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May 29 Last DayToday is Rileyanne's last day of her first year of Pre School. She started late because there was no room in her class and she was wait listed till November. I still cannot believe how much she has grown in a few short months! She only goes for two days a week and even then it is only for 2 hours a day (a total of 4 hours a week) but it was a huge thing for her. Here she is with her teachers Miss. Claire and Miss. Julie on Pajama Day a few weeks ago: May 28 Excuse Me?!?!?So....Rileyanne has had a rash for over a month around her face. At first we thought it was her pacifier, as I stated, but then we took it away and t remained over a month later. Then we were all sure it was a food allergy as the red marks got darker after she ate....anything....but allergic to what exactly? I grasped at straws - strawberries? her favorite - well, they are acidic, high on the allergic chain, yank 'em and see - things seemed better so I was sure about that and then one day she ate raisins of all things and the red marks got VERY bright again. WHat the? so off to the allergist we went today.
Ms. Sassy did not dissappoint. She was a spectactular patient as always, She lstened to their requests and did as instructed, measurements, ear and lung checks, she was a pro. EVeryone was impressed and I would be too if it was not a gross display of how many doctors she has been to in her short life - the kid knows the drill - poor baby. Anyway, after a discussion it was time to have a skin test - 27 pricks on her back! She NEVER cried - not once. She merely said, "Ow! Would you PLEASE stop hurting me?!?!?" aw...poor baby. When the RN came back she asked if she could look at Riley's back, to which she replied, "Well, only if you don't hurt me anymore!" HA ha ha - I actually bit my lip to stop from laughing. WHat sass - seriously I am in BIG trouble!
The came in Dr. Furukawa. The sweetest little man ever. He looked at Riley and said, "Nope, no allergies! Not only that but her lungs sound great - she really was reacting to the mice in my oppinion. No mice, her little airway is opened up thanks to growing and the tonsilectomy and voila sh is great! Now - these indicate that she has no allergies, but may I ask, do you dye her hair?"
Um what? Dude, she is 3 years old, I cant get her to sit still for a Princess at Disneyland - how would I get her to sit still for Peroxide? that is what I think - what I say is, "Well, she is only 3, dont you think she is a little young to be introduced to Loreal?" Ha ha ha - well I thought it was funny. Apparently it is not a crazy question - in repeating the question to some friends later I found out that some kids as early as age 4 in some local pre school are dying their hair for fun! That is crazy! I was forced to wait till I was 26 and almost completely gray - my Mama woulda had my ass if I dyed my hair when I was a child!
But the Dr said she was a true Red Head, did we have any red in our family? I joked he did not look at the name? Rileyanne, or mine, Julianne Aileen Katheryne? The joke was lost on dear Mr. Furukawa, but I did have to say yes, I was a red head as a child as was my Mom and many of our family. Both sides. SO Riley it turns out while presenting as a blond has the skin pigment of a red head (as do I - though thanks to Loreal I am now a sassy brunette) and as such her sensitive skin does not tolerate her hands and whatever else she has been placing in her mouth. That and she will burn - a lot.
"I see you are planning to go to Hawaii soon" says Dr. Furukawa....
"yes" Says I
"well, she is gonna fry like bacon you know! For that matter, so are you!"
Well, I was planning on using sun block, SPF 50 - but thanks for the tip I will bring white bread and some tomatoes to feed the natives when we are cooked. Again - I joke. He suggested we use Zinc. It is sensitive enough for her sensitive skin, blocks the sun completely and in my own addes commentary will add a little something festive and day glow to our Hawaiian advanture. Sweet - always looking to one up the other beach goers.
"Oh yes, and do not be like vacationing white people - watch the natives - they are in the shade, you are in the shade"
Even I wont touch that one, doc. Too politically charged for me - I swear the wntire visit had the makings of a SNL skit I am not kidding.
May 26 Frog SongSumertime is starting to bloom in the Pacific North West. We did not really have a Spring considering it was still hailing and snowing a month ago - not the kinda snow you see in New York or whatever, but it is here, white, pretty and then gone. Now things are green, blooming and the sounds are amazing. Birds are chirping, crickets are singing, even the frogs are getting in on the action.
Last night we had every window in the house opened to let in some of the bloomig scents, fresh air and sounds. Our wisteria is coming in beautifully and there is nothing like its first blooms, so sweet and promising such wonderful summers ahead. Anyway the frogs were having a concert! They were tuning up for something big, like they were playing in an ampetheater....then all of a sudden mid song....silence. It was disconcerting. What would make them just suddenly stop like that? But t was not like a few stopped, it was a sudden eerie silence. Makes you wonder what it outside. Then, as suddenly as it stopped, it started again in full regalia. Whatever it was must have moved on.
