We had an ultrasound on Monday the 16th. We did not find out the sex of the baby. We got 3 pictures to take home (the first three), but the clinic just put the rest of the images on the website and so I copied a few.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
When I was pregnant with Maddox, I didn't feel any fear or sadness. We were 20 and 22 when he was conceived and completely unplanned. When I was almost 10 weeks I had some spotting, over Memorial Day Weekend, and I freaked out. I was so scared that I was going to lose him. He's been the perfect son and I never knew I could love someone the way that I love him. I was perfectly content with just him, an only child.
Faelyn was planned. I was perfectly content with just having Maddox, but eventually, Clayton was going to want another child. Maddox was already two and a half years old, almost three and if we were having another, I didn't want them to be so far apart. I was, of course, very excited when I found out the I was pregnant and loved her so much. I was also completely overwhelmed with sadness. Sadness at the loss of my only son becoming one of two kids. The loss of one on one time with Maddox. The loss of "my boys", now Madd, Dad, and Faye. She is such an amazing child. Troubling, often, but one million percent amazing.
This time around, I've only felt terror. Complete terror and anxiety. Fear of everything that lies ahead. At least up until tonight. Faye woke up and stumbled into the living room. I brought her to my bed to sleep for a couple hours before I came to bed. When I was ready, I brought her to her bed, gave her a kiss and told her she was my best girl. I've always told Maddox he's my best boy and I was thrilled to be able to tell Faye she was my best girl, but it hit me tonight that I will not have that anymore. I will have a best boy and a best oldest girl and a best youngest girl. Or I will have a best girl and a best oldest boy and best youngest boy.
I feel love and joy for this baby. It took me until I was 15 weeks, though, to even feel the slightest connection. I am constantly poking and prodding this little thing to make sure s/he is still there. I nearly jumped on the midwife when she asked if we'd like to try to hear the baby's heartbeat. Terrified when it took so long to find. Then ecstatic and relieved when we heard it.
Now I can feel the baby, kicking or hiccupping, and that's exciting. But I still feel so scared and a little bit sad.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Baby Names
We've been thinking a lot about boy names. Even though we are not planning to find out the baby's gender until s/he is born, boy names are really hard for me! It was really hard and finally yesterday I sat down and made a list. Gave it to Clayton to cross off some names and ended up crossing off a couple more myself. This is the list.
Connor
Corbin
Eero
Finnegan
Oren/Orrin
Rowan
Soren
I also went through the middle name options (family names) and the only ones I really liked with any names were
Eero
David
Henry
William
Some of my favorites were
Connor William
Corbin Henry
Eero Finnegan (Finnegan is not a family name, but Eero is)
Finnegan David
Oren Eero
Orrin William
Rowan William
Soren David
Soren Eero (this makes me giggle, but I love it...)
Maddox really really really wanted me to highlight some girls names in the baby book that Santa put in my stocking this Christmas, so I came up with a list. I'm kind of stuck on one name, so that might be why it was kind of difficult, but I ended up coming up with a much shorter list than when we were pregnant with Faye. I was surprised that I didn't find a lot of girls names I liked. (Clayton OK'd these names too)
Elise (this is actually my great grandmothers name rearranged)
Gwendolyn
Lorraine (my grandma's name)
Orla
We also liked Jane (which is also my middle name rearranged), but I didn't end up liking it for a first or middle name.
Our middle name options would be
Elise
Elizabeth
Lorraine
The favorites that I came up with are
Gwendolyn Elise
Gwendolyn Lorraine
Lorraine Elizabeth
Orla Lorraine
I'd really prefer to have Lorraine in the name. If it's the first name, we'll call her Lainie.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
We hired our Midwives! Yay!
We met with two midwives last night. They work together, do all prenatal appointments together, go to births together, etc. I LOVED them on paper, I really liked Emme when I talked to her on the phone for like 30-60 minutes (it was a long time) and I was really nervous to meet them because I was afraid I wouldn't like them in person (cause I really wanted to like them)... but we LOVED them! I'm sooooo glad I decided to contact them because I wasn't going to originally.
The four of us went and Faye kept telling Maddox that we were going to the "nightmares" house, haha! We kept saying "Midwives!" and then she'd say "Midwhites". Then she'd forget and call them nightmares again. We get to their house and it took us 15 min even though google said with traffic it would take 24 min so we sat in the car for a couple minutes and Faye says "are we going to see the witches?", I said "what witches?" and she says "the witch in the house!" and pointed to the midwife's house. That one I found really funny because it's kind of true. I mean not really, but so many midwives were persecuted in the witch hunts because people thought they were witches. Then when we were leaving, she really wanted to stay and she says "I want to stay at the wizard nightmares house" Haha!
We interviewed them (kind of, I asked most of my questions on the phone with Emme, so we just chatted a lot) and they asked if I had any prenatal care yet, so they offered to listen to the baby and took my BP and hemoglobin (and wrote is all down on a card for me in case I don't choose them) and so we got to hear the baby!
