20 November 2012
15 November 2012
The Great Goodreads Race
Last December, for some reason now unfathomable to me, I set a goal of reading 75 books this year. Each time I log in to Goodreads (which hasn't been often) I see a statistic on my sidebar telling me how many books I am behind if I am to meet my goal by the end of the year, resulting in me logging into Goodreads even less often.
Occasionally I consider inputting all of the children's books I read to the little man every day, which would wrap the whole thing up nice and easy, but I know that those were not what I intended when I set the goal, so I just can't. So, I face the fact that with a baby who needs perhaps more of my attention than might be the norm, a wonderful husband who has traveled just enough to make things interesting, and a sleep schedule which rarely includes more than three hours at a stretch, I have fallen dreadfully short of my goal this year. More often than not, my desire for a nap has prevailed over my desire for a nice quiet read.
For some reason, falling short on this really REALLY bothers me. Perhaps it is because I have given so much of myself to my calling, to my family, to my research for the little man, and haven't much oomph left to do anything for myself this year. But whatever the reason, I need to try to meet my goal after all. Call me overly ambitious, but if you count the 5 or 6 books I'm partially done with (such a bad habit of mine to always begin another before I am done with the first), 37 books by the end of December doesn't sound that bad, right? :)
At the moment, I happen to be surrounded by family, which helps with the little one's demands on my time, and I have free access to my baby sister's kindle. If ever there was a sign that I can do this, that is it. So, a few days ago I began my Great Goodreads Race. As of this morning I need to complete 37 books before the end of December. Wish me luck!
Occasionally I consider inputting all of the children's books I read to the little man every day, which would wrap the whole thing up nice and easy, but I know that those were not what I intended when I set the goal, so I just can't. So, I face the fact that with a baby who needs perhaps more of my attention than might be the norm, a wonderful husband who has traveled just enough to make things interesting, and a sleep schedule which rarely includes more than three hours at a stretch, I have fallen dreadfully short of my goal this year. More often than not, my desire for a nap has prevailed over my desire for a nice quiet read.
For some reason, falling short on this really REALLY bothers me. Perhaps it is because I have given so much of myself to my calling, to my family, to my research for the little man, and haven't much oomph left to do anything for myself this year. But whatever the reason, I need to try to meet my goal after all. Call me overly ambitious, but if you count the 5 or 6 books I'm partially done with (such a bad habit of mine to always begin another before I am done with the first), 37 books by the end of December doesn't sound that bad, right? :)
At the moment, I happen to be surrounded by family, which helps with the little one's demands on my time, and I have free access to my baby sister's kindle. If ever there was a sign that I can do this, that is it. So, a few days ago I began my Great Goodreads Race. As of this morning I need to complete 37 books before the end of December. Wish me luck!
13 November 2012
Postcard for Mr. Clean: keyboards
Here's a note from the cute little man:
dsALS:,.clv l,xz./z
bv bv 1 b1v21 nb o b0b0 ;.
idrjoijx89st459r0pswaps[[-awaw3koescfhjcrx
]AZgvc cfxCFCFLXCLX;L;CXS]SX
XZX"?L..DXZ01260S2CXF ,DLX,DEX,DEXZ,ES, DXZM ,XZ MKXZC ,XZM ,ZXKI,AZK,KM , m k,
As you can imagine, there were a few delighted giggles to go with it. Also, please note that he is such a smart little fella that he actually spelled swaps. I am sure it was absolutely intentional on his part. :)
I'm not sure which keyboard he is more fond of - that one or this one.
10 November 2012
09 November 2012
Postcard for Mr. Clean: double trouble
Riding with a buddy makes everything better. Wish you could have seen it!
We miss you!
One week to go!
Love,
Your little family
08 November 2012
Postcard for Mr. Clean: speedy
Round and round and round he goes,
Stepping so fast he falls on his nose.
Then up once more, and away, hooray!
This table is just the right height for play.
07 November 2012
Better Late than Never - Memorial Day 2012
[Arlington National Cemetery]
In observance of Memorial Day at Arlington, a flag is placed in front of each gravesite.
