Saturday, January 9, 2010

Pushing Bumblebee

  • Daddy kept pushing Mica and the Bumblebee Transformer away on the floor. It's a good thing I swept today!
  • Isaak at the tail end of this tries to steel the Bumblebee Transformer. He never did get the toy.
  • This is pretty typical play around our house. Boys will be boys!
  • Isaak usually gets in the way when recording a video.

Tyler Trends

Want Some Whipped Cream?

  • Mica with sprayed whipped cream in his mouth.

Sit Down

  • A few weeks ago Isaak started saying, "Eat" at the dinner table to Mica and a few times to Mom and Dad as well.
  • Now he points at Mica at the table and says, "Sit down".

Don't Mix My Food

  • I use the plastic divider kid plates for Isaak.
  • Last night I took Isaak's snap peas and set them on the section of his plate that had his turkey sitting there. I did this because he had hummus on his plate too, and he almost drug his sleeve in it.
  • He gave me a disapproving look, and moved his snap peas back into the section of his plate that they were on before. It was as if he was thinking, "Don't move my food into one section Mommy".

Snugfits

  • One Snugfits shirt is being given away at My Wee View. Go there to win one!
  • I was so lucky to win 2 of these shirts from Pour Some Sugar on Me.
  • They have short sleeve, long sleeve, onesie's, and they sell Baby Legs at their store too.
  • If I win one this time I'll be giving to my dear friend Sarah that is pregnant. I'm so excited for her. This will be her third child. She has a set of girl twins that are 3 years old.
  • They sell some very cool sayings on their shirts! I decided on "To Live and Let Live" since Mica sings "To Live and Let Die" he sings "Liver Mint Die" a lot. We call Isaak a Punk sometimes, so that's why I picked that one.
  • I love the material. It's soft. Wears well. The color selection is great too!
  • The only thing I do not like is that they don't have sizes past 18-24 month. But they are working on that. I would get more cool shirts from Snugfits if they had bigger sizes. Isaak looks so cute in his Punk and Live and Let Live shirts!

Friday, January 8, 2010

Inspiration of the Day

  • This is wax off of our drip tray in the printers at school.
  • I think they are pretty cool.
  • You can actually draw with them like crayons.

Pet Peeve of the Day

  • My pet peeve today is when other teachers do not hand back student artwork and papers. They just leave them sitting up at the front of the room for the students to collect.
  • It bugs me because I think that stuff is private; other people's grades shouldn't be looked through. It gets so cluttered at the front of the room, artwork can get lost this way.
  • Plus it makes more work for me because I feel the need to hand it back.

I Don't Know What's Gotten Into Me Lately

  • I've just been sort of up and down lately.
  • With my mom's surgery coming up, and other stresses like school starting Monday it's put me in a funk of a mood.
  • I've been really sarcastic in a bitchy sort of way and in a ha ha sort of way.
  • A co-worker of mine went to Cancun. He had a photo up on Facebook of a beautiful sunrise. I made a comment, "Totally Photoshoped". He had another one of his beautiful little boy sleeping on the beach and I said, "Passed out drunk". This guy gets my sense of humor, so I knew he'd find it funny.
  • Then two of my other co-worker's got in an argument the other day. I sat all quite in my office. As if nothing was going on. One guy was asking another guy some technical information, and the other guy told him, "Just go look it up". It ended with an, "I don't want to talk to you" and "You're being a real jerk". Totally out of the normal! Later on one of the guys had a question and I couldn't resist...I said, "Go look it up".
  • Then the education director was telling me I needed reading assignments in all of my classes. One class I don't have a book because I was told a few years ago it was over budget. I kept asking her, "How am I supposed to have reading assignments on a book that doesn't exist?" I had to search online for PDF's for reading assignments. I got some, but I'm still not totally convinced that for a hands on Illustration course they need to read. I have them do a paper and have graded discussions. She told me that her boss was the one who wanted the reading to be in the syllabus. I sarcastically said that she was making that up, and should just admit that she's the one that wants it. Go to find out she was lying. I asked her boss today - not in a way that would get her in trouble.
  • Then Daddy was chatting with me on Facebook when he was right there in the same room as me. I told him, "Go take care of your 4 shirts and 3 pair of shoes laying around". He blew me off and went to the bathroom. I leaned over on his computer and wrote something like, "Honey I'll clean up because I love you". I sent him a message back from my computer that said, "I love you to". He read it and laughed.
  • So...see I've been in a funky mood! Gotta watch myself, or I'll get in trouble.

