Our Special Girl

Brooke with her fancy clothes on (over her pajamas). I'm speechless.

Where has the time gone?

Yesterday Stella turned 6 months old. I can hardly believe that 1/2 a year has already passed! She can finally roll from her back to her front as of last Wednesday. Our children are a little slow reaching physical milestones. (Hello...it only took Brooke and Luke 16 and 18 months to walk!!) Stella enjoys playing with toys, being tickled, and drinking water from a cup. She slept well for me last night only waking once at 1:15am and then slept until 7:30. Why she can't we do that every night? I don't know. Better luck in the next 6 months.

PS. The "wound" on Stella's head is healing nicely thanks to grandpa.

You can't make me!

Luke has since upgraded to pooping on the big potty. Thank God because I can't stand cleaning the little ones out!

Brooke potty training back in November 2006.

Luke has been pooping in that potty almost everyday now for about the last week and a half. I have said in the last 2 months on several occasions (while changing a poopy diaper of a thrashing and complaining Luke), that he just needs to learn to poop in the potty. But I think the hour is approaching and now I am balking.

With Brooke we pretty much got drug into potty training. She was one month past her 2nd birthday and I was very pregnant with Luke when the process started. She was a very quick study and in a couple of days, it was done. However...She had behavior problems that turned into pooping problems. It's a powerful thing to manipulate parents with poop! I'm sure (or rather praying) that Luke will not have similar issues.

All that said, it's really just a bit of an inconvenience. It's staying home and cleaning up a few accidents with the hope that the accidents will soon be replaced with bladder control. Once you get past that point, there's the leaving the house anxiety. Will we have to stop at every public restroom at the library and Shell station along the way? Don't even get me started about taking him to childcare at MOPs and Bible study.

From the sounds of my own complaining, it doesn't seem like we'll be potty training in the near future. I think I just talked myself right out of that one! I'll keep you posted when I decide to bite the bullet.

What a day!

The chef sizing up our dinner.

Look how brave I am!

Eating lobster is a lot of work and a little creepy.

Stella and her highly esteemed surgeon, Grandpa Glaser.

Yesterday was a bit unusual to say the least. Mark's brother, Kevin who currently lives in Zurich with his wife Megan, was spending his last night in the states before returning to Zurich. We went to my in-laws house to have dinner with him one last time before he left. My father-in-law decided that he wanted to have lobster for dinner. This was not any lobster, it was shipped from Boston's Legal Seafoods and arrived live in a Styrofoam cooler! Like I was saying, not your run of the mill kind of day.

It was quite the learning experience. Luckily, they are pretty simple to cook, especially when Kevin is in charge.:) I also learned that I don't care for lobster as much as I thought I did. I've eaten a little here and there at a restaurant or two, but fresh out of the pot is quite another experience. It was fun to see them alive and a little sad when they had to go into the pot. Mark suggested we name them. I just couldn't get on board with that. I'm a peace loving person and I felt naming the lobsters was a little hostile... since we were going to kill them. Brooke is such a good sport when it comes to trying new foods, even she had a bite only to discover she didn't care for them either.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, after dinner Stella had a little "outpatient surgery". My father-in-law is a surgeon and when he laid eyes on Stella's festering boil, highly recommended that something be done about it. He ran back to his office for some sterile tools and then after we were finished eating, he made a tiny incision on the offending boil. Please excuse me for being graphic, but the pus came out and then all was well. This is all here say because Mark forbid me to be in the kitchen while this procedure was being performed. I was a little apprehensive about the whole thing. She's my baby for crying out loud!! It all sounds a little barbaric, but she didn't even cry. I think she probably felt relieved and much more comfortable without that thing throbbing on her forehead! As you can see from above, she's not the type of girl that holds a grudge against a nice grandpa that saved us a trip to the doctor. What a day!

The secret I've been keeping

Stella with Grandma Kathy on February 8th.

Stella visiting my niece in Bowling Green on March 6th.

