Getting Ready for Baby!

Now that the holidays are over and life is beginning to get back to normal, I'm turning my focus on the next few projects for the year.  One of which, of course, is getting ready for the baby's arrival.  Today Alex & Emily and I went to BabysRUs to register for a few items that we will need for the baby.  Although we have a lot of things that are needed, some items are nearly 7 years old and are either in rough shape or simply not recommended for use (like the infant car seat that is only rated for 5 years because, according to the manufacturer, the plastic quality degrades after that length of time).  Anyway, the main purpose for creating a registry is to take advantage of the close-out program that the store offers, in which they'll send me a coupon good for 10% off my purchases from the registry.  Keeping this in mind, I've included things on the registry that ARE gender specific, so that I can buy them after the baby arrives and still get the discount!  

I have two sets of bedding picked out for the baby's room.  The plan is to wait until our little one arrives to purchase the bedding and use the bassinette until the bedding arrives.  

If it's a girl, we'll get this bedding:  "Butterfly Meadow" by Kidsline, Inc. 

If it's a boy, we'll get this bedding: "Baby Noah" by Bananafish

For anyone interested in taking a peek at the registry, it's registry #94774637 at BabysR'Us.

  

Winter Adventures

For those of you that haven't heard yet, Tim and I decided a couple of weeks ago to build an ice rink in our backyard this winter.  We ordered some greenhouse covering plastic to hold the water in and grabbed some boards from Dad P. to create the frame of the rink.  The weather has fluctuated recently with some below freezing weather but not long enough to allow for the ice to remain frozen in our rink until.... this morning.  Tim tested the ice and although it wasn't strong enough to hold the weight of an adult, it was strong enough for the kids!  Here's a video of our children spending their first moments on our home ice!

Helping out in tough times... (Part I)

Okay, so everyone knows that the economy stinks right now and that most everyone is feeling the financial crunch.  Our family has been no exception, however, we've recently had some good fortune that has allowed me to breathe a little more freely.  Everywhere you turn, you see that food pantries and charities are having an increased demand in need for services/help, yet there's a decrease in organizations/individuals capable of helping out.  And with the approach of the cold weather season and the holidays, I tend to think of this sort of thing more.  Now, anyone that knows me knows that I don't have a long history of charity work, but that, in general, I try to at least help my friends and family when I can.  One of the values that I hope to instill in my own children is that of being thankful for what we have.  We've been talking more lately with the children about the difference between "want" vs. "need" and of course, this plays into the idea of being thankful for what we have.   I want my children to see that there will always be someone with less than they have, and that helping them out can make a difference.  So when I heard that Toys for Tots was going to host and event at the Desmond, Breakfast with Santa, I thought it would be a good opportunity to work on this value with the children.  I was disappointed when I called yesterday to make a reservation to learn that the admission was nearly $20 per adult (kids are free with toy donation).  Our feeling is that, we don't need a breakfast at a fancy place to teach our kids this valuable lesson.  So we decided not to do that and instead, I've found a local food pantry that's looking for people willing to sponsor families for Christmas.  I called and explained that while we can't sponsor an entire family, we'd like to donate a toy for a specific child on their list.  The representative called me back immediately and asked that our children purchase a toy for a boy 7-10 years old.  Our plan is to have each of our children take $1 from their piggy banks and use that toward the purchase of the gift.  For anyone that's interested in doing the same, the place where we are donating our toy is the food pantry/thrift shop at the four corners in West Sand Lake (behind Subway) on Rt. 150.  Their # is 674-4048.

PPD Test... is it safe for me?

Well, this seems to be the question of the week for me.  It all started with Part I of my physical exam required for my employment at Samaritan Hospital.  Employees are required to take a PPD (Tuberculosis) test unless otherwise noted by their physician.  I was advised by my future director to discuss the PPD test with my OB to determine if it's safe during pregnancy.  The director has indicated that other employees had opted to wait until after their babies were born to have the test done.  So I went online to do some research and found some sites that stated the test was completely safe and valid during pregnancy.  Other sites recommended against having the test because they stated it was a Class C injection, which meant that animal reproduction testing had not been done for the substance.  I also talked with a friend who is a nurse who told me that she waited with both of her pregnancies to have the test done.  Now, I've always taken a "better safe than sorry" approach to my pregnancies so I decided not to get the test done.  No problem, right?!?  WRONG!!!  I went to my routine OB visit on Friday and everything went fine, despite the rather monotone bedside manner of my physician, until I asked him to write a note excusing me from the test.  He refused to write the note and explained that the test was completely safe and he felt he couldn't lie and recommend that I not have it done.  

