Naturally Optimistic

Last Sunday when we were in the Cities, we decided to take on Underwater Adventures. We went with my parents, the Johnson 5 (minus my sister) & my sister-in-law Allison & her son Anders. It was SO COOL! I had never been there before & had a great time! I've often heard Peder & Sarah talk about it so was anxious to check it out. The weather was crappy outside so it was perfect to enter the darkness & see all the cool creatures living underwater. I loved the "tunnel." What a great concept! It was amazing how up close & personal you could be with fish, sharks (oh my - the teeth!), huge HUGE turtles, etc. I loved the atmospheric music. I could've stayed there for hours, meditating. The sea horses were also VERY cool. They're so cute. Dahlia really liked them. August loved seeing everything overhead in his car seat. Pefect! We went through at the beginning of the day & at the end of the day (what a great concept!) & of course Dahlia ha...

After a Thanksgiving feast last night of all the classics, I think I am still full. Egads. We had a great time at my Mother-in-laws - Steve's whole family (minus sister Laura) was there! Dahlia & Anders had a ridiculously good time playing together. I swear those two have the same silly sense of humor. We stayed up WAY too late but Dahlia slept til almost 9am this morning, so that was cool. Today Anders (& his parents) visited & we played & played. First with the toys, then we got out the parachute (and the cackling laughter of 2 2-year-olds began) THEN we suited up & went outside to play in the snow. They had a blast. There were tears when Anders had to leave - from both of them. Tonight we're going to eat (again!) pizza & tour Bentleyville (the amazing lighting display at Bayfront). It is BEYOND COOL. I am a sucker for things like pretty lights and THIS is AMAZING. It's free (for one); they give you FREE hot chocolate & cookies, free popcorn ...

On Monday morning I am doing a reading at my nephew's funeral. Words that are so sad I hoped I would never say them. My sister-in-law & brother-in-law were expecting their baby to arrive in March; but sadly the wee one was plagued with problems. They found out the baby had Downs Syndrome, which is sad but of course it is a challenge that just has to be met. Unfortunately there were other problems with the baby's heart - including a calcium build up in the left ventricle (which is usually only present in the right ventricle) of the heart (or I may have gotten left & right mixed up). This was only documented 4 times in the US & Canada. Most likely this baby would need an immediate heart transplant upon his birth. If the pregnancy went full term. There was also the potential for brain damage - something that could not be determined during pregnancy. Sadly, it did not. The baby was born on Saturday, October 23rd. 23 weeks (I think?). He was named Owen & he lived for...

Well, guess I'm not going to make my own self-imposed NaBloPoMo - ah well. I will try to stay more on top of things...we'll see how that goes... So - August is 6 months old! October 27th! What? Where has the time gone?? How is it possible that I have a 6 month old? Crazy. He had his appointment one week early as it was also the follow up for his Upper GI (which showed nothing, btw). He weighed in at 14lbs 5.5oz! 7th percentile! (up from 4th - whohooo!) Height - 26 1/2" 61st percentile!! (what?) Head Circumference - 17" 39th percentile I stopped giving him his meds last week to see how he would do & he's doing great! He hasn't taken Prevacid or Carofate now for almost a week. He's a happy boy! He hasn't really seemed in pain at all. It's awesome. I'm so glad. He is such a good-tempered child! He laughs & smiles; he loves to play; babbles all the time. He learns new 'vocalizations' often & likes to repeat them OVER & OVER....

Dang it. My modem died on Sunday & I was unable to officially participate in NaBloPoMo. I think I have done this every year for the past 5 years! Hmph. Oh well. I will TRY to make daily posts from now on through November. Not sure that I'll be successful but at least I will try!

I've been AWOL lately - too much to do, not enough time to sit & play on the computer. Ah well.... What have I done in the past two weeks? I have no idea. I cannot remember that far back. I think we probably ate some meals, went hiking in Chester, visited a corn maze, dealt with a fussy in-pain baby, wrangled a toddler. The usual. This week has been full of doctor's appts. Monday I took August in to have an upper GI. I was dreading it as I couldn't feed him after 4am. This kid still eats every 1 1/2 -2 hours so yeah...the appt was at 8:15. Well, he did great! He was in such a good mood. Super smiley, laughing & charming all the people in the radiology dept. He wasn't super cooperative with the whole drinking the barium thing but we got him to drink just about 1oz which thankfully was enough. The good news - they didn't find anything anatomically wrong with him - no twisted esophagus or funky stomach connections. The bad news - there's nothing to 'fix...