Stella modeling her Happy Heiny's cloth diaper on March 20th.

Stella in her "Jumperpoo" a few days ago on Monday, March 23rd.

Did you notice anything different about Stella in all these pictures? If you answered the spot on her forehead, then you are correct. Let me backtrack a bit. Many months ago Stella had a teeny tiny pimple on her forehead that I squeezed. I couldn't help myself so I squeezed it and I took heart the fact that a baby's skin heals incredibly fast. No permanent damage done, right? WRONG. So after I picked her pimple the spot began to fade as you can see above. But early in this month, it took a turn for the worse. I began to notice the "scar" more and then when I touched it last week noticed that a lump was forming underneath. Super... This Sunday is when things began to get really ugly until today, when I call her "scar" a boil. I feel so badly/guilty about it all. Not to mention sad that my beautiful baby has a huge blemish. If this thing is still with her as a teenager, I will never live this down! On the advice of others I've been putting a warm compress on it in the hopes of bringing it to a head so the infection will come out. I was advised to squeeze it again to get the goo out, but I don't know that I can in good conscience do that again. So in the last few weeks I've been using the "retouch" feature of Picassa pictures to erase her pimple. I didn't want you to see her any less beautiful than I do...pimple or not. Please pray that she'll heal quickly and that I will not further damage her beautiful skin. To say the least, her 6 month picture at JC Penny is on hold until further notice.

New Frontiers

Stella in the "Jumperpoo". Every time we put her in this she poops which is very annoying, and if she's wearing a disposable diaper, very messy and time consuming.

Stella sporting a Happy Heiny's cloth diaper.

In the last couple of weeks we've been trying something new, cloth diapers. From the picture above you can see the absence of diaper pins. Although I do believe that there are people currently CD'ing (got to get the jargon correct...that is cloth diapering people) that probably are using the old style cloth diapers, pins, and covers, but we for one are not. Before you think I've completely lost my mind, let me explain.

It all started with a magazine. Mothering magazine that was initially a gift from my friend Christa. It's all about baby wearing, tree hugging, organic eating, informed vaccinating, pro-breastfeeding, co-sleeping and basically natural family living. Something at the time I was intrigued by but not totally on board with. Oh how the times change! (I'm not sleeping with my babies in my bed. I have drawn the line somewhere.) They have ads upon ads and articles toting the wonders of cloth diapering. I liked the idea of not creating so much trash and the fact that they are reusable.

When Luke was about one I borrowed my friend Stephanie's Fuzzi Bunz cloth diapers to try them out, but I could never make the commitment to try them. I'd always tell myself I'd try them tomorrow. After many months of not trying, I finally just gave up and gave them back. I just couldn't commit to adding one more load of laundry to my to-do list. Then came the poopiest baby, Stella.

For several months now I've been rinsing/soaking/washing poopy clothes. Almost every time she pooped, it was a "blow out". Changing her poop meant a bath and a fresh outfit, then came the rinsing/soaking/washing. Mark made a comment that we might as well be using cloth diapers because we have such a mess on our hands anyway. That was assuming that cloth diapers would be messy and inconvenient. Or so I thought... After a little research, reading my Mothering magazine Jul/Aug 2008 issue which featured the article Cloth Diaper Comeback and a few hours on the Internet, I decided to take the plunge. I bought our first 2 Happy Heiny's pocket diapers . You've not yet heard me mention the money saving aspect of using cloth diapers and I haven't for a reason. The pocket diapers run about $15-$19 a piece! Can you say expensive? We now own 14 diapers and I figured I could buy 13 cases of Luvs disposables for that price, but I would also have 13 cases of Luvs going into Rumpke's dump and 5 million onsies that had to be trashed. I really feel good about the reusable aspect of the diapers and the fact that they are always in residence is a plus.

