The Daring Child

Emily and I went with M to the local amusement park this week.

I had a ton of fun watching Emily explore.

When we got there, I asked her what she wanted to do, did she want to go on the tea cups or the spring ride? She said no, she didn't want to do either of those. I directed her over to the kiddie rides and asked if she wanted to go on those. No, came the response.

Finally, I said, let's go on the tea cups and then decide what to do from there.

We got on the tea cups, and Emily giggled the whole time. We were the only ones on the ride (rain was threatening) and I think the operator let us go a little longer than he normally would. I had so much fun laughing with Emily. She didn't stop laughing the whole time the ride was going.

We got off the tea cups and went immediately to the spring ride. It shoots you maybe 20 or 30 feet in the air and then drops you back down 10 or so feet. And so on. It makes your tummy feel all funny. Again, Emily laughed like a fiend the whole time.

We got off that and hit the Bobsled rollercoaster ride. Again with the laughing. And screaming before we would go down a hill.

This kid is seriously fearless.

And it is odd to me because she is normally fairly timid. She takes some time to warm up to new people and situations. She has to check things out before she is comfortable somewhere, but take her to an amusement park and she wants to go on the biggest, fastest and scariest rides.

This year was slightly different because she was also excited about the water rides. Well, after a bit.

We got changed into our suits after we rode all the land-based rides that Emily was big enough to ride. (When that kid hits 48 inches, look out - she's going on EVERYTHING in that park. Mike better be with us because there are several that I won't even consider.) As we walked to the water part of the park, Emily started saying that she didn't want to go swimming. I was a mean mommy and told her too bad, we were going anyway.

We picked out a tube slide ride that required a two-person tube. I dragged that stupid tube up to the top of the ride and Emily started telling me she didn't want to go. I told her again that it was too bad, there was only one way down and that was in the water. She reluctantly got in the raft and then chanted "no" the whole way down.

We got to the bottom and I asked her if she wanted to go again. "YES!" came the enthusiastic reply. So I dragged the tube back to the top again. And again, Chicken Little started to back out on me. And I made her go down with me again, with her chanting no the whole way.

We ended up going down that slide at least half a dozen times. She loved it.

I took her over to some smaller, kiddie-sized slides and she loved those even more.

I had so much fun that day, watching her walk around the park. It was a Mommy & Emily day and I am so glad to have had it. And having had that time with her, it makes me that much more excited to take Lucy and Mike back there with us later this summer.

Be Ye Wiser Than I

I didn't intend for more than a week to go by between updates, but life got away from me a bit.

Because I have pictures to show you from Lucy's tubes and an unrelated story to tell, I thought I would put them up together.

Mike and I celebrated Father's Day with my parents the Saturday before (which would be a week ago today). My contribution to the dinner was a couple loaves of "real" bread. And by real, I mean FULL of gluten.

I ate two pieces.

This is Lucy in the waiting room of the hospital before her tubes were put in.

It turns out, the consumption of two pieces of bread? Was a REALLY bad idea.

Now, I have been cheating on my diet and have been ok. I have been able, in the past, to have a piece of bread or a cookie that has wheat in it without major repercussions. I might have a stomach ache or some other effects, but it was not terribly severe.

Until this time.

On Sunday, I woke up and I felt AWFUL. Worse than I have ever felt. My stomach was upset, my head hurt, I was weak and tired. It was no good.

She liked to play in the hospital crib and pretend she was taking a nap.

I spent the majority of the day Sunday feeling that way. While we were at Mike's parent's house, I started to have other effects from the wheat. I spent a lot of time in the bathroom. In fact, I started to loose count of how many times I had been to the bathroom.

I finally had Mike bring me home from his parent's house so that I could get some sleep and poo in the privacy of my own house.

More crib. And Monkey, who is her bestest friend.

After my nap, I felt much better and thought the worst was behind me.

I felt great Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

After the tubes were put in. She was MAD. Tylenol helped.

