i thoroughly appreciate the laughs i get from my (oldest) toddler. there are moments when he says or does something that i wish i could've captured on hidden camera. instead, i'll blog about it or put it into the journal i'm keeping for him. here are a few that just crossed my mind today, all of which happened in the past couple weeks:
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*crinkle, crinkle* [sound heard by me while standing in the kitchen. i immediately recognize the sound.]
i walk into the living room and see no sign of children.
*crinkle, crinkle*
i know that five minutes ago, jack was with me in the kitchen. i check the gates and front door-- all are shut, so he could not have left the vicinity of the living room/kitchen area. i check the closet. no boy.
i check the kitchen, no boy. under the kitchen table, no boy.
*crinkle, crinkle*
oh yes, i know that sound. it is the sound of a bag of chocolate chips being opened and reached into. i hear it nearly every night when i take it out of the pantry...
now i'm really wondering where he could've gone. in the wine bar? no. i tell mike, "jack is hiding and eating chocolate chips!" he responds, "what? how do you know that?"
*CRINKLE*
ah-ha! he's under his train table, where he has surrounded himself with chairs and toys and storage bins so that he can't be seen. he's reaching in and out of a bag of chocolate chips eating them as fast as possible before getting caught.
i can't help but laugh.
mike says, "only a pregnant woman could distinguish the sound of a bag of chocolate chips from any other bag in the house.
-------------------------
this weekend when i was in IC, mike apparently got overly frustrated during a diaper change where benjamin tried to get into jack's poopy diaper, and jack kept rolling around and trying to defend himself. mike finally exclaimed, "lay down so i can change your damn diaper!" this was quickly met with a response, "i don't WANT to change my damn diaper." now it's not uncommon for us to hear things like, "i want to wear my damn diaper." or "i just ran into baby's damn diaper."
similarly, mike was teasing me this morning about something and i muttered, "shut it." jack immediately picked up on it and turned to mike and said, "daddy, you shut it. just shut it."
--------------------------
jack continues to phase in and out of clarity about the upcoming baby. today he said, "mommy, you hold baby bengerson* and i'll hold baby gavin." i'm not sure how that will work right now. still, he seems excited and fairly coherent about there actually being a baby in my belly, and that he will arrive at some point and be a new little brother. this is markedly different from last time, and i am appreciating it a lot.
[*this is a nickname; he really can pronounce 'benjamin']
7.29.2009
neighborly fun
last night the same couple who watched our children while we went out on a date night brought their two over so they could do the same. we earned back the same number of stars we gave them a few days ago; score! another date night for us!
i got some cute photos and thought i'd share:
i got some cute photos and thought i'd share:
7.27.2009
Five Hours might be a bit too long
on friday morning i left for my first childfree overnight trip since benjamin was born 14 1/2 months ago. now that he is weaned, there is a bit more leeway for these types of getaways. though i'm painfully aware that in 2 months, i'll be back where i started. still, it was nice to be in a car and not be on the edge of my seat, anxious about the crying or about-to-wake-and-cry child in the backseat. i actually got to listen to old music i haven't dug out in awhile (rather than kid's cds) and go by my own schedule. yippee! i went to iowa city and saw the dissertation defense of a colleague who shares the same adviser. it wasn't unnerving, thankfully, and i left feeling like i can definitely do that. once i get there. i got to see my friend sarah who had just the night before moved from LA to Iowa City for her new job (sarah, you LIVE THERE) and stay in the hough house with her and her mother, thanks to carrie and rob's gracious offer to lend out their home while they were out of town (thanks carrie!!) it was great to hang out with old friends and reacquaint myself with a world i haven't yet left no matter how much i mentally check out from it. friday evening might have been a bit better as we lost electricity due to a storm, and i managed to get some sort of food poisoning. so i found myself puking by flashlight in someone else's bathroom at 12:30am, and melting due to the heat. it was the least lovely part of the weekend. saturday was exhausting, as i kicked it off with a 5 hour meeting with my adviser/committee chair. it was probably necessary and left me feeling confident, but still exhausting. i got home at 7pm on saturday evening, so it was a nice day and a half of childfree time :)
sunday mike and i left the kids with a neighbor and went on a date night. the proposal is very sweet, and quite funny. i adore ryan renolds. going out on sunday night meant there weren't too many local restaurant options since most are closed sun and mon, but PF Changs did not disappoint. mike was extremely happy to find that they had an entirely gluten-free menu for him and gluten-free soy sauce, as he's been trying out the gluten-free thing for a couple weeks to see if it helps his so far undiagnosed gastrointestinal issues over the past several months. so not only did i get nearly 2 days off from full-time parenting, but i got a night out with my husband, too! score.