Steve & I hadn't been to Applefest for 6 years! That was the first fall we were together. So it was time to return. The weather was gorgeous & it is always good to get the kids out of the house on such a beautiful day. It started off great - BOTH kids were ASLEEP in the car within 10 minutes. That NEVER happens. Especially with August (that kid just never sleeps anywhere, except perhaps outside...). Steve & I were actually able to have a nice, quiet, long overdue conversation. The scenery was beautiful. It was really very very nice. After finding parking (ugh) we headed down to the festivities. Our fist order of business was finding some apple crisp or pie. The line was long but the wait was WELL worth it! The apple crisp torte was fresh & hot! The ice cream & caramel toppings were delicious. We spent the afternoon wandering around, looking at the booths & people watching. August & Dahlia were very well behaved. Thank God for the double stroller! Dahlia ...

So last night's schedule was this: 8pm - August 'sleeping' in his crib. Yipppeeeee! This lasted for 3 hours! Wahoohoooo 11:36 - Up to feed August. Nursed him in the chair in his room because I wanted to put him back in his crib after that feeding. 1:36am - the time I woke up still sitting in the chair with August. He was not ready to go to bed, he wanted to eat again. Caved & brought him into bed with me. 3:20am - up again to feed, super cranky, possibly with sore tummy? 4:20am - I had a hacking coughing fit (awesome) - woke August up (if he was sleeping, who knows. Fed him a little again. 5:30am - August awake & cranky. Needs to eat. 6:20am - More feeding/crankiness 7:12am - WIDE AWAKE with a big smile on his face. Shouts of "MAMA!" coming from the other room. And alas, another "night's sleep" is history. I'm considering starting to wean August. I don't really want to yet...this has been hard fought, this breastfeeding & I'm ...

I have a cold. Pfffffffft. That is all. Goodnight. I'm also looking for a good homemade chicken soup recipe for tomorrow's super. Any ideas?

Another beautiful day (this time, all the way through!) today in Duluth. Time to get the kids to the Lakewalk! We started at the Rose Garden. Dahlia thought the gazebo looked like the perfect place to perform. She loved to sing & dance in there. It reminds me of princesses so I can only imagine what she thought! She loved running through the gardens. Loved smelling the roses. We walked on the lakewalk down to the rock beach where Dahlia loves to throw rocks into the water. We had a snack there & dipped our hands in the lake. August slept through most of it. I'm considering moving his crib outside!

The long, cold dark is steadily approaching. While I appreciate the cozy nights, a fire in the fireplace, dark skies which make bedtime easier & thoughts of baking pumpkin, I do dread the cold cold coldness of it all. The isolation that comes with it. The LENGTH of winter. So, after a bright beautiful morning, followed by dark ominous skies & pouring rain, followed by near 70 degrees & sunny, I decided I had to get out of the house. August was fussy (as per his norm) but he loves to be outside, so into the Baby Bjorn he went & off we went. This is truly one of my favorite parts about where I live. It quite literally takes me two minutes (less?) to be here:

August is 5 months old today. 5 months? What? Where has the time gone? I can tell you where it has not gone....with me sleeping - ha! but enough about that... He is more & more fascinated by his sister every day. She entertains him all the time. And like Peder & Sarah's kids - Dahlia loves to have the audience! He has conquered rolling from his tummy to back, but has only gone the other way once or twice. He's a champ at tummy time & will actually lay on his tummy with his head up for long stretches (unlike Dahlia). He loves reaching for toys & chewing on everythinh. He enjoys his jumperoo for a while & is getting stronger & stronger every day. His smiles delight me. He started eating rice cereal last month & loves it! He gobbles that stuff down. Last we started giving him some pears as well. He doesn't like those as much but we'll keep trying. The really bad thing lately is that he won't take a bottle from Steve (or anyone else) withou...

