tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14841341317847784212024-09-01T13:49:29.256-07:00Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.comBlogger219125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-45681837125361687682020-10-29T09:20:00.006-07:002020-10-29T09:42:31.979-07:00

It's funny that I was thinking about a big meeting I attended a few years ago since there is so little time spent being in person these days. I was working for a small company and we were meeting with an engineering group from a much larger company. It was important, because we were the small team. The project coordination would do a lot for our company. The other team was more insulated from

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-69060382586332498312020-03-26T16:48:00.000-07:002020-10-29T09:08:20.674-07:00

Our Au Pair has opted to return home. This was a fast decision. She told us Sunday morning and was on flight out of the country by Wednesday. I can understand why this decision was made, but ACK! With the COVID-19 virus, we are all working from home. The governor closed all schools for our state about a week ago. The day care also closed and will remain closed for some time. I also think we

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-15614682195562615242020-03-17T02:46:00.002-07:002020-03-17T02:51:31.833-07:00

We are all stuck at home. It's a very uncertain time and the gravity of everything that is happening with schools closing, work places closing and required remote work. I hope that all of this makes a difference. We are, obviously, doing a lot of cooking at home and I'm sure as the weeks wear on that this will become more creative. Day 1 dinner was via Jamie Cooks It up Lemon Butter

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-84649470398747405972018-10-17T08:38:00.000-07:002020-03-17T10:28:45.882-07:00

It's been a long time, but we've had a lot of big changes. Her little brother, baby A, is potty training and both kids are big fans of Peppa pig. So, baby A ended up with Peppa pig undies next to his Spider-Man ones. Big A decided that she wanted to wear Peppa pig. And that is when it hit me. Why was I potty training her little brother and not trying with her? She was showing interest, she has

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-90772601736362383752018-01-17T20:47:00.002-08:002018-01-17T20:48:21.145-08:00

It's that time of year, again. Time to get those W2s together. I think this is the part I hate the most of having a household employee. It's confusing and the forms are hard to find.

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-54494514102459494712017-09-05T20:28:00.000-07:002017-09-05T20:33:05.881-07:00

We have made the decision that Anna should be with kids her own age who are neurotypical. You would think this would be easy to find, call a few local preschools and just sign her up, but it isn't. The moment I mention that she has Down syndrome, I suddenly have to prove that she belongs there. If it's in person, there's hand ringing, or the standard, "I don't know if this will work out..."

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-72983697051045560792017-05-17T23:59:00.001-07:002017-05-18T00:09:04.312-07:00

The R-word. Seriously, you have to have a better term, unless you're really just that incapable of coming up with anything witty. Because The R-word is not witty. It's not funny and it's not something you should use. It's insulting to anyone who has developmental delays. It should be insulting to everyone. It is an outdated term and the R-word is no longer used in medical texts. I "hear" it

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-55674461013003338702017-04-05T15:37:00.000-07:002017-04-05T15:37:00.442-07:00

I volunteered in the big kid’s classrooms when they were in elementary school. It has happened less so in recent years due to the direction our lives have taken. In the past, I was at the school once a week before the younger two were born. I remember being welcome, allowed to help and given things to do. At times, I felt so out of my element, being around the noise that is a classroom compared

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-72191197794399095182016-12-20T21:00:00.000-08:002016-12-21T13:52:43.906-08:00

Hiring a nanny and paying above board is painful and it shouldn’t be! It is no wonder so many families just toss their arms up and pay under the table or feel they must hire someone to do this. I found the fees for hiring someone to pay our nanny cost prohibitive. If I can figure that out, more of my childcare budget can go to the nanny. There is some initial work the first few weeks, but after

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-16576728637653209242016-11-15T08:05:00.003-08:002016-11-15T16:06:47.746-08:00

Last night our district held a school board meeting. A segment of the meeting allows audience members to address the school board. This is what I told our school board. Good evening  I am here to talk to you about inclusive education at the preschool level.  My husband and I have four children. My oldest son is in middle school, my oldest daughter is in elementary school, and my 3

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-35705337462976932282016-11-05T17:04:00.001-07:002016-11-15T08:10:06.723-08:00

My little girl started developmental preschool. She takes the little bus. The bus stops at the top of our driveway and she happily climbs on to go to school. I have my misgivings about school. I like her teachers, I like the care and respect everyone has for us, but I wish she had peer models. I dropped her off at school once this year and left very upset. First, I watched as all the big buses

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-335023774137048072016-09-05T08:07:00.001-07:002016-11-15T08:11:27.259-08:00

We have had a lot of changes in our household. We've moved back to the wet side of the mountains. Big N is in middle school. Little N is in her final year of elementary school. Big A is a big A. Yes, since I haven't been posting a lot of blog updates there has been a little A. So, to say things are moving forward is the understatement. I've taken a hiatus from work to care for Big A and

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-75358318968223424992015-01-18T20:07:00.001-08:002015-01-18T20:20:21.910-08:00

