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Girl Scouts Leaders

May 19, 2009 By 4 Comments
:en:Juliette Gordon Low :en:Category:Girl Scou...
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As some of you know and others are about to find out I am a Girl Scouts Leader for both Abigail and Emma’ troops.  I have come to learn a few things in the past year and a half about being a leader.  Most of these lessons were learned out of frustration which makes me want to remember them for when Analiese is in kindergarten.

  1. It is NOT a one person job.  Do not kid yourself and think that you can take over the world.  You need help.  It is such a relief to finally have one with my daisy troop.
  2. The adults ARE worse then the kids.  If it is not mothers who will not leave it is fellow troop leaders fighting like kids.  Adults are much nastier then kids could ever dream of being.  This is too much.  I will not take a side in this current matter.  A friend was hurt and for that I am sad but I do not want to fall into the high school clique mentality as others have.  I think that the adults should act as adults.
  3. It is a full time job.  Planning all of the details involved can be overwhelming.  There are a bunch of websites to plan and investigate how to best handle the kids.  All of the fund raising, crafts, field trips and community service are quite time consuming.
  4. There is a lot to learn.  There is the old program with badges and patches and now there is the new Journey’s program.  So much to learn and process it is amazing that I can pass it on!

For all that Girl Scouts is I feel that it is a vital part of making girls into productive leaders in society.  I think about that each and every time I think about throwing in the towel.  I pray that one day my daughter will thank me.  I am hoping that I get better at it all.  I am hoping that all of my friends that I am making along the way find it in their hearts to forgive and forget.  I am most of all hoping for three college scholarships!  Oh come on I am just kidding.  Or am I?  Either way I am hoping that I am giving my girls the best experience I can because I know in few blinks of my eyes they will be off to their own lives leaving me behind!

Becca

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Happy Mother’s Day

May 10, 2009 By 3 Comments

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of you a very happy Mother’s Day.  the-girls-5-21-07

Becoming Mother:

As I came to there she was, this baby who had come to me.  Her entrance into the world was not an easy one.  I remember looking at her and the emotions that ran through me were too great to bear.  I sat and started.  I was in awe that this tiny thing had come from me.  She was beautiful.  She was mine!

I almost died having her.  I could not walk for about 6 months after but none of that matters.   My first baby opened a place in my heart that I had never known existed.  It went beyond unconditional love.  It is a feeling that you cannot describe.  It is the magical moment of becoming a mother. I will never forget that first moment that I met my princess.  I think about it each time I am upset with her, proud of her and even when I just look at her.

That same feeling of magic certainly entered into my heart the second time I became a mother.  This time my heart felt even more magic when I introduced Abigail to her sister.  It was as if God was in the room and blessing us with this new baby.  She was tiny just as Abby was and all of a sudden my first baby did not seem so small any more.  She was growing right before my eyes!

By the time we had our third I had thought that there was no way that the magic would still be there.  How much magic can one family have?  It was there.  The girls felt the magic the day that Analiese was born but not that mother magic.

I think that when you become a mother whether for the first time or the tenth time it is always magical.  It is something that leaves you in awe and warms even the coldest hearts.  Wether the baby is planned or not you feel that blessing from the first time you see that little baby that your love with your husband or partner have created.  That love lives on and on and never dies.

I would like to wish you all a happy Mother’s Day.  Take a moment today to remember when the magic entered into your heart.

Becca

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Easter Traditions: Dying Easter Eggs

April 8, 2009 By 10 Comments

Our Eater Egg Dying Day

easter-5

Emma and Analiese are all smiles

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Abigail with a rare smile

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Abigail and Rob having fun together

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Emma pouring carefully

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Our Left over dye

easter-1

Our finished product!

I love Easter eggs.  They are a sure sign that Easter is closer then we think.  The kids had a blast.  Everyone was smiling and getting along and for the first time ever we had a lot of fun doing it.  We used two different dying kits and I would have to say that the PAAS brand really does work the best.  The other brand did not fully dissolve and I was not as pleased with the colors.  Either way we have some great looking eggs this year.  We used the clear wax crayon and made polka dots and designs.  Daddy even made an egg that says Eat Me.  I hope that you all have a great time dying Easter eggs this year.  I would love to see some pictures.

I had wanted to make the Easter eggs from an earlier post but it was a little too hard this time.  The kids just wanted to dig in.  I am not sure that I really want them to attempt the leaf ones.  I would try on my own but how many hard boiled eggs does one family need?  I think that 18 is more then enough for this family.  I hate hard boiled eggs as does Rob.  Emma will only eat the middle and Analiese just makes a mess with them..  I do not want Abigail eating them all on her own!

