Thursday, December 27, 2007
Family Gems by Aunt Shelli
Parker and Kira were excited to watch Grampa grilling pork chops tonight. We went downstairs and looked out the window with the lights off so we could see them cooking. Grampa scared them first because it was dark outside and they couldn't see him. As Parker was watching the pork chops flare up as they cooked, he said, "It looks like there are dragons under there!"
A little later, Parker was playing with hangers and having a mock battle. Kira had a tube from gift wrap and said "Watch out for the 'pew' stick!" I had no idea what she was trying to say...until she pointed it at Parker and said "pew, pew, pew" making shooting sounds...I barely restrained myself from actually rolling on the floor.
It has been great seeing my nephew and niece this holiday...and these are just a few of the gems that remind me how special these visits are...oh and seeing Kristin and Jeff was nice too. (Aunt Shelli)
Labels: cute phrases, family, Kira, Parker
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Thursday, November 01, 2007
Kira Kitty and Park Ranger Parker
Last minute costume changes made this a stressful night, but I think it came out fine!
Parker, originally planning to go as Robin Hood, changed his mind to go as Luke Skywalker again when I was getting materials to make costumes. As luck would have it, right before going out, we couldn't find his black dance pants needed for his costume, so he agreed to wear the great Park Ranger costume his Oma and Grampa brought back from Alaska for him. Presenting Park Ranger Parker:
Kira was originally going to go as Curious George to Jeff's Man with the Yellow Hat, but decided she didn't want to do that either, on the day we went to get outfit supplies. Instead, she decided she wanted to be a cat. We convinced her to go as a black cat, as I knew we had black dance pants for her, just recently hand-me-downed from a friend. Introducing Kira Kitty:
We found the top at the Goodwill -- it is originally one of those skin-tight shirts, sized 10 girls (can you imagine??), and the tail is a boa, tied around her. The ears -- well, they were supposed to be something easy, and instead they took quite a while as I ended up making a head piece instead of just ears. Still, it made her look more like a cat, no? Hopefully you can't tell what it is made from ...
For Jeff, we abandoned previous plans for him to go as Little John to Parker's Robin Hood and also the Man with the Yellow Hat to Kira's Curious George. So, it so happened that his coworkers were going as Alice in Wonderland and as "Evil Alice", so he and I brainstormed, and decided to make him the 3 of Clubs from the Queen of Hearts' deck of cards, notorious for "Painting the Roses Red". Considering it was done in record time, I think it came out great!
With all of the craziness, we actually had to wake Kira up to go trick or treating, and both kids were exhausted just walking around our neighborhood. So, it should have been a sign when we started out like this:
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Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Teaching (and Learning) Life Lessons
While visiting PHAT Mommy's blog, a site I sometimes visit for inspiration, ideas, and just to spend some time, I came across a link from her site entitled "27 Skills Your Child Needs to Know That She's Not Getting In School". Intrigued, I went ahead and visited the link, and found a good list of skills that I'd like to give my children in life.
Of the ones they mentioned, I think we're already working on several, and need to be more proactive on others:
1) Financial: Jeff and I haven't specifically worked on this with Parker, though we've been talking about allowance recently. I think this is one of those really important ones that we still feel a little crippled by -- we've talked off and on about investing, but are still clueless enough to continue to not move forward with this.
2) Thinking: We do a lot of reading and discussing things out, so I think we're at least on the right track here. Perhaps we're still at too young an age to explore this more fully?
3) Success: I can't help but think this is something that is cultivated, not taught, and that the root of it is self-esteem. We are trying to instill the best self-esteem possible in our children, and hopefully this will be reflected in motivation and passion. My personal opinion is that procrastination is a learned problem. I know that I am a procrastinator, and part of that is due to fear of failure for some things, and the fact that it doesn't take me long to do others, and why do it before the due date or you'll be given busy work (the latter was learned very early for me in school).
4) Social: Being an "attachment parent" has led to really focusing on the social aspects, especially positive discipline, learning to express feelings instead of using hurtful actions, working together, sharing, etc. We use a lot of compassion/love talk, and although we do have occassional issues, especially with the two as siblings, they do pretty well in other settings. There is always continued work to do, especially in modeling how to resolve situations where feelings overshadow facts.
5) Practical: Oh, we're all learning this at the same time. I think it is an advantage to being home with the children -- they get to see what is involved in "keeping a house". Now the car part is also valuable, but we're not equipped to teach that.
