Gettysburg--April 2011

James' mom & dad came and spent a week in Maryland with us while Thomas & Toby were out for Spring Break. We did little day trips nearly every day. On this particular day, we went to Gettysburg. During the time that we lived in Germany, a new visitor's center was built in Gettysburg. It is really, really nice. After we toured the visitor's center, we drove around the grounds--the kids loved it!









Until later,

Emily

Two Cute Boys!

While shopping in "Downtown Frederick" it really is best to leave the kids outside (with a supervising adult) rather than taking them in the cute stores with you!

Until later,

Emily

Easter Egg Hunt--Tuscarora Rec Center

I signed the boys up for a little Easter egg hunt that was held nearby. It also included some games. Unfortunately, the day of the hunt ended up being rainy & cold so they had to move it indoors. Better than canceling it completely, I guess. Well, at least the kids thought it was fun. I don't have any pictures of the actual egg hunt, because I had to help Toby.

Until later,

Emily

Crazy Hair Day (at school/Spring)

Thomas' school had "Spirit Week" and each day had a different theme where the kids had the opportunity to dress up & have a little bit of fun. His favorite day was "Crazy Hair Day".

Until later,

Emily

Mr. Sassy Pants

My friend caught this on her camera today. This to me, is a very typical Toby look. He is sassy and silly. When he's not being sassy or silly and making us laugh he is giving us headaches and making us pull our hair out. There really is no in-between with him.

Until later,

Emily

"Wittle Bump"

I have been able to feel Snow 3.0 moving for a very long time. If I told you how long, you would think I was C-R-A-Z-Y (OK, so I felt flutters before even the first trimester was over--honest!) However, nobody else has been able to feel him, even though I am now 20 weeks along (Yay! I'm past the half-way mark now!). Last night, he was kicking or moving around a lot and I was sure it could be felt from the outside. The whole family was together in the living room, but Toby was the closest to me. I asked him to come over and put his hand on my tummy to see if he could feel the baby. He came over, and immediately the baby kicked right where Toby's hand was. I said, "Did you feel it?" and Toby replied, "No, all I felt was a wittle bump!"

Until later,

Emily

Induction

Yesterday, I saw my regular OB. At this point, these appointments are almost a waste of time to me. I see a perinatologist monthly too, and my appointments with him are much more interesting. Right now, with the OB, I pee in a cup, get weighed and we listen to the heartbeat. And then I'm pretty much done unless I have any questions. Since this is my third pregnancy, I really don't have many questions, and the ones I do have, I ask the perinatologist.

However, yesterday, I had a good question to ask, that my perinatologist couldn't answer since he's not going to be the one to deliver the baby, someone at my OB's office will. Since I had Toby early, I know everyone is concerned about me having this one early too. With good reason, the odds are rather high. But, if I can get past the premature weeks, I wanted to know about the chances of getting induced since my labors, so far, have been very fast. I am mainly concerned about getting to the hospital. Especially, if I happen to go into labor in the afternoon, if this happens to be the case and I go into labor at say, 4 PM, I will most certainly deliver without James because he won't be able to make it home on time due to the time that it takes him to get out of his office and drive back home in DC rush hour traffic. Plus it will be on me to find a place for the kids to go and a ride to the hospital or an ambulance ride. I am lucky/unlucky in that the contractions are not noticeable until they are intense and only a couple minutes apart. I was almost surprised when I was told that, absolutely I can be induced for that reason, that it is scheduled all of the time...the catch?...I have to reach 39 weeks.

So I have to say, I will be very surprised if I make it to 39 weeks, but if I do, I'm sure I will gladly "get it over with" one whole week early! And I will love it if I actually get a chance to walk into the hospital standing upright, not in panic mode to get me to the maternity wing!

Until later,

Emily

Our Bad Luck Streak

They say bad luck comes in threes. Well, I hope that is the case, because we have had a streak of bad luck over the past few weeks and we don't need anymore! First of all, as I had posted a while ago, our roof sustained considerable damage a few weeks ago during a bad wind storm. We got our new roof put on on Friday. I can tell you that I chose a very pretty shade of shingles, but they are so high up, you'll just have to take my word for it! We had quite a bit of rain in between the time of the shingles flying off and when we got the new shingles put on, but I think we got the repair done on time before it caused any other considerable damage. Well, I hope so!

Then, after all these months of being back Stateside, I finally got fed up enough and wanted my TPMS (Tire Pressure Monitoring System) fixed on my car. In fact, it was what I asked for as my gift for Valentine's Day. James did end up buying me something different but said to go ahead and get the repair done. I was really hoping it would be a free or inexpensive computer reset, but it was not. There were parts and labor involved. Ridiculously expensive tiny little parts! But we finally got it fixed and it's nice not having that bothersome light lit up on the dash anymore. All in all, it took three appointments in Germany and two appointments here to get it fixed! It was kind of a hassle for such a silly repair!

And then, a few nights ago, our water heater died. It was the original water heater that came with the house--it was 18 years old. The day that it broke, I had done a few loads of laundry and two loads of dishes and I know the hot water was working. After dinner, James went to start a bath for the boys when he discovered there was no hot water. Sure enough, I went downstairs, and it was leaking. But luckily the leak was slow enough that it was contained in the closet that the water heater was stored in and the drain that is built in there was carrying away most of the water. So all in all, we were lucky. We turned off the main water valve for the night and had a new water heater installed the next day.

