Darby just turned 2. We can't believe how big he has gotten and how far he has come.
We had his well baby check today and I'll give you the run down...
Weight- 22.4 lbs - 3rd percentile
Height- somewhere between 32 and 34 inches. He's really horribly difficult to measure. But the doctor thinks he's around 10-25th percentile for height.
Yep. Our son is a peanut. Which seems strange, because when we compare him to the other kids at his therapy center, he seems big! But when you have a bunch of kids, all with their own medical issues, in one room... normal gets thrown out the window.
Here are some other things that have been going on or we've been up to... list style:
-Darby has been doing very well walking, while holding our hands. It really started about 3-4 weeks ago when Jason came home and decided he was going to focus on helping darby to walk. I'm glad he did, because its been amazing. He really understands that he holds our hands to walk... when Darby decides to be stubborn, and refuses to walk, he takes his hands away and holds them to his chest. By then he is usually still standing and leaning back on our legs. He's so stubborn, that its almost comical.
almost.
-we are going to be purchasing a Kaye walker. google it if you want to see what it looks like. he tried one out yesterday. screamed bloody murder, and yet did a fantastic job. you have to fight him and hold his hands down to the handles, but his actual steps look fantastic. he even bends his knees correctly. you just have to kick him in heels to make him walk when he doesn't want to.
-the more i try to describe my life to you, the more ridiculous it sounds.
-we did a craft fair last month. it turned out to be more fun than i expected and decently successful. i mostly enjoyed just being with jason for two days straight, without the darbster. we are going to be doing another fair next weekend, and a boutique fair the weekend after. We might add a 3rd one in, but if not, then i'll focus on online orders and work for the rest of the holiday season.
-darb has figured out how to open the cabinets in the kitchen and reek havoc. We need more baby proofing supplies.
-jason is still working hard. lots of work to do. then his grad classes. then the christmas concerts that he's producing. its amazing that we find time to sleep.... oh wait....
-i think we are going to celebrate darby's birthday tonight... go out and get some cupcakes, and take darby to build a bear for a new teddy bear :o)
-we're going to be adding another therapy for darby. its going to be called 'a pairing'. what its going to be is just another therapy session with one of his therapists (most likely a child development therapist) and its going to be done with another child and therapist. the 4 of them will be together and do a 'mock group' (play, snack, craft). this will put us at 11 hrs of therapy a week.
-darby's 'receptive' language is doing awesome. basically, he understands a whole lot of what you say to him. he still isn't speaking or babbling... he doesn't really have any words. He has a couple sounds. But if you tell him to come and eat, he pops that paci out and crawls over to you. If you tell him to put the toy away in the basket, he does it. If you tell him to put his socks and shoes on, he adorably places them on top of his feet :) because thats pretty hard to do still.
-because california is having budget issues, we've been advised that some of our benefits for darbys therapy might be affected. thankfully, darby is mostly under insurance. the biggest problem that we might face is that we're going to have to pay the copays for darby's therapies w/o hope of reimbursement :( so far we've been paid back... but they said after september, they wouldn't pay. now that a budget has been passed, we have no idea whats going to happen. we're going to keep our receipts and hope that the state will still pay. thankfully its a federal law that they have to pay our copays... but now with the state crisis, I dont know what will happen. we still have a cushion from last year's spare change party :o) and that has been amazingly helpful. but we'll do whatever we need to do to keep darby in his therapy and pray that the Lord will provide!
-we've finally got all the paperwork submitted for the initial medi-cal wavier meeting. i'm sure there is going to be a LOT more.
-i'm going to go take a nap :) while darby takes his. I'm sure that at some point you are supposed to stop 'napping while the baby is napping', but some days I just have to do it.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Lately
What have we been doing lately? A LOT.
I can't believe its been so long since I've posted. I don't think I could adequately catch you up to all that we've been up to. I can't even remember what we did last weekend, let alone last month... and as i sit here, able to write, with a semi clean living room, I find that the words are no where to be found!
sigh...
how about i'll be back later?
promise!
I can't believe its been so long since I've posted. I don't think I could adequately catch you up to all that we've been up to. I can't even remember what we did last weekend, let alone last month... and as i sit here, able to write, with a semi clean living room, I find that the words are no where to be found!
sigh...
how about i'll be back later?
promise!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Starting Line Jitters
We're about to start the Medi-Cal process. I'm nervous. I am feeling better about the process as a whole, because I have a fuzzy view of how it all works now... but i'm also nervous that we'll get denied. If we get denied, its might mean some tough things in the future...
So how this works.
Medi-Cal (its called medicaid everywhere else but california, go figure) is basically a medical insurance for underprivileged families. It is primarily income based. The rules are insanely strict. You can't have $2,000 to your name... including: cars, savings, checking accounts... anything that you own yourself. Jason and I both have a car, so BAM! We don't qualify. They don't look at the fact they are small compact things, or the bills we have to pay on a monthly basis... its an assumption that if you have $2,000 dollars in assests and your emergency savings account, then you can pay for your insurance yourself.
Okay fine, well we don't want the insurance, we want the durable medical item coverage... we don't need them to cover a hospital stay, we want them to cover a dynavox and possibly a wheelchair/walker thing in the future.
There is one other way to qualify for Medi-Cal. You have to have a 'diagnosis' and be medically handicapped 'enough'. Darby's neurologist firmly believes that Darby has Cerebral Palsy. That would be his diagnosis. But now its up to us to provide a board of developmental peditricians with Darby's medical documents and evaluations that state that he is in fact disabled enough to be in need of medical items. This has me nervous. Its just so hard to show people darby's problems. I have mom's, all the time, asking me "well, he looks normal, so whats wrong with him?". I know. He looks normal. He looks adorable. I never thought his adorable-ness would cause me problems (well maybe when he's 17 yrs old, because lets face it, who doesn't fall in love with a brunette with blue eyes? yikes).
Darby's regional center worker has been very helpful in getting me the info, and yet a little unsettling because she seems pretty skeptical that he's going to get it. fantastic.
I asked her on the phone the other day to be real with me and to tell me what i'm supposed to do if we don't end up qualifying? she answered, "fund-raise?" Sweet. A few pancake breakfasts, sees candy bars, and a couple car washes later, this will be helpful.
The Plan-
-Get darby's medical records from ucla faxed to me and then emailed to regional center.
-Get darby's eval and report done for the dynavox asap.
-Send the eval to Darby's neurologist and see if she is willing to write a letter to be added to the paperwork to reinforce the communication and overall delay medically.
-Send over some of his last therapy reports... why not? maybe they will read them.
-Continue with the paperwork process for the dynavox. It will just have to be on hold until we hear a final word about medi-cal. But i'd like everything else to get done, so we can get it as fast as possible.
-Pray. Pray. Pray.
If we get accepted? Awesome! Darby will be able to get anything he ever needs medically paid for, for the rest of his life. We can get the wheelchair/walker thing in a couple months, and not worry about how that is going to be paid for, along with the dynavox. Our insurance will do its thing and pay most of it, and then medi-cal will cover the rest.
If we get denied? I have no idea. Sees chocolate bar anyone? ha... you laugh now, but i'm serious.
Speaking of cars... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also a bit worried about that... i'm not sure what exact model his physical therapist has in mind for a walker... but I own a saturn. a very small saturn.
that being said... if any of you out there have a minivan or suv that you've always wanted to give us, but maybe were hesitant because you weren't sure we'd like it. we would ;0)
just sayin'...
So how this works.
Medi-Cal (its called medicaid everywhere else but california, go figure) is basically a medical insurance for underprivileged families. It is primarily income based. The rules are insanely strict. You can't have $2,000 to your name... including: cars, savings, checking accounts... anything that you own yourself. Jason and I both have a car, so BAM! We don't qualify. They don't look at the fact they are small compact things, or the bills we have to pay on a monthly basis... its an assumption that if you have $2,000 dollars in assests and your emergency savings account, then you can pay for your insurance yourself.
Okay fine, well we don't want the insurance, we want the durable medical item coverage... we don't need them to cover a hospital stay, we want them to cover a dynavox and possibly a wheelchair/walker thing in the future.
There is one other way to qualify for Medi-Cal. You have to have a 'diagnosis' and be medically handicapped 'enough'. Darby's neurologist firmly believes that Darby has Cerebral Palsy. That would be his diagnosis. But now its up to us to provide a board of developmental peditricians with Darby's medical documents and evaluations that state that he is in fact disabled enough to be in need of medical items. This has me nervous. Its just so hard to show people darby's problems. I have mom's, all the time, asking me "well, he looks normal, so whats wrong with him?". I know. He looks normal. He looks adorable. I never thought his adorable-ness would cause me problems (well maybe when he's 17 yrs old, because lets face it, who doesn't fall in love with a brunette with blue eyes? yikes).
Darby's regional center worker has been very helpful in getting me the info, and yet a little unsettling because she seems pretty skeptical that he's going to get it. fantastic.
I asked her on the phone the other day to be real with me and to tell me what i'm supposed to do if we don't end up qualifying? she answered, "fund-raise?" Sweet. A few pancake breakfasts, sees candy bars, and a couple car washes later, this will be helpful.
The Plan-
-Get darby's medical records from ucla faxed to me and then emailed to regional center.
-Get darby's eval and report done for the dynavox asap.
-Send the eval to Darby's neurologist and see if she is willing to write a letter to be added to the paperwork to reinforce the communication and overall delay medically.
-Send over some of his last therapy reports... why not? maybe they will read them.
-Continue with the paperwork process for the dynavox. It will just have to be on hold until we hear a final word about medi-cal. But i'd like everything else to get done, so we can get it as fast as possible.
-Pray. Pray. Pray.
If we get accepted? Awesome! Darby will be able to get anything he ever needs medically paid for, for the rest of his life. We can get the wheelchair/walker thing in a couple months, and not worry about how that is going to be paid for, along with the dynavox. Our insurance will do its thing and pay most of it, and then medi-cal will cover the rest.
