Come on in, the senility is fine

My son, the kleptomaniac

2012-01-25T14:20:00.001-06:00

What do you do with a 16 month old who has sticky fingers?

It all started with my wallet. Mattias likes to go through my purse until he finds my wallet, then the little pickpocket runs off where I can't see him and pilfers through it. He's more attracted to plastic than cash and to this day I'm still looking for my medical insurance card and my Costco card. At least he left the Amex alone.

Then we had the "bear incident". When I take Elise to school, I schlep Mattias with me. As I sign Elise in and talk to her teacher about any specific instructions related to diabetes, I have to put Mattias down. The first few weeks of school, he would run into Elise's classroom, rummage through a pile of stuffed animals, and always emerge with the same old, white bear.

He would walk through the hallway of the school hugging and patting the bear, and retrieving it from him resulted in much wailing and gnashing of teeth. So Elise's sweet teacher graciously "gave" Beary (as he has been dubbed) to Mattias. To this day, he snuggles it as he falls asleep.

Mattias's latest "five-finger discount" was at a local grocery store. I was there with my Mom who was wrangling the tiny thief as I was buying some bulk steel cut oats. My mom turned around for a second, and when she looked back, Mattias was high-tailing it away with a fig newton that he had looted from the bulk section in hand.

I'm thinking I might need to keep a lawyer on retainer for this one... I keep telling him that his cuteness will only keep him out of trouble for so long.

Elise-isms

2012-01-08T16:39:00.001-06:00

Me: Elise, can you get me the Cheerios?

Elise: Sure Mom... are they in the pancreas?

Me (trying not to laugh): Actually, it's called the pantry

-I'm going to use my espada (sword in Portuguese) to scare off creditors (she meant predators).

-I'm a pirate... Ahoy ladies!

-I hurt my finger toe! (a finger toe is sort of the translation of toe in Portuguese)

The other day we were at the pedi for Mattias's 15 month well-child. Elise brought her baby doll with her and when the nurse asked her how old her baby was, Elise replied, "1 year... 3 months younger than Mattias."
Later, when I asked her how she knew the baby was 3 months younger than her brother, she said, "I just knew... my brain is pretty smart.

Elise's prayer from the other night:
Dear God, thank you for Momma, Papa, Elise (that's me), Mattias and Seven. What do you look like God? Are you an angel? Do you have a beard? Do you have short hair? Oh well, I guess I'll find out when I die. Amen.

How do you not burst out laughing at that???

-I like your new glasses Momma, you look fierce!

All I can say about that one is my child as no idea who Tyra Banks is, and I have nary a clue where she heard it from. When I asked her where she had heard the word "fierce" from, she said, "I just made it up!"

Lady of the flies

2012-01-05T08:17:00.001-06:00

You know how some people have a love/hate relationship with things? I have that with insects. Except that it's mostly hate/hate. Especially flies. I loathe them.

Unfortunately, I seem to have a little animal rights activist who majors in the welfare of flies on my hands. I am not authorized to harm flies in any way. In fact, she names the flies that surreptitiously sneak their way in to our house. Yup... she names them.

As in, "Mom, I haven't seen Sally around lately... did you do something to her?"

Or, "Don't hurt Elaine, she's my friend!"

Sigh. I've got to arrange some more play dates for that girl.

Anyway, as much as I would love to flyswatter the little winged menace back whence it came, all the while humming the Circle of Life, I refrain for Elise's sake.

Because years from now, I don't want her telling her therapist about how I used to kill her friends.

Having a bit of an identity crisis

2012-01-03T13:41:00.000-06:00

Not me. This blog.

I started it to be a dumping ground for the crazy that runs through my brain. Often I would litter it with posts about Elise. After Elise's diagnosis and the birth of Mattias, I find it harder and harder to find the time to post anything here anymore.

That makes me sad.

Writing has always been an outlet for me, and the written word helps me to express myself in a way that I cannot do through any other medium. For me it's never been about readership, comments or feedback (though it is always fun when I do get a comment or two). It's therapy; cheap and readily available for when I need it.

The main problem is time. Life is busy. Carving out a few minutes in a day to cobble together a post is hard. Especially with my attentions divided between this blog and my other one. When I look through my drafts folder, I see so many unfinished posts; lonely and forgotten like the awkward kids standing against the wall at a dance, waiting for their turn to come.

So the new year has me pondering what exactly I should do with this old dumping ground of crazy. And while I realize that this post does nothing but verbalize what's been knocking around in my brain over the last few months, it sure does feel good to get it out.

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas

2011-12-23T10:12:00.001-06:00

Mattias at 15 months

2011-12-07T02:24:00.000-06:00

As much as I'd like to post a Mattias update every month-a-versary, it looks like I'll be following the well-child visit schedule.

At 15 months, Mattias is a very busy boy. He wears me out, but I love watching the energy with which he tackles life. His motto is, "why walk when you can run?" And run he does, usually accompanied by the sweetest little squealing noise.

Nothing scares him and often I will come into a room and find him standing on top of something he should, most assuredly, NOT be climbing on.

He has discovered that NO ONE is as cool as his Mom (Dad is a close second) and will screech at anyone who tries to separate us. As enduring as that is, it's a little much when he grabs you by the lapels of your coat as you're trying to walk out the door to have dinner with a friend.

I love this boy... I love his spirit and how he enjoys making people laugh. I love listening to him say "Ao ao ao" when he sees a dog... usually as he's running towards it to throw his little arms around it's neck. I love how he snuggles with Seven, murmuring, "awwwwwww" as he pets her.

He is ALL boy and I am blessed that he's MINE!

First hair cut... not a happy camper

Couldn't you just eat him up?

My little ham

And... pose!

Bucket head! One of his favourite accessories

His first amusement park ride at six flags

Awwwww

Trying out his hallowe'en costume. The verdict is... a big, fat NO!

Crazy kids!

Bubbles!

Bahahaha! I love this picture! It looks like Mattias has caught a whiff of something unpleasant

Searching for the perfect Christmas tree

Peek-a-boo!

Happy 15 months, Mattias! Stay silly, my man.

Thankful for turkies

2011-11-29T10:45:00.001-06:00

It appears that I will only be blogging on major holidays now, and although this post is a very days late, it still doesn't change that fact that I am very thankful for my two little turkies. They make me crazy, but life would sure be dull without them!

Foraging for acorns

Pink rain boots and a dress make you jump higher!

Higher...

... and HIGHER!

You can't see her, but he's totally cracking up at something Elise is doing

Bubbles!

I think he knows he's cute

The stink-eye

Elise saw this hat at Target and bought it with her own money... my little fashionista!

She wanted to be a pirate

Always the little ham

Obligatory "kids playing in the leaves" shot

My little man... love him!

Beautiful

Duuuude!

Is there anything sweeter than a girl and her dog?

Happy Hallowe'en from Supergirl and a duck

2011-10-31T21:50:00.006-06:00

Seriously, have you ever seen such CUTENESS in your life?

I think not.

Happy Hallowe'en!

So it has come to this, has it?

2011-10-13T10:53:00.000-06:00

I had an appointment with my "lady parts" doctor the other day, and in the days leading up to the appointment, I realized something... I was actually looking forward to it.

Because let's face it, laying half naked in "the position" covered only by the thinnest wisp of paper all the while getting cozy with a speculum, is about the closest thing I'll have to a spa day anytime soon.

Don't get me wrong. I love my kids. They're awesome kids. In fact they are the greatest kids since the invention of kids (and yes; they are better, smarter, and more adorable than your kids)... It's just that they're always... there.

In fact, I don't even get to pee alone anymore. The other day, as I was sitting inside the toilet room (that itty-bitty room that houses your toilet inside the bathroom), I was joined by two kids and a 50 pound dog while trying to empty my bladder. It was all very cozy. A little too cozy for someone who used to have trouble peeing in a public washroom if someone else was in there.

And yeah, I hear those of you who are saying, "well, that's what you sign up for when you have kids."

Except that those of you who are saying that either don't HAVE kids, ergo have no voice whatsoever in this. Or you live in the land of grandparents and caregivers and you can leave your tiny shadows whenever it pleases you.

When you have a chronically ill child that needs specialized care, plus a 1 year old who I like to refer to as my "baby-on-crack", time without them just doesn't happen. "Date-night" around here includes two children, three bags and lot of screaming.

"Joanne," you say, "you sound so bitter!'

Nope. I'm really not. I'm just tired. And in need of some "me" or "me and the husband" time. You know that saying, "how can I miss you if you never go away?"

Yeah. It's kinda like that.

In the meantime, it is with great anticipation that I'm awaiting my sono appointment in a few days.

I gotta date with a wand wearing a condom.

Getting my savings on

2011-10-05T19:23:00.000-06:00

See all those diapers? All 1262 of them? How much do you think I paid for all those boxes?

I'll tell you... just under $100.

Plus I only paid $3 for the adorable dress that the adorable Elise is wearing in the above photo.

I used to go white water rafting to get an adrenaline rush.

Now all it takes getting diapers for 8 cents each to get the juices flowing.

I must be growing up.

The lost art of saying thank you

2011-09-20T12:48:00.001-06:00

I can remember when I was a wee slip of a lass writing not thank you cards, but thank you letters to people. My mom taught me from very early on that when someone is gracious enough to take the time and/or money to give you a gift, you need to say thank you.

It was called having manners.

These days, it seems that saying thank you has gone the way of the dodo bird. We have been to probably 10 birthday parties in the past year. I can count on two fingers the number of thank you cards we've received. In these cases, my issue isn't with not receiving the thank you, it's the fact that these moms and dads are missing a chance to teach their child a fabulous lesson.

We just celebrated not one, but two birthdays; Elise's and Mattias's. And today I took the time while Mattias was asleep to work on the thank you cards. I called Elise over and told her what we we're going to do, and why we were doing it. I wrote the message, and she coloured the card and signed her name.

She was very into the project and wanted to know who each card was going to and what she wanted me to say. What I hope she takes away from our little project together is that you should never be too busy to say thank you.

Right after Elise was diagnosed with diabetes, a few people brought us dinners. To this day it eats at me that I never sent out thank you cards. Oh, I wrote them... even kept them for over a year afterwards. But at the time I was too overwhelmed to try and find their addresses. It seems like such a small thing, but if you've ever faced anything as devastating as being told your 12 month old child will have a dangerous chronic illness for the rest of their lives, then you understand that something as simple as finding an address can be huge.

So I kept the cards, hoping that one day I could send them. But by the time I was able to get the addresses, too much time had passed and I felt silly.

In retrospect, I should have sent them. I think a thank you is always appreciated, no matter how late.

Recently, our house became a two-dog residence for about three hours. One very HOT afternoon, I looked out into our backyard to see a cute, small white dog running around. We don't have a back fence, and the land behind us is a huge open field that bobcats and coyotes like to frequent. So I grabbed the dog and brought her inside.

She had no collar, but our 'hood is very close knit, and I emailed around to find the owner. I then left it in the very capable hands of our neighbourhood matriarch, M and she came over to take ownership of the dog until the real owner could be found. Although cute, she was a yappy thing and Mattias needed to nap. I'm talking about the dog, not M.

To make a very long story short, the owner was eventually found (when she showed up at another neighbour's house asking about the dog, and this neighbour had remembered my email), and all is well that ended well.

Except, I have no idea who the dog belonged to. I never received a call. A knock on my door. Nary a thank you of any kind. Nada.

I wasn't expecting a parade in my honour, but left to it's own devices, that pup could have become roadkill or a tasty morsel for a wild critter. Not too mention it was 107 degrees out. I could have said, "let someone else deal with it".

Maybe I'm old fashioned. Perhaps being gracious is over-rated. Why take the time to thank someone for real when you can facebook or twitter them (dude, that sounds sooooo dirty).

I guess this is why I always find boxes of thank you cards on clearance at Target. Nothing like saying thank you for 75% off!

Just one more thing to blame on social media...

He's 1

2011-09-07T19:15:00.001-06:00

Dear Mattias,

Exactly 1 year ago today, as I write this, you were being born. Yes, I am writing your 1 year letter on the day of your birthday. Let's just say you keep me a little busy these days.

From your level of activity in utero, I should have known you'd be a wild man. I can still clearly remember lying awake at night, my poor bladder absorbing your kicks and punches.

Only these days, all your energy is put into giving me a heart attack. If it's dangerous, you want it. If it can hurt you, you make a bee-line for it. You have no fear of anything, and while that will serve you well later on in life, all it's doing now is aging me prematurely.

You have no time to snuggle, give kisses or demonstrate your love in any way. You are way too busy getting into trouble. You will, however, sit in my lap for a story. The reading of which makes you laugh manically for some strange reason.

You love to dance, bop and move to music. It captivates you, and makes everyone around you laugh. Which is fine by you, since you seem to be the world's biggest ham. And for the record, wearing a napkin on your head while we're out at a restaurant is okay now, but you should probably stop it by the time you're in your 20s.

This year with you has been a wild ride, my little man. I love your craziness... but let's try and calm down for the next 365, m'kay?

Love,
Your Momma

Twas the night before one...

2011-09-06T20:00:00.002-06:00

... and all through the city,
a little boy's screams could be heard
Teething certainly is...

CRAPPY!

Yes, I wanted to say it, but I decided to hold back.

As you could probably tell by the above bit a "poetry", Mattias has finally sprouted teeth, meaning he beat his sister by 4 whole months.

We're not going to tell her that, because she's a tad bit competitive.

If that wasn't enough, Mattias also took his first steps this month. How I have missed that wobbly drunk-baby walk!

The month preceding his first birthday has been the hardest yet, mostly due to the aforementioned teeth. I really don't remember it being this dramatic with Elise, but I'm ready to put Mattias on a 24 hour advil drip.

We have also discovered that Mattias is a bit of a ham. He'll do anything for a laugh, and when he gets on out of you, he'll do whatever it was that made you laugh in the first place over and over again, cackling like a madman.

Hard to believe that tomorrow my little man will be one. I love this little guy to pieces, despite his crazy ways.

Tennis anyone?

Hangin' with Seven

Showing he's man enough to vacuum, with a pink one, no less

Love those baby blues

I love these ones too

Trying to stay cool

Okay, I know that seeing my son climb the stairs with a golf ball in his mouth and the first thing I do is grab my camera is not a sign of good parenting... but come on! How funny is that picture?

Strike a pose

Enjoying a blueberry pancake

Smoooooothie!

I can't hear you!

But I'll blow you a kiss!

