Lucy's lotus

Lucy's lotus, originally uploaded by bundleboo.

more fun with digital editing... I haven't been this creative in years...I thought that part of my brain was dead :)

sweet snoring... my tribute mess

I simply had to put this up of these two sleeping together. They both have the same expression...(I did get Andy's permission to put this up...I'm not that heartless..lol )

I also promised a blogging buddy that I would post my radioactive office to make her feel better about hers... so here it is.

Not a pretty sight is it?? Well my office really gets the least attention because I am in and out of it so quickly. Its also in the garage so its out of sight until I need to use it. I will say my computer is in there so I do have to step over stuff to get to it.

I wanted to also post a picture of my kitchen chalkboard. There are a lot of really special memories and nostalgia on this chalkboard... I didn't notice until today. My late grandmother had the same chalkboard in her kitchen for over 50 years... over time it wore down so much that it would not longer take chalk. I imagine I will have mine for just as long...her it looks in the young years.

So what is on my chalkboard??

1. Pictures of my kids..(see max brushing his teeth...he was 18 months in that pic)
2. Baby pictures of me, so that I can brag on how much my kids look like me...lol.
3. Sonogram pictures from my pregnancy with Katy and Lucy.
4. Max's first card to me...last thanksgiving.
5. A dream catcher (upper right..your right) from my trip to taos to introduce my great grandmother to her first great great granddaughter.
6. Emergency contacts.
7. lost then found netflix movies.
8. An email my mom wrote up on the chalk board 4 years ago when she came over to help me get my house ready for the birth of my son... not an important email...just a lovely memory of my mom and I.
9. Pacifiers...Katy always has paci's hanging on the hooks.
10. dry erase cleanser...for my very important calender in the hallway.

105.3 fever!!! Adventures in babysigning week 3

So it just doesn't stop here with the illness... UGH... I officially had my first "freak out, hyper mommy panic attack". Two nights ago Lucy woke up as usual about 2:30am...I went into her bedroom blurry eyed to pick her up and bring her into my room for her late night snack. When I came into her room she was panting and whining. When I picked her up her body felt like it was on fire. I immediately knew something about this fever was different. Over the years my lips have become an accurate fever gauge...I can usually get it right on or very close by just kissing their little heads. This time my mommy senses went banana's because I have never felt a baby that hot before. I got a nasty scared pit in my stomach and tried to focus on what to do for her but the the "OMG, OMG, OMG, OMG!" ringing in my head was drowning out all rationale. I had to wake up Andy to get him to bring me back down to the planet... Andy took her from me and got a temp... 105.3... WOAH... I was right to freak out a little. Needless to say, she went to the ER at 3am in the morning. I stayed home with Max and Katy as I was too worked up to drive. The ER docs gave her some Tylenol on top of the Motrin I gave her at home and that brought the fever down... the diagnosis... double ear infection. Strange I had just taken her to the peds that morning for a fever follow up and she said her ears looks better than before....is it possible that her ears got that much worse since 10am??? They changed her antibiotics to something stronger and we are trying to stay ahead of the fever with Motrin... right now she is coming down from a 103.2..poor thing...hopefully this gets better soon.

As far as today's signing... I will post a video later when Lucy is feeling up to it. Off to the library :)

Pancakes, puzzles and princesses OH MY!

Hey everyone, I'm back again from the septic system. Part of me thinks that it was food poisoning AND part virus... although I knew I wasn't doing right by my stomach eating at Taco Bell to begin with...Ha! Charma got me this time. Anyway, back to life. (shhh... I don't want Andy to hear me say this...but some weird warped part of me really enjoys being deathly ill...its the only excuse I get to lay in bed all day. Tho, I could deal with something less extreme... like a cold or hangover or something more desirable...than wrath o' Taco H---)

Today was Max's first day back at school... we've been a bit snowed in. It actually snowed something substantial...and then screwed up all the niceness by throwing down about a 1/2 inch of solid ice. It was quite interesting getting the kids out to the car this morning... it was almost cartoon like watching them slip over and over...even with me holding their hands...it was dangerous. My driveway is on a steep incline, but the top is fairly level... so as soon as I got the back tires on the slope...the rest of the truck went down the driveway on its own...I nearly smashed into the mailbox. Oh dear... to say the least I stayed away from the house until late afternoon in hopes that the ice would be melted down by then... it was (pheuf). Max did have a two hour delay this morning, so we had a really fun breakfast.