The kids are riding and falling on their bikes, we are playing on the playground in our yard daily and as was the case last year lemonade has found its way to become a permanent fixture in my fidge. Life, as they say, is good. May 24 Speed RacerDude - my kids woke this morning at 6 am chanting in monotone, "Speed racer! Speed Racer! SPEED RACER!" they wre SO excited that today was THE day. We had planned to go with some frends to the very first sowing of the day at a local theater that has stadium type seats and on the first show of the day it only costs $4 - what a deal! We got there by 10:10am and They were spinning off the planet. We walked in a few minutes lae - but it was not rocket sciece, we caught up quick and the first 5 minutes of the movie was available on line for free so we had seen it endlessly so we were good anyway.
et me tell you, this was a FANTASTIC flick. It was not High Cinema - it was Milk Dud eating, popcorn swallowin', they sold you the whole seat but at times you only needed the edge flick. The actors had FUN and were beautiful beautiful eye candy. Everything was detailed out, like a bag of Skittles. It was colorful and fired synapses in my brain that were long dead from childhood cartoons. My kids cheered, laughed, pretended to drive and fight in their seats.
There was NO blood - only two swear words (nothing too bad either one was ass, the other that I remember was a mouthed and bleeped out "s" word but even my savvy 5 year old got it) but even with the cartoon style fighting, no blood and no worries that anyone was really hurt. Even whn a character "died" you did not see it - essentially it was Mommy proof - I LOVED it and was SO glad I could give that gift to my 5 year old who is fanatically enthusiastic about Speed Racer.
It was a tad long for my 3 year old - bring snacks. But she thought that the girls were pretty and Trixie (played by the ever cartoonish Christina Ricci - does she ever age??) was just sassy enough.
A great flick. Delete the reviews you have read - they are all crazy. It was a fun spoofy fantastically eye candy version of the show we all loved. My kids LOVED it - the monkey was SO much fun (WAY better than that total flop Jar Jar Binx from Star Wars - what a crappy character he was) and the music was a thrill ride. Go - take it lightly with a LOT of treats and ENJOY it is FUN cinema and meant to entertain which it does - thoroughly.
Here is a link for the first 7 minutes of the movie - you will see what I mean about the supreme eye candy fun fest - it was a blast! May 23 Asthma, Excema, Sores & Sunlight...Oh My!So, for the past 4 weeks now my little Rileyanne has had a rash that is painful, red and just really distracting around her mouth. I thought it might be a food allergy weeks ago but was assured it was not by the Dr who said it was likely a result of her pacifier.....yes I am a horrible mother she still has a pacifier at bedtime. She wont by the time she is in college, but the dentist said it was better than allowing her to use her fingers and she is only allowed it in bed so I figured it was a compromise - BUT all that moisture is NOT helping her skin. It may be a food allergy, but whatever it is, the pacifier is playing a role in the cycle of these erruptions.
Yesterday at the Dr (luckily we saw a different Dr - I know some people do not like that but I like getting new eyes on familiar problems in a familiar safe surrounding for the kiddos. It is like a two for one). Anyway the Dr asked me the following which I found interesting:
Was she eatting mango, dried fruit or limes? Because these foods, in the sunlight when she goes outside to play, have a photo sensitive quality that burn the skin and can leave a sensitive child looking like they have a food allergy. Wow - did you know that? Wash those faces people.
Was she eatting any new fruits of the season? I said no, but come to think of it, she had this rash last year same time, about the same time strawberries were introduced (uh oh) and they are new now again and she LOVE LOVE LOVES them. Calls them Princess food. I am so screwed if she is allergic to Princess food. There is acid in the berries and again there is the allergic portion (duh, strawberries are a worrisome berry) so I am going to an allergy spcialist to get the 411 BEFORE we head to Hawaii. (Note to self: MUST pack Epi PEN! BTW did you know EPI pens come in different sizes? They have smaller sizes for babies and children than for adults - just FYI)
Have I been placing a barrier on her lips? She has an antibiotic cream, that is topped with A&D ointment several times a day, otherwise we use Hydrocortizone and vasiline several times a day - whenever I think about it now I am lubing her up like she is about to swim the channel. Poor greasy little girl - she looks like she has eaten an entire bucket of chicken! But the sheen makes the red even more pronounced.
SO: that is my world. My my my never dull. I also recently got in touch with Sister Bernadette in Kenya and an old college professor, Dr. Herman DeBose from my alma mater CSUN who is interested in the work I am setting up for Kenya in 2010! WOW! See, stay at home Moms can do it all, baby! I was once a hot shot Social worker in the social justice system in Los ANgeles, then a teacher in inner city - it was how I defined myself. I am sorry to say it took a LOT of adjusting to loose that aspect of myself when I became a Mommy, even if I love my new Mommy self too - but seeing how I can integrate the two me's has been an interesting all be it slow paced journey. More to come I suppose.
