Goodbye 2008!

2008 was amazing!

* Daria arrived
* Arianna thrived and learned so much
* I left my job
* Hubby got a new job
* We paid off lots of debt
* We saw family we don't see often (hubby's family came to visit after dd was born)

I can't wait to see what 2009 has in store for us!

This is my favorite part of 2008!

Happy New Year everyone!

Wordless Wednesday

The case for more kids...

Before Arianna came along and before I was skydiving I always told myself I wanted to be 'done' with kids by 30 - that way they were out of the house (hopefully) by the time I was 50/55 and I'd have freedom and still be young enough to enjoy life.

This year I'm 30. I'm not 'done' with kids - but hubby says he is. I'm working on him...

A few weeks back I went to one of my great aunt's 80th birthday parties and enjoyed seeing family you only see at weddings and funerals. After the party was over my dad, his 3 sisters and brother and the multitude of cousins (seriously there are like 30 of them) were all going out to eat. I was a little bummed I couldn't go on account of Daria but even more bummed that when I get to be my dad's age I won't have that opportunity.

I have one brother who now lives in CA. I'm not close with any of my cousins. My husband is an only child. His mother lives in CA and his father is remarried living in WA. My children won't have a large family with which to spend holidays and create special memories around those times.

This makes me really sad. On my dad's side there are 16 cousins - sadly I'm not close with any of them. There are 5 kids in my dad's generation. My mother has 3 kids in hers although we don't talk to her family. The thought of stopping now with 2 kids distresses me.

In a way its foolish to try to recreate what I miss from my childhood in my children's but isn't that a great opportunity to do so?

When Arianna decided to come as early as she did I was a little sad in that we probably wouldn't have more kids if we'd have similar results. When I was pregnant with Daria I told myself that if I couldn't carry to 34 weeks we wouldn't try again. We made it to 36 weeks but would have made it longer if they didn't remove my cerclage when they did. So now that I've had a successful pregnancy I want more... as many as 2 more. I've joked about having lots of kids and hubby has joked about not risking a 3rd for a boy and end up with 3 girls. I know I can get #3 out of him in a little more than 2 years but how about #4?

So much for being done at 30! Maybe I'll push to 35 now...

My new 'day'

Its pretty strange not working anymore. I no longer end my day with the dread of another day at the office. Now I end my day with the dread of another day at home... just kidding!

I love being home with my girls - seriously. It's much harder than I thought it would be, but I'm really really enjoying it. I love working on all sorts of things with Arianna and I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to nurse Daria whenever she wants. If I pull out the breastpump its only to pump a bottle for hubby to feed to her on the nights when he gets up with her. I love the ease of a nursing baby - its wonderful!

Our days are so different than pre-Daria. I actually joined several mom's groups in my area and 2 or 3 days a week we have a playgroup with other kids. Unfortunately most of the groups are younger kids, but its kids non the less. I'm trying to find a group with kids Arianna's age but it hasn't been easy. Daria will have lots of friends through these groups though!

I get to make nutritious meals for my family and get to work on school type stuff with Arianna (which is going very well - within the next few weeks I'll have video of Arianna reading her first book!!!!) and I get to eliminate alot of the 'household stress' that inundated me when I was working. Of course, not all of it gets done but I do have opportunities.

This winter will be tough - Arianna needs more interaction with children and this is the first winter we're able to do something about it. Previously we were on house lockdown due to illness so its new to us. I actually had to go buy snowpants! I didn't realize that there's a season for that sort of stuff, and its passed. I ended up going to a ski shop to get them and I still can't find boots ANYWHERE!

I'm really enjoying being home with my girls and I know I'll enjoy it even more as the days go by and Daria is more independent. We're closer to that though - not only is she sleeping in her own room but has slept through the night, in its entirety, twice! Woo HOO for Mommy!!

The toughest job you'll ever love

Tonight I had the opportunity to see "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with my mother. It's a really fabulous movie and I can see why its up for so many awards. I enjoyed it thoroughly and cried earnestly on the ride home (even though its not a sad movie).

What struck me was the mood the movie left you with. At the end he summarized all the people he'd met in his life and the type of impact they had on him and how that impact shaped his life. It was really quite profound when you really thought of it.