About 2 months ago I accidentally bought "real" pancake mix... you know, the kind where you have to add the egg, milk, oil and flour. well I was accustomed to the lazy mans "water and mix" ...and did not read the directions on the box. Sooo I made it the way I normally do and fed them to the kids and Andy for breakfast one morning... (rothlmbo...remembering these faces)...Andy and the kids all looked like dogs that got into the peanut butter jar...and the peanut butter was stuck to the roof of their mouths. Oh my goodness...of course my husband...the saint... trying to be gracious for the breakfast could barely get the words out of his gummed up mouth to ask what I had done differently with the pancakes. Hes so cute :) Sorry honey, I didn't read the box. Anyhoo, since then I've perfected the homemade style pancakes and actually prefer the taste over the premix. I usually add a little bit of vanilla, sugar and cinnamon...yumm.
Max did a floor puzzle all by himself today... look how super fun this one is... Melissa and Doug brand puzzles make a really sturdy product. The kids got a few of them for Christmas I have put away for a rainy day.

Oh ...Katy made up her first story yesterday...I wrote it down word for word...here it goes.

"Once upon a dream, there was a beeeeeautiful princess. She went to a castle and then to have a princess crown. Then to have a princess shoe, and a princess dress...a pink dress."

that's it :)

Thank you Taco Bell!

For bringing me much MUCH closer to my trash can and toilet over the last 24 hours. I had a craving for two .89 double meat and bean burritos... (avoid at any cost.) This post will be short as I am still in recovery.

snuggle

Recently my four year old has been asking me to snuggle A LOT... I've been finding myself frustrated...not because I don't want to snuggle with him... but because I don't feel I have the time to oblige every snuggle request. (definition of snuggle: sit still and hold them) Its funny, that I recently stumbled across this picture of Max and I when he was two... Katy was Lucy's current age... and I was able to fit in MUCH more snuggle time. Infact, I snuggled him more because I didn't want him to feel less important because Katy had so many needs being a baby. It occurred to me when I saw this picture that maybe hes asking to snuggle so much because he isn't getting the attention that he needs since he has two younger sisters that do take up a lot of my attention and affection.

What I'm thinking that I will try to do...is to make "special Max and Mommy" time at least once a day... time where Max and I can spend without the girls interrupting us. Any suggestions for what Max and I can do together to make our time really special?

goofing off...first words...bathtime camera fun

Yesterday was 50 degrees...today its snowing again. Can someone fix the thermostat here? Everyone is taking a nap right now... really it doesn't happen that often. I think that because of our routines being thrown off (if you asked me what my routine was I really couldn't tell you) because of illness and Max's first sleepover...they are all a little worn out. Ha...nevermind...I spoke too soon!

Lucy started saying DaDa yesterday as well...I know, I know ... its just a noise right now...but she seems really proud of herself for saying it. I think this poor child is going to resent me for being the most documented child on the planet when she gets older. I was just as gaga for taking pictures of the other two as babies as well... the time simply goes by too fast. I was emailing back and forth with a friend from Germany... (Its looking like shes going to join the blogging network soon!!)...she mentioned that she has taken over 10,000 pics of her children since they were babies. They are not much older than mine! Wowza! I thought I had the shutter bug.

Anyway, It just occurred to me that I haven't eaten anything today and its 1pm already...yes I have fed my kids. If it were up to them they would live off of PB&J...what can't your kids get enough of??

baby signing week 2...sleepover...croup

Happy Friday everyone!! Although as a stay at home mommy Friday isn't any different that the rest of the week...I'm sure most of you other stay at home mommies Friday means that Hubby is home for the weekend. I'm posting this weeks Adventures in Baby sign language. Lucy has croup so it was a really "clingy" and quick video. Poor thing...our bedroom looks like a hospital bedroom with humidifier, nebulizer, bulb syringe, tissues... I mentioned the steroids that they have her on in my video. Has anyone ever had to give there children steroids for anything? In my experience its made my kids crazy. Katy had an extreme behavior reaction making her bang her head on the floor and walls screaming for up to 3 hours... Lucy had her first dose yesterday and was awake til midnight all amped up.

