Life in Slow Motion.

Ada is ONE!

2011-04-26T17:06:00.002-04:00

Curious how Ada is growing up? She just had her first birthday!
Come over to my new blog if you haven't already and catch up!

www.halfheardinthestillness.com

Hello?

2010-12-09T18:55:00.001-05:00

Psst...about half of you still need to come over to the new blog! www.halfheardinthestillness.com

Rosie's First Dance Recital!

2010-12-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

Just a quick reminder...

You're missing out if you haven't come over to the new blog!

Rosie's First Dance Recital!

I'm Moving!!

2010-12-03T14:39:00.000-05:00

Notice: This blog is moving to www.halfheardinthestillness.com!

Hey you--yes you--the 200 something people reading by feedburner, change your feed to:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/Halfheardinthestillness

Lurkers and you 94 blogger followers, change your bookmarks!

I'll still leave this blog up, but I'll no longer be posting here.

Come check it out over at www.halfheardinthestillness.com! It's pretty and spiffy and fun...

Burst.

2010-12-02T01:00:00.000-05:00

Hello? Is this thing on?

I've been lost in my own world of creativity the past few days. I've crocheted Ada a wool hat, it's just waiting on the cat ears to be attached to the top. I finally learned how to crochet correctly, with the help of a new friend we met at Rosie's homeschool co-op. Yay!

I'm making Ada a refurbished wooden doggy, I mentioned that earlier. He's now been sanded clean, painted white, and I'm almost done drawing details on him--face, spots, etc. Next I have to shade him in with various browns and when that dries he's getting a non-toxic clear glaze all over. After that he's getting a new pull string stapled into his head along with his new felt ears stapled on. Then he'll be done for Christmas! Photos of him to come, he'll get his own blog entry once he's complete. He's so cute, I can't wait to see him finished up.

For family we're giving out cute square accordion books with photos. They are wallet sized, tiny, and close with a magnet. Like this...

I've been trying to decide what to put in it. Maybe this?

Cover:

Front:

Back:

Back Cover:

I am so indecisive. I keep redesigning it. I'm also making several of them for clients. I'm getting tired of staring at Photoshop. So tired of it that I haven't even uploaded any new pictures of Ada and Rosie.

Somehow in the midst of my creative burst I've also been cooking and cleaning. Ada seems to be getting her two front teeth for Christmas and she's not too pleased about it. She's stuck to me like glue and crying. Poor Sweet Pants.

I'm so tired. Tomorrow is the last day of classes at homeschool co-op for the semester and they are having a pizza party.

Friday is Rosie's dance class recital. They are dancing to Frosty the Snowman. Their outfits are absolutely adorable, but apparently I'm more conservative than I thought because the way it's tight and low cut makes me uncomfortable. I know it's a dance costume, but still. I don't know. That's my little girl dressed in a fluffy skin tight outfit! Ack. I didn't expect to worry about inappropriate clothes for a few more years.

When Rosie puts on her dance recital costume Ada starts laughing hysterically.

There will be pictures of Rosie in it, just wait til Saturday. There will also be a video of her recital, I hope. Imagine about 10 four year olds trying to do a coordinated dance. It's excellent, in a funny way. I can't wait to see it.

How is it 1 in the morning already? I have to shut my tired eyes now.

The Handlebar Mustache Man.

2010-11-29T18:44:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went to get frozen yogurt (oh Orange Leaf, how I love thee!) and then we went next door to Walmart.

I know I've said this before, but I absolutely hate Walmart, for a multitude of reasons...the least not being the fact that the store is crowded with crazy people. At Christmas time it's even worse than normal! We had a few random things to pick up though, stuff that costs twice as much if you try to buy it at the grocery store.

It took a little while to get through the crowds to gather our random assortment of items. I got stopped by three people asking me about the mei tai carrier I was wearing Ada in. I should start taking pamphlets or something! Everyone wants to know what it's called and where I got it and if it's actually as comfortable as it looks. One man apologized and said he didn't mean to be creepy but he was so curious where I got it because his wife was home with their brand new baby and she'd sent him out to buy a carrier and a breast pump. Thank goodness we have a natural parenting store in town with an owner who will totally set them up with the best things for baby wearing and breastfeeding! I sent him there and when he walked away he was calling the store to see what their hours were.

Anyway, by the time we got to the check out line Rosie was in some sort of low blood sugar mode. You know how you feel like crap on a stick if you eat something sweet then exert yourself? After walking around the store digesting confetti cake frozen yogurt with sprinkles and cookie dough, she was at the end of her rope so to speak. It's partially my fault, I should have peanut butter and crackers or something in my purse for these sorts of situations.

She'd seen a doll she really wanted and since she wasn't feeling well she couldn't seem to control herself. She started sobbing, loudly. Then she started yelling, "If I don't get that doll I'll be so sad that all of my bones will break!"

Cue 10,000 staring eyes.

Tyler stayed in line and I took Rosie to the front door to wait for him. (Ada was nursing in the mei tai on my chest, happily kicking her feet back and forth...)

At the front door everyone leaving the store was passing us. This old man with a dramatic handle bar mustache--I mean his mustache was curled right up on the ends exactly like this--stopped and said to Rosie, "You know little girl, Santa and his elves are watching you. You're going to get nothing but coal for Christmas! Once when I was a little boy I was bad and I really got nothing but coal!"

Rosie was still sobbing, but she was now also horrified because a) a freaky mustached man was talking to her and b) I had *just* finished telling her that I understood how badly she wanted that doll and perhaps she should ask Santa for it.

Except, hey, Santa might not give her the doll after all because OMG the elves are watching her and she might instead get some black rocks.

The hysterical sobbing increased.

At this point I just started laughing. And couldn't stop.
What else can you do in such a situation?

Rosie cried the entire way home, wailing loudly...when we got inside I immediately fed her and 10 minutes later she was fine.

All day today she keeps asking me, "Do Santa and his elves know that sometimes kids get tired and hungry? Does Santa know that sometimes I feel sad and cry? Does crying make Santa angry? I'm so sorry I got sad."

If there's one thing I've learned while parenting it's that kids usually throw tantrums for a reason. Over stimulated, over tired, hungry, stressed, frustrated, etc. She knew we weren't going to buy a doll. The point of her crying was to express her sadness and frustration, not because she thought crying would make us go back and get it.

It's kind of funny that a stranger stopped to inform her she was going to get coal, really funny actually, but it also makes me angry. She didn't feel good and we were trying to leave the crowded store. I'm not going to punish her because I fed her sweets and then let her get hungry, or make idle threats to scare her into not crying when she's upset...

Christmas Season!

2010-11-28T10:53:00.000-05:00

We set up our Christmas tree yesterday. Rosie was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Ada was in awe.

So far Ada hasn't tried to harm the tree. We put the non-breakable ornaments towards the bottom just in case. My real concern is that she'll try to use a tree branch to pull to a stand and the whole tree will fall over. Let's hope that doesn't happen! It's a small tree, so I'm sure the only real damage would be broken ornaments...