i have officially hit the 30 week mark in my pregnancy. it scares me a little to think that i'm that close. 10 weeks left to get as much of my dissertation done as possible. i said to mike last night, "holy crapy, we're going to have a BABY in 2 months." i have accepted the pregnancy, clearly, but it's still a little hard to get it through my head that soon a baby will come with it.
here is the 30-week belly shot for samantha (stretch marks are still all from benjamin--no new ones from this guy yet):
And we are pretty much (98%) set on Gavin for the name, barring any unforseen changes of heart at the delivery. middle name is still in the works.
yesterday we took the boys down to the clarke county fair to see mike's parents and look at some animals. benj was fearless with the animals; jack was a bit leery of benjamin touching them. we heard of lot of squeals of "no! get benjamin away! he's going to get hurt!"
sunday mike and i left the kids with a neighbor and went on a date night. the proposal is very sweet, and quite funny. i adore ryan renolds. going out on sunday night meant there weren't too many local restaurant options since most are closed sun and mon, but PF Changs did not disappoint. mike was extremely happy to find that they had an entirely gluten-free menu for him and gluten-free soy sauce, as he's been trying out the gluten-free thing for a couple weeks to see if it helps his so far undiagnosed gastrointestinal issues over the past several months. so not only did i get nearly 2 days off from full-time parenting, but i got a night out with my husband, too! score.
i have officially hit the 30 week mark in my pregnancy. it scares me a little to think that i'm that close. 10 weeks left to get as much of my dissertation done as possible. i said to mike last night, "holy crapy, we're going to have a BABY in 2 months." i have accepted the pregnancy, clearly, but it's still a little hard to get it through my head that soon a baby will come with it.
here is the 30-week belly shot for samantha (stretch marks are still all from benjamin--no new ones from this guy yet):
And we are pretty much (98%) set on Gavin for the name, barring any unforseen changes of heart at the delivery. middle name is still in the works.
yesterday we took the boys down to the clarke county fair to see mike's parents and look at some animals. benj was fearless with the animals; jack was a bit leery of benjamin touching them. we heard of lot of squeals of "no! get benjamin away! he's going to get hurt!"
7.20.2009
KC weekend
This weekend Mike, Benjamin and I drove down to Kansas City to see my friend Alicia's new home, and spend her birthday weekend with her. Jack stayed at home with Mike's mom, bless her heart. We had a great time, and a lot of time "off" from parenting since Asia, Alicia's 14-yr-old stepdaughter was there to coo and care for Benj. She is truly one of a kind. How many 14-yr-olds do you know that ask to change dirty diapers and be woken up at 6am to play with the baby? She baby-sat Saturday night so we could go out as adults. Priceless. She was a lifesaver on the ride home, since she was headed to Iowa for a week with the grandparents and rode in the backseat with Benjamin, thus keeping him from his usual carseat screams. I wish we could convince her to put off school for about 6 months and move in as our nanny till I finish this dang degree!!!
Here are some photos from our fun weekend:
Benj's bestfriend, Asia
His other bestfriend, Comet the dog
making smores over the firepit
on the plaza, we did some shopping. i mistakenly thought a thong was a complicated a-cup device after pulling it out of a bra bin
we liked the toy store
We enjoyed a childfree dinner at the MS Grill on the plaza, where seafood was had by all. They boasted an award winning bartender, so I was excited to get his answer to my usual, "What can you make for a pregnant woman?" question. He won my award for the best virgin concoction I've ever had, and got extra points for making it "on the house."
It was a great weekend!
Here are some photos from our fun weekend:
Benj's bestfriend, Asia
His other bestfriend, Comet the dog
making smores over the firepit
on the plaza, we did some shopping. i mistakenly thought a thong was a complicated a-cup device after pulling it out of a bra bin
we liked the toy store
We enjoyed a childfree dinner at the MS Grill on the plaza, where seafood was had by all. They boasted an award winning bartender, so I was excited to get his answer to my usual, "What can you make for a pregnant woman?" question. He won my award for the best virgin concoction I've ever had, and got extra points for making it "on the house."
It was a great weekend!
Baby Carrots
A friend of mine recently forwarded to me some information about baby carrots. Many of you may already know this, but I figured it was worth a post:
---------------------------------------------------
The following is information from a farmer who grows and packages carrots for IGA, METRO, LOBLAWS, etc
The small cocktail (baby) carrots you buy in small plastic bags are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are put through a machine which cuts and shapes them into cocktail carrots - most people probably know this already..
What you may not know and should know is the following:
Once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them. (this is the same chlorine used in your pool).
Since they do not have their skin or natural protective covering, they give them a higher dose of chlorine.
You will notice that once you keep these carrots in your refrigerator for a few days, a white covering will form on the carrots. This is the chlorine which resurfaces. At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables?
Chlorine is a very well-known carcinogen, which causes Cancer.. I thought this was worth passing on. Pass it on to as many people as possible in hopes of informing them where these carrots come from and how they are processed.
I used to buy those baby carrots for vegetable dips.
