Meme

Got this by email today, thought it would be more fun to post the answers here:

Two names you go by:
1. Roomie
2. Chicken

Two things you are wearing right now:
1. Nursing turtleneck
2. Black & white striped toe socks (from Roomie)

Two of your favorite things to do:
1 Play with my kids
2 Relax in a warm bath

Two things you want very badly at the moment:
1. Everyone in my house to be healthy
2. All our relatives to be healthy

Two favorite pets you have had/have
1. Pretty (a cat)
2. Grey (1st cat)

Two people who will fill this out: (consider yourself tagged!)
1. Kerry
2. Aunt Sharon

Two things you ate today:
1. Blueberry bagel
2. Turkey & pepperoni tortilla wrap

Two people you last talked to (I'm assuming this one means on the phone)
1. My brother
2. The scheduler at the eye doctor's office
(otherwise)
1. My husband
2. My daughter

Two things you're doing tomorrow:
1. Going to the eye doctor
2. Laundry

Two longest car rides:
1. Cheyenne, WY to Knoxville, TN
2. Cheyenne, WY to Port Vincent, LA

Two favorite holidays:
1. Easter
2. Independence Day

Two favorite beverages:
1. XXX Vitamin Water
2. Filtered Water with a shot of apple juice in it

Rave: File Folder Games

I was recently introduced to the concept of file folder games, and thought they were a really neat idea. And since I had about 200 empty file folders in the office, I decided to make some. I found some really nice pre-made ones online at http://www.myffgames.com/. All I had to do was print, cut, glue, and laminate. The kids love them!

I have to admit thought my MIL was a little crazy for buying me a Xyron 900 laminator after already buying me a hot laminator. But it is a great tool!!! I've been able to use that not just for lamination (and it makes a nice, softer lamination for the game pieces, not scratchy like the hard laminator), but for putting permanent adhesive on the back of the pieces that get stuck to the folder, and also on the back of a sandwich baggie to stick on the back of the folder and hold the game pieces. It also has a magnet-maker lamination cartridge that I used to make magnets of the kids' Christmas photo to send to all the family.

Here are some photos of Katie's (current) favorite file folder game:

Photos for Blog Log Day

Here are some photos I took yesterday to include in that log for Kristy, but was so tired last night I didn't care to download them.

A Day in My Life

For Kristy: Keeping a log is about my least favorite activity in the world. (Even worse than dishwashing duty at junior year cafeteria work service!!!) But since I am happy someone is interested in my day, I will try. For you. ;)

