Mother's Day gift Product Review

Some people (like me) prefer to receive cute gifts made by the kids. Some people like to get something a little more fun and possibly more useful. Best Buy will be selling a lovely gift package that has all your bases covered. It contains a 4GB iPod nano in your choice of pink or silver. It also has some very tasty (for milk chocolate) and a 10% coupon for an iPod accessory of your choice. The price is a bit on the high side, it will cost you $214.99 but if you want something a special for a special mom in your life this would make a great gift.

The iPod nano is a super easy to use mp3 player. Apple products are very intuitive and all it takes is a little exploring to figure out every thing that this little player has to offer. The nano is also perfect for mothers because it has a flash drive powering it. They are more robust when accidentally dropped and much less likely to break than the larger iPods. The small size is perfect for your purse or diaper bag yet it is still big enough that it will not disappear so you will have to dig for it.

If you have the money in hand and want a special something for a special someone in your life then starting May 6th these will be in stores.

I was planning on doing a super fun give away, but since I am a good wife I ended up giving away my lovely silver one (the one I got for Christmas) to my husband (who really wanted an iPod bad) and took the pink one for me. Sorry!!!

30 days with only one channel on TV

At the beginning of April our cable TV was stopped. We live in a bit of a podunk area, so that was pretty much the only way to get anything besides the local PBS station. It has been liberating not having so much TV in our lives. I found myself watching it just because it was on rather than a desire to see any particular show. I have already powered through a bunch of books and I am working on several craft projects. It is nice that I have "found" so much more free time.

I think that one of the best things about this is that the kids are not going to be as exposed to some of the junk that is out there. They don't mind a bit any way. They are happy watching the same five videos over and over again. They get their Sesame Street and Mr. Rodgers fix from the PBS station we get and sometimes we will not even turn on the TV all day. The silence in the house is amazing.

We did change our Netflix account around a bit. Since the kids were not at all picky about the videos we cut them out of the mix. We then added another disk to our subscription giving us each two DVDs out at a time. That way we both can have something at home the majority of the time. There is also TV online. I watch my beloved Lost online and am thinking about catching up on some other shows that way instead of waiting for the current season to come out in DVD.

So, dear readers if nothing else I hope this post will make you consider (even if it is for only a moment) cutting back on your own TV watching. You are probably watching more than you even think about and there are a lot of fun things that you could be doing with that time.

Sunday Stuff

If Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, why do I end up so exhausted at the end of the day?

In any given LDS nursery you are bound to find an extremely odd assortment of toys. I can tell that my ward's toy cabinets have not been cleaned out in forever. There was a Battle Cat aka Cringer action figure in the random collection which was a nice blast from the past toy. My sister E was a huge He Man fan so we watched the show a lot. I got to play She-ra and she was always He Man. I also found some ancient Fisher Price Little People from before they looked like giant headed real people.

I know all this because I got the chance between chasing kids to do a bit of spring cleaning. The Other Ward was not keeping very good track of their toys, not locking them up or anything so they all had migrated over to our cabinets spilling over to the top. The guy in our ward that is in charge of keeping the building safe and to code put his foot down about the mess. Anything that The Other Ward did not claim was going to end up at the Young Women yard sale later this month. We were both also hindered by the fact that random things kept showing up in the nursery room thanks to well meaning ward members. Toys for infants were just placed in the room, never mind that the youngest kids that could be in nursery were 18 months old. A lovely collection of Di*sney movies appeared one Sunday. That would have been nice except no videos of any kind are shown during nursery. We are a bit more wholesome than that, preferring to focus the Sabbath on religious things.

I have a new nursery assistant which is really nice. The old one was nice enough but she didn't speak much English so I often would spend two hours in a room with only one really verbal child (hint it was not Evan). The boys were too busy crashing cars into each other to talk leaving this lovely little girl to boss me around while we were playing pretend. The new assistant brings her also very verbal daughter in with her (the daughter was rather reluctant to go to nursery with out her mother) which helps even out the boy/girl dynamic a bit. She is also a person that I have not been able to spend much time with so it is fun getting to know her.

I put her in charge of the lessons since that has been something that I have struggled a bit with. It is hard to teach to kids ranging in age from 18 months to three years. There is still a lot of development going on at that age. I just do much better at those ages doing one on one teaching.

I do really love this calling despite the fact that I spend all my time with that age group in my own home. A couple of weeks ago the cute and very verbal little girl was a bit upset about something. She came up to me and told me she needed a hug. I picked her up and hugged her. She then told me that she needed a song too and asked me to sing "Twinkle Little Star". It is moments like that which make my calling the best one in the church.

Review the Queue- Serenity

This movie wrapped up and gave an ending to the Firefly TV series. It explained a lot of the things that ideally would have taken several seasons to develop. I loved the movie but wished that there was more to come.

It's a party!

