Worry Over

I took bubbies to the allergist and recieved peace of mind. Ethan is not allergic to cow's milk, goat's milk or egg! Yay! All of his symptoms indicate he has a milk and soy protein intolerance that should resolve itself by the time he is 12 - 18 months old.

Dr. Scott B. was recommended to us by Beth. I am so happy with her rec because I really liked him and felt like Ethan received very good care. The doc was very friendly and put things into layman's terms for me. I always ask for doctors to dumb down things for me - I need to be sure I understand them and sometimes medical terms fly around and go through one ear and out the other. He explained that an intolerance is different than an allergy. But, an intolerance can have similar symptoms as an allergy, such as: upset tummy, stuffy nose, diarreah, puking and irritability. What allergies have that intolerances do not have is: hives, rashes, blockage of the airways and anaphylactic shock. Kinda scary!

I was also told that Ethan can be introduced to foods just like any other baby. He said that if a child is going to have a reaction, he is going to have a reaction whether it is a first or fifth feeding. His system should be able to digest everything else, he just can't have any type of dairy or soy protein that will put his white blood cells into attack mode. An intolerance occurs because your body attacks the food like it is a sickness. So, Ethan's digestive system sees milk and soy protein as an invader that it must annihilated. This is what causes inflammation of the bowels, upset tummy, bloody stool and puking. Basically, when he has dairy or soy his body reacts like it has food poisoning...in layman's terms. He also said, which is quite interesting, that waiting on certain foods doesn't mean your child won't develop an allergy. Peanuts, for example, could effect a child at any point - even if you have been feeding them peanut butter or peanuts since they were one (or two, which I waited for). What keeps the allergy at bay is HOW much peanut is in their diet. He recommended a child eat some form of peanuts five days a week. That is the best way to keep a child from developing a serious nut allergy.

What can I do? The best thing I can do is breastfeed him as long as I can with the removal of dairy and soy from my diet. When he turns 12 months old I can try adding a little creamer to my coffee (assuming he hasn't weened himself - I am self weening him just like I did P) and see what happens. Once we determine he is okay with what is coming through the breastmilk we can try a little milk in his cereal, a spoonful of yogurt, etc, etc. The doc said take it slow and see what happens. Whew! What a load off my mind. I was so ready to hear the worst...because I can be a glass is half empty kinda girl. Thing is, the glass is usually half full...that's life, isn't it? :) I need to change my perspective on things.

So, my darling boy will be able to eat yummy Greaters ice cream and cheese pizza! Things I have been craving for the passed few months of being dairy-free. Really, it hasn't been horrible - and I would do it forever if my boy needed me to.

Solid Food....

Ethan started solid food Sunday. I am excited to start feeding him and see his reaction to new foods, but I am not happy that he has reached this milestone. It makes me sad because he is growing up and he is my last baby. Of course, I want him to reach his milestones. It is just hard to know I'll never have a newborn again, but on the flipside I am SO happy to never have to be pregnant again! That last pregnancy was long and more painful, and the first three months of E's little life were painful, too. I had a lot more pain after he was born and a tremendous loss of sleep. Nothing, not even comparable to P as a baby. Crazy how different the two were and are.

I felt the need to be extremely careful when choosing the rice cereal to feed him. Technically he is old enough for me to feed him homeade rice cereal, but the commercial stuff is so fine that it makes sense to just buy it for a first feeding. But, I was obsessed with concern over an allergic reaction. After much deliberation and research I decided to buy HappyBellies brand of rice cereal - a Dr. Sears recommendation. Organic, no fillers, all natural, added DHA and probiotics to help support a healthy digestive system, which aids in warding off food allergies. I had to go to Whole Foods to buy it because it seems Gerber owns the babyfood corner in most grocery stores. And, Gerber is full of CRAP! Seriously, total fillers.

Then the time had come. I decided to use only water to mix in the cereal - just in case I had something weird to eat that day. I felt I'd be able to determine it was the rice cereal if he had a reaction because I was feeding the cereal to him in its purest form. When I fed him his first spoonful it felt like running into traffic. My mind and heart were racing - will he get sick, will I be making another trip to the emergency room with him due to food, will I be able to handle this? The only thing that happened was that he hated it. His face contorted into the funniest face I had ever seen one of my babies make. Like he just ate a bug and didn't mean to. It was hysterical! He was fine. I fed him in the early afternoon and then I fed him again in the evening. The second feeding I added just a smidge of apple juice to sweeten it up. Breastfed babies love sweet foods like fruit because breastmilk is ...well, like Heather's little girl put it, honeymilk.

Today he was so interested when P was eating her lunch that I decided to let him try a little applesauce. Apples are on the list as a good first food for babies 4 - 6 months old. I would have preferred bananas, but we weren't eating bananas, so it was applesauce (unsweetened and organic). He loved it. I decided to sit him in his highchair and feed him the babyfood version of the organic applesauce I bought. He ate almost half of the container before becoming disinterested. He was kind of slurping it off of his bib and when he ate from the spoon he would lean his head down and then sit up to swallow. Getting used to the whole thing of eating food I suppose. I want to get it on video. And, he was SO messy. P was and is a pretty "clean" eater. Even in the beginning she did great with swallowing food and eating off the spoon - and she wasn't quite 5 months when I started her on solids.

Well - it is pretty exciting. I have bananas and an avocado to try him on next. My pedi says it isn't necessary to wait four days between foods - that if babies are going to have an allergic reaction they will have signs after the first feeding. But, I want to wait just because of E's history thus far. So, applesauce and rice cereal is on the menu this week.

Movies...really?

As a mom, there a many things I don't get to do now and when I got to them I took them totally for granted. One of those things was going to the movies. I loved going to the movies: alone, with someone, at night, during the day, on the weekend. I was not a movie snob either; I watched everything...sometimes even at the dollar...ewe. When I met hubby I was thrilled he shared the same love of movies as me. On the weekends we were even known to see up to two movies with friends or with just each other. At the time I thought it was fun, and then when I had my first child movies became a waste of time.

I remember the first movie I saw was Eragon after P was born. It had been a few months after her birth and hubby told me to go and get some alone time - relax he said. I felt so weird going and buying my ticket, getting my small popcorn and soda and then sitting in the theater. And then the movie really sucked...the book was pretty good (for being written by a tween), and I was hoping for a decent fantasy. After that pile of doodoo was over I was so upset that I wasted those two hours away from my little girl. So, I stopped going to see movies. That was two years ago and since then I have seen maybe three.