Here's the low down on the cloth diapers: I have to change Stella more frequently because they are not super absorbent like disposables which means I use about 3 additional diapers a day compared to disposables. This means I have to wash diapers about every other day. On the bright side, I don't have to rinse them or scrub or soak them. They are stored in a garbage can with a tight fitting lid until I wash them in hot on the longest cycle. Pretty painless really. The other bonus is because they have elastic around the top of the waist, Stella's poop hardly ever gets on her clothes anymore. I love that! They come with either hook and loop (Velcro... I'm not sure why I'm trying to be PC here.) or snaps. I think in the long run the snaps will be more durable, but the Velcro is as easy as tabs on a disposable.

The down side would be that they need to be changed more frequently and you are not supposed to use diaper creams with them. (The oil from cream can make the diapers less absorbent.) So if Stella has diaper rash I just put a disposable on her a few times until it is cleared up. I also still put a Luv's diaper on her at night because I'm not brave enough to experiment with the leakage in the middle of the night. The price is also a bummer but since you pay for them up front, it feels like every time I use one it's "free". Mark figures we'll have to use them for about 10 months before they are "paid" for. But crazy as I am, we'll be able to use them on our next babies...or just baby unless I totally go off the deep end. :)

As a side note, we are still using Luvs on Luke because we don't have enough to go around and I'm not sure he'd be too keen on the change. Besides, all signs point to potty training him very soon. Ugh! More on that another day...

A Cease-fire

My mom so graciously kept Brooke this weekend so I could have a bit of a break while Mark is away on a 6 day trip (two 3 days back to back!). My parents picked her up on Friday night and I picked her up this afternoon (Sunday). Our house was very peaceful while she was gone, but also very lonely. Some days it seems that she is my nemesis, but it is clear that no matter what her behavior, she adds color to my world.

Luke was missing Brooke also. He would say periodically yesterday, "Brooke not here yet." She usually has the leading role of "disciplinee" and her absence shed a little light on Luke's behavior. Let's just say he had a few run-ins with "the law". Overall, it was a very peaceful day void of yelling (if I was the yelling type that is). Luke, Stella and I went on a few walks and played outside a little. Without Brooke to take toys from I did notice that Luke was trying to take toys from Stella, a trick he's perfected watching Brooke in action. :)

When I got to my parents' house, Brooke and I were so happy to see one another. It is true that absence does make the heart grow fonder! Maybe next time Mark has a long trip my mom will keep Luke so Brooke and I can spend some time together. (I'm sure she'll jump right on that...) I think Brooke and I would both enjoy some time without the interruptions of the little ones.

It's the rolls!

I couldn't keep these pictures to myself anymore because my baby is so delicious. It is the rolls that I can't get over and I LOVE them! Stella hasn't been sleeping all that well at night and my mom asked me when I would just let her cry. Clearly she's not waking up because she's hungry. I can count on one hand (maybe one finger) when Stella's ever refused a meal. I've never had such a chunky baby but I can tell you it's the best. There's so much more to love and kiss!

Stella's grabbing everything she can get her hands on which includes toys, toes, and eating utensils. I've started giving her a little food because she's so interested in watching us eat that I feel guilty not feeding her. She's been a lot of fun lately. Which is a nice reminder that this is a season. I won't always be obsessed with how long she naps (or doesn't) and how many times she wakes up in the night. At least when I go get her she's all smiles which is a nice reward for all the work I do.

A glimpse of homeschooling in the spring

Today is a b-e-a-u-tiful day. I decided we couldn't pass up the opportunity to be outside so we took our learning out with us. Here's what we learned:

Vocabulary: boundaries- as in "when riding your bike don't go past the stop sign or the fire hydrant. Those are your boundaries."

Art: We practiced our drawing skills on the driveway and sidewalk with chalk.

Science: Learned about keeping the earth clean while we picked up trash from our walk and brought it home to put in our trash can.

Reading: While drawing above mentioned masterpieces, I also wrote the sounds Brooke's been learning and we played a game of jumping on the sounds as I called them out.

Physical education: Rode bikes and took a walk.

