I wanna talk about ME(me)!

I got tagged for the picture meme. Twice.

I decided to do it twice, with two pictures each. One, theoretically, for each time I got tagged. I also have two photo organization systems. My pictures all get uploaded into a folder that is named for the date of upload. I usually just use the Windows picture gallery to do any edits and stuff, but I also have Picasa, which sorts the folders by year. So, I'm uploading 4 pictures instead of 2 instead of 1. Or something like that.

From the 6th folder, this is the 6th picture. This is Mike taking out the hearth in our living room. This is also the day that Emily came down with the Ear Infection of Doom. The one from which her eardrum ultimately burst. Good times, man. Also in this folder are pictures of Miss Pitiful sleeping on my lap wearing a knit hat because the air hurt her ears too much.

Lucy enjoys her food. I used to make up a mix of pasta and frozen veggies that I heated up and topped with some marinara sauce. Lucy loved it and loved smearing it all over her head, too. I can't believe how much bigger she is now.

Emily and Mike checking out the monkeys at the zoo. It was November and it was nice and warm here still. By warm I mean in the 50s. Which would feel like a heat wave to us after the 20s and 30s we've been living with.

Lucy and Emily decorating the Christmas tree. Sorry about the blurry picture. I loved how the white lights looked on the tree this year.

So there you have it. The picture meme. I wish it was more exciting or random.

February Break

Last week, we found ourselves completely without activities.

Because, for some reason, the New York school system thinks that kids need to have a week off in order to appropriately celebrate President's Day. Or something.

Not only did Emily not have preschool on Tuesday and Thursday, but the girls also had no swimming classes or Little Gym (I was wondering how long it would take the powers-that-be at TLG to figure out that camps and such would be handy during school breaks. They've caught on.).

We did OK entertaining ourselves through the break, mostly due to the never ending sickness that darkened our door again. We also spent some time at Miss Courtney's house.

I was in the grocery store on Saturday and overheard two moms discussing how fast the week off went by for them and how they had hoped to accomplish so many things, but for lack of time didn't get done. And I had to laugh. Because the week seemed like it would never end. It stretched in front of me and I thought there must be at least two weeks before the girls would resume their activities.

Yesterday was the first official "back to school" day, but Emily was still with me, since she only goes to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We went to a local pizzeria and learned how to make pizza and then had lunch at Courtney's house.

Today, my mom picked Lucy up to go to swimming and TLG and Courtney took Emily to preschool, leaving me all by my lonesome to do some VERY necessary grocery shopping.

I was realizing as I drove back that I was really missing my girls. We spent so much time together over the past week that it felt very strange not to have them with me. And from the running leap Emily took at me when I picked her up from preschool, I think the feeling was mutual.

I'm pretty sure that is the definition of irony.

Goodie Bags!

I went to a celiac support group meeting last week. I wasn't expecting it to be terribly exciting, but then I remembered that Wegmans was supposed to be coming to speak and they were going to bring samples.

Boy, did they ever bring samples.

We each were given a Wegmans reusable shopping bag FILLED with gluten-free samples from a bunch of awesome suppliers. I got Pizza Dough mix from Bob's Red Mill and cookies and soup and I don't even remember it all.

And there were so many extra goodie bags that? I took two.

We spent a very exciting weekend running all around the city.

I took the girls and went to the doctor's office on Saturday morning, then ran to Wegmans and then stopped at Emily's preschool to pick up our Angel Food boxes (it's a low-cost food ministry that has NO income limits. The only requirement is that you eat food. Which is, you know, AWESOME. Check them out. They're super cool.) and dropped off our recycling which was threatening to take over the garage.

Mike worked in the bathroom and managed to get all the new drywall hung on Saturday. He started mudding and taping yesterday.

We had a family birthday party for Mike Sunday evening, which was very nice. I made a gluten-free chocolate cake from a mix I'd received in my newcomer box from last month's celiac support group meeting (not all meetings are going to send me home with something, but it's been really nice!) and it was really good. I also bought Mike a fruit tart from Weggies that was definitely NOT gluten-free. And I've been working hard to keep my fingers out of it all day.

Mike and I also had a couple of talks about the church situation. A small (very small) Sunday school has been started by Mike's sister. It is basically her reading the kids a Bible story and doing a quick talk about what it means. Then they play until service is over.

Mike feels that this is sufficient for our kid's needs and I agree, for the most part. I wish that there was more to offer them, but they don't really need more at this point (Lucy is pretty much oblivious anyways).

However, I remain very unhappy at the church. I feel that the only reason this Sunday school was started was because the other families left the church. I also feel that there has been little done to ensure that families with small children feel welcome in this church from the beginning. This church is primarily made up of older people, whose children have already left home. That's great, but it means that I have little in common with the other women. And my kids aren't meeting other kids of their faith, other than their cousins, who we are currently getting together with multiple times a week.

