Tuttle and Dan.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Friday, July 15, 2005
My Little Mermaid
What a difference two weeks make. Today was the last day of Grace's second 2-week swim session. Parents are invited to sit in during class to see what has been learned. Two weeks ago at the last swim show Grace cried just about the whole time (mainly because I was in there - it took her about a week and a half to just go to class without crying because I was leaving). This week (week 4 of swimming) was the one that she turned the corner on. Now she loves swim class. And she was AWESOME in class today.
Grace will put her head underwater for up to 10 seconds. She will put her arms out in front of her and "swim", though her feet are still running along the bottom of the pool. All she needs to do is lift those feet up just once and there will be no turning back. She's not hot on jumping into the pool, but I'm hoping that will come over the next two weeks. Since she did so great this week we decided to sign her up for one more session - we'd hate for her to lose her momentum.
I'm so proud of my big girl.
Grace will put her head underwater for up to 10 seconds. She will put her arms out in front of her and "swim", though her feet are still running along the bottom of the pool. All she needs to do is lift those feet up just once and there will be no turning back. She's not hot on jumping into the pool, but I'm hoping that will come over the next two weeks. Since she did so great this week we decided to sign her up for one more session - we'd hate for her to lose her momentum.
I'm so proud of my big girl.
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
When I grow up...
Grace the following conversation with me the other day: "Mommy, when I get big big big then I will be the mommy and you will be the baby Gracie in my belly." So I explained to her that when she was grown up and became a mommy and had her own little baby, then I would be a grandma and Daddy would be a granddad. Took her a while to figure that one out, but then she finally accepted it.
So tonight we were reading "Curious George goes to the Hospital" and the conversation veered toward reasons why you go to the hospital. Once again I told her how wonderful it was when I went to the hospital and then got to come home with my two beautiful babies. Grace then said "Mommy, when I get big big and then you will be the grandma and maybe I'll have a tiny Aunt Kim in my belly."
All I could think to say to that one was "Maybe you will, Gracie."
So tonight we were reading "Curious George goes to the Hospital" and the conversation veered toward reasons why you go to the hospital. Once again I told her how wonderful it was when I went to the hospital and then got to come home with my two beautiful babies. Grace then said "Mommy, when I get big big and then you will be the grandma and maybe I'll have a tiny Aunt Kim in my belly."
All I could think to say to that one was "Maybe you will, Gracie."
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Dang it
Well, my breast pump broke today. Of course it's the big main piece of it; not some part that I have a backup for. Now I'm going to have to go to Target tomorrow and buy a whole new one ($40). What sucks is that we are planning on this being the last kid, and I only really need one for the next 3 months to have milk to mix with Alex's cereal in the morning (I can start giving him cow's milk at 12 months old). Alex is old enough that I'm never away from him long enough to need a bottle (Cheerios or some other food could also be subsituted in a pinch). But of course this coming weekend is my 20th high school reunion. And I'm leaving both kids with Jim for Friday and Saturday night. And I have no idea what time I'll make it home since the events are evening ones plus they are all the way over in downtown Ft. Worth. So I'll need to make sure he has some milk on hand in case all hell breaks loose. And since it is less than a week away, there isn't enough time to just order the one part I need from the company. So I guess instead of buying myself something new to wear to my reunion, I'm buying myself a new breast pump. Dang it.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Steve Blow rocks
Steve Blow is one of my favorite columnists in the Dallas Morning News. A down to earth writer with really good common sense columns. His column last Sunday really made me think (read it here if you'd like). It's about how the war in Iraq can be seen as almost a spectator sport. With the all volunteer army and the dropping numbers associated with it, the majority of American people are not directly touched by what is going on over there. And while it is easy to put a magnetic ribbon on your SUV (seen while you fill it up at the gas station), the news on Iraq is almost becoming an afterthought, pushed deeper into the newspaper or becoming less and less the main story on the evening news.