Enjoying his smash cake at his birthday party

Pulling sister's hair

Celebrating Elise's birthday... birthday buddies!

Keeping cool at the water park with Avó Teresa

She's 4

2011-09-04T07:55:00.006-06:00

Dear Elise,

When you have children, people love to tell you, "cherish these days, they will be grown before you know it." And while you are not yet grown, you are 4. Which is almost the same thing to me. I blinked, and my tiny baby morphed into a pre-schooler. They really must put some sort of crazy hormones in that milk.

Although I do miss you as a baby, you have grown into such an amazing little girl. You have the sweetest heart and I have never met a child that feels so deeply. I honestly don't think you have a mean bone in your body. Thankfully, your mother does and stands ready to give an atomic wedgie to anybody who dares to make you cry.

That's not to say that you are a wimp. Quite the contrary. You are probably stronger that most adults. Perhaps it's because of the diabetes, but I think it's just who you are; strong spirited.

Elise, you are beautiful; inside and out. And while most people comment on your outer beauty, I want you to remember to stay beautiful on the inside. You are kind. You are generous. You are loving and the best big sister to Mattias. I love who you are; a quirky, fun princess with a huge imagination and a heart to match.

Four years have now passed since the first moment I held you in my arms. And I have held you everyday since. It never gets old.

Thank you for making me a Mom. And happy birthday to my sweet little bean.

Love,

Your Momma

Come Eat Mor Chickin with us TONIGHT!

2011-08-29T12:13:00.006-06:00

I can't believe I forgot to mention this... but tonight (August 29), from 5 to 8 PM, the Chick-fil-A in Southlake is again donating a percentage of the proceeds from your meals to Team Elise. Last year, 60 of you joined us for dinner (along with 63 kids) and we raised over $400!

We'll be there starting at 5:00... come and have dinner with us and you'll be supporting Team Elise as we raise money to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes.

Click here for the address.

BTW, if you're able to and you haven't made a donation to Team Elise or registered to walk with us, just click here and then click on Donate Now from any page or on Join Team Elise from the Walk page.

A big thank you to Chick-fil-A Southlake for supporting Team Elise again this year!

When pretty is ugly

2011-08-25T09:26:00.000-06:00

In the midst of this record-setting heat, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to entertain and occupy my crazy children. Every morning I wake up, take a quick glance out the window, then turn on the news to confirm my fears. It's going to be another scorcher! 1256th day in row! No end in sight!

Sometimes I wonder if this is what it's like to wake up in prison everyday.

With the walls closing in, I'm trying to find fun and interesting places for Elise and Mattias to expend their energy while making a mess I don't have to clean up. This is how I found myself at our church's indoor play area the other day.

Upon walking into the play area, I could see these girls were going to trouble. Let us call them Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum (or Dee and Dum for short). They had that look. The "I am so cool and better than you" look. And at the ripe old age of 4, they had perfected the "us four and no more" mindset that seems to be so prevalent here in Texas.

Elise immediately went up to them and asked, "can I be your friend and play with you?" I sucked in my breath, because just looking at Dee and Dum, I knew what the answer would be. Sure enough, Elise came walking back to me with tears in her downcast eyes.

"Mom," she said, "those girls don't want to be my friend. They said they wouldn't play with me and to go away."

Now, anytime anyone hurts my child, be they 4 or 44 , my first instinct is to go all mama bear on their ass. Visions danced through my mind of grabbing them by their little blonde braids and dragging them to a corner where I could hiss into their ears all the mean things I could do to them (starting with cutting off those braids) if they ever dared made my daughter, or any other child, cry again.

Thankfully, I am an adult (or at least act like one on occasion), and decided to instead use this incident as a lesson for Elise.

"Elise," I asked her, "why do you want to play with those girls?"

"Because they're pretty. And I like their headbands."

(Apparently looks and fashion are important to my child. I blame Fred).

"Well," I said, "sometimes people can be pretty on the outside, but ugly on the inside. Do you understand? If you act ugly, and treat people not nice, then I think that makes you ugly on the inside. And it is much more important to be pretty on the inside than on the outside, don't you think?"

"Why?"

"Because, how we act shows who we really are. If we are mean, and make people feel bad, then we are ugly. But if we are kind, and helpful, and friendly; then that makes us beautiful. And if we act like that, that will be the kind of people who will be our friends."

Her face scrunched up and I could tell she was putting a lot of thought into what was coming next. "So", she said, "if I want people to be nice to me, I should be nice to other people?"

Do unto others, people. My 3 year old daughter gets it. Then why is it so hard for adults?

Thankfully, another little girl Elise's age came into the play area and was only too happy to play with Elise. Strangely enough, she too was shot down by Dee and Dum.

As much as I hate for Elise to feel hurt, I am thankful for the lessons she is learning. And thankful for a daughter that is beautiful... inside and out.

Like my new shirt?

2011-08-23T20:25:00.002-06:00

You know you want one.

photo courtesy of Elise.

This one goes to 11... it's one louder

2011-08-07T20:54:00.000-06:00

Happy 11 months to my crazy little boy. Heavy emphasis on the crazy. I love this little guy so much, but oy... he wears me out. I've discovered that if I put him down and turn my back for 10 seconds, he can get into the following:

-climbing the stairs.

-tipping over the dog's water dish.

-finding any bug/crumb/dust bunny/dog fur ball and putting it in his mouth.

-playing in the toilet.

The phrase, "where's Mattias?" is uttered often in our house. As well as; "Mattias STOP!", "Mattias, NO!", and, "WHAT ARE YOU EATING NOW???"

This month Mattias got sick for the first time since he was born. It was a pretty nasty tummy bug, and like all nasty tummy bugs, it started at 3:00 in the morning. He didn't let it slow him down, and we discovered he loves saltines!

His latest thing is giving kisses. And by kisses, I mean he sticks his tongue out and licks you. But it's cute... I promise. Especially when you ask him for a kiss, and he comes crawling at you with the most adorable, cock-eyed grin and his tongue starting to stick out.

He's babbling a lot these days, and as well as saying hi, bye, ola, Mama, and Papa; I'm pretty sure he said "Elise" the other day. While he does his Gollum-crawl around the house, you can often hear him muttering, "bucka, bucka, bucka."

We're still trying to figure out the translation on that one.

Like I said, I love this kiddo so much. He's 100% boy. He makes me tired. And a little bit crazy. But oh my is he ever-so-squeezable! Can he really be 11 months already?

Lunch time! Yeah... that IS a pink bib he's wearing... so?

Playing in baby jail

Trying to get him to sit still for a picture is like trying to herd a cat

He's hatching some sort of plot

That face sums it all up... he's CRAZY!

Watching some TV

Sweet boy

Mmmm, mashed potatoes!

Love his sweet face!

Trying to control the uncontrollable by peeing in a cup

2011-07-15T14:19:00.001-06:00

There is so much in life that we are unable to control. And to a person whose eye starts twitching at the mere thought of loss of control, that is a tough pill to swallow.

My life lately has been an exercise in "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference." Perhaps there's a lesson I need to be learning here.

Perhaps not.

All I know is, there may or may not be a curse upon our new house. And I seem to have lost my ability to control curses, because nothing is working. Let's look at the facts, shall we?

We move in. I notice that wasps have colonized the outside of our house. I cannot abide by flying, stinging insects. Bugman is called. Pricetag? $180.

Fred tries to use sprinkler system. Sprinkler system does not work properly. Fred calls guy out too look at it. Price tag to fix? $1500. We do not fix it. Fred does. For $4.

Ants have infested our upstairs bathroom. I will not share my house with insects. Bugman is called. Pricetag? Actually free... included in the $180 mentioned above.

Elise contracts a mystery rash. A very BAD mystery rash. That STILL isn't completely gone. Pricetag? Pedi visit + derm visit + over-the-counter meds + rx meds... you do the math.

Big storm causes tree limb to fall on Fred's car doing $3500 worth of damage. Pricetag? $500 deductible.

A car driving by (or something just as insignificant) causes another limb to fall, narrowly missing Fred's car. We decided to rid ourselves of this arbored-menace and have it cut down. Pricetag? $280.

Ants move their infestation to the downstairs bathroom. Bugman called yet again. Pricetag? Included.

Downstairs AC goes out. Home warranty people contacted. Run around given. Three different companies come to diagnose. Days go by. Part ordered from Texarkana. More days go by (apparently they are WALKING the part to Dallas). Phone calls made. Joanne is angered. Temperatures reach 87 degrees in the house. Joanne's head explodes. Eight days later AC is fixed. Pricetag? $134 + so much pain and suffering.

This is all in one month, people.

The latest trial is that there is a mole (or moles) in our backyard, threatening to do damage to all the hard work Fred has put into our lawn. I have been enjoying having a lawn that the kids can play on, as opposed to the obstacle course of weeds, fire ant hills, bare patches and mole holes that was the lawn at our old place.

We're not going down without a fight.

Today on the phone my Mom told me you can remedy moles by pouring urine down their holes.

And I was all, "really? Urine? I CAN DO THAT!"

So Fred got a cup and both of us made a contribution to the cause. We then ran giggling like a bunch of idiots to the backyard to pour pee down a hole. It was so awesome, I can't even begin to tell you. Finally... we were taking control of our own destiny (for FREE) and vanquishing the moles!

It's too soon to tell if it's working, but I finally feel like I've gained a little bit of control back in my life.

And if you're ever in our bathroom, and see a cup with the letter "P" written on it. Please don't use it.

For obvious reasons.

A perfect 10

2011-07-07T19:27:00.000-06:00

Happy 10 months to my baby boy! My very energetic, doesn't-take-no-for-an-answer, sweet, crazy boy. Lately his nickname is "Flash". As in, if you put him down, he's gone in a... that boy can move! His latest feat is climbing the stairs. He's going to give me a heart attack before he even turns one.

If possible, he has grown even more heart-stoppingly adorable. And speaking of growing... his doctor is satisfied with his growth rate. He's only in the 8th percentile for weight, but 75th for height, and he's maintaining, so we're happy. He's just a tall, skinny boy!

Ready for some cuteness?

Who can resist that face?

Play time!

Loves to splash

Yup, he's pretty much this happy almost all the time!

I'm gonna getcha!

Love those baby blues

Naked baby alert

Did anyone see the full moon this 4th of July?

2011-07-05T12:05:00.001-06:00

Happy Canada Day!

2011-07-01T10:23:00.001-06:00

When Elise was 10 months old, I took a picture of her holding a Canadian flag and posted it for Canada Day. It's become something of a tradition, and now I get to take pictures of TWO kiddos waving my favourite country's flag.

Happy Canada Day! As Elise said this morning, "I wish we could be with Canada for the big birthday party".

Me too, Elise.

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Channeling Gollum

2011-06-27T21:04:00.002-06:00

Mattias has a rather, ummmmm... unique way of crawling. We call it, "The Gollum".

Can't you just hear him muttering, "myyyy preeeeciousssss!"

Guincho!

2011-06-19T14:36:00.005-06:00

Thanks to one of Fred's friends (he lives in Belgium, but has a house in Portugal) we were lucky enough to be staying right by the beach in Cascais while we were in Portugal. If we had the windows open, we could hear the roar of the ocean, and we could see the beach, Guincho, from our back yard.

Sand castle time!

Hanging with my boy

Someone loves the beach

LOVES!

Did I mention Elise loves the beach?

Tiago came to hang out one evening

No, he did not throw her in!

Airplane!

Fred going for a swim

Beautiful sunset at Guincho

Stay classy Vancouver

2011-06-17T14:46:00.003-06:00

I'm sure you've heard all about the riots that took place after game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals in Vancouver. If you haven't, then:

The Canucks lost.

People rioted.

Please note that I don't think the latter happened because of the former. I think the winds of a riot were in the air no matter what the outcome of the game. It was so palatable, I could feel it all the way down here in Texas. Let's review:

There was a huge gathering of people in the streets.

There was alcohol.

Probably drugs.

Testosterone.

Stupid teenagers with no supervision and nary a brain cell in sight.

And I'm guessing there wasn't enough police presence to keep people in line. Because let's face it... mix all the above ingredients together and something is going to happen.

I actually got caught up in the riot that happened in '94. At the beginning, the whole gathering was rather positive. It all turned ugly when some jerkwad decided to climb up and traverse the overhead bus wires. He fell, and as the police tried to escort the paramedics into the crowd, the shoving began and the rest is history.

At least my 16 year old brain had the good sense to get the hell out of there.

I was very sad to read about the riots. Disgusted. I feel for all the store owners and businesses that were damaged that night.

But unlike some people, this incident did not make me want to revoke my Canadian citizenship. Nor am I ashamed about being from Vancouver. I recognize that a few (hundred) incredibly, stupid, horrible eggs does not a city or country make.

Did you know that the night of the riots, a facebook group was started? Its aim was to get people out to clean up the city the next day. There are reports that over 13,000 people signed up to help (although the actual number of people who showed up is not known), and almost all the damage was cleaned up by 11:00 am the day after the riots.

That's the Vancouver I know and love. Let's hope the people that tried to destroy it get exactly what they deserve.

National Boston Company

2011-06-15T21:00:00.001-06:00

Dear NBC,

This is not the first time I've written about your ineptitude as a broadcasting company. You may remember my letter about the Olympics.

My beef this time is with the dimwits you have hired as hockey commentators. And yes, this post was written after my beloved Canucks lost game seven to the bunch of hooligans (or angels, in your commentators eyes) from Boston, so you'll have to excuse the heavy dose of sarcasm.

So much was made of the Rome hit on Horton by your "people", that one would have thought Horton was a puppy. And Rome had tried to drown him. But it wasn't until well after game 7 had started that one of your commentators thought to mention the Canucks player, Raymond, who had his vertebrae broken by a Boston player. Actually, the hit wasn't even mentioned. Just the fact that Raymond was injured.

One hit resulted in a concussion. The other an almost career-ending injury. You showed the hit on Horton over and over again... ad nauseam. The Raymond injury was given very little coverage.

This just illustrates the extreme bias shown by your team of commentators (never mind that Mike Milbury used to COACH the freaking Bruins). The whole series could be summed up like this:

The Canucks sucked and the Bruins were the team of goodness and light. Good hell, one of your commentators even compared their goalie to Jesus.

I was unaware that the "B" in your name now stands for "Boston", because that is what anyone would have thought, had they tuned into your coverage of the finals.

When you show the Super Bowl, do your commentators favour one team over another? When you show Federer playing Nadal, are your guys all, "Federer, good. Nadal, bad."?