On Thursday, I woke up and had terrible stomach pain. I made it through most of the day, but when I got home from playing at Courtney's house, I couldn't take it any more. I called my doctor and he recommended I go to the hospital.

I had my mom and dad come over to watch the girls while we were gone and Mike came home from work to take me to the emergency room.

We arrived in the emergency room at 3 pm. I was taken into triage at 4 pm. I was finally seen by a nurse at 10:45 pm. The doctor came in to see me at 11 pm. By then, I had been in near constant pain since 7:30 am. I was beyond done.

They gave me some fluids by IV and then hooked me up with some Fenergan. That helped make me nice and relaxed and I didn't really care that it didn't make my stomach stop hurting, I went to sleep anyways. I had to drink some juice to prep for an abdominal CT scan, so I would wake up, drink a cupful of juice and then go back to sleep for 20 minutes, wake up and repeat the process.

After a while, the Fenergan started to wear off and I was REALLY hurting. That's when they brought me the really good stuff. I got Morphine. And WOW! That really helped.

The morphine helped relieve the pain I was having and I went right to sleep.

When I woke up in the morning, I was feeling much better, but was concerned that eating would bring the pain back again. (I think that drinking the prep juice is what caused me to have the morphine-worthy pain) They brought me up to the observation ward and gave me some breakfast. The morphine continued to wear off and I was still feeling good and so I talked them into letting me go home.

The moral of the story: if you have Celiac disease, don't eat wheat just because you haven't had a problem with it in the past.

Really? Ok, here we go!

Last night as I was getting Lucy ready for bed, I grabbed (as is my habit) a diaper and started to put it on her.

And Lucy said "No" and swung her legs away from me.

I'm thinking, no? What do you mean, no?

So I said, "No diaper?"

And she says "Ee" (That's yes in Lucy-speak).

I asked her if she wanted to wear underpants like Emily and she said yes. So I explained that she can't do that until she goes in the potty, does she want to use the potty? Yes, came the reply.

Um, OK.

So we started really trying to put her on the potty today.

I'm not expecting that we will have any kind of potty training miracles here, but if she wants to try, then I am all for it. So far, she hasn't had any success, but that doesn't mean we can't still try.

I am having a hard time believing that Lucy is actually ready to start training, but she desperately wants to be like her sister and I think that is her motivation. And if we get out of diapers soon? All the better.

Helping Out vs. Slave For A Month?

We are having a Spanish exchange student come stay with us for the month of July.

He is 16. He has Celiac disease, which is how we came to be his host family (other than the fact that my mom and I hosted two exchange students when I was a kid and I always loved the idea of doing the same when the time and opportunity arose).

Anyways, the coordinator of the exchange program mentioned that we can set whatever rules and chores for our student that we see fit.

That's awesome, but my kids are only just starting to get into the whole chore scene and I have NO idea what is appropriate for a 16 year old kid. Especially one to whom we have no familial relationship. (Translation: I would work my 16-year-old WAY harder than I would yours.)

Mike and I were discussing it tonight at dinner and I decided to bring it to my lovely blog readers for some advice.

What do you think are appropriate "contributing to the family" chores for a 16-year-old exchange student? I would like to walk the line between getting M's help around here as part of our family and signing the poor kid up for a month of manual labor.

The things I was thinking were as follows:

- keep personal items tidy (this one is mostly because M will be staying in our playroom and if his things are left out, the kids will play with them)

- make bed in the morning

- either do laundry as needed or ensure clothes are downstairs for me to do laundry

Mike was thinking of outside chores like lawn mowing, wood cutting (with supervision, of course), and inside chores like dusting, vacuuming, dishes, etc. His theory is that M is 16 and too few things to do will result in abject boredom.

What say you?

School Days

Emily had her Universal Pre-Kindergarten screening this week.

