February '09 Mamas ~ Childhood Chat :) - Page 22

[mckittre]

Everr - That's awful! I hope that he just lost his phone or something, because that's no way to treat you.

Cindy - Sounds like quite the party with 13 visitors! We always have a ton of visitors in summer (surprisingly, no one wants to visit AK in the winter). They usually only come in groups of 1-3, but we often have strings of them nearly the whole summer long. I use my garden to feed everyone.

Starling - What's the degree in? And not too surprising that you're nervous. I occasionally still have dreams that I'm supposed to graduate but don't have all the right credits and haven't studied, etc... a good decade after I left college.

Sue - I hope the 8th grader works out. Do you have family that would like to come and visit you during the summer? (retired grandparents, etc...).  We find lots of people like to come to AK this time of year, and they do lend a hand. You need a tribe of friends with kids there to share the load. I have family around, but we have such an awesome community also. There must be cool families in Kodiak somewhere?

Kale chips from your garden? I haven't made any yet this year. Need to do that!

AFM: We had our big annual summer solstice party at the yurt last night. Dozens of people hanging out in our yard watching the sun slowly sink over mountains and ocean, kids running around, potluck full of great food (I made rhubarb pie and a big salad from our garden, and K helped me make bread shaped like little suns), and lots of fun all around. Sun finally set at 11:25PM, but folks were pretty much gone by then. We let K stay up as late as he wanted for solstice (he has a book where a little girl gets to do that in the arctic), and he didn't sleep until 1AM! (so says dad, I was already out by then).

And today is our 9th wedding anniversary. Maybe we'll actually go out without the kids for the first time in years.

[Mal85]

Everr: Another one hoping it's not the silent treatment. Maybe something came up unexpectedly? Keep us updated!

Cindy: Wow! That's a lot of kids around. I bet M loves it though! When we get together with my family (frequently) there are often upwards of 20 kids around. Owyn loves it! 

Starling: Good luck with your meeting! One of these days I'll go back to school in some way... hopefully to get my Montessori certification. But that won't be for a while. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the local school will expand one of these days. I told DH my 40s is a good time to focus on me and my career. Until then I'm sticking with what I've got because it's flexible and gives me plenty of time with my girls. He thinks I'm crazy thinking I'll make a career move in my 40s, but oh well.

Sue: Thinking of you girls being without your DH. I go nuts just one day with my DH, I can't imagine having weeks away. 

AFM: We're going out of town tomorrow and the girls are staying with my ILs. The closer this trip gets, the more anxious I am about leaving Greta for the first time. I know they will be in good hands and she'll have her sister there with her. I wrote out instructions today for them and ended up with 3 pages of info on Greta! There are just so many things that could come up with her! She's also on different medicines right now, so there's a lot to think about there. Her seasonal allergies are just awful right now and we started her on Zyrtec which is helping. Her eyes were so horrible, her doc prescribed eye drops for her. She looks and feels a ton better, but she screams bloody murder when we put the drops in. 

We've been busy lately getting our house in order. We've met with a realtor a couple of times now and are getting pretty close to putting it on the market! I'll be doing some painting, then DH will refinish the hardwood floors in the next couple of weeks, then finish putting in the new cabinets in the kitchen. I'm hoping to get it up for sale before school starts! We've been doing a lot of research and it looks like we could list it for more than I thought I could. And it looks like, if we buy instead of build, we can afford more than I thought we could since the interest rates are so awesome right now. DH is anxious, but getting more excited about it the closer we get. We're actually going to look at some homes in the next week or so... one of them has a pool!

[Everrgreen]

Cindy - Wow, that's a big family!  Must be quite exciting in their house.  I can't imagine!  I'm sure it'll be fun to have them.  R would be thrilled to have company like that around :)  

Sue - Yikes, I'm glad you found all that out about the violin teacher.  Recruiting the young student sounds like a great plan.  I would love to introduce R to music somehow.  Maybe in the fall.  Soccer isn't working out too well, it requires lots of encouragement/bribery to get him to play :/  He starts swimming in July so hopefully that will be better.  But I definitely think he'd like something a bit different in the fall.

Starling - That's awesome about going back to school!!  DO IT!!  Going back has been nothing but awesome for me :D  I'm actually kind of sad that I only have one year left lol!  Although I also will really enjoy making some money finally.  And I want to continue and do a part time/distance master's which I'll start after working for a year or two.