Religion: We thanked God for giving us such a warm sunny day.

Some people have to pay top dollar for a well rounded educational experience like the one we had today. :) But for us, it's the beauty of homeschooling.

Hope you got to enjoy the sunshine today too!

An inquiring mind wants to know

Brooke and Luke posing in front of her "reading chart". Only 93 more lessons to go in the Teach your child to read in 100 easy lessons. She sweetly made Luke his own chart because she enjoyed crossing the days off hers so well.


Last night when we sat down to dinner Brooke looks up and asks, "What's it like to be a grown-up?" I was stunned into silence. What 4 year old even thinks about that? Obviously, ours does and it probably stems from her wanting to be in charge of everything. Mark's response was something about a lot of work. I should have said that I'd let her know when I grow up. That's not too far off from how I feel sometimes. I look around to see who's the responsible one and it's me! How did that happen? I still even have to call my mom to see the best way to reheat leftover ribs at dinner time! That's mature. And don't even get me started about Mark. Are people that still laugh about bodily functions considered grown-up? I guess the good news is there's a lot of leeway which we all probably need anyway.

Fatigue is not the mother of creativity

Our attempt at creative living...Mark made a bus from a box. (Steph H. please forgive us for not giving you the credit for a referral at diapers.com. We were so excited to sign up, we didn't realize until after we registered to put your name in. Sorry!)

January 2009

I scratch my head at day's end and wonder where on earth did the day go!!?? Every one's naps are at different times, I'm trying to teach Brooke to read and do her other preschool work, I'm participating in a Bible study which has nightly homework, and I don't even watch TV. Yikes! In the little bit of down time that I've had (you can tell I've definitely not been blogging) I've been reading a book called The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule.

She's all about living a slower and ultimately more creative life and being "one with nature". She's the sewing-knitting type which I long to be, but am not. She talks about how kids are innately creative but we need to give them opportunities to explore their creative side. I realized while reading that I am slightly too anal and not free spirited enough to let my kids paint and "felt" on a whim. Her family has a morning meeting in bed to discuss what each family member would like to accomplish that day. Yeah right...we'll get to that tree house... never.

But what I did come away with is letting kids be kids. They need to be outside and they do need to use their imaginations without me hoovering over them worrying/yelling not to spill the paint water. (That's hypothetical of course.) So in an effort to let my kids be kids, I am digging out the old sheets I was donating to Am-vets to let them make forts outside under the swing set. I also intend (I like that word because it has a lot of wiggle room) on figuring out how to embroider and letting Brooke and Luke try their hand at it too. But her idea of letting the kids garden will probably not happen because heads would roll if the kids step on anything in ours while being helpful. :)

I think I need to go bed if I plan on living my best creative life tomorrow. Some how I imagine that does not involve me yelling at my children if I'm exhausted. (There I go being all hypothetical again.)

Everybody loves a sleeper, that's why we invited you!

Just 3 days ago Stella was waking up 2-3 times a night and I was TIRED. (I'll have you know that I was also staying up irresponsibly late too, bad combination...) But last night she blessed me with a full nights sleep. She slept from 8 PM until 7 AM!! I can't imagine it could get any better than that. She has also started grabbing her toes and laughing more. What a sweet baby! I think we'll keep her. :)

Road Trip Part 1

Oh the joy of a lofted bed!

We walked through the cafeteria with Steph so she could get some lunch and I was totally freaked out by the fact that the cashier lady was around when I was a student at BG!

The beginning of our road trip Friday started with a brief stop at my Alma mater, Bowling Green State University. My niece Stephanie used to visit me at BG starting when she was just 8 and now at 20, she's a sophomore majoring in education...just like me! The irony I felt pulling into her dorm parking lot in our family minivan was not lost. Nine years earlier, long before my children were on the scene, this place was my stomping ground.

