tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63685622011-04-21T19:11:01.628-05:00My Life....Or Something Like ItI'm a SAHM to a wonderful kindergartener with Spina Bifida and this is my life...or something like it.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.comBlogger2041100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-36840218909626245802008-07-22T12:12:00.002-05:002008-07-22T12:18:59.517-05:00Well, didn't make it to the gym today. Alison woke up with a hugely swollen eye, the result of a bug bite. I didn't want to take her to the drop-in babysitters looking like that before I got her checked out, so we stayed home watching tv until her appointment. Nothing much to do for her eye, other than give her Benedryl and watch it. It might still look pretty bad tomorrow, but should look Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-36621962781031521142008-07-21T14:29:00.003-05:002008-07-21T19:52:47.759-05:00Not much to say today. Didn't put up my food journal yesterday. It wasn't as bad as Saturday, but wasn't as good as today (at least so far) either. I had a great workout this morning. I managed to go more than 3 miles between my actual workout time and cool down time on the cross trainer and I did well with the weights, too.Food Journal:1 bowl of bran flakes w/milk14 oz. glass of water20 oz. Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-24017500340913360702008-07-19T10:32:00.002-05:002008-07-19T20:17:44.455-05:00Well, I stepped on the scale this morning to find that I lost 3 pounds this week. Yay me! However, today is Saturday, which is a notoriously bad eating day. Today would have been better, but we went to redeem some coupons that came in a card Alison brought home for Mother's Day. At Harry & David, I got two truffles and a chocolate covered cherry, and then we bought chocolate and yogurt Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-21585839430926174742008-07-18T13:15:00.003-05:002008-07-18T20:47:39.571-05:00So this is the conversation on the way home from the gym today:(wiggling tooth around) Mom, look at my tooth.I can't really see it from here, how is it doing this morning? Is it still in your mouth?Umm, not anymore, I just pulled it out. Oh no, I dropped it.Fortunately we were very near the high school, so I whipped into the parking lot and hopped out of the car to look for the very first lost Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-67034991040847877142008-07-17T10:38:00.005-05:002008-07-17T19:59:19.949-05:00Dedication: going ahead and working out despite showing up at the gym and finding out you can't use the showers, restrooms or drinking fountains because the place is running on generators. That also means the a/c isn't working either, so the only thing circulating the air is a few small fans that don't really do anything. I shortened my cross trainer workout by about 5 minutes, because I still Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-38155953158972878102008-07-16T15:33:00.005-05:002008-07-16T20:28:12.073-05:00I might have been hungry before bed last night, but surprisingly I wasn't hungry when I woke up this morning. I managed to evade the after lunch munchies by taking a nap. I hadn't intended to do that -- I am working on scraping all the paint off our kitchen cabinets so we can repaint them -- but suddenly I couldn't keep my eyes open. So nap it was.Today's food journal:bowl of bran flakes with Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-77087725215952556292008-07-15T13:31:00.007-05:002008-07-15T20:28:03.233-05:00My mom called this morning to tell me that she had been at the calling hours before the funeral of one of her cousins yesterday. Sandy was 52, and by all accounts was the picture of health. She ate right, liked to exercise (running, yoga, etc), didn't smoke. And yet a few days after her birthday in May, she began treatment for what they thought was pneumonia, only to find a tumor in her lung.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-80742401025782855382008-07-14T13:16:00.005-05:002008-07-15T20:28:51.039-05:00Ok, so I've got a pretty good exercise routine going. I spend 30 minutes on the cross trainer, "running" just under 3 miles. My thought is that when Alison is back in school, I'll try and get that up to a whole 3 miles. Right now, I'm trying to keep to a time limit. After the cross trainer, I stretch for a few minutes and then spend about 30 minutes +/- a few minutes using the weight machinesDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-6173018470494903862008-05-10T22:01:00.006-05:002008-05-10T22:50:42.865-05:00Tonight I had to explain hydrocephalus to my 5 year old. She had a bug earlier this week that involved one episode of vomiting, a headache and sleeping on and off for the rest of the day. Now, those three things, especially all together like that, can be symptoms of a shunt malfunction. I wasn't too worried about it because Kevin had had the same thing the week before, and I'd had it the week Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-70095260709773408842008-04-30T18:17:00.002-05:002008-04-30T19:37:00.151-05:00I've been using the cardio equipment in the Wellness Center at our Community Center for almost a year. I've decided that really like using the cross trainers. I get a good aerobic workout and it's easier on my knees than running on the treadmill. I've been attempting to lose the ten or so pounds that I gained last year, particularly during the time I took a break from regular workouts (bad Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-33095481356267735262008-03-08T20:41:00.003-05:002008-03-08T20:57:12.911-05:00Well, not much is happening. Yesterday I took Alison to meet some friends for lunch and play at Chuck E. Cheese. All in all, it was not bad. She's big enough that I felt comfortable letting her go off and do her thing....as long as she only had about 4 tokens at a time. That way she had to keep coming back and checking in with me if she wanted more. She actually at two pieces of pizza and I Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-64495488772872375792008-03-06T21:15:00.003-05:002008-03-06T21:26:51.635-05:00Not a whole lot to write about today. Thursdays are kind of busy here, though. Alison started taking a new tap class last session, which is an hour later than her previous class, so she is able to be in choir at church now. So we go to choir, inhale some dinner afterwards (Subway, unless it's Papa John's pizza night for school) and then go to dance. Then Kevin comes and picks her up and I Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-77402759055685739972008-03-05T18:54:00.002-05:002008-03-05T20:46:01.952-05:00I've