Friday, August 26, 2011
Police Officer Colin
I took this video tonight with my phone. The quality is horrible (lighting!?!) and my voice beside the phone is WAY too loud and you can barely hear Colin. Cell phone video is not great. All that being said, this a very good representation of what I do all day long. This is Colin playing police man and ordering me around including me in the action. If you can handle the loud and rather annoying beginning, the last minute of the video is the best part. I love my adorable boy. :-)
Little Things
I have a million things to do, most of which involve cleaning my house, and so I decided to blog. I am getting almost nothing accomplished at the moment besides reading about cooking, shopping for cooking ingredients, and...wait for it...cooking. My friend Eren told me about this website called Pinterest and let me tell you, it has totally sucked me in. At first, I was a bit confused by it. I played around with it for a couple of hours and then forgot about it. Then, another friend posted herself rocking some new curls in her hair that she set without heat. I asked where she got the idea and, you guessed it, Pinterest. I went back to the site a few days ago and have been hooked ever since. When you join the site, you start "pinning" things you like to your virtual bulletin boards. Then you can see all your friends pins, as well as search for anything and everything you can think of. I searched "brunch" this morning and ended up with ideas for everything from table centerpieces to bacon and egg muffins. I now have a million things that I want to do, from buying a fantastic purple sweater for fall to craft projects for Colin to cooking balsamic glazed ribs. It is out of control. The food is especially too much for me...no shock there. I had about 10 food blogs saved to my favorites and now I have too many to count. I see all these beautiful dishes, click on the picture and voila!...I am taken to yet another food blog that I didn't know about before. I love this site and there is a good chance that I will end up trying to build my own shelving unit as well as prepare 400 new dishes. **sigh** I really shouldn't have signed up for this.
One of the ideas I got off the site was the "sock bun curls". The idea involves wrapping your slightly damp ponytail around a rolled up sock and sleeping in it. You are supposed to wake up with fantastic curls. I tried it last night and it didn't really work for me, but I wasn't shocked. My hair is very thick and very curly/frizzy. Without heat, you really don't want to see my hair. ;-) I rolled it up in the sock and this morning, I did have some nice waves, but it was still mostly frizzy. I pulled out my flat iron and fixed the frizz in the front and then used a curing iron on the top layers of my hair. It looks beautiful now. I will say that it only took me about 5 minutes to do the fixes this morning, so the sock bun clearly saved me some time. I didn't have to curl or flat iron the back part of my hair and it does look pretty, although a little "fluffy". I can see that girls with naturally smooth and silky hair would love this. If I didn't have all the inherent frizz, I would have probably been satisfied with the result. As for me, I need heat. LOTS of high heat. I also have very layered long hair and the top layers didn't curl at all because most of that hair wasn't hanging down into the ponytail. This method would work best for folks with long, mostly one length hair. And there is my review for the week. ;-)
Colin has been his usual adorable, precocious self this week. While I was cooking dinner a couple of days ago, he asked me for an appetizer. He seriously used the word "appetizer". He has been collecting books from the "Let's Read and Find Out Science, Stage 2" series. Now, these books are for older kids in primary school, but Colin loves them. Jer brought one home from his trip to Washington, D.C. and he has been hooked ever since. We now have about 12 books, on everything from energy, forces, gravity, weather, electricity, space, friction, solids/liquids/gases, the human skeleton and bodily functions/reflexes. I have been letting Colin pick out the titles and they are always the science ones. I bought one on volcanoes to give to Hayden for his birthday, but Colin caught sight of it before I was able to wrap it up. He brought it to me, all excited that I bought a book from his collection. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't his, so I let him have it. The funny part is that we read it last night and he HATED IT. I got two pages in and he announced that it was boring. I love this for several reasons. First of all, the other books are easily what I consider "boring". It is actually hard for me to keep my eyes open when I read them to him each night. Just one excerpt from his current favorite:
Next Tuesday is "meet the teacher" at Colin's school. I am more than a little nervous about how the switch to a new class will go, but I am staying positive and thinking on the bright side. He keeps telling me that he will miss Gina and Keli and that he can't go to another class without them, but I think he will shake it off quickly once he sees how much fun the 4 year olds have. :-) I am praying! School is starting on September 7th and I am truthfully very excited. Having a couple of mornings a week to get things done really helps my sanity! I miss getting to clean up, vacuum (Colin has real trouble with that dang vacuum noise!), plan our menus, grocery shop and get the random errand accomplished without a child in tow. I also miss temperatures under 100 degrees, so the start of school = fall coming = THANK GOD.
