South of Broad

I have been meaning to write a review of this book for months.  I gotta say that I'm a huge Pat Conroy fan.  I was SO excited when I found out he had a new book coming out.  I sent my mom to a book store in Asheville that Mr. Conroy was appearing and had her get me a book and have it signed.
So I read.  I thought that the writing was GREAT.  I thought that story was GREAT.  But then I talked to my cousin.  She brought up the point that the characters were rather stereotypical.  And really, they were.  I still thought the story was a good story.  It became a little odd near the end, but well worth the read.
It's a story of friends that meet in high school.  Some go their separate ways, others go the same way, but always keeping in touch.  It goes from high school then jumps ahead well into adult hood when one of the friends goes missing.  Off the other's go to find him.  The action takes place in Charleston, California (mostly LA) and the Lake Lure area of the NC mountains.  I always like to read books when I know a few of the places where the story takes place.  Their journey is filled with trials and tribulations and, in the end, brings then closer together. 
Overall, I would totally recommend this book.  I do think that it would make a great movie.  Part of me wonders if the thought of the book possibly becoming a movie sometimes motivates writers...  Just a thought.  Anyway... go, read it... it's a quick and easy read.

February 2008

February 05

what a weekend....

So I belong to this online mommies group.  I have been there since Elijah was about 6months I guess.  I've really enjoyed it.  It's been nice to be on a message board with so many other moms with so many backgrounds.  I have made some friends from there and learned a lot.  So last week one of my friends suddenly disappeared from the message board.  We are also Facebook friends and had a game of Scrabulous going, and she disappeared from there.  So I posted a message on the message board asking if anyone had heard from her and if she was okay.  Minutes later my post was removed and I got a PM from the moderator saying that her account was temporarily suspended.  How fishy... So then I get an e-mail from MySpace (which I'm not fond of, but still have an active account) from another mom from the message board that said that there were several moms from the site who were being investigated and weren't allowed on the board.  So a little more delving, and I find that there are 6 REALLY active members that hadn't logged on for several days.  I keep digging and I find one of their blogs and she told the whole story and I must say that all weekend I just felt like I was trying to solve a mystery and that it wasn't really real.  These women had started e-mailing each other and had (apparently) talked trash about someone on the site.  One of the women ended up sending copies of the e-mails to the state moderator (as this is a national network) and then all hell broke loose.   These women were banned from the site (a couple have been re-allowed back on, for various reasons) and very vague posts were made by the moderator of the site and the state moderator.

This whole thing has sorta struck a chord with me.  First, I think that the whole thing is rather high school-ish.  But then to take 6 very vocal women away from a group, and only give some vague reasoning... I mean we are all adults (last time I checked) and I think that we have the ability to make up our minds.  But it has all been kept very hush hush.  The site is rather boring now.  I mean these women were very active in arranging play dates and MNO and things like that.  They donated their time and sometimes their money to help out with events.  It's very disheartening.  And I have to say I'm torn.  On one hand, I really value the opinions of these women.  They always have ideas and are there  if I'm having issues with Elijah.  They come form every walk of life.  I like the diversity.  On the other hand, I'm not sure that I feel very positive about how this was handled.  Regardless, I'm glad that I have my little Thursday playgroup that is separate from this on line group.  Though I'm not sure that the suspended women are as lucky...super sigh...

Anyway, that took up a lot of my weekend time.  Poor Jerry was reduced to using the desktop to get on the internet.

Friday's MW appointment went well.  We are both a little concerned about my weight gain, but I know I need to eat better food...i.e. no more Little Debbie's...sigh... though I have to say, I have just been starving all the time lately.  Regardless what I eat.  So I'm eating a lot of everything, not just junk.  Grace is transverse (long ways) which is fine for right now.  She has a lot of room...though seems to like the bottom of my uterus more than the top.  She is VERY active and has been keeping me up for hours at a time at night.  I need to start sitting on the bouncy ball and seeing if that will calm her down.  I do feel like she is sorta trying out the upside down thing.  In the past few days she has been experimenting with kicking farther up... we'll see... like I said, we still have plenty of time.

I went to the dentist today.  I really dislike the dentist, but seeing as I probably won't go for a while after Grace is born, I kept my appointment today.  I do have a question though...why is it that dental hygienist and hair dressers have such issues with silence?  I could care less about this woman's daughter and her school issues or how long her labor was and why the epidural wouldn't take... I don't know you!!!  sigh...  Anyway, it's very odd... I just want to be there and get the heck out!  At least at the hairdresser you can talk back...

The fence people are here!!!!   WAHOO!!!   We are supposed to have a our fence finished by this weekend!  That's really exciting!  Today's weather is GREAT!  It's 75 and sunny, so I'm hoping they will make good progress.

Okay, I am off to try my hand at making AIO diapers.  I think I've figured it out and now I need to put everything together.  We'll see.  Tonight Elijah and I are going to a pancake dinner at a friend's church...yum-o!!!  I take my GTT on Thursday morning, so I have to be REALLY REALLY good food wise tomorrow.  Have a great day!

February 08

Houston we have a fence!!!!

Those that are close to me (distance wise) are probably already sick of hearing it, but WE HAVE A FENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I'm so freakin' excited about it and so is Elijah.  They finished the work on Wednesday afternoon.   I got up and went to my GTT on Thursday...after going to the wrong place...ah pregnancy brain!...then came home and Jerry and Elijah had been up there since Elijah had gotten up.  Which meant he hadn't even eaten breakfast before wanting to going out to play.  So it's already worth every penny.  Elijah is having a hard time realizing that we can't be out there all the time though.  He wants to go out before getting dressed in the morning and eat out there... not that I'm complaining that my kid wants to be outside, but there are other things I have to do during the day.  We had friends over today so I was getting the house in a tidy state before they got here...not acceptable to Elijah... poor baby...  We did go play before lunch and after nap.  All that's out there right now is his sand box, some trucks, and a ball or two.  But that's keeping him busy for now.  We are looking at a Step 2 swing set-y thing that he can grow into a bit and isn't too permanent (in case of moving, etc.) which will make the summer even better!  My plan is to be able to sit on the patio and nurse Grace while Elijah plays until he passes out...HA!

My folks are coming down at the beginning of March to take care of Elijah for a night so Jerry and I can go on a baby-moon.  Then they'll bring Elijah down and we'll stay with them a night (they have a condo in Myrtle Beach for a few days) and then come back home.  I would love to go away for a week, but Jerry is keeping his PTO for the baby (and other possible vacation-y things like homecoming next October) and I guess we are all nervous about Elijah at night...though he'll probably surprise us all.  So I'll take the night.  We are staying in a place that has an indoor water area, with a lazy river!!!!  We'll probably go walk Broadway on the Beach and see a movie or two and eat out and watch really bad TV....actually we'll probably fall asleep by 9 and sleep until check out!  I'll be 31 weeks by then...man the home stretch.

I don't know if I've mentioned Elijah's language lately, but he is really talking now.  It really seems the last few weeks it's insane.  He picks up words so quickly.  He's suddenly much more interested in talking than signing.  He still uses his signs, but isn't as intersted in learning new ones.  This is fine.  It's just my little man growing up...sniff sniff.

I got my GTT results back today and everything is normal...WAHOO!  I didn't think that it would be high...well maybe I was a little worried.  But I didn't feel as weird as I did when I took it with Elijah.  My MW called this afternoon to tell me that everything looked good... so WAHOO!!!   No 3 hour test... that would have killed me!

Okay, Jerry just drove up with dinner, so I'm off to EAT!!!!!

February 13

when story time isn't story time...sigh...

  So yesterday I decided to give story time another shot.  So after getting ready and going on a short walk, we head out to the library.  We stopped going because I was getting annoyed that other kids were running around the whole time and the parents were either talking among themselves or reading other books (out loud...) So, I tried to be all positive.  The kids still were running around, though this time it seems the parents were paying attention to the story...I'm all about leading by example, but your kid needs to be paying attention to you for the example to work... Elijah was getting flustered because the kids were running in front of him and he couldn't see the book.  He kept telling them, "Move, eeease," and that was heart breaking.  I started saying something to the kids and finally some mom's caught on.  So, I keep looking at the clock, thinking about just leaving, when the reader stands up and pulls out a DVD?!?!  What got me even more than the fact we were going to be watching a DVD at story time is that suddenly the moms told their kids they needed to come sit down and watch TV...WHAT?!?!  You don't make your kid sit and listen to an actual person, but you make them sit and listen to TV?  This is STORYTIME...hello!  Not to mention total rudeness to the storyteller.  Sigh... I guess maybe the whole thing is indicative of what goes on at home.  I'm not saying that Elijah doesn't watch TV, but it is never a forced thing.  And we read 1328974896698 books everyday (some to the point of my insanity...) and people are perplexed when I say that he'll sit through all those books.  It's not forced either, he likes the stories.  I like that he can tell some back to me or remembers something from a book and talks about it.  I love that he, for the most part, could care less about TV.  I digress, I understand that toddlers aren't always going to sit through a story time, but what I don't understand is parents not showing respect to the storyteller or to the other children who are paying attention.  sigh...

anyway, that's my rant for today.  nothing exciting is happening these days... Grace kicks me lots.  She has decided that the top of my uterus is an okay place to hang out too and I appreciate that.  Tomorrow is Valentine's Day.  I got Jerry's gift this morning.  It's not big, but we are going on a baby moon in a few weeks, so that's our real present.  I just wanted to get him a little something.  I got Elijah a kite.  I think he'll like that.  We went puddle jumping this morning too.  I got a good video of him playing, I'll try to add it sometime.

Ohhh, I finished Stephen King's new book, Duma Key... very good....creepy, but good.  I finished it within my 3 week allotment, but barely!  I really like him as a writer and this is one of the better books he's written.  I'm back now to the Jane Green books Jerry got me for Christmas.

February 17

too good too be true...

Jerry has kept Elijah at night for the past week.  Elijah has gone to bed on his own, no crying, no whining, we have had our little routine, kissed him good night, shut the door (well left it a crack) and we've heard not a peep.  Elijah has then been sleeping straight through until 6 -6:30 then coming to bed with Jerry and sleeping at least another hour.  We have been holding our breath.   Didn't want to think that maybe he had  worked it all out.  So I thought, sure I can handle a night listening for him.  Jerry deserves many nights off... What's the big deal? He'll get up at 6 and come snuggle in bed...sigh... not so much tonight.