I don't think we can set up the white tree skirt or train around it, but that's alright.

This sister love thing is killing me. It's causes extreme baby fever--imagine how wonderful it will be with more children. AAAH!

I guess Christmas is upon us! Let the countdown until Santa begin!

Thanksgiving and One Wet Trainers.

2010-11-25T19:31:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving Dinner went pretty well today. I remember on Rosie's first Thanksgiving she cried during the meal and just wanted to go somewhere quiet and nurse, so I didn't get to eat. Oh my intense Rosie.

Ada is much different. Rosie needed to nurse 24/7 as a baby, but when she wasn't nursing she was very outgoing. Even as a baby she craved the attention and interaction from other people.

Ada is more introverted, like I am. She was content to squish some mashed potatoes during the meal while I ate, but she cried anytime someone else tried to talk to her or hold her. She would reach her arms to me and sob. This is the polar opposite of Rosie as a baby. I love seeing their different personalities developing! Ada acts totally different at home--she is talkative and smiles all the time, she sits on the floor happily and crawls all over. Rosie as a baby had to be held at home constantly or she cried, but when we were out places she was happy to ride in the cart and babble and grin at every stranger. See, opposites!

Raising extroverted Rosie is a continual challenge for me. I am very much a homebody and not very social. It seems as if Ada might be a homebody too. This will be interesting.

Ada does let a few people hold her. Randomly, she loves my Grandma.

(I took these photos in the dark with only a tiny bit of cloudy light filtering through the curtains...)

On another note, I have to update you about Ada's sudden elimination communication leap. I think earlier when she was only using the potty 50% of the time were were in the midst of what's known as a "potty pause" because now suddenly she is using the potty 90% of the time if not more!

I sit her on the big potty on her seat, she pees right away, and that's that. It's so incredibly easy. A million times easier than diapers. She still has random accidents occasionally, and she is still wearing a diaper when we go places in the car. For some reason she screams in her car seat, and I guess when she's distressed she pees and often poops as a result of the stress.

When I saw this tutorial for One Wet Trainers I *had* to make some. They are genius!

The first pair I made fit very snugly.

My modifications from the tutorial are:

-Fold over elastic all the way around
-Outer made of no-pill fleece for light waterproofing purposes
-Soaker snaps in (instead of sewed on) so that it can be removed for small pee accidents instead of changing the whole trainer

Not only are they super easy to make, they are cheap, and effective! I'm so glad I tried these. This is so much easier than wrestling Ada into a diaper or having her accidentally pee in the floor. The trainers pull up and down like underwear.

I made subsequent pairs slightly larger so that they will continue to fit for awhile. When Ada has them on the waist band can be folded down so they fit now, and they'll fit when she grows.

Perfect.

Deeper.

2010-11-25T00:29:00.000-05:00

"Gratitude means thankfulness, counting our blessings, noticing simple pleasures, and acknowledging everything that we receive. It means learning to live our life as if everything were a miracle, and being aware on a continuous basis of how much we’ve been given."

(From this blog.)

I often have these moments of panic where I suddenly worry that we're doing everything all wrong as parents. I step back and look at our country, our society, and our culture and I don't think I want to be a part of it.

You never really think about these things until you have children. Suddenly life takes on an entirely new perspective.

What does Thanksgiving mean, anyway? For most it means gorging ourselves on food, then going shopping the next day to get the best deals we can find. All of the Black Friday commercials, the constant bombardment to buy more so you'll be happy...it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

You know, the other day when Rosie conned me into going to McDonald's I was looking at the drive-thru menu. Right there on the menu were subtle words convincing me I needed their food to be

happy.

Happy Meal. McRib JOY. I'm lovin' it!

Wait. No I'm not! Seriously, for a split second I almost ordered a McRib sandwich. Because who doesn't like some straight up joy in their lives?

Something is so wrong here. How sad is it that our society has to eat some freaky boneless rib sandwich in order to find joy?

What if I don't want to participate any longer?

Is it possible to step away from commercialism? From constant interconnectedness? To step away from our fast paced life styles and instead find time to enjoy simple pleasures, like reading books and playing board games. Maybe enjoying each others' presence instead of staring at a glowing TV screen silently next to each other on the couch.

How many moments of my childrens' lives have I missed while staring at the internet or poking the touch screen of my iPhone?

As a society we are addicted to technology and credit cards. Myself included.

The other night for like an hour I thought that we should become Amish. I watched a PBS documentary on the Amish and I was enthralled. The reason they resist new technology is because of family and spirituality.

Family is their number one priority, next to God. If they have telephones in their homes, they will be distracted from their family. If they have cars or rubber wheels on their tractors life will suddenly be too fast paced, and the focus will shift from enjoying their family to getting things done as fast as they can.

Simplicity. Those Amish have a firm grasp, don't they?

I researched it. The Amish take converts.

Then I ran into a few downsides. They only get an 8th grade education, for one. Simplicity doesn't require too much complicated knowledge, because there is nothing simple about calculus is there?

I want my children to have more opportunities past 8th grade if they so desire.

They don't allow photography. I sure do love making graven images.

I also enjoy my electricity, sometimes.

But some things seem so perfect. They aim to eat three meals a day together as a family. Can you imagine how wonderful that would be? I haven't eaten a meal with my husband since Sunday. I haven't seen him since then except for a few minutes in passing. He's too busy going to work to earn money so we can buy things.

In reality though, I wasn't born Amish and I can't just suddenly become Amish, at least not easily.

So then I kept on thinking, which I will be the first to admit can be a dangerous thing for me to do, and I realized that I don't have to go become someone else to move towards simplicity. It's just harder here.

I can turn off my iPhone and my computer. I can throw away Black Friday ads. We don't have to turn on the TV.

There is only one huge, huge downside. It's lonely.

It is so lonely.

There is no community of support. If I turn off the computer and the phone who will I talk to? Certainly not my neighbors. Not my husband, who is at work or asleep 90% of the time. My children? I'll talk to them, but my sanity requires adult interaction!

So what is the answer? I don't know. I feel kind of trapped, to be honest.

I want to be here. In the present, enjoying each moment. I don't want to get a job or send my children to school, I love being home with them. It's just that something is missing, and I have no idea how to find it. Our culture doesn't come with a community comparable to people like the Amish. It's all backwards like that. In order to not be lonely, or maybe to forget how lonely I am, I feel the need to buy things like McRib sandwiches and Pillow Pets and iPhone apps. We all do, I think. That's a sad truth.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. If I can't achieve instant simplicity, I can at least be thankful for what I have. I mean of course we are all thankful for our families and that entire cliche, but shouldn't there be something deeper? How do we go about finding it?

I can focus on learning to live my life "as if everything were a miracle." Maybe that will send me in the right direction...

Placenta,

2010-11-23T20:29:00.001-05:00

That's a print of Ada's placenta. It was shaped like a heart.

Maybe it seems gross to some, but to me it's special. The placenta is what nourishes the baby, helps the baby to grow big and strong, and what filters out harmful things. The placenta is what secures the baby's life inside of the womb.

