Alzheimer's Memory Walk 2008

I am excited to participate in the Alzheimer's Memory Walk again this year!  This is an event I have been participating in since I was in college.  One of the philanthropies for Sigma Kappa Sorority is to support research and education for Alzheimer's Disease.  My first job included working with people affected by Alzheimer's.  This disease has become personal for me and this year, I am walking in memory of Christopher's grandfather, Mervyn Gleason, who passed away from Alzheimer's.

Since the walk takes place during the babies' naptimes, Chris is staying home while I go run/walk the 2 miles.  I would love your help to raise money for this important cause.  If you would like to donate money, please visit the website.

Snack Time

We had Cooper's doctor's appointment on Friday.  He is meeting all of his milestones and the doctor said he looks great.  We asked about him not eating solids and wanting to self feed.  She said that he is gaining weight and growing so whatever we are doing, we are doing right.  He weighed 19 lb, 12 oz and was 29.5 inches long!  Compared to Charlotte's 6 month stats, he has her almost 4.5 lbs and 5 inches!!!  FIVE inches?!!?  Wowsers.  Yeah, he's not even close to being on the charts with his height.  Greater than 95th percentile doesn't even describe where he falls.

She said it's okay to let him self feed as long as we be very careful about choking hazards.  Make sure the food is in small pieces or very soft.  She said that he could become anemic if he doesn't eat cereal (because it's fortified with iron), but we could just give him small bits of hamburger instead.

He got more shots yesterday.  During one of them the syringe snapped off the needle and the medicine went everywhere.  We had to do another shot...no fun.  Poor kid.  He's been under the weather all weekend and running a fever.  He seems to be feeling better today though.

We do snack time every evening and sometimes in the morning too.  Cooper likes to play with the bag.  Charlotte likes to have handfuls of snacks and shove them in her mouth (and feed them to Scout).  And Scout likes to steal them from the floor, the bag, the kids, the chair....I think this picture says it all:

Here's Cooper getting on his hands and knees:

Sorry I haven't blogged about the pumpkin patch yet...I need to fix the pictures first, but I don't have Photoshop installed yet.  I might have to find a free program online to do it, otherwise it might be awhile.  Know of one?

Play date and baby updates

I took the kids to their first play date on Sunday, October 12.  I have volunteered to be the chairperson for my sorority alumnae group for the Mom's of Small Children Special Interest Group.  I planned an event to spend an hour at a local park.  I showed up and then then only other person who came was Caren with her daughter Cecily!

Caren lives in our apartment complex, so it was silly for us to drive over to a park when we could have just gone to the pool or something!  Oh well.  We had fun anyhow.  It was awfully windy, but the kids had a great time outside.  Cecily loves having fun with Cooper and Charlotte! 

Cooper sort of freaked out when Caren walked away from while she was holding him.  Charlotte loved eating gold fish and drinking my water.  Here are some pics of the babies swinging and then the three kids together.

Look how much taller Cooper is!

Cecily pushing Charlotte:

Cecily, Charlotte and Cooper:

Baby updates:

Charlotte just got her two top teeth and now three more are coming in!  Two more on the top next to the front two and one on the bottom next to the front two.  She has mastered finger foods and prefers to feed herself rather than us feeding her.  We are trying to get her interested in using a spoon, bowl or plate and she prefers to eat with her hands off her high chair tray.  She has also mastered the sippy cup.  She prefers cups with straws or soft sippy tops, but she is getting more flexible. 

Charlotte is beginning to mimic the things we say now.  She says 'hi da-da', 'ma-ma', 'ah-da' (all done), 'tout' (Scout), and 'ta-da' (touchdown).  We are just amazed that she understands words now!  It's amazing to suddenly be able to communicate with her in this way.  She is also pretty good at sign language and can ask for 'more' or for 'food'.  It makes for less frustrated parents and baby!

Charlotte is super fast with creeping, but she still doesn't get on all fours to crawl.  She has started to pull herself up on everything, which causes lots more bumps and bruises.  She can also move into sitting position at any time she wants.  She's thinning out a little because of all her creeping around.  She gets into things everywhere so we have to keep a constant eye on her.  We recent baby proofed, so she can't get hurt by anything.

Pulling up in the crib.       

Pulling up on my legs.      