Mal - Oh a weekend away sounds great!  I'm sure Greta will be just fine with your inlaws, but I know it's easy to worry :)  That's too bad that she has such bad allergies.  I actually didn't think babies could have allergies like that until their second year because their first year they get exposed and it's not til the second year that they have the immune system over-reaction.  Although I'll admit I have no personal experience with allergies, I just read that in an article a while ago.  Good luck with getting the house ready!  Very exciting!!

AFM - Still no word from my guy.  I have no idea what to think.  I go back and forth between being annoyed/mad to being worried/upset.  I don't know.  This just really really sucks :(

[starling&diesel]

Everr ... That does continue to suck.  Please keep us posted so that we can either send virual daggers his way, or good vibes for his health and safety.  

Erin ... I wish we could come to your Solstice party!  Maybe someday! And Happy Anniversary to you both!

Mal ... Three pages!  I can totally see myself doing the same.  Have fun!

Degree shmegree:  I went and talked to the convener for the Liberal Arts program, and even with the credit they'd give me for PLA (Prior Learning Assessment for my writing and paramedic work) I'm still looking at at least one full year, including two science courses, two upper level language courses, plus at least five more courses worth of English.  I just don't have the ambition required.  Nor the money.  And certainly not the time.  So, doesn't look like I'll get around to it anytime soon.  What with the writing, being a paramedic and doing more and more for homeschooling each year, I doubt that I'll be in a hurry to pay to go to Uni for what will end up being  Liberal Arts degree when I already have TEN BOOKS PUBLISHED.  Seems silly.  Bah.  Bummed out about it.  I didn't think I'd have to do MATH.  or SCIENCE.  Or SPANISH.  For an ENGLISH DEGREE.  Meh.  Shelve that idea for now.  And I'd have to pay for each and every credit, even if they 'give' them to me for my books.  Grr.

[Vegan Princess]

Starling: That sucks!! What is it that you want to acomplish w/the degree? You already have a career as a paramedic and an awesome career as an author! Just for the sake of finishing? I hate all the pre-reqs to get a degree. My college had 6 campuses and each had all sorts of requirements for a degree and I ended up switching half way through so I would have more choice in my electives. 

Erin: I totally forgot the sun sets so late for you guys! How crazy! And what a fun celebration! I can't believe K stayed up so late!! 

Sue: I'm assuming it stays light as late for you - I'm wondering if your chickens stay out until the sun sets? 

Ah the life of a prego. I've spent the past 3 days obsessing over donuts. I finally went out and got some this afternoon and now I just feel SO sick from them. :-( 

I've been busy sorting everything and anything I can think of. Today was lovely - DH brought home a filing cabinet that his work was getting rid of yesterday. I was able to organize so much and clear up so much clutter! And Makenna played so nicely while I did all this. We have a bunch of baby stuff down in our guest room and she put it to good use with her dolls while I worked. 

Cindy

[Thursday Girl]

everr, that is totally sucky. as for soccer, that's what happened when i had the girls in.

Cindy- that is a huge family, UI'm sure it will be loads of fun though.

Erin- that sounds like an awesome party, my mom had a going away solstice party, but it was all her drunky friends and this time i had no hubs or sisters to hang witth. i left quickly when people started smoking pot while my kids were in the backyard much too close for my comfort.

Sue- that teacher sounds awesome. (sarcasm)glad you found out beforehand.

mal- a weekend away with Hubby, wow that'd be supercool, i want one...when Cora's bigger. i told him the best date ever would be one of those survival course weekend long classes.

doing okay without Hubs my house is trashed beyond belief but everyone is alive and happy.  After this weekend he will be gone for 2 weeks before I see him again.  I am thinking of going to stay with my twin in NC for most of the summer. she's talking to her man, i'll talk to mine see if we can work it out. i don't think she fully realizes how overwhelmed she might get with 4 kids for 2 months, i'd also miss my house after awhile, but it would be uber cool to be with her and her pregnancy i'm sad to be missing it.

today we had a freaky incident; I had Coraline in the moby and I bent over to grab something from a drawer and she fell out, or the top of her fell out, I reacted quickly and caught her but not before the back of her head hit the drawer. It was so scary, she cried for awhile and fell back asleep, I woke her right up and watched her eyes for a bit then let her fall back asleep. She seems okay and her head didn't hit hard, there was no bump or bruising or anything and I put arnica on it right away. I have some mistrust of the moby now. I just learned the high back cross carry today, but I don't think I want to use it because I could never even sort of catch her if she fell or even see if her wrap was mispositioned or came loose or something. I'm trying to figure out if I put her in wrong or something, when she was half out it seemed like maybe one of the straps was under her body instead of around it but I just can't be sure. She's my third kid I've used a wrap with and nothing like this has ever happened before. It sure does make me glad I won that Boba though

[Everrgreen]

Finally heard from my bus guy.  He is very stressed and sort of having a life crisis at the moment it seems (for a couple legitimate reasons)..  I'm going to see him tomorrow for an in-person chat.  It's not for sure over at this point.  I need to see what happens tomorrow.  I really want to be mad at him for leaving me in silence for so long but I may need to wait until he's feeling better.  Definitely if we stay together that needs to be addressed because I'm not ok with what happened.  We'll see..