Meet Emme
Emme began her journey to birth work with the joyous birth of her first born in 1991. Birth was transformative and empowering and she loved being a mom more than anything in the world. Emme soon discovered that her view of birth as was a rare one. Most birth stories she heard were not joyous empowering experiences. Armed with the knowledge that birth can be different Emme began to be invited to many of her friends’ births. In 2000 when her last baby was weaning Emme completed her birth doula certification with hopes of one day becoming a midwife. Emme quickly became an active doula sitting on the board of the Childbirth Collective and attending hundreds of birth in the hospital setting. Early in her doula career Emme witnessed her first home birth. She immediately knew home birth midwifery was the path she would take to become a midwife.
Emme started her formal midwifery apprenticeship in 2003 and continued it until she earned her Certified Professional Midwifery credential in 2008. Emme has had the privilege of working with many community midwives both traditionally and formally trained. Along with learning directly from midwives at over 100 births Emme attended the Farm Midwifery training Center and was thrilled to learn directly from Ina May Gaskin, Pamela Hunt and the rest of the Farm Midwifes. In 2005 Emme was accepted into a demanding and intensive internship at a busy Birth Center in the Philippines. While living and working at Mercy Maternity Center for her seven week stay Emme was able to learn directly from mothers, babies and many foreign midwives. In addition to her apprenticeships and internships Emme is trained and certified in advanced neonatal life support and cardio pulmonary resuscitation.
Emme is a member of the Minnesota Council of Certified Professional Midwives (MCCPM), MNow!, Midwives Alliance of North America, The Childbirth Collective and DONA International. She is vice President of The Childbirth Collective and is active with the Minnesota Better Birth Coalition. Emme lives and plays in South Minneapolis with her three amazing kids Noah, Levi and Sydney and her equally wonderful husband Paul.
Meet Clare
I was born and raised in Richfield, MN, the 6th child of 11, and remember well the happiness that the births of my younger siblings brought to our family. As a midwife, it is truly a privilege to share with families the joy and excitement of their journeys as they prepare to welcome a child into the world.
I worked as a labor and birth nurse from 1984-1997. I graduated from the U of M Midwifery school in 1997 and began my work as a Certified Nurse Midwife (5 years of practice at Regions, 2 years at North Memorial and one year at Fairview Riverside).
In January of 2006 I "came home" and began to attend home births in the Twin Cities. I love my Trillium partner and the new dimensions homebirth brings to my practice of midwifery. There is richness, a depth of relationship in homebirth that I believe is at the heart of the midwifery model of care.
I also love my yoga practice and students. I began my yoga studies in 1987 and taught my first class (a prenatal yoga class!) in 1998 at the St. Paul Yoga Center, where I continue to teach three general classes each week.
I also offer a "donation" class each week for pregnant women (and their doulas) at the Minneapolis Yoga Workshop ( http://www.mplsyogaworkshop.com/ ) on Sundays from noon to 1:30pm. All are welcome (all trimesters and levels). We practice yoga poses and sequences (with attention to the breath) to relieve common discomforts of pregnancy. Yoga teaches us to be present and to make friends with our bodies, and I think this connection helps women and their babies during the birth process. The prenatal yoga class also provides a space for birthing women to form relationships with other mothers and mothers-to-be. I have witnessed such wonderful support and mentoring among the women--they share information about everything (from bras to diapers)!
I live in St. Paul with my loving man, Paul, and our two cats. Our son Julian also lives in St. Paul with us.
 |
| From Phone Photos 2011 |
Meet Emme
Emme began her journey to birth work with the joyous birth of her first born in 1991. Birth was transformative and empowering and she loved being a mom more than anything in the world. Emme soon discovered that her view of birth as was a rare one. Most birth stories she heard were not joyous empowering experiences. Armed with the knowledge that birth can be different Emme began to be invited to many of her friends’ births. In 2000 when her last baby was weaning Emme completed her birth doula certification with hopes of one day becoming a midwife. Emme quickly became an active doula sitting on the board of the Childbirth Collective and attending hundreds of birth in the hospital setting. Early in her doula career Emme witnessed her first home birth. She immediately knew home birth midwifery was the path she would take to become a midwife.
Emme started her formal midwifery apprenticeship in 2003 and continued it until she earned her Certified Professional Midwifery credential in 2008. Emme has had the privilege of working with many community midwives both traditionally and formally trained. Along with learning directly from midwives at over 100 births Emme attended the Farm Midwifery training Center and was thrilled to learn directly from Ina May Gaskin, Pamela Hunt and the rest of the Farm Midwifes. In 2005 Emme was accepted into a demanding and intensive internship at a busy Birth Center in the Philippines. While living and working at Mercy Maternity Center for her seven week stay Emme was able to learn directly from mothers, babies and many foreign midwives. In addition to her apprenticeships and internships Emme is trained and certified in advanced neonatal life support and cardio pulmonary resuscitation.
Emme is a member of the Minnesota Council of Certified Professional Midwives (MCCPM), MNow!, Midwives Alliance of North America, The Childbirth Collective and DONA International. She is vice President of The Childbirth Collective and is active with the Minnesota Better Birth Coalition. Emme lives and plays in South Minneapolis with her three amazing kids Noah, Levi and Sydney and her equally wonderful husband Paul.