One of the ideas I got off the site was the "sock bun curls". The idea involves wrapping your slightly damp ponytail around a rolled up sock and sleeping in it. You are supposed to wake up with fantastic curls. I tried it last night and it didn't really work for me, but I wasn't shocked. My hair is very thick and very curly/frizzy. Without heat, you really don't want to see my hair. ;-) I rolled it up in the sock and this morning, I did have some nice waves, but it was still mostly frizzy. I pulled out my flat iron and fixed the frizz in the front and then used a curing iron on the top layers of my hair. It looks beautiful now. I will say that it only took me about 5 minutes to do the fixes this morning, so the sock bun clearly saved me some time. I didn't have to curl or flat iron the back part of my hair and it does look pretty, although a little "fluffy". I can see that girls with naturally smooth and silky hair would love this. If I didn't have all the inherent frizz, I would have probably been satisfied with the result. As for me, I need heat. LOTS of high heat. I also have very layered long hair and the top layers didn't curl at all because most of that hair wasn't hanging down into the ponytail. This method would work best for folks with long, mostly one length hair. And there is my review for the week. ;-)
Colin has been his usual adorable, precocious self this week. While I was cooking dinner a couple of days ago, he asked me for an appetizer. He seriously used the word "appetizer". He has been collecting books from the "Let's Read and Find Out Science, Stage 2" series. Now, these books are for older kids in primary school, but Colin loves them. Jer brought one home from his trip to Washington, D.C. and he has been hooked ever since. We now have about 12 books, on everything from energy, forces, gravity, weather, electricity, space, friction, solids/liquids/gases, the human skeleton and bodily functions/reflexes. I have been letting Colin pick out the titles and they are always the science ones. I bought one on volcanoes to give to Hayden for his birthday, but Colin caught sight of it before I was able to wrap it up. He brought it to me, all excited that I bought a book from his collection. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it wasn't his, so I let him have it. The funny part is that we read it last night and he HATED IT. I got two pages in and he announced that it was boring. I love this for several reasons. First of all, the other books are easily what I consider "boring". It is actually hard for me to keep my eyes open when I read them to him each night. Just one excerpt from his current favorite:
Water is a special type of matter that can change easily from a liquid to aFor the first few weeks that we read these books, I remained in shock that he seriously wanted to listen to this stuff. Finally the shock wore off and I assumed that he would like any of the books in the series. It blew my mind that he hated the volcano book immediately. It showed me that he has already developed a major interest in specific science subjects and he knows what he is doing when picking out the titles. He is not interested in volcanoes and therefore the book was boring to him. But he will gladly listen to me drone on about electrons, atoms and matter. That just blows my mind. It also reminds me that getting Colin to pay attention and learn when presented with material he is not interested in is going to be a long term battle. You wouldn't believe how fast that volcano book was sent off the bed. The good news is that Hayden is now getting his book back. ;-) I asked Colin to help me clean the playroom last weekend and his answer was, "Mommy, I would be delighted to!". It was so cute...I have no clue where he heard that phrase. He is also very into public service people of any kind, as usual. He was playing police man last night (complete with hat, badge and whistle) while Jer and I were sitting on the couch. He told us that he was going to direct traffic and he proceeds to stand in the living room, whistle in mouth, and holds his hands out clearly stopping one side of traffic and waving the other one on. He was stoic and did not make a sound...totally in his own world. Then he blows the whistle and yells, "SLOW DOWN!" and then keeps directing. Jer and I were literally crying with laughter on the couch. We were holding our noses and mouths, trying not to erupt in guffaws. I had tears rolling down my cheeks; for some reason, it was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. :-) This morning, I had to do bloodwork at my doctors office to check my cholesterol. etc. Colin went with me and when the nurse started to do it, he asked if he could watch. She approved and he jumped onto the exam table with me and bent all the way over my arm, with his face just inches away, to watch. The nurse looked up at me worriedly and asked if he would be okay to watch the blood. I assured her that it was not a problem. She took 5 vials of blood while Colin watched in silent awe. He even asked to hold the vials so that he could "check them out" afterwards. This kid...I swear.
gas. It can also change easily from a liquid to a solid and then back
again. When matter changes form, we say it is changing its state. A
change in temperature is what usually causes a change in its state.
Next Tuesday is "meet the teacher" at Colin's school. I am more than a little nervous about how the switch to a new class will go, but I am staying positive and thinking on the bright side. He keeps telling me that he will miss Gina and Keli and that he can't go to another class without them, but I think he will shake it off quickly once he sees how much fun the 4 year olds have. :-) I am praying! School is starting on September 7th and I am truthfully very excited. Having a couple of mornings a week to get things done really helps my sanity! I miss getting to clean up, vacuum (Colin has real trouble with that dang vacuum noise!), plan our menus, grocery shop and get the random errand accomplished without a child in tow. I also miss temperatures under 100 degrees, so the start of school = fall coming = THANK GOD.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Our Giant Beach Vacation!
Our beach vacation has come and gone and I will absolutely never EVER forget it. I had to pinch myself on more than one occasion during this trip to make sure that I was really getting to do this...a giant beach house with my best friends in the whole world and my precious family. The girls and I mentioned to each other that we wonder if our boys have any idea how lucky they are...getting to take these amazing trips with all their buddies in tow. It still amazes me that I have this big group of girlfriends to share the journey of motherhood with, that our husbands all turned out to be great friends, that our children are best friends and that we all have each other. This trip would seem overwhelming on paper...18 adults and 18 young children sharing one house. Yet it wasn't too much to handle because we all know each others children and help each other always. I knew that there were lots of eyes on Colin and that he was safe...if it really "takes a village", then we are the perfect one! And we literally were a village! SO many people!