I know that I will never buy them again!!!!
Confirmed by Snopes:
Snopes.com : Baby Carrots ..... Are baby carrots made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been soaked in chlorine? ...--> Contaminated Food --> Carrot and Shtick Carrot and Shtick Claim: Baby carrots are made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been.... ...carrots that you buy in grocery stores come from deformed crooked big carrots. They are put through a machine to become small cocktail carrots. This part... ..
---------------------------------------------------------------
i think i had heard something to this effect once but i conveniently put it out of my mind. it does sound gross, though. i just know that if i buy "real" carrots, the liklihood of me skinning and cutting them is nil. so i figure some carrots are better than none. but perhaps that's a bad call. they are just so darn convenient! i also heard once that shredded cheese has an additive to it that keeps it from sticking together, which sometimes results in the whitish covering you see on the cheese when it's been sitting in the grocery coolers for awhile. i don't remember what the additive is.
....ahh, i just looked it up. (what did we do before google?) cheese manufacturers typically add cellulose to shredded cheese to prevent clumping. i found this:
-------
Method of treating a divided cheese product for anticaking United States Patent 5626893
Abstract:An anticaking agent which reduces the stickiness of the chunked, diced, or shredded cheese and improves the functionality of cheese is formulated of fine mesh vegetable flour, bentonite, cellulose, and antimycotic agents or bacterial cultures. This anticaking agent also will reduce the yeast and mold growth. This discovery is also extended to include various flavors, colors, enzymes and other supplements into the anticaking agent, to ultimately add to the cheese.
-------
I don't know, though, how that may decrease the quality or healthiness of the cheese. Still, it reminds me that once again, the more "packaged" food items I buy, the more additives, extras, and potential chemcials they contain. The other day I was waiting to pay for my groceries at Hy-Vee and I was watching the woman and her two kids behind me in line place their groceries on the conveyer belt. They bought about 7 boxes of capri sun (each contained about 10 individually packaged "juice products"), lunchables, microwave meals..... etc. I was feeling pretty good about my own groceries at that moment, which included a lot of fresh produce and some bulk grains. I'm certainly not convenience food-free, however, and my habit of buying organic as much as I feel I can afford lends itself to weekly or bi-weekly grocery bills that average between $100-200. We all make trade-offs I suppose. This question of what we eat has been in my mind a lot lately.
I heard on NPR once a little snippet of an interview with an author who recently published a book about food in our country in this generation. I don't remember the author's name or the book title. Sarah, did you mention this on your blog once? Not sure if it's the same book.... I believe the gist was that he wrote something about how the food we commonly eat as a country now is less and less "real" because we process things so much and they are far from their natural food-like state by the time we eat them. It sounds like something to add to my Goodreads list. If anyone is familiar with this, please speak up...
---------------------------------------------------
The following is information from a farmer who grows and packages carrots for IGA, METRO, LOBLAWS, etc
The small cocktail (baby) carrots you buy in small plastic bags are made using the larger crooked or deformed carrots which are put through a machine which cuts and shapes them into cocktail carrots - most people probably know this already..
What you may not know and should know is the following:
Once the carrots are cut and shaped into cocktail carrots they are dipped in a solution of water and chlorine in order to preserve them. (this is the same chlorine used in your pool).
Since they do not have their skin or natural protective covering, they give them a higher dose of chlorine.
You will notice that once you keep these carrots in your refrigerator for a few days, a white covering will form on the carrots. This is the chlorine which resurfaces. At what cost do we put our health at risk to have esthetically pleasing vegetables?
Chlorine is a very well-known carcinogen, which causes Cancer.. I thought this was worth passing on. Pass it on to as many people as possible in hopes of informing them where these carrots come from and how they are processed.
I used to buy those baby carrots for vegetable dips.
I know that I will never buy them again!!!!
Confirmed by Snopes:
Snopes.com : Baby Carrots ..... Are baby carrots made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been soaked in chlorine? ...--> Contaminated Food --> Carrot and Shtick Carrot and Shtick Claim: Baby carrots are made from deformed full-sized carrots that have been.... ...carrots that you buy in grocery stores come from deformed crooked big carrots. They are put through a machine to become small cocktail carrots. This part... ..
---------------------------------------------------------------
i think i had heard something to this effect once but i conveniently put it out of my mind. it does sound gross, though. i just know that if i buy "real" carrots, the liklihood of me skinning and cutting them is nil. so i figure some carrots are better than none. but perhaps that's a bad call. they are just so darn convenient! i also heard once that shredded cheese has an additive to it that keeps it from sticking together, which sometimes results in the whitish covering you see on the cheese when it's been sitting in the grocery coolers for awhile. i don't remember what the additive is.