Babies are popping out all around in the mommy blogging world. Kristen asked for some of the worst advice and the best advice that people encountered before the birth of your child or children. Quite honestly I don't remember any really off the wall advice, maybe I blocked it out. I do remember a million and one ways to get rid of heartburn, none of which worked. I did get some great advice from a wonderful woman from church who managed to raise six great kids into adulthood and is now an awesome grandmother.

She told me that when you are adding another child into the mix that the toddler should be as involved as they can be with the new baby. If the baby is crying and you are doing something with the toddler you should wait for the toddler to notice the crying. That way they would be the one suggesting that something needed to be done instead of you just dropping everything to take care of the baby. The baby will not remember crying for a little bit longer but the toddler will remember being pushed aside in favor of the baby.

I have applied this advice and I really think it has helped a lot. Evan and Harry are generally pretty good friends. They are not so great about sharing but they are also not fighting all the time and are often very friendly and loving towards each other.

Go check out what others have said and play some of the baby shower games. See if you can pick out my baby picture.

They didn't even fight!

Awesome Mom becomes a corporate shill

Awhile back I was approached to do a review for Fruity Cheerios. I jumped on the chance since it meant a free box of cheerios. I had already actually bought several giant boxes of them at Costco, so I was already in love with the product.

They have a nice fruity flavor with out being overly sweet like the competition cereal *cough*Frootloops*cough*. They are also smaller which gives them a much nicer texture. My LDS readers will be happy to know that they pass the sacrament snack test. Less sugar means that the nursery leader will be happy to see you since your kids will not be all hopped up on sugar.

Parents may love them for the reason above but kids love them for the taste. When Evan saw me pull the box out of the package he instantly wanted me to open them so he could have a snack. I gave in (I had already been planning on giving them a snack any way) and gave the boys some of their beloved "cheeieerios". Harry decided that they went especially well with dirt since he dumped the bowl on the patio floor for easier consumption.

Adding in: If you like contests check this one out. You could win $500 and/or a case (10 boxes) of Fruity Cheerios.

See? I attempted to civilize the boys.

But Harold the Destroyer thwarted me yet again.

Mmmmm.... dirt and cheerios

Evan made a slight attempt to put them back in the bowl but kept dumping them back out again, so his progress was nonexistent.

Code Brown

Sometimes your kids end up putting you in situations where you would rather be anywhere but where you are right at that moment.

Evan had obviously been very naughty and been out of bed when the event happened. He should have been quietly napping in his bed but instead was looking at his fish tank. The trail led around the room finally ending in his bed which is where I spotted him when I tried to peek in on him so that I could try and figure out why he was not napping.

The stench nearly bowled me over and made me instantly sorry that I had even opened the door. I stood there for a few moments trying to decide if I should even attempt to remedy the situation or leave and gird my loins for another attempt at it later. I decided that things would only get worse if I waited and set about putting thing back in as much order as I possibly could at the time.

The last time he had a diaper that bad was when he was in the hospital after his stroke. He had been on a strong antibiotic due to a central line infection. His intestines had been thrown out of whack and his diapers had been vile. Generally I take care of stuff like that on my own, not bothering to call the nurse, but this time I knew I was in over my head. With a tiny bit of glee I pushed that lovely call button which would summon the nurse to the bedside.

A different nurse peeked her head in. I quickly apprised her of the situation and after she took one look at the situation she left the room to find out nurse. I think I saw a hit of a smile on her face when she left. I think she was very glad at that moment that Evan was not her patient. As it turned out Evan's nurse had been attending to another similar situation, so he went from the frying pan and into the fire but soon Evan was cleaned up and in fresh clothing with a freshly made up bed to boot.

Sometimes I can't help but wish that I could use that lovely call button that magically summons help. The world would be a much nicer place to live if everyone was able to get exactly the kind of help they needed right when they needed it.

Some people have too much time on their hands

This is what I thought would be happening when I first heard George Carlin's voice reading on Evan's Thomas video. Evan had a good giggle about the farting noises.

Where the magic happens

Nanette showed her readers her fridge and then dared us to show something from our house. She dared me to show my laundry area.

This pair of high efficiency super capacity laundry powerhouses are my pride and joy. They are the first brand spanking new washer and dryers that we have ever owned. On top of the dryer you will find our poopy diaper soaking bucket, a trash can, a clothing soaking bucket and my trusty baking soda, Oxyclean and vinegar laundry supplements. If you have all three of those then you don't really need much else besides a good detergent.


The washer, I think I need a name for her like Bessie or something. I wish that we had sprung for the pedestals but my husband was so offended by the idea of paying so much money for something that he could have made himself that we didn't. The upside to it is that they are just the right height for Evan and Harry to "help" me put things in the dryer.

This is the laundry shelf. You will see some fabric softener, liquid for sheets and bedding (I loove the smell) and sheets for clothing. Once the sheets are used up that is it, because vinegar makes an excellent fabric softener and static reducer. You will note that there are massive quantities of detergent. I hate having to buy things over and over so I tend to buy a lot at one time.