Until later,

Emily

Toby's Fascination with St. Patrick's Day

This week, in preschool, they focused a lot on St. Patrick's Day. They do lots of art projects. Toby brought home art with gold, shamrocks, leprechauns, etc. He was absolutely fascinated with St. Patrick's Day. He was intrigued by leprechauns and wanted to know if they were real, where they lived, do they start out as babies, etc. On the day of St. Patrick's Day, upon awakening that morning, he ran into my room, and wanted to "find the rainbow and the pot of gold!", he was certain it was in the back of our house. As the day went on, he grew more and more depressed that he hadn't found the gold yet. They made wooden leprechaun masks which each child colored, and that has been the prized possession of the week--it has gone everywhere with us! It has been such a funny thing to see him be so interested in. He has been more excited about St. Patrick's Day than he was for his own birthday or Christmas! Funny kid!

Until later,

Emily

A Lifetime Member of the All-Boys Club!

(Profile pic)

Last Tuesday, James & I went to my 16-week sonogram. We knew this was most likely the "exciting one" where we would find out the gender of the baby. Upon our arrival, our sonographer cautioned us, "At 16-weeks, your baby is still pretty tiny." "I can make an educated guess but please do not go out and buy a bunch of clothes and certainly don't go out and paint your walls!" But, our baby was not shy and, as the sonographer said at first glance of it's parts..."Well, that is FAIRLY convincing!" We think so too. (It's a boy!) Since then, I have gone out and bought some light-weight sleepers since a lot of my NB and 0-3 month clothing is going to be way too warm!


(there is a curser point to the "boy parts")

I took the news pretty well. I was very realistic that it was probably a boy. But of course, there was a glimmer of hope, especially since this pregnancy has been so different from my other two. There were a couple days of letdown and accepting that this will be my family--no daughter, but I'm fine now. I'm just glad he's healthy & now to find a name for him! And, no, we're not sharing this time nor are we asking for suggestions...especially from my dad! That will be our big surprise to share when he arrives.

Toby was mad for about 10 minutes and then he was over it. Thomas is still trying to accept that it's not a girl. James, who has always been adamant that he never wanted to have girls because "they are far too emotional and I would have no idea what to do with one", finally admitted that he would have "been fine" if it was a girl, but "I'm fine that it's a boy too" which is about the closest thing to admitting that having a girl wouldn't have been the end of the world after all in his book, that I've ever heard from him in the 13+ years that I've known him!

Until later,

Emily

The Flu: 2 out of 4--And: He's Back!

Last week, Toby came down with what seemed to be a very, very miserable cold. He ran a low-grade fever, had a dry cough, runny nose and seemed run-down (he took 2-3 hour long naps--and he doesn't nap any longer!) for about four days. I'm not the kind of mom that runs off to the doctor, usually, at the first sign of a runny nose. I did consider it, but then the fever went away so I never took him.

Six days later, on Wednesday, I woke up with full sinuses and a slight runny nose. I didn't feel great, but I didn't feel bad. I thought it might even be allergies. I went about my day, in fact, I enjoyed another day where my pregnancy wasn't slowing me down. Later on that night, Thomas had scouts. I took him and was still just fine. As I drove home, I started to not feel well. I got the boys bathed and off to bed and I realized that every inch of my body ached! I went to bed before 10 PM, and before midnight, I woke up with the chills.

The next morning, I knew I had to get to the doctor. I hurt all over. My nose would not stop running and I had a cough. I felt guilty because I realized that Toby most likely felt this bad, and I never took him to the doctor. I knew with the symptoms and with how fast this came on, it was most likely the flu. Thomas had a late-start morning at school due to parent-teacher conferences, and this was one of those instances where I was so glad that I now have a son who can be pretty self-sufficient and helpful when he needs to be. I was so tired and weak but Thomas poured himself and Toby a bowl of cereal and got them each a drink for breakfast and I stayed in bed an extra hour and a half. We all got dressed and out the door and you better believe that I was the very first patient at the Urgent Care Center in my town! And that is the truth!

The doctor agreed that with my symptoms, it all certainly pointed toward the flu. However, the rapid flu test he gave me came back negative. Although that test is a terribly unreliable test, lots of false negatives. We discussed it and decided to treat it as the flu anyhow and get me started on Tamiflu right away. Apparently, the flu and pregnant women are not a good combination to be had! Tamiflu is an anti-viral that lessens the severity of the flu symptoms and speeds up the duration by 1-2 days. The Tamiflu made me nauseated and hurt my stomach. It says you can take it with or without food, and I took it with food right from the start. But, after two doses, I figured out it needs to be LOTS of food and a full glass of milk and then I'm fine. Two days later, I'm on the mend, but still not great. I ran a few errands this morning and came home out-of-steam. I'm going to try to get some extra rest today and tomorrow.

And where was James during all of this? Well, he was in Vienna, Austria! He left last Saturday and returned Friday night. He had a layover in Frankfurt, Germany, Friday morning, which had me a little nervous because of the two Americans that were killed there only two days before, but he said there was nothing to worry about. He never even left the airport. It's good to have him home.