He points out that in the President's address last week he really wishes that more had been actually asked of the American people. Like urging citizens to enlist or proposing a temporary tax to pay for the Iraq invasion. "That would certainly focus our attention" he writes. Also brings to mind the arguments people throw out there of bringing back the draft (to "Let the Congressmen in Washington feel what it's like to have a son or daughter be sent to war and see how much support they then give it").
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not necessarily in favor of either a war tax or the return of the draft. But I think a lot about how this current war doesn't affect most American's lives at home a bit, of course other than concern over American lives in danger there. There's no rationing here, no "victory gardens", nothing in my - and most people's, I assume - daily life that has changed at all due to this war. Other than longer waits in the security line at the airport, but even that can be attributed to Al Queda/bin Laden. No matter WHAT the current administration now alludes did not have anything to do with Iraq - where's the WMDs???
A bit of disclosure here: while I was not a supporter of the invasion of Iraq (never a compelling argument made to me to justify that extreme of an action), I do support our troops. I'm the daughter of a life-long Army reservist who did active duty for quite a few years and I am extremely thankful for the freedoms our military have won for us over the years. I feel like it is a very noble service for the country, and I'm thankful that there are braver people than myself out there who are willing to put their lives on the line for us.
Anyway, why can't this time be used to wean us off of foreign oil, even a little bit. How about some gas rationing? Or, even better, some higher mileage standards imposed for vehicles? Or big tax credits/incentives for utilizing sustainable energy resources? It's probably too late now to push anything like this through - the time to do that was right after 9-11 when the country was up in arms and galvanized behind a common goal. But I'm afraid too many of us are apathetic about doing anything other than paying lip service supporting the war, and really just don't want to be inconvenienced in any way. God bless America.
He points out that in the President's address last week he really wishes that more had been actually asked of the American people. Like urging citizens to enlist or proposing a temporary tax to pay for the Iraq invasion. "That would certainly focus our attention" he writes. Also brings to mind the arguments people throw out there of bringing back the draft (to "Let the Congressmen in Washington feel what it's like to have a son or daughter be sent to war and see how much support they then give it").
Now don't get me wrong. I'm not necessarily in favor of either a war tax or the return of the draft. But I think a lot about how this current war doesn't affect most American's lives at home a bit, of course other than concern over American lives in danger there. There's no rationing here, no "victory gardens", nothing in my - and most people's, I assume - daily life that has changed at all due to this war. Other than longer waits in the security line at the airport, but even that can be attributed to Al Queda/bin Laden. No matter WHAT the current administration now alludes did not have anything to do with Iraq - where's the WMDs???
A bit of disclosure here: while I was not a supporter of the invasion of Iraq (never a compelling argument made to me to justify that extreme of an action), I do support our troops. I'm the daughter of a life-long Army reservist who did active duty for quite a few years and I am extremely thankful for the freedoms our military have won for us over the years. I feel like it is a very noble service for the country, and I'm thankful that there are braver people than myself out there who are willing to put their lives on the line for us.
Anyway, why can't this time be used to wean us off of foreign oil, even a little bit. How about some gas rationing? Or, even better, some higher mileage standards imposed for vehicles? Or big tax credits/incentives for utilizing sustainable energy resources? It's probably too late now to push anything like this through - the time to do that was right after 9-11 when the country was up in arms and galvanized behind a common goal. But I'm afraid too many of us are apathetic about doing anything other than paying lip service supporting the war, and really just don't want to be inconvenienced in any way. God bless America.
Sunday, July 03, 2005
What to write, what to write
Well, I have about four things I want to write about tonight. So I had to decide between talking about Steve Blow's column in today's paper, thoughts about the first girl's beach trip, nostalgia from scanning high school photos, and my fat baby. The fat baby won.