Over here is a super tiny bottle of bleach that we have had for years. I rarely use it but it does come in handy now and then. Right next to that is my wool wash for the wool soakers that I use for Harry (I don't have any big enough for Evan yet). It is lavender scented which is my all time favorite scent.


I tried to get this all in one shot but the laundry area is in a small alcove upstairs. I could not back up far enough in the hall way to get it in one shot. I love that it is upstairs since that is where the majority of our clothing generally resides. I hate having to haul stuff like that up and down stairs. This keeps things convenient.

laundry washer dryer

Thinking Blogger Award

The lovely Zephra as bestowed upon me the Thinking Blogger award. I am honored to receive this award and it has been tough deciding who to pass it on to.

The rules:

1. If, and only if, you get tagged, write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote (here is an alternative silver version if gold doesn't fit your blog).

Here are the five blogs that I have picked:

First and foremost is The Laundress (Dirty Laundry). She truly makes my brain hurt sometimes with her amazing and sometimes convoluted posts. She keeps me very busy with book recommendations and it seems that there is no topic beneath her notice. We often have very interesting conversations in her comments section which, to me, is what blogging should be all about.

My second pick is Kristi (Here in Idaho). She is a very funny person but she is also very passionate about education. She home schools her own children and has got me thinking that if she can do it I could probably do it too. After all I can sew a quilt much better than her even if I stink at getting enough fabric to finish one.

My third pick is Gina (Just Another Day). Even though sometimes I do not necessarily agree with everything that she writes, she is very good at at least getting me to think about why I feel a specific way about some of the more controversial topics.

My fourth pick is Ami Chopine. She is very great about writing from the religious scientist perspective. She is not one to simply accept things at face value but she is also not one to discount religion and turn it into a fairy tale just because she can't easily explain it.

My fifth pick is Happy Mommy (By small and simple things). I knew her before she started blogging through an LDS forum. She always impressed me with her ability to think through a situation and bring rationality to a conversation. Her blog is not frequently updated but when she writes she gives you rich well though out posts to think on (well the majority of the time any way, she does put in cute pictures of her kids too).

Thinking+Blogger+Award meme

Why I blog

The lovely Fat Doctor has tagged little ol' me for a meme.

The top five reasons why I blog are:

1 I am bad at journaling. I have always wanted to keep a journal of some sort but have never been able to actually keep at it. Blogging is more interactive, so it keeps me more interested in continuing.

2 I want to keep my family and friends updated on how the kids are doing. When Evan was in the hospital for the first time we were constantly repeating the same stuff over and over to all the well wishers. They meant well but it got exhausting to repeat the same thing over and over, especially when there was nothing new to report. This way people can peek in whenever they want.

3 I have a strange need to share the cuteness of my kids. It would be selfish for me to keep Harry's chubby cheeks and oh so pokeable tummy all to myself. Evan's grin could bring world peace if enough people see it.

4 I meet new and amazing people through blogging. The very lovely Karen of PediScribe just sent me a super cool book filled with Thomas the Train cross stitch patterns. If I was not out there blogging we never would have met and Evan and Harry's room would end up not being nearly as cute as it soon will be.

5 I want to share a little bit of what it is like to have a child that has different needs than most. I want people to see that it really is not all that crazy to have a child that has been through several heart surgeries and survived a stroke. In general our life is actually pretty normal, if there really is such a thing as normal.

Lameo tag: if you see this and want to do it just let me know in my comment so I can come read your reasons. Oshee tagged herself after reading my post, go check out her reasons for blogging.


meme blogging

Review the Queue- Soylent Green

Netflix has a new feature where you can watch some movies online instead of waiting for the physical copy to be sent to you. I decided to try it out and watched Soylent Green.

This is a movie starring Charlton Heston (aka Moses) who is a detective looking to solve the murder of a very wealthy man. Global warming and over population has wracked the Earth leaving it barely able to support it's human population. The story was written by the great science fiction writer Harry Harrison. I am a big fan of his Stainless Steel Rat series. The story is very much in the style of the older hard core science fiction. There are plot holes that you could drive a truck through (people quite honestly do not make very good food so using them to fuel future generations would not be terribly efficient.) but the basic story is quite entertaining if you try not to pick at the actual science behind the premise.

The acting in the movie while generally pretty good was sometimes rather distracting form the plot. I found the fight scenes especially over done but then that was also the norm for that time. It was rather amusing to see the computers and what not be immensely less advanced (the movie is set in 2022) that what we have now. There is a scene where the love interest is playing a arcade game (it looked like space invaders) on a giant stand up console when there are such things as personal hand held game systems that have far better graphics and more complicated games. I also had to wonder why the main character was always whining about the heat yet he wore a jacket all the time.

Just remember that if you find yourself in 15 years consuming green wafers as your main source of nutrition you might want to take a second and think about what you are eating. Soylent Green is people y'all.