Until later,

Emily

When the Wind Blows...

When the wind blows at 60+ mph hour speeds like it did last Friday, your shingles that were on their "last leg" get to be replaced whether you like it or not! In a couple of weeks, we're getting a new roof (shingles) I guess! Hopefully before we get anymore substantial rain or snow that will cause other damage to our house.

Until later,

Emily

I Am Surviving

Today, I hit 15 weeks. Over the past two weeks, I have had some better days. But, no matter what, it's as if I have some kind of internal clock, the morning sickness always kicks in at about 5 PM. And, there are still days, during the day, almost out of nowhere, where I will be seemingly fine and then find myself rushing to the toilet to heave the entire contents of my stomach. I never threw up with my other two pregnancies. Still, there are days where I feel miserable all day long! I have started to show over the past two weeks. But only gained two pounds so far. Actually, early on, I gained five pounds almost overnight, but then I lost it when the morning sickness kicked in, so now I'm once again weighing two pounds more than I did at the start of November. I have also not been headache-free for 16 days now. (Yes, I am counting!) Sometimes it's just a headache and other times it festers to a migraine.

Last Monday, I got to hear the heartbeat with the Doppler for the first time. The doctor forewarned me that it might take a few moments because the baby was still so small. Well, she placed it on the exact right spot and found it within a half a second! There was a nice, strong heartbeat!

Next Saturday, I start my 17p shots. We got it all worked out with the insurance and the medication is being delivered to the house early next week. In about a week and a half I get my next ultrasound. I suspect this will be the one where we find out if we are having a boy or a girl. James is going to this appointment. Thomas and Toby are certain it is a girl. I'm not sure who will be more upset if it's not, me or them. I'm still trying to prepare that it's another boy and that I'll be a permanent member of the "all boys club" but it's hard not to wonder, especially because I have felt quite a bit different this time around.

Until later,

Emily

Snow Baby Update

(12 weeks, 2 days)

I saw my perinatologist, Dr. Hodor, yesterday (high-risk OB). Everything went well. I got a thorough sonogram and everything appeared to be normal with the baby. There are no subchorionic hemorrhages and he said now that I am to where I am at it would be "very, very unlikely". There was some worry because I am "older" but once I explained that the embryo was frozen when I was 31, there was a look of relief on both the sonographer and doctor's faces.

Dr. Hodor wants to see me monthly where I will get another thorough sonogram until 32 weeks. They will keep checking on my cervix and at some point start doing some kind of test where they check the cells and can tell if my body is starting to show signs of preterm labor. I think he said they'd start doing that at around 22-24 weeks. I am also going to start weekly progesterone shots (called 17p) in a month. They have been found very effective in preventing preterm labor. This office wasn't using them five years ago when I had Toby. I will be able to give them to myself at home rather than go into the office weekly and pay the co-pay since I've already been doing that because of the IVF. I will take them until 36 weeks. Usually once the shots are halted, labor starts in a week or two after that.

Until later,

Emily

Announcing...Snow 3.0

● I am due Aug 20th. However, since I had Toby prematurely, I have a 50% chance of having this one early too. I am trying to focus on the fact that I had Thomas on his due date. But, if I can have this baby sometime in the month of August--I will be thrilled!

● This is another IVF baby. Technically, it's a FET baby. Which means Frozen Embryo Transfer. We had this embryo from January 2006 when we were trying to have Toby (the cycle failed). A FET cycle was SOOOO much easier and less stressful than a fresh IVF cycle! I actually started seeing a doctor only one week after we returned to MD, but I had to go through all the preliminary testing again since it had been a while, and that took some time. Two of my tests had little "bumps in the road" so I had to have further testing. I finally got the "green light" in November. Five weeks later, I was pregnant! Easiest fertility treatment I've ever experienced!

● I also saw an acupuncturist weekly for the five weeks that I was undergoing the fertility treatment--to "compliment" the procedure. I love acupuncture! It is amazing!

● I have been supporting this pregnancy with daily progesterone and estrogen shots every third day. Today, at officially 12 weeks along, I get to stop! Yay!

● I have been really, really sick and extremely tired. Morning sickness hit me a week and a half earlier than it did the first two times, I was not amused.

● It's only one baby--I've already had four ultrasounds! There wasn't much of a risk anyhow, we only put one embryo in...but I was sweating it for a few days, especially when I got sick sooner than I had expected!

● I had threatened miscarriages (subchorionic hemmorhages) with both Thomas and Toby before the stage that I'm at this time around. Every day I am a little less worried, which isn't saying much. I'm on pins and needles, which is why I waited to announce this a little later.

● We hope to find out the gender of the baby. We'll probably find out in the next 4-6 weeks. I am planning on a boy until I hear otherwise. The kids want a sister. We shall see...


Until later,

Emily

And...He's Back!

James recently returned from a 12-day TDY (work trip) to Germany. This was the first traveling he has done since returning to the States. It breaks up the monotony of his regular job, gives him a break from the grueling commute and gives him a chance to make some extra money. He's hoping that he'll get many more opportunities to travel to Europe, working in the office that he's working at now. In fact, it looks like a trip to Vienna, Austria is in the works. I totally support it too. In other words, I don't have a problem with him traveling every once in a while. I got used to it a long time ago and there are "pluses" that I focus on when he's gone too.

