~~~~May 2004 Mamas ~~~~ Feelin' Thankful it's November ~~~~ - Page 2

[TurboClaudia]

i'm in for the secret santa. i think it should be for the mamas.

fyi, apparently mercury went into retrograde again, so be aware of communication issues in relationships.

also, two friends of mine had their identities/ wallets stolen, so hold on to your personal identifications, mamas.

more later.

~claudia

[Mama Faery]

Hi!! We have our new computer! WOO!

I don't have much time to do other than this, Rowan just woke up and is he pi$$ed! *hugs* I am in on everything too! In in in.

Later mamajamas.

[KKmama]

Meg, your kids are too cute! Added 2 pix in my 2nd folder on the yg.

I'm up for the xchange--thanks for allowing plenty of time!

I think ff should come and train my mom in cpr.

I had a great girls night out last night, and arrived home to discover that dh had burnt the bread I had left for him to bake. Poor thing was really embarrassed. But I'm so enlightened that I see that he probably could have used more explicit instructions from me. So T and I are going to get some more started now.

[emmalola]

I'm in! What are the rules?

not much time for posting. very tired. hopefully accepting any and all babydust. hi!

[mcsarahb]

I'm tired too. Exhausted, actually. Three midterms in the last week, including a lab midterm on "paid patient models" today. Here's all my unwanted babydust from the fertile land of PDX: Seriously, though, in addition to ALL THREE of the PDX May Mamas, I swear all of my other mama friends are pregnant. It's more than slightly scary.

KK - Yay for girls' night out! DH and I are going to a movie and decadent dessert tomorrow night; leaving L with a fun sitter. I can't wait. I think we're going to see Little Miss Sunshine.

As far as the Secret Santa, I'm thinking pretty basic: Anyone who wants to participate puts their name in, we "draw" names, and send a fun $10-or-under gift by, say, Dec. 25th. Gifts for mamas is my preference. Anything I'm not thinking of?

S.

[nuggetsmom]

I totally want to do the secret santa thing. I really need another knitting project. I am insane with the knitted projects right now. In way over my head. Heather got me going again a couple of years ago by the way so I blame her for my not very presence.
My sister does her holiday shopping all year and she is already done. Then she called me to tell me that so I was panicking! That is what is going on.
I am just loving N's school. A few weeks ago they had a presentation by a local author at the school. This weekend I am going to a gardening workshop to learn how to teach gardening to kids. It is all so much fun.
OK, time to go to bed.

[Mama Faery]

Rowan has a cold and is being super-clingy. So I'm not sure how much time I have. Hmm, this should make watching my friend's DS this morning...um...*interesting*!
I am either fighting the cold or at the end of it. We'll see how that works out.

I saw AFI last night in concert and um...wow, I feel like a 15-year-old fangirl! What an awesome show! It was over at like 10:30 but then I went to a friend's house (at my former job she was my supervisor and now, since I quit...I feel like we can be better friends! Heh) and we hung out and ate a late dinner and I got home at 1:30am. Way to feel like a teenager again!
Except, well, I am so not a teenager and am paying for that fact this morning!
But I had a fabulous time out!

This new keyboard is like a laptop's, so I have to watch where i type or there ends up being mega-typos. I barely touch a key and it shows up on the screen.

Anyway, I don't have much to report, I am in for secret Santa (I wish I could crochet more than baby blankets!) and I agree it should be a mama-gift. We deserve Mama-gifts!

On the Day of the Dead; I helped my minister give a service this past Sunday where I had to write a call to worship about my own experiences with the holiday, and then I did two additional readings. It was so nervewracking to be up there in front of everyone, even though I know most of the people in my church, but it was also amazing. I felt so much more *in* the holiday because of it!

And weirdness; I spent a lot of time talking about my mother during the service (she died 7 years ago in December) and I had been wondering whether my own father is even still alive (long story; we don't talk at ALL) and also about my younger brother, who I hadn't heard from in forever, and lo and behold, last night he CALLS ME. : I wasn't home, but he left his cell phone number so I have to call him back. Weird and scary and kind of exciting, even though it's anyone's guess how the conversation will go with us.

Okay, mamas, Rowan is DONE with me being on the computer, so I have to go. Have a wonderful day.

[Jacqueline]

Hi mamas!