SO: for faces, rashes, excema/food allergies, etc: Here is what I was told to avoid (sorry to ramble, I must need my tea this morning!)
SUNLIGHT can make the rash/erruptions look worse - it irritates them and darkens them.
Fruit Juice - Stop drinking it especially during an outbreak. The acid in it can really exacerbate the situation and make everything darker, more painful and bigger eruptions ocur. Who needs that?
Some cut fruit - especially acidic fruit (think anything citrus, orange, mango, strawberry, lime, lemon, tangerine, tomato - which is a fruit who knew!?!?!)
Asian Food - Sound wierd? Well, some of the fish sauce and fish oil can contain some sort of acidic reaction that can make the erruptions worse - avoive Thai, Chinese, etc. because of this - also spicy is an obvious triggor on the painful sores.
Mexican - speaking of spicy painful ouchies - this is probably obvious, but tomato sauce is highly acidic after all.
DO encourage LOTS of water, slather on the protective barriers and encourage sleep because it is the repairing time for skin. Good luck with that, fellow Mommy's of 3 year old spit fire girlies but I am right there with ya!
May 22 Doing Good Things
* People who attend these dinners are hungry, as you might expect, but be considerate of the fact that because they do not have much, they may need healthy options (not just bready carbs) - and that if providing fruit try easy to carry items that they can take with them....think bananas or oranges but NOT apples (too hard on teeth - no $ = no dental insurance not a hard correlation) * Lots of people who do these dinner do the easy to feed lots of people options, like lasagna, spaghetti, pizza - what we heard was how enamored the people who attend these events would be if they occasionally were to receive fish, seafood, pork or even turkey....many nights they get the same dinner over and over - they are not complaining, but how hard would it be to communicate a schedule so that those providing meals could make the people they are helping healthier and happier? * When doing drinks, do GET THE JUICE BOXES from Costco. They are not as expensive as soda, they are easy to carry, it is a small luxury item and the people we served were very happy I had thought of it. I actually brought them in case we were serving children and then realized it made sense. Easy to carry, some vitamin C, fun and small - why not? * Please eat with the people you are serving....they want to feel like you are communing with them not just serving them. WHen my kids happily sat at a table with a woman who was making funny faces (funny as in friendly, come play with me) she seemed truly touched that I did not whisk her away. How sad that it was assumed I would do so. My kids just thought we were all there to eat - as they should have, because after all, there but for the grace of God go us all and we are all one community. It was fun making new friends. Anyway, just some thoughts I was thinking today as I am planning the next dinner at the center for when we get back from Hawaii.
May 14 Hand Soap HypothesisMy son is a quirky little guy. I love this about him. The other day he got up from whever we were doing and announced that he was bored and immediately set to work conducting some science experiments with the help of some water, a ziplock baggie and a ball point pen. He had dne this in his classroom - how much pressure does it take to make the bag explode? He had some of the concepts down, but the application escaped him a bit - he was supposed to use sharp pencils and leave them n the bag until the bag leaked to see how many he could get in the bag - at least that was the xperiment I remember - instead he took the pen all the way through and discovered with hand soap in the baggie it created a nice by-product - bubbles. This made him think, and by the way, watching your kid figure something out is priceless.
Patrick: "Mommy, I need some more baggies and some ice please."
Me; "What do you want ice for?" Course even as I said this Rileyanne said, "Right, on it!" and got him all he asked for - she is a god helper!
Patrick; "Well, I want to see how the ice melts if I put soap in the bag. I think the soap will protect the ice better and it will stay ice longer because of the bubbles."
A sound hypothesis for a 5 year old. Lets see - we took two baggies, each had three ice cubes and 1/4 cup water. One had 3 squirts of Dial hand soap. The baggies were labelled and we had some lunch while watching them. The experiment started at 11:10 am. By the time we had to leave for pre school - neither baggie was completely melted. SO in the mad rush, we got in our minivan, he holding his little baggies of ice and watching intently as I drove over hill and dale. At 12:00 on the nose he announced that the baggie with just ice and water was all melted, but the one with soap was bubbly and still had pretty good sized ice cubes in it. I know this because I could see them from the front seat in the mirror - so they were not microscopic. By 12:05 though, even the soap bubbles could not prevent the inevitable and the ice succumbed to its natural state of water. However, in this experiment, the hand soap did give it an extra 5 whol minutes - which by all purposes is a lot of time.
He was SO excited (and I was happy he got to see it through - just in time too as drop off at pre school was at 12:15!) that he took his experiment inside. We had even documented it all on a chart and as I sat in the line up I wrote the times each ice baggie turned to water - he decided he wanted it to be on a clock face so that his friends could understand how much time had passed. I thought that was a good idea too.