After Baby J died because the placenta detached from my uterus, Ada's healthy placenta was even more meaningful.

When the placenta detaches from the uterine wall it causes severe cramping and hemorrhaging. The OB explained to me that it was fluke. For some reason the baby's placenta didn't attach right, didn't grow correctly, and the baby wasn't able to get enough nutrients. Only enough to stay alive. This is why my uterus kept growing, and we were able to hear the baby's heartbeat loud and strong up until the day before the gushing blood started at 12 weeks. Prior to the bleeding everything seemed normal. I didn't have any ultrasounds, but the baby sounded healthy and my belly was growing.

Once it started, the blood couldn't stop gushing because the placenta was hanging by a thread inside.

The baby died, and everything was stuck in there because of that faulty placenta. Not only did the placenta cause the death of my baby, it also caused a very traumatic miscarriage experience and resulted in the emergency D&C, which in turn left me with nothing. No baby remains, no proof that the baby was ever real other than the precious memories of listening to the heartbeat. The hospital wouldn't even give me a copy of the ultrasound they did. They didn't understand why I would want an ultrasound photo of my baby after death. I requested it with my hospital records but they still wouldn't include it.

In some ways I think that's the hardest thing--having no physical reminders of the baby's existence. Nothing to look at and remember the entire trimester this baby lived in my womb. No one talks about it. No one remembers except for me. I will never forget how much he was loved, or how excited I was when I heard his heart beating.

The only evidence of his existence is in my medical records. "Fetal remains found in cervix."

Dear Dr. Greene, You were the only person to hold my baby.

Then the fetal remains became medical waste. I can't even think about that. My baby as medical waste, disposed of in a biohazard waste can...

The results of the biopsy showed a healthy baby. Normal genes, nothing wrong.

Faulty placenta.

Placentas are important.

They should be considered sacred, they should be honored. It's because of a healthy placenta that we are all here today.

While I was pregnant with Ada I prayed daily that her placenta was growing, and that it was firmly attached where it should be. I focused on imagining it super glued to my womb. I like that it came out heart shaped.

I'm not sure what to do with Ada's placenta prints. I want to do something with them, something beautiful. I'm waiting for inspiration to strike, I guess.

One day I hope to hang the final print on the wall, when I figure out what I want to do to embellish it. Or you know, maybe I'll just frame it the way it is.

I can't decide.

After Lunch.

2010-11-22T22:32:00.000-05:00

11/21/2010

2010-11-21T23:07:00.001-05:00

We were stuck in traffic this afternoon when Tyler turned to me and said, "You know, I saw the most ridiculous thing the other day."

"What?" I asked him, prepared for it to be something stupid.

"A camo print Snuggie! The suggested uses said for fishing or hunting. But wouldn't that be cold?"

"It's a blanket, why would it be cold?"

He was completely serious when he answered. "Because it's like a robe, right?" I started laughing and he was confused. Then it dawned on him...

"Wait, is this like that time at high school graduation...when I realized too late about the graduation robes?"

Yes, yes it is.

Good thing I wasn't planning on getting him a camo Snuggie for fishing trips.

Still on the theme of Christmas, I found the cutest little doggy for Ada on Etsy. I'm going to sand it and repaint it, then put a clear glaze over it so the paint doesn't chip. (Question for the internets: What kind of glaze should I use over acrylic paints that would be kid-safe? I have no clue!)

(Photo taken from the Etsy store where I purchased him.)

I can't wait until he gets here! I'm going to trace the remaining eye and facial detail before sanding it off, then I can draw it back on and try to recreate it somewhat. Hopefully he turns out cute and not like he's suffering from distemper.

I'm thinking I'll put the glaze over the red wheels too, just in case they are made from lead paint.

Santa's elf has a lot of work to do! I'll take pictures of the progress, just for fun.

Happy 7 month birthday to Ada! Can you believe it's been that long?

Here are some Hipstamatic pictures from my iPhone.

Busy Ada Pants. Kid has places to go.

(Note Tyler's shoes left in the very middle of the floor where we will trip over them.)

Ada didn't appreciate the flash.

Swagbucks Update and Christmas-y Things.

2010-11-19T22:18:00.000-05:00

I can't help it. I'm melting from the sister love and Ada's potty faces are cracking me up.

Good times over here.

Alright, so Swagbucks?

Hello free money! So far I've ordered four $5 amazon gift cards. I received the first one today, so yes it really works and it's legit.

Right now I have 1,738 bucks. It costs 450 for a $5 amazon gift card. I need to order some more!

I barely spend any time searching or any of that. It's the referrals I have that earn them for me.

Usually while I'm eating breakfast I do the daily poll, turn the videos on mute, and maybe a few searches. I keep an eye out for codes, but I miss most of them because I'm too busy with the girls to bother.

(If you want to join click here for the referral! It starts you out with 30 swagbucks.)
Fun to randomly earn free money without hardly doing anything!

Moving on...
I realized suddenly that it's only 36 days until Christmas!

Every year I'm left wondering exactly what kind of traditions we want to have for our children on Christmas. I want so badly to get away from the whole get a million toys thing. I've realized that opening presents is thrilling for Rosie, but when she gets loads of stuff half of it just gets forgotten or tossed aside. So my focus should definitely be few quality gifts rather than lots of cheap gifts.

(And really it's not about the gifts, but I haven't yet figure out how to impart that upon my little people.)

So my plan is for Santa to bring each girl one big gift, and then a few smaller items from mom and dad or Santa.

I've got it figured out for Rosie.

She's getting a doctor's kit, which is something she desperately wants. I browsed doctor kits online for several weeks and couldn't find one I liked. Then it dawned on me that I should just create my own! And why give her expensive plastic things when...I could just buy her real doctor stuff?

I hit up eBay last night and found tons of cheap doctor things on there. I spent about $30, which is a bit more than a plastic kit, but this will be so much more fun.

Rosie is getting a stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff, and an otoscope (for looking in ears, nose, throat, and eyes),and a dental mirror for tooth examining. We have a bunch of bags laying around, so I'll find a nice one to make the "kit" aspect. I'm going to make some bandages out of fleece with velcro sewn on. I'll add a thermometer, we have several digital ones that aren't quite reliable. I'll also add a clipboard for writing down symptoms. And we have plenty of syringes laying around that I can throw in, sans needles of course.

How much fun will this be? I can't wait to play with the otoscope. I got three sizes for ears, so we can look in Ada's ears, Rosie's ears, and Tyler's ears.

Ahem.

So that's her big Santa gift. She also wants a pair of red sparkly shoes like Dorthy. I saw some at Target. She asked for an Ariel baby too, to meet her baby Cinderella.

We do a pair of Christmas pajamas to open on Christmas Eve for both girls, so that's one more thing.
For her stocking we'll buy locally made chocolates in fun shapes, like chocolate frogs. I'm going to put a Barbie coloring book in Rosie's. Ada is going to get a banana in her stocking and maybe a little toy or something. I might give Ada one piece of chocolate too. Shhh.