Meet Clare
I was born and raised in Richfield, MN, the 6th child of 11, and remember well the happiness that the births of my younger siblings brought to our family. As a midwife, it is truly a privilege to share with families the joy and excitement of their journeys as they prepare to welcome a child into the world.
I worked as a labor and birth nurse from 1984-1997. I graduated from the U of M Midwifery school in 1997 and began my work as a Certified Nurse Midwife (5 years of practice at Regions, 2 years at North Memorial and one year at Fairview Riverside).
In January of 2006 I "came home" and began to attend home births in the Twin Cities. I love my Trillium partner and the new dimensions homebirth brings to my practice of midwifery. There is richness, a depth of relationship in homebirth that I believe is at the heart of the midwifery model of care.
I also love my yoga practice and students. I began my yoga studies in 1987 and taught my first class (a prenatal yoga class!) in 1998 at the St. Paul Yoga Center, where I continue to teach three general classes each week.
I also offer a "donation" class each week for pregnant women (and their doulas) at the Minneapolis Yoga Workshop ( http://www.mplsyogaworkshop.com/ ) on Sundays from noon to 1:30pm. All are welcome (all trimesters and levels). We practice yoga poses and sequences (with attention to the breath) to relieve common discomforts of pregnancy. Yoga teaches us to be present and to make friends with our bodies, and I think this connection helps women and their babies during the birth process. The prenatal yoga class also provides a space for birthing women to form relationships with other mothers and mothers-to-be. I have witnessed such wonderful support and mentoring among the women--they share information about everything (from bras to diapers)!
I live in St. Paul with my loving man, Paul, and our two cats. Our son Julian also lives in St. Paul with us.
So that's all about our midwives. I also did a little "research" on Baby Center to "explore" my due date options. My thought is that I had two 25 day cycles in a row. I created a chart for two 28 day cycles (EDD 06/12/12), two 25 day cycles (EDD 06/06/12), and a 25 day followed by a 28 day cycle (EDD 06/09/12). A lot of times when I've had an early cycle, my next will make up for it, so if I had a 25 day cycle, my next might have been a 31 day cycle, but I didn't create a chart for that because it would have resulted in the same EDD as two 28 day cycles.
Two 28 Day Cycles
25 Day Followed by 28 Day
Two 25 Days
Baby Development according to the EDD I've chosen
Two 28 Day Cycles
 |
| From WTF?! |
25 Day Followed by 28 Day
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| From WTF?! |
Two 25 Days
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| From WTF?! |
Baby Development according to the EDD I've chosen
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| From WTF?! |
Monday, December 5, 2011
Has it really been 3 months?!
And a few things have happened in those 3 months as well.
As I mentioned in my last post, I signed up to be an Independent Consultant with Usborne Books. I have not made enough money to put Maddox in Karate - for a few reasons! First, I cannot NOT buy the books. I pretty much have spend any commission on the books. I have an even more plump bookshelf now. In fact, over flown (as if it wasn't already lol). Second, this job has been so much more difficult for me than I imagined. I knew it was going to be a challenge for me. Not only because I do not drive, but I am absolutely terrified getting up in front of people and doing presentations. I'm also terribly awkward in social situations. I knew all that, but I didn't expect to develop nice little cause of anxiety. Pure panic comes over me, I nearly throw up before every show I've done and I lost 5 lbs before my kick off show, worrying about it.
About a month after my Usborne Books and More kick off show, I found out that I was pregnant with my third child. A HUGE, ENORMOUS surprise. Add a couple more notches on to the anxiety and stress. Dealing with two kids in school, volunteering in school, in classrooms, etc, homework, being pregnant, planning a home birth, finding a midwife, not having any health insurance, planning on buying a house in the spring, STILL not having my driver's licenses... I'm a complete basket case.
Then about two weeks into November, I started having a weird health issue. I still have no idea what it is or even could be. I get this weird feeling in my throat and chest. Like someone is pushing down on my chest and pinching the arteries in my neck closed. I'll get this weird feeling three times in a row through out the day, some times spread out, some times clustered together. Usually it happens when I've been active and then I stop. So when I walk up the stair (or down) and then I stop walking, I get it. When I walk the kids to school, when we stop at school, it starts. When I get up and make myself food, etc and then go to sit back down it happens. It also happens when I feel emotionally tense. If I am debating a sensitive topic, etc. Then when it happens, my pulse stops. Thump, Thump, Thump, 1-3 second pause, thump thump, 1-3 second pause, etc. So anytime I feel the weird pressure, my pulse stops for the entire length. It stopped happening, almost completely for about a week to a week and a half and then a couple days ago it started up again. No change in diet, exercise, amount of anxiety or stress...