We decided to leave on Thursday and spend the night in a hotel halfway to Surfside. The 6 hour drive was do-able in one day, but we were ready to get out of town and wanted to extend our adventure. We also wanted Colin to be as rested as possible upon arrival at the beach house. Jer's hotel points paid for our stay in the metropolis of Buffalo, TX. It was a hole in the wall, but the new hotel had an indoor pool, which Colin thought was amazing. He thought it was the coolest thing getting to stay in that hotel! On the way down, we stopped in Corsicana at the Collin Street Bakery. We used to eat there all the time when I was little...it was on our way to my grandparents house in Arkansas and we also stopped there during family trips to Galveston in the summers and then to see my sisters at Texas A&M. I have a lot of memories there and having Colin there with me was so special. It took my breath away when I saw him walking around picking out cookies just like I used to do.
On Friday morning, we hit the road for Surfside Beach. It is about 40 miles south of Galveston and the drive was no problem. The beach house turned out to be perfect for our big group with enough bedrooms for each family to have their own and plenty of bathrooms, too. The beach was totally private to the homes there and the view was spectacular. We were all blown away by how perfect everything turned out, especially considering that none of us had ever been there and only seen pictures online. We all managed to arrive within minutes of each other and the boys all ran straight out onto the beach. We spent that first evening on the beach with each other and then ordered pizzas for dinner. The best part of the trip were the nights. After we all put the kiddos to bed (which went surprisingly easy!), we got to park ourselves out on the huge deck, drinking boat drinks and laughing hysterically. The sound of the waves crashing below while the lights of all the beach houses twinkled merrily around us...the faint sounds of music lofting from the other decks...the feel of the wind in my hair...the sounds of all my best friends laughing and talking...it was all amazing. I was there with the love of my life, my precious boy and my best friends. Perfection!
Colin's pirate party was absolutely adorable and all four of us went crazy with decorations and pirate gifts. Kayrene got the boys hats, pj's and personalized shirts and Kim made pajama pants with matching pirate shirts. They were the cutest group of boys you have ever seen! I was very impressed that Colin did not get under the table when everyone sang "Happy Birthday". It was a miracle! We grilled burgers and hot dogs and then everyone went back down to the beach before bedtime. It could not have gone better and I certainly don't know how we will ever top a pirate party on an actual beach. Good lord, this is one lucky boy!
Colin has a new anxiety as of late, which is a serious fear of getting a sunburn. He overheard my family talking about a bad sunburn that my nephew got and ever since then, he is terrified that he will get one. Despite literally saturating him in sunblock, he still stand frozen at the door, chanting that he doesn't have enough on and he will burn. We found that we can calm him down if he wears a swim shirt, but yours truly forgot to pack it. Needless to say, we had some tough moments over that one. Saturday afternoon was a beast, but he doesn't stress about late afternoons, so we had some great evenings on the beach. On Sunday, we planned ahead and took him to the local aquarium that had a touch tank while the other kiddos swam. Colin LOVED getting to touch all the sea creatures and it worked out great. When we got back to the house, several of the dads had taken the other boys on the same trip, so Colin got to spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out with the moms and babies, playing assorted games that involved making Lindsey order pizza over and over while he delivered it. :-) He loves hanging out with the grown-ups, so the day was just up his alley. At one point, he asked Lindsey very seriously, "What can I get you?" and after she ordered her pizza, he looked at her baby boy Nolan and asked, "And how about for the little guy?". It was hilarious. Sunday night was another amazing evening with our friends that included a genius game of "glow stick golf" that our friend Nathan came up with. His family has been playing it for years and he brought glow sticks for everyone, as well as glowing circles that he set up as the tee boxes all along the beach. He tied cords to each glow stick and we wrote our names on them. We broke off into teams and took turns throwing our sticks to the tee. It was so much fun and the sight of all the glow sticks swinging around in the air up and down the beach was seriously awesome. It was a night that I won't soon forget! The only real drama of the trip came that last night when the air conditioning went out upstairs, where all but 2 of the families were sleeping. We noticed it when we got back from golfing and it quickly turned into a sauna up there. We were all worried about the kids waking up and where we would put them. Jer and I stripped the comforter off the bed and thankfully we had a ceiling fan that we turned up to high. We slept there with Colin and miraculously, he never woke up. The air started working again in the wee hours of the morning, so we managed to get more comfortable and catch a few hours of real sleep. We were happy to get up on Monday morning and head back to our own beds and crazy pets, but we were sad that the weekend was over so fast. It was so much fun and I absolutely can't wait for the next one! We have started going somewhere twice a year as a group and we talked about putting picture books together for each year and collecting them...won't these be amazing memories to look back on?! I love it! Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures.
All the kiddos! (Well, almost...babies Ruthie and Nolan are not in this shot) Can you believe that we managed that group?! :-) The families on the trip were the Janaks, Turners, Sheltons, Roberts, McGeheartys, Cederwalls, Parkers, Snopeks and, of course, the Shaffers! :-)
Our four pirates, Ryan, Colin, Hayden and Jack! The birthday boys in their matching garb...ahoy, matey! I love this picture more than anything!
Helping Colin and Jack open presents
The view of our house from the driveway...ours is the first one on the right.
The night view from our balcony!
Colin and Annelie enjoy the beach!