I'm not sure what Santa can bring Ada. She needs nothing! But Rosie would notice if she got skipped over.

Rosie is going to give Ada her old rocking dog toy. Oh I guess Ada better pick something to give Rosie too!

I would love to get Ada a wooden walker toy, but those are like $70. Hmm.

I was thinking they could get a joint gift of a plastic kid sized basketball goal. Rosie loves to play stuff like that with Tyler, and soon Ada can join in. Rosie doesn't really know anything like that exists, so it would be a fun surprise.

Tyler requests Star Wars Lego sets and sexual favors for Christmas.

Figures, right?

Hard Things.

2010-11-18T23:03:00.000-05:00

I do like Tyler working night shift, but it's hard.

Since he's working at night he has time during the day, so he has a second job. He works at his dad's mailing business. It's easy, stuffing envelopes. He goes there at 9 in the morning on Tuesday and Thursday, then he leaves there at 4 and goes to Toyota to work all night.
This translates into us not seeing him from Monday night until he wakes up on Wednesday afternoon.

And since he's worked so much and not slept, he has to sleep in later on Wednesdays, so he's only up for a few hours before he leaves for work again at 4 in the afternoon. He goes to work on Wednesday at 4, then he comes home and sleeps only to get up to be at his dad's office at 9 on Thursday morning...leaves from his dad's office for Toyota, works all night, then sleeps in late on Friday...

On Saturday and Sunday he needs to catch up on sleep. Then it starts all over again on Monday
afternoon when he leaves for work.

It sucks--I know it's hard for him to be gone so much, to sleep at such odd times. And it's hard for us because I have no help at all. No one to watch TV with at night, no time for intimacy, no one to take the girls for five minutes when I feel like I am losing my mind. It's just me, alone, and him working alone.

Dislike.

All of this alone time means I never have a chance to catch up on stuff. I feel so scatter brained, which I'm sure is exacerbated by Ada never ever sleeping more than an hour at a time day or night. I can't do anything with my photography business, I have no chance. Even when Ada does sleep at night she wakes up as soon as I sneak away. I can't drag my iMac into the bed easily, or sit and hold her heavy sleeping body at the computer while working.

We discussed the difference between him working two jobs and me getting a part time job instead. He insists it's better this way because Ada needs me for nursing and snuggling right now. I'm glad he understands that. I feel bad that he's working so hard though.

I hope after Christmas he can quit his job at his dad's office, or at least just do it one day a week instead of two days.

If we get any money for Christmas we'll use it for bills. I'm praying we get some good money for our tax return. I need $4,000 total to pay off all of our credit card bills and then we'll be even.

Even at least until we run short on money for gas, groceries, or medical bills, or emergency car repairs.

UGH.

Please send donations via paypal to amyamosphotography at gmail dot com.

(That was sarcasm.)

I wish there was a get rich quick option, but then...you know...I guess this is all part of that journey.

I know for sure if I ever have enough money I will not take one single thing for granted. I will be frugal for life.

Too bad I don't have a mysterious, unknown, rich elderly relative that could die and leave me wads of cold hard cash.

At the same time I'm careful not to complain too much because I know there are others out there worse off than us. I own my house, small and fugly as it may be. We pay our mortgage and our utility bills on time every month. (Well aside from that one time our water was accidentally cut off for a day, but you know...sh*t happens.)

I do have to say though, it drives me insane when people complain that they cannot find a job. I think that should be rephrased to they cannot find a job they think they are worthy of doing. It is not hard to find a retail job, a fast food job, or whatever else. It sucks, it doesn't completely pay the bills, but how can it be worse than sitting on your butt doing nothing and complaining about being poor? I guess that's one thing I love about Tyler. He will go out and find a job doing anything he can to support us. Sitting around and wishing life was different is so pointless. Get up and go make your life different!

That's been a frustrating lesson for Tyler to learn, since he has a degree in political science that is of zero use. There are no careers for him at all, at least not ones that don't require cross country moves we can't afford, non-paying internships, or graduate school.

Yeah. So he's out there living life to the fullest--and I think he actually somewhat likes working at Toyota. If/when he ever gets hired on we'll be set.

Sometimes I feel like my life is a game of Monopoly.

Do not pass Go. Do not collect $200.

A tree fell on your garage during a freak windstorm! Pay $500 in repairs.

You rolled doubles three times, go directly to JAIL.

What bad luck!

Think happy thoughts...happy thoughts...

I have to tell you--Ada has learned to wave and it's so sweet and awkward looking. Now she's started saying hi with it! I really need to get it on video. She flings one arm up and down and says, "haaaaaaaaiiiiii" while grinning.

I love it.

And Rosie is astounding me with her learning abilities lately. She drew me this picture of a cat eating a rat pizza. She wrote "cat" and "rat" on it all by herself without even asking for my help!

Watching my kids learn is so thrilling, haha.

And...a picture Rosie took this afternoon while I was desperately trying to fold laundry with Ada hanging from my nipple.

Thoughts from bed.

2010-11-18T00:16:00.000-05:00

My two little people are finally asleep.

I was going to fold the laundry currently covering my couch, but then I got distracted watching the photo screen saver on the iMac.

It was startling to sit there and stare a photo after photo of my babies in various stages of their lives, of my family, my life.

This is my life!

How did I even get here, to this point?

Five years ago at this time I was 19 years old. I was a junior in college.

Five years ago I was peeing on a pregnancy test in my parents' downstairs bathroom, while everyone else was in bed upstairs asleep. Tyler was sitting on the couch in the living room watching Loony Tunes, Bugs Bunny.

I was sitting on a toilet with my pants at my ankles staring at two dark pink lines produced by my own pee, trying to decide if I should laugh, cry, puke, or wipe off the forming beads of sweat. Passing out was also an option under serious consideration.

In those moments I had absolutely no clue what was to come. There's no way I would have imagined myself here, with these two beautiful girls.

Sometimes I wish I could go back and tell myself things, like how it will all be ok in the end.

You know, the journey to get here was rough. How many nights since I peed on that fateful stick and saw the two pink lines have I laid in bed crying my eyes out? How many long days and nights have I spent being a parent to one feisty, spirited little girl all by myself, wondering if I am really strong enough to be a parent?

How many days have I spent panicking over money, broken and shattered relationships, housing, and who knows what else? How many nights did I lay awake with my heart aching with a pain beyond description for a baby that wasn't to be?

And the prayers, oh how many prayers did I say for Ada to be conceived and then to stay in my belly, and to arrive here--heavy, warm, squishy, and perfect in my arms?

All of these things, this intense journey...and it's only been five years. My life was so different five years ago. I had absolutely no clue what this journey would be. I'm so thankful I had the courage to take it, though.

Thinking back on everything makes me realize that it's really not the end point that matters. It's the journey you take to get there.

So many people seem to think we should be unhappy, or that I should regret something. That something most likely being Rosie. And even if I don't regret her, it's not too late you know--it's not too late to go to college and get a degree.

I think they must be crazy. Or maybe ignorant? Certainly they must not see what I see, or feel what I feel. Why in the world would I want to give up this life? I wouldn't do it for a million dollars. It seems so unfathomable to some of them for some reason.