....ahh, i just looked it up. (what did we do before google?) cheese manufacturers typically add cellulose to shredded cheese to prevent clumping. i found this:
-------
Method of treating a divided cheese product for anticaking United States Patent 5626893
Abstract:An anticaking agent which reduces the stickiness of the chunked, diced, or shredded cheese and improves the functionality of cheese is formulated of fine mesh vegetable flour, bentonite, cellulose, and antimycotic agents or bacterial cultures. This anticaking agent also will reduce the yeast and mold growth. This discovery is also extended to include various flavors, colors, enzymes and other supplements into the anticaking agent, to ultimately add to the cheese.
-------
I don't know, though, how that may decrease the quality or healthiness of the cheese. Still, it reminds me that once again, the more "packaged" food items I buy, the more additives, extras, and potential chemcials they contain. The other day I was waiting to pay for my groceries at Hy-Vee and I was watching the woman and her two kids behind me in line place their groceries on the conveyer belt. They bought about 7 boxes of capri sun (each contained about 10 individually packaged "juice products"), lunchables, microwave meals..... etc. I was feeling pretty good about my own groceries at that moment, which included a lot of fresh produce and some bulk grains. I'm certainly not convenience food-free, however, and my habit of buying organic as much as I feel I can afford lends itself to weekly or bi-weekly grocery bills that average between $100-200. We all make trade-offs I suppose. This question of what we eat has been in my mind a lot lately.
I heard on NPR once a little snippet of an interview with an author who recently published a book about food in our country in this generation. I don't remember the author's name or the book title. Sarah, did you mention this on your blog once? Not sure if it's the same book.... I believe the gist was that he wrote something about how the food we commonly eat as a country now is less and less "real" because we process things so much and they are far from their natural food-like state by the time we eat them. It sounds like something to add to my Goodreads list. If anyone is familiar with this, please speak up...
7.10.2009
The Dirty Dozen
I received a copy of Blue, the little magazine sent out by Wellmark Blue Cross/Shield of IA to insurance holders. Usually I recycle it pretty quickly, but a story caught my eye on the front page: how to buy organic. Interesting, I thought, that an insurance company would have an article on this topic. It leads me to think that maybe even they feel that pesticide exposure may not be such a great thing in the long run for our health. So I read on. It was a short, simplistic article, that took no real stand at all. But it included one thing I thought was particularly interesting. According to the Environmental Working Group, who published data based on studies performed by the US Dept. of Agriculture and Food and Drug Admin., you can lower pesticide exposure by nearly 90 PERCENT when you avoid the 12 most contaminated fruits and vegetables. Wow, that seems like a big thing, doesn't it? Now I imagine this relies on the idea that you would be eating these veggies/fruits already, and that by switching to organic, you'd cut pesticide exposure. Still, I found it worth cutting out the list to keep in mind for future shopping trips. I thought I'd share in case you are curious:
The Dirty Dozen (produce that tested highest for pesticide retention):
1) Peaches
2) Apples
3) Bell Peppers
4) Celery
5) Nectarines
6) Strawberries
7) Cherries
8) Kale
9) Lettuce
10) Grapes (imported)
11) Carrots
12) Pears
They also listed what they called "The Clean 15", those produce samples that tested the lowest for pesticide retention and could probably be purchased non-organically:
1) Onions
2) Avocados
3) Sweet Corn
4) Pineapple
5) Mangos
6) Asparagus
7) Sweet Peas
8) Kiwi
9) Cabbage
10) Eggplant
11) Papaya
12) Watermellon
13) Broccoli
14) Tomatoes
15) Sweet Potatoes
I think it's obvious that the first 5 probably test lower because they have outer coatings or shells to keep pesticides from sinking further into the flesh. I'm a little surprised that bananas aren't included here, with avocados and mangos, for that reason. They aren't on either list so I assume they test in the middle, but I'll continue to buy organic bananas because 1) both kids eat a full banana every day, 2) they aren't much more expensive than non-organic, and 3) they are easy to find in most stores. Unfortunately some of the "dirty dozen" are nearly impossible to find in our organic sections in Iowa stores (peaches and nectarines, especially).
One thing I found lacking in this article was discussion over organic products other than produce. It was pretty limited to produce. I have heard (read?) that pesticides tend to gather more fully in fat, so it's more important to purchase organic in higher fat foods than in lower fat ones. For this reason I've been purchasing organic peanut butter for quite some time, but don't always buy organic frozen veggies or fruit. Ironically, we do not buy organic milk or meat. I buy hormone free milk and meat, but not organic. I buy free range eggs, but not organic. Since dairy and protein products do have quite a bit of fat, I should probably make more of a commitment, but the price is just so overwhelming. We go through 2-3 gallons of milk a week. I pay about $8+/week now for our skim milk (2-3 gallons), and over $5 for a half gallon of Benj's organic whole milk. If we bought organic skim milk, it would be more like $15+ per week. That certainly would add up in the long run. $6 for organic milk seems like a lot compared to the $2.85 I'm used to paying. And the chicken, dear god. 14 oz. of hormone-free is already expensive at $6, but if I went organic, it would be more like $14. For things like cooking in bulk for our meal swap group, I'd go broke.