only been back at this blogging thing since Monday, and already I skipped a day.Yesterday ended up being quite busy. Alison had PT in the afternoon. She actually did a really good job for a change, which Eileen and I were very happy about. From there, we raced over to a friend's house so she could have a playdate while Kevin and I went to a meeting with her teacher. She had a great time Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-18060342803830884882008-03-03T20:02:00.004-05:002008-03-03T20:18:31.208-05:00So it's been a long time since I've blogged regularly. I've decided to give it a try again, though I don't know if I'll have much worthwhile to say. Today, Alison stayed home from school so we could see if her yo-yoing fever from yesterday was really gone or if it was merely yo-yoing again. It's been down all day, so she's back to school tomorrow, which is good because she has a playdate Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-554046375271924332007-12-08T21:34:00.000-05:002007-12-08T21:58:21.550-05:00Well, now isn't this a fine kettle of fishIt's December 8, and I am supposed to be baking cookies. And that's what I was doing this morning. I have dough for two kinds of cookies in my refrigerator waiting to be baked. I have two batches of bar-pan type cookies that I baked this morning waiting to be cut. So why am I not actually baking any of the waiting cookies? Well, that would be because the oven kind of blew up just as the Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-282582973998359402007-10-19T13:54:00.000-05:002007-10-19T15:06:01.871-05:00I haven't blogged in forever, but today I'm having a really crummy day.At our church, we have a group of paid sitters that we use for childcare for various church functions. I'm in charge of scheduling these people when they are needed. We have one older woman, a grandmotherly or even great-grandmotherly type lady, who has been my go-to sitter for the last couple of years. She has been Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-19140189009648675482007-01-04T13:12:00.000-05:002007-01-04T21:05:41.650-05:00Today is my birthday.I'll even tell you which birthday it is.Today is my 35th birthday. So this year, my husband actually remembered that my birthday was coming up. Last week he commented to Alison that he needed to go to the grocery store. I kind of looked at him funny and then realized that he meant he needed to order me a birthday cake. So he asked me what kind I wanted. I told him he Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-54994520732580377682006-12-08T23:03:00.000-05:002006-12-08T23:26:29.250-05:00For one reason and another, I got messed up in my Christmas plans. I was going to have all of my baking done by the end of last week. I tried a new recipe for one type of cookies I was making and it totally didn't work. Unfortunately, I had made a double batch, so I had to throw away a lot of cookie dough. That put me behind schedule and our activities last weekend threw me off even more. Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-82062726658398007302006-12-01T22:22:00.000-05:002006-12-02T08:33:48.016-05:00Tonight, after calling to verify that it was still taking place, we bundled up and headed to Dow Gardens for their Christmas walk. I think this is an annual event, but, as with the Santa Parade, we often forget to go to or are completely unaware of these things. There are so many things going on in our town this weekend and I wish we could do them all, but alas, time and money are in short Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-67596991503343467252006-12-01T20:43:00.000-05:002006-12-01T21:01:58.770-05:00We were supposed to be getting a pretty bad winter storm today. Last night, we had sleet, ice, and snow. This morning it was more of the same. The forecast was calling for the sleet/ice to change over to all snow later in the morning. It was also calling for snow to accumulate an inch an hour, 2 inches in some places, with a total accumulation of up to 9 inches. Schools all over the place Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-89092193368717769822006-11-30T20:21:00.000-05:002006-11-30T20:26:12.123-05:00Boy, the things you learn at preschool.Yesterday I learned that bears do not poop when they hibernate. They do, however, poop a lot as soon as they wake up. That's how you know that the bears are awake....if you were looking you would find lots of bear poop. I guess it's pretty apparent that yesterday was my day to co-op in Alison's class. They were talking about bears. The good news is that Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-41506570322037538322006-11-28T09:34:00.000-05:002006-11-28T11:38:37.247-05:00The Christmas season has begun.I think I'm in pretty good shape. A third of the Christmas presents are bought, wrapped and, soon, on their way to their recipients. Another third of the Christmas presents are bought, but not wrapped or on their way yet. And the other third of the present? Well, some are bought but none are wrapped. Fortunately, they don't have to be mailed, so I'm not on as Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-72127163166555459542006-11-25T10:04:00.001-05:002006-11-25T09:53:03.791-05:00One year ago, at 10:04 AM, you were born. Four hours and 50 minutes later, you were gone. But you will never be forgotten.Happy Birthday Matthew. Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-71594348519743739212006-11-18T13:29:00.000-05:002006-11-18T14:10:47.307-05:00This morning was our town's annual Santa Parade. Now, we have lived here for 12 years but, for whatever reason, we have never gone to the Santa Parade. Alison has decided that she likes parades again --as long as she is wearing her big earmuff ear protection-- so we decided that we were going to go this year. Since it was on the parade route, we decided to play it smart and park in the Kroger/Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-26485829469004951072006-11-12T21:49:00.000-05:002006-11-18T13:28:31.252-05:00Tonight I am back at home after being gone on a girls' shopping weekend. Two of my friends from church, C -- who is also my neighbor -- and L and L's sister-in-law headed out to Birch Run early yesterday morning to hit the outlet mall there. It was Deer Widow's Weekend, so there were a lot of good deals to be had. One store was giving out coupon packets to the first 1000 people there, a coupleDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-17163965359238889832006-11-08T21:26:00.000-05:002006-11-08T21:51:13.861-05:00In other news today....I went shopping again today. I took Alison shopping yesterday