Then E was born. My mind changed back to wishing I could take the time to see two movies in one weekend...alone...away from everyone calling my name or needing me for something. The thought of getting out for two hours to see a movie sounded like heaven! But, an impossibility because in those beginning months I couldn't even run to the bathroom by myself for two seconds much less sit in a theater for two hours. Until this weekend.

I had to miss mommies night out because hubby's schedule is just crazy right now. So, I popped an email out apologizing for missing the festivities and asked if anyone would be interested in a matinee. I didn't even think about it - I didn't ask hubby - I didn't think about leaving the kids for two hours - I just did it. My friend Susan said she may be interested.

Well, Friday came around and Susan was able to go. I looked up movie times and we saw The Dark Knight, which was an EXcellent choice, btw. We were like two giddy schoolgirls. We sat in the theater all excited with our popcorn and Junior Mints and kept saying how happy we were to be there. It was insane! But, Susan, like me, has a child and doesn't get much time to herself...and like me, chose the matinee time closest to her child's naptime as not to disrupt the whole schedule we as mommies work so hard to institute (makes life a whole lot easier!). It is amazing how these early years of child rearing truly pull you out of society into a world that only other mommies can understand. It is almost like Stardust. Once you cross through the hole in the wall your life will never be the same...and only those people who have crossed over truly understand how different your life has become. Of course, I will miss this time of not being able to go to the movies when the time comes that I can go whenever I want again.

Gemini - woohoo!

My sister-in-law Denise turned me onto Gemini a few Christmases ago when she gave the lullabies CD to P as a gift. We loved their voices and their songs. Every night they were included in our repertoire of nigh-nigh songs, and then we recieved "The Best of Gemini" and they quickly became one of our favorite groups to listen to in the car and at home.

Denise called me and said they were playing a park near her and that we should come up to see them. Immediately I wanted to go. P loves their music, I love their music and I know that E will love their music. The music is so fun and full of "real" instruments, and I love that the artists create their own lyrics and melodies for kids (compared to artists that sing the same songs over and over like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star). We drove up to MI with my mom and picked up my niece and nephew so they could go too, and saving their Grandma Becky the trip up. The trip up was fine except for baby E being on the verge of a breakdown the whole ride. ugh.

It was great to go up, too, because I hadn't seen all the work they had done to their house. The house was built in the 1800s and in severe disrepair when Paxton bought it. My brother and the family worked so hard to get the house in the condition it is today, and now they are adding an addition on that will allow the boys to have a bigger room to share, a bigger master bedroom and bedrooms for each of the girls.

Paxton added the whole front to the house.

They have diligently been working to expand the home so there's plently of room for the brood of 6. My brother has been working hard as an engineer for Toyota to earn the funds to take care of the family and then mastering his skills as carpenter, electrician and designer to expand the home for his lot. I am so proud of him and envious of his energy.

My bro.

And, my sis-in-law has the same engery. Taking care of 4 kids, all that goes with that and working on their home is certainly no small task. I would have to compare it to probably five different jobs: police officer, chef, house-keeper, event planner, and handy-wo-man. I am probably missing a few....and I thought I was busy!

Our blanket at the park.

Well, we had such a ball up there. The concert was really great. It was so amazing to see P react to the fact that she was looking at the *real* musical artists of the songs she loves. She just kind of stared at them when they began singing. Almost as if she was wondering how they knew "that" song. Then she realized they sounded exactly like the music mama plays in the car. It was adorable! Mom and I just laughed at her and kept trying to get her to dance. Once she warmed up and saw other kids dancing she was jumping, twirling and wiggling about. E was jumping on Grammies' lap making us all chuckle at his cute little pudgy legs going a mile a minute. I have a few videos from the day but for some reason I cannot get them uploaded. I'll keep trying.

P is in the green shirt on the far right and cousie Annabelle is to her left in pink. The band is playing on the far left.

D and P brought KFC for dinner. (Just for all of you with allergies, KFC has NOTHING for a person allergic to dairy to eat - they put butter or milk into everything.) We had a blast at the park. I was really impressed that the band promoted going green. They asked at the beginning of the concert to leave any recyclable materials in the green bag by the exit; that they would take care of recycling anything people were planning to just throw away. I find that Ann Arbor always makes a huge effort to recycle and promote earth-friendly living - at least by what I see my family doing in their home when I visit.

We only stayed one night. I was a little apprehensive about sleeping with P on the air mattress. She had never slept outside of her bed or her port-a-crib, but she did great! E slept soundly in the pack-n-play . Now I know my kids are portable, as long as we skip the actual part of traveling to our destination.

Here is Grammies with all of her grandchildren. She looks great for her age!

6 Months Old!

Ethan is officially 6 months old today! I can't believe how quickly this time has went. Of course, time goes pretty quickly when you are half in reality - I have been pretty sleep deprived all these months. The world could have been taken over by aliens and I probably wouldn't have known the difference. But, it has been worth it so far and is only getting better.

He is such an angel. I am just so smitten with him. If you read a previous blog entry you will see some of my favorite things about him, but I want to write a few more things in honor of his 6 month birthday.

• He is sitting up supported.
• He grabs for anything that crosses his path: toys, my fingers, my hair, earrings, food.
• Everything he grabs promptly goes into his mouth.
• He loves to bounce and jump.
• He looks great in blue.
• He loves to smile and laugh at his sister.
  
• He is very ticklish.
• He looks you right in the eyes and coos right back to you if you speak to him.
• He is almost out of his bucket seat - and it was the biggest one you can get!
• He is going to the allergist to see what he is allergic to - so far dairy and soy.
  

Random things....

P got her first skinned knee on Monday. She was playing while I worked on weeding the front of the house and she ran to show me something and fell. It is kind of strange how children can just fall without any type of hole or something random laying on the ground in their way. Their bodies get ahead of their thought process or something. Anyhow, we took her inside and cleaned out the wound and put a Dora band-aid on it. She like the idea of having a band-aid on - as if it was an accessorie to her outift or something.

Ethan continues to be a little sweet dollbaby. He loves to be fussed with - I think that is one of my favorite things about him. I think it is because he is getting a bit of the limelight for a change instead of his big sister. It seems he is always the one just hanging out while I tend to or play with P. She is pretty demanding most of the time, and he just hangs out and watches. When he gets attention he just beams and you just want to eat him up.
He is fun to play with...

