Confrontation

Once upon a time, I really thought I wanted to be a lawyer.  I liked the little rush from debate.  As I have gotten older, I'm SO glad that I never went in that direction.  I really would rather avoid confrontation in my daily life.  If it is not putting my family in direct harm, I walk away.  If someone says something to me regarding offense at a facebook status, I remove them from my friends list and move on.  When someone calls me a minor name, I move on.  When someone hurts my feelings, I pout for a bit and move on.  This week however, my blood pressure has been given a run for it's money. 
1) The President addressing school aged children on Tuesday: http://www.whitehouse.gov/MediaResources/PreparedSchoolRemarks/
I am SO over this, but I can't seem to let it go.  I CANNOT believe that people are so up in arms over this.  And I have yet to hear a reasonable argument for children to not see this.  Are these Americans so threatened by an education president that they cannot allow their kids to hear the message of "stay in school"?  President Bush (the senior) made a similar address.  I have to say that I don't remember it.  I hear that there was some speculation about his motives, but seriously?  Were children pulled out of school?  Were permission slips sent home?  What the hell do people think the President is going to say that is going to warp our poor little children's minds?  If you are SO opposed to the President, then wouldn't you want your children to be armed with knowledge of what they are opposed too?  If you are SO opposed to the President, then I would ASSUME you would talk to your children about this and WHY you are opposed to the man (like it or not) who is the leader of this country.  I would like to think that parents are bigger than surly teenagers that didn't get their way and so have now decided to sulk. I honestly don't understand what people think is going to happen.  Do they think that their children are going to turn into some sort of right winged robot?  And what message are they sending their children?  It's okay to not listen to authority figures as long as mom and dad don't like them?  That could come back to bite you pretty quickly.  Anyway, I have hidden several people on facebook because I sick of debating it and seeing the very lame arguments people are making.  I, for one, will be watching the 18 minute speech with my children on Tuesday at noon.  This is me now letting it go (I hope.)
2) Lack of supervision at the park:
This afternoon we went to the "spin-y" park.  I love this park.  Almost everything spins.  While spinning things make me sick, they make the kiddos giggle and it exhausts them.

We get to the park and the first thing we notice is there is an inordinate amount of children there and there are no adults.  Elijah is carrying a ball.  This little girl toddles over to him and tries to take the ball from him.  This is what essentially happened:
me: I'm sorry that's his ball.  (I take the ball back from her and give it to Elijah.  She tries to take it from him again.  I'm looking for an adult that is with the child.)  I'm sorry, but this is his ball. (I take the ball from the little girl again.)
a voice from on top of the monkey bars, across the park: Hey.  She is special needs, leave her alone.
(Um, what?!?) me: She is taking my child's toy.
girl: She doesn't understand.  She's special needs.
me: I understand that, but she still shouldn't be taking someone else's toy.  She needs to learn this and she should be supervised.
girl: (deciding that maybe she SHOULD get down and take care of her charge. continues mumbling.  grabs the little girl and gathers her entourage.) Let's go on a walk.  Some people are just rude.
Jerry: See ya.
They walk around the area a few times and each time they pass the park they make some remark.  Jerry stares at them and gives them a little wave and smirk.  They finally stop wandering around and sit under the picnic shelter that is adjacent to the park.  Talking loudly about me and how rude I am.  Whatever.  Where the hell are your parents.  This girl could not have been older than 13 and the child is 3 and (apparently) special needs and nonverbal.  To me, that would mean that this 13 year old should have been right on top of this child at all times.  So we decide to take a walk before leaving fro dinner.  As we start our walk back to the car, a woman comes up to us and asks, "Did you take something out of my daughter's hand and almost knock her over?" WHAT????
me: No.  I took a ball that belonged to my son out of her hands and explained that it was his.
woman: She is non-verbal.
Jerry: Well, she isn't wearing a sign around her neck saying that.
me: We were made aware that she has special needs.  But I feel that if a special needs child is playing on a play ground, she needs to be supervised closely.
woman: My older daughter was watching her.
me: Yes.  From on top of the monkey bars.
woman: And where we you.
me: By the cups.
woman: I knew she was lying to me.
Okay, so right here, I have to think, WHY THE HELL ARE YOU LETTING SOMEONE YOU DON'T TRUST WATCH YOUR SPECIAL NEEDS CHILD.
me: Yes.  She and her friend were up on the monkey bars while the other one was with your daughter.
woman: What other one?
SERIOUSLY?
Jerry: The one with the sandy blonde hair.
woman: I don't even know who that is.
REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLY?
me: I would never hurt a child.  I was simply standing up for my child, as I am sure you would do.
woman: yes.  I'm sorry that she was rude to you.  I'm paying her to watch her and she is on the phone right now and (into the phone) IS IN SO MUCH TROUBLE!
She walks away.  We walk back to the car.  I'm so upset by this confrontation and the obvious lack of sense in the whole situation that I'm shaking.  I end up with a massive tension headache from the whole ordeal.  It could have gone SO much worse, but the woman obviously didn't trust the older daughter and, honestly, I would NEVER feel comfortable leaving my 3 year old special needs child with ANY 13 year old.  This woman obviously had either come from home or a REALLY relaxed place of work.  Jerry said I hand;ed myself well.  And honestly, I was SO aware that I was confronting someone in front of my children and that made me uber aware of my behavior.  I don't think that I would have acted differently if they hadn't been there, but I was aware that at least Elijah was paying attention.  So I guess a good thing did come out of it (other than the 13 year old getting what she deserved) Elijah is learning how to handle confrontation in a calm way.
All this to say that I really don't like to argue.  It makes me shaky.  It makes me want to cry.  And all around, is just bad for me.  It's not that I won't argue... but I don't like it.  This is so not what I planned on blogging about today... but alas.  This too shall pass.

February 2009

February 05

Enter February!

February (what a weird word...) has started with a bang.  I guess January wen out with one.  We went to a super fun birthday party.  They rented a bounce house and while it was chilly, all you had to do was jump jump jump to get warmed up!  It was a blast!  Elijah had a great time once he got over the initial shyness of being around people (that he's around at least once a week...)  Jerry kept Grace at home and therefore making him stay away from work for a little bit.  He hasn't taken a whole day off since Jan 17th (not that I'm counting... well, really I am!)  And while that's a lot of overtime, it is becoming obvious that Elijah and Grace miss him a lot.  Grace sees him and immediately wants to crawl over to him and snuggle.  Elijah has a tough time after lunch when Jerry goes back to work and then coming to the table to eat dinner.  The latter because Jerry comes home and plays with him.  But it's okay.  I have something for every weekend the rest of the month, so he'll have to be here.  And I need a little break too!  I'm going out with the two K's this weekend to see a movie and I'm soooo looking forward to it.  Honestly, it could be a blank screen for 2 hours and I"d be fine with that!

So the weather has been all weird!  Today the high was supposed to be 35 by Sunday it's supposed to be 70!  So whatever!  Yesterday we had 20 minutes of hard snow and then it stopped, but was FREEZING the rest of the day!  We went to a friends house and iced Valentine's Day cookies and had lunch.  Today we went to the train museum (where Elijah had his party last year!) and had it completely to ourselves.  I was happily surprised.  They have a great children's room and I thought it would be packed with moms that wanted to get out of the house...alas, it was not the case.  So that was nice.  I think that I might get a membership there.  I mean if we go just 3 more times it would pay for itself and they do cool stuff like Polar Express readings and whatnot... so we'll see.

On another note: I love our crock pot!  It's my new favorite thing!  I mean we had one before, and I guess I just wasn't that into it or something.  It just didn't seem to cook things right or something... of course, the only thing that ever really cooked was beef stew... But I have been trying all kinds of things in it and most recently I made BBQ!  It was so easy and SO yummy!  I love it!  Just wanted to share! ;)

Tomorrow we are heading for a park since it's going to be in the 50s.  I also have a baby shower that I'm taking Grace to this weekend.  While it's nice to get out, I really wish I just had two days to really work on the house.  I don't know what the solution is to the toy room, but there has to be a better way.  Maybe I'm just not diligent enough at keeping things where they go, but Elijah is REALLY into piling things up.  That's fine, but then when it's time to clean up everything gets all mixed up and unless I go through and sort it all out it's impossible to find things.  THEN he gets all whiny that he can't find one specific toy and tears up the room finding it.  I really think shelving maybe the answer, but when the heck am I going to have time to install them?  sigh... My folks are thinking about coming down for a week in March, so maybe I can do it then.  I really think that I depend on order.  And while I don't want to be anal, or pass this tendency onto my children, it really makes me a little crazy to not have organization.  We won't even talk about the mess that is the master bedroom right now...though it may say something to my lack of sleeping well lately...hmmmm... sigh...again... time...

Okay...that's all for now...

February 15

How I lost my Mother of the Year Card and regained it!

I've been soooo bad about blogging lately.  I honestly, have wanted too, but...well, am too lazy.  Though, we have been busy.

