34 week check up

Everything is going just fine! I showed her a copy of my birth plan and she said she agreed with everything I wrote and handed it back. So that was easy! (I knew she'd be ok with it anyway!) My blood pressure is good, she asked me to take it every day now so there aren't any surprises. The baby is head down, and was facing with her back to my back so that kind of concerns me about the possibility of more back labor when the time comes. Overall it was a good visit, the baby sounded really good and she estimates that the baby is already about 6 pounds!!! So I am thinking I'll have another 9-pounder. She estimated Will's weight at 36 weeks to be 7 pounds, and 5 weeks later he was born at 9 1/2 pounds. So she was right on. Hope things continue to go as well as they are!

Christmas is done for another year...

My poor 2 year old was SO overwhelmed!! He had been sleeping really well for about a week (he didn't wake us up at all for quite a few nights in a row) and after Christmas Eve, he kept my husband up all night! And the next morning, Christmas Day, he finally stopped opening presents and just wanted to sit and watch his new Bob the Builder DVD, he wanted nothing to do with any more gifts! He was just DONE! He had a pretty restless night last night too, but he's got a lot of nasal goop and was coughing and snurfling throughout the night. That was mixed in with him yelling "NOOOO!" in his sleep and kicking the bed! I had insomnia again and once he got settled, I went back to our room (my husband wasn't feeling the best so he slept on the couch) and read for about an hour, finally after 5 am I got back to sleep.

This past week was busy but one wonderful highlight was that I got to see my friend Laura and her little girl (who will be 3 in January). Her husband had been deployed to Iraq with the Army and just got back in November, and they were visiting his family about 45 minutes from us. So my son and I went up to see them for the day and we had a really nice time! I got to see her this summer too, so it was a real treat to see them again. He will be retiring from the Army (technically he's done in 1 1/2 years but due to the Iraq war he will not be able to leave just then) and when they are finished, they'll be moving to Michigan, they've got property all set to build on right near the family they were visiting. So it will be wonderful to be able to see them more often!

I am realizing now that I've got only about 6 weeks left until I'm due. I don't have that much to do, and less to get, but I do need to wash diapers and baby clothes so the poor kiddo at least has something to wear! We also have not picked out a boy's "just in case" name, we keep talking about it and the conversation keeps going down the road of "EEWWW, that's a weird name!" It's so much easier to find names we don't like as opposed to names we like. And we want it to sound good with our last name too.

My husband is off all week and already it's going by way too fast. We knew it would though. I see the doctor for my 34 week check this week, then in 2 weeks I see her weekly until I'm done. It's hard to believe we're already almost to weekly visits. I've got so much cervical pressure so early with this one that I can't imagine I will last to my due date, but you never know, I'll probably be sitting here on Valentine's Day wondering where my little Valentine is...

I can't #*#*@*#*@*# sleep!!!

How cruel is this..... I am 8 months pregnant, my two year old still wakes me up in the night, so what does my stupid pregnant brain do? It keeps me up! My son woke me up at 4 this morning and, yes, you guessed it, I'm still up. Everyone (including him) was peacefully asleep in the house EXCEPT THE PREGNANT ONE... why??? The thing is that I am SO tired I can barely function, yet my brain will NOT let me sleep! I've had about 9 hours in the past two days combined.

I am hoping I can fall asleep with him when he naps in a little while. Yesterday I tried that but could not. Watch, today I can but he'll only sleep 1/2 hour. I feel like I just can't win, and I'm about to start clawing my eyes out in sheer frustration!!!

Third trimester Christmas shopping...

Can we say, OW? Oh my, I think that was my last big shop until much into next year. I got a couple of hours to myself last night to go to the mall and get a few things for my husband and son. By the time I left, I was so sore I could barely walk... between pelvic pain, my ankle bugging me again (darn joints), and my back hurting from hauling around the jacket I knew would be off in the first 5 minutes and my purse that does not stay on my shoulder, and the bags of gifts, it was just kind of tiring!! Now today I just feel bad, I think I did too much last night. Ahh well, I remember this feeling from before... it will just keep getting worse until after the baby is born. Nothing much you can do about it, pace yourself and that's about it. It was kind of nice to not shop with my toddler who now hates the stroller and wants to do nothing but ride the rides at the mall (and run away from me) but it was still very tiring hauling myself around with my stuff. Although I do enjoy getting gifts for people, I really have begun to intensely hate Christmas shopping, I think it's mainly because of all the other people out. I think people need to do more hunting (like hunt and shoot their own meat) because maybe they would get it out of their systems and not be so hell bent on finding "the perfect gift" for all the 1,000 people they are shopping for. Christmas is way too commercial anyway and this year I was extra crabby to be a part of that. Ugh.

Funny how this post started out by me complaining about feeling sore and then it changed to me hating how commercial Christmas is, there is just TOO much crap out there!!

32 week check up

I am happy to say, things are going very well! My blood pressure was totally normal (it has been at home too), and the baby sounded really good. I am measuring 33 cm (should be 32 at 32 weeks) which is a little big for now but she was not at all concerned about it. I have gained a total of 23 pounds. I expect it will probably wind up being between 25 and 30 - as I get bigger I won't be able to eat as much. I set up all the OB appointments I will need from here to the end - I actually made them through 41 weeks, being the eternal pessimist that I am! If I go before then, I can use one of them for the baby's check up and someone else can have any other(s) that are left! I will be seen in 2 weeks at 34 weeks, then in another 2 weeks at 36 weeks, then it's weekly until the birth. It will be interesting to see how this all turns out. The only thing I REALLY want is to go into labor on my own, without any inducing drugs at all. From there, I know I can handle whatever comes next.

Today it is raining. All the snow we got over a week ago is now melted. Today after the doctor's I went to Yasmeen's (Middle Eastern store in Saginaw) and got some baklava, stuffed grape leaves, a huge jug of olive oil and a few other things. I just love that place! Tonight I am going back to Saginaw for some La Leche League business. My son is napping right now and giving me a little quiet computer time. I try not to do any work while he is sleeping because I need a break too when I can get one, but it is tempting especially when I have a mountain of dirty dishes in the kitchen... I'll feel better once that's all taken care of!

Owie Owie Owie...

OK, this stinks. I'm getting to the point where I'm just sore a lot more now... especially later in the day when I've been up and doing stuff! I do NOT like this part! I wish I could take off my belly and give myself a break, then put it back on. 31 1/2 weeks is too soon for the baby to come, but it hurts... all I can do is take Tylenol and try to change positions. Laying down feels the best, but then when I get up, I've got pubic symphesis pain from the pressure on my hips. Just can't win!! It feels like I'm aching in different places this time, more along the sides of my belly than the last time. Not happy at all! :(

Something funny...