to pick out a Christmas dress because we are getting pictures taken Friday. Then I took a quick tour through the ladies' department to find something for myself. Alison had swimming lessons, so we were running short on time, and I was only able to find a top for me....found some pants that I liked, but had Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1163002101826638472006-11-08T10:57:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.898-05:00Yesterday was election day, and so I took myself and my four year old down to our precinct's poll location and voted. The plan had been for me to plop her in her stroller and walk there, since it is conveniently located at the end of our block, and then she would have been confined and I wouldn't have had to worry about her wandering around (she will still sit nicely in a stroller, believe it orDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1161821460273318352006-10-25T19:01:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.820-05:00How does a 4 year old putt-putt golf?If you're my 4 year old, it goes something like this: put the ball down where mommy says, hold the putter so the head is upside down and then take a whack at the ball. The ball will then go about 2 feet down the green. Grab the ball, walk up to the cup and put the ball down next to it. Try to hit the ball into the cup. If it makes it, GREAT! If not, try Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1161376689286329862006-10-20T14:52:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.743-05:00In my opinion, when the phone rings before 9:00 in the morning, it's not going to be good news. That definitely proved to be the case when the phone rang at my house at 7:30 this morning. Before I picked up the phone, I thought that maybe it was just my neighbor calling to let me know that she was on her way over to pick up the cookie dough that she'd sold for us at her office, but when I Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1161216306148155582006-10-18T18:32:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.665-05:00Thank goodness today is Wednesday. That means it will soon be Saturday. And although Saturday is a day that we tend to catch up on things around the house, at least I don't have to worry about getting my child up and out the door for whatever activity we have for the day. And Saturday is the day that I can sleep in!Today was a school day. And it was a crazy school day. It was my co-op day, Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1160674975138015332006-10-12T12:34:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.579-05:00As of today, I have officially lost all my baby weight from last year. I've been within 5 pounds of it since April and kept gaining an losing the same 3 pounds all summer, but I finally got myself in gear and got to work and hit my goal. Now that I've done that, it's on to the next, and final goal....only 11 more pounds to go.And in other news, it's October 12, and it's snowing to beat the bandDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1160437167400857692006-10-09T18:05:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.499-05:00Right now, my daughter is out in the middle of the backyard, sitting on a chair that is sitting in a wheelbarrow (daddy is standing right next to her), with a bucket containing a worm at her feet and with a stick in her hand. She's fishing. The wheelbarrow is her boat. She also has a little plastic shovel and a little plastic rake that are her oars. This morning, we made cookies. Again, theyDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1160162230419826272006-10-06T13:36:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.371-05:00I had promised myself that I would try to blog more often, and yet time has gotten away from me again. It's been an adjustment to get used to the new school schedule, but we're getting there. Alison loves school. She get so excited when it's a school day. And she gets excited when it's swimming lesson day. And she gets excited when it's PT and dance class day. I guess you could say she's Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1158435499499141402006-09-16T13:47:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.276-05:00It was a first! Alison sat through an entire fireworks display, only cried a couple of times and actually enjoyed large parts of it!! Kevin's company picnic and awards ceremony was last night. It was fun. They had a moon walk and a huge bouncy slide set up for the kids, and both were a big hit. Clowns were on hand to paint faces and make balloon animals. Alison couldn't have the balloons, Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1158353245840967402006-09-15T14:45:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.173-05:00Well, we finished the first full week of our new fall schedule. I think we survived! It's been a little strange for me, in some ways. In others, it's the same old stuff. I'm used to carting Alison off to swimming lessons, dance class and PT. I'm not used to dropping her off at preschool and coming home to a (blissfully?) quiet house for almost 2 hours. But I'm getting used to it fast!! Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1156879010603239532006-08-29T13:40:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:57.092-05:00I ended up on the bad mommy couch this morning. I made a promise and I couldn't keep it, and I hate to do that.Yesterday Alison wanted to have some birthday cake. Since it was pretty close to dinner time, I told her she couldn't have it right then, but she could have a piece for dessert. After dinner, she said she wanted a special dessert and I told Kevin that she was allowed to have a piece Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1153778540147521992006-07-24T16:51:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.996-05:00I've got a bunch of half finished blog entries just waiting to be finished and posted which I hope to do sometime before the summer is over -- I get started then get interrupted and don't get back to finishing them -- but I wanted to get this written down right away. My daughter cannot keep a secret!!! Yesterday was Kevin's birthday. Saturday we took him shopping so he could use up a gift card Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1146271376892635542006-04-28T19:31:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.850-05:00A couple of months ago, while at Home Depot, I saw some inexpensive seed kits. They came in an aluminum bucket and had the dirt, the seeds, and a couple of small digging tools. We had the choice of sunflowers or tomatoes, and we got one of