December 2007 Babies- It's February!

[stellimamo]

Wow it's already February and I still feel like I'm recovering from the holidays!

I was MIA most of the month because it was so crazy around here. We took the kids in for a dr. visit (we needed a allergist referral) about half way through January and wouldn't you know it 3 days later everyone was sick. This house is usually pretty healthy so I'm going to blame the doctor's office for that one. Stella had a mild cold but poor Elliot ended up with a pretty good cold and a double ear infection. One of his eardrums ruptured, talk about feeling like a horrible mom! Every one is well again finally!

Elliot's allergy appt. was a bit depressing. All his allergies have only gotten worse. The dairy and egg were moderately bad but his peanut reaction was 3 times as bad as his last test. We talked about th use of Epi-pens for anaphalactic shock and all that good stuff. He now wears a cute little med-alert bracelet just in case he were to get separated from us.

In more exciting news Elliot is walking. He's so funny he just walks for the sake of walking now. One of his favorite things to do is walk circles around dh's chair while yelling and pointing at dh. It's really much more entertaining than any TV show.

Also last month I opened up my very own Etsy shop with wooden toys and teethers. On the whim I decided to try to make a few wooden toys, I loved it so much I thought I would turn a hobby into a business. So I have now taken over the garage and renamed it "My Shop" much to my dh's annoyance. If you want to have a peek here's the link: www.imaginationkids.etsy.com

Well that pretty much sums up January!
Congrats to everyone that is expecting again and congrats Nikki! :

[LeighB]

Hi!
Those are cute toys! They really look nice. I'm sorry to hear about Elliot's allergies. If it's any consolation, the little girl I used to nanny for had severe allergies as a toddler but started to grow out of them around age 5.

So Dd is a bundle of energy. She never slows down. When we are out in public people actually comment on how active she is. I guess I should be happy, but I'm tired! lol. She prefers walking over crawling now. She is learning to say a few more words. But actually she's created a bunch of her owns signs and communicates pretty well.

Hope all the babies are doing great!

[Elsaraw]

I saw your toys over on DS-- they are SO cute!

[Code Name Mama]

Those are awesome Erin - what beautiful colors!!
I'll be back to update on us later

[SheBear]

Subbing! GL with the etsy store, Erin--the toys are too cute, and it sounds as if you are having a blast! I am so in need of a hobby....one that requires me to use power tools so that I have an excuse not to let the kids help, LOL!

Back to update later, I hope....love to you all!

[Momma2DoubleCuties]

Erin those are great! I will be buying one after payday for sure!

[minsca]

Those are amazing toys. I love them! I hope Elliot's allergies don't get to the point where you actually have to use the epi pen.

Avye is growing up so fast. She was tickling her big sister today. It is so much fun watching them play together, and watching them fight. Man do they fight, and fight and fight! Arghh!! But then they dance and sing and have tea parties together. Too cute!

[stellimamo]

Than you so much for all your kind words!

Originally Posted by SheBear

Subbing! GL with the etsy store, Erin--the toys are too cute, and it sounds as if you are having a blast! I am so in need of a hobby....one that requires me to use power tools so that I have an excuse not to let the kids help, LOL!

Back to update later, I hope....love to you all!

Hey if you every come on down to Indy we can play around in the shop!!! The power tools don't deter the kids. Stella likes to play in the shop when I'm working. So much for safety, though I'm much more likely to get my finger cut off then anything happening to her.

Thanks again for all the nice things everyone one said. You have no idea how much you all made my day!

Hey does anyone have facebook? I do and would love to have some of my DDC buddies on my list!

[wholewheatmama]

Congratulations on your engagement, Nikki!

Congrats, again, Erin! I already ordered some toys yesterday morning! : I'm so excited! Sorry about Elliot's allergies - that has to be so tough and scary to deal with.

I just joined Facebook. I was tired of getting my arm twisted by my friends, so I caved to the peer pressure. Erin, you already have my name from my etsy transaction, so send me a friend request, and I'll add you!