Soylent+Green movies Science+Fiction Netflix

Review the Queue- Firefly

Firefly is an example of a wonderfully written show filled with great acting getting canceled far too soon. It lasted only a season before being axed due to lack of ratings. I was a bit wary at first about even putting it in my queue but decided to take a chance after hearing a lot of good things about the show.

The show has a very unique concept, it is a western/science fiction show. Serenity is a spaceship (a firefly class ship hence the name of the show) with a rag tag crew of criminals. They tend to spend a lot of time in the outer rim of human space settlements, which is where the western element is strongest. When they wander into more settled space you get a more science fiction feel tot he show.

The acting is done very superbly. The writers managed to avoid the cheesy dialog that is so often found in science fiction movies and tv shows. There are a lot of moments that make you laugh. The characters are real and enjoyable. You truly want to get to know them better and they are not one sided stereotypes. I am very sad that this show was removed from the air far too soon when there are other less deserving shows that are still on the air.

Firefly Netflix tv Science+Fiction

Oh frantabulous joy

Sleep is an amazing wonderful thing. It is wonderful when you get enough, your mindset makes a big change. You stop obsessing about things that are not very important and are able to enjoy the little fun things, the things that really matter.

Pity Party

Today I had a pity party. I guess I decided that since I did not have a birthday party, a pity party would be the next best thing.

I went walking this morning with a friend of mine and her two little girls. We were both whining about how messy our houses were and how we disliked cleaning. The difference was that I actually meant it. We stayed for a little bit so that the kids could play and her messy house was probably cleaner than mine on a really good day. I could not help but hate her a little bit for that.

The colds are going but Harry decided to have the runs. I would love to ask what next, but then I am not entirely sure I really want an answer to that question. In my insomniac brain haze this morning I decided that I could not face cloth diapering a child with runny stools. I feel it was a good choice for my state of mind, especially since I am crazy behind on the laundry in the first place. We still use disposables at night so we do have a plentiful supply of throw aways.

I have not been sleeping well lately which is very much affecting my mood. I just want to crawl into a cave and stay there for a few months hibernating. I have often envied bears the ability to do that. I really think I would fit in with bears.

Tomorrow I am going to kick my dirty house into shape. I have a tendency to ignore the up stairs since most of our time is spent downstairs. I was giving the kids a bath the other night and was appalled at how filthy the floor is. The tub is also disgusting but no amount of scrubbing on my part has even budged the years of built up soap scum left by the previous tenant. I think I will need dynamite if I want a sparkling tub. I am hoping that the cleaning will life my mood since a dirty house is very depressing.

This is something that lifts my mood. I love bunnies and this picture just cracks me up.

cleaning cranky dirt

Evan through the ages

I was looking through some of my old pictures and I though I would share some of Evan.

Son of a gun

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I wish I could say that my birthday was loads of fun but cranky kids and Evan testing high for his INR kind of took all the fun out of the day.

Last week Evan's levels were low and this week they were sky high but I think I may have found the reason for it so hopefully they will level out soon. Apparently garlic is yet another food that interacts with coumadin. The week before Evan tested low we had a run of heavily garlicked foods but have backed off lately which is probably why he is so high now. I am going to have to be more careful in the future with making sure that there is an even amount of garlic in the food we eat.

I wish that this was more widely known. My sister is the one that clued me in on this one. She has a new job working with older cancer patients who are often on blood thinners. That is how she learned about it and then passed it on to me. In all the things that I have read it has never even been mentioned before. I am almost afraid to feed him anymore as I can never seem to be sure which foods will mess with his delicate balance. This is almost as bad as having a diabetic in the house.

Awesome Mom turns 28 today

Today is my birthday. Yep Friday the 13th. I was born on a Friday the 13th so this birthday is extra lucky for me. My husband was also born on the 13th (different year and month though). We were married on the 15th, after I had picked the date with no input from my husband who told me to do what ever I wanted he then pointed out that it could have been fun to be married on the 13th. Too bad it was too late to change anything.

Thanks to Wikipedia I will share a few fun things that happened in history on this loveliest of all days.

Events
1111 - Henry V is crowned Holy Roman Emperor.
1742 - George Frideric Handel's oratorio Messiah makes its world-premiere in Dublin, Ireland
1941 - Pact of neutrality between the USSR and Japan is signed.
1970 - An oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13 explodes, putting the crew into deadly peril.
1975 - An attack by unidentified gunmen on a church in Ain El Remmeneh followed by an attack on a bus that killed 17 Palestinian civilians, Lebanon marks the beginning of a 15 year civil war.
1997 - Tiger Woods becomes the youngest golfer to win golf's Masters Tournament.