Alex normally sleeps in footed pajamas. I know that sounds crazy since the LOW temperature has been hovering around 80 degrees, but Alex's room is really small with a big ceiling fan plus the A/C blows just about directly on his crib. But upon bringing him upstairs to put to bed (late) tonight at about 8:45, the thermostat was reading 80 degrees even though the A/C was set to 74. I just couldn't bring myself to zip him up in those jammies, especially since he was comfortably in just a diaper after having a nice cool bath downstairs. Remembering that I'd received some hand-me-down shorts jammies from the Ohio cousins, I dug through the drawers only to realize that 12 month size Carters (fitting 20-23 lbs) won't work with my 8-month old 25 lb guy (confirmed today on the in-law's scales). After a little more digging I found some of Grace's old 18 month size Carters (gender neutral, of course). But apparently the 24-26 lbs of other babies is not packed in the belly and massive thighs like on my son. The shorts were sucking up into his thigh folds much like Homer Simpson's Speedo did up his butt. I finally gave up on pajamas and put him in Grace's just grown out of Rangers shirt (size 2T) and diaper. Of course the shirt fits him like he could just wear it with shorts tomorrow. What a tank.
Alex normally sleeps in footed pajamas. I know that sounds crazy since the LOW temperature has been hovering around 80 degrees, but Alex's room is really small with a big ceiling fan plus the A/C blows just about directly on his crib. But upon bringing him upstairs to put to bed (late) tonight at about 8:45, the thermostat was reading 80 degrees even though the A/C was set to 74. I just couldn't bring myself to zip him up in those jammies, especially since he was comfortably in just a diaper after having a nice cool bath downstairs. Remembering that I'd received some hand-me-down shorts jammies from the Ohio cousins, I dug through the drawers only to realize that 12 month size Carters (fitting 20-23 lbs) won't work with my 8-month old 25 lb guy (confirmed today on the in-law's scales). After a little more digging I found some of Grace's old 18 month size Carters (gender neutral, of course). But apparently the 24-26 lbs of other babies is not packed in the belly and massive thighs like on my son. The shorts were sucking up into his thigh folds much like Homer Simpson's Speedo did up his butt. I finally gave up on pajamas and put him in Grace's just grown out of Rangers shirt (size 2T) and diaper. Of course the shirt fits him like he could just wear it with shorts tomorrow. What a tank.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Lunch with friends
I had a very fun lunch today with some former coworkers (from VERY long ago - early LMS crew). We try to do this periodically, but it seems to end up being only once a year now. Only five of us showed up this time, but it was actually really nice since we were all able to carry on a conversation with each other. One thing about the big group lunches is that you usually can only talk to the people sitting immediately around you. But with our small group the people sitting immediately around me were the only ones there.
Anyway, lots of fun catching up with each other and trying to catch up about everyone else we knew. For as much as we all bitched about working at LMS, there sure was a great group of people there. Either that or it was just a fun part of my life (at least AFTER that first marriage ended and my coworkers became my social life - if you can call working advertising hours fun). And if any of you former LMS-ers are reading this, be aware that we are going to really spread the word about the next get together so hopefully everyone can make it.
Anyway, lots of fun catching up with each other and trying to catch up about everyone else we knew. For as much as we all bitched about working at LMS, there sure was a great group of people there. Either that or it was just a fun part of my life (at least AFTER that first marriage ended and my coworkers became my social life - if you can call working advertising hours fun). And if any of you former LMS-ers are reading this, be aware that we are going to really spread the word about the next get together so hopefully everyone can make it.
Monday, June 20, 2005
A Mom Rant
I almost hate to add a post to my blog because I love pulling the site up (of course it's my home page) and immediately seeing that great picture of Grace sitting in her chair at the beach.
But I have to comment about what I saw at the grocery store the other day. I went to Tom Thumb the day after we returned from vacation because of course we were out of just about everything. I had to get some more baby food and had planned to try some of the Gerber organic stuff (I typically buy baby food at Whole Foods, but only wanted to make one store trip on a Sunday afternoon). But I discovered that the regular Gerber stuff was on sale, plus I had coupons for it so I figured just this once I'd buy non-organic. I'd actually read an article saying that baby food is low on the list of stuff you should buy organic, I think because there's a short travel time between farm and the jar or something like that.