each. I thought it would be a fun "project" for Alison and I. I put them into the coat closet until it was warm enough to be able to sit the buckets out onDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1146249780044816022006-04-28T13:32:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.766-05:00A couple of days ago, Tuesday I think it was, I strapped Alison into her stroller and off we went for a walk. We did our old 2 mile circuit, and I think she talked the entire time. She might have stopped for a minute here and there, but I really think she talked almost nonstop for 40 minutes. Anyway, she spent much of the time pointing out various flowers. We saw crocuses, daffodils, tulips, Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1146146850053475062006-04-27T08:52:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.690-05:00Took Alison to the ped to get her MMR vaccine this morning. We did not get it at the recommended age, opting to wait until we absolutely had to -- meaning, for school, and I was planning to have her get it when I took her in for her physical for preschool. Well, we have mumps in our area (though not in our city), so I figured it would probably be a good idea to go ahead and get it done now Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1145822983239609692006-04-23T13:58:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.609-05:00It's been a long time since I've acutally published something in this blog. I have started writing some things and saved them as drafts, but never got back to finish them up and publish.Life has been kind of busy lately, I guess. My 3 year old has a very packed schedule these days....some might argue it's too packed for a 3 year old...though in reality, she hasn't picked up any new activities.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1138731810365517042006-01-31T13:15:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.366-05:00Well, something has apparently jump started my metabolism or something, because I have lost 5 pounds since my last entry, and most of it came without any exercising. The family cold finally caught up with me and I haven't been to the track since last Sunday -- 9 days and counting. If I could just lose either my cough or my constantly running nose (it's so annoying because there's nothing to Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1137719917591844512006-01-19T19:55:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.294-05:00I gained 35 pounds when I was pregnant. Under ordinary circumstances, that wouldn't seem like such a bad amount, a little above average maybe, but not too bad. But when none of the weight was amniotic fluid (because there was none) and the baby only weighed 3 1/2 pounds, it's not a good amount. I was down 5 pounds by the time I got home from the hospital, and another 3 pounds by the end of theDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1137208764003692752006-01-13T21:05:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.223-05:00Today has been a really crappy day. You'd think it was Friday the 13th or something. @@I was greeted this morning with an e-mail from my uncle announcing the birth of my cousin's son. I knew this was coming...his wife and I were originally due only a few days apart....and I have been dreading it. I was praying that they would have a girl....it would have been the only thing that would make this Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1136495301374473122006-01-02T15:55:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:56.085-05:00Well, we survived Christmas. Things didn't get off to a great start, so I wasn't to sure we would.We had planned to leave for my parents shortly after Kevin got home from work on the 22nd, which would have been between 3 and 3:30. I spent the morning dealing with Alison and trying to get her stuff rounded up and ready to pack. Then I spent the afternoon getting suitcases packed and ready to go Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1135030231985053482005-12-19T16:54:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.996-05:00The big day has come and gone. Alison's dance recital and the church Christmas pageant were yesterday.Alison did great in the recital. She knew exactly where to be and when to be there, and she would wait for the rest of her class to catch up so they were all together. At the end, the other four girls ran off the stage and Alison was still standing there as the curtain closed. She was Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1134848562251918462005-12-17T14:19:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.918-05:00My Christmas shopping is done....I think. Kevin will kill me if I buy one more thing for Alison. Don't let me loose in the toy store alone. I went there for two specific things, one from us and one from grandma, and came out with about 5 extra things. Most were little things for her stocking, but I did by one more "big" gift. Guess that will be from Santa. :) And I am also not to be let loose in Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1134512662056599152005-12-13T17:23:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.850-05:00We got the results of Matthew's karyotype today. Everything was normal....46xy. We had already talked with the doctor, while I was still in the hospital, about the risk of recurrence if this was the result we got and he said that between the recurrence risk of this and SB, he'd still say we had at least a 90% chance of having a normal pregnancy. That being said, he's also going to talk to doctorsDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1134512165147730942005-12-13T17:02:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.777-05:00Today was a first, I think. Alison, who I'm beginning to believe prides herself on not doing what anyone asks her to do, actually behaved at her dance class, well until just at the very end anyway. And her teacher was very impressed that she knew the whole routine for the number they are doing in the recital on Sunday. She has been working so hard on it here at home, so I'm glad that she was Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1134093501603265732005-12-08T20:43:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.700-05:00We've been getting sympathy cards just about every day since last Monday. They are mostly from friends, people at our church, and people at my parents' church. We got one from my OB/GYN's office, signed by most of the staff, which surprised me. And we also got one from our dentist. We recently found out that he goes to our church, but it still surprised me.The funeral director