P and I have been picking from the garden lately. Just peas and green beans. We have a plethora of green beans, but the peas aren't doing so well because they don't like TGBT or the soil or something. A few peas came on and we pick and eat them right out of the shell. We pretend we are going on a treasure hunt to find fresh green booty. P like to pick the green beans with me. It is super cute to watch her find one and then pull it, almost pulling the whole plant out of the ground. yikes! She also helps me snap the ends off...well, her interpretation of snapping, which is just breaking apart the bean.
My dad mentioned he and mom had already been eating tomatoes off their plants and how good they are this year. I went over to their house and their tomato plants are unreal - totally loaded with fruit. My tomato plants are georgous to look at, but they don't have many tomatoes on them. They look like they should be dripping with juicy red goodness, but it seems the plant has been feeding itself and not its fruit. So, I had three big billowy tomato plants that needed to be cut back in order for the fruit to come on and grow. My dad said to cut the branches and leaves around where the fruit is growing or where you see the little yellow flowers. I went out with my Fiskars and cut away. I can't believe how much excess girth those plants had! I should have done it a while ago. Oh well, I am still learning this gardening business.
I love that tv show The Office. My friend Jocelyn sent me a message:
"So, do people tell you that you look just like that girl from the office...not Pam...the other one that used to be Jim Halpert's girlfriend. Now she's on another show. Anyway, whenever I see her I think of you...and some of the things that she does in the Office remind me of you especially! What do you think?" That girl is Rashida Jones. Maybe a bit? She is adorable, so if Joc thinks I look like her I'll take it in a minute.

Oh....and not to forget....I finally found her Tinker Bell toothbrush....

Mood

I wish we were all able to have little circular indicators of our mood posted on our foreheads. This parenting thing has had me on a few forums for help from fellow parents who breastfeed, cloth diaper, make babyfood, kids with allergies, and I have even joined movie and book forums to discuss my other interests, too. The thing that I find comical is the mood indicator. That little circle or even just a few short phrases or a word that says so and so is happy or sad or in a crunchy mood. Like really, why do I care? But, I do care. I guess it is a way of putting some warmth behind the writer/poster so we can all remember life isn't black and white typed letters. That when we post on a forum we are actually "talking" to another human, not just a computer screen. I guess that is why flaming is so easy to do - you don't know the person you are corresponding with nor are you going to see the person, and I am pretty sure finding the identity out of the person you are writing rude things (or flaming) to would be a rather difficult and lengthy endeavor. The more I think about it the more I realize the mood indicator is actually a really, really good thing, and why hasn't anyone invented one that we can all carry around with us?

The device would make my life so much easier because then I wouldn't have to have my husband *guess* at what I am feeling. As a woman it is my right to have the opposite or same sex have to guess when I am irritated with them - I should not have to say anything or address the situation passive aggressively - it should just be recognizable. Since I can't just live in Kristin reality, the next best thing is I could simply have a little indicator that senses my mood and phrase pops up to let everyone know why I am acting the way I am acting. I like the idea of a phrase, especially if you could customize it. For instance, you are having a conversation with your husband about not leaving his socks around. If you had an indicator that read "don't f with me today" he may respond kindly "whatever you say dear" and proceed to pick up his socks and put them in the laundry. But, if your indicator said "hoopdi doo, hoopdi doo today just rocks" then husband may know he has a bit of leeway and respond with "I'll try, but I can't guarantee I'll pick them up. That is just how I roll." He knows you'll be more apt to smile, maybe laugh and agree to the fact that he can be a slob sometimes. But, if he responded like that when the indicator said "don't f with me" then there'd be some trouble brewing.

The device could work well with co-workers and friends too. You know, people who you care if you piss off. Ha! (we all know that there is an unsaid rule about hurting the closest to you and saying sorry later if never....well, there should be) This way when you show up to your friend's house with a red alert "don't f with me today" they know to kind of steer clear of any topics that may anger you. Like, your husband. ha! Really, my hubby is great, I just love to use him as an example because it is just too easy.

Problems? Sure - as in having to be honest about how you are feeling. Or not honest so people just stay away from you so you can do whatever it is you want to do. This device, as I think more about it, could have some serious downfalls. What if your waiter was already big and scary and then to top it off had a "dfwm" mood indicator on....and your hamburger had a big bug in it. What would you do then? OOOhhh....this could be pretty awful. You may not say anything and just eat the bug to stay away from impending doom, or you could say something and risk the chance of eating the bug anyhow. I was a waiter once, I know the horrible things people do to food.

Well, so much for my really, really bad invention - besides, can't we still buy mood rings? For now I suppose the forums' mood indicators will suffice.

Little Things

I haven't written about this for a while...but, there are things (as mommy Heather reminded me) that your children do that are so small and special that you never want to forget them. But, it seems life takes the lead and you don't always have the time to cherish them once the moment is gone. I wanted to write a few of these things down about my children so I don't forget - or if I do forget I can read this entry and smile, laugh or cry when I reflect upon the little moments, little things...things that made mommy melt.

PEYTON

• She was running out of my mom's bedroom and into the hall. She had on pink pants and a cream long-sleeved shirt. Just watching her run with her little legs, diapered butt and her straight blonde hair bouncing made me cry. I looked at my mom and told her that I just loved watching P run. My mom cried too and said she had that same "moment" in the grocery store when I was little. I ran ahead/away from her and she stopped and just watched me and cried right there.
• When she cracks herself up. She is usually singing a song and will stop and just look at me and giggle. She tilts her head sideways, looks me right in the eyes and smiles her sweet semi-toothless grin and laughs. Then she says "mommy, you do it." This generally happens during the 3 squares which is why I have so many pics of her eating.
• How she loves books. She likes to "read" to me now and it is so cute to hear her little voice repeating some of the phrases from the book or some of the phrases or sounds I make up while reading the book to her. I am amazed at what she remembers. Just last night she read a book to me that we got from the library - we only read it through twice a week ago and that little thing was telling me what the book said. It was amazing to me. I can tell from a reading standpoint that she is using picture cues to help her.
• When she says "he's looking at me" in reference to baby brother.
• How when she gets excited over something she runs to give me a hug first and foremost. It is so cool.
• Putting her shoes on and then getting back into bed. Even though we don't allow shoes in the bed....oh well. :)
• Painting her tiny toenails and how she loves her "pink toes"
• Wanna watch Caws
• Pirates Booty
• When she lays her head on my shoulder.
• Hearing her little footsteps in her room. I know she's up!
• She's not necessarily into naming things yet, but she loves to nickname them. Ex. Loki dokie - she made that up all by herself.
• How she calls me mama because many of the books we read the babies refer to their mothers as mama. Such as: I Love You Stinky Face
  

ETHAN

• Smiles. That baby smiles all the time. When he catches my eye he just beams. It is almost like he just sits and waits for me to look at him so he can smile.
• How he puts his arms around me like he is giving me a hug. I think he is. He just cuddles into me when I pick him up.
• His pudge.
  