Until later,

Emily

Grandpa Dan & Grandma Arleen Came for a Visit!

Way back in October, my parents came to visit us for about five days. We spent a lot of time with them last summer, but summer is also my dad's busy season (he's a farmer) so there wasn't much down time. We were still living amongst boxes, with not much on our walls yet...they insisted they did not care and so they came and stayed with us.

They informed us beforehand that they didn't want to come out and "do" much of anything. They were coming out to visit and spend time with us. Unfortunately, the week before, my dad had hurt his back. My dad had gone to the chiropractor three times the previous week, but by the time he got off the plane, he was in a lot of pain, that was on a Sunday night. Needless to say, Monday morning, we drove him to the Urgent Care Center around the corner from my house and got him hooked up with some muscle relaxers and pain relievers. I think five days away from the farm and heavy lifting was probably helpful too.

We spent a lot of time just being together, talking, eating, watching movies, the boys spending time with the grandparents. It was also the first time that I felt that I kind of stepped back and relaxed over what needed to be done from the time that we moved back into the house. It was a wonderful time!

Until later,

Emily

Pay It Forward

This afternoon, I went to the gas station to top off my gas tank. It is warmer than it has been so I thought I'd take advantage of the climate and fill up the gas tank now, perhaps avoiding having to do it on one of those really cold, frigid days.

So, I really did just top off the car, and it cost me $17.00, I sat there thinking about when I was in high school and even college, that would have paid for a full tank of gas.

I was putting my gas cap back on when this early-twenties young woman approached me.

She was well-groomed, (although a little disheveled) nice clothes, a cute scarf around her neck. She explained that she was "Really, really embarrassed" but was wondering if I had a dollar or two to spare. She further explained that she got stuck in the snowstorm last night and had to use every last dollar that she had to pay for a hotel last night, she lives in DC and didn't have any gas left in her car to get home and she didn't know how she was going to get home. In the moment, I believed her.

I never found myself in this situation when I was her age, but I could have. There was a time where I only could pay for things with the cash in my wallet. If that cash were taken or I had to use it unexpectedly, I would have been in trouble. So I took out $10 and gave it to her. She thanked me over and over again and she seemed genuine.

I thought of my kids when they get older. They might find themselves in a situation like that or in a situation where they rely on the kindness of a stranger, or in the belief of a stranger that they are telling the truth and will give them the help that they need. Or perhaps one day it may be me. It is an awful feeling to lose your wallet, I know because it happened to me once. The point is there are lots of bad, dishonest people in the world today, but there are also good, honest people that sometimes find themselves in bad situations like the girl I briefly met today. I hope she is on her way to DC now. And I hope that she will "Pay It Forward" someday.

Until later,

Emily

Baby Brax

My sister Kate and her husband Ryan had their first baby on January 18, 2011. He is my boys' first cousin on my side of the family. He was born on his due date, after going through a month of thinking that he was coming "any day now".

Unfortunately, Kate did not get the gene for the fast, relatively easy labor like me, our mom, and our grandma. Her labor was approximately 25 hours long. It was really scary and came close to an emergency C-section. He also came out face-up (ouch!) But baby Brax is fine and Kate will be too once she recovers some!

He weighed 6 pounds, 10 ounces and was 20 inches long.

We got to see him on Skype last night and he is a really, really cute baby!





Until later,

Emily

Carving Pumpkins 2010

October 28, 2010






Until later,

Emily

Thomas' Baptism

On November 5, 2010, Thomas became baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was baptized along with 6 or 7 other eight years olds that had recently had their birthdays in our Stake (larger congregational region). In our church, we wait to baptize children until they are eight years old. There was a lot going on in our Stake that morning at the same time, a wedding, and Scouting for Food, so he didn't have as much support as he would have if we would have waited another month. But we knew December was going to be really busy so we just went ahead and scheduled it for November. We had some of our closest friends, the Odekirk's, the Sanger's, the Lund's and James' cousins Shannon and Hillary there to share this event with him. After the baptism, we met up for lunch at Cici's Pizza.







Until later,

Emily

Toby Turns Four!

January 11, 2011

Last week, Toby turned four. This year was a bit unconventional because James had to leave for a business trip a couple days before his birthday. So we celebrated some on January 9 and then again on January 11, his actual birthday.


January 11th was a busy day for us. I had an early doctors appointment that I had to go to and it was calling for snow. They don't deal well with snow here. They like to shut everything down. I was tossing and turning all night worrying about my early morning appointment with my kids in tow. It was also Toby's last day at preschool for about seven weeks. I was sending in birthday cupcakes. Amazingly, the snow storm didn't hit until early that evening, so schools were only closed an hour early and it didn't effect Toby's day at all.

Until later,

Emily

Christmas Cookies!

At Christmastime, I generally make lots of sugar cookies and give them away to neighbors and friends, but this year didn't work out that way. I did manage to make some sugar cookies and gingerbread man cookies on December 24th. We set a few out for Santa that evening.

(no, we didn't set all of these out for Santa, he got one of each!)