I saw this in someone's siggie on a message board today:

Deep thought: Some people are like slinkies - They don't really have a purpose, but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

LOL

Does anyone read this?

Or am I just blowing a lot of hot air? LOL

If you have stopped by to read this, please leave a comment so I know I'm not just prattling on and on to nobody...

31 weeks and my blood pressure is NORMAL!!

I am SO relieved! I made it this far with normal blood pressure - also no episodes of tachycardia that I've noticed! It was right at 31 weeks during my pregnancy with Will, that my blood pressure was high enough to start medication, and I would have sudden, unexplained what my doctor thinks was supraventricular tachycardia - an abnormal, too-fast heart rate. The meds I took both lowered my blood pressure and kept my heart rate under control. I have been waiting for today, because I really was hoping to make it this far without needing medication!

One thing I noticed this time is that my blood pressure has stayed about the same. The last time, it started creeping up a month or two before it actually got high enough to cause problems. I am not sure what the rest of this pregnancy will bring, but I am hoping my body will hold out and that I won't need meds or monitoring at the end. I'd love to finish out this pregnancy in peace! I'm not going to hold my breath, there is always the possibility, but it sure would be great. I'll be checking it a few times a week just to be sure.

I can't believe I'm only about 2 months from my due date. It just seems like it shouldn't be coming up this fast. Now the next big hurdle (after seeing what happens with my BP) will be going into labor on my own. I am going to dig in my heels and refuse induction unless something is really going wrong with either me or the baby, but I won't consent to it just because I'm late. I simply can't be away from home that long this time. And it was a miserable experience, I'm sure I caused us much more grief than I needed to by being so impatient. Either way I am sure it will be a totally different labor this time, they all are, especially once you've already done it.

I have been talking to Will alot about babies getting nursies - he gets really excited when we go through all the list of animals that nurse and then I'll tell him that the baby in my tummy will nurse too. And that there will be plenty of nursies for him! I can't wait to see what he thinks when suddenly I have milk again!

30 week check up

Everything is going fine - my doctor told me, "I can't find a thing wrong with you!" My blood pressure, thankfully is just fine, I am going to watch it closely from here on out though, because the last time I was pregnant, I had to start medication at 31 weeks. Plus, I was having abnormal heart rhythms and had to see a cardiologist. I am really hoping that my body copes with this better this time, so I won't need any meds or anything else. My 1 hour glucose test was great at 85 and I'm not anemic or anything so that's good too. The baby is head down and measuring just as it should. Every now and then, I can feel something bony (maybe a shoulder or elbow?) digging into the right side of my pelvis, it doesn't hurt but I don't remember Will doing that. It must be comfortable that way because it happens a lot.

I will post a link to a belly shot as soon as I can get my husband to take one!

What a miserable week...

Last weekend, we were all sick. Throwing up, diarrhea, it was lovely! I threw up for the first time in probably at least 10 years. We were all just so miserable! Other people in my husband's family had it also, Will got it first and we got it later. We are still not quite back to normal, it has been hard to eat and for a couple of days it seemed like I lived off Gatorade and crackers. Not at all fun, especially being 29 weeks pregnant!! I still have a little nausea on and off, and last night had a bad headache and had to go to bed. Will even puked yesterday morning - even though he'd gone a few days keeping everything down. You can just tell by watching him that he's not feeling completely normal yet either.

Clane has this whole weekend off for Thanksgiving - 4 days in a row. It's always nice when we are all here together! We had Thanksgiving dinner at his parents' house, it was the first Thanksgiving that his sister was home in about 15 years. The food was good but none of us could eat much! And Will was just not his playful self. He usually jumps right down and wants to go find the dog and play with his toys, but yesterday he clung to me and would not look at anyone or let anyone touch him for a while.

I made sweet potato pie from the American Test Kitchens cookbook. It came out really good, it's not heavily spiced so you could really taste the flavor of the sweet potato. You also blind bake the crust, and while it's still hot, you sprinkle brown sugar on the bottom before putting in the filling. It was great (in fact pretty much everything I've made from that book has been really good) and will probably be the recipe I will use from now on for that pie. I enjoyed it even though I could not eat much, just had a small piece with real whipped cream too! Mmmm.

Everything with the baby seems to be going well. I am getting more pain in my pelvis now, as the joints all start to soften up. I had my 1 hour glucose tolerance test last weekend, and my doctor's office does not call you with normal labs - so I am assuming it was fine. I'll see them again on Wednesday. I'm going every 2 weeks now, isn't that weird? It doesn't seem like I should be that far along already. Yet it still seems like I've got a really long wait til the end. I'm sure the holidays will make that part go fast, but January into February will probably be the slowest part, and nothing much happening to break up that time. Guess I'll be doing a lot of knitting. My blood pressure is good too, but it was OK until 31 weeks with Will... I'll be watching it closely from here on out.

Happy Birthday Will!

Our son turned 2 today! I can hardly believe it's already been two years. Most of it has gone by in such a blur, I think mainly due to him being such a poor sleeper until recently. We had a pretty good day. This morning we picked up his cake (Hamilton's Bakery in Midland, MMMMM do they make GOOD stuff!) and then it was off to Toys R Us in Saginaw to shop for his presents. (Talk about last minute!) That place was a zoo! We wound up getting him a bouncy horse, a toy airplane, an Aquadoodle and some Sesame St. Aquadoodle accessories. Aquadoodle is cool, and the accessories are neat too, just get them wet and the colors appear! Very neat! The only problem is, he keeps insisting on chewing on the tips of the makers!!

Once we got home, we started getting ready for our little party. I made some sloppy joe mix and put it in the crock pot, we had baked beans (just Bush's) and chips/dip, raw veggies/dip, cheese and sausage and crackers. It was work getting things together but I always like having people over for this kind of thing so it was nice anyway! Clane helped out a lot because I was so sore the past couple of days, I could barely move! I'm better today now, I think it was partly the weather, and partly that a couple of days ago it was really nice out and I probably did too much.

Will had a good time opening gifts as you can imagine, and had a REALLY good time with the cake! He blew the candles out easily and wanted "more" so I had to light them again for him to blow out a second time. Then he ate cake and it got everywhere of course, we got some great pictures of that! It was just a really nice time. Once everyone left we watched the movie we made of the party and then dug out the tape from the end of my pregnancy wit him. I was huge and could barely move! Of course I burst into tears several times today, managed to hold it together while everyone was here and got all hormonal again once it was all over. It didn't help that we watched old tapes of him as a newborn. And the house on the tape when I was pregnant - it was so CLEAN!!! You can tell I wasn't chasing a little one around! The baby slept straight through the whole party tonight, even slept through my eating a corner piece of cake with a mountain of frosting on it. She woke up when everyone left. I am hoping she's a better sleeper than our son!

