Busy Baby

Posting (and e-mailing, or anything that involves sitting down at all) has been almost non-existent this week because my life has suddenly become incompatible with computer time.

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With the weather so lovely lately, and especially now that the sandbox is set up for the summer, the kids are outside a lot. The girls are engaging in more imaginary play as they get older, and it's really fun to listen in on their games. They also enjoy games like Simon Says and Red Light/Green Light, which I've been playing with them.

I think it's great for them to be outdoors. They get lots of exercise and sunshine along with the requisite copious amounts of dirt and sand. But we don't have a fenced yard yet, so I've been spending quite a bit of time outside with them or hovering very near the open patio door.

When we're not outside, we've been doing a little schoolwork and lots of coloring and reading. We're reading The All-Of-A-Kind Family right now. I loved the series as a child, and it's so much fun reading it to my girls. They read to themselves a lot too, and AJ enjoys reading to her sisters. They're still doing their chore charts every morning and evening, and I'm working on developing my own routines as well. Even just having all the beds in the house made every morning makes such a difference.

Baby E has become a full-time job all by herself. She is, as I've often heard young children described, busy. Very, very busy. She's hard to keep up with both figuratively and literally.



That kid can crawl fast! She's not only pulling to a standing position, but also moving along the furniture a bit while she's up there. Baby E could win any quick-draw contest with the speed of her hands when she sees something within reach that she's not sure she's allowed to have, but knows she wants. She's eating more solids now, too. Tonight at dinner I gave her a little spoonful of rice and the insides of a few green peas, just to see what she'd do with them. She ate quite a bit of the rice and didn't touch the peas. (She dislikes peas, and she somehow knew exactly what they were.)



She is sleeping better at night, thanks to DH. He's been putting her to bed almost every night, and is actually succeeding at teaching her to sleep. The first 3 nights or so she was to fidgety to let him hold her, so she screamed for an hour or so while he sat in her room talking and singing to her, patting her back, and whatever. Now he rocks her almost to sleep and then lays her down, and she only wakes up 1 to 4 times each night (usually 2 or 3). She's been going to sleep sometime between 9 and midnight and then going back to sleep after each feeding until around 8:30 a.m.

Baby E is still picking at her ears whenever she gets bored, so I'm trying to keep her occupied and keep her fingernails clipped constantly. You can see in some of the photos how red her poor little ears are. She makes them bleed almost daily. Swabbing them out with hydrogen peroxide as the pediatrician recommended seems to help a bit, but not much. My ears itch, too, so I wonder if it's the pollen in the air.



The last few days I've been using any bit of spare time (usually nap time) to do a bit of housework and sewing. I'm making some fitted diapers, covers and pocket diapers for Baby E, since she's growing out of the ones I'd made before. I'm making some changes with each new diaper to gradually perfect my homemade diaper patterns. Hopefully I'll be able to sell a few once I get it figured out. I have enough diaper-making fabric here for a small army, so I need to use it up somehow. :)

I also figured out a great use for a set of socks I'd bought for myself that shrunk in the dryer. The ankles were too tight to pull the socks on comfortably, so I'd thought they were a complete loss. But then I discovered that if I cut off the toes and sew fold-over elastic on the cut edges, they make great legwarmers for Baby E. The heels land right at her knees. [Instructions for making them here.]

I'd seen BabyLegs advertised and liked the idea, and now I'm hooked. The legwarmers protect Baby E's legs from carpet burn and keep them warm, but they leave her feet bare for crawling. The best thing about them is that they make diaper changes so easy. Believe me, with this little wigglebug I'll take anything I can get to minimize the intense wrestling match every. single. diaper change has become! Now that I know I like them, I'd like to try some of the real BabyLegs--they're so much cuter (cute patterns, and no baggy spot at the knee), and I'm wondering if they'll stay up a bit better without leaving a red mark on her thighs.

I had been writing blog posts mainly while sitting down to feed Baby E. But lately nursing sessions last all of about three minutes before Baby E is off again, so I'm not sure how much computer time I'll get in the near future. Plus, DH introduced E to the keyboard pounder, so now she's more insistent than ever that she wants to type whenever she's near the computer.

We're working on spending more time together in the evenings and on getting to bed earlier, in addition to developing daily routines. Getting up earlier is next on the agenda. :)

Speaking of going to bed early, I've stayed up far too late writing this post. I'm going to try not to continue doing that, so don't be alarmed if posting is sporadic for a while. Hopefully once I get settled into the new routine, finish my current projects, and get used to Baby E's new stages, I'll be able to budget a little more time at the computer again.