6) Happiness: It feels that this is where our focus has switched lately, and it is also linked inextricably to the other categories. We've become much more involved in our community, including finding a spiritual home for our family (we became members this past Sunday of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville -- neither Jeff nor I have ever been members of an organized "church" of any kind before, so this is a pretty big step!). We (Jeff and I) are trying to be more in the present, and not so much worrying about the future, but that is harder, especially as a homeschooler, I think!
All in all, I think this is a great list to provide food for thought. I don't know that all of them can be taught as much as modeled, though, but luckily we still have a bit of time.
Labels: community, family, homeschooling, Jeff, Kristin, spirituality
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Monday, August 20, 2007
Heard Around These Parts, Part 1
Jeff, after jumping around because he ate Kira's 'magic beans': "I'm pooped!!"
Kira: "Daddy, go on the potty!"
Labels: cute phrases, family, Kira
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Tuesday, May 01, 2007
My sister-in-law's wedding
Well, she's married!!! Her husband, Chris, was thrilled watching her walk up the aisle, the moms got all misty (closer is Jeff & Jenna's mom, other side is Chris's mom).
Jenna walked down the aisle with her Daddy, and of course was just beautiful.
After an unexpectedly religious ceremony, they were pronounced husband and wife, and joyfully walked back down the aisle together.
It was a long ceremony for my kids, but cake fed to Kira by my Rabbi Schmuley-looking husband, and the bridge over a water feature for my nature-loving boy at least kept them happy almost to the end.
I was looking "hot" of course (and BIG), but it is what it is, right? Can't change overnight, though I'm working on the mindset currently.
Little family incident occurred, but I applied the Four Agreements (great book, BTW), and made it through happily. Now, to see if the comments about being fruitful and multiplying send my not-so-keen-on-having-children-SIL over the edge.
Labels: family
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Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Family Ties
I have to say that I am glad that we have two kids, and that one is a boy and one is a girl. It really is cliche, but this way, we get to experience parenting a child like each of us (abstractly, at least) and also the sibling relationship that we both had as well.
Having had a boy first was something that seemed to be a challenge for us, at least when we were first told. I have to say that we were pretty lucky to have the opportunity to make friends with other new moms who also had boys. It really helped us through the tough, insecure times.
Now Kira, she really does seem to be a mini-me. Heaven help me. She is a little scamp, can be as sweet as possible, and is really starting to develop her own ideas of the world.
We have to see how her personality continues to develop. So far, she's pretty amenable to most things that Parker wants to do. But if family history is any indication, that will change, as it did for me with my older sister, and then all bets are off.
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Saturday, January 20, 2007
Simplifying toys/toyroom
I am scared to do this, but it NEEDS to be done. The room is wrecked every day, there seems to be too much honestly for them to do, and I can't stand it! I can't help but wonder, what guidelines should I follow for toys to get rid of/sell/donate?
I'm also worried as Kira has a birthday coming up -- in three weeks! I want to tell everyone "no gifts", but I also know she'll love opening things up.
Labels: family, parenting, simplicity
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Thursday, December 14, 2006
Nine Years Ago Yesterday ...
Jeff and I were married!! It really doesn't seem like it has been that long, which is a good thing, and yet we've both aged SO much!!
What is MORE interesting (I think), is our wedding party -- what has happened to them and if we are still in touch.
From left to right:
Maddie: married now for several years, just officially adopted her husband's two teen children; now pregnant with her first child.
Jim: No Clue. Lost touch, and he has a common name, so we can't find him.
Vici: went on to have two girls, Madi who is 7 and just was part of her first play, and Alli, who is half-a-year younger than Parker. She is now pregnant ("surprise!!") with a third girl.
Brad: No Clue. Lost touch, attempts to reconnect have failed.
Shelli: my sister; moved to two other jobs, and is now in Tennessee. She's pursuing her certification to be a scuba diver.
David: went on an across the country movie trip, without telling anyone but his sister -- she is currently working legal aid in Afghanistan, and he and she visit frequently. He is working at a food delivery place.
Me/Jeff.
Ryan: Got into and finished med school, and is now a resident up north in neurology. He and wife (girlfriend at time of our wedding) moved up there together. We suspect children once his residency is complete.
Heather: Has been married and divorced, and continuing to working at JCPenney's as an inventory supervisor during a night shift.