There is certainly a socioeconomic pressure on organic buying. I understand why organic stuff is more expensive, given that demand is lower, farms are fewer and smaller, and they may use more expensive methods to farm organically than do mass market farms, so it can get passed onto the consumer. I don't blame organic producers for the prices given these facts, but there is just no way an individual/couple/family on a budget could afford to buy completely organic and still eat healthily, in my opinion.
Any of you make give and take trades on your organic buying?
The Dirty Dozen (produce that tested highest for pesticide retention):
1) Peaches
2) Apples
3) Bell Peppers
4) Celery
5) Nectarines
6) Strawberries
7) Cherries
8) Kale
9) Lettuce
10) Grapes (imported)
11) Carrots
12) Pears
They also listed what they called "The Clean 15", those produce samples that tested the lowest for pesticide retention and could probably be purchased non-organically:
1) Onions
2) Avocados
3) Sweet Corn
4) Pineapple
5) Mangos
6) Asparagus
7) Sweet Peas
8) Kiwi
9) Cabbage
10) Eggplant
11) Papaya
12) Watermellon
13) Broccoli
14) Tomatoes
15) Sweet Potatoes
I think it's obvious that the first 5 probably test lower because they have outer coatings or shells to keep pesticides from sinking further into the flesh. I'm a little surprised that bananas aren't included here, with avocados and mangos, for that reason. They aren't on either list so I assume they test in the middle, but I'll continue to buy organic bananas because 1) both kids eat a full banana every day, 2) they aren't much more expensive than non-organic, and 3) they are easy to find in most stores. Unfortunately some of the "dirty dozen" are nearly impossible to find in our organic sections in Iowa stores (peaches and nectarines, especially).
One thing I found lacking in this article was discussion over organic products other than produce. It was pretty limited to produce. I have heard (read?) that pesticides tend to gather more fully in fat, so it's more important to purchase organic in higher fat foods than in lower fat ones. For this reason I've been purchasing organic peanut butter for quite some time, but don't always buy organic frozen veggies or fruit. Ironically, we do not buy organic milk or meat. I buy hormone free milk and meat, but not organic. I buy free range eggs, but not organic. Since dairy and protein products do have quite a bit of fat, I should probably make more of a commitment, but the price is just so overwhelming. We go through 2-3 gallons of milk a week. I pay about $8+/week now for our skim milk (2-3 gallons), and over $5 for a half gallon of Benj's organic whole milk. If we bought organic skim milk, it would be more like $15+ per week. That certainly would add up in the long run. $6 for organic milk seems like a lot compared to the $2.85 I'm used to paying. And the chicken, dear god. 14 oz. of hormone-free is already expensive at $6, but if I went organic, it would be more like $14. For things like cooking in bulk for our meal swap group, I'd go broke.
There is certainly a socioeconomic pressure on organic buying. I understand why organic stuff is more expensive, given that demand is lower, farms are fewer and smaller, and they may use more expensive methods to farm organically than do mass market farms, so it can get passed onto the consumer. I don't blame organic producers for the prices given these facts, but there is just no way an individual/couple/family on a budget could afford to buy completely organic and still eat healthily, in my opinion.
Any of you make give and take trades on your organic buying?
7.08.2009
Okoboji 2009!
Well, leave it to me to use paid nanny time to sit down and post about our vacation. Honestly, though, we've been back a week now and I've yet to find enough time to do so until now. Not that any of you are dying to hear about our family vacation, but still. It's on my "to do" list. So I plan to get back to that diss. as soon as I post some photos of our trip.
Note: on the dissertation front, today I received my most recent chapter back from my adviser with notes and suggestions for revisions (can you call them "suggestions" when she writes things like, "Brandy, you MUST include ___". Probably not.) Admittedly, her page to page changes were not bad at all-- in fact, there are several pages that have no comments. Score. She had 4 general points about the chapter overall about weaknesses that need to be strengthened. Some of them make me groan because I have to go back and add crap in that may not need to be there, but considering this is how academia and the revision process works, I am not surprised and not too down about it. In fact, it was much better than expected. If her changes are that easy with every chapter, I may be able to finish this thing. However, this WAS the only chapter she returned to me, though it was the third one she has received. Not sure why. One of the previous chapters was my intro, which is arguably the most important chapter in the diss. Anyway, I tread on. She'd like me to finish another chapter and get it to her before we meet in person in two weeks. This may be unlikely to happen, but I guess we'll see.