I made this one up a while ago and have made it many times. It took Jai asking for the recipe to remind me to write it down. So, I'm calling this one Jai's Chicken and brown rice soup. 4 frozen chicken breasts 5 carrots, peeled and diced 4 celery sticks, diced 1 1/2 onions, diced 1/2 a bunch of kale, cleaned, hard veins/stems removed, finely chopped 2 1/2 teaspoons cumin 2 1/2 teaspoons

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-1400111700374918222013-06-12T07:31:00.000-07:002013-06-23T13:38:46.237-07:00

I am on an oatmeal kick. Of course, there is only so many days in a row that you can eat oatmeal as I previously knew how to cook it. During the first month of baby A's stay in the hospital, I enjoyed a bowl most mornings from the hospital cafeteria. After that first month, I was oatmeal-ed out and the Starbucks baristas at the River entrance began to know me by name, drink and cinnamon morning

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-23571024392287928272013-05-29T20:31:00.001-07:002013-05-29T20:36:29.975-07:00

Tomorrow will be one week home! Each day gets easier to be home, but there still is so many things we are working out. I've been journaling throughout her stay at the hospital on Caring Bridge. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/AnnaEliseRichmond 3 months old and finally home!

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-54346747480526817272013-03-31T13:13:00.001-07:002013-03-31T13:15:35.837-07:00

I haven't been posting much lately, but in all reality, I haven't been ready to talk about everything that has happened over the last 6 weeks on such a public forum. Baby A arrived in a beautiful and super fast home birth. We welcomed her into our home and everything looked great. She nursed within minutes of being born and then again before the midwives left. Baby A then proceeded to give us

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-90780244351603880242013-02-13T08:06:00.002-08:002013-02-13T08:10:04.150-08:00

Big N has a deep love for everything involving the combination of Lego and Star Wars. To be honest, it's a pretty cool combination. This year he wanted to use Lego Star Wars and his Valentine's day theme. I wanted to avoid sending more candy to school. I came across someone else's neat idea and decided to change it just a little bit to tailor it towards Big N's tastes. Big N wanted to use a

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-64571051181710371442013-02-01T19:58:00.000-08:002013-07-12T13:41:55.763-07:00

Why is it that well child visits are only available at the pediatrician office during school hours? It makes no sense. We have found that the last non-emergency appointment of the day at our current pediatrician's office is at 3:10, which coincides with the exact time that school lets out. It's really frustrating that non-emergency appointments must occur during school hours.

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-50062370835761659152013-01-04T20:38:00.000-08:002013-02-13T08:09:54.189-08:00

Little N has had a tough week. She caught the flu bug going around town just in time for the second day back to school from winter break. She was getting up for school on Thursday morning when the flu bug hit her hard and fast. She still had a fever on Friday morning, so we thought better of sending her to school and kept her home one more day. Little N started to act more like herself Friday

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-6629816415961338072012-12-06T18:37:00.000-08:002013-07-12T13:41:02.692-07:00

There are many articles that talk about the lack of support women in this country have when it comes to the decision to work or not to work. On some level, we self-perpetuate the myth that women should be able to have a career and a family. Companies don't have day care onsite, which they should. Companies don't push to offer more time off for a mom and a new baby, which they should. You have to

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-54718592101206733582012-12-04T16:57:00.000-08:002012-12-05T13:30:28.359-08:00

Little N was helping me go through some hand-me-down maternity clothes the other day and came across a great little polka-dot sleeveless shirt. The shirt had gigantic black polka dots sprinkled across it. She immediately squealed in delight. Little N ran to her closet and produced her Easter dress from last spring. Wouldn't you know it, her Easter dress also has gigantic black polka dots

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-22892451147781131722012-11-26T22:40:00.000-08:002012-11-26T22:40:31.634-08:00

After digging through the scrap bin last weekend, I opted to make something fast for myself. My cats like to clear my sewing table and hopefully this little fabric box will contain the spools of thread I am working with. I have high hopes of not finding the spool completely unwound all over the house. I try to tuck things away when I stop working on a project, but the cats have the uncanny

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-66655374408709298282012-11-18T17:15:00.000-08:002012-11-26T22:41:02.648-08:00

I was invited to a short notice baby shower and this baby needs a homemade gift. I raided my scrap bin and came across some larger pieces left over from a puppy dog themed baby quilt. I found an online tutorial and made two quick pairs of pants. However, the pants looked lonely by themselves. I added more fabric scraps to the front of store bought onsies and had two instant outfits. Of course

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-87584519686882566112012-06-18T13:13:00.000-07:002012-12-06T12:45:58.944-08:00

We have a house guest. We're not really sure how long they will stay and I'm sure we will need to do some clean-up after they are gone.

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1484134131784778421.post-91098700972000197682012-06-15T22:59:00.002-07:002012-12-06T12:46:17.377-08:00

Today was the last day of school for both kids. Both Pete and I took the day off so we could go to the assembly. Big N got a certificate for perfect attendance. He has had perfect attendance for the 3rd year in a row.

Melanyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03987982201826397987noreply@blogger.com0