Well, needless to say, I was extremely upset when I left the office.  I'd had problems with scheduling of appointments with the practice in the past and was met with resistance by my doctor at another occasion and ultimately felt that I couldn't trust that my doctor would be on my side and communication with me throughout the pregnancy.  So I choose to request my medical records and now I'm in the process of finding a different OB and a different hospital.  I'm so frustrated because I feel like I've gone out of my way to ensure that everything goes smoothly with my doctor's office, yet it seems that no matter how much I try, it all ends up a mess anyway!  I just hope that I can find a doctor soon that will be supportive and informative so that I don't have to worry about all of this crap!  The doctors that delivered Alex and Emily gave me a hard time about WHERE I was going to deliver and tried to scare me into going to Albany Med instead of St. Peter's.  I even had to lie to my OB when I was in labor with Emily because she was arguing with me at 2am about which hospital we were meeting at (despite the fact that I made it VERY clear during the prior 9 months where I would be going).   I had hoped so much that I wouldn't have to deal with that sort of thing for this pregnancy, but sadly, it seems that with the way our healthcare system is run these days, my hopes may never be a reality.

Change is in the air.....

Yesterday was an historic day for our country, as we elected our first African American President.  And although I didn't vote for Barack Obama, I hope that he make decisions for our country that will not negatively impact our own futures.  

So it seems as though change is upon us, and for my family, in more ways than just one.  Today I accepted a position as a per diem PTA with the Samaritan Hospital Physical Therapy department.  I absolutely love being a stay at home mom and, particularly with the impending arrival of a new family member, am looking forward to hopefully continuing to stay at home with my children.  Although I did miss working with patients over the last year, my primary motivation in searching for work has been a financial one.  Extra income from this position will afford us a bigger cushion to our budget and allow us to live a little more stress-free (in the money department).  I anticipate that I'll mostly be working Saturday and Sunday mornings, but not every weekend, and possibly some hours during the week while Emily is in school.  

HALLOWEEN Festivities ...

After SEVERAL grueling hours of paper mache-ing and creative costume making, we finally were able to unveil our brilliant (okay, I'm being a little dramatic) idea for a family costume, which we wore at my sister's Halloween Party last night.  I was a jar of Prego sauce (get it!?!?), Tim was a box of spaghetti, and the kids were meatballs.  Of course, the kids weren't all that enthusiastic about our family costume idea, so they happily trick or treated in the costumes of their choice (Curious George & Fairy Princess) on Halloween, and were asked only to dress as meatballs for the party on Saturday! 

And what would Halloween be without a culinary creation from yours truly?!?!  Okay, so it wasn't an original, more of a copy-cat from something I saw in one of my Taste of Home Magazines, but it still looks cute!  Here's a picture of my "Cheese Mummy Man", which is

 basically just a cheeseball mix made to look like a mummy.

Growing Pains ... (or lack thereof!)

We awoke this morning with some excitement in the house. Apparently, while I was in the shower, Alex awoke and made his way downstairs where Tim was getting ready for work. Alex told Tim that his tooth felt REALLY loose this morning (it's been loose for about 3 weeks now). Tim replied, "Well, then pull it out!" To our surprise, he did! Alex came upstairs extremely excited and as I was stepping out of the shower came barreling into the room with a ziploc bag containing his first tooth lost. I was excited for him and surprised at the ease with which this new milestone has come and gone. As a child, I remember days, even weeks, of playing with the loose tooth and dreading the day that it was time for it to come out. I remember my father tying floss around the tooth that, really, was only barely hanging on by a hair and I was just too scared to pull it out myself. He'd say he was going to count to three but pull it out on two instead and it worked every time! When Alex came home from school one morning announcing he'd had a loose tooth, I anticipated weeks of "it" being the topic of his every conversation. I anticipated a solid week of him terrified to have us help pull it out. To my amazement, he's be so cool with it, that you'd almost not even know he had a loose tooth. And the way he handled himself this morning just makes me so proud, and breathe a sigh of relief that maybe, just maybe, this whole business of loosing teeth will be different for him than it was for me. But then again, he's a boy and maybe boys are just different about these sort of things?!? Time to prepare for the tooth fairy!

First Ultrasound of Baby #3

Today I had my first ultrasound done of baby #3 and it was exciting for us. I was happily surprised when Tim showed up for the appointment, which was not planned since the appointment was in the middle of the day and he had to get out of work for it. We arrived at Seton's Imaging place a little early and the technicians took us back quickly. There was a more experienced technician training another technician so I think we spent a little more time "learning" about the baby (and me) than we normally would have, which was nice. Overall, I'm a pretty happy camper, now that I've seen the baby in there, and saw the little tiny heart fluttering! They said that the baby is measuring on target for what we had predicted my due date to be and that they consider me now at 9 weeks and 1 day pregnant. Here is a video and picture of our first ultrasound. Enjoy!