It actually makes me kind of angry when people say to me things like, "You'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't graduate from college!"

Regret what? Will I regret spending moments with my children? Soaking up every second of this goodness?

Newsflash: Life is short. I'm enjoying what's right in front of me while I've got it.

I will never, ever regret this.

If I could do it all over again, go back to that moment when I got pregnant by accident at 19...

I would.

I would not change a single thing about that night, or the decision I made when I saw that positive pregnancy test.

Tonight I'm going to lay in bed and think about where the journey might go from here. I can make guesses, but really...you never know, do you?

If I can go from carefree college student to this life in a short span of five years, what else could happen?

Wait and see, wait and see...

Note to self: It will all be ok in the end.

Elimination Communication at 6 Months.

2010-11-16T22:55:00.000-05:00

I thought I would give you an update, since several people have asked...

Elimination communication (EC) is...well, let's just say it has gotten significantly more difficult since Ada has become mobile. She's so busy exploring that she's:

a) not attached to my body constantly like she was, which means it's harder to catch her signals, and
b) she's too busy to realize she has to go until it's too late sometimes, just like a toddler gets busy playing and then runs to the potty while peeing their pants.

Sometimes it's so frustrating! She will pee in the potty, and I'll set her down only to turn around and find she's peed again without warning and she's splashing in it. Yuck! (Thankfully we have all hardwood floors, easy clean up!)

We are having a lot of poop misses lately too, which is odd because until recently Ada never pooped in a diaper. I guess from eating a few solids every now and then and all of the teething drool she's no longer a regular pooper. She poops a zillion times a day or has one random unpredictable blow out. This has made for some frightening situations. She seems to save her poops for when we leave the house! Silly baby.

I think part of our problem is that she's now too distracted to use her little Baby Bjorn infant potty. I'm trying something new--instead of putting her on the infant potty today I started taking her to the bathroom to use the regular toilet every time she needed to go. She sees us sit on it, so she knows what it is. She *loves* using it! We got a Pooh Bear soft potty seat to go on the toilet--it was the smallest one Walmart had. She can sit on it without assistance, we just have to make sure she doesn't lunge and tumble off, but she doesn't seem inclined to do that so I don't even have to hold on to her.

I'd say at this point Ada is using diapers or having misses half the time and using the potty the other
half of the time.

That's fine with me, since the point of EC is not to potty train your baby.
Actually, doing EC with my baby has added an unexpected level of depth to our relationship. I'm not exactly sure how to explain it. I feel like now that it's just another need of her's that I strive to meet, the same as I make sure she's got a full belly, she's clean, she's well rested, etc. I keep track of how hungry and tired she may be along with keeping in mind when she has to use the potty.

If you are interested in trying elimination communication, getting started is so simple. When your baby first wakes up from a nap or in the morning set them on a little potty or hold them over the sink or toilet and make a "pssss" sound in their ear. Wait a few minutes and see what happens. Try it even if their diaper was wet. If they don't go the first few times, casually keep trying it. Eventually the baby associates the "psss" cue with peeing...

Babies have to pee a lot when they wake up. They go initially, then again 5-10 minutes later, then again in another 10-15 minutes...it's like they saved up way too much pee while sleeping!

You can offer the potty at intervals throughout the day, or when you notice your baby's signals, or even just when the baby first wakes up.

People have this idea that EC is some extreme thing, but it's not. It doesn't have to be all or nothing, either. You can do it 24/7 and try being diaper free if you want, but you don't have to. There's no reason you can't just offer the potty a few times a day when you get a chance.

Even though we're only at a 50% success rate right now, I'm still glad I tried elimination communication. It's given me a new view of babies--they aren't simply helpless or clueless. They do have an awareness and some control over their bodily functions right from birth. Ada knows when she pees in the potty. She grins at me and pees when I signal with the "psss" noise most of the time.

Right now we're working on the sign for "all done" because I'm hoping she'll be able to signal if she has to go more or if she wants to get down. I just started doing the sign while saying "all done" right before I take her off of the toilet. She did the sign for milk for the first time today, and she also has learned to awkwardly and adorably wave, so perhaps she'll catch on to the all done idea soon...

11/15/2010

2010-11-15T12:58:00.000-05:00

I've been so busy. Not sure what I've been doing...spending time cooking, cleaning, playing with my kids, daydreaming, and hanging out with my husband. Happy life stuff.

Ada is 6 months and 3 weeks old. That's so big! Her infant days are long gone. So sad--she is no longer big and fat. Do you remember how utterly voluminous her cheeks were? I mean, pictures couldn't even do them justice!

Now her cheeks are a normal girth. She no longer looks like she's storing nuts for winter in there.

Look at this, Rosie and Ada both around six weeks old wearing the same bunny suit!

Poor skinny, angry Rosie! Haha.

Ada was bursting out of it. I could barely fit it over those cheeks.

Funny to compare them. I need to take a picture of every baby I have around six weeks in that bunny suit. Remind me...

Ada has started making the most ridiculous face! It's her sad/angry face, except it's a little fake.
I'm not sure if it's scary or hilarious, and it doesn't even look like her.

I can't help but crack up every time she does it.

She's so goofy.

Ada spends a lot of time flapping her arms, squealing, and making this face:

Oh, so in love...

Ada is very mobile now. Watch out world!

Unfortunately there's somewhat of a steep learning curve...

Plans.

2010-11-13T10:34:00.000-05:00

I'm loving having Tyler on night shift.

It's like cheating! We get to see him all day, then in the evening he leaves for work but it's not a big deal. All I have to do is feed Rosie and I, then we hang out for a couple hours until they go to sleep.

He can be with his family and work full time. Score!

It's so wonderful to spend all afternoon with him. My house gets clean with ease--I can just quickly wipe up messes, put toys away, fold a load of laundry, etc., and he can grab Ada or help Rosie get something while I'm busy for a second. It's so stressful otherwise, trying to clean something only to be interrupted every four seconds. It's stressful for Tyler to come home from work late in the evening to a frazzled wife, messy house, and no supper cooked because everything is falling apart. When he works at night none of that happens. I make a big lunch while he's asleep in the morning. He gets up, we eat, clean up a little, and hang out until it's time for him to go to work.

The only downside is that Tyler doesn't like the people on night shift as much as the day shift. I guess nothing can be perfect.

It's so hard for me to be patient. I want life to be how I envision RIGHT THIS SECOND.

But it can't be, and that's difficult to accept.

The waiting is killer. I feel like since I got pregnant with Rosie all we've done is wait. Always, waiting for something.

That's not to say we aren't enjoying life right now--I'm enjoying each moment of my squishy baby Ada and enjoying watching Rosie grow up.

In the back of my mind though, pesky life goals that take so much waiting to accomplish!
First we were waiting to move out of my in-laws' house. Waiting for Tyler to graduate from college.

Then we were waiting for him to find a career job, which never happened because there aren't any...learning that we were lied to all of our lives was crappy--if you go to school and do well it does not translate into a happily ever after career and enough money. College was a huge waste of time and money.

