So, here's my list, and there is not much I could think of, so sorry for the sparseness.
DVDs:
Keeping the Faith
The Whole Nine Yards
Music and Lyrics
Anne of Green Gables
Any season of Gilmore Girls
Gift certificate for iTunes
Anything related to relaxing and de-stressing. I was thinking maybe gift certificates for prenatal massage, manicure or pedicure. I've never been anywhere, so I don't have a place to give you, but Matt could probably help with this.
food processor
Martha Stewart magazine subscription
And that's all I can come up with. But check out the first Christmas List post again, I added a couple things there.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Merrily we roll along
Well, I am not going to have to worry about gestational diabetes. I had a 3 hour glucose test today. Fasting for twelve hours and then drinking a bunch of sugar is not fun. I felt awful during the first hour, then I improved, but when I was finally able to eat lunch, I got the shakes. I wound up sleeping most of the afternoon. But they said the numbers were looking really good, so all should be fine.
Otherwise, I've had a reasonably quite week. I was with some junior high girls at a retreat all weekend, so I took Monday off. Tuesday and Wednesday were easy days and then I didn't go to work today (though I did do some work) and tomorrow is my regular day off. Of course, there will be a crazy week sometime in the future to make up for the restful week that this has been, but that's all part of being a youth director.
Gabe is well. He's been a bit stuffed up and I wish we could get him over that. It's nothing serious, just not comfortable for him. But he refuses to go to sleep at night so that is not helping him any. I wish he could just be a normal sleeper, but he's as difficult as ever.
He has had a growth spurt, and I am expecting another one due to the way he's eating. He maybe grew a bit taller, but his real growth was mental. He can do simple math now. He told me that he had two ears and if he took one off he would only have one ear. He can also look at some green beans or something and just say how many are there without counting each one out loud. Then, he discovered on his own that blue and red mix together to make purple and went on experimenting to make sure than no other combination also made purple. It is so fun to watch him grow. The ironic thing is that he got the math thing when he was with me, not Matt, and the art thing when he was with Matt, not me.
Matt says his week has been productive. He had to practice his conference talk for his group and they only came up with minor changes, so he will give the talk to a wider audience next week, but otherwise he is ready. The conference is the beginning of November in Tampa. I was tempted to go with, but he's not expecting to have much free time so I don't think it would be that much fun. It's possible he'll go to a conference in Spain this spring, so I think I'll hold on to my vacation time for that.
Otherwise, I've had a reasonably quite week. I was with some junior high girls at a retreat all weekend, so I took Monday off. Tuesday and Wednesday were easy days and then I didn't go to work today (though I did do some work) and tomorrow is my regular day off. Of course, there will be a crazy week sometime in the future to make up for the restful week that this has been, but that's all part of being a youth director.
Gabe is well. He's been a bit stuffed up and I wish we could get him over that. It's nothing serious, just not comfortable for him. But he refuses to go to sleep at night so that is not helping him any. I wish he could just be a normal sleeper, but he's as difficult as ever.
He has had a growth spurt, and I am expecting another one due to the way he's eating. He maybe grew a bit taller, but his real growth was mental. He can do simple math now. He told me that he had two ears and if he took one off he would only have one ear. He can also look at some green beans or something and just say how many are there without counting each one out loud. Then, he discovered on his own that blue and red mix together to make purple and went on experimenting to make sure than no other combination also made purple. It is so fun to watch him grow. The ironic thing is that he got the math thing when he was with me, not Matt, and the art thing when he was with Matt, not me.
Matt says his week has been productive. He had to practice his conference talk for his group and they only came up with minor changes, so he will give the talk to a wider audience next week, but otherwise he is ready. The conference is the beginning of November in Tampa. I was tempted to go with, but he's not expecting to have much free time so I don't think it would be that much fun. It's possible he'll go to a conference in Spain this spring, so I think I'll hold on to my vacation time for that.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Does stress ever end?
This has been a hectic week. Matt has been going into the lab almost every night (not to mention for full days) until the wee hours to run experiments. I have had meetings, and evening stuff, plus I leave tonight to take some of the kids to a retreat for the weekend. Wednesday I was on the go all day so I was exhausted.
Gabe went with Matt to work on Monday because Lisa wasn't available that day. He went to a meeting and he's telling everyone that he loves meetings. Of course they took him out for pizza afterwards, so what's not to love?
He's been learning about fire safety at day care lately. He has now learned how to dial 911 and talk to the operator. He practices with a pretend phone. He also knows "stop, drop, and roll." He doesn't like smoke detector noise, but he learned how to get out of the house and where to go at home and at daycare if they have to leave for a fire. He's quite the expert. :)
Gabe went with Matt to work on Monday because Lisa wasn't available that day. He went to a meeting and he's telling everyone that he loves meetings. Of course they took him out for pizza afterwards, so what's not to love?