First OB Appointment

Well, today I had my first OB appointment and it was somewhat anticlimactic. Since I'm a new patient to my doctor's office, I wasn't sure of ALL that I could expect from the appointment. The doctor seemed nice enough, although very monotone and serious, and the nurse was very friendly and chipper. The doctor was relatively thorough in going over my medical history and following our discussion, he completed the exam. He said that it seemed as though I'm around 8 weeks along and so he wouldn't even attempt to look for a heartbeat with the Doppler since he would likely NOT hear one (the instrument usually isn't sensitive enough to pick it up until 10 weeks). He scheduled me for an ultrasound next week just to get an accurate due date and check things out. So I walked away from the office, happy that I met the doctor and encouraged by his promptness in getting me in to the exam room, but disappointed that I didn't get to even hear a heart beat. Oh well, I guess it will be worth the wait another couple of days to get an ultrasound and see everything and hear a heart beat that way! Another disappointment - I learned today that they do not allow videography during delivery..... something that I was hoping to capture in a relatively non-graphic form since I wasn't allowed to tape Alex's birth and we accidentally taped over Emily's arrival! Hmmm..... Maybe I can get my sister to somehow sneak some shots of labor.... (wink wink) if she's there with us!

Baby Names and such ....

To my disappointment, my doctor's office called yesterday morning and cancelled my appointment for the afternoon. After some difficulty and frustration, they were able to "squeeze" me in for my first prenatal visit on Oct. 10th. I must admit, besides the disappointment I felt, I'm also worried now about my decision to switch doctors. It was a necessary evil to switch since my former OBGYN docs don't even have hospital privileges at St. Mary's Hospital. But the cancellation concerns me, especially after a friend of mine mentioned a few weeks ago that she had issues with the office consistently cancelling her OB appointments when she was pregnant with her last child. I guess I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and try it for a couple of months, but I don't want to get too far into this pregnancy feeling a lack of confidence in the medical care I'll be getting.

So on to a happier note..... in thinking of our future arrival yesterday, I spent a half hour or so searching online for baby names. While on vacation this summer we compiled a list of baby names (mostly girls, though) from a geneology database that Tim's Uncle and Aunt have been working on (Thanks Dean & Laura!), and I thought I'd look for some other names last night. Here are some of the names I like so far (in no particular order):
Boys - Aaron, James, Evan
Girls - Anabel, Evalyn, Charlotte, Sarah, Adeline (pronounced with the long "I" sound), Juliet, Sonia

Update on Medical appointments

Well, we've had a busy month (and it's not over yet) for follow-ups on medical issues but this seems to be the month to clear the air! Alex had his 6 year old checkup a couple of weeks ago with his pediatrician and everything seems to be normal. We brought Alex on Tuesday morning to Dr. Bulford to get the lab results and follow-up on the minor lesion removal from his lower lip. Dr. Bulford said that, as suspected, the lesion was a mucoscele which he described as a spit gland that got clogged with saliva. He said it shouldn't recur and we don't need to see him again. Also, this afternoon, we visited with Dr. Cevera (ENT) to re-check Alex's ears. Several months ago, Alex developed fluid in his ears that caused a very mild hearing loss. It's taken many months of wait and see and a long course of Nasonex, but today the doctor said that all of the fluid is finally gone (Yay... no tubes!) and that we'll just re-check again in 3-4 months to be certain that the fluid hasn't come back. He'll go back to the doctor in January which will be a good time since that would probably be the timeframe (cold season) for the fluid to come back if it were going to.

And lastly, I have my first prenatal visit with my new OB/GYN doctors this coming Monday. I'm excited about the first visit. Although it's all sort of "old hat" for me, this last pregnancy will be different in some ways. The first difference is that this baby will be born at St. Mary's Birthing Center instead of at St. Peter's Hospital and the doctors/midwives that will deliver the baby will be from a different practice. My first appointment next week has been scheduled a little early (with my last two pregnancies, I didn't have the first appt. until I was about 10 weeks along) and so I'm not sure that they will do much more than review my medical history and confirm the pregnancy with a test. Normally they'd listen to the baby's heartbeat but, again, I don't think you can hear it until around 10 weeks so I'm not getting my hopes up for anything too exciting. I should be about 7 weeks pregnant at my first appointment and if my calculations are correct, the estimated due date is May 19th, 2009.

Chaos vs. Control

You have to check out this video that I made! It's about a subject matter that is very near to my heart and I think you'll find it interesting and fun!