called yesterday toDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1133971612677873942005-12-07T10:32:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.619-05:00Christmas is fast approaching and we're slowly getting ready for it. Alison is so excited. Her dance class is part of the Christmas recital, so she's working hard learning the dance routine, and she's also learning the song her class will sing in the church Christmas pageant. Yesterday Kevin put the Christmas tree up while she was taking her nap. She jumped and danced around when she saw it, Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1133740843492753312005-12-04T18:13:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.536-05:00I went to church this morning. I'm not sure if it was a such a good idea or not. They had baptisms today and that was hard, even though the youngest child was our neighbors' 8 month old. The awkwardness I hoped to avoid by being selective in who I told about what was going on before Matthew was born is there in full force now. I know we were avoided by several people this morning. Others came Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1133564197268091182005-12-02T17:55:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.455-05:00I can't believe it's been a whole week already. In some ways it seems like so long ago. In others it seems like the blink of an eye. Physically, I'm doing pretty well. I got my staples taken out on Wednesday. I take a few Motrin at night before I go to bed, just in case, but I haven't really needed anything for pain, at least not on a regular basis, for a couple of days. I'll be able quit the Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1133564086183719822005-11-29T17:47:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.360-05:00These arrived this afternoon.Thank you so much ladies. They are beautiful and very much appreciated.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1133488348481109582005-11-28T20:51:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:55.279-05:00Today we went to meet with the funeral director. I'm glad that I sat in on the memorial preparations for my grandfather two years ago. It kind of prepared me for what we had to do this morning. We signed the paperwork to have Matthew creamated. We provided the necessary information to put his obituary in the paper (it will be in Wednesday's paper). We picked out a small "urn." It will be a small Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1133408040168339402005-11-27T21:51:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.849-05:00I'm home from the hospital.Wednesday night, just before I went to bed, I started having contractions. They were kind of regular, occurring about every half hour, but they weren't very strong and the never got any closer together. This went on all night, which meant very little sleep for me, not that I would have gotten a lot anyway since Alison was in a sleeping bag right next to my bed. The Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1131659535829330122005-11-10T16:21:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.780-05:00I'm mad. I hope that by writing about it I will get it out of my system and just be able to let it go and move on. Anyone that's been reading along knows that we have been going through one of the most awful things that a family can go through....the loss of a child. That's not what I'm mad about....well, I'm mad about it, but that's not what this entry is about. What I'm really mad about Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1131324691860368672005-11-06T19:31:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.711-05:00Things That Go Bump in the NightThursday night -- well, actually Friday morning -- I happened to wake up just as something in one of the other rooms went THUD. And then I was pretty sure I also heard a cry. I wasn't totally sure, because Kevin had the monitor with him (since I've been pregnant, Kevin has been sleeping in the guest room -- we sleep better that way....he doesn't wake up when I toss and turn, I don't wake up Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1130807866128627272005-10-31T19:51:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.642-05:00I am beat!! I just got back from taking my little witch trick-or-treating. Perhaps Kevin will have to do the honors next year. No, really, it wasn't that bad. We actually went out twice. The first time we left we made it to two houses. We were headed back down the driveway after the second house when I got hit with the old "I have to go potty." Great. @@ We had just made her go to the bathroom Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1130516466292271472005-10-28T10:41:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.573-05:00Today was Halloween at Kevin's plant. The employees are encouraged to dress up and decorate and the kids are encouraged to come and trick or treat. So last night I made the two little alterations that Alison's costume needed and this morning she was ready to go.I think it probably goes without saying that Alison was very excited this morning. She even went in to go to the bathroom before we left Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1130260803001399312005-10-25T12:06:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.506-05:00I had my regular doctor's appointment last week and it was with the one doctor I haven't seen since this whole mess started, so the nursing staff wasn't familiar with our case. I guess at 30 weeks, it's normal for them to ask if you've thought about whether you're going to breast or bottle feed, which is exactly what the nurse did. It kind of caught me off guard and I took a moment to answer Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1129855567181062962005-10-20T18:57:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.433-05:00So I've been thinking a little about an e-mail conversation I had not too long ago about the use of technology in managing pregnancy these days. Is it a good thing or a bad thing? Well, were it not for all the advances in infertility treatments, I would not be able to get pregnant at all. Given the way things have turned out, perhaps that might not have been a bad thing. Also, were it not for Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1129231009500664372005-10-13T13:14:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.362-05:00So yesterday was our appointment at U of M. At 29 weeks we have a baby that is measuring correctly except for one place. It's chest is only measuring 25 weeks. The heart is still taking up a large portion of the chest cavity, but there