I want to move! Although I think Michigan is pretty, it is not where I want to live. I think the winters are WAY too hard for Lil Princess. She can't walk on the snowy, frozen ground unaided...it's hard enough for her to walk on dry, level ground!!! I don't like to be cold. I don't mind snow, but unfortunately, cold seems to be partnered with snow, so whatcha gonna do? I don't like how gloomy it is here. Denver averages over 300 days of sunshine annually. I got use to that very quickly! I don't know the number of days of sunshine Michigan averages, but I'm thinking if I did know, it would be depressing.
The only positive about living here is that we live near the girls' extended family. I don't mean to minimize that, because that is important. So important, in fact, that we moved back here from Colorado for that very reason. But, as the girls get older and don't need to spend so much time with their extended family members, I would love to move them south...I'm not particularly picky, but since my BFF lives in TN, that would work nicely! :)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Busy, busy, busy and a dress that doesn't fit well
I have so much going on right now that my head is spinning. Fortunately I'm not stressed about it, but I do wish I could get my thoughts straight and start making some headway!
On a completely different note, I have been 'inspired' to lose some weight. The weird part of that is that I am on the low end of "normal" yet it sure doesn't feel that way. I am not one to care much about the number on the scale and more concerned with how my clothes fit. I hate to shop as it is, so to have to buy more clothes because I've gained weight is out of the picture!
About a month ago (maybe it was longer than that?!?!) I got fitted for my dress for my sisters wedding. The 'professional' told me that I "easily" fit into the smaller dress...I begged to differ. She assured me that I would be fine. I have NOT gained weight in a month, but I promise you this...that dress DOES. NOT. FIT. GOOD. It is very pretty, but very tight. So, I've decided that rather than drop another $180 on another dress, I will drop 10 lbs instead. I know I can I just don't want to. I like eating junk food too much to give it up. But, alas, I do not have a choice until Sept. 27...at which time I will pick up where I left off in the junk food eating area! :)
On a completely different note, I have been 'inspired' to lose some weight. The weird part of that is that I am on the low end of "normal" yet it sure doesn't feel that way. I am not one to care much about the number on the scale and more concerned with how my clothes fit. I hate to shop as it is, so to have to buy more clothes because I've gained weight is out of the picture!
About a month ago (maybe it was longer than that?!?!) I got fitted for my dress for my sisters wedding. The 'professional' told me that I "easily" fit into the smaller dress...I begged to differ. She assured me that I would be fine. I have NOT gained weight in a month, but I promise you this...that dress DOES. NOT. FIT. GOOD. It is very pretty, but very tight. So, I've decided that rather than drop another $180 on another dress, I will drop 10 lbs instead. I know I can I just don't want to. I like eating junk food too much to give it up. But, alas, I do not have a choice until Sept. 27...at which time I will pick up where I left off in the junk food eating area! :)
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Potty Training
This post is not exactly for the 2 people that are still reading this blog but for my own documentation.
Miya is officially potty training. She started about a week ago. She is successful 99.9% of the time, but only if she is naked. Today we went to the store and picked out special underpants, but she refusees to wear them. She picked out Minnie Mouse underpants. She was excited in the store, but now that we are home, NOT. SO. MUCH.
I plan to extinguish the use of diapers from morning til night starting the beginning of next week. The only time she will have a diaper on is during the night. Is my plan too lofty? Time will tell!
Miya is officially potty training. She started about a week ago. She is successful 99.9% of the time, but only if she is naked. Today we went to the store and picked out special underpants, but she refusees to wear them. She picked out Minnie Mouse underpants. She was excited in the store, but now that we are home, NOT. SO. MUCH.
I plan to extinguish the use of diapers from morning til night starting the beginning of next week. The only time she will have a diaper on is during the night. Is my plan too lofty? Time will tell!
Monday, May 4, 2009
Fundraising for National Kidney Foundation Walk-a-Thon
Dear Friends:
I ask for a few moments of your time to read this note depicting how organ donation has personally affected me and my family.
My mom is from a large family. She is one of ten children. One of her younger brothers, my Uncle Tom, was diagnosed with Kidney Disease when he was very young. He began dialysis when he was a teen. By Gods grace he was a candidate for a kidney transplant. Sadly as one family suffered the loss of a loved one, my uncle had the chance at life again. He received his first transplant but it was without success. His body rejected it. Again, by Gods grace, he was able to receive a second transplant, but much to the eveyone's dismay, his body again rejected the kidney. Finally, after years passed he was ready to try a third time for a transplant. This time was different.