Until later,

Emily

Krispie Kreme Kids

In November and December, I had quite a few appointments in Rockville, Maryland. Just down the street from where I was visiting, there is a Krispie Kreme location. Let's just say, we made it a point to visit Krispie Kreme after each of my appointments. They are our family's favorite donut, that is for sure. And it's probably a good thing we don't have one in Frederick!

(They are holding balloons.)

Until later,

Emily

Character Counts

In early December, Thomas got nominated as one of the students in his school class to be recognized in the "Character Counts" assembly. From what I could tell, about 1/3 of his classmates were recognized. Only the children nominated and their parents were invited to this assembly, where the PTA served us beverages and donuts also. It kind of threw me for a loop because I didn't know anything about it until the night before and had committed to helping a friend out that next morning. A little panic, but then a quick phone call to the friend and she changed her plans so I could still go to the assembly and I was able to help her later on in the day.

Thomas was recognized for the quality of "Respect".

(His name is printed on there, but I edited it for the blog)

Until later,

Emily

I Stumbled Upon an Old Picture...

Three days before Christmas. Oh boy. So much to do. A little more wrapping. A big grocery shopping trip. Cooking, baking, cleaning. Finishing up the Christmas cards. If only I didn't have to sleep over the next three days I think I would be all right. This morning, I have been going through old, saved emails and Facebook messages trying to dig up "new addresses" that I never managed to copy into my address book. What a tedious process!I came across this old picture of Toby that was taken by a friend when he was about 10 months old.

Also related to Toby, we are here in my bedroom as I am posting this. He just said to me, "Mom, I am scared of that sound!" "What sound?" I asked (not noticing any sound). "That sound!" I listened carefully, Tailer, our cat, is sleeping at the foot of the bed and she is snoring. I assured Toby he had nothing to be afraid of and pointed out that it was merely Tailer. And all is well again!

Until later,

Emily

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas!

This December has been a busy one, it seems like they always are. This year, because we aren't going to Utah, I decided NOT to put my Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving. I have to say that was a mistake for me. Thanksgiving came and went, then a week went by and it was the weekend again, and I was sick & down in bed the next weekend. Finally, James got the Christmas decorations out of our storage unit and they basically sat in our living room for another week, the kids & I got the tree out and half-decorated it Tuesday night and then that was about all. So another weekend rolled around, and it was already the 11th of December. At this point, I was very tempted to finish the tree and call it good for the year. But, I couldn't. I start hauling the stuff out of the boxes. Saturday night, I stayed up until the wee hours and our house was transformed! Sad to say, moving was not easy on my Christmas decorations. Let's just say that next year I am going to be on the lookout for quite a few new Christmas decorations to replace the ones that were demolished while traveling on a big ship!

I still haven't made it outside to put up the Christmas lights, it has turned bitter cold, and I can't bring myself to go out in it. I tried to get James to do it yesterday, but it was raining all day long, so he couldn't be talked into it.

This week, I am taking the kids to visit Santa at the mall. They are so excited. This is a fun year at our house for Christmas. It might be the last magical year for Thomas. But, I hope he has at least one more year as a "believer".

James & I have been busy planning our Ward Christmas party (church Christmas party) this year. We are planning on at least 300 people on Saturday. We have planned to have a full Cajun Christmas dinner and a nice Christ-centered program. It has been a little ironic to be asked to do something like this, since neither of us particularly enjoys parties nor crowds...but we are getting the job done. But we won't be saddened in the least if someone else "gets the opportunity" next year, either. It is satisfying, at this point, to see all the planning and hard work start to come together...but I am excited for it to be over and to not have to worry about it any longer!

Until later,

Emily

A Movie Break

It seems that this December is the same as most all Decembers...way too busy. Despite our never-ending lists of things-to-do, we decided we were going to hit the brakes for a couple of hours today and take our kids to see a movie. We took them to see Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Was it the best movie of all time? No. But it was a warm, touching movie with a good message.

Until later,

Emily

Dear Santa

My friend, Michelle W, emailed this to me recently. So in honor of kicking off the Christmas season (I can't believe I don't have my tree up yet--but that's what happens when you rent a storage unit and it's no longer convenient to start hauling out the Christmas decorations whenever you feel like it!) here it is:



Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on demand, visited their doctor's office more than my own doctor's, and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmas', since had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt, in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze; but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year, I'd like fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother", because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely.

It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.

Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in to dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM

P.S. One more thing ...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young enough to believe in Santa.



Until later,

Emily

Crazy Hair Day (at school)

October 27, 2010




Until later,

Emily

Tantrum at Target

Well, I just got home from a thoroughly humiliating experience at Target...

Let me begin by saying...I knew better, I had a long list (i.e. a FULL cart) to knock out and I went AFTER I picked Toby up from preschool today. He no longer takes regular naps, but he still gets very cranky at this time of day.

First we stopped to get the "Popcorn Combo", unfortunately, they were out of BOTH Diet Coke and popcorn (what the heck?!), looking back, we should have just left and got the necessities at the grocery store, but, alas, we did not. Toby still got some Hawaiin Punch and a pretzel...but still...within the first two minutes our Target trip was already going downhill.

I knocked out most of the list and then added some because so many of the canned goods were on sale. Despite one small meltdown over which type of fruit snacks we were going to take home, all was still going well. I only had three items that I needed to look for over in the toddler department. Which, unfortunately, I went by the toys to get there (foolish, foolish!). That's where it all fell apart quickly.