No? Then why the bias towards the American team? Look, I get that a Canadian team winning the cup is a bad thing for you and your ratings. But really, you're just trying to shove a game down a nation's throat that doesn't want it. Some of us watching down here actually understand the game, and it is annoying to no end to listen to what is supposed to be an unbiased call of the game.

At the end of the first period, your guys had already awarded the cup and named the MVP. That is just shoddy broadcasting. As is cutting the Canucks down every chance they got. I seriously think my 9 month old and my dog would have done a better job.

In closing, my advice is to fire the whole lot of them (except Pierre McGuire, who does a pretty good job - if they would only let him talk more), and hire a braying donkey and a foghorn to call all future games. At least that way it would be less painful to listen to.

Yours very truly,
Joanne

9 months

2011-06-13T18:26:00.001-06:00

The title of this post is supposed to be said like Mr. Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day off when he's informing Ferris's mother that her son has missed school 9 times that semester.

It needs to be said slowly. Deliberately. Emphatically. Because, crap-on-a-stick... I cannot believe my baby is 273.93 days (well, more than that now) old.

The moment of his turning 9 months happened somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, as we were flying back from Portugal. I was most likely wrestling with him; trying to keep him from pulling the hair of Spanish Dude, the guy that was sitting in front of us. I really should have let him have a go at it, as it was Spanish Dude and his merry band of idiots that kept waking Mattias up with their misguided notion that our flight was party plane central. But I digress...

This was a big month for Mattias, as he added a plethora of new skills to his repertoire. He now pulls himself up (yikes), crawls (ugh), claps and waves. He can also say; Mama, Papa, hi, olá (he's bilingual!), and Bob.

That last one needs some explaining. Mattias loves to bob up and down as he sits in his high chair. So we started to call him "Bob". And we would say, "Bob, bob, bob, bob" in tandem with his bobbing. So now he just bobs and says it to himself.

He seems to have turned a corner with his issues with eating, which has removed a huge amount of stress from my life. He has his 9 month appointment tomorrow, so we'll know if he's doing better weight-wise then.

I love this boy. So much. I love how Elise is his favourite person in the world. I love how busy he is, how inquisitive. I love his social nature... in Portugal, he was adored everywhere we went; waving and smiling at people from his stroller.

As always, I have uploaded some pictures of his royal cuteness. And a video that shows he can bust a move.

9 months... it just doesn't seem possible.

Going to the beach!

Loving Portugal

Sweet half smile

Love his baby blues!

Conked out

Duuuuuuude

Let's ride

Father and son

Rockin' his hat

Sintra!

2011-06-11T04:57:00.001-06:00

Hands down, one of my favourite places in Portugal is Sintra. Set in the lush hills outside of Lisbon, it is home to palaces, castles, steep, winding cobblestone streets, and one of Fred's favourite pasty shops; A Piriquita. We went up there at least three times during our trip. Here are some pics from the first visit.

At Cabo da Roca - the western most point of Europe

It was a wee bit windy

Don't worry, I was holding her tight

Silly girls

Cabo da Roca - the most western point on the European Continent

Poppa and his girl

Mattias trying some Portuguese cuisine... Caldo Verde (kale soup). He likes it!

Chasing pigeons

He REALLY likes it

Castle of the Moors (way up in the top of the picture) looking down on Sintra

Trying some unknown dessert at A Piriquita. For all my D-Moms, NO idea on the carb count!

Loving it

The streets of Sintra

Dancing and exploring

Sintra with the Castle of the Moors above

So pretty

Can you see why I love it?

Hanging with my boy

Rock star!

Love her!

My sweet girl

What a long strange trip it's been

2011-06-10T09:32:00.001-06:00

Want to know how to age yourself 10 years in about a 20 day period? Buy a house, lease out your old house, pack up the old one, plan an overseas trip, schedule a move for when you are out of the country, and then go on a 17 day trip with a 9 month old and a 3 year old with diabetes.

And don't forget to come home from your trip exhausted, jet-lagged, not having slept in 24 hours to a new house with all your possesions in boxes. Add in having no hot water or stove because your gas isn't turned on, and no phone/TV/internet because a company that sounds like "Verizon" screwed up your install, and you'll look a decade older in no time!

And I mention that our old house (which we still own and are leasing out) was broken into the night everything was moved?

Although the trip was amazing... it was also so very hard at the same time. I'm not sure what I was smoking when I agreed to it, but I sure wish I had some more right now. Planes rides that are 10+ hours are tough with babies and kids with diabetes.

This trip also had a very strange theme... locking ourselves in/out of things. We did this at least three times. I blame the very strange Portuguese locking system. Two of the times we did it, Elise was locked in somewhere with insulin active in her system (meaning she needed to be eating in the next few minutes). It was a little scary.

We visited some beautiful beaches, amazing castles, ate all sorts of yumminess, and had a great time with Fred's family and friends.

I will say this about the Portuguese people. They are some of the warmest, most welcoming, friendly, gregarious, and giving people I have ever met. Lest you think we're independently wealthy (buying a house then taking a 17 day vacation); our trip was booked with miles The house on the beach we stayed at in Cascais belonged to a friend. Another friend loaned us a car for the entire duration of the trip. A cell phone was also loaned to us, and when we went to the Algarve, we stayed at a friend's condo. I think the entire cost of our trip was about $2000.

And I was so proud of Elise's Portuguese speaking ability. She pretty much spoke Portuguese the entire time; with family, her little cousins, even strangers. One time she went up to a kid at a playground and asked him in Portuguese if he would be her friend!

It's hard to wrap up a 17 day trip in one post, so expect the next few posts to be all about Portugal, with a whole bunch of pictures thrown in! Hope you enjoy them.

The beach (Guincho) that was located right outside the house where we stayed in Cascais

Ready to go!

Let's get to the beach!

The girl loves her some ocean!

View from our backyard

How you bathe a baby when there isn't a bathtub

Happy Anniversay honey! Here's your house!

2011-05-20T15:24:00.006-06:00

Today is our 11th wedding anniversary, and we celebrated in style. Fred bought me a house (we closed last night at 8:30 pm). He also bought me a house for my birthday when I turned 28. Pretty awesome husband, eh?

Hopefully I'll get around to telling the story behind this whole crazy house thing, but for now I'll leave you with some pics of Fred and I.

Happy anniversary Freddie! Thanks for my new house.

I love this crazy guy!

He's 7... no wait, he's 8 months!

2011-05-16T15:04:00.003-06:00

Holy growing baby, batman! Mattias is 8 months old. And I can tell my life is about to be over very soon, for this little stinker has learned to pull himself up! Noooooo!

He's not yet crawling, but that's going to happen anytime soon. Just in time for a 10 hour plane ride to Portugal. If there was ever a time it's okay to drug your baby...

(I am so not advocating giving your baby medicine just so they will sleep... that was what is known as a JOKE!)

This little boy has personality to spare and a smile to go with it. He LOVES to flirt with the ladies... it is soooooo funny to watch. Anywhere, anytime... I catch him making eyes at any female who will smile back at him.

Being the mother of a little boy is soooo different than a girl. He is my little energizer bunny, always on the go. I love when he gets sleepy though, that's the only time he'll stay still enough to snuggle. So sweet!

Hopefully the 9 month update will be more in depth. And on time.

STANDING... and playing

Happy boy!

The stink eye

Sweet smile!

Toothless grin

What did I tell you about his smile?

ohmygosh, I want to eat him up!

My gift is a blog post, and Freddie... this one's for you

2011-04-30T03:06:00.003-06:00

April 30th has always been a special day. It's my Mom's birthday. I have probably 5 or so friends that also celebrate the anniversary of their birth on this day.

But best of all, it's the day that my wonderful husband came into this world.

I can remember, at the ripe old age of 20 and 3 months, telling my Mom that I was going to marry Fred. We had only been dating for a short time, but I knew this was the man for me. My Mom told me that there was no way I could know such a thing, but I guess we all know how was right on that one, eh Mom? I win!

Anyway, back to Fred. This birthday happens to be a big one. I won't tell you exactly how old he is, but it sounds like 40. And since I'm such a wonderful wife, I have put together a huge surprise party, with catering, hired a band, an airplane will do a fly-over with a banner reading, "Happy Birthday to the BEST husband ever!" And at the exact moment of Fred's birth, we will release 40 doves into the air.

No... wait. None of that will be happening. Because I am the crappiest wife in the world.

I had such plans for this day. I was trying to orchestrate a surprise (not the one above) that would have been so much fun. But it didn't happen. Because if 2011 has been the year of the crap sandwich for this family, then the month of April has been the big, stinkin' pile of sauerkraut on that sandwich.

I hate sauerkraut.

And I have dropped the ball, big time. And I hate that. Because Fred deserves so much more than a crappy blog post and a failed attempt at a birthday celebration.

Fred, I am so sorry. I feel like I failed you. I know our life has been so difficult lately, but that is no excuse. You truly are the most amazing husband and father to our kids that I could ask for. I also know I haven't been the most fun person to be around, but yet you still stand beside me, picking me up when I fall.

I don't ever really write a whole lot about Fred on here, but I wish all of you could know him. I wrote a post for our anniversary a few years ago,, and wanted to include an excerpt of it, because I think it paints the perfect picture of who Fred is:

He loves me despite my many quirks. Even better, he embraces them and doesn't try to change me. He is one of the hardest workers I've ever met, and has never complained once over the last 11 years that our family relies on him, and him only as our income source. Although our senses of humour are very different, he still cracks me up on a daily basis.

If you are lucky enough to call him your friend, you know how he goes the extra mile for the people he loves. If you asked for the shirt off of his back, he would give it to you. And his pants. And, if it wasn't so gross, probably his underwear too.

He doesn't get my love for Lost, but will watch it with me... mainly because it's in HD. He will sometimes show up at lunchtime during a weekday and bring me Chick-fil-a. On Sunday, he mopped the floors for me. I know he loves me and will do almost anything to make me happy. We're talking about a guy who has flown to 4 different states to see my favourite band 7 different times. Love? I think so!

Above all else, he is a wonderful, Godly man. He knows he isn't perfect, but tries his best to live his life according to God's word. He is an amazing example to our kids of what a husband should be.

Over the past 15 years (4 years dating, almost 11 married), we have gone hot air ballooning, driven through Europe, rafted 10 rivers, bought a house, hiked in Hawaii, been extras on an X-Files episode, racked up over $75,000 worth of debt, paid off over $75,000 worth of debt, skied Jackson Hole, jumped off a 30 foot cliff and made a beautiful daughter and son together.

I am so thankful for our marriage. I feel blessed beyond all measure to call Fred my best friend, father of our kids and best of all... my husband.

Happy Birthday Freddie. I love you.

And you can tell everybody this is your blog post
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

You can label me ticked off

2011-04-21T19:50:00.002-06:00

Dear speech therapist who was so determined to slap a label on my son,

On Tuesday, I brought my 7-month old son to see you because he seemed to have some feeding issues. Within about 10 minutes of meeting him, you had decided that he has Sensory Integration Disorder.

Your basis for this diagnosis? First off, he didn't like it when you donned those bright blue gloves and started touching his face.

I'm guessing that to a baby, having your face touched by some crazy blue hands that belong to a complete stranger is the equivalent of someone I just met giving me a pap smear. Please... say hello, introduce yourself and shake my hand before sticking that speculum up my bajingo.

You were also concerned that he didn't like to have his face wiped. How about I hold YOU down in a chair and proceed to wipe a towel repeatedly over your mouth and see how happy it makes you.

What nailed it for you is when he refused to eat your jar of nasty, no-name carrots. Well crap... I can't say that I blame him. If you had told me, I could have brought him something halfway decent. Perhaps he's a bit of a food snob.

Isn't 7 months a little young to be labeling someone? And what of these labels, anyway? Why does everyone have to be something. Why can't my son just be an adorably quirky guy who doesn't like to eat some days? You're saying that anyone who doesn't fit the standard (read: boring) mold, must have something wrong with them. What a crock. Take me for example:

I don't like the feel of corduroy or velvet

I can't stand shirts with only one pocket.

Crowds bother me.

I don't like people I don't know standing too close to me.

High pitched noises are like nails on a blackboard to me. So are nails on a blackboard.

I hate the smell of fish, I think football is boring, and I abhor it when people pee on the toilet seat and don't clean up after themselves.

I also don't suffer fools.

Gee, if you were recommending 60-90 minute therapy sessions, 3 days a week for a baby that didn't want to be touched by you, I can only imagine that you would have me institutionalized.

You know what, despite my many issues... I turned out pretty okay. Without intensive therapy.

I respect that you went to school and received your degree in this, but my gut, mom-tuition, and bullshit detector trump those letters after your name any day.

Yours very sincerely (and quirkily),
Joanne

Take me out to the ball game

2011-04-09T20:44:00.008-06:00

On Wednesday we decided to take our kiddos to see the (then) undefeated Texas Rangers. I was a little bit leery because three years later, the memories of Elise's first game still haunt me. There was much screaming. And home runs by the Rangers. That second part is important because every time the Rangers would hit a homer, the fireworks would go off and the screaming would start anew. I think we left after the 3rd inning.

Strangely enough, the Rangers were playing the same team as Elise's inaugural game... the Seattle Mariners. I hoped that wasn't going to be a sign. Thankfully, despite arriving a few innings late, we had a great time. Elise LOVES going to the ballpark, and Mattias did amazing, falling asleep towards the end. And the Rangers won, so.. Woo-hoo!

Go Rangers!

Already a fan at 6 months

Doing the wave

Love. Him.

Starting to get tired

Sleepy boy

Almost there

Aaaaand... he's OUT!

Rangers win!

Shots of joy

2011-03-25T14:17:00.007-06:00

If you read my other blog, you know that life has been rough lately. Actually, rough is a bit of an understatement.

The other day, as I was sitting around bemoaning my situation, it dawned on me that maybe the reason joy was lacking in my life was due to the fact that I was sitting around, waiting for joy to come to me.

So I packed up the kids, headed to a local park, and went looking for joy. And you know what?

I found it.

I found joy in his beautiful baby blues

In her fearlessness

In the fact that she actually let me put jeans on her today, and declared, "you know, I don't really mind wearing jeans."

In his adorably, crazy hair

In open-mouthed looks of wonder (a fire truck was driving by with lights and sirens)

In her smile

In trying new things, and liking it!

In seeing just how big she really is

In swinging...

Swinging...

Swinging! And loving it!