He's been learning about fire safety at day care lately. He has now learned how to dial 911 and talk to the operator. He practices with a pretend phone. He also knows "stop, drop, and roll." He doesn't like smoke detector noise, but he learned how to get out of the house and where to go at home and at daycare if they have to leave for a fire. He's quite the expert. :)
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Out of spite if nothing else
Okay, we all know that chemicals like aspartame are not good for us, but I like to think my diet coke habit isn't a big problem. I was listening to Fresh Air on NPR today and Terri Gross was interviewing a woman who has been studying cancer and the causes of cancer. I don't remember her name, but I gathered that she was pretty important in the field.
She was talking about the problem with cancer research is that it is all focused on finding cures rather than understanding causes. She said that the problem is that most of the groups throwing money at research don't want to know the cause because the finger will probably be pointed at their own products, decisions, etc.
Anyway this woman pointed to aspartame as one of the most dangerous carcinogens. Apparently no one in the scientific community approved of aspartame for food use, but Donald Rumsfeld was a part of some committee that gave the go ahead. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't find Donald Rumsfeld to be a trustworthy person or a person that does anything for the greater good. He's seems to only ever be motivated by personal gain. So I've been polluting my body with a product that Rummy made possible.
So, I know I need to quit drinking it. Before hearing any of this I already have been trying to cut back, but now I am motivated by my immense dislike of Rumsfeld to stop drinking diet coke. It's hard though because I love all of it, the fizz, the flavor (all other pop is too sweet!), and the caffeine in a cold beverage. I also love that when I drink it, I don't feel so hungry. Nothing else compares. But I have to be strong...
She was talking about the problem with cancer research is that it is all focused on finding cures rather than understanding causes. She said that the problem is that most of the groups throwing money at research don't want to know the cause because the finger will probably be pointed at their own products, decisions, etc.
Anyway this woman pointed to aspartame as one of the most dangerous carcinogens. Apparently no one in the scientific community approved of aspartame for food use, but Donald Rumsfeld was a part of some committee that gave the go ahead. Now, I don't know about you, but I don't find Donald Rumsfeld to be a trustworthy person or a person that does anything for the greater good. He's seems to only ever be motivated by personal gain. So I've been polluting my body with a product that Rummy made possible.
So, I know I need to quit drinking it. Before hearing any of this I already have been trying to cut back, but now I am motivated by my immense dislike of Rumsfeld to stop drinking diet coke. It's hard though because I love all of it, the fizz, the flavor (all other pop is too sweet!), and the caffeine in a cold beverage. I also love that when I drink it, I don't feel so hungry. Nothing else compares. But I have to be strong...
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Christmas Lists and Such
All right. For Matt's side of the the family, Christmas will happen at Thanksgiving so that is why I am doing this so early. I hope that you don't feel obligated to get us stuff. I am only doing this here because it's convenient for me.
Several have asked what we need for the new baby. Truthfully, not much, but here's a list of what I could come up with:
Ellaroo Ring Sling (this is a sling carrier that I saw a woman with and thought, I like that, I have only seen it online at Babies R Us)
Mother's Touch Bather or similar (this is a baby "bath" that instead of being a little bathtub, it looks more like a bouncy chair that you can put into the regular bath. I know I've seen other brands, but that's the only one I could think of)
Bobby Pillow
Cloth Diapers (to use as burp clothes)
Some winter clothes
For Gabe, as tempting as the large toys are, please don't buy anything that can't be broken down for storage! We are going to buy him one large toy this year, the Play Wonder Kitchen from Target.
To go with the kitchen:
bakeware set
cookware set
apron and chef hat
(he does have play food, but it's okay you wanted to buy something like that)
microphone (there are several, ones that are attached to a music player, etc. we would prefer one where the mic worked on it's own so he can either sing with music or tell knock-knock jokes)
Shake n' Go cars
Geotrax
He still likes Thomas but he has so much of that now, I wouldn't know what to tell you to get, but he does love a tee shirt that he will soon out grow because it is really an oversized 2T, so maybe some Thomas clothes. He's still a 3T.
Jungle Book DVD
Charlie Brown Christmas DVD
Frosty the Snowman DVD
art storage box, these are only a couple inches tall and usually 11x17 or larger and designed to hold several drawings, etc. They sell them at art stores and Pottery Barn. (Believe it or not, I can handle get rid of some of it, but Gabe wants to keep everything, so we need storage.)
Matt wants a Segway. (I put this on here because he told me to have Gabe ask for one. These only cost $3,000, so don't even go looking, but feel free to give him a hard time.)
As for Matt and I, the stuff for the baby would make us perfectly happy. I haven't really given it much thought.