At 1:30 I am awaken to frantic MAMA DADO MAMA DADO and crying.  By the time I get my preggo belly out of bed, he has thrown open the door and is crying hysterically.  So, I go into his room and I pick him up and calm him down.  I put him back in bed and sing to him a bit.  I tell him mommy will be right out in the living room, get up and leave the door open a crack.  I have barely gotten myself settled onto the sofa, before he is crying again and standing in the door.  I bring him onto the couch with me thinking he needs some cuddles.  He must have had a nightmare or something.  Every time he just about drops off to sleep, he starts crying and grabbing for me.  So I move to the recliner.  Thinking I can rock him back to sleep.  Nope... not happening.  It is now 3:00 and I'm suddenly starving, but am determined to get this kid back to sleep.  I ask him if I let him get in bed with me will he go to sleep.  He hops off my lap and goes and gets his pillow, walks right by me and into the bedroom and crawls in bed.  Great, I think he'll just go to sleep.  So I lie down beside him and he cuddles up to me and STILL will not go to sleep.   He is still at least.  I slow my breathing down and eventually (after several tries without success) he falls asleep and I am able to push him over to the other side of the bed.  It is now 3:45 and I am beat, but starving and Grace has decided now is a good time to run laps around my uterus.  So I get up and make myself a banana with PB and settle back into bed with reruns of the Cosby Show on and the laptop.  I am now wide awake (as is Grace) and Elijah (thankfully) is sound asleep with his butt up in the air, here beside me.  It is currently 4:14 and I'm not sure sleep is coming anytime soon.  This wouldn't be too much of an issue, except we are supposed to go to see Jerry's folks tomorrow and many people will be there, which means 1) one of Jerry's brother's will make a crack about me getting fat....hahahaha...charming... 2) Someone will comment on how tired I look...always nice to hear... 3)Elijah will be totally thrown off nap and eating schedules and will be very clingy because of all the strange people around...4)I will have a short fuse and little patience because of lack of sleep... 5)sleeping in the car is sorta out of the question because Jerry has to take a Benedryl before leaving since his mom has a cat (allergies) so if he can drive he'll be yawning all the way...not a problem except that Jerry has to stop his yawns in order to not trigger an asthma attack...this is very loud and startling...and also, I'm rather preggo and riding in a car, is not comfortable....  I'm sure that I could bow out of going, but it's Jerry's dad's b-day and I want to be there for that.   So suck it up Erin...you have had less sleep before in your life and done more...

So here's to hoping that The Cosby Show will lullaby me to sleep and that Elijah will continue to sleep and that I can get in at least a few hours...... and here's to Grace calming down so all that can happen as well...ahhhhh, positive thinking...  Good night...rather...good morning... what are the odds I can get IHOP out of this when Jerry wakes up?  hmmmmm....

February 19

what a cutie!

Jerry shared this with me this morning:

Jerry was sleeping and heard on the monitor, "Mama, Dado? Mama Dado?"  And as he is starting to rouse from sleep he heard this getting farther away, and then suddenly the bedroom door opens and there is Elijah standing there, all happy, looking at Jerry, "DADO!"  And crawls up in bed with him and snuggles down.  Since it was 7 in the morning, all was good...but man what a cutie...

I just wanted to share...

Sunday was fine.  No one commented on how tired I looked, but a brother did make a comment on me being fat (what are you 12?)  I made myself stay up until 10 and then slept really well.

Yesterday Elijah and I worked on dealing with frustration in more creative ways than throwing, spitting, hitting, etc.  I was impressed with myself keeping my cool through the whole thing... Showing by example and all...sigh... he seems to be getting it though.  We only had one time out and I think that was more for my sanity.  He did, however, only take a 27 minute nap and that was not okay with me...but he woke up happy...so whatever.  It just takes so freaking long to get him back on track once he's knocked off.

We are off to a tie-dye party this morning!!!  Wahoo!  Should be lots of fun.  We'll end with a potluck lunch...I'm taking spinach pie...yum-o!!!

February 28

oh no oh no oh no

This is Elijah's newest phrase.... EVERYTHING is oh no oh no oh no...always in threes.  It's sorta cute.  Yesterday I was tie dying some more old t-shirt and onesies and he comes running out of his room, "Momma, oh no oh no oh no!" grabs my hand and I go back to his room where he has poured/spilled/accidentally knocked over his juice on the carpet.  Part of me wanted to blow up and get mad, but the oter part (the part that won out) wants him to tell me about these things instead of me finding trails of ants coming into the room...sigh...

Anyway, the doddle bug has a cold.  I'm glad this is happening this week instead of next week when my folks are coming and Jerry and I are going on a baby moon (wahoo!!!!)  But he's been so freakin' whiny that it's beginning to drive me nuts.  He falls to pieces over EVERYTHING and I'm a bit over it.  He just has a little snotty nose and a small cough... but it's enough to make him a bear.  Sigh...  to make matters worse, he wakes up not hungry but by 10 he's starving, so I give him his breakfast (today he ate TWO bowls of oatmeal!!!)  SO then at lunch he's not really hungry for anything other than a snack...after nap he wakes up not hungry but at 4 he's starving again...sigh... At least we convinced him to eat dinner tonight.  He also hasn't really wanted anything to drink.  This is odd since usually we have no problem getting fluids in him.  I thought that maybe his throat was hurting, but he'll drink a smoothie...just not ice water?  Odd kid.  I took him grocery shopping this morning because I was going crazy being in the house.

Tomorrow is our last monthly MW appointment.  I think we go to 3 weeks now and then after then next one every 2?  I can't remember.  I do remember that I never got to the weekly appointments with Elijah.  I am having trouble with my right hip lately.  It kills!  Not all the time, though it is becoming more annoying more often.  But if I sleep on my left side (you know, the one you are "supposed" to sleep on whist with child) and I get up, I honestly can't walk on my right leg it hurts so bad.  I'm guessing that it's just the relaxin stuff making my joints a little looser, but I'm going to ask about it tomorrow.  I think that my weight is better this month, but I don't know.  I'm refusing to step on a scale.  I just know that if I freak out about it, I may tend to not eat enough.  We'll see tomorrow.

Oh, yeah, so last night around 3:45, I get up to what? pee... of course... and as I'm heading to bathroom, who do I run into? Elijah.  He's just waddling (since we triple up on his diaper overnight...it's a pretty funny waddle to watch) to Jerry's room.  He looks up at me with his little sleepy eyes and walks over grabs my hand, says, "Mama" and walks over to Jerry's door and goes in and just climbs in.  Jerry wakes up a bit and we have a conversation about the whole thing...though when I come into the room in the morning, Jerry asks how Elijah ended up in bed with him... overall pretty funny and cute too.

I guess that's it.  I haven't blogged lately mostly because nothing really has been happening... but I guess this is a good little catch up.

October 2007

October 11

home again home again jiggity jog...

we didn't buy any hogs, but i ate some pig.  it's good to be in our home, but being in the mountains for a week made us realize how much we want to be there.  homecoming was great.  i saw lots of people.  katie was there and we hung out the most i guess.  it makes since.  we were such good friends in college and we were in the same class... but it was just like we hadn't really left.  we will be going back next year.  i think i did okay baby wise.  i was really tired by the end of the weekend, but that was fine.  elijah did really well with my folks.  he doesn't like to go to sleep with them, but that'll change as he gets older.  jerry and i went and did the downtown asheville thing on tuesday and then went to see the seeker (good movie until the end...which was just odd....i'll have to read the book i guess.)

my mom and i had a booth at the soccer game at homecoming on saturday.  that was fun.  i guess i did better than i thought i would.  it was really warm (hot really) so i didn't sell as many winter things but i did sell some sunhats and a couple of dream catchers.  i think that next year i may do tie dye as well.  mom said that she will make some beer mugs for next year.. i think that would sell better too.  it was also parents weekend there... which was odd, but whatever.

on monday aunt mavis came for a visit and we went to a nearby park to have a picnic.  the weather was great!  there is so much water (well as much as one can have in a massive drought) to play in for elijah.  at the park was a stream and my folks live near some creeks, so elijha had a great time!   he's really into throwing rocks into the water, so that's what he did for much of the time.  he also ran around the playground which was really a great playground!  he did fall once and slammed his head into a log.   as it was time to go home for a nap anyway, that's what we did.  but he had a big goose egg on his head and woke up from his nap really grumpy, poor guy.  now it's just a big bruise.  he only cried for a minute though.  oh, while we were there, i ran into my fifth grade teacher.  i really liked her and she made my transition into the mountains (we moved there when i started fifth grade) very smooth.  she's retired now, though she looks EXACTLY the same.  she was there with her granddaughter.  anyway, that was really cool.

over all the visit was really good.  i was really sad to leave.  sigh...  it's just really awesome to not have to drive to see scenery (i.e. the beach) and to go to a downtown that is more than a couple of streets and that has really neat one of a kind shops that are thriving.  oh well, hopefully we'll find a way to move back there.

i guess that's it.  i'll post pictures later.  oh we're 10 weeks pregnant now!  i'm still pretty tired, but doing okay.  i go to the doc on the 26th to hear the heartbeat and have blood work done.  in a few of the pictures you can tell very much that i am pregnant.  there were people who didn't know but didn't want to ask (very polite don't you think!!!)

okay the munchkin is up to something... gotta run!

October 14

You have GOT to be kidding me!!!!

So the other day I was out hanging laundry and Elijah was playing in the grass.  He wandered over and wanted to play in the sandbox.  So I stopped what I was doing to go over and check for bugs (ants like to hang out in the sandbox...) He's really good about waiting.  So I opened the lid and I saw some spider webs, not uncommon, but I wanted to make sure there were no spiders.  I saw a dead one on one of the toys, so I started scrapping the webs off and I turn the wheel and OH MY GOD...there was a FREAKING Black Widow spider.  I calmly (read almost total panic) took the toy over to the ditch and cleaned it out.  The spider fled before I could kill it.  Elijah (being the good boy that he can be) was still standing by the side.  I look and see more web, but think it's just web.  WRONG!!!  I start moving the other toys and cleaning up the web, just about ready to let Elijah climb in to play, but then I spot ANOTHER FREAKING Black Widow...WHAT!!!!??????!!!!!  Sigh...  That one I killed.  Poor Elijah, is standing there wondering what the heck is wrong with his mom.  I'm trying to explain to him (an almost 2 year old...right?!?) that these are bad spiders that can hurt you and we can't play in the sand, when I spot...you guessed it ANOTHER Black Widow.  Now I am convinced that I have these things crawling all over me and that this house is somehow a spider magnet or we're on the set of a horror movie...  I really hate spiders anyway, but Black Widows scare me.  I keep having this thought that Elijah is going to come show me something he found and it's going to be a Black Widow and it's bitten him.  I know these are skiddish spiders and they only bite if they feel threatened, but how much more threatening is it to have a toddler come in and play in what you thought was your house.  Needless to say, Elijah didn't get to play in the sandbox, I convinced him to help me with the rest of the laundry and promised to take him to the park in the afternoon (which we did...)  He didn't really seem to upset (thank God!) but I really don't know what to do about the spiders and the sandbox.  We have it over mulch and try to keep the grass around the area short.  I don't want to spray insecticide in something that my kid is going to play in... sigh... I guess we'll figure something out.

The couple of days back without Jerry weren't as bad as I thought.  But this weekend has gone way to fast.  Oh well.  I think we'll keep busy this week, so maybe it'll go by quick too.

have I mentioned that I am having HUGE onion bagel with cream cheese and tomatoes cravings?  I want it for breakfast and snacks... I do limit myself to only one a day... but MAN are they good!  My sense of smell is also quite acute.  I still have the heartburn, but it doesn't seem as bad...maybe I'm just used to it...

Okay, I gotta go chat about a book with a book club I'm in....

October 23

shirtless boy with a cold

That's my kiddo right now.  he came out of his room with his shirt half off asking for help.  now he has his PJ bottoms on and a hat.  He has a chest cold.  sigh... I have caught it now and being preggers with a head and chest cold is no fun at all.  elijah is just as happy as he's always been, running around.  I'm so glad that he is rather independent in his play.  I'm camped out on the couch and he's playing with all his toys and being rather cute.