So last weekend I went to see He's Just Not That Into You.  Good movie, great cast!  I went with two of my good girlfriends and we had an absolute blast!  I love hanging out with them.  Usually I'm not a good triangle friendship type of girl.  But with these women, we seem to really connect and have a good relationship with just the three of us.  It was really nice to get out of the house!  On Sunday I went to a baby shower and I took Grace.  It was nice and low key.  Again, nice to get out of the house.  The weather was absolutely great!

Then Monday happened... sigh... I was striped of my Mother of the Year card for sure!  We went to walk the loop (I am determined to get in shape!!) and everything was good.  Though Elijah now understands landmarks and generally where things are.  Since the loop goes right by the beach, he KNEW we were there, and would NOT stop asking about it...so I reluctantly crossed the road and allowed him to spend time at the beach.  I thought that we would get out there and he would want to leave because the wind was really strong and a little chilly.  sigh... not so much.  He was perfectly content to play.  As was Gracie.  So I let them.  It was fine.  I had very little to do that day, so why not.  We were there for about 30 minutes and I was starting to get hungry and we needed to stop by the grocery store on the way home, so I gave Elijah a five minute warning, then a two minute warning, then a one minute warning and then told him it was time to go.  I picked up Grace and started back toward the stroller.  Elijah screams, "NOOOOOOOO!" and takes off running in the wrong direction.  Okay. I think, he's going to stop and come back, because he knows better.  or not.  So I say, "Elijah Jacob Jones, you need to come back here right now!"  And I proceed to count to three.  He doesn't stop.  So I start walking slowly after him thinking, SURELY, he is going to stop and turn around and come back.  SURELY he KNOWS that I'm already mad. He DOES stop and turns around and sees that I am coming after him, and starts running faster!!!  Now, my blood is physically boiling.  I am honestly thinking about sitting down and crying, because this is what happens to me when I get REALLY mad.  I'm at a loss.  I have a 20 pound baby I'm carrying as well as a jacket which contains my camera, keys, and wallet (not too light) and I'm on the beach alone.  I stop for a minute.  Elijah stops. Then starts running again.  He is now about 100 yards in front of me.  I drop my jacket and start jogging in sand with Grace.  I'm not covering any ground.  My only two choices are, watch Elijah run away out of my sight, or put Grace down, sprint after Elijah and hope that Grace is fine for the couple minutes she'll be out of my sight.  I choose the latter.  I sprint (mind you I don't run) after Elijah and have to contain myself from not ripping him a new one because the girl child needs me to get back to her.  Grace is, of course, happily eating sand and could have cared less, but the fact that I had to put her down pissed me off beyond belief.  So I'm half dragging Elijah back to Grace.  He's laughing which irks me to the point I am seeing red.  I say, "That's it Elijah, we are going straight home, you will have lunch, and go to bed.  No chicken fries (McDonald's), no TV, NOTHING!"  Elijah suddenly realizes, hey, mom's pissed!  And collapses on the sand crying.  I say, "GET UP NOW!"  He goes limp (must be opposite day I didn't get the memo.)  I jerk him up, and do something I thought I would never do, I swatted his little butt.  He walks for three steps and collapses again.  At this point, I don't care anymore.  All good parenting has left my being and sailed away on the ocean.  I let go of his arm and say, "Fine.  You know what Elijah?  I'm done.  You can stay here.  The tide is coming in you might want to go up to higher ground, good luck."  And I walk away.  I pick up Grace and I keep walking.  My lungs heart, my heart is racing, and I just want to curl up and cry.  Elijah comes bolting up next to me saying, "NOOOOO MOMMY!!!! 'Ijah want to go with mommy!!!!  P'ease...... 'Ijah going to be a good boy now."  I say, "You may come with us, but you need to make big boy choices."  He says nothing, just follows us back to the stroller where I chug the rest of my water and sit down while I calm down.  I then start getting the good parenting vibes again.  I explain to Elijah why it's dangerous to run from mommy.  He apologizes and we finish our walk.  He was upset that there was no special food and no Curious George, but every time he whined I said, "Next time you won't run from Mommy" and he shut up.  After nap we started fresh and had a great rest of the day!  sigh...

On Tuesday we had soccer. I LOVE this class!  Elijah is doing well in it as well.  We got home from soccer, Elijah watched about 5 minutes of TV and announced he was going to bed...and then did so!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we played at various parks because the weather was sooo AWESOME!  I wanted to get to the beach again, but the wind was REALLY strong AND I didn't want a replay of Monday.

Yesterday we went to a really fun birthday party at Monkey Joe's.  This is big indoor area filled with inflatable jumpy things.  Elijah and I have been there before but he's been to nervous to really do anything and I was either preggo or had Grace so I couldn't really do the things with him.  Yesterday, though, I got to play with him and we had a BLAST!!!  Jerry worked for a bit and then brought home chocolates for me.  Next weekend we are going to Myrtle Beach and staying at this place.  It has a HUGE indoor water park, so I think it will be really fun.  Today we walked around Home Depot and daydreamed about home improvement stuff.  We priced a bunch of stuff and I think much of it will be doable within the next year.  We also went to Target because Elijah's feet have grown (AGAIN!)  I bought shoes for him three months ago a size to big and he's outgrown them...sigh... so new shoes for him.  Ohhh, and I forgot, I treated myself to some Fit Flops.  They are not THE fit flops, but they are 1) MUCH cheaper and 2) helped out our neighborhood Avon lady.  I picked them up Friday and wore them for about 2 hours.  They are SUPER comfy and Saturday morning, my thighs were a little sore.  So I'm really excited about them.  I mean if I'm going to wear flip flops anyway...right???

GRACE: has three teeth now, is crawling like there is no tomorrow, has the funniest chuckle EVER!, occasionally says some words (other than mama and dada), and is pushing up...not so much pulling up.  She pushes up on her legs to stand.  This only works if she has her hands on something, but she doesn't seem to pull with her arms so much as just use them for balance.  She LOVES doing downward dog and REALLY wants to stand up from that, but alas, gravity (and strength are against her in that endeavor...soon baby girl too soon!)  She loves to go into the playroom when Elijah isn't in there and play with all the toys by herself.  It is AMAZING to me EVERYDAY how absolutely different the kiddos are and yet rather similar.  Grace also LOVES her veggies.  She will eat corn and peas and broccoli.  She also LOVES rice of any kind.  However, said food must be whole.  None of that mushed up crap for her.  Easier for me!  Oh, and of course, the world might stop spinning if we run out of cherrios!

Okay... so this is a REALLY long entry...but now ya know!  I'll post some pics and hopefully I'll write sooner than later.

February 20

The 3 year old stats!

Today we took Elijah for his 3 year well child check.  While a little late, we wanted to wait until we had our new insurance...which is nice because well child checks are free on our insurance (well, no co pay anyway!)

So here are the stats: He's 36.6 pounds which is the 90% for his age.  And he's 40.5 inches tall which is 97% for his age.  He is roughly the size of a 4.5 year old!!  He grew 5 pounds and 4.5 inches in one year!  The doctor was impressed that he grew that much.  Though he doesn't think I'll have a 7 foot kindergartner, he probably will be one of the taller kids in his class...unless he stops growing (ha!)  Elijah is healthy all around.  The doc answered my questions about the car seat/booster seat thing (he said to go by weight as opposed to age...so in a 3.4 more pounds or two more inches, he's in the booster part of his seat) and reassured me that his speech issues were normal.  I figured they were, but it's always nice to hear from a doc. There is a cool little form you fill out at the beginning of the appointment to see where you child is developmentally.  Elijah does everything on the paper except say his first and last name when asked what his name is...which is something we just started working on anyway. During the appointment Elijah was super shy and wouldn't let go of me until the doc said he was done and then Elijah was all about saying bye bye.  Grace was a very good girl though the whole thing.  We went to McDonalds as a treat afterward.

                          

                                       my little guy!!!

We are now waiting for Jerry to get home so we can load into the car and hit the road to Myrtle Beach for the weekend. We are staying in a resort that has a HUGE indoor water park, so even though the weather isn't going to the warmest, we'll have a fun time.  I have been fighting a nasty cold all week and think I'm finally nearing the end of it.  I sound all low voiced, but I feel a lot better...mostly due to Jerry being so great.  He kept Grace the past couple of nights and brought me soup and juice and zicam and cough syrup and anything else I could have needed.... JERRY ROCKS!!! (in case there was any doubt!)