So there you have it - a 5year old, a hypothesis and bordom can lend to great discoveries with hand soap - wait that sounds way worse than I intended.... May 13 Can You Explain This To Me???Seriously though - I am a Mommy - I get the agony, the decidion, the responsibility....do I or dont I immunize my kid? Well, I am still surprised that after so long we still find people who say no to this. Honestly I am loosing patience, and that is not easy t o do - I have a LOT of patience so long as I have had my morning cuppa Irish tea! :)
Joking aside, I was asked at the grocery store to be careful because my daughter has a rash. The rash is because of her pacifier which we are weaning her from or it may be a food allergy, I have to have her tested to rule that possibility out - but the pharmicist said, "While I love to see you, with the Measles outbreak people are nervous. They see disaster everywhere and you may get someone to say something to you" I am sure, no I know her heart was in the right place but wasn't she saying something to me?
Last week or so on the View they actually had some crazy tree hugging wierdo advocating against immunization based on the rise of Autism. There was an element in immunization in the past, it was a preservative, that they believe may had added to the rise in autism - I believe the statistics are 1 in 100 boys have autism or are on the spectrim now. By the way, just so I get this out, that preservative is no longer used - but the trust is lost. SO Mommy's believing correctly that they are their child's advocate, are opting to not immunize their kids OUT OF FEAR.
Fear makes you a crappy decision maker. Fear makes you tolerate letting your child be exposed to deadly diseases and then exposing other children to deadly diseases because you hope some Chamomile tea will help. OK that is way to idealistic and a little unfair, but seriously - we are a SOCIETY people. I appreciate your fear, I feel it too, I am not immune to your fear - but the needs of the many outway the needs of the few. I want my kids to know that I educated myself and still chose to immunize him and his sister so that we could continue to live in a society of wellness - away from fear of Polio, measles, Rheubella, and other deadly diseases that still plague our planet.
When we decide NOT to immunize our kids, we allow the viruses back in our culture. We also allow kids who had been immunized to still be at risk and you know what That makes me pretty frickin' angry. Not only did I agonize the same as you, but I decided to help the overall health of us all and because some people are choosing a more "holistic" route (which in most cases I applaud, in this case I think is irresponsible but then how shy do you REALLY think I am?) I am at risk again.
Here is a news article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24222839/ about an outbreak in Milwaukee. These diseases are still VERY real guys. It is not just Milwaukee either. Recently it was seen in my area though for some reason I could not find that news snipit.
I just ask that we try to be calm and detatched for a minute and remember it is not only our flesh and blood at stake - we are a society and we need to stop being so ego centric and remember that the whole of us depends on all our decisions. How is that for a holistic approach? Too whacky? Get your kids immunized if your doctor thinks that it is appropriate (obviously it is NOT approriate for all kids - some with disorders are not able to tolerate the "dead' virus so please listen to your medical advice - that is why they spent all those years in school;) I am not saying to blindly follow - get a few opinions - you would for a project on your home - be informed - but for God sake, please understand that this is no joke.
OK soap box rant over....back to my tea it obviously was not strong enough this morning.... May 11 Hello WorldI recently sent out the following email to my pals because many had asked me about fun sites for kids on their computers. I am still VERY new at this (I know I know how is that possible with a blog and Lord know what else - but it is easy to get lost in the sea that is web searching!) so it put this together for my pals - maybe you will find it useful on how to gather sites for Pre-K and Kindergarten kids resource materials....happy printing! Hey all~ Brain teasers - for ALL ages 5 and up - try this site http://www.funbrain.com/ you will want to help the 7 and "under's" navigate at first but then let 'er rip - everything here from reading to math. I will get more going but that is a start. If you know any good ones, let this begin our resource database! I am sorry it took me so long to get this out - some of you have asked me about this forever. Please let me know about the resource boot camp - I would be very happy to host it but we want to get on that soon so you have time to get the resources together by Summer. Remember to schedule specific times for educational activities and do them at that time every day that you do them so it is predictable....this helps them feel ready for what lies ahead in their detailed classrooms. If you want to start your day with a brain teaser after breakfast for instance, just switch it up every day, but plan on it every day so that the schedule is what they can count on. This will help them feel secure AND it will help them absorb what you are teaching. Talk soon! Julianne Livin' Up To The HypeThe hype for the Iron Man movie has been insane. Ven by Washington standards this movie is a HIT. When we moved here 7 years ago, Star Wars something was opening. We bought our tickets several days in advance and then got to the theater several hours in advance to get in line. Th line never existed - we the realized our LA days where people had literally been camping ou at theatres were over. We were even able to exchange our tickets for an earlier time rather than loiter outside like a couple of jerks. That memory sorta sticks.....