Matt would like the following DVDs:
Buffy, season 7
Spiderman 2
Harry Potter 5 (if it's out)
There are physics books I know he wants but a Borders or Barnes and Noble gift card is really the easiest way to go on that. If you want titles, let us know and I'll pin him down on that.
He could use new jeans 32 x 32 he prefers straight legs, and NOT the broken in look, his Old Navy ones have been favorites.
plain front cords, neutral color such as khaki, brown, grey, blue
tee shirts, M, just stuff he can wear to the lab, he's happy with plain colors.
I've been so worried about what the boys want or need that I haven't even given my list a thought. I'll have to get back to you on that.
Several have asked what we need for the new baby. Truthfully, not much, but here's a list of what I could come up with:
Ellaroo Ring Sling (this is a sling carrier that I saw a woman with and thought, I like that, I have only seen it online at Babies R Us)
Mother's Touch Bather or similar (this is a baby "bath" that instead of being a little bathtub, it looks more like a bouncy chair that you can put into the regular bath. I know I've seen other brands, but that's the only one I could think of)
Bobby Pillow
Cloth Diapers (to use as burp clothes)
Some winter clothes
For Gabe, as tempting as the large toys are, please don't buy anything that can't be broken down for storage! We are going to buy him one large toy this year, the Play Wonder Kitchen from Target.
To go with the kitchen:
bakeware set
cookware set
apron and chef hat
(he does have play food, but it's okay you wanted to buy something like that)
microphone (there are several, ones that are attached to a music player, etc. we would prefer one where the mic worked on it's own so he can either sing with music or tell knock-knock jokes)
Shake n' Go cars
Geotrax
He still likes Thomas but he has so much of that now, I wouldn't know what to tell you to get, but he does love a tee shirt that he will soon out grow because it is really an oversized 2T, so maybe some Thomas clothes. He's still a 3T.
Jungle Book DVD
Charlie Brown Christmas DVD
Frosty the Snowman DVD
art storage box, these are only a couple inches tall and usually 11x17 or larger and designed to hold several drawings, etc. They sell them at art stores and Pottery Barn. (Believe it or not, I can handle get rid of some of it, but Gabe wants to keep everything, so we need storage.)
Matt wants a Segway. (I put this on here because he told me to have Gabe ask for one. These only cost $3,000, so don't even go looking, but feel free to give him a hard time.)
As for Matt and I, the stuff for the baby would make us perfectly happy. I haven't really given it much thought.
Matt would like the following DVDs:
Buffy, season 7
Spiderman 2
Harry Potter 5 (if it's out)
There are physics books I know he wants but a Borders or Barnes and Noble gift card is really the easiest way to go on that. If you want titles, let us know and I'll pin him down on that.
He could use new jeans 32 x 32 he prefers straight legs, and NOT the broken in look, his Old Navy ones have been favorites.
plain front cords, neutral color such as khaki, brown, grey, blue
tee shirts, M, just stuff he can wear to the lab, he's happy with plain colors.
I've been so worried about what the boys want or need that I haven't even given my list a thought. I'll have to get back to you on that.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Hmm...
So, I am sorry that I haven't posted in more than a week. I've been a little blue lately, and didn't feel like writing about that, but I don't want to get in the habit of not writing.
I don't really know what's up with me. I know post-partum depression is common, but how about "partum" depression? I don't feel depressed exactly, and there is a lot of stress and frustration at work, but I feel disproportionately down.
Gabe is fun. He can spell mommy and he's working on daddy. He can recognize quite a few words and he wants to learn to read. I think I am going to make labels like "wall" and "door" and post them on the thing around the house. That way he can associate them and later I'll take them down and see if he can recognize the word. I think phonics are very important and we are working on letter sounds, but I think kids build early vocabulary by recognizing whole words. I am in both camps so we'll approach it both ways.
Matt is frustrated because he just can't get things done in the lab and he's up against a deadline for his conference in November. But he's done well with a paper that they submitted. He has a couple adjustments to make and then it will be accepted.
So that's where we are right now.
I don't really know what's up with me. I know post-partum depression is common, but how about "partum" depression? I don't feel depressed exactly, and there is a lot of stress and frustration at work, but I feel disproportionately down.
Gabe is fun. He can spell mommy and he's working on daddy. He can recognize quite a few words and he wants to learn to read. I think I am going to make labels like "wall" and "door" and post them on the thing around the house. That way he can associate them and later I'll take them down and see if he can recognize the word. I think phonics are very important and we are working on letter sounds, but I think kids build early vocabulary by recognizing whole words. I am in both camps so we'll approach it both ways.
Matt is frustrated because he just can't get things done in the lab and he's up against a deadline for his conference in November. But he's done well with a paper that they submitted. He has a couple adjustments to make and then it will be accepted.
So that's where we are right now.
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