February 22

Mini Vacation

We're home!  We had a GREAT time!  I wish we could have stayed for longer, ah well...next time!  I gotta say that this was one of the nicest places we have stayed.  There were two indoor water parks.  We were right on the beach (though it was rather cold...but ya know!)  There are restaurants on site, so you don't HAVE to leave...and we only did once.  Everyone that works there was SUPER nice!  I do have to say that I cannot imagine being there at peak season.  I don't know how booked they were, but it was fairly crowded...not so much that it was bothersome, but if they were at full capacity, I don't think it would have been as fun.  The kids had a blast in the water.  I posted some pics in the February album ( had more but apparently there is some mystery error so a bunch didn't upload...whatever...)  I wish we had brought the camera the second day, but on our way out Elijah's hand got caught in the door and we got sidetracked.  The second day we went to the second park.  There was a lazy river and smaller slides that allowed tandem sliding.  Elijah actually went down with me twice...but that enough for him.  The other water park is cool too.  It was in our tower, so a little closer.  It had a submarine that had water features all around it, and I think that was Elijah's favorite thing.  Grace LOVED the water.  A friend of ours lent us a little float for her and her little legs just kicked and kicked under there.  It cracked me up!  She was just happy as a little clam hanging in that and watching everything!  The two bedroom unit was the way to go.  We tried the kiddos in the same room and it worked really well.  I slept in their room and Jerry slept in the big master bed.  When Elijah would wake up and want to sleep with me, I transferred Grace to Jerry.  But they slept well together in one room.  Elijah even slept through Grace crying when she woke up.  That was my biggest thing about transferring her into her own bed in their bedroom.  So I think we will start that transition soon.  This morning we got up and went for one last play in the water before check out at 11.  We got back to the room by 10 and changed clothes and went to load stuff up.  We had to wait a while for an elevator down and then decided to just carry our stuff across the road to the parking deck instead of trying to fight the insane check out traffic.  If we had expendable income, I seriously think we would consider getting a time share at this place.  Even if we were there at a warmer, more crowded time, we could walk just about anywhere anyway!  There's also a new bypass (or maybe it's not new...but whatever) that made getting to this place super easy (we did it in just over one and a half hours.)  On our way home we stopped at the outlet mall for lunch and went into Old Navy.  They were having a huge clearance sale so we walked out with a bunch of new clothes!  Now we're home and (sorta) ready for another week!

November 2007

November 04

DIY....WHATEVER!!!!

okay...so yesterday we decided that enough was enough.  we needed to fix the freaking dryer.  mostly because i'm getting lazy about hanging the clothes up...it's a little hard while trying to keep an eye on a running toddler.  getting him to help only lasts for a bout 2 minutes before he starts throwing the clean clothes onto the dirty ground.  so ANYWAY, i look up changing the belt on a dryer and find that (supposedly) it's not that hard.  so step one is done, the instructions are printed out and ready to go.  this morning i get up and we decide to at least get the front cover off the dryer and get the old belt off so jerry can go get a new one while elijah and i are at a birthday party.  while this wasn't the easiest thing to do and the instructions (which were generic and not specifically for our model...hmmmm) weren't spot on, we accomplished this task.  i'm feeling all good about this thing and feeling the sense of pride that fellow blogger claire talks about when she achieves some household task.  so we go to the party and jerry goes to lowe's (home depot didn't have the part...) and all is good.  elijah falls asleep on the way home and i come in and put him to nap in his bed.  jerry had the belt and we go to work.  after a couple of hours and many cuss words, we realize that we need to pull the dryer out and use the back access panel to get the freaking belt on the pulley and engine drive (look at my use of dryer parts....oooohhhhh, aaaaahhhhhhh....).  by this time said toddler is up and cranky and hungry and demanding attention from father and mother who are trying to not say cuss words around said toddler and not slice their arms off from the sharp edges and random dryer parts.  finally with my last bit of energy (no nap for mom today) i get the !@#%$% thing to go on like it is supposed to and jerry can goes attend to a now very poopy toddler and get said toddler fed.  while he does that, i put the dryer back together (sounds easier that it is, but  I DID IT!!!!) and we load up the dryer and test it out!!  while it running nice and quiet i go and get ready to shower, because i have been lying in dust and grime behind the dryer and while we vacuumed back there, we don't have a fancy dyson and it doesn't clean as well as the fancy (read really want a fancy) dyson would....sigh...  i have just gotten my hair down and my sweater off when i hear a squeak come from the dryer.... i stop and think, it's just adjusting itself.... nope.... it gets louder and if at all possible louder than it was before we "fixed" it... SUPER SIGH.... so i get in the shower all annoyed, with a headache beating in my head and try to ignore the squeaking.  jerry finally goes and shuts it off, because really it's just that annoying.  after the shower we talk about what to do and decide to go look at dryers at lowe's...nothing... sear's...nothing...  well i say nothing, and i mean nothing we want to spontaneously spend money on.  so we decide over dinner at the food court in the mall that we will tough it out until january when all the after christmas stuff goes on sale, and we can get a dryer we really want and do some research on which ones are good and which are not... 'til then, i'll be in the back yard hanging out clothes if ya need me!

November 07

YAY!!!!

I just heard today from my friend Laura that her sister just had her twins.  I think they were only a couple of weeks early and apparently she was to be induced, but went into labor on her own!!!  Anyway, she gave birth to the baby boy around 11 (weighing in at a whooping 7 pounds!!!) and the baby girl at 11:30 (weighing in at 5.9 pounds!!!!!) both were delivered vaginally!  I'm just so freaking impressed by that and I hope they don't mind me sharing.  I've been telling everyone I know.  I mean first to carry twins that long is fantastic and then to give birth in such an amazing way.  I don't know if she had drugs, but either way...DANG!!!!   I think it's great that she was given the option.  When I freaked out for a few minutes about possibly having twins, that was my biggest concern, that I would automatically have to have a c-section...I was calmed down by several people that told me that it was possible and happens in this county, so that's good to know...not that we're having twins, but ya know...  ANYWAY, the kids and mom are doing fine and that's great news too...and I guess the most important thing...ya know all healthy and stuff.  Just wanted to say great job and announce the arrival!!!!

November 11

lazy lazy sunday

i am still in my pjs and it is 4:45.  i did do the laundry and finish up the kid's in the family's christmas gifts.  but that's about it.  elijah is still in his pjs too.  jerry is in comfy clothes.  he did go out and get us sandwiches (i am CRAVING egg salad so he got me one... nice hubby.)  elijah has played hard all morning but inside. we broke out the potato head full of potato heads and he has gone crazy with putting those together all afternoon.  he took a really good nap and i watched heros on the web while jerry watched football.  after elijah woke up we pulled out the air mattress and feather blankets and now we are chilling on that watching football and playing potato heads.  elijah thinks it's all funny.  we've needed a break.  jerry and i have both been really tired this week, so doing absolutely nothing and staying in our pjs all day has been quite nice.  part of me feels guilty that we stayed in on such a nice day, but the other part of me is completely fine with taking a day off.

anyway, it's been a nice weekend too.  yesterday we went out for breakfast and then to a park.  jerry had to go into work for a bit while elijah napped, then we just hung out.  next weekend will be more hectic.  i am going to pass your plate to get our months food on saturday.  i need to finish the rest of the family's christmas gifts as we will only see them at thanksgiving.  sunday we are going to see jerry's folks.  sometime in there we need to do all the laundry and get the house ready to go.  we leave on thursday morning and will have thanksgiving on friday afternoon.  i need to make a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie before we leave too.  when we arrive i will make a sweet potato casserole and a green bean casserole.

this past week rachel and i threw a baby shower for a woman in our play group.  we were a little worried since it was outside, but the wind died down and it was quite nice. and everyone had fun i think.  i did have a little traumatic moment.  we were playing on the playground and i was talking to another mom.  elijah moved out of the way to let another kid go down the slide and all of a sudden i see my kid falling.  there was an opening on the other side of the slide.  i thought my heart was going to stop.  however, he fell in the best possible way.  he step backwards and there was no floor (obviously) and just fell straight down and landed on his feet!  then his knees buckled and he fell backwards onto his head.  i did the stupidest thing possible which was grab up my crying kid.  i should have let him get up and come to me to make sure there was no spinal injury, but hindsight and all.  anyway, he's obviously okay and was just shaken.  it was a big fall...about 7 feet.  i was scared that he might not want to play on big slides anymore, but he was fine at the park on saturday.  it just scared me lots!

i feel like i'm fighting a cold.  my throat has been scratchy for a few days and i just feel worn out.  i went to the doc earlier this week for my eczema.  i have it on my eyelids and it is not comfortable.  unfortunately since i'm knocked up and all the only thing i can do for it is hydrocortisone cream.  so far that seems to be helping, i just look all rough and scaly around my eyes... oh well... there are worse things in life.

speaking of the baby in the belly.  i have bee feeling some beginnings of movement.  not like kicks yet, but definite movement in the belly area.  this morning in particular.   it's just so cool.  i didn't feel elijah until about 16-18-ish weeks.  i don't know if i ever wrote about it.  but when i was about 16 weeks with elijah i had to go get my heart looked at to make sure things were okay.  i guess i was the healthiest person they had seen all day and the ultrasound woman let us see the baby after finishing with my heart.  elijah was kicking my placenta at the time.  jerry said the other day that maybe that was the beginning of his happy feet (we say show us your happy feet and he starts dancing this little run in place dance.)  anyway, it was really sweet...

okay... the boy child needs attention apparently...

November 18

hmmmm...

Where did this week go?  What did I even do this week?  I'm sure we did something.  Let's see... I have decided to not make slings to sell anymore.  I couldn't find anyone who would insure me and I'm nervous in this sue happy world.  So I was a little bummed, because I had all these materials and nothing to really do with them.  The fabric I can of course find something to do with, but the rings...  Apparently the Maya Wrap was recently recalled due to some faulty rings.  Carmen was bummed because that was one of her biggest sellers, so she ended up buying all my supplies off of me.  She's going to make them herself to sell.  So that was sweet!

