Shameless Brag

My boys rock.

Ha!!  Doesn't every parent say that?

But I have proof!!!

Why RR rocks -

• When I asked RR where he lived; he said to me: In a dark timeless dimension.
• His new favorite ice cream is Vienna Mocha Chunk.
• He can't say Vienna; he says Vi-vi-vi-eee-na
• When stating his e-mail address, instead of saying "at gmail.com" he says "at special a (meaning the @) gmail.com)  
• He repeatedly tries to eat hot peppers, because he is some how convinced he MUST like them

Why TT rocks -

• He appreciates and understands how delicious blue cheese salad dressing is.
• He thinks the funniest thing in the world is putting something on your head and then pretending to sneeze (and hence whatever is on your head falls off).
• Sometimes, just sometimes, he warns you "I cry" before letting out a big old cry, sniffle and sob.
• He likes coffee (don't worry we only give him a few sips of decaf every now and then)

What?

One of the first blogs I ever wrote was called "Never Ending Questions".  I think I posted a total of four entries to it, and it dealt with dealing with RR and his being twice exceptional (gifted with Asperger's).

Tonight he posed such a question to me I actually considered resurrecting that blog.  

As I was tucking him in tonight he asked me what the difference was between carbon-monoxide and carbon dioxide.  I explained the molecular make-up and we began discussing where each one is found in the world around us and how they are different.  His conclusion was that neither was very good for humans since one can kill you quickly and the other lends a hand to global warming.  But if he had to live with "just one" he would pick the carbon dioxide since it won't kill him as fast.  

Where does he get this stuff from?

Silent Saturday: Chopsticks

Accrediated

As of May 9, 2013 I am an accredited Breastfeeding Counselor with Breastfeeding USA.

This has been a little more than a year in the making.  On May 15 of 2012 I was accepted into their comprehensive training class.  It has been a long year of reading and studying and taking exams (thankfully all on-line)... sometimes I didn't think I would ever finish and other times I was waiting to proceed.  I was one of the first candidates in the course, and the course was being developed as we went through it.

Now I am onto setting up my local chapter and getting ready to host meetings.  I will also be listed on their website as the contact person in my state and will get people calling and e-mailing looking for either on-line/phone or in person assistance.  I am eager to help others in their breastfeeding journey and to promote the ideas of evidence based breastfeeding support and connecting with other moms.

2013 is going to be a very exciting year.

Coming December 2013

Coming to our house in December (or maybe November) 2013 - a new baby!!

Husband and I are expecting baby number 3 on December 11.

And to answer all of the people that have asked on Facebook - yes, I am hoping for a girl.  And so is Husband and RR even said he was praying for a sister.  Church this morning, which featured a First Communion (on Mother's Day none the less) confirmed my desire for a little girl.  Seeing all of those sweeties in their little white dresses and veils, oh so cute. But as long as baby is healthy I will be happy.  I have a feeling it is going to be a boy; and then I can have "my three sons" as someone else pointed out.

Husband and I have known we were expecting for a long while, ever since we came home from our trip to Vermont; but we had wanted to keep it a secret until we knew a due date - breastfeeding can make for irregular cycles - very irregular in my case.  The ultrasound showed we were further along than we thought and after a few days we shared the news with our moms.  My mom was super excited and so eager to share the news we told her to go ahead (despite typically waiting till after the first trimester to tell)... and then after that we let the world know.

I still need to tell work about the new baby, and plan to this week; as this time around there is no holding back the belly.

Aside from my belly coming in sooner than before this time I am experiencing something I never have before - morning sickness.  Ugh, it is terrible and I feel for those who suffer from it.  There are few things worse than pumping gas and dry heaving at the same time.

Oh and the food cravings... nothing tastes right until I have had what I am craving.  And then once the craving is gone that is it.  So far I have NEEDED - cheddar cheese sticks, Go Berry Frozen Yogurt with strawberries, Panera - specifically black bean soup and Greek salad, tortillas and GOOD salsa, California rolls and strawberry ice cream/topping sundaes.

No need to wonder why I am getting so big so fast this time, right?

Here's to a happy and healthy and easy next 7+ months!!