Surgery Postponed

  • I just got a call that my Mom's (Grandma Spiehs to the boys) ankle fusion surgery has been postponed.
  • The doctor is sick. I don't want a doctor operating on my mom for 3 hours when he is sick.
  • I get more time to make cookies for the nurses that take care of my mom. That's not a big deal, but I like to do a good job when decorating.
  • The bad part is that we were all ready for it to happen. My whole family was nervous, and we get to be nervous all over again.
  • One of my sister's and I start teaching next week. It's hard taking time off when not just anybody can fill in for you.
  • My mom said that today she woke up and just couldn't walk without her brace. It's like her body knew that it was time to give up, and let the doctor take over. The power of the mind is HUGE in my opinion.

Where I Work

  • This is what it looks like where I work.
  • Snow has drifted against the building. It can't be good. I'm sure when the snow starts to melt they'll have some issues.

Painting

  • Mica got this glow in the dark paint set from Aunt Laura for Christmas.
  • He chose the frog to paint first.
  • He likes painting more then drawing or sculpting.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

101 Reasons to Breastfeed

  • I have to warn you that this post is more about weaning then it is about breastfeeding.
  • I've been thinking about breastfeeding a lot lately. Why people are for it, and why people are against it. I've heard from both sides of the fence. People seem to always have an opinion on this subject.
  • The people that are for it, usually believe in self weaning. They see the benefits. They see breastfeeding is natural and beautiful.
  • Most of the time the people who are against it, think a child should be weaned the moment they hit a year old. Those people generally think you should just quit right on the spot. Your baby is not a baby anymore, he/she is a toddler. Breastfeeding is a hassle and it's just wrong for a toddler to nurse. Those people usually didn't nurse ever, or if they did, they had a bad experience doing it.
  • I have to say, as a mother who struggled to breast feed with both of my children at the start...I think weaning is just as hard as starting. This is coming from me, a mom that had a son with cyst under his tongue at birth (misshaped tongue), and another son who lost too much weight because he wasn't latching right (I had sores on my nipples).
  • I weaned Isaak all during the daytime, but he still nurses at night and in the morning. Since I work full time, he is so excited to see me when I get home and wants to nurse. The same goes with morning cuddle time.
  • Isaak is still a baby to me. When I wanted him weaned, I wanted to not pump any more at work because it was a hassle. The other times I'm ok with. If I feel like he's nursed too long, I just tell him his "bottles" (that's what I call nursing) are empty.
  • I have read about not weaning your child when they are sick or cutting teeth. When is Isaak not cutting teeth? He cuts one or two at a time, it's constant.
  • I believe that everyone has one or two things they cling to. For some toddlers it may be a binki, a thumb, a blanket, for Isaak it's nursing. Second on the list would be his glow worm.
  • Do I think formula is bad? No! Breastfeeding is just better.

Mica's MRI Scan's

  • I found these scan's on my computer.
  • They are of Mica when he had to get MRI scan's of the brain.
  • This was a trying time. Mica could not have milk all morning long. I had to pump, they gave us a room, but I didn't want to pump around him. That would be like dangling meat in front of a hungry lion.
  • They were scanning him because he was born with a cyst under his tongue. They wanted to make sure there weren't any more cysts anywhere. He was fine by the way.
  • Some of the pictures make him look like a monster. I assure you that he was a beautiful baby boy.
  • Daddy and I both are artists who took anatomy class. We had to have a copy of the CD. We paid $10 extra just for the CD. There are a lot more scan's that I didn't put on here! I think it was worth it.
  • It is so interesting how you can see his teeth when he had none yet.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Smelly Washer

  • Our washer usually takes care of our clothing pretty well.
  • Every once in awhile a kitchen washcloth will come out smelling mildewy.
  • Jolly Mom is giving away a product that helps with this problem called Smelly Towel Cleaner sold by Smelly Washer | Remover.
  • Smelly Washer | Remover has other helpful hints on their website about keeping your washer in tip top shape.

Little Kids

  • This morning I thought it was so cute when my nephew Elijah (who is 20 months) said, "Where I Kick's Daddy go?" "I Kick's" is Isaak's. He had his hands and arms up in the air while saying it. For the record, Isaak's Daddy was outside moving cars around.
  • Then when I went to leave for work I saw 4 little heads at the main window, and little hands waving goodbye to me. It was cute!
  • It's days like this where I don't want to go to work.