More Bargain Shopping Tips

In the past I've posted about bargain shopping but I realized today that one of the things I didn't talk about is a method that I've been using for a while now for planning my meals and purchasing my meat.  Although I've been slacking lately, I usually have my meals planned out for 2-3 weeks at a time.  I even have a calendar file on our home server that's titled "dinner" that Tim can access from work (or anywhere) and see what we're having for dinner that night!  Creating a schedule of meals has really helped me to reduce our family's food waste, eat healthier and save money.  To start, I use the calendar of planned meals to determine how much chicken/ground beef/pork/etc. that I will need for that time frame.  I rarely purchase my meat from the local grocery stores unless I see a REALLY good deal advertised.  The reason for this?  Because I've found that most often, even the major grocery stores' best price is STILL not nearly as inexpensive as the local deli/meat stores.  When we lived on Plank Rd., I traveled to Halfmoon/Clifton Park weekly and did the majority of my grocery shopping at the Walmart SuperCenter for my non-perishables, and then I would head to Sorrentino's Delicatessan for my deli/meat purchases.  On average, their boneless/skinless chicken breasts are $1.99/lb and on sale as cheap as $1.69/lb.  Fred the Butcher is currently running their chicken at $1.69/lb. if you purchase their 10 lbs. bag.  Since Clifton Park is a haul for me now, I'd decided to have a little chat with Jeff Kissinger, the owner of Route 66 Meats & Smokehouse.  He told me that he'd match his competitor's prices if I purchased a high quantity from him.  Today, he sold me 10 lbs. of chicken for $1.79/lb and I was happy with that since I didn't have to drive up to Clifton Park.  So the bottom line is, do your homework, call for prices and talk to the owners of the local owned places.  I find that their meats are often fresher, better tasting and I feel good knowing that I'm giving the local guy my business.

So the next step... once I've got this meat in large quantity sitting in my fridge, what do I do with it?  Usually if you buy in bulk, each type of meat comes in one big bag/package.  So I have my trusty Ziploc Freezer bags and sharpie at my side and I start trimming the fat and dividing the meat.  

If my calendar says I'm going to cook Stir-Fry Chicken & Veggies one night, I'll cut up the meat in little pieces and label the bag "stir fry" so all I have to do when it's time to cook is thaw the chicken and dump the bag in the wok!  Sometimes I'll package one single breast in a bag for that occasional time when we'll have an unexpected guest for dinner.  This way, I don't have to worry about thawing an entire bag of 4-5 breasts for the one person!  

In the summer time, when purchasing ground beef, I often divide 3-4 pounds into two 1.5 lb packages to make meatloaf and then make hamburger patties out of the rest.  Everything goes into my freezer and I've found that the freezer bags generally do a great job of keeping the meat from getting freezer burn for a good 2-3 weeks.  

I try to use what I have within 3 weeks, although I'm sure it will keep longer than that!  It's a lot of work initially to tenderize & divide the messy chicken, package & label it all, but it's totally worth the 30-60 minutes of my time on one single day to be able to avoid the meat prep part of cooking every day.

An eventful week.

This week has been a relatively full week, especially for Alex!  We began on Monday with a party to celebrate Alex's 6th birthday with our close family.  Tuesday was his actual birthday and Alex had a wonderful and fun day, which was spent mostly with his Uncle Mike.  Mike took Alex rock climbing in the afternoon, which he enjoyed immensely.  Alex seemed to  be a monkey on the wall and I think he did much better than I did at attempting the bouldering area, in particular.  He made three attempts at the Large wall and made it to the top on the last attempt without getting tired or scared.  He loves his Uncle Mike so much and was upset when we dropped him off despite my reassurances that we would see him again before he leaves the state.

Yesterday I put my newly 6 year-old on the bus for the first time this year and, despite my own excitement for the potential of a relatively "quiet" day at home, I actually began to tear up a little.  Somehow, it seems different this year.  I just can't believe that I am a parent of a FIRST GRADER!  Maybe it was the lack of his nap mat, or the teddy bear missing from his back pack that made the difference.  Or perhaps the lack of fear and trepidation over what this new day/new year would bring for him.  Either way, to me, it's like he all of a sudden just grew up... from a toddler/little boy, to an independent "big boy".  And it really hit me when he arrived home in the afternoon, very much in good spirits after his first day, and pulled out his folder which contained a teacher's note.  The note made mention of daily homework and a weekly spelling list.  A SPELLING LIST?!?!  Wow.... he's officially beyond just learning his ABC's!  I realized then that "that day" has come where I would be sitting at the breakfast table listening to him recite spelling words and encouraging him as he attempts to sound out some of the more difficult words.  Oh.... so now the journey through first grade has begun for Alex and despite my slightly melancholy mood accompanying my growing realizations, I'm VERY excited to witness the growth and learning that Alex will experience this year!

Moxie's closed... (frown)

I know I had read somewhere recently that Moxie's would be closing near the Labor Day weekend, however, I guess I assumed in my mind that they'd be open still today, being the Saturday before Labor Day.  Wrong!  We mistakenly told the kids that we had a surprise for them after dinner and the only hint I gave then was that we were taking them to a place where they could play.  We were all disappointed when we pulled in and saw that they were closed until next Mother's Day.  We ended up stopping at a little corner stand near Bubie's Garage in Poestenkill and enjoyed some hard serve ice cream.  And since the children were looking forward to being able to "play", we took them to Tamarac's playground for a 1/2 hour of play afterward.  The sun was setting, so we decided to stop at Blockbuster and pick up the original Willie Wonka movie.  All in all, despite the lack of fresh homemade ice cream, it was still a very nice evening with the family.  Now off to watch the movie! .....

