Our Thanksgiving

Hopefully all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I hope you were able to see your family, or at least talk to them.  I was lucky enough to get to see a lot of my extended family yesterday.  We drove about an hour to my cousin's new home, which was super-cute.  My brother rode with us, so he was there, as well as my mom, grandmother, aunt and uncle, and some family friends who have become part of our family at Thanksgiving.  Their daughter and her new boyfriend also came.  It was a really great time, and Anne (my cousin) did a fantastic job.  She even cooked the turkey!  (It was delicious, too)  Karina was wonderful.  Even though her entire daily routine was rocked, she took it in stride. 

First, she followed the three little dogs around (Nana's, Aunt Betty's, and Anne's dogs are all small--a shih-tzu and two Havanese) and laughed and squealed.  Then we all took the tour of the house and admired Jason's awesome Lego room (he builds really complex castles and things--I mean really, really cool stuff!).  We snacked on cheese and crackers, and there were also some different dips, but I don't care for dips much, so I stuck to the cheese.  Karina ate some of that and some of the stuff I'd brought her.  After she started getting tired, because we didn't eat til well into her normal nap time, my cousin brought out a new toy that my aunt had bought just for her!  It was a Fisher Price Little People car (pink) with a mom and baby in it.  It makes three sounds, a beep, a sound of children laughing, and a song.  Karina loved it!  First, she pushed it around the whole downstairs and I had to tie up her dress with a rubber band because she kept stepping on it.  Then she finally decided that she needed a break.  She holed herself up in Anne's study, which has two glass doors.  She made me come in with her, but all I was to do was sit there and be quiet.  She shut the doors, and whenever someone would come in and not shut them, she'd get up and go shut them again.  We stayed in there for about 20 minutes, just playing quietly and listening to the car's song over and over.  It was really fine, though, and it rejuvenated her enough. 

Then we ate dinner, and Karina did manage to eat a little more of the lunch I had brought for her.  I couldn't give her most of the food from the family because I didn't know who had made it, so the peanut thing was an issue, and then what I did know about, she wouldn't even try.  She did finally try the lime jello with pears, but she didn't like it.  (I'm not a big fan of jello, either) 

Then I tried to get her to nap.  Ha ha!  We laid down in the study, and I had brought a blanket and Lambkin, but she was just too distracted and couldn't stop playing with the car.  Then Anne suggested we take her for a walk.  It was a genius idea, and I don't know why I didn't think of it.  We walked around her neighborhood for a while just the two of us, which was nice.  I haven't had a chance to see her much so it was nice to catch up.  Karina was all snuggled up in her stroller with Lambkin and the blanket, and after a while, she fell asleep!  I was so happy!  Anne was gracious enough to let us bring the stroller into the house and we put her in the study facing the doors so I could see her.  She slept for about an hour and a half, best I can figure.  When she woke up, it was right when we were starting to pack up to go home, so it was perfect!  She got to tell everyone goodbye, except Mom and Nana who left while she was sleeping.  And she was awake early enough to still go to bed on schedule.  Phew!

Overall, it was such a wonderful day!  I loved seeing my family.  I didn't get to see Anne's brother and his wife, though because her grandmother fell and broke her hip and was not doing well.  So she and Will unexpectedly had to go see Mindy's family.  We missed them, but it was still a great day. 

Today we were supposed to go meet a friend we know from online, but have not met in person yet, but her daughter got a stomach virus so Karina and I stayed home and David still went to visit her. 

Tomorrow, Bill, Karina, and I head up to see my dad's family for Thanksgiving round 2.  They do a non-traditional meal each year, and this year it's pizza.  Yep, pizza.  I love pizza, so that's fine with me.  Karina likes it, too, so hopefully it's a peanut free brand so she can have some. 



Hope your Thanksgiving weekend was wonderful!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I will be lucky enough to spend it with my extended family.  I love seeing everyone, and even though one branch of the family won't be here, we will get to talk to them on the phone.  I'll get to see my mom, grandmother, brother, aunt and uncle, their children and spouses, some family friends of theirs who have become part of our family, and of course, Bill and Karina too. 