I cried because I realized the type of impact I have on my girls - be that good or bad and how I want to experience all that with them... and I won't be able to, nor will I be the only one to impact their life. This made me sad, unjustifiably or not.

I cried hard on my ride home. I'm sure many of you know the story behind the movie but its about a man who ages reversely. He was born old and dies young - as a baby. I was quick to get home to see Daria because the scene in which the main character died was about the same age Daria is now. I so wanted to get home to see her smiling face and give her kisses. The thought of her leaving me had me in tears.

Then I thought that at some point in my childrens life I will be leaving them. Duh. We all die, I've known that since I was Arianna's age. But until you have children and someone who depends on you for everything I don't believe you understand the impact your life and death can have on people. I used to jump out of airplanes. I lived for the thrill of almost dying and then saving myself with a few strips of nylon over my head. It's really exhilerating. But that thrill quickly disapates when you realize the selfishness behind that risk - especially when someone else in this world is depending on you.

At some point in my girls life I will leave them and I can only hope that when that time comes I have prepared them for everything they need to be happy/healthy/productive women. Even then I'm incredibly sad at the thought of causing them pain or robbing them of my impact in their life. I know I can have a positive impact and I want to ensure that I'm here to give that to them and just the thought of dying and leaving them without a mother makes me cry. But when you come right down to it you really don't know when your time is up... and that uncertainty is hard to accept. I guess I never really thought about that until I had children of my own and now I'm sad/mad that I don't have complete control over that decision.

What a hefty responsibility, this parenting 'thing'! What an unbelievable weight to bear and one that you can't fully understand or appreciate until you have a child of your own. They aren't kidding when they say its the toughest job you'll ever love.

This is GENIUS!

Loop 2 Loop belt buckles

Arianna is tiny - no denying that. She easily wore her sisters size 2 diapers in a 'potty training emergency' last month. Even elastic waist sized 18 month pants fall down. 12 month pants fit her pretty well but the bottoms hit just below her knees... its frustrating! She's definitely "Ms. NoButtAtAll".

Trying to find belts for a toddler is impossible, and comfortable ones? Forget it.

These belt buckles look AMAZING - I'm hoping to pick up one to try.

If only it were real....

...sly grin.

Funny and worth the time it takes to download/watch.


http://adage.com/brightcove/single.php?bcpid=1370868150&bctid=3130509001

I just want to kick myself...

Today I ordered $175 worth of photography prints from the lab. These include the fabulous pictures you see below. Problem is that when I edited them they weren't edited using the colorscape for my newly calibrated computer monitor. So the color will be ALL WRONG (such as the Arianna picture below, its way too blue). What's even worse is that this includes our 'christmas card' picture that goes out with our newsletter every year. And in the newsletter I mention how I'm looking to build a portfolio for a possible photography business and hey, look at the great pictures I took in the studio I rented... but what they see will be a very poor representation of my work/talent... all because I didn't set up my color in photoshop. Lovely.

I'm so mad at myself because I can't tell you how much work I've been putting into my photography these last few months and getting into the studio (now 3 seperate sessions) has really popped my work up to another level and I finally feel like my hard work is paying off... and I feel I can finally show people... and now this.

So anyway - I've put off doing this for a few months because I wasn't sure I was ready for the criticism, but I think I'm ready now. So... introducing... one of the first shoots of my photography business. I'll be spending most of 2009 'portfolio building' (aka. practicing on willing participants). My focus will be child and family portraits, everything from maternity to HS Seniors and more.

The only way I can get better is to get feedback from people. I want to know if this is something you like or something you would purchase if this was your own family (instead of mine LOL). If I don't know what people want, I don't know what style to shoot.

Such a toddler

I'm not going to look...I'm not going to look...I'm not going to look...I'm not going to look...I'm not going to look...I'm not going to look...


I used Arianna as my 'model' as I calibrated the studio lights for our christmas picture photo session... She was less than enthused.

Results soon!

I let her down

I'm a hypocrite.