Stephen: Converted to catholicism, got married, just had first baby. Finding success in writing/editing for a gaming magazine.
Maelanie: Married soon after we did to another Lobby friend, became vegetarian, converted to 7th Day Adventist, and currently has no kids (originally wanted kids before 30, don't know current plans). She is a counselor at a Christian-based pregnancy support center.
Phil: Completed his Masters, moved to San Francisco, came out, and is now happily living and dating.
Jenna: Jeff's sister; graduated high school, went to college, switched colleges, switched back and moved in with boyfriend, graduated, got accepted to same college for grad school, got engaged, will be married in the Spring.
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Monday, July 10, 2006
Crazy Busy July
I can't believe how busy my life seems to have become -- my calendar just seems crazy! I am actually looking forward to mid-August, when Parker's classes end and everyone else is starting to get crazy with the start of school! We still haven't signed Parker up for preschool, and the closer we get to that time, it seems the less likely we are to do so, especially with the classes he's taking at O2BKids.
So, for me --
1) I'm still doing lots of work on our business, including a conference brochure, the birthday party company still, an architecture-related international service, and a couple of others. We have one client who is refusing to pay us right now, and they owe us about $600!! I'm very "put out!".
2) I am still effectively running the playgroup for Kira, which involves keeping about 10 moms, working and not working, organized enough to keep regular meetings. We've just completed our first complete 2-month rotation, and people are even more excited about it than before (before the whole group was going to just peter out, so this is awesome!).
3) I am now on the board of MOMS Club here, doing the newsletter, and helping as we sister a new group. It has actually been really fun, and I've already learned a lot more about my community.
For Jeff --
1) He's as swamped with freelance as I have been, as well as trying to revamp our entire website including a complete portfolio -- it is quite the undertaking!!
2) His work may be in for some upheaval, though I can't talk about it yet, since it doesn't go public until the end of the week.
For Parker --
I love this boy!! He can be a pain in the neck, but he's so sweet, so smart, and so full of energy!
He's really great with all of the family he's been meeting (though at times he's TOO friendly with strangers. I really need to work with him on a healthy distrust ...)
His big thing is that he absolutely WILL NOT let me cut his hair. I had to cut his bangs recently, but that was all he'd allow. I should have known this was coming with all the fussing he often does about it.
He totally loved having my mom (his Oma) come for a visit, and to go with them to his Great-Granny's house.
Of course, that means that I'm having to deal with him stealing my cell phone and calling them every chance he gets and him constantly talking about going to visit them or them coming here.
Parker mostly loved spending time with his 12-year old second cousin, Ross. They really had lots of fun and Parker talks about going back to see him.
That's them at the fireworks on the 4th.
Kira --
She's become such a firecracker! She's very smart -- I think moreso than Parker! She says lots and lots of words, uses a fork/spoon, already remembers/reads books, and is a pretty darn happy girl (until it is sleep time).
More than that, she ADORES her Grampa (my dad). Oh my goodness, I've never seen a child take to a non-parent like that! She often ran to him instead of to me! I loved it.
She also favored my mama, but not nearly the same. Still, it was a nice reprieve for me.
She was much more shy meeting the extended family, like her Great-Grandma Morris (Jeff's grandmother) above, and her Great-Aunt Kathy below.
She always seems to have a serious look on her face, like Parker did. It is almost like she is trying to completely digest and comprehend the world before she's 2!!
Okay, I'm including the following out of obligaton:
I have some videos I have to download from my camera to share. As much as I adore my kids, more and more I feel like we're done. Maybe I'll change my mind -- I'm only 33, and they are only 4-1/2 and 17 months. We'll see.
Labels: community, family, homeschooling, Jeff, Kira, Kristin, milestones, Parker, Union Design Photo
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Thursday, June 15, 2006
Parker is a READER!!
So, a few nights ago, I was in there to read Parker his night books, and I really didn't want to. So, his first book was "Go, Dog, Go" by P.D. Eastman, and I asked him to read it to me, pointing to each word as we went. Well, he pretty much read the first 50 pages on his own!! There were a few words I had to help him with, and he made some assumptions and didn't really look at others (like "as" versus "is" and "in" versus "on"). He read so well, I assumed that Jeff had read the book to him several times before.
Well, last night, when I was talking to Jeff about it, he said he'd never -- NEVER -- read it to Parker, and I had only ever read the board book version about a year ago!!