I hope that all of you will be able to have an enjoyable and happy day, too.  I hope that, if you can't be with family, you can be with friends, and if you have only a small group to celebrate with, then I hope you can spend that time having fun just being together.  If you're traveling, please be safe, careful, and patient.  If you're staying home, don't work too hard 

Enjoy your turkey or other traditional meal, and I hope that you will take a few moments to think of the things you have to be thankful for.  I know I have so much, much more than I could ever list or think of.  I hope that each of you also finds it impossible to list all the things for which you are grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Karina's "Babies"

Karina loves babies.  Not real babies, but pretend babies.  And anything can be a baby, apparently.  She will carry the baby around in her arms, like adults carry real babies, cradling it, and she will feed it pretend food and put blankets on it.  Her babies have included the following:  an actual doll baby at playgroup, her special stuffed Lambkin, a pair of plastic pink and red toy seals, jars of cooking oil, a toy truck, a wad of Play-Doh, and a can of soup. 

My mom is giving her a baby doll for Christmas. 

She has a baby doll.  It was given to her by my friend Stephanie last Christmas.  She likes it, but for some reason, she has chosen these other items to be her babies.  It's so cute watching her cuddle these little items and love on them and take care of them.  We always tell her how nice she's being and how she is taking care of her baby. 

I will try to take some pictures of her.  I looked, but I don't seem to have any of her right now.

Bang

This morning while I was cleaning up Bill's breakfast dishes from the table, I dropped a knife on the floor.  It kind of clattered on the marble tile (installed very poorly by previous owners and the bane of my downstairs existence--I constantly worry Karina will hit her head on it).  Karina didn't miss a beat and called out, "Bang!"  It was the cutest thing ever, and what a fantastic feeling to have her just spit out a word, all on her own, without me asking her to say something! 

She has said it a few more times, too.  Another cute thing she is doing now is anytime she hears a dog barking in the neighborhood, she starts making the dog-bark sound (woof woof).  She is talking more and more, and our speech therapist said again that she really thinks she'll be out of the program by Christmas!  Yay!

Pterygium

So here it is.  The pterygium in my eye.  This is my right eye, which has the larger one in it.  See, it just kind of looks like a vein.  It is just touching the outer part of my iris, so it's not in danger of affecting my vision yet.  If it gets to that point, the doctor will do surgery. 

I don't know if I've said this yet, but I am so grossed out by the thought of eye surgery, and I have always said my whole life that I would wear glasses before ever putting contacts in, because I HATE things messing with my eyes.  Figures, right? 

I'm just thankful it's not dangerous and is a relatively easy thing to take care of.  Later. 

Fun With a Fence

Today after lunch, Bill, Karina, and I went outside to enjoy the mild weather we're having today.  Karina was being playful and silly, and kept trying to climb through our fence.  She couldn't do it, but she did finally crawl under.  Later, our neighbor came out and she kept bringing him rocks from our driveway!  It was really funny, and cute because she's never really gone over to him before. 

Long Busy Weekend

This was the busiest week I've had in a while, starting with the eye appointment from hello there, and ending with today's youth event, which was putting together some exam care packages for our college students.  Every fall, we send them care packages full of food and office stuff.  Of course, nothing can go smoothly, so this morning Karina decided to sleep til 745 (she ONLY sleeps late on Sundays!) and then when I got to church, Kelly, the other youth advisor, told me that no one had remembered to buy the office type stuff for the packages, and apparently no one was bringing any food for them, either!  What?  So we arranged to meet up quickly and shop for those things.  That went great, then we got lunch.  We stopped at Wendy's, which was across the street from the store.  Since we had met up, we had both our cars, and the Wendy's was undergoing some renovations and only the drive through was open.  So Kelly had gotten there first and ordered for us.  Then we headed down the road, and Pastor G called her.  She wanted Wendy's too.  So Kelly stopped at the next Wendy's we came to.  She said as soon as she pulled up to the window, with her Wendy's drinks and bag in the seat, the woman started laughing!  Kelly explained what had happened, but she said she felt so dumb.  We ate our lunch and put the packages together.  It was a smooth process, and even though we only had 5 kids, we didn't really need more.  We were done with all of it in about an hour. 

Friday night we had a lock-in.  This is an event where we meet at church in the evening and stay in the building overnight.  We stay up late, play games, eat junk food, and have a great time.  Then we get not enough sleep and are miserable the entire next day!  Ha ha.  When I was single, it was no problem.  I'd go home and go to bed.  Now, I have a child who misses me when I'm gone!  I can't go home and sleep because she wants to play with me.  So I didn't sleep.  So it was a long Saturday for me, but I did lie down and rest some and I rested while Karina napped.  I didn't sleep, but the resting was good and rejuvenated me just enough. 

I actually love lock-ins.  The kids are hysterical, we laugh all night, and Kelly and I always have a great time.  I feel so fortunate to have a good group of youth right now.  Actually, we pretty much always do.  We have really great kids.  We've had experiences with other youth groups in the past, and just had to shake our heads at the stuff they'd do.  Our kids are fantastic.  It's nice because we can trust them and that means we get to have more fun. 