Births
1570 - Guy Fawkes, English Catholic conspirator (d. 1606)
1743 - Thomas Jefferson, 3rd President of the United States (New style date) (d. 1826)
1899 - Alfred Mosher Butts, American architect and inventor of the Scrabble (d. 1993)
1962 - Hillel Slovak, Israeli-born guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers) (d. 1988)
1979 - Baron Davis, American basketball player

Holidays and Observances
* First day of Thai New Year.
* First day of Cambodian New Year.
* Vaisakhi: Punjabi and Nepali New Year
* Aerosmith Day is celebrated in Massachusetts

Check out the cool present my parents bought for me. It is a cool set of portable speakers for my iPod. Now I can listen to my music where ever I am which is nice when I am trying to get some cleaning done. Doing chores with ear phones was just not working out very well. The speakers will also be great for road trips since my car does not have a plug in for mp3 players and I don't have a tape player so I can't use one of those adapter thingers.

Kid show detox

After a long weekend of humoring a sick Evan and letting him watch all the Thomas he wanted I need some detox from kids shows. My brain is filled with the inane songs that keep repeating over and over. I am also developing the sinking feeling that I am becoming as obsessed as Evan with Thomas.

For my birthday I asked my husband to let me use the money he would have spent on a present to decorate the boy's bedroom Thomas style. It has been quite fun and challenging working with a tight budget. I have been keeping my eyes our for things that I can use to make the room which means that my mind is dwelling a lot on Thomas as well. I think I need a vacation from Thomas, not that Evan will let me. Maybe it will lessen in me once the room is done.

Cuz Gina asked

In my post about Harry hiding things I mentioned my lovely child unfriendly stairs (well not child unfriendly, maybe more like mommy unfriendly since the kids have a blast with all the possibilities that come from having stairs like mine). Gina asked for pictures, so being the wonderful blog friend that I am I am posting pictures. What you can't see in the picture is that they have not been vacuumed in a bajillion years. I have a very minimalist upright vaccume cleaner that we bought for four dollars when I was newly married and it has no attachments with it, so when I want to clean the stairs it is a pain in the patootie to even do, so I don't .............. at least not very often.






stairs kids cleaning

We are surrounded!

We are surrounded by massive amounts of bacteria. That is why obsessively disinfecting your home is not going to work in the long run. The bacteria will just keep coming back. They are everywhere. You are breathing them in right now. They are all over your skin. You are essentially swimming in an ocean of bacteria. Just FYI, not to freak you out or anything. Oh no! There is a ton of it floating in the air right behind you! It looks kind of menacing, you had better watch out.


bacteria germs cleaning

Best meal ever

I think I have cooked my best meal ever. It was so good that my husband, the condiment king, did not add any thing to it. We had grilled rosemary lamb chops (it was my husband's first time eating lamb so he was a bit hesitant and took a bit of convincing), rosemary carrots and roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Everything turned out perfectly. The meat was nice and rare. The carrots were crisp with out being crunchy and the mashed potatoes were not lumpy thanks to my recent purchase of a ricer. I think we will be eating more lamb from now on.

I also want to give a big thanks to Anne/kq for introducing me to the recipe website that I used to find these recipes. I have found so many amazing recipes there since she told me about it. I hardly even pick up paper cook books any more, instead I print out the recipes we like and put them in a binder so that I have my own custom book.

Happy Easter!

I hope that every one is enjoying a wonderful Easter day.

One of the downfalls of being a member of a church that relies on volunteers for the vast majority of it's workings is that sometimes things like church choirs fall by the wayside. My current ward does not have the interested people or someone with the know how to direct a choir. We are blessed with a lot of people that play the piano and could accompany so I guess that is something. I really miss singing with a group of trained singers. While I know there is a place for congregational singing I enjoy singing in a choir where everyone knows how to read music and knows their parts. I seem to feel the spirit more when singing with he choir than at other times.

My first time singing in a choir was in my college singles ward. I signed up because a guy I liked was also in it. Plus we were promised a lovely Christmas party since the director not only loved to direct music but she also was a gourmet cook. I found once I started going to rehearsals that I really enjoyed performing with a big group of people. I am no solo singer but I do have the ability to blend my own voice with others to produce something much better than what I would have done on my own.

My best ward choir experience was when we were living in San Diego. I was in a new city, my husband was going to be gone for three whole months and I didn't know anyone. Once I joined the choir I started feeling like I belonged. It was a wonderful group with a lot of powerful singers. We preformed something every week and learned very complicated pieces. The main event of the year was the Christmas Cantata. We spent months learning the songs and had a special performance day since it was a long performance and not suitable for Sacrament meeting. I was sad to leave.

Pediatric Grand Rounds

The latest edition of Pediatric Grand Rounds is up. The next edition will be the first anniversary edition hosted at Unintelligent Design and will be a best of edition so no submissions are being solicited.

The sickies strike again

Last night I dreamed that Evan threw up in his bed. Sadly it was not a dream but reality. I must have heard him puking and incorporated it into my dream. I did a wash all the bedding day yesterday and now I am having to do it all over again with Evan's formerly freshly laundered sheets and blankets.