I spent most of the morning pretty misty. It was both humbling and overwhelming to see a representation of the number of lives spent in service to our country.
In addition to the flags, Veterans groups, support groups, and florists band together to give each guest two roses to lay at a headstone as they walk through the cemetery.
God Bless America.
In observance of Memorial Day at Arlington, a flag is placed in front of each gravesite.
I spent most of the morning pretty misty. It was both humbling and overwhelming to see a representation of the number of lives spent in service to our country.
In addition to the flags, Veterans groups, support groups, and florists band together to give each guest two roses to lay at a headstone as they walk through the cemetery.
04 November 2012
Postcard for Mr. Clean: Leafy
We miss you!
Love,
Your Little Family
31 October 2012
28 October 2012
5!
I realized this morning that we have 5 "safe" foods now!
1. Apples
2. Spinach (in small quantities)
3. Quinoa
4. Mango
5. Peaches
And one spice!
1. Cinnamon
And two food additives!
1. Calcium citrate
2. Ascorbic acid
It may not seem like a lot, but we're light years ahead of where we were a few months ago. We've been nearly a month without a full-blown reaction. Whoooo! Bring on more foods! We're ready to give 'em a shot!
1. Apples
2. Spinach (in small quantities)
3. Quinoa
4. Mango
5. Peaches
And one spice!
1. Cinnamon
And two food additives!
1. Calcium citrate
2. Ascorbic acid
It may not seem like a lot, but we're light years ahead of where we were a few months ago. We've been nearly a month without a full-blown reaction. Whoooo! Bring on more foods! We're ready to give 'em a shot!
26 October 2012
25 October 2012
5 things about the little man that have nothing to do with food
...since sometimes I feel that is all I've shared lately and there is much more going on with him than than our epic food puzzle.
5. He points (with great gusto) to where he would like to go after you pick him up.
4. He 'unloads' the dryer for me and flaps kitchen towels around while I am folding. He also snitches his teeny tiny socks out of the loads and sticks them in weird places that I find later.
3. If I tell him not to touch something, he often grabs my hand and makes it touch what he is not allowed to be touching (mostly the blinds and the computer).
2. He will play with the vacuum for inordinate amounts of time, trying to get the cord's retracting mechanism to work (he can't put enough pressure on the button yet).
1. He looks at the door during the day if I ask him where Daddy is.
5. He points (with great gusto) to where he would like to go after you pick him up.
4. He 'unloads' the dryer for me and flaps kitchen towels around while I am folding. He also snitches his teeny tiny socks out of the loads and sticks them in weird places that I find later.
3. If I tell him not to touch something, he often grabs my hand and makes it touch what he is not allowed to be touching (mostly the blinds and the computer).
2. He will play with the vacuum for inordinate amounts of time, trying to get the cord's retracting mechanism to work (he can't put enough pressure on the button yet).
1. He looks at the door during the day if I ask him where Daddy is.
13 October 2012
03 October 2012
it was inevitable...
The Little Fella has discovered the toilet bowl. He tried to excavate it this morning while I was busy getting dressed. Between his discovery and my rescue he nearly excavated it with his head.
For my part, I was laughing so hard I almost couldn't hold him up to the sink to wash his hands. For his part, he was not helping any by windmilling his legs and wrenching his head to the side so that he could see his fun new pal the potty.
Boy, I love my little guy. The world is so new through his curious little eyes.
For my part, I was laughing so hard I almost couldn't hold him up to the sink to wash his hands. For his part, he was not helping any by windmilling his legs and wrenching his head to the side so that he could see his fun new pal the potty.
Boy, I love my little guy. The world is so new through his curious little eyes.
27 September 2012
and...we have a diagnosis!
It only took me
a) Spending two and a half weeks reading and re-reading medical articles until I felt confident I understood them (I thought legalese was bad, but medical mumbojumbo is 10x worse!),
b) Spending three days agonizing over the wording in the composition of a letter and info packet I composed to our pediatrician about what I'd found there,
c) Conquering my fear of confronting a medical professional and actually delivering the letter. The last one was not as easy as it sounds.
