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A moment for a friend
2008-02-09 15:55:00
I have a friend that is grieving the loss of another friend. This is the second tragedy in less than a year.I pray I find the right words to comfort my friend. I know there is nothing I can do or say to bring back the loved ones that are gone. I am so sad for the heartbreak. I want my friend to feel happiness and joy again, and it just seems like life keeps throwing curve balls.So, take a moment today to tell the ones you love that you love them. Don't waste a moment. Life is so precious.
More About: Friend , Moment

Love in the Air
2008-02-08 19:03:00
Valentines Day is just around the corner. And who doesn't enjoy being spoiled with valentine roses?Hallmark holidays kind of crack me up. I'm lean more toward celebrating every day, and not when commercialism tells me. But trust me I'm not going to turn away ANY chocolate or flowers if they grace my path! I used to work with a woman that received flowers every month from her husband. It was sweet. Seems like it would get spendy to splurge like that every month, but I think it kept their romance alive. I remember one Valentines Day she received three dozen roses! And the nice thing is that she appreciated them, and never took her husband's thoughtfulness for granted. I wonder what she'll receive this year!
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Giggles to Snuggle
2008-02-07 22:58:00
At two months old, Anna has us captivated with her sweet, calm and happy disposition. She is a snuggler to the extreme, and when she sees me pull out a wrap or pouch she giggles. By the way, no mother should be without some sort of baby carrier. I am so totally hooked on babywearing, and currently suffering MAJOR guilt issues for not knowing enough about it with Sarah and Ellen. Fortunately, Ellen is a pint size lil' thing and I can still fit her on my back with some carries. And, well, because I'm so hooked I squeeze Sarah in here and there, too! But 40 pounds gets a little heavy...I can't believe how fast time goes by. I can't imagine our lives without her.
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Get Your Tissues ~ It's a Tearjerker
2008-02-06 06:06:00
Today I took Sarah to school, and her teacher handed me a small gift for Anna. When I got in the car I opened the card and it read:Someday she'll be a famous pianistor a high school science teacher.She'll settle down, marry, have a couple of kids.Maybe she won't.Someday, she'll help millions of peopleall over the world.Or maybe she'll travel,send letters from Africaor phone you from Rome.Someday, she'll be a strong,confident woman......but you'll always rememberthe first timeyou held her in your arms.Someday, she'll haveher own hopes and dreams,not knowing that once upona quiet time, you closed your eyesand dreamedto have her in your life.Yup, I sat there bawling like a lil' baby. The third paragraph is what really got me. It's so true I will never ever forget that moment. I remember it with Sarah and Ellen, too. Three of the most precious moments of my life. However, the last paragraph is not true. Hallmark missed the mark on that one. Anna already knows I dreame...

New Rank System
2008-02-05 16:25:00
I'm sure many of you have noticed all the blog lists and ranking sites I've posted links to lately. It's all part of the grand scheme of blog world. Well, the latest setup for Blog Rank s (and most important because it is a major influence on what PayPerPost opportunities I qualify for is IZEARanks.com.It was really easy to set up my account, and it's cool because it gives daily listings of what my rank is. Plus I can go and look at a chart of the past week, month or year to see if my ranking is improving. I love charts, graphs and the like. I can also look up other sites to see what their rank is (as long as they are signed up with IZEARanks.com). My only trick now is that I just switched the domain name on this site (you're getting redirected automatically - no worries or confusion should ensue), and I have to sit down and make sure that my ranking with IZEARanks.com follows suit. I'm sure it will. Everything else has been easy cheesy with my account on IZEARanks.com.A...
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The Toy War
2008-02-05 15:38:00
Ellen's third birthday is on the horizon, and after the onslaught of gifts for Christmas, Anna's birth and Sarah's birthday I'm just dreading the addition of more STUFF.What do I do? Is there a tactful way to handle this? People are so kind and generous, and I don't want to take away from Ellen's joy.I guess I just feel overwhelmed at times with the amount of stuff we have accrued. The girls have FOUR bins of dress up clothes. Yes, four. I love their imaginations when playing dress up, but we actually had to put it all in "storage"because clean up time was too overwhelming. I tried separating the clothes and only having one bin per week, but even that was too much. Not to mention they wanted things that were in the other bins (a constant issue that drained us all).Then there is the loft aka the dumping ground for the unused toys. The clutter of all their stuff gets to me when it's in the everyday play area. So, we've just tossed things up in the loft. And it's ja...