Even in trying new things and hating it (not a big fan of the grass)

In seeing beauty, everywhere.

Elise-isms

2011-03-23T19:50:00.002-06:00

I've been calling these posts, "Things Elise Says", but I think I'll steal Jade's idea and call them "Elise-isms".

I'm from Canadian (for some reason she thinks the U.S. is called Canadian. I'm from Canada, but she's from Canadian. Love it!)

Hey Mattias, what's up with your bad self? - I overheard her say this to Mattias the other day.

Me: Where do you want to go for dinner, Elise?
Elise: The place with the cooker and the choo-choo train
Translation: Benihana... that girl has some expensive tastes!

You make my heart happy - she said this to me the other day.

Me: Hey Elise, what is you're favourite thing about skating?
Elise: Falling down

Oh, that's so lovely! - her response to me telling her that the quilt we were using was made and given to her by Liz, one of her favourite people.

Mom, I'm going on an airplane to visit God in heaven, okay? - I went downstairs to find her sitting on the sofa with her backpack, and children's bible.

Me: Elise, it's time to stop whispering and go to sleep!
Elise: I'm not whispering, Mom... I'm talking to God.
How am I supposed to argue with that?

Yeah... they're pretty cute

2011-03-18T20:51:00.002-06:00

These videos were shot almost three years apart...
(there's sound in both of them, so have your speakers on)

6 of one...

2011-03-09T08:54:00.000-06:00

Dear Mattias,

Just 6 short months ago, you made your appearance into our lives, yet I cannot remember a time that you were not a part of this family. Life with you these days is so much fun, albeit busier than I ever thought possible.

It is a gross understatement to say that you are THE happiest baby in the world. And it's not just your biased Mom saying this. It is everyone who comes into contact with you. You are quick to smile and laugh, and your little boy "chortle" makes my heart super happy (sorry, your sister has damaged my brain).

For some reason, you are wary of men. If one even approaches you, your eyes get ever-so-watchful, and your mouth starts to twitch; ready to scream lest someone without breasts (who isn't your Poppa) try to wrest you from my grasp. But oh my... you love the ladies, charming them with your baby blues and gummy grins.

You love your sister, who has taken to calling you Teeus. She entertains you daily with her singing and dancing routines. In return, you grab onto her hair and pull, squealing with great delight at your prize. Thankfully, she finds this funny. I pray that you grow up being great friends and remain close throughout your life.

You have discovered your "man bits", and like to grab and twist your junk at every opportunity. Now granted, I do not own this particular piece of equipment, but it is my understanding that doing that should hurt. Not so with you. You are a very strange little guy. I love you for that.

You are rockin' the "ba ba ba ba" and "ma ma ma ma". In fact, you are very vocal, and make many wonderful sounds. I just wish you wouldn't wake up 3 or 4 times a night and make them.

Little man... there is just so much to love about you. The way you pull back when I'm holding you so you can look at my face and smile. The way as soon as anything comes within your reach, your tiny hand shoots out to grab at it. Your crazy red-ish hair that never lays quite right. Your eyes. Your grin. The way you smell.

You are wonderful and I love you. Happy 6 months Teeus!

Those eyes... that smile!

Just chillin'

Father and son

Let's go for a ride!

Sleeping baby

400!

2011-03-02T18:46:00.001-06:00

Posts, that is. Actually, this one is number 402.

So, because I can, here are some more seemingly random facts about lil ol' me. Because it's my blog and I'll post meaningless drivel if I want to.

1. I have now had 8 surgeries (femur x3, jaw x2, knee and c-section x2). That's a whole lotta slicing and dicing. At one point I had 2 plates, 9 screws, and 2 pins inside of me.

2. When I was a kid, I used to find money. A lot. The best was when I found $10 at the age of 8 or so. People used to think I was lucky, but I just walked with my head down a lot.

3. I don't like Disney World/Land. Adults who go without kids strike me as a wee bit creepy.

4. I am the mother of a boy who is almost 6 months old, and I haven't been peed on yet. Although now that I've said it, I'm expecting it to happen any diaper change now.

5. If I ever won the lottery (or came into a lot of money somehow), I would donate a good chunk of it to diabetes research for a cure, pay off our house, and then invest what is left over. No crazy splurges for me. I'm boring like that. Mmmm, wait. My one splurge would be to get all my D-Peeps (fellow parents of diabetics, and persons with diabetes) together for a weekend of fun.

6. Both my babies were born the day after labour day.

7. I think Conan O'Brien is (was? still is?) the absolute funniest late night host. Leno is okay (although my opinion of him went downhill after the whole Conan thing), and Letterman is nothing but a creepy old man who stares at the chests of his female guests. And he's not funny at all. And he's gross.

8. My 30th birthday (on which I turned 30 on the 30th - isn't that your golden birthday or something?) was pretty much the BEST birthday EVER! We were in NYC, and I got to see a taping of Conan. Plus My favourite band, the Hothouse Flowers were performing on a boat that cruised around the Statue of Liberty that night and they had the whole boat sing me Happy Birthday. Gush, gush, gush! Oh... I just happen to have a picture from that night... don't I look rested and happy?

9. Actually, 2006 was the best year ever. White water rafting in Idaho (no, you da ho), NYC trip, Hawaii, and we found out we were pregnant with Elise... on Christmas Eve, no less.

10. I just cut off 8 inches of hair. Because I have so much hair, it was enough to donate two ponytails... except in all the ensuing chaos of trying to get the house ready for showing, I can't find the baggie of hair I was supposed to mail. Hopefully a potential buyer won't stumble across it as they walk through our house. That would be a little weird.

So tah-da. Ten things about me! Plus one uber-cute picture of my kiddos.

What's up with us

2011-02-25T16:10:00.006-06:00

If it seems like I've been quiet lately, it's not without good reason. Lots o' stuff going on around here:

The Good:

-Two adorably cute kids who are getting more adorable as the days go by... and more exhausting. I seriously love these two, but... Oh. My. Damn. Why doesn't my three year old nap anymore? Or my 5 month old for that matter?

-We put an offer on a house. It is totally an amazing house. I love it so much I might just run away with it to some deserted island for the rest of our lives. Caper about in loin cloths and live off the land and sea.

Anyway, it's under contract right now, which brings me to...

The Bad:

-We have to find a buyer for our house. Also, we have to make our house presentable enough for said buyer to walk through our house. Easier said than done with my offspring, and one fairly neurotic dog underfoot.

The Ugly:

-There hasn't been much sleeping around these parts lately. Mattias has decided he likes to rock and roll all night, as well as party every day. It's been bad. Like, I want to run away bad. Or, I am going to go play in traffic so I can get hit by a car and rest in the hospital bad. We've also been dealing with high/low blood sugars during the night as well as night terrors with Elise. It is so freaking exhausting.

Soooo, that's it. Hopefully things will be getting back to normal on all fronts very soon.

Seriously? Has it been 5 months?

2011-02-07T05:08:00.000-06:00

Wow, my little man is 5 months old today... I cannot believe how big he's gotten. Mattias is a tall (long?) skinny baby, and he's already outgrown some 6 month clothes. I love how he loves his big sister and absolutely lights up when he sees her. Nobody can make him smile like Elise.

He can sit up for about 5 - 10 seconds at a time, thinks that sleeping during the day is for the birds, and really, really wants to eat actual food (we're waiting until 6 months on the advice of our doc).

Happy 5 months, Mr. Man! We love you and love you!

Now... enjoy these uber-cute pictures!

He loves to smile

Love. Him.

Me and my little man... I seriously look like I need to go to sleep for about a week. It's pretty much how I look all the time

Little boy blue... and he looks good in it!

Love this face... mwah!

Mattias's first snow. In Texas. Yes... Texas

2011-02-04T21:37:00.005-06:00

Okay... technically it's not his first snow, as I seem to recall a dusting that happened either earlier this year or late last year. But it was all melted by noon, so it doesn't count. This? We've been stuck in our house since Tuesday, so I think this officially counts.

Snow baby!

Elise showing Mattias how to make a snow angel

Holding both Mattias and the camera... kind of a tricky shot. Cute, nonetheless

The girls from next door came knocking, asking if Elise wanted to come out and build a snowman... how sweet are they?

Elise and the girls posing with "Heart" (named by Elise). Heart's eyes are lifesavers and the mouth is one of those candy fruit slices. I have finally found a use for leftover Halloween candy!

Snow Day in Texas. Yes... Texas

2011-02-04T12:51:00.000-06:00

If it wasn't for the precarious ice hidden beneath the snow on the roads (making it a wee bit dangerous to navigate them), I would so be digging this. It is, however, way better than a Texas summer. You can always put clothes on, but walking around naked is not allowed (at least, outside the house).

Here are a few shots of Elise enjoying the white stuff. I might try to wrangle Mattias into a snowsuit later. You know, if I'm feeling a bit crazy.

Pause

2011-02-03T07:05:00.001-06:00

Mattias just moved into his crib the other night (okay, so I started this post over a month ago. These days I only have time to write one or two sentences a day. Who knew that kids would be so time consuming?). At almost 4 (5) months old, he was just a growth spurt shy of being too big for his bassinet, so we found some time and mustered up the energy to put his crib together.

As he lay in his new digs, grinning gummily and gurgling happily while he looked around, my heart broke; just a little bit. Even though he looked so itty-bitty in there, my little boy was getting bigger.

Which, of course, is one of your goals as a parent. You could never win Parent of the Year if your children shrank, am I right?

But it seems we are in such hurry for our kids to grow up, we come down with a bad case of "Can't Wait-itis". We can't wait for them to leave the "lump" stage/start smiling/sleep through the night/sit up/eat solid foods/say Mama/start walking/talk in sentences/go to school... We wish they would grow up so fast that we blink and before you know it, they're coming to visit you for the holidays in their mini van with their 2.5 kids.

Lately, when the time affords me, I've been sitting in the rocking chair with Mattias before his nap time. I love the feeling of his body curled into a perfect fit in my arms as he slowly drifts off to sleep. Of course, all the "experts" will tell you this is horrible parenting technique and I'm setting him up for a life of failure and a penchant to rob banks by not allowing him to fall asleep on his own. Since they only fit in our arms like that for such a short period of time, I am going to take advantage of it for as long as I can.

Since no self-respecting 18 year old should be sleeping in a bassinet, I knew this day was coming. I just wish it didn't make me so sad.

Just say NO to N2O

2011-01-31T13:38:00.001-06:00

Do you know what's worse than having to go to the dentist?

Having to go to the dentist, falling asleep in the chair, and waking up with vomit all over you. From the "it could only happen to me" file...

I was actually looking forward to having some cavities filled. The last time I went, they used the nitris on me and I swear, he could have drilled a hole in my head and I wouldn't have cared.

But this time was different. Maybe they cranked it up too high. Maybe it was the two hours of sleep I had the night before. Maybe it was the one lonely piece of toast sitting in my stomach. All I know is one minute I'm asleep, and the next I have spewed all over myself.

It was pretty miserable and I felt so bad for the dentist and hygienist that had to work with me reeking like that.

I left the dentist's office feeling awful (and in fact emitted one more technicolour yawn before I departed), and it lingered the rest of the day. Fred and I even had to cancel our long-awaited date night sans kids (my mom was in town).

So no more nitris for me. Too bad, going to the dentist was almost as good as a day at the spa.

Please sir, can I have some more?

2011-01-26T20:24:00.002-06:00

Have you ever have one of those days where you wake up and as the sun streams through your curtains, you are 100% certain today is going to be a great day? Maybe it's the fact that you slept an extra hour in addition to your usual allotted 4. Maybe it's the sweet baby coos coming from the crib in the corner of your room. Whatever it is, you leap from your bed in the greatest of moods.

And then fall flat on your face as the day decides to trip you. Then it kicks you in the crotch while it spits in your face and gives you a wedgie.

It wasn't just one big thing going wrong, just millions of little ones:

Like whatever plague has infested my body since mid-December has reared it's ugly head again and I'm coughing up stuff that must be radio-active, it's so green. I think a high pressure system has moved into my sinuses and my head just might explode soon.

Like my son spitting up everything he ever ate all over me several times today. A girl only has so many pairs of sweat pants.

Like the attitude of my kids making me seriously contemplate changing their names to Crabby and Clingy.

Like when I do decide to indulge myself and hop in the shower for the first time in 2 days, Clingy can't handle the two minutes I'm away from him, and Crabby won't even entertain the thought of entertaining him.

Like Crabby melting down at the slightest thing; "my hand hurts, I don't know how to do that (dress herself - yes she does), I can't find my slipper, the dog is looking at me, the bathroom is cold, my leg hurts, I want a pink spoon..." Oh, the drama.

Like Clingy deciding he wants to be held. All day. And not in a sling, or a carrier. Nope, only two human arms will do.

Like me stress-eating an entire bag of kettle corn (okay, that was about the best thing that happened today).

Like Clingy rockin' the 45-minute intruder. Every. Single. Nap (for those non-parents, the 45-minute intruder is where your child inexplicably wakes up after only 45 minutes. And they're not very happy about it and won't go back to sleep).

Like Crabby throwing the fit to end all fits because I wouldn't let her wear a dress. Because we were painting and I asked her to wear clothes that I didn't mind getting paint on them. The conversation went something like this:

E: But I don't want to wear those clothes. I want a dress.

Me: I don't want you to get pain on any of your dresses.

E: But I won't be a princess.

Me (thinking Walt Disney needs a serious knee to the groin for his role in the whole princess scam): Princesses wear pants too, Elise.

E: But I won't look pretty.

Me: Clothes don't make you pretty, it's who you are and your ATTITUDE that makes you pretty.

E: But I will look like a boy.

At this point I tell her she needs to stop arguing. It's those clothes or she doesn't get to paint. And if she continues to argue with me, I will take all her dresses away and she'll have to wear pants from now on (yeah, okay... a little extreme. But we have this argument word-for-word EVERY. TIME).

Well, you'd think her dresses were actually puppies and I had threatened to drown them by the way she reacted.

And even though I wanted to run out the door, leaving Seven in charge, I didn't. I kept my cool. I counted backwards from 1000. I muttered expletives under my breath.

And after Fred came home and we ate dinner... I went to Target. Strangely, it helped.

It's a good thing my kids are just too cute...

Thankful to be married to a REAL man

2011-01-21T18:48:00.000-06:00

For some reason I've started listening to sports talk radio. I like sports, the announcers tend to be funny, and most other talk radio tends to make me grind my teeth lately.