With changes in medicine came the news that my mom would be able to donate her kidney to her brother. After testing to verify she was a match they went ahead and did the transplant. For the first time in many, many, many years my Uncle Tom was able to walk out of the hospital with a working kidney and without the need for dialysis. That transplant took place in May of 1991. As is all too common for people who need dialysis, Toms heart had worked too hard for too long and just under 3 years after the successful transplant a heart attack took his life. If you ask my mom today if she would have done anything different knowing the outcome she would smile and say, "no way!" Those 3 years were the best 3 years of Tom's life since becoming ill and she would never take that back for even a moment.
So, why am I telling you all of this? Last year my mom started Team Thomas. A team established to raise money for the National Kidney Foundation. We had a good turnout for the walk and raised a good amount of money. Amazingly it is that time of year again. On May 17th I will be walking as a part of Team Thomas. I am asking for your support.
There are three ways you can help:
1) If you haven't already done so, please consider becoming an organ donor. If you do choose to donate your organs, please share that information with your loved ones and also register with your state (if it is required).
2) If you live in or around the Muskegon area and would like to join Team Thomas for a lovely walk around Pere Marquette, let me know! I can get you a form and you can start raising funds too. I would love to have you there.
3) If you are able to do so, please consider financially supporting me. Every $1 counts. If every person who reads this donated even just $5, I would easily meet my goal of $500. You can donate directly on the National Kidney Foundation website. If you would prefer to send me a check, let me know and I will provide you with my address.
Here are the steps to do so:
1) http://walk.kidney.org
2) Click on SUPPORT A WALKER
3) Search by my first and last name in Michigan (email me or leave a comment if you have problems)
4) Click TEAM THOMAS
5) Click SPONSOR ME or JOIN MY TEAM
the rest should be self explanatory.
Thank you so much for taking time to read this and for your consideration in joining the team or sponsoring me on my walk.
I ask for a few moments of your time to read this note depicting how organ donation has personally affected me and my family.
My mom is from a large family. She is one of ten children. One of her younger brothers, my Uncle Tom, was diagnosed with Kidney Disease when he was very young. He began dialysis when he was a teen. By Gods grace he was a candidate for a kidney transplant. Sadly as one family suffered the loss of a loved one, my uncle had the chance at life again. He received his first transplant but it was without success. His body rejected it. Again, by Gods grace, he was able to receive a second transplant, but much to the eveyone's dismay, his body again rejected the kidney. Finally, after years passed he was ready to try a third time for a transplant. This time was different.
With changes in medicine came the news that my mom would be able to donate her kidney to her brother. After testing to verify she was a match they went ahead and did the transplant. For the first time in many, many, many years my Uncle Tom was able to walk out of the hospital with a working kidney and without the need for dialysis. That transplant took place in May of 1991. As is all too common for people who need dialysis, Toms heart had worked too hard for too long and just under 3 years after the successful transplant a heart attack took his life. If you ask my mom today if she would have done anything different knowing the outcome she would smile and say, "no way!" Those 3 years were the best 3 years of Tom's life since becoming ill and she would never take that back for even a moment.
So, why am I telling you all of this? Last year my mom started Team Thomas. A team established to raise money for the National Kidney Foundation. We had a good turnout for the walk and raised a good amount of money. Amazingly it is that time of year again. On May 17th I will be walking as a part of Team Thomas. I am asking for your support.
There are three ways you can help:
1) If you haven't already done so, please consider becoming an organ donor. If you do choose to donate your organs, please share that information with your loved ones and also register with your state (if it is required).
2) If you live in or around the Muskegon area and would like to join Team Thomas for a lovely walk around Pere Marquette, let me know! I can get you a form and you can start raising funds too. I would love to have you there.
3) If you are able to do so, please consider financially supporting me. Every $1 counts. If every person who reads this donated even just $5, I would easily meet my goal of $500. You can donate directly on the National Kidney Foundation website. If you would prefer to send me a check, let me know and I will provide you with my address.
Here are the steps to do so:
1) http://walk.kidney.org
2) Click on SUPPORT A WALKER
3) Search by my first and last name in Michigan (email me or leave a comment if you have problems)
4) Click TEAM THOMAS
5) Click SPONSOR ME or JOIN MY TEAM
the rest should be self explanatory.
Thank you so much for taking time to read this and for your consideration in joining the team or sponsoring me on my walk.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Not sure what else to say...