If we get denied? I have no idea. Sees chocolate bar anyone? ha... you laugh now, but i'm serious.
Speaking of cars... I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also a bit worried about that... i'm not sure what exact model his physical therapist has in mind for a walker... but I own a saturn. a very small saturn.
that being said... if any of you out there have a minivan or suv that you've always wanted to give us, but maybe were hesitant because you weren't sure we'd like it. we would ;0)
just sayin'...
Friday, August 20, 2010
Dyna-Awesome
So this week we have started on the long journey of acquiring a Dynavox for Darby. What is a Dynavox? It is an AAC (augmentative and alternative communication) device that will help darby to be able to communicate with those around him. It looks like a giant ipad, very thick- very durable.
The one on the left is the one we want. Its bigger and heavier, but allows the buttons and options to be displayed on a larger screen.
This is a better picture of the display... (ps, we are actually asking for the green one, not pink)
Pictures will be displayed like buttons and Darby will be able to press the one that he wants... for example- there will be a picture of a cup of juice, a granola bar, a cracker, or a ball, all on one screen. Darby can press the item that he wants, it will talk for him and say "juice", and I can retrieve a new juice for him to drink.
This machine is pretty incredible. It is actually a working PC, and so its able to hold a lot of info as well as do a lot of neat things. My favorite feature is going to be the ability to personalize the object pictures. Darby does occasionally get the idea of a graphic picture actually meaning a literal object, but I like the idea of having my face on there or a picture of his penguin plush or mickey mouse, in order to help him to respond quicker in knowing what each button is an option for. Make sense?
Why does Darby need this? Well, the poor child isn't talking. He doesn't verbally communicate. He knows about 3 signs in sign language, and is starting to take on some more, but its very slow going. Darby can make sounds and he can cry... but he isn't babbling or making consonant sounds. He is cognitively aware enough that he is getting frustrated by the fact he can't tell us what he wants. His speech therapist is hopeful that this is really going to help him develop his communication skills.
We are starting the paperwork now. I'm pretty sure our insurance is only going to cover about 75% of the cost, and so we are apply for medi-cal to cover the rest. But you know, its government stuff, so the websites make no sense, and i'm sure the process is going to be miserable. its just the way it goes with the government. in fact, i'm signing up for a digital fax machine right now because the paper pushing has already started!
You can check out this link to a youtube video that shows Selema Gomez actually using a Dynavox...
www.dynavoxtech.com the video is on the right hand side.
Well I should be off now... talk to you all again soon :o)
This is a better picture of the display... (ps, we are actually asking for the green one, not pink)
This machine is pretty incredible. It is actually a working PC, and so its able to hold a lot of info as well as do a lot of neat things. My favorite feature is going to be the ability to personalize the object pictures. Darby does occasionally get the idea of a graphic picture actually meaning a literal object, but I like the idea of having my face on there or a picture of his penguin plush or mickey mouse, in order to help him to respond quicker in knowing what each button is an option for. Make sense?
Why does Darby need this? Well, the poor child isn't talking. He doesn't verbally communicate. He knows about 3 signs in sign language, and is starting to take on some more, but its very slow going. Darby can make sounds and he can cry... but he isn't babbling or making consonant sounds. He is cognitively aware enough that he is getting frustrated by the fact he can't tell us what he wants. His speech therapist is hopeful that this is really going to help him develop his communication skills.
We are starting the paperwork now. I'm pretty sure our insurance is only going to cover about 75% of the cost, and so we are apply for medi-cal to cover the rest. But you know, its government stuff, so the websites make no sense, and i'm sure the process is going to be miserable. its just the way it goes with the government. in fact, i'm signing up for a digital fax machine right now because the paper pushing has already started!
You can check out this link to a youtube video that shows Selema Gomez actually using a Dynavox...
www.dynavoxtech.com the video is on the right hand side.
Well I should be off now... talk to you all again soon :o)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
A Song Swap
I've been married for 4 years today :o) I had been planning on writing this post for a while now. Ever since I heard this song on the radio, and it made me think of Jason, I've wanted to tell him about it.
Jason, being the sweet guy that he is, wrote to me this morning and HE had a song in mind that reminded him of me. Apparently, we're very musical people... if it was obvious before. Here is the song I had in mind for him. We've swapped songs :o) Happy anniversary Jason!
I’ve been a walking heartache
I’ve made a mess of me
The person that I’ve been lately
Ain’t who I wanna be
But you stay here right beside me
Watch as the storm goes through
And I need you
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you
On my own I’m only
Half of what I could be
I can’t do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I pray we never undo
Love you honey :0)
Jason, being the sweet guy that he is, wrote to me this morning and HE had a song in mind that reminded him of me. Apparently, we're very musical people... if it was obvious before. Here is the song I had in mind for him. We've swapped songs :o) Happy anniversary Jason!
I’ve been a walking heartache
I’ve made a mess of me
The person that I’ve been lately
Ain’t who I wanna be
But you stay here right beside me
Watch as the storm goes through
And I need you
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you
On my own I’m only
Half of what I could be
I can’t do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I pray we never undo
Love you honey :0)
Monday, July 19, 2010
Crazy July
So I should have updated you sooner about our crazy lives, but things just got crazier and busier, and then I didn't know where to start... kind of like now.
So June. Busy month, busy summer. Here is some stuff we've been doing...
During the summer, at our church, our music pastor is gone on vacation. He's super busy all of May, going on tours with music groups, and then is gone doing his own stuff for June and July. He comes back sometime in August, and the music program starts again. We used to have a Music Teacher at the school (connected to the church) and he would always fill in when Dr. Plew (music pastor) would be gone. He moved away a couple years ago and since then just some other musically talented people would step in during the summers to do music. This summer, the church decided that they wanted some more consistency and wanted the summer music to be lead mostly by one guy... Jason. Yay! He had a great time doing music this summer. He has pretty much done 3 out of the 4 sundays a month, every month this summer. He has planned all the music himself and I'm very proud of him :o) So that keeps us busy... Jason has to be home almost every sunday this summer, so I've gone to San Diego to see family often on my own. But Darb is a trooper and actually enjoys the car rides with me.
Next. We live in apartments that the college owns. The way it works is that they used to be dorms but the enrollment had been down the last 3-4 years and so they didn't need this off campus rooms. Its been great being able to live here. They said we'd get a new lease every May and be told if they will be needing the dorms back or not. This May came and went... our apartment manager and his family moved away to do some more schooling... we moved to the apartment next door to ours since its sooo much bigger and we really liked it. About mid June, we realized a couple things... #1, we didn't have our new lease yet, #2 enrollment was rumored to be WAY up at the college, #3 the computer guys were having meetings about our dorms and hooking up wireless... THIS all made us think... oh crap, we might need to move. Sure enough, the next day we got the letter. I'm kind of glad we got cued in the day before by an anonymous source that something might be happening... I can only imagine the shock of finding out we had to move, and in like a month. We were able to start processing a little better. We are definitely bummed. We had JUST moved to this apartment, and we love it. The carpet is new and there is lots of room for darby to crawl around. Our electric bills have been scary cheap, even with running the a/c all the time... its just a great apartment :o)
We started the search for a new place. We had never really searched this hard before, and we didn't enjoy it one bit. Either did darby (he got to the point where he'd cry when we stopped the car, knowing we were touring different apartments!). We did a lot of research, we'd find a place that we liked, and we'd scout it out at all times of the day... we're pretty glad we did that because our top place definitely was shady at night and on the weekend... we're pretty sure we saw a couple drug deals going down...
Last, but not least, we decided to go ahead and look across the street at the apartments we started our lives together at. They had a 2 bdrm, 2 bath, that included most utilities, and fit our budget perfectly. The cherries on top were: we got to keep cable tv for free, pool!, friends that live next door, it was in a dark cave like corner of the building, and we get to PAINT! So... we're pretty excited. We also get a patio area, and Jason is excited about that. We have to be out of our current apartment by the 1st of August. So we'll be moving that weekend. Jason just brought 50 boxes home this weekend, so we have work to do. We are not moving far enough to rent a truck, but not close enough to just do a 'laundry basket' move, so we'll do boxes and then kindly ask for help moving!
Beside those big things, we've done little things:
-Had darby's first 'take off my poopy diaper in the crib during my nap' experience.
-Braden turned 5 and Breanna turned 3!
-Del Mar Fair. Chocolate covered bacon. Fried Avocados. Yum (on the latter).
-Darby is eating normal food- crackers, cheese, beans... thats been nice
-Still sewing, sewing, sewing.
-Looking at paint for the new place
-Looking for a few new pieces of furniture
-Canceled junior blind therapy, adding a 3rd hr a week of Child development, possibly adding a 2nd hr of speech, and a possible mommy/me group with his speech therapist.
-Visit the neuro surgeon. He wants an MRI to check some things out. That will require sedation and recovery, with a follow up appt in the afternoon... not to mention the referrals to get it :o)
-Darb had an eye dr. appt.
-Darb has a VEEG on friday. I'm doing it alone, and it should be interesting, to say the least.
-Throwing a baby shower at the end of the month for JUDAH!
-Going on vacation, 2 days after we move. DLand here I come.
-Packing and organizing and sorting things before we move. Making a pile for a rummage sale and sorting through darb's stuff that he's grown out of, so I can take those to San Diego, for my mom to store (yay!).
-Darby weened off Zonagran! He's totally off it now and is only taking keppra.
So that's whats happening in the Hendrickson household. Keeping busy and having fun :o)
I better be off... Darb is hungry.
So June. Busy month, busy summer. Here is some stuff we've been doing...