Hopefully soon I will at least have a midwife. Soon I should have insurance too. I'm due in June and am around 13-14 Weeks pregnant right now. I've met with one midwife, talked via email with a couple others, have been trying to get together with another midwife and just today I contacted one other midwife. I liked the first midwife that I met with. I feel like she is qualified and a safe option, but I'd like to know what my other options are. Two of the best things about the first midwife is that she comes to my house for appointments and she has experience with breech and twins. The second midwife (that I've been trying to meet with) has experience with breech and twins and a lot more years of experience, I would have to go to her office for appointments. That has been a problem with some of the other midwives. Their location and available times just could not work for us, so they were automatically off the list. I'm anxious and excited, but am getting impatient!
Because I have not had a confirmation test, no 'medical care' (I say that as it is not necessary at this point, but generally common practice to go in for a confirmation test and then for your first prenatal appointment at 12 weeks), have no heard the baby yet, cannot feel the baby (often, have felt the baby, but it's still REALLY early), it was such a big surprise, I took 4 (or more.. I cannot even remember anymore) tests and brought them into all different rooms of the house for different lightly - just to make sure, etc... I am having a really hard time connecting with this and fully acknowledging the fact that I am pregnant. It's only been 13-14 weeks (and I've only known for 8-9 weeks), but it has already been a really tough pregnancy. Physically, I'm sick on and off, major fatigue, sore breasts, that 'pressure' feeling in my belly, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary, but harder to deal with because I wasn't ready for this or wanting it at this time (I do want more children and am grateful for this child). Emotionally, I have not been dealing with it that great. We're not finding out the baby's gender this time. Neither of us want to, but I'm feeling like I almost need to, to connect with this baby. I'm hoping that by the time we are having an ultrasound (if we are going to decide to have one) that I will not be tempted to find out. That I will not feel the need to find out, for any reason. I'm hoping after I hear this baby's little heart and start to feel it's like kicked and punches, that I will feel better.
Also, I wanted to mention, shortly before I found out that I was pregnant, I found out that my Sister In Law (husbands sister) is pregnant, just 6 weeks further along AND my husbands cousin is pregnant, 7 weeks further along! One with a girl, one with (possibly) a boy!
So this is mostly what's been going on for the past couple months. School started in Sept. Maddox is a first grader, Faelyn started her first year (of 2) of preschool. Both are loving school!
And if you'd like to check out some books, they are amazing books! - http://www.myubam.com/HOS207943
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Summer?!
Summer finally caught up to us. I've been trying to keep some learning in summer, but we were spending a lot of time at Lake Calhoun. Faye started to feel pretty crummy and for a couple weeks she was waking up every 6 days puking and following that up with a week of diarrhea. We brought her to the doc and though they didn't really say or do anything about it, she was feeling fine. She was still complaining of belly aches, but no puking or pooping.
My family reunion was on July 31, so we drove up to Alexandria for that. We spent a couple more days up in that area at Clayton's uncles cabin. We had a great time and probably could have stayed longer. Neither of the kids wanted to leave, but we had plans to drive down to Tennessee. We left on Tuesday morning (much later than I wanted to) and came home, rearranged the car and took off for TN. We got to my sister's house around 2 or so.
We had a good time in Tennessee too. Faye found her love of Toads and didn't want to leave TN either. It was in the upper 90's to 100's while we were there and I could have just laid at the pool all day. I loved their town pool. It wasn't that great for Faye, but it felt great and it was salt water instead of chlorine! So nice!
I slammed my finger in (under the lid) tank of the toilet right before leaving and had to being ice with me for the drive home. My poor finger throbbed for the whole 14-15 hours it took to get home. My finger still hurts. Other than that, the ride home went better than the ride down. It was nice to come home to a quiet, untouched home and to my own bed!
It has been really hard to get out of lazy mode and it's been in the 70's, so I have no motivation to go to the beach or anything like that. We've only gotten out of the house a couple times since getting back.
I completely gave up on Faye's tumbling class. I tried to get our money back immediately after the first class, but they wouldn't give a refund so we decided to try to stick it out. Well, we've only been to two classes, including the very first class. The class is all done now and we signed her up for teeny, tiny Tappers which is a much younger and more specific age group. She is 8 days away from being too old for the class, so I'm really hoping it works out for her. She loves dancing!
First grade starts for Maddox in 2 weeks and preschool for Faye, 2 days after that. She'll go twice a week and she is pumped!
I signed up to be an Independent Consultant with Usborne books and hope to make enough monthly to pay for Karate for Maddox.
Friday, July 15, 2011
Smart Summer Challenge - Week 3
Monday we had dedicated to "Art Day" but we decided to ride downtown with Dad on his way to work. We went over to the library, over to Target, and then met Dad back at his work and drove down to Lake Calhoun. We had lunch a Tin Fish (which is a little eatery right on the lake) and then headed down to the beach (the part of the lake where Tin Fish is has sailing, boat rentals, etc, but no beach). There are several beaches on Lake Calhoun, but we went to the East Lake Calhoun Beach, as it was the closest to Tin Fish. We were there for hours and it was BEAUTIFUL! No pictures, but we had a really good time and plan on going back either Monday or Tuesday. There were tons of Sunny's that Maddox and another kid were trying to catch (with their hands). If we had a net, we probably could have caught a couple! We walked over to a shoe store that I have a groupon-type deal at that was just a couple blocks down and spent a little too much time there. I didn't like any shoes that Faye picked out and Faye KNOWS what she likes and didn't like any that I picked out. We were running really late but I had promised the kids Ice Cream, so we hopped on the bus and rode down to Sebastian Joe's and called Clayton to come meet us there. We were not going to make it back to his work before he got off and Maddox had T-Ball that we would have been late for.