A New Look
2008-02-04 13:26:00
Well, I guess it's makeover time in my corner. The blog, which still has a few tweaks I'd like to fix, wasn't the only one getting a fresh start. On Saturday I asked John to get out the scissors (I'm too impatient to wait for an appointment at a salon), and 13 inches later here I am! I'll be sending the pony tail to Locks of Love. If you haven't heard of it check it out. It's a great program that makes hairpieces for kiddos that have lost their hair due to medical treatments.13 inches for Locks of LoveThe "After" Shot

Spreading the Word
2008-02-03 17:04:00
So, I joined Buzzfuse to help increase traffic around here. Doesn't it seem totally necessary to spread my innermost thoughts and feelings, and rants, raves, complaints across cyber space to as many people as possible? Well, it works like this ~ the more traffic there is here then the more traffic there is for BabyLossandHealing.com and that's my goal. So, yes it's worth it to spill my guts to the universe. And it'll be great if Buzzfuse helps do that!It was free to sign up, and you may see some links on some of my posts as a result. There is also an option to sign up for a paid account, and enjoy more bells and whistles.
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Somethin' brewin'
2008-02-02 16:16:00
Okay, two nights of decent sleep, and I'm ready to conquer the world!Get ready ~ a new look around here is on the way! I'm stirring up ideas in my head of what changes I'd like to make here on my blog. (I'm getting kind of sick of the blue and green!)And more importantly I'll be redesigning and doing lots of research for my heartstring, BabyLossandHealing.comI think we're finding our groove here, and I'm so excited to get working on the web sites. I really enjoy it, and it helps me feel like my brain is doing something "adult" (ABC's, 123's and Ring Around the Rosie doesn't totally cut it) Not to mention whenever I work on BabyLossandHealing.com I get a really good warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

Sleep Deprived Monster Mommy
2008-02-01 13:52:00
The Sickness has taken it's toll on my family's health. Even though I didn't catch the nasty flu bug it has brought out the worst in me. Yesterday was so tough. Anna has come down with the ick, and I think I've slept about four hours in the last two days, and those four hours were in a rocking chair to keep her upright and able to breathe.When I don't get sleep something switches in my brain. I become a monster.Yesterday I was a zombie. I didn't do any housework. I yelled at my girls. I didn't tuck them in with their lullabies. I didn't tell them I love them before they went to sleep. I can never take that back. I lost that moment forever.Because I was tired. I'm so tired. I've never felt this beaten down in my life.Somehow in my fogged state of mind I managed a few pictures yesterday, and looking at them now I know I can't let this sickness win.Sarah enjoyed an all class birthday party "doggie style"Ellen's face is smothered in PB & J while chewing an ap...
More About: Mommy , Monster , Sleep , Mons

World of Warcraft
2008-01-30 15:18:00
Okay, apparently I've been living in the dark a long time. Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of one of the most popular video games around, World of Warcraft . (If you're like me and have never heard of it - think Lord of the Rings meets the Internet or watch the video below for a humorous yet real explanation) Well, John signed up for a free trial, and I was hooked in seconds. Needless to say we treated ourselves to an account as birthday presents.Now, granted I don't have time to shave my legs, but SOMEHOW I've managed to attain level 10 with almost two characters. There's just something extremely relaxing about casting spells and beating the crap out of evil doers. The thing that really gets me is that the majority of my day is spent telling the girls repeatedly, "We don't hit. We are kind and gentle. Show respect to others. How would you feel if someone did that to you?" and on and on. And then the moment they slumber quietly in their lil' beds I'm whac...
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Chocolate, the best medicine
2008-01-30 07:01:00
This is what John came home with today! Yummmm. Thank you, dear.
More About: Medicine , Chocolate

The Cost of Pneumonia
2008-01-29 13:51:00
Okay it started last Sunday. Let's see what the running total is so far. (By the way, we visited Patty yesterday to have Sarah rechecked and Ellen checked out. Their status is gunky. Sarah needed drops for her ear infection, and Ellen is now on anti-biotics for pneumonia and also has an ear infection)$30 Co-pay for doctor visits $30 Co-pay to be re-checked in a week$20 Prescriptions for ear drops and anti-biotics$10 Lysol$ 7 Anti-bacterial hand sanitizer (great deal at the dollar store - I bought one for each room in the house)$14 Tissues (no joke - we've gone through about seven boxes)$ 5 Chap stick (one for each of us)OMG - over $100 and I'm just estimating. Ridiculous. There has been more expense, and yay for insurance or the ear drops alone would have been $95. To be honest I'm too tired to think. I have dark circles under my eyes. I'm so tired. This needs to stop. My family needs to get better. Thank goodness Sarah is on the mend. Within hours of her ta...
More About: Cost

