55 posts from 2006

Merry Christmas to everyone out there reading this. A bit late in coming..sorry about that!

We arrived home from NJ yesterday. We spent about 10 days up there visiting family and friends (some we hadn't seen in years). It was a really nice visit except Madilyn refused to sleep! She cut a third tooth (her top lateral incisor..so now we call her snaggletooth since she is missing the middle ones) and had some congestion--and that combined with being in a different setting, wow, she wore Mom and Dad down. We had a few extra days to do more visiting and do some things we hadn't in a while like visit the historic village where we were married and tour the mansion there. We even took the woods back to my parents' place.

The girls made out quite well as always--getting spoiled by everyone. Here is a quick review of some presents:

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Jules' Favorite: An electronic keyboard from my parents. Close second was Dreamlife from Santa

Alyssa's Favorite: This was not an official present but something Mom-Mom Sue never used and gave to her--A Magic Bullet appliance. You all know that infomercial. Yeah, Alyssa is addicted to it. It's all she wants to "play" with. Two close runner ups are her Dora cash register from Santa and her babydoll from Jules

Madi's Favorite: The boxes and bows that all her presents came in

Matt's Favorite: Decoy Roy from the girls and his "married" shoes (slippers) from me.

My Favorite: My 1 hour massage and 20 minute green tea facial gift certificate from Matt and my three heart pendant necklace from my girls (which was given earlier than expected on Christmas Eve when Madilyn broke the necklace I had been wearing at our family get together)

The Grossiest (and most creative??): The award for grossiest present given goes to one the presents my brother gave to Jules; Cappuccino scented handsoap in the shape of dog poop

Best Family Gift: Country Karaoke for Playstation. Left by Santa for us to find when we arrived home

Favorite Gift That We Gave: I think this has to go to the tofu bear (named Edamame) that we gave my niece Rasine. My brother is vegan so this was just the perfect first teddy to give to his daughter. Its either that or the nursing necklace my mother and I gave my sister-in-law. (Sidenote..both companies were *wonderful* to do business with. I highly recommend them)

Best Gifts Never Given: We were left doing last minute shopping when items from a school fundraiser that were going to be given as gifts never arrived before we left for NJ. The fundraising lady from school offered to ship them up to me but I declined. We just did some shopping at the great little village we visit every year. We'll save the school items for another occasion.

Most Unnecessary Present: The 3lb box of chocolates the girls gave me. I so didn't need that.

Present Most Likely to be Regifted: I probably should not admit this, but if anyone receives a huge ole blackTommy purse from me, you'll know where I got it. Wow, if a bag is that big, it better be a diaper bag!

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We hope you all had a wonderful holiday and wish everyone a happy, healthy new year!!

After our Christmas play at the church last night, the kids were playing in the sanctuary and the corner of a piano bench fell into Alyssa's head...smack in the middle of her forehead. It busted open into quite a deep triangle shaped wound. With blood streaming down her face, it was off to the ER for us.

Two and a half hours and some stitches later, she was almost as good as new. What a trooper, too! After the Dr was done, Alyssa hopped off the table, and said she was ready to leave. She headed off to preschool this AM anxious to show off her hospital bracelet and her cool band aid.

That girl is going to be the end of us..I swear...oy.

Today is the one year anniversary of little Morgan Saville's passing. SMA took her life at a mere 3 years old.

More information about Morgan, SMA and how you can contribute to her foundation, can be found here.

Just call my husband Clark Grizwold

Keep Them Harnessed

This video clip drives home the point I've tried to make for years to other parents. Just because a child reaches 40lbs, it does not mean they are ready for a booster seat. A 5 pt. harness is always the best choice for as long as possible--even if it means saving up to buy a model that costs $300 but allows harness use until 80lbs.

*Edited to add: It has been found, after further investigation, that the seatbelts in the family's 1998 Toyota Sienna malfunctioned during the accident. However, if Kyle had been in a 5pt harness that was tethered/used LATCH, it probably would have saved his life.

Always remember to read the car seat AND car manual to see what the weight limits are for your LATCH.

That Is One Smart Cookie

Jules made principal's list this marking period! All A's! She was the only one in her class to do so...

We're beaming with parental pride over here...

*Edited to Add: We found out yesterday, during the honor roll award's assembly at school, that Julianna was not the only one in her class to receive principal's list; she was actually the only one in the entire third grade!

Half a Year Already?!

Yep, it's true. Madilyn is 6 months old!

She had her appt and weighs in at 14lbs 9ozs and is 25 1/2 inches long. She is doing wonderfully! She had her shots (She did quite well with them actually except for a slight incident with the Rotateq). Unfortunately, she reacted to one of them (I suspect the DTaP) with a fever for a couple days and alot of crabbiness. We actually had our first rough night with her, and she ended up sleeping in my arms while I sat, semi upright, in bed. I think I've learned to function with little to no sleep actually so after a little coffee, I was good to go. Actually I can't remember sleeping well since about the age of 15. But that's another entry.

She's into everything already though and finding all new things to explore now that she can pull up and cruise around. Oy...

Pictures coming soon. She hasn't been in much of a photo mood lately.

I hit the local organic market today and stock piled all sorts of yummy produce for Madilyn like sweet potatoes, avocado, mango, butternut squash, and acorn squash. I spent the day steaming up the veggies (the mango and avocado have some ripening to do before I mash those up). I absolutely love this--making homemade baby food. From being able to pick the freshest produce and knowing the conditions in which it was all made to watching as they gobble it all up like it's the best tasting food on the earth. Gotta love it...

And yes, like the dork that I am, I took pictures of the pureed veggies. The above picture is of steamed and pureed, locally grown, organic sweet potatoes.

Tell me that doesn't look good!

A Perfect Morning...

...well almost. Alyssa, Madilyn, Max and I went to the state park for some hiking and then hit the beach. It was absolutely gorgeous this morning--a light fog and mist engulfed the woods during our hike then it made way for bright sunshine and blue skies when we went to the beach. It was an almost perfect morning. It would have been perfect if Max didn't get car sick three times on the ride there and back

Pictures can be seen here.