We ate our packed lunch in her dorm (which was much bigger and nicer than the dorm I used to live in on campus) and met her roommates who were all preparing to go home for spring break. I wish we had more time to explore, but this was an unexpected stop on our way to visit Mark's grandpa in Detroit. My goal is to go back next fall when school starts but the weather is still nice. I know my kids would like to swim in the rec center pool just like Stephanie and her little sister Carly did when I was in school. Those were the days...

Road Trip Part 2

Even Grandpa Smith has more hair than Stella!

The man, the legend.

Stella sitting on Mark's moms lap.

Grandma Smith (Virgina) with Brooke back in January of 2007.

This weekend we went to visit Mark's Grandpa (his mom's dad) in Detroit. We haven't been there in a while and with the passing of his Grandma this past summer we saw how important it is to see him while we can. To give you an idea of what kind of man he is I'll first tell you Mark's mom is the oldest of 12. I've never met a man who is more patient or loving. A godly family man in all respects. I love to sit and reminisce about the days when his kids were young (and they drove a hearse!). In every corner of their house you can see reflected their love of family and of God. When Mark's grandma, Virgina was alive she had her finger on the pulse of their family. There are over 130 kids, grand kids, and great grand kids and they seem to keep up with all of them!

In his early 90's he surfs the Web, uses a cell phone, and has a digital camera! Today the retired aerospace engineering professor was pondering what life will be like when his great grand kids are his age. I love talking with him because I always learn so much like mail used to come twice a day. I learned what a crystal radio is and how it works. Yesterday he was teaching me about the latest buzz from Amazon, the Kindle. We talked all day and into the night and never ran out of things to talk about! The legacy he and his wife leave is a faithful, loving family where people come first. Amazingly enough in their family of 12 children they all still get along and they all still speak to one another! That's love...

While we are there the kids always love to play with the closet full of vintage toys and toys left behind by other great grandchildren. Grandpa Smith is so talented that he can take naps while the kids play at his feet in the living room. :) Being with him is always an uplifting experience. He reminds us to remember each day and to not rush through life because is goes so very fast. If the family we're creating could be as loving and supportive as Ken and Virgina Smith's then we will be fully blessed.

Energy and Patience

The scene of the crime.

The props that made all the fun possible.

Stella not napping. :)

Yesterday Mark was scheduled to be home by dinner. I was counting on him being home by dinner. However, he was not home by dinner. I think that's where the phrase "counting your chickens before they hatch" would apply. When I got the dreaded call that he had not made the home-by-dinner flight, I refrained from crying on the phone and waited until I hung up so Mark wouldn't be anymore upset than he already was. Enter energy and patience.

All day long (especially when Mark is gone) I ask God for energy and patience. And yesterday I really needed energy and patience to make/serve/clean-up dinner and to bathe/bed the kids one more night before help arrived. But God being all knowing knew I needed more than that so He gave me 2 hours of peace in addition.

From 4 to 6 o'clock dinner, Brooke and Luke played together awesomely. Yes, it was awesome because only once I had to intervene when Luke's screeching (him letting everyone know that Brooke was not playing fairly) got too loud for me to ignore. In that two hours I regained my sanity. (I tried to regain my sanity with a short nap earlier but Stella's nap was even shorter. She took 3- 45 minute naps yesterday from the time she got up to the time she went down for the night. No sanity saving there!) I was able to fold and put away laundry and straighten the crap lying around the house... restore order amongst the chaos. I was able to do those things without having to explain what I was doing, without anyone helping, and without refereeing. All that yielded energy and patience to get me through until bedtime. Praise God!

Brooke kept saying over and over that she and Luke were having so much fun. After dinner she wanted to show me what they were playing with before dinner. She directed me to the upstairs bathroom (is that ever a good sign?) and much to my relief they were only playing in the bathtub sans water. The pictures above say it all. Crazy kids!

Irresistibly delicious

Stella trying out the high chair.

It's the cheeks. I can't stop kissing them! I worry she's going to suffer chapped cheeks her whole life if her cheeks stay the same. I guess that would be the price you'd pay for being so delicious.