Last week I brought Misty, my beautiful cat, to the animal rescue league. I had snapped. She's a beautiful cat and very affectionate, but she has a bad habit. She urinates on blankets, clothes, fabric when she feels her litter box isn't perfect. We just bought new litter boxes and she hated them. Last Wednesday afternoon I'm working with Daria on some tummy time and Misty pees on the blanket right in front of her face. I didn't hesitate to throw her into a cat carrier and drive 40 min. to the rescue league. She was obviously distraught in the carrier and confused when we got there.

I cried the entire time. This is not me - I rescue cats, I don't send them away to live in a cage and possibly get put to sleep. Misty is a lovely cat, so affectionate and loveable. But I want to be able to open my bedroom door again. I want to be able to put Arianna to bed and ensure that her blankets don't smell like cat pee. I don't want Daria to be crawling in cat pee. I know I did the right thing but its very hard.

I had tried for a few weeks to find a rescue that would take her but everyone was full. I even put an ad in the local paper. Of course someone called about her two days after I brought her to the rescue league. The rescue league even gave me a number to call to check up on her but I can't call for some reason. I hope she's ok but I know there's a good possibility she isn't. A cat that urinates inappropriately isn't a prime adoption candidate and she's probably freaking out in a tiny cage - can't say I blame her. I just wan to believe in my heart/head that she's doing ok there and will be adopted soon.

But for some reason I can't stop thinking in the back of my mind how I could have avoided this and could have ensured her safety better. I feel like I failed her and that makes me so sad. I really did love so much about my Misty kitty and even typing this has me in tears again. I just can't put up with my house smelling like cat pee so often.

Worst part is that TiSan our male cat obviously misses her alot - he spent a few days moaning around the house and he's much more aggresive about his needs for attention now. I feel sad for him too, he had fun with Misty.

Last week my camera club chose this picture of Misty to send to a regional competition... it was very bittersweet news for me.

I know I'll look back at this situation and know I did the correct thing but right now it hurts. Bad.

We're back!

Lots of pictures to share but no time to type up a full synopsis - so pictures will have to 'hold you over' until then! :)

30 is the new 20

Go ahead, wish me a happy birthday (cause my hubby hasn't yet), I'm crazily celebrating it by driving down to KY for 16+ hours tonight... just the way to spend a birthday!

See you December 1 when we return!

Stepping Back?

So I've been delving into the SRA reading system with Arianna through this book.

I'm really encouraged by her willingness to learn. All the time, everywhere we are, she asks me "What does that say Mama?", "Can you read that to me Mama?". She loves to sit down and 'read' books to her sister and loves nothing more than to have her face buried in a book. She's so proud of herself for knowing all of her letters and what sounds they make.

So I got this book and we started in on it but I'm wondering if we shouldn't take a step back. This is yet another system that works letter writing into its program and expresses why it is so important to the 'learning to read' experience.

Problem is that Arianna doesn't have enough fine motor control to do any of the exercises necessary to learn to write her own letters - she can barely do a straight line for that matter and that's perfectly fine for her actual age let alone her adjusted age.

I'm discouraged but at the same time I could use the next few months to just work on her pre-writing skills and spend some more time working on her math skills. But she is so eager to read and I'm really at a loss of how to teach her.

If anyone knows of anything, please let me know. Arianna will love you for it!

Playgroups...

Today I took the girls to our first playdate with a local moms group I found. The meeting location was only around the corner at a local farm. The lady that owns it puts on a story time/craft time every tuesday morning at 9:30 AM (I, of course, thought it was 9 AM so we had to wait 15 min. for anyone to even show up). Best part was it was free. Since Arianna loves nothing more than to read books these types of events are great for her.

They read a book about dinosaurs who eat alot and then read a book (and for the life of me I can't remember the name, its a well known book) about an old woman who ate lots of food at Thanksgiving and then we made a paper bag puppet of the old woman and they gave us little cut outs of the all the food in the book for the puppet to 'eat'. Arianna LOVED this craft - she kept going back to get more food pieces instead of taking them out of her bag!