As we were heading to the school for the screening, I talked to Emily about how important it was for her to talk to the teacher (there was an issue for a while at preschool where she wouldn't speak to her teachers. At All. She'd talk to her friends (Elliott), but she wouldn't speak to her teachers. NOT COOL.) and try her hardest and do her best at this screening, and at school in general.

When the teacher came out to get her, Emily started in with the "I'm so shy" thing that she does. She went into the room with the teacher and a few minutes later, she came out, all smiles. She talked with the teacher, she tried her hardest and life was good. She even got a piece of gum as a reward for being such a good kid.

This afternoon, I got a letter from the school district telling me that Emily will be going to UPK in the fall. This is precisely what I was hoping for. UPK is a five half day per week program. It's free (YAY!) and is a nice transition between 2 half day a week preschool and five full-day a week kindergarten.

And just like that, my baby is beginning school. I honestly can't believe that she is old enough to be doing anything with school. She's just a baby!

But no, not really. She's almost 4.

And, speaking of structured programs and education, I was also able to get Emily enrolled in a summer recreation program through our town. It runs Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays from 10-12 and should tire her out nicely for me. She'll be going with Gabe and I know she's going to have a ball. I'm so excited for her! (And maybe just a little excited that I won't be solely responsible for entertaining her the entire summer. But just a little.)

Initiative is good, BUT

We've been working on getting the new car registered in New York. We were issued a 30-day temporary tag by the dealer in OH.

Shortly after we got home from Ohio with the car, I went to the DMV to register the car. I had the forms I thought I would need as well as the Memo certificate of title that the dealership sent us. I had authorization from Mike to register the car in his absence, I had snacks for the girls. I was all set.

Yeah, not so much.

It turns out, because we bought the car from an out-of-state dealer, and because we have a loan on the car, we have to have a letter from the lienholder (their name is synonymous with being followed. It also rhymes with "base") stating that they are aware we are registering the car in another state. There were several other things, but that was basically the gist.

I call the car loan company and they won't talk to me. Because my name isn't on the loan. The woman assures me that it's a two-minute conversation for Mike to call in and give me permisison to speak with them. I respond that it's not the two-minute conversation that's the problem, it's the 30 minutes I spent on hold before the two-minute conversation.

Mike calls and gets persmission for me to speak with the lovely folks at our loan company. He also asks them to write us this letter and fax it to his work number. They respond that the request for this letter needs to be written, not spoken.

Mike asks me to write the letter. I write it and email it to him. I didn't write it properly, so he re-writes it and faxes it over.

Several days pass.

No fax.

I call back to find out what the status on the letter is. I am assured by a lovely person named Mike that the title will be mailed on June 4. Awesome, I reply, but my registration expires on the 11th and I can't guarantee that the title will be here by then. Can you please fax me the letter?

Mike puts me on hold and is gone a very long time. And then, I hear the phone prompts again.

I have been transferred BACK to the queue.

You can just imagine how thrilled I was about that, given that I had just waited on hold for 30 minutes to talk with Mike AND Mike (theoretically) knew my whole story.

I wait another 30 minutes and finally get another person. His name is Nick. Nick turns out to be AWESOME. He assures me that the letter will be faxed by Friday. If I haven't gotten anything by Friday, I should call back.

Perfect.

Friday comes and goes.

No fax.

I call Mike when he gets to work this morning and ask him if the fax magically appeared over the weekend.

It hasn't.

I call the loan company again and go through all the prompts and speak with someone else. My fervent wkishes for Nick to answer the phone are dashed. She tells me the letter was faxed.

To the New York State Licensing Bureau.

Fabulous, I say. Can you fax it to me, too?

Well, she says, it was also mailed. Why don't you wait for it to arrive in the mail?

Because, I reply, the temporary registration is expiring this Thursday and I really don't want to drive THEIR car illegally.

After some discussion, she agrees to fax it.