Catchin' Fish
2008-01-27 13:34:00
In 2002 on an Alaskan halibut fishing outing we learned the "proper" way to catch a fish. It turned out nice that our catch was the biggest catch of the day. A 171 pound halibut. YUMMMM. Talk about good eats. And now we're "hooked" to say the least. Every year John wants to make a trip up to Alaska to stock our freezer.I uploaded the best footage from our trip to YawpBox (totally easy web site to use - you should try it!) Just click here to view it (yes, it's worth a click, trust me) Enjoy!Wow, that was over six years ago. It's amazing how fast time goes by!
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What a day! What a week!
2008-01-27 06:17:00
We couldn't shake that fever with Sarah, and, stupid me, I waited until 5pm on Friday to decide to go to the doctor. Rather than end up in ER all night long I gave her some Motrin, and we got up this morning to head in. Sure enough The Sickness happens to be pneumonia and an ear infection (the first ear infection at that - yay for breastfeeding). Five years is a pretty good run in avoiding ear infections if you ask me. Hopefully Ellen and Anna will follow suit. So, Sarah is now taking some mega antibiotics and within a few hours there was a noticeable difference in her sparkle. YAY!Ellen is running a slight temp this evening so she went to bed with a shot of Motrin in her system. Hopefully she will knock out the virus before it goes bacterial like Sarah. Either way I'm making an appointment with Patty next week to have them both checked out.During our outing into the world we loaded up on more tissues, anti-bacterial hand sanitizer, and new toothbrushes. Upon returning ho...
More About: Week

Photo gifts
2008-01-25 22:58:00
I have my mother, mother-in-law and grandma's birthdays coming up. Gotta get them SOMETHING. Not to mention Valentine's Day. And I have three perfect models to use for a photo gift of some sort. Maybe I'll have a gander at Photo fiddle.com for some birthday and valentine's gift ideas.Photofiddle.com allows users to create beautiful artwork from any photograph. The perfect romantic, heartfelt gift for this valentines day and years to come. Use a vacation photo, photo from the past holiday, wedding photo, a beloved pet anything your partner loves.Photofiddle.com recently featured in the NY times, Oprah O-list, Better Homes & Gardens, USA Today and more.Over 30 art styles to choose from: Oil watercolor, pop art, collages and more.Art available on canvas or art print.
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Well, Hi there lil' Anna!
2008-01-25 17:04:00
Just press play. It's just what I needed after this dreaded week of The Sickness.
More About: Anna

The Sickness
2008-01-24 19:11:00
So, Sarah licked (YES, LICKED) the window of the Sea Otter exhibit at the aquarium last Friday.And here we are on day number five of battling the latest flu bug. Ellen is referring to it as "The Sickness ".So, here's my list of what we need from the store:Six boxes of Puffs PlusFour tubes of Chapstick (so we each have our own)Ocean (the air is so dry in our house - we need the moisture)FruitOrange JuiceSanityFive hours of consecutive sleepOh, wait, those last two aren't available at the store are they? Oh well, hopefully I'll find them somewhere.I am so sick of germs. I hate germs. I don't even like to use the word hate. But I'm so freakin' sick of fighting these bugs. And Sarah is going to miss a whole week of preschool. Preschool isn't free. UGHHHHH. Enough already! Oh well, at least the sun is shining! And thank goodness Anna and John didn't catch it.... yet.

I know I'm a SAHM because
2008-01-23 13:05:00
Don't get me wrong. I LOVE the fact that I can stay at home to care for my girls. In fact, I wouldn't trade it for anything. However, I realize there are a few things that have definitely changed since I became unemployed and started working. And these are some of the reasons I know I'm a stay-at-home-mom (who occasionally leaves the house for groceries and school activities).I wore my pajamas until it was time for bed, then I changed into my pajamas.I'm doing laundry at 3am because that's when I have the time.I read Go, Dog! Go! four times yesterday.I can recite 80% of all Disney movies.My favorite snack is cheese, crackers and raisins.My purse is a diaper bag.My idea of a spa day is taking a shower and going to the bathroom without anyone walking in on me.