Overall it was a really good day! I also want to wish our friend Ella a happy 3rd birthday - it was way cool that Will was born on her birthday even though the labor lasted WAY longer than I'd wanted (about 50 hours), it was still really cool. And happy first anniversary to Chris and Sarah!

Third trimester...

Here we are at 26 weeks, it seems like I shouldn't be this far along yet! We are starting childbirth class (BradleyMethod) tomorrow, I remember talking with the instructor at the beginning of summer and asking her to put us on her class list. She said we'd start the beginning of November when I'm starting my third trimester, and now here we are! I think having another child to care for has made this pregnancy go by very fast!

I really feel pretty good. I get a little achey at the end of the day, sometimes my ribs, back and belly hurt. But it's not every day, and it's not constant. Generally I have some energy and feel fine most of the time! Will wants to wrestle but I just don't want to be jumped on! Other than my legs swelling ALREADY, I really haven't felt awful like I did when I was pregnant with Will. We are still watching my blood pressure (I should go take it just to see) since I started medication at 31 weeks the last time. I was definitely happy to be having a baby when I was pregnant with Will, but wasn't real happy being pregnant because I just didn't feel good for most of it. But now, I'm happy to have another baby, and happy being pregnant too, I just feel well most of the time and that helps!

Not much else to add except I got news about Lisanne (the link to her blog is on the right!), she had her daughter last night, way to go Lisanne!! I can't wait to see pictures! Reading your hubby's update made me cry, hormonal wreck that I am! :)

Good chance it's a girl!

We had another ultrasound today, and although the tech didn't get a perfect view, she was reasonably sure we're having a girl! So I went out and got a bunch of girl clothes (been waiting to see, so I knew how to shop), now watch it's a boy anyway! The tech who did Will's ultrasound was not totally sure he was a boy either, but she turned out to be right... so we are thinking our hunches were correct this time. We are pretty excited!! :)

My cat is allergic to fish!!

Last week, one of our kitties (we call her P but her name is Panthera) was hiding out in the basement. For those of you who know her, she is gregarious, always underfoot, always yelling for something! And she and Will love each other, he mauls her all the time and she loves it. So I went to find her and see what was going on, since it's unlike her to hide, and she was covered in scabs!! Like all over her body! So I called the vet the next morning and got her an appointment, and in the meantime started reading... and found out that scabs all over is a huge sign of food allergies! AND, it just so happened that Meijer was out of their regular Iams food, so I got them something different... I thought, "Hmm, salmon! That would be a nice change!!"

So the vet checked her all over, gave her a shot of cortisone (which made her better literally in 1-2 days) and gave me some antibiotics to give her. Unfortunately she needs them for 3 weeks (the skin problems are kind of like a staph infection but not contagious) and I'm having a heck of a time giving them to her. I have to towel her and she drools out half of it. She's also on some hypoallergenic food for now. The vet recommended some new food, I got some and it's got all kinds of stuff in it - sweet potato, blueberries, rosemary... they like it though!

I have to bring her back in on Friday for another check up, and to get more antibiotics. I really wonder how much of it she is getting, since she drools out half of it now. Usually they have you mix it with tuna, but since she is allergic to fish, I have eliminated all fish from their diet right now. I just don't want to take steps backwards at this time! Poor kitty.

Will peed on the potty!!!

We were sooo excited!!! He was in the bathtub and he looked over to the potty and pointed and said "pee." This isn't anything new, he's been saying that a lot, since he comes into the bathroom with us reguarly. So I asked him if he wanted to pee on the potty and he said yes. I got him out of the tub and sat him on the potty (we have a baby bjorn seat that fits on our toilet.. our bathroom is kind of small for a little potty chair) and at first, nothing happened. He's sat on the seat several times since we got it, but nobody really expected anything to happen. I've also been making small straining sounds to get him to try out those muscles... and tonight, when he did it, he actually peed! He looked kinda surprised, looked down to see what was happening, then got this huge smile on his face! We were all so happy and proud of him! I told him anytime he wanted to pee on the potty he could come get us and we'd help him.

Since he's only 22 months old, I really didn't expect him to do this, and I'm not sure when it will happen again... we are really positive about it though, whether he goes or not, we always make a big deal of sitting on it. And he could sit in a wet/poopy diaper for a long time and not care! So we'll see where it goes from here. What a big milestone!

20 weeks and all is well

I had my 20 week checkup (that's halfway already!) the other day and everything is going just fine. I won't get another ultrasound until about a month from now, but I really have a feeling it's a girl. I've only had one dream about the baby, and in the dream it was a girl, but I thought Will was a girl too and I was wrong. I just feel so totally different this time, it seems like my pregnancy with Will was a lot more intense and I felt a lot worse. Even my skin was broken out more. This one, it's a lot more mellow, I have more energy, the baby moves but not as active as Will was. It will be interesting to get to know him/her and see how different they are! This is such a trip!

Here is a picture of me at 20 weeks. Just for comparison, here's 12 weeks!

20 weeks and all is well

. stupid blogger...

Middle Eastern grocery in Saginaw!

I am SO happy!! It's only been open for a week, it's called Yasmeen's and it's on Bay Rd, across the street and kitty corner from the Olive Garden. Their prices are really reasonable, and they even have Halal meats... which I'm sure nobody else in the area sells at all... there aren't many Muslims here but I'm sure they will be very pleased! The owner was very friendly and helpful too. I'm going to be shopping there as much as possible, they are going to be opening up a deli soon too. This is great! :D

Remembering 9-11

May all who lost someone on such a horrible day find peace in their hearts... even if it's just a little more than last year. I watched the coverage on TV today and was reminded of the enorminity (hope that's a word) of it all. I saw a display at a bank today as a tribute to FDNY firefighters and got so choked up I had to leave. What a sad day.

Back from our trip to the UP

And I was so sad to leave! :( I know I won't be back for quite a long time, since it was really hard to sit in the car as long as I did, even with breaks. My poor tailbone! The good thing is that my mom is coming here for a visit at the end of this month, and my dad, possibly for Christmas. But it's not the same, I'm really homesick this year, really bad... can't do much about it now though. :(

Once I get some pictures up on Shutterfly I'll post the link here. But I haven't had the time to do it yet. Between Will, laundry, housework and just being pooped, it's not real high on my list of things to do!