I reiterated my unhappiness with the church to Mike. He said he feels that I am reneging on our deal by continuing in my desire to leave the church even though there is a children's ministry available.

I asked him how long I needed to stay at that church while not liking it. How much time did I have to attend the church unhappily and not finding fulfillment before we would be able to leave the church and try to find another place that was fulfilling and satisfying for every member of the family?

He didn't have an answer.

So, on Sunday afternoon, I told him that I will no longer be attending that church. He is free to continue to go to the current church, (though I sincerely hope that he will start seeking out new places with me) and we can work out how the kid thing will go.

I feel as though the church and all its problems is affecting my relationship with God. And that's bad. I haven't been able to pay attention in quite a while. Part of that is the lack of sleep I deal with constantly. Part of that is the atmosphere of the current church.

In some ways, I hope that Mike decides to start searching with me. It feels as though we're divorcing over this church. And I know that isn't the case, but it feels completely foreign to even consider attending another church without him with me.

We've been living here and going to this church for four years. And I have been moderately to very unhappy with it for almost the whole time. The people don't have much (if anything) in common with me. If I say something, I always feel as though it's the "wrong" thing to say. Sarcasm is the devil's handiwork. Harry Potter is an abomination. Public school is the government trying to get their hands on your kids. Early intervention is the same thing.

Every time I opened my mouth, I felt like someone was about to jump on me for being "un-Christian".

I am hopeful that I will find a new church that is more in line with what I am looking for in a church.

And that search starts this coming Sunday.

34 years, 30 years, 4 years

Today is Mike's 34th birthday. He's taking it in his usual laid-back way. I had to interrogate him at length last night to determine where he wants to go for dinner tonight.

I am so incredibly lucky to have Mike as a husband. He's incredible with the girls; playing with them when he gets home, getting them dressed and changing diapers when needed. He's truly a partner in the parenting of the girls and that's awesome. He's also my best friend. When I'm having a bad day and need to talk, he's the one I call. When something goes well, he's the one I want to tell first.

Happy Birthday, sweet heart. I love you.

****
Our house also turned 30 years old this week. Mike's parents moved into this house 30 years ago on the 17th, two days before Mike turned 4.

Mike's mom was saying that the week that they moved in was one of the coldest on record.

****
In that same vein, today is the 4 year anniversary of Mike and I buying this house. We closed on it 4 years ago yesterday and then moved in 4 years ago today.

I remember going to lunch with Mike at Wendy's before we went to the closing. That marked the end of my All Wendy's Chili All The Time craving during my pregnancy with Emily. That was right around the time of the finger in the chili (UGH). I remember getting about 2 bites away from the bottom of my chili and I just didn't want any more.

Later that afternoon, we went to KMart to get some final things before the move and as we were heading to the checkout, I felt the first certain kick from Emily.

It's hard to believe we've been living here for 4 years.

And that means Emily will be 4 all too soon.

Seriously

I'm actually kind of embarrassed to post this picture.

That picture is all of the medicines Emily and Lucy are taking right now.

In no particular order they are:
- Zyrtec (both Em & Lucy)
- Rhinocort (Emily)
- Flovent inhaler (both)
- Prevacid (both)
- Singulair (Lucy)
- Tobrimycin (both)
- gummy vitamin (Emily)
- vitamin with fluoride (Lucy)
- Amoxicillin (Emily)
- Orapred (Emily)
- Omnicef (Lucy)
- Albuterol nebulizer solution (Emily)
- Pulmicort neb solution (both)
- Xopinex neb solution (Lucy)
- Tylenol (both)
- Motrin (both)

Obviously some of these are temporary measures for while the girls are sick. They currently have ear infections (both ears, both girls) and eye infections. Emily also raised the stakes Sunday night by developing a pretty decent case of croup to go along with everything else. We went to the pediatrician and got the Orapred yesterday afternoon.

Last night, we gave the girls their bed time nebs at 7-ish. At 11, Emily was coughing and starting with the croup stridor (that barky gaspy noise when she inhaled - ugh). I gave her two puffs of her albuterol inhaler, hoping that she'd settle down and be OK.

Not so much.

At 11:30, she was still coughing and doing the stridor thing, so I pulled her out of bed and gave her a neb. Well, after she puked all over herself and me. Awesome.

I also called the night nurse at the doctor's office. They told me I was doing OK with the treatments so far and if she needed another neb in the next 4 hours, she should be seen by a doctor.

Fine. The neb was finished, so we went back to bed.

And I was jolted awake at 1 am by the sounds of more coughing. And more stridor.

