Keeping in Touch

DD misses her friends in Virginia and we have not made too many here.

I decided that we could make cards and send them to her friends.  I looked through my stamps for some cute pictures and stamped the images onto some paper.  I placed them on her little table with crayons and told her to color.  She still needs work on her coloring skills. And then I gave her the card portion of paper and had her write her name.  I hope her friends enjoy receiving the cards as much as she did making them.

Christmas in July

Yes, I uttered that word!

I've begun to purchase and think about things for Christmas.  This year, we are not going to go crazy like we have in the past.  We still have toys in the packaging that we were too lazy to wrap still hiding in a closet.

I've actually only gotten a few things for DD.  She was with me as I was shopping for stuff for DS's first birthday.  After his birthday, I may start getting him stuff.  Since we are renting a place without a yard and have limited space, we are not going to get big items.  Also, we don't know if we are going to have to move next summer yet.

So far for DD, she is getting a  few Peppa the Pig items: Peppa the Pig car, Peppa the Pig family playset, Phineas and Ferb toys, and The Runaway Dinner book.   I did not order the Peppa the Pig items from the internet, they were actually at Toys R Us and were on sale.  The Phineas and Ferb toys were from the Disney store and they had a special of buying two play sets for $20.  I also got the Finding Nemo set for DS.  And The Runaway Dinner is DD's favorite book.  She loves to check it out whenever we go to the library.

Since, I mentioned DS birthday, I was not sure what to get him.  So far, we've gotten the following items, most of which happened to be on sale.  We got him the Little Tykes Play and Scoot Pirate Ship, a few Baby Einstein dvds, the Finding Nemo playset, and a Melissa and Doug Dinosaur Grasping Toy.

All except for the book were purchased in stores.  Turns out it is much cheaper to order online through Barnes and Noble than to have them ship the book to their stores.

Small Steps

Today is a new day.  A chance to change.

I need to take control of my health and wellness!  I bought some new shoes, I needed new shoes anyways, but I bought some new sneakers to use for working out.  We have a fitness room, I might as well use it.  I plan on using it after dinner time when DH is home.  He has access to the Y for free.  His command pays for a membership for all the military.  If I could go to the Y, then I would not have to way for him to get home.  On nice days, I will take the kids out in the stroller.  There is a nice path that I see a lot of people using.  When the snow falls, we can go to the mall or something.

Part of the wellness is also my dental health.  I went to the dentist and while I don't have cavities, I do have gum disease.  My gums were inflamed.  And when I went to my cleaning, I had a sore on my gums that was not dental related.  I was having a bit of a flare.  I have to go back in a few weeks and if my gums still are not better, I will be on antibiotics.  Dental health is very important as it has effects on other parts of the body.  I need to be vigilant about flossing.  I am so lazy about that.  Last night, I flossed and rinsed.  It's a start.

I've also started doing smoothies.  They have fruits and vegetables in it.  DH drinks them for breakfast and lunch and then has a regular dinner.  One of his co-workers told him about the drinks and how he lost 30 pounds just drinking them for breakfast and lunch.  So, I am going to try this as well.  I just can't go on a major diet just yet as I am still nursing DS.

I also got vitamins to take.  My vitamin D level is very low!

Dragons, Denim, and Tacos

Finally a break from the sweltering heat.  Who'd have thought 80 would be nice, LOL

On Saturday, we went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Kenosha.  On the website, it says you can save $2 if you purchase your tickets from Wal-Green's.  The kids were free, so we saved $4.  I also checked the website about parking, they have two parking lots.  The one that is closer to the gates cost $5 and the other one is free.  Both are on the grass.  We opted to be closer, so we paid the $5.  We still had a bit of a hike, but I guess it was better than in the free parking lot.

As we were walking through the gates, I noticed a little child dressed as Spiderman.  I was thinking, that yes, people do dress up, but not as Spiderman.  But then I was looking at the map and I guess this weekend was the costume contest.  There were quite a lot of people dressed up.  And not everyone was dressed for the time period.  I saw a cute couple dressed as Shrek and Fiona!  We did come across a grown up Spiderman as well.  There was a family with a little boy who loves Spiderman.  This spiderman let the little boy hug him and he posed with the boy for some photos.  What a nice gesture of a stranger.

