pieces of me: november 2003

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It’s been a while since I wrote my last {pieces of me} post.

It all started here and then this happened.

By the end of October we had seen that our little jellybean had a heartbeat. It was very early, but there was a flicker. We planned to keep it quiet until Christmas. By that time my mom would be done with her double mastectomy surgery and we could give everybody some happy Christmas news (and be through the 1st trimester).

We went in for another ultrasound in early November.

This time there wasn’t a heartbeat.

It was hard to understand. We hadn’t planned for a baby, but the news was finally exciting given that we had recently received such scary news about my mom. Why was this happening, too?!

We weren’t going to have happy Christmas news to share. In fact, we didn’t share any of the news.

We figured sharing the news of our loss would not be a good idea given what my family was dealing with due to my moms cancer.

I chose to not have a D&C. It was physically and emotionally painful.

What I knew for sure was that the life that was taken away from us was the angel that would now look over my mom and make sure that she would stay with us.

home is…angels to look over us.

delicious ambiguity

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I love these simple cards from Quotable Cards.

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I remember the first time I saw one of these in a card shop on The Hill on Boulder.

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Over the years I have sent Quotable Cards to family, given them to friends, and kept some for myself.

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I have some stuffed in drawers, magnets in random places, and a calendar in my desk.

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This is a good one for how life is treating our family right now…

home is…delicious ambiguity.

turns out she has both

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This is a follow up to the {milestones} post from almost a month ago.

As I mentioned in that post, we had baby girl tested for food sensitivities to see if that may be what causes her eczema. The doctor thought that she may have a wheat (gluten) or dairy sensitivity.

Turns out she has both.

Specifically, a high whole wheat sensitivity, but her gluten sensitivity is pretty high as well. As for the dairy, milk was the highest followed by cheddar cheese.

The good news is that she does not currently drink milk. She never did. By that I mean she never drank cows milk. She was breast fed until she was 14 months old, but would never take a bottle of milk. So, we don’t need to cut that out of her diet.

I will have to start to cut out wheat and cut down on her dairy from cows (it looked like she will be okay with goats milk products).

My aunt and uncle, who we visited in Vail, have cut dairy and gluten out of their family’s diet and they are a wealth of knowledge, but it all seems daunting to me.

Does anybody have any experience with this? Do you know of any good resources for me?

I am just hoping that I can give my children the best upbringing possible and that includes their diet. If I can help baby girl feel better by changing her (and our whole family’s) eating habits then I am all for it!

home is…making changes for all of us even if it is just needed by one of us.

baby girl’s new bestie

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This funny little thing is showing up all over our house these days.

No, we are not potty training.

Baby girl figured out how useful a stool is for a toddler and started using one at Meme and Topher’s house in Colorado.

When we got home she quickly learned how to pick up and carry this “potty stool” all over the house.

She brings it in the kitchen to stand next to me while I do dishes or make a meal.

She uses it to climb up on the big stools at the breakfast bar.

She uses it for things I didn’t know you would need to use a stool for…just because she can.

We also have one in the kids bathroom upstairs.

She carries that one all over, too.

It’s adorable…

When you’re not tripping over it in unexpected places.

home is…baby girl trying to be so big.

stop dreaming and start doing

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So, I thought some home improvement big box store used this phrase in a marketing campaign, but I can’t find it online. What I did find when I Googled the phrase was a lot of websites about how you should stop dreaming and start doing. And, a lot of the websites specifically talked about blogging.

I LOVE blogging. Since I started blogging in 2008 it has really been an outlet for me. The WordPress Post a Day 2011 Challenge has been a lot of fun and a good challenge! However, I find that I am writing a lot about what I am dreaming of doing. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in dreaming, but remember, I also believe in setting goals and the sense of accomplishment in achieving those goals by DOING!

I have a lot that I want to DO! I have a lot that I need to DO!