• How cute he looks in cloth diapers, and how he doesn't seem to care. He likes to be fussed with.
• He loves the Jumparoo. He bounces so roughly on my lap like he is trying to get somewhere, but that chubby baby body is hindering his chance to just fly off like a Super Hero.
• When P watches TV he will turn his body and watch it like he is totally engrossed in the show. Luckily, we don't have the TV on all the time or he'd certainly be brain scrambled.
• He is very curious - always checking out the world - kind of like Pinky. With P, she just stared and looked around like she was The Brain and was making plans to rule the world, baby bro in tow.
  
• Just how smitten I am with having him. He rocks...
  

Today's cloth diapering update

P took a huge poo in the bg during her nap (and I forgot to put the disposable insert on her) and now is crying because her diaper rash hurts so bad. I know it is because she probably slept two hours in dirty pants. Then when I finished changing her she wanted to help put the poo in the toilet...uhm...I didn't even want to put the poo in the toilet.

The diapers are here!

I received my cloth diapers in the mail yesterday! I was so excited when I got home and saw the two fluffy packages laying on my doorstep. I opened them up and then thought "$h!t, the reality is here!" haha! Seriously, I was very happy to have all the stuff I needed to get started. Today I have been doing nothing but prepping them, except for the BumGenius 3.0 - those are so EASY! I washed the BG twice and then dried them. The first wash was with a bit of Purex to get out any impurities and the second was to get out any leftover soap before I put them on my kids' butts. However, the Indian prefolds and the Kissaluvs contour diaper need to be washed 3 - 5 times. It seems like it has taken all day because they need to be thoroughly dried after each wash as well. BUT, once I am done they will be ready to go and I can diaper away.

I mentioned kidS...yes, kidS. Peyton was actually okay with wearing one of the BG diapers. She wanted to be like baby brother and wear a blue one, so I put it on her. She did not complain and I kept asking if she was comfortable and she said yes. So, I left it on her and she ended up only wanting the diaper on and her shirt. It seems she just wanted to show it off, or look at it...who knows. As long as she has something on that helps trap the poo I don't care, but running around nude is not such a good idea. Last time she ran around all naked she squatted and peed on her floor. But from stories I have heard from other parents, squatting and peeing on the floor is nothing compared to the artwork some children have left for mommy and daddy to clean up. Maybe it is a matter of time, and maybe I just jinxed myself. It'd be great, though, if P would let me cloth diaper her - I'd save even more money! She is getting close to being potty trained, but we are talking a few months - I still need diapers. Luckily, too, P and E wear the same size as far as the BG goes because it is one size fits all. Uhmm...how easy could this get?

It is kind of crazy to see the diapers in their virgin form. The prefolds are flat pieces of rectangle cloth. When you wash them they quilt up and shrink a bit looking like they need ironed. I guess what happens when you do the initial washing you strip the oils out of the cloth to make them absorbant. From one site I visited the BG and prefolds are the winners in regards to absorbancy...BUT, I think it depends on your baby and I also think it depends on how you fold the prefold. Luckily there are sites that explain how to fold them so you can avoid as much leakage as possible, such as this one: http://www.thediaperhyena.com/diaper_folding101.htm. It is a 101 on diaper folding...hey, I took a 101 to learn how to sew, why not fold diapers?

One of my favorite celebrities cloth (and still possibly does) diapers her daughter: Maggie Gyllenhaal. She has also been "spotted" breastfeeding her daughter in public. OH NO! She breastfeeds and cloth diapers? Of course, I am sure little Ramona has super cute bumpster hiders that I could only hope to look at without going into debt. But, I really didn't like the way the media portrayed MG like she was a bit on the weird side for taking care of her child in the most natural way possible. It was quite annoying to see the tabloids exploiting the big M nursing her wee one in a park - Big Deal! Let the woman feed her child. The best food for baby, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, is breastmilk .

If I did not feed Ethan mommy's milk he'd be on a hypo-allergenic formula like Alimintum (of course, some women can't breastfeed...and it is what it is). Check out the ingredients, many of which I don't even know what they are...and I'd have to feed it to my baby....:

Water 87% , Sugar 4.4% - Sucrose , Casein Hydrolysate 2.3% - Derived from Milk , Modified Tapioca Starch 2.2% , Safflower Oil 1.4% , Medium Chain Triglycerides 1.3% , Soy Oil 1.1% , C. Cohnii Oil Less than 0.5% of - Source of Docosahexaenoic Acid - DHA , M. Alpina Oil Less than 0.5% of - Source of Arachidonic Acid - ARA , Calcium Citrate Less than 0.5% of , Calcium Phosphate Less than 0.5% of , Carrageenan Less than 0.5% of , Potassium Phosphate Less than 0.5% of , Ascorbic Acid Less than 0.5% of , Magnesium Chloride Less than 0.5% of , Calcium Hydroxide Less than 0.5% of , Potassium Citrate Less than 0.5% of , Sodium Chloride Less than 0.5% of , L-Cystine Dihydrochloride Less than 0.5% of , Potassium Chloride Less than 0.5% of , L-Tyrosine Less than 0.5% of , Choline Chloride Less than 0.5% of , L-Tryptophan Less than 0.5% of , Ferrous Sulfate Less than 0.5% of , Taurine Less than 0.5% of , M-Inositol Less than 0.5% of , Zinc Sulfate Less than 0.5% of , DL-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate Less than 0.5% of , L-Carnitine Less than 0.5% of , Niacinamide Less than 0.5% of , Calcium Pantothenate Less than 0.5% of , Cupric Sulfate Less than 0.5% of , Riboflavin Less than 0.5% of , Vitamin A Palmitate Less than 0.5% of , Thiamine Chloride Hydrochloride Less than 0.5% of , Pyridoxine Hydrochloride Less than 0.5% of , Folic Acid Less than 0.5% of , Potassium Iodide Less than 0.5% of , Potassium Hydroxide Less than 0.5% of , Phylloquinone Less than 0.5% of , Biotin Less than 0.5% of , Sodium Selenate Less than 0.5% of , Vitamin D3 Less than 0.5% of , Cyanocobalamin Less than 0.5% of

My poor friend

Mary is going through surgery today. I am so sad. She was supposed to go under at 2p, but I called and she is either still in surgery or is being prepped because she is not in a room, yet. I am so nervous and anxious to hear how everything went. I am planning to send up flowers to her room. This really, really sucks...and I cannot imagine how she and her family are feeling right now.