I got Em up and gave her another neb and got dressed to head to the hospital.

A more healthy child has never been seen by that hospital, I'm sure.

Between the albuterol neb and the cold air in the car on the way to the hospital, not to mention the sitting upright for 35 minutes, Emily was breathing completely normally when we got to the ED. She asked a million questions, agreed to let the nurse check her pulse ox with the little finger monitor thing, and I told the story of my awesome night with the coughing, puking kid 18 times.

We were pronounced heathly and sent home at 3 am. If we hadn't just started the Orapred, we would have been given another kind of oral steroid, but since she'd had Orapred that night, more wasn't necessary.

Mike was incredibly great through this whole thing. He stayed home with Lucy, had the presence of mind to email his boss at 1 am to say he wouldn't be in to work right away and then got up with Lucy at 6:45. He kept Lucy quiet and entertained while Em and I slept, without resorting to duct tape. I woke up at 9 and decided I was more or less ready to face the day.

I am incredibly frustrated about the health of my kids. It seems like they are ALWAYS sick. Lucy had 6 DAYS between antibiotic prescriptions. She finished a round of Augmentin on Feb 8 and then was put on the Omnicef on Feb 14.

It's getting to the point where I feel as though I must be doing something wrong for them to always be falling sick. I know that isn't the case, but when you spend nearly $6000* in one year on medical expenses, you start to feel like that. *That's for everyone in the family and includes the 18,000 trips I made to specialists last year.

I talked with Dr.Sara about this while I was there yesterday and she is not as concerned as I am. She agreed that they seem to be sick frequently, but also reminded me that they have asthma and that increases their chances of going into these types of episodes.

Lucky, lucky us.

I scheduled a consultation with Dr.Sara for April 1. We're going to sit down and talk through the winter season and the various sicknesses we encountered and see if there is a pattern, something that should be addressed further or something we (I) could be doing better to prevent this from continuing.

Because I am really tired of it. And it can't be any more fun for the girls to go through. I can only imagine how scary it is to feel like you can't breathe. Or to cough so much that you throw up. At the very least, you'd think their tummy muscles would hurt. My poor noodles.

Now I am going to spend the afternoon playing catch-up. I have a ton of laundry waiting for me and a kitchen that is in dire need of some love. And a feed reader that has 125 unread posts. And a bunch of unwatched episodes of West Wing Season 5. And no desire to heave my buns off the couch to go do anything.

Ok, here we go. 1, 2, 3 ... HEAVE!

Tree Skirts

We've had some sixty degree days here recently and that resulted in the melting of nearly all our snow.

Of course that leads to flooding and our backyard is almost completely submerged.
The water is starting to recede slightly, which brought about one of my favorite sights last night.

Skirts of ice around the trees.

This happened last year, too, and I thought it was so neat. I kept planning to go outside and take some pictures, but it never happened and then one day the tree skirts were gone.

So this year, I made a point to take my camera out to the backyard and take some pictures.
I can see all of this flooding from our bathroom window and every time I do, I think about the movie "A River Runs Through It". Normally we just have a small creek, and in the summer, it's just a couple mud puddles, but right now we totally have a river.

Farther down, not on our property, there is even whitewater. Exciting, I know.

The bridge we use to cross the creek is barely visible here. It's the thing in the middle of the picture with the green grass leading up to the ice. I'm sure if I had taken pictures yesterday, the bridge would have been completely submerged.
The high(er) land visible in the middle here is what Mike uses to gauge how flooded the back yard is. If that area is under water, the water is really high. It was covered yesterday.

Yay Ebay!

This weekend I hauled up three plastic totes filled with Emily and Lucy's 0-3 month clothes. I went through all the wee little onesies and weeded out the bad and the stained from the sellable.

And then I sat my buns down on my couch and started listing stuff on Ebay.

I have 21 items up for auction and am so far scheduled to make $15. I know that isn't a lot, but it's a big deal to me. I'm super excited.

I have a gigantic bag of stuff to donate to Goodwill and I've even managed to remember to write down everything that I am donating so next year, come tax time, I can write it all off. Yay!

My auctions end on Sunday and I am pretty sure I'll have to go back through more stuff to satisfy this new addiction to selling cute clothes on Ebay.

Sweet Gluten-y Goodness

I had a Whopper yesterday.

Worth every symptom. Hands down.

I have been trying, when the opportunity (or craving) presents itself, to eat a formerly enjoyable gluten-filled item so that I can sort of say goodbye to that food forever. Wow. That sounds really melodramatic when I write it down. That's not at all my intent.

My intent is to savor some of the foods that I know I will miss (or have been missing) one last time. I think that making the intentional slip-ups now will prevent me from having a major gluten-filled meltdown later. But that's just a theory.

Anyways, I had a Whopper yesterday.