This week was going to be very busy, but feeling like I do, I am now doing only minimal things.  We were supposed to help Rachel with making piñata yesterday, but neither of us wanted to expose MR to Elijah's cough.  So we stayed home and cleaned the kitchen...well I cleaned the kitchen while Elijah watched.  Today was supposed to be story time, but no way man.  Tomorrow we have a friend coming in for the rest of the week.  I am hoping that both Elijah and I feel better for her arrival.  Thursday we were going to have a Halloween party with play group, but 1) it's supposed to rain and 2) have I mentioned I feel like poop?  Friday is my 12 week appointment.  We get to hear the baby's heartbeat.  If Elijah is still coughing and whatnot, he'll come with us.  If he is feeling better, he'll stay with Rachel.  Saturday we are supposed to go to a Halloween party...so we'll see.

Oh yeah!!!  Speaking of playgroup... My friend Angela had her baby on the 20th at 1:20 in the morning!  I can't wait to meet the little guy.  She sent pics and man he's a cutie!

This past weekend, we went to the pumpkin patch and let Elijah climb all over the pumpkins and play.  I have some pictures, I just have uploaded them.  I craved the little pumpkin last night.  It's pretty cute if I do say so myself.  Elijah is going to be a train engineer this year.  Super easy and if he doesn't like wearing something, he's still wearing cute overalls.  I had him dressed up at the pumpkin patch, so you'll see it once I upload.

So after a whole summer of no rain, the city has finally put out mandatory water restrictions.  We are 21 inches under where we need to be.  The county has been under voluntary restrictions...but not mandatory.  I just can't believe they waited this long... sigh...  We barely watered our lawn all summer which is fine and we have a bunch of soaker hoses to water our gardens... of course, one needs to turn those on...

I guess that's about it.  Elijah is now ripping up a tissue and wiping his doll's nose... very sweet.. though it's his nose that needs wiping... sigh...

October 25

rain!!!! but no nap?!?!?!

So last night it finally rained.  It was supposed to continue through today, but it didn't rain all day...maybe tonight?  So for the past few days Elijah has taken only a 15- 30 minute nap!!!   This is not working so well for me.  So today, I was determined to exhaust him before his lunch.  So I put on his galoshes and we went on a walk and then splashed in puddles, came home and changed into different shoes, grabbed the little scooter ride on toy and headed back out to ride around the neighborhood.  When we got home we danced for about 15 minutes straight and then picked up Jerry for lunch.  Elijah was so tired he almost fell asleep in the high chair.   So, I'm thinking GREAT!  We get into the car and take Jerry back to work, about five minutes from the house, Elijah falls asleep.  This is usually fine.  If he falls asleep in the car, I usually just bring him in and put him to bed...sigh... not today.  I bring him in, put him down and his little eys pop right open and he is ready to get up.  So I pick him up and rock him and rock him and rock him and he doesn't go back to sleep.  I'm sooooo tired and all I want is a nap...but not today.  Sigh.... yesterday he was a pain after 30 minutes of nap.  He was crying at EVERYTHING!  I was not in the mood to deal with that today.  So I rocked him until 2:30, at least he got rest right?  Then we had some snack and then back outside.  Jerry got home around 5 and Elijah was ready to eat.  So he ate, got a bath, said good night to his toys, and we sat down to relax.  Our bedtime routine consists of the above...the relaxing is rocking in the chair and then Elijah asks to go to bed and he goes and gets in bed and then he goes to sleep.  Tonight... he fell asleep in the rocking chair.  I know he was so sleepy... but he's got to get this nap back.  I think my problem is that I'm stressing about it.  He was supposed to go to Rachel's tomorrow while we go to see our midwife, but there is no way i would push crazy baby on her.  So he is going with us.  I think I really just need to relax about it.  Maybe I'll start putting him down for nap in his room and sleep on his extra mattress and that way if he doesn't sleep at least I can.  I'm just beat these days.  Alas my 1st trimester is almost over and supposedly the energy will come back...  To top all this off, i really didn't sleep well last night.  I couldn't get some songs out of my head and then the storm came up and then Elijah crawled in bed with me...blah blah blah.....

On the bright side... the light outside today was perfect for picture taking, so I got some really good shots of Elijah playing.  I'll post those in a moment.  Jerry's taking the kiddo tonight, so hopefully I get some sleep.  I'm excited about tomorrow.  Here's to hearing the baby's heartbeat... in a way it's kinda cool that Elijah will get to hear that too.  He knows there is a baby in my tummy.  He comes over and gives the tummy hugs and kisses and brings the baby toys.  It's really sweet.  I really think that he'll be a great big brother!

October 26

12 week appointment

Today's appointment went really well.  Even with a non-napping Elijah it wasn't too bad.  He is in his shy flirting stage, so he mostly hung onto Jerry.  Mary (the midwife) thought that since my uterus is reversed that we might not be able to hear anything...I think she would have sent us for an ultra sound then...mostly because I would have freaked out!!) but as soon as she put the Doppler on my belly there it was.  A really strong heart beat (159 beats/minute) was heard and Elijah's eyes got all big.  We had been talking about when dadu came home we'd hear the baby in the belly's heart beat.  We go back in 5 weeks and then we'll make the ultrasound appointment for 19 weeks...so I guess the 2nd week in December we'll find out what we're having.  Very exciting!!  And it was only one heartbeat...Jerry was convinced we were having twins... to the point, I was fretting and planning a bit...but only one heartbeat!!!

This morning Elijah and I went to Costco to get some stuff for a party tomorrow.  Then we came home and played in the rain.  I love warm rain!!!  Elijah was really cute in his raincoat and galoshes.  We had fun, but he still had no nap...sigh...  On a message board I belong to many of the women said that their boys went through this as a phase.  I really hope that's what it is...  I need that break.  Okay... that's all I really wanted to write... Lata!

October 30

The Golden Compass

I mentioned a while back that I was reading this trilogy of books called His Dark Materials.  The Golden Compass is the first book of this trilogy.  I must say that I think that these books are some of the best young adult books I have read in ages.  I feel that they are indeed young adult books and not children's books.  I feel like a really mature 10 year old might be able to handle them, but I would suggest them for an older group...say teenagers.

So The Golden Compass is coming out as a movie in December.  I am very excited about this.  However, I got an e-mail to this link from a cousin the other day.  For those who won't hit the link (which is fine, because I probably wouldn't have hit it) it states that the author of said books is a proclaimed atheist.  There are a few e-mails that are written by people who obviously didn't read the books, but have read the hype.  It seems that this movie is going to cause the kind of controversy that The DaVinci Code caused with the Pope.  Apparently, since this guy is an atheist and his books raise questions about Christianity and allude to several Christian themes, there are some upset people.  I guess it's fine.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion.  What bothers me is 1) they haven't read the books and 2) it's a FREAKING work of fiction.  If you are opposed to supporting an atheist, then don't see the movie, don't read the books, but don't be a jerk.  I am not saying that my cousin is a jerk by any means.  But I feel that I was probably sent the e-mail as a sort of way of saying don't support the movie.  Some of the e-mails alluded to the death of God in the final book.  Having actually read the books, I can say that no one kills God in them.  There is a death.  That's all I'll say for right now, I don't want to give the ending away for those who haven't read the books.  There is direct relation to Adam and Eve and Original Sin...but not how we think of Original Sin, even for teens that's a bit much... maybe...

I feel these books actually show a really strong connection to family.  Granted you don't see it in the first, maybe not even the second, book.  But there is a feeling of family and friendship.  I think that these themes are much more overpowering, or at least more important than those of a underlying religious theme.  I am not trying to down play the religious themes, but I really looked at them as more of a struggle between good and bad as opposed to heaven and hell.

The heroine in these books is a young girl.  I thought that this was a great thing.  So often you see a boy or man.  She deals with many issues that would be immensely challenging.  She becomes stronger and grows through the whole trilogy.

I guess I get annoyed at people that seem to be so religious and then seem to become threatened by a work of fiction.  I personally look at fiction books, as just that...fiction.  I feel that I am secure enough in my beliefs that a young adult book is not going to waiver them.  I feel that reading enables me to carry on conversations about many different topics, not just topics that are approved by a set institution.  I am very much in to reading what my kids will read.  I want to be able to discuss topics in their literature.  I look at controversial material as a way to discuss and broaden horizons.  I feel if there is something I don't agree with I want an open discussion to happen between the members of my immediate family.  I want my kids to make up their own minds about religion, politics, everything.  It would be hard for me if my child decided to have really different views of the world than I, but as long as he is kind, honest, and caring, I will try my hardest to be supportive.   Not to say that I wouldn't fight over dinner in what I believe, but I will listen...

Anyway, I guess that's it for my little soap box.  I feel that the movie will be well worth seeing.  I think that the books are DEFINITELY worth reading.  They will be added to our kids library as they get older (along with Harry Potter...gay Dumbeldore and all )...just thought someone should say something in defense of the other side!

July 2007

July 02

FANTASIC MONDAY!!!

So far this Monday has ROCKED!!!  Jerry stayed home this morning and we went to Fit For Fun.  They open at 9 and we got there around 10 after and NO ONE else was there!  It was great.  Elijah can be really shy around other kids until he warms up, so it was great to have a place for him to play all by himself, then by the time other kids were coming in, he was all about playing with them.  This place is so cool and totally worth the 4 bucks they charge (only the kids...parents are free!!)  They have a big play area for the kids, a snack room (they provide snack!), a small toys  (like train table stuff) room, an outside play area, and an art room.  It's funny to watch kids come in, they run in and run around to all the stuff and then see something else and run to it...  Elijah really liked the ride in cars, so that's what he did most of the time.  Jerry really liked it and I think it will become a place that he may bring Elijah when they have a dad and me day.  I'll post pics at the bottom.  I think Jerry got pics of everything but the art room!
This weekend was good.  I spent Saturday sewing.  I made many slings and doll slings.  I am hoping to get a good stock to take to homecoming in October.  I am expecting another bolt of fabric this week and more rings for the slings as well.  I have about 10 hats knitted and I will bring a bunch of sunhats as well, though I think the knitted ones will sell better.  I finished ribboning 10 dream catchers (i'm going with a larger size this time.)  So Jerry kept Elijah all day Saturday.
Yesterday we just sorta hung out in the morning, then went to the playground, but it was soooo freaking humid that we went for ice cream.  We've had lots of discussions about where we want to be in a few years and Jerry says that's ice cream talk... I will never argue over ice cream.
I just found out that my friend Carmen had her baby this morning at 1:55.  Her water broke at 4 yesterday, she went to the hospital at 11 and had the baby at 1:55 (au natural).  Baby weighed in at 8 pounds 12 ounces and 20 inches long!!!  She beat Elijah in weight, but not in height!
Elijah's new favorite thing is sweet potato fries!  They are really yummy and (I chickened out and bought the store bought, frozen kind, instead of making my own...) they have no salt added...  He's also in love with sweet peas.  So he has the sweet peas and sweet potato fries with blueberries and milk on the side...crazy boy!!!
Speaking of... the man is done with lunch and is tuckered out from all the playing, so off to bed he goes!!!!