Sitting with two of my favorite girls, Kimberly and Ruthie!
On the beach with Carrie!
Colin striking a pose...Bryan took most of these pictures and they are SO cute!
I mean, seriously...how cute is this boy?!?!
Colin's first time in the ocean...walking with Daddy!
My little beach bum! He loved playing in the sand and digging for shells and crabs.
Kim's super awesome picture of glow stick golf! I LOVE THIS!
Just a wonderful vacation!
We decided to leave on Thursday and spend the night in a hotel halfway to Surfside. The 6 hour drive was do-able in one day, but we were ready to get out of town and wanted to extend our adventure. We also wanted Colin to be as rested as possible upon arrival at the beach house. Jer's hotel points paid for our stay in the metropolis of Buffalo, TX. It was a hole in the wall, but the new hotel had an indoor pool, which Colin thought was amazing. He thought it was the coolest thing getting to stay in that hotel! On the way down, we stopped in Corsicana at the Collin Street Bakery. We used to eat there all the time when I was little...it was on our way to my grandparents house in Arkansas and we also stopped there during family trips to Galveston in the summers and then to see my sisters at Texas A&M. I have a lot of memories there and having Colin there with me was so special. It took my breath away when I saw him walking around picking out cookies just like I used to do.
On Friday morning, we hit the road for Surfside Beach. It is about 40 miles south of Galveston and the drive was no problem. The beach house turned out to be perfect for our big group with enough bedrooms for each family to have their own and plenty of bathrooms, too. The beach was totally private to the homes there and the view was spectacular. We were all blown away by how perfect everything turned out, especially considering that none of us had ever been there and only seen pictures online. We all managed to arrive within minutes of each other and the boys all ran straight out onto the beach. We spent that first evening on the beach with each other and then ordered pizzas for dinner. The best part of the trip were the nights. After we all put the kiddos to bed (which went surprisingly easy!), we got to park ourselves out on the huge deck, drinking boat drinks and laughing hysterically. The sound of the waves crashing below while the lights of all the beach houses twinkled merrily around us...the faint sounds of music lofting from the other decks...the feel of the wind in my hair...the sounds of all my best friends laughing and talking...it was all amazing. I was there with the love of my life, my precious boy and my best friends. Perfection!
Colin's pirate party was absolutely adorable and all four of us went crazy with decorations and pirate gifts. Kayrene got the boys hats, pj's and personalized shirts and Kim made pajama pants with matching pirate shirts. They were the cutest group of boys you have ever seen! I was very impressed that Colin did not get under the table when everyone sang "Happy Birthday". It was a miracle! We grilled burgers and hot dogs and then everyone went back down to the beach before bedtime. It could not have gone better and I certainly don't know how we will ever top a pirate party on an actual beach. Good lord, this is one lucky boy!
Colin has a new anxiety as of late, which is a serious fear of getting a sunburn. He overheard my family talking about a bad sunburn that my nephew got and ever since then, he is terrified that he will get one. Despite literally saturating him in sunblock, he still stand frozen at the door, chanting that he doesn't have enough on and he will burn. We found that we can calm him down if he wears a swim shirt, but yours truly forgot to pack it. Needless to say, we had some tough moments over that one. Saturday afternoon was a beast, but he doesn't stress about late afternoons, so we had some great evenings on the beach. On Sunday, we planned ahead and took him to the local aquarium that had a touch tank while the other kiddos swam. Colin LOVED getting to touch all the sea creatures and it worked out great. When we got back to the house, several of the dads had taken the other boys on the same trip, so Colin got to spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out with the moms and babies, playing assorted games that involved making Lindsey order pizza over and over while he delivered it. :-) He loves hanging out with the grown-ups, so the day was just up his alley. At one point, he asked Lindsey very seriously, "What can I get you?" and after she ordered her pizza, he looked at her baby boy Nolan and asked, "And how about for the little guy?". It was hilarious. Sunday night was another amazing evening with our friends that included a genius game of "glow stick golf" that our friend Nathan came up with. His family has been playing it for years and he brought glow sticks for everyone, as well as glowing circles that he set up as the tee boxes all along the beach. He tied cords to each glow stick and we wrote our names on them. We broke off into teams and took turns throwing our sticks to the tee. It was so much fun and the sight of all the glow sticks swinging around in the air up and down the beach was seriously awesome. It was a night that I won't soon forget! The only real drama of the trip came that last night when the air conditioning went out upstairs, where all but 2 of the families were sleeping. We noticed it when we got back from golfing and it quickly turned into a sauna up there. We were all worried about the kids waking up and where we would put them. Jer and I stripped the comforter off the bed and thankfully we had a ceiling fan that we turned up to high. We slept there with Colin and miraculously, he never woke up. The air started working again in the wee hours of the morning, so we managed to get more comfortable and catch a few hours of real sleep. We were happy to get up on Monday morning and head back to our own beds and crazy pets, but we were sad that the weekend was over so fast. It was so much fun and I absolutely can't wait for the next one! We have started going somewhere twice a year as a group and we talked about putting picture books together for each year and collecting them...won't these be amazing memories to look back on?! I love it! Here are just a few of the hundreds of pictures.