Now we're waiting for Tyler to be hired on a Toyota. I should make a ticker. Two years to go as of this past October. Then we'll have enough money to live, and better insurance.
(I'm trying not to think of how it could all fall apart if he gets laid off in the next two years...ugh.)

I'm also waiting for other things. I have some kind of insane need to have another baby, but I'm waiting. I'm waiting until at least this coming July, if not a bit longer.
I'm waiting to live on a farm. Oooh, this is hard waiting! Once Tyler gets hired on at Toyota we'll have to save up money for a year or two, then we can afford to move I think. We'll maybe rent out the house we own now, or try to sell it. I don't think we would try to sell it while living in it because the house is too small and we have too many pets. It would be easier to rent it.

It will happen one day. I will move from this small house and live somewhere a bit bigger. I will live outside of the suburbs, where there is quiet and fresh air and wide open spaces. I will.

Another thing I am anxiously waiting for: adoption.
I am so very excited about this.

One day, when we have our lives more in order financially, when we have enough space in a house, we are going to adopt a baby or toddler. It's going to be a hard journey, and wonderful too.
I have a random obsession with Ethiopia. I don't know, maybe it's a calling and not random. Which ever, I cannot wait to adopt from Ethiopia.

Tyler is a little excited also, maybe. He says we have to wait until we are very financially stable so that we can take out a second mortgage to pay for the adoption expenses, which is logical. So it may be a few years. Ethiopian adoption is my goal for when I'm in my 30's.

We really have no idea how many kids we want to have. I certainly don't want to be a baby factory--I don't want to find that I have to delegate child care tasks or all of the home tasks to my older children!

I do want to have a large family, and so does Tyler. I guess we'll know when we have enough kids, because right now I couldn't plan a specific number.
Four kids? That doesn't seem like enough. Six kids seems like a lot, but what if I get to six kids and still want more?

As long as we have enough money for food and shelter, then I'm not going to worry about the number...and it will be easier to have enough money for food once we move to farm land since we'll have a giant garden and lots of little hands to help with it.

At least that's my plan.
I like to write down these plans, if not for the simple fact that plans change. It's fun to look back and see where you thought life was going vs. where you actually ended up.

Lit up like a white trash Christmas display.

2010-11-10T20:22:00.000-05:00

I've found that it's a good idea to call my mother to double check things sometimes. I need to ask her if there are any fallacies in my bright ideas. Often she points out logical reasons my impulsive genius ideas might be not so great.

The other day I called her and asked her if she saw any flaws in my idea to extend day light for the chickens by placing a light in their coop.

See the thing is I am smart enough to not hang a lamp in the chicken coop. Those clumsy birds will certainly knock it down, and a hot light laying on dry straw enclosed in a wooden building is basically waiting to go up in flames! My poor chickies would be roasted alive. I don't shield them from the realities of the grill on our back porch only to accidentally cook them alive in their coop.

But this is why there is such a thing as a Plan B.

I got to thinking...what kind of lights are meant to be up against semi-flammable objects?
So my mom answered the phone and I immediately asked her if she saw any errors in my reasoning. It is really a very good idea to string up Christmas lights inside of the chicken coop, isn't it?

After she got done laughing she said no, she couldn't think of any dangers...except for one thing. What kind of Christmas lights did I buy, she wanted to know.
I got the biggest string with the biggest white bulbs they had.

She asked me, I imagine without a straight face, what exactly the bulbs looked like.

Like eggs. The bulbs look exactly like small white eggs.

She was laughing again and I didn't get why.

Then my mother pointed out to my one error. My bulbs look like eggs. My damn chickens have been eating their own eggs.

Do you think they'll eat light bulbs?

Maybe, she said. Probably. Why wouldn't they? They eat eggs, and now their coop is strung up with beautiful glowing white eggs.

Face. Palm. Repeat.

Anyway, tonight my chickens are decked out for Christmas.

Clearly Santa has provided presents, in the form of 25 warm glowing eggs.

I spied on them, anxiously watching to see what would happen when they first noticed the lights.

Suspicion. I imagine they were saying, "WTF?" in chicken chatter.

They were afraid to go inside at first!

Jasmine pecked the bulbs she could reach.

I hope she doesn't sit on those and catch herself on fire!

Certainly she would have more intelligence than to set herself aflame!?

Crazy Mary was the most suspicious, but then again she is always a bit crazy.

She roosted, noticed the bulbs suddenly, then flew down and ran outside around and around the pen clucking in terror.

Princess was amused by the glowing eggs. She kept staring up at them.

(Love me some Princess Chicken.)

Will they start laying eggs again now that their day light hours are extended to 9:30 at night?

Please, chickens. Pop out some eggy goodness.

I don't want to buy eggs at the store when I own 25 chickens. I can't afford to buy eggs and chicken

feed!

Maybe their glowing egg bulbs will inspire them.

I'll keep you updated.

I just hope they don't catch themselves on fire.

Do you...

2010-11-10T09:37:00.001-05:00

...use Swagbucks?

I signed up for it, but I'm not sure it's worth it.

The basic idea is to use their search engine and then randomly win Swagbucks. 450 bucks can be redeemed for a $5 gift card from Amazon.com. (They also have some other pirzes to choose from, but that one seems to be the best...)

I "liked" the Swag Bucks Facebook page and those people seem hopelessly obsessed! There's no way
I want to spend hours searching the internet in hopes of randomly winning swagbucks. I don't have time to watch a zillion little videos on the Swagbucks site to get a few bucks either.

But then again, it's free money...so I figure I might as well just use the search engine. I downloaded the toolbar. I already have 82 swagbucks and I just started last night! It seems easy.
If other people sign up when you refer them then you earn Swagbucks when they do. That sounds promising!

It's totally real--several people I know get gift cards from there all the time. It hasn't spammed my email or anything either!

So if you want to sign up and try it do it through here, pretty please?

If you already use Swagbucks, what's your favorite easy way to earn them?

11/9/2010

2010-11-09T21:17:00.000-05:00

Ada is crawling now and it's the cutest thing ever.

She crawls slowly and carefully, then grabs her desired object, and cackles like: HEH HEH HEH!

Totally cracks me up.

She can pull to a stand sometimes too!

She's also starting to wave, which is adorable.

She keeps falling and smacking her head on our hardwood floors. It makes me so sad. She lays there and shrieks. I know it hurts so bad. When I hold her she keeps sobbing and squeezes me. I put down a thick blanket for her, but she crawls right off. Her poor head is so banged up! She really needs a helmet. Maybe I could put a thick knitted hat on her instead...I wonder if she would leave it on. That would pad the back of her head when she slips and falls. Hmm...

Last night Ada slept from midnight until 6 in the morning. I woke up and changed her diaper once and nursed her, but I barely remember it. I fell asleep at 1:30 and got up at 6 and I am so well rested. It was wonderful to sleep for several hours in a row!!! I feel amazing. Maybe I'll get to sleep that much again tonight. When she wakes me up more than every hour, or just wakes up and stays awake in the middle of the night, it's so hard.