The first thing we did was walk around.  This place is HUGE!  DD wanted to go on a carnival ride, so we went on a carousel ride.  It was $3 a rider.  The ride was human powered!  There were 4 guys who spun the carousel and then talked about their fantasy stuff.  I got a little dizzy.  We also went on a swing that was a pirate ship, which was also human powered.  This ride cost $3 a person or $5 for two people.  While DD and I were on the ride, we could see the elephant ride.  There was also a camel and a large white horse.  I was thinking maybe DD would like to ride the horse until I noticed something about that horse and started laughing so hard.  DH noticed the horse too.  For personal reasons, I've decided my children will not ride on other animals such as camels and elephants.  DH went with DD on a pirate ship for her to explore.  It cost $5 a person.  But with the pirate ship, you could stay as long as you like and come back later.  DH practically had to drag DD away.

We did get to see a show.  Adam Crack and his fire whip.  He was quite entertaining.  He holds 9 world records!  Pretty impressive.   We made note of the joust, but did not get to make it.

The last thing we did was get DD's face painted.  It was the first time she got her face painted.  She opted for a girl elephant.  Before bed, she had a bath and I thought it would be hard to clean her face.  Boy, am I glad I was wrong.  We just took a wipe to her face and the makeup came right off her face.

After the faire, we went to the outlets.  I knew they had a Stride Rite and I wanted to get DD some new shoes for school.  She has narrow feet and most of the shoes in Target or other shoes stores are for wider feet.  The store clerk, measured her feet and she grew!  We got her a pair of sneakers and a pair of boots.  I wanted to get her a pair of dress shoes, but they did not have the pair that DD liked in her size.

We also checked out the Osh Kosh store.  I wanted to get the kids a pair of overalls.  Kids look cute in them.  While we were there, they were having a sale on t-shirts.  Buy 1 get 2 free! So, the kids got 3 shirts each.  When checking out, I noticed some bears for sale.  DD was being so good, so I decided to get her and DS a bear.  Because my order was over $100, I got a $10 coupon which I used on the bears.  I got them for free!

We decided to check out a Mexican place on our way home.  The ombudsman for DH's command had mentioned a place called Jose's Blue Sombrero in Brookfield, Wisconsin.  The other day when I was coming home from the mall in Racine, I noticed a Jose's.  So, we stopped there for a late lunch early dinner.  I had Superman tacos.  They were steak and avacado. Very good!  DH got tacos with chicken, chorizo and bacon; very delicious!  We were very happy to finally have good Mexican food.  We may choose Jose's whenever we are out and about in either Brookfield or Racine.

Eeek! I did it again

I got some more diapers!

I went back to RG Natural Babies for some flushable liners.  In case DS has a poopy while we are away from the house, the poop will be on the liner and I just toss that in the toilet and flush.  And then I place the diaper in the travel wet bag.  Less mess.

The owner of RG Natural Babies, Michelle, is very nice, attentive, and informed.  I really liked that she gave me the attention I needed and provided insight on the various diaper brands.  She also took things so that I did not have to carry them around while I was browsing.  In addition to the diapers and flushable liners, I purchased some cloth wipes and reusable snack bags.

The reusable snack bags are Itzy Ritzy.  They can be machine washed and air dried or just wiped clean. They come in some fun designs. The smaller ones come in packs of two.

The cloth wipes are OsoCozy and come in a pack of 15 for $8.95. The liners are Tweedle Bug Bio Liners.  The liners worked awesome!  I just tossed the liner with the poop in the toilet and did not have to scrape or spray the diaper, which is good since the kids' toilet with the sprayer is out of commission.

Diapers:  I wanted to get some cute designs for DS.  Most of the cute designs are for girls, but I did find a few that I liked!

GroVia AIO Robot and Planes.  These are All in Ones (AIO). However, they are not pockets. There are snaps where you place the insert. These are cute boy designs.  The snaps for adjustment are on the side instead of the front like on the pocket diapers, it was a bit of a challenge with a squirmy kid, but I managed.  Assuming he had his poop earlier in the day, I did not put a flushable liner into the diaper.  Big mistake!  He had a poop and unlike the pocket diaper, the poop was everywhere.  I had to scrape the poop off the two liners and the shell.  What a mess.  I will remember to use a flushable liner when I use these diapers again.