So with that money I got supplies to make Christmas Ornaments to sell in Carmen's shop.  I need to finish a batch tonight so that she can get them out by Thanksgiving.  I'm also knitting little bells to sell there too.  While we are away for Thanksgiving I'm going to work on some more hats and mittens.

I don't remember the rest of the week really... Thursday was rainy and then it got really really cold, and then this weekend has been a whirlwind.  I went to Pass Your Plate on Saturday and made our food for the month.  Today we went to see Jerry's mom.  His dad had to have his other leg amputated earlier this week and is in a rehabilitation facility to learn how to walk and take care of himself and whatnot.  This is a great thing, I only wish it had happened after the loss of his first leg... but everyone (including his dad) is very positive about this and I am encouraged as well.  I hope that this is a new beginning for them all!

This week is going to be a little crazy.  Elijah needs a haircut, I need to bake some pies for Thanksgiving, we have b-day party on Tuesday morning, and I need to get us all packed to leave early Thursday morning.

Elijah's sleeping is getting better.  He's staying in his room until at least 5:30-6:00 in the morning.  Last night he only woke up twice and it took less that a minute to get him back to sleep.  I hope that this trend continues.  We are still in his room while he falls asleep, but I sit in there and read my book and Jerry just sits in there.  It seems to be working.  He signs that he wants to go to sleep in his bed for nap, but he plays and gets hyper, so we bring him back out to rock for a bit and then after he settles down he gets to go back to his bed.  This is taking longer than I would like for him to settle down, but I think that it will get better soon.

This baby in the tummy is a crazy movin' baby.  Especially if I drink OJ or coke (I treat myself once a week)...man, I can't imagine what my tummy will look like once this kiddo gets bigger and I can see the movement.  It'll be like an alien....now it just feels like one.

I guess that's it.  I'm really tired this evening.  I guess even this short trip today wore me out...even though i slept a bit with Elijah at nap time...hmmmm... I may not make it through The Amazing Race tonight...we'll see...

November 20

emotional ball of...well, emotions

Today I went to pick up Rachel and MR to go walk before a b-day party of a friend.  When I walked in Rachel told me she had a present for the baby to be.  What a nice surprise.

I need to stop and give a little back story for this to make sense... Jerry wrote about this a while ago on his blog...see his fatherhood link and then scroll down to "froggie"...ANYWAY, we bought Elijah this little frog toy when he was really little and he played with it all the time.  We used it in the car to keep him calm and hooked it to his play mat and to his stroller.  On a walk he figured out how to get it off and it became lost.  I was really upset about it and maybe even cried a bit... I know it sounds dumb, but I really liked that stupid frog.  We have called Elijah our little tree frog from day one...symbolism and stuff....

So to my surprise... I have talked about this frog for ages.  And Rachel found one in a used kids store here and got it for us!  It was so sweet and I just started crying.  Rachel is used to my little outbursts.  I know that I wear my emotions on my sleeve, but when pregnant or breastfeeding, it's much worse.  I cried at a stupid Bud commercial shortly after Elijah was born...sigh...

But this is getting ridiculous.  There is a Sear's commercial out there about a little girl that loves clothes, but she has to wear a uniform to school, but next year she won't and so her mom buys her this wardrobe as a surprise for Christmas... stupid Sear's commercial...

Then I was dumb and watched Akeela and The Bee... stupid heart warming movie...

I've started ignoring commercials because I am betting that during the dumb holiday season they are only going to get worse...

Anyway, thanks to my friends for putting up with my emotional butt and a big hug to my hubby for not making too much fun of me... of course, he knows he's got to live with me for the next 24 weeks...

November 25

Turkey Day Adventures...

So we left on Thursday morning to go to my folks.  I thought that surely there wouldn't be that much traffic, and for a bit there wasn't.  But we hit Raleigh and from there until Greensboro it was slammed...moving, but slammed.  We got to my folks in about 6 hours (not bad with 4 stops.)  Elijah did really well and immediately felt at home with my folks.  He was wandering around their house finding the toys they have for him.  My folks just got a brand new TV (about time as their other one was about 25 years old...not kidding, it was at least that old...so old that Habitat For humanity wouldn't take it!!) It's really nice...flat panel, HDTV, HUGE!!!  It was difficult to come back to our boring TV today...hehehehe....

I made the sweet potato casserole that evening and unpacked the pecan and pumpkin pies.  My mom and dad made us spinach pie (one of my favorites!!) and we had dinner then chilled out with the big TV.  Elijah didn't sleep very well and gave Jerry a hard time the first night.  But was a happy guy by breakfast time.  On Friday we went to meet my Aunt and Uncle for breakfast (we left Jerry to get some rest) and run some errands at Ingles (I miss Ingles!!!)  then came home and played at the park with my little cousins.  We came back up to the house and went on and fed Elijah lunch so he could take a nap.  He only slept for about 45 minutes before he was up.  He knows how to open the doors at my folks house, so there was no going back to sleep.  But he was fine.  It was a good day.  We did a little Christmas gifting and enjoyed (way too much) yummy food.  That evening as I was brushing Elijah's teeth, he kept crying and grabbing his cheek...the whole day he had been doing odd things with his tongue...yeah, the elusive 2 year molars we have been waiting for are suddenly making an appearance.  I have been feeling his gums back there for weeks and there was nothing there...Friday night...there's a huge gaping hole with a tooth sticking out... no wonder he didn't sleep well.  Luckily we had IB with us and he got a dose of that and fell asleep and slept well for the night.

Saturday was the laziest day ever.  Elijah is all about fire lately.  When we read Goodnight Moon, he points out the fire on every page it appears.  Friday dad made a fire and Elijah woke up on Saturday and immediately started signing, Opa fire.  My dad went out in the freezing cold (before eating his breakfast) and made a fire for Elijah.  Elijah is very timid of said fire, so he stands across the room and stretches his hands way out.  It's very cute.  He'll point to the fire and say, "hot hot!" so I guess it's good to know he realizes it's hot.  Mom took Elijah out on a walk in the woods, which he wasn't thrilled about, but was fine.  Meanwhile my dad and I sat around the fire and were lazy while Jerry worked on a computer program he's developing.  We had planned on going out to a movie, but nothing looked appealing...well, we didn't want to watch anything too in depth like American Gangster, or scary like The Mist...so we just went out to lunch at My Father's Pizza (super yummy!!!) and came home to put Elijah down for a nap.  We did watch Spiderman 3 during nap time.

We drove home today and man, it was a long drive.  The weather was all dreary....yawn.  We did stop and see my other aunt and cousin for breakfast this morning.  So that was fun.  But still....

I must say that both Thursday and today the police force was OUT!  We saw a TON of people pulled over.  We also saw a bunch of dead deer on the road.  I know that it is that time of year, but there were some gruesome looking road kill on the side of the road and I just know that those had to be bad accidents.

Oh...funny story...

Thursday evening we were sitting down stairs watching football and just hanging out.  There is a big window looking out onto a footpath and my mom;s cat jumped up at the window.  Elijah loves looking at this cat (though the cat is skiddish...but through the window is okay.)  Anyway, my dad is not the biggest fan of cats (or at least acts like it) and has always threatened the cats in our lives...never hurt them, but definitely threatened them.  Anyway, the cat was clawing at the window screen.  We had just been talking about the cat's name (kitty...) and dad said, "You know what that cat's name is going to be if it doesn't stop scratching at the window..."  and I giggled and said, "dead cat dead cat..." Elijah looked right at me and then at the cat and said (and I kid you not) "deadcatdeadcat..."  I thought we were all going to die from laughing so hard.  Here is a child that doesn't say that much, and clear as day says dead cat of all things!!!   At least I didn't say something a lot worse!!!

November 27

Why don't these things come pre-programmed...

Ahhhh, potty training...sigh... so this morning marked the beginning of the training.  Here is my day so far:

8:00 - out of poopy diaper and into big boy training undies (love these because while the absorb very little, so little on can feel wet/dry, they have a vinyl outside to keep my couches from being ruined.)

8:30 - go on a walk, return home go immediately to potty.  dry undies, no pee in potty.  put undies back on...

9:00 - go to potty...wet undies, manages to pee on rug in bathroom...sigh...why didn't i already remove rugs?  oh well, they needed to be washed anyway.  boy child refuses to put undies back on... fine naked boy running around...closed all rooms with carpet in them.

9:30 - pees on floor, put boy child on potty immediately and back on with 2nd pair of undies (why do we only have 4 pairs?) he pees two drops in potty whilst i clean up pee on floor...

10:00 -  after asking every 5 minutes if he needs to pee, (answer always "no") we go sit on potty...low and behold the undies are what? wet... (liar) we sit and read and talk about wet and dry and he refuses the undies again.  fine...

10:15 - after a juice and asking every 5 minutes, boy child runs to potty and sits and goes!!!  he leaked on the way to said potty, but he almost made it... success maybe?!?!