Pecan Cinnamon Buns

This has been the summer of bread & cake making from scratch.  It began one morning in the early summer when Alex asked me to make pancakes for him.  Eager to please my recent graduate of Kindergarten, but lacking the staple box of Bisquick, I thought "wait a minute, can I make pancakes from scratch?".  So off I went to my trusty Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook and amidst the recipes for pancakes and waffles was a plethura of bread recipes.  I realized I'd never made any sort of bread from scratch which required the use of active yeast.  So I made the pancakes that morning and began a new challenge for myself, that of bread making.  That week we picked strawberries   and made jam (another first for us... the jam-making, that is).  Hmmm... now what will go well with fresh strawberry jam?  Aha!  Croissants!  How hard could those be to make?  Turns out, after searching online for a recipe, that in order to make a true croissant, it takes hours or prepping the dough and days of work.  I discovered why croissants are so buttery and flaky in layers.... purely the result of  "folding" the dough in layers of butter multiple times over the course of a day or so.   I found a recipe that was a nice compromise between the very first recipe and a no-labor required/open the tube and bake recipe for croissants.  The result was relatively time-consuming but wonderfully delicious!  I've tucked this recipe in my files under "worth the effort, but save for special occasion"!  

I had a packet of dry yeast in my fridge left over from the 3-pack I bought last month for the croissants that was screaming at me to be used, thus my project for today unfolded.  I debated on doing dinner rolls (which would have made 24 rolls and I would have ended up freezing some for later use) or cinnamon buns.  I'd never done either, but was hoping to make something with a punch of flavor.  Cinnamon rolls it is!  The thing that's nice about this recipe is that you can make the rolls ahead of time, plac

e them in their baking pan, cover and refrigerate them to bake the next morning.  I made a Caramel Pecan version this afternoon (which are SO YUMMY) and I have a batch ready for tomorrow's breakfast that will be the cinnamon with sugar glaze variety.  The recipe makes 24 buns, which is too much for us to eat, which is why I've saved half of them for tomorrow.  They end up baking relatively small, about 3 inches in diameter, so the 12 should be just about right for our appetites in the morning!

Check and check...

Two things "checked" off our summer to-do list.... 

I finally finished staining the children's wooden swing set.  We purchased the Rainbow play-system 2 years ago and I knew that it would require biannual maintenance in order to keep it in good shape.  At first glance I thought, "this should be easy; I can get this done in an afternoon".  WRONG!  When you look at it, it doesn't look like there's much wood but once I got started, realized that there's much more to it than I had thought.  Every side of every piece of wood had to be stained and trying not to get any of the hardware or accessory pieces stained was tricky.  All in all, I think I did a pretty decent job and I'm happy that it's FINALLY done!  I'm hoping that it will last another 2 years before it requires re-staining.

The second sigh of relief is that we picked up a new (to us) used car to replace Tim's truck which has put in a good effort in its last months.  We purchased the 1994 Ford Ranger truck from our best friends, about 5 years ago.  We only held a loan payment on it for a few months and we got several years with minimal repair costs.... the truck had served its purpose and didn't owe us a dime.  We'd been trying to squeeze every last week out of it and this time last year, we weren't quite sure it would even make it through the winter.  With its inspection expiring at the end of this month, and a heavy repair bill to get it to pass, we decided it was long overdue to get a more practical car for Tim.  We have the minivan now, so if we need to haul bigger items, it's almost as big as the bed of the pickup is, so we'll use the minivan now.  Tim's commute to work is roughly 45-55 minutes and the truck's gas mileage was less than desirable.  We spend hours searching online and basically concluded that our goal was to get something small, inexpensive to fit our budget, good gas mileage and 50K miles or less already on it.  We emailed and called on a lot of cars but the best deal that we found (looking at affordability as our primary priority) was a posting on Craigslist for a 2002 Hyundai Accent with 53K miles on it, one owner and a clean title.  I noticed that there were quite a few postings for the same vehicle with around 90-120K miles on it.... seems like that's when people are dumping them, my guess, for mechanical reasons.  So we figured that we ought to be able to get another 40-50K miles out of it before it needs any real major work done on it (we hope!).  That said, we should get 2-3 years with it... and for $4500, it was the most affordable option for us.  The gas mileage for highway is expected to be about 34 mpg.  We anticipate that Tim will only spend about $150/month (at the current gas rate) on gas commuting to work compared to the $250-280 he has been spending.  So Tim is happy that he has a newer vehicle to drive that he doesn't have to worry about breaking down and we're both happy that we found something that fits our budget pretty well.