After that it was easy. Our pediatrician was very receptive to what I'd found and totally assuaged my fears about sending her the information packet. She made me feel like we were a team figuring this out together (which, duh - we are, but somehow I never thought of it that way). This is why we adore her!
After that, she magically got us an appointment at the Children's National Medical Center out of DC in January, and then magically got it moved to this past Tuesday. We met with Dr. Mansoor there, a physician familiar with the condition I had researched, Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis (FPIES). She was very understanding, very sympathetic, and very quick to let us know that Luke lined right up with FPIES when it came to his rice and oat reactions.
We are now equipped with a letter to take to the Emergency Room with us if he ever accidentally ingests anything containing rice or oats that will help him to be properly treated, since FPIES is rare and can be mistaken for other issues.
Children's National also provides in-office food challenges at the DC facility when it comes time to try rice or oats again with the little man in the future (most kids grow out of FPIES around 3 years of age). They place an IV before they even start the trial so that if there is a reaction, there is less danger of the child going into shock or having organ failure (yep. I said organ failure. So all of those 'should I take him to the ER' feelings when he had the oat reaction? I probably should have given them more credence).
We also figured out a possible misstep in our previous food trials. Pears was our 3rd food try, and I thought they were ok. However, everything we tried subsequent to pears failed, with the same basic symptoms (except for apples, which were trialed on their own because he would eat them on their own). The other items were mixed with or fed on the same day as - you guessed it - pears - in various quantities to make it easier for him to eat them or to round out a feeding. Now that we've found that issue, pears are off the table, the little man is much happier, and we are pretty much back at square one, with the big difference of feeling like we have a direction to be going in.
I am ready to try another round of foods. The little man is ALWAYS ready to try a new food. He loves to eat, a blessing in itself since food has caused him so much trouble so far. I feel hopeful about making some progress now, and comforted that there is someone who knows what is at issue here and is now on our team to help and support us.
A gigantic special thanks to the friends and family who fasted for or remembered our little fella in prayers. I don't think this would have happened so quickly without that special support. We love you! We miss you! We can't wait to see you in November!
And another extra special thank you goes out to Mr. Clean, who attended a 6 am meeting the day of the CNMC appointment, came home to pick us up at 8, drove us an hour through horrendous traffic to attend the appointment with us at 9, drove us back through traffic, dropped us off, went back to work, left work for scouts, did the scout thing, drove back to work again to finish up, and then finally got to come home. He sacrificed a lot to be there with us on such a busy day (during busy season!) and still fulfilled all of his other obligations too. Lots and lots and lots of love to a wonderful husband and father.
a) Spending two and a half weeks reading and re-reading medical articles until I felt confident I understood them (I thought legalese was bad, but medical mumbojumbo is 10x worse!),
b) Spending three days agonizing over the wording in the composition of a letter and info packet I composed to our pediatrician about what I'd found there,
c) Conquering my fear of confronting a medical professional and actually delivering the letter. The last one was not as easy as it sounds.
After that it was easy. Our pediatrician was very receptive to what I'd found and totally assuaged my fears about sending her the information packet. She made me feel like we were a team figuring this out together (which, duh - we are, but somehow I never thought of it that way). This is why we adore her!
After that, she magically got us an appointment at the Children's National Medical Center out of DC in January, and then magically got it moved to this past Tuesday. We met with Dr. Mansoor there, a physician familiar with the condition I had researched, Food Protein-Induced Enterocolitis (FPIES). She was very understanding, very sympathetic, and very quick to let us know that Luke lined right up with FPIES when it came to his rice and oat reactions.
We are now equipped with a letter to take to the Emergency Room with us if he ever accidentally ingests anything containing rice or oats that will help him to be properly treated, since FPIES is rare and can be mistaken for other issues.