Baby E (doesn't) say DaDa

Baby E was copying the sounds I made. I said, "All done" and she said, "Nun." I said "Mama," she said,"MMMMamamama". I said Dada, she said "Da! Dada."

I thought I'd be clever and catch it on audio.

Believe it or not, she did perform the first 3 times I taped it. But other stuff kept messing up the recording. So I tried one more time. But by then she was done with that game. Nun.

So you get to hear her jabbering.

Are you spoiled?

I don't have the time or spare brain power for a real post today, so here's a relatively quick and mindless meme.

As seen at Collecting My Thoughts. I score 32, but I consider myself pretty spoiled--or at least very blessed.

Go through the list. Tick everything you have or have done. If you can tick 40 or more, you're spoiled.

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X ☑ your own cell phone
☐ a television in your bedroom
☐ an iPod
☐ a photo printer
☐ your own phone line
☐ TiVo or a generic digital video recorder
X ☑ high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup)
☐ a surround sound system in bedroom
☐ DVD player in bedroom
☐ at least a hundred DVDs
X ☑ a childfree bathroom (Mostly)
X ☑ your own in-house office (I share it with DH)
X ☐ a pool (It's a plastic kiddie pool, but it helps us stay cool in the summer)
☐ a guest house
☐ a game room
X ☑ a queen-size bed (we actually have two of these, although the one in Baby E's room belongs to my parents)
☑ a stocked bar
X ☑ a working dishwasher
X ☐ an icemaker
X ☐ a working washer and dryer
☐ more than 20 pairs of shoes
☐ at least ten things from a designer store (what's a designer store? I might have 10 things from the Hanna Andersson outlet)
☐ expensive sunglasses
X ☐ framed original art (not lithographs or prints) (We have a pencil portrait of DH and me on our wedding day, drawn by my sister-in-law as a wedding gift)
☐ Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
☑ a multi-speed bike
☑ a gym membership
X ☑ large exercise equipment at home (I think we have some kind of rowing machine or something buried in the garage)
☐ your own set of golf clubs
☐ a pool table
☐ a tennis court
X ☐ local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea (lots of water within an hour's drive of here)
☑ your own pair of skis
☑ enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
☐ a boat
☐ a jet ski
☐ a neighborhood committee membership
☐ a beach house or a vacation house/cabin
X ☐ wealthy family members
X ☐ two or more family cars
X ☐ a walk-in closet or pantry (both)
X ☐ a yard
☑ a hammock
☐ a personal trainer
X ☑ good credit
X ☐ expensive jewelry (My wedding ring could be considered expensive jewelry, I think--at least for us. :) )
☐ a designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
☑ at least $100 cash in your possession right now
☐ more than two credit cards bearing your name (not counting gas cards or debit cards)
X ☑ a stock portfolio (small, but we do have a few shares of mutual funds)
X ☑ a passport
☐ a horse
☐ a trust fund (either for you or created by you)
X ☐ private medical insurance
☑ a college degree, and no outstanding student loans

Do you:

☐ shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics) at least once a week
☐ do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
X ☐ pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes (not counting dry-cleaning) (if hiring a teenager for a few hours every now and then counts)
X ☐ go on weekend mini-vacations
☐ send dinners back with every flaw
☐ wear perfume or cologne (not body spray)
☐ regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon
☐ have a job but don't need the money OR
X ☐ stay at home with little financial sacrifice (we certainly don't miss any meals)
☐ pay someone else to cook your meals
X ☐ pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs (the occasional babysitter)
☐ regularly pay someone else to drive you
☐ expect a gift after you fight with your partner

Are you:

☐ an only child
☐ married/partnered to a wealthy person
☐ baffled/surprised when you don't get your way

Have you:

☐ been on a cruise
X ☑ traveled out of the country
☑ met a celebrity
☐ been to the Caribbean
☑ been to Europe
☑ BEEN TO HONG KONG
☐ been to Hawaii
☐ been to New York
☐ eaten at the space needle in Seattle (I've never eaten there, but I've climbed it)
☐ been to the Mall of America
☐ been on the Eiffel tower in Paris
☐ been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
☐ moved more than three times because you wanted to
☑ dined with local political figures
X ☑ been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast

Did you:

X ☐ go to another country for your honeymoon (We honeymooned at a B & B in Port Angeles, but we took a ferry across the border to Canada for a few hours one day)
X ☐ hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
X ☐ take riding or swimming lessons as a child
X ☐ attend private school (homeschool)
X ☐ have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you (I had friends over for a fancy tea at our home--or was that my 18th? I can't remember at the moment)

Monday Memory: Dad's Nap

Did I ever tell you about DAD'S NAP?