July 08

Sunday

So this week seemed really long.  I miss Rachel!!!
Monday was good.   I don't really remember what we did on Tuesday.  Wednesday, Jerry was supposed to take half a day off, but ended up working 10 hours straight...sigh... but then he took Thursday off.  This was fine, but we had play group in the morning, so we only got to spend the afternoon with him.  Friday I went out for a walk and was about to go in when my friend Carla came out, so I ended up walking about 4 miles.  That was fine, but it was REALLY hot and VERY humid.  So when I got in, I felt kinda gross the rest of the day.  I ended up with a horrid headache.  I was supposed to go to Pass Your Plate but just couldn't do it.  So Jerry rescheduled me for Saturday afternoon.  I haven't had a headache like that for ages.  Jerry took Elijah for the night and I went to bed at 9:30.  I didn't really sleep all that well, but I woke up feeling much better on Saturday.  So we really did nothing all weekend because the weather was rainy.   We had the oil changed in the car at the mall, but that's it.  I did go to PYP on Saturday and that was fun.  We got another 10 meals.  It's so nice to just open your freezer and decide what you want to eat the next couple of days and not have to really do any planning.  We get them split, so it's really like 20 meals, though each one lasts us a couple of days.  I grilled some flank steak yesterday and it was really yummy!  Today, we didn't really do anything either.  We need rain, but this sprinkling on and off is annoying.  We really need to cut the grass, it has this non harmful, but gross mold-y stuff on it and the only way to get rid of it is to mow and then sweep it off.  Every time we go to mow it rains...sigh...  hopefully tomorrow I can get it done in the afternoon.  We also need to hang the diapers out to dry... we are running low... super sigh...
My parents are back from Maine.  They drove some friends up and then rented a car to come home.  They are coming to visit in a week!!!!  Really excited!!!!  Jerry and I will go see Harry Potter when they arrive and have some dates without a baby present!!!  I hope that they stay for a bit.  Now that Elijah warms up to people a little faster it is definitely easier to leave him.  We left him with Rachel a few weeks ago and he did great!
So Carmen had her baby and I got to hold her (the baby, not Carmen) on thursday.  She weighed a few more ounces than Elijah did, and it was amazing to think that he was ever that small.  Man I am so jealous of all the pregnant women around me.  In our group there are three other women who are pregnant and then Jerry's coworker is pregnant with twins.  I forgot how difficult it was trying and being let down month after month.  Everyone says to just stop trying, but that's impossible for me... sigh... I know it will happen eventually, but I am an instant gratification kind of girl... I want it to happen when I want it!!!  I've prepared myself for the morning sickness and all the exhaustion...sigh...
Oh well....
Oh we went on a movie watching spree last week.  We watched Bridge To Terabithia...man that was a good movie...but quite sad...stupid Disney!!!  Then we watched Man of the Year with Robin Williams...eeehhh, it was okay, but seemed like a long political commentary.  Lastly, we watched Breech.  I thought it was a decent movie and well acted.
Tonight we are watching Shooter with Mark Walberg... I really like him (liked him as Marky Mark too...hehehehe) and hope that this will be a good movie.
Okay, Jerry needs to work, so I will give up the laptop and settle in with the movie, my knitting, and some Raisinettes!
July 10

My little man

He's growing up so fast.  On Friday he will be a year and half old...  sniff sniff...  Today we went to the baby story time and the toddler story time.  Then we went to get his hair cut.  His first hair cut.  Both Jerry and I have been putting it off.  He's just so darn cute with all that hair.  But it was getting a little out of hand.  So I took him into this place that cuts kid's hair.  He did pretty well.  He started out in a little car seat and ended up in my lap.  The place is really neat.  There is a doggy day spa next to the salon and there's a big window so you can see the dogs.  They have a ton of toys and lollipops (which my kid wouldn't even taste...oh well, more for mom!!)
After his hair cut he just looked so much older!  We went to see Jerry at work and now the munchkin's down for his nap.
I also forgot to tell you that last week for group I made a 4th of july cake with strawberries and blueberries... very Martha Stewart if I do say so myself...  So that's the random pic that I'll attach here.
Hope you are staying cool where you are...it's so hot here!!!



July 11

Daddy

So Elijah usually has showers now instead of baths.  Half the time I'm in the shower with him.  Tonight we were showering and when I'm in the shower, we call Jerry to come and get the wet baby when he's done.  Usually I tell Elijah to call daddy and then I do it.  Then for a bit Elijah would yell dada after I did it.  Tonight, I looked at Elijah and said, "Elijah you're all done, call daddy."  Elijah looked at me, stuck his head out of the shower and yelled, "DADDY!!!"  Jerry and I were floored.  He's only called Jerry dada or signed dad.  I was so clear...daddy... Jerry came in and answered him and then went back out and there it was again, "Daddy!!!"  It's funny, because he won't say it to his face...just when he wants Jerry.
Anyway, I just wanted to share.  Elijah really is growing up so fast.  I feel like I just blinked and BAM I have a little guy...  I was holding Carmen's baby last week and it was so hard to believe that Elijah was once that small and slept so peacefully in my arms...now I'm lucky to get him to sit in my lap for a minute to brush his hair... sigh... I guess he'll be going off to school before I know it...
Okay, this is making me sad... so Elijah said Daddy and that ROCKS!!!!!!
July 13

giggle

I love my husband.  I just finished reading his latest blog entry and it really is hilarious and quite accurate.  There are many times in parenthood that I have just wanted to sit down and cry, but then Jerry writes about it and I wonder why I don't spend the day laughing my butt off.  Anyway, check out his blog.  The entry before his current one is about Elijah as well and also very good...
Also he has a poll going and I'm curious if people agree with me on it... I know you are curious... go on click the link... you know you wanna!
July 14

18 months!!!

Holy Moly!!!  My kid is 18 months old!!!  Where did the time go?  I'm going to put a couple pics on this post of the last 15 month pics and start his new album.
Last night Rachel, Erin, and MR came over for dinner.  It's awesome that our kids play so well together.  There were spans of time that we didn't even see the munchkins.  They were just playing in Elijah's room.  After dinner they entertained us.  Elijah hid behind the curtain that covers the washer and then would pop out, MR would go crazy laughing and shouting.  It was very entertaining.  I know it's sad, but hey we don't get out much... and you would have laughed too!   I'm so freaking glad they are back in town I can barely contain myself.
My folks get here on Monday afternoon.  Jerry is taking off Thursday and Friday.  This should be perfect.  By then Elijah will have warmed up to my folks and Jerry and I can go out.  We'll go see Harry Potter one night and maybe do a dance class of some sort one evening... who knows... we'll see.  Tuesday I'll take my folks to story time with us and then maybe we'll swing by Fit For Fun.  Wednesday we'll probably hit the Beach and maybe the Farmer's Market (depending on how unbearably hot it is).  I'm REALLY excited for them to come.  I have no idea how long they are staying, but I would be fine with them staying a couple of weeks... we'll see.
Okay, I am finishing some laundry up... so here are the last 15 month pics...




July 19

YEA FOR PARENTS!!!

My parents came in on Monday evening.  They have been a GREAT help.  We sorta hung out on Tuesday, though I did have a dentist appointment.  We went to the beach yesterday, which is the only place that it's tolerable in this heat.  jerry took today and tomorrow off from work, so this morning he and my dad were outside mowing and weedwacking.  Then jerry and I went to see HARRY POTTER this evening!!!!  It was GREAT!  I mean there was definitely things left out of the movie, but overall it was really good.  Those kids are growing up...but I hope they continue until the end of the series.  Tomorrow mom and dad are taking Elijah to the aquarium and that's as far as we've gotten.  I was a little worried that Elijah would be cranky since he only took a half hour nap  but he did great.  He blew Jerry and me a kiss on our way out and went back to playing.  (side note: I went to church on Sunday and Jerry went to work, so I took Elijah with me and left him in the nursery for the first time... they give out pagers and I totally expected to get paged, but he made it through the whole service in the nursery!!!  My little man is growing up.)  I have no idea what we will do for the rest of the weekend and into next week, but I plan on getting out of the house at least once more with my hubby!
So I guess that's about it.  My folks are here and I'm really happy about that!!!!!!  I'll post some pics from the beach day...
July 25

Boo for parents leaving

SIGH... my folks left this morning.  It was so great having them here.  They did sooo much work.  They mowed our lawn (a rather large feat as the riding mower is broken and the electric mower can be tricky until you get the rhythm of dealing with the cord), weed wacked, watched Elijah (LOTS!!!) and all around were great to have around... I really wish we lived closer together...sigh... Also while they were here we got gutters installed!!!  I know that sounds dumb, but I'm really excited about it!  They are seamless gutters and I wondered how they did it, but it was really cool.  They have huge rolls of the material and they guide it through this machine and it comes out as gutters.  They just measure it and then hang it... They were done with our house in about 1 1/2 hours.  So my folks took elijah to story time and then to walk around downtown so he wouldn't be screaming to go outside while the guys were hanging the stuff.  I had 3 good hours of Harry Potter reading.  I finished the book last night.  Jerry stayed up until 2:30 in the morning finishing Sunday...crazy man!  It really liked the book, I thought that JK Rowlings did a very good job tying things up.  That's all I'll say on it.
So we are canceling our Vonage phone service.  There are many reasons, but mostly it's due to our Internet.  Our router, modem, and the phone thingy do not communicate very well, so our service was constantly going in and out.  We have changed our cell phone provider so we now get reception in the house, so we no longer need a phone.  Also there were no local numbers available so our number was based out of a town that's an hour and half from here... Anyway, Jerry has a cell phone now and that bumped our cell phone bill up, but it will still be cheaper than having a cell phone and Vonage when cancel...does that make sense?
Oh yeah!!!  We also bought edging.  It's made of 100% receycled materials.  Jerry dug the trench and we installed it the other day.  It looks really good.  I was sick of the stupid grass taking over our flower garden areas.  We need to lay some newspaper and mulch to get rid of some other grassy issues, but then I think we will finally be done with much of our outdoor garden areas.  Next will come tree removal (maybe) and planting of some different trees.  And then a fence.  I think we will be in this house when the next baby comes along (nope, not knocked up yet...) and I want to be able to allow Elijah to run around in the back yard without having to chase him around the house.  I mean now is fine doing that, but I can't imagine doing that with an infant attached to me...  so we are thinking about doing that this winter when it's not scorching hot (not that we would be installing it... but you know...)
I guess that's about it.  I'll post some pics from Oma and Opa's visit and then it's on to my next book (I'm now reading another series of books ...again young adult... )The Golden Compass is the first book and I HIGHLY recommend it.  There is a movie of the first one coming out sometime soon.  Be well!!!
July 29

Already the end of a weekend?