All the kiddos! (Well, almost...babies Ruthie and Nolan are not in this shot) Can you believe that we managed that group?! :-) The families on the trip were the Janaks, Turners, Sheltons, Roberts, McGeheartys, Cederwalls, Parkers, Snopeks and, of course, the Shaffers! :-)
Our four pirates, Ryan, Colin, Hayden and Jack! The birthday boys in their matching garb...ahoy, matey! I love this picture more than anything!
Helping Colin and Jack open presents
The view of our house from the driveway...ours is the first one on the right.
The night view from our balcony!
Colin and Annelie enjoy the beach!
Sitting with two of my favorite girls, Kimberly and Ruthie!
On the beach with Carrie!
Colin striking a pose...Bryan took most of these pictures and they are SO cute!
I mean, seriously...how cute is this boy?!?!
Colin's first time in the ocean...walking with Daddy!
My little beach bum! He loved playing in the sand and digging for shells and crabs.
Kim's super awesome picture of glow stick golf! I LOVE THIS!
Just a wonderful vacation!
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Updates from the Surface of the Sun
It is still 900 degrees. Let's just get that out of the way. This is the longest summer of all time. And thus concludes the Captain Obvious portion of this post. :-) My first few days back on my strict diet are going pretty well...especially considering that I have already cheated with beer and wine on 2 of the 4 nights! HA! We had a great family night with some of our friends on Saturday and then I had girls night last night at Eren's. You really can't have girls night without wine, so I ate very clean beforehand to save up calories. HA! I honestly already feel better...it feels so good to have a mission again! :-)
Our beach trip is almost here and I can't believe it! We are going to be at the shore from Friday through Monday and I am SO excited. Did you know that the weather forecast calls for high temps that are a full 12 degrees cooler than it is here?! With a sea breeze. I can't wait! I am honestly a little overwhelmed right now with trying to remember everything to pack for our family and all the odds and ends I signed up to bring for everyone else. Between hosting the birthday party and sharing a house with 9 families, I am feeling a little nervous that I don't have all my bases covered. But I know that I will get it figured out and we are going to have so much fun!
Odds and ends this week...
I am growing Colin's hair out. I have kept his hair very short for the past year and I mentally noted after his last cut (a month ago) that I wanted to see it longer. Not like scruffy long, but with some actual hair on top, rather than just the little spikes. He has soft, thick golden brown hair and I suddenly want to see what it would look like a bit longer. We shall see how long this lasts...my pet peeve is an "unkempt" looking kiddo, so if his hair starts looking like a shaggy dog, I may break down and cut it. :-) I figure that I only have a short amount of time left when he will let me decide his haircut, so I am going for the change while I still can.
I woke up this morning with a sore throat and feeling under the weather. This will not come as a surprise to anyone in my family. My signature move since BIRTH is to get sick before something awesome happens, like Christmas or a trip to the beach this weekend. I refuse to be sick. REFUSE. So if you can overdose on Airborne and vitamin C, I am about to experience it.
I am in the throws of a giant debate on what extracurricular activities to sign Colin up for this fall. I am thinking about karate or gymnastics. I even thought about looking into drum or guitar lessons. I don't know if Colin is too young (probably), but he loves music so much and seems so naturally inclined to it. I thought about indoor soccer (we have a great place close by), but I changed my mind. I asked him about it and he said no, so I am not going to push it. I am going to stay away from team sports this fall and let him try other activities that don't require him to battle his social fears. I think karate sounds particularly calming and have a feeling Colin will love it. I have already sent some inquiry emails out to local places, so we shall see.
Colin's occupational therapist, Cheryl, left for China this week to complete the adoption process for a little girl. They have a daughter that is Colin's age from Korea and have been in the process with China for the last 6 years. So, this is big and wonderful news for her! The bad news is that Colin has to switch therapists for the next 3 months while Cheryl is traveling and on maternity leave. She thinks it will be good for him to work with someone new and apparently Mary Sue is very sweet and will be a perfect fit for the little man. His therapy appointment is now on Thursdays at 10:30am. I am actually on my way to the preschool to verify Colin's schedule and teachers for the fall. They start in less than a month, on September 7th. He is going to go 2 days a week again this year and I can't believe that I am already thinking about this! Our school district starts back on the 22nd and I can't wait for the peace and quiet that comes with all these neighborhood hooligans going back full time. :-)
Colin has developed a new obsession - Sesame Street. I feel a little bit stupid admitting this, but he hasn't really watched it much over the years. We used to watch PBS when he was tiny, but he got on a Nick Jr. kick forever ago and I frankly would just forget to turn the channel to PBS. He loves their shows and catches the occasional Super Why or Word World and he ADORES Sid the Science Kid. We have several of those DVD's...Sid is right up Colin's alley. Anyway, for some reason, we never caught Sesame Street and I forgot about it. I stumbled across it in the kids free OnDemand and started it a couple of weeks ago. Colin loves it. He loves it so much, in fact, that he has started laughing like Ernie. Like FOR REAL laughs like Ernie. He has managed to retrain his body to do the classic "hehehehehe" that Ernie does whenever he finds something amusing. It makes me laugh every single time.
That should do it for now...I have to stop stalling and get ready for this trip!