Yesterday was my dad's birthday, so today's Monday Memory is in honor of him. My sister Sparrow posted about Dad yesterday, too--it's definitely worth a read.

Happy Birthday, Dad. I love you.

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My dad loves kids, and even as a grandpa is always happy to let them use him as a jungle gym. He gives horsey-back rides, turns his feet into trampolines, and lets the kids take flying leaps into his chest.

Once, when my Sis J and I were about my girls' ages, Dad fell asleep on the floor while we were jumping on his back. Don't ask me how; my dad can nap anywhere, under any circumstances.

Mom was out running some kind of errand. When Dad stopped responding to our proddings of "Giddyup, Horsey!", we looked around for something else to do.

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I don't know which of us thought of the toilet paper. I think one of us accidentally dropped a roll in the bathroom. It left such a fascinating white trail behind as it rolled away.

Before long we were rolling it along the hallway and watching it bounce gleefully down the stairs. We rolled it back and forth like a ball, tracing designs on the carpet with the trailing tail and wrapping it around furniture. Dad didn't even wake up when we climbed across his legs and rolled the toilet paper down his back and around his arms.

I would love to have a photo of the scene that greeted Dad when he awoke, wrapped in trails of filmy white paper. I don't remember whether he woke up before my mother arrived home, or if she entered to see our preschool artwork swaddling the house in a web of white strands.

Rolling all the toilet paper back onto the roll wasn't nearly as much fun as unrolling it had been.

My most common and vivid memory of my dad, though, is not a one-time circumstance, but a thread that ran through my childhood the way we toilet papered the house that time.

* * * * * *

I remember often coming downstairs in the mornings to see my dad sitting at the kitchen table reading his Bible. He'd look up when I came into the room and say, "What do you think this passage here means?"

He'd wait while I read it, then he'd listen carefully to my opinion and we'd discuss it. We'd come up with questions together and research them to find out what theologians said, or we'd compare other passages to get a fuller context. Sometimes we'd form an opinion about something based on logic and evaluating Scripture as a whole; other times we'd have to accept the limitations of our own understanding.

In those interactions my Dad taught me to value Scripture, to think deeply about it, and to own it--to let it apply to and impact my life in a personal way.

Dad has a passion for studying God's word combined with an unusual humility in interpretation. There are absolutes in his world, but very few of them. He's a fundamentalist in the best sense of the word. A handful of fundamentals are foundational to his life; the rest is icing. The pursuit of God Himself and the willingness to learn and grow is more important to him than any debate about dispensationalism or predestination/free choice. It saddens him greatly that so many people become divided over what he considers non-absolutes.

I think that willingness to consider other points of view and to value the differences is beneficial to unity and leads to respectful interactions with others. I know my Dad's example has made me more willing to value and consider others' views, and more able to converse respectfully even when we can't come to the same conclusions. It's made me less concerned about just having right opinions, and more about having right relationships--first of all with God, and then with others.

Mom made sure Bible was always our first class of the day, and our family often spent time discussing Scripture passages in the evenings. Dad used to ask each family member to share what we'd been learning in our own personal times of Bible study and prayer, encouraging us to make it our own.

My parents taught me to value and enjoy the Bible, and to think about it as God's way of interacting with me. Studying the Bible was never an end in itself, but a means to get to know God better. It was about relationship, not "religion".

That view of Scripture and my faith in God as something dynamic, personal and relational is one of the greatest gifts I've carried away from my childhood. It probably affects nearly every area of my life.

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Weekend Projects

I'm working on several projects right now. One is trying to sleep off a cold (Baby E got it first and is kindly sharing with me, so I took a 5-hour nap yesterday and slept in this morning) and another is trying to get the house and yard presentable.

This weekend I've been working on the kitchen and pantry. I've been decluttering, reorganizing and cleaning a lot.

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So far I've tackled the clutter at ground level and in one cupboard. I got the area under the desk and the bottom level of the pantry cleared out, then scrubbed the kitchen floor while DH and I watched a Numb3rs episode.