10-30 - starts to pee while playing and i look up at the sound and cheer him on to the potty where he pees an extraordinary amount considering he's left a puddle the size of a small lake (well to ant it would be a lake) on the floor.  stays on potty while i clean up another mess... really happy the weather is warm enough to have the windows open.  both times he's peed in the potty he gets to "wipe" and flush the big potty as a reward.

11:00 - boy child says he's hungry and i convince him (after much struggling) to put on undies before eating...don't want to have to wash the high chair cover too.

11:30  - lunch... again every 5 minutes "do you need to potty?" "no"

12:00 - getting ready for nap...into a diaper... out of what? soaking wet undies...sigh...

12:30-2:23 - nap...no pee to clean up...wahoo!!!

3:00 -  convince boy child to get out of diaper and be naked again...not very cooperative...doesn't want to stay off furniture...sits on potty for almost 1/2 hour with no success...super sigh...

it is now 3:52.... he had an orange for snack and i am betting that he is storing up the pee.  if he would pee in the potty we could go outside for a bit in undies, but alas alack there is no rationalizing with toddler boy child.  i'm doubting my stamina for keeping this up for the next few days.  it's exhausting.  maybe if jerry were home it wouldn't be so bad... why don't they come out trained?  where is evolution in this matter?  opposable thumbs were more important than learning to pee in the toilet?  whatever!!!  maybe things will go better tomorrow... we are definitely having a bath tonight... i feel gross... i know pee is sterile and all, but that doesn't make it any better...

November 28

well, everyone needs a break...right?

well, elijah did well this morning... of course, rachel called and we decided that playing downtown was much more fun than potty training.  so jerry and i decided that this weekend we will tag team the training and we are resorting to bribery.  we are going to make a chart and get stickers for the chart and elijah.  it'll be easier with two.

so jerry's coworker, bonnie, had her twins yesterday via c-section.  she was scheduled for next week but went into labor yesterday.  as far as i know both mom and the the two girls are doing well.  we'll go visit tomorrow or the next day.

on monday, i took care of mr while rachel and erin went in for their 20 week ultrasound and they found out that....they are having twins!  what is the likely hood that i would know three people who have had/are having twins.  this is insane.  but also really cool.  so many babies!!!

we go to the midwife on friday for a check up and to schedule our own ultrasound.  i'm excited.  i really like seeing the baby on the screen...

okay... that's it...elijah is sleeping and i think i may join him...we got in a little late, but i always like putting him down late sometimes.  it makes night a little more difficult, but it makes the afternoon go so much faster!  be well!

November 30

It's Friday...WAHOOOOO!!!!!

So the potty training is getting better I guess.  He had no accidents yesterday evening (we had playgroup in the morning) and this morning they were limited.  He runs to the bathroom after he lets  little pee out... still cleaning up behind him...sigh... anyway, we have the chart up and that's a huge hit, so we'll see.

This afternoon we picked up Jerry, dropped Elijah off at Rachel's, and headed over to see Mary the midwife.  Everything is going smoothly.  Strong heartbeat (only ONE!) and I measuring perfectly.  We made an appointment for our ultrasound for the 14th of December.  I'm really excited!  We didn't do an early ultrasound...didn't feel that there was a need.  I am looking forward to seeing the little one on the TV.  The place we are going is a place where we went last year for some extra ultrasounds (docs thought there was something wrong with Elijah's kidneys...he just needed to pee...hmmmm....isn't ironic?) and it's really nice.  You get to see the baby on a TV screen placed above your head so you don't have to crane your neck to see the screen.  The only problem is that the appointment is at 1.  That sorta sucks.  I don't really want to take Elijah with us, but I also don't want to have to put Rachel out.... hmmm, I wonder if my folks would like to come down for the weekend... mom... dad...?  wanna come down for a long weekend?

We are getting our Christmas Tree tomorrow!!!  That's exciting!!!  I have almost all my shopping done.  We are doing only Made in the US/Europe or second hand stuff for Christmas.  This has been challenging to say the least, but I finally finished Jerry's shopping, and now it's just Elijah left.   We were thinking the Rody but now we are thinking not so much...space issues, rowdiness issues, he already has ride on toys....though nothing that bounces...hmmmm....  so now we are stuck.  I found a kitchen set that was made in the US and I went to take a look at it and the store was sold out and they weren't sure they were getting anymore...sigh... we have found a little basketball goal...that's a possibility... he just has so much already.  Well, see...

Okay...I need to check on my latest addiction....Facebook...so easy to get soooo sucked into...

December 2006

December 01

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas?

I must say that with the weather being more like early May it's a bit hard to get into the Christmas mood.  I am playing Christmas music though.  I will finish up my shopping on Saturday afternoon.  Bonnie and Will are coming over for a play date in the morning.  Then we'll get the tree.  Then the afternoon is mine for the shopping!!!  i only have to buy for Jerry, but I must make several stops.  Everything is almost done.  I have a cookie exchange next weekend and then I am hosting a cookie exchange for playgroup on the 14th.  I made cookies for relatives so I've already done some baking.
Okay...let's see... Thanksgiving was good but Elijah was running a fever of 103.  He had no other symptoms, but it made for a sort of fussy baby.  We actually bought baby food for the trip, not knowing what kind of storing options we would have a t the hotel.  Yeah, he wouldn't eat it.  And I must say that I don't blame him.  The chicken and rice tasted the same as the oatmeal and apples...eewww... Anyway, we gave him mashed up banana and he was much happier about that.  He got a ball from Aunt Marge and two books and a Racoon from Anna and Larry.   We got to meet the newest addition to the family.  And the most exciting thing....drum roll.......Elijah took his first independent step the day after Thanksgiving (which is actually the day we celebrated)!!!!  So we had witnesses and everything.  He hasn't done another step (and really I'm not rushing it...he's only 10 1/2 months for Pete's Sake!) But it was very exciting.  My little guy is growing up so freaking fast!
I'm sure there is much more to write, I'm sorry I haven't been writing as much lately.  Elijah is into EVERYTHING right now and I feel like I am running around like a chicken with head off....I'll add some more pics (thanks for not nagging mom)
December 07

Back up and running...stupid Microsoft

So last Friday Jerry was working from home and he needed to download some software from Microsoft.  Our computer totally crashed.  I mean turned on and turned off, but that was it.   He ran the recovery disc and NOTHING.  We hooked up our old computer and he looked on-line and finally got some answers about what to do.   It took until Tuesday evening for everything to get back to quasi normal.  Our outlook express lost everything.  This is frustrating because I used the calendar and the address book so all saved b-days and addresses of people are gone into the infinite cyber space.  But at least we have the computer back.  It's a little sad that I'm this dependant on a machine....sigh....
ANYWAY, on Saturday Bonnie came over for a play date while Jerry went and picked out our Christmas tree.  The tree is beautiful and it makes the whole house smell like Christmas.  Elijah is very curious about the tree, but we have (so far) kept him away from it.  My parents got Elijah a little table and chairs for Christmas and I went and picked it up on Sunday.  Elijah loves it.  He's still to little to sit in the chairs, but he loves playing with toys on the table.  He has started putting things back into baskets.  This is really cool, he "helps" clean up (sometimes....)  He is also pointing now and thinks it's fun to point at noses.  He's taken another independent step, but again I don't think he'll be walking on his own for quite sometime.
I finished my Christmas shopping on Saturday.  I now just have to finish making gifts.  Hopefully I can do that this weekend.  I am hosting a cookie exchange with our playgroup next Thursday.  That should be lots of fun.  I love some cookies! My parents arrive 2 weeks from today.  I'm really excited about this!  They have agreed to baby sit at least twice!  Before I was all nervous, but now I REALLY need to get out of the house.  I love Elijah and all, but I need Jerry time.  Jerry said we could go to a movie AND out for STEAK...mmmmmmm.....
Okay, I need to go get the boys up.  I turned off Jerry's alarm, but he's gonna get mad if I let him sleep too much longer....
December 17

It's almost Christmas!