Anyway, Max had his first sleepover last night...believe it or not it went really well. No tantrums or sassing from either 4 year old. They had a ton of fun... its nice to see Max developing close relationships. Its really neat to see how he interacts with other children in such a "big kid" way. here are the kids the night before and eating pancakes this morning.

Puffed Rice?!?

So I really must commend Andy for cooking something new for dinner...we really like Asian food and he was really sweet to come home from work to cook us a nice dinner. We have had rice noodles before and really like them...but he decided to cook them a bit differently this time. Instead of boiling them...he fried them (I don't recommend this ...at all) so the texture ended up ...hmmmm...much like a birds nest.

We had a really nice day today, the kids are playing very well (knock on wood) and are finding constructive things to do with their time...rather than destructive. I see the three of them playing a lot together recently... although I really have to watch them closely as the older two still don't understand that baby's simply do not understand certain things. So I find Max yelling at her to stop playing with his trains or to stop making noise... tonight he strong armed her across the floor to move her away from his train tracks... I can understand his frustrations...we just have to re-enforce that he does not handle her...and to let us know if he has a problem. This dinosaur BTW was a Christmas gift...it really a neat toy...its amazing how much technology has advanced since I was a kid... something still has to be said about playing with sticks and bugs.

Speaking of the Lucy girl, poor thing has a wicked cold. Sweet girl, hopefully the other two stay healthy...its never fun having a house full of sick kids.

There was something else I wanted to say... hmmm... maybe I'll remember later.

Parent teacher conference day

Katy birthday party, originally uploaded by bundleboo.

So this morning I got to meet with Max's teacher and discuss his progress in school. Apparently he has grown leaps and bounds since last year...in his over all development. She is really impressed on how far he has come and how well his is following direction with very little or no prompting at all. She is emphasizing that the tools she is using for Max's sensory needs are really helping Max to gain control of his idle hands. One really great suggestion she made, was to create a "sensory box". This involves items that could help Max refocus when he has launched himself to the moon. Certain Items could include...bubble wrap...squishy ball...finger paints....feathers...playdough... Items that require focus to play with and utilize his fine motor skills. She says that there are many different reasons that this would be good for Max. (attn: grandparents of max... perhaps it would be a good idea to create your own sensory box to keep there as well :) She also said that it seems that he is very intelligent perhaps above average (lol...as he brings me over a turtle shell...turns it over and proceeds to tell me where the "spine" is.) And that impulsivity is not an issue with him AT ALL in her class room. I'm so glad!!! Perhaps I was just misreading his behavior all along. (I will stick to my guns that knocking out the food dyes and preservatives from his diet made a drastic difference right away). I can't wait to try these new tools with Max at home...I really REALLY want to try and avoid medications at all costs...(this was the direction the Child Development Specialist 18months ago told us would probably be needed eventually)

Anyway, Kindergarten starts for Max this upcoming fall...we were under the impression that it would be 5 for 5 (that's five hours a day 5 days a week). Most county's have already implemented that change. I was just told by a class parent today that our county schools wont have full day kindergarten until 2010 due to county budget cuts. I'm a little puzzled about what they will do with the kids... right now max gets 4 full hours a day of educational benefits... for public schools he will really only have two active learning hours a day...the rest will be hustle bustle and lunch. Is it worth it??? I would put him back into the first presby program but then KatyRo will miss out. (we can only afford one child in private school at a time) She was ready LAST year and Is soooo looking forward to school.

Snow!!

todays snow, originally uploaded by bundleboo.

So today was the first real snow of the year...kind of nice to add some interest to the cold weather. This morning started a little off... we woke up late (I slept a full night last night...oooo it was sooo nice) I got the kids dressed, fed, and out the door to Max's school in half and hour. After we arrived at his school is was glaringly obvious that no one was there... I forgot that today was a holiday (which one? still not sure) So we drove around for a little while and looked for trains...still the kids favorite thing to do.

Oh I have to mention something really cute Katy did the other day. We also celebrated my grandmothers birthday (GiGi) on Sunday. Katy was very thoughtful and made up cards...I had given her pink carnations for her party and told her that princess's get flowers on their birthdays...Miss Animated was super cute...woooooooooooowwww feeeerrr meee??!!??!!! Well on our way out the door Katy thought to grab two of her flowers for GiGi...I asked her if she was sure she wanted to give away her flowers...she said "Of course, GiGi is a princess too!" I just thought that was really special.