Dear friends,

By now you may have heard that I have invasive adenosquamous carcinoma cervical cancer. I had a chest x-ray and CT abdominal scan which did not detect any metastasis. Last night we met with the gyn/oncologyst to discuss my options. Upon my exam she found some suspicious areas in my uterus which are probably nothing more then benign fibriods. Wednesday at 2pm I am scheduled to have a radical hysterectomy. The doctor will however need to biopsy these suspicious spots prior to doing the surgery. If the biopsies prove to be negative then she will proceed with the surgery. If they are malignant then the cancer has in fact metastasized and then she will close me up and we will begin a regimen of chemo and radiation. Unfortunately I will not know what the course of action will be until I wake up from anesthesia because she will make this decision while I am under. I am sorry to be doing this via email but just do not have the strength to call everyone. I will do my best to return phone calls and emails but if I do not get to them then please know I appreciate the support and the prayers.

Love,
Mary

Cut it OFF!

Post-pregnancy = wanting to get rid of excess.

Excess weight
Excess clutter
Excess clothing
Excess bloating
Excess eating

AND

Excess HAIR

Now, those of you who have been pregnant have experienced the dreaded hair fall-out. It happens around 3 - 5 months and lasts for about 2 months. OR you experience just a touch of fall-out and then a full-on deforestation after you stop breastfeeding. For me, it has been a gradual 2 - 3 months of hair clogging the drain post-pregnancy - hair landing in my food, hair in my kids' diapers, hair down my shirt and tickling me, hair, hair and more hair EVERYwhere. So, my decision was to cut it off. I was tired of constantly having long strands of dead cells plagueing everywhere I went and everything I touched. It is really gross when you freeze food and then defrost it and there is a HAIR in it. yuck.

Anyhow, I just needed a change, too. I mean, it will always grow, right? So, I did the ole' crop and chop. It took two times and two different hairstylists to get it right. I didn't go to my tride and true girl because I am STUPID, but I also was trying to save a bit of cash, and maybe try someone different who is closer to my home to help with drive time. The cut is cute, but it isn't what I wanted and it is too short. But, oh well, it'll grow and it looks okay and is easy to do, which is key with two very young children.

Big Girl Bed

Well, P is officially in a "big girl bed." In our world that is taking down the front sliding side of our 3-in-1 crib. Yesterday she was climbing out of her crib and hubby happened to see her maneuvering herself over the top of the rail like a little squirrel, and totally freaked out. She was about to fall about 4 feet onto her hardwood floor. I was out and came back to hubby wide-eyed and kind of shaking. What he saw he said made him really scared and immediately put him into protection of his girl mode. When I got in the door P was running down the stairs all excited telling mommy that she has a big girl bed. I was a bit shocked. I was left out of the taking down of the rail ceremony? I live for these types of moments. So, I was a bit peeved - mainly because it didn't happen like I wanted it to happen. I am so selfish sometimes! :) I admit it. We knew it was coming, we just wanted the transition to be on our timeline, not our darling daughter's. My plan was to talk to her about it for a few weeks, shop for a new pillow or something to celebrate, explain what it meant, yadda, yadda, yadda. Oh well, best laid plans never really work out when you have kids. We actually did go looking for a bed a few weeks ago. We found an adorable single that could have a princess "castle" type thingy added on, stilts to create an under-the-bed hideaway, a slide and a stairs for her to climb. We definitely would put the bed on the ground first...mommy would have to wait a few years for the loft part to go into effect...if at all. But, P loved the bed when we were at the showroom, and we really liked it for her.

So, how did the whole thing go? Well, it didn't go well yesterday. I tried to put her down for her afternoon nap and you would have thought I was driving stakes into her eyes. She was screaming bloody murder. She DID NOT want to go into the bed. I eventually had to leave the room and let her bang on the door, scream, throw things, cry and cry and cry some more, and then she went to sleep. It was HORRIBLE. I hated not being able to make whatever she was feeling so upset about go away. I couldn't put her in danger by putting the rail back up. Then putting her to bed last night was the same thing, but it didn't last as long, and she slept in it all night long! hooray! The picture above is me sneaking into her room this morning to see where she slept, and low and behold it was where I was hoping she'd be. I put E's crib mattress next to her bed in case she fell out during the night to hopefully lessen the chance of injury or fear.

So, this morning I decided that when she woke up we'd have "You slept in your big girl bed party." I happened to have a Real Monsters party kit from a while ago and a present I was going to give her on the plane when I was supposed to go to Oregon in May (trip never happened). I put party hats on Ethan and myself and came into her room celebrating that she slept in her big girl bed. I gave her the present and hung out in the bed (well, I was on the floor because the bed is only supposed to hold 50 pounds...uhmmm...). We read books, we sang "Happy Big Girl Bed Day" song to the tune of "Happy Birthday" and listend to a little U2, Beck and Sara Trevares. It was so much fun.


I hope that the party and the getting over the first night sleeping in her bed hurdle will make it easier for her today. I am already dreading putting her down for her nap. I really hope it isn't another mushroom cloud. For now it is all grins and giggles!

Gear for baby

They always *say* that babies are expensive. Well, I am trying to cut down on the cost of raising baby by doing things like breastfeeding, making my own babyfood, borrowing clothes and gear, and now cloth diapering. It is truly an addiction to research baby items and then once you find them, researching the best deal on what you like. My last addiction was baby shoes...oh goodness. I researched Robeez and little moccasin-type baby shoes until I was so sick of it that I didn't even buy one pair!

My newest addiction, and one that makes sense because it can save us essentially close to two thousand dollars (if I did my math correctly) is: cloth diapering. I have to say, I have spent more time researching cloth diapering than I have on my studies all summer. egads! It is easy to do, mainly because I needed to get over the hurdle of deciding how to cloth diaper and then to decide what kind of cloth diapering to do. Sites like Wildflower Babies and Cotton Babies are chalked full of information to help in purchasing the dreaded...cloth diaper. They also offer tons of adorable CDs to choose from...and accessories that you *absolutely* need, of course. :) People already think I am out of my mind to cloth diaper...but, I have friends who do it and LOVE it. And, according to Babble it is freakishly cool. Well, finally I am freakishly cool. I have been waiting to be put into that category my whole life...well, I guess, at least what I am doing for my little E is freakishly cool, and fun! There's just something about washing out a dirty nappy that gives me warm fuzzies....hahaha!