During the summer, at our church, our music pastor is gone on vacation. He's super busy all of May, going on tours with music groups, and then is gone doing his own stuff for June and July. He comes back sometime in August, and the music program starts again. We used to have a Music Teacher at the school (connected to the church) and he would always fill in when Dr. Plew (music pastor) would be gone. He moved away a couple years ago and since then just some other musically talented people would step in during the summers to do music. This summer, the church decided that they wanted some more consistency and wanted the summer music to be lead mostly by one guy... Jason. Yay! He had a great time doing music this summer. He has pretty much done 3 out of the 4 sundays a month, every month this summer. He has planned all the music himself and I'm very proud of him :o) So that keeps us busy... Jason has to be home almost every sunday this summer, so I've gone to San Diego to see family often on my own. But Darb is a trooper and actually enjoys the car rides with me.
Next. We live in apartments that the college owns. The way it works is that they used to be dorms but the enrollment had been down the last 3-4 years and so they didn't need this off campus rooms. Its been great being able to live here. They said we'd get a new lease every May and be told if they will be needing the dorms back or not. This May came and went... our apartment manager and his family moved away to do some more schooling... we moved to the apartment next door to ours since its sooo much bigger and we really liked it. About mid June, we realized a couple things... #1, we didn't have our new lease yet, #2 enrollment was rumored to be WAY up at the college, #3 the computer guys were having meetings about our dorms and hooking up wireless... THIS all made us think... oh crap, we might need to move. Sure enough, the next day we got the letter. I'm kind of glad we got cued in the day before by an anonymous source that something might be happening... I can only imagine the shock of finding out we had to move, and in like a month. We were able to start processing a little better. We are definitely bummed. We had JUST moved to this apartment, and we love it. The carpet is new and there is lots of room for darby to crawl around. Our electric bills have been scary cheap, even with running the a/c all the time... its just a great apartment :o)
We started the search for a new place. We had never really searched this hard before, and we didn't enjoy it one bit. Either did darby (he got to the point where he'd cry when we stopped the car, knowing we were touring different apartments!). We did a lot of research, we'd find a place that we liked, and we'd scout it out at all times of the day... we're pretty glad we did that because our top place definitely was shady at night and on the weekend... we're pretty sure we saw a couple drug deals going down...
Last, but not least, we decided to go ahead and look across the street at the apartments we started our lives together at. They had a 2 bdrm, 2 bath, that included most utilities, and fit our budget perfectly. The cherries on top were: we got to keep cable tv for free, pool!, friends that live next door, it was in a dark cave like corner of the building, and we get to PAINT! So... we're pretty excited. We also get a patio area, and Jason is excited about that. We have to be out of our current apartment by the 1st of August. So we'll be moving that weekend. Jason just brought 50 boxes home this weekend, so we have work to do. We are not moving far enough to rent a truck, but not close enough to just do a 'laundry basket' move, so we'll do boxes and then kindly ask for help moving!
Beside those big things, we've done little things:
-Had darby's first 'take off my poopy diaper in the crib during my nap' experience.
-Braden turned 5 and Breanna turned 3!
-Del Mar Fair. Chocolate covered bacon. Fried Avocados. Yum (on the latter).
-Darby is eating normal food- crackers, cheese, beans... thats been nice
-Still sewing, sewing, sewing.
-Looking at paint for the new place
-Looking for a few new pieces of furniture
-Canceled junior blind therapy, adding a 3rd hr a week of Child development, possibly adding a 2nd hr of speech, and a possible mommy/me group with his speech therapist.
-Visit the neuro surgeon. He wants an MRI to check some things out. That will require sedation and recovery, with a follow up appt in the afternoon... not to mention the referrals to get it :o)
-Darb had an eye dr. appt.
-Darb has a VEEG on friday. I'm doing it alone, and it should be interesting, to say the least.
-Throwing a baby shower at the end of the month for JUDAH!
-Going on vacation, 2 days after we move. DLand here I come.
-Packing and organizing and sorting things before we move. Making a pile for a rummage sale and sorting through darb's stuff that he's grown out of, so I can take those to San Diego, for my mom to store (yay!).
-Darby weened off Zonagran! He's totally off it now and is only taking keppra.
So that's whats happening in the Hendrickson household. Keeping busy and having fun :o)
I better be off... Darb is hungry.
Monday, July 12, 2010
A Quick Laugh
If you ever need a quick laugh, you should go here...
http://catalogliving.tumblr.com/
I want to cry because I'm laughing so hard.
It will help your sanity. I promise.
http://catalogliving.tumblr.com/
I want to cry because I'm laughing so hard.
It will help your sanity. I promise.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Neuro Update
Hey friends,
A lot of you know that we had a neurologist appointment this week and it went very well! I was pretty nervous about it... without going into a ton of detail, i pretty much fought tooth and nail for this appointment. Darby had gotten lost in the UCLA system and it had almost been A YEAR since he was seen last. His neurologist wanted to see him every 3-4 months... so this amount of time was ridiculous. I really stuck my neck out there and threw out some 'tempered, yet angry' emails and finally got this appointment. So for some reason, i felt a lot of pressure for it to be a good one.
I went alone that day, which was not my first choice. But it was necessary... Jason had huge projects at work he needed to be at and my mom has started working part time and her time is much more precious! I figured this appointment wasn't big enough to call in the cavalry for. (we have a neurosurgery appt coming soon, and i'm saving the request card for them... i'm getting jason to come with me!)
We didn't know what to expect but we knew we just wanted to walk out of there with new scripts for his medications and maybe a couple fears relieved about darby's development... and thats what we got! She encouraged me to keep fighting the system... keep making phone calls and stern ones! She said Darby did get lost in the system and told me I did a good job getting this appointment. She was able to give me new scripts for his meds. He is still good on doses, since he's only gained like 1-2 pounds in the last year. Our next appointment we are hoping to bump up the Keppra because of weight gain! The things we get excited about now are rather silly :o)
He's going to have another EEG soon, totally routine. Its been a year since his last and she wants to see whats going on in there. We'll get to do a 8 hour out-patient one (yay? ;oP )
We talked about whether he would be able to come on Zonagran anytime soon... and she decided to do it now. I don't think she liked how he still hadn't gained weight in so long (a side effect of the medication) and felt that since we are doing an EEG soon, we could ween him now and see what the EEG has to say about it. In her opinion, which of course is just an opinion, Darby's infantile spasms were caused by the hydrocephalus in his brain and the real need for a shunt. He responded SO well to medication for it and has done so well since the shunt was placed. She feels that since its all under control, that weening should be safe. Of course, if something bad happens, we'll take care of it. You can't say something will NEVER happen again, but she feels his chances are pretty slim at this point. Does this all make sense? Yeah, its late at night when i'm writing this... my apologies.
She was happy to see his physical tone looking good... not super happy that he had started making words and then stopped and hasn't spoken much since. We're going to start weening his medication soon, but Jason and I both feel like we want the appointment for the EEG in place before we start. Our faith in the 'system' as it were, is very lacking. The last 6 months has been SOOOOO rough on me, regarding referrals and appointments. In a lot of ways, I believe when I see it. I can't trust any person or system anymore. I can't get anyone to listen to me or even believe me some days... and it gives me relief to realize that God does have the control. Sure, I still have to fight hard for the best things for my son. But when i'm in tears and feel completely out of control, i can take comfort knowing that i'm just that... out of control. God's going to move things when He wants to and He's good... so He'll do whats best and whats perfect for Darby. He loves darb too, more than me.
If you are wondering what you could pray for... I'd say these things:
-patience and persistence for me and darby's healthcare system- we are working so so so hard to still try to get darby's therapies under insurance. Dozens of angry phone calls later ( i honestly try to be the nicest angry person EVER. its such an interesting place to be in... a Christian witness of a Christ like attitude and yet a persistent mom who loves her son and needs to go to bat for him constantly?), and we got the referrals today! Only problem is that they are all completely a mess... an absolute mess. They make no sense... and its obvious that our physican system has NO IDEA of what's going on. Sigh... I'm very thankful for helpful people these days. One of those people is Cheryl... the manager at Progressive Steps. She is now going to bat for me since the doctor's office thinks I'm insane or something and doesn't believe me when i tell them anything. Her authority as the provider of the therapy care is hopefully going to get some things moving!? Lets pray it works! I'm also trying to get a routine for the UCLA system established as well. Once you get a referral to get an appointment, it takes 2-3 months to be seen... well, when the doctor wants to seen your son that often, you need your referrals practically back to back. I tried explaining this to my doctor's office yesterday. Once again, they don't believe me and are really confused about what I want. I'm literally 2 bad phone calls away from the funny farm picking me up... you think i'm kidding? just ask jason... he sees me after these phone calls... its not pretty.
-darby medication weening- of course we're nervous about this! all you hear is that its SOOOO hard to get the infantile spasms under control. now they are, and we are so scared to have them flare up again and possibly have to go through the process of having to control them again. But we are also really excited to get him off a medication! (FYI- darby is on Keppra still and will be on this medication for the rest of his life. we're okay with this.) He might actually be hungry! I'm hoping for a little more pudge on him :o)
-darby's future health- there are diseases that are still lingering out there that he could develop. I pray that he stays healthy and keeps growing well. We were also reminded by his neurologist that as darby gets older, the chances of shunt issues (replacement, complications, infections, whatever) are going to increase. So we can't get complacent... we need to be watchful of his fevers, headaches, nausea... all symptoms of shunt issues.
-darby's development- he's crawling! yay! he's also been doing a LOT of voice inflections! lots of yelling and testing out his voice box. Not angry necessarily, but he is realizing he has a voice and he likes it. He likes to 'complain' to everyone he can :o) that boy is drama. Now that he is so consistently crawling so well, his PT has started to focus much harder on his standing and hopefully his walking. By his next birthday we are hoping he will be standing on his own, possibly even taking his hands away from the couch or our hands. We are not expecting him to walk by then, since its only 4-5 months from now! But we are hopeful that he will really be progressing well.
Lastly, if you are reading this and you pray for Darby, thank you. There is no way Jason and I could ever thank everyone who has ever prayed for us and supported us. Thank you thank you thank you. We really truly appreciate it. We're beyond humbled by it. It has worked, always does work, and we always want it!