Becca

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Stomach Bug

March 26, 2009 By 12 Comments
011 baby vomit
Image by justindula via Flickr

Let me start out by saying that I completely do not understand why it is called a stomach bug.  Is it because it bugs you?  Is it because it comes and flies away quickly?  Is it because someone thought bugs were gross and disgusting and therefore so was a stomach “bug”?   just do not understand how it could have gotten such a name!  Either way I hate it!

Last night (some would call 1am morning) as I was finally off to bed I went in to check on Emma and Analiese before I was to head down the hall to check on Abigail.  When I opened the door Analiese sprang up out of bed as if I scared her.  I laid her back down sang a song and was ready to move on down the hall.  All of a sudden, as I was kissing Emma, Analiese sounded like she was choking.  It was then that I realized what was happening.  I called for Rob who actually came right away.  She was l throwing up now and all I could do was tell her it was alright.  All of this as it hit the floor, her crib sheet her blanket and the stuffed toys on the floor waiting to be put away.

She then started again and thought that it was a great idea to catch it in her hands.  As I was pulling her hand out of the way I was slimmed!  I have to say that I hate throw up.  Did I forget to mention that part.  I am not sure that I have ever met anyone who likes it but let it be known that I HATE it!  I asked Rob to start the bath and he was confused.  He did not think that she needed a bath?  It was everywhere why would I not give her a bath?  Either way he was nice enough to finish cleaning up her bed, the floor and all of the animals.  I was so happy to be the one giving the bath although that was no picnic either.

So now I am sitting here thinking if I get sick I will be so mad.  Every time I get a stomach “bug” as we call it I flash back.  Not to my fun college years but to my many pregnant years.  Throwing up was what I did.  With the first two girls I had to go into the hospital and be re hydrated.  The flash back of the memories is sometimes just too much.  I am not quite over it.

So now I am just praying that I do not catch this bug.  I want to squash it.  I want to fight it and win.  I so do not want to be sick.  As a side note I would like to thank my sister in law for bring  the stomach bug into our house.  If I find the bug I am going to pack it up and send it right back to your house!

Becca

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Is My Baby Blind??? Part V

March 20, 2009 By 17 Comments

So the appointment was made for a week later to go and see the neuro-opthomologist.  My mother in law was taking me this time.  Again my mind was much too blurred to actually drive in a lot of traffic.  I had a little shred of light lit in my heart and was feeling just a tiny bit better.  I was trying so hard to remain optimistic!  I had to for my sake.  If I let all of these things get me down I would have quit a long time ago!

On a little side note I have to tell you that it is no joke going to a neuro-opthomologist.  They are VERY specialized.  When the other doctor’s office was making the appointment, they warned me to check that my insurance would cover it.  When I called my insurance company they told me there were only 2 doctor’s within 200 miles of my house in this specialty.   It was the doctor whom they had already made an appointment with or one in New York City.    I live within and hour of  “the city” so this is BIG!

So anyway, we are off to this appointment and arrive a little early which is what I like to do when I am stressed.  I think that every ten minutes this doctor was scheduled to see about 4 people.  He was running very behind as anyone would with this type of schedule.  I was so anxious sitting there in a cold and uninviting office.  There was no rug on the floors.  The chair was not comfortable.  No matter how nice you were to the staff they were down right nasty!  I felt like yelling at them.  I felt like saying, “don’t you know that I am here because my 4 month old baby cannot see?  Where is your compassion?”  I did not yell though.  It is not what I do.  I seethe inside instead!

After about an hour and a half we were called in.  At this point I had convinced myself that the baby was seeing a little more now.  I felt silly being there.  Trust me there was still something going on.  I was holding onto my mom dreams again.  I know we all have them!  We have to to make it through most days!

After he examined her he had said that Analiese had a visual maturation delay.  I looked at him like he had 6 heads.  I had no idea what this meant.  I was lost!  I guess he could tell because he went on to describe it to me.  The mylon sheathing on her optic nerve had not developed fully.  Over the next few months it should continue to develop.  Right there I was thinking, “is he saying what I think he is?  Will she be able to see?”  I was jumping out of my skin trying so hard to listen and calm my thoughts.  He then went on to tell me that by six months her vision should come in.  He said we did not need to go back unless it doesn’t happen.

After this rather quick diagnosis my mother in law started asking questions.  The most profound one was how common is this.  His words are words that I will never forget.  He told her, “We see three or four of these a year so it is pretty common!”  Was he kidding?  He is the only doctor in this specialty in the entire 200 mile radius and this is common?  His idea of common were jaded!