[AKislandgirl]

I'm glad you finally heard from him but he better have a pretty damm good excuse. 

Courtney: Scary! Glad she's ok. 

Dh will be home in 5 more days! :)

[starling&diesel]

Hmmm, Ever. My hackles are raised. Keep us posted.

Sue ... Let the countdown begin!

Courtney ... Thank goodness that she's okay! I love high back carries, but I'm the first to admit that there is a pretty steep learning curve involved!

AFM: at my mom's for the weekend. Bittersweet. You women know what I think about her marriage and their house. Nothing has changed. But she's so thrilled to have us. I came up to see my dear friend who is palliative with cancer. I hung out with her three daughters. And did my best to put on a game face. Hard to see my beloved friend suffer so. And no one seems willing to plan for the inevitable. We went to the children's festival here, where Charlotte Diamond performed! She's a rock star to the under five set.
H is threatening to walk, the little punk.
E wants to shave her head. This is month six of that particular request. I told her that if she still wanted to shave her head in the summer, she could. And she still wants to! Thoughts? I'm worried that people are going to think that we're encouraging her, because we're queer. Gah.

[Thursday Girl]

sue- super glad there's just 5 days left!

Everr- glad he finally got back to you and there seems to be a reason behind it, although I'll be waiting to see how the talk goes.

Has anyone heard from Kate?

Starling- I'd let her, there will be some people that do think that and others who think she has cancer or something, but when it comes to non permanent body choices I like to let my kids lead the way. People are going to think what they will, but your family's opinion on the matter reigns supreme, and true friends will know the truth, and really, who else matters?

researching tubals and they really freak me out and I wonder if how I am feeling reading about these is how Hubs feels about vasectomies.  PLUS, I haven't wrapped my brain around no more kids yet, which seems ass crazy. I really don't want to have another kid while on gov't assistance, but if we had money, I'd totally have another kid.

[mckittre]

Everr - Doesn't sound quite as clear-cut as "got in a car wreck" or "decided to ignore you", which probably makes it all the harder. I hope your talk with him clears things up for you.

Mal - Hope your trip is going well! Makes me think I need to teach L some way to get to sleep besides nursing. Not to go out of town, but just to occasionally attend some 7PM event without her.  And that's exciting about maybe buying a house.

Starling - I think 10 published books is a far more impressive credential than any degree, and I expect any employer would as well. And I'd let E shave her head if she's that into it. People will probably think things, but you know the truth - and it's a crappy lesson to a 3-yr-old that she shouldn't look the way she wants to because of what people will think!

Courtney - that sounds scary! I don't think I'd trust a moby in a back carry either. I did it a few times with K, but it does just feel a bit too stretchy and loose for the purpose.  A woven wrap seems more trustworthy.  My DH said the vasectomy was no big deal when he ended up doing it. We went that way because it seemed less invasive than a tubal.

AFM - Glad for the rain this morning. It's been hot (well, 66 degrees, but it can get up to 80 in the yurt in the evening, and it truly feels hot to all of us here) and sunny, and I've been having a terrible time prying myself back inside to work on the book manuscript I have to turn in at the end of the summer. Garden is growing so fast I can almost see it, and we have so much salad I've been giving baggies of it away to anyone who'll let me. I love gardening.