But the other day I was listening one guy (let's call him jack-wagon #1) complain to his co-hosts that he had the day off that coming Friday, but his days off are never really a day off. Because his wife expects him to help her out with the kids. Then jack-wagon #2 says something to the effect of "your wife doesn't come up here and do your job on her days off, does she?" Jack-wagon #3 didn't say much on the matter, leading me to believe he's either smart, or not married.

Really, JW #1? Really? First off, you're griping about your wife wanting a little help from you when you're home? Let's put aside the fact that YOUR job consists of talking about sports with a bunch of guys. I've worked in radio, and it's FUN. Yes, yes... there is a scant amount of work invovled, but you mostly sit around and talk about poop, farts, and sports. In that order.

Do you realize that your wife doesn't get a day off? A weekend? A chance to sleep in? A coffee break or a lunch hour? Did you know that being a mom is a 24/7 job and you don't get vacations? Or sick days? A paycheque???

Having worked in radio, I know the perks... free tickets to concerts and sporting events. Radio SWAG (stuff we all get), meeting famous (or semi-famous people). Free food that restaurants lavish upon you for a good word or two. Yes, the perks are many, but jack-wagons of the world, I've got you beat.

My perks come in the form of sloppy wet kisses. My son's first toothless grin. My daughter telling me, "I just love you so much". Listening with pride as my three year old spells her name out loud for the first time. Storytimes and snuggles. A baby snoozing in my arms. That, Mr. Jack-wagon beats your day-old doughnuts and crappy hat that will be out-of-date by next week because your radio station changes format for the 5th time in 24 months, hands down.

And Mr. Radio jack-wagon? The next time you want to gripe about having to help your wife out with YOUR kids (that I'm assuming you had a hand in making); grow a pair, and be a real man.

That is all.

Holy 4 Months Batman!

2011-01-09T20:57:00.005-06:00

It is quite appropriate that the song we used in the video for Mattias's birth announcement was "Stolen" by Dashboard Confessional. The chorus contains the words, "you have stolen my heart", and this little guy certainly has.

He has the sweetest little personality and the best toothless grins ever. Although he has just decided this sleeping thing is for the birds and it's making me a little crazy, he doesn't really get cranky due to lack of sleep, and he's doing well at making it though the night.

Due to the craziness of life lately, I missed posting this on his actual 4 month-aversary, but it was one year ago today that I first suspected he was on the way (confirmed two days later).

I can't get enough of his sweet smile. Happy 4 months, Mattias!

Joanne's year in review

2011-01-03T13:05:00.002-06:00

I shamelessly stole this last year from another blog... Thought it would be fun to re-post for 2010

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
Made a video that got over 12,000 hits on Youtube, and was shared over and over on facebook and other blogs. you can click here to see it.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Still not into the whole resolution thing.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yeah... ME!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.

5. What countries did you visit?
Canada, baby! Woo-hoo! I got to spend two wonderful weeks in Vancouver.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
Same answer as last year... please to have MORE SLEEP!

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Sept.7 - the day my sweet baby boy Mattias was born!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Taking care of a newborn, and a little girl with type 1 diabetes and not losing my mind.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Hmmmm

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Have you read any of my posts about my pregnancy? Bleh, strep throat x 2, food poisoning... and that was just in the first trimester.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Fred got a new car

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Fred's... he is one amazing husband!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Meh, moving on...

14. Where did most of your money go?
Medical supplies. Isn't that sad?

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Trip to Vancouver
Getting our green cards
Fred's promotion
Birth of Mattias
Elise starting pre-school
JDRF walk , with more than 80 people walking for Team Elise and raising over $16,000.

16. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Soul Sister by Train, because that's what Elise wanted to dance to every night before bed.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? Probably the same.
b) thinner or fatter? About the same... glad to say I've lost all my pregnancy weight!
c) richer or poorer? Richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Sleeping and traveling.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Throwing up.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Got Elise up. Breakfast. Presents. Snack for Elise. More presents. Lunch at a friend's house which turned into dinner because we never got around to leaving. Who know South Africans could be so much fun???

Okay, that's last year's answer... because we did the exact same thing this year!

21. Did you fall in love in 2010?
Have you seen a picture of my son???

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Amazing Race

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I don't hate. There are people that make me very sad, but I don't bother wasting my energy on hate.

24. What was the best book you read?
Who has time to read anymore?

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Sorry, I mostly listen to talk radio.

26. What did you want and get?
To go home.

27. What did you want and not get?
A cure for diabetes

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Easy A... funny movie!

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 38 weeks pregnant... I don't think I did much. I turned 34.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If I just could have gotten more sleep (are you sensing a pattern?)

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Pregnant lady just tying to be comfortable.

32. What kept you sane?
Blogging and all my D-Momma friends

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Nobody.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Ummm, I don't really have time for politics. Or the right to vote.

35. Who did you miss?
Family. Canada.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Mattias

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Life may suck right now, but it will get better. Then it will suck some more, but get better again. It's all about rinsing and repeating...

38. What are you looking forward to in 2011?
Buying a new house
A trip to Portugal
Raising money for Team Elise
Starting a project that I've been thinking about for a few years.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"There's only one thing that I know how to do well
And I've often been told that you only can do
What you know how to do well
And that's be you,
Be what you're like,
Be like yourself,
And so I'm having a wonderful time
But I'd rather be whistling in the dark"

-Whistling in the Dark, They Might be Giants

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

2010-12-24T20:45:00.000-06:00

Deck the jingle bell rockin' around the O Christmas Tree

2010-12-21T20:15:00.000-06:00

I like Christmas music. I'm not a fan that at the very second Hallowe'en's last "Tick-or-treat" is uttered, the fa-la-la-la-las start in earnest. But for the most part, I enjoy the songs that this time of the season inspires.

But there is one song that needs to be packed up in a weighted box, and dropped into that supposed bottomless lake somewhere in Russia, so it may never make our ears bleed again.

I am, of course talking about the Christmas Shoes song. If you've never heard it, don't google it, Youtube it, or look it up in any way. You will have it stuck in you head for the rest of the year, if not for the rest of your life.

It has all the makings of a classic bad song; saccharine-sweet and sung from the point of view of someone who isn't in the "Christmas spirit". There's a little boy (who was dirty head to toe - his words, not mine) in line in front of him at the store. Said boy is buying a present (the Christmas shoes) for his Mama, but doesn't have enough money. Said boy's Mama is dying (either that or she's in tight with the Big Guy upstairs, because in the song, she might "meet Jesus tonight"). The singer's heart grows three sizes bigger as he plunks the money down for the shoes, and he suddenly remembers what this time of year is all about. Yes people, it's a song with a lesson.

When a story has a lesson, it's called a fable. Does that make this a sable? (song+fable=... aw, forget it, it wasn't that funny anyway)

Then, at the very end, a choir of children start singing the chorus. I don't have anything against children singing, per se, I just hate it when it's tacked onto the end of a song for the "pulling-at-your-heartstrings" effect. Bleh.

You're probably saying to yourself right now, "wow, what a cold, cold-hearted person. We should throw her into that bottomless lake in Russia."

But just because I can't stand songs that make you chubby because they are so over-the-top sweet, doesn't mean I don't have a heart. O Holy Night makes me have to pinch my arm to keep from crying every time I hear it.

And THIS version... well, it makes me cry in a whole 'nutha way.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wishing you a Merry Christmas!

2010-12-10T14:27:00.000-06:00

Happy 3 Months!

2010-12-08T21:53:00.004-06:00

Somebody please slow this ride down... I cannot believe that Mattias is 3 months old already. Although I miss the snugly newborn phase, I am loving that I get to see his cute personality emerge.

This little guy smiles every chance he gets, and he's now adding laughing to his repertoire. It's not a full-on belly laugh yet... more like a "heh". But he makes me feel like a freaking comedian, because he laughs at everything I do!

He still loves to snuggle when he's sleepy, and there is nothing better then rocking him; his sweet head nestled on my shoulder and the rest of his body curled up to mine.

Love this little guy so much... just look at that face! Happy 3 months, Mattias!

'Cause her friends don't dance...

2010-12-05T22:35:00.003-06:00

Elise channeling Elaine Benes. The girl's got moves.

Even more things Elise says

2010-11-27T19:07:00.001-06:00

That's McDonalds! - What she said while watching a Jack in the Box commercial.

I love my Poppa all day!

I eat my food all - This is a direct translation of "I ate all my food" from Portuguese.

Elise: Why you screaming Momma (in my defence, I wasn't screaming, just pleading with the car in front of me to actually use that thing known as a gas pedal and drive faster than 20 miles an hour)?
Me: Because some people just don't know how to drive
Elise: But Momma knows how to drive... you drive soooooo good!
hee hee... she's pretty smart!

What's that the noises? - Translation: What's that sound?

My nose is sweaty! - What she says when her nose is running

Me: Elise, you're a conundrum
Elise: I'm not a hockey player!

Me: Elise, you can't wear those crocs with that dress, they don't match
Elise: The point is, I get to wear my crocs.

Me: Elise, do you want to come with me to the mailbox to mail some letters"
Elise: Which ones Momma, B and D?

Poot taste - Toothpaste

Sticky Mouse - This is what she calls Mickey Mouse

Me: Elise, do you sometimes talk just to hear your own voice?
Elise: A little bit...

We were doing an alphabet puzzle, and for each letter I would ask her what words start with that letter, for example; the letter T, she would answer "toe". When I held up the letter J and asked her for a word, her reply was, "jay-jay"... which is what she calls a specific part of the female anatomy. Awesome. Can't wait until they cover the letter J in pre-school.

I can't see the difference, can you see the difference?

2010-11-24T21:27:00.002-06:00

On the left is me the day before I gave birth to Elise. And on the right is me the day before I had Mattias. The difference in size absolutely astounds me. And Elise was only 2 oz. bigger! How crazy...

Hold me closer, Tony Danza

2010-11-19T20:50:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago, Elise started taking tap and ballet lessons. To say she is the cutest Tiny Dancer ever is a huge understatement... judge for yourself:

a still shot of Elise doing her trademark dance... think Elaine Benes (from Seinfeld) meets the chicken dance. One day I'll have to post the video of it. It's pee your pants funny (at least to us).

note the thumbs... it's like she's channeling Elaine

Okay Mom... enough with the camera

Why don't I ever crave broccoli?

2010-11-16T04:42:00.000-06:00

I found this post in my drafts folder... I'm not sure why I never posted it, but the memories make me laugh, so enjoy!

Dear God,

I'll bet you have people asking You, "what is up with (fill in the blank)" all the time. Like the platypus for example. I'm guessing You've taken Your fair share of ribbing on that one. Personally, I think the platypus is kinda cool; a downright funky animal. I only regret that I've never seen one in person.

But I really gotta ask You, why did You have to come up with pregnancy hormones; namely, the ones that make me crave weird things at odd hours of the night? It's not like being pregnant isn't hard enough, what with the nausea, the wild mood swings, and the getting bigger with the round ligament pain and things of that nature.

And let's not even mention the pain of child birth.

What I take issue with is the fact that I can be marching my shopping cart down a grocery store aisle, minding my own business and keeping to the exact letter of my shopping list when BAM! Out of nowhere, I spy a bag of marshmellows and think to myself, "how good would a roasted marshmellow be right now?"

Never mind that I'm nowhere near a campsite, and the fact that it's ten billion degrees out during this very pleasant (she said, sarcastically) Texas summer day. All I can think about is a white-melty-blob of high-fructose-corn-sugar-goodness. All rational thinking goes out the window and I toss the marshmellows into my cart.

Fast-forward a few hours later, and I now find myself in front of my stove, "roasting" a marshmellow over an electric burner on a wooden kabob skewer. And by "a" marshmellow, I mean 5.

Well, pregnancy cravings must happen for a reason, right God? At least that's what I'll keep telling myself as I'm double-fisting the candy corn.

Yours very hungrily,

Joanne

Maybe we are doing something right

2010-11-14T22:05:00.003-06:00

We have a neighbour that recently fell and broke her hip. Right now she's in the hospital and is facing a long road to recovery.

Today, as we were driving home from hanging out with some friends, Elise pipes up from the back seat, "I want to go visit B in the hospital." Totally out of the blue. Fred and I hadn't even been talking about B. In fact, we had told Elise about her a few days ago and hadn't brought it up since.

So Fred dropped Mattias and I off at home, and took Elise to see B. When she got home, I told Elise how proud I was, and how sweet it was of her to want to go see B in the hospital. Then I asked her why she had wanted to go.

Her response? "Because she was in the hospital!" But the kicker was what she added afterwards.

"She's sick and maybe lonely."

A pretty terrific moment in the midst off the terrible threes.

Lest We Forget

2010-11-11T04:41:00.000-06:00

Growing up in Canada, November 11th (Remembrance Day) was a time that we would reflect and give thanks to those who gave their lives for our country.

There was always an assembly at school (usually the day before, since Remembrance Day was always a day off), marked by the reading of In Flanders Fields (see below), and the playing of Last Post. This was followed by two minutes of silence at 11:00 am (the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month), the time the Armistice of World War I was signed in 1918. To this day, the sound of a lone trumpet makes me want to bow my head and stand silent.

We wear poppies on our lapel to honour our veterans; a symbol of the famous poem In Flanders Fields which was written by a Canadian during WWI. To read more about the history of the poem, you can go here.

I thought it appropriate to post the poem today, in Remembrance of all who died so we could live free.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

I'm not even kidding... three years later

2010-11-10T04:33:00.002-06:00

I'm going to keep on re-posting this every year until someone listens...

Dear Person or Persons in charge of Daylight Savings Time,

Yes I know the time change was a few days ago so this may seem a little late. You see, it took a few days to put my thoughts down into writing because I've been wandering around my house trying to figure out WHAT BLOODY TIME IT IS.

It seems some of my clocks are smarter than me and change on their own. Some, my husband changed on Sunday. And others still display the "old" time. My problem is, I can't figure out which is which.

So, onto my issue with you. I hate the very concept of DST. It is, quite simply, a load of crap. I don't care that on some farm, in a far away land it makes the cows happy, or whatever bull you're touting, but it screws with my life and it must stop. And I don't appreciate the propaganda the news is spewing by telling me, "you gain and EXTRA hour!" That is pure crap to the highest degree.

We're onto you, yes we are. Who are we? We are the parents of children who cannot tell time, and ergo do not give a flip about your stinking time change. We are the parents of children who are now waking up a FULL HOUR EARLIER than normal now, because of a reason that no longer exists. My daughter has decided to add an extra half hour to that, because that's how she rolls.