Sigh...
Friday was good.  I met our midwife and had my annual (not knocked up) and really liked meeting her.  She was really down to earth and talked to both Jerry and I and then after the examination I met with her in her office to talk to her.  She answered all my questions and was really really nice.  Turns out she knew a girl I went to college with.  Such a small world.
So while all this was well and good, it happened during Elijah's nap time.  So he didn't go down for a nap until 3 and didn't wake up until 5:30 (we decided to let him sleep.)  Okay...so we knew he would go to bed a bit later.  We really didn't think that would be a big deal.  So at 9:30 he finally fell asleep.  Good.  I brought him to bed with me around 1 (he wasn't really awake, but was wiggly and I really was just too sleepy to go back to come get him in 10 minutes... SO fine, we went back to sleep.  At 3 a.m. the crazy kid woke up SCREAMING... and he wouldn't stop.  So I got up and walked around with him.  This calmed him down, but he didn't go to sleep.  He was still crying, just not screaming.  I remembered that he's cutting his 2 year molars, so I went and got the IB and gave him a dose and went on and changed his diaper (not something we usually need to do, but he was really really wet.)  He let me sit down with him so I rocked him in the living room.  I thought he had fallen asleep, so I brought him back to bed...silly me... He started screaming again.  I was a little freaked out.  He kept trying to get off the bed, so I finally let him.  He was calmer for about 10 seconds and then started signing up and screaming again.  I kept signing what hurts? and he didn't respond, so I don't think he was in pain...  Eventually I turned on the TV, disabled the remote and gave him the remote.  That seemed to help a bit.  He eventually feel asleep at 5 a.m.  SHEESH... SO I thought surely he would sleep until 8 or 9...NOPE (idiot) he woke up at 6:30...(are you freaking kidding me?!?!?!)  This time I immediately turned on Sesame Street (the Spanish version) and let him watch that.  I went back to sleep (waking every once and a while to check on him.)  He feel back asleep around 7:30 and then slept until 8:20.  I was BEAT!
So Saturday we went to Home Depot with the purpose to buy the things that divert water from the gutter away from the house.  We ended up buying wasp spray, worm poop, and another roll of edging.  Yeah, we should have remembered the gutter things.  We got home in time for the bottom to fall our of the sky.  So we had a little trench the water made off of a couple of the downspouts...live and learn right?  Elijah went down for a nap and slept through most of the storm, but it got really close a couple of times and he woke up (right as I was falling asleep I might add...sigh)  Jerry worked for 4 hours yesterday, so I couldn't even hand the boy child off.  Oh well.  We did go out after the storm to buy a bed rail.  That was an adventure.  Many lights were blinking.  But it was kinda fun to try and figure out how to get home avoiding major intersections where the lights were out.  We did really well, I must say.
Today was our work day though.  We went and picked up 9 bags of mulch and the gutter things.  We thought that we would need 12 bags of mulch to do the front and side of the house (we only bought 9 b/c we thought that was all that would fit into the car...turns out we could've done 12, but we were ready to go home...)  So all 9 bags are now on the side only and we could easily put another 4 or 5 bags down over there.  So next weekend we will get more.  We put paper down first and then the mulch.  Hopefully that will help with the grass.  By the time we finished that, it was lunch time.  Elijah ate and went down for his nap.  Jerry went back to work again.  When EJ woke up, I went and installed the edging around an area off of the patio that we will fill in with mulch and then his sandbox will live there.  By the time I finished that Jerry was home so we went for ICE CREAM!!!!    Now we are home, jerry is putting Elijah to bed and I just finished watching the JK Rowling interview on Dateline!
now that you have read a play by play of my weekend...
I just can't believe this weekend is almost over.  I was so spoiled with Jerry home 4 days in a row last week and my parents being here.  Though Jerry's put in almost 30 hours of OT this week.  So he's banking it and taking some time off in the middle of the month so we can really work on Elijah's sleeping.  He's doing really well with it, but I don't have the energy to wake up in the middle of the night and get the kiddo back down in his bed (especially knowing I have to be up and be with it every morning.) It's just so much easier to bring him to bed, where (normally) he sleeps through the night.  He does sleep the majority of the night in his crib, so I am hopeful.  We'll see.  But it will be nice to have Jerry home and we can work on some more house projects.
Okay, enough rambling.  I must say that I am missing the three main blogs I read...  but I know they are all busy with moving and helping and visiting with parents...  just want them to know they are missed!

October 2006

October 12

Sorry!

Sorry to have disappeared.  (Thanks for checking on us Amy!!!)  We went on vacation.  We are back now and I will write more later...I promise!  I didn't realize how long it had been.  Right now I am going to eat dindin, but tonight or tomorrow I will update and load pics....
Congrats Megan on your BABY!!!!!
Okay...more later....

Vacation

We left last Friday (the 6th) and went to pick up a van.   We went with Rachel, Erin, and Maya Rose and we all decided it would be much more fun if we could all ride together.  So I called to confirm the reservation the Monday before and the people at Hertz assured me there would be a van waiting.  So we get to the airport to pick up the van and Hertz doesn't have it!  I was really mad...I mean to the point I was shaking.  The woman at the desk offered us two cars...well we could have just driven our two cars...then offered us a Grand Marquis...That would mean three adults in the front seat, two car seats and an adult on the back seat..I don't think so...So she went around to the other rental car companies and found out that National had a van.  We went down to their desk and the woman there hooked us up with a van and actually beat the price from Hertz.  The Hertz lady was really apologetic and gave us a 100 dollars off our next rental.  I was just so pissed at her...NEVERTHELESS, we got our van.  It was a Saturn Relay and while it was great for the trip, I wouldn't recommend this van to anyone.  The seats with the car seats behind them had to be all the way pushed up and straight up and down.  So we put the kids behind each other.  The passenger front seat just had to be sitting really straight.  The person riding in the back seat had to wait to get out so the seat would fold down.  It had a DVD system, but if you wanted sound the people up front had to listen to a movie they couldn't watch.  (Not that I would buy a car with a DVD system in it anyway...)  We jammed packed everything into the trunk, but I really don't see how we could have fit anything else in there.  We did take one umbrella stroller...but that meant the other baby had to be carried all week (not that that was a problem...)  Over all it felt really crowded, but still comfortable.  We really liked the ability for all of us to ride together and surprisingly we only spent about 100 dollars in gas the whole week.  Much less than I thought we would.  But I didn't fall into lust with the van like I thought I would.  Maybe if it had been a Toyota or Honda....
ANYWAY, we got to Black Mountain Friday evening and mom and dad fixed dinner for us and we hung out.  Saturday we went over to WWC and watched the girls soccer game and saw some old friends!  It was a great day weather wise and the girls won!  After the game we walked down to the farm and took the kids to see the piggies.  By that time, it was time to go home, so we stopped and picked up dinner and coffee and called it a day.  Sunday Rachel, Erin, and Maya Rose went to see Rachel's family over in Franklin (her parents just bought a house there) and we went to the mall...I know that sounds cheesy, but I love the the Asheville mall and besides it's where Jerry proposed to me!  Then we just relaxed for the day.  Monday we went into downtown Asheville.  I could have spent days there just wandering around, but we went had babies and stuff, so we did the shortened tour.  We went to Downtown Books and News, then went to Table (run by some WWC alum) and had a yummy lunch.  We checked our this really cool toy store!!!  Then we went on a tour of Highlands Brewery.   We finished the day with dinner at Barley's pizza and Taproom.  Very nice day indeed!  Tuesday we walked into Black Mountain and had lunch at a really yummy Mexican place and walked around for a bit.  And Wednesday my aunt Mavis came for a visit bearing gifts and Pie!!!
Overall it was a really good vacation.  We weren't ready to kill each other and are all still friends.  I wish we had been able to stay longer, but we'll know for next time.
Okay, we are off to brunch and then recover from vacation.  Jerry has off until Monday so I think we'll try to get some yard work done!
October 13

The Kite Runner -- a review

The Kite Runner has got to be one of my top ten favorites now.  I finished the book a couple of weeks ago and it is still sticking with me.  The book is shocking and beautiful.  It is a tale of youth and adulthood.  It deals with religion or lack thereof.  It is a tale of stolen innocence and the guilt that can be carried over decades.  The story telling is very pointed and easy to read.  The writing almost puts me in the mind of The Life of Pi.  This book is both heartbreaking and uplifting and for an author to do this and throw in the history of a suffering nation without boring the reader is nothing short of incredible.  I highly recommend this book.
October 17

Does it bother anyone else?

I cannot STAND the Lamisil ad!  I refresh whatever page it appears on.  The thought of anything crawling up under my toenail gives me the heebie geebies.  EEEEWWWWW!!!!!!  Anyway....
So we are back to "normal" life.  sigh... It was so nice having Jerry around all day...Monday was sad for me.  But we did just fine.  We went on a walk and played all day.  Today it was rainy, but we went to the library.  It's not too bad, I just miss having him around...double sigh...
We cleaned up the room across from Elijah's and are making it a play room-ish room.  Tomorrow we will get a gate and put it in the hallway so he can play in either his room or the one across the way.  We think it'll be better than him having the whole living room, especially since he has learned to navigate our very complicated blockage system (some boxes...) to get to the chords behind the TV.  He's becoming so independent!  It's crazy!  He has taken a few steps behind his walker, but mostly he likes to just push it back and forth...I'm seriously considering giving him the vacuum so he can clean whilst he pushes....lol....
Okay, that's it for now...Mr. EJ is getting cranky and I think that Jerry will get him to sleep if I let him sit here and listen to music...
October 18

Halloween...

So I made Elijah's Halloween costume...he was going to a Ninja...but alas alack, I made them a few months ago and now the pants are to small...sigh...so I was out at the Bargain Box today and I found the cutest little frog costume for 3 bucks!!!  So he's going to be a frog...
We bought a safety gate today and now Elijah has two rooms to crawl between and play in... Jerry is in there with him now.
Okay, that's really it...Just wanted to explain the cute frog pics that were added today.
October 24

Only Tuesday?

This week seems to already be dragging...sigh... Oh well...
We have anew arrangement in our house.  Jerry is keeping Elijah all night Friday and Saturday and I am keeping him all night Sunday- Thursday.  It's not really fair to Jerry to be up all hours of the night and then go to work.  At least if I want to I can stay in my PJs all day (yeah right...)  It is nice though to get more sleep on the weekends for me.  Elijah has been going through this phase (for lack of better word.)  He goes to sleep fine and stays in his crib until about midnight.  Last night I was up with him from midnight to 1:30...not a happy person.  We have tried the crying it out (but staying in the room with him) thing.  That was the worst night ever!!!   First off, the let them cry for 15 minutes thing...not so much.  He wouldn't calm down.  So for half an hour both Jerry and I were trying to calm him down (we had removed him from the crib by now) and then it took another half hour just to resettle him.  Not only was Elijah in tears (not to mention a snotty mess) I was too.  So we decided that was not something that would work for us.  I have checked out books and most of them are some form of let 'em cry.  I went to check out the Dr. Sear's Baby Sleep book, but I couldn't find it...I did find a really cool baby yoga book and we are doing that.  It has yoga for babies birth to 24 months.  It's called Itsy Bitsy Yoga.  The author designs movements based on development rather than age.  It's really cool.  She breaks everything down and then gives you routines for different times of the day and magic poses that are supposed to work anywhere!  We did some this morning and then some right before I put him down for the night.  I think I will try to incorporate this into his nighttime routine.
So going back to the sleeping thing.  I have made a pallet for myself in Elijah's room and I am trying my damndest not to nurse him when he wakes in the middle of the night.  It's really hard because that's what he wants  And after an hour and half of fighting him in the middle of the night, I'm too exhausted to not give in.  It's odd, if Jerry has him then of course Elijah's not rooting around for anything.  He still wakes up, but Jerry can get him back down.  Last night I think gas was an issue with his little tummy...  We think it's just a stage.  He was doing really well for a bit.  But I think he is cutting a couple more teeth and he learned today how to stand up without pulling on something...instead he pushed with his legs, still holding on to whatever for balance.  So now he walks around behind his little walker and if he falls down he's figured out how to get back up without pulling the walker over...sigh...I'm not ready for my little man to be so mobile yet!!!  But he's just as sweet as can be.
ANYWAY, last weekend was really nice.  We didn't really do anything.  Saturday we spent the afternoon hanging out with Rachel, Erin, and MR.   And that was about the most exciting thing we did.
This weekend we will be going to a Halloween party and then possibly to see Jerry's folks and his nieces.  That should be fun.
The weather here suddenly got cold!!!  (Well, relatively speaking...)  It was in the 30's last night and there's a freeze warning out tonight.  I still slept with the window open though...
Okay, my mom and dad called me to reprimand me for not putting up pics of the kiddo...so I shall do that and then turn in....
October 29