Pulling up on the toy.  Charlotte never seems to notice that Cooper is in the way.  She crawls over the top of him all the time.  Guess he's just another obstacle for her.  He doesn't seem to mind unless she lays on top of him and doesn't get off.

Pulling up on the stroller.

Pulling up on another toy.

Pulling up on the office chair.

Sitting up in the crib after a nap.

Cooper is very needy lately!  He wakes up several times a night, so we are cosleeping now.  We will slowly transition him to his crib again, but we do put him in it for naps, so it should be easy to get him back there. 

He is also refusing to eat cereal.  We've tried everything - different cereal, mixed with fruit/juice/water/breastmilk, hot/cold/warm, thick/thin, different times, different spoons/bowls.  He still gags and chokes, clamps his lips and pushes the spoon away.  So we are skipping cereal.  We gave him some sweet potato and he gets a couple bites before doing the whole gagging bit.  So we moved on and gave him a piece of an avocado...he chowed it down and opened his mouth for more!  He also loves to eat puffs (melt in your mouth cheerios like baby snacks). We think it's the runny food and spoon that he doesn't like.   So I guess we'll just jump to finger foods!

Cooper thinks Charlotte is hysterical and follows her all over with his eyes.  He laughs any time she even glances at him.  He gets mad when she leaves him alone to play by himself.  He has started to get up on his hands and knees, so he might start crawling or creeping soon!   He finally rolls from tummy to back, so no more getting stuck!  He has also started to blow raspberries.  It's so cute.  When we get a good video of it, I'll post it.  Oh, and he's sitting up by himself now and doesn't fall over!

Getting a little big for the swing but he still loves it!

Out on a walk:                      

One of their favorite toys.  Awesome purchase...it tilted down when he liked to lay down and play with the toy above him.  Now it tilts flat/angled for them to sit at or pull up on.  Then it will go higher and tilt completely flat when they can stand.

We have Cooper's 6 month check up on Friday.  More shots. :(

The parental termination was granted on Monday, Oct 20 for Charlotte.  She is in the process of being legally released for adoption.  We will send off our application for adoption tomorrow.  Then we have to do a home study and back ground check (again!).  We want to go back for the adoption hearing, but it will depend on when it takes place.  (We are also allowed to do it over the phone.)  I'm so excited for us, but at the same time I am a little sad for Charlotte's birth mom.

Charlotte Laughing at Scout

Scout loves to be chased and run all over the house. We had Charlotte 'chase' her and they both loved it! This is the most we've heard Charlotte laugh at one time. She's usually pretty quiet.

Coming home is my favorite part of the day

Sometimes I feel like an outsider with my family.  I so much less time with them than they have together.  I don't know how for years many working men have spent endless hours at the office.  I work my 9 hours and I am practically running home.  To my family.  Where my life begins every day.  Coming home is the my favorite part of the day.

Everyone is so excited to see me when I get home.  Cooper's face lights up when he hears my voice and sees me.  He looks like a grounded Michael Phelps with his little arms and legs going a million miles an hour.  You would think it's been several months instead of a few hours since I've seen him.  When I pick him up, he buries his head into my face and neck.  He usually tries to eat my face.  I guess this is his version of a kiss and his only way of showing how excited he is to see me.  Or maybe he mistakes my face for my boob.  I love it just the same.

Charlotte is a little slower to react.  She goes on about her business for a little while and then comes crawling/scuttling toward me.  She smiles and lets out this squeal that is hard to explain, except to say that  I love to 'hear' her smile.  She has now started pulling herself up on me and sitting on her knees while she pulls on my pants.  It's the cutest thing in the whole world.  She lifts her arms to let me know she wants to be held and then rests her cheek or forehead on mine.

All the while Scout is dancing around my feet waiting for me to greet her.  I'm desperately trying to unload from my day at work and not trip over her.

In the background I see my  husband sitting calmly and smiling as I get attacked.  He begins to rattle of the details of the day.  He is surprisingly relaxed and happy after having the kids all day by himself.  We figure out what to have for dinner and then the rush of getting the kids fed and enjoying dinner ourselves.  Somewhere in there we take 5 minutes to just focus on each other, smile, kiss, hug and just enjoy each other while our new life spins around us.

I just wish I had more time with all of them. 