This Morning

This morning TT woke up very determined.  I lifted him out of his crib and we went and sat on the rocking chair to nurse, just as we have done for years now.  As soon as we sat down he started asking for his "truck", so I put him down, turned on the light and told him to go get it.

He immediatly went over to the door and started pulling on the safety cover yelling "stuck" (which in TT speak sounds a lot like truck).  Clearly the truck he wanted wasn't in his bedroom.  I tried to distract him and coax him back over to nurse by opening the blinds and showing him the trees.  The trees have been his new thing lately, he needs to look at the trees outside while we nurse.  But that was a no go.

So I opened his bedroom door and told him "Ok, go get your truck."  He stopped and looked at me.  He gave me the "are you crazy" stare and demanded, "sack".  Ah yes, his sleep-sack.  He will not leave his bedroom wearing it.  So I took off the sleep sack and he stood at the top of the stairs staring at me like "well, aren't you going to carry me down, I certainly can't float down".  So down we went.  He raced around the house looking for it, calling out for it it tears "truck, truck".  But it was no where to be found.

I guessed, incorrectly, that it was left in my car yesterday... so I donned a pair of black dress shows along with my green and white polka dotted jamma-pants and pink t-shirt and went out looking for the car... praying no one saw me.  TT followed me to the porch, tears streaming down his face.  No truck.

It was time for the big guns and I woke up Husband.  "Did you look outside?" he asked... of course I did grumbling as I went back downstairs to a crying toddler.... then it hit me, oh that outside.  Outside on the porch where TT had been playing yesterday afternoon.  And sure enough that is where it was.  The truck was found an in the boys hands just as Husband made his way downstairs.  All the while the Big Boy is upstairs yelling "Why is TT down stairs already?"  What a morning.... and then we nursed, on the chair in the living room while he drove the truck up and down my chest.

Waffles and Ice Cream

When I was growing up and my father went out of town on business my mom would make "fun dinners".  One of my favorite was waffles and ice cream.  She would send one of us to the corner store to pick up a half gallon of our favorite ice cream while she made the waffles.  Yum!!

This is a tradition that I am happy to pass down to my boys; except in my house we never run out of ice cream so there is no running to the store to get it.  So when Husband had a dinner time appointment this week the boys and I whipped up some waffles and got down to business.

I have no idea how Teddy's shirt got so wet.

They both helped cook.  

Yum!!

Double YUM!!

While I was making he Waffles TT took it upon himself to get the syrup out of the pantry.  Honestly I never thought of putting syrup  real or otherwise; on waffles and ice cream before... but it worked for them.  Me, I stuck with just the ice cream.  Both boys had three waffles and two spoons of ice cream.

And yes, we went to the park after this to run off all that sugar.  

The Heat

What do you remember most about your wedding day?  The one think that pops in your mind when you think back to that day.

For me, it's the heat.
Followed by the humidity.

Sure I was nervous and excited.

I remember walking down the isle.
I remember getting ready with my girlfriends.
I certainly remember RR loosing our wedding rings in the garden right before the ceremony.
I remember our first kiss and our first dace.
I remember the terrible poison ivy my brother had on his hands.
I can recall bits and pieces of the toasts and what we ate.

But I have not forgotten the weather.

We were married in May, in New England.  Which means the weather is a total crap soot.  Some years the temperatures barely get out of the 70s; but then there are years like 1986 when my youngest brother turned one and we all played outside in the kiddie swimming pool.  The little hard-sided one with the slide built into it.  That year, 1986; the highest May temp was 94F.  The year we were married the high temp was 98, the second highest on record.  Combine those temps with the high humidity and I am sure you can imagine how pleasant it was.

Husband and I originally wanted to get married outside, in the park; but decided instead to get married in a small, non-air-conditioned; chapel at the park.

The AC in our limo was broken on the way to the ceremony.  The guests were melting inside the little chapel; and Husband and I had decided to ride to the reception in my uncle's classic car... which as a classic also had no AC.

I remember everyone wanting to rush through the pictures because it was so hot and I remember all of the flowers wilting in the sun.

It was HOT that day and that's what I remember the most.

What do you remember the most about your wedding?

RR and my niece during pictures.  He was warm, and I think she did actually melt that day.