like God put His toe inside of him and an His elbow in me and and his eyeball inside Daddy... which sounded scary and then I just kept talking and talking until I felt that I'd been totally clear and insightful... and he had no comment.

OR I could tell you after this long saga of home repairs the work men should be done today. Hopefully the bill will come close to the original quote.

I could tell you that we are in the final stages of potty training, and Fischer has given up the night time pull-up for underwear at night. Which means we made it through with only having to buy one case. It also means that he wakes up twice a night to go potty...and so do we.

I could make a little announcement about being pregnant. That is kind of an exciting thing to talk about but maybe not as exciting of a thing to read about. Plus maybe you already knew. AND I have had the realization that I may not be able to sleep through the night without interruptions for FOUR more years!

So as you can see, I'm at a loss for words today. So I think I won't write about anything, and I'll just get ready for the day and go pick up BFF for a playdate.

Have a great day!

Do we have a winner?

2008-12-31T04:41:00.001-07:00

OK today is the 31st, have you exercised? I'm ready to give out the fabulous prize but I need to know if any of you who took the challenge... met the challenge? There were 8 of us. Depending on whether you started on the 1st or 2nd, you should have exercised 31 or 30 consecutive days. Let me know, either here or via email! YOU DESERVE SOME PRAISE and A FABULOUS PRIZE!

"Mommy, don't see me writing!"

2008-12-28T19:55:00.005-07:00

I walked upstairs after switching the laundry, to find Fischer standing in the family room with his hand under his shirt...

Fischer: "Don't see me writing, Mommy."
Mommy: "What?"
F: "Don't see me writing."
M: (there is no paper in sight, just a few broken crayons) "Give me the crayon from under your shirt. What did you write on?"
F: "Nothing."
M: "Show me what you wrote on."
F: Points to a toy (of BFF's) with crayon on it.
M: "What else did you write on?"
F: "Nothing."
M: "Show me what you drew on."
F: "You mean give it to you?"
M: "Yes, give me whatever you drew on."
F: "Well... the couch is really heavy!"

Sigh, thank heaven for leather couches and Magic Erasers!

That guy better not come into our house!

2008-12-25T15:45:00.002-07:00

Last night (Christmas Eve) we were driving home, late at night from a party, when suddenly after a month of anticipation and admiration for the guy... Fischer decided that he was afraid of Santa Clause and DID NOT want that guy coming into our house while we are asleep. No amount of description of Santa, the chimney, presents under the tree, etc. could change his mind about that. So, luckily, Andy knew Santa's phone number (only Dads know this number) and called him to request that Santa put Fischer's presents on the front porch. Fischer called Grandpa to ask him to tell Santa a to do the same. Sooo, the cookies and milk went onto the porch last night and Fischer found his gifts on the porch this morning! He was so glad!! Although we did have to reassure him a number of times today that Santa NEVER came into our home!

I hope you are all having a lovely day of sugarplums and family. We've already visited with my parents this morning, Andy's family this afternoon, and are headed back to my parents for dinner in a while... So fun. We feel very blessed with good friends, good family, good food and plenty of surprises!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

missing you...

2008-12-22T20:06:00.002-07:00

Workmen, drywall, mess, snow, Christmas cards, lost address book, lost cell phone, found cell phone, shopping, wrapping paper, laughing, students, basketball, the Polar Express, elves, road trips, hot chocolate, cold chocolate, exhaustion, candy, cookies, Amish friendship bread, hotels, parks, malls, turkey pepperoni, haircuts, friends, parties, gifts, groceries, cooking, baking, packing, unloading, shoveling, cleaning... OK- not cleaning, phone calls, nausea, fun times, Santa, Go Fish, Crazy 8s, stories, fast food, Subway- 4 days in a row, hockey, sleeping... sound familiar? I've missed you... will return soon. Maybe tomorrow after I climb laundry mountain, or maybe instead of!

Updates and Challenge

2008-12-13T20:11:00.004-07:00

So, I am happy to say that today was a very good day. The guys came to fix the pipe, so now we can use our dishwasher, our sink and our washer and dryer. They have to come back on Monday to replace the ceiling and the wall, though. OH, GUESS WHAT? When they removed the drywall from the ceiling they found... a stack of smutty magazines from 1994! Gross. I don't know why anyone would have put them there, there was no way to get to them... so strange. Someone must have stuck them up there when they were finishing the basement. When we moved in a few years ago, that was all said and done. Anyway, gross. I want to put them in someone else's recycling bin!

Fischer and I ran errands and did some shopping today during the snowstorm. It was great to scratch a few things off the big To Do list! The snow is beautiful and has been coming down on and off all day. Fischer's new L-Bow gloves arrived just in time for the fun.