Our beach trip is almost here and I can't believe it! We are going to be at the shore from Friday through Monday and I am SO excited. Did you know that the weather forecast calls for high temps that are a full 12 degrees cooler than it is here?! With a sea breeze. I can't wait! I am honestly a little overwhelmed right now with trying to remember everything to pack for our family and all the odds and ends I signed up to bring for everyone else. Between hosting the birthday party and sharing a house with 9 families, I am feeling a little nervous that I don't have all my bases covered. But I know that I will get it figured out and we are going to have so much fun!
Odds and ends this week...
I am growing Colin's hair out. I have kept his hair very short for the past year and I mentally noted after his last cut (a month ago) that I wanted to see it longer. Not like scruffy long, but with some actual hair on top, rather than just the little spikes. He has soft, thick golden brown hair and I suddenly want to see what it would look like a bit longer. We shall see how long this lasts...my pet peeve is an "unkempt" looking kiddo, so if his hair starts looking like a shaggy dog, I may break down and cut it. :-) I figure that I only have a short amount of time left when he will let me decide his haircut, so I am going for the change while I still can.
I woke up this morning with a sore throat and feeling under the weather. This will not come as a surprise to anyone in my family. My signature move since BIRTH is to get sick before something awesome happens, like Christmas or a trip to the beach this weekend. I refuse to be sick. REFUSE. So if you can overdose on Airborne and vitamin C, I am about to experience it.
I am in the throws of a giant debate on what extracurricular activities to sign Colin up for this fall. I am thinking about karate or gymnastics. I even thought about looking into drum or guitar lessons. I don't know if Colin is too young (probably), but he loves music so much and seems so naturally inclined to it. I thought about indoor soccer (we have a great place close by), but I changed my mind. I asked him about it and he said no, so I am not going to push it. I am going to stay away from team sports this fall and let him try other activities that don't require him to battle his social fears. I think karate sounds particularly calming and have a feeling Colin will love it. I have already sent some inquiry emails out to local places, so we shall see.
Colin's occupational therapist, Cheryl, left for China this week to complete the adoption process for a little girl. They have a daughter that is Colin's age from Korea and have been in the process with China for the last 6 years. So, this is big and wonderful news for her! The bad news is that Colin has to switch therapists for the next 3 months while Cheryl is traveling and on maternity leave. She thinks it will be good for him to work with someone new and apparently Mary Sue is very sweet and will be a perfect fit for the little man. His therapy appointment is now on Thursdays at 10:30am. I am actually on my way to the preschool to verify Colin's schedule and teachers for the fall. They start in less than a month, on September 7th. He is going to go 2 days a week again this year and I can't believe that I am already thinking about this! Our school district starts back on the 22nd and I can't wait for the peace and quiet that comes with all these neighborhood hooligans going back full time. :-)
Colin has developed a new obsession - Sesame Street. I feel a little bit stupid admitting this, but he hasn't really watched it much over the years. We used to watch PBS when he was tiny, but he got on a Nick Jr. kick forever ago and I frankly would just forget to turn the channel to PBS. He loves their shows and catches the occasional Super Why or Word World and he ADORES Sid the Science Kid. We have several of those DVD's...Sid is right up Colin's alley. Anyway, for some reason, we never caught Sesame Street and I forgot about it. I stumbled across it in the kids free OnDemand and started it a couple of weeks ago. Colin loves it. He loves it so much, in fact, that he has started laughing like Ernie. Like FOR REAL laughs like Ernie. He has managed to retrain his body to do the classic "hehehehehe" that Ernie does whenever he finds something amusing. It makes me laugh every single time.
That should do it for now...I have to stop stalling and get ready for this trip!
Saturday, August 6, 2011
A New Day!
Well, it is going to be 108 degrees here again today and despite the heat...the endless soul sucking heat...I am having a GREAT day already. My diet from last summer is officially back underway. And I feel awesome already!