Toby saw a Buzz Light Year. Toby declared that he wanted Buzz Light Year. I told him no and suggested that he put it on his Christmas list. That did not go over well at all. Unfortunately, Toby has picked up this screaming habit (high-pitched shrill is more like it) when he isn't getting his way which is awful and I hope he grows out of it soon.

So it was going something like this:

Toby: "I WANT A BUZZ LIGHT YEAR!"

Me: "No, Toby, not today, please stop screaming."

Toby: "But I want a TOY!"

Me: "Toby, I am not buying you a toy when you act like this, now please stop, you are being too loud."

Toby: "Yes, MOM, I WANT SOMETHING!"

Me: "Toby, you are not getting anything today."

At this point, I knew it was time to leave and as luck would have it, I had everything on my list now in the cart. We were on our way out. That's when this older lady (I would guess around 75-80 years old, who was not more than six feet away from me says:

"I WOULD SLAP HIM!"

Well, I don't know if she thought that I wouldn't know where that comment came from or if I would take her cue and just slap him across the face.. or if I would lower my head and submissively walk away...but that's not what happened next.

I looked right at her, right in her eyes, and raised my voice just a bit, and I said,

"No, maam, I will NOT slap my child!

Old hag: "Well!" (you can imagine that look of shock and disbelief that a "younger generation" is not respecting her elders).

Me: Well, and you have a nice day, maam." And she went running to her husband where they started mumbling, I don't know what, and it's probably for the best.

(Now let me explain, I am not actually against spanking. I do spank, maybe not daily but at least weekly. But I don't think this was the answer here. The facts were that he was tired, he saw something that he wanted, he wasn't getting it, so he acted out. And it was time to leave the store. It was embarrassing as it was. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I just think it's rude to be a complete stranger in a store and think that you have the right to say it, or think that you can say it without any ramifications)

So for the next 60 seconds Toby was quiet. I think he knew something out-of-the-ordinary had just happened. But then his reality set in that we were headed to the check out stand and he wasn't getting Buzz, a toy, a candy...nothing...so he started screaming again. I started looking for a Target associate that I can tell I am leaving my full cart here but please don't put it all away and that I will come back in when he is settled down. Only then I realized that my purse and my keys are in the bottom of the cart which consists of 50% canned goods. I am stuck in Target, at 1:30 PM, with a screaming child and I just want to die! Not only that, I am afraid Old Hag and her husband are going to come around the corner and yell at me again! I see a checkout aisle that has no line. I check to see if it is the Express line, it is not. I figure I'll just get in line with him screaming. I've done this 100 times, this is not new, you know, it happens in parenthood.

He is screaming. I start unloading my cart. I realize just how full the cart is. He is still screaming. I have adrenaline still pumping from my little scene with the Old Hag, and I still want to die because he is SCREAMING. And he's not two anymore, he's almost four, I know how bad this looks and sounds! Believe me, I wanted out of Target! I can't hold it together any longer, a tear trickles down my face and another and another.... Awesome. Just awesome. He has broke me and now I am going to embarass myself. I have two moms come up to me and briefly tell me that this store if full of moms and that they've all been there. I know, I know, so have I. But it all hit me the wrong way and all I can do now is cry and continue to unload the bloody never-ending cart! Toby and I we were quite the scene today. The early-twenties cashier was in shock, I think.

We are home now. Home and what about Toby? Well he's sound asleep of course!





Until later,

Emily

Thomas Turns Eight!

10/24/2010

Happy Birthday to our guy, Thomas! Eight years old, already?

This year, Thomas' birthday fell on a Sunday. Sunday is our "day of rest", we don't do much on Sundays. But, we he opened presents in the morning where he got "lots of clothes" and "only some toys". We went to church where we had our annual Primary (children's) program. Thomas nailed his part. We came home and had Thomas' dinner of choice which was dinosaur chicken nuggets and tater tots. Later on that evening, we had the Lund family over for cake and ice cream. We like to keep things very simple. Thomas also received many thoughtful phone calls and cards in the mail.

But, actually, Thomas' birthday was kind of a four-day celebration:

◆ Friday, I took in donuts for his class. They don't allow for "parties" but they will serve a special treat during lunch time. The kids must have made Thomas feel special all day long, with birthday wishes and birthday privileges, he was beaming when he came home.

◆ Saturday, we took him to Toys R Us to pick out a set of Legos of his choice and also a new bike.

◆ And, finally, on Monday, we went out to dinner, as a family, for one last celebration. We went to Cracker Barrel, where Thomas selected pancakes.

Until later,

Emily

We Have Been Busy...

Over the past few weeks, we have had two birthdays, Halloween, a visit from my parents, and a baptism. Plus all the normal stuff that I can never seem to get on top of...check back after the weekend, hopefully I can get some new posts up.

Until later,

Emily

Flying Potatoes

This week, we were under a tornado watch one night. Toby must have overheard us talking about it/but heard it wrong, because we noticed he was slightly concerned about the "Flying Potato" watch. Too funny!

Until later,

Emily

Promotions are a Good Thing...