We continued to work on some Ocean/Sea related stuff through out the week. We looked at Sea Turtles, Dolphins, and even Mermaids. We also have been looking at different Chinese holidays and festivals. We went to the Dragon Festival on Saturday. They had Dragon Boat races. We had seen them on Ni Hao Kai-Lan and were curious about seeing them, plus they had all day Martial Arts demonstrations and Maddox is really into Martial Arts. We've thought, on and off, about getting him into something, but haven't. A couple weekends ago, Faelyn and I made friends with a woman at Caribou that was waiting for her son at the Karate Studio next door. Of course I had to ask questions about it because Maddox would really love to learn and I'd really like him to as well. She raved about the studio. She has three boys, all go to the school. The oldest has gone for 17 years, the youngest for 6. She said it has taught them a lot of discipline, respect, and confidence.
Tuesday we walked over to McDonald's. It's about a mile away and we never go there. It was the first time I had ever checked in there on Foursquare! Maddox did his Summer Bridge book and reading, but we really didn't do much that day at all. At McDonald's, we ran into a boy that Maddox went to preschool with. Maddox did not remember him at all (and I don't believe the boy recognized Maddox), but they made instant friends! Faye was all over the play place, all the way to the top.
Wednesday, I finally used my laminator. I bought it at Costco at the beginning of June and have not touched it. I laminated some of the pieces from the Pretty Bugs Preschool Pack from 1+1+1=1. I showed them to Faye on Thursday and we played with those. We did the 3-Part Cards and she really liked them. I laminated a lot more that day, including the Add It! Math Game from Confessions of a Homeschooler and showed that to Maddox today. I laminated even more today, from the Under the {girly} Sea Preschool Pack from 1+1+1=1. We haven't played with those yet, but I also laminated the hide n seek number leaves thing from Pretty Bugs and played with those. I used the first 8 with Faye and gave Maddox the last 8 and all three of us played. I also gave Maddox some little gems so that we could make up different math equations to tell each other (that equaled the number that the little dragonfly was under). With Faye, I'd just tell her which number the bug was under. She can count up to 13, but she does not recognize numbers yet.
Also on Wednesday, Faye woke up puking in the morning and had a belly ache and other issues that evening. She was fine during the day though and Maddox's bike seat came in the mail, so I fixed that and we were going to go to Tumbling Tots that evening. Walking (and Maddox riding his bike) is our only way of getting there and it is 2.3 miles.
It took me an hour to fix the darn bike. -Long Story Ahead- We got a bike seat from my brother's house and the post ended up being too small for Maddox's bike. The seat and post were attached to each other, so I couldn't put the saddle on the post that I already have. So I didn't put it on. "Someone" decided to MAKE the seat fit and clamped the metal of the bike down around the too small post. Then took the ring clip that goes around the bike and post to tighten the post onto the bike and clamped that down around it too. I got pretty upset that day and they took the seat out and put the old post back into. I'm not entirely sure how they got the old post back in, but I imagine it involved a hammer. So as you would suspect, I could not pull this post out of the bike! This post actually belonged to Maddox's 12" bike. It was a Lightning McQueen bike and the seat was attached to the post with a screw. We threw away the seat (it was all tore up and too small because it was for a 12" bike, but we kept the post, just in case because it was the same size as his new bike, an 18" - and in case you were wondering what happened to the seat that came with his bike, it was stolen off his bike at his elementary school (the ONLY bike with training wheels at the bike rack) during his elementary school carnival...) So anyways, this post had holes in the top where the seat had screwed on, so I finally got it off by finding a screw driver that would fit into the holes and holding onto that and twisting and pulling. After that, I couldn't get the new post in, because the hole in the bike was still too small from being clamped down. I had to use the screw driver to loosen it back up. I oiled it a ton and got the post in only to realize the ring clip was bent and the screw that was in it was bent too. I got the screw out and found a new one. The ring fit around the post, but not the bike. I could not get it unbent, but I did find something that I could pry it open and slip it down around the bike. I went from angry, to really angry, to really really angry, to so happy that I'm darn stubborn and got the thing fixed by myself and ready for tumbling! I'm feeling much better about the whole situation, but not totally, because it's not the first time this has happened and I know it won't be the last time. And then Faye got sick again, so we didn't end up going to tumbling anyways! But Maddox's bike is fixed, he rode it all over the driveway and then he rode it to Caribou on Thursday afternoon.