SO this weekend we went to dinner with friends and were set to go to a 9pm showing of Iron Man at a local mall with newer theatres in thestadium style seating. It was SOLD OUT. This is honestly the first time since I have lived here that I have seen that. We were lucky enough to have appealed to the manager who had informed us at 5:30 pm not to worry about tickets that he would get us into the 9:30 show and Happy Mother's Day. Sweet. Unfortunately Laura wold have to leave a tad early to get home to her sitter because she had to leave Laura's house AT 11:00 pm. No negotiating. That was a bummer - but not really.
Robert Downey, Jr. as alays was fun. His off the cuff obviously improvised dialogue was witty and comfortable. He had a LOT of screen time and the gadgets were nifty and the music was cool. The plot though, LORD above - I mean I know you are supposed to eat your popcorn or milk duds and be entertained but it was the worst kind of implausible - they wanted you to believe it so they showed you some science - it would be one thing to say "Yea, this is fantasy, geton the bus" but they were trying to play it a little too straight. Which left you sitting there often times reminding yourself to chill and say "It is not to be questioned - enjoy". But even with the flash and the hype and the cool cast (Gwenneth was pretty good too - not too anything - good for her - I usually do not like her much but gotta say she was perfect for her role) it just was not as tottaly rippin' awesome as I was expecting. What is I guess.
Will I see # 2 - yes. SO I guess that is the key - but go with a healthy grain of salt. When we got home we saw this on you tube and I laughed myself to sleep - it was SO funny....no spoilers really so safe to watch if you have not seen the movie yet, though not for the kiddies.
Speaking of which - even at the 9:30 pm showing of themovie there were several little kids ages 3 and up. First of all, what 3 year old stays up that late? Second of all, with theWar, the blood, the total destruction and oh yes the extreeme torture scenes (at one point my good friend had to ask me when it was over - it got pretty graphic) I cant imagine it was appropriate really for a kid under say 10 or so. As a teacher, I used to HATE It when my 3rd graders would come in Mnday after having seen whatever new horror or action flick with an R rating was just released - these were savvy kids but it still rocked their little worlds and made playground and classroom time hard. Just realize it is OK to do some stuff without the kiddies.
That said - who can afford to? Last night cost $130 before gas. Between dinner, the movie, the sitter - $130. Boom - gone. Movies better step it up and start livin' up to the hype Red Box is looking better and better! May 10 Bikes, Man!
Anyway - these be the kids. I can tell this will be an active Summer for us! Last summer Rileyanne just could not do it - that is here on the bike that the lovely Provost family gave to us before they returned to Colorado (miss you guys!) and today it is like she was born on it. No diapers, no pacifier, riding bikes - sob - where did my babies go?!?!?!? But when you look at those happy little faces EVERYTHING is good. Happy early Mothers day - I am headed back to the mine shaft that is my bedroom - if you dont hear from me in a few hours something heavy has fallen on me, please send a rescue team in immediately! Movie Reviews Are Not EverythingOr so I hope! My son, admitedly, is only 5 years old. He is SO looking forward to Speed Racer, much like his Daddy is looking forward to Iron Man. Living withboys is fun! :) Still, I let him watch the first 8 minutes that they have on the net to drum up interest and cant imagine why peopl are crapping the movie o badly. I mean sure, you get it, it is not a dramatic piece or an Oscar piece, it is an entertainment piece and it seems to deliver - eye candy? Check. Loud rev'd up music? check, check! STars? Check! I guess the panning haters are attacking its lack of plot....are you kidding me? It is a movie, based on a cartoon, about a car racer - what plot? You get cars, your get racing, you get stunts and beautiful CGI effects - whats the problem? I dont get it. They say you will only like the movie if you are a 6 year old boy - well I have one of those and he wants to see this so badly He cant see....so I guess you know what I am doing this week. Better hurry before they pull it from bad reviews. I tell you, it looks fantastic visually. Just go and leave your inner critic at home - have some soda with your kid and sit back....well I guess I better make sure on that kid friendly site that it is OK to take Patrick but I would be surprised if I cant.
On Iron Man - we go tonight and I am actually pretty excited. It has been a long time since seeing Mr. Downing, Jr. on the screen and he rarely disappoints. yum. Plus my husband will be happy - bonus!
So this entry really is not about what I have seen I am just excited about my prospects. SPeaking of prospects - Caspian is coming, y'all! I CANT WAIT! The book series was my favorite and the first movie was fun. It was milk dud eatin, popcorn swallowing mind blowing spoon fed entertainment fun - sometimes you need that.