Halloween party and DLST

Yawn!  But not really....  We went to a Halloween party last night.  My plan was to keep EJ up until 9 in hopes that he would readjust to the Day Light Savings Time stuff with ease.  Yeah, he feel asleep in the car and slept through getting out of the car and being put down... poor guy, I'm sure the super fun party was too much for him.  There were lots of kids there and we all had tons of fun!  (Not to mention the yummy food....)  So I was totally prepared to be up at 5 o'clock with him.  He also took a three hour nap yesterday morning...he NEVER does that!!! But SURPRISE!!!  I feel asleep last night around 10 and woke up totally engorged at 7 DLST and had to wake EJ up to eat.  Jerry said he had slept all night!!!!  That's 2 nights in a row I got at least 8 hours!  I feel GREAT!!!!!  This week I am working on EJ not eating all night.  He's been comfort nursing lots during the night, so we are trying to end that.  These past 2 nights have been a step in that direction.  Of course, Jerry has kept him these past two nights, so we'll see.  But at least, I'm refreshed and ready to try this.
So we were outside the other day for me to plant some spring flower seeds and I look over at EJ and he's doing this funny bear walk thing.  I don't think he wanted his knees to touch the ground.  I added a pic of it.  It was sooo funny!  He's got a new thing where he like to pull up between my legs and hold on to my pants and walk around wherever I go.  Very cute, but when the timer is going off for dinner or I am waiting in line at a party for food, it's a bit constraining.  Of course with the dinner timer, I un-grip his little hands...The dinner line was just amusing to the other guests.
Did I mention that our playgroup is now meeting at a park?  I really like this much better.  I don't have to worry about making sure my house is perfect and that everything is safe for all the  babies or that I have enough room.
Okay, I'm gonna run b/c a little boy I know is trying to type for me.....gonna go see the grandparents and cousins today!!!

August 2006

August 02

wow

so this is all new, huh?  i had trouble accessing this site last night so jerry upgraded to 7.0 and now it works.  it could have just been down last night....
ANYWAY, it's been a while.  Nothing too exciting has happened.  I mowed the lawn on Saturday and then we went out for a bit.  On Sunday we went to Jerry's parents house.  Jerry had jury duty Monday and Tuesday.  He ended up sitting around the court house all day.  The guy finally ended up pleading guilty, so he doesn't have to serve.  So that's good, but he had to miss two days of work...  I guess there could be worse things.
Today, my mother-in-law and a friend of hers are stopping by for lunch.  That should be fun.  She hasn't seen our house yet, so we have tried to make the house as presentable as possible...  we'll see.
I went with my next door neighbor to a La Leche meeting on Monday.  It was good for her and me.  The topic was nutrition and weaning.  I am no where near the weaning part yet, but the nutrition part was good.  Of course the meetings are so relaxed that we end up talking about whatever.  I think it was helpful to my friend.  I know that she is having a little trouble with milk supply.
It really is hard becoming a new parent.  I mean they may tell you about the sleepless nights and how rough it is on your body to try to nurish your child and get enough sleep, but until you are actually doing it... I feel very fortunate that my husband has taken such an active role in the upbringing of Elijah.  He shares the night responsibilities as well as everything else.  I know that if Elijah would take a bottle, he would let me sleep through the night.  Tough I woke up last night at 2:30 totally engorged from not having fed Elijah since 7:30.  Haven't had that kind of pain in quite sometime.    Of course, the pump was in Elijah's room and it needs washing anyway.  So I was manually expressing when finally the little guy woke up and he could eat!  We are very proud of ourselves having figured out a way to break the constant night nursing, without the "Crying it out" method.  Though we both decided that it wasn't bothering us to be up that often. so it really only seemed to bother our doctor, who doesn't live here...so you know...
Okay, well that's it for now.  I need to go get ready and try to straighten up the house a bit more before our guests arrive.
August 03

thursday already?

this week has flown by....  sooooooooooo....yesterday i was sitting with elijah on my lap and i wasn't paying attention and he grabbed my finger and bit it and in doing this i discovered that 4 COUNT 'EM 4 teeth have cut through.  we knew that the two on the bottom had cut, but the two on the top...already?  so wow!  within a few weeks his smile will be completely different!
to clarify...elijah is waking up every 3 hours or so art night and usually i feed him,  but his doc apparently was having a problem with this.  so now jerry "father's him down" which means jerry comforts ej back to sleep until about 2 or 3 and then i feed him and take care of him the rest of the night.  so far this is working.  it means i only wake up once a night to feed ej.  not that waking up every three hours was bothering us.  it has been a little more difficult the past few days, but that's probably because of the teeth pushing through...poor guy.  did that answer your question tj?
so my mother-in-law came for a visit yesterday.  it was very nice to see her and just sit around and chat.  jerry came home for a long lunch, which was also nice.
i'll write more later, right now i need to get ready for the high society ladies brunch...we have to leave at 10:30 and i'm still in my PJs....
August 04

is it just me?

Or does it seem to take longer for the page these pages to load now?
I'm fooling around with the "friends" thingy...we'll see.  I just need to get used to all this stuff I guess.  There are things on this site I don't even understand yet, but I haven't really taken the time to figure them out either.
So the teeth are now taking over our life...hehehe...the are nursing positions that are now uncomfortable, in that when he unlatches I have teeth prints where a baby mouth was...they don't hurt, but I suspect over time they will.  Oh well, small price to pay...
We went to our high society lunch yesterday.  It was good, but I really don't know what is going to happen when all the babies are crawling.  There is one crawling already and within the next few months, all of them will be crawling.  We decided against the Superyard XT because we feel it will just take up too much space.   So we are going to completely baby proof the living room and get a gate to block off the kitchen and close the doors to the other rooms.  Have I mentioned that we are going to turn our garage into a rec room of sorts?  Once that happens, I'll just need a gate for in there, but until then, I think this will work.  It would be nice to have something for outside, but I feel if he's going to be outside then one of us will be playing with him...we'll see.
Uhoh...grouchy baby alert...nap time for him...gotta run...
August 07

a cooler weekend?

WHATEVER?  It was hot all weekend.  I think we got maybe got ten minutes of rain on Saturday.  I guess it was cooler than last week...but not by much.
ANYWAY, we went to the library on Saturday morning and then spent the rest of the day inside.
I finished re-reading Beach Music by Pat Conroy.  I forgot so many things that happen in this book.  First off, it is a very powerful book, not only about the south, but a about the Holocaust as well.  Pat Conroy's writing is so vivid that you really are taken into the horrors that arose during WWII.  While central to the story, I feel that at some points he could have been less graphic.... I mean there is only so much a reader can take.  Nonetheless, it is beautifully, if not horrifically, written.  His descriptions of place are immaculate and you can get the vision in the minds eye.  He takes you on a journey that you have no choice but to follow.   The description of the SC beaches and marshes are dead on (as they should be seeing he lives right there.)  He has obviously done his research on war time Poland, Russia, and Germany.  I suggest in reading this book that once you realize you have reached the parts about the Holocaust, you sort of skim...just think of the most horrible thing imaginable and then times it by 100.  Of course, I am a glutton and so I read the whole book, word for word, and you really do feel the pain, horror and sorrow of the whole time, but it is very difficult to read.  All in all though, an eerie poignant book.

Yesterday we went to Rachel and Erin's for dinner and football.  Jerry and Erin were very excited for football to be up and running.  Rachel and I hung out with the kids and chatted.  Elijah feel asleep and didn't even wake up when we put him in the car.  However, the night did not go so well.  He was up almost every hour.  So I am a bit sleepy this morning.  But such is life and really what do I have to do today, but hang with my kid?
Okay, speaking of the little man... have a good one!
August 08

pics of teeth....kinda

so we tried to take pics of Elijah's teeth yesterday...it sorta worked.  Yes he is upside down in some of them....that makes him laugh.  okay...so here they are....




August 11

the weekend

So starting today things start to get busy and exciting again.  Not that they aren't busy and exciting daily, but you know.  First off, Elijha's teeth and the drool rash have been REALLY bothering him this week.  The rash is starting to heal, which makes it itch even more it seems and the teeth...poor guy.  Four at one time must hurt.  He has been wanting to be held almost constantly for about 48 hours straight.  Last night was the first night he (or any of us) got really good sleep.  Yesterday, Jerry had to be at work for an 8:00 meeting.  This is really early for him...well really for everyone in the company.  But the meeting was really good and Jerry asked a lot of questions that needed to be asked.  So I think for the first time in quite sometime he came home in a good mood.  It's not so much that he's unhappy there, it's just that there are aspects of the company that a really frustrating and needed to be addressed.  So I hope that yesterday was a new leaf being turned over...For now, I think he feels better and that's what is important.
I skipped going to our lunch/playgroup yesterday.  I would have canceled even if we had planned on going since Elijah was up almost every hour the night before...  But I was thinking about the group yesterday.  One of the member was talking about SIDS and bumpers in cribs.  She removed hers after her mom said there was a connection and was upset because her child is pulling up and slid down and her arm got caught in the bars and it twisted a bit.  She said that wouldn't have happened with a bumper.  So I went online.  My mom had said something about the whole SIDS thing as well.  We had already decided not to get a bumper as our crib met the standards so that his head wouldn't get caught in the rails...and also they are REALLY expensive.  ANYWAY, I went on line and found this article. It turns out the AAP is even discouraging them.  Some of the women in our group were upset about the whole thing.  One said that her baby wouldn't go to sleep unless she was right up against the bumper.  I personally think that I child will probably turn their head, but who knows.  I also am applauding the AAP for standing up against this Baby Einstein video stuff.  First off, sorry if I offend anyone here...but those things are the worst videos I have ever seen.  Secondly, really....If you want your child to listen to classical music and watch puppets, get some real classical music (not the Baby Einstien 1980's single note renditions of classical music) and put a sock on your hand and call it a puppet....you've already created a better program for your child and spent half the money.  Thirdly, the AAP says NO TV before age 2.  I freak out if Elijah turns his head toward the TV in the evening.  We rarely have it on if he is in the room.   I do however, have music on lots.  And we play on the floor and he is surrounded by toys.  I don't know, it bothers me that the marketing of these videos (and the toys for that matter) seen to make people think that their child will be smarter for watching/playing/sitting and staring at the blinking lights...No wonder we have a society filled with children who are ADHD.  Honestly....
Okay, enough about my rant.  We are going on a mini-vacation at Rachel and Erin's this weekend.  We are going to be tourist in our home town and I'm pretty darn excited.  When we get home, I will be cleaning as I am hosting playgroup this week, then my parents are coming next weekend!!!!  So I am off to do laundry.....
New pics...you can really see his teeth in one!!!!!    Have a lovely weekend!
August 13

SEVEN MONTHS!!!!!