And I enjoyed every bite. I used every slow eating and savor your food tip I have ever heard. I took a bite and consciously paid attention to the taste, the feel of the bun in mouth, the tang of the ketchup and mustard (a Whopper is the ONLY time that mustard is an acceptable hamburger condiment) and the heat of the burger. I set the burger down in between bites and chewed thoroughly. That was probably the hardest part. I was really hungry and the temptation to gulp it all down as fast as I could was hard to resist.

And, honestly, the symptoms I experienced from that dose of gluten were not that bad. I didn't have any pain or nausea. That's not to say that I'm going to go start making a habit of eating Whoppers at every opportunity. More that, for some reason, that didn't bother me as much as it might other times.

Tonight I made chili and gluten-free cornbread. The cornbread was SUPER good. I was so pleased with how it came out. And Mike, his sister and brother-in-law also thought it was good. That's saying a lot: when a gluten eater likes the gluten-free alternative. Now that I think about it, I don't think I'd go so far as to say that they liked it. They said it was pretty good for gluten-free cornbread.

Better

I am feeling less ledge-hangy this week.

I go through this frequently, and especially when lots of things don't go exactly as I've planned them. I know, I need to chill the heck out. And I am working on it.

Getting the girls into their new room and setting up the playroom helped, but also added to my stress because then I had all that much more work to do.

The playroom was almost immediately overrun with toys. I had done nothing with the closets in each room, which tend to be a dumping ground for me. All the pictures in the rooms needed to be moved around and there was a bunch of stuff that needed to be rehomed after all the shuffling was over.

I did most of that this morning.

My mom came and got Lucy for her swimming lesson at 8 and Courtney came and picked Emily up for preschool at 845. Once they were gone, I started in on the closets. I pulled everything out, bagged up a bunch of stuff to be donated to the preschool, our church and to St Pauly Mission; tossed a bunch of things that were in need of tossing and moved all of Lucy's clothes over to the closet in her new room.

And then I moved on to Lucy's closet in her old room. And did the same thing in there. I have a bunch of crib-related things that need to get boxed up and stored downstairs until we decide if Lucy is The Last Baby.

Once the closets were in better shape I worked on moving the pictures around so that Lucy's birth record and name print were in her room on her side of the room and Emily's stuff is on her side.

I also worked on the mountain of laundry downstairs and am nearly down with all the washing. I have a fair amount of folding yet to do, but that just means I get to watch some West Wing episodes.

All of this organizing has made me feel much more relaxed about the state of the house. I need to do the same thing in the kitchen. My new cupboard is still empty and I really need to get some stuff in there. I'm hoping we'll be able to go microwave shopping soon. With my dad here, it won't be this weekend. One project at a time, I guess.

Touchdown!

We moved the girls into their new room on Saturday and settled them in for their nap.

And the giggling started almost as soon as I closed the door.

Eventually, we moved Emily into the playroom (where we set up her old bed for this exact reason) and both girls went immediately to sleep.

Saturday night at bedtime was the same thing. Lots of giggling, lots of getting out of bed, not much sleeping.

I moved Emily back into the playroom and put her back in her room when I was on my way to bed.

Sunday for nap we had still more of the same.

BUT, Sunday evening Emily fell asleep in her room with Lucy. And both girls slept until almost 9 am this morning!

Emily voluntarily moved to the playroom this afternoon for nap. I think Lucy is too awake and too chatty for Em to fall asleep during the day.

But again, they both fell asleep at bed time without too much trouble. Mike and I had to go in there a couple times and remind them that they should settle down, but we're clearly making progress.

I went with Mike's mom yesterday to Target and bought the bedding I wanted. I put the quilts on tonight and they look super cute. Mike and I worked on organizing the playroom a little more tonight. I need to figure out what to do with the girls' hampers. There isn't much room in their room for both hampers and I don't want to mix their laundry together (the sock sorting would be the death of me) nor do I want to put it in with our laundry (It's silly, but I do a load of whites, a load of colors, a load of darks, a load of towels, and a load for each kid each week. It works for me.) Right now the solution is a pile of dirty clothes on the floor and that's just not going to cut it. Lucy WILL start wandering around with Emily's dirty underwear and that's just ... no good. I'll probably just wedge them into the room somewhere and live with it.

I also need to work on combining the two closets into one. Both closets tend to be a catch-all for the things I don't want to deal with and that just isn't going to work in this case. I'll figure it out eventually.

Mike had a productive Saturday, working on the bathroom. He completed the demolition, with the exception of removing the linoleum from the floor. My dad will arrive from Michigan this week and hopefully construction will begin in earnest. It's so exciting!

I'll post pictures of the new rooms when I get every thing just so. Hopefully later this week.