Today Andy and Fisch and I played at least 20 hands of Go Fish (Fisch's first time). He caught on really fast and can certainly hold his own in the game. Although, I was a bit startled to find myself getting competitive! Seriously embarrassing.

Finally, it is time to check in on the December Exercise Challenge. Today is December 13, how many of you are still IN? You should have 12 or 13 days of exercise depending on if you started on the first or second. No skipping. Anyone? I know a few of us are out (including me) but have still been working out past the slip-up. There were a few who joined the challenge too late for the prize, but still wanted to push themselves. So, how are you? I'd love to hear the good and the bad. If you missed a day or a few days, keep going... you are making good healthy habits regardless of the challenge or the prize. By the way, the prize is still totally fabulous and I'd love to give it to one of you. So please chime in.

Lisa and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2008-12-12T07:57:00.003-07:00

It had been building up for awhile. I was feeling crummy and falling behind on my To Do list (which has about a million no-fun responsibilities along with a hundred fires to put out). So the night before the bad day, I asked Sheila to pick up Fisch in the morning and keep him for a few hours, so I could catch up.

The next morning...

Fischer wakes up too early and won't go back to sleep
I get over it and start the laundry and clean the kitchen, I turn on the dishwasher
I hear water falling in the basement
rush down to find water pouring from the ceiling and all over the washer, dryer, shelves, clean folded laundry pile, and floor in the laundry room
run back upstairs to find the source
can't find anything
run back downstairs to see that it has stopped but there is an enormous mess of water and gunk
start to cry (I don't know why) and call my dad
still weepy... call Andy
while on the phone with Andy Fischer falls off his chair and is screaming bloody murder
My stress level hits the roof
Doorbell rings, the dogs start barking and jumping on the furniture (a no no), Fischer is still screaming, I'm falling apart on the phone
I open the door, yank the dogs into a bedroom, shove a screaming half-naked Fischer at Sheila, go into the office and slam the door (very grown up of me)... still on the phone with Andy who cannot be very helpful because he is an hour away!
Off the phone, find Sheila in Fisch's room trying to get him dressed, I put on a nice face... as if I'm not falling apart at the seams and go out to the garage to grab his car seat
I drop it on my toe, which splits open
Sheila tells me to get out of the house and go sit at Starbucks for a few hours
She leaves, I call a bunch of fix-it guys who are too busy to come. I am trying not to let them hear that I am crying
Did I mention that my hormones are a bit out of whack these days?
Look at the mess again and realize it has to be a sewage pipe because the "gunk" is actually bits of rotted and disgusting food! Probably from the dishwasher.
Finally get a guy to agree to come in a few hours.
Find chocolate and eat it - feel a tad bit better, complain the entire story on the phone to Wanda
Feel sick to my stomach, can't accomplish any of my to do list with the water off and the HUGE mess lurking in the basement
Go to my parents' to go to the bathroom and then get the brilliant idea to randomly, take a bath in their giant jetted tub. Ahhh, much better.
Come home, wait for the guy.
He comes and tells me it is worse case scenario and he will have to rip apart the basement ceiling until he finds the pipe, then we'll have to rip open the wall too because of all the food.
He can't come till Saturday. He tells me to clean this up immediately because of the dangerous bacteria, and If I don't he will lecture me when he comes back.
He leaves and I have to leave immediately to go pick up Fisch and meet Andy to close on our refinance of our house.
Rush home to start cleaning up the mess before my student comes
He never shows
I'm just saying... yesterday sucked! Oh and I can't use my dishwasher, my kitchen sink, the washing machine or the dryer... fun times.
Sooo, how are you?

Book of the Day

2008-12-10T04:26:00.000-07:00

Out of the enormous box of holiday books that we have been reading this month, Fischer continuously insists that we read Margie Palatini's Mooseltoe. It is about "Moose" who happens to have an incredible mustache - or rather Moosetache, and his Holiday to do list. This moose is on the ball with holiday shopping, cooking, decorating, card writing the works... but come Christmas eve he and his family discover there has been one Major oversight... he forgot the tree! Anyway, this is Fischer's Christmas book pick this week. I'm hoping that we can start reading more of the others, because while this one is cute, I'm ready for a new story!

Just clicking around: Christmas ideas

2008-12-09T04:45:00.000-07:00

As I've been clicking around the Internet I've come across some fun new holiday traditions and Christmas ideas.