I can't believe it!  Today it was 75 degrees so I feels more like April than Mid-December.  These weeks have been CRAZY!  I haven't done most of the stuff I needed the have done yet.  I have two presents that have to be done this week.  I just have to buckle down.  The cookies exchange went off with great success.  It was lots of fun and there were many yummy cookies to eat!  Jerry got a Christmas bonus on Friday and so we spent yesterday and today getting stuff for the house.  We assembled and installed storage things for the garage.  We were going to get an outside room because Ideally we want to turn the garage into a room of some sort.  BUT that won't be happening for a bit.  So we decided that it was cheaper to just get stuff to organize the garage.  We got a cabinet for the Master Bath and a rack that can hold our towels and robes.  We finally bought a system to hang a curtain in front of the laundry area.  Also we got cordless shades for Elijah's room.  We had stupid black out shades but they kept coming down on our heads, so I am REALLY happy about the cordless shades...they are so pretty too!  Elijah was great both days, but his nights are worse than ever.  We really think he's going to walk soon and I have heard that when they are ready to do this babies wake up often.  Last night was the worst though.  He just lost it.  From about 1 til 2 he was crying his head off.  Nothing would settle him.  Jerry tried, I tried, I offered to nurse (which eventually worked, but not at first)  it was CRAZY!  I ended up sleeping with him the rest of the night.  Usually this is a pain because he has become SO active in bed that I don't sleep, but after he finally passed out he slept until 6:30 and I nursed him again and he slept until 8:30!  That was exciting!  Granted I hadn't gone to sleep yet when he woke up the first time, but he was OUT for the duration and that's nice.  I think though that we are going to start the weaning process.  I really wanted him to wean himself, but his mouth is so small and his teeth are so sharp that breast feeding has become a bit painful.  I think that it will be hard on both of us.  I really cherish this time with him and I think it's just another sign that he's growing up so fast.  I can't believe that he's already 11 months old!  My little snarky butt!  Anyway, we'll get through and we'll be fine.  I think for the most part he's only comfort nursing anyway.
Okay, Jerry's been out there playing with EJ and I can hear the sleepinees in Elijah's whine.  So It's off to get the little one to sleep (hopefully better tonight...sigh...)
December 23

'tis the season to be jolly

My parents are here!  We've been hanging out for a couple days now.  It's nice to have someone to help out with Elijah.  I was able to finish some Christmas presents (of course, it was after Elijah was asleep, but still....)  Elijah is having MASSIVE separation anxiety.  I can't even run to the bathroom without him pitching a fit.  Mom gave him a bath last night and he was fine until mom made him sit down in the tub, then he screamed until she finished washing him and diapering him and then brought him to me.  Then he clutches on for dear life.  Ahhh, this too shall pass (I HOPE!!!)  Mom and dad say that they will be okay if we go out.  I just feel so bad for him, but man I need a break!  I think we will try and early dinner and then later this week a movie.  I really want to see The Nativity Story.
We are going to go to Sweet and Savory this morning...YUMMY!  They have the most awesome food!  Then Jerry has some Christmas shopping left and we are going to go look at fabric to make slings.  I absolutely love mine (thanks Rebecca!!!) and I think that they should be fairly easy to make.  So we're going to get some fabric and see.  If they are easy, then I will try to sell some at a friend of mine's store.  I think I will also try to knit some hats to sell there too.
I need a haircut in the worst way.  The ends are crazy gross.  Mom said she'd do it so I think I'll let her.  I just want the bottom 2 inches hacked off.  I have to be able to pull it back because some little munchkin thinks my hair is his own personal pull toy.
I kept him last night (speaking of the munchkin.)  I think we did quite well.  He's such a mover.  I went into check on him and his feet were on the floor and his body was on the bed.  I didn't dare move him for fear of waking him.  At 2 I did bring him to bed with me, but didn't nurse him back to sleep.  I did however at 5:00 and at 6:30 I took him into Jerry where they are still sleeping.  I can't believe that Elijah can sleep through that snoring, but he seems to do very well in bed with Jerry.
Oh yeah, we got confirmation of our vacation this summer.  Mom and dad gave us a week of their time share.  So we are going to Edisto Island. This will be our first real vacation with just the three of us since Elijah was born.  I'm excited.  We think we'll spend a day in Charleston and maybe go back to Beaufort.  I think it will be fun!
Okay, I'm getting a bit hungry.  Oh did I mention the crazy weather?  Tracey is under 5000 feet of snow and I was considering putting on shorts yesterday.  It feels more like spring than winter.  Today it's supposed to be near 70 degrees...sigh.... Oh well....
Okay, food......
December 26

A Merry Christmas indeed

We had a fabulous Christmas.  It was very relaxed for sure.  We woke up and had some coffee cake and sweet potato biscuits.  Then we opened presents and stockings.  Elijah got some very cute outfits and some toys (mostly re-gifts of presents that were given to him when he was too small for them.)  My parents gave him the table already, so we put it to good use yesterday evening by trying out his new finger paints on it.  Very fun!  I got a candy thermometer, a candy cookbook, a dispenser for the shower (it dispenses shampoo and what not), Stephen King's new book, a canvas bag, a pocketbook, a share of goats from the Heifer project, and a bunch of other stuff.  I can't even remember now.  Needless to say it was a very good Christmas.  Elijah is taking more and more steps everyday.  He walks about 5-10 steps independently.  It's really cool, but also a bit nerve wracking.  He flies behind his little pusher cart.  It's insane!  Speaking of insane...the weather yesterday was INSANE!!!!  We were under a tornado warning all day.  It was pouring rain and windy all day.  We stayed in all day (not that there was anywhere to go.)  We had beef stew in bread bowls for lunch, so it was very warm and yummy.  The thing is that the temp outside wasn't cold.  But we couldn't really open any windows because the wind would have blown the rain in.  It was weird...
We took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill this morning. Our garage is so close to being clean!  Tomorrow we will take the brass bed to a consignment store and so that will be out of the way.  We need to figure out what to do with the crib.  We may put it back in Elijah's room once he's walking and use the toddler bed part of it.  Elijah and I had a rough night last night.  He slept really well until about 12:30 and then was a crazy child.  I finally gave up trying to get him to sleep in his room at 1:30.  And ended up nursing him.  sigh...however, that didn't even put him to sleep.  He got much quieter, but then he was start talking to himself and then laugh this punchy little laugh he has.  I would pull him to me to try to cuddle him and he was feel all over my face and then crack up...nutty boy.  He finally rolled over on his tummy and went to sleep.  Then he woke back up at 5:30.  This is when I usually nurse him, so I went ahead and he slept for another hour, but wanted to nurse again, I gave up and took him into Jerry and then went back to sleep for an hour.  He's passed out right now.  sigh... I hope this gets better soon.  I guess it can't last forever right?
MY folks are here and will check into a hotel this afternoon.  Not cause we're kicking them out, they are doing this voluntarily.  It's great to have them here!  Jerry and I went out to dinner on Saturday, just the two of us.  It was really nice.  I was nervous because Elijah had been going crazy if I just went to the bathroom while my folks were here.  But they took him on a walk and we left while they were gone.  They said a couple times he got upset, but overall he was fine.  It makes me feel a bit better.  I think we may try to go see a movie one afternoon and then maybe another dinner.  It's nice to be able to go out without Elijah in tow constantly.  Rachel has offered to baby sit and maybe we'll take her up on it after the New Year.
Speaking of which: Erin, Rachel, and Maya Rose are coming over to spend the night on New Year's Eve.  I think I may even have a drink.  Our goal is to stay up until11.  I think we can do it...  I can't believe that Elijah is going to be 1 in just a few weeks.  It seems he was JUST born.  But a whole year has already gone by.  We're going to have a little party on that Saturday with his little playmates.  It should be lots of fun.
Okay, I think I'll go be social with my folks unless they are napping and then I'll read!!  So far this book is quite good!  Hope everyone is having a GREAT holiday!  I added our Christmas pics to Elijah's 11 month pics.
December 31

The New Year

I cannot believe it is the eve of the new year.  It seems just yesterday that I was in the hospital having Elijah.  Now in just a couple of weeks he's going to be ONE!!!  It's just crazy.
So here are my goals for 2007:

• ride the bike (stationary) at least 10 miles 3 times a week.
• continue to walk daily (weather permitting)
• eat better (I refuse to cut out sweets...I end up gorging myself when I do that.)
• loose enough weight to feel comfy in a cute new bathing suit for our vacation in May.

I think that all of these are attainable.  As I am getting ready to wean Elijah( though he's doing a pretty go job of this himself...) I won't have that extra help to burn calories.  I can already feel the weight adding on, so I want to nip this in the bud right now.  I didn't care over the holidays because (in my humble opinion) it's pointless, at least for me, to try and watch what I eat.  So tonight (and probably tomorrow) will be the end of overindulging.  We are thinking about jumping back on the Compact wagon (not going out or buying new stuff) until our vacation.  It think it will keep us from eating out as much.
Jerry and I had two dates while my folks were here.  If Jerry hadn't had to work as much I think we would have gone out more.  We went out to eat once and went to see The Good Shepherd (Fabulous movie BTW).  We were going to see Happy Feet, but it was almost sold out and there were 2 buses from day cares there, so I think it was a much better choice.  Both times Elijah (reportedly) did well.  I was really happy to hear that.  Yesterday we went up to Jerry's parents.  His sister's kids were there and Amanda (Matthew's girlfriend (Matthew's Jerry's brother)) was there too.  Elijah was tired, but warmed up to everyone after a while.  We played on the back deck a bit.  This weather is crazy warm!  I think I like it, but I would like an actual season sometime too.
Tonight Rachel. Erin, and Maya Rose are coming over to spend bring in the New Year and spend the night.  I think we will have fun.  Rachel and I are both having a drink, so I am hoping that Elijah doesn't want to nurse until the morning.  I'm sure it will all be good.  As I said he's pretty much weaning himself.  He nurses about 3 times in a 24 hour period now.  Once mid morning, once before bed ( but doesn't nurse to sleep) and once at about 4:30-5 in the morning.  It's rather bittersweet as Claire said, but it's just a new stage.  He's walking more and more independently and when he's behind the walker, you better get out of the way.
Okay, I gotta go finish getting the house ready for our guests.  Have a Happy and Safe New Year!