Looking at these I realized sometimes I never grew up - I guess that is ok. It is what it is anyway. :) Get some popcorn and ride the bus to the movies - the gas will cost you more than your ticket! May 07 TIRED!Dude - I am freaking exhausted! I could go to bed this minute but I MUST stay awake and help put the kids to bed it is only fair. But I tell you I could crash hard right this minute! URGH!
I went to my surgical pre-operative appointment at Northwest Weightloss Surgery today. We met the Dr and had all our questions answered - which was nice. We set up the surgery date but I am not ready to talk about that just yet. Probably just too tired. I was SO excited about today I could not sleep and stayed up too late - but we got up at 6 am after only 7 hours of sleep and now after running all day I am just plain wiped out!
Poor kids. EVERYTHING the do and say is getting to me because I am tired. Too loud, too whiny, too whatever. Just too much. They cant help it, little guys, but Mommy just needs a LONG nap.
SO I will go to sleep - the narcoleptic Mommy will return tomorrow bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to dish the deal on the weight loss surgery. One thing we DID decide on was having it as an out patient proceedure at the center rather than going to teh hospital for the night. Too many germies in hospitals - if you can avoid it I suggest trying. I am not a germ-a-phobe but I have a healthy fear of the little bastards. Seriously - Mersa is no joke people. That is not even the worst culprit in a hospital lurking about. Some things you cannot avoid, others, you can and should. SO I will do this at the center and go home THAT DAY. WHOO HOO.
G'Night May 06 Summer Camp Pierson ScheduleHello Campers! In order to reach all my campers I am posting the much anticipated Camp Pierson Summer Schedule!! So, here goes - expect LOTS Of pictures as the summer progresses!
**SATURDAY*** 08-23-08 OVERNIGHT CAMP at Camp Pierson - arrive at 4:00 pm for fun/games/tent set up. We will have some games set up for the kids while the Mom's and Dad's set up tents. Then we will run some relays - complete with PRIZES! and more Camp Crafts on the front deck. If you have a guitar, please bring it for the camp fire! Campers will be contacted with items needed for campfire skits that they will perform for their parents as the time draws near. Please bring items that are detailed in the Camp Invitations that will be mailed to you. Dont forget your food sharing items for Dinner or breakfast! Interested parties must RSVP Space is limited - babies welcome - if you need it I will set up cribs in rooms in teh house for nursing Moms who want to camp with older children - one parent much stay outside with camper child while Mom gets the "SPA" treatment inside the house.
Monday 08-25-08 Camp Pierson FINAL DAY - Back-to-School Party! At Pierson House. Please come at 10:30 am - 2:00 pm. Please bring supplies to give to a friend - One box of school supplies (one clear tool box filled with one box of crayola washable crayons, one box of crayola washable markers, one box of #2 sharpened pencils, one child scissors and one pink eraser) we will have games, resource tables, reading centers, math centers and a "Class Picture". We will also practice "Walking to school" and walk to Louisa May Alcott, Elementary - remembering the "rules of the road" (Look both ways, dont talk to strangers, stay with your Mom or safe side adult) for some play time. Please pack a lunch but know that there will be a special "treat" provided by Camp Pierson. Please wear clothes comfortable to do crafts in, CLOSED TOED shoes (no sandals) for the walk, sunblock and hats. This is a stroller friendly activity, babies are welcome - but obviously attention is being paid to the children about to go to Kindergarten. Happy School Year '08/09! May 05 Lap Band UpdateSO....I am seriously thinking about starting a blog and titling it "A Year In The Life" and chronicalling my surgical dates and progress from the Lap Band. Today I met with the Nurse who evaluated me prior to surgery. Other than needing a few normal tests and one not so normal test before we start I am good to go. The normal tests, pregnancy tests and a urinalysis should be done the week before surgery and make sense. Because my family has a serious history with colon cancer I am needing to schedule a coloscopy too so that makes sense too - though it is hardly looked forward to if you catch my drift! :) Then the not-so-normal test is a TB test. Because of the places I have worked, every now and then Dr's offices get prickly and want this done. I have had a questionable positive followed by a negative in the past but continued to work in at risk areas - shelters, group homes, rehabilitation centers and schools where the population was mostly migrant workers' children. So it makes sense but it is never fun. The test itself is pretty benign, just a skin test, but I hate the stigma. Whatever; you do what you gotta do. Suck it up, Julie - ok I get it I just dont like it. Then, after the RN I saw the psychologist. This was a little nerve wracking. First of all, she says, "I would like to talk to you about depression" and I replied, "Good, because I was not depressed till I took your survey!" Yikes - not the best foot to start out with, I recognize, but seriously; I was FINE till I did these questionares! Then I realized I wanted someone to hold me and feed me chocolate. Uh oh. Denial, party of one. Actually, depression is nothing to joke about and it has a real place in my