I can't believe it!  My boy is now the better part of a year old!  He's getting soooo big!
We had a great vacation!  It was very relaxing and fun to just hang out with friends.  We went to the aquarium and really hung out.  Jerry and Erin watched football and Rachel and I chatted and played around no the internet. All in  all it was terrific.
The weather here today is incredible!  It was nice and cool this morning.  I thought it felt like and Asheville early summer morning.  And the day is not too hot either.  It was really nice!
Eijah's teeth seem to be bothering him less and less.  So that's good.  They are so close to being all the way in.  it's really bizarre.  He's trying to pull himself up now.  And really wants to crawl.  He'll get on all fours and rock and rock and then lift a leg or an arm and then fall on his tummy.  It's quite entertaining.
I mowed the back lawn this afternoon.  I went over the garden with the mower as well.  I think we're done with it for this summer.  We'll try again next year.  Anyway, after I mowed it down we were sitting at the table and looked outside and a HUGE hawk was catching something in the downed grass.  It was really cool.  So far we've had deer and hawks that we've seen....(we won't talk about the icky spiders....)
So I'm starting a new photo album today, of seven month old pics...  Oh, speaking of albums.  Tracey sent me this cool photo album that you just pop out little spaces and tape photos behind them and then they slip into the protective covers.  Elijah LOVES it!  I put some pics in there and he loves to look at himself and just laugh and laugh!  Best of all the pages are easy to wipe clean of drool!!!!  and are also hard to rip....It's very sturdy!  We love it!  Thanks TJ!
Okay, we are meeting some friends for a send off dinner...I know there was something else to write, but I can't remember...
August 14

Switching Lives -- a review

Switching Lives by Jane Green
I picked this up off the new book shelf at the library.  I had already read one book by Jane Green and I thought it was good "brain candy"...you know, a book that's fun and doesn't take a whole lot of thought and concentration.  While the first book I read of hers, Babyville, was not my favorite, I thought I would give her another try.  I really liked this book.  The basic concept is two women trade lives for a month.  Vicky is a single British magazine editor.  Amber is an American suburban stay-at-home-mom with two kids, a nanny, and "charity"work.  Both think they want what the other has.  So through a series of events they trade places with each other.  I must say that Jane Green goes into GREAT detail about each woman's life before she gets around to the whole trading business.  It almost took too much time, though she did set up each life completely.  I think she captured the stereo-type of a really rich suburban (think Desperate Housewives) wife and the trails of trying to "keep up with the Joneses" with the Amber character.  It got to the point where I wanted to scream at Amber that if she was sick of trying to be the best to stop and be herself...but hence the whole story would then be non-existent.  While the Vicky character was much more grounded, she was obsessed with a Bristih celebrity who showed up at her door in the middle of the night for...well you know...In her imagination she would be the woman to change this man and they would live happily ever after.  Green seems to have a habit of putting something like this into her stories.  In Babyville there was a married woman who was secretly in love (rather lust) with a married man.  She really thought about leaving her husband for this man and only after she was incredibly embarrassed did she realize that her husband was the best man in the world.  It frustrates me when Green does this.  I feel like it makes the character weaker.  There is no reason for it and really it doesn't help along the plot line.  Maybe I just prefer books with strong women characters, but whatever.  It was a good light read.  Everything works out in the end and that's the kind of fluff I like.  So the moral of the story: The grass isn't always greener on the other side of the pond...
August 16

well....

So Elijah had his first allergic reaction to food....I must say that I freaked out, but handled the situation well.  We decided to try out some cottage cheese...I'm on a whole  - he needs more protein - kick, though I'm not sure why.  So yeah, it touched his face and he broke out all over his neck and face.  We won't talk about what came out later in the afternoon....let's just say...eeeeewwwww!!!!!!  Anyway, as soon as we saw this I stopped feeding him (obviously.) he's only had three little bites.  Jerry was home (thank goodness!) and we monitored him while I looked up food allergies in our baby book...not much help .  I knew our doc's nurse go to lunch from 12-2 (WHATEVER!) so we called the BC/BS nurse line.  They were super helpful and told us what to do.  We were already trying to keep him from scratching but ended up putting socks on his little hands (poor guy) and striped him down to his diaper and kept him cool with a wash cloth and put Hydrocortisone on him.  Within an hour the rash was almost all gone and he sacked out for three hours!  There was no swelling in his mouth, so we think it's just a dermatitis.  But we won't be giving him any more cottage cheese for quite some time.
Today we went to meet some people at the park.  It was nice, but HOT!  We have joined a forum on-line for area mother's that's really neat.  There are so many different points of view and mom's from every walk of life.  So we met some today.  Once a month they do a Mom's Night Out.  I think I might go next month...we'll see.
Yesterday Jerry finally got his bonus check.  LONG story, but it has been long awaited.  So we went and got new towels and sheets.  All the towels and sheets we have (with the exception of one set of sheets and beach towels) we got for our wedding...they needed to be replaced.  So we went to this place called Tomblinson's and they sell towels by the 1/2 dozen for fairly cheap, but really good quality.  It was kinda fun.  We got to pick out colors and daydream about painting the rest of the house (someday!)
I'm hosting lunch tomorrow and then my parents are coming on Monday.  So I really need to clean...sigh...Elijah is down for the count, so maybe I can get a little done now....OR I could take a nap too....hmmmm...
August 19

My new annoyance

I get really annoyed when I hear people claim to want to home school their children because the public school system is corrupting them spiritually.  In this state you only have to have a high school degree in order to home school your child.  In my opinion, then they should let high school graduates teach in the public school system....sigh....
I mean are people so insecure in their beliefs that they think sending their child to a public school is going to turn them against the God they believe in?  If this is true, then I would seriously look at my morals and standards.  We are raising our child to make his own decisions when it comes to religion.  I want him to experience everything there is and then make an educated decision.  But that is me and I understand bringing your child up to believe one thing. But be confident in that one thing!  I feel the same way about gay marriage.  I mean who am I so say "don't do it"?  I am very confident in my marriage and my beliefs, why should I think that someone who chooses to get married to their partner is going to affect me.... super sigh....
Having said all this, we are planning on either home schooling our children or sending them to a charter school.  This however, is because our school system is so overcrowded they are holding classes in hallways and bathrooms.  Sigh.... but I do strongly believe in the public school system and I believe that it can work.  If there is something that is being taught that you don't believe in, then TALK TO YOUR KID ABOUT IT!!!!  Don't take them out of school.  knowledge is power...  Besides didn't Jesus say "Be in the world, not of the world" (Matthew 5:16).  I just feel that even if there is something you don't believe in, doesn't the knowledge of said thing make you stronger in your opposition?  I mean I read conservative articles and debate with conservative people and it just seems to re-affirm what I believe in.
I have a question to pose...Even being very educated my husband and I want more for our children.  Does everyone not feel this way?  Are there people out there that are so insecure they would purposely make their children fail or fall behind, simply so they would never be better than their parents?  If so, that is the saddest thing I have ever heard.  It gives me little hope for the future.   I hope that I am wrong.  I hope that even people who are uneducated, who want to home school their kids...see the FREAKING LIGHT!!!!!  I would hate for one child to be actually "left behind" because of a parents inability to see how they are destroying their child's chance at a good future.  To me this is inexcusable.
And another thing....(because obviously my point hasn't been brought home yet!!! lol) Home schooling is not cheap, nor is it all fun and games.  One must register with the state.  Then one must purchase the materials...okay, maybe someone gives you the materials.  You must maintain a schedule on a daily basis (excluding holidays.)  Which means you have to actually interact with your kids.  Sitting them in front of Nic JR. or PBS is not teaching your kid.  Your child has to be at least seven years of age (though I am sure there are ways around this....) You have to administer testing.  And if at any time someone calls the authorities on you, you have to prove all this stuff.  It takes a GREAT DEAL of organization and preparation.  If you choose to home school your kid...Do it right, don't do it because someone in your church thinks that kids are not taught enough about Christianity in school...of course they are not, it's a public school...small little thing called separation of church and state...though maybe your high school didn't cover that...sigh...so take your kid to church, read the Bible with them daily, whatever.  At least they will still learn to add, subtract, be social, science, all kinds of cool things, not to mention get actual exercise.  Home schooling is not all about field trips.  You actually have to tie a field trip into a learning experience.
Okay, so I don't really believe that children that are home schooled are all social recluses, but that's because I believe that children should be involved in some sort of community thing : theatre, sports, service, church, play dates... however, if you home school your child and they never have real continual interaction with other kids...yeah their social skills will be lacking.
I want to raise a strong independent thinking kid.  If at anytime he looks at mea and says he wants to go to school -school, we will look into options.  But we are thinking of working with other parents, rotating days and subjects of teaching.  This way I am not around my kid 24-7 and he is not around me.  Which in turn means he gets to be a kid.  One that mom is not looking after and correcting everything he does.  I still get to hear about his day and be a soccer, or ballet, or whatever mom.  I feel like that is the best of both worlds.  But if we ever moved back home, I think we would re-think the whole thing.  The school systems there are great, for the most part.  I mean there are definite issues (mostly societal) but nothing that I would feel uncomfortable discussing with my kid.
So , this has gone on quite long enough...there were other things to write about, but I think this will be it for today....
August 20

a bit calmer

okay, that was a really long rant...sorry...
SOOO, this weekend has been very nice and very productive.  I don't know if I mentioned but Jerry got a (long awaited) bonus (finally!!!) on Tuesday.  So we put some in Elijah's savings and a big chunk in our savings and then made a list.  We got new linens and towels (though those are considered linens I guess...) and went shopping at the new Costco for things (man, I have to have a list going into places like that, or I gooo crazy!!!), we bought a new bed for the guest room, and bought shelving for two closets.  Yesterday the bed was delivered!!!  So comfy!  We had the futon in the there, but it now lives in the office.  And we installed the shelves into the guest room closet.
The most important thing that happened this weekend, was my boy got sick.  He started coughing on Friday and was up almost all night Friday night.  I forgot what lack of sleep was.  I am so used to just rocking him for a few minutes or rolling over and feeding him that actually having to get up and walk around with him and pat his back and soothe him really took a toll on me.  So yesterday morning I woke up Jerry and we called the nurse line.  They suggested we come in.  So we went to the doc on call (or ped office rotates with five other doctors so that there is an office open 7 days a week!  I am really thankful for this!)  He was super nice and reassured us that aspirating his nose and doing the saline was about all we could do.  He said we could do some Vic's Vapo-rub to help with the congestion, but that giving him a prescription wouldn't do anything for him. we appreciated this as I feel that kids are over medicated with prescription drugs (WHOLE OTHER RANT!)  Having said that, we did give him Motrin to help him sleep last night.  Poor guy... I feel so bad for him, teething, can't breathe out of his nose, has a cough....all this has prevented him from breastfeeding as often (Oh...side note: at the doc's office they weighed him...22 pounds 14 ounces!!!!!!) which isn't hurting him (we're pushing water and solids for hydration) but is hurting me.  Last night was much better (after about 2:30...) his nose cleared up and he ate like a fiend and is still sleeping.  I hope he is on the mend, but I know these colds take up to ten days to work through.  Well, Oma and Opa will be here to spoil him tomorrow!
Okay, I need to round up some breakfast...
August 21

man I'm on a roll...