My dad made Sunday dinner shepherds pie...something that I haven't had for quite sometime...really yumm cold weather comfort food...it was delicious. He made it different than what I remember having as a kid... this time being made traditionally out of lamb and mashed potatoes it had a very unique and deep taste.

Gamma Rose is leaving this Wednesday to go live in her new house in North Carolina... we will certainly miss her. Have a safe trip!!

Birthday Celebration for Katy

Katy Ro birthday party, originally uploaded by bundleboo.

We had a splendid girly girl filled day! Katy had her birthday celebration with several of her close friends. I made her green cake as requested and she had dress up bonanza ...well equipped with tiaras, boas and beads. Sooo cute.

I had the girls made foamie door hangers with puffy glitter glue and foam stickers... we have some true artists amonst us :) That occupied them for about 20 minutes. We opened gifts and dosed up on sugar. Check out todays pictures here
I have all of the originals I was just taking the opportunity to play some more with photoshop.

Adventures in Baby Sign Language week 1

I have started teaching the kids baby sign language... every friday I will post an update on what we are doing and progress as it happens. Feel free to do this with me and give feedback of your progress...this is the first official week although we have been using sign language to help with her EC for sometime.

Family, If you want to try and remember what we are doing with Lucy use the sign language when we visit will help to re-enforce what we are doing with her. I looked pretty rough in this video...just catching up on folding laundry...another no dress day :)

They Like me...they really like me!!!

Nicolle from The Pink Chandelier gave me this sweet award for having never ending diarrhea of the mouth...lol. As a result of being bestowed this gracious award I have to confess 10 things about my self then forward the honors onto other deserving bloggers.

1. I yell at my kids a lot more than I would like to... the volume some days doesn't seem to have controls...and I wish I could be a calmer parent when the frustration heats up.

2. I can be an absentminded and sometimes flaky friend...I don't mean to be...I love my friends dearly, but I shift my priorities drastically from day to day sometimes without consideration for others feelings. (I will forget to call, drop play dates at the last minute or worse yet not show up at all...its terrible and I so have to stop it....or I'm sure I will not have friends anymore)

3. I forget birthdays ALL THE TIME... even my own sometimes. I don't want it to ever be a reflection of how I feel about the person but I'm sure it comes across that I don't care... My close friend Caroline had to remind me this year...and still I have yet to do anything for her...I'm feeling guilty about this. I forgot my mother's birthday last year.

4. I get dressed about twice a week...and stay home just to avoid to the hassle of dressing and packing up to go out. My poor kids have cabin fever...good thing Max goes to school otherwise we'd really be house bound.

5. I would love to have one more baby... but I know its not a possibility with our smaller home and lack of finances. (If money were no object I will probably have more children.)

6. Up until very recently I would use my kids as an excuse to get out of things I did not want to do.

7. I used to smoke Cigarettes.

8. I HATE the way my bellybutton looks.

9. I am compulsive about starting new projects then never finishing them.

10. The bathroom in my bedroom is really gross. I haven't cleaned it in over 2 months. ICK...hopefully I will get to it soon.

Right now I am blogging when I should be spending time with Katy Ro... so later I will post who my award will go to... toodles!

praise and pleasers

day 10, originally uploaded by bundleboo.

I had someone comment on one of my videos that I should not say "Good job" rather I should say "look what you did". That really was the extent of the comment...nothing more elaborate. What I took from it was a parenting approach that I've been trying to uphold since Max was a baby...I just happened to get called out on it. Its a tough one to keep up with because it requires a lot of added feedback rather than simple responses.

I have a belief that it is really not a good approach to praise our children by saying things such as "Good boy or Nice job"...not that its harmful in anyway but the frame of mind from the child becomes outward pleasing rather than inward seeking. To say "Good boy" puts a label the child that is variable...and the expectation is that he has to remain this way in order to please others...when in reality each day or situation is variable not the person. In other words...to offer praise outside of labeling... you must recognize the ACTION as good or bad...not the child. This way it should lessen the insecurities that come with being imperfect and making mistakes or having an off day. Offering more elaborate praise should also inspire self confidence and inspire creativity to expand what the child feels good about....rather than do simple redundant things to elicit praise from others.

In this picture I was telling Katy ro "It was really nice of you to share your doll with baby Lucy, does it make you feel good to know that your being such a big girl...I love you."