lineage. If depression did not get you, the alcohol you used to self medicate usually did. Gotta love us good 'ol Irish Catholics! But seriously, we had a good LONG talk. It seems that many people with my background and similar history are heavy. It appears that many of us put the weight on much like a wall used to protect ourselves. Well, when the Lap Band goes on, and the weight comes off, that is a HUGE comfort zone going away. You would think everyone would be happy as clams loosing weight - but think about it really - if you have had this wall up, as I have, for almost 15 years, that is a huge adjustment. If I really loose the projected 100+ pounds I am sure I can, my husband has never ever known me in that way before. He has never seen me much smaller than I am now. I am glad he loves me as I am - but the adjustment from this me to the me I will be will be huge for all of us. Another thing to consider is overall chemistry - things will change as I deny myself my old habitual crutches and dont I know it! No more bread or rice or pasta will be GREAT for the PCOS! I should not be eating them anyway, but have proven rather powerless over my ravenous desire for the carb heavy wonderlust that is french kissing a gormet warm Sour Dough. Ah...memories. That and soda. No Carbonation drinks of any kind, and Lord help me I LOVE a good beer. Not a crappy beer - but a good one. This a no joke either. Bread is one thing, you eat that crap and you throw up - got it. There is a reason I am not nor have I ever had the serious problem of bulemia. I am sure you can guess that one - I "aint got time for" sick. No thanks. But with Carbonation there could be serious consequences. Carbonated drinks can cause your new pouch to expand. Since nothing was cut or permanently holding it in place, this can make the band slip and sometimes the only way to correct that is with MORE SURGERY! Hello - there is no draft beer or champagne or diet coke on the planet worth that mess. Gone, bye bye, see ya. But there goes another "friend". So no "wall", no bread, no beer/soda, no chocolate (alas little friend - you too must go away. You have been a good friend through it all - but you must make new friends on the playground of life and leave my obese butt alone. I mean it, run away and dont look back!) what will I do? I am not sure yet. I do know that going to the groups will be key. So critical in fact I will be placing them on my calendar immediately. No joke. Then, I guess I will have to get cozy with my new friend, water and its sister friend exercise. It is about time, though, really. They have been flirting with me for some time, now I must seek them out, woo them into my bed and life and take them forever as my new loves. They are not as flashy as the little chocolate numbers, but then, you date the flashy ones and you marry/commit to the ones that make you a better person. Kinda like real life, you know? Though, Harry was a charmer - flashy, fiery and real enough to make me a better person so I hit a home run there, but you get the drift. I suppose if you gotta settle somewhere, having to settle on water and exercise is a hell of a lot better than making the mistake of settling on a real life partner - but I digress. SO I passed the Psych eval with one caviat - she wanted me to make very clear to my family and friends to watch my mood. Carefully. I have slipped before with the Metformin & Topamax (apparently both have some mood affect ability - who knew) but with this, the surgery, I could easily slip into a post-partum like depression and it is imperitive that I am honest about it and seek help fast. SO there you have it. Here is for honesty. I have talked to my Mom and my husband about it. I have explained to my kids that soon we will have no more sugars, mommy will not be cooking with rice and pasta for a while and we all need to help each other in the Team Pierson house. I am not just doing this for me, I am doing this for my kids. We ALL need an adjustment in how we look and think about food. Not just what we eat but how we eat it. We also talked tonight about not drinking while we eat. Apparently that pushes food through faster and you do not get the "full" feeling long enough to register - so you eat more, more calories, etc. It is vicious. SO the recommendation is to stop drinking 1/2 an hour before you eat and wait about 1-2 hours after you eat to drink again. How about that for change?!?!? SO Wednesday I see the Dr who I hope will do the surgery. I cannot proceed till we get the go ahead from the Insurance because the surgery costs about $8700 on its own which is a lot to us right now. Not that I am not worth it - but the insurance should cover it so I want to KNOW that they will before we do anything, I mean that makes sense. They asked me to sign a form today that said I would pay for it myself, and then get re-imbursed if the insurance paid them. Uh huh, nope not today Josephine. If the Isurance approves it, great, if not we wait til they do. I am not in THAT much of a rush. Who does a life long commitment change on an impulse? (OK quicky Vegas and Carribean marriages aside?) The Big MuchToday, three years ago, a little sassy pixie entered the world at 5:25 pm. Her name was a question till we saw her. Harry and I each brough two names into the operating room for the C-Section and walked away with Rileyanne Elizabeth Pierson. On that day, we became the parents of two children, we had a son and a daughter, and our boy became a BIG brother. EVeryone's lives changed and everything seemed right.