A little over 2 months ago, my OB/GYN put me on the mega dose of clomid with metformin. In the days following, I have gained 27 lbs. I am only 4 lbs away from negating my entire weight loss from last year. It has been so sudden...my rings don't fit, my clothes don't fit...all seemingly out of the blue. I didn't have any trouble maintaining my weight until we started this exact dose of meds. It definitely did something strange to my body. I had to go dig the "fat bag" of clothes out of storage two days ago and that woke me up. This is totally unacceptable. This fertility mess is made even more depressing...gaining almost 30 lbs before you even get pregnant is bad news all the way around. I feel like a fat, sad failure. And you know me...I don't do sad. SO...I am chucking the fertility meds for awhile and doing a complete refocus. I went to see my doctor yesterday (the one who did my weight loss program with me last year) and we did bloodwork and labs and a whole workup again. I have dusted off my diet notes, added some good calorie apps to my new phone and reminded myself of my favorite healthy recipes. My doctor cheered me up by reminding me that I know exactly what to do this time and won't be wasting any time learning...I have all the knowledge this time around. I can undo this damage and clear my body of all these crazy meds. I already feel like a new woman. This changed my life last year and it is going to feel so great to get back into that mindset! So, let's get back into those skinny jeans! It shouldn't be a problem because it won't be cool enough to wear them for anothermillion years two months. :-)
A little over 2 months ago, my OB/GYN put me on the mega dose of clomid with metformin. In the days following, I have gained 27 lbs. I am only 4 lbs away from negating my entire weight loss from last year. It has been so sudden...my rings don't fit, my clothes don't fit...all seemingly out of the blue. I didn't have any trouble maintaining my weight until we started this exact dose of meds. It definitely did something strange to my body. I had to go dig the "fat bag" of clothes out of storage two days ago and that woke me up. This is totally unacceptable. This fertility mess is made even more depressing...gaining almost 30 lbs before you even get pregnant is bad news all the way around. I feel like a fat, sad failure. And you know me...I don't do sad. SO...I am chucking the fertility meds for awhile and doing a complete refocus. I went to see my doctor yesterday (the one who did my weight loss program with me last year) and we did bloodwork and labs and a whole workup again. I have dusted off my diet notes, added some good calorie apps to my new phone and reminded myself of my favorite healthy recipes. My doctor cheered me up by reminding me that I know exactly what to do this time and won't be wasting any time learning...I have all the knowledge this time around. I can undo this damage and clear my body of all these crazy meds. I already feel like a new woman. This changed my life last year and it is going to feel so great to get back into that mindset! So, let's get back into those skinny jeans! It shouldn't be a problem because it won't be cool enough to wear them for another
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
She Waits No More
Well, I broke down and bought the test and I am not pregnant. I knew that I wasn't. And I am just fine. We have a big trip to the beach next week and I plan on drinking lots of margaritas on the shore and having a fantastic time! I almost didn't publish my post from this morning, but this blog is about my life and therefore, why not? Sure, I occasionally throw myself a pity party over this whole mess, but I can't forget about all the gifts in my life. So, I am going to smile today and be okay. Hopefully, I won't be late anymore for no reason! On to next month! Tomorrow is another day! Can I throw out any more cliches? :-) I think that God made me a "glass half full" girl for a reason!
She Waits
My period should have started yesterday. It didn't. It hasn't started yet today, either. It is 9:14am and I am officially two days late for the first time ever. I am not ever late...I am actually the opposite of late. My period always starts very early, like every 20-23 days. I have spent two years trying to get pregnant and one year on medication because I can't seem to ovulate on my own, which accounts for my short cycles. SO, I am never late. Not ever.
Last month, after 10 months of trying different things, tracking every single day and having bloodwork done monthly, I finally ovulated with a very high dose of Clomid mixed with something called Metformin. I got the phone call in the parking lot of Chick-Fil-A with my mom in the car with me. We were on the way to get lemonade before we started a girls shopping day at Southlake Town Center. To have my mom in town and actually with me when I got the phone call was amazing. It was the first good news phone call that I have ever gotten regarding this process and it felt amazing to hear the nurse sound happy on the phone. I prayed so hard that I was pregnant, but my period showed up right on time, making that cycle a perfect 28 days. I prayed so hard that it would be my month, but it wasn't meant to be. At least I got some good news for a change! This month has been crazy. I was sent to a fertility clinic to have an HSG test, otherwise known as a fallopian tube flush. That was easily the worst part of this whole process. The clinic was oddly quiet and the air was heavy with resignation, hope and sadness all at the same time. There were couples here and there and two women alone like I was. I sat in the dark maroon seat and tried not to cry...just the fact that I was there was overwhelming and the sense of failure settled over me like a cloud. I didn't want to be there. "The Center for Assisted Reproduction" is what they call it. I never want to be there again. The doctors (3 of them!) were very nice and worked quickly and while the test was incredibly painful, it was over fast and brought good news. My tubes work perfectly, no blockages at all, and my uterus is very healthy. They sent me out the door with pictures of my tubes filled up with the dye and I found myself in the parking lot wondering what you do with snapshots of your fallopian tubes. It was an odd moment to be sure. That test was on day 10 of my cycle. I can tell you exactly what day it is at any given time. My entire life seems to run in 24 hour increments. Medication on days 3-7, tubes flushed on day 10, ovulation hopefully around day 14, bloodwork on day 21, then watching each day after that; waiting and knowing that your period is going to show up and you will have to try again...make yourself okay...find your smile...start counting again...day one. Today is day 30. I have never gotten to day 30. I don't know what to do with myself.
I stopped buying pregnancy tests about 6 months ago. I was spending a fortune on them and it made the pain of a negative test even worse....Why did I buy these? I knew better than this! Another $20 down the drain for absolutely no reason...I don't even want to know how much money I have spent over the last few years. I hate the walk to the tests, the ridiculous hope that fills your chest and the voice inside your head that reminds you not to get your hopes up. The debate on whether you want a digital test or if you would rather use the one with the two lines so that you could tilt it up to the light at a million angles trying to detect even a hint of a line. Sometimes I would choose the digital so that I couldn't do that to myself, but the words "not pregnant" that print out over the screen are so ugly that I think squinting my eyes at the lines is less offensive. SO, I bought a pack of what is known as "internet cheapies" in the infertility world. They are pregnancy test strips that are super cheap, only $5 for a pack of 25. Those have made me feel better...less like I am spending money for no reason. I took my last one on day 27, the day before my period was due. I even used first morning urine, just like you are supposed to and it was negative. Always negative. I held it up to different lights, out the window, in front of a flashlight...definitely negative. So I tossed it and went about my day...putting a couple of tampons in my purse and carrying on.