I was disappointed in the playgroup though. After the story time/craft time was over we all stuck around and as it turns out there wasn't another child there over 1 year old so I ended up spending all my time with Arianna, to Daria's dismay (poor kid, I really feel she gets the shaft 90% of the time). The organizer of the group assured me there really are more kids her age and I hope we meet them soon. I really felt out of place - one kid too old and one kid too young. The worst was when one mom asked me about my experience with Arianna introducing food. I hate going into too much detail about her with people I don't know...

Do I tell her we didn't introduce solid foods until 10 months because her reflux was so bad? Do I tell her we didn't use formula and I pumped for 13 months (some moms are sensitive to that for some reason)? Do I tell her about her prematurity and her failure to thrive? Do I tell her she's 32 months when she hardly looks old enough to be 2?

This is hard for me. I love my daughter and I don't want to say anything that will change people's opinion of her before they even know her.

Arianna did really well the entire time - only throwing one small fit before story time began and I was able to get her to calm down before her 'drama queen pose'. I was really proud of her... but disappointed that there were no kids for her to play with.

Daria also did fabulously - didn't cry once and even sat on my lap being very cute for a while. She was extra good when I took Arianna to the bathroom - everyone said she didn't cry at all. Very nice to hear!

I really hope that the next playdate has some more kids her age to interact with.

And the Award goes to...

someone else...

I didn't win anything in the photo contest but two of my photos were disqualified due to a technicality. I forgot to set the time in my camera when I first got it (only care about the date anyway), well as it turns out, not setting the time set some of my pictures date data back to the previous day. So the pictures I took early on October 4th actually read as having been taken on October 3rd at night- so they were disqualifed. I was not happy. I mean they were broad daylight pictures, how could they have been taken at 9:30 PM?! Whatever...

My photo of Misty did come in a tie for second place in one category though - but no winner for second place. Overall I thought the camera club did a really shitty job with this contest and it could have been executed MUCH MUCH better.

On the bright side I did win a door prize - 2 hours in a professional studio, equipped with lights and everything - I'm very excited about that. I hope to drag along my friend Brenda and her hubby (as he's a photographer too) and grab the girls for some christmas pictures - we'll see how that goes...

Introversion and prematurity: A link?

Wednesday was Arianna's day at daycare.

When we made the decision for me to stay home with the girls we agreed that Arianna should continue to have interaction with the boys at daycare because we saw it to be so good for her. She got along fabulously with all of them and when she was around them she did things she would never do at home - she would eat better, she would do more boy-ish things like climb and jump. She even potty trained better there. So it was a no-brainer that she should continue to go one day a week.

This Wednesday was not so great for her - she had two big temper tantrums and was very anti-social.

When I pick her up I typically stick around for a few minutes to chit chat. Her daycare teacher is expecting #2 in April after having her son at 35 weeks due to pPROM so our conversations have been centered around pregnancy as of late.

This week was different though. She asked me if we were doing any "Mommy and Me" classes. Truth be told all she does during the week that's scheduled is her day at daycare and 'story time' for 2 year olds at the library on Thursdays. Otherwise our days really focus on keeping Daria happy. But it seems I've done that to the detriment of Arianna.

Her teacher told me she's been noticing it over the last few weeks but didn't want to say anything until she knew for sure. She's concerned Arianna is socially regressing and becoming much more introverted. She knows the boys at daycare well and there haven't been any big changes there. Yes, her life at home did a complete 180 but daycare has been stagnant. She doesn't play with the boys anymore and is suddenly much more vocal about her demands to be by herself. She'd much rather go read books and be by herself. Her teacher even went as far as to say that she tries to not schedule outings for Wednesday because Arianna can be a big handful if they go tot he zoo or ecotarium and she throws a big fit cause she doesn't want to do something.

We've known this to be an issue and have been working on it without any success. Part of me wonders if this is her personality and how she'll be for the rest of her life? The worst part of her introversion is that she's really rude about wanting to be by herself - she'll go as far as blowing raspberries and slapping the air (in the general direction of whomever she's talking to) and saying "No!" really nastily. She does this all the time she doesn't get her way. If you continue to say no to her she will throw herself on the ground, face first and cry - and it doesn't matter who she is with or where she is at. Karah, her teacher, said the grocery store was a favorite place for her to do her 'drama queen pose' as she calls it. She laughs about it but I don't. None of us believe this type of introversion is healthy in a 2 year old.