Long overdue (in our opinion anyhow) and much deserved. James received word Friday afternoon that he has finally been promoted. It feels a little weird posting about it, but I posted about his promotion frustration a couple of years ago and so my followers know how disgruntled James (and myself) were over about not being able to get promoted overseas because his "work overseas was not traditional work for the next increase".

Of course, the extra money will be nice, but it is the acknowledgment and recognition that come along with this promotion that I think are just as important/if not more important than the increase in the pay check.

Good job James!

Until later,

Emily

According to Toby

While out-n-about with Toby this morning, I asked him, "What will I do when you grow up, Toby?" his reply was, "Maybe you'll crawl in the covers and take a nice, long nap." Hmm, sounds good to me...

Later on today, he saw something on television that made him turn to me and point to himself and say, "I am a boy." I agreed and then asked him what I was. He thought about it and said, "You are a girl-mommy."

Until later,

Emily

Toby's First Day of Preschool

Toby started preschool today. He was supposed to start yesterday, but our plans were squashed when we pulled up to the high school (his preschool is inside the high school as part of the child development lab) and all the students were evacuated to the football field and there were policemen and police dogs all over! Turns out there was a bomb threat. It was a little crushing since he had been pretty excited. We went to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel instead. James had the day off of work since it was Columbus Day.

Today, Toby got his second chance to start preschool. He wasn't as excited to go this morning, I think mainly because he was fearful that "the bomb might still be in the school!". Like most things with Toby, preschool will take a little getting used to. The drop off was a little hard. But, he was all smiles when I picked him up. He goes four mornings a week, for just a little over two hours each morning.

Until later,

Emily

Unpacking is a S-L-O-W Process

It's been two weeks since we received our stuff. We are certainly making progress but it is slow. It would be easier if we had moved into a bigger house. (Not complaining, James & I both agreed to move back into our old home, but we knew it would have it's challenges!) If we had moved into a bigger home, we could have designated a couple of rooms for boxes and then had the appearance of living in a neat and orderly home. Instead, we are living amongst boxes and it is chaotic. In our house in Germany, we had a whole unfinished basement that was eventually lined with shelves, in other words, over time we had a lot of storage set up in the basement. When we absolutely ran out of places in the main and upper floors in that home, we could take the pile of "whatever" and put it on an empty shelf! But even that, took time, I remember it took six months to unpack, so I shouldn't worry that we are two weeks into it and still in boxes, right?

The fact that we lived here before, isn't exactly helpful because I have this idea of using the existing storage space almost in an entirely different way. For example, we hope to, at least one day use our garage to park James' car in it. Well, we used to have Tailer's litter box in the garage. Well, if James is going to be pulling in and out of the garage I don't want her to happen to be in there and either get ran over or run away. I'm also not going to be "on call" to go get Tailer and James isn't going to want to deal with her either. After all, he tolerates her, and he certainly doesn't want to inflict pain to her, but she's definitely mine.So, we decided to move her litter box and cat bed into the space under the stairs. Which I might add that I think she loves having that space, she naps there voluntarily during the day even.

Anyhow, back to the space under the stairs, I have had shelves set up against one wall for years, and I used to have our food storage in there. Well, I'm not putting food storage in the same space as her litter box, even though it's covered and gets cleaned daily, that would still be GROSS! So then, I decided to move the food storage elsewhere but now the items that I stored in that room previously have to go somewhere else. So, I am constantly going to Target and Bed Bath & Beyond for storage solutions, or Freecycling or taking items to Goodwill. Items get put away, then a few more boxes opened and we do it all over again! A slow process, indeed! We'll get there someday.

Until later,

Emily

Fall is Here!

Fall is here! Can you believe it? I enjoy Fall. Sort of... I enjoy the cooler temperatures, but when I say "cooler" what I mean is that 70 degrees is a nice feeling. And I quite like seeing the leaves change colors. I like cozy sweaters and sweatshirts. Typically, I like decorating for Halloween, but I don't think I'll be doing much this year. We have yet to hang any of our regular decorations. But, I can't for the life of me shrug the feeling that "winter is coming". I despise winter. I find nothing redeeming about the season. I think one day I'd like to be one of those people that live in Arizona for the winter. Although, I've never been to Arizona except for that "four corners" spot, but that doesn't really count, does it?

Until later,

Emily

Re-doing the Nursery/Guest Room

While our house was empty, we took advantage of the opportunity and we (James) repainted a large portion of our home. He repainted the basement, living room, and all three bedrooms. It was also easy because we were replacing most of that carpet (with the exception of the living room carpet, which was still in good shape). To my surprise, (and to James' delight) I actually still liked all the colors, which meant everything just needed one coat to make it look fresh again. With the exception of our nursery. I had painted this when I was eight months pregnant with Thomas. It took many, many hours of me sitting on the floor being very uncomfortable doing this. When we found out we were having another boy (Toby), the walls still looked great, so I felt there was no need to change it.

But, eight years later, the light blue walls and bugs had to go. This required two coats of primer and two coats of paint. The walls are now a very light buttery cream color, although I know in one picture they look quite yellow. They are not, that picture was just taken in the evening light.