It may have been easier to just say "Good girl katy ro" or "Good job sharing"

I would really like to improve my actions on this theory...I am really good about not labeling when it comes to bad behavior... you will never hear me tell my kids that they are being bad...or worse...that they ARE bad. Rather I might say "Max, that is bad behavior..." I might inspire him to think inward by asking questions...such as.."How would it make YOU feel if some one did that to you?" And inspire him to offer a solution on his own. I try SO hard not to try and stronghold their behavior with threats and ultimatums... by the end of the day thats how it ends up... I need to work on this...as well as my own patience. Anyway...wow its 11:30 already....off to bed!

BFFs!!!

BFFs!!!, originally uploaded by bundleboo.

So Sarah and I took our kids to a really neat little niche called "little thinkers" today...she had a cupon for "free play" so why not try it out. What a cool idea...normally $5.00 per kid...they have all sorts of arts and craft activities...wooden toys...dress up stuff...too much fun for a cold blustery day. While the babies were playing on the floor the older two Hannah and Katy were painting and doing projects...Max got out of preschool after this was over so...the morning ran pretty smooth.

I am looking forward to the next day that Andy has off...he has been working a lot of hours and the kids and I really miss him. I am carefully planning our get away in April...(the one where Caroline takes all 3 of my children for a weekend!!) ... I decided that we would stay at "the Cashtown Inn" a haunted B&B that is a1.5 hours from us in Gettysburg PA. The Inn was featured on my favorite show Ghost Hunters. Andy and I used to love traveling to historic locations and staying and haunted b&b's. The last time we went to gettysburg we stayed at the farnsworth inn. It warm and cozy yet cold and drafty...?! Loved it!! No, we didn't see any ghosts...but I love the anticipation that we may come acrossed one during our stay.

Anyone ever have a paranormal expierence?? What does the Bible say about earthbound spirits?

Government Regulation Flexiblilty

I really need your help interpreting this... here .... I'm still not sure what kind of exceptions the government is going to make for small business that will be detrimentally impacted after this CPSIA law goes into effect FEB 10... I really want to hear your take on this please.

Potty Pause...Katy ART

So as I've mentioned before we went ...I should say Lucy went thru a "potty pause" where she has been too busy to tell me that she needs to go and has had quite a few...misses... particularly pee misses. I had her in diapers and I don't think that really helped the quest to keep her diaper free...kind of defeats the purpose of having a diaper free baby if she is in diapers...lol. So we have replaced looking for "Cues" for now...with frequent pee breaks... This was Lucy in the laundry basket on her potty...it was great for keeping her still long enough to go while I put away laundry. I've worked so hard to get her this far along...as long as she is willing to cooperate one way or another I'm not going to give up.

Okay, so this is totally the best Kid art ever!!! I can't believe that she just turned three and is producing something that actually looks familiar...my child must be a GENIUS!!! lol...I know...shut up.

Its not ADHD its ADH3

lol... that's what Andy said to me when he come home this evening and saw how exhausted my face looked. We had another pretty uneventful....average day locked up in the dark laundry abyss that is my home...actually I am pretty caught up on that right now I just have to get it put away...HA...funny that sounds so simple...its usually 5 or 6 laundry baskets full to the brim of clean folded laundry that sit until...well...until, I desperately need the baskets again to fill up with more clean folded laundry.

There is a local interactive museum called "Discovery museum" that the kids and I went to nearly every crappy cold day last year...sooooo worth the $75.00p/y...I think I'm going to renew my membership for a kick in the pants to venture into the outside world again. I'm starting to look like Galum from lord of the rings. Part of the reason for this, Lucy gal has been up every night for the last 4 nights until 2am. Yep, I've got a real party animal on my hands. I'm not sure whats up with her. Most babies from what I remember...(you know its been soooooo long since my middle child was a baby...joke)... nap about 2-3 times a day...Lucy is a 3 timer. So around 3 she will go down for that late afternoon nap...wake up around 5:30ish eat dinner and go back down to bed around 8:30... 45 mins later...shes up again wanting to play. Really, I can't get her to go back to sleep. So she will play from just after 9:00pm to 1 or 2 in the morning. Then end up screaming bloody murder trying to exhaust herself to sleep... UGH!!!! I know what you're thinking...knock out that 3:00 nap. I've tried...she just ends up falling asleep in the middle of the floor...or screaming bloody murder (I'd rather let her sleep) Ideas???