An hour may not seem like a lot to you, but when your days are filled with house-cleaning, meal-preparing, blood-sugar-checking, insulin-shot-giving, child-rearing, errand-running, diaper-changing, laundry-washing and nose-wiping; and you do it all while suffering from the 500th consecutive bad hair day, AND quite certain you have poop smeared somewhere on your person (because why else is THAT SMELL following you around the house like the dog when she's hungry), well then, I would say an hour is HUGE.

So I am urging you, PLEASE, for the love of all that is holy... do away with DST. Or I shall be forced to hunt you down, find out where you live and start banging away on your bedroom window an hour before you usually get up. I will also knee you in the groin for the extra half hour. Because that is how I roll.

Happy Two Months!

2010-11-07T13:05:00.001-06:00

I didn't realize it until I looked down to the lower right-hand corner of my computer and saw the date staring back at me; 11/7/2010. Mattias is two months old today!

I cannot believe how time has flown by, wasn't it just yesterday that he emerged from my belly, all red-faced and screaming? It seems like my cheeks should still be wet from the tears I shed when I first laid eyes on him.

What can I say about the littlest man in my life? For starters, he is incredible. He is about the easiest baby could ever ask for. Oh sure, at first we went through the adjustment stage, where all he wanted was to be held, but soon he seemed to figure it all out.

Lately he has been all smiles. They are the most beautiful gummy grins ever. This child seems to smile with his entire body, every part of him wiggles with pure joy. And did I mention that he slept through the night at 5 weeks?

Because I know you want to see them, here are some recent pics of my sweet baby boy:

I'm a bit of a dork... but you probably already knew that

2010-11-06T12:45:00.003-06:00

When I was growing up, before DVD players in cars, before portable game systems, before IPhones and IPads, back when kids actually had imaginations; we used to have to entertain ourselves on long car trips. I know, GASP!

One of my favourite things to do was exchanging "What do you call a man with no arms and no legs" jokes with my brothers. For some reason, I find these hysterically funny. And for prosperity's sake, here are a few of the ones that will get a chuckle out of me every time:

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs sitting in the water?
Bob

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs up on stage?
Mike

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs laying under a car?
Jack

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs hanging on a wall?
Art

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs laying in front of a door?
Matt

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs being sent through the mail?
Bill

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs sitting on the beach?
Sandy

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs in a pot on the stove?
Stu

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs sitting beside a hole?
Phil

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs sitting in a hole?
Doug

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs in the morning?
Don

What do you call a man with no arms and no legs on the barbeque?
Frank

And quite possibly my absolute favourite:
What do you call a man with no arms and no legs sitting in a pile of leaves?
Russell

Two little pumpkins...

2010-11-01T14:37:00.008-06:00

Elise 2007 / Mattias 2010

They are only three days apart in these pictures. Elise seems to be slightly more unhappy than Mattias, wouldn't you agree?

Halloween Pictures

2010-10-31T22:30:00.001-06:00

I am way, way too tired to come up with something witty to write here. So... just enjoy the pictures and let me go to sleep.

Check out the size of that pumpkin!

Mattias in his Halloween shirt (a present from Megann)

My lil pumpkin

One day he's going to be so mad at me for doing this to him

The princess and the pumpkin

Go Rangers (yeah, I know...)

Ready to trick or treat!

This guy tricked out the walkway to his front door... the sign says "Welcome to the Insane Asylum. Wait, I thought that was MY house

Waiting for the candy

Elise, Mattias and I... you don't want to know how many people ask me if I'm STILL pregnant while wearing this wrap. People, that's a FREAKING 7 week old baby in there. Come on!

All this snuggling wears me out

Happy Halloween... and GOOD NIGHT!

Is she three... or thirteen?

2010-10-27T14:01:00.008-06:00

The person who coined the term "terrible twos" was on crack. Or not very bright. Or just didn't know the age of their own child. For us, the twos were really quite terrific. Elise was a wonderful child; all sweetness and light. I figured if this is as terrible as the twos get, I have it made!

And then as we inched ever closer to her third birthday, we noticed a change. She started talking back. Saying "NO!" when we asked her to do something. She would roll her eyes, and stomp her feet at us. She was sassy, and not in a good way. What happened to my sweet little girl?

Then last night, I snapped. Fred was reading her a bedtime story, but was so tired he kept falling asleep as he was reading. Finally he told Elise that he would finish the story (which was quite long) tomorrow. This did not sit well with Elise and she started yelling "NO!" and whining. I went in and explained that Poppa was so tired and she needed to be understanding. Fred even offered to read her a shorter one, to which she yelled, "NO!" again.

So we gave her a choice... no story, or the shorter story. First she wouldn't choose, then she said, "no story." So when we said good night to her, she started crying. I told her that she had made her choice, and if she didn't settle down, all her toys, books, and stuffed animals were coming out of her room. Her reply? "Take my toys."

I told her to think carefully, because if she continued with this attitude, I would take ALL her toys away, and she would have nothing left to play with. Her response again was, "I want to you take my toys!" Followed by more screaming. She should know better than to dare me.

So I took a laundry basket and took everything out of her room, all the while she was shrieking (think tornado siren loud). Then I went downstairs to take care of the rest of her stuff. Because it was 10:30 at night (and I'm a bit crazy), instead of carting all her toys out to the garage, I took packing tape, and taped off the area where all her toys were. Sort of like a crime scene. Greatness.

Her behavior last night isn't the worst example of how she can be, but it was the final straw. Fred and I are not the strictest parents in the world, but we do demand a certain level of respect, politeness, and obedience from our offspring. We have talked to her about acceptable behavior, and when everything is going her way, she is very agreeable. It's when things do not go her way that she turns into a whirling dervish of toddler angst.

So we have taken away what she holds dear... her "stuff". She understands that the only way to get it back it to earn it back with good behavior. So far it's going pretty well today. Except for one set-back where she lost the toy that she had earned back AND went to sit in time out.

It's cool... Rome wasn't built in a day. We'll do this one stuffed animal and puzzle at a time.

Look who's smiling!

2010-10-26T09:43:00.003-06:00

He's seven weeks old today and has been giving us the sweetest toothless grins for about a week now. It's been hard to capture one with the camera, but I finally got it! How cute is he?

It's time!

2010-10-23T08:54:00.008-06:00

What a great day to be a Texas Ranger Fan! World series, here we come! And what a sweet way to end the game; A-Rod striking out looking.

The Rangers are really the only Dallas-area sports team I can stand. I don't like the Cowboys for the exact same reason I don't like the Yankees. The ego. The entitlement. The "we're-awesome-just-because-we're-the-Cowboys-and-it-doesn't-matter-that-we-suck" attitude. Plus I'm not really a fan of the game anyway. The only thing football is good for is putting me to sleep fast on a Sunday afternoon.

The Mavs don't do it for me either, mostly because their owner is a dink. It's like watching a 13-year old trapped in an adult's body. Seriously, he reminds me of Tom Hanks in Big, only not cute or lovable at all. Disliking the owner is another reason the Cowboys bug me. Need I expand on that?

And the Stars? Well, I don't like any hockey team that isn't the Canucks. And what is a hockey team doing in Texas anyway? Somebody took a very wrong turn somewhere. I think Elise says it best... "Boo Stars!"

But the Rangers are a different story. Especially this year's team. They are extremely talented, yet seem humble. They seem to genuinely like each other and love what they do. I think the fact that they use Ginger Ale to spray during the celebrations so Josh Hamilton can take part is aweome. And the "Claw and Antlers" thing tickles me to death.

So bring on the Giants/Phillies... because, It's Time!

Why we need a cure

2010-10-21T19:33:00.008-06:00

If you are a parent, I'm sure you remember all too well standing over your baby's crib or bassinet, watching them breathe. I bet you even held a finger or put a mirror under their nose just to make sure. When Elise was born, I lived in fear that SIDS would steal her away from me as she slept.

And when she reached an age when SIDS was no longer a concern, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Little did I know that a few months later I would have a newer, bigger worry to deal with.

Diabetes comes with a laundry list of complications; heart disease, nerve, kidney and eye damage are some of them. But there is another complication. A more sinister, less talked about one. It's called Dead in Bed Syndrome. Basically, a person with diabetes can pass away during the night due to an untreated low blood sugar.

Today my heart is aching for the family that lost their 13 year old daughter to Dead in Bed Syndrome. And the part that hits hardest is that her parents, by all accounts, were diligent in their care of her diabetes

When I usually explain to the uninitiated all the work that goes into caring for Elise, the response is always surprise. Especially when I get to the part about how we get up at least twice a night to check her blood sugar.

I know it seems over the top to most people, but as Elise's Mom, I will do everything in my power to protect her from harm. And I know that I cannot be there 100% of the time. I know I cannot protect her from every evil in this world, but you can bet that I will bust my ass to try.

Let's look at it this way; when you get in your car, you either strap your kiddo into their car/booster seat, or make sure they put their seat belt on, right (let's disregard this is a matter of law for the moment)? Why do you do this? You're a safe driver. You obey all posted speed limits, you use caution, and pay attention to the road.

But what you can't control are other circumstances; drunk drivers, people who text and drive; and the ones who just plain suck at driving. You have no idea at what might happen next, so you do what you can to protect your child... it's just good ol' common sense, right?

Unfortunately, a parent is NOT a pancreas. No matter how hard I try, I cannot replace that precious organ in Elise's body. I was not created to control and maintain blood sugars. All I can do is use my common sense and do my absolute best.

And this is why we weigh every carb Elise eats.

This is why we check her blood sugar 10-12 times a day, and at least twice a night.

This is why we don't leave Elise with anyone.

It is why, every seven days, we inject a sensor into Elise, so we can monitor her blood sugar via a Continuous Glucose Monitor.

It's why I ALWAYS have a watchful eye on Elise.

It's why Elise comes with us on our date nights.

And why I carry a backpack full of strange gadgets and food. It may seem odd to you, but it might just save Elise's life one day.

It's why I am so tired, so distracted, so overprotective, so consumed and so frightened. Because stories like this happen. And they happen to people who do everything they can, just like we're doing.

And so, my heart is breaking. Not just for this family, but for all the other D-families out there who hear these stories. And the need to check their kiddos a little more often and hold them a little closer consumes them that much more.

Please God, let us find a cure soon.

First day of school

2010-10-19T15:08:00.000-06:00

Today was Elise's first day of pre-school. Since she now wears a continuous glucose monitor, we finally felt comfortable enough to leave her in someone else's care. We were very impressed by this school, and Elise's teacher has Type 2 diabetes, so it seemed like a good fit. Elise was pretty excited...

Come on Mom... let's go!

My little pre-schooler

Does she look ready?

Now she's not so sure

In the end, she did great. Of course, some tears were shed, but none of them were hers. I am so proud of how she just jumped in with both feet and never looked back.

It looks like school is already working; when she heard Mattias crying when he woke up from his nap, she told me, "we need to go upstairs to see what is troubling him."

And then this afternoon, she asked to put on her jacket because she "wanted to be a doctor and take care of her sick baby."

That's my girl!

The problem with pacifiers

2010-10-18T13:00:00.001-06:00

I've always thought that we humans are a pretty inventive people. I am always amazed when I pick up a Skymall magazine and see all the crazy gadgets they have in there. It makes me want to yell, "yes, YES... I NEED THAT!"

And not just in the magazine either. There are so many great inventions or innovations that people have come up with. For example:

Your bum gets cold while driving? Built in seat warmers!

Public bathrooms are a dirty, nasty place? Self-flushing toilets!

You want to travel to far off places and not spend hundreds of days on a boat developing both scurvy and rickets? Air travel!

Are you cold and lack the ability/intelligence to use a blanket? The Snuggie!

You see? All these wonderful inventions because someone saw a need and decided to do something about it. So why, for the love of sleeping babies, can't someone invent something to keep a pacifier in a baby's mouth?

Because it is so completely craptastic when that baby is waking up crying every 10 minutes due to the fact that the pacifier has fallen out of his mouth. And short of lying on the edge of my bed, with one hand draped over the bassinet forcibly keeping the pacifier in his mouth, I have run out of ideas. Well, there is duct tape... but I haven't resorted to that. Mostly because I don't have any in the house.

Seriously though, we can blast people into outer space, land them on the moon, and bring them back to earth again, but we can't find a way to fix the pacifier problem?

NASA, are you listening? Bill Gates, Steve Jobs... anybody?

How about you, Snuggie guy?

Please sir, can I have some more?

2010-10-12T13:48:00.003-06:00

Sleep is a very sacred commodity in our house. Between having a 3 year old (who is a total night owl and sometimes stays awake until 11:00 pm) with diabetes, and a newborn; sleep can be hard to come by these days.

That's why I have to give a shout out to my amazing son, who, just 1 day shy of being 5 weeks old, slept 8 hours last night (from 11:30 until 7:30). And a few days ago, he slept 7 hours. I'm loving it!

Now if only I could get 8 hours of sleep in a row, life would be grand! Heck, I'd settle for 5 hours of non-stop slumber.

Happy one month, Mattias!

2010-10-10T10:44:00.003-06:00

So I totally flaked on posting about my baby boy's first month... blame it on the horrors of mastitis, which I delveloped on Thursday. But late is better than never, so here it is!

-He is now 9 pounds and 6 ounces... I can't remember exactly how long he is, but the doc said he's in the 95th percentile.

-He sleeps soooooo much better than Elise ever did. All the baby books I read said that newborns sleep an average of about 16 hours a day. Elise slept 11. It nearly killed me. Mattias sleeps about 15 - 18 hours. At night he goes 6 hours before I wake him up to feed. I'm sure he'd go longer, but I want to make sure he's eating enough.

-All he wants is to be snuggled and carried everywhere. Unfortunately, he's not a huge fan of carriers/wraps etc., but I'm going to keep trying to make him like them! I don't have enough arms and I don't think I'll be able to learn how to give Elise her shot with my feet!

-He LOVES bath time. If he's at all fussy, one of the best remedies is to put him in his bath chair and give him a good scrubbing. Again, totally the opposite of Elise who used to scream through her bath.

-He maintains eye contact very well and I swear he was about to smile at me today. He can also hold his head up for a good 5 - 10 seconds. I love it when I'm holding him on my shoulder (burping position), and he lifts his head up to look into my eyes. I melt every time!

-It's still hard to tell if his hair is going to be red. In some light, you'd swear it is, but he really doesn't have enough to tell.