So Thursday, I did do laminating and played a little bit with Faye and helped Maddox play the preschool pack stuff with Faye and we walked over to Caribou, but mostly, we did nothing. I woke up with the most horrible headache. I get headaches a lot. I've been a little better lately, but usually, I have several headaches a week and when I get a headache, they last all day long. Sometimes they develop during the day and sometimes I wake up with them, but I always end up going to sleep with them. This headache was the most awful headache that I've had in years. I did what I could, but it was bad and even Faye came to me a said "Mom, can you turn on the TV for me, but really really quite because I don't want to hurt your head"
She was an absolute terror that day, but she is a sweet, sweet girl! We all went to swimming that night because it was Maddox's last class. He did not pass his level and will be starting Level 2 again in September. He said "I didn't pass, but Drew said that I did a really good job!" And he did. He did an excellent job and he has come so far from the first time he did Level 1 (he did Level 1 twice). He did not pass Level 2 because he has a hard time with the rhythmic breathing and he cannot do the front crawl and back crawl on his own. We got him goggles last night after swimming and I want to find him a nose plug and we'll be going to Open Swim on Wednesday as much as we can (T-Ball runs until the end of July and Tumbling Tots until the end of August, but Tumbling Tots time does not over lap open swim).
Today we were going to go to the Como Zoo, but our friend that we were hoping to meet there had a sick daughter and Faye still was not feeling too well, so we decided not to. It's a good thing because it stormed all day. Severe Thunderstorms and a large branch came off our tree in the front yard. I wouldn't let the kids into the dining room because there is another branch on that tree that is handing over the roof right over the dining room and I swear it is going to come off of the tree and land on the house if it is not taken care of. Fortunately, the branch that did come off, did not hit the house. Close though.
Here is a video of Maddox and Faye and the 3-Part Card from Pretty Bugs
and Maddox and Faye playing with the Add It! Math Game
Here are just some links to an awesome Taekwondo demonstration that we saw at the Dragon Festival last Sat!
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#1
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#2
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#3
A Dragon Boat Race
First things First at the Dragon Festival...
Performing Arts
Watching boats from the path
Faye wanted to go to the playground, so Maddox and I went and waiting for them Martial Arts. We were both glad we waited as long as we did to see if someone was going to perform!
This kid in the air was VERY CLOSE to Maddox's age. I bet he was only about 7 years old.
Ducks & Ducklings watch as the yellow boat wins
And just because they are so cute...
We continued to work on some Ocean/Sea related stuff through out the week. We looked at Sea Turtles, Dolphins, and even Mermaids. We also have been looking at different Chinese holidays and festivals. We went to the Dragon Festival on Saturday. They had Dragon Boat races. We had seen them on Ni Hao Kai-Lan and were curious about seeing them, plus they had all day Martial Arts demonstrations and Maddox is really into Martial Arts. We've thought, on and off, about getting him into something, but haven't. A couple weekends ago, Faelyn and I made friends with a woman at Caribou that was waiting for her son at the Karate Studio next door. Of course I had to ask questions about it because Maddox would really love to learn and I'd really like him to as well. She raved about the studio. She has three boys, all go to the school. The oldest has gone for 17 years, the youngest for 6. She said it has taught them a lot of discipline, respect, and confidence.
Tuesday we walked over to McDonald's. It's about a mile away and we never go there. It was the first time I had ever checked in there on Foursquare! Maddox did his Summer Bridge book and reading, but we really didn't do much that day at all. At McDonald's, we ran into a boy that Maddox went to preschool with. Maddox did not remember him at all (and I don't believe the boy recognized Maddox), but they made instant friends! Faye was all over the play place, all the way to the top.
Wednesday, I finally used my laminator. I bought it at Costco at the beginning of June and have not touched it. I laminated some of the pieces from the Pretty Bugs Preschool Pack from 1+1+1=1. I showed them to Faye on Thursday and we played with those. We did the 3-Part Cards and she really liked them. I laminated a lot more that day, including the Add It! Math Game from Confessions of a Homeschooler and showed that to Maddox today. I laminated even more today, from the Under the {girly} Sea Preschool Pack from 1+1+1=1. We haven't played with those yet, but I also laminated the hide n seek number leaves thing from Pretty Bugs and played with those. I used the first 8 with Faye and gave Maddox the last 8 and all three of us played. I also gave Maddox some little gems so that we could make up different math equations to tell each other (that equaled the number that the little dragonfly was under). With Faye, I'd just tell her which number the bug was under. She can count up to 13, but she does not recognize numbers yet.
Also on Wednesday, Faye woke up puking in the morning and had a belly ache and other issues that evening. She was fine during the day though and Maddox's bike seat came in the mail, so I fixed that and we were going to go to Tumbling Tots that evening. Walking (and Maddox riding his bike) is our only way of getting there and it is 2.3 miles.