Children's National also provides in-office food challenges at the DC facility when it comes time to try rice or oats again with the little man in the future (most kids grow out of FPIES around 3 years of age). They place an IV before they even start the trial so that if there is a reaction, there is less danger of the child going into shock or having organ failure (yep. I said organ failure. So all of those 'should I take him to the ER' feelings when he had the oat reaction? I probably should have given them more credence).
We also figured out a possible misstep in our previous food trials. Pears was our 3rd food try, and I thought they were ok. However, everything we tried subsequent to pears failed, with the same basic symptoms (except for apples, which were trialed on their own because he would eat them on their own). The other items were mixed with or fed on the same day as - you guessed it - pears - in various quantities to make it easier for him to eat them or to round out a feeding. Now that we've found that issue, pears are off the table, the little man is much happier, and we are pretty much back at square one, with the big difference of feeling like we have a direction to be going in.
I am ready to try another round of foods. The little man is ALWAYS ready to try a new food. He loves to eat, a blessing in itself since food has caused him so much trouble so far. I feel hopeful about making some progress now, and comforted that there is someone who knows what is at issue here and is now on our team to help and support us.
A gigantic special thanks to the friends and family who fasted for or remembered our little fella in prayers. I don't think this would have happened so quickly without that special support. We love you! We miss you! We can't wait to see you in November!
And another extra special thank you goes out to Mr. Clean, who attended a 6 am meeting the day of the CNMC appointment, came home to pick us up at 8, drove us an hour through horrendous traffic to attend the appointment with us at 9, drove us back through traffic, dropped us off, went back to work, left work for scouts, did the scout thing, drove back to work again to finish up, and then finally got to come home. He sacrificed a lot to be there with us on such a busy day (during busy season!) and still fulfilled all of his other obligations too. Lots and lots and lots of love to a wonderful husband and father.
06 September 2012
Because the last post was a bit of a downer...
Here's nearly a minute and a half of baby laughter filmed at a wacky angle to lighten the mood a little.
And...here is how he feels about his current food trial: watermelon. Questionable. I figured it was mostly water, so we'll see. So far, so good.
And...because it always cheers me up, here are some pictures of Mr. Clean and the little man. Right now if you pat a pillow and say 'so comfy!' the little guy will nearly always come lay his head on it to test it out.
Ahh. So Comfy.
And...here is how he feels about his current food trial: watermelon. Questionable. I figured it was mostly water, so we'll see. So far, so good.
And...because it always cheers me up, here are some pictures of Mr. Clean and the little man. Right now if you pat a pillow and say 'so comfy!' the little guy will nearly always come lay his head on it to test it out.
20 August 2012
a bit more than slightly overwhelmed
I haven't posted in ages. It is one of the many things that have been buzzing around in the back of my brain as I have been dealing with other things. And when I say other things I mostly mean starting solids with the little man. Or perhaps I should say attempting to start solids.
To make a long story short, we started at around 5 1/2 months with rice cereal, and began adding other foods as suggested by our pediatrician. The little guy began to have some issues. He became incredibly fussy, irritable, squirmy, and vocal. I thought it was because he was teething, or because we were in the middle of packing for a move, or perhaps a combination of the two.
Then came the spitting. At first it wasn't a big deal. It was a little more than I was used to seeing from him, but it didn't raise any red flags until the night he woke up screaming in his crib and then repeatedly projectile vomited after I picked him up. He continued to heave for over half an hour - expelling everything - right down to the bile. We assumed he had some kind of a stomach bug. Believing him to be sick, I went back to exclusive breastfeeding until after our move was complete. He seemed to have kicked the bug after 24 hours.
Then, a week or so later, several hours after the first solid food he ingested in our new apartment, the projectile vomiting returned, only this time it was worse. He heaved and heaved until he turned limp and lethargic, and then collapsed on my shoulder, absolutely exhausted, and slept for 5 hours straight (this being odd since I am extremely lucky if he sleeps for three hours at a time on a good night). All of the extra nerve endings I somehow spontaneously sprouted after becoming his mother were telling me that something was wrong.