Here are some uber-cute pics of my little guy:

Snuggled with Momma

Please, no pictures

Hanging with Elise

Baby burrito

Yeah, I'm cute!

Ahhhh, the life of a baby

Lounging and smirking

Hmm, shall I eat, sleep or poop now?

Houston, we have a package

2010-10-08T07:53:00.000-06:00

Everyone has a price... and a currency. The hard part is figuring out what it is.

As I have written about before, Elise has an issue with dropping her kids off at the pool. She potty trained pretty much within a day, but absolutely refused to poop. We talked it over with her doc who told us it was going to become a power struggle, and that Elise would go when ready.

To speed up the process, we resorted to bribery. I was tired of changing giant-sized poopies and shelling out almost $10 for 20 diapers. First, we took her to Target and let her pick out any toy she wanted. We told her that it would be her reward for making poopie on the potty. She seemed excited. I was too.

But when it came to go-time, she refused. She even told us she didn't need any toys. After that we tried money. Yes, my (at the time) two year old was motivated by cold, hard cash. But not, apparently, enough to do the doodie.

Food was not really something we wanted to use, but since we do give her an M&M for behaving during her shots, we tried that. Nope. Finally, I just gave up.

One day I just sort of snapped. There was no reason that my daughter, who knew well enough that she had to poop because she would bring me a diaper and tell me so, should not be able to sit on the potty to do her business. So I told her no more diapers. Then I tried one, final bribe; television.

Elise doesn't really watch TV, not for a lack of effort on her part. I'm just not a fan, especially when I see how she zones out in front of it. But I told her that if she pooped on the potty, she could watch a nuvie (her word for cartoon). She seemed excited. But I didn't get my hopes up.

Then on Tuesday, she announced that she had to make poo-poo, so I told her that there would be no diapers, and she could watch her nuvie when she was done. To my utter surprise, she hopped right on up and went to work. Within 10 minutes, we had a package.

To say there was much rejoicing is an understatement. I laughed. I clapped. I danced. At one point I think I almost started to cry. She seemed rather pleased with herself too.

And then I let her watch two nuvies. You gotta celebrate the first deuce in the toilet in style, you know.

I'm Four! Four weeks old...

2010-10-05T19:09:00.000-06:00

Is it just me, or does he look ready to do some kung fu fighting?

The good, the bad and the ugly of my hosplital stay

2010-10-01T13:13:00.000-06:00

The Good

Food - My rule of thumb is that any food that I personally didn't have any hand in making is good food. Even better, the hospital I stayed at actually does a wonderful job at preparing food. Plus, every morning you get a menu with a whole plethora of choices for each meal. I spent a lot of time agonizing on whether I should choose cheesecake or angel food cake for dessert.

Nurses - I love the women and men (although I have yet to meet a murse... I think they are mythical creatures, like unicorns or a helpful government worker) who work in this profession. In another lifetime, I think I would like to have gone to school for nursing. They showed me mercy when necessary, and kicked my butt when it needed kicking. Yay nurses!

Drugs - Not that I am a big proponent of drug use, but having your belly/uterus sliced open really, really hurts. Unfortunately I am allergic to almost all of the "good stuff", but found the right mix of Darvocet and Motrin worked quite nicely.

TV - We don't have cable at home... the hospital does. And I can watch it in bed. Does life get any better?

Calling someone to magically take the baby away - For the most part, Mattias hung out in my room. But at night, I would call for him to be whisked off to the nursery and brought back in a few hours for a feeding. It was all sorts of lovely. Mostly because it led to...

Sleep - Can you believe I got more sleep in the hospital with a newborn, than I usually do at home (if you're a parent of a diabetic, you can). Because we have to check Elise's blood sugar at least twice a night, I usually get about 4 hours of sleep a night. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was getting about 2 hours. So the hospital was heaven for me. Sleep heaven. And the naps! Sweet, wonderful naps.

The Bad

Lactation Consultant - Usually I have no issues with these (mostly) women whose job it is to look at and touch women's breasts on a daily basis. But I was matched up with the Lactation Nazi this go-around. Seriously woman, I nursed my first for 2 1/2 years. I just stopped 8 months ago. I can handle this! Mattias dropped a lot of weight in the hospital... almost 10% of his birth weight. And I guess that's a no-no. This lady basically wanted me to nurse him every hour, threatening me with formula if he didn't gain any weight. The problem was that Mattias was a very sleepy baby and would rather snooze than eat. The funny thing is, the pediatrician didn't think his weight was a big issue. Sorry Lactation Nazi, the doc wins this one.

Asking about my poop - I love starting the day with a bright and cheery, "so, have you had a bowel movement today?" The only thing better is being threatened with an enema when your answer is no.

Loneliness - With Elise, Fred was at the hospital with me the entire stay. This time, he had to go back and forth between the house and the hospital; sleeping at home so he could care for Elise. I spent a lot of time by myself and it was very lonely. Especially during the overnight. Thank goodness for nurses and cable TV!

The Ugly

The bill - I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it will make me cry.

Now we are four

2010-09-23T12:25:00.001-06:00

This is Mattias's birth story. I am aware that is will probably be of no interest to anyone but me and those directly related to me, but I wanted to write it down while it is still fresh... hopefully one day Mattias will be interested in hearing about his arrival into our world.

Elise's story was very different and it was interesting to compare the two. Of course, we knew from the beginning that I was going to have a planned c-section with Mattias. I would have liked to try a VBAC, but the complications are a little frightening to me, plus I LOVE my doc, and going for a VBAC would have meant going with another doctor. I'm a tad bit finicky about who I let slice me open and root around inside me.

We chose a 12:00 pm surgery time because it worked best with Elise's schedule, and I really wanted her to be there for the birth. Given my history with any plans I make associated with birth, I should have known better. We checked into the hospital at 9:45 and settled in for what turned out to be a long wait.

My doc was called into an emergency, so my surgery was pushed back. I was getting so nervous and I just wanted to get it over with. Noon came and went, with no ETA. I was all dressed up in a gown that showed off my booty, and no place to go! They had me hooked up to a monitor and I was having some pretty strong contractions that were getting closer and closer together. Mattias wanted to be born that day, one way or another!

At lunch, my husband thought it would be appropriate to get Chick-fil-a for himself, Elise and my Mom; and they all merrily ate in front of the poor preggo who hadn't eaten anything in almost 14 hours. Then they all acted surprised when I was all surly.

Unfortunately, after lunch my Mom had to take Elise home because it was nap time. I was catching up on some blogs when my doc finally stuck her head in my room. It was 1:51 pm and all of a sudden I wasn't so sure I was ready. Things happened pretty quickly after that. They rolled me to the operating room, and the anesthesiologist (aka drug doc) got to work on my spinal. I was so nervous about this part, but turned out to be no big deal.

As I was being prepped, the nerves started up big time. Fred was brought in, all done up in his OR duds and before I knew it, the slicing began. My husband, being the weirdo/rockstar he is watched the whole operation from start to finish. All I could do was thank God for that beautiful blue curtain.

At this point, I received one of the nicest compliments ever from my doc... as she was cutting into me she exclaimed that I had almost zero fat and that my belly was ALL baby. When you're 9 months pregnant the weirdest things will make you happy. I'm just sayin'.

The drug doc did a great job of keeping me occupied from the start of the surgery until Mattias was born. There are really no words to describe the sweet sound of hearing your baby's first cry. It is one of the most unreal experiences in the world, and I wish I could have recorded it to listen to over and over again. Of course I started to cry too, and all I wanted was to lay eyes on that beautiful baby boy of mine. The waterworks really started a soon as I saw his sweet face. Love at first sight!

The rest of the story is pretty mundane; I was taken back to recovery, given some super-awesome drugs, was able to hold and nurse Mattias for the first time (awww, my heart absolutely swooned... this was one of the things I missed the most), and then wheeled into my room where I got to witness Elise meeting her brother for the first time. At one point during my journey from room to room, I remember waving the "queen's wave" at my doctor. What can I say, I love me some good pain killers!

Welcome to the world baby boy... I'm awfully glad you're here.

Sleepy Time Smiles

2010-09-16T13:42:00.002-06:00

Ohmygoodness, don't you just want to eat him up? And I get to kiss this little face every day. Sigh, this picture makes me happy.

She loves him

2010-09-15T18:30:00.001-06:00

One week old!

2010-09-14T18:55:00.003-06:00

Has it really been a week? Already? I can't believe my sweet boy is one week old today. We are head-over-heels, crazy in love with this little guy. So far he is so mellow and all he wants to do is eat and snuggle.

I swear that I could just sit all day with him cuddled on my chest and smell is head. Does that sound weird? Have you ever smelled a newborn's head? Dear Lord, it's enough to make your uterus quiver. I mean, mine is already all twitchy from all the post-birth stuff, but I'm already dreaming of the next one. Just don't tell Fred...

Anyway, here's our adorable little one-weeker just hanging out.

Mattias's Birth Announcement Video

2010-09-07T19:07:00.008-06:00

Introducing...

2010-09-07T15:02:00.004-06:00

Mattias Linden Cunha was born on Tuesday, September 7, 2010 at 2:27 PM CT at Las Colinas Medical Center in Irving, Texas. He weighed 7 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 inches long. That translates to 3.48 kilograms and 48.3 centimeters.

Check out www.helpmefred.com/mattias for all the info...

Everyone is doing well :^)

Stick a fork in me...

2010-09-07T08:05:00.000-06:00

I'm done!

My last pre-birth picture. I'm going to meet my son in a few hours and I CAN' WAIT!

Hopefully Fred will have time to hack into my blog account to post some updates, so stay tuned. Thank you to everyone for all your prayers, thoughts and well-wishes.

Happy Birthday Elise!

2010-09-04T05:06:00.000-06:00

Happy 3rd Birthday to my sweet little Bean! You are one of the best things that has ever come into my life and there aren't enough words to describe how much I love you! You've come a long way, baby!

Just as sweet as the day she was born!

Just more of me to love

2010-09-03T14:11:00.001-06:00

Ahhh, probably the penultimate obligatory belly-shot.

To loosely quote So I Married an Ax Murderer; "Look at that thing, it's HUGE! A virtual planetoid... it has it's own weather system!"

Or at the very least, it's own zip code.

Four more days, four more days, four more days...

We bought a crib (for $22)!

2010-09-01T14:24:00.000-06:00

I was starting to believe that Mattias was going to have to sleep in a box beside our bed after he grew out of the bassinet. I knew since we started expecting this baby, that we were going to need a new crib. Elise's had been handed down to us, was about 8 years old and seriously needed to be condemned.

I decided to start looking at Craig's List. Like, every day. Wow, that place is a black hole for crazies and people living in a fantasy world. It just seems to suck them in by the the boatloads. Sir or madame, I am glad that your crib served you well for 5 years and 6 babies, but you are out of your ever-lovin' mind if you think $250 for a crib you originally paid $300 for over half a decade ago, is a good price.

And no... I DON'T want your crib that has been recalled. Not even if it's only $25. Or just waiting outside of your house to be picked up for free.

And one last piece of advice; if you actually WANT to sell your baby furniture, don't use the "cheap" in the title. As in, "Great, CHEAP crib for sale". Cheap and crib should never be uttered in the same sentence. What you need is a thesaurus.

Whew, glad I got that off of my chest.

So how did we get such a great deal without stealing (or deciding to go for the recalled crib that was free)? Well, last week I got an email from a popular baby store that was offering 25% off a new crib when you brought back your old, broken-down one. But wait, there's more!

We also had some gift cards that were given to us as presents, as well as store credit for some returns, so the entire out of pocket expense to us for a $170 crib was just $22! Sa-weet!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go take the linens out of that vegetable box I picked up at Costco yesterday.

The end is in sight

2010-08-28T19:54:00.005-06:00

A week and a half.

That's all I've got left until Mattias makes his grand entrance. To say I'm ready for this little guy to be born is like saying... you know, I don't even have an analogy. I'm THAT ready.

Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled beyond belief to be pregnant, it's just that this pregnancy has been a tad difficult. Let's take a look back...

In January, I find out I'm pregnant. I also find out my thyroid gland has gone nuclear on me. A normal TSH should be between 1 - 5. Mine was 75, meaning I was severely hypothyroid.

Then the barfing stared. Like, every day. Not as much as with Elise, mind you... but still. Consider that one of the indicators of being hypothyroid is gaining weight, and I managed to lose 10 pounds in my first trimester.

Then there was the strep throat. 'Nuff said.

At the end of trimester #1, just as I was feeling like food was not my enemy, I got food poisoning. I did not leave my bed for 33 hours and lost 6 pounds in two days.

The second trimester was amazingly low-key. Except that Texas decided to ramp it up and have one of the hottest summers since we moved here. Seriously... I almost forgot what outside looked like.

I got to experience the joys of carrying low and the fact that it wreaks havoc on your bladder. It's not that I don't enjoy visiting the bathroom every 45 minutes, it's just that I do have a lot of other things to do.

In the third trimester, I caught a stomach bug, ended up getting very dehydrated and had to be admitted to the hospital for about 7 hours to get an IV and some shots to stop labour. That was all sorts of fun.

The last two fun events, I haven't written about yet. Last Monday we went to the Rangers game. On the hottest night of the year. When temperatures at 8:00 pm were still hovering around 100. Let's just chalk it up to pregnancy hindering my judgement.

I started having a few contractions and by the end of the game, they were 2 minutes apart and getting to the point where I couldn't talk while I was having one. I seriously thought that this was it. I called the on-call doc, who gave me a bunch of suggestions on what I could do at home to try and stop the process. Thankfully it worked... but I had visions of rushing to L&D at 11:00 pm with Elise in tow.

Then today... as I was making Elise's dinner, I dropped a big dinner plate and as it shattered, one of the pieces sliced into my foot. Copious amounts of blood and screaming ensued. It finally stopped bleeding after pressure and elevation, but WOW does it hurt and it's pretty hard to walk on.

Hopefully during the last 10 days I will avoid getting hit by a car, contracting SARS, or anything else that would be that proverbial cherry on the top of this pregnacy sundae.

But again... thrilled to be pregant. And even more thrilled that it's almost over.

I may just need an intervention

2010-08-27T12:50:00.005-06:00

If you know me at all (or read this blog from time to time), you know I LOVE a good bargain. From my rather unhealthy obsession with CVS, to my affinity for the red stickers at Target... nothing gets my adrenaline pumping like getting a good deal.