(in case you are wondering, that blue stripe is painter's tape)

Look at the detail in this border. I am NOT an artist, but I was pleased how this part, in particular, turned out. Obviously, it was done with a stencil, but what you may not recognize is that it was a stencil with three layers! That's right, I went around that room three times with stencil paint which is like dried out paint/pain in the neck paint. Now imagine doing that while eight months pregnant and having sciatic nerve problems...now that's love! Or it craziness? All the same, it was time, past time to get rid of the bugs.

Nasty, nasty carpet!

New and improved guest room!

Until later,

Emily

Tips on Tipping Your Movers

We found this article last week and found it to be very helpful as we had two crews of movers work for us this week!

Tips on Tipping Your Movers

Everyone likes a reward for a job well done
By Rick Hazeltine

Consumers put a lot of faith in professional movers, which is why good ones are as prized as a competent and fair mechanic. As a customer, you are entrusting all of your possessions, prized and otherwise, to people you may not even have been introduced to before they started taking your stuff and loading it into a truck.

Although movers are considered part of the service trade, there is usually a lot more riding on their job performance than, say, a waitress or someone who cuts your hair. If the waitress drops your rye toast, she can quickly get you a new order and, hey, your hair will grow out.

If a mover, however, does a poor job packing, drops your family heirloom or drags your furniture across the wood floor, there is a lot more at stake. Besides, there are few people in the service industry that work as hard as movers.

Perhaps because consumers rely so much on a mover doing a good job that they don't consider them as a service professional. But they are and proper etiquette requires that they be treated as such. This means it is proper to offer a tip, whether it is cash at the end of the day or you buying the crew lunch or even both.

As with any other service provider, you would base your "tip" on job performance – a bad attitude and indifferent work habits would hardly be considered tip worthy. If, however, you think your crew was attentive, helpful and professional, then give what you believe is fair.

Movers usually don't expect a tip but is appreciated when given. More than anything, it's a sign that you recognized their effort and thought it worthy. You may think you're paying a small fortune to the moving company, but what trickles down to the guys actually lugging your stuff won't have them driving home in a Beamer.

Moving is a stressful life event overloaded with thousands of small details that need attention. One of those is how to treat the crew moving your life's belongings, so here's a quick reference that should keep the guys happy and moving:

Moving is hard, back-breaking work so it would only be common decency to have cold bottled water, soda or sport drinks on hand.

Some people prefer to buy the crew lunch in lieu of a tip and this is perfectly fine. Some do both. It's whatever you are comfortable with. If you do offer to buy the crew lunch, make sure to ask if they have a preference as to food choice. Many people think, "Oh, we'll get some pizza," so you can imagine how much pizza these guys might have had that month.

You will hear varying advice on how much to tip. Percentages don't really work as they do in restaurant work. The difference between a $2,000 full-truck move and a $20,000 full-truck move is likely the distance the moving van travels, not how much time it took to load the vehicle. Basically, if it's a half-day (4 hours) move, $10 per person is considered appropriate. If it's a full-day move (8 hours), then $20 is the consensus. If you have a lot of heavy furniture, narrow or winding stairs, a steep lot, etc., you should consider adding to the amount. If the crew works 12 hours to get your belongings packed, figure $40 as fair.

A tip about tips from movers themselves: Don’t give the lump some to the foreman or driver. Give each worker their tip. First, it shows that you recognize and appreciate their individual efforts. Second, there are some unscrupulous foremen, who will keep the entire amount for themselves.

Avoid giving the guys beer at the end of the day. It's a bit stereotypical and most legitimate moving companies have rules against drinking on the job. It also opens liability issues. Make the tip cash and the movers can spend it how they wish.



Until later,

Emily

Kitchen Countertops

Before we moved to Germany, I knew that if we moved back into our house one day that I would like to upgrade our kitchen countertops. They had had their better day already and were white Formica after all. When we got back, our countertops were disgusting! We knew right away that they were definitely going!

I spent a lot of time pricing countertops. And deciding on colors. And options. Even when I had made all my decisions, I had to make another when we found out that our cupboards were made by a Canadian company that is now out-of-business and they did this one unique thing with their style so when you go to put a new countertop you run into a problem. Luckily, we were working with an experienced professional who has an eye for details and he caught it and he had a solution, which unfortunately for us meant a little more $ but it was worth it.

I ended up going with Hi-Mac's which are like Corian. They are a synthetic solid surface countertop. I was really nervous about the color...whether I could tie the cupboard color, floor and the countertop color all together, well I think I did! I am so thrilled! You can't really tell from the pictures but they are a brown base with flecks of black and peach and darker brown. I also got a new sink out of the deal and we opted for a new faucet as well.

I think I'd like to paint the kitchen just a light cream color. It's always been white and my breakfast nook has two walls that are painted sunflower yellow, and I'm still happy with that, and I don't think the cream would clash.

Here are some before/during/after pics:

This stuff had become so warped.

Gross, tiny sink. James had been painting and using the sink to rinse items

off in, so it looked even worse.

Our renters apparently didn't like these two pieces...they were there when we left.

A whole lotta white going on in here!

I guess there's no turning back now...and just like that the

old countertops were destroyed!

And wait till you see the difference:

Approximately 4 hours later...

(And you better believe I hope to get a new stove in the next 6-12 months, I'm switching to black, I got a new dishwasher this week, so now I need the stove and fridge...eventually!)

Until later,

Emily