Next, we all caught colds. Not wanting to try to start solids - again - while we were all feeling poorly, and wanting to give him the extra immunity from breastmilk, I held off. We went to his 6 month appointment during this time and everything seemed to be fine. A week and a half later we were all well again and I once more gave him a few bites of rice cereal. Several hours later, the vomit-heave-collapse scenario repeated itself.
I talked to one of the nurses at the pediatrician's office
"No one is allergic to rice," she told me. "It can't be the rice cereal." After repeatedly trying to convince me that a) he had a stomach bug and b) as a new mom I probably didn't know the difference between spitup and vomit, she told me to try an orange and a green vegetable over the next week.
With great trepidation I broke out the carrots. Day one went fine, day two he started fussing, squirming, and spitting. I called back, and the nurse set me up with an appointment to meet with the doctor. I dispensed with the green vegetable.
Per the doctor's instructions, we retried the carrots, with the same result. This time I videotaped his reaction for her later review. That was less than fun, as was the resultant laundry.
While it was not as bad as the reaction he exhibited after eating the rice cereal, it was nevertheless a pronounced reaction. The doctor sent us for an upper GI scan at the hospital, which was normal, and then referred us to a pediatric allergist, who told us flat out at the first visit that she was stumped.
On the allergists advice, we have tried apples, squash, and today - oats. I have prepared them all myself to make sure that there are no stabilizers, coloring agents, oils or other mystery ingredients that could interfere with our trial.
The apples were a wonderful addition to his only other "safe" food, pears, and I am thankful to have found them. The squash is a wild card that we will cautiously revisit before I can be sure. The oats yielded the worst reaction yet. I gave him half a teaspoon (half a teaspoon!) this morning and the projectile vomit showed up two hours later, shooting out two feet in front of him, soaking through three blankets, a quilt, all of his clothing, and all of mine. As I sat there holding my poor little man, limp and glassy-eyed, heaving and sodden, I couldn't help but feel slightly hysterical on the inside.
None of the doctors seem to know what is going on with him. I can only guess at what is going on, and my attempt to talk to the allergist about what I thought might be an option was rejected without much consideration.
And the worst of the worst - the bottom line - with no rhyme or reason to these food reactions, our only option is to continue doing these food trials by fire. Test it out, wait and see, hope the poor boy doesn't have to suffer through another bad reaction. Hope that we don't end up in the hospital for dehydration or shock. Hope that he will recover from the reaction in hours, not days.
I am exhausted. I am not going to say anything else about that because I will probably cry, and that is just not going to help anything much.
Now, after all of that whining, here are 5 things I can be thankful for in spite of this problem (see mom, I remember your trick).
5. Little man is an absolute chunk and thriving on my milk, so I don't have to be worried about him failing to thrive just now (though any delusions of weaning him by the year mark have flown out the window).
4. I am a smart cookie. If the doctors don't know what is going on, I can give it my best shot. I have started to read medical journals about similar reactions. I may not be a medical professional, but I am my son's best advocate right now and I need to make sure that I am doing what I can to educate myself for him before this situation becomes more serious.
3. I have been sustained by a higher power through weeks of him waking every hour or two at night, no naps during the day, days of fussing and screaming, of vomiting and explosive diapers...I have functioned on less sleep than I have ever thought humanly possible...and I feel ok. My mind is clear even when my body is about to collapse. I even drive without worry. I know that God is giving me the capacity to do what I need to do to take care of my family.
2. I have a wonderful, amazing, kind, caring, trusting, sympathetic husband. He also happens to be a phenomenal father and the best support I could ever ask for.
1. I am able to be at home with my son during this time. I can't even express what a blessing this has been.
To make a long story short, we started at around 5 1/2 months with rice cereal, and began adding other foods as suggested by our pediatrician. The little guy began to have some issues. He became incredibly fussy, irritable, squirmy, and vocal. I thought it was because he was teething, or because we were in the middle of packing for a move, or perhaps a combination of the two.