And five minutes later, someone else calls me. She can't fax me the letter because the title and the letter have been mailed. They don't allow me to register the car without the title certificate. I explain (AGAIN) that the registration expires on June 11. That's THURSDAY. I don't want a ticket and I can't afford a ticket. I can't be sure that the title is going to show up in time, so I would like them to just FAX ME THE DAMN LETTER ALREADY. Like I asked. A week and a half ago.

It's fabulous that they took the initiative to fax the letter to the Licensing Bureau. But we didn't ask them to do that. The Licensing Bureau's possession of the letter won't do me any good when I try to register the car at the DMV.

This second woman (she said her name was Hazel) finally agrees to fax the letter, but strongly suggests that I wait for the title. Because it was mailed. And I really should have that when I register the car. I should receive the fax by the end of the day. (Seriously - I know how a printer works and I know how a fax machine works. Neither the act of printing the letter or faxing it is an all day proposition.)

Five minutes later, Mike calls. He has the fax.

This afternoon, I got the mail. There was no letter from the loan company.

Tomorrow? The DMV. Wish me luck, I'll have two kids under 4 with me. Oh, and if you are in my area? You might want to avoid the DMV tomorrow. There will be 2 kids there. We'll have snacks and books, though.

Buckling Down

On May 18, I started on a new journey, one that I hope will end with a healthier and happier me.

I began a diet.

I had been working out and sort of trying to lose weight for about a week before that, but May 18 is the day that I started writing things down in a journal.

I have been doing one of two Leslie Sansone walk videos 6 days per week. I also have been trying to reduce the amount of food I eat and increasing the amount of vegetables I consume.

As of this morning, I have lost 7.5 pounds.

I am beyond proud of myself.

I find myself deciding NOT to have a snack because I don't want to undo all the hard work I've put in during my work out.

This is, of course, slightly more difficult for me because of the gluten allergy/Celiac thing, but it is not impossible. I have been cheating on the gluten-free diet slightly by having SOME wheat during the day, but I have been working to find gluten-free alternatives for the gluten-full things I've been eating so far. My current quest is a gluten-free breakfast bar that isn't (much) over 100 calories and you know, tastes GOOD. One that doesn't require me to surrender a child as payment would be nice, too.

I've been eating the Fiber One bars, which are very tasty, but alas, are not gluten-free (damn those oats).

For lunch, I am having either a salad, or a small (2 oz) dish of chicken salad with rice chips and some form of vegetable.

I've changed from sugar in my iced tea to Splenda and haven't really noticed the difference. I also have had a couple diet root beers and have been ok with them. I'm not a big fan of diet soda and so I tend to go without, but the diet root beer has answered my fizzy drink craving a couple of times, which is nice.

For dinner, I am having whatever gluten-free entree I prepare, but I am trying to moderate my portion sizes. That means less meat and more veggies. I have been trying to remind myself to take about half of my normal serving of whatever main dish we're having and twice as much veggies as I would have previously. It's hard to remember to do this when I am about to gnaw my arm off from hunger, but I am trying.

I have also pretty much cut out all snacks. If I get hungry during the day (not if, WHEN), I have a glass of tea or water (BIG glass). If I'm still hungry after that, I have a snack, usually a 100 calorie pack of some kind. The good news is there are Smart Food 100 calorie packs of white cheddar popcorn. Those are very yummy and have just enough popcorn to embed at least one kernel in my teeth. There are also 100 calorie packs of Cheetos, which I will eventually get, too.

I was really hungry this morning at the grocery store (which, DANGER Will Robinson DANGER) and so when I stopped to get the girls their cookies from the Wegmans Cookie Club I grabbed one of their Fruit Flats for myself. It was very tasty and only 70 calories! It filled me up enough to get me through the rest of my shopping trip(s) and home for lunch.

I am hoping to lose about 30 pounds and get myself closer to my "ideal" weight. I am 5'4" (really 5'3.75") and I don't need to be carrying this much weight around all the time. I have lost the weight before (and, now that I think about it, about the same amount) and I know I can do it again. I have all the tools and now I have the motivation.

I WILL lose this weight.