I hope this all made sense... i kind of took one of my sleep aids (got to love melatonin!) before I wrote this and i'm not entirely sure I'm making sense right now. Grammatically, I'm SURE i'm not. So... don't judge.
:o)
A lot of you know that we had a neurologist appointment this week and it went very well! I was pretty nervous about it... without going into a ton of detail, i pretty much fought tooth and nail for this appointment. Darby had gotten lost in the UCLA system and it had almost been A YEAR since he was seen last. His neurologist wanted to see him every 3-4 months... so this amount of time was ridiculous. I really stuck my neck out there and threw out some 'tempered, yet angry' emails and finally got this appointment. So for some reason, i felt a lot of pressure for it to be a good one.
I went alone that day, which was not my first choice. But it was necessary... Jason had huge projects at work he needed to be at and my mom has started working part time and her time is much more precious! I figured this appointment wasn't big enough to call in the cavalry for. (we have a neurosurgery appt coming soon, and i'm saving the request card for them... i'm getting jason to come with me!)
We didn't know what to expect but we knew we just wanted to walk out of there with new scripts for his medications and maybe a couple fears relieved about darby's development... and thats what we got! She encouraged me to keep fighting the system... keep making phone calls and stern ones! She said Darby did get lost in the system and told me I did a good job getting this appointment. She was able to give me new scripts for his meds. He is still good on doses, since he's only gained like 1-2 pounds in the last year. Our next appointment we are hoping to bump up the Keppra because of weight gain! The things we get excited about now are rather silly :o)
He's going to have another EEG soon, totally routine. Its been a year since his last and she wants to see whats going on in there. We'll get to do a 8 hour out-patient one (yay? ;oP )
We talked about whether he would be able to come on Zonagran anytime soon... and she decided to do it now. I don't think she liked how he still hadn't gained weight in so long (a side effect of the medication) and felt that since we are doing an EEG soon, we could ween him now and see what the EEG has to say about it. In her opinion, which of course is just an opinion, Darby's infantile spasms were caused by the hydrocephalus in his brain and the real need for a shunt. He responded SO well to medication for it and has done so well since the shunt was placed. She feels that since its all under control, that weening should be safe. Of course, if something bad happens, we'll take care of it. You can't say something will NEVER happen again, but she feels his chances are pretty slim at this point. Does this all make sense? Yeah, its late at night when i'm writing this... my apologies.
She was happy to see his physical tone looking good... not super happy that he had started making words and then stopped and hasn't spoken much since. We're going to start weening his medication soon, but Jason and I both feel like we want the appointment for the EEG in place before we start. Our faith in the 'system' as it were, is very lacking. The last 6 months has been SOOOOO rough on me, regarding referrals and appointments. In a lot of ways, I believe when I see it. I can't trust any person or system anymore. I can't get anyone to listen to me or even believe me some days... and it gives me relief to realize that God does have the control. Sure, I still have to fight hard for the best things for my son. But when i'm in tears and feel completely out of control, i can take comfort knowing that i'm just that... out of control. God's going to move things when He wants to and He's good... so He'll do whats best and whats perfect for Darby. He loves darb too, more than me.
If you are wondering what you could pray for... I'd say these things:
-patience and persistence for me and darby's healthcare system- we are working so so so hard to still try to get darby's therapies under insurance. Dozens of angry phone calls later ( i honestly try to be the nicest angry person EVER. its such an interesting place to be in... a Christian witness of a Christ like attitude and yet a persistent mom who loves her son and needs to go to bat for him constantly?), and we got the referrals today! Only problem is that they are all completely a mess... an absolute mess. They make no sense... and its obvious that our physican system has NO IDEA of what's going on. Sigh... I'm very thankful for helpful people these days. One of those people is Cheryl... the manager at Progressive Steps. She is now going to bat for me since the doctor's office thinks I'm insane or something and doesn't believe me when i tell them anything. Her authority as the provider of the therapy care is hopefully going to get some things moving!? Lets pray it works! I'm also trying to get a routine for the UCLA system established as well. Once you get a referral to get an appointment, it takes 2-3 months to be seen... well, when the doctor wants to seen your son that often, you need your referrals practically back to back. I tried explaining this to my doctor's office yesterday. Once again, they don't believe me and are really confused about what I want. I'm literally 2 bad phone calls away from the funny farm picking me up... you think i'm kidding? just ask jason... he sees me after these phone calls... its not pretty.
-darby medication weening- of course we're nervous about this! all you hear is that its SOOOO hard to get the infantile spasms under control. now they are, and we are so scared to have them flare up again and possibly have to go through the process of having to control them again. But we are also really excited to get him off a medication! (FYI- darby is on Keppra still and will be on this medication for the rest of his life. we're okay with this.) He might actually be hungry! I'm hoping for a little more pudge on him :o)
-darby's future health- there are diseases that are still lingering out there that he could develop. I pray that he stays healthy and keeps growing well. We were also reminded by his neurologist that as darby gets older, the chances of shunt issues (replacement, complications, infections, whatever) are going to increase. So we can't get complacent... we need to be watchful of his fevers, headaches, nausea... all symptoms of shunt issues.
-darby's development- he's crawling! yay! he's also been doing a LOT of voice inflections! lots of yelling and testing out his voice box. Not angry necessarily, but he is realizing he has a voice and he likes it. He likes to 'complain' to everyone he can :o) that boy is drama. Now that he is so consistently crawling so well, his PT has started to focus much harder on his standing and hopefully his walking. By his next birthday we are hoping he will be standing on his own, possibly even taking his hands away from the couch or our hands. We are not expecting him to walk by then, since its only 4-5 months from now! But we are hopeful that he will really be progressing well.
Lastly, if you are reading this and you pray for Darby, thank you. There is no way Jason and I could ever thank everyone who has ever prayed for us and supported us. Thank you thank you thank you. We really truly appreciate it. We're beyond humbled by it. It has worked, always does work, and we always want it!
I hope this all made sense... i kind of took one of my sleep aids (got to love melatonin!) before I wrote this and i'm not entirely sure I'm making sense right now. Grammatically, I'm SURE i'm not. So... don't judge.
:o)
Monday, May 24, 2010
To Do This Week
Okay guys, here is my to do list. I decided to write it out in here so you guys (my 4 faithful readers) can keep me accountable to it! Its just for this week...
1. Finish my large custom order- 33 5" inch clutches... I'll keep tabs of how many I have completely done (aka. ready to be shipped-done) Currently finished... 0
2. Make sweet potato baby food.
3. Make beets baby food.
4. Hang hook shelf in bedroom.
5. Decide on a decal for darby's room... and ORDER IT!
6. Browse decals for living room w/Jason... and maybe even decide on one!
7. Ship item to a friend.
8. Update flickr site with NEW FABRICS! yay!
9. Hem, interface and attach facings on my skirt for sewing class.
10. Design a custom clutches option item for my shop.
11. Get Darby's blood drawn :0(
12. Pay bills.
13. Decide on a new order of labels.
13 items. That sounds good for right now!
1. Finish my large custom order- 33 5" inch clutches... I'll keep tabs of how many I have completely done (aka. ready to be shipped-done) Currently finished... 0
2. Make sweet potato baby food.
3. Make beets baby food.
4. Hang hook shelf in bedroom.
5. Decide on a decal for darby's room... and ORDER IT!
6. Browse decals for living room w/Jason... and maybe even decide on one!
7. Ship item to a friend.
8. Update flickr site with NEW FABRICS! yay!
9. Hem, interface and attach facings on my skirt for sewing class.
10. Design a custom clutches option item for my shop.
11. Get Darby's blood drawn :0(
12. Pay bills.
13. Decide on a new order of labels.
13 items. That sounds good for right now!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Manic Monday
Is manic really even the right word? How about HOLY COW Monday?
It all started with my clutch purse being in the "Etsy Finds" daily email...
Of course I had NO idea it was going to be featured in the email today... not until I got 6 orders in my shop in one hour did I start going crazy, searching the internet for some explanation. I knew I had to be featured somewhere. I had to be. It couldn't just be random that I had no sales for a week, and then 6 on Monday morning.
Thats when I decided to check my Etsy daily email, that last spot I hadn't checked... and there I was. ON THE FRONT ROW! I started jumping for joy and screaming... you can ask my mom, we were skyping and she heard me.
Then the orders started pouring in... and the emails... I'm just going to list the things that I'm going to be making...
For sure, paid for orders...
29 clutches
3 aprons
1 knitting needle roll
2 belted totes
Almost sure, still in progress of communication orders...
62 clutches
1 belted tote
1 eye glasses holder
THEN... there is this craft fair I'd like to do. Its in June. Its pretty crazy of me to even want to do it... I started working really hard last week to start building stock for it. So i'd be prepared... then today happened. And all my stock is gone. HA!
I'm not complaining. In fact, its just crazy awesome. I can't stop laughing at how crazy awesome it is. Jason is also excited. He might be mostly excited because he has been watching my paypal account get just a little bit fatter. That's always nice. I figure, the Lord was just making a way for me to be able to pay for the craft fair I am wanting to do!
Now all that to say... I'll see you sometime in June, since I'll be chained to my sewing machine and ironing board till then.
:o)
It all started with my clutch purse being in the "Etsy Finds" daily email...
Of course I had NO idea it was going to be featured in the email today... not until I got 6 orders in my shop in one hour did I start going crazy, searching the internet for some explanation. I knew I had to be featured somewhere. I had to be. It couldn't just be random that I had no sales for a week, and then 6 on Monday morning.
Thats when I decided to check my Etsy daily email, that last spot I hadn't checked... and there I was. ON THE FRONT ROW! I started jumping for joy and screaming... you can ask my mom, we were skyping and she heard me.
Then the orders started pouring in... and the emails... I'm just going to list the things that I'm going to be making...
For sure, paid for orders...
29 clutches
3 aprons
1 knitting needle roll
2 belted totes
Almost sure, still in progress of communication orders...