We have been consumed with the yuckies around our household for so long that I feel like everything else has been put on hold. As a result, I really don't have a lot to say. I guess for entertainments sake, I'll ramble on for a bit and see what happens.
Lil Bug is doing well. She still really enjoys school. She will be going into Young 5's next year rather than Kindergarten. I think she will have a better opportunity for success at the Young 5's level since she will have to work extra hard to physically keep up. Also, I like that she will have two more school years before she will go full days. I'm hoping that by the time she goes to 1st grade she will not need to be cathed any longer. However, if she does, I'm thinking she will be able to learn to do it herself and I won't have to allow others to do it for her.
She has done amazingly well on the two road trips we've taken in the past month. She is so content with just paper and markers. Seriously, you can spend hours drawing and writing. She is her daddy's daughter! I often times find myself thinking about her future. What will she be when she grows up? With her physical limitations, she does have some limitations on her career choices, but for the most part she can do anything she wants. She says she wants to deliver babies for a living. But, as I watch her write and draw and create stuff, I wonder if she will be more in the language and arts field. Time will tell. The awesome thing is that God already knows what she will do.
Lil Princess is finally feeling better. The only evidence of a her long fight with the nasties is an occasional cough. She is still being retrained to sleep through the night. For several weeks she was up coughing or vomiting or both that she thinks it is perfectly alright to wake up to drink or play at 2am. We're working on nipping that one. Mommy likes her sleep too much!! :)
I started taking Princess to music classes a couple weeks back. She loves them, of course. She is my musical girl! She loves to sing and dance. It is awesome! She really does her own thing while at the music class, but she is listening to what is going on because she will try to sing the songs along with Ms. J.
A couple months back The Designer (along with everyone at his firm) was told that changes would be coming around the beginning to middle of May. Some possibilities include shortened work weeks or pay cuts. Since he is salaried, I'm not sure how all of this works, but I'm guessing we'll know soon enough.
As a result of the above possible changes for the Designers job, I accepted a summer class. I do not normally teach summers because Michigan summers are way too short and who wants to work if you play with the kids? But, after prayer and discussion we decided that if I had the opportunity to pick up a class, I should. So I will be teaching the 2nd session, which doesn't begin until the end of June and goes until the beginning of August. It will be 2 nights a week. It will go fast and bring in some extra money, so all is well.
Recently I learned about some opportunities at the college. The Designer and I are in prayer and discussion about it. I'll share more later.
My etsy shop has slowed down a bit, but that is partly my own fault. I haven't been sewing much with everyone sick so I haven't added new product to my shop in a while. I have a few craft fairs coming up this summer. One of them is huge. It is two days and brings in between 75,000 - 100,000 shoppers. It is tied to a HUGE festival that draws tourists from hundreds of miles away. I have never done this show before so I have no idea what to expect, but I'm hoping it brings lots and lots of sales!!! I have another good size show just two weeks after that. Hopefully I can clear out my sewing room. Due to law changes I'm not sure if I'll continue with my shop after the summer. Time will tell.
Well there it is, my life in a nutshell. Exciting, right? LOL Hopefully the next time I write I'll have something substantial and attention grabbing.
Lil Bug is doing well. She still really enjoys school. She will be going into Young 5's next year rather than Kindergarten. I think she will have a better opportunity for success at the Young 5's level since she will have to work extra hard to physically keep up. Also, I like that she will have two more school years before she will go full days. I'm hoping that by the time she goes to 1st grade she will not need to be cathed any longer. However, if she does, I'm thinking she will be able to learn to do it herself and I won't have to allow others to do it for her.
She has done amazingly well on the two road trips we've taken in the past month. She is so content with just paper and markers. Seriously, you can spend hours drawing and writing. She is her daddy's daughter! I often times find myself thinking about her future. What will she be when she grows up? With her physical limitations, she does have some limitations on her career choices, but for the most part she can do anything she wants. She says she wants to deliver babies for a living. But, as I watch her write and draw and create stuff, I wonder if she will be more in the language and arts field. Time will tell. The awesome thing is that God already knows what she will do.
Lil Princess is finally feeling better. The only evidence of a her long fight with the nasties is an occasional cough. She is still being retrained to sleep through the night. For several weeks she was up coughing or vomiting or both that she thinks it is perfectly alright to wake up to drink or play at 2am. We're working on nipping that one. Mommy likes her sleep too much!! :)
I started taking Princess to music classes a couple weeks back. She loves them, of course. She is my musical girl! She loves to sing and dance. It is awesome! She really does her own thing while at the music class, but she is listening to what is going on because she will try to sing the songs along with Ms. J.