I've discovered the key to her sleep: The first time she starts tossing and turning I gently wake her up and sit her on the potty. She cries, she pees, then she passes out cold for hours! Genius. Now if only I didn't have insomnia...

During the day Ada loves her little potty. She uses the big potty with a potty seat sometimes too now.

I solved the dollhouse issue mentioned in the last entry. You all gave me some great links, thanks! When I was looking at this one Target dollhouse I realized wait a second...we have something almost just like that! We have a dollhouse shelf.

I took all of the toys off of it, moved it to the living room, and pointed out to Rosie that her Barbies fit in the "rooms" and she freaked out. Then she played with it for the entire day. I'm talking from 10:00 this morning when I got it out until just now when I made her stop to eat supper, 6:30 at night.

Now I guess Santa has to figure out something else to bring for Christmas...

I don't need anything from Santa this year. I've already been blessed times a million this year.

Random...kitties.

Rintoo and Gus.

Outtakes...?

Time to start getting my little people ready for bed.

Wait, Rosie says she wants me to share this picture she made while I was finishing this entry. She says it's a man falling on soft grass.

I'm more than a little flabbergasted that she tried to write the word soft and got it nearly correct!

11/8/2010

2010-11-08T08:22:00.001-05:00

Can you believe it's time to think about Christmas shopping already?

I'm not sure where to start with Rosie. She desperately wants everything she sees a commercial for, or especially everything she sees in newspaper ads. She's been carrying around some of the toy catalogs for a week or two now. They are dog eared and marked up with pen.

I remember that excitement when I was a kid!

The only problem: Those ads are full of toys that basically equate to junk. They are wanted so badly. When you buy them and they are opened on Christmas morning there's great excitement.

But after that? They are the sort of toys played with for a few weeks then tossed in the floor or in the bottom of the closet, broken, forgotten, eventually donated.

What's the point?

We don't have money to waste on things like that, even if they are exciting on Christmas morning. That's just the truth of it.

Aside from that, I would like my children to have quality items they cherish instead a million exciting dinky toys they don't treat with respect. But it still leaves me a bit torn--she's so happy looking through those toy catalogs!

Her ultimate gift would be a giant Barbie Dream House. I know that would get played with for years past Christmas, but it's very expensive and I'm not sure I can bring myself to buy it. Barbie. Blah. She owns Barbies, but I don't want a huge shrine to them in my living room!

Tyler's Granny gave us some money for Santa to spend on Christmas gifts. (How sweet of her, right?)

I talked Tyler into agreeing to get a pretty wooden doll house. This one by Plan Toys.
I casually showed it to Rosie and she said, "That's an ugly house made of blocks!"

Erm...I guess it's a good thing that she saw it before I put it under the tree!?

My poor kid. She wants hot pink plastic. *sigh*

I really don't want to be one of those moms who only lets their child play with wooden toys, doesn't own any plastic, returns any gifts that don't fit their prescribed ideals. If my kid really wants something hot pink and plastic...AAAAH. I don't know. Inner debate going on over here.

I guess this Fisher Price Loving Family Grand Dollhouse might be a good compromise. It's very colorful, and probably quality-ish. I know she would love it and play with it all the time, and it's better than a huge Barbie Shrine.

It's selfish to buy your child something you want more than they do, right? (Thinking of the wooden dollhouse.)

That Fisher Price Dollhouse is one expensive hunk of plastic though.

But...you tell her she can't have anything she wants.

Go ahead.

Yep.

It's still not enough to compel me to purchase a Barbie Dream House though!

Ada is too little to flip through catalogs. She doesn't even need anything for Christmas, poor baby. We have tons of baby toys, clothes, and everything else a baby might need. Ada really loves stuffed animals. I want to make her a felted wool toy. Particularly a rainbow octopus. I'm not sure if she'll like it but it will be so fun to make!

Ada is such a busy little baby. She's crawling a little now. Not with regularity, but that's only a matter of time and self-confidence. She has crawled short distances to grab something she really wants, like Rosie's markers.

I am so thankful for her sweet, squishy baby goodness every day.
And sometimes I am cruel to my poor sweet baby.

HAH.

11/6/2010

2010-11-06T13:05:00.000-04:00

Check out this sweetness.
I die of cute, daily.

These are the moments I never want to forget.

Nursing, snuggling, chubby baby goodness.

Friday was Tyler's last day on Day Shift for awhile. He starts Night Shift on Monday. He has to be there at 5:15, so he leaves here at about 4 in the afternoon.
Remember when Ada was a week or two old and Tyler got randomly switched to days and I was upset? I'm really excited to have him back on nights, but I don't think he is. He likes the people during the Day Shift better.
When he's on Night Shift we get so much more time with him! He comes home and sleeps until around 11 in the morning, then we have the bulk of the day to do stuff together. We eat a meal, run errands, hang out, Rosie can play with him while I'm busy with Ada. It's perfect. Then he leaves in the late afternoon, Rosie and I have a light supper, and we relax then start getting ready for bed around 7:30. It goes by fast and he's not missed that much, though Rosie will miss having Daddy tuck her in at night.
With Tyler home during the day I can finally get little projects finished, like putting away these last few lingering baskets of random clothes--summer clothing, sheets, blankets, etc. We can do some yard work too, get rid of some of the scary weeds and clean up the old garden area. It's so much easier this way. When he works during the day he leaves before we wake up, at 4 or 5 in the morning. He gets home around 5 in the evening, we eat supper, and the girls go to bed, and he goes to bed since he gets up so early. We never have any time together at all aside from the weekends, which fly by.
So I'm excited. We get to spend all day every day together now!

The other bonus is that he'll be awake in the middle of the night for about an hour after he comes home. If Ada is (still) awake he can play with her for a bit while I sleep!!!! Can you imagine?
I read this stupid article on Baby Center that they emailed me yesterday. It was something like eight ways to get enough sleep with a new baby. Almost every single way involved taking turns with your partner--you getting up one half of the night, your partner getting up the other half of the night, or taking turns every other day.
Uh what? First of all, Tyler would never do that. He doesn't wake up when the baby cries or stirs. He doesn't even wake up when the baby smacks him in the head. He's a very sound sleeper, which is good and bad depending on the situation.
Second of all, what about breastfeeding mothers? I don't want to mess up my supply by pumping, and bottles are a pain in the ass to deal with.
I don't know. I guess as a mother I should just expect to...mother my baby. I am dedicated to being a parent day AND night.
I can say that I do wish my husband would realize I sometimes need a nap or a break, but whatever. He never did a shred of baby care for Rosie. I understand him now though--he is not a good baby dad. He's good about laughing with the baby, maybe changing a wet diaper when asked, but he doesn't know/want to do anything with a crying baby or a hungry baby or a messy baby. On the other hand he's great with Rosie now that she's no longer a baby. He will clean up big kid puke, wipe big kid butts, play like crazy, and deal with tantrums. So I have to be patient and accept that we all have our strengths. Baby care is not his strength.
But can I still complain about it? Hah.