Steve & I always like to try to get up the shore around our anniversary. We often dream of a multi-night getaway from everything (kids, house, mice, house projects, etc) but those don't always happen. This year we drove up for the day & it was spectacular! We hiked at Oberg Mountain which is a spur trail off the Superior Hiking Trail. It is just a few miles north of Tofte. 2.3 official miles (although my pedometer tracked us for just over 3 miles), it's a rocky & rough trail (in places) with dramatic views of Lake Superior & the surrounding forests. Maple, aspen, everygreen - they're all present & we hit it on the peak weekend. It was stunning. Simply stunning. The trail was packed with others out enjoying the beautiful fall day & colors. In fact I'm not sure I've ever seen so many people on the trail. It makes me quite happy to see so many out enjoying the beauty of the North Shore. Dahlia & August were constant recipients of comments re...

We have mice. Argh. I'm so annoyed. We have two totally useless cats. Aren't they supposed to take care of such issues? I've only seen one mouse (at at time) but I'm sure there're more than one. They haven't found the food yet (knock on wood) but I know they're in the kitchen and have SEEN it now on a couple of occasions (including WHILE I was standing in the kitchen about 10 minutes ago!! Argh! I *used* to be opposed to setting traps, but this is it. I've had it. We've gotta get rid of these pests!! The traps are coming out. (and by coming out I mean we have to go buy some & set them...sounds like a good job for Steve, right?)

Happy Anniversary, my Sweet Stevie!

On my first visit to the WIC office last month they let me know about a new program in Duluth called ' Ruby's Pantry . Its a food share program. You pay $15 and get over $100 in groceries. There are no income guidelines. Everyone is welcome. This was the 2nd time it was offered in Duluth. Last month they had 400 people. This month there were expecting between 700-800. I decided to check it out. The road in front of the church was backed waaaay up. I ended up parking quite a ways away & grabbed by empty 'Click-n-Go' stroller (they tell you to bring totes, laundry baskets, boxes, etc. There was a huge line when I got there & I waited outside (it was chilly!) for probably an hour. It was interesting though to chat with the others in line & find out how they'd heard about it, etc. Finally moved inside. Paid my $15 & waited. (This is why I have a book with me at all times...). It was probably another 45 minutes or so but I didn't mind. Once your numbe...

Today we: Built many castles, houses, dog houses, garages; had numerous birthday parties, slid down slides & ran in & out of the rain - all with Dahlia's little people - all by 8am. Colored many a picture in the new Princess color book & the Dora color book. Dug out lots of tiny pink newborn clothes that I am now going to put in the "giveaway" or "sell" pile in the basement. August is clearly a boy & I'm not going to get away with dressing him in purple cupcake onesies as much as I might like. It makes me a little bit sad....but it is time...*sniff* Fed & pumped - numerous times. Went for a walk to the playground. It's only 4 blocks down & 3 over but coming back UP the hill pushing the double stroller qualifies as my workout for today. Ate lunch & executed a perfect "it's now nap time" "No, REST time, Mama" "Okay, rest time." Read approximatelly 1 1/2 pages in my book. Called the bank to inqui...

So last night I had plans with my friend Julie to go out for some wine & also to go to a preview of a play at the local Playhouse. Cheap date as Tuesdays are half price wine night & the play was free! Whohooo! Because the last time I left August (for one hour to go to the grocery store) was a disaster because August wouldn't take formula, I pumped for a couple of days to make a stockpile for Tuesday night. I wouldn't let him down this time! I met Julie around 6pm and by 6:45 my phone was ringing & I was receiving frantic texts about August freaking out. He started screaming around 6:07 (not that he was paying attention) & wouldn't stop. I was in the restaurant & couldn't hear so I didn't answer the phone but I knew how it would go. Once outside I called Steve & heard the mayhem in the background. Part of me just wanted him to figure it out & handle it but the other part of me knows how stressful it is & how non-stop screaming can make...

Oh I feel like I'm back in the same place that I was 2 years ago! The no sleep thing. Ugh. I knew it was coming, I knew it would suck, and I was right! Dahlia's doing great on sleeping & going to bed (for the most part). We have instituted the timer routine & that works quite well. We say - you have 5 minutes (or whatever) to brush teeth & get jammies on. Then I set the alarm clock on my phone. It goes off in 5 minutes & then we HAVE to move on to the next thing (reading a book). When the snooze goes off in another 7 or 8 minutes, we have to shut off the light...then we saw our prayers, sing some songs & by time it goes off again it's time for the crib. The whole process takes longer than I'd like but right now I'm just happy that there isn't a fight. August, on the other hand, that kid just doesn't sleep. He 'cat naps' during the day. In the bouncy, stroller, car seat, high chair - but whenever I put him in his crib hoping for a ...