Iris is just getting over a week long cold, but otherwise she's doing fabulously. I love this stage where I can see her drinking the entire world in. She's still not walking but gets everywhere she needs to go just fine, thankyouverymuch! She's also not eating much in the way of solids, so we still nurse a lot. She nurses quite a few times overnight, but the going to sleep part is much easier these days, which means I am able to get more work done, thank goodness.

I'll try to keep up better this month, but things are BUSY! Looking forward to hearing more baby updates!

[Code Name Mama]

We have officially joined the toddling world - for the last 3 or 4 days Kieran has been walking way more than crawling. In fact it's already weird to see him drop down to a crawl, strange how quickly new skills can become normal.
We've also been battling new teeth (the top 2) and a cold (doesn't that always accompany teething?!) for the past week. He's been so miserable that he hasn't wanted to eat anything but hummus and avocado; and so we nurse. And nurse and nurse and nurse We've been nursing so much that I am engorged and leaking like the mama of a newborn! I'm just grateful that I am home for him right now.
Speaking of which, I have a potential job opportunity. We're really struggling with it on many different levels. I would love to stay home a few more years and have at least one more baby, but this is one of those "once in a lifetime" opportunities - part time with a great salary doing something I know I'll enjoy. The part time would morph into full time in anywhere from 2-6 years. The salary is such that dh would also be able to only work part time, so if we worked our hours out the right way, we still wouldn't have to put Kieran in daycare.
The hard part is that it would require us to move back to NM. I wouldn't mind that so much, but I have an amazing AP community here that I would miss terribly, and of course our families are within an hour of us here. My dh was not as happy in NM, and the thought of returning is making him irritable.
I'd appreciate everyone's good thoughts as we come to a decision!!

[minsca]

MahnaMahna - Many thoughts going out to you and DH, I understand the apprehension about the possibility of moving or not moving. One thing I have learned from all our moving in the past 3 years is, it is possible to be happy or miserable any where you live, it is all in your attitude. I am so looking forward to moving in 8 weeks, as I hate where we live right now. And I know it is simply because I haven't made any effort to find any friends here. I always had the attitude that we are only going to be living in this city for 2 years so why bother. But it's been a miserable lonely past 2 years. (well with the exception of all my mothering.com friends)

I would love more facebook friends!!! PM me with your names, and I'll add you! I actually put photos up sometimes of my munchkins.

[Code Name Mama]

Originally Posted by minsca

MahnaMahna - Many thoughts going out to you and DH, I understand the apprehension about the possibility of moving or not moving. One thing I have learned from all our moving in the past 3 years is, it is possible to be happy or miserable any where you live, it is all in your attitude. I am so looking forward to moving in 8 weeks, as I hate where we live right now. And I know it is simply because I haven't made any effort to find any friends here. I always had the attitude that we are only going to be living in this city for 2 years so why bother. But it's been a miserable lonely past 2 years. (well with the exception of all my mothering.com friends)

I would love more facebook friends!!! PM me with your names, and I'll add you! I actually put photos up sometimes of my munchkins.

Thank you, and I totally agree. I'm a "bloom where you're planted" type, because I'm an army brat and we moved all over when I was a kid. I'm used to it! My dh OTOH, is so NOT. He was grumpy moving to NM the first time, and when he couldn't find a job he liked he was seriously depressed. We also were of a "2 year only" mindset the first time, so we didn't invest in a lot of friendships either. I truly think it would be different this time - we'd be going there longer term, we would actively seek out the AP/crunchy community, and people are just generally friendlier to couples with small kids, ya know?

I still haven't gotten on facebook. I spend way too much time on MDC and my local AP board, I can't handle another website!

[Momma2DoubleCuties]

Erin I just ordered one of the rainbow stackers! I can't wait to get it! Thank you!