So....vacation. Sigh. It was nice, the boys had fun, but it was indeed exhausting.As much as I'd like to wax poetic about how great a vacation it was, at just the right time, and how we loved the sweet family time, reality pushes me to admit that it was a bit of a challenge. Even with all the mental prep for a vacation with kids, we were unprepared as to how challenging it would be. Vacation with young kids is like being at home with young kids, except without the baby-proofing or toys. Each morning the boys got up around 6:30am, and by the time we ate, walked, did arts and crafts, and swam, it would be 10am and we'd be wondering, "My god, NOW what are we going to do??" There was no sitting idly on the dock and watching the boats float by, since Benj would have nothing of that stillness. And the kids' craft classes each morning were fun for Jack, but for a 2 and a half yr-old, it only takes about 10 minutes to haphazardly paint a ceramic puppy before he's off to the next adventure. Thank god for parks. And hotel rooms with full kitchens and eating areas. If we had been forced to eat every meal out, we may have started skipping meals. Still, the photos show us having fun together and there were definite good moments. I found myself feeling quite depressed the morning we left, which proved to me that my dad is right when he says every year, "A bad day at the Lake is still better than a good day at home." Here are some of the photos...
Our first two days were spent at the cabin of a college friend of our's, right on west lake Okoboji. Four families got together in this cabin, with 6 kids under age 5. The main sleeping area was one big loft with 5 beds. You can imagine that getting children to nap/go to bed was the biggest challenge of our days :) They had a lot of fun, though.
I giggle every time I see this photo. All the kids were up in the loft, with one brave parent in the middle of them, trying to keep them in bed and quiet for naptime. At one point the rest of us heard giggling. Apparently, Caleb (Jack's bed buddy) was almost asleep, when Jack turned to him and said "I'm gassy!" and farted very loud in his face. The more they laughed, the more he let loose, until it was a gassy giggle fest. So much for naptime.
This may be my favorite photo from the whole trip-- the 4 oldest kids on the dock:
We frequented the "old time" park, complete with teeter totters, metal slides and play equipment, and an old school merry go round. I narrowly lost a game of tetherball there, too.
The three youngest: Benj, Baby Alex, and Dana
Upon leaving our friend's cabin at the end of the weekend, we checked into our hotel for four more nights of lakeside fun. This was the view from our room:
We killed time waiting for our room to be ready by heading over to Arnold's Park, just steps away from our room. It was more expensive than expected, but fun for a day of rides and sunny weather. Jack loved the trampoline:
Benj couldn't do much, but he did enjoy the carousel and these kiddie boats
Jack and Mike went paddle boating
We attended a 50s, 60s, and 70s party (yes, that's a lot of decades) at our hotel one night, and Benj and Jack danced and entertained the crowd. Jack limboed. Sort of...
We swam every day. Usually in the indoor pool since we went in the morning, but once in the outdoor pool, and only in the lake when we were at Abby's cabin. Jack LOVED swimming alone with his life jacket on. It made life a bit simpler for us, too. Both kids are fish and love, love, love the water.
This was a site for sore eyes, but unfortunately it never led to actual napping. He got to watch his Thomas movie each day to relax before naptime. The only way we could get him to nap, though (the whole week) was to pop him in the van and drive for about 10 minutes. It worked like a charm every time. But then one of us had to sit in the van while he napped, AC running. Nothing like burning fossil fuel to get your kid to rest.
My favorite part of the lakes is still the daily cruises on the Sunrunner. The kids enjoyed the crackers and cheese, I enjoyed that they were still for 45 consecutive minutes. They liked the Sunrunner cruises so much, that on our last full day there we decided to do one of the other boats. We went out on the Million Dollar Home tour, a smaller speed boat that takes fewer people out around the lake, and points out nice houses--telling you how much they are worth, how many bathrooms, etc. are in them, and who owns them. We thought this would be fun, but it was a BAD decision. Jack was the only one who loved it (speed boat). Benj hated his life jacket and screamed the whole time, and the speed boat was so bumpy I thought I might go into labor right then. It was horribly uncomfortable and left me feeling really uneasy for a good 3 hrs. afterward. Oops, I guess that was not a good choice for a woman who just entered her third trimester.
The only relaxation time Mike and I gleaned was if and when we got the kids to sleep at night, we escaped to the patio outside (baby monitor in hand) and watched the sunset. Just sitting by the lake (usually with chocolate) helped ease our minds after a long day of kiddie entertainment. We often were exhausted enough that we barely managed an hour out there, but it was worth it. So I'll end with the beautiful photos of those moments!!
Note: on the dissertation front, today I received my most recent chapter back from my adviser with notes and suggestions for revisions (can you call them "suggestions" when she writes things like, "Brandy, you MUST include ___". Probably not.) Admittedly, her page to page changes were not bad at all-- in fact, there are several pages that have no comments. Score. She had 4 general points about the chapter overall about weaknesses that need to be strengthened. Some of them make me groan because I have to go back and add crap in that may not need to be there, but considering this is how academia and the revision process works, I am not surprised and not too down about it. In fact, it was much better than expected. If her changes are that easy with every chapter, I may be able to finish this thing. However, this WAS the only chapter she returned to me, though it was the third one she has received. Not sure why. One of the previous chapters was my intro, which is arguably the most important chapter in the diss. Anyway, I tread on. She'd like me to finish another chapter and get it to her before we meet in person in two weeks. This may be unlikely to happen, but I guess we'll see.