Anyway, I'd picked out my jars of veggies for the boy and was looking for the fruit options. I found these 4-packs, which of course weren't included on my coupons so I kept looking for the single jars. So I finally look and discover "Apple Banana" only then to see "dessert" after it. Same thing with "Dutch Apple" (dessert), "Fruit Medley" (dessert), "Banana Yogurt" (dessert), "Peach Cobbler" (dessert), etc. Gerber trumpets how these are all fortified with Vitamin C, but these all have ADDED SUGAR. WHO NEEDS TO FEED A BABY DESSERT??? What an insane idea.
But I have to comment about what I saw at the grocery store the other day. I went to Tom Thumb the day after we returned from vacation because of course we were out of just about everything. I had to get some more baby food and had planned to try some of the Gerber organic stuff (I typically buy baby food at Whole Foods, but only wanted to make one store trip on a Sunday afternoon). But I discovered that the regular Gerber stuff was on sale, plus I had coupons for it so I figured just this once I'd buy non-organic. I'd actually read an article saying that baby food is low on the list of stuff you should buy organic, I think because there's a short travel time between farm and the jar or something like that.
Anyway, I'd picked out my jars of veggies for the boy and was looking for the fruit options. I found these 4-packs, which of course weren't included on my coupons so I kept looking for the single jars. So I finally look and discover "Apple Banana" only then to see "dessert" after it. Same thing with "Dutch Apple" (dessert), "Fruit Medley" (dessert), "Banana Yogurt" (dessert), "Peach Cobbler" (dessert), etc. Gerber trumpets how these are all fortified with Vitamin C, but these all have ADDED SUGAR. WHO NEEDS TO FEED A BABY DESSERT??? What an insane idea.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Saturday, June 11, 2005
Ahh, Florida
Well, we had an awesome time in Destin. Thank you so much to my in-laws for allowing us use of the house for the week. It makes a world of difference on vacation with two kids to have access to both a fully-stocked kitchen and a washer/dryer. Not to mention not having to pay for a hotel room for a week-long stay.
We discovered that Alex does NOT like the beach (the ocean freaked him out) and confirmed that Grace LOVES it (Jim took her out swimming in the waves - of course I was not able to hold her correctly when I took her out). But Alex does love the swimming pool (and the bathtub) so we know he's not totally against the water.
Grace got to feed the ducks, turtles, and Bubba the 50-lb fish every evening. And since we didn't have access to Noggin (the preschool digital cable channel we watch at home) she got to discover Spongebob Squarepants who she now loves. Oh, and that freaky Nick Jr show Lazytown (this one gets its own post at a later date).
Our weather was great, but we came home a day earlier than planned to avoid the tropical storm. I'm actually still not sure if it ever developed into a hurricane, or even how severly the area was hit. But I feel good that we left when we did, because if we'd stayed until Saturday with our luck I'm sure things would have gotten bad.
Jim and I were discussing about how a vacation with two small kids could be hellish. But we have such great kids that the whole week (save for a couple of meltdowns) was just wonderful. Many pictures to be posted soon.
We discovered that Alex does NOT like the beach (the ocean freaked him out) and confirmed that Grace LOVES it (Jim took her out swimming in the waves - of course I was not able to hold her correctly when I took her out). But Alex does love the swimming pool (and the bathtub) so we know he's not totally against the water.
Grace got to feed the ducks, turtles, and Bubba the 50-lb fish every evening. And since we didn't have access to Noggin (the preschool digital cable channel we watch at home) she got to discover Spongebob Squarepants who she now loves. Oh, and that freaky Nick Jr show Lazytown (this one gets its own post at a later date).
Our weather was great, but we came home a day earlier than planned to avoid the tropical storm. I'm actually still not sure if it ever developed into a hurricane, or even how severly the area was hit. But I feel good that we left when we did, because if we'd stayed until Saturday with our luck I'm sure things would have gotten bad.
Jim and I were discussing about how a vacation with two small kids could be hellish. But we have such great kids that the whole week (save for a couple of meltdowns) was just wonderful. Many pictures to be posted soon.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)