62 clutches
1 belted tote
1 eye glasses holder
THEN... there is this craft fair I'd like to do. Its in June. Its pretty crazy of me to even want to do it... I started working really hard last week to start building stock for it. So i'd be prepared... then today happened. And all my stock is gone. HA!
I'm not complaining. In fact, its just crazy awesome. I can't stop laughing at how crazy awesome it is. Jason is also excited. He might be mostly excited because he has been watching my paypal account get just a little bit fatter. That's always nice. I figure, the Lord was just making a way for me to be able to pay for the craft fair I am wanting to do!
Now all that to say... I'll see you sometime in June, since I'll be chained to my sewing machine and ironing board till then.
:o)
Friday, April 9, 2010
New to the Shop - 7" clasp clutch
I'm happy to announce I have a new clutch that I've added to my shop. This is similar to the 5" one I added a couple weeks ago. But since its larger (7"), you can use it for even more wonderful things! I keep looking at them and thinking that they'd make great makeup bags... but I can't bear the idea of them getting dirty. :oP
Here they are!
I'm a little hesitant to post these next ones... unfortunately my camera skills were sorely lacking... but I will post them for now because I just can't wait until tomorrow when I have to redo them!
Here they are!
I'm a little hesitant to post these next ones... unfortunately my camera skills were sorely lacking... but I will post them for now because I just can't wait until tomorrow when I have to redo them!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Some Pictures
Here are some pictures that My mother-in-law, Pam, took while she was out here for a little visit. I regretfully do not take as many pictures as I should anymore! I'm thankful she got some good ones and I thought I'd share them with you. Darby is just getting too insanely big!
Darby doing some standing! You have to make some sort of incentive for him to do it at the couch, so I let him have my phone...
I love this... look at his hand. Its like he caught the bubbles we were blowing!
I love this... look at his hand. Its like he caught the bubbles we were blowing!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Family & Striped Birdies
My dad was in town this last weekend and so my brother joined us and we had a nice little family weekend :o) Here are some pics of that... it was great to spend time together. I can't believe how well Darby did with company and he just fell in love with Uncle Brad.
Then, I also wanted to show you my latest grocery tote. I love this one! Jason was around when I was photographing it and he said it's his favorite too. It's SO hard not to keep it! Maybe I'll get a little extra fabric this weekend and make myself one to actually keep!
Then, I also wanted to show you my latest grocery tote. I love this one! Jason was around when I was photographing it and he said it's his favorite too. It's SO hard not to keep it! Maybe I'll get a little extra fabric this weekend and make myself one to actually keep!
Saturday, March 20, 2010
You Know You're A Quilter If...
I got this email from Etsy today. It made Jason and I laugh... because its so true. I'd have to say it expands to anyone who sews, not just 'quilts'. And Jason's favorite is #3, mine is #5...
You know you are a quilter if...
1. There's more fabric in the house than food.
2. "Fat Quarters" are not the heaviest part of your body.
3. Your ironing board is always set up, but you never iron clothes.
4. You think of your job as an interruption on your quilting time.
5. You pet fabric.
6. People are always picking threads off of you.
7. You can measure a scant 1/4 by eye.
8. "Featherweight" doesn't mean boxer.
You know you are a quilter if...
1. There's more fabric in the house than food.
2. "Fat Quarters" are not the heaviest part of your body.
3. Your ironing board is always set up, but you never iron clothes.
4. You think of your job as an interruption on your quilting time.
5. You pet fabric.
6. People are always picking threads off of you.
7. You can measure a scant 1/4 by eye.
8. "Featherweight" doesn't mean boxer.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Fabulous Friday
Here are a couple reasons today is such a great day so far:
1. Its friday.
2. OT cancelled so I dont have to hurry and clean before she gets here.
3. I have no plans for the rest of the day.
4. I'm going to the Fabric district with my college roomie tomorrow :o) its going to be a great time to catch up.
5. My favorite pattern maker had a sale and I got 5 new patterns. SO excited to try them out.
6. My sales this week have been fabulous and I'm over the moon about it. I can't believe how the Lord has blessed my business so far.
7. Cupcake tree is having a sale and we're stopping by there tonight after/before the SCCS carnival.
8. My favorite little Nora is getting a cute Easter gift from me. I love it. Keara lets me shower her with girlie things. Its my only outlet.
9. I have an uneaten snickers on my sewing table.
10. We're taking Darby to Disneyland on Sunday for his first Dland trip. SO EXCITED.
11. I'm actually feeling motivated to clean up the house and be a blessing to my family :o)
12. I'm going to go shopping tonight, sans baby, for an outfit. Its amazing how thats a planned activity nowadays!
I hope you all have a happy friday as well!
(here are some recent pictures of darby to give you an extra smile!)
1. Its friday.
2. OT cancelled so I dont have to hurry and clean before she gets here.
3. I have no plans for the rest of the day.
4. I'm going to the Fabric district with my college roomie tomorrow :o) its going to be a great time to catch up.
5. My favorite pattern maker had a sale and I got 5 new patterns. SO excited to try them out.
6. My sales this week have been fabulous and I'm over the moon about it. I can't believe how the Lord has blessed my business so far.
7. Cupcake tree is having a sale and we're stopping by there tonight after/before the SCCS carnival.
8. My favorite little Nora is getting a cute Easter gift from me. I love it. Keara lets me shower her with girlie things. Its my only outlet.
9. I have an uneaten snickers on my sewing table.
10. We're taking Darby to Disneyland on Sunday for his first Dland trip. SO EXCITED.
11. I'm actually feeling motivated to clean up the house and be a blessing to my family :o)
12. I'm going to go shopping tonight, sans baby, for an outfit. Its amazing how thats a planned activity nowadays!
I hope you all have a happy friday as well!
(here are some recent pictures of darby to give you an extra smile!)
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Alice's Cupcakes
Just stopping in to show you what I made last night.
Like it? I do!
oooooh and check these bad boys out...
I now have a label!
I'm having way to much fun :o) I'll be back soon, promise!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Lena Lime Studio
Hello blog world! I'm so sorry I've been gone for so long. I've been furiously sewing and starting a business! Kind of crazy huh? It's been an absolute blast and I wanted to share it with you guys.
I've always loved creating and crafting. I've always loved sewing. I never really knew what to do and I always wanted to learn. I took a quilting class with my mom when I was in high school and it was the best thing we could have ever done. I loved every minute of it. I'm often ranting about how this generation doesn't know how to do anything domestic, and we have to take classes from older women who have preserved the craft of crafting. My mom knows a lot about sewing because she grew up with a mother who knew EVERYTHING about sewing. So she has been a great reference for me in my ventures, teaching me how to read a pattern, fabric shopping with me, and being an all around amazing supporter. There are days that I want to give up and she's always encouraging me to keep going :o) thanks mom! I'm really going to need more of that when I get into sewing clothes!
I discovered Etsy.com which is a great website that sells handmade crafts through vendors. I decided to open a shop and I've been honing my craft and the items I like to make since then! I've enjoyed making totes and purses, crayon rolls, aprons, but now I'm adding some "Green" products like grocery bags and soon to be lunch sacks.
Some people have wondered about the name of my business "Lena Lime Studio". Well that was a labor of love to figure out! I just couldn't think of what I wanted to name my business, but I came back to the idea of what inspired me. What makes me want to sew? I would say it was my Grandma. She was a 50's housewife. She would sew dress shirts for her boyfriend when she was in high school. She knitted barbie doll clothes for me when I was a girl. She was so crafty :o) I think I got that gene from her. Deep down, I've always wanted to be a 50's housewife.
My Grandma's name was Arleen, Lena is short for Arleen... its the name I secretly want to name a future baby girl, but we'll see if THAT ever happens. HA! Also, if you knew anything about my Grandma Arleen, you'd know she LOVED lime green. Absolutely loved anything lime green: shirts, hair ties, jewelry, leggings... yep, all of it. So there it is... Lena Lime :o)
You can see on the right side of this page, some of my items. You can click on them and go directly to the shop if you want to check it out. My future hope is to be able to go to farmers markets and craft shows as I am able. I'm SO excited!
So stop by and let me know what you think! I do completely custom orders as well, just email me or send me conversation on etsy. I love to do gift items and will do wrapping and shipping directly to the recipient! I have a good amount of business cards now if you're interested in sharing them with your friends. Or if you have any ideas please share! Thanks for letting me share this with you!
www.lenalimestudio.etsy.com
I've always loved creating and crafting. I've always loved sewing. I never really knew what to do and I always wanted to learn. I took a quilting class with my mom when I was in high school and it was the best thing we could have ever done. I loved every minute of it. I'm often ranting about how this generation doesn't know how to do anything domestic, and we have to take classes from older women who have preserved the craft of crafting. My mom knows a lot about sewing because she grew up with a mother who knew EVERYTHING about sewing. So she has been a great reference for me in my ventures, teaching me how to read a pattern, fabric shopping with me, and being an all around amazing supporter. There are days that I want to give up and she's always encouraging me to keep going :o) thanks mom! I'm really going to need more of that when I get into sewing clothes!
My Grandma's name was Arleen, Lena is short for Arleen... its the name I secretly want to name a future baby girl, but we'll see if THAT ever happens. HA! Also, if you knew anything about my Grandma Arleen, you'd know she LOVED lime green. Absolutely loved anything lime green: shirts, hair ties, jewelry, leggings... yep, all of it. So there it is... Lena Lime :o)
So stop by and let me know what you think! I do completely custom orders as well, just email me or send me conversation on etsy. I love to do gift items and will do wrapping and shipping directly to the recipient! I have a good amount of business cards now if you're interested in sharing them with your friends. Or if you have any ideas please share! Thanks for letting me share this with you!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
For Braden and Bree
These are in the mail right now, on their way to my niece and nephew. They don't check my blog, so I figure it's legit to post them. I sure liked the way they turned out :o) They were valentines presents, but horribly horribly late. Hope they like them Jenn!