  

Update on Terrible 6's

Okay... so here I am over a week later from my recent post regarding 6-year old behavior and I have to say that this past week has been MUCH better and we are, in fact, heading to Hoffman's Playland this afternoon!  Although Alex has lost his opportunity to have a chapter of Harry Potter read almost every night this week, that is the only thing he's lost each day, having no warnings or second chances given throughout the day.  This said, I think being more strict with him has paid off.  This means that he's only done, really, one thing each day that would be considered "bad behavior" (enough to warrant punishment, anyway).  The attitude that he exhibited last week has diminished substantially and our trip to the grocery store was much more successful.  

I began our trip by telling them, once we were in the parking lot, that we would not be using the car cart as we had the previous week because both of the children showed me through their behavior that they could not be trusted to use one.  I continued by telling them that if they argued with me about not using the cart, they would loose storytime that evening, but if they were good, we could get a car cart for the next trip.  They were both well-behaved for this trip and I was quite pleased with their behavior.

Of course Tuesday would have been the day for good behavior since Alex was much too lethargic to be bold due to his minor surgery.  But for the rest of the week, both Alex & Emily have played well together, sometimes going for hours of pretend play without one of them running to mommy with a problem.  I've baked a cake, gotten caught up on the laundry, and witnessed some truly wonderful sibling play time.  The major thing that I've changed in my parenting this past week has been not to give in, even the slightest, to Alex's wheelin and dealin with his punishments.  I haven't given him any second chances.  And most of the time, he doesn't even get a warning because I feel that he's old enough now and knows what good/acceptable behavior and bad/not acceptable behavior is.  The next thing that we are working on now is having respect.  We've worked on it a bit and I think the attitude has improved, but he has still raised his voice at me a couple of times  in a sort of disrespectful & "blaming" kind of tone.  I hope that my children will, throughout their lives, be respectful and kind human beings.... thus, the foundation must be laid now.

Carrot Cake

We're having dinner with my brother & sister-in-law this evening and I offered to make a dessert.  I guess baking cakes is sort of my forte this week because it was decided that I would make a carrot cake.  I was anxious to begin my baking this morning as I've never made a carrot cake from scratch.  Several months ago, I found a classic carrot cake recipe in an edition of Taste of Home Magazine and wanted to try it then but never did.  This was the same edition of the magazine where I was introduced to the (now infamous) Layered Mocha Cheesecake and Tiramisu brownies that I've made.  The cream cheese frosting is very creamy; perfect for smoothing on the cake but not very good to work with for decorating the cake with borders, etc.  I'm pretty happy with the way the cake came out.  I just hope it tastes as good as looks!  

Our little Trooper!

Well, I'm going to make this a quick post as an update on how Alex is doing.  Alex had very minor surgery done at the doctor's office this morning to remove a small "lesion" from the inside of his lower lip.  The little spot formed over a month ago, most likely the result of a cut on the inside of his mouth that didn't heal properly.  Unfortunately, the doctor recommended that he have it removed and removal required use of general anesthesia.  Alex was extremely sluggish and sore this morning and got sick from the anesthesia, but he is feeling MUCH better now.  He seems to be much more alert and has started making jokes with his sister.  Emily has been quite nurturing as well.  Having never seen Alex in that sort of "state" before, she became concerned and was mimicking some of the behaviors I exhibited, rubbing her hand over his hairline, etc.  Alex has had lots of hugs and words of encouragement this morning.  It's difficult as a parent to see your child in discomfort and know that there's little that you can do to comfort them.  We've been fortunate that we've only had to go through this sort of thing a handful of times in the last 6 years!  I think I can count on only 1 hand the number of times I've even been up at night with either of the kids due to illness.  It makes me really thankful, and my heart goes out to all of the mothers/fathers that have children who are chronically ill.

Boob Cake ***CAUTION - Not for little eyes!

So here was my "project" for the day.  Yes, you read the title correctly, I made a "Boob" cake.  And despite a slightly collapsed left breast (there were issues after getting it out of the pan), I would say that it almost met my expectations.  I underestimated the amount of flesh toned frosting I'd need, and wasn't able to create an upper chest area and slight shoulder line for the straps to rest on.  But despite this, (and the collapsed breast... did I mention that?) I think it looks pretty good.  All complete with a heart "tattoo" that reads the guest of honor's name and a sexy bra to go with it!  This project came about after talking with my friend, who's husband is hosting a bachelor party tomorrow night that hubby will be going to.  The food will be BBQ style and I offered to make something for hubby to bring.... aha!  How about a cake?  And not just ANY cake, of course... something appropriate for the occasion.   I hope the guys like it! 

Mary, Mary, quite contrary....