Now that the weekend is through, I can relax a little.  This week coming up is back to normal.  The only pressing thing I have to take care of is getting a birthday gift for my mom, whose birthday is Friday.  How that snuck up on me this year, I have no idea, because I am usually on top of her birthday.  Anyway, I've got the week so I'm not stressed yet. 

I hope everyone else had a good weekend, too.  And I hope you got more sleep than I did!

Our Crazy Day...just the start of our crazy week

This is one crazy week for me.  I have so much going on, and something every single day.  Most days I have more than one thing.  Today, it was going to be an eye doctor's appointment and a quick trip to the grocery store.

Well.  The eye appointment was at 1030, and I packed up a bunch of things for Karina to play with in the office, and off we went.  We didn't have to wait in the waiting room for long, and I had brought Karina's umbrella stroller with me so that if I needed to, I could strap her in it.

A little background, just quickly.  I noticed a really red vein in one of my eyes, and it turns out it is something called a pterygium, which is a benign growth of tissue in the eye.  It's not harmful, except when it grows too big and begins to cover the part where you see; then if they try to remove it you end up with scar tissue, so it has to be removed before it gets to your pupil.  Mine are holding steady, oh, I have one in each eye, anyway, I have to put drops in every day and go to these appointments about every 6 months.

So off we went down the hall so they could check my vision and eye pressure (I hate this test).  My vision is still great, and Karina sat quietly in my lap while I read the letters.  She was interested in the little eye cover, and the light that the tech had to shine in my eyes.  Then it was time for the eye pressure test.  This is the worst part for me.  I HATE it.  The first time they did it I was okay, because I didn't know what they were going to do.  The second time, I just couldn't keep my eyes open, and the poor girl wasn't able to check.  Fortunately, it's not a big deal because I don't have glaucoma, so it was no big deal, but they wanted to check this time.  She put the numbing drops in and was really nice about putting them in the corner of my eye.  Those drops are crazy.  They make my eyes feel really heavy (as you know if you've ever had this done).  Then the tech was ready to test my eye pressure.  She started, and there I went blinking and my head going back.  Then the machine touched her nail and she couldn't get it to reset.  Another tech came in to help, and she reset the machine and was helping take my eye pressure.  She said, "Look down at your baby with just your eyes, and then back up" and Karina started bawling!  I don't know if she thought they were going to do something to her, or if she was upset that she thought they were hurting me.  I felt so bad for her, and the techs both did, too, but she was okay quickly.

Then we had to go into the waiting room to wait to be seen by the doctor.  By this time we'd probably been there about 20 or 30 minutes.  Well.  Karina played with her toys and ate her few little cookies I had brought, and looked at her Sesame Street coloring book, and pushed the stroller around the room, and climbed in and buckled it and unbuckled and climbed out and in and out and then started crawling on the floor.  We sat in that waiting room for an HOUR.  Karina was so good.  She didn't make a big racket or make a mess or anything like that.

Finally we went back to see the doctor.  I've only seen him about 2 or 3 times.  The last time I saw him, I didn't have Karina with me.  When he came in, she was on my lap.  He is a really friendly doctor, really nice, and I like him a lot.  When he saw Karina, he said, "Hey there, sweetie, where's my hug?" like she always did this.  She just looked at him.  He was talking to her and being silly with the little "flashlight" they use to look in your eyes.  Then he raised up the chair, and I said, "Do you need me to put her down to do this?" and he said, "No, we usually just have her chin right here" and I realized he thought Karina was his patient!  I said, "You're seeing me!"  He just took it in stride, checked my eyes (thankfully there's no change so no surgery is needed yet... but eventually it will be necessary), and then when we were done, he started talking to Karina again, wanting to give her a hug (not in any kind of creepy way--I just realized how this sounds in print, but it was not creepy or weird at all), and then asking her things like are you going to have lunch now, etc.  He carried her down the hall while I dragged the bags and jackets and pushed the stroller and he talked to her and played with her while I checked out.  Then he put her into the stroller said goodbye, and went off to his next patient.  The receptionist said, "I've never seen him do that before!"  I told her I thought he thought she was someone else!  It was just a funny thing but still very nice.  Karina and I left and she fell asleep--sound asleep--in the car in the five minutes it took to get home.  She really needed to eat though.  So I had to wake her up.