It took me an hour to fix the darn bike. -Long Story Ahead- We got a bike seat from my brother's house and the post ended up being too small for Maddox's bike. The seat and post were attached to each other, so I couldn't put the saddle on the post that I already have. So I didn't put it on. "Someone" decided to MAKE the seat fit and clamped the metal of the bike down around the too small post. Then took the ring clip that goes around the bike and post to tighten the post onto the bike and clamped that down around it too. I got pretty upset that day and they took the seat out and put the old post back into. I'm not entirely sure how they got the old post back in, but I imagine it involved a hammer. So as you would suspect, I could not pull this post out of the bike! This post actually belonged to Maddox's 12" bike. It was a Lightning McQueen bike and the seat was attached to the post with a screw. We threw away the seat (it was all tore up and too small because it was for a 12" bike, but we kept the post, just in case because it was the same size as his new bike, an 18" - and in case you were wondering what happened to the seat that came with his bike, it was stolen off his bike at his elementary school (the ONLY bike with training wheels at the bike rack) during his elementary school carnival...) So anyways, this post had holes in the top where the seat had screwed on, so I finally got it off by finding a screw driver that would fit into the holes and holding onto that and twisting and pulling. After that, I couldn't get the new post in, because the hole in the bike was still too small from being clamped down. I had to use the screw driver to loosen it back up. I oiled it a ton and got the post in only to realize the ring clip was bent and the screw that was in it was bent too. I got the screw out and found a new one. The ring fit around the post, but not the bike. I could not get it unbent, but I did find something that I could pry it open and slip it down around the bike. I went from angry, to really angry, to really really angry, to so happy that I'm darn stubborn and got the thing fixed by myself and ready for tumbling! I'm feeling much better about the whole situation, but not totally, because it's not the first time this has happened and I know it won't be the last time. And then Faye got sick again, so we didn't end up going to tumbling anyways! But Maddox's bike is fixed, he rode it all over the driveway and then he rode it to Caribou on Thursday afternoon.
So Thursday, I did do laminating and played a little bit with Faye and helped Maddox play the preschool pack stuff with Faye and we walked over to Caribou, but mostly, we did nothing. I woke up with the most horrible headache. I get headaches a lot. I've been a little better lately, but usually, I have several headaches a week and when I get a headache, they last all day long. Sometimes they develop during the day and sometimes I wake up with them, but I always end up going to sleep with them. This headache was the most awful headache that I've had in years. I did what I could, but it was bad and even Faye came to me a said "Mom, can you turn on the TV for me, but really really quite because I don't want to hurt your head"
She was an absolute terror that day, but she is a sweet, sweet girl! We all went to swimming that night because it was Maddox's last class. He did not pass his level and will be starting Level 2 again in September. He said "I didn't pass, but Drew said that I did a really good job!" And he did. He did an excellent job and he has come so far from the first time he did Level 1 (he did Level 1 twice). He did not pass Level 2 because he has a hard time with the rhythmic breathing and he cannot do the front crawl and back crawl on his own. We got him goggles last night after swimming and I want to find him a nose plug and we'll be going to Open Swim on Wednesday as much as we can (T-Ball runs until the end of July and Tumbling Tots until the end of August, but Tumbling Tots time does not over lap open swim).
Today we were going to go to the Como Zoo, but our friend that we were hoping to meet there had a sick daughter and Faye still was not feeling too well, so we decided not to. It's a good thing because it stormed all day. Severe Thunderstorms and a large branch came off our tree in the front yard. I wouldn't let the kids into the dining room because there is another branch on that tree that is handing over the roof right over the dining room and I swear it is going to come off of the tree and land on the house if it is not taken care of. Fortunately, the branch that did come off, did not hit the house. Close though.
Here is a video of Maddox and Faye and the 3-Part Card from Pretty Bugs
and Maddox and Faye playing with the Add It! Math Game
Here are just some links to an awesome Taekwondo demonstration that we saw at the Dragon Festival last Sat!
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#1
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#2
Kukkiwon Taekwondo Academy Demo#3
A Dragon Boat Race
First things First at the Dragon Festival...
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| From July 2011 |
Performing Arts
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| From July 2011 |
Watching boats from the path
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| From July 2011 |
Faye wanted to go to the playground, so Maddox and I went and waiting for them Martial Arts. We were both glad we waited as long as we did to see if someone was going to perform!
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| From July 2011 |
This kid in the air was VERY CLOSE to Maddox's age. I bet he was only about 7 years old.
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| From July 2011 |
Ducks & Ducklings watch as the yellow boat wins
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
And just because they are so cute...
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| From July 2011 |
Friday, July 8, 2011
Smart Summer Challenge - Week 2
Monday was the 4th of July and so we made some flags with the kids hands a feet. Maddox and I finished up the Independence Day lapbook. Later, we had a BBQ at a friends house and played with some sparklers once it got dark out. The funniest thing ever, John was wearing a Sex Pistols shirt with the British flag on it. While we were sitting down to eat, Maddox looked at him and very accusingly asked him why he was wearing the flag of the country that we fought for American independence!
We spent most of the week on water, lakes and oceans. We read Can You Hear the Sea?, Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem, This Is The Day!, Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale, and Into the Sea.
We cut out felt creatures for "Slippery Fish" and are hopefully going to make a stop motion video. HOPEFULLY! We did some worksheets and are in the processes of making a lapbook for Faye. We also made some coffee filter Rainbow Fish.