A few weekends ago, we decided that it was time to update Fred's work wardrobe. I don't think the poor guy has bought new clothes for himself in a couple of years. So off we went to Kohl's for a little shopping action.

I had a 15% off card, and we were able to get out of there for just over $200. Now that sounds like a lot of money, but we brought home a huge bag o' stuff including:
-4 polo shirts
-2 dress shirts
-2 pair of khaki pants
-1 pair of dress pants
-a robe for me
-a swim suit for Elise (for next year)

All in all, a pretty good haul, wouldn't you say? As I sat down to go through my Sunday paper the following week, my stomach dropped. Kohl's was doing their spend $50, get $10 in Kohl's cash promotion. Meaning, I lost $40 in cash back. Stuff like that GNAWS at me, so I decided to call Kohl's to see if I could just bring back what we had bought, return it, and then buy it all back again.

To my amazement, the girl told me to just bring the receipt and they would do the price adjustment that way... YEAH! Plus, my 15% off card was still valid AND it was tax-free weekend!

After they did the price adjustment, it turned out that almost every item was priced cheaper than the previous week, so I also made money back that way. Between that, the 15%, and the tax-free; I saved about $40. Then on top of that, I received $30 Kohl's cash to spend at a later date (instead of $40 because my total was just above $150 now).

I know that probably seems dorky to many of you, but I swear... deals like that make me swoon.

The VP of Awesome

2010-08-22T18:24:00.009-06:00

I've been meaning to write this post for almost a week now, but you know... life. Finally I've found some time to brag on my husband.

Fred is a pretty amazing guy. Now, I know a lot of women say that. I mean, who wants to admit that they married someone who is less than awesome? But in my case, it really is true.

On August 12th, we found out that Fred had received a huge promotion at work. And seriously, it couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy (again, I know I'm his wife, but hear me out).

Fred started working for his company back in 1996, when we were living in Vancouver. When it was bought out by an American company, he was offered a job with the company in San Francisco. When it moved offices to Dallas, he was again given the option to move as well.

Anytime I come to see him at his office, his co-workers constantly tell me what a great guy Fred is. The women in his office threw me a baby shower (at his work, no less) when I was pregnant with Elise. It had nothing to do with me, but rather reflected how well-liked Fred is.

The same can be said about his clients and vendors. All you have to do is look at the donation page for Team Elise. A majority of the donations have come from them.

I don't think they make people like Fred anymore. He is one of the hardest working people I have ever met; willing to go the extra mile no matter who asks him. "That's not my job" is not part of his vocabulary. I've touched on this before, but since we moved to the U.S., Fred has been the sole income earner for our family; due to visa (immigration, not credit card) issues. That would put huge amounts of stress on anyone, but Fred has never, not ONCE, complained about it. It is because of him that during these tough economic times, we are doing fine.

And now he has finally been given a job that reflects his work ethic. And I could not be prouder of him. Well done, Mr. Vice President!

Thank you Chick-fil-a!

2010-08-20T14:43:00.001-06:00

So what do you call something that far exceeds your expectations into a whole new realm of awesomeness? I call it Team Elise Night at Chick-fil-a.

Tracy Matlock and the Southlake Chick-fil-a went above and beyond for us and I am so thankful for their support. Even more amazing is the number of friends that came out to "Eat Mor Chikin" with us. Some people drove 45 minutes to come see us. Some I hadn't seen in almost three years. Everybody came out eager to eat some good food and support a worthy cause while they were at it.

At last count I think we had over 120 friends (kids and adults) come join us. And that's not counting friends that went through the drive-thru, or friends of friends. I'm not sure on the exact total of what was raised, but we should have that number in the next few days.

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to see us. You have no idea what it means to Fred and I to be surrounded by so many people cheering us on. I think Elise said it best today during a conversation we had:

Me: Did you have fun last night with all your friends at Chick-fil-a?
Elise: Yeah... I loved all the people. Why so many people come to play with me?
Me: Well... I'd have so say it's because they love you... you are one very loved little girl, did you know that?
Elise: Yeah, that's amazing!

It sure is Elise.

Here are some fun pictures we took of the event... enjoy!

Update on baby Mattias

2010-08-17T14:44:00.002-06:00

I went in for my 36 week appointment today. Hard to believe that in three weeks from today, we'll be welcoming our baby boy to this world!

I'm still hanging out at 3 cm... thankfully, no change since they released me from the hospital last week. The doc thinks he's about 5 pounds at this point, but I remember she said Elise was going to weigh in around 6 pounds and a bit and when she was born she was 7 lb 13 1/2 oz (the 1/2 is VERY important).

She also doesn't think I'll make it to September 7th (my scheduled c-section date). Dear Lord, I hope she's wrong about that. Because I'm still having contractions, she told me to take it easy and rest a lot. Ummm, I pretty much aim for that EVERY day, but I don't really know what "take it easy and rest" means anymore.

As much as I'd like to have this baby sooner rather than later, it would not be the best plan for us. So pray that Mattias decides to stay put for a little while longer!

Don't Forget to come Eat Mor Chikin with us on Thursday

2010-08-16T07:18:00.004-06:00

This Thursday from 6 - 8 pm, the Chick-fil-a in Southlake is doing a fundraiser for Team Elise!

Just come by the restaurant, located at 2301 E Southlake Blvd, Southlake, TX 76092, eat some yummy food, and hang with the cutest little Chick-fil-a fan there is!

A percentage from all sales during that time will go to Team Elise, which is already 50+ members strong for this year's Walk to Cure Diabetes on September 25th. Speaking of which... have YOU joined yet? Just go to teamelise.com to sign up or make a donation. Thank you so much for all your support!

Welcome to the United States of America

2010-08-13T14:54:00.004-06:00

So said the two letters Fred and I received yesterday.

They then went onto say that our Permanent Resident Status had been approved. Meaning: after 8 (possibly more, I've actually lost track), years, our Green Cards were APPROVED!

I don't swear often but, holy %&#*, are you #@*&^%#! me???

For those of you unfamiliar with our story, here's the Reader's Digest version:

Fred and I are not from around here. I am from Canada, and Fred is Portuguese. Together we make one very lovely melting pot. About 9 years ago we received a letter from the good ol' American government telling us we had 30 days to vacate their country. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. And definitely do not let the door hit ya on they way out.

We were being deported.

Fred and I had done nothing wrong, rather there was an issue with our visa becoming invalid due to some things that had happened with Fred's employer. When the CEO heard of our plight, he hired some lawyers to work on getting us new visas. Our hopes were not high, for various reasons that I don't want to get into on my blog.

I don't remember how long the actual process took, but after a lot of agonizing, filing of papers, prayers, and emailing with lawyers; we received the new visas. This either was due to some fancy-schmancy lawyer-ing, or it was a total "God Thing", because it shouldn't have happened. I'm going with the "God Thing".

Because visas aren't forever, we had to start our application for a Green Card. For those who don't know, visas are only good for a set number of years. When they expire, you have to leave the country and cannot apply for another one for a year. I believe we started our application in 2002.

What followed were 8 years of uncertainty. We had no idea if we'd be approved. Or when. Do we buy a house? Should we start a family? This process made our whole lives crazy. Things like investing, travel, moving, or purchasing our a home were made painful. In fact, Fred wasn't even allowed to LEAVE the country for 9 years!

(When I say allowed, it was HIGHLY SUGGESTED by our lawyers that Fred not try to cross the border because there was a chance that an overly-zealous customs agent would not let him back in, even though he has every right to be here - it's complicated.)

To make a very long story short, the long-awaited Green Cards were approved and we received our letters yesterday. To say this has been a long time coming is a HUGE understatement. Someone once joked that when we actually got our Green Cards, we should throw a huge party in celebration. Unfortunately, it's way too hot, and I'm way too pregnant to want to do it.

But feel free to send presents anyway.

May you live in interesting times

2010-08-12T14:10:00.004-06:00

Apparently, I have a flair for the dramatic when I'm pregnant. With Elise, I fell in the bathtub at 32 weeks and went into labour. I had to say in the hospital for a weekend, but they managed to stop the labour and send me home.

This time around, I caught a nasty little stomach bug that, despite my best efforts, dehydrated me severely. When I called my OB's office on Wednesday, they became concerned when they heard I hadn't been able to keep anything in me since Saturday, and told me to go to L&D (labour and delivery) to make sure everything was okay.

Upon checking in and being hooked up to various and sundry machines, they discovered my contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, and I could definitely feel them getting stronger. I was also dilated to a 3, and at 70% effaced.

It took 3 shots of Terbutaline, and 3 bags of saline; but they finally stopped the contractions about 7 hours later. As an added bonus, I was also diagnosed with a UTI and reflux.

But, I'm at home, taking it easy, and little Mattias gets to cook for a little while longer. One thing I have to mention is that my husband is a complete and total ROCK STAR. He has done an amazing job of looking after both Elise and I. While working from home this morning, he wrangled Elise, managed all her diabetes care, and even cleaned the whole downstairs.

All while I slept blissfully upstairs (at least one of the drugs I'm taking knocks me out). What can I say, I married well!

Daily Picture Reject #13

2010-08-09T12:10:00.000-06:00

I have no idea what she's doing in this picture. It looks like she's swooning. Or about to recite Shakespeare...

"O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?"

I haven't posted one of these in awhile, so here's the official explanation:

For those of you unsure what the Daily Picture Reject is: Fred and I take a daily picture of Elise. Rather, I do. This is not because we are prepping our daughter for a life as a super model. It is simply a way to hold onto memories as time slips by at ultra-sonic speed. It's also pretty cool to see how much she has changed in 1069 days. After I take the picture, I email it to Fred, who then posts it on his website. It usually takes about 10 to 15 shots to get just the right picture. I am not what you would call a stellar photographer, so about 25% of those are completely unusable. Then there are always one or two that crack me up, but aren't suitable for the daily picture. Hence, the Daily Picture Reject!

Yes we are still taking her picture every day. No, we don't know when we're going to stop. Yes, Mattias will have to endure the same torture.

Team Elise LOVES Chick-fil-a!

2010-08-04T08:04:00.007-06:00

If you live in the DFW area, here's your chance to eat some YUMMY food, and help support Team Elise!

The Chick-fil-a in Southlake is doing a fundraiser for Team Elise on Thursday, August 19 from 6 to 8 PM (a percentage of the proceeds from that two-hour block will go to Team Elise).

Fred, Elise and I will be there and would love to have all of our friends in the DFW area join us for dinner at the Chick-fil-A in Southlake at 2301 E Southlake Blvd, Southlake, TX 76092.

A big thanks to owner Mark Guilbert and marketing director Tracy Matlock for helping us raise funds to find a cure for diabetes!

If you haven't already, you can go to teamelise.com to get more information about type 1 diabetes, make a donation or join Team Elise for the 5K JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes on Saturday, September 25 at 9 AM at Granite Park in Plano, TX .

State of the Pregnancy Address

2010-08-03T14:20:00.004-06:00

I am at 34 weeks.

I have 5 weeks left to go.

I am only sleeping about two hours a night.

I am uncomfortable.

I have some sort of crud (but it's not serious crud, I saw the doc today).

I have to pee approximately every 45 minutes.

It is 106 degrees today. It was about the same temperature yesterday. And the day before.

Apparently it feels like 110.

The 7 day forecast calls for temperatures above 100 degrees every day.

One thing you never want to hear a weatherman say in regard to hot weather: "no end in sight."

I never want to be pregnant during the summer in Texas again.

Despite all my complaining, I am blessed and thankful for this pregnancy.

That is all.

More CVS fun!

2010-07-31T19:16:00.003-06:00

Total before coupons - $36
Total after coupons - $24 (paid with ECB)
Total ECB I got back - $23

Not bad... plus think how clean my teeth will be!

Team Elise 2010

2010-07-26T21:01:00.000-06:00

Below is an excerpt from the email my husband wrote to send to our friends and family about this year's walk:

We have some good news and some bad news...

The good news is that Elise is doing well and growing fast!

She is almost three years old, has a great group of friends, she's extremely smart, speaks both English and Portuguese (I only speak to her in Portuguese) and is very excited to become a big sister (baby Mattias is scheduled to be born three days after Elise's third birthday).

Joanne does an amazing job with the managing of insulin (three shots a day), food (weighing every single gram of carbs) and exercise (rec center, bicycle, walks, park, pool, etc.).
While insulin and food are needed to keep Elise alive, exercise plays a big role in the equation as well and so it becomes a balancing act between the three.

At her last endocrinologist appointment, her A1c (blood test that gives you an average of your blood sugar for the last three months) was so good - 6.6 - that it even worried some people (you don't want the A1c number too low when you're this young since it may be an indication that she's having a lot of low blood sugar numbers).

The bad news is that she still has type 1 diabetes, and will have it for the rest of her life until we find a cure.

Anyone with type 1 diabetes will tell you that it's a roller coaster ride. A lot of times stuff just doesn't make sense and there's not much you can do about it. There are days when you keep feeding her non-stop just to keep her blood sugar at a normal level and then there are days when you have no idea why her blood sugar is off the charts.

It's because of the "bad news" that we're again taking part in the JDRF Walk to Cure Diabetes. This will be our third year and we're really excited! We have two goals this year:

1. Create awareness by having at least 50 people walking with us on Saturday, September 25 at 9 AM at Granite Park in Plano, TX.

2. Fund research that can lead to breakthrough cures and treatments for type 1 diabetes and its complications by raising $10,000.

So...

1. If you live in the DFW area or would like to visit the area at the end of September, we would love to have you on our team!
Simply go to teamelise.com, click on Walk and then click on Join Team Elise to sign-up to walk with us. You will get a free and very cool Team Elise shirt (see the design below). Note that you do not have to raise money in order to walk with us, but are more than welcome to do so, if you wish.

2. If you're able to, we would love for you to donate to JDRF! Simply go to teamelise.com and click on Donate Now from any page to donate using your credit card. If you prefer to use PayPal, you can do so by clicking on Walk and then clicking on PayPal.

I would also like to thank Jonathan Rollins for designing this year's Team Elise shirt - I can't wait to wear it!

Thank you so much in advance for your support!

My thoughts:

-The shirt is AMAZING, no?

-You should really check out the new Team Elise website.

-We have had some incredible response from businesses in the area who are either willing to sponsor or help support Team Elise. We've even had a few restaurants offer to donate a percentage of their sales from a certain time period to Team Elise. We will update when we have some more solid dates. Hopefully if you live in this area, you will come out and not only support Team Elise, but the wonderful businesses too!

Go Team Elise!