Once she ate, she didn't want to take a nap.  I bribed her by letting her sleep with my jammies in her crib!  She then proceeded to sleep until after 430!  Over 3 hours...so much for grocery shopping.  When Bill came home, just after she woke up, I told him I had to go to the grocery store because tomorrow is stamp club and I'm the hostess.  That means I provide snacks.  I have no snacks in my house.  I will not have time tomorrow to get them.  I had to get them today.  So off I went at 5pm to Target to get snacks and milk and cheese. 

Whew.  And this is just the beginning of my week.

Tomorrow, I have speech for Karina, stamp club, and a meeting at church.  I'm pretty sure that I already talked about how busy the week is so I won't go into it again.  But I'm eagerly awaiting next week when we have nothing yet on the schedule.

I like having stuff to do, I just wish it wasn't all at once!

Quick Note

I just have to post this right now: I made some of the cutest hair clips today--they are mini holiday package bows!  I used store-bought bows and I can't even believe how cute they turned out.  I will post pictures soon, but I had to write this down.  I'm sure someone else has thought of it, and that's fine, not the point, but I just had to say.  I've never seen it, and I thought of it.  And they're cute!  Okay, here they are.  I also made one white one, because there was only one white in the package, but it's downstairs.  I had to put it in my hair so you could see.  I think some people might be getting these for early Christmas presents!  I also have some smaller bows, too.  It makes me think of how we always stick bows in someone's hair at Christmas, only now it's on purpose. 

Simply Stacie's V Awareness Week

I don't normally talk about this kind of thing, but after reading a few days about this, I am moved to post something and link you to Simply Stacie's blog.  She and Little YaYas have been hosting this V Awareness Week about Vulvodinia, a chronic pain condition in women that is often undiagnosed.  Reading what Stacie has been through, and the lack of support from the medical community, has really moved me.  I can't imagine living in this kind of pain.  I mean, I had sciataca and coccydinia for a while, and that was bad, but nothing compared to what she has been living with for 5 years.  (Coccydinia is pain in your tailbone....literally pain in the butt!)  Both of my conditions were resolved with physical therapy, thank goodness, but Stacie has been dealing with her condition for five years. 

Many women and doctors don't even know about this condition, yet many women suffer from it.  They're told they're crazy, it's in their heads, there's nothing wrong.  It reminds me of fibromyalgia, another chronic pain condition that for a long time was (and still is in some cases) deemed to be in people's heads as well.  I know people who suffer from it, and suffer is the absolute word.  It is definitely not "in their heads" and neither is the pain caused by Vulvodinia.  It is really horrible to be told that nothing is wrong with you when you know darn well there is.  Stacie and Little YaYas are trying to spread the word about this condition so that more people will be aware of it and hopefully get treatment for it.  It's crazy to me that so many women are suffering from a condition that is so bad that Stacie was even feeling suicidal at one point, yet what do we see ads for on television?  Drugs for men with erectile dysfunction.  I think the priorities are out of whack and maybe, if we get the message out, more research will be done on this.  No one should ever have to live in pain like this. 

Stacie didn't ask anyone to post anything about this.  I just felt like it was the right thing to do, and although this is a small blog with few followers, you are still there and it was important to me to do this.

Day 30 – a dream for the future beyond the next year

Baby.  If it doesn't happen this year, then that's the dream.  I always wanted two kids, a girl and a boy.  I have my girl, thank goodness, and now it's time to start thinking about number two.  I'm not getting younger, and I wasn't a super young mom to start with, so I don't have a ton of time left.  I mean, I'm not old, but I'll be 35 in February, and I know that's when all the risks shoot up.  I want a healthy baby.  So, the plan is to work on that this year, and hopefully that will happen.  Otherwise, to just continue raising my daughter, working on my marriage, and working with the youth group.  I want to spend more time with my friends, but I know that might be a ways down the road just because of the issue of having kids and the conflicts that creates.  Wow.  My hopes and dreams are not so big.  But you know what?  It's okay with me.  Karina made me happier than I ever dreamed I could be. 

Day 29 – hopes,dreams, plans for the next 365 days

During the next year, I hope that Danise will get better and stop having health problems.  I hope that Karina will talk a lot more.  I hope that my brother will continue to do well in his classes and his clinical rotations.  I hope that Karina will be given a baby brother or sister.  I hope that I'm able to continue to find a little time for myself, even if we do have another baby (ha ha ha ha ha ha!  Time for myself with two kids?  Ha ha ha, I crack me up!)  Anyway, I don't have huge, earth-shattering dreams of anything amazing.  I just want my friend(s) to be healthy, my family to stay healthy, my daughter to improve her speech, and to hopefully have another baby. 