Anyhow, cloth diapering isn't the big deal I have been making it out to be. It is really rather simple. You just need to find what works for you...and I am in the middle of that, so I have no advice. What I can write is that I recieved my bumGenius 3.0 in the mail the other day and tried it out this morning. I love it. It is now in the laundry and I can't wait to try it again. I only have the one cloth diaper, so E is naked until I get the thing washed. No, really, I just want to use it again today, so I had to wash it right away so I could use it. Now I am kicking myself for not ordering a few more so I could really test out the system by keeping baby in CDs all day. But, I had to dip my toe in the pool first. Plus, I wanted to wash it to see if it was really going to be easy to launder. I did the two wash thing - rinse on cold to get the nasties out and then on warm with a little Purex to get it clean. These little buggers are certainly sensitive. You are not supposed to use detergent that has any type of additive - so you need something basic like Purex or Sun (which is probably better for all of us with allergies anyhow). Dreft is a big fat no-no. Dreft has a ton of additives to make babies clothes soft and could leave a build up on the diaper. build-up = trapped nasties. Who knew!? And, it is easy and it is not gross.

I feel silly being so consumed with where my baby's pees and poos go, but it is important. I want to tread lightly on the earth while I am here, I want my baby to have comfortable nappies to wear, and I want him to look cute, too. I know I'd certainly like to look cute in my nappies...oh, that is a far off desire...especially since I just ate a handful of chocolate chips while writing.

Today I ordered a bunch of different types of diapers so I could try them out. I ordered prefolds, fitted, wraps and I have the one pocket bG. The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea of having a diaper and then a wrap, not an AIO (all in one diaper - no stuffing, no folding, just like a disposable). And, it is much less expensive to buy them that way. I have spent $110 and the diapers will last until potty-training (hopefully). I will probably spend $50 - $100 more, but that is essentially it. So, all together I will have spent about $250 - $300, which includes a travel bag for the stinkies when I am out on the town and those little biodegradeable inserts for poos (you just take them right out of the diaper and flush them down the toilet...how easy can it get...jeesh.).

In a year I'll look back at this post and laugh because I am so new to all of this, and the lingo, quite frankly, is making me laugh. I feel like I am in a cool new club, though.

Live Virus Immunizations

I think I have written before about our concern over immunizations for our children. Most pediatricians give thimerosal-free vaccinations now, anyhow, but I always ask to be sure. The only shot that may contain thimerosal is the flu shot, but generally our doc's office will have a slew on hand for those parents (such as us) that will call to reserve a thimerosal-free shot for our child. This year I'll have to be on top of the flu shot since I have two that need to get it. The baby gets the series of two since he is so young, but P only gets one. There is still a ton of controversy surrounding the link of autism to thimerosal, but as far as I know, nothing has been proven, or even concretely linked together. BUT, I would rather be safe than sorry. I know that parents want to put the blame somewhere if their child suffers from some form of autism, and that could be where all the controversy stems from. The spectrum of autism is so huge, now, that I think everyone I know falls into some area of it. haha! That's for another day.

Hubby's newest concern is giving the baby more than one live virus immunization at a time. Well, the MMR - measles, mumps and rubella - comes altogether in one shot. At E's four month check-up I inquired about the shot and that is when I found out the pediatrician's office does not separate the shot - nor will they carry it broken down into three different live virus vaccinations. My pediatrician said he would be more than happy to give E one live virus vaccination at a time, but I would have to supply the M, the second M and the R myself. The doc said to call the health department and they could get it for me. So, I did. The information I was given was very helpful.

What I was told was that if I was to order the MMR separated it would be very expensive and that each come in groups of ten. So, essentially, I would have to pay for thirty shots because there aren't enough people asking for it to be given separately. I was also told that the CDC recommends that the live virus shots be given at one time (between 12 - 18 months) because of how the body reacts to them. In layman's terms: a live virus vaccination is a weakened state of the actual virus, but mimics the virus enough that the body believes it needs to give the virus a full-on fight. In the weakened state, the viruses go to the sinus cavity and the body's antigen fighters come out in full force to fight against these intruders before the virus has a chance to go into the lungs. Now, the vaccination the child receives is so weakened that they will not actually get the virus (they could still feel sick, but not to the point of getting the actual virus/sickness), and that is how the body builds immunity. The body fights a full-on fight, wins and is now stronger to fight again if need be. The nurse at the health department also said that is why the MMR is typically given at the same time as the varicella (chicken pox) because the body fights the M, the other M, the R and varicella with separate little armies. So, essentially, it can be a good thing to get the MMR and the varicella at one time.

But, here's a kicker - why do we have to do it all within the first two years of a baby's life? My belief is that you cannot control what other people do with their children, but you can control what you do with your child. You just never know in a world as populated as it is today where your child could get infected. All she/he would need to do is put their hand on the shopping cart at Target and then put their fingers in their mouth. It could be that simple. I am almost positive that is how P got one of her nasty colds. Now, for those people that live in a bubble or never leave the house, they don't have to worry like I do. I take my kids everywhere - and I don't always *sanitize* after leaving the grocery or the playground - who has time for that? Also, sometimes your kid needs to get sick, even though it breaks your heart. Of course, if I can keep my kids from getting the horrible things by immunizing, that's what I will do! But, I am just not sure how I will do it. I am still deciding if I want to follow the CDC recommended immunization schedule for E, or if I want to create my own. I totally trust my doc's office - P did great with all of her immunizations (t-free, of course) and E seems to be doing well. We are just concerned b/c if his body is also fighting with his food allergies, do we want it to fight a whole big group of viruses as well? I think he'll be fine, but I need to reassure hubby so he feels good about it, too.

When your friend tells you they have cancer....

