Tuesday, December 29, 2009

a piggy? christmas

well, our Christmas was not too bad...we were blessed with our families and many wonderful gifts... but, k was sick the entire time...i think she may have had H1N1 or maybe just the flu (whatever the difference is...)... she had symptoms of something or other before we left VA...sneezing, a cough, a low-grade fever... i had toyed with taking her to the doctor before we left, but she seemed a little better on Wednesday...so i took that as the "end" of whatever she had... so we packed up the van to head north...
the trip to PA wasn't all that fun...she cried after about an hour in the carseat...not a happy camper. she may have slept for a total of 45 minutes the entire trip... we had to stop a few times to just "get out" and look around at different things to quiet her crying... but, we finally made it...and the symptoms of whatever K magnified a few hours after we got to my parents' house... the cough got really bad, accompanied by a runny nose, and her throat had to be raw from all of her coughing (just guessing). she was very congested, and her fever was around 101.5 with Tylenol...and then we had a bout with diarrhea...it was awful... the nights...they were long (or maybe short?)... the first night, she cried from 12 midnight until after 1:45...nothing i did made her happy...she didn't want to be held, she didn't want to be left alone, etc. - she would just crawl on me and try to crawl up my torso...it was so sad... the next few nights, she did the same thing, but for not as long... she wouldn't nap or sleep in her pack n play...but we made it... she was a trooper...she managed to open some presents...and that was fun for her for a little bit... she seemed to feel much better by Saturday night...
hopefully, next year, she will feel better so we can REALLY enjoy our time with her at Christmas and she can, too! :) here are a few pictures from our PA Christmas to enjoy... DE will come later when the pictures are loaded... :)


the fastination with presents this year was the wrapping paper...after she'd tear off a piece, she'd just play with the paper and forget the present :)

she put her pants around her neck like a scarf...she does this with any piece of clothing she gets :)


more presents :)


opening a present with grandma and her smile looking on... :)

Sunday, December 20, 2009

27...

that's how many inches of snow we have laying on every inch of the outdoors right now in beautiful VA... it started snowing at 4:30 PM on Friday and ended sometime Saturday evening...it's beautiful! :) but we'll be staying put for the next few days, without a doubt... :)

we took K "sledding" in the laundry basket...we copied some friends of ours who posted pictures on facebook as they took their little boy in the snow! :) it worked perfectly, though...and K really seemed to enjoy it... we got some great shots.... :)

the dogs enjoyed the snow for about 10 minutes...until their paws got caked with snow. we tried socks, but they didn't stay on for long! :) as far as going outside for business, both struggled a bit...but we dug out quite an area for them...it took lots of encouragement, but they finally went. we're glad that a few crazies decided to try to drive their cars in the 2+ ft. of snow... they made rivets in the snow that we could walk on for a short distance to get "things moving" for the dogs... :)

and now...the digging out continues... we shoveled for ~4 hours today and we're still not to the end of our driveway... we have to shovel in layers - top, middle, bottom...3+ shovels before we get to the ground... incredible... and the saddest thing is that we have a snow blower...but after 1+ hours of trying to get it up and running on Thurs. night, i gave up (it's been sitting in the shed for a few years...i think the fuel lines have gummed up b/c we left fuel in there - dumb, i know...) hopefully we will finish up tomorrow (if we can move), but getting out depends upon whether anyone from dept. of transportation comes to plow... :) they have to be seriously overworked right now...they're not used to this sort of weather, i'm sure... but, i don't really mind being stuck at home... :) there's enough here to do and i have two sweeties & two hairy beasts to keep me company. :)

enjoy our pictures...i am trying a new format... :) hopefully they won't be super small! :)

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Tuesday, December 15, 2009

giving in...

while i am still kind of "new" at this parenting thing, i have had the chance to watch several hundred parents "raise" their children from afar (children were the ones in my classroom for the 9+ years i was teaching)... and kids i was friends with while growing up...and even people i come in contact with now...