is some question as to whether that's because the heart is really that big or because the chest is so compressed. There is no fluid around the baby. We were Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1128995848107575662005-10-10T20:22:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.260-05:00When told that my daughter has spina bifida, after we got through the initial shock and devastation and went through with fetal surgery that we were told was unlikely to change her prognosis as far as her ability to walk, a thought occured to me. And that thought was that if she wasn't going to be able to walk, then once she got to big for us to carry all the time, she'd be eligible for a Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1128904460207467832005-10-09T18:52:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.173-05:00So here's a little bit about what's been going on in my life.I had my weekly doctor's appointment last Tuesday. It was more of the same. I was measuring 28 weeks one day before I would be 28 weeks, so baby has "caught up" again, and his/her heartrate was up into the 150's again. That was a bit of a surprise. The heartrate has been hanging out in the upper 130's to mid 140's for the last 7 or 8 Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1128391025048432012005-10-03T19:32:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:51.108-05:00Anyone who has ever spent a short period of time with my daughter will tell you that she talks almost constantly. And she loves when she gets the chance to talk on the phone. However, we've noticed that whenever she's talking to my mom and my mom asks if she's been a good girl, she gets real quiet, real fast. She doesn't want to talk about whether she's been a good girl. So imagine how funny Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1128093246483199762005-09-30T09:57:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.963-05:00I had a big long entry written last night, but blogger ate it when I attempted to publish it. :( So I guess I'll try and reconstruct it.I am now just over 27 weeks pregnant. We had our weekly appointment yesterday. I also had an ultrasound. It was kind of a good news/bad news thing. The good news is that the baby is still growing. I was able to read the head measurement and it was about 26 1/2 Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1127843766686934662005-09-27T12:09:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.884-05:00What kind of idiot tells a potty training/ed child, who has had an accident in their underwear, that it's ok to do that? That would be my mother-in-law.Alison is doing a great job with the potty, but we still have accidents. Most of the time it's just a wet accident, but last night, for some reason, she pooped in her pants and didn't say a word about it. She sat in it long enough to end up Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1127687476832637462005-09-25T17:10:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.810-05:00We have instituted the naughty spot at our house. Yes, I will freely admit to having become hooked on Supernanny. Mostly, it reassures me that things at our house are not nearly as bad as I might sometimes think they are. So anyway, we have a naughty spot now. It all happened Friday evening at supper time. Alison and I came into the house and were on our way to the bathroom to wash up for Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1127258959014155122005-09-20T18:18:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.734-05:00I did a rather dumb thing today. I finished reading Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas (by James Patterson) today. It was a pretty good book, and a fast read....289 pages of fairly large type, for a paperback....I think it took me about 3 hours, total. Although I had some idea of what the book was about, I really wasn't prepared for the last diary entry. I have become teary over books before, butDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1127080945737502782005-09-18T16:19:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.646-05:00Alison got a helium balloon at the grocery store today. We hadn't planned to buy one but she left the store with one anyway. At Kevin's company picnic they were giving the kids helium balloons, but Alison couldn't have one. They were latex balloons and we don't let her have stuff with latex. So Kevin told her he would buy her a balloon at the store. She didn't really say anything about it Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1126896527844309692005-09-16T13:21:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.559-05:00Well, 25 weeks down. How many more to go? Who knows. It should be 12 more, but realistically, that's not going to happen. I had my weekly check-up yesterday, and it was more of the same. Pele is still living up to his/her nickname. S/he is apparently still growing....after 2 weeks measuring at 23, yesterday was 24 1/2. Not quite caught up, but still showing growth. His/her heart rate Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1126031426198814112005-09-06T13:15:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.475-05:00For anyone who thinks cell phones are not a distraction when you are driving, I've got news for you.....they are!Last night we came home from spending the weekend with my parents. I decided to take over driving after we stopped to pick up something for dinner, mostly because I just wanted to get home and I drive faster, or at least at a more consistent speed, than Kevin. I also figured that he Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1125275876110234952005-08-28T18:54:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.386-05:00It's been a long time since I've written anything. And a lot has been going on.We had our appointment with Pediatric Cardiology at U of M, and they basically confirmed what we expected. They baby is not going to survive. What they did tell us was that this was not originally a heart problem. The heart formed properly. But the right ventricle, which is supposed to be doing all the work in Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1122750816233658722005-07-30T13:50:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.298-05:00Yesterday, I was thinking back to when I went through fetal surgery with Alison. Because of our choice to do that, we took a pregnancy where we knew the outcome would result in a live baby and made it into one where anything could happen....she could have died during the surgery, she could have been born extremely prematurely and died, she could have been really premature and