September 2006

September 01

Drum roll please....

Elijah is crawling!  Well, kind of!  He crawls toward things he isn't supposed to touch.  He also crawls a few crawls realizes he's within lunging distance and lunges. I think this is the funniest.  But it works for him.  He can push up from his tummy into sitting guess he figures he doesn't need to crawl all the way to whatever it is.   For the past two days he's been trying the crawling thing out, and today was the most he has done yet.  I am sure it is just a matter of days before he is off and running.  We still are completely childproofed.  I can't find a cord keeper kind of thing for the abundance of cords around the TV area.  And we need a baby gate.  But I think that's it.  So that's the news for today!
Now for a bit of soap boxing.  Not much really...I read this article in the NY Times about corporations and breast feeding.  SIGH....  I am just disgusted at the way corporations treat there less educated, lower salaried employees.  Okay, that's really it...I just can't write about it now.  The article is well written and makes very good points....  I'm going to go watch my kid try to crawl some more...
September 04

Big Yawn

Yes, the crawling is GREAT!  He's so funny!  We are going to be getting our exercise casing him soon.  Right now he really seems very content to stay on his mat in the living room (we expanded from number to letters...) He really likes to crawl to the entertainment center, which has a glass front, so I tried making barricades...yeah, that didn't work...we'll think of something.  I guess we could take the glass door off, but then all the components are exposed...it's not the end of the world....
I have read and heard that once a baby learns a new skill they want to stay up and practice and all I could think of was not my perfect angel....YEAH RIGHT!!!  Friday night, Elijah didn't go to sleep until 3 a.m.!!!!  It was like college, but not really...The next morning, he was up at 7:30!  sigh...  Saturday was better and then yesterday we hit the beach in the evening.  Elijah had really only had two short (car) naps.  So I thought he's be really cranky at the beach.  We got there at 5 and played in the water for a bit, then I left Elijah with Jerry and really went to get in the water.  When I came back, Elijah discovered the wonder that is sand.  He promptly started digging a hole (such a little boy!)  he would dig his little hands into the sand and then throw it over his shoulder.  He was covered from head to tow in sand!  It was soooo cute!  He only put a little into his mouth (I guess this anti-solids thing extends to sand ...thank goodness!)  I tried to wash him off, but you know how the sand is... So we got home around 7:30 and he was sooo tired, but too dirty.  SO I jumped in the shower and Jerry brought him to me and I got him all clean.  He fell asleep at 8:30 and Jerry said he only woke up twice before he handed the monitor off to me at 2:30 and that it only took a few minutes to resettle him.  I totally expected to be up with him at 3:30...but he slept until 5:30 AND THEN went back to sleep until 7:30 AND THEN I cuddled with him in bed until 8:30!!!!!  That means I got 7 hours (count 'em BABY!!! SEVEN) of sleep.  I am sure this was a fluke, but MAN it was nice!!!!  He has already taken a 1 1/2 hour nap today, so I am sure we'll be back on this three hour schedule tonight...
I'm going to go to a Le Leche meeting on Wednesday and see if I can get some advice about this non-eating thing.  I know that he's fine, but it is bugging me a bit.
Okay, Elijah seems to be giving Jerry a hard time...I'm off....Oh Happy Labor Day!
September 09

Shopping on Saturday

It's been a bit since I've had a chance to write...having a crawling baby is exhausting, but really exciting!  He's learned to open cabinets...more childproofing to do.  We went to the high society lunch  and almost all the babies are crawling.  it's crazy!  Elijah was so gentle and sweet to the other babies.  It was really sweet.  Friday I spent the morning baking for some mom's to come over this morning for breakfast after the Mother of Twins Sale.   I kept Elijah all night last night and he woke up almost every hour and nothing would do unless he got to breast feed.  It made for a long night...especially since I got up at 6 to get ready for the sale.  But alas alack.  I handed EJ off to Jerry at 6:45 and then Rachel called and I went by her house and rode with her and MR to the sale.  We got there at 7:15 and 4th in line (the sale started at 8.)  My main thing was finding a backpack hiking carrier (found it for 15 bucks!), winter clothes (found lots for ~30 dollars) and a safety gate...didn't find one of those...but two out of three isn't too bad.  I was really good and only bought 3 toys for EJ.  I bought him a wooden pull toy in the shape of a caterpillar, a push/ride/pull toy, and a stacking toy.  Overall I think I did really well.  Bonnie (from Jerry's work), Bonnie (from next door) and Rachel all came over for breakfast and brought their babies.  MR was the odd girl out, but she handled it very nicely (very aloof to the boys....)
Earlier this week we got EJ some Robeez shoes and some overalls from a consignment shop.  We got him the shoes since he'll be pulling up soon and these are supposed to be really good to learn walking in.  Bare feet are the best, but these are the next best thing.  They are soft leather and enable the baby to use his toes to learn walking basics.  As it will be winter when he's really starting to do the cruising thing and we have hardwood floors, socks are not conducive, so he needed something to keep him warm and allow him to walk.
My folks left on Thursday for England and Ireland.  I'm so jealous, but excited for them.  I hope they are having a good time.  They are on a canal boat for the first week and then spending two weeks in Ireland.  A friend of theirs is staying in their house until they return...though if a hurricane decides to hit us, she may have some company!  We were talking about what a pain it would be if a hurricane came and knocked out the power.  As we are out of town, we are the last priority to get power restored, so it would suck a little bit.  So I think we will leave if a Cat3 or stronger comes our way.
Okay, that's it for now... hope you are having a GRAND weekend.
September 14

My Eighth month old and other stuff!

So Elijah turned 8 months yesterday!  I can't believe that in 4 more months he's going to be 1!  What's that all about?  He's crawling everywhere now and follows us around.  It's really cool!  In fact, the other night we put him down in his crib on his back to sleep with his head toward the closet.  We heard something on the monitor so we went in to check: he had flipped over onto his tummy, pushed up into crawling, and turned around to the other end of the crib and then collapsed on his tummy, all the while totally asleep.  It was really funny.  I have no idea how he isn't exhausted by morning all the moving around he's doing....not that he's sleeping through the night.  Anyway, he's just so amazing.  He can play independently for a bit without me in the room (though I'm always within eyesight...me of him that is...) He's starting to associate mama and dada with the right people (not always correctly, but Jerry and I try to respond when he says them and reinforce the correct words with images....)  We think he is signing drink, and again we reinforce the sign with the actual act when he makes it, we give him drink (water).  He could just be fascinated with his hand...  when he cries we pick him up, but he's started fake crying to get picked up...so we say "Elijah use your signals," and as long as he's not really tired, he'll stop and raise his arms to be picked up.  It's really amazing that he's learning this stuff.  I love every minute of it!!!  I wouldn't trade it for anything!  Yes, it's exhausting sometimes and there are nights when I am wondering why on earth he's awake when he refused to nap the day before....but I would rather be awake with him than have no baby at all!  He's such a good baby and so cuddly!  I just love him so much!!!!!
Okay...moving on....
First off let me say that I am in NO WAY supporting Wal Mart in this little rant...but....
WalMart is beginning to carry more organic foods.  Here's an article (blog) that goes into the whole thing...
okay, I am not a huge organic buyer.  There are many reasons, but that's another blog for another day.  This is about WalMart and smaller Natural Food stores.  Okay, so I try to support local businesses, however, when local businesses change you four bucks a pound for "organic"peaches, I really can't support it.  I simply don't have the money.  So the local natural food coop is a little upset that Walmart is selling organic.  Many think the laws on Organic foods are too lax and this will make them more so.  Some are upset that the organic foods are coming from places that under-pay under age workers.  Some are concerned that the small businesses will be driven out of town.  While these are all good points, I must say that I become a little annoyed.  While I do not shop at WalMart, there are many whose only choice is to shop there for many reasons, but usually it's related to money (or lack thereof.) So are these people saying that unless you make lots of money you don't deserve to eat organic if you so choose?  Jerry brought up the issue that WalMart can guarantee sales to a mass instead of to a few limited people, so of course, organic farmers could make a much better profit selling their goods to Walmart as opposed to the small coop.  As for the laws (or lack thereof) for organics...I really doubt that Walmart coming in is really going to make the lawmakers move slower or faster.  It takes a lot of time to go to every farm and make sure they are using only organic fertilizers and no pesticides and whatnot...personally, I wash my food and really don't think that I am any less healthier than anyone else....If the pesticides were that bad, I believe the majority of America would be keeling over...and they aren't.  The argument that underage underpaid people are going to be growing the food...well look at the label of your clothes and unless it says made in the USA (and sometimes even if it says that...) you can bet some small child got paid 10 cents to make your GAP shirt...not that this is okay, but that 10 cents probably put food on that child's table that may otherwise be bare...again not okay, but then you are tacking many 3rd world countries and then you are asking to pay 150 dollars for a t-shirt...again...another rant for another day... As for putting small businesses out of business...I think that's horrible, but when you are asking people to pay a lot of money (plus membership fees) for something, you have to look at the big picture.  If you charge 25 dollars for a bag of rice and one can go to Walmart and pay 10 dollars for the same bag.... well, you do the math.  However, I don't think you are going to loose the majority of customers.  You just aren't going to gain any new ones.  I know that's horrible to say, and while I won't be going to Walmart to buy anything organic or not...I'm not going to be going to our local coop either...but then I never went there to begin with.
Okay, that' it for now.  I hope I haven't ticked off any avid WalMart shoppers or coop-ers...this is simply my opinion....If you choose to shop at WalMart, go for it.  If you support your local coop. good for you (glad to know you're making more money than I)  As for me, I'll continue shopping at the local Lowe's food, buying my regular food (insecticides and all), and vent my frustrations right here...
thanks for reading!
September 19