I don't know how to help her work through this. I know she is shy, not so sure its full on introversion, although she may be - but she is scared in alot of situations. She constantly wants someone with her - she'll even ask me "follow me please mom" when she wants to walk back to her room. She'll play with mom and dad until the sun goes down but not other kids.

Dad is a full on introvert - there's no other way to explain him, but... he has friends and enjoys conversation with others but he prefers to be by himself. Luckily his job as a computer programmer suits this personality trait well.

I'm more of an ambivert - showing traits of both an extrovert and introvert but as a child I was extremely shy and was horribly made fun of for it. I don't want this for my child. Arianna is incredibly sweet and kind when she's in a comfortable situation.

One of my main motivators for homeschooling is to shield Arianna from alot of the hurt that I experienced as a child. Some have told me that its 'part of growing up' - but I don't believe hate mail, black mail, bullying and physical harm have to be part of a normal child's life. How does putting up with those things make you a better adult? I don't believe it has much to do with it actually. I believe you can learn all you need to about corporate politics from real life experience with it - not by having a bully tear you down. But... being away from a public school setting does limit, somewhat, her ability to interact with other children and build her social skills with other children on a daily basis.

Unfortunately I think Arianna may be headed in the same direction and I don't know what to do. I don't know what my parents could have done to help me, so how do I help my daughter? I do know that finding something I could excel in helped to bolster my self confidence but that didn't happen until I was 14 or 15 when I became very interested in and good at my clarinet and saxophone.

I found this link that explains a bit about causes of introversion and am intrigued by it, especially the nurture vs. nature aspect and brain development aspect.

Does being a preemie make you more vulnerable to this type of situation? Does weeks on end in an incubator separated from mom make you more susceptible to introversion?

I don't know. All I can compare is myself to her and I spent alot more time in an incubator than she did and the hospital I was at was more of the "we'll call you when she's ready to go home" type. How sad...

10 weeks...

Isn't she the cutest?

It's been fun trying to adjust to having a full term kiddo. It really is like starting over in so many ways.

At this weight/ height Arianna was sitting up, laughing, rolling over etc. I find myself sometimes getting annoyed that Daria still can't even reliably hold her head up when I carry her. I have to keep reminding myself that at 10 weeks she doesn't have to have it mastered yet!

She did surprise me this morning though - she rolled from her tummy to her back. Although I wasn't here, last night Dad said she laughed at him! She smiles and coos tons and its so wonderful to see/hear. Although Arianna had a great laugh she never coo'ed really.

I see so many differences between her and Arianna now - they look very little alike (even in Arianna's baby pictures) now. Arianna has HUGE eyes compared to Daria, yet they seem to share a nose and mouth. We think Daria's eyes will be brown while Arianna's are blue (Dad is brown, mom is blue). Daria doesn't like to be left alone for long whereas as long as Arianna was fed and changed you could put her down and leave her there ALL day - seriously.

Like her sister she seems to LOVE books - I'm looking forward to sharing more of them with them as they get older.

As far as the colic goes - she's getting so much better. Night time isn't bad at all now - she still gets up 2 times to eat but she's such a stellar breastfeeder that its so easy. I can't imagine pumping and doing bottles like we did with Arianna! This really is so much easier.

She seems to be getting into a routine as far as her nappipng is concerned too. I usually get about an hour to an hour and a half of quiet time during the day when both girls nap - its how I get to get on here and write about my lovely girls!

2 more weeks...

Supposadly in two more weeks Daria should be out of the 'colic phase'.

I can't even tell you how over due this is. I don't get even an hours break during the day...

I feel bad that I just have to let her scream much of the time - if I didn't I wouldn't get anything done! I just hope she holds true to what the doctors say and starts calming down at 3 months of age!

Next is sleeping through the night! At least she doesn't scream at night anymore - feed her and she goes back to sleep, thank goodness!

Phonics!

A few weeks ago Arianna really surprised me. We were sitting down reading one of her many books and focused on an alphabet book. She's known her ABCs for a long time now so reading these books is a bit boring for me...