A couple months back The Designer (along with everyone at his firm) was told that changes would be coming around the beginning to middle of May. Some possibilities include shortened work weeks or pay cuts. Since he is salaried, I'm not sure how all of this works, but I'm guessing we'll know soon enough.
As a result of the above possible changes for the Designers job, I accepted a summer class. I do not normally teach summers because Michigan summers are way too short and who wants to work if you play with the kids? But, after prayer and discussion we decided that if I had the opportunity to pick up a class, I should. So I will be teaching the 2nd session, which doesn't begin until the end of June and goes until the beginning of August. It will be 2 nights a week. It will go fast and bring in some extra money, so all is well.
Recently I learned about some opportunities at the college. The Designer and I are in prayer and discussion about it. I'll share more later.
My etsy shop has slowed down a bit, but that is partly my own fault. I haven't been sewing much with everyone sick so I haven't added new product to my shop in a while. I have a few craft fairs coming up this summer. One of them is huge. It is two days and brings in between 75,000 - 100,000 shoppers. It is tied to a HUGE festival that draws tourists from hundreds of miles away. I have never done this show before so I have no idea what to expect, but I'm hoping it brings lots and lots of sales!!! I have another good size show just two weeks after that. Hopefully I can clear out my sewing room. Due to law changes I'm not sure if I'll continue with my shop after the summer. Time will tell.
Well there it is, my life in a nutshell. Exciting, right? LOL Hopefully the next time I write I'll have something substantial and attention grabbing.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Lil Princess NEEDS to get better...RIGHT. NOW.
Lil Princess has been sick ALL. WINTER. LONG. with one thing after another. I just don't understand why?? She has had multiple ear infections. Toss in a few eye infections. Lets not forget two, maybe three upper respiratory infections.
At this very moment she is recovering from a double ear infection, pneumonia and just for good measure a stomach virus that has had her wretching for the past day-and-a-half. She won't eat. She can't get comfortable therefore there is little sleeping for her. Of course she cries a lot...the poor baby is in pain. She also wants to be held 24/7...who wouldn't?!?! Her pneumonia seems to have gotten worse, not better in the past 24 hours. I am assuming that is because she didn't keep down any of her antibiotics yesterday.
I feel so sad for Princess. I just want her to be healthy. I want her to run and laugh and play like she does when she is healthy. I want her to be pain free.
(The rest of this blogpost is more for my own records of what transpired in the past week so I have it documented in case I need it.)
Last week Wednesday night I brought her to the medi-center (the 3rd time in 6 weeks) to learn that she had her 3rd ear infection in 6 weeks and an upper respiratory infection. On Thursday I called her regular doctor (whom we have always liked alot but recently I am wondering about him a bit) and requested that we be seen since she is sick again. He said, "Kids get sick. Some kids get sick more than others. I'm not concerned about the amount of times she has been sick. We don't need to draw blood because her illnesses are all normal childhood things. (I made the suggestion thinking that perhaps there was an underlying infection that was causing all of her illnesses.) If she were sick with a kidney infection or a skin infection then I would understand your desire to draw blood looking for something more." I have asked at least three or four times to be referred to an ENT to look at tubes and he has continuosly told me that wasn't necessary because her ears clear up completely between infections unlike some children who never really get better. My thought is, "does it matter if she completely heals between infections if she is getting another one less than two weeks later again anyways?"
Thursday night Princess was in severe pain. She would trash around, wouldn't let me hold her but cried when I put her down. She arched her back in pain. She cried loud and consistently. The next morning I decided to bypass her doctor and took her straight to the ER. At first they sort of talked it down as a cold but I insisted they do some tests because something was was definitely wrong. Finally, after some tests they were able to identify that she had pneumonia and that her coughing was causing her excessive pain.
Finally, thinking we finally had an answer, we left. Only, we weren't past the worst of it. Sunday morning she started vomiting and continued throughout the day and all of last night. On top of the pneumonia and ear infection she has a stomach virus. Seriuosly?!?!
I called her pediatrician to let them know that after our talk on Thursday she was diagnosed with pneumonia and now had a stomach virus and they just said to keep giving her the antibiotics and all will be well. Yesterday she didn't even get any antiobiotics because each time I gave it to her, she vomited immediately and emptied all of her stomach contents.
GRRRRR...there probably isn't much that can be done, but I am one extremely ticked off, tired, agitated mommy!