• 6:30 Woken up to Sammy wanting something to eat. Go to crawl out of bed; Katie cries to nurse. Go over to her other side to nurse her. Notice world's most awful smell while nursing. All I can do not to puke. Also, haven't been this thirsty since I was pg with Sammy. (Must remember to drink extra water when a kid is sick!!!)
• 6:40 Change world's nastiest diaper, trying not to vomit. (Thanks Dad for the help!) Thank myself for remembering to put a flushable liner in the diaper last time. Go to pee and notice nice big yellow diarrhea spot on my pants. Yuck!
• Pee. (Surprised and alarmed at LSU-gold colored pee. Double yuck! Must must must remember to drink extra water when a kid is sick!!!)
• Change pants. Go downstairs and rinse/pre-wash diapers on cold cycle. Scrub hands.
• Make dad cheese toast. Make myself power breakfast gruel and try to drink water. Feed kids banana slices. Katie opens fridge, sees and asks for "toin." (corn) Give her a little applesauce cup with a teaspoon of cold corn kernels. Against my better judgement, but figure if she is asking for something, she is actually going to eat it. She did.
• 7:31 Sing Super Why theme song upon request from Sammy. Change Sammy's diaper and run first wash of diapers. Think despairingly about all the other laundry waiting to be done. Nurse Katie while we all watch Super Why.
• 7:45 Load dishwasher and run on rinse cycle to loosen up all the dried food. (My dishwasher does not work very well.)
• 8:00 Called pediatrician, got after-hours message
• 8:02 Called ped, was 5th in queue, got to hold for 10 or 15 min. Triage nurse convinced me to give it another day or two to see if she gets better, will leave message for doc in case she thinks we ought to come in. Also was advised to keep her on the "BRAT" diet and of course make sure she stays hydrated. Was a little dismayed at the tone in which she asked "She's almost 2 and still nursing?" but remembered that not everyone in the office is as educated or experienced with extended nursing as our ped is. Reminded myself how HAPPY I am to still be nursing her, and that she nurses more when she is not feeling well, otherwise she might be in real danger of being dehydrated.
• While on hold go to bathroom and decide I might have milder version of whatever is plaguing Kate. Also notice spotting, remember date, suspect AF is coming in the next few days. Change underwear and grab (cloth) pantyliner.
• 8:30 Checked a few blogs. Got cabinet bid via email and sent it to the printer.
• 9:15 Run diapers on another hot wash to make sure they get clean. mean to start dishwasher with soap but get side-tracked by Katie wanting me to "oh-BEAN" the brown PlayDoh. Play PlayDoh with kids
• 9:49 go upstairs to start this log. Make it to the landing.
• 9:50 called down to "oh-BEAN" the blue PlayDoh. Play PlayDoh with kids
• 10:15 asked to put on Leap Frog Math Circus video
• 10:17 remember to put soap in and run dishwasher
• 10:30 wrestle guilt over perpetuating the video addiction just so I can get a few minutes to myself to do something that REALLY isn't necessary in the grand scheme of things (i.e. type out the minute details of my day). Even if it is educational. Even if Math major mama is so proud that her barely 3 year old is fascinated by addition and subtraction and her nearly 2 year old can count to 14 by herself.
• 10:34 Brush teeth. Put on bra and change shirt. Feel good that I am now fully dressed and it is before noon. Even if I didn't get a shower today. (Missed the shower. Sooo going to enjoy tomorrows!) Feel guilty that my video-glued kids are still in their PJs. Notice growing headache (dehydration?). Remind myself that I don't feel well either, mothering a sick nursing toddler is very taxing, and I should stop trying to accomplish anything normal today.
• 10:50 Remembered to pick up cabinet specs/prices from the printer, punch holes, and bring downstairs to put in basement-finishing binder
• 11:15 Nursed Katie, changed her diaper. Thanked God it was just wet, and her bottom wasn't nearly as red. Put clean diapers in dryer and poopy sheets/clothes in washer. Guzzled the rest of my 2nd 20 oz bottle of water. 2 down, 3 more to go.
• 11:35 Left a comment on Kristy's blog. Felt like the dirtiest person on earth.
• 11:40 Katie asked to take a bath. Figured it wasn't a bad idea, let her play in the tub, with some lavender (anti-germ) and geranium (skin-soothing) essential oils. Put away the 3 baskets of laundry constipation (clean clothes) while she played. Realized during the 1st basket that I hadn't prayed (formally) today so put our cool new rosary CD that Santa gave the family for Christmas in the player.
• 11:55 While putting diaper on Katie, was amazed that she said 4 or 5 random of the Hail Mary words along with the CD. Wondered where she learned that from. Then realized that I include 3 Hail Mary's as part of our bedtime prayers (when I remember to do them, which I used to be good about, but lately haven't been.) Decided I must REALLY not feel well to not remember that...
• Fed the kids banana, applesauce & crackers for lunch. Ate leftover jambalaya & white beans myself. (Did I mention my brother is an awesome cook?) Not a sausage fan, so Sammy ate some of my sausage. Katie found out Sammy had sausage and cried foul. So much for the BRAT diet.
• At Katie's request, we painted with water colors. Sammy & I said "Whoopsie!!!" a lot because Katie thought it was the funniest word in the universe. Tried to get that giggle on video, but the battery was dead. Charged the video camera battery.
• 1:53 Feeling headache even more. Put Dora video on my computer (the only one that will play nickjr.com stuff), vac'd the bedroom/master bath, and tried to rest
• 2:15 let the ADT guy in to move the wire that was routed wrong when they replaced our system last Mar. He found 4 others that were also in the wrong place (should be behind the basement framing but are in front of it in some way or another; we can't put up sheetrock with them like that). He wasn't scheduled here for long enough to fix it, so I had to call ADT back and schedule a tech to come out.
• 2:50 nursed Katie to sleep (finally she succumbed! had been fighting sleep all day!). folded diapers. rebooted laundry. Listened to a talk on CD while I did all this.
• Realized I was feeling/thinking quite negatively, decided it's because I didn't feel well and was stressed out about sick kid. Resolved to nip negative thoughts in the bud.
• 5:00 Greeted DH.
• Finished 5th 20-oz bottle of water but still fighting headache. :( Maybe it's eye strain... Or was it only the 4th bottle? I suck at keeping track of things. (Which is why I hate keeping frickalickin logs!) (Oh, wait, that wasn't a very positive thought, was it?)
• 5:40 Kicked my brother off my computer so I could have it back to check email and update this log. Trying to decide if I am going to go to the SAFE Environment Training for the Co-Op, since this is likely to be the only one at a time when Dad can watch kids, or if I just give up the headache fight and go to bed.
• 5:45 Feed kids hot dogs and pear slices for dinner.
• 6:30 go to SAFE training. Over kids's screaming, tell Dad to call me in 15 minutes and let me know if I should turn around or not. Happily, they were fine withing 5 minutes of me leaving. (Wasn't sure they would be, with Katie being sick and Sammy being napless and cranky.)
• 9:45 get home to find Sammy nearly asleep in tub, naked Katie and Dad reading on the bathroom floor. Apparently the bath water and the diaper rash were a bad combination tonight. Help kids to sleep, grab a bite to eat, hit computer, about to head to bed myself.