[ghuaghua]

Erin-
Sorry about the allergy news. Fletcher started out with dairy allergies, that were terrible. He outgrew them around 6ish months, though. I also love the toys in your etsy shop

[*MamaJen*]

Originally Posted by stellimamo

Also last month I opened up my very own Etsy shop with wooden toys and teethers. On the whim I decided to try to make a few wooden toys, I loved it so much I thought I would turn a hobby into a business. So I have now taken over the garage and renamed it "My Shop" much to my dh's annoyance. If you want to have a peek here's the link: www.imaginationkids.etsy.com

I'm so glad you posted that link, I've been looking for a stacker.
I'm going to order the rainbow one as soon as I get the bills paid this month.
It's funny, I was actually looking for wooden toys on Etsy right before Christmas and there was almost nothing. I even told Aaron that he should start an online shop selling wooden toys, since there seemed to be an unmet need (he got some woodworking tools a few months ago, but I don't think he's used them at all yet). So I'm glad you had the idea too.

Originally Posted by wholewheatmama

I just joined Facebook. I was tired of getting my arm twisted by my friends, so I caved to the peer pressure.

Ooh, ooh, add me too. Look under Biundo. I'm the one with the baby in the sling. Go figure.

Well, we're doing good. Cyrus took his first independent steps last night while we were at a superbowl party(he was one of the last babies born in the month, so I think we're always a little behind). He had his hands full of cheerios and I think he started walking without realizing he wasn't holding on to anything. He really is a sweet kid and he's such good company nowadays.
I've decided to get a masters in public policy (I'm a journalist now). I missed this year's application cycle, so it would be a year and nine months before I actually started the program, provided I get accepted. In the meantime I have to take college level economics (which I'm taking online starting in February and looking forward to) and calculus (which I'll probably take over the summer and a bit frightened of). It's crazy to think that Cyrus would be almost three years old by the time I start.
Congrats on the engagement, Nikki, and congrats to all the newly expectant mamas.

[kittywitty]

Love the shop, Erin! I will have to order when I get some $$.

Money is a big problem right now. Tax returns are coming up. Dh made a lot more last year, but we didn't see most of it due to taxes and retirement fund. As a condition of his job he has to put a certain rather large portion in retirement. Which some might say Yay! That's great! But the problem is we need to eat *now*. Not 40 years from now if the economy doesn't eat it all anyway. So we may not get a lot back in tax returns which we desperately need. We've been having to use the credit card every month just to eat and we don't even have cable or internet and we don't go out or shop almost ever. So I'm frustrated.

Sorry about the whininess.

Good luck on the calculus Jen!!! Scares the bejeezus out of me just hearing that word.

Ari outgrew her dairy allergy by about 9-10 months or so thankfully. My dd#2 didn't until she was 2.5 yo. We believe A still has her rather severe cashew allergy, but we won't test it at all until she's at least 4 so that it's more accurate.

[NikkiTwist]

thanks everyone! the congrats are awesome... it's wierd moving to a different state. I had this friend network back in indy and it's strange not having it out here in Oregon. Soo the well wishes from my ddc buddies make me smile a lot!
Liam- we think it's a soy allergy. we go in for scratch tests in about 3 weeks (sigh).

The whole family just got over whatever plague is hitting the pacific northwest. we were all down and out for about 5 days. it was.... gross really. I spent most of today cleaning and airing out the house. Thankfully today is nice enough to have the windows open.

[Elsaraw]

Erin- are you going to ever make a airplane, or rocket one day?

Anyone please add me to facebook, my email is [e-mail]. I actually like that site lol..

Dante is the ultimate light switcher on and off'er. He would do it 10 hours a day if I let him. He also loves playing outside in dirt and mud, he gets covered, he's such a boy :

[Code Name Mama]

Well it looks like we are leaning toward moving to NM! I'm all at once conflicted and excited about it. I am DREADING telling my mother - I get choked up thinking about it. If anyone is on our drive (35S through OK, 40W through TX/NM), I'd love to stop and have lunch when we finally move!

Of course nothing has been officially offered or accepted yet, so this may all be worrying for nothing!

[wholewheatmama]

Good luck with school, Jen! I'm sure you'll be brilliant!

MahnaMahna, when do you find out for sure about the job? I've considered moving to Santa Fe. I love it there, but I could only live there for a short time. Being from Virginia, I need more *green*! I'm pretty ready to leave Virginia for new scenery, but I need to wait out the economy a while longer, in hopes of getting a better price on my house.