First off, to respond to elsanne's questions about being a priest's wife/family...We've only been doing it for a little over two years, so we are not experts by any means. Luckily the Episcopal church is known as the church of the Middle Way (via media) so folks are mostly open minded about a variety of things, minister families being one of them. Of course, it's also regional, so Texas was a WHOLE OTHER THING, but here we are pretty free to be who we are. G and I go to what we want and leave the rest. Obviously, having a little one has been a great way to ditch activities I don't really want to participate in anyway I'm sure there are some people who have "expectations" of me, but I try not to focus on that. I actually find I have more expected of me from people who are NOT Episcopalians, but just people we meet out in the community who immediately hear "priest" and I see a wall immediately go up between us. Then, when they try to make conversation with me, it's often about church stuff or they feel like they can't be themselves. It's sad, but does happen a lot. Lots of religious baggage out there, and with dh's profession, everyone feels the need to tell him what they think of it. So, sometimes we DON'T say what he does if we're not in our own community. It's easier.

So, that's a snapshot of what it's like. Mostly, it's all good cause I know dh is truly following his bliss, and it's so great to see him in that after all these years together. But, occasionally, it does feel a little binding. We are totally normal people and some folks do expect clergy to be "super human." DH is trying to be part of a new paradigm of church leaders, but that's not always easy.

Okay, 'nuff of that!

FF-congrats on the new job opp! Very cool

Jstar, KK & MCSarah-I checked out your Halloweenie pics and they are great! I'll share mine when they are ready.

Renae-Sorry about the colds. I've been dealing with scratchiness all week myself. And, the call from your dad (or brother?)! WOW! I hope it goes how you need it to. Maybe should wait until Mercury is out of retrograde, though

Gotta go do some exercises, I guess. I work tonight and then am excited for a calm, pg-test-free weekend!

[KKmama]

Did I miss Sarah's pix???

Jacquie, I appreciate your thoughts on being a PW (preacher's wife ). It seems like I knew plenty of PKs when I was growing up... families of ministers/priests/religious leaders definitely *are* just like the rest of us. I know it's not the same, but I get a weird reaction from people sometimes when they find out that I go to *church* (even though it's UU, which is very unchurchy). Popular perceptions can be very interesting.... Every once in a while, I think that going to seminary when I'm about 50 and becoming a UU minister would be really interesting. (I don't share that thought with *anyone*.)

Renae, good luck on the bro stuff. Our D of the D service was very moving, but it could have been *more*... sounds like there's some interesting "flow" going on with your D of the D, the call...

I appreciate the comments on knitting and crocheting, but don't raise the Secret Santa bar too high for those of us who are, uh... creativity challenged.

My bf is in another round of IVF (probably for the last time), so please, please, please send some her way, especially you fertile PDX mamas. (MCSB, you can send Zulma her way )

We're in the process of really finally redoing our wills and pricing out additional life insurance, etc. (we started this up a while back, but then various things interrupted the last steps). Even though I think we have enough life ins, I've been realizing that maybe we ought to have a little *more*, so that if whooever gets the kids wants a nanny, they can have one... I'm realizing that even though *I* am fine with and totally on top of taking care of 3 kids, not everyone else is. (That's not a statement implying I'm any better; it took me 5+ yrs to get to this point, and it's just reality.) Another funny thing... I think you guys know that we're not ruling out one last kid... I started wondering if having another kid would make the guardians listed in our wills back out (guardian #1 is my bf, and I think she and her dh could handle it, but still...).

And the very last things... I don't think I mentioned that L had a reaction to a shot a couple weeks back (we separate out and space out all the shots... this was to a Hib shot... her leg got red, the area around the shot was hard, she had a slight fever, and she cried for 1 1/2 hrs, which is *extremely* unusual for her). At her 6 mo appt, I refused to get another shot (want to wait a while). The next shot we'd be getting is DTaP, which I think is pretty important here (pertussis is endemic in Boulder... we have the lowest vax rate in the country, and some things are very common here as a result). We've never had a rxn in 5 1/2 yrs in 3 kids, and I want to find some balanced info (which I don't think exists). And last but not least... As I mentioned, L is not that interested in food. She's somewhat willing to have the spoon, mesh feeder, finger go into her mouth (ie, sometimes interested, sometimes not), but she's not swallowing (everything gets raspberried out). I didn't talk about this with our ped (he's pretty old school--and old... he's good with illness, but I just try to ignore the parenting stuff). He really wants her to get going on the solids of course, and I see that she's just not ready. Her weight curve has dropped a bit (like Z's did at this age, but she's way, way ahead of where he was with oral and gross motor stuff). Anyway, I'm thinking that I might call Z's OT just to hear her say that everything is fine (to cancel out my anxiety from the ped).