Thomas the Train and Disney Princesses... what else would be as fun?
Thomas the Train and Disney Princesses... what else would be as fun?
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Mom of the Year
Today I deserve the 'mom of the year' award. Now, if you were in my family, you'd understand that only the most deserving mothers get this award... only mothers who do something so completely stupid or outrageous that their action is deserving recognition by mothers everywhere.
It seems like every week I earn this reward, but last night's was incredibly memorable. Each time I remember it, I start to laugh so hard I cry.
Background: I haven't been getting sleep. #1 reason, I have a great book series that I've been reading. #2 the olympics are on and jason is staying up way too late and so i am as well. I dont sleep that well alone in the bed. Last night was a horribly late night... think like 2am is when I might have started to fall asleep...
3am comes around, Darby is crying. I reluctantly get up, after attempting to get Jason to get up instead. I go make a bottle of milk, and I start to walk to him room... I figured, "heck, he can hold the bottle himself". And I gave the bottle to darby in his crib, walked back to my room, and went back to bed. He stopped crying and started eating. Jason woke up and checked on him, he saw the bottle floating around above the crib and me back in bed, already asleep again. He figured, if it was okay with me, it was okay in general.
In the morning, there was an empty bottle and a happy baby in the crib.
I can't believe I did that. But I was so so so tired.
... I still can't believe I did that. Hilarious.
It seems like every week I earn this reward, but last night's was incredibly memorable. Each time I remember it, I start to laugh so hard I cry.
Background: I haven't been getting sleep. #1 reason, I have a great book series that I've been reading. #2 the olympics are on and jason is staying up way too late and so i am as well. I dont sleep that well alone in the bed. Last night was a horribly late night... think like 2am is when I might have started to fall asleep...
3am comes around, Darby is crying. I reluctantly get up, after attempting to get Jason to get up instead. I go make a bottle of milk, and I start to walk to him room... I figured, "heck, he can hold the bottle himself". And I gave the bottle to darby in his crib, walked back to my room, and went back to bed. He stopped crying and started eating. Jason woke up and checked on him, he saw the bottle floating around above the crib and me back in bed, already asleep again. He figured, if it was okay with me, it was okay in general.
In the morning, there was an empty bottle and a happy baby in the crib.
I can't believe I did that. But I was so so so tired.
... I still can't believe I did that. Hilarious.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Hey friends!
I'm blogging today to all my friends who have babies and all my friends who know people who have babies :o) I dont know if you all have ever heard of diapers.com, but you need to. Diapers.com does everything from diapers to formula, to toys and snacks, to just about everything. Their prices can be different than babies r us and other stores... in a lot of cases, things like formula are cheaper because you can get a case of 4 cans, and it knocks the price down. The diapers that we like to get are the same price online as they are in the store.
But one of the coolest things is the shipping. When you spend $50, the shipping is free. That is definitely doable when you buy formula (unfortunately), but the best best best part is that delivery is THE NEXT DAY! If you order before 5pm, you get your order the next day.
For example. I bought a case of diapers and a cover for our carseat before we went on a flight... the order was put in at 4:30pm, it was over $50, and I had my diapers and the cover by noon the next day. Pretty much awesome. Especially when its just a hassle to get to the store.
I also did this when we travelled. I didnt want to carry on a whole bunch of jarred baby food on an airplane, so I made an order and had it sent to our destination. It worked out fabulously.
So thats all, I just wanted to share that info with you. If you are curious and want to try it out, enter DANA2198, and you'll get $10 off your first order.
Hope you enjoy!
I'm blogging today to all my friends who have babies and all my friends who know people who have babies :o) I dont know if you all have ever heard of diapers.com, but you need to. Diapers.com does everything from diapers to formula, to toys and snacks, to just about everything. Their prices can be different than babies r us and other stores... in a lot of cases, things like formula are cheaper because you can get a case of 4 cans, and it knocks the price down. The diapers that we like to get are the same price online as they are in the store.
But one of the coolest things is the shipping. When you spend $50, the shipping is free. That is definitely doable when you buy formula (unfortunately), but the best best best part is that delivery is THE NEXT DAY! If you order before 5pm, you get your order the next day.
For example. I bought a case of diapers and a cover for our carseat before we went on a flight... the order was put in at 4:30pm, it was over $50, and I had my diapers and the cover by noon the next day. Pretty much awesome. Especially when its just a hassle to get to the store.
I also did this when we travelled. I didnt want to carry on a whole bunch of jarred baby food on an airplane, so I made an order and had it sent to our destination. It worked out fabulously.
So thats all, I just wanted to share that info with you. If you are curious and want to try it out, enter DANA2198, and you'll get $10 off your first order.
Hope you enjoy!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Darby the Nut
My child is a nut. He really is. I just had to tell you all about the new thing he is doing... Darby is in love with his crib.
Ever since he was born, I always lived by the rule that I'd wait until he is crying or whining until I get him up from his bed. It always worked well. As an infant, he'd coo for a while and then let me know he was ready to get up. As he got older, I was glad to live like this, because he might wake up from a nap, about an hour into it, and he'd play for a minute or two, then he'd fall back asleep and sleep for another hour! Which was great...
Then last week came... and he woke up at 8am, I heard a toy rattle, and closed my eyes again because I was sure he was going to want me in a couple minutes anyways... 9:30am rolls around and I wake up again, and look in the monitor, he's just playing... i shook my head and smiled and closed my eyes because surely he was going to want up any moment and I'd wake up and go get him... 10:45am rolls around and I woke up and jumped out of bed! I was so confused/worried, but I went in to Darby's room and he was just hanging out, having fun. I couldn't believe it.
This happened again the next day, but this time I got up at 9:30am.
This keeps happening... if we didn't 'have' to get up early to do therapy, who knows how long I would sleep while he played! If I didn't have things in his crib that made noise, who knows when I'd wake up!
As I write this, he has just fallen asleep. I put him down at 2pm, for his nap. It is now 3pm and he just fell asleep. He was playing and giggling this last hour... what a nut. I've told his therapists about this and they just say, "thats good independant play!". So I dont feel as bad.
All that being said... here are Darby's stats, as he had his 15 month well baby check this week.
Weight- 20.2 lbs - 3rd-5th percentile :o/
Height- 31.25 inches - 50th percentile
Head Size - 44 cm - smaller than usual, but i can't comment much about it since he has a shunt
Developmentally-
He just started being able to stand at the couch this week, unassisted. It lasts for less than a minute, but its a huge milestone for him. His PT is over the moon about how well his standing is doing. Just this morning he was doing some pulling up to the couch with his OT. He has also been doing some crawling actions with his therapists... they support most of him on his hands and knees and he shows some actions of putting his hands forward and his knees forward. Its great :o) of course he doesn't do any of this for his parents, but he will eventually.
I have more to post soon, but I better be going to do whatever I can do while the baby sleeps!
Ever since he was born, I always lived by the rule that I'd wait until he is crying or whining until I get him up from his bed. It always worked well. As an infant, he'd coo for a while and then let me know he was ready to get up. As he got older, I was glad to live like this, because he might wake up from a nap, about an hour into it, and he'd play for a minute or two, then he'd fall back asleep and sleep for another hour! Which was great...
Then last week came... and he woke up at 8am, I heard a toy rattle, and closed my eyes again because I was sure he was going to want me in a couple minutes anyways... 9:30am rolls around and I wake up again, and look in the monitor, he's just playing... i shook my head and smiled and closed my eyes because surely he was going to want up any moment and I'd wake up and go get him... 10:45am rolls around and I woke up and jumped out of bed! I was so confused/worried, but I went in to Darby's room and he was just hanging out, having fun. I couldn't believe it.
This happened again the next day, but this time I got up at 9:30am.
This keeps happening... if we didn't 'have' to get up early to do therapy, who knows how long I would sleep while he played! If I didn't have things in his crib that made noise, who knows when I'd wake up!
As I write this, he has just fallen asleep. I put him down at 2pm, for his nap. It is now 3pm and he just fell asleep. He was playing and giggling this last hour... what a nut. I've told his therapists about this and they just say, "thats good independant play!". So I dont feel as bad.
All that being said... here are Darby's stats, as he had his 15 month well baby check this week.
Weight- 20.2 lbs - 3rd-5th percentile :o/
Height- 31.25 inches - 50th percentile
Head Size - 44 cm - smaller than usual, but i can't comment much about it since he has a shunt
Developmentally-
He just started being able to stand at the couch this week, unassisted. It lasts for less than a minute, but its a huge milestone for him. His PT is over the moon about how well his standing is doing. Just this morning he was doing some pulling up to the couch with his OT. He has also been doing some crawling actions with his therapists... they support most of him on his hands and knees and he shows some actions of putting his hands forward and his knees forward. Its great :o) of course he doesn't do any of this for his parents, but he will eventually.
I have more to post soon, but I better be going to do whatever I can do while the baby sleeps!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Giveaway Monday!
It's giveaway monday! And I'm listening to some Black Eyed Peas to get the day going :o)
This blog that I follow, www.thriftyandchicmom.com, does awesome giveaways on mondays. For the first time I'm participating in her LIVE giveaways. Basically you subscribe to her on twitter and rsvp for the party, then start tweeting during the alloted time. She then uses a number generator to pick numbers and then winners!
This is what I'm tweeting for today...
I'll let you know if I win :o)
This blog that I follow, www.thriftyandchicmom.com, does awesome giveaways on mondays. For the first time I'm participating in her LIVE giveaways. Basically you subscribe to her on twitter and rsvp for the party, then start tweeting during the alloted time. She then uses a number generator to pick numbers and then winners!
This is what I'm tweeting for today...