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

School's Out For a Snow Storm

  • Mica's preschool along with about every school and church activity in Omaha is canceled tomorrow because of snow and cold.
  • We were supposed to get up to 7 inches of snow, but that has changed to up to 5 inches.
  • There is snow emergencies flashed on TV to indicate for people to not park on the street. Road crews need to get through.
  • It's supposed to have -25 degree wind chill.
  • Last I heard...Omaha is the coldest place in the US.
  • We need a gigantic blow dryer to hover over the city to warm us up and melt the snow that we're told won't melt for 2 months! Oh...but Omaha has already maxed out their budget with snow removal already! I don't think we can afford the gigantic blow dryer after all.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Bowed Feet

In the first two years nearly all babies toe in. This is due to these conditions:

  • The normal bowing of the legs leftover from the fetal position in the womb.
  • Normal flatfeet. Babies seldom develop much of an arch until the age of three years. To compensate, babies turn their feet inward while walking, in effect to make an arch and better distribute their weight. The normal developmental timetable for feet and legs is as follows:
  • Bowed legs from birth to three years.
  • Toeing in from eighteen months to two to three years.
If your toddler runs without tripping, don't worry about turned-in feet. Isaak doesn't trip unless he's overly tired. This should self-correct. If, however, your child is tripping over his feet more and more, orthopedic treatment may be necessary, usually beginning between eighteen months and two years. (Treatment usually consists of a brace placed between special shoes to keep the feet turned out; the brace is worn while sleeping.)

Encouraging correct sleeping and sitting positions can lesson the deformity.

  • The saying "As the twig is bent, so grows the tree" certainly applies to baby's legs. Discourage your child from sleeping in the fetal position. If baby persists in sleeping in this position, try sewing the pajama legs together.
  • Try to keep your toddler from tucking his feet beneath him while sitting; this aggravates internal tibial torsion.
  • To lessen internal femoral torsion, discourage your child from sitting in the W-position but encourage sitting cross-legged or sitting with his feet straight out.

Grandma Spiehs and Her Upcoming Surgery

  • I've been nervous about my mom (Grandma Spiehs to the boys) getting her ankle fused for a long time now! I think I first learned about her needing to do this way back when I was in college. I hate that she got Polio, and I hate that she's suffering from it after all these years!
  • Then it came time this fall when she actually decided it was time.
  • Now it's scheduled for this Friday.
  • The worry didn't officially set in until I asked for days off here at work.
  • The surgery will take roughly 3 hours. The recovery will be rough too!
  • I just wish that she didn't have to go through it!

More Snow on the Way!

  • It's supposed to snow about 4 to 7 more inches Tuesday night/Wednesday morning! The wind is supposed to be horrible! I imagine that will make the drifts horrible too!
  • I'm so sick of this stuff!
  • This has been a bad winter for snow. I don't mind it if it comes and goes, but we were hammered again and again. There has been no time for it to melt.
  • I feel for my Dad (Grandpa Spiehs to the boys) who shovels all the older people's driveways in their neighborhood, plus his own and on top of that my Mom has surgery this Friday.

Patient Style

  • I like any site that's pro making the experience of a patient in the hospital better!
  • Patient Style is that store! They have designer hospital gowns, nursing covers, gift baskets, pillows, and chenille socks for women and men.
  • My Organized Chaos is giving away one pair of their chenille socks for women and men.
  • They look so comfortable! Enter to win.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Calm it Down a Little Bit!

  • Mica told me to, "Calm it down a little bit" this evening.
  • Gee...could it be because we are always telling him that? LOL

Baby Clothes

  • I went through baby clothes today.
  • I feel sad when I go through them.
  • They are in taller bins now. I organized them all by size. Some things are not the sizes they say they are, so I put them in the smaller size down.
  • I'm saving them for someone. My cousin Stacy, or my friend Sarah, someone will use them.
  • A few things I don't think I'll ever give up. Like Mica and Isaak's hospital gown's when they were both sick, their first sleeping night gown's and the outfits they went home in. I can't part with those things.
  • It's hard to imagine that my boys were ever that little. I remember Mica and Isaak swimming in 3 month sleepers. I actually got a 0 to 3 month sleeper before I had Isaak because I wanted a sleeper that actually fit him. I also stocked up on more newborn size diapers for Isaak. Mica needed them for a lot longer then other babies because his butt was so tiny.
  • Mica peed on his clothing, but not in the diaper. He was a mystery with his pee. Isaak spit up on everything! The memories!

A Few More Inches

  • We got a few more inches of snow overnight.
  • We're running out of room to put the snow.

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

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