something i'm thinking a lot about is when and why a parent gives in...not only for me, but for other people i've seen parent in my 30+ years... are you challenged when you're tired? would you rather just do something else instead of being with your child? what do you give in about? is it something so basic...or something more important... at times, i wonder if it really matters if it's a significant thing or not...instead, i wonder what message giving in sends to your child? when, as a parent, do you draw the line and give in to your child?

we've all be in the store watching a child throw a tantrum because a parent didn't give in...
or you see the cute little girl walking around in unmatched clothes, in public...

i will probably be one of those parents with a child throwing a tantrum...well, maybe not - i hope K will not find tantrums to be OK, but i also hope that i don't give in to just "keep her quiet"

like last night, at the doctor's office, a young mother, a grandmother, and a little girl - who was maybe 3 years old, were waiting to be called... the little girl wanted a piece of gum from her grandmother's purse, but the grandmother told her no... so the mother, in annoyance, says, "just GIVE her some GUM! I ALREADY have a HEADACHE and I don't want to hear HER act up here while we wait."
without missing a beat, the grandmother got some gum, gave it to the mom to chew first (as per the mom's request...she wanted to chew the gum for her daughter first so she wouldn't "eat it"), and the little girl went skipping around the waiting room while chewing the already been chewed gum... (will i really do that - chew my child's gum for her before i give it to her??? it sounds so gross...)

but there are other things...like my child's health and well-being...

like giving in about brushing her teeth...and yes, at 13+ months of age, she brushes her 6 little teeth every night and has for about 2 months... and maybe i have my dad to thank for the whole importance of brushing your teeth... as a kid, i can remember a few nights when i was asked to get out of bed (i was already sleeping) to brush my teeth. when he'd come to get ready for bed, if my toothbrush looked dry, he'd feel my toothbrush (kinda gross, now that i think about it). if it was dry, i was up to brush my teeth. but i didn't forget very often, if you know what i mean...
but i know people who don't make their kids brush their teeth...i'm not really sure why. some say it's such a pain to fight with their child about brushing... are you kidding? do you think it's going to be better when your kid is sitting at the dentist getting shots of Novocain to get fillings??! and, plus, that's just gross... plus, what message does that send to a child???? shouldn't we establish our expectations early?

and what about washing your face at night...? i know, for a fact, that when i wipe K's face several times a day after a meal and at night, it's not her favorite thing in the world...but it has to be done... and, when she's entering puberty and facing that nice, oily teenage skin, i know that we will have hopefully instilled the importance of keeping yourself clean...

how about clipping nails? yes, it's not the most pleasant thing in the world, but is it really teaching your child anything if you let them go around with sharp, claw-like nails on the fingers and toes? granted, trimming nails may take a few days to complete in little increments, but if you think about the alternative...ewww and OUCH! i don't think any one likes to see people out and about with unkempt, long, and dirty nails...

how about taking pride in your surroundings? i know that ry and i tend to be a bit on the cluttery side, but we have to work almost every day to pick up our things... but i will expect K to clean up her toys and to keep her room in a semi-decent condition (at least until she becomes a teenager, maybe...and then, i'm sure she'll be spending time in her room cleaning when she wants to do something or go out :))... i want to be able to vacuum her carpet regularly and to keep her living area in proper order...and i want her to also feel the same way about her home, room, and living area...

now the one thing we're challenged with a bit is eating...K is a very picky eater, but she's getting better. but i know a lot of people who give their kids any foods that they want...even if they're not that good for them...like hot dogs for every meal because "it's what he likes." or a range of choices in case he doesn't like the other 3 things you've provided for him so far.
for the last few nights, K has gone to bed with a nearly empty tummy, i'm sure, because she will not eat the main course of her meal that she's given. there's nothing wrong with the food...she's eaten it before...but i don't want her to think that she can just refuse to eat what's put in front of her only to expect another meal instead.... like our wonderful pediatrician told us, "don't cater to her tastes and make her another separate meal. pretend like you have 10 kids; would you make separate meals for every one of them?" of course, he piggy-backed this message and advice with not giving her 5 alarm chili, but you get the point...