Until she started telling me what the letters were AND the sounds they make (including doubles, like G - Gah and Jah sounds)! I was floored... really. We didn't teach her this - she got it from her leapfrog fridge phonics magnets.

I was so very excited I started looking into phonics programs. She knows her ABCs and the sounds all the letters make - she's well on her way to reading now! But... the phonics programs I've found are over her head - one of them actually wants the kids to draw the letters. She can barely draw a circle let alone letters.

I got this book from the library and will try it out to see if it works for her. We'll be getting the hooked on phonics program for christmas and hope she does well with that too.

But boy oh boy was this a pleasant surprise. She continues to amaze me every day!

Happy Halloween!

Last night I took the girls to my parents house to do some 'trick or treat'ing in their neighborhood (which is easier to walk than our neighborhood). Coincidently we had tons of trick or treaters in our neighborhood hubby said, but Arianna would be the only one that would visit my parents and their neighbors homes.

Anyway, here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure :)

Daria, as a peapod

The 'Ok, enough pictures Mom!' look

Arianna as a pink poodle

My beautiful babies!

One of those days...

I'm not sure if it's the fact that its raining and windy outside (throwing millions of leaves on my lawn that I'll have to spend alot of time cleaning up this weekend), the fact that Daria was up 5 times last night, the fact that Arianna didn't get a great sleep last night either or what... but today is an unusually hard day for me.

Daria was so lovely yesterday - it was so nice. My parents treated me to an early birthday present and gave me some money to get clothes. I got 4 sweaters and 3 pairs of pants at Kohl's while they watched Arianna for me. My mom found great tops for me and DeeDee was such a doll the whole day - she was wonderful, for a change. Last night was a different story.

Arianna didn't nap yesterday and was playing really hard with me and my dad at the mall yesterday (running ALL over the place) so she was wiped out come 5 PM, but it was much too late to nap of course, so she stayed awake being a total brat until I put her to bed at 7 PM - but not before she physically abused my poor elderly cat TiSan! She kicked him hard into the basement door and I couldn't even get him to come near me all night. I don't usually advocate spanking a child but this is a problem we've been dealing with with Arianna for a while now - she loves to use her feet/legs to 'interact' with the cats. Well, this time she really hurt him and I let her know what that feels like and then put her in 'time out' for 5 minutes. She was totally hysterical and quickly went to bed afterwards... thank goodness.

8:30 PM I went to go check on her - she was asleep behind the door and opening the door woke her up. 11 PM same thing. Dad went to bed at 1:30 AM and she was again behind the door. She's been really good about this since we got her her new 'big girl bed' and had been sleeping in it but I blame the busy day and extreme tiredness on how she slept, and thus, how she was acting this morning (super whiny).

As soon as Arianna went to bed Daria went on a binge - she ate clear through to 10 PM and then nursed for 40 minutes(!!) when we went to bed at 10:30. So why is it that she would nurse 4 seperate times during the night? She's supposed to be going longer at night, no hording up for the next day! I am really tired of this!! On top of that she's been crying/whining all day today too! Grrr...

Trying to do schoolwork with Arianna today wasn't easy. I took away markers when she started coloring on the table and she screamed and screamed until she woke up her sister (who was taking on of her very short 4 min. 'cat naps') and then the two of them were screaming.

I'm not kidding - I locked myself in the bathroom and cried. Why do I feel so inadequate at this? Why do I let a 2 year old and a 2 month old do this to me?

Why? Because I want to be a great mom and when I can't control my anger/annoyance with Arianna or my patience with Daria I feel very sad - I need to do better, but then again, I'm learning too.

Thank you

I firmly believe she wouldn't be here if it wasn't for this wonderful lady. Thank you.

2 months...

Daria hit 2 months this week. She weighs in at 12 lbs. 8 oz. and growing - don't know how long she is but I suspect she's not in the 85th percentile for her height like she is for weight. The 6th month clothes she fits into are too long.

She's nearly got the 'holding my head up' thing going on and is smiling and cooing at us when she's not screaming... which is often.

Tuesday we went to the GI clinic and saw the same GI doctor that took care of Arianna and he remembered us, which was nice. We put Daria back on the Prevacid but this time at an appropriate dose - a full half a tablet instead of the wierd thing the pediatrician had us doing.