[Jacqueline]

KK-Sorry about L's reaction to the shot. I've also found it's so hard to find objective info on this topic. We have spaced out G's shots, too, and we waited until he was 1 to get any. So far, no reactions. But, we're a bit behind, of course. And I need to find a ped here who's okay with delaying/selecting, cause G still needs a DTaP booster. I hope L doesn't have any other reactions. One thing that may have helped us is to give G a homeopathic remedy two days before he's to get a shot and 1 day after (we give Ledum 30c, 3x/day). Ledum is the homeopathic indicated for puncture wounds, btw. We found this suggestion in a book by Aviva Jill Romm about vaccs (it was either that book or "What your doctor doesn't tell you about vaccinations" or something like that) Both books were extremely helpful.

Oh, and Sarah mentioned somewhere about their pics....I think I read that! Anyway, I did see Halloween pics on the YG of Miss L!

Off to finally shower!

[Miss Juice]

Hi mamas,
I'm still hanging around mostly lurking and getting a feel for everybody. It's a little strange busting in on a DDC 2 years later! My DD has a bit of a cold herself, and is really really clingy also (thankfully she's napping now).

Originally Posted by Mama Faery

[COLOR="Indigo"]And weirdness; I spent a lot of time talking about my mother during the service (she died 7 years ago in December) and I had been wondering whether my own father is even still alive (long story; we don't talk at ALL) and also about my younger brother, who I hadn't heard from in forever, and lo and behold, last night he CALLS ME. : I wasn't home, but he left his cell phone number so I have to call him back. Weird and scary and kind of exciting, even though it's anyone's guess how the conversation will go with us.

OK, here's what else is weird. I also wonder whether my father is alive. We don't speak very often, he's a little crazy (or a lot, depending on the week) and we don't have a non-speaking relationship but it's a lot of work so it can be a year or so between conversations. I also have a younger brother, who I don't talk to very often at all, and last night he called me. I did talk to him, and it was a little awkward, but felt good all the same. We're in VERY different places in our lives right now, so not a lot in common, but it still felt positive to reconnect, at least a little.

Just very interesting the similarities there. My family is pretty unique, if ya know what I mean!

[jstar]

isaac had that same rxn to one of his vax. the hard red bump on his leg lasted a week or so. actually now that i think about it he had one vax where he cried inconsolably for an hour. and then the hard bump was a later vax but didn't have any associated crying or anything. of course i can't remember what they were. i think hib was the crying and dtap was the bump but really who knows. i have vaxd because isaac is in daycare and pertussis is pretty endemic here as well because of the low vax rates. i think oregon is one of the lowest in the country? i waited on the mmr but he did get that one at our last visit.

i'm in for secret santa

if mceesarahbee ever had another one i'm sure it would be sooooo far in the future she would have to have completely forgotten about the insanity of babies but her dh will probably take care of that option by then one of my friend's husbands just made a V appt. and she freaked. they have 2 kids but she comes from a family with lots of kids and her bros and sisters are major kid producers. so even though her dh is adament they are done she has reservations. so they had an ongoing mirena/V debate for several days. and she was insisting on freezing some sperm. he finally relented to the mirena. i think it is great when both partners want the same thing. and so hard when they don't!

good luck with the call to your bro renae

sarah i was thinking about you and i have no idea how you do school with a 2 year old. major kudos woman. school is so demanding.

i am leaving for a conference for 3 days next week. my longest departure from my boy!!!!!! getting nervous about it. getting nervous about feeling ill too. that won't be fun.

yay for friday!!

[orangecanoe]

KK--some one of these days I"m going to pick your brain on UU stuff as DH and I are newer UU's and don't always get a chance to attend services with wacky nap schedules and such. I think calling the OT about L is a great idea. It's so interesting to me to see how different C and E are with their issues. Sorry to hear about the shot reaction. E screamed for a half hour after her first hib and not at all after the others in the series.

Jacquie--I'm glad you can feel more relaxed about expectations in your new home. You're next on my list for brain picking....about homeopathy and such. I get so intimidated trying to search for answers and info so I don't even know where to start on gathering the basic remedies and most helpful stuff.

Nuggets--hehe! Glad to see you pop in. Glad I got you started on your kick again. Might have to ply you with some yummy yarn from my stash if we get matched up!

Sarah--midterms begone...sounds like an exhausting stretch! Come on over for some chai when it's all through!