He spent the morning watching Thomas and ended up throwing up his lunch. He is feverish too but in an odd twist of fate I am unable to locate any of our many thermometers. We have two digital (one used exclusively for rectal temps), an ear one that someone gave us and a tympanic forehead one and yet they are all MIA. I am not too worried as he does not seem excessively lethargic or anything, however we will be missing church tomorrow. I am keeping my fingers crossed that Harry will not get it too but chances of that are slim especially since the little monkey found a cast off sippy cup that Evan had been sipping out of all morning and promptly drank out of it before I could stop him.

Harry

Sometimes Harry is just so dang cute it makes me want to pinch his chubby little cheeks and nibble on his little toes. Yes, I sometimes fantasize about eating my children. I think that every mom does.........right?

Ok, so yesterday we were doing our normal routine. The kids get up insanely early, I get them out of bed, grab some clothing for the day (including my own since Harry flips out if I try and get dressed in privacy) and herd everyone downstairs. Breakfast follows, then Sesame Street while mommy checks email and finishes waking up. I then go to get them dressed, only to discover that the clothing that I had thrown down the stairs was missing. In a stunning twist I had actually made the kids help me pick up the night before, so the living room floor was pretty darn clean. There was nowhere for the missing clothing to hide. I check under our stairs* just to in case, since Harry has stashed things there before, but nothing. Giving up I brave the inevitable passing out of Harry while I am upstairs getting new clothing for everyone.

Later on I go to do the laundry. We keep a basket downstairs behind our love seat so that we are not running upstairs all the time whenever we have a dirty piece of clothing. In it was the clothing that I had brought down in the morning, lovingly placed there by Harry who had recently learned to put his dirty clothing there. Evan does the same trick but never on his own, so I knew that it had to be Harry. I just wish that he would do that with his toys and books. I think I would be in heaven then.

* We have funky stairs that have gaps in them as part of the design. If you drop something on the stairs it is likely that item will fall straight down through the gap. It is fun to be able to grab the boy's toes while they are coming downstairs but I think the person that designed those kinds of stairs never had kids because they are mostly just annoying.

kids cuteness toddler cleaning

My quilt folly

Kristi showed her very interesting attempt at a first quilt so I thought I would share mine with you. Since I am a bit better at reading directions and had a friend who was a quilting goddess helping me mine turned out a bit better than Kristi's. The problem with my half finished quilt is that when I prewashed my fabric it shrunk enough that there was not enough of one of my fabrics to actually finish the quilt which was supposed to be a queen size. I am thinking about making it into a twin quilt for Evan when he out grows his toddler bed, but it has nothing to do with Thomas the train so I am not sure he would really even like it.



Here is a close up of the squares. I did not cut out them individually instead I cut long strips of fabric and sewed them together according to the pattern. Then I cut them across and sewed those into bigger blocks which were then sewed together to make the big quilt. The green heart fabric is the evil not enough to finish the quilt fabric. I went back to the store but it was all gone and no more was to be ordered.

Here is a shot that shows you the total effect of the quilt. There would have been sashing around it to help bring the whole pattern together. I would have had to hand quilt it, so maybe it was best that I never finished it since that would have been a large undertaking.



quilting quilts crafts

What now?

We are now over six months past Evan's last heart surgery. I find myself at loose ends. All of Evan's life there has been a surgery hanging over our heads, looming in the not so distant future. Now? There is nothing planned, nothing to plan for, we just wait. We wait to see if things change if, some how, despite expectations things get bad.

The number of doctor's visits are rapidly decreasing. This was Evan's last winter on Synagis. Next winter we will not have to visit the pediatrician monthly, in fact we may be able to go the entire year between well visits with out seeing him (stranger things have happened). Evan is only seeing his cardiologist as often as he is because he flat out refuses to let me use the equipment to monitor his pacemaker over the phone, so they have to do it in the office.

All of these wonderful things mean that suddenly Evan can start just being a kid now. The intrusions into his life are shrinking leaving only his physical therapy which to him is like having an adult come over to just play with him. I think I am going to have to come up with a new hobby or something.

Sleep woes

Ever since the time change it seems like Harry and Evan have been getting up way too early in the morning. I had thought it was due to the sun so I put up some thicker window coverings to block out more light. It does not seem to be helping one bit. I have even threatened my husband with death if he even makes the slightest noise when he is getting ready for work in the morning. I am going nuts with the whole get up at 6 in the morning stunt that Harry is doing (I am sure it is him that is the culprit in this whole thing since he is usually the first shriek that I hear in the morning).

I then have to deal with an ultra cranky toddler all morning and I am very frustrated with the whole thing. If he takes an early morning nap that kills any chance I have at even leaving the house at all until my husband gets home. An early morning nap means that he will wake up the instant Evan goes down for his nap. An early morning nap means that as soon as Evan wakes up from his nap, he will want to go back down. Try and keep him up and there is hell to pay. So I sit here blogging instead of being out and about walking with my friend and her daughters to the library so that we could go to story time.