Here we are, playing, laughing, growing. No more babies in the house - almost completely out of diapers - she has been dry every night for almost a week. Soon the pacifier fairy will come (we call them "duckies" because Patrick could not say suckie when he was little and duckie was cute) so then the "duckie" fairy will come and take the pacifiers away. Nope, no more babies.
But I have two rolly polly fun to be with crack you up hilarious and smart kids! They say awesome things and joke like little leprechauns running around the house keeping us on our toes.
Today, my baby is three years old. She still says she loves us "The Big Much" which is about the cutest thing ever in my book, and is completely reciprocated. Today it seems we are ready for a lot of new things, and just like that - the nursery is gone.
Happy Birthday, sweet Rileyanne. No matter how big you or your brother get - you will always be my babies - but today, at 5:25 pm, if you see me cry just a little bit, please know I am just missing the little people you once were too. The bigger people you are becoming is awesome in its own right, so they are bitter sweet tears - but tears just the same. It goes so fast. So fast.
Happy Birthday to you! May 03 Sleeping Beauty PartyToday is Rileyanne's Sleeping Beauty birthday party. As I stated, I am a Princess for a day - Riley will be Aurora (Her hands down favorite though they have little in common - Riley is TOTALLY Tinkerbelle - firey and funny and sassy, not demure, docile and obedient like AUrora but whatever - Sleeping Beauty is PINK that is all she needs to know). SO I got to be Snow White - any cracks about me not being pure as the driven snow (see having two kids to prove it) and someone gets throttled - for a day I can suck it up and be a lady, damn it. :) Yesterday we went to Sears in our Princess dresses and got some pictures taken. I have not driven in a big fluffy dress since Prom back in 1988 so I was a little surprised at how hard it really was to navigate the petals in all that fluff. Bot nearly as surprised as the people around me! Can you imagine driving down the road and you look over at a red light and there is Snow White driving a mini van? There are a whole heep of jokes in there somewhere but I am staying clear. I got some funny looks though! Good thing my van seats the dwarfs - ha ha ha. Here are some of the shots of the day:
Aint she somethin'? They even took some of her "sleeping" like Aurora and when we asked her to fall into a deep sleep like Sleeping Beauty she dramitically replied, "And then she died" and draped herself VERY early Hollywood across the floor. The lady said, "Oh no honey, she did not die, she just fell asleep" and Riley got on one hip and said, "Yes, but it is more fun to act like she dies" and with that promptly did her death scene again. Oh Lord.
May 01 FishyOk I obviously watch way too much TV for any one human being. I see conspiracy theories in most nws stories and wonder why specific words are used sometimes very seriously considering if I am missing some hidden agenda. I know but itis a silly little game I play with myself.
I came across this story today in reading the news: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24408142>1=43001 It is about a woman who was charged with being a DC Madam who recently commited suicide just before her sentencing. I thought that was odd in itself, but then to find out that another girl in the ame prostitution case also commited suicide just before going to trial. Um, is it me or do you not hear the theme song to CSI starting to chant in your head? Or BONES (since it is set in DC and I happen to like watching David Boreanis work - who doesn't? It might help if I learned how to spell his name though, I am not sure that is correct, but you know who I mean - I miss ANGEL and Joss Weaton. SO much - that might explain a lot too). ANYWAY I was just thinking it seemed odd. Maybe that happens a lot I dont know. But it seems to me if you are scrappy enough to be a high priced Madame in a city as tough as DC for 13 years, you are scrappy enough to know to avoid a nylon rope as your escape.
Just crazy food for thought. None of my business - just caught my eye. When?SO....Rileyanne is having a VERY small birthday party this weekend for her # 3. I still cannot believe she is three! Anyway, a good friend had a Princess theme party and even invited a REAL Princess not too long ago and it was a BIG hit. She had Belle and the party, as all of her occasions, was fabulous. I wanted to re-create some of that to the best of my ability but could not really afford to invite the Princess over. I could afford the dress, so I bought a halloween costume on the cheap (and they REALLY are cheap this time of year - seriously - get yours in the Spring too! Saves a fortune!) and I will be Snow White. So I am cleaning the house, getting ready, wishing I had invited more people mostly because I feel bad excluding others - we just needed a SMALL party this time.
Remember how in college you would cram for a test? You would study and suddenly just before the test (or event if you were an athlete I did that too) you would get sick? Well, here I am sporting a HUGE cold/cough/congestion right before five 2-3 year olds show up in Princess dresses. My only thought was even God did not like it when I tried to talk in that sweet little Snow WHite Voice and decided to take matters into His hands and force me to speak like a Frog instead. I gotta get over this FAST.
So when do you grow out of stress colds? Apparently never. Off to inhale as much Vitamin C as I can get - I know I know too late but I will feel like I am being proactive and that will help! |
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