I've been trying to cheer the littlest one up...her poor teeth are bothering her something fierce. I wasn't making much progress as you could see from my video... no wonder, this is what she had to endure coming at her.... YIKES!

Cabin Fever x 4

We are wishing for warmer weather...I don't think we've been out of our jammies in days.

Oh and GiGi, you mentioned that you were interested in getting some photo editing software...here is the before and after pictures. I know somethings could be better tweaked like Max's eyes, they are super bright... but I really like that edge.

Lucy was napping during the picture so I added her in later...I probaby could have worked on her tones a little more to make it look more natural and less photoshopped...but who has all that time anyway??

sink bath...man rules???

So today my mom sent me the funniest email ever.... titled "man rules" totally hit the nail on the head as far as what I know of men. Here it goes... they are all labeled one for a reason :)

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat.
You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down.
We need it up, you need it down.
You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports It's like the full moon
Or the changing of the tides.
Let it be.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want.
Let us be clear on this one:
Subtle hints do not work!
Strong hints do not work!
Obvious hints do not work!
Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become Null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are.
Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one

1. You can2 0r either ask us to do something
Or tell us how you want it done.
Not both.
If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials..

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings.
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched.
We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say 'nothing,' We will act like nothings wrong.
We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as Rugby League Or Cricket.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this.
Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;

But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Pass this to as many men as you can
To give them a laugh.

Pass this to as many women as you can To give them a bigger laugh !!

lol...I love it!!!! By the way Lucy was so cute in the sink tonight...she wont fit in there much longer.

Need some ideas...Apple Cider Vinegar?

As you know Katy-Ro just passed her third birthday. I have been racking my brain to come up with some ideas for a fun princess party. She was so cute in the car the other day when I asked her what she wanted for her birthday. She replied "Green presents and a green cake...on the cake I want pink polka dots and pink candles." Uuuuh you got it Ro-Burger! The reason we are doing her party so late...I did not want her birthday to get confused with the holidays. I think we will always celebrate her birthday earlier or later to avoid the mix-up. I am trying to avoid having it at my house...but it looks like with January weather and the cost of doing it someplace my house may be the best bet. Suggestions for fun 3 year old games or activities?? OOhhh, perhaps I could get wooden crowns for Michael's and have the girls decorate them???



Recently my skin has been wrecked with psoriasis...I'm trying to avoid steroid creams or pills, but I recently heard from a crunchy friend of mine that Apple Cider Vinegar cured her family of psoriasis...all be it burns like a you know what....but to tell you the truth the burning feeling is satisfying compared to the intense itching that psoriasis brings. I tried it last night and it stunk up the house..but the itching was gone immediately...today I itch again but I feel less scaly than I did yesterday...(in my head...or is it working already) I will keep you posted on the progress. I also hear that apple cider vinegar helps many other issues such as arthritis, acne, sore muscles, reflux and heartburn... I tried to drink a swig of it.... BLEH... burns my throat as well...maybe I should have diluted it.

trains...blankets, paci's, thumbs

(Max's "special white" comfort blanket)

Its been pretty uneventful around here the last couple of days. Max started school back up yesterday...he was so excited to see his friends and his teacher Ms. Ann. Today Max's school was closed because of the icy weather....although I think that if you spit outside when its cold they will cancel the schools. I remember in New England the school systems were open for everything. It would have to be at least 6 inches of snow on the ground before they would even bat an eyelash at closing the schools for the day.

Anyway, so we stayed inside and played... the kids are taking a nap right now... so I am getting some much needed blogging and housework done.

I wanted to talk about the remark that Max's dentist made about him needing to stop sucking his thumb. Eerrrrr...I don't know that I'm ready to make him quit...I mean they will all probably need braces anyway right? I just remember how much comfort finger sucking brought me. Max's teacher Ms. Ann mentioned how "sensory" sensitive Max is. They give him a feather or something soft at school to help soothe him when he is getting too wound up...and they do "deep pressure" therapy with him for the same reasons. Max's bed at home is tented in even though he really doesn't like the dark... its a nice get away and break for him when he needs it. All of this feedback that his teacher is giving me makes so much sense...I only wish I had known about it earlier otherwise I could have offered him more help when he was overstimulated. I took him to a developmental specialist a while back because we knew Max was super intelligent...but he was destructive trying to find ways to keep himself entertained. They labeled him as ADHD and sent us on our way. His preschool teacher has offered WAY more help. I just don't know that I'm ready to take away a coping mechanism that he obviously needs. So whens enough??? Same with Katy...although I think that she could manage better without her paci.