So....vacation. Sigh. It was nice, the boys had fun, but it was indeed exhausting.As much as I'd like to wax poetic about how great a vacation it was, at just the right time, and how we loved the sweet family time, reality pushes me to admit that it was a bit of a challenge. Even with all the mental prep for a vacation with kids, we were unprepared as to how challenging it would be. Vacation with young kids is like being at home with young kids, except without the baby-proofing or toys. Each morning the boys got up around 6:30am, and by the time we ate, walked, did arts and crafts, and swam, it would be 10am and we'd be wondering, "My god, NOW what are we going to do??" There was no sitting idly on the dock and watching the boats float by, since Benj would have nothing of that stillness. And the kids' craft classes each morning were fun for Jack, but for a 2 and a half yr-old, it only takes about 10 minutes to haphazardly paint a ceramic puppy before he's off to the next adventure. Thank god for parks. And hotel rooms with full kitchens and eating areas. If we had been forced to eat every meal out, we may have started skipping meals. Still, the photos show us having fun together and there were definite good moments. I found myself feeling quite depressed the morning we left, which proved to me that my dad is right when he says every year, "A bad day at the Lake is still better than a good day at home." Here are some of the photos...
Our first two days were spent at the cabin of a college friend of our's, right on west lake Okoboji. Four families got together in this cabin, with 6 kids under age 5. The main sleeping area was one big loft with 5 beds. You can imagine that getting children to nap/go to bed was the biggest challenge of our days :) They had a lot of fun, though.
I giggle every time I see this photo. All the kids were up in the loft, with one brave parent in the middle of them, trying to keep them in bed and quiet for naptime. At one point the rest of us heard giggling. Apparently, Caleb (Jack's bed buddy) was almost asleep, when Jack turned to him and said "I'm gassy!" and farted very loud in his face. The more they laughed, the more he let loose, until it was a gassy giggle fest. So much for naptime.
This may be my favorite photo from the whole trip-- the 4 oldest kids on the dock:
We frequented the "old time" park, complete with teeter totters, metal slides and play equipment, and an old school merry go round. I narrowly lost a game of tetherball there, too.
The three youngest: Benj, Baby Alex, and Dana
Upon leaving our friend's cabin at the end of the weekend, we checked into our hotel for four more nights of lakeside fun. This was the view from our room:
We killed time waiting for our room to be ready by heading over to Arnold's Park, just steps away from our room. It was more expensive than expected, but fun for a day of rides and sunny weather. Jack loved the trampoline:
Benj couldn't do much, but he did enjoy the carousel and these kiddie boats
Jack and Mike went paddle boating
We attended a 50s, 60s, and 70s party (yes, that's a lot of decades) at our hotel one night, and Benj and Jack danced and entertained the crowd. Jack limboed. Sort of...
We swam every day. Usually in the indoor pool since we went in the morning, but once in the outdoor pool, and only in the lake when we were at Abby's cabin. Jack LOVED swimming alone with his life jacket on. It made life a bit simpler for us, too. Both kids are fish and love, love, love the water.
This was a site for sore eyes, but unfortunately it never led to actual napping. He got to watch his Thomas movie each day to relax before naptime. The only way we could get him to nap, though (the whole week) was to pop him in the van and drive for about 10 minutes. It worked like a charm every time. But then one of us had to sit in the van while he napped, AC running. Nothing like burning fossil fuel to get your kid to rest.
My favorite part of the lakes is still the daily cruises on the Sunrunner. The kids enjoyed the crackers and cheese, I enjoyed that they were still for 45 consecutive minutes. They liked the Sunrunner cruises so much, that on our last full day there we decided to do one of the other boats. We went out on the Million Dollar Home tour, a smaller speed boat that takes fewer people out around the lake, and points out nice houses--telling you how much they are worth, how many bathrooms, etc. are in them, and who owns them. We thought this would be fun, but it was a BAD decision. Jack was the only one who loved it (speed boat). Benj hated his life jacket and screamed the whole time, and the speed boat was so bumpy I thought I might go into labor right then. It was horribly uncomfortable and left me feeling really uneasy for a good 3 hrs. afterward. Oops, I guess that was not a good choice for a woman who just entered her third trimester.
The only relaxation time Mike and I gleaned was if and when we got the kids to sleep at night, we escaped to the patio outside (baby monitor in hand) and watched the sunset. Just sitting by the lake (usually with chocolate) helped ease our minds after a long day of kiddie entertainment. We often were exhausted enough that we barely managed an hour out there, but it was worth it. So I'll end with the beautiful photos of those moments!!