I'm tired of sifting through the cluttered pantry every time I need a spice that's not in my countertop turnstile, so I tackled the cupboard next to the stove, which held vitamins, medications and miscellaneous clutter. By the time I threw away all the expired bottles and moved the things that didn't belong to more appropriate places, there wasn't too much left. I decided to move the medications and first-aid supplies to another location and left just the vitamins and nutritional supplements on the top shelf, leaving the lower two shelves for spices and flavorings.

I'd bought one of those stair-step organizers earlier, and put it in the cupboard for the small bottles of spices. I had fun organizing all the spices in alphabetical order, as I love having the spices in my counter rack arranged that way. (There, DH . . . now you can't tease me about that one any more :) ). In the process I discovered to my chagrin that I had multiples of quite a few seasonings--one of the many costs of disorganization. Really, now, do I need 5 bottles of cinnamon and 3 of sesame seeds?

I never did finish the pantry project I started while pregnant with Baby E. We used up a lot of things, but I didn't ever organize what we had left, so it's become chaotic and overstuffed again quickly. This time I hope to get it organized and trimmed down in a way that will be maintainable.

After getting the floor and half the lowest shelf in the pantry decluttered and cleaned, I managed to find a small shelf today that fits perfectly on the floor beneath the bottom shelf. I think that will help us to use that space more economically. I want to get a set of drawers to put under the other side to keep plastic storage containers in, rather than the big cardboard box we've been using. That will still leave ample room for the canning pot, bread machine, and a few other large items back in the corner of the floor.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with all the items piled on the kitchen table and counters.

Meanwhile, DH has been working on the yard, sweeping the deck, mowing, and setting up the sandbox for the kids.

We had the yard aerated and de-thatched this week, so tonight or tomorrow night we plan to lime, overseed and add some kind of loam to the lawn. We're considering buying an edger, too, so we won't have to edge the lawn and flowerbeds by hand.

I'm looking forward to seeing what the yard looks like after we finish with the lawn, add a few perennial flowers, spread fresh barkdust and fix the picket fence in the front yard.

Spring is the time for this sort of thing.

What is a Vegan, Anyway? Interview With Running2Ks

I have quite a few friends who are vegetarian or vegan (vegetarians often eat eggs and milk; vegans don't eat any animal-derived products). Although I doubt we'll ever go completely vegan, the topic interests me. I cook vegetarian meals every now and then, and we are adding as many organic, hormone-free, and free-range products into our diet as possible.

Since many people aren't familiar with the vegan lifestyle, I thought it would be fun to have a guest blogger tell us a bit about veganism.

Running2Ks is no longer blogging (to our great loss), but she has made herself available to "guest blog". She kindly allowed me to ask some questions about veganism and post her answers on my blog.

R2Ks, how and why did you become interested in becoming vegan?

Eleven years ago, my husband and I were driving along the countryside, enjoying the beautiful day, mooing at cows, basking in the wintry sun. My spouse broke the peace by sharing a fact with me: “You know, some pigs have a heart attack on the way to the slaughterhouse because they know what is coming.”

I burst into tears.

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My husband, from a family of sport fishermen, farmers, and butchers, went on to share more tidbits about cooped up (miserable) chickens, how cows are killed, and the torturous demise of other fine creatures. As the tears still stung my face, we pulled into a fast food restaurant for dinner. On the spot, I vowed to become vegetarian. My first veggie meal was a baked potato.

I struggled, for about a year and a half, as a “macaroni and cheese” vegetarian, scrimping and relying on dairy and over-processed “fake” meats for my diet. Finally, my husband joined me—made the ethical leap—and we started learning how to eat more healthfully. I successfully went through both wonderful pregnancies as a vegetarian, giving birth to bouncing, 8 pound-range girls. Because of my commitment to better living through a compassionate and balanced diet, I even started researching more homeopathic options to health; our second baby joined the family through a miraculous (breech) homebirth in Colorado.

Last summer, through more research into ethics and health, I made the transition into veganism. For the uninitiated, vegans are strict vegetarians who do not eat dairy, eggs, or any animal-derived product. My husband and daughters have joined in this lifestyle, with gusto. Our reasoning includes compassion, environmentalism, and the major health benefits we have discovered along the way—including lowering cholesterol. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that I’ve gotten a new-found yen for creative cooking and lots of fabulous recipe books. I’ve even met vegan friends through online sources, including an area potluck group.

How does vegan eating work out for you in daily life?

Naturally, veganism impacts every aspect of our life. At church, at birthday parties, on playdates, at the library, and during other events, I monitor the food. Often, we bring our own treat and meal alternatives. People remember to check with me before serving my children. My daughters even know when to decline, and they ask me before consuming unknown food