Anyone have any tips on how to help Harry sleep in later?

On an unrelated note check out the cool trucks that my dad is making for the boys.

toddler+sleep naps

Happy April Fool's Day!!

I am not really pregnant, it was all a fun joke that I was playing on my family. I have a sister that loves to harass me about when I am going to provide her with a niece so I thought I would have a bit of fun with her. Thanks for all the congratulations, but I will have to save them for when I really do get pregnant next, which is not any time in the immediate future.

On a related note I just discovered that I may be doomed to having all boys. I found an rather light article about it and I really have to wonder how this study was done because my mother is quite "assertive, competitive, and self-reliant" and she ended up with four girls and no sons.

If you would like to have some fun with your family next April Fool's Day here are some tricky recipes to make for dinner.

Guess what!?

Bunny madness

We had a crazy busy day today filled with a lot of candy and other fun things. The breakfast with the easter bunny was pretty much what I had expected. This year the easter bunny managed to show up to the breakfast on base and it was really nice weather out so we were not freezing during the easter egg hunt. This year we also remembered (the night before) to bring a bucket to put the eggs in. My husband decided to crash the bigger kids section and let Evan get some real candy since there was no way we were going to let him eat the pretzels.

The second hunt we went to had more fun activities including rock painting. That was hosted by a group that it trying to get funding for a children's museum in this area which is something I can really get behind. The egg hunt was even more age divided than the first one we went to because there were eggs with prizes in them. If you got one with a number you got that corresponding prize. Since parents were only allowed to help in the 1-2 egg section we kept Evan there since he would have been at a disadvantage only being able to use one hand. Harry picked up a prize egg and won a very puzzling chicken pillow. I looked up the pillow online and discovered that this silly pillow that I could probably have made myself was retailing for 38.00!

The second hunt had the best candy. We got a bunch of really small Jelly Belly packets. Jelly Belly jelly beans are my all time favorite jelly bean. I am finding it hard to share with the boys. I was not sad that there was very little chocolate since the quality of chocolate handed out at events like this is often sub par.

We also went out to eat for dinner since neither of us felt like cooking. We ordered the boys some fish and chips and the waitress was amazed that such small children would love fish so much. She even stuck around to watch them chow down.

What a cute little boy!! Last year he spent the entire time in a sling.

It goes in the bucket!

Evan spotted an egg in the bushes and was determined to get it all by himself.

Evan and Daddy waiting for the Easter Bunny to come at hunt #2

Here comes the Easter bunny!!!

A new holiday

I have decided that tomorrow is Blame Everything on my Husband Day. I wanted to start it today but since it was late afternoon when I came to this conclusion it was moved to tomorrow.

Global warming? Yep it is my husband's fault that the planet has a fever.

Something spilled on the floor? My husband did something that caused the spill.

The kids are cranky? Yep his fault again even though he leaves the house before they wake up.

The weather is not as nice as you like it? Yup it is my husband's fault.

Anything goes tomorrow. Feel free to add your suggestions about things that are my husband's fault.

Part 2

I could not resist doing this one again, it was so fun the first time around. This time Chelle is interviewing me.

1. Which of the seven dwarfs would best describe your husband? Well I could say Grumpy but really that is me so I am going with Sneezy, He has a very amusing sneeze.

2. Knowing you are night person, what is the hardest part of your morning? Getting up in the morning. The kids are just do dang bright and chipper chock full of energy. I swear that they suck it out of me while I am asleep.

3. What is the biggest challenge when balancing the needs of two children? Making sure that Evan's issues do not overwhelm Harry's needs.

4. If you were stranded on a deserted island and had EVERYTHING you needed and wanted ... what would be the one thing you would want to OMIT? Mosquitoes, they are annoying and bound to be buzzing all over any deserted island worth living on.

5. Where you ever a Doctor Who fan? I was not, but I am now after watching the first season of the new version.

A fun game

I saw this over at Underachieving Mommy and not so proud of it. Nanette gave me five questions to answer, which are below.

If you would like to play along:
The Rules: Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me.” I respond by asking you five personal questions (I will leave these questions for you in my comments) so I can get to know you better. If I already know you well, expect the questions may be a little more intimate! You WILL update your journal/bloggy thing/whatever with the answers to the questions (please don't leave your answers in my comments unless you don't have a blog). You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

1. You are given the choice between:
a)Having one question--i.e. What is the origin of life?--of your choice answered with absolute certainty.
b)Receiving a briefcase with One Million Dollars.
Knowledge or Money?

I am a sucker for knowledge every time. I have always been pretty curious about the universe so I would have to pick that. A briefcase with a million dollars would be quite tempting since that is the only way we could afford to buy a house in the city we are living in right now.