had a lot of Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1122593730318688192005-07-28T17:57:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.213-05:00I can't even begin to describe how horrible the last two days have been. Yesterday we went for our level II u/s. I was slightly nervous, as this is how Alison's SB was diagnosed. We looked at the head and it was perfectly normal. The head was not lemon shaped, the cerebellum was not banana shaped, and there was no evidence of hydrocephalus. We breathed a sigh of relief. Then the doc came in to doDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1122241153241801672005-07-24T15:58:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.133-05:00At 5:18 this morning I was doing what normal people do at that hour. I was sleeping, soundly, oblivious to the thunderstorms rolling toward us. At 5:19 I was yanked from that sound sleep by an enormous clap of thunder, the kind that shakes the house. I layed there for a minute, listening for the inevitable wail that would come from the bedroom across the hall. For a few seconds, I thought I Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1122082028310220222005-07-22T19:37:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:50.056-05:00Tomorrow is Kevin's birthday. I have been trying, in vain it seems, to "secretly" get stuff ready for him. You see, my helper is not quite three years old, and she doesn't quite grasp the concept of surprise and secret. This morning, after art class, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for Kevin's cake, a Mississippi Mud Pie, that we didn't have. I kept telling her, Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1119578650448740412005-06-23T20:29:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.980-05:00Change is in the air for Alison these days. A couple of weeks ago, we took the rail off of her crib and converted it to a toddler bed. I was a little nervous because I liked the fact that, in the crib, she was contained. I was afraid that she wouldn't stay in bed and that she wouldn't be the good sleeper that she has (almost) always been. It appears that I worried for nothing. She's done Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1118273033439950872005-06-08T18:01:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.896-05:00Today I had my first official OB appointment. It was just supposed to be the "in take" appointment where we meet with the OB coordinator and go over medical history and all that jazz, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they were going to squeeze me in for and ultrasound as well. This practice is pretty busy, so it was kind of difficult to get this appt and my physical scheduled andDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1117143968502617072005-05-26T16:27:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.817-05:00Well, our first attempt at naked potty training isn't going so well. It's partly my fault....she was walking around putzing like crazy and I should have made her go sit on the potty. Instead, she ran around until it was too late and then pooped her way down the hall (which -- fortunately or unfortunately, I'm not sure which -- is carpeted). I guess she was trying to make it to the bathroom. Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1117056922820936272005-05-25T16:33:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.748-05:00Here's Alison making our official announcementDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1116344592563989312005-05-17T10:28:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.660-05:00My daughter is so sweet. Yesterday, I was sick as a dog.....not morning sickness but some gastrointestinal bug. Kevin took the day off to take care of Alison since the only thing that I could get out of bed for was a run to the bathroom. He kept her away from our bedroom most of the day, because we didn't want to risk her getting sick, too, but he did let her come and stand in the doorway a Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1115674442229933442005-05-09T16:05:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.590-05:00So what's been going on in my life this last week?Well, the three of us headed down to Cincinnati to get together with my two best friends from college and their husbands. Kevin and Alison had a good time. I, on the other hand, spent most of the weekend about thisclose to praying to the porcelain goddess. Whether it was something I ate or whether it was pregnancy related, I don't know, but I'mDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1115080440268159462005-05-02T18:50:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.496-05:00Just wanted to give a little bit of an update. We had our first ultrasound today. Everything looks good so far....we confirmed that we are having a singleton, which I suspected based on what my hcg levels were doing, that it is in the right place, and there is a nice yolk sac. :) Since I am not quite 6 weeks yet, it was too early for a heartbeat, but if all continues to go well, it should be Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1114199329919126362005-04-22T14:44:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.425-05:00I've been keeping this in a word program for the last few weeks, but now it's time to post it.April 7There are only a few people who know what we’ve been going through for the past couple of weeks....my parents, because they’re helping pay for it, and one of my friends, because I had to explain why we couldn’t get together for a weekend that we were planning to do, our next door neighbors, Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1113529465523066342005-04-14T20:13:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.288-05:00Aarrrrrgggg!!We've been making a little potty training progress. (Yes, we're back to potty training entries.....sorry). Alison has been wearing underwear again. Yesterday she was dry the whole evening and today she was dry the whole day (except for nap, when she wore a diaper). Unfortunately, she pooped in her underwear once last night and twice today. And now I'm not quite sure what to do.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1113095945333728832005-04-09T20:14:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:49.018-05:00So were riding in the car tonight, on our way to church for a game night with our fellowship group, and we passed the grocery store. Alison says, "there's an A." Ok, there's an "A." So I ask her if she can spell her name -- we'd been kind of working on that a little while ago, not seriously, just for the heck of it. She says "A-L-S-O, what's that spell?" And I said, "well, that spells also.Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1113053280305849352005-04-09T08:12:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.945-05:00Poor Alison.Thursday after PT, we went to the mall to bum around for a while. No big deal. We had fun. We were heading back from Penney's towards the little motorized rides, because I had promised she could ride a couple, when I realized it had been a while since we'd been to the bathroom and it would probably be a good idea to at least try. So we stopped. We used the handicapped stall (Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1112293804175993932005-03-31T13:27:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.878-05:00I may have been mean mom last night when I kept taking Alison inside because she wouldn’t ride her tricycle, but I think I redeemed myself this morning. Yesterday, it got real cloudy and looked like it might rain while we were having lunch and I told Alison that if it did rain I would let her wear her “Suzy Season” coat and take her out to splash in the puddles after her nap. Well, it didn’t Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1112292021624698442005-03-30T23:59:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.796-05:00Boy, we had a pretty good morning, a half way decent afternoon, but we really had a crappy evening around here today. The weather was wonderful.....sunny and low 60s, so Alison and I went for a walk. That was nice. Since the snow is mostly melted now, I noticed quite a bit of dog poop in the backyard that needed to be picked up. That was Kevin’s job after supper. I knew that Alison was Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1112211662435464492005-03-30T14:14:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.712-05:00We tried something new at our house today. Well, it was new for us, anyway. I've been meaning to do it for a while, but today I finally pulled out the paints and Alison did some finger painting. She didn't paint for very long, but I think she enjoyed it. She's such a prissy little girl when it comes to having messy stuff on her hands, but she didn't even hesitate to stick her fingers into theDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1112060795799637832005-03-28T20:31:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.630-05:00At the risk of this seeming like it's becoming Alison's potty training page, I'm once again going to write about our progress. I'm sure the few readers I have are really going to get tired of entries about potty training, but what can I say? She's our first child, and she's a child that is not supposed to be able to do this on her own. When she was born we were still envisioning a complicated Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1111696629561144552005-03-24T14:53:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.557-05:00It's got to be some sort of progress, right?Alison has been doing pretty well at staying dry in her diapers. She's had some accidents here and there, but overall, I think she's doing pretty well. I finally found some training pants small enough to fit her, and decided to give them a try Monday since we were going to be home all night and if there were any accidents it wouldn't be a big deal. Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1111595975710741082005-03-23T11:34:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.477-05:00Here's my funny for the day.Alison is potty training and when she actually does something on the potty, we clap and cheer for her. This morning, I had an appointment and had to use the bathroom before hand. So Alison and I were in there together, she sitting in her stroller and me taking care of business. Just as I finished, Alison starts clapping and cheering saying "you went tinkle on the Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1111545066548546272005-03-22T20:35:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.404-05:00I'm working on a project I started over a year ago. I "stole" (my mom knows I have them, and so does my uncle) all the slides that my dad had from my grandparents with the intention of scanning them and putting them on DVD and giving them to my dad as a gift -- Father's Day, his birthday, Christmas, whichever was closest when I got them done. A lot of the slides are of run-of-the-mill stuff...Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1111245223417192742005-03-19T09:55:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.336-05:00I started this yesterday, but didn't get it finished until this afternoon.Wow, time sure does fly. Two years ago, at this time, I was in my fourth hour of sitting in the recovery room with Alison after her surgery to place a VP shunt. I was exhausted, having been up since 3 in the morning, but to wired to rest. That was a scary time for us. We had been really hoping that Alison wouldn’t need the Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1111203535041747902005-03-18T22:35:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.268-05:00I like to read, and I read a lot. But I wouldn’t exactly say that I am well read (well-read?). Mysteries are my favorites to read and I’ve pretty much stuck with that genre. I have stepped outside the it to read the Harry Potter books, though. :) A discussion of books on a message board I post on spurred me to try and broaden my literary horizons. On one of my trips to the library with Alison (Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1110998712906850902005-03-16T13:29:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.186-05:00I'd like to thank my daughter for giving me about a hundred more gray hairs today and making me sound like an idiot to our ped's nurse. Alison threw a massive temper tantrum this morning, and got so worked up and out of control that she was actually sweating! It didn't last more than a few minutes (less than 5, actually), but when I finally got her calmed down, she was lethargic and rather out Debbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6368562.post-1110833343692600812005-03-14T15:34:00.000-05:002006-11-08T20:06:48.102-05:00UGH!!!! Sickness has invaded my house again!! It seems to be the same thing Alison had at the beginning of February. She's been stuffy and coughing, and today she puked up the lunch it took us forever to cajole her into eating in the first place. :( She doesn't seem to have a fever this time, but she's still alternating between perky (she was fine at PT this morning) and miserable. HopefullyDebbiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15864175647132608955noreply@blogger.com0