7.06.2009
Benjamin's First Haircut
On the day he turned 14 months, Benj received his first haircut. I was reluctant; I love the crazy baby hair. But it was starting to get in his eyes and hang over his ears. So I caved. Between losing the baby frizz and officially weaning, I've had a bittersweet week of trying to hold onto babyhood that seems to be slipping away so quickly.
Before (surfer dude)
After (business exec)
Photos of our family vacation to come, once I find a chunk of time to remain at the computer.
Before (surfer dude)
After (business exec)
Photos of our family vacation to come, once I find a chunk of time to remain at the computer.
7.02.2009
10 years and a major TRIP
3 years from now Mike and I will celebrate our 10-yr anniversary. i'm planning a big vacation. i'm hoping we'll finally be able to leave all three kids and go away for awhile, and get back that traveling joy we've been missing for so long. even though it's a LONG time from now, i like to daydream about where we'll go. some locations in the running:
--ireland (we had planned to honeymoon there, but went on a 3-wk tour to europe instead)
--austraila/new zealand (we have friends in both places who we can visit)
--california (neither of us has been, and we'd love to go. we also have friends there)
--fiji (a friend went there for her honeymoon and i was drooling at the stories/photos)
--hawaii (everyone goes there but we've never been)
i'd like to ask for suggestions from you all to add to our list of possibilities. have you been somewhere you though was so fantastic that everyone should go? or is there a place you've always dreamed of going? please, weigh in!!!
**i made it through the post-ahead-of-time entries! yeah! we'll be home tonight, so hopefully tomorrow i'll have a real post with photos of our trip to okoboji. hey, i just realized that samantha's challenge was only through the month of june...i guess i went 2 days over. maybe that can repreive me from the days i missed when our computer was in the shop ;)
--ireland (we had planned to honeymoon there, but went on a 3-wk tour to europe instead)
--austraila/new zealand (we have friends in both places who we can visit)
--california (neither of us has been, and we'd love to go. we also have friends there)
--fiji (a friend went there for her honeymoon and i was drooling at the stories/photos)
--hawaii (everyone goes there but we've never been)
i'd like to ask for suggestions from you all to add to our list of possibilities. have you been somewhere you though was so fantastic that everyone should go? or is there a place you've always dreamed of going? please, weigh in!!!
**i made it through the post-ahead-of-time entries! yeah! we'll be home tonight, so hopefully tomorrow i'll have a real post with photos of our trip to okoboji. hey, i just realized that samantha's challenge was only through the month of june...i guess i went 2 days over. maybe that can repreive me from the days i missed when our computer was in the shop ;)
7.01.2009
guilty pleasures
i'm calling on all readers to please leave a comment to this post. i'd really love to hear about your guilty pleasures. i'm thinking that it might be really interesting to learn some little-known tidbits about you all, who i think i know :) anyone out there sneak a read of trashy romance novels on occasion? do you stay at work an hour later just to glean time to check your email or read a chapter of fiction before heading home to your families? are you absolutely obsessed with keeping on news about brittney spears? soap operas? please, share.
the only guilty pleasures i seem to come up with for myself are all food-related. food itself could be my biggest guilty pleasure. i've been known to grab a bag of chocolate chips when my sweet tooth strikes, and just sit down with it and munch away. portion control? not a chance. i also love, love, love raw onions. i will sit down with a sliced raw onion, a pile of salt, and go to town. mike HATES this. he claims my body process onions strangely, and it will stay on my breath for days. honestly, i'll have a few onion slices on a sandwich at lunch, and when he comes home in the evening, after 2 minutes of chatting, he'll say, "Did you eat onions today?"
I also own every single volume of all 9 seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond, and all 10 seasons of Friends. perhaps i should also add the guilty pleasure of paying a nanny to watch my kids so i can work on my dissertation, and then basking in the freedom by writing emails/facebook or blogging.
the only guilty pleasures i seem to come up with for myself are all food-related. food itself could be my biggest guilty pleasure. i've been known to grab a bag of chocolate chips when my sweet tooth strikes, and just sit down with it and munch away. portion control? not a chance. i also love, love, love raw onions. i will sit down with a sliced raw onion, a pile of salt, and go to town. mike HATES this. he claims my body process onions strangely, and it will stay on my breath for days. honestly, i'll have a few onion slices on a sandwich at lunch, and when he comes home in the evening, after 2 minutes of chatting, he'll say, "Did you eat onions today?"
I also own every single volume of all 9 seasons of Everybody Loves Raymond, and all 10 seasons of Friends. perhaps i should also add the guilty pleasure of paying a nanny to watch my kids so i can work on my dissertation, and then basking in the freedom by writing emails/facebook or blogging.
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