"Octopus have tentacles that are sticky. Mako sharks can go 60 miles per hour. Dolphins can do tricks. Lobsters have sharp claws."
These are the filter drying. I still need to get a picture of them finished!
We took a little day trip to the beach. Did not get any pictures, but Maddox swam, and Faye and I tried to lure minnows (or as she calls them "baby tadpole fish") into a bucket. They were too quick for us though and escaped every time!
Today we rode the bus over to the North Mississippi Regional Park and swam in the wading pool. The prairie there had much more wildflowers than the wildflower garden we went to last week!
We tried to get a pic of him, but a ton of kids kept swarming him to swarm and it turned out really awkward LOL
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| From Summer Challenge |
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| From Summer Challenge |
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| From Summer Challenge |
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| From Phone Photos 2011 |
We spent most of the week on water, lakes and oceans. We read Can You Hear the Sea?, Billy Twitters and his Blue Whale Problem, This Is The Day!, Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale, and Into the Sea.
We cut out felt creatures for "Slippery Fish" and are hopefully going to make a stop motion video. HOPEFULLY! We did some worksheets and are in the processes of making a lapbook for Faye. We also made some coffee filter Rainbow Fish.
"Octopus have tentacles that are sticky. Mako sharks can go 60 miles per hour. Dolphins can do tricks. Lobsters have sharp claws."
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| From Summer Challenge |
These are the filter drying. I still need to get a picture of them finished!
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| From Summer Challenge |
We took a little day trip to the beach. Did not get any pictures, but Maddox swam, and Faye and I tried to lure minnows (or as she calls them "baby tadpole fish") into a bucket. They were too quick for us though and escaped every time!
Today we rode the bus over to the North Mississippi Regional Park and swam in the wading pool. The prairie there had much more wildflowers than the wildflower garden we went to last week!
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| From Phone Photos 2011 |
We tried to get a pic of him, but a ton of kids kept swarming him to swarm and it turned out really awkward LOL
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| From Phone Photos 2011 |
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| From Phone Photos 2011 |
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Strawberry Picking and Eloise Butler
We got started pretty late on Friday. We've been sleeping in this summer. It's so hard to get the kids to bed at their normal bedtime when it is still SO bright out and the sun is still at least an hour or more away from sunset.
Friday turned out to be a pretty hot day. Over 95 degrees with a heat index over 100. We were only out picking strawberries for about a half hour. It was long enough though, we brought home 9lbs of strawberries!
We came home and took a little break in the air conditioning while I made lunch. We refueled, cooled down, and headed back out of check out the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden & Bird Sanctuary. I really wasn't impressed with it at all. Maybe it would have been better if it was a lot cooler out and the kids could just mosey on about, but we were all boiling hot. There were supposed to be a lot of different flowers in bloom and we saw very little. I was disappointed that we didn't see a single Lady Slipper (they were supposed to be in bloom). The "Lady Slipper Lane" had nothing and neither did the rest of the place. They had Poison Ivy but it wasn't marked and the post number had been hammered into the ground by a tree that was blown over by a tornado that came through about a month ago. The only reason we knew it was Poison Ivy is because when we went into the visitor center to get the free guide (because we have a museum adventure pass), the woman in there said to look out for the #35 post marker at the poison ivy because the tree pounded it in (not even a "make sure you don't walk in the poison ivy"... lol).
I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that noticed this little guy...
Wet, sweaty hair matted to her face.
Dad had the day off so we didn't really do much of anything else (in terms of learning, haha!) Maddox and I did work on a little bit of the Independence Day Lapbook before I let him go down to play the PS3 with Dad...
Friday turned out to be a pretty hot day. Over 95 degrees with a heat index over 100. We were only out picking strawberries for about a half hour. It was long enough though, we brought home 9lbs of strawberries!
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| From July 2011 |
We came home and took a little break in the air conditioning while I made lunch. We refueled, cooled down, and headed back out of check out the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden & Bird Sanctuary. I really wasn't impressed with it at all. Maybe it would have been better if it was a lot cooler out and the kids could just mosey on about, but we were all boiling hot. There were supposed to be a lot of different flowers in bloom and we saw very little. I was disappointed that we didn't see a single Lady Slipper (they were supposed to be in bloom). The "Lady Slipper Lane" had nothing and neither did the rest of the place. They had Poison Ivy but it wasn't marked and the post number had been hammered into the ground by a tree that was blown over by a tornado that came through about a month ago. The only reason we knew it was Poison Ivy is because when we went into the visitor center to get the free guide (because we have a museum adventure pass), the woman in there said to look out for the #35 post marker at the poison ivy because the tree pounded it in (not even a "make sure you don't walk in the poison ivy"... lol).
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
I'm pretty sure I'm the only one that noticed this little guy...
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| From July 2011 |
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| From July 2011 |
Wet, sweaty hair matted to her face.
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| From July 2011 |
Dad had the day off so we didn't really do much of anything else (in terms of learning, haha!) Maddox and I did work on a little bit of the Independence Day Lapbook before I let him go down to play the PS3 with Dad...
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