Then came the spitting. At first it wasn't a big deal. It was a little more than I was used to seeing from him, but it didn't raise any red flags until the night he woke up screaming in his crib and then repeatedly projectile vomited after I picked him up. He continued to heave for over half an hour - expelling everything - right down to the bile. We assumed he had some kind of a stomach bug. Believing him to be sick, I went back to exclusive breastfeeding until after our move was complete. He seemed to have kicked the bug after 24 hours.
Then, a week or so later, several hours after the first solid food he ingested in our new apartment, the projectile vomiting returned, only this time it was worse. He heaved and heaved until he turned limp and lethargic, and then collapsed on my shoulder, absolutely exhausted, and slept for 5 hours straight (this being odd since I am extremely lucky if he sleeps for three hours at a time on a good night). All of the extra nerve endings I somehow spontaneously sprouted after becoming his mother were telling me that something was wrong.
Next, we all caught colds. Not wanting to try to start solids - again - while we were all feeling poorly, and wanting to give him the extra immunity from breastmilk, I held off. We went to his 6 month appointment during this time and everything seemed to be fine. A week and a half later we were all well again and I once more gave him a few bites of rice cereal. Several hours later, the vomit-heave-collapse scenario repeated itself.
I talked to one of the nurses at the pediatrician's office
"No one is allergic to rice," she told me. "It can't be the rice cereal." After repeatedly trying to convince me that a) he had a stomach bug and b) as a new mom I probably didn't know the difference between spitup and vomit, she told me to try an orange and a green vegetable over the next week.
With great trepidation I broke out the carrots. Day one went fine, day two he started fussing, squirming, and spitting. I called back, and the nurse set me up with an appointment to meet with the doctor. I dispensed with the green vegetable.
Per the doctor's instructions, we retried the carrots, with the same result. This time I videotaped his reaction for her later review. That was less than fun, as was the resultant laundry.
While it was not as bad as the reaction he exhibited after eating the rice cereal, it was nevertheless a pronounced reaction. The doctor sent us for an upper GI scan at the hospital, which was normal, and then referred us to a pediatric allergist, who told us flat out at the first visit that she was stumped.
On the allergists advice, we have tried apples, squash, and today - oats. I have prepared them all myself to make sure that there are no stabilizers, coloring agents, oils or other mystery ingredients that could interfere with our trial.
The apples were a wonderful addition to his only other "safe" food, pears, and I am thankful to have found them. The squash is a wild card that we will cautiously revisit before I can be sure. The oats yielded the worst reaction yet. I gave him half a teaspoon (half a teaspoon!) this morning and the projectile vomit showed up two hours later, shooting out two feet in front of him, soaking through three blankets, a quilt, all of his clothing, and all of mine. As I sat there holding my poor little man, limp and glassy-eyed, heaving and sodden, I couldn't help but feel slightly hysterical on the inside.
None of the doctors seem to know what is going on with him. I can only guess at what is going on, and my attempt to talk to the allergist about what I thought might be an option was rejected without much consideration.
And the worst of the worst - the bottom line - with no rhyme or reason to these food reactions, our only option is to continue doing these food trials by fire. Test it out, wait and see, hope the poor boy doesn't have to suffer through another bad reaction. Hope that we don't end up in the hospital for dehydration or shock. Hope that he will recover from the reaction in hours, not days.
I am exhausted. I am not going to say anything else about that because I will probably cry, and that is just not going to help anything much.
Now, after all of that whining, here are 5 things I can be thankful for in spite of this problem (see mom, I remember your trick).
5. Little man is an absolute chunk and thriving on my milk, so I don't have to be worried about him failing to thrive just now (though any delusions of weaning him by the year mark have flown out the window).
4. I am a smart cookie. If the doctors don't know what is going on, I can give it my best shot. I have started to read medical journals about similar reactions. I may not be a medical professional, but I am my son's best advocate right now and I need to make sure that I am doing what I can to educate myself for him before this situation becomes more serious.