Random thoughts about my random drug screen

My company has a policy that all employees must submit to a random drug screen.  In the 6 years that I've worked there I have never had to take one.  In my entire life I have never had to go to a random drug screening.  I'm not sure why my company thought that now after having a baby and still nursing that I would begin doing drugs and drinking on the job.  Maybe they thought 2 kids and a new high stress job can do that to a person?  Whatever.

So I go to the clinic and when I walk in I immediately feel out of place.  I mean this isn't the kind of doctor's office I usually go to and it's clear that they don't usually get people dressed in professional attire into the clinic.  Nor do they usually get women.  I sign in (why do those sign in sheets have the tiniest little space for my too long last name??) and have a seat facing the tv that is on Fox Good Day LA. Ugh.

I begin to check out my surroundings.  There are some hats hung on the wall with various company names on them.  Wow they look old.  And dirty.  Wow, that's some layer of dust!  I see my company's hat and it says 'Since 1965' and I think, yeah that hat looks like it has been here since 1965!  Gross.

There are also childish kindergarten like halloween decorations hung all over the place.  Looks great.  You don't even notice the grungy clinic anymore.

Whoa!  What's with the 4 ft dead fish hung on the wall?!?!  I know it's called Maritime something or other clinic, but really, do we have to be so literal with the decorations??  Looks perfect with the grime and flimsy holiday decorations.

And then  I notice it.  What the heck is a huge 1980's plastic leather couch doing in the doctor's office??  It's the kind of couch that you don't sit on at a house party for fear of who has done something unmentionable on it at the last party.  Gross!

I then settle in to watch some tv.  I can feel it right away.  My brain is turning to mush.  Mush. Mush. Mush.  Blah, blah, blah.  The ditsy girls and old man pretend to have a conversation.  Mushiness is getting worse.

Then I see it.

I burst out laughing.  The guy next to me looks up at the tv and starts laughing too.  I say, I have no idea what that's about, but it's hysterical!

Something about a horse stuck in a tree.  Still don't know the story, but it was the highlight of the visit.

My name gets called and I go back to the 'exam room' if that's what you want to call it.  It's like a big open kitchen with a long counter and sink.  The young guy doing the screening has me wash my hands and put my purse down.  It's then that I realize the bathroom stalls are out in the open in this room!!  I realize I'm going to have to practically pee in front of this guy.  Wow...I had no idea this is what I signed up for when I agreed to random drug screening!

So the guy tells me to pee in a cup and not to flush the toilet.  Uh, okay.  I can tell he's a little nervous because he's having a hard time getting the paperwork organized and his gloves on.  Thankfully he sort of stepped into the hallway while I peed.  I have to watch him pour my pee into other little containers and then sign the containers and another form.  Then I finally get to wash my hands.  I do a breathalyzer and I can finally leave.

I wonder how much that guy gets paid to flush toilets and transfer pee from one container to another all day?

New Computer!!

Woohoo!!  I got a new computer!!  I still have to configure everything and move the stuff over from my old hard drives, but at least I'm up and running.  I have lots to blog about...but I'm going to save it for another day.  I'm a little tired after a short weekend and want to sit and veg in front of the TV.  Stay tuned for lots of great pictures, video, and tales about our play date at the park and the pumpkin patch!

(Oh and check out the new blogs I've been reading...like I don't have anything else to do beside read other people's blogs!  Especially people I don't know!)

Can't Resist

I can't resist blogging, even though I have to use blogger. I am still without my own computer and I hate the super size screen on Chris' computer. I also can't print anything (we would have to install the printer on another computer...PITA) and I can't download pictures without several steps. No fun, since I have some great pictures from the park, and some cute video of Charlotte laughing. Trust me Chris is working on restoring my computer ASAP. A girl can hope for this weekend, right?


I finally feel like I'm learning how to balance all the parts of myself. Now that I know what to expect for my workweek and my weekends, I feel like I can fit other things back in. I finally finished Power of One, which I had been reading since June!! (That's a long time for me...I'm an avid reader and can usually finish a book in a day or two.) I started a new book, The God Delusion. There are about 25 words I had to look up in a dictionary because I didn't know what they meant--as in I couldn't even infer what they meant. I'm only on Chapter 4...this is one of the more difficult books I've read.