In some small ways I will miss my time alone with the girls during the day. We do have fun together!

(Rosie chose her outfit and *insisted* on wearing it. I've given up.)

June duck!

Molting Lucy the Andalusian.

I've nicknamed her Ada the Angry Little Camel.

Check out her spitting skills, just wait a second for it.

(This is a mild episode of spitting! Silly baby.)

11/4/2010

2010-11-04T16:13:00.000-04:00

This is the first second I've had away from Ada all day. (And all night last night too of course...)
She must be teething. I have no idea what tooth she's getting, but my baby is a drooly, poopy, screamy mess! She's been pooping every single time she eats, which is not very EC friendly, and in turn it's causing a wicked diaper rash. She usually never poops on herself, she always goes in the potty. Having her butt wiped with wet wipes makes her ANGRY. She arches her back, screams, and spits her drool and blows raspberries as hard as she can.

I hope whatever tooth it is breaks through soon! I've got a frozen teething ring for her, which she sometimes likes, sometimes not. I don't want to give her any motrin or tylenol because they cause babies to poop more. (From the sugar, I guess?) I gave her some Hyland's teething tablets earlier and she then took a nice nap and seems a bit happier, so maybe those will help. (Yes I saw they were recalled, but I don't think that the recall makes any sense what so ever. Just the FDA attacking alternative medicine...again.) Ada loved eating the teething tablets. She tried the first one and then got excited over eating the next two. Funny baby. She's not quite ready for eating much food yet though, she gags and pukes so easily. Rosie didn't actually eat much solid food until she was more than 12 months, so no worries...did you know breastmilk can be 100% adequate for a full diet until 24 months of age? Not that I would want to solely breastfeed for that long, imagine the calories I'd burn! I'd whither away to bones.

Rosie missed her homeschool co-op classes this morning. She was disappointed. Right when it was time to get ready Ada had a huge melt down, flinging drool and watery poo everywhere, then she fell asleep. By the time I snuck away and got myself dressed it was past time to be there and...Ada was asleep on her own in bed. She never sleeps on her own. I couldn't wake her, and we were already so late.

To make it up to Rosie I took her out to lunch. (With Ada screaming in her car seat, of course. Poor Rosie.)
Rosie wanted to eat at Sonic. I have a secret obsession with their onion rings. (Side note: Our food cost $10.99. WTF? So expensive!!)

I let Rosie sit in the front seat while we ate, which was a huge deal to her! And since we had to leave and start driving home quickly, due to Ada pooping EVERYWHERE and screaming about it, I let Rosie play in the front seat when we got home after I cleaned up the baby.

Ada loves to reach, grab, and stuff in her mouth...constantly, swiftly, and if you take whatever it is away she will unleash the rage of baby dooooom!

Ada has figured out how to scoot herself around (not crawling, just scooting) and then she pulls up to a stand.

Today she figured out how to stand up and reach the markers on Rosie's dry erase board/easel from Ikea. Oh Ada was *thrilled* and Rosie horrified.

I sense fun times ahead. (That's said with a mixture of sarcasm.)

This picture of Rosie in the dark last night, when she would not go to sleep, reminds me of her sweet little face as a baby.

Ada is now finished with her happy ten minutes playing on the floor at my feet. She's scooted into Rosie's tent and gotten stuck.

Cue the spitting and raspberry blowing with ferocity.

I bet she pooped again too.

With that, I bid you adieu.

11/3/2010

2010-11-03T14:30:00.000-04:00

Now that winter is upon us and carefree days outside in the sunny weather are over I figure it's time to start doing more school-ish activities with Rosie.

She's very interested in reading, but only when she says so. She's working on learning cat/rat/fat/sat/mat etc.

I've noticed that she's having a huge developmental leap in her handwriting. She's wanting to color constantly. I'm serious--yesterday she colored an entire coloring book.

Suddenly she's coloring using multiple colors and in the lines! I'm not sure what changed. She used to only use one color and while she didn't scribble it wasn't neatly organized and planned like she is doing now. I'm so impressed!

See the page on the far right? That's how she colored a few weeks ago.

It's fun to watch babies develop--learning to sit up, crawl, and all of those obvious skills. It's easy to forget Rosie is still developing too, just in more subtle ways. I am going to start watching out more for her new little developments.

I would like to teach her another language. (Or more than one!) Since we're sort of unschooling, I don't want to push it on her. Luckily she's very interested in what she calls other worlds, meaning other countries. I tried to explain other countries to her but she doesn't quite get it. Other worlds is what she calls it.

I discovered the best resource for learning other languages! Not for little kids, but for me..which I can in turn share with Rosie on her level. My inner nerd is SO EXCITED.

FSI Language Courses

It's all free! Some of the lessons seem outdated. I looked at the German and the phrases aren't quite what modern people say, at least not what I learned. Once you grasp the basics of a language though, you can easily learn all of the updated phrases and quit sounding like an outdated text book.

I used to be fluent in German and now I've forgotten so much of it because there's really not much use for the German language in Kentucky. I'm going to review the entire course and start reading the news in German on my iPhone every day. I'm sure there's a German news app somewhere. That should help. Rosie listened to the first lesson with me earlier, she's very interested.

She really wants to learn "Spinglish" like Dora. We should definitely do that together--especially because we have wonderful Mexican friends to practice it with!

I want to be sure Rosie (and Ada) are exposed to all kinds of cultures and different kinds of people.

It's hard because most of the homeschooler's we've met are white and middle class. I'll have to make sure to take extra care to show her different things.

I went to school with a lot of very poor kids, mainly minorities. I can't figure out how I would let my kids into that world...volunteering is great, but that doesn't put you on their level exactly. Know what I mean? In elementary school some of my friends would collect everyone's scraps at lunch (like the trash!) and sneak it home in their backpack because they had no food to eat at their house after school or on the weekend and they were starving. I'm not exaggerating. Kids in my class didn't have a home phone, clothes to wear, or stable parents. My kids are so spoiled in that regard. I have no idea how to show them how lucky they are.

A local mega church now has this cool program where they fill backpacks with food for each weekend to give to kids at my old elementary school on Fridays. They have stuff the kids can make themselves that doesn't need to be refrigerated, like easy mac and apples, peanut butter and crackers.

But I digress...

I need to find a good way to explain Thanksgiving to Rosie.

I don't want to do the typical Kindergarten thing--a watered down story about a happy bunch of

Pilgrims and Indians and a big Mayflower ship. I want to be careful what I teach her.

I guess I still need to think about it some.

Also, we really need a globe. Or maybe a world map?

And the library--I bet they have some good books about colonial life. Good thing I never sleep, I have time to figure it all out.

I have to get back to the real world and off of the computer. Ada is babbling and trying to crawl in a pile of toys on the floor and Rosie is drawing a picture to mail to Tyler's Granny. I'm sure all hell will break loose any second, however.

I'll leave you with these Hipstamatic shots from yesterday:

(Hank has to be chained because he climbs the fence and runs to the neighbor's door every chance he gets. Long story.)