Not much happening

We've had a pretty laid back few days.  Elijah now has six teeth with tow more getting ready to cut through.  He is crawling like crazy and doing much in his crib.  It's really funny, if I bring him to bed with me, he doesn't move that much, but in his crib....it's like he's racing in Daytona or something.  Very cute!  Last night he was up at 1:30 and Jerry handed him off to me for a mid-night feeding and change over.  Elijah was just up from then until about 3.  He wasn't fussy or active, he was just awake.  I would rock him and put hi in his crib and rub his back and sing to him and walk around with him and nothing.  I suppose I could have brought him to bed with me and he probably would have fallen asleep and I could have slept a little as well...but you think of these things a little too late.  So he finally fell asleep and then I was awake.  I kept waiting for him to wake up (which he didn't do until 6:30....) I think I finally fell asleep at 3:45...sigh... oh well... at 6:30 I did bring him to bed with me and we slept until almost 9.  We went over to Rachel's this morning for cookies and a play date with MR and some of Rachel's neighbors.  It was lots of fun and we had very yummy cookies!
Ooooooo...last night we watched Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.  It was soooooo good.  I LOVED West Wing and was so sad when it went off.  I also LOVE Matthew Perry and Bradley Whitford, and they ROCKED!!!  I thought it was well written and very cheeky!  I just wish it came on a little earlier...oh well.  Sunday night was the premiere of Amazing Race.  The couple I liked the most got booted...sigh...but it still looks like a good season.
Yesterday I gave Elijah some cooked and cooled spaghetti to play with...it was freaking hilarious.  He got it EVERYWHERE.  I have pics, but they're in the other room and Jerry's trying to get Elijah to sleep...if he sees or hears me, Jerry will have to start all over...
I think we are going to go to the doctor tomorrow.  Elijah seems to have a yeast infection on his neck and it's just not clearing up.  Part of that reason is we put the ointment on him and he immediately starts scratching and off it comes.  We have tried putting it on him once he's asleep...nope, doesn't work.  We are putting socks on his little hands at night so he doesn't rip his skin up from the scratching.  Poor guy.  It's not getting worse, but it's not getting better.  It seems to follow his teeth cutting.  He'll cut a tooth and it clears up and then another one starts coming in and well, yo get the point....
okay...I guess that' it for now.  I'm off to sneak into our room for a shower...
September 20

poor parents

My folks are in Ireland and I just heard from them that Florence hit over there, so they are seeing Ireland in flood stage.  That sorta sucks!  Mom said that dad is enjoying the beer there though....so that's good!  I mean when in Ireland...right?  We're good here. Elijah has discovered he wonder that are doors.  He likes to sit at doors and open them and close them...It's pretty cute...not that I'm biased.  We went to the doc today.  I thought EJ had an yeast infection on his chest and neck, but turns out that it's eczema.  So I guess that's good...well at least to know what it is and how to treat it.
That's it right now....  Oh yeah...Elijah is weighing in at 23.6 pounds!  What a hunka hunka...
September 24

A Successful Weekend!

We had our friends over for the weekend.  It was lots of fun!  We went to some local gardens on Saturday to walk and have a picnic.  The weather was perfect.  This morning we had a leisurely breakfast and just hung out.  Jerry and I got back from Costco a bit ago and had some pita pizzas...yummy!!!!  And now he's watching football and hanging out with Elijah.  I must say as weekends go, this one was very good!
We are heading up to the mountains in a couple of weeks for homecoming at WWC and vacation.  We are taking Rachel and Erin and MR with us.  We decided to rent a van so that we could all ride together and save the wear and tear on our car.  I think it will be great! I hope the weather is good.
My parents wrote that they finally saw the sun in Ireland.  Apparently they were there when Florence hit them and then Gavin (I think...) hit while they were driving to their next location.
Jerry has a yearly review tomorrow....send good thoughts his way...while we are fine with his income, a nice raise would always be welcome!
Elijah has officially cut eight teeth now.  I'm hoping this slows down a bit.  He doesn't really seem upset by it, but I think they wake him up at night...  oh well, such is life.  My little 12 hour sleeper (not all at one time grant you) has become a less than 10 hours and no naps...We finally got him down for one today and I just snuggled up beside him and snoozed as well.  I hope that he's doing a little better while we're on vacation.
I guess that's it for now... not a very exciting blog entry, sorry...
September 26

So where's your baby from?

Have I mentioned that random people ask me this?  What do you mean where is my baby from?  My uterus....HELLO?!  It's just really funny to me.  A friend of mine from college just commented that Elijah looks Asian.  He does a bit and I don't mind people commenting on his looks, nor do I mind discussing his ethnicity.  But to ask where I got him from...like I got him a WalMart on sale or something.   Jerry made the point that if I'm not with him, then Elijah does look a little out of place with me, white Irish-y girl, but still.  When did people become so rude, to presume that I would be married to a white guy and therefore Elijah could not have been born of me?  It's just odd I guess.  I would never look at a child and think...oh, well, obviously that child is adopted or from some other place.  What business is it of mine whether or not the child was born of someone or adopted.  It's their child right?  sigh... people...
Anyway, just thought I'd write about that...okay, I'm trying to keep Elijah from pushing the off switch on the computer...Later... (BTW...my folks get home today!!!! YEAH!!!!)
September 29

Public vs. private TVs vs. bathtubs

So, we have been discussing what we really want to do about Elijah's education.  We go back and forth between home schooling, private school, and public school.  Recent studies have shown that children in private schools really don't get any better education than those in public schools.  All in all I think it has the most to do with parental involvement.  My whole issue with the public schools in this county is the overcrowding.  I just don't want EJ going to class in a bathroom.  However, that's five years down the line and who knows what will be going on then.  I obsess about these things and then I hear about the shootings in Colorado and it makes me nervous to put him anywhere...sigh...  anyway there is a small debate going on in my head and I will write more about it at a later date.
Tomorrow we are going to a friend of mine's house to tell our birth story.  My friend Carmen teaches a birthing class (ALACE...not sure what the acronym stands for off the top of my head...but it's natural childbirth classes) and is having a Saturday session in for her classes and has invited some friends to tell their stories.  I talked Jerry into going because I think it's really important for the men in the class to hear what it's like to be the man in the birthing room.  I hope that it won't be too painful for him...(he's so shy...sorta...)
ANYWAY, we are getting a new women and children's wing at our local hospital.  And apparently the higher ups have decided to cut the funding of having bathtubs on the labor and delivery ward so they can have wide screen TVs.  I'm not even talking about birthing tubs.  I'm just talking about a shower with a bathtub.  The showers on the current L&D floor are insanely small.  We were able to fit a small shower chair in the shower for me to sit on, but Jerry stood outside of the shower and rubbed my back from there.  Not that Jerry wanted to be in there with me, but had he wanted, there would have been NO way.  Anyway. at our lunch the other day, many of the women were very upset with this decision.  I guess I can understand.  I personally wouldn't have wanted to be immersed in water.  I did LOVE the shower and it felt great during hard contractions.  But that doesn't mean that other women might not want to be in the tub.  I fear though, that this society is not all about the natural birth.  So many women are all about getting an immediate epidural...this can elongate the labor...and since you can't walk or feel anything, why not pass the time away with the TV?  I guess I see the reasoning behind this, however, do they really need wide screen TVs?  It's not like there is another hospital they are in real competition with.  I don't know.  I wish there was a birthing center...independently run, that allowed moms who wanted a natural birth to do so without the stress of so many medical procedures and constant hospital paranoia of malpractice looming.  I've seen such centers that are very close to the hospital, in case something goes wrong.  I personally was very happy with our birth, but my doctor was very understanding and knew exactly what we wanted.  Now my doctor is no longer doing OB, so we are thinking mid-wife for the next baby (a few years away people...)  I have heard of people driving up to 2 hours a way to give birth in a birthing center.  The closest hospital that even offers bathtubs is 1 1/2 hours away.  Some women may not make it that far in time... I don't know... I think there should be a happy medium, where everyone gets an option... but I guess that would be asking to live in a perfect world...
Alright, the little man has been extraordinarily grumpy today and now is fighting Jerry (who's attempting to put bedclothes on the little one...) I'm off to help....

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?