2. What characteristics(of others) do you absolutely despise?

Ignorance and stupidity are things that I truly despise in others. Selfishness is another one, it seems like so many people are only looking out for number one and trying to get their hands on as much stuff as possible that they ignore the fact that relationships and other intangible things are what truly matter.

3. What did you dream of becoming when you were a child?

I always wanted to work with animals. I read the James Herriot books so I dreamed of becoming a country veterinarian. Then I went to college and met some actual vet students and realized how incredible difficult it would be and since I also knew that I wanted to become a stay at home mother some day I decided the expense of school would not be worth it to me.

4. What is the hardest thing for you about having a child with special needs?

I think that the hardest thing about Evan's health issues is the possibility that I will outlive him. I don't want to have to bury my own child. I know that the separation would only be temporary but it would still be heart breaking.

5. If you had to choose between losing your vision or losing your hearing, which would you choose and why?

I think I would have to pick hearing. We are such visual beings that it would make a much bigger impact on my life to be unable to see.

Easter

Easter is around the corner and along with it comes yet another dilemma. To Easter bunny or to not Easter bunny? Do we remove the magic and mystery from childhood? Do we shower the kids with gifts and candy leaving out the true reason for the holiday which is a celebration of the resurrection of Christ?

Right now I am choosing not to choose. This Saturday we will head out to the base and eat a free breakfast where the Easter bunny may or may not show up to amuse the kids (last year he was MIA). We will then collect lame eggs stuffed full of pretzels (some of the parents complained last year that too much candy was given out, never mind that the instant the pretzel hits the mouth saliva turns the simple carbs into sugars) which Evan can't eat due to his sodium restricted diet. After all the fun we are planning on crashing the better planed easter celebration of the local town (where we actually do not live so technically we are crashing the party but our town is not having any sort of celebration that I know of) so that the kids can get their faces painted (and you all know how much they love body art) and play kid themed games.


On Easter Sunday we will attend church. We will celebrate the true meaning of the holiday leaving out all the pagan symbolism. No easter baskets or toys will be given on this day. We will consume a traditional ham dinner (which as a Jew, Jesus, would have been forbidden to eat. Lamb is hard to find in this area so we go with what we can get). The kids will be wearing cute new duds. I think that by separating the differing elements of the holiday we will manage to have the best of both worlds.


Here is a picture from Evan's first Easter. Obviously he was still in the hospital but was soon to be released. I was holding him and talking with my dad (who had come out during his spring break to keep me company in the hospital and meet his first grand child) and my husband. I was not facing the door so I did not see the giant creepy rabbit sneaking up behind me. I see a flash of white out of the corner of my eye and am quite startled. Luckily I did not drop Evan or anything due to my fright. I quickly calmed down when I saw that it was just the friendly neighborhood Easter bunny dressed in a very gaudy vest and bow tie ensemble. How he got into the hospital with out wearing pants I will never know.

When I was a child he "forgot" to come to our house once so, he had to come back to it after we had arrived home from church. The real reason was that my parents had not wanted to get up early to hide the eggs. I remember my father telling me not to peek outside but I still did. I was quite disappointed that I did not see the Easter bunny. Lucky for my parents I did not see them hiding eggs either, they would have been busted big time. I do remember not being all that shocked when my dad told me the truth about Santa, the Easter bunny and the Tooth Fairy so I must have suspected something.

Pediatric Grand Rounds

Another fine edition of Pediatric Grand Rounds is up at Musings of a Distractible Mind. There is even a post about how to entertain a child post heart surgery. I added my two cents in comments on that one you can be sure after all I have become something of an expert.

The next edition will be hosted by by Flea, who is one of my favorite pediatric medicine bloggers.

Things that break your heart a little

Recently Evan has discovered that band-aids are fun and not merely functional. I bought some fun character band-aids in what I thought was a lame attempt to make his twice a month toe poke for his INR test a little more fun. He seemed to think the band-aids were ok, but nothing special the first time I used them.

This afternoon we were fish watching in his room. Our home INR test kit was sitting on top of his dresser and he saw it. He got excited and started saying something that I could not understand at first. The word was band-aid. He was willing to have me test him so that he could have a beloved character band-aid. Instead I just gave him one to put on his arm.

No whining, just some pictures

Here is Evan in his latest fashion accessory. They are his beloved "asses" He enjoys wearing them so much (probably because both mommy and daddy wear them) that he will get most upset when I make him take them off. Note that they are a super cool silver instead of the babyish other colors that he had to choose from. Harry refused to keep them on, so he was not allowed to have a pair.



In keeping with the whole bad boy theme, here is tattoo artist Evan working his magic on his father. Evan loves to color on himself and other people. I have not had the heart to break him of this since we use washable markers that are truly washable. Plus it is sometimes used in his therapy to get him to interact with his left hand. We went out to eat on Friday and he was given some crayons. Once he got tired of coloring on the place mat he started trying to color on me despite my assurances that crayons did not work on skin.


coloring kids sunglasses