The kids are more adorable than ever. Apparently Cooper is just an obstacle for Charlotte. She just crawls all over him to get where she needs to. He doesn't seem to mind. She pulls up on everything and has learned to pull herself onto her knees upright in the crib. It's really amazing to watch...and she gets this really proud look on her face. She is very nearly crawling, but not quite. Her top two teeth have started to break through, but aren't in fully. She is lauging out loud a lot more and starting to mimic us. We swear she says Hi, dada whenever she sees Chris. She says mama, but I don't think she knows what it means yet. She will grunt, groan or cough if she hears any of us do it. She really is a cutie.



Cooper is mister fussy pants lately. He is so distracted during the day and ends up waking up at night to eat. He gets up so often I've resorted to full on co-sleeping. I don't mind cuddling with him and we both get more sleep, but I want to make sure we get him back to his own crib. He starts out there and some nights makes it to 2 am, but lately it's been difficult to keep him there. He also refuses to eat solids. He gags and chokes and throws up any time we give him something other than breastmilk. We make sure he watches us and Charlotte eat so hopefully he will show interest again. I can get him to eat maybe one small piece of a puff before he starts gagging. Oh, and he is rolling over both ways and spinning around on his tummy to change the direction he is facing! This means we have two kids on the move!



Okay...that's it for now. I have lots more to write, but I want to include pictures and it's depressing me that I can't. So I'll wait. And I'll beg my husband to get my computer back to me by the weekend.

Broken Computer

Ahh!! What's a girl to do?!?! My beloved computer is officially broken. I think I've actually been using it on borrowed time, but I was hoping it would last until the end of the month. We had a crazy plan to updgrade all the computers and build a home server for movies when we got my retention bonus at the end of the month. So I will have limited computer time because I just love my computer too much to use one of the other two that we own (yes we own three computers...two adults, three computers...now that I write it out, it sounds absurd!).



I use Windows Live Writer for blogging because I hate the blogger input for pictures and I don't have it downloaded on any other computer. I have the pictures all organized on my computer, so I don't want to deal with the hassle of having pictures in two places. Basically, I refuse to deal with change at this given moment, mostly because I'm lazy. We'll see how long the laziness lasts...

Photo Entry

Hmm, what an interesting book

Hey mommy, just lookin' at the books

Hmm, what's this?  It opens!

And there goes the book

<Picture coming soon.  I'm sure it won't take her long to figure that out.>

Mom, the bouncer is boring.  Even with Charlotte eating the side.

Still boring, even when she plays with me

Okay, get me out of here! (This is how Cooper lets us know he's done in the bouncer chair.  He gets stuck like this and it freaks us out...the kid is going to break his neck!!  No more bouncer chair!)

Wow, this bowl is amazing!  (Not sure why we buy toys?!?)

Don't you know?  You buy toys because I'm THAT cute.

Gimme a drink!

All mine and she can't have them!

Charlotte:  Give me the phone.  Cooper: No.

Beat me up all you want, I'm still not giving you the phone!

Go away already!

Yum, tasty toys!

Lolz Charlotte (click here for more Lolz):

Bitstrips

Haha, I found a new website.  I'm sort of stealing it from a blog linked to a blog, linked to another blog that I read.  Yeah, I'm a blog stalker and I'm proud of it.  I can't help but be incredibly fascinated by people I don't know or have never met.  And did you know there are a LOT of women pregnant right now??  Like all of them between 25 and 30 weeks!!  What happened 25-30 weeks ago??

Oh, yeah...the new website.  Check out Bitstrips...so fun!  Here is the family being corny on the beach.  And yes, I'm wearing shoes.  I don't like the feeling of the sand between my toes.

It was short and sweet visit with my dad and brother.  They flew in about 10 on Saturday morning  and then went to the hotel around 8 pm.  They left at 6 am the next morning to drive back to Denver, so we only got to visit for the short time on Saturday.  Charlotte started to warm up to my dad, but she was still unsure.  Cooper, was well, typical Cooper and couldn't get enough beard pulling in.  I think my dad really enjoyed it.  My brother actually held the kids this time too!  I was surprised, but I'm glad he's taking an interest.  He can be the cool uncle when they get older.

Here are some pictures from the visit:

Charlotte pokes Grandpa's eyes out, and enjoys doing it!