Quotes from Ellen
2008-01-16 15:46:00
I have to write these down so I don't forget them. My little monkey cracks me up.Upon waking up a couple days ago: "Mommy my covers are all fruggled." "What does fruggled mean?" "They're all messed up."A while ago I showed Sarah and Ellen that any toy that could fit in a toilet paper roll was a choking hazard. Yesterday Ellen pulled one out of the garbage, put it on her arm and says "Look, Mommy, I'm a choking hazard."Once again a flu bug has entered our home. Ellen says to me, "Mommy, Sarah has the Sickness."There's more...will edit this later...gotta feed Pickle.
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All Smiles
2008-01-10 16:08:00
I have a theory that Mother Nature has babies change in phases to give moms the boost they need. Hence the changes in different trimesters (just when you can't handle another day of puking you move on to headaches/backaches and feeling kicks etc).Well, Anna has graced us with her grin, and just when I needed it too. I'm working on a better picture, but take my word for it, she's got sparkle!Just the boost I needed to get me through.
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Please Help Save Waterbirth International
2008-01-09 16:52:00
Last fall I had the pleasure of attending the Portland Baby Expo put on by Waterbirth International , and it was AWESOME. Unfortunately the future of Waterbirth International is uncertain.Please help Barbara Harper keep waterbirth alive!Waterbirth International may close doors. Here is a note from Barbara Harper of Waterbirth InternationalBarbara Harper wrote:.I cannot yet imagine a world without the voice and work of WaterbirthInternational - we get calls and emails every day from women who need helpconvincing one hospital or another to let them labor or birth in water. Ifwe die - a big part of the movement dies. Waterbirth has shown us all thatwomen know how to give birth and babies know how to be born. Waterbirthgave us "hands-off", sit back and let the baby out. I see waterbirthmentioned on Blogs every single day, not to mention Baby Story on the TV. Itook Waterbirth International to ACOG two years in a row - and was the ONLYbooth showing birth films to obstetricians and especia...
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Flying Purple People Eater
2008-01-08 15:57:00
Have I mentioned I have the mega dislike for thrush. Nothing seems to be working, so I've gone the route I'd rather have skipped. Gentian Violet. Paint my boob purple, and let Anna at it. Hopefully this will do the trick!
More About: People , Flying , Purple , Eater

Hair Loss
2008-01-06 16:18:00
Sarah and Ellen both lost hair on the backs of their head from rubbing on their beds and the bouncy seat. Anna is losing hers on top of her head, and I couldn't figure it out until after I burped her the other day. I snuggled her up and started kissin' on her. She's losing her hair from me kissin' on her! LOLNo time to blog... Anna is hungry, Sarah is jumping around excited about snow and Ellen. Well, Ellen woke up grouchy saying, "I think I have the sickness." Love that two year old noggin.
More About: Hair , Loss

We CAN do it!
2008-01-04 16:21:00
So, Mom and Dad departed Wednesday afternoon, and I had it stuck in my head that John would be off work until Monday. WRONG! So, yesterday was my big test. Just me and my girls. All alone. No help.AND THEY DID GREAT!I even had to run to town to fill a prescription (still battling that stupid thrush - pulled out the big guns now).I think it really helped that Wednesday evening we all sat down as a family and "revisited" our family rules:ShareHelp each otherHave funRespect (John and I love this one because it encompasses no hitting, biting, yelling, pushing etc. in a positive tone)Use mannersWith all the events and visitors we were all off track, and yesterday was tiring but wonderful. And I'm sticking with the "One day at a time" motto. It's just too overwhelming at this point to go any route.Wooo Hooo!! (theme song from Laverne and Shirley blasts through my head...)

Craving Normalcy
2007-12-31 19:19:00
I am so ready for life to get back on track. The past few weeks have been such a blur. Life just feels so out of sync. With my mom (and now dad, too) being here, losing our dog, gaining Anna, the holiday hustle and bustle, a birthday to celebrate for Sarah and just plain crummy weather my mind is frazzled.John and I have both struggled with our consistency with the girls, and it's showing. We need our everyday normal life back. And although I'm freaking about how the heck I'm going to care for the girls when it's just me here I'd rather be stressed about not being able to get anything done than have my mom looking over my shoulder 24/7 judging me with her silent eagle eyes and then reporting every breath I take to my grandma. Not to mention the girls have eaten like crap for a month. Ugh. So much I could vent about, but I know that will just get me upset. So rather I'm going to make a list of things I'm going to do to be the best mom I can be.Feed my kids every day.Sh...

Eat, Sleep, Poop Round 837
2007-12-21 18:33:00
Anna is thriving. Yesterday she had her two week checkup and "passed inspection".She has gained weight, and is now 6 lbs. 7.5 oz. When she came home (after pooping all that meconium out) she was just a wee 5 lbs. 15 oz. Go Pickle!Yes, Pickle. I referred to her as Anna Banana and Ellen corrected me. "Not Anna Banana, Anna Pickle. PICKLE!!" And the name is sticking. Of course, she's a sweet pickle.
More About: Poop , Sleep , Round