I'm sure there was more in there. A couple of snacks I didn't mention... Getting my new bras washed and hung to dry. Reading books with the kids... I actually accomplished quite a bit for me not feeling 100%.

Blessed William Ireland

My kids and husband have a Jesuit martyr in their ancestry line. Today is his feast day. Please join me in praying that I will be a good mom/wife, and especially a good witness, to his descendants.

Happy Anniversary

To MawMaw and PawPaw, and to Uncle Tommy and Aunt Mary Beth!

I love co-sleeping!

LOVE IT!!!

What brought this comment on? I was reading this post on Kristy's blog, and it just made me think how much I LOVE having my kids in my room. I have always loved it, and I love it even more now that we moved the double bed in their corner. They know that's their bed, and they prefer it. And Daddy has enough room in his own bed now. (Thank God for a wonderful, understanding Daddy who knows the importance of being close to your little ones all night while they still need you to be!)

So here are a few things that I love about sharing sleep with my babies/toddlers:

• They are so happy when they wake up and immediately see a loving face.
• I don't have to get up, or even necessarily wake up, to nurse them if they need it. (which happily is getting less and less often!)
• The other night, when Sammy started throwing up, I heard him right away and was immediately there to roll him over, comfort him, get him cleaned up, etc. (He had an allergic reaction to something. No idea what.)
• I feel like it is easier for me to protect them in the same room, than if they were down the hall.
• Babies thrive and grow better and are so much happier with lots of loving touch, and they get lots of it when you share sleep with them
• If they have a nightmare, I am RIGHT THERE to comfort them, rather than them having to scream and cry and be scared and alone until I hear them and wake up and come stumbling down the hall. (And stub my toe in the dark, and trip over 15 toys on the way to their bed...)
• And my favorite reason - they are warm and snuggly and cuddly!!! (It is very cold here in Colorado right now!!!)

It makes me happy... it makes them happy... We all sleep better in each other's vicinity... Some days (especially days like the one we had today) I just don't get why everyone doesn't do it!

Weird illness

I think I changes upwards of 10 poopy diapers today. (I think) only 2 or 3 were Sammy's. Whatever Katie has, seems to be a repeat of that strange day- or two-long bug they had a week and a half ago. Sammy's poopy diapers were by no means normal, either. But not nearly as bad as Katie's. Poor baby's bottom is not just red, it's maroon! I finally had to dig out the paper diaper liners so I could slather her in Boudreaux's. (Diaper rash cream will do bad things to your cloth diapers. Like make them repel and leak. I've had enough gross stuff leaking out of diapers today, I don't need to add to the problem!!!) I'm sure the breastmilk I tried to squirt all over her bottom helped, some. At least she acted like it felt better. But not so that I could see from the fiery redness.

This seems to be the same bug that pretty much incapacitated me last Tuesday night. There is lots (and lots) of mostly liquid stools, quite a bit stomach pain (or at least I was in extreme pain. Akin to labor pains. Last time I didn't know anything was wrong with the kids, though. They acted fine. Except when there was poop running down their legs. This time Katie has had a couple of screaming episodes, though.)

And then there's the weird rash that only appears in a few places, but makes you itch all over. Sammy gets it on his hand, behind his thumb. Katie gets it on her inner arms, just above her elbows. I got it on my scalp, and my neck. It looks like mosquito bites - just a little raised and a little red.

Has anyone ever heard of anything like this?

Tomorrow is the first day of TORCH co-op, in which we signed up Sammy for 2 of the 3 preschool classes. And I don't think we are going to be able to go. :( In fact, I think we might have to make a trip to see Dr. Dawson...

Rave: Library Elf

If you are a regular library user, you might find the Library Elf website very helpful. Especially if you are disorganized like me and can't keep track of what you have checked out/pending. They will email or text message you reminders. As often (or seldom) as you want. Or you can set up an RSS feed. It's pretty cool!

While I'm raving I should also mention Maureen Whitman's fabulous new book, For The Love of Literature: Teaching Core Subjects with Literature, where I learned about the Elf in the first place.

Garden of the Gods

Our Aussie friend Rhys (pronounced like "Reece") came to visit, and we took him to the Garden of the Gods. It was incredibly cold. But beautiful.

Good little mama

Katie nursing and burping her "bee-bee." (Whose name is also Katie. Really. She came named that.)

Christmas Day 2007

Sammy's birthday party

(Sorry these are late... I am finding it hard to get time on my own computer these days for all the other people in the house.)

We had a very small birthday party for Sammy the weekend after his birthday. Only his godmother showed up. But that was fine, since we hadn't seen her in 6 months.

They baked his birthday cupcakes together.


Meanwhile Katie climbed up on the table to steal his presents.


And was later very happy to find there were a couple for her, too!


Sammy had a great time eating his cupcakes.

And an even better time dipping the Teddy Grahams into the unused frosting. (Sorry, no photos of that!)