Day 28 – what’s in my handbag/purse

Not much right now because most of it is in the diaper bag.  There is:  a small calendar, a pen, nail file, nail clippers, chapstick, piece of keychain that fell off, penny, and an old grocery list. 

Plus, in the diaper bag there is:  wallet containing all credit cards and cash, bag with Epi Pen and Benadryl, a pink diaper, a wetbag (from Monkeyfoot Designs, my favorite), a ziploc bag of wipes, and my camera.

Nothing shocking, sorry!

Day 27 – my worst habit

Hm.  This is a hard one.  My worst habit used to be drinking soda every day, but I stopped doing that.  I guess my current worst habit is being messy.  I get so busy (and lazy, I have to admit) that I forget or run out of time to put things away, so they'll pile up.  For example, on the floor of my bedroom, right now as I'm typing, are three piles of laundry that I started sorting to wash, a stuffed horse Karina was playing with, several toys and books of hers, some old (not dirty) diapers that are being used as rags and are simply not put away anywhere, a slipper sock that Karina pulled out of my drawer, and some papers that fell down and need to be put away.  These things have been on the floor for at least 2 months, except the laundry, which has only been there about a week.  How sad and pathetic is that????  But it's just not a priority.  When I have time to clean up, I focus on stuff that gets dirty.  Like toilets and bathtubs and the kitchen sink and floor.  I will eventually get to the laundry, but the other stuff....that will probably be sitting there 2 months from now. 

I guess there are worse habits to have, right?

Day 26 – your week, in great detail

Monday: we go to a playgroup from 930 to 1130.  While we're there, the kids have about an hour and 15/30 minutes of free play, an art activity, snack, and circle time (music and story).  When we get home, we have lunch and Karina naps.  When she wakes up we play until dinner.  I cook something healthy on Monday nights, usually from my new cookbook that I posted about earlier, "Deceptively Delicious".  I like to watch "Antiques Roadshow" on PBS.
Tuesday: Karina has speech at 9.  We don't usually have anything else on our "must do" agenda on Tuesdays, so sometimes we make a quick grocery run after speech and sometimes we stay home.  I either cook or we have leftovers.  I watch whatever is on HGTV and if it's "Property Virgins" I turn the volume way down and stay online until it's over.  I don't like that show.
Wednesday: Our busiest day.  We have Musikgarten from 10-1045, home for lunch and nap, and as soon as Karina wakes up we go to my mom's house to visit and have dinner.  After dinner, we always watch two episodes of "Friends".  Then we go home.  I like to watch "DOG the Bounty Hunter on A&E. 
Thursday: We used to go to another playgroup but we aren't doing that one anymore.  Now, Thursday is nothing day.  We will probably have a grocery trip on Thursday mornings because there's so little other time during the week.  I cook something healthy on Thursday nights, or we have leftovers.  I watch HGTV.  Usually it's "My First Place" which I like, and "My First Sale" which I don't like.
Friday: We have nothing planned on Fridays.  We stay home unless we really want to go do something.  Friday is pizza night!  This is one night I know for sure Karina is going to eat her dinner.  It is so sad and pathetic that my child loves Totino's pizza so much.  Sigh.  There's never anything good on TV, especially HGTV, so I usually end up watching TLC's "Say Yes to the Dress" even though I'm not that crazy about that show.  But it's better than the current HGTV lineup.  Ick.
Saturday: Bill gets up with Karina so I can sleep in or do whatever.  I usually sleep in a little bit, and then go out for an hour or two in the morning by myself.  Bill takes Karina for a walk in the morning, too.  It's their Daddy Daughter time.  After her nap, we might do something together as a family, or just hang around at home.  We usually have leftovers on Saturday nights.  I watch HGTV.
Sunday: Often another busy day.  I take Karina with me to the early service at my church, which is at 830.  She goes in the nursery for most of the service, and then we stay for Sunday School, which is a Musikgarten class for Karina.  Then we go home.  I frequently have youth group activities on Sundays, so I sometimes go back down to church in the afternoon.  If not, we do something as a family or just stay home.  Sunday nights I often make some kind of (healthy) pancakes, either the sweet potato ones or the pink beet ones.  I am also going to try making a green vegetable kind someday, but that's for another post. 
Sunday nights vary on tv, so what I watch just depends.

Since Karina naps every day from about 1230-230 or 3pm, it kind of makes it hard to do stuff in the afternoon, especially when I'm trying to start dinner around 430.  That's why we don't have a lot of things lined up in the afternoons.

Well, exciting as it may be, that's what our week is like.