Cooper snuggles, ur, pulls grandpa's beard.

Take 20 pictures to get all four looking at the camera (sorry...no time to fix red eye):

Chris only

Chris only

3 out of 4

A different 3 out of 4

Success!

Cooper playing on the computer with Uncle Larry:

Free Handbag

Stealing from the Schrenks and increasing my chances to win a free handbag...

Go to Handbag Planet to win a free handbag. They are giving one away every hour for the next 24 hours.

Wipes Incident, Round 2

Gosh this cold and lack of sleep is killing me!  I'm finally getting around to blogging.  After everyone starting to get better, I got worse and for the last week or so I've been fighting off the cold.  It doesn't help that Cooper is reverse cycling and eating every 2 hours at night and then eating about 4 oz while I'm at work.  I'm flattered that he prefers me and wants to spend quality time with mommy, but I. am. tired.  The last couple of nights he seems to be sleeping through the night again, so I hope it sticks.

I've been doing pilates twice a week since June.  I've seen a tremendous difference in my core muscles and I finally feel strong enough to start doing some other physical activity.  I am not quite at pre-pregnancy size, but I'm close.  Of course my shirts won't fit for awhile so I have had to go buy new tops. 

It's tough to make time to workout, but I plan to add in at least one more day of workout (cardio) and then after I make that a habit, I want to add another day for weight training.  Maybe I won't add another day, but instead go early or stay late from pilates and do the weight training or cardio.  I'm excited to do more and see faster results.

Chris is also going to start working out again.  He is finding out that he doesn't need to feel guilty for doing things for himself.  I think he also finally trusts me to take care of both kids at one time.  I quit joking around about how he knows more than I do about taking care of both of them.  I think that helped.

We bought a new snack food.  We generally snack on healthy stuff with some junk food thrown in.  We LOVE every flavor of Goldfish.  The ranch, pizza, mozzarella sticks, extra chedder, chedder/pretzel mix, cinnamon graham, honey graham.  They are all so good.

We've been having food issues with Cooper since we got back from Denver.  He refuses to eat the baby oatmeal, by itself or mixed with anything.  He will gag and shudder before the spoon even reaches his mouth.  This is new since he used to love it and we couldn't get it in his mouth fast enough.  He also refuses to eat anything we've offered him - peaches, pears, avocado, blueberries.  We are going to wait until he is over the cold, then start all over with the cereal.  It's amazing how much a parent can stress over food for their child!

Charlotte is almost completely on finger foods now!!  It makes meal times fun and super easy.  She likes it so much she rarely lets us feed her anymore.  We are still able to do cereal in the morning and then every once in awhile we can squeeze in green beans and rice or pasta primavera baby food.  Now if only we can get her to do the sippy cup by herself.  She knows how to drink out of it, but she doesn't understand the tilting.  Strange since she drinks all her bath water out of a bowl!

She is starting to eat the things we eat too.  Last night we gave her some roast, carrots, and potatoes.  We hadn't started eating yet, but gave her the food first.  She picks up the carrots first (she likes colorful food best) and after putting it in her mouth, she made an awful face and starts yelling.  So we quickly tested some of the food.  Holy pepper batman!!!  We made the recipe slightly different and all the food was so peppery.  We felt so bad and quickly gave her some toast and juice.  Then we took away the food and gave her something else.

Charlotte is really starting to pull up on things.  She doesn't understand to move her legs underneath her, so it looks more like she is working out her arms.  Cute though.

Charlotte is fascinated with my boobs.  She will sit on my lap and pull my shirt down then face plant into them.  I think she sees Cooper when he's feeding and is trying to figure out what's so great about them.  It cracks me up.

Cooper has started really yelling when he cries.  It's like he enjoys his voice so much he changes it up just to cry.  I'm not liking it.  He loves the jumper and both kids like to try to get Scout on the couch.  Of course Scout has learned to lay just out of reach.

We had another wipes incident.   This time it was a few more than 6 wipes.  She knows how to open the Kirkland wipes.  Doesn't she look so innocent...like, I don't know what happened?!?

And I guess we need to get right on that baby proofing:

Here are some cute ones of Cooper.  I had to put the little turkey outfit on him now so that he will get to wear it before he grows out of it.

And this was an attempt to put the blanket over his head like he likes to do.