How does your garden grow?  Well, as for OUR garden, it could be better, but it could also be worse!  Despite the apparent lack of nutrient that stunted the growth of our corn, and the abundance of rock/shale and clay, we DID manage to grow some veggies this year.  We began harvesting green beans and cucumbers a few weeks ago.  Recently, we've picked squash, zucchini, tomatoes (viva italia & cherry), and peppers.  The corn was growing well, then tassled before it was tall enough to assume we'd get any kind of harvest, but, believe it or not, we've actually picked a couple of ears, albeit, they are very small.  Our entire carrot and lettuce crop became dinner for some lucky bunny that had an open door to the garden 2 weeks ago.  And we have 2 watermelons that we are hopeful will mature to an edible size.  All of the rain we've had seems to have put a damper on our pumpkin crop.  Any time there's been even the slightest hint of a small pumpkin formation, it rots within a day or so.  You can see how rocky our garden is by looking at the pics.  I'm amazed that anything grew at all!  And the last picture is what I harvested yesterday.  We enjoyed a yummy salad and breaded zucchini for dinner!

More Free stuff

I recently stopped by the Freegrabber website and found some other offers for "FREE" stuff. Check out the links below:

Sample of Sundance Organic Superfruit Tea Blend.

Welcome Home Pack from SC Johnson Companies. The first 10,000* registrants only will receive a free 10-count pack of medium Ziploc® Brand Zip 'n Steam™ Microwave Steam Cooking Bags and one Glade® Air Infusions® in Clean Linen™ fragrance as well as $7.60 in coupons to enjoy.

Free bag of Iams Premium Protection dog or cat food.  Coupon sent via email. http://www.startsampling.com/sm/100323

Free Pampers Potty Training Kit.

Free Orville Redenbacher's Popcorn Cakes sample.

BPA-free Baby Bottles

After a recent discussion with another mom-friend about nursing and bottle feeding, I've decided to do some light research on BPA-free products and found that there's a few companies that make BPA-free baby bottles.  One that I found, called "Born Free" can be found at BabysR'Us.  Medela is also making a baby bottle that is BPA-free and I just came across a promotion to get a free bottle.  Check out this link:

BPA-Free Bottle

I just registered to get one for free and it said it may take 4-6 weeks for delivery, but all I had to do was register with their site!  Enjoy the freebie!

Terrible 6?!?!

UGHH!!!  I just don't know what to do anymore.  Maybe it's because I'm not used to having Alex home 24/7, and he's not used to being bored, but these mental games that my soon-to-be 6 year old has been playing with me have got me fed up!  Over the last week, in particular, Alex has been playing games with me, changing his mind about what he wants to eat for lunch and then pitching a fit when he doesn't get his way, lying to me when I ask him a simple question because it might mean that he might actually have to get off his butt and do something, or just plain not listening to me.  His sister often acts as partner in crime but not NEARLY as often as he is!  Ironically, they are playing relatively well together, with few arguments and cries of "Mommy, Alex did (fill in the blank) to me".  So I guess I should be happy about that.  But what to do about my little/big first grader who is once again, testing his boundaries?!?!  Yesterday we went to the grocery store and I let the kids have fun with the "car cart" (it's the grocery cart that has a car in the front for the kids to ride in).  Although they weren't fighting, they were being VERY silly and tickling each other.  I allowed the tickling to continue until arms, legs and head came flying out from the sides, posing a potential hazard to their limbs as I wheeled through the aisles and passed other carts.  I asked, Alex and Emily both nicely to keep their hands to themselves and explained to them why they needed to tone the silliness down.  To no avail, they continued.  I repeated this several times until I finally had to tell them that we wouldn't be going to Hoffman's Playland this week if they continued (which they did).  

Our next stop was Walmart to get school supplies for Alex.  He was in good spirits and excited about our trip "for him" at first.  But he quickly became disinterested in looking for things on the list and remembered that I had told them we wouldn't be going to Hoffman's this week.  Once he got the idea in his head that we wouldn't be going, it was all over!  He began to whine and stick his biggest pouty lip out as I was browsing the Kleenex's.  Then the tears came.   I warned him that if he continued the poor behavior, he'd loose Hoffman's for next week.  Fortunately, we were just about done with our shopping.

Today at lunch he changed his mind 3 times about what he wanted to eat.  (He ultimately got what he want, thus, I feel as though I gave in and was manipulated)

While bringing laundry upstairs, I noticed a lollipop stick on the carpet, this, after I specifically asked them to put the sticks in the garbage when they were done with their special "treat".  I questioned both children and here's how the conversation went:

Beth: "Alex & Emily, do you know who's lollipop stick is on the carpet upstairs?"

Alex: "It's Emily's" 

Beth: "Emily, is that your lollipop stick?"

Emily: "No, I put mine in the garbage"

Beth: "Oh really?  Which garbage?"