- $25 Buca di Beppo gift card
- School Years: A Family Keepsake of School Memories
- Andrea’s Beau retro bead green adjustable headband
- Boon Peep Wall-Mounted Mobile
- Boon Fli Dragonfly Mobile
- Britax Chaperone Infant Car Seat, Moonstone
I'll let you know if I win :o)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Baby Food
I've been making baby food ALL week! and due to some peaked interests, I am blogging about it. My first disclosure is to let you know that I'm NOT an expert. I'm just a mom who kind of likes to experiment with things that will be really good for my child. I've had success and I've had plenty of failure... but it makes me happy to be able to help anyone else succeed by learning from my failures!
Here is where we are at and what Darby's food needs to be- adjust as your child needs!-
Darby's eating is at a stage 2 in baby food... he is eating thicker food, but can't handle chunks. For his sensitivities, its better to have a thicker food than a thin sauce with chunks of noodle or chicken. So we puree everything, to death. But I try not to let it be too liquidity/stage 1 material. Also, Darby is almost 15 months!!! yikes! And while most children this age are eating table foods, he's not quite there. But we are trying to transition him as much as possible, despite his developmental difficulties. That being said, I try to season the food I am giving him, or give him stronger flavors. Its so much better for them to get a real taste of your cooking at a young age, so they won't be shocked when they are off baby food and on to table food (or so our OT tells us, and I'd have to agree). So don't be scared to give your baby bold flavors! (I've found that since Darb was little, he's always LOVED a bolder/real flavor, over a rice cereal or plain cereal bites. The kid wants some flavor!)
What you're going to need: Peeler, Crockpot, Food Processor, Ice Cube Trays ( I recommend using Kid Co.'s BPA free trays
, they have covers and stack wonderfully in the freezer. Also, I'm a fan of being BPA free). And some freezer bags!
All veggies I cook with are fresh and organic, unless otherwise noted.
Here are the specific foods. After each one is cooked to theirs specified 'doneness', stick it in the processor. If you are nervous or have a smaller sized processor, try smaller batches in it. I did this with stage 1 baby food, to insure that it was really pureed. Then pour the mix into the ice cube trays, and go on to the next batch. When they are completely frozen, transfer to a freezer bag, labeled with the food and the date. They only last about 3 months frozen.
To reheat, zap in a glass bowl or BPA free plastic bowl. Around 1 min, maybe more. Depends on the amount of water the food has. The more water, the less time needed. If the food got thick and isn't breaking down, then add some fluid... water, bmilk, formula,... we add whole milk because he's allowed to have that now.
Sweet Potato- Peel it, cut it into chunks that are the same size. It doesn't matter what size, but as long as they are uniform, they'll cook better. I like to make our chunks small because I'm lazy and I want the puree time to go as well as possible! If you're food processor is small, go with smaller chunks. I cook on high, for around 5 hours, stirring occasionally, and I added about half of a small water bottle worth of water at the beginning. They are done when they can mash really easily by a fork.
Butternut Squash- You can roast it, but really, it's kind of a lot of work. So I recommend the good old fashioned, peel and dice, once again. Follow the same instructions from sweet potatoes regarding the dicing. Crock pot it, high, 5ish hours, check for mashy-ness :o) The squash has given me a little grief in reheating. Its not as watery as other veggies, so it might need a splash of milk to thin it out.
Spinach and Kale- WASH IT like crazy. Make sure its very clean. This can get steamed, no prob. Steam it in a steamer or in a pot with a little steamer rack on the bottom. Its rather shocking how my entire giant pot can be FULL of kale and spinach and then cook down to being about 2 cups of greens. The kale proved to be tricky. We had trimmed stems off the spinach and kale, by we I mean my mom :0), and then once it was pureed, it still had weird strings of fibers from the kale. She picked a lot of it out, but couldn't get it all. We froze it in cubes anyways, and I've reheated it. You can see the little fibers still, but he doesn't have a problem with them! But I do need to add to this info that there are some nitrate issues associated with spinach... it really relates more to the handling of the cooked spinach. But I think I read something about not having babies under 7 months eating it... so google it if you are interested.
Pears- Peel and crock pot. They are SOOOO watery, that you probably wont need any extra water to thin them. In fact, they might get too thin for some older babies.
Chicken- Yes. Well. This one is still in the trial phase. What I did this last week was clean up some chicken breast, trim fat or veins, and then cut it up into chunks. I then seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder. I then added water to make it submerged in the crockpot. I set it to high heat for about 6 hours. When pureeing it, i had to add a bit of the cooking juices. But it really blended down well. My only problem has been reheating it. When reheating it, it comes out at a consistency that canned tuna comes out in. So I have to add a tablespoon or 2 of milk, and a good watery type veggie cube (like carrots) and I zap that and mix it really well. Darb has done a pretty good job at it so far. I'm not sure what I'll do different next time... maybe make it thinner before its frozen? We'll see.
Carrots- Peel, crockpot. Add a bit a of water, not a ton.... like a cup or 2. Stir every once in a while. Puree when tender. Carrots are nice because they have a good amount of water to them. Thats probably why you can juice them! They have a nice consistency.
I'm going to be trying my hand at peas and beans this week... I'll let you know how it goes!
Here is where we are at and what Darby's food needs to be- adjust as your child needs!-
Darby's eating is at a stage 2 in baby food... he is eating thicker food, but can't handle chunks. For his sensitivities, its better to have a thicker food than a thin sauce with chunks of noodle or chicken. So we puree everything, to death. But I try not to let it be too liquidity/stage 1 material. Also, Darby is almost 15 months!!! yikes! And while most children this age are eating table foods, he's not quite there. But we are trying to transition him as much as possible, despite his developmental difficulties. That being said, I try to season the food I am giving him, or give him stronger flavors. Its so much better for them to get a real taste of your cooking at a young age, so they won't be shocked when they are off baby food and on to table food (or so our OT tells us, and I'd have to agree). So don't be scared to give your baby bold flavors! (I've found that since Darb was little, he's always LOVED a bolder/real flavor, over a rice cereal or plain cereal bites. The kid wants some flavor!)
What you're going to need: Peeler, Crockpot, Food Processor, Ice Cube Trays ( I recommend using Kid Co.'s BPA free trays
, they have covers and stack wonderfully in the freezer. Also, I'm a fan of being BPA free). And some freezer bags!All veggies I cook with are fresh and organic, unless otherwise noted.
Here are the specific foods. After each one is cooked to theirs specified 'doneness', stick it in the processor. If you are nervous or have a smaller sized processor, try smaller batches in it. I did this with stage 1 baby food, to insure that it was really pureed. Then pour the mix into the ice cube trays, and go on to the next batch. When they are completely frozen, transfer to a freezer bag, labeled with the food and the date. They only last about 3 months frozen.
To reheat, zap in a glass bowl or BPA free plastic bowl. Around 1 min, maybe more. Depends on the amount of water the food has. The more water, the less time needed. If the food got thick and isn't breaking down, then add some fluid... water, bmilk, formula,... we add whole milk because he's allowed to have that now.
Sweet Potato- Peel it, cut it into chunks that are the same size. It doesn't matter what size, but as long as they are uniform, they'll cook better. I like to make our chunks small because I'm lazy and I want the puree time to go as well as possible! If you're food processor is small, go with smaller chunks. I cook on high, for around 5 hours, stirring occasionally, and I added about half of a small water bottle worth of water at the beginning. They are done when they can mash really easily by a fork.
Butternut Squash- You can roast it, but really, it's kind of a lot of work. So I recommend the good old fashioned, peel and dice, once again. Follow the same instructions from sweet potatoes regarding the dicing. Crock pot it, high, 5ish hours, check for mashy-ness :o) The squash has given me a little grief in reheating. Its not as watery as other veggies, so it might need a splash of milk to thin it out.
Spinach and Kale- WASH IT like crazy. Make sure its very clean. This can get steamed, no prob. Steam it in a steamer or in a pot with a little steamer rack on the bottom. Its rather shocking how my entire giant pot can be FULL of kale and spinach and then cook down to being about 2 cups of greens. The kale proved to be tricky. We had trimmed stems off the spinach and kale, by we I mean my mom :0), and then once it was pureed, it still had weird strings of fibers from the kale. She picked a lot of it out, but couldn't get it all. We froze it in cubes anyways, and I've reheated it. You can see the little fibers still, but he doesn't have a problem with them! But I do need to add to this info that there are some nitrate issues associated with spinach... it really relates more to the handling of the cooked spinach. But I think I read something about not having babies under 7 months eating it... so google it if you are interested.
Pears- Peel and crock pot. They are SOOOO watery, that you probably wont need any extra water to thin them. In fact, they might get too thin for some older babies.
Chicken- Yes. Well. This one is still in the trial phase. What I did this last week was clean up some chicken breast, trim fat or veins, and then cut it up into chunks. I then seasoned it with salt, pepper, garlic powder. I then added water to make it submerged in the crockpot. I set it to high heat for about 6 hours. When pureeing it, i had to add a bit of the cooking juices. But it really blended down well. My only problem has been reheating it. When reheating it, it comes out at a consistency that canned tuna comes out in. So I have to add a tablespoon or 2 of milk, and a good watery type veggie cube (like carrots) and I zap that and mix it really well. Darb has done a pretty good job at it so far. I'm not sure what I'll do different next time... maybe make it thinner before its frozen? We'll see.
Carrots- Peel, crockpot. Add a bit a of water, not a ton.... like a cup or 2. Stir every once in a while. Puree when tender. Carrots are nice because they have a good amount of water to them. Thats probably why you can juice them! They have a nice consistency.
I'm going to be trying my hand at peas and beans this week... I'll let you know how it goes!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
A Week In Review
Its been a crazy week and I have neglected to tell you all about it.
Last thursday night, I broke my foot. I'm not 100% sure how I did it. I was wearing sandals that really strapped by foot in, and had some lift to them. I was also in a hurry... I needed to run to the pharmacy to get Darb's prescription that I had been waiting for all week. So I jumped off the couch and handed Darb to Jason, proceeded to the door, stepped over some running shoes and a toy, and stepped down on my right foot on the outside of the foot and just collapsed. I don't know if I tripped and caught my foot on the shoes or if I naturally was an idiot and landed wrong. The world will never know. But I do know that it hurt tremendously and I immediately saw a pucker in my skin, which... I know enough to know that isn't good.