We went to this park on the way back here, and saw this really cool big spring, I'll post some pictures we took of it later on. If anyone is in the Manistique area or en route along that part of US 2, it's well worth the stop! It's in a state park so you need to pay the fee to get in, but it was just so neat, I would happily go back.

The pregnancy is progressing nicely. I feel babe move all the time now, just nice little nudges, not the crazy whacks of later on! I have a feeling I might be getting a little colostrum now, even though I can't get anything to come out. I'm basing that guess on the character of recent poopy diapers. Colostrum is a laxative, and, well, you can guess the rest! He's been wanting to nurse more often too which is another sign, makes me happy and more confident that we'll make it til I have real milk again.

Being home was nice, it was a little cooler, very dry though, and I got to spend time with my friend Laura (see her blog!) who I hadn't seen in over a year. I saw other friends too, and family, it was just nice to be HOME... I do miss it a lot although I'm still happy, for many reasons, to be having my children down here. I just cried the day before we left, I was not happy to be coming back, ugh!

More later when I get more pictures!

We are having...

One baby! :D Little stinker kept its legs crossed!! I'll have anothe chance though, because they need to get more measurements that they couldn't get today. So in another month, I'll get to see Baby again. For now, I've got cute pictures of thumb sucking and a couple of other poses, all looked good that I could tell! It might be a couple of weeks before I get the pics scanned in but when I do I'll post the link.

16 week pregnancy pic!

I just thought I would post this to show my progress. To me, I look like I did at about 23 weeks with my son! But they say you show sooner after your first. I guess my tummy has gotten all stretched out! I am having an ultrasound on Tuesday, so hopefully that evening I'll get a chance to post the results here. Going to the UP on Wednesday so I won't have time to email everyone separately. I am going to try to wear the same shirt each time we take photos, so my progress is more obvious!

Belly dancing pics

Just thought I'd post links to a couple of pictures a friend of mine took recently. She had a bunch of friends over for a night of food and dance! We had a really good time! She had all her costume stuff out so people who had never tried it before could put on some coins and shake their booties! I was probably about 10 weeks pregnant in these pictures. I was so tired earlier that day, that I felt like I'd just crawled out of a hole but managed to pull it together anyway! (I was very glad I went, it was fun!) And, that is a sword on my head in this picture. I'm not sure when I'll be dancing again, but I'll get some pictures when I do!

16 week check and all is well...

We saw the doctor today and heard a nice, strong heartbeat, that is always so nice! I've got my ultrasound in a week so hopefully we'll have some nice pictures and find out if it's a boy or girl. I think we both think it's a girl but I was wrong the last time! But so far everything is going along the way it should, I'm measuring right on time and my blood pressure is fine. I'll hopefully have more news next week, and a link to some pictures too!

It's 64 in my hometown right now...

Why does it have to be 83 here? I am SO tired of sitting inside all the time because anything over the upper 70's is just too hot and I get sick. Hopefully it's not in the 90's again when we go up for Labor Day.

It was soooooo nice out tonight...

It just reminded me of home!!! Windy, cool, it just felt so good. I have the A/C off for the first time in I don't know how long, and all the windows open. It is SO nice to have fresh air in here instead of the nasty recycled stuff that has been in here for the past 6 weeks or so. Even now it's windy out, it's never breezy in the summer at night here, I've got all the windows open and it's supposed to get down in the low 50's tonight. I'm going to be in heaven!

Seriously, when I went outside, it felt like I'd crawled out of a hole, even better than coming out into a warm spring day after a long winter. This summer has been worse than winter, in my opinion. The heat makes me so sick!

Same crap, different day!

I don't have a lot to report on today. Thankfully I am feeling a whole lot better, I'm not sure what the problem was the other day but today I managed to get dressed before noon and get out and run a few errands. Will needs new shoes soon, he's outgrowing his current pair, so we went to the mall. I found just what I wanted right away, so that was great! I really don't like the mall!! Picked up a few things from Target too.

This house is just a huge mess. It seems like no matter what I do, it re-messes itself up when my back is turned. Or, maybe, could it be Will? Could be!!

Oh do I feel like CRAP today...

I am just NOT happy about this part of pregnancy. All day today, I have felt just down and out... no energy, headache, pukey, tired (that's not even the right word, more like run over).... my husband sent me downstairs to our guest room and I was down there from 2 pm til almost 7 pm... spent most of that asleep. I went to bed late last night (had a Coke - BAD!) and just didn't sleep well, couldn't get Will back to sleep in the morning either. It is so hard when I feel like I have nothing to give, my energy bank account, if you will, is bouncing, I'm constantly a few cents from going in the red. I just hope that I feel better, I don't want the whole pregnancy to be like this. I didn't get that second trimester energy the last time, and now I don't have much hope for it this time either. My poor son. I feel like he's getting the rotten end of this because I'm just no fun to live with right now.

We spent yesterday out and about, went to look at a car not far from Clane's folks' summer home, so we went up there too and spent the day. I was feeling kind of sick from the heat, and a nap helped, but we didn't eat well because we were on the go, and it was too warm I think, but Will had a really good time playing in the lake and it was nice and relaxing. I just think I'm paying for it today.

Well enough of this, I really should be spending this time getting to sleep instead of getting sucked into finding more stuff to do online...

Google Earth is really cool!

You can download it here. But, a warning... it is VERY addictive!! (Laura, I even looked up Ft. Irwin... weird!!) We just spent about 45 minutes looking up places we went in Germany, lots of places in Michigan and didn't even get to a lot of the really cool stuff. What a fun way to waste time online, as if we need more!!

Nursing

Today my son brought me a few of his toys to get nursies. He brought me a black bear puppet, lifted up my shirt, and put it to my boob! I pretended to nurse the bear, figured bears get nursies in the wild so why not pretend? But then he brought me this lego car (he has a bunch of those giant legos) and INSISTED that I nurse the car! I started to, then thought, this is crazy!! So I told him that cars can't get nursies because they don't have mouths. He was very persistant but eventually gave up. Then a few minutes later, he repeated the whole procedure with this little snack cup we put crackers in for the road. I had to tell him all over again about the no mouth thing. Anyway I found the whole thing highly amusing!

We regularly go through the "cats get nursies, dogs get nursies, whales get nursies, elephants get nursies, cows get nursies... birds don't get nursies..." I suppose now I need to add "cars don't get nursies, containers don't get nursies... " etc.

Blogs from Lebanon

Oh my. This just makes me want to sit and cry. I'm not sure how much of it I can stand to read. I just wish it would all stop, and soon... but something tells me the whole country will be leveled before it does.