[Everrgreen]

My talk with bus guy went well.  He apologized for ignoring me this week, admitted it was wrong and mean and promised never to do it again.  I'm forgiving him because he really does have a lot going on and I haven't been as helpful as I could have been the last couple weeks.  I guess I didn't realize how stressed he was (which in hindsight I clearly should have realized).  But he isn't mad at me about it, it was just a communication problem which we are going to be better about from now on.  So we are still together and moving forward from this.  I'm glad.  I really like him (5 days of silent treatment aside..)  Anyway, I'm happy with how things are now.  Hopefully things are smoother from now on :)

Erin - We've had days this week where it feels like 40 C with the humidity (105 F).  I actually spent 2 nights at my moms this week to enjoy her a/c.  It's cooled down again now.  I much prefer weather in the 20's (70's F)

Courtney - Isn't a vasectomy supposed to be a much simpler/less risk procedure?  I would definitely force him to be the one if it were me..  Another option is for you to get an IUD, they are supposed to be pretty effective and you can get a copper (non-hormonal).  I'm getting one of those soon for myself.  As for the moby incident, I never felt it was that secure with R.  I think as a new parent I was nervous about tying it really snug (also, it isn't supposed to be used for back carries.. Not sure if you had her front or back).  But I definitely preferred the woven wrap.  (Wow, typing that just gave me a major flash back to all the time I spent with R in the wrap..  I miss that..)

Starling - I'm sorry about your friend.  I can't imagine how difficult that must be.  It's nice you have time to spend with her though.  As for Esme shaving her head, hmmm, I suppose it's only hair and it will grow back, right?  What about starting with a short pixie cut?  And that sucks about the degree.  I agree that it doesn't really make sense for you when you already have a well established career.  I can't believe they want you to pay for credits they give you!!  That's crazy!  I got 7 credits for other courses I'd taken and I didn't have to pay.  Oh well, just forget and don't worry :)

[Thursday Girl]

she was front when she fell and i didn't know that about back carry's. now i want a woven wrap but i can't even sort of justify spending over $100 and i wish now that when i won the gift cert  i had bought the woven wrap i was eying instead of buying my sister a moby. :(

everr glad that things are still hapening with bus guy.

[AKislandgirl]

Starling: So sorry about your friend. Must be hard to see. About the haircut, I'd go for it if it's what she really wants. Hair grows back! 

Courtney: You definitely want to use a woven for back carries. The stretchy wraps don't offer the support you need. 

Everr: I'm glad you are able to sort things out. 

Erin: It's been hot here too! Sheesh. Fiona has been out playing with the hose all week. Sort of glad to have a gray inside day today.

Cindy: how are you feeling these days?

[AKislandgirl]

Today is our wedding Anniversary. DH called this morning from the boat. Best connection we've had yet. So looking forward to getting him home- Thursday! I told him I'd have a couple of beers in our honor tonight. He misses beer! :) He has one more day of fishing and then they fly from Adak to Anchorage on Wednesday. Then home Thursday morning! I've been working on decluttering and tackling the troubled spots in the house- dining room table, end tables, etc.. the places stuff collects. The cleaner comes on Wednesday too so he should come home to a clean house. That is my gift to him. :) He will like this far more then anything I could buy him. I'll have Fiona make a belated fathers day card too.

Fiona and I were talking to Maeve about Dh yesterday. "where's Papa? Papa's on the boat. He's coming home soon!" Then I set her down and she said- Papa! Oh melt my heart with the cuteness. So her first word is Papa. She can say Papa, she signs potty and sometimes signs milk...but still no Mama. :) Little stinker.

[Everrgreen]

Sue - Happy Anniversary!  So cute that Maeve said her first word!  Wasn't she just born?? Crazy!  I'm not sure if it's just my experience or if it's a regional thing, but Papa is what R calls his Grandpa (and what my ex-FIL goes by for his grandkids).  I wonder if people get confused when R talks about 'Papa' to other people..  I never thought about that..   I've had a few people comment to me recently about how cute it is that R still calls me Mama, I guess most kids have moved on to mommy at this point.  I love being Mama :)

I'm still feeling anxious about bus guy..  I think I'm just thrown off by last week and we haven't had any time together since then (just the one hour I met with him for a talk).  My one friend didn't think he deserved a second chance after that.  But I think he does..  I'm just feeling sort of insecure about everything right now.  Gah.  I don't know.  I want to talk to him more about how I'm feeling but I also don't want to put more pressure on him when he's still really stressed and has asked for some time and patience while he figures out his life.  Which is understandable.  I can be so insecure sometimes.  I hate that :(

[Mal85]

Sue-- Happy Anniversary! It's our anniversary too, 7 years! 

Everr-- Oh man, I do not envy you at all right now. Dating is so complicated. I really hope everything works out for the best, you so deserve a happy ending!

Starling-- I'd let her get the hair cut if she really wants. I had the same difficulty making the decision to pierce her ears. She just wanted it so badly and for so long, I had to cave eventually. 