I iced it and compressed it immediately, also elevated it. The pain set in gradually. After an hour, we decided I just couldn't handle the pain anymore and probably wouldn't be able to sleep with it. So we went to urgent care. They took x-rays and let me know my 5th metatarsal was broken. Urgent Care, being as hokey and unreliable as ever, then scared me by saying I'd probably need surgery and a bolt. Then they let me go, but then reluctantly gave me crutches... it didn't make sense to me either why they'd be so hesitant to give me crutches, but I pushed for them and acted quite sweetly. I don't know how I could have survived last week without them!
So Jason took care of Darby last weekend, while I was on the mend. I did a lot of sitting. A LOT of sitting. Have you ever sat around so long that your butt actually starts to hurt? It was like that :oP But I was thankful for the help and the relaxing activities I got to participate in, like sewing, sleeping, and more sewing.
My wonderful mother came up for the week. She was able to take care of me and Darby while Jason was a work. Then really, she takes care of all three of us when jason is home :o) A Ton of fantastic friends and church friends came by all week, dropping off dinners! Jason says that they all volunteered to cook since they knew Jason was going to have to do the primary cooking :o) Either way, all the meals were fantastic and a huge blessing to us!
On the following thursday, one week later, I had my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. He said the fracture was near the base of the foot and it rarely needs surgery. He said its in a great place to start healing. He freed me to do whatever whenever I feel like i can. He said this type of break does take a long time to heal, like 8-12 weeks. But I can lose the crutches when I feel like I can, wear this boot thing, and start driving again when I feel like I could slam on the breaks if I needed to. Driving will probably take another couple weeks to be able to do, since it was my right foot. But I'm already up and walking! Its a slow go, but I'm up! I'm also probably on my feet a little too much now. I wasn't in any pain when I was on crutches, but now that I'm walking, the pain is a little more intense and constant. I keep it iced and elevated still when i can.
Today, being saturday, we went to Darby's first Music Class!!!! It was so much fun. We're doing it though the city, but its at a music academy, which is really cool. The teacher is super fun and there are 10 babies in the class! Can you imagine that many babies sitting together in a circle? Its hilarious and a lot of fun. Darby really seemed to like it. You could tell though when it was time for class to be over... all the babies, including darby were getting fussy and a bit tired. But we honestly had a lot of fun. I think Darb liked seeing the other babies, now that he's more aware of his surroundings. The best part was having Jason there too! It was a fabulous family activity! There were only 3 Dads there, including Jason. So he didn't feel like he was the only guy, but I felt proud to have my husband there to show off. We're looking forward to next Saturday's class!!!
I think thats about it. Since I had to do a lot of sitting this week I have been able to do work on the computer. I started to set up my Etsy shop, started working on the graphic design with a designer, did some sewing, and started perfecting my embroidery skills too. I did a LOT of surfing around on Etsy too. If you've never done it, i realllllllly think you should. I made a vow that if i can, I'd like to do more shopping from Etsy than from the store. By shopping Esty, you often find SUPER unique gifts and gadgets, and you know you're probably supporting another stay at home mom, or art student, or who knows who. It just feels good to do it. I know how great it feels to make a sale, and I like buying things from there and letting other people get that feeling too. When my site is done, I'll be posting it on here.
Okay, I need to get back to my football game :o) happy weekend everybody!
Last thursday night, I broke my foot. I'm not 100% sure how I did it. I was wearing sandals that really strapped by foot in, and had some lift to them. I was also in a hurry... I needed to run to the pharmacy to get Darb's prescription that I had been waiting for all week. So I jumped off the couch and handed Darb to Jason, proceeded to the door, stepped over some running shoes and a toy, and stepped down on my right foot on the outside of the foot and just collapsed. I don't know if I tripped and caught my foot on the shoes or if I naturally was an idiot and landed wrong. The world will never know. But I do know that it hurt tremendously and I immediately saw a pucker in my skin, which... I know enough to know that isn't good.
I iced it and compressed it immediately, also elevated it. The pain set in gradually. After an hour, we decided I just couldn't handle the pain anymore and probably wouldn't be able to sleep with it. So we went to urgent care. They took x-rays and let me know my 5th metatarsal was broken. Urgent Care, being as hokey and unreliable as ever, then scared me by saying I'd probably need surgery and a bolt. Then they let me go, but then reluctantly gave me crutches... it didn't make sense to me either why they'd be so hesitant to give me crutches, but I pushed for them and acted quite sweetly. I don't know how I could have survived last week without them!
So Jason took care of Darby last weekend, while I was on the mend. I did a lot of sitting. A LOT of sitting. Have you ever sat around so long that your butt actually starts to hurt? It was like that :oP But I was thankful for the help and the relaxing activities I got to participate in, like sewing, sleeping, and more sewing.
My wonderful mother came up for the week. She was able to take care of me and Darby while Jason was a work. Then really, she takes care of all three of us when jason is home :o) A Ton of fantastic friends and church friends came by all week, dropping off dinners! Jason says that they all volunteered to cook since they knew Jason was going to have to do the primary cooking :o) Either way, all the meals were fantastic and a huge blessing to us!
On the following thursday, one week later, I had my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon. He said the fracture was near the base of the foot and it rarely needs surgery. He said its in a great place to start healing. He freed me to do whatever whenever I feel like i can. He said this type of break does take a long time to heal, like 8-12 weeks. But I can lose the crutches when I feel like I can, wear this boot thing, and start driving again when I feel like I could slam on the breaks if I needed to. Driving will probably take another couple weeks to be able to do, since it was my right foot. But I'm already up and walking! Its a slow go, but I'm up! I'm also probably on my feet a little too much now. I wasn't in any pain when I was on crutches, but now that I'm walking, the pain is a little more intense and constant. I keep it iced and elevated still when i can.
Today, being saturday, we went to Darby's first Music Class!!!! It was so much fun. We're doing it though the city, but its at a music academy, which is really cool. The teacher is super fun and there are 10 babies in the class! Can you imagine that many babies sitting together in a circle? Its hilarious and a lot of fun. Darby really seemed to like it. You could tell though when it was time for class to be over... all the babies, including darby were getting fussy and a bit tired. But we honestly had a lot of fun. I think Darb liked seeing the other babies, now that he's more aware of his surroundings. The best part was having Jason there too! It was a fabulous family activity! There were only 3 Dads there, including Jason. So he didn't feel like he was the only guy, but I felt proud to have my husband there to show off. We're looking forward to next Saturday's class!!!
I think thats about it. Since I had to do a lot of sitting this week I have been able to do work on the computer. I started to set up my Etsy shop, started working on the graphic design with a designer, did some sewing, and started perfecting my embroidery skills too. I did a LOT of surfing around on Etsy too. If you've never done it, i realllllllly think you should. I made a vow that if i can, I'd like to do more shopping from Etsy than from the store. By shopping Esty, you often find SUPER unique gifts and gadgets, and you know you're probably supporting another stay at home mom, or art student, or who knows who. It just feels good to do it. I know how great it feels to make a sale, and I like buying things from there and letting other people get that feeling too. When my site is done, I'll be posting it on here.
Okay, I need to get back to my football game :o) happy weekend everybody!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Donate!
Hey friends!
I read about this donation program for St. Jude's, and I thought I'd share it with you all!
St. Jude's takes donated greeting cards and gives them a second life. The kids and volunteers get to work on them, removing the backs and putting new ones on. Then they sell them for profit for St. Jude's!
I think its an amazing cause and I'm excited to do it. I always hated throwing away those beautiful cards that we received, especially after knowing how much work it took to send them! This makes me feel a lot better and gets them out of my cluttered home!
(of course we are not talking about photo cards... just the good old greeting cards. And they DON'T have to just be Christmas! Birthday, get well, whatever are welcomed too!)
Here is the address if you are interested in reading more about it...
http://stjudesranch.org/help_card.php
And here is where you send them...
You can mail your donations to:
St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude's Street - Boulder City, NV 89005
I'm going to be sending a package, and if you'd like to just add to mine, I'd welcome it!
I read about this donation program for St. Jude's, and I thought I'd share it with you all!
St. Jude's takes donated greeting cards and gives them a second life. The kids and volunteers get to work on them, removing the backs and putting new ones on. Then they sell them for profit for St. Jude's!
I think its an amazing cause and I'm excited to do it. I always hated throwing away those beautiful cards that we received, especially after knowing how much work it took to send them! This makes me feel a lot better and gets them out of my cluttered home!
(of course we are not talking about photo cards... just the good old greeting cards. And they DON'T have to just be Christmas! Birthday, get well, whatever are welcomed too!)
Here is the address if you are interested in reading more about it...
http://stjudesranch.org/help_card.php
And here is where you send them...
You can mail your donations to:
St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude's Street - Boulder City, NV 89005
I'm going to be sending a package, and if you'd like to just add to mine, I'd welcome it!
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Couple Things...
Its been a while since I've blogged. Here is a couple things I've been thinking about...
1. The reason why there are over 30 college football bowl games and NFL playoffs in the span of one month is so you will feel so stuffed full of football that you will be sick and then be done with the season... until next season.
2. All that to say, I love the Chargers.
3. Only in the midwest do places have to say "Small Animal Hospital".
4. I feel like since Christmas is over, Winter is over too. Apparently that's not the case... but our 70 degree weather this week agrees with me.
1. The reason why there are over 30 college football bowl games and NFL playoffs in the span of one month is so you will feel so stuffed full of football that you will be sick and then be done with the season... until next season.
2. All that to say, I love the Chargers.
3. Only in the midwest do places have to say "Small Animal Hospital".
4. I feel like since Christmas is over, Winter is over too. Apparently that's not the case... but our 70 degree weather this week agrees with me.
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