In the end Analiese’s vision came in slowly.  Now at almost two she can see wonderfully!  I thank God each and every day for this!  I am not sure that I could have handled another disability in my life at the time.   Especially not one that would have been so life changing for all of us!

Becca

Links to the Full Series

Baby Blind Part I
Baby Blind Part II
Baby Blind Part III
Baby Blind Part IV
Baby Blind Part V

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Is My Baby Blind?? Part III

March 18, 2009 By 15 Comments

So there I was at home that afternoon.  Abigail and Emma were still in school.  This meant that I could look online and learn all that I could about blindness in infants.  I know that babies are not able to see well the first few days of life.  I read and read all afternoon.  I did not see anything good.  I saw ways to help your blind child, I saw ways to tell if your child is blind and a million other things.  I kept doing the experiments suggested in hope that she would see something and I could end all of this.

So I shined a light in her eyes, I pointed her to the window to see if she would look out it.  I did everything that every web site had said to do and still nothing.  I cried for about 5 minutes and then picked myself up!  I said, “OK so she is blind.  There are worse things.  She is healthy other then that!  You can do this.”   And there it was.  Just like with the Mastocytosis (which can become cancerous), just like the cerebral palsy I could do this.  It was all going to be alright.  I said it again and again and again until I believed it.  I started to read about what to do with children who are blind.  I read all about ways to stimulate blind babies.  If I could not change it then by God I would educate myself about it. analiese-coming-home-from-h2

As I called my husband and told him he had the same response that his mother had.  I told him all the things I had been looking at and was, by this point, even cracking jokes.  I told him that we could get another dog now because Analiese would need a seeing eye dog.  He even started cracking jokes about it which are worse then my dog one so I will leave it out.  We were ready for whatever was to come.  I guess it is the kind of thing we had been faced with before.  We learned early on to accept it, deal with it and move on!  Now I was in the moving on stages by the afternoon.  That is until my in laws all got together and sent a huge margarita glass filled with flowers.  I cannot tell you what the card said but there I was crying again.  Partly because it was all too much and partly because it is always nice to know that you are loved!  Love was what I needed right now and they knew it.  That is why they are so great!

All day I helped Analiese and tried to get her to track things.  My father was convinced she was following a rattle.  I had explained to him that she was following the noise and after about 30 minutes of trying other things he gave me a great big bear hug.  This is what my daddy is best at.  It was his way of saying it is not fair.  You have too much.  It was his way of loving me.  It was his way of saying it would all be OK.  Just like daddy always does!

Becca

Links to the Full Series

Baby Blind Part I
Baby Blind Part II
Baby Blind Part III
Baby Blind Part IV
Baby Blind Part V

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Is My Baby Blind?? Part 1

March 16, 2009 By 23 Comments

analiese-coming-home-from-h

In order to tell this tale I will have to take you back almost two years.  There are two reasons that this story has popped back into my mind this week.  The first reason is that, as I mentioned a few days ago, this month is disabilities awareness month.  The second reason is because in May my “baby” will be 2!

I have to take you back to when the baby was just that, a baby!  I already had two older kids who were now 3 and 6.  They were so excited to have a new little sister.  I remember when they came to the hospital.  Emma who was three at the time was so excited about this new responsibility being thrust upon her and Abigail acted like it was nothing new but she was still excited.

As the baby grew over the next few months I noticed a few things.  She would not look at me.  In my mommy heart I knew that this was not a typical thing.  Then I started to notice that she was not tracking things at all.  In my head I kept saying, “she is fine.  You are just worried because of Emma (who has CP).”  Then I had noticed that she wanted to be held all of the time!  She hated being in a swing and would scream like she was scared if she was anywhere but my arms.

Because she is my baby and most likely the last I was kind of happy about it.  I helped her more then the others and was happy to do so.  She loved it when I played music and talked to her as long as I was holding her.

As the months went on the fact that she was not looking me in the face or tracking the fun toys I was waving in front of her was more and more obvious.  She looked through me.  Certainly not at me.  She would smile a little but was not mimicking faces.  So by the time she was three months old I was worried!  I had decided to ask the Dr. what was going on.

So as we went into her three month appointment I began to worry more and more.  I went through everything with him and when he asked about concerns I blurted out that she is looking through me!  I was on the verge of tears and took a breathe.  Then I explained how she was not looking at bright objects, she was not looking at my face, she would not stay unless held and she was not tracking.  I blurted all of this out as quick as I could.  The next part was for him to tell me that I am being a paranoid mother and to go home.  Well that is not quite how it happened.  He began to wave a light in front of her and nothing!  Her pupils were responsive but it was like she could not tell he was shining a light right into her face.  She did not blink, her eyes did not tear, NOTHING happened.