One of my best college friends called me this morning at 7:35am. She was crying. She said she had to tell me something...and getting a call from her that early I knew something was up. I was hopeful, though, and thought JUST maybe she was on her way somewhere after dropping her 23 month old off and had a few minutes to chat. That is typically when we talk - in the car where we don't have to constantly interrupt our conversations with the "no, honies" or the "put that down, honies" or the "I gotta go, our honies are no longer honies." Her name is Mary and she has been one of my very best friends since the winter of 1990. We met at my boyfriend's house at the time. She was hanging out with his roomate, Stinky Chad (yes, as in body odor because he didn't believe in anything but natural products...and, obviously didn't even try those out either). We immediately hit it off, dumped the boys and toys, and were instant BFFs. I even remember that the first time we hung out was to see a movie. It was The Commitments at the dollar theater. She picked me up in her blue Honda Accord, we both had on our leathers and we smoked Marlboro Lights all the way to the theater. I really don't know how we even took a drag off a smoke because we were too busy chattering away like little birds. We had a connection, a real connection that if you are lucky you get to experience a few times in your life. Well, I am lucky. Damn lucky to have met my wonderful friend.

I just love her dearly, which is why I can barely write what she said to me this morning..."I have cancer." What? What do you mean? You are only 36, you aren't supposed to have cancer. You are in grad school, you aren't supposed to be sick. You are getting close to trying for your second child, you are NOT supposed to have cancer. The reality is she does. She does have it and is dealing with right now, this very moment, this very Tuesday in this very month of July. dammit. She has an aggressive type of cervical cancer, that is yes, caused by the HPV virus. It is a rare strain that was dorment for years. She had a papsmear last year and there wasn't a trace. So, in one year it spread that quickly, so quickly that they have to remove her entire cervix and potentially give her a hysterectomy. She has already had the walls scraped and that is when the doctor realized there wasn't an end to the abnormal cells. The abnormal cells had spread...and they don't really know how far at this point. She had a catscan and hopefully that will give her some indication as to where the cancer has made an intrusion. Once she has the surgery she has to go through chemotherapy. WTF??!! She is still in shock from the news, I think.

When I spoke with her she was handling the news in a stoic manner, as typical Mary. She gets $hit done and worries later...or not at all. "You do what you gotta do" is a very favorite Maryism of mine. She has always makes me feel better about my worries, and I hope I can do the same for her. I plan to have her around for a long time - and I am sure she plans on that too.

This whole thing makes me really think about my daughter and how important it will be to talk about sex and protection. And, how important that new HPV immunization will be when she comes of age...and hopefully not sooner. oh lordy, I can't even bear to think about it. And, the thing that I am so ashamed of is that I have been worrying about my hair and how I want to get it cut. That has been one of my main focuses recently for myself....I need a life evaluation. Especially since I haven't seen my dermatologist or family doc to get evaluated for my skin cancer in 2 years. But, oh goodness, have mercy on my non-trendy, too conservative haircut that is driving me batty...whatever, I'm a loser sometimes.

Smell

So, the skunk smell is still strong in the house even after all the work we put into de-stinkifying everything. Yesterday pretty much sucked. I washed Loki 4 times and Piper 10 times. Piper still stinks. My house: we deoderized all of the carpets, baked spices, boiled Wassail all day, make cookies, put out baking soda, coffee grounds and Renuzits, and washed all the couch cushion covers and sprayed down the couches with Febreeze and hubby got the expensive air filters for the house that are supposed to keep odor out...and it STILL stinks! I was reintroduced to the odor when I returned from the library this morning. I didn't think it was bad until I walked into it again. My nephew is spending the day with us and when Becky dropped him off I asked them if it smelled. They both looked at me like they were sorry that it smelled so bad! ugh.

Loki and Piper were washed in a bath of baking soda, vinegar, peroxide, soap and I added NoMos (no more odor, no more stains - can't find a website to link to) to the mix. Left it on for 10 minutes, rinsed and then washed with a deoderant dog soap. Poor Piper was washed with a ton of vinegar and is probably not feeling so well today. Vinegar is supposed to really help pull out the stink.

From what I have been told over and over again is the skunk smell stays in the house for a few weeks...some say even a month. I guess skunk oils are pretty potent and need to be neutralized (?). The smelly enzymes or whatever the heck they are don't just dissolve and go away. WTF?! This is such crap, but what am I supposed to do? Have a smelly house, I guess. It is so awful, and I hope P, E and I don't smell when we go out. :)

Cloth diapering update:

I bought a bumGenius 3.0 diaper from Wildflower Diapers. They offer a money back guarantee within 14 days. I figure by then I will know if I like it, have washed it and hopefully experience pees and poos in it to see how it performs. It will be a good indication, as well, as to my dedication to doing laundry every day/every 2 days. I should be doing laundry that frequently anyhow...and maybe this will help me get used to doing laundry more often...or at least not loathing it. I think once we have the basement done I will actually like doing laundry and ironing because I'll have a nice new laundry room to do it in. Right now I think it is drudgery because it is just exposed drywall and cement floors.

I am super syked to start CDing and am probably driving my friends who do it nuts with questions. But, from what I read, people who CD love to talk about it. Hopefully that is true!

Skunk?!

Last night Piper killed a skunk. It was HORRIBLE, and still is HORRIBLE. The smell is stuck in our house, mainly because the smell is in the air and is coming through our vents and also because I let Loki in and didn't know she had been sprayed. UGH!!!

We went to my parent's house for some 4th left-overs and were both really tired. P has been up for the passed three nights in the middle of the night crying and then the baby is still up, so we were just plain tired. We thought oh, get the kiddos in their pj's at Gammies' house and then come home, put them to bed and then crash. Well...it didn't quite work out that way. I let the dogs out, as usual, when we got home. Well, when I went outside to let Loki in Piper wouldn't come to me. My gut feeling was that he was killing an animal. I was right. Last time it was a baby raccoon, and this time worse, a stinkin' skunk. It was pitch black so all I could do was hear Piper making these weird sounds which made me think it might not have been him that won the battle. I ran in and grabbed the flashlight, I wasn't about to go out there without being able to see my enemy. As I got closer I could hear Piper and see him. He was savage. It was foul.

I ran in and grabbed hubby from putting P down and asked him to go out there. He came back in and told me that Piper had killed a skunk and that the dog was making sure it was dead. That was the noise: Piper's death dance. YUCK.

So, we got back inside and determined that Piper had to sleep outside. He smelled worse than anything I have ever smelled before. It was like a mixture of sewage, super strong onions and that putrid hit-by-a-car skunk smell. Hubby put on gloves and grabbed bags to get the skunk - we dumped him in the dumpster at the school....shame on us, but we couldn't have that revolting stentch in our garage trash can. Besides, the kids are out for the summer. While hubby was disposing of the carcus, I was frantically in search of ways to clean the dogs and get the smell out of the house. All I wanted to do was scream obscentities at the situation, but I couldn't wake the kids. :)

Well, when hubby got back from his little errand, we came to the conclusion Loki was the reason the house smelled so bad...and, she was laying on the couch downstairs. I swore I couldn't smell it on her. I think because it was so potent that she just blended in with the eminating stentch. I immediately took her upstairs for a bath in a mixture I found on a forum and then washed her down with deoderizing shampoo, baby shampoo and then used my Aveda Rosemary Mint on her. We put her crate together and she is still in it. I am afraid to let her out - what if that smell is laying in the grass and she rolls in it. But, I don't want to stand outside because it smells horrible out there.