And here we are. Day 30. I know that my period is going to start. I know it. It always starts. This time is going to hurt. It is going to break my heart. Because I am never late, so now I think it might have happened. I am so tired of getting my hopes crushed. I want it so badly that it physically hurts, but I know that no matter how hard I pray, I can't make it so. I know that I should go buy a pregnancy test. I should do it because it might be a miracle and it might say yes and I might pass out from joy. It might be my day, my moment, our dreams finally coming true. The years of wait over with, the endless nights spent laying awake and wondering if Colin might just miss out on siblings gone for good. The cloud of disappointment taking it's leave from my house. The dream coming to reality. But that doesn't ever happen. And when I let myself think it might be true, I get hurt so badly. So I don't want to buy that test. I don't want to do it. I want to wait and let my period start and be proud that I didn't put myself through it. So that is where I am today. Day 30. Waiting. Praying. Not hoping. Hoping so hard.
Last month, after 10 months of trying different things, tracking every single day and having bloodwork done monthly, I finally ovulated with a very high dose of Clomid mixed with something called Metformin. I got the phone call in the parking lot of Chick-Fil-A with my mom in the car with me. We were on the way to get lemonade before we started a girls shopping day at Southlake Town Center. To have my mom in town and actually with me when I got the phone call was amazing. It was the first good news phone call that I have ever gotten regarding this process and it felt amazing to hear the nurse sound happy on the phone. I prayed so hard that I was pregnant, but my period showed up right on time, making that cycle a perfect 28 days. I prayed so hard that it would be my month, but it wasn't meant to be. At least I got some good news for a change! This month has been crazy. I was sent to a fertility clinic to have an HSG test, otherwise known as a fallopian tube flush. That was easily the worst part of this whole process. The clinic was oddly quiet and the air was heavy with resignation, hope and sadness all at the same time. There were couples here and there and two women alone like I was. I sat in the dark maroon seat and tried not to cry...just the fact that I was there was overwhelming and the sense of failure settled over me like a cloud. I didn't want to be there. "The Center for Assisted Reproduction" is what they call it. I never want to be there again. The doctors (3 of them!) were very nice and worked quickly and while the test was incredibly painful, it was over fast and brought good news. My tubes work perfectly, no blockages at all, and my uterus is very healthy. They sent me out the door with pictures of my tubes filled up with the dye and I found myself in the parking lot wondering what you do with snapshots of your fallopian tubes. It was an odd moment to be sure. That test was on day 10 of my cycle. I can tell you exactly what day it is at any given time. My entire life seems to run in 24 hour increments. Medication on days 3-7, tubes flushed on day 10, ovulation hopefully around day 14, bloodwork on day 21, then watching each day after that; waiting and knowing that your period is going to show up and you will have to try again...make yourself okay...find your smile...start counting again...day one. Today is day 30. I have never gotten to day 30. I don't know what to do with myself.
I stopped buying pregnancy tests about 6 months ago. I was spending a fortune on them and it made the pain of a negative test even worse....Why did I buy these? I knew better than this! Another $20 down the drain for absolutely no reason...I don't even want to know how much money I have spent over the last few years. I hate the walk to the tests, the ridiculous hope that fills your chest and the voice inside your head that reminds you not to get your hopes up. The debate on whether you want a digital test or if you would rather use the one with the two lines so that you could tilt it up to the light at a million angles trying to detect even a hint of a line. Sometimes I would choose the digital so that I couldn't do that to myself, but the words "not pregnant" that print out over the screen are so ugly that I think squinting my eyes at the lines is less offensive. SO, I bought a pack of what is known as "internet cheapies" in the infertility world. They are pregnancy test strips that are super cheap, only $5 for a pack of 25. Those have made me feel better...less like I am spending money for no reason. I took my last one on day 27, the day before my period was due. I even used first morning urine, just like you are supposed to and it was negative. Always negative. I held it up to different lights, out the window, in front of a flashlight...definitely negative. So I tossed it and went about my day...putting a couple of tampons in my purse and carrying on.
And here we are. Day 30. I know that my period is going to start. I know it. It always starts. This time is going to hurt. It is going to break my heart. Because I am never late, so now I think it might have happened. I am so tired of getting my hopes crushed. I want it so badly that it physically hurts, but I know that no matter how hard I pray, I can't make it so. I know that I should go buy a pregnancy test. I should do it because it might be a miracle and it might say yes and I might pass out from joy. It might be my day, my moment, our dreams finally coming true. The years of wait over with, the endless nights spent laying awake and wondering if Colin might just miss out on siblings gone for good. The cloud of disappointment taking it's leave from my house. The dream coming to reality. But that doesn't ever happen. And when I let myself think it might be true, I get hurt so badly. So I don't want to buy that test. I don't want to do it. I want to wait and let my period start and be proud that I didn't put myself through it. So that is where I am today. Day 30. Waiting. Praying. Not hoping. Hoping so hard.
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