Here’s a little list:

  • Finish our photo album from 2010
  • Swap out the “cat closet” with the laundry room closet
  • Paint the kids bathroom white
  • Paint the master bedroom
  • Hang artwork in the little guys room
  • Finish hanging artwork in baby girls room
  • Family photo collage wall
  • Original artwork collage wall
  • Move dining room chandelier so it is centered over the table
  • Build platform for tree/playhouse and build playhouse
  • Do some landscaping (even if it is just planting some veggies, flowers, and hanging baskets)
  • Paint chalkboard for powder bathroom
  • Paint chalkboard for dining room
  • Paint (or buy) desktop for Ryan’s office
  • Hang awards and artwork in Ryan’s office

And, this is just what I can think of off the top of my head.

I still have lots more I want to write about on my blog, too. I want to write some stories about the past, keep a major focus on the present, and occasionally write about my dreams for the future.

But for now I want to start doing.

I will still have a blog post each day, but there may be fewer words. You may see a lot of pictures…about what I am doing.

And, about what WE are doing.

Don’t worry, the present will be my focus! If we have a super fun day and I take a lot of great photos, you will see them! If we actually finish a project and I think it is blog worthy, you will see it! When the little guy says something funny, cute or endearing you will read about it!

Let’s call it Post a Day 2011 Lite.

home is…doing.

the little guy said…

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at 2:43 am…

Mommy: “Why did you come in here?”

Little Guy: {silence}

M: “Did you hear a scary noise?”

LG: “No.”

M: “Did you have a scary dream?”

LG: “I just love you.”

Then a few moments later, “I don’t have scary dreams, just good ones.”

home is…loving him so much i can hardly stand it!

get moving…

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…it’s Monday!

And, a happy Monday morning to all of you!

First of all, I want to thank you all for reading my little old blog! It is a pleasure to write it and chronicle this stage of my family’s life. I hope you are enjoying it as much as we are!

This morning I am going to be a little random, but we are eventually going to get moving!

Last night we had some fun snuggling before bed…

Baby girl is still sleeping…it’s 8:30 in the morning! I took her to Urgent Care yesterday because she has had a bad cough for a couple of weeks and I just wanted to get it checked out. Everything checked out clear and normal, so it’s just a darn cold. Last night was the first in about 4 nights that she did not cough her way through sleep. I think we all slept better last night. Well, except for the fact that the little guy visited and stayed in our bed for half of the night. He has woken up the last two nights and ended up in our bed due to scary noises and scary dreams.

Today we’re going to a swim lesson for the little guy. He took one session of swim lessons when he was about 6 months old and since then we haven’t been in the water much. We will have the outdoor pool to go to at our heath club this summer so we thought it would be a good idea to get the kids in swim lessons. We will also be visiting Ryan’s family in Rochester, NY this summer and his sister, who lives across the street from his parents (yes, like “Everybody Loves Raymond”), has a pool that I am sure we will spend some time in!

This morning I also made the reservation for our 4th Annual Playgroup Birthday Party! Since the kids (all of our oldest kids) turned 1 year old we have had a group birthday party for all of them. The first two years one of the families hosted it at their house (we hosted the 2nd Annual) and since then our group has grown so much due to new additions that we have done it at a local park. Everybody brings something to eat and drink, the kids play, and we do a gift exchange. It is so much fun! I am already hoping for perfect weather!

This week is going to be rainy! As the old adage goes…April showers bring May flowers! Or, if you live in the Pacific Northwest…November, December, January, February, March and April showers bring May flowers, and then more rain until our official start of Summer…the 4th of July!

home is…Monday mornings that are not rushed.

bitsa

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From Urban Dictionary:

“Back in the Saddle Again” – meaning back to work or whatever you are supposed to be doing. It indicates a state of readiness to get down to work after a break.

I was pretty much out of commission last week, but now I am ready to get bitsa. {this is my own use of the word in context}

home is…being ready to get bitsa.