Too #*$&*#&$ hot!

It's still 86 degrees with a heat index of 95 degrees. Did you make note of the time? Almost 10 pm. Did I tell you I hate summer? Please snow... please snow... please snow...... and I am getting on my knees and thanking God for whoever invented central air. If I could get away with it, I'd set it at 65 degrees! But, I'll have to settle for 76, and even that's generous considering how hot it is. This kind of weather makes me want to move as far north as possible. I just hate it!

Friend in Beirut

I have an email friend of several years who is Lebanese and has lived in Beirut for many years now. I had not heard anything from her and thankfully she was able to email me today. Things are just so horrible over there, and it makes me so upset, I just can't stand the thought of it, especially reading about it from someone right in it, first hand. She said they don't even feel sad anymore because it is just too much. :( Thankfully they were able to go up into the mountains so they aren't in the city anymore, she said the bombs from the airstrikes go so far underground that you can't hide from them anywhere.

It is now 97 degrees here at my house, heat index of 107. I really, really am starting to intensely dislike summer. It is still supposed to be in the 90's at 8 pm so too hot to even take Will out to play. This is the time of year I start wishing for snow!! Don't be mad, if you lived inside my body, you would too!

No time for computer!

I see that it's been about a month since I updated this!! Honestly, I've been SO tired from this pregnancy and chasing around a 20 month old that I just can't hardly move some days. Since I'm 12 weeks now I was really hoping that I wouldn't feel so bad still, but it's not really going away. Yesterday I was so tired that I knew I would fall asleep, it was just a matter of where it would happen. I could not stop it!

I had my 12 week check up yesterday and things are all going fine, all my blood was OK too. I am not immune to toxoplasmosis like I thought for sure I would be, but that's ok... no cat box for me I guess! I have not gained a pound either which is fine by me, I wouldn't think I would need the extra weight at all. If you want to see my belly pic for 12 weeks, here is the link. I just feel sick and fat and now I've got a cold which is not helping!

We spent some time in the UP (Houghton/Hancock) this month and it was really nice. Although there were a few days that were way too hot for me, I just stay inside in the A/C because the heat really makes me sick. It was wonderful to be home though, I got to see some friends and my parents and got out to Lake Superior a couple of times. I didn't want to come back here at all!! I am really homesick. I want to go back over Labor Day because that will probably be my last trip up until next year now.

Yesterday my son was so funny. He has a Sesame St. coloring book, and he went through the whole thing, drawing lines through everyone's noses! Then he would get a different color crayon and do it again! He was all serious about it too, and did NOT want me coloring with him! (Usually we do it together and then after about 30 seconds he turns the page on me!)

My friend Laura got a blog started and that's really the main reason I updated this one! (You inspired me!! ) I put it in my links, please go have a look!

All is well...

I saw the doctor today and things are going perfectly. Not much to say really! I'm just irritated that their new scale weighs me about 6 pounds heavier than the old one! My bathroom scale was the same as their old one and now it's way off! I think it's a conspiracy!

Anyway all is well but I figured it was... next month hopefully we'll hear a heartbeat.

I have a good friend who went in today to be induced, it's her first! I haven't heard a thing yet so I hope it's all gone well and that she didn't have a 50 hour ordeal like I did!!

Finally, an update

I'm 8 weeks pregnant now and the nausea is just starting to really bug me. Either that or I just had a bad day. I managed to make it through my dental appointment today, but since then I've just felt yukky! It is really hard being pregnant with a toddler. He needs a lot of attention and I just don't have the energy half the time. Either I can go out and play with him, or make dinner, but not both. I hope as things go along that I'll be feeling better in the very near future! For a while there, I didn't even feel pregnant, but this is a very familiar feeling now and it's back! I have been taking naps with him every day too because it's the only chance I get for a good rest... so that's been limiting my computer time.

Tomorrow I see the doctor for my first OB visit. I am sure things will be fine, it all seems to be going along normally!

Despite the nausea, I had a huge, sudden Taco Bell craving tonight! I'd gotten Will to bed and as I stepped out of his room, I thought... nachos bell grande!!! So after joking with my husband, off I went and got one of those and a 7 layer burrito. I have just felt starving and sick all day today and I just got done eating, it tasted soooo good and I'm sure it's really bad for me! Hopefully this will be a rare occurance because I don't want to make a habit of it!

This weekend my dad is coming for a visit and we're going to see some relatives on Sunday, then it's to my in law's summer home for a couple of days. We'll be off to the U.P. since I haven't been home in over 6 months... I'm really looking forward to it and I HOPE I am not sick the whole time!!! I was feeling so good there that we made travel plans... not I'm not so sure but I'm not cancelling them!

Some big news!

Clane and I are happy to report that I am pregnant, and we are expecting in February! It was kind of a surprise, we knew we wanted another baby but did not expect it to happen so fast! I am about 6 weeks along now and feeling pretty good. I feel totally different than I did when I was pregnant with Will, it seems like I was a lot more tired and sick by this time. I kept a diary so I've been referring back to that. I am also craving meat which is very strange since I am usually a semi vegetarian. I had a whole can of salmon for lunch today! So I must need the protein. I've also been eating things not typical for a woman in early pregnancy... like kale and swiss chard (with lots of garlic!)! So maybe I'll feel better this time around.

Not much else beats that news... I'm off to create a new ticker now, to add to my big collection!

OHHH! The bread!

In my last post in May, I promised I'd report back about the bread I made from "wild" yeast. Well, it did not turn out the best. It did rise, and had a mild sourdough flavor but it was very dense and just was not one of my best creations. This past week I made Parker House rolls, which turned out REALLY good! The problem was I made them too large so if you eat one you are really full. It made many so half of them went into the freezer so they wouldn't get moldy. The heat/humidity here in the summer (even with A/C on) is not kind to homemade bread! If you click on the link above and try them, you will need at least 2 more cups of flour than it says. My dough was REALLY wet until I added a lot more. Worth the time though!

More sickness...

It seems like my son is always sick. :( My mom said I was rarely sick as a child, and formula fed at that. My 100% breastfed, never-a-drop-of-formula in his life son seems to be constantly sick these days! He either has a virus or it's his teeth... but it sure has made for some horrible nights since about Wednesday night. I feel like the walking dead. And it feels like this week has lasted several years. You would think a sick child would at least happily nap, but not my son! No way. He's been running some pretty good temps that have been completely resistant to Tylenol, which worries me a bit but at least Motrin brings them down.

Today I made a pasta salad out of smoked salmon today that was pretty good. Think: tuna pasta salad with mayo, onion and celery, but with smoked salmon. I'm happy! Since my husband does not like canned salmon, it's ALL MINE!