Emily: "In my bedroom"

Beth: "Alex, did you throw yours out?"

Alex: "Yeah"

Beth: "Which garbage did you use, tell me the truth?" 

Alex: "well, um, mom, it's mine, but you know why I told you it was Emily's?  Because I didn't want to get up and throw it away".

So, I try to calmly explain to him that he wasn't going to be in trouble if it was his, that all I wanted him to do was to throw it away.... that lying to me about it was bad and that I'm disappointed in him for lying.  I tell him to go upstairs and throw it away, to which he replies (whining) , " but I don't want to, I'm not gonna".

So..... what does a mother do?  Do I threaten no ice cream tonight at Jumpin Jacks?  Do I take Hoffman's away for next week too?  I can't let him manipulate me and speak to me in the tone that he did... but this, all over a silly little lollipop stick on the floor!?!?!  

The game continues..... stomping and pouting his way up the stairs, he tells me he's "not gonna throw it away".  5 minutes later he returns to the kitchen and says "I didn't do it".  To which, I reply "I'm going to ask you once and if you don't tell me the truth, you won't be eating ice cream tonight; did you throw it away?"  He nods his head, yes.

HELP!  I know this is normal, I just can't tell if I'm really in control of it or not!

   

Hilarious, yet potentially immoral?

I am a member of the Bzzagent website and I just came across this website that is SO FUNNY, but I have mixed feelings about it because it's sort of one of those services that could be helpful but has the potential for being very naughty.  It's called SlyDial.

Check it out:

Visit slydial

Smart Shopping

I've posted on our 4livingstons.com site in the past about this, but I was so proud of myself yesterday for the great bargains I got, I decided to write about it again today.  I've been so frustrated with the rising cost of living lately that I've really been thrifty about my spending habits, particularly when it comes to groceries and household items.  Since March, I've been clipping coupons weekly, scouring the Sunday paper's ads for deals & looking for ways to cut back on expenses in general.  So let's get down to the nitty gritty of my shopping trip yesterday.

Can you believe I got all of this stuff for $14.74?!?!?!  

Here's what I bought:

Price Chopper

$5 (2) boxes Raisin Bran

$4 (2) boxes Froot Loops

$4 (2) boxes Apple Jacks

$4 (2) 2 packages Keebler cookies

$4 (2) packages Keebler cheese/crackers

$2 (1) box Crest toothpaste

$4.99 (3) boxes Puffs Tissues

$3.99 (1) Lysol spray + wipes

Rite Aid (all FREE after rebate)

1 Gillette Fusion Razor

1 package Old Spice Disposable razors

1 bottle Gillette shampoo

1 Revlon Nail polish

So here's the catch, my out of pocket expense was $40.21 but I will be getting back $25.47 in rebates in the next few weeks, which is how I arrived at the total final cost of $14.74.  The first 10 items on the list are part of a promotion through Kellogg's.  If you purchase 10 Kellogg's/Eggo/Keebler products on one receipt, you get $10 back by mail in rebate.  I had coupons from this week's paper which brought my initial cost for each of these items down from $21 to $17.  Then, Price Chopper is running an additional program where if you purchase those 10 items, they also give you a coupon good toward $10 off your next purchase at Price Chopper.  So I turned right around and bought the 1/2 gal milk, 3 Oikos yogurt & 2 frozen lemonades..... basically, all for FREE!!!   The Crest ended up being FREE as well after I doubled my $1 off coupon, the Puffs 3 pack was $2.99 after I doubled my $1 off coupon and finally, the Lysol spray + wipes was $1.99 by using a $2 off coupon.  Most of the coupons I used I found in this past Sunday's paper.

Pre-Nesting Possibly?

For the last couple of weeks, I've been on a mission to finish unfinished projects around the house like reorganizing our filing system and finally completing Emily's baby book (she's almost 3 1/2 years now).  I've been paying particular attention to reducing daily clutter and doing things I'd never worried about before like making the beds (even the childrens') before noon.  I started to think about this new "mission" that has overcome me and pondered, "could this be a sort of 'pre-nesting' state?  In case you need some clarification, yes, that means we're working on baby #3 ....  

A little bit of history

I've been trying to keep up with our family blog site (www.4livingstons.com) since the construction of our new home began last summer.  In an attempt to "learn" more about the ever-changing world of blogging, I've decided to start from scratch again and stumble through as time goes on.  This blog will mostly be posts about random topics that come into my brain as I'm meandering through my daily routine of childrearing and housework.  Some of the topics that may appear include recipes, fun quotes & parenting tips, parenting issues, books, craftiness and of course, pictures of my wonderful family!  Perhaps you'll find a topic of interest or some useful information that will help you in your life.  Either way, I hope you enjoy and please comment often as I'd love to get some feedback on my thoughts!