I've been praying over her and I know God loves her even more than I do. I wonder if the Devil is just messing with us to see if we will get mad at God? We won't. Yes, we are tired. Yes, we are mad. But not at God. Just at the fact that our precious little one is still sick. I just want her better.
At this very moment she is recovering from a double ear infection, pneumonia and just for good measure a stomach virus that has had her wretching for the past day-and-a-half. She won't eat. She can't get comfortable therefore there is little sleeping for her. Of course she cries a lot...the poor baby is in pain. She also wants to be held 24/7...who wouldn't?!?! Her pneumonia seems to have gotten worse, not better in the past 24 hours. I am assuming that is because she didn't keep down any of her antibiotics yesterday.
I feel so sad for Princess. I just want her to be healthy. I want her to run and laugh and play like she does when she is healthy. I want her to be pain free.
(The rest of this blogpost is more for my own records of what transpired in the past week so I have it documented in case I need it.)
Last week Wednesday night I brought her to the medi-center (the 3rd time in 6 weeks) to learn that she had her 3rd ear infection in 6 weeks and an upper respiratory infection. On Thursday I called her regular doctor (whom we have always liked alot but recently I am wondering about him a bit) and requested that we be seen since she is sick again. He said, "Kids get sick. Some kids get sick more than others. I'm not concerned about the amount of times she has been sick. We don't need to draw blood because her illnesses are all normal childhood things. (I made the suggestion thinking that perhaps there was an underlying infection that was causing all of her illnesses.) If she were sick with a kidney infection or a skin infection then I would understand your desire to draw blood looking for something more." I have asked at least three or four times to be referred to an ENT to look at tubes and he has continuosly told me that wasn't necessary because her ears clear up completely between infections unlike some children who never really get better. My thought is, "does it matter if she completely heals between infections if she is getting another one less than two weeks later again anyways?"
Thursday night Princess was in severe pain. She would trash around, wouldn't let me hold her but cried when I put her down. She arched her back in pain. She cried loud and consistently. The next morning I decided to bypass her doctor and took her straight to the ER. At first they sort of talked it down as a cold but I insisted they do some tests because something was was definitely wrong. Finally, after some tests they were able to identify that she had pneumonia and that her coughing was causing her excessive pain.
Finally, thinking we finally had an answer, we left. Only, we weren't past the worst of it. Sunday morning she started vomiting and continued throughout the day and all of last night. On top of the pneumonia and ear infection she has a stomach virus. Seriuosly?!?!
I called her pediatrician to let them know that after our talk on Thursday she was diagnosed with pneumonia and now had a stomach virus and they just said to keep giving her the antibiotics and all will be well. Yesterday she didn't even get any antiobiotics because each time I gave it to her, she vomited immediately and emptied all of her stomach contents.
GRRRRR...there probably isn't much that can be done, but I am one extremely ticked off, tired, agitated mommy!
I've been praying over her and I know God loves her even more than I do. I wonder if the Devil is just messing with us to see if we will get mad at God? We won't. Yes, we are tired. Yes, we are mad. But not at God. Just at the fact that our precious little one is still sick. I just want her better.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Grocery Express
One of my biggest dislikes in life is shopping...for anything. Seriously! I don't like it. It seems like a waste of money and even more importantly, of time. Not to mention that I have to listen to one or two little girls saying, "I want that! I want that!" Which is a petpeeve of mine.
Yesterday I decided to do something about it. I decided to use our grocery stores' Express option. You go online, order the food you want, the quantity, etc. and then you schedule a pick up time. Someone else does your shopping and meets you at your car at your designated time to put it in your trunk. I had the sales flier out and planned my meals based on that then did my shopping online. It was easy and fast.
How wonderful is that?
And, the best part is....I won't buy a bunch of stuff I don't need because I won't be wandering aimlessly throughout the store just happening upon every junkfood item or every sale item and mindlessly putting it in my cart regardless of the need.
I tried it and I like it. I'll be doing it again in the future. :) Does that make me lazy or smart? lol
Yesterday I decided to do something about it. I decided to use our grocery stores' Express option. You go online, order the food you want, the quantity, etc. and then you schedule a pick up time. Someone else does your shopping and meets you at your car at your designated time to put it in your trunk. I had the sales flier out and planned my meals based on that then did my shopping online. It was easy and fast.
How wonderful is that?
And, the best part is....I won't buy a bunch of stuff I don't need because I won't be wandering aimlessly throughout the store just happening upon every junkfood item or every sale item and mindlessly putting it in my cart regardless of the need.
I tried it and I like it. I'll be doing it again in the future. :) Does that make me lazy or smart? lol
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