So, tonight, I brought him the book he'd picked out at the library today and asked him to read it to me, and then I'd read it to him. He did it!! ALL!!! Only once did I have to point out he "in" versus "on", too!!
OMG -- I am SOOOO PROUD of him!! I guess letting him have a pile of books to "read" himself to sleep at night actually did make him teach himself!!
Labels: family, homeschooling, milestones, Parker, reading
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Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Loooooong Trip
Well, so much for leaving in the morning. It took too long to get everything together - we're packing too much stuff - and the van was chock-a-block full! We got on the road at about 1:30 pm, and didn't get to my parents house until 12 am. Very looooooooong trip. Two tired parents, two antsy kids, and apparently an overturned semi that made a trip from exit 5 to exit 18 take an hour does not equal a fast trip. We're on the road again tomorrow to get to Beech Mountain. Thank goodness we went to Target to get the extra DVD screen. Kira was happy and even laughing for 20 minutes!!!
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Sunday, February 06, 2005
Home with baby!
As posted on the ICAN-Online Board:
Thank you all for your help and support during my labor. I did end up having a repeat c-section, but it was MY choice, MY decision, and wasn't coerced or forced on me. Here is a quick sum-up of what happened.
Monday afternoon, 4 pm, contractions started. They were ok, getting stronger, and at about 10 pm, I lost my mucous plug with a little "pop" and my contractions picked up enormously. Jeff helped me check my cervix, and we didn't really feel a change yet, but figured it would come soon. Before long, we'd called the doula to come over, and I was having a really, really, REALLY hard time with the contractions. By 4:30 in the morning, they were over 60 seconds long and 2 minutes apart. Both Jeff and the doula thought I was in transition by everything, so we went to the hospital. They checked -- NO CHANGE. I was 20% effaced and 1 cm dilated. I was very upset by that, and the midwife was surprised, because the contractions were very regular, VERY strong, and so close/long. We were in the hospital until 9 am-ish when we checked out AMA, with the only change being my effacement increased to 50%.
We spent the day at home, the contractions had spaced out a bit in the hospital, but were still strong. They started to pick up after I'd rested and eaten, and then, at 7 pm, my water broke. There was some meconium, and I was a little scared about the possibility of cord prolapse or something (even though I know it is rare, I was home alone at this point, and the meconium being there just worried me). I got a friend to take me to the hospital and the doula and Jeff met me there (Jeff had gone to pick our son up to bring home). We got in, baby looked good on the monitor (relief), and my midwife arrived to check me. My cervix had still not changed at all (50% effaced, 1 cm dilated), my contractions since my water broke had spaced out more, but were strong, and the baby was still very, very high. I labored for several more hours, but was already feeling that there was a time line to reach, because of the waters and meconium, and I really worried about the baby. I got checked again at about 11 pm and there was still no change, and after careful consideration of the pros, cons, and consequences of either continuing to pursue the VBAC or going with the repeat c-section, I chose -- CHOSE -- the ERCS. Of course, I was sad about the choice, but I honestly didn't like either option 100% and knew that the longer I waited, that my emotional blocking wasn't going to get less but more, and I wanted to avoid the risks of infection that waiting longer and still having the surgery could have meant.
We went back for the surgery, and although the situation wasn't ideal, it went well. The anesthesiologist was a real jerk -- same guy that got upset that I didn't get the epidural in the morning. But the OB who did the surgery (my CNM assisted in the surgery) didn't say a word about the whole situation, and was a really good surgeon. My midwife did say that the baby was really high still (not in the pelvis), but LOA -- which makes me believe that it could be true that she wouldn't fit in -- her positioning wasn't wonky, I was having good contractions, etc. Of course, I will never know if that is true or not, but it does make sense to me.
At 12:27 am Wednesday morning, our daughter, Kira Elizabeth, was born. She was 8 lbs. 14 oz., 14-3/4" head, 20" long. Apgars 8/9. I am recovering okay, and am finally back home (got home Saturday afternoon). I labored for almost 30 hours, although my cervix never changed, I still consider it laboring -- and I know that I gave it a try, and made the right decision for me at the time given the situation and my emotions. Most importantly, it was my INFORMED choice -- something that I didn't get last time.
You can take a peek at her at http://www.sepiamoons.com/kira
Labels: caesarian, family, informed choice, Kira, Kristin, parenting, reclaiming our rights, VBAC
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