The first ideas was from my good friend Emily (on the phone, not on the net). She told me that she'd heard a new idea that she was going to try and use with her children this year. Everyone gets 4 gifts: Something you want, something you need (like clothes), something to share (like a video or game), and something to read. I thought it was brilliant! It would really make kids think when they are making out their Christmas list. it would also help moms and dads to not go unnecessarily overboard (that's what Grandma is for).
The Green Phone Booth had some great alternatives to the traditional toys and candy that come in the advent calendar. There were even better ideas in the comments. One mom wrapped up books that her kids already had and they unwrapped one each night to read together... how easy is that? You might also be interested in this thought provoking video.
Next Liz had a bunch of great ideas that she gleaned from her mother-in-law and Oprah. I really liked the idea of a T-shirt quilt and I loved the idea of giving your family "dates" to be together rather than gifts. Check her out.
Recycle now has a very fun video tutorial for using fabric to wrap gifts (no tape or bows). So cute and the fabric can then be reused however the recipient likes or you can print out a little tag with a link to how they can turn their fabric wrapping into a cool bag (no sewing)!
Finally have you checked out the Mother Letter Project? One family is sending Christmas to a village in Africa instead of giving to one another.... but as a special surprise, the husband has secretly and anonymously created this little project. He is asking women to submit a letter (via email or comments) about motherhood for his wife. He is going to make them into a book for her for Christmas. If you submit one, he'll give you all of the letters too! The posted letters are fabulous. people have written letters about their mothering experiences, about or to their own mothers, I saw one written to the unknown birth-mother of one woman's adopted child, some are written to children who have yet to be conceived. Very thoughtful and each letter is quite touching. He has already received over 300 letters! I haven't submitted mine yet, but I will. If you aren't into this... it might inspire you to collect letters for someone in your life... maybe not to this same scale. last year for Andy's birthday, I collected letters from many of our relatives and compiled them in to a leather journal for him. I thought it would be a great keepsake and a reminder to him about all of the people who love him and whom he has had a positive affect on.

Looking for a good read?

2008-12-08T04:44:00.000-07:00

Back in September I received a new book to review, James Patterson’s and Hal Friedman’s Against Medical Advice. James Patterson is best known for his best-selling thrillers. But this book is different. This is a true story of co-author Hal’s son Cory. Cory has Tourette Syndrome. The story spans 12 years of Cory’s life with this syndrome. It begins with his first symptoms shortly before his 5th birthday and ends during the high school years, he is 17.

I knew that Tourette Syndrome involved typically to highly intellectual people who experience involuntary movements and verbalizations, but I had no idea that it could possibly cause such an incredible living hell. I was riveted by Cory’s story. It is told with his permission, from his viewpoint, which made it that much more fascinating. I felt as if I was experiencing his life with him.

I could easily picture the shock, humiliation and fear that would accompany being out of control of your own body. At times it was painful to read about the ways his body would contort repeatedly , sometimes injuring him with torn muscles, broken teeth and falls – yet the contortions continued after the injury causing even more pain.

The strength that Cory has to live day to day with Tourettes is incredible and inspiring. It sure makes my own aches and pains seem ridiculous. Cory is strong but of course the syndrome accompanied with OCD and anxiety takes a toll on him. He doesn’t have many friends and the ones he does have are troubled, he becomes deeply depressed and turns to alcohol and cigarettes to help him cope… his life is unimaginable.

What really struck me while reading this book was not only what life would be like with these illnesses, but also the frustrations of the medical assistance. During the 12 years that the book relays, Cory saw many doctors, specialists, hospitals, rehabs, AND was prescribed over sixty medications. Each one was for trial and error with dosages and combinations with others. Each one had its own side effects and added to the unbelievable discomfort that living in his body was.

It really made me think about all of the students that I’ve had who have been on and off a variety of meds and had to endure the effects as dosages are raised and lowered and combined with others. The medical field can offer so much, but with every body being different… the trials have got to be frustrating and sickening.

I would definitely recommend this book. I read it in a day. It was a page turner with short chapters. Cory’s life is fascinating and inspiring. I was also really inspired by his family and the way they have persevered, supported, and advocated for him. A definite good read!

Awww, cute!

2008-12-06T04:31:00.000-07:00

4 days in... how are you doing?

2008-12-04T20:16:00.002-07:00

Today is day four of the exercise challenge. There are 8 official participants, and not quite as many in the running for the fabulous prize.
How is it going for you? I figured we'll check in once a week over here... I'll post about it and you can let us know how you are doing. If you miss a day, you'll be out of the running for the prize, but just jump right back in and finish out the month with us. No use in quitting ;)

So, as predicted, I have a raging cold and feel like I've been run over by a truck. It is not getting the least bit better, only worse. HOWEVER, I have still exercised every day. Granted my sessions haven't been aerobic (since I can't breathe) BUT I have challenged myself nonetheless, which is WAY more than I would normally do when I am sick. So, I figure that is good.

I'd love to hear what you've done the past 4 days. By commenting about it, we'll inspire each other to keep on sweating!

Anyway, let's cheers to healthy habits!!