Max is still into trains, any little line or curve in the furniture suddenly becomes an express track to who knows where in his little imagination. He always has on his train mantra...and concentrates deeply as he chugs his toys everywhere... today's shots and editing here.

the smithsonian...how's EC going?

Andy has off this weekend so we decided to take the kids to DC and see the Natural History Museum and the Air and Space museum. Tons of fun for everyone! Curious George is Katy's favorite movie right now so she was excited to see real life dinosaur bones and spaceships. Its really crowded on the weekends so I suggest that if you are going to take your mobile children to these things...do it during the week when its a tad slower.

I've been asked recently "how's the EC going?" We are doing great! The biggest changes have been that because she is so busy crawling now...we recently went thru something called a "potty pause". This is when they are too busy to care about letting us know that they have to go...and sometimes refuse to sit still on the potty. We are getting past this... and back into a good potty system again. The other change is that our "backup" method for diapering has gone back to disposables. We had not used any diaper for a while...then during the potty pause we had tried cloth again...but cloth is not as easy on and off as a pull up...or disposable. Plus we don't go thru enough cloth diapers to warrant a wash that doesn't waste water... before they start getting really funky. We go through a small package of diapers in about 3 weeks...sometimes she can use the same diaper for an entire day or two before she soils it. So it doesn't make any sense for us to use cloth right now.

From what I hear almost every baby that EC's goes through a "potty pause" just stick through it...keep on them about using the potty and you will figure out a system that works with a now mobile baby. We just just used a potty schedule... when she stopped telling us that she had to go.... about every 30 mins or so I will put her on the potty and encourage her to go. Now we have about 6 potty breaks a day again...with few soils. (I don't like to say accidents...because she is only 8 months :)

More photoshop fun!

Today I took some pics of the girls and then worked with them on photoshop...I wanted to try out layering and gradient tools. I need to learn how to clean the edges up better after I cut the person out and lay in a background layer. Any suggestions on how to get the cut edge to be cleaner? I ended up using the smudge and blur tool to get a nicer edge...but I hope there is an easier way. Also, what do you think of the logo...I think it looks much cleaner than my signature.

To Check out the rest of today's photoshop adventure... go here.

Happy New Year!!!...Modesty

Happy new year everyone!!! My new years resolution this year is try and balance my hobbies...I seem to be jumping from one interest to another to another... I think its because I get bored quickly working on one thing...or reading from the same book...so I switch it up often...it drives people around me crazy ...lol. As you can see this weeks adventure is photography...although I have jumped into it with both feet...I feel that it will hang around for a while. (I take pictures every day for this blog...and it really feeds my cravings for creativity)

Last night I brought in the new year with close friends. The kids were with me...and awake until 1am in the morning. A little out of sorts today but it was fun! Andy stayed home by himself, he wasn't feeling well or up to staying up late...I don't blame him, he has to get up at 4:30 in the morning to work everyday.

I had a discussion with one of my friends last night about her job as a 4th grade teacher. It scares the crap out of me to think that Max will be in public school next year. Grade school children just aren't as innocent as they were when I was that age. The topics of conversation and vulgar sexual gestures towards one another AND the teachers is just outrageous. She made a very good point in mentioning that the children that were "sheltered" from nudity, private talk and were given the short end of the stick when it came to raw answers to curious questions...these children were the ones seeming to be the most vulgar and disgusting when it came to "family life" conversations with peers and vulgar antics.


I have questioned myself recently on how to define modesty for my children AND enable them with body confidence and awareness. I think that if we enforce a don't show, don't talk about, don't touch rule when it comes to body etiquite... I fear that they will think that naked means "dirty" as a result... naked means "sex" (later on down the road)... I want the two things to be TOTALLY seperate as far as they are concerned. Anyway, do you get where Im coming from? I want my kids to go to grade school and hear these comments and see these gestures and think....SO WHAT! No big deal... you're not so cool...and have good body awareness and confidence to not fall into the vularness of it all. (I could go on and on)


I am thinking of coming up with a fun "hobby" photograpy name...something cute I can stamp on the pictures to mark them as my own. Any ideas of a name...or design? More pics here from today.