3. I have been sustained by a higher power through weeks of him waking every hour or two at night, no naps during the day, days of fussing and screaming, of vomiting and explosive diapers...I have functioned on less sleep than I have ever thought humanly possible...and I feel ok. My mind is clear even when my body is about to collapse. I even drive without worry. I know that God is giving me the capacity to do what I need to do to take care of my family.
2. I have a wonderful, amazing, kind, caring, trusting, sympathetic husband. He also happens to be a phenomenal father and the best support I could ever ask for.
1. I am able to be at home with my son during this time. I can't even express what a blessing this has been.
16 July 2012
29 June 2012
12 June 2012
how much wood could a woodchuck chuck
If it lived in our backyard?
We'll keep you posted on that one. Coincidentally, Wikipedia taught me that the etymology of the name woodchuck has nothing to do with either wood or chucking, but is based on a Native American word for it (wuchak).
I was a little freaked out at first that it was a nutria rat. Thank you very much for that particular phobia, little brother. However, after much googling and some intense tail comparisons, we determined it to be a less creepy type of rodent. Ladies and gentlemen, meet our resident whistle-pig. We have named him Chuckles (and by we I obviously mean me, since Mr. Clean doesn't really go around giving wild animals goofy names very often (which is likely a good thing since I fulfill the goofy quota for two people without really trying)).
We also have wild bunnies hopping around back there. Those didn't take us nearly so long to identify. :)
We'll keep you posted on that one. Coincidentally, Wikipedia taught me that the etymology of the name woodchuck has nothing to do with either wood or chucking, but is based on a Native American word for it (wuchak).
I was a little freaked out at first that it was a nutria rat. Thank you very much for that particular phobia, little brother. However, after much googling and some intense tail comparisons, we determined it to be a less creepy type of rodent. Ladies and gentlemen, meet our resident whistle-pig. We have named him Chuckles (and by we I obviously mean me, since Mr. Clean doesn't really go around giving wild animals goofy names very often (which is likely a good thing since I fulfill the goofy quota for two people without really trying)).
We also have wild bunnies hopping around back there. Those didn't take us nearly so long to identify. :)
08 June 2012
Wait a second...am I being packed?
 |
| Wait a second Dad, you aren't packing me, are you? |
 |
| All right, I guess this is ok. |
 |
| Check me out Mom! I'm in a box! |
 |
| If I throw my head back and kick my feet out, I can make this thing rock! |
 |
| Why didn't you pack me earlier? |
His new found love of sitting in boxes made packing for our move a little easier (despite his phobia of the sound of packing tape progressing off of the roll).
04 June 2012
5 things to miss/not to miss
5 things I will miss about living in Fairfax (in no particular order):
5. The farmer's market
4. Our ward
3. The little river below our balcony
2. The frogs living in the river below our balcony
1. The drycleaner and thrift store within walking distance of our apartment
5 things I will not miss about living in Fairfax:
5. The sneaky intersection where you can only turn left on certain days during certain hours.
4. The sneaky spot where you have to get in what appears to be the left turn lane in order to go straight.
3. Our neighbors who smell like stale ciggarette smoke and bologna.
2. The hike to take the garbage out
1. Mr. Clean's long commutes.
P.S. The only thing I ever found to cut through stale ciggarette smoke and old bologna smell was peppermint essential oil...in case anyone was wondering.
24 May 2012
Butter
The leftover heavy cream from an earlier dessert called for some homemade butter.
Buttermilk.
Then the butter called for toast. Then the toast called for jam. The jam called for eggs, which called for basil instead of pepper, which called for a tomato. So I breakfasted for lunch.
Then the buttermilk seemed to be calling for carrot cake, which was unexpected, but when these things happen it seems best to just go with it. And since I don't (close your ears cupcake making sister!) really like frosting, I whipped some of the fresh butter with sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to spread inside like I would on a muffin.
And that was the full and tasty circle.
Butter.
Then the buttermilk seemed to be calling for carrot cake, which was unexpected, but when these things happen it seems best to just go with it. And since I don't (close your ears cupcake making sister!) really like frosting, I whipped some of the fresh butter with sugar, cinnamon and vanilla to spread inside like I would on a muffin.
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