i guess that we all face our own tests and challenges with parenting... but it all boils down to "who is in charge" and what values you'd like to instill into your child... i know that i will face my own battles with K as she grows more independent and willful...however, i hope that i will not waiver in my expectations and requirements of her... i want her to grow up knowing what's expected of her and i want her to be internally stimulated to take pride in herself, her surroundings, and in her family... i know we're not perfect, and we have areas where we do need to improve, but that's part of the learning process...

but i really wish, for some of the children i know, that parents would stop giving in... it's really showing the ultimate form of laziness as you "parent" your child/children, and it's only going to create more challenging issues as the years pass...

i need to remember this, too...because i want to be my daughter's mom first...so that we can be friends later... :) ...what an honor that will be... :)

Monday, December 7, 2009

a little less than three days...

that's how long it takes for the rag used to wipe up split milk, left in the bathroom (by mistake), takes to smell...like something died...seriously...

and i even rinsed it out afterward...

and to think...i couldn't believe ry had been so...fragrant that morning...and i couldn't figure out why my sweet smelling Glade spray just wasn't doing the trick...not once, but TWICE...

but i think the worse thing is that i overlooked this rag for 2 1/2 days... was i tired? probably... but when you are watching 3 kids, seriously, the only time i'm in the bathroom to see these things is for like 30 seconds...i can't leave the kids alone for long! :) i did see the rag...but whenever i thought, "you should put that in the washer..." it was when the kids were all up...so i figured i'd just do it later...

and the funniest part is that i left it there after i discovered that it was smelling up the bathroom really badly b/c i wanted ry to smell it when he got home... he comes out of the bathroom with a classic frown and says, "what smells in the bathroom??? it smells like something died...."

i laughed...i laughed pretty hard... :) he thought it was me making the bathroom all fragrant and whatnot...but i told him my mistake...

so if you want to just call the experiment "complete" for your life, feel free to take the final conclusions from me... if you spill milk and clean it up, put the rag in the wash before you reach the point of ugly smells...

ew....

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

it's hard to believe...

that 14 years ago today, i met my future (and current) husband... :)
after several months of our "pen pal" relationship, we decided to meet...
and he was so cute in that first picture i got of him...hugging is 4 year old sister...
melted my heart... and that smile...made me weak at the knees... :) (i'll hafta see if i can find that picture of him...wouldn't you like to see it?! he'll just say, "I had hair then...")
and he was a christian...score!
anyway, he and his friend drove all the way from albany, ny to pittsburgh...a lot of hours...in the car...to meet some 19 year old girl at the University of Pittsburgh...
in Tower A...room 1204...but i was "living" in room 1205, with my mattress on the floor, pretty much full time because of my psycho roommate...
he had an upset stomach when he got there...maybe from the bad turkey sandwich he brought on the trip... the lingering joke of him being sick when he saw me hasn't ever grown old...at least for me... :) poor guy...
and the girl he came to meet was so shy (imagine THAT) 'cause she thought he liked her other friends more than her... she was wrong... :)
we went on our "first date" to station square and the incline in pittsburgh...beautiful night...christmas lights...fun times...and with some of my best pals from the 12th floor...
and we stayed up almost all night...talking...and maybe even sharing a kiss or two (or three)...but that was it....despite my then super weird and psycho roommate thinking we were doing the "no no cha cha" when she walked in the door and promptly left... goshhhh... we were just in that room because that's where all my stuff was - we were looking at my photo albums...

anyway...who would have ever guessed that our innocent pen pal connection would have ever resulted in 14 years of a growing, fun, exciting, comfortable, sometimes difficult, and amazing relationship that would bring marriage (finally!)...and one of the sweetest little girls that i know... :)

i am blessed, indeed! :)

happy 14 years, dear...and here's to 14 more years... :) (we'll be so old then!) :)
love you :*