Renae---ick on the cold, but v. jealous about your teenage antics!

Where are all the kids?! If it's only mid 40's we're the only people at the park. I know there are more at home moms/kids around here. Grrr!

I'm excited that E is almost nearly dropping the morning nap or only needing a catnap in the car or stroller. Funny how things change. I know I was pulling my hair out when C ditched the morning nap at 11 months.

I know had more interesting things to chat about, but been trying to finish this blurb for a while now!

[TurboClaudia]

getting ready to have lunch here. my mom is making pot stickers for M's lunch and tamales are in the microwave. thank g*ddess for trader joe's... :

belated welcome Miss Juice! (i'm the other unofficial may mama, as our older son decided to wait until 8 days after his due date to be born.)

tamales all done, so more soon.

i'm waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay ticked off at bill because of home server things and our photo files and etc. i will try to get pics of our halloween lion up soon, as well as some newer pics of S.

~claudia

[elsanne]

*grunt*

just checkin in for the day.

*snort*

[KKmama]

Uh, Elsanne? [tap tap tap] You in there?

[mcsarahb]

Grunting and snorting?

KK - pix on my flickr page. I posted a link before. Here it is again.

Claudia - sounds nice having your mom here. Would be nice to meet her one of these days...

Jacqueline - Cool to hear of your POV being a priest's wife. Although it is pretty much what I thought already. I totally understand how you fear automatic judgment from people, one way or another. Sometimes I get that merely because I'm from the South. Pacific NW people generally pride themselves on being all open-minded and sh$t, but then they'll say something like, "Oh, I could NEVER live in the South because yada yada..." Like we're all a bunch of ignorant crackers. Grrrrr. Not that I think Episcopalians are ignorant. Or crackers. But YKWIM.

to KK's bf. And to emmalola. Just get it away from ME. Although the form of BC I use is better than sterilization. And NO, it's not abstinence, you silly geese!

Ok, so far for the gift circle I have moi, Heather, Jacqueline, Fiddle, Elsanne, Lisa, Claudia, KK, emmalola, Nugget, Renae, and Jess. Is that everyone who wants in? Sorry if I missed anybody - let me know.

Nugget - I'm glad to hear you are enjoying the school thing. It does sound fun. It is so rewarding to be involved in something worthwhile, and that you enjoy. Your daughters are lucky.

Jstar - enjoy the conference! Sounds fun to me. I am going to the Midwifery Today conference for 3 days in March. Yay! Ina May, Michele Odent, Penny Simkin...oh my!

OK, off to do more hw before DH notices what I'm doing. :

S.

[emmalola]

ha!

checking in as well. 10 dpo. triphasic chart. kind of excited. can't think of anything else. Oh, except the house inspection, which went pretty well. We need a new hot water heater and service on the furnace, but other than that the house is good. what a relief.

Miss Juice- I'm in Santa Fe. Born and raised here, until high school when my parents divorced.

Ug- vax reactions. ug.

babydust! here! ! and to all the other mamas who want some. we can share.

[jstar]

ow wow ina may in the flesh. that will be COOL. i'm staying at the empress hotel in victoria. AND having high tea the moment i get there. i've never been to cana-duh! so i'm pretty excited. and very happy i'm not speaking because my boss usually makes me chair a session to go on these things (and every year at my performance review she says i should give a paper) : i chaired a session when the conference was in big sky montana so i had to introduce the speakers and i hate public speaking. so this one is no stress. there is always a big party night with excessive wine drinking and lots of dancing (YEP engineers can dance!) and i'm kinda bummed i can't get in on the silly drinking. i can still shake it though they have a black banana award which is this rotten-looking plasticized banana on a plaque and the prize is usually awarded related to some antics on the party night like getting locked out of your room in your underwear. yours truly won it however in big sky because i outed my love of BIGFOOT : so then they announced to the whole conference that i saw bigfoot on the snowshoe hike. embarassssssing!!! i also had this guy from uzbekestan fall in love with me at that conference. i so could not shake him and he emailed me for months after that. gawd only knows what will happen in victoria. things to look forward to!!!

i was born in the south. hence the love of fried foods.

[A&L+1]

Originally Posted by mcsarahb

I am going to the Midwifery Today conference for 3 days in March.

Kicking myself because I really want to get to Eugene again and go to this. Babe number 2 is due late January so it may not be a possibility for me to be away to attend...but I want to I want to I want to!