Links to the Full Series

Baby Blind Part I
Baby Blind Part II
Baby Blind Part III
Baby Blind Part IV
Baby Blind Part V

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The Funny Things That Kids Say

March 8, 2009 By 11 Comments

No WAY!!!

There are so many things that this term can be used for.  As an adult I do not think that I use it all that often but something is making me think differently.  Baby Analiese keeps saying NO WAY.  The trouble is that I just keep laughing at it.  As a seasoned mother I know better then to laugh at something like this.  The ramifications can be life long.

I do not know where Analiese has acquired this two word phrase but she  uses it flawlessly.  Here are a few examples!

Mommy:  Analiese, time for night night

Analiese:  NO WAY

Mommy:  Analiese time for Dinner

Analiese: NO WAY

Mommy:  Analiese say bye bye Barney

Analiese: NO WAY

Mommy:  Analiese Jammies on

Analiese:  NO WAY

Mommy:  Analiese we sit in chairs

Analiese:  NO WAY

Now I know that by this age No is about the coolest word ever.  I just do not know why or how my daughter figured out to add the simple yet complex word way to it.  It is a puzzle that I intend on figuring out!  I just look at her and laugh but really it is quite snotty and I am so determined not to mess the third kid up also.  For now I am working on saying, “YES WAY” to things in hope that it rubs off.  For now I will most likely keep on laughing that the funny things that kids say!  Here is an old Art Linkletter episode of “Kids say the Darndest things.”  What funny things do your kids say?

Becca

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You Want Me to Put that Where?

March 4, 2009 By 44 Comments
Image of a container of Vicks VapoRub

Image via Wikipedia

OK I know… it is not what you are thinking.  It is so much cleaner and better then what you are thinking.  This is a G rated site you know.

About a month ago my mother in law had advised me to put Vicks Vapor rub on little Analiese’s feet.  I had though that she was nuts!  Why would I put Vick’s on my babies feet?  So the next day my mother in law emails me an article on how putting vicks on a babies feet is actually better for the baby then putting it on their chest.  I laughed and forwarded it all of my friends.  I was thinking that they would also find the whole thing quite funny!

A few days later a saw one of the friends that I had emailed the article to in the Mall.  She was so happy and excited.  She had told me that her daughter had been sick with a cough for about a week.  She had said that the poor baby had not even been able to sleep laying down so my friend had been holding he all night long!   Then she went on to tell me something quite shocking.  She tried the Vick’s on the feet solution out of sheer desperation and IT WORKED!  She was thanking me profusely.  I had to come clean and let her know that it was my mother in law who had figured it all out!

I have not had a sick child since my mother in law mentioned the Vicks on the feet trick.  I am anxious to try it on someone… Darn that flu shot! I would love to hear who out there has tried it.

Becca

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Moving

March 1, 2009 By 19 Comments

house-3Last week we found the perfect house.  It is a typical old house with hardwood floors, a large livingroom and 4 bedrooms.  Right away we took it.  It was a no brainer.  For the same amount of money that we pay now we are getting so much more.

The first thing that made it a huge no brainer is that there are four… yes I said four bedrooms!  Right now we have two and for the 5 of us it is a tight squeeze.  The girls are so excited that they were able to go to the house today and pick their rooms.  Abigail picked the room leading to the attic.  Rob was against it at first but has given in.  He had thought that she would be scared but she is more then excited.  She wants to have a spot in the attic to write.  She is a lot like her mom in that she loves to write, tell tales and imagine.  She is super excited that she has gotten the room she wanted.

Emma is excited also.  She and Analiese may still share a room although Emma is unsure.  She hates when Analiese cries and wakes her up in the morning.  I think that them sharing still will be the way it turns out.  This will allow a play room.  I am siked about this.  A play room will mean that the toys have a home other then their rooms where they get messed up!

house-2

I am super excited about a bunch of things.   Rob and I will have a door again!  I did not think that it would be bad not having a door but I am really excited to be getting one again.  I also have a small area to make an office, a dining room and a fireplace.  Oh and the best part is that we have a huge front porch.

I led a tour to all of our family members today.  They all really loved it.  I think that it is going to be so great!  The kids already had  a blast in our new backyard and Abigail even mentioned that she found the perfect tree (she like to climb trees).  I think we are going to be VERY happy in our new home!

Becca

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