BottomBumpers How cute is this guy! This diaper is plain black and has the giraffe on the butt. I saw it and had to buy it.  Like the GroVia, this is not a pocket diaper.  It has color coded snaps on the inside so you can snap in the correct size liner (daddy proof). In addition to being like the GroVia, the adjustment snaps are on the side.

BlueBerry  These diapers were cute too! The inserts are very long. You fold them in half and snap them to each other. I guess it makes it so it will hold more urine.  They worked very well over night!

Happy Heinys.  The Happy Heinys are made in the USA!  How cute is this one! Boy's best friend!

I remember you

Just sitting here thinking about mortality.

I have not been feeling too hot the past few weeks.  Thinking I am going through a flare.  I see the rheumatologist soon.  I am currently not on any medication.  I don't want to take anything while breastfeeding my soon.  He will be a year next month, I don't know if we will be ready to wean by then.  I think it might be a combination of things causing this flare.  The stress of the new move, the crazy weather, and lack of sleep.  Yes, for some reason, DS has not allowed me to sleep.  He demands to nurse about every hour or so at night.  And some nights, just when I think he has fallen asleep and try to get into a comfortable position, he's demanding to nurse again!  I try to make up for that during his afternoon nap.  He usually takes a 2 hour nap.   But we've had things disrupt our normal schedule, so no nap for me.  He's gotten his naps either in the car or being carried around.

Anyways, I've been pretty fortunate that my condition has not really affected any of my organs.  One of the medications I was on had some damaging results to my liver, but I was quickly taken off that medication and that was way before the kids came along.

I have known a few people to pass in the past couple years.  I am sad to think that I won't get to know how they are doing anymore.  I remember when my grandmother passed away.  I had seen her two years prior at my sister K's high school graduation.  Sometimes I have dreams with her in it and then in my dream, I remember she is dead, so I don't know if she is telling me a message.  But the dreams with her are never scary.  She was a kind woman, from what I remember of her.

A former co-worker and great friend just passed.  He actually passed on DH's birthday.  I remember when he told me he had been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer, but not to say anything to anyone.  I was naive and thought stage 4 was the least to worry about and figured since he did not want people knowing, it was not that bad.  But then I googled it and was devastated at what I read.  He did not want people worrying about him.  I enjoyed reading his posts on facebook and seeing photos.  He was so proud of his family.  His eyes twinkled when he spoke of his wife and kids.  That's what I will remember about him, he loved his family!  So anyways, his wife C posted something about busting him out, which made me think he was getting better.  And then I saw a post about his viewing!  I was saddened.  I should have stopped by before we left Virginia.  I had a dream before he passed that I visited him in the hospital and that he purchased my parents home and created a huge play house for his daughter.  His kids were the age I remembered seeing them last and not at their current ages.

Last week, my sister J texted me that one of our cousins had died.  An autopsy report is still being drafted.  The last time I saw my cousin he might have been 8 or 9.  He was probably 25 or 26 when he died.  I know it was a long time since seeing him.  I have not seen a lot of family members since I graduated high school and joined the service.

I need to start saving for a trip to visit my family in Florida.  We have not been home since DD was about 18 months.  That means nobody has met DS.  My sister E might be the first to meet him since she lives about 6.5 hours away.  We just need to make a plan that works with her busy schedule.  MIL is coming for Thanksgiving.  FIL has never met any of the kids.  We have not seen him since we attended his wedding in 2001!

chicken and bats

I may come off as ignorant or maybe a jerk because I don't post the same stuff everyone else does when breaking news happens.  Why should I?  Everyone else is posting about it and I don't need to (a) be another sheep, (b) give the story more hype.  Plus I may not have enough information yet to pose an educated stance.

While it was a tragedy what happened in Colorado, I think the lunatic who committed those atrocious hate crimes does not deserve to have any extra attention.  He should rot in a cell, death penalty would be nice, but a slow excruciating death might be better.

Now people are posting they are afraid to go to the movies... I wonder if they are just posting that to have something to post on facebook or if they are genuinely scared.

And as far as the chicken goes... Boycott all you want.

I have friends with various backgrounds, morals, beliefs, etc.  Just because they don't go with the norm does not mean I am not going to unfriend them.  We all have our choices.  If you choose to unfriend me because I don't want to jump in your wagon, so be it.  But know that I chose to be your friend knowing that we were different and enjoyed the fact that I can have friends who are not like me.  If I only had friends who were like me, I'd be very lonely.