And she hasn't stopped screaming since. No lie.

The Pepcid was sort of working for her - she wasn't totally happy but she wasn't screaming for hours on end. We had such good luck with prevacid that I really wanted to believe it was the best choice - but its obvious its not. My poor baby was up all night long. I slept from 11 PM to 1:30 AM but then hubby had to sleep so I was up the rest of the night with her - she was totally miserable, poor thing... poor us too.

This morning was a disaster - Daria was screaming none stop, Arianna had ripped off all her clothes and was running through the house (and mind you it was in the 30s last night and we haven't turned on our heat yet) and annoying the crap out of me... it was bad. I even called my parents up to complain.

After a call to the pediatrician (who got on the phone super quickly when the receptionist heard DeDe screaming) we are putting her back on the pepcid and increasing the dose a bit. It's not the ideal situation but it may be the best we get. The GI doc did remind me we'll probably be dealing with this for at least the next 4 months... lovely. I just hope she doesn't suffer for 2 years like Arianna did.

My mom is on her way to the hospital to have the PICC line removed after her 6 weeks of antibiotics treatment and they said they would come down and take Arianna for the night...

Daria fell asleep after I hung up the phone and has been sleeping since... and now Arianna is down for a nap... and I feel guilty for making my parents (neither of whom are working right now) spending the gas money to drive down here... but Shawn won't be home until 8 PM tonight (dinner out with friends, must be nice...) and I'd really welcome a break from 'the toddler'...

This 'stay at home mom' thing is really hard some days. I still love it, but its hard some days.

Being a SAHM & the supermarket

It's hard to have adult conversation when you're a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) so I welcome the chance often, when it comes.

Daria loves the supermarket - I think it's the lights. It's one of the only times that she actually awake and not screaming.

Since Arianna is at daycare on Wednesdays I usually do my grocery shopping then. I spent 90 minutes at the grocery store today - I don't think I've ever spent that much time at the grocery store before.

Bringing a baby to the grocery store brings out all the 'grandmas'. They all think Daria's the best baby (and she is, of course!) and always want to sneak a peak.

Today I talked to one of them for nearly 30 minutes. I've never done that at the grocery store before either.

I really enjoyed the conversation with her.

Eek!

I think mice are super cute... when being eaten by a snake that is.

I don't, however, think mice are cute in my basement... and we seem to have a big problem.

When we purchased this house and had the inspection, the inspector told us "You have mice. All houses have mice. I don't see any damage so its probably just a seasonal problem.". When I had the house exterminated for carpenter ants this summer the exterminator told me we had mice. But he went one step further and told me what to do - so we went to Home Depot and bought some bait to put out in the basement.

I had Shawn put several packets in the laundry room which has several 'outlets' out of the foundation - meaning several 'inlets' for mice. Also put several in the drop ceiling in the adjourning room.

Not only were the packets opened and moved from where they were placed but they were EMPTY.

Oh My God.

5 days after the packets are opened we are supposed to start seeing dead mice.

Oh My God.

My laundry room is down there and so is my scrapbooking room with the computer that I do all my photo stuff on. I can't go down there now! My cats can't go down there and no way the kids will go down there. The bait stays active in the mice even after they die so the cats can get sick and mice in general are yucky so the kids shouldn't even see them yet come in contact with them...

But God help me if I see mice up here on the living floor.

Photo Contest Submissions

Here are the pictures I submitted for the photo contest - I'll find out in 2 weeks if any of them won. From what I've seen of others pictures, I have a good chance!

Daria, on the couch

Wildflowers in my driveway

Mini pumpkins in a barrel

My cat Misty

Checkboard and rocking chairs outside Cracker Barrel
(yes, I took many pictures inside and outside of CB and yes they thought I was strange)

Permission

I don't remember giving her permission to 'grow up'...

Sisters

I don't believe the type of bonding Arianna and Daria are doing now (and yes, there is alot of 'playing' together) would happen if they were in daycare. I'm so glad to be able to provide an environment for them to allow their relationship to exclusively flourish - its wonderful to watch.