AFM: Our weekend away turned out really great! Greta slept for the night for my IL's and had so much fun all weekend swimming and getting 100% of Grandma and Papa's attention. Of course, Owyn had a blast as always. And we had a really great time! I certainly missed the girls and worried about Greta's first weekend away from us, but we had such a relaxing weekend just catching up with good friends and I even enjoyed a few drinks!

We celebrated our anniversary today by taking a family trip to the dentist-- Owyn's first visit. She did so great! The person that did her cleaning let her explore and play with every tool before she used it on her, even let her hold the sucky thing and put it in her mouth whenever she wanted. She is so excited to use her new floss that the dentist gave her! Her teeth also looked fantastic which is great to hear since DH and I had less successful trips to the dentist. He needs fillings and I need a root canal and a crown, like within the next couple of weeks. So, that's just fabulous. 

Oh and Owyn had her first swimming lessons class this morning-- also went fantastic! It just blows me away watching her do things without my help. She is quite a capable little person! She is in class with her best friend. We kind of planned that, hoping Owyn would help her friend's anxiety with the class. But Owyn got so caught up in her own fun, she kind of forgot about her friend today. She says tomorrow she is going to hold her friend's hand to keep her from being scared.

[Vegan Princess]

Sue: Awww, she's talking already! Too bad Papa missed the first word - but how sweet for him to come home to it! Happy anniversary!

Mal: Happy anniversary to you too! I'm so glad you had a great weekend away and all went smoothly. So nice that swimming went well. 

Starling: Maybe you could compromise and tell E she can shave the under half of her hair and then see if she wants to shave the rest? I think I agree that if she really wants to, she should be able to. But as a mom, I think it would brake my heart! Alas, it will grow back! 

Makenna is becoming more shy and more timid as time goes on. We went to  b-day party for her best friend this weekend. It was very small - just them and 1 other girl. Plus a few adults. Makenna plays at their house every week - but this day she wouldn't let me get a foot away from her. She has been so clingy! I just wish there were something I could do to help her not be so shy. But I don't really think there is anything? Do you think she may be getting clingier/needier bc of the upcoming baby? She starts preschool 3 afternoons/week in 2 more months. I am anticipating a rough adjustment, unfortunately - even though she says she isn't going to cry bc her best friend will be with her. Though in the end, I think preschool may be what helps pull her out of her shell a bit. I am also having to cancel my gym membership at the big gym we switched to and switch back to the little gym bc she cries every time I leave her at the daycare there. It's way bigger and has more kids than at the small gym. She used to beg to go to the small one and now she is always saying how she doesn't think we should go to the gym. I don't want to make her miserable just so I can workout.

Sue - you asked how I'm feeling. I'm feeling pretty good. I'm 25.5 weeks. Getting some body aches but I feel like I have more energy than I did for a long time. Baby is nice and wigly. I am feeling so much more this time since my placenta isn't in the front like last time. It's pretty cool! 

Cindy

[Nillarilla]

Wow just finished reading.

Can't keep up with you ladies lately.

Music: I'm not starting anything with them until 7 or so.

Hair: As I posted on fb I find it difficult when the first and often only thing people comment on is Dee's long curly locks. Yet I am reluctant to cut it.... Why is that? My son wants to shave his head and I have been saying no forever. I think I'm going to have to rethink that one. It's very true that he should be in control of his body.

Dentist: I gotta get on this one.

Courtney and Sue I feel bad for whining because my husband is leaving for 3 days. I don't know how you mama's do it!

Ever: Sorry about the way bus guy handled his crisis. Hope things improve from here.

Courtney: How terrifying about the slip from the wrap. I've never used a moby I have a woven and I love it. It always feels tight and secure, not sure how I'd feel about stretchy.

Erin, Mal & Sue happy anniversary.

Cindy glad to hear your pregnancy is going well and yay for family visits.

Starling bummer about the degree. But truly it's just a piece of paper and what more could you do with it? Would your life be any fuller? I get the desire for the education and sense of accomplishment though.

[Thursday Girl]

Happy Anniversary!!

dentist- I wish I could go to the dentist, it would cost us a fortune there is so much wrong with Hubs and I's teeth. The ids are covered and have been. June has cavities : (

wrap- yeah I am looking into a woven wrap, but I'm not sure it's possible and I think I will just use my beco.

Cindy- June, who is generally quite outgoing, went through a shy stage during this pregnancy but she has gotten over it.

Ever- I agree with you that you should give him this chance, of course if it happens again then it's time to go. But people are only human afterall and everyone messes up sometimes, especially when in stressful situations.