If it's not one thing it's another...  Here I go probably offending more people today, but hey, it's my blog and you can stop reading if you are offended...or leave a comment.  I won't hold it against you...
So today's rant is about this stupid Baby Einstein and Leapfrog crap that is out.  It's freaking everywhere and I really can't believe people are buying into it.  Honestly, it is no wonder there is a higher rate of ADHD than ever before.  Kids are inundated with the stuff daily, flashing lights, music going off every five minutes, very loud and bright colors EVERYWHERE!  We decided not to buy anything that Elijah could activate with his hitting.  I mean really claiming that hitting something and it "rewards" you with flashing lights or music (bad music at that) teaches cause and effect is the absolutely most ridiculous statement I have ever heard.  First off, until they are four-ish months babies are just flailing, trying to get control over their little arms and rarely hit anything on purpose.  But is there really any difference in hitting something and seeing it move teaching the same thing.  "Hey, I hit that thing and it moved and it was cool..."  Do they honestly need headache inducing music or epilepsy inducing lights to tell them that.  Are we raising the stupidest babies ever?  And the Baby Einstein videos...really?  They are the lamest pieces of cinematic junk I have ever seen!  The music is HORRIBLE.  If you must support Wal-mart, go there and buy a pack of 10 classical music CDs and make some sock puppets and entertain your child that way.  It's a hell of a lot cheaper.   Does Disney really need anymore money?  And honestly do kids really need to be sitting in front of the TV?
I watched 20/20 on Friday and they did a show called Food Fight.  It talked about the advertising that entices kids to want food that is bad for them. There were people saying they  just couldn't say no to their kids after a while.  Why not?  If you can't say no to them, don't take them grocery shopping with you.  don't go through the drive through at McDonalds.  Maybe Elijah just isn't old enough, but I really don't see this as a problem.  We don't allow him to watch TV.  I don't think that will change anytime soon.  The APA recommends no TV before age 2.  In Germany you cannot take your kids to the movies until age 8.  Why is there a sudden surge in TV watching?  Of course, our kids are bombarded with commercials.  It's everywhere.  And even PBS watchers aren't immune.  Good grief look at all the freaking Elmo crap that's around.  And PBS doesn't get a cent for the sale of those items.  So don't think you are helping a good cause.  We had rules in my house as I was growing up.  Of course, we didn't have cable...in fact our TV got two channels on a good day.  I was allowed sugary cereals, but only in the summer time.  McDonalds was a very special treat.  we had three meals a day.  And I spent many an hour at the library.
I am not saying that I am better than anyone, or that my kid will be prefect (though of course he will...lol...)  I am just saying that it is really wild that so many people are buying into this stuff.  I really wonder what Einstien would say if he were still alive.  I am betting he probably wouldn't think too much of Disney using his name to promote crappy videos and play toys.
Then there is the Leapfrog.  If you cannot take 20 minutes a day to sit and read with your child, then you are really needing to re-examine your priorities.  Honestly, that is the best way to get your kid to read.  If you read a book over and over again to your kid, they will be able to read it back to you and start recognizing words and associating them with pictures...God it is soooo cool to see a kid get it!  But I fear that many are losing out on this.  They are letting the computers teach kids.  How sad is that?
I just read and article on The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood's web site entitled "Barbie is the Least of My Worries".  The woman that wrote the article said that her mom denied her Barbies when she was little because of the image Barbie portrayed on young girls.  She went on to write that taking her toddler clothes shopping was next to impossible because all the little girl clothes seemed to be made for a sexy barbie with things like "juicy" written in sparkles across the chest area.   It is wild.  Barbie used to be so evil, but my goodness there are so many more things out there.  The woman went on to site the computer and TV and movies constantly bombarding her child with images of sexuality at a young age.  And while I think that eventually this cannot be avoided, I sure hope that I can help my child and future children to understand what a good body image is and that no a Leapfrog will not make you smarter and no you do not need to eat Frosted Flakes to feel Grrrreeat!  I hope that I can help my kids learn to read and think for themselves and be well rounded, self assured young adults.  That you can have fun without constantly being rewarded for hitting the hanging object and that books can take you to more places than any TV program can.
Again, I hope that I haven't offended anyone...or maybe I do...if it made you think that it was well worth it.  Feel free to leave a comment... and check out the CCFC's web site...they have many more things to say about all this...and ways to avoid bombarding your kid with commercials...
August 25

Okay...moving on....

My parents left this morning after a yummy breakfast at IHOP.  Thanks mom and dad!!!!  We had a good visit.  They are leaving for England and Ireland in a couple of weeks, so they won't see Elijah until we go up in October.  I think they are glad they made the trip.
Elijah was sick for the past week though.  That sucked!  I made Jerry take us to the on-call doc last Saturday.  But it was just a cold.  He is definitely feeling better, though still not really eating solid foods.  He is nursing like a maniac so I figure he'll eat when he's hungry.  He did eat last night.  We think he is wanting to be more independent.  He only ate when I was holding him on my lap and let him "help" put the food in his mouth.  A rather messy way to eat, which I don't really mind, but we were in a restaurant, so you know...
I didn't go to group this week, but I did get an e-mail announcing one of our group members is preggers again!  Congrats Carmen!  She is due in the spring.
This afternoon I will go over to Rachel's and we are going to book a van for our October vacation!!!  I'm so excited!  We are going to be staying with my folks for a week.  We'll be there for WWC's homecoming and then have sometime to play in the woods and downtown and just relax.  I hope that the weather is good...
I cannot believe it is almost September.  This summer has flown by.  Not that you would know that fall is just around the corner.  We are still having 90 degree temps.  Now the tropics are getting all riled up...sigh... Well, what are you going to do?  If a hurricane comes, it comes and we will either wait it out or get the heck out of dodge...
OHHHH...Rachel gave me this recipe for tofu smoothies....THEY ARE SOOO YUMMY!!! I omitted the honey and let Elijah have some yesterday and gobbled it up!  They are super easy...In fact here's the recipe:
1/2 cup of soft or silken tofu
1 banana
2 Tbs of honey or maple syrup (we omitted this and they were still quit tasty...just not as sweet!)
6 ice cubes
1/2 cup frozen or fresh fruit
1 cup of fruit juice
There are other things you can do.  The first four ingredients are the base...but this is the one we like the best!  I am not a tofu eater, but this is super yummy and full of good protein and stuff that's good for you.
We went to the farmer's market on Wednesday and I got some local honey.  It is really good.  I hope that it will help with my seasonal allergies.  We also got some raw peanut and some boiled peanuts.  If I hadn't gone grocery shopping the day before I would have gotten our produce there.  It was cheaper than the grocery and supporting local farmers is always a plus!  They also have fresh flowers and herbs there.  It really is a neat little place.  We were talking the other night and thought it would be really cool to start selling baby food there.  I freeze EJ's food in heart  shaped ice cube trays (Thanks Laura!) and it's very cute!  It was just an idea, but it world take a huge start up and so the idea, is just that.
I did spend most of Tuesday evening making baby food for EJ, but since he's not eating solids right now, I have a huge amount now.  Oh well, It's good for up to three months.
I threw out the last of my frozen breast milk the other day.  I have been pumping on occasion, but I just pump and usually dump.  We let Elijah have it in a sippy and he plays with it, but that's it really.  So what's the point in taking up freezer space?
Well, while he's sleeping, I guess I should get some stuff done around the house.  Have a good one...

root canals, teething gels, and WWC...sigh

Okay, so Friday my tooth started hurting.  During the weekend it got progressively worse.  Yesterday I went to the dentist and I have to havea  root canal re-canaled...sigh...I have to take anti-biotic's for a bit.  There is an abscess at the top of the root canal, so I have to get rid of the infection before they can do the root canal.  SIGH.... So I didn't want to go on any pain meds since I am still breastfeeding, so ibuprofen it is.  But that really wasn't helping, so I broke out the teething gel someone gave us....works like a charm...tastes disgusting...but works enough so that I can eat something other than soup.
The up side of the weekend was that we were out and about on Saturday and we stopped at Kim's wholesale furniture outlet and found a recliner that matches our living room stuff and is SUPER comfy.  When we asked about the price we decided to go on and buy it!  They delivered that afternoon for free!  So now we have a recliner!  Which means that I get to rock Elijah to sleep instead of bouncing him on the fitness ball....not that I minded the bouncing, but he's getting heavy and my back was starting to feel the strain.  The rule is, if you are sitting in the chair and the baby needs to be held, the chair sitter gets the baby....
Okay, SOOOOO....WWC has made national headlines and is on several different sites for being this pot-loving school, as reported in the Princeton Review.  Sigh... I don't know how this all started, probably some student thought it would be funny, but you know what...you are screwing yourselves and the alum of the college.  First off, I think that WWC is a great school!  Since all students have to work 15 hours a week, I walked out with a work ethic and a resume.  We had to do 100 hours of community service, so I walked out with the understanding of what it meant to help someone and to give back to one's community and world.  And of course, there is the academic area.  I walked out understanding that professors care.  That good teachers are a dime a dozen and most of them seemed to find themselves at this small school in the mountains.  At WWC your voice was heard and your opinion mattered.  But now there it is getting this reputation of a druggie school.  I won't say that there were not drugs and alcohol, because there were, but it was not constantly in your face.  Everyone I knew was not always stoned or hung over.  In fact, I would be willing to bet that my college experience was similar (in this aspect) to many colleges and universities around the nation.  However, now, anyone with WWC on their resume may be looked at differently.  I thought maybe this was contained to just NC, but it is on national web sites.  This hurts WWC reputation as well as anyone who has ever attended school, worked, or is attending school there now.  It troubles me that someone thought this was funny.  It troubles me more that Princeton Review would publish or even have an item like this in there.  There are so many better things to talk about WWC than drugs.  The strong sense of environmentalism...The campus recently went to all GREEN Power.  They raise cows and pigs.  The student body as a whole is quite interesting and come from all backgrounds.  The classes are small, the campus is over 1000 acres, they have a garden, the students work to help run the campus, you are respected as a person and expected to take responsibility for your actions, they students work in the community from the first week of orientation to the last months in school, they have an incredible international program that grows yearly...the list goes on and on...And yet this one little thing makes the whole place stand out.  WWC is on my resume, for the past five years I have volunteered my time to represent them at the local college fair and if a job I was qualified for ever came open there, I would be the first to apply.   I hope that I am simply blowing this out of proportion in my head because WWC is a good place and doesn't deserve this stupid little scandal....
There...I feel a bit better now...At least I'm off the home schooling evil Baby Einstein thing huh?