This makes for such a lovely day. I had thoughts of getting rid of Piper when E was born for the ease of having just one dog to take care of, plus Piper had a hard time adjusting to the new baby and I was annoyed with his weird dogginess...now I really want to get rid of him. Hubby thinks I am mean, but now I have to take care of his mess instead of my kids' messes and that just makes me angry.

Disposable or not to disposable...that is the question

I was talking to Beth and Heather about cloth diapering at mommies group this week. I seem to be more and more interested in this diapering method as the hours pass. I never really thought too much about it until now...two years after changing diapers for one and now of two little tykes. I never researched it because I know myself: I'd ruin the cloth diapers because I'd forget to change the washer load to the dryer load, and besides that, the thought of cloth diapering when P was little grossed me out. But, after having baby #2 I realize how easy it was to take care of baby #1 and think I could quite possibly handle the idea of scraping poo into the toilet. hmmm...did I really write that?! and, do I really mean that?! I think...perhaps...I do.

B and H gave me a ton of helpful advice. Beth brought up an excellent point - you don't have to cloth diaper ALL of the time. She said I said a similar thing to her about breastfeeding (basically, if you need a break you can give a bottle of formula and your baby will be JUST fine...and some mommies need that break if they have one or two or more little ones running around when your baby is cluster feeding). I think this is great. I know I would be a bit overwhelmed having so much pee and poo soaked laundry to do at first, and it'd be great to just ease into it to see if I like it. From what they told me, it is better for butts and for the environment, and a very important point...the pocketbook. You can buy the "gear" you'll need up front for about $300 and that can last you for a year or two (if you take care of your "gear"). I did the math on my only diaper of choice, Pampers, and I probably spend over $1700 a year in diapers. Seems like a no-brainer to me, but I'd really have to earn my poop and pee stripes if I decide to cloth diaper...it doesn't seem as easy.

I spoke to hubby about it last night and he totally supports whatever I choose to do. He made the very good point that is it I (meaning me) that changes all of the diapers (pretty much), anyhow, so it truly is my decision. hmmmmm....I hate having to make-up my mind, but I think I have. Now, I remember buying a Kushies bathing suit for P when she started swim lessons at 9 months. It seemed like an easy thing...and no buying of disposable swim diapers. BUT, if she would happen to poo in her suit, I would have had to have a new suit on hand depending on the timing of the poo. I couldn't just dump the poo and then put the poo stained suit back on her...ewwwe...So, I can see where it would get pricey. Another great piece of advice was to sell the stuff when I am through using it. Beth sold her used "gear" to a lady in France. Beth is using Kushies and Heather is using BumGenius. I am going to do a little research on cloth diapering and "gear" to see if I truly can dedicate myself to this little butt covering challenge.

The Zoo

We went to the zoo on Tuesday with Gammies and Papa because Tuesdays are Papa's day off and Gammies is out of school for the summer. It was a beautiful day and there were a ton of people there for a weekday. I think it was because the water park opened up and is attracking a whole new crowd of people who can ride the rides and then come over and see the animals. Not so sure how I feel about it. I kind of liked the zoo being the zoo and then the water park being separate similar to how it was when Wyandot Lake was open. But, I wasn't consulted first, so I need to just deal with it. haha!

Anyhow, we had so much fun. It was relaxing to go with my parents too. They didn't mind just stopping and sitting when Ethan needed a rest. One of them was able to take P and entertain her while I took care of the baby - it was great. I wish I always had an extra hand when I went on outings like that so P wouldn't have to miss anything, and I wouldn't have to listen to her complain and cry while I took care of E. Her complaining isn't a big deal because I expect it, but it can grate on your nerves when it is 20 minutes of constant whining.

The best part was reminiscing. I grew up on the Scioto River directly across from the zoo in an area called Shawnee Hills. I would fall asleep every night to the lions roaring and every now and then a concert in the zoo's amphitheater. It was really cool. It wasn't cool, though, when people would tease me for living there. Shawnee Hills wasn't the sought after place on the water that it is now. The houses that were originally built along the river on Shawnee Trail were built as summer homes, so they were all pretty small and had no air conditioning and some had no heat. Our house had no heat or air. We depended on a wood burning stove during the cold months and fans during the warm; but, we were kids and we didn't care. We loved having the river to swim and raft on, the yacht club to sneak into, the boats to sail and ski from and the frozen river in the winter to ice skate on. We had a big backyard to run in and we played back there from morning to night. We had a PO box for our mail because we didn't have home delivery for some reason. Our PO box was at a place call Tags, which is now Walgreens. It has grown up so much there, and now the houses on the water side can run upwards to $300K easy. Our house sold for five times what my parents paid for it in 1989. Of course, my dad being the hyper handyman he is left a pretty good piece of property for the next owners.

I remember the zoo had a riverboat ride that went up and down the Scioto. It isn't there any longer. Paxton and I used to get excited to wave at everyone if we were swimming or boating, the riverboat always packed with zoo goers. Now you can only enjoy a little water ride that is more like an amusement park ride that costs a $1 a person. Mom, dad the kids and I all took a little walk down to the area where the riverboat entrance used to be and looked across to where our dock stood at one time, talked a bit about how awesome it was to live on the water for so many years, and I talked a bit about how I wanted to take my friend Susan who works for Ghosts of Ohio down to Leatherlips Yacht Club so she could "feel" the spirits. The Shawnee Indians had settled in the area for a bit and I believe that is how Shawnee Hills got its name...but don't quote me on that. Leatherlips was one of the Shawnee Indian cheifs who had a park on the Riverside Drive dedicated to him. They say if you go to where Leatherlips is buried on Halloween at midnight you can see his yellow eyes and hear a war cry...yeah, right. We tried, it isn't true...but, there are some other things that happened at the yacht club that are true...and scary. Some of the photos on my wedding invitations were taken at the yacht club - Shane and I went one day and shot them.

Anyhow, it was a great day and it was nice to remember my younger days. Just to the right of the sailboats it the background of the picture was where I lived.