I recenly had a birthday and had a little money to spend. So this week I've spent a lot of time on Ebay bidding on stamps for my collection. I had been watching a few auctions that I was really interested in, but unfortunately the price went too high for me... but I was able to get something similar but not as nice/large as what I'd originally found. However between the things I have won, I should be plenty busy adding to my albums for quite a few months!

Yesterday my neighbor Annie came over and we sat in the garage having a few beers. It was funny because we looked a little like the guys on King of the Hill standing out at the road with beers... except we sat in lawn chairs with the garage door open! It had been raining on and off and we just sat and watched Will play and watched the traffic go by. (He was in the middle of one of his Motrin doses so was feeling ok at that point.)

Not much else to say, except this month is the month of birthdays. My mom, step mom and mother in law, AND my hubby's grandma all have birthdays this month. So does my husband and one of his good friends. We have quite a bit of shopping to do!

The week flew by!

I cannot believe how fast this week went by. It was my birthday this week and that was fun. A friend and a couple of family members stopped by. Then my husband and son took me out for Italian food to the place where we had our wedding reception, we ate outside and it was wonderful! I had lobster ravioli. Yum! My husband got me some really nice things, some music, a really nice soup pot that has baskets for steaming or cooking pasta and a barrister's bookshelf. That's a shelf with glass doors that come down. It's for my colletction of Breyer Horses that I started getting when I was a little girl. I haven't had them displayed for many years so I am excited to unpack them and get them out. I even made little leather shoes for them that I painted silver! It used to be so much fun. I hope they are in good shape as they were not packed very well. They haven't been moved much so hope they are ok. I'll know more later!

I had no idea that you could "catch" wild yeast from the air and grow it in water and flour. I have never made sourdough bread before and did not realize that that's how it worked. I have my dough rising in pans (a lot slower than normal yeast dough) and I'll bake it in a couple of hours. It will be interesting to see how it turned out. I didn't use a recipe at all, just 1 cup of water to 1 cup of flour and let that sit out for a day, then I "fed" it with more flour and water last night. This morning my "sponge" was big and spongey and had a rather pleasant smell so I figured that was a good sign. I'll report back on my bread later!

My in laws have a summer home in Au Gres, MI and we're heading up there tonight to spend the night. They go there on and off all summer. It seems to be a central meeting place for family so it should be nice.

Sunday and Monday we are going to spend here, working on getting some things done. I know I want to get my horses up and I always have a lot of stuff to do... and Clane will probably do car work.

I will report back later on how the bread turned out. In the meantime, the Baltimore Orioles are back! I have put out dishes of grape jelly for them, and they always announce they are there with a nice whistle. Last night I was weeding the flowers right near the part of the deck with the jelly, and the male was really mad at me and scolded me til I left. Then ants get into the jelly so that usually attracts redheaded woodpeckers and catbirds! We get some interesting birds around here. I haven't seen any hummingbirds yet but earlier this year we had a pileated woodpecker at my suet! I will have to dig through my pictures and see if I can find one to post. I unfortunately didn't get any really clear, good ones. The orioles are not happy when I try to take their picture but I'm not going to give up!

Hope everyone has a good holiday weekend!

It's Monday UGH

I've got the Monday blahs! This weekend was pretty good, other than I have not gotten rid of this cold yet. If it's the same one my son and husband still have, I can look forward to being sick until the end of June. No fun!

I got a little free time on Saturday and went out shopping alone. I had a gift card from Bed Bath and Beyond so I went and picked up some things for the kitchen that I've been wanting. I have a straw dispenser (my son loves straws), a pitcher with glasses (I love a pitcher for cool drinks in the summer), one of those plunger style measuring cups for soft, sticky ingredients so you don't have to scrape out the cup each time and a mist can that I can fill with my own oil so no silicone dioxide in my food! Clane picked up a huge tool chest yesterday and spent a bunch of time sorting his tools in the garage. He needed one and we both feel better now that he has one. It's good! And the amazing thing was that it fit in the back of the Durango and the door closed! That was lucky!

Yesterday I made a stir fry for dinner. I like doing those because I get to use up veggies that are in the fridge. This one had sirloin, peppers, broccoli, carrots, onion, ginger, garlic and bamboo shoots. Will had a sampling of everything. He decided that broccoli is finally ok, we call them "trees" and he just went to town on them! He liked the beef a lot too. I have decided that I will now purchase most of my beef from Hensler's Farm in Freeland (just past the airport, WELL worth the drive and the extra few $$ per pound) or Graham's Farm in Rosebush (I get this through our co op). I cannot believe the difference in Hensler's beef vs. the beef from the grocery store... theirs makes the grocery store beef look anemic!! And the difference in taste is amazing. But best of all, the animals are treated well and that is a huge concern for me. I will happily pay a farmer to take a caring attitude toward their livestock. I just do not think I can get grocery store meat anymore, and that's fine, I look forward to not handling drippy meat packages! Yuk!

Tonight I have a meeting in Saginaw, part of my training to become a volunteer lactation counsellor. I'm not sure what we're all doing but I'm looking forward to it. Will gets to stay home with his Daddy because I won't be able to pay a bit of attention to anything happening in the meeting if I am chasing him all over! Otherwise I'm hitting the mountain of laundry today and trying to get a few other things done, perhaps even catch a nap with my son.

Now I've got a cold...

I wound up having to call the doctor's office to find out if everyone has this cold that just hangs on for weeks. And they said it's going around. I at least could get some cold medicine for Will that has helped, although he and Clane seem to be feeling better. Now I've had a sore throat since Saturday and my nose is getting plugged up more today. My mom left this morning and she's got a cold too! Hopefully we don't have them for weeks!

The house is all quiet now that my mom is gone. I miss her already! It was really nice having her here. She and Will had so much fun together.

I found another place to get local eggs today! I'm happy, and they are only $1.50 per dozen. They are nice and big too! I got a big jar of honey from the farmer's market, along with a good loaf of bread and a hanging flower basket for the front. It will be really nice when summer gets going and there are more people selling things there. Anyone who lives locally here should go check it out!

Over the weekend I made a really wonderful Hungarian walnut torte called a dios torte. It calls for a dozen eggs and not much flour at all! And coffee buttercream. I brought it to a potluck at my sister in law's new house, and it went over very well. I enjoyed it! But it's one of those things that you have once every few years or so! Yum! :)

Oh... about Will

He is 18 months old today!! I can't belive how fast the time has gone. He is still working on that molar, his gum looks so swollen and sore, I can hardly stand to look at it. Hopefully it will come through soon!!

Rain ARRRRGHGHGHGHGHGH!!!

My mom is here visiting as you know and our guest room is in our basement. I woke up this morning and met Mom in the kitchen and she said, my bedroom floor is all wet! So I said "NOOOOO!!!!" and went downstairs. When I saw all the water, I said "NOOOOOO!!!!!" Then I came up and called my husband at work (which I never do that time of morning) and when he saw who it was he thought "NOOOOOO!" and then I told him what happened and he said "NOOOOOO!!!" and came home from work. I vacuumed and emptied the shop vac probably 6-7 times today and we still are not done. We took out the carpet from the guest room because the padding was acting like a big sponge and keeping all the water inside it. The other room is where the main computers are and a bunch of parts and our stuff from college, papers that we didn't want to toss but didn't need to be up in the filing cabinet, etc. That room is SOAKED.

I think it will take a few days work to get that room sorted out enough so that we can pull out the carpet there too. I am actually glad to see the carpet go, I think it is silly to carpet basement floors, especially with padding, unless you know you are going to always have a dry basement. We have always had water problems in our basement. We put gutters up but I think the ground got so wet and two of the spouts drain near a drainage ditch that is full... all of these things did not help. What a mess!!!

RAIN and TEETH!

It is FINALLY raining! We haven't had a good rain since over a week ago, and it was at least a week to 10 days before that. It is raining now and will rain for the next several days. Good thing because it's been so dry. My flowers will be happy! I've been watering them but rain is better I think. Of course that will water the weeds too but maybe the ground will be soft enough for me to pull them out.

And, my son is FINALLY going to get a molar! He hasn't had a new tooth since November. He's got all 8 of his front teeth in but nothing more. His gums have been swollen for a while now but on one side it is getting purplish and I can see the tooth beneath the gum. So I wonder how long the poor little guy is going to suffer this time around?? Teething must be really awful, good thing we don't remember it! I don't recall my wisdom teeth bugging me though when they broke through, I was in high school and it didn't hurt or anything.

We are having a good visit here with my mom. She had medical stuff and so far so good. She's all pooped out between the 14 hour bus ride that was more like 16 hours this time (she said an accident delayed the bus) and we've been running every day since she got here. Tomorrow we don't have to go anywhere til dinner time, then we are going to a potluck for Green Seed. I am making hummus and tabouli for that, and throughout the day I will be making a big pot of ham bean soup. I have a ham bone in the freezer and I've got beans soaking right now as we speak. If it's raining and cold it will be a good day to make soup.

Our gutters are working pretty good, my husband worked so hard to get them up and then we had no rain for so long. Today was the first real heavy rain we've had in a really long time, and the gutters were like a waterfall!! They are working well. Although we'll have to do some experimenting with a couple of downspouts because they cross sidewalks.

Maybe I'll be able to update this more in the next few days because we don't have a lot of running to do!

It's the weekend again!

It's FRIDAY! Friday is always my favorite day. Hubby is home from a long week working, we can spend the evening relaxing, it's just a big relief! And, tomorrow my mom is coming for a visit. She'll be here around 2 weeks I think. It will be so nice for her to see Will. She hasn't seen him since Christmas, this will be the first time she saw him walking. We are going to have a busy week next week, I have some co op stuff to do and she has a couple of medical appointments. It looks like the weather is going to be wonderful. Monday will be my first visit to an organic farm where the co op gets pasture fed beef and chicken and eggs. I'm really looking forward to the visit. Will loves cows so if he can see some close up it will make him happy!

I don't have many interesting things to report right now. Will still has some post nasal drip that is giving him a gunky sounding cough but it's slowly getting better. We did not spend time out in the pollen today so hopefully that will mean less coughing tonight. We went to a friend's 1 year old's birthday party today and that was fun. He played really well, I think he is finally learning more about kids his age, he is starting to play better with them. Although he did hug the 1 year old and he hugs hard... knocked the poor little guy to the floor (Will towers over him!) and made him cry! But I think all was forgiven in the end. I'll plan to have them come play here soon. He also said his first name today, it was "Ella"... she's a friend of his, 1 year older to the day!

As for weekend plans, I am pretty sure the Midland Farmer's Market opens tomorrow morning so I think we're all going to go see what's there. I want to do a lot of shopping there this summer. Buying locally is important to me! Even if I go and just get a loaf of bread. I know my mom will want to get some groceries and I'll be getting a big bunch of produce from the co op on Monday. Otherwise I'm not totally sure what else we have planned. We might go visit my in laws as well.

Most of the flowers I planted this past week are doing well, there will always be a couple of annuals that don't look so good but for the most part they are happy. I cannot believe we have lilac bushes blooming down here already. We had an early and warm spring! It's really dry though, we sure could use the rain, if nothing else to wash the pollen out of the air! The pollen I think has been especially bad this year, but I haven't had trouble which makes me happy. Maybe it's all the raw honey I've been eating. I hope so!

Hysterical!!

I just absolutely think this website is hysterically funny!! Go check it out and have a laugh on me!

Want to support a good cause?

I am a member of La Leche League of Saginaw, which as you might know provides information, help and support to breastfeeding mothers. We are doing a fundraiser right now, to raise money for books for our library (we loan them out to anyone who wants to read them), pamphlets for people who need help and we want to be able to buy breast pumps to loan out as well. You can help by going to Current, Inc. and just start shopping. When you are done, you need to select "Michigan" from a drop down menu, then on the next page make sure to select "La Leche League of Saginaw" since there is another group there which is plain "La Leche League" and if you pick that one, our group will not get the funding. Then continue to fill out the rest as usual, and that's it!

Current sells gift wrap that is nice, greeting cards, scrapbooking stuff, garden stuff, housewares and a lot of other little things! And our group gets 50% of all sales. Thanks for your help!

Wrecking crew!!

Even though dinner turned out really good, my son destroyed my kitchen in the process! Then when I was finally done and exhausted, instead of running away from me like he'd been doing for the past couple of hours (outside and in) he decided he wasn't going to leave me alone!! I finally got him playing by himself so I could put my feet up for 15 min. I did not take pictures of the destroyed kitchen but maybe the next time I will.

My husband will probably find a spatula under his pillow and a sippy cup in his underwear drawer!

Flowers and cooking

I took this picture yesterday when I was playing around with the camera. Flowers are proving to be tricky, it seems like the camera wants to focus on everything but the flower even though the flower is in the little rectangle! I'll just have to keep practicing. I think this is called a flowering plum, in any case Clane got it for me for my birthday a few years back. It's my birthday tree!

I am making stir fry tonight for dinner. It will have chicken, red pepper, onions, garlic, ginger, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. I might throw a little carrot in there too. I'll serve it with brown rice. I love stir fries, they are so good and you can put about anything in them! Yesterday I made some biscuits that had yeast in them. Never tried that before. They came out ok. They were Paula Deen's recipe from Food Network.

Pheasant

I just wanted to show off a picture I took earlier this spring. I got really lucky! I took it through our dirty basement window!

Gardening

The past two summers, my flower beds have totally gone to hell. I was just far enough along in my pregnancy the first summer that I could not bend down and it hurt anyway... then last year my son was still young and it was so hot I could barely stand to be out. There was no way I was going to take him out in that heat! So now this year I have a royal mess. I did a lot of digging earlier this month when the ground was nice and soft, but now we haven't had much rain and our clay soil sets up like concrete. We are supposed to get rain this week starting today so maybe I'll be able to get more of that done. It's just awful!!

I already planted some annuals (our last frost date is generally May 1) and wound up having to cover them one night due to a freeze warning. Fortunately I did not lose any plants but I was in such denial that we would get frost anymore! Last night we went to Menards and I bought another flat of annuals, some geraniums for pots for the front steps and a couple of perennials. Our ground is hard as a rock right now. I thought I was going to break my shovel! I'm hoping to get the rest of the annuals in today. I always get this gardening bug in the spring and then by the time it's mid June, it's too irritating and too hot and it all starts to look like total crap!

Right now it is overcast, 76 degrees on my deck (in the sun and faces west) and we are supposed to get rain later this afternoon. The last of the rain gutters are going up today, my husband and his sister are working on them while I man the baby. Once he's up I'm putting shorts on and going back outside. This is the perfect temperature for me, any hotter and it's too hot! (Yooper that I am!!) Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Woo hoo it's the weekend!

I decided to post a little while my son is taking a nap. His cold is getting a little better but it can't go away fast enough for me! My husband and his sister are putting up gutters on the house right now. And, as soon as Will wakes up we'll go outside to play. It's nice here, 77 on my deck but overcast. I want to weed my flowers today but we haven't had much rain and our dirt (which is mostly clay) sets up like cement! It's really irritating!

I have not done much cooking since we went out for dinner last night. I did get some new sweetened condensed milk though and made my magic bars! (If you google it, you'll find a lot of recipes.) They are disappearing quickly. Funny how lettuce and celery and stuff like that doesn't disappear as fast!

I am not sure what else we have planned for the weekend, we need to go get more gutter part and we will probably drive around looking for another car. The Achieva has 200,000 miles on it and Clane is making it run with rubber bands and chewing gum! Not really but it feels like that sometimes!

Heh! I'm at a loss for words. That doesn't happen often!

What's cooking tonight!

I really wanted pasta so tonight I made some. All my produce was organic so that was good! The pasta was not but it was what I had in the house. First I blanched 3 tomatoes to remove the skins, then I seeded and chopped them. I minced some garlic and sauteed it in a good amount of olive oil (I did not skimp on the olive oil this time around). Then I added the tomatoes, a splash of balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. After that I put in some red wine and chiffonaded some basil. I had a little dressing made from olive oil and fresh parsley from another day that needed to be used so that went in as well. I boiled some orchiette pasta and once that was done I added it to the tomatoes along with a bit of the pasta water. Then I let the sauce thicken back up and we ate. It was good! I served it with some old rolls I turned into garlic bread. If we'd had room, I would have eaten some of the grilled red peppers I did the other day, just grilled with olive oil and salt and dressed with more olive oil and chopped parsley.

We all liked it except the baby. He is usually good about trying new stuff but he would have nothing to do with it tonight. Oh well, his loss!!

Did you know...

That if you keep a can of sweetened condensed milk in your cabinet for several years, it will, all by itself, turn into a big brown blob? Well, it will! I went to try to make those magic bars (you know, with the chocolate chips and coconut?) last night and after getting the butter and graham cracker crumbs in the pan, I opened the milk to pour it and something wasn't right! So now I have 1/2 cup of butter + 1 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs in my fridge just waiting for something. Last night I learned that if I purchase a can of sweetened condensed milk I should really use it within a few months! The worst part was, that my fantasies of a nice warm sweet chewy melted chocolate bliss and goodness went straight out the window!! I suppose I could have taken more butter out of the freezer and found something equally delectable to make but I have no energy (see previous post about toddlers and boogers) and I just didn't have it in me.

The moral of this story is, do not trust that cans keep things from going bad!

Toddlers and boogers don't mix

My son Will has a cold right now. He does not yet know how to blow his nose (although we are trying to teach him) so as you can imagine, his face is a mess!! He can't blow it but he can wipe it all around! Not fun at all! (Don't even get me started on how bad nights have been lately! I'm feeling quite run down!) Thankfully he is playing and showing all other signs of not feeling too bad except he will not sleep. That's funny. I usually want to sleep constantly when I don't feel good.

Toddlers and shredded cheese also are not that good of a combination. This is one of the reasons he gets a bath every night! However, toddlers and cats can be ok depending on the cat. One of our cats does not appreciate being cornered or "played" with but the other one is very doggy and seems to love the attention, even the 17 month old kind!

I should go, it appears that he is melting down in the other room. Must be time for bed. Notice I said bed, not sleep!

Shalom in the Home

You know, I really like Schmuley! I was telling my mom that I like him so much, he makes me want to become Jewish! I just think he's really neat and the way he helps people with his problems is gentle yet very effective it seems. I guess I need to get one of his books.

Speaking of books, I'm reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" right now and it makes me never want to ever eat meat from a grocery store again! Actually it makes me not want to eat most foods again! (That's highly unlikely except the meat part.) It's a real eye opener providing all the info in there is correct to the best of his knowledge. He was on NPR one day and Clane (my hubby) bought me the book. It's really interesting!

My first blog

As I sit here writing this, I am wondering who would want to read it and why? But then a friend of mine reminded me that I have a lot of interests. I'm a second and third generation Finnish/Hungarian mom of a 17 month old son. I'm an RN although now staying at home, and I've been married to my wonderful man for 4 years. I'm a little bit of a hippie, we use cloth diapers and I belong to a really nice little food co-op here in the area. I am also active with La Leche League which supports breastfeeding mamas.

I've got a pet parrot who yells at my son and the cats, I used to scuba dive in college and I love collecting postage stamps and doing a lot of art stuff. I'm interested in all sorts of stuff, if you care to keep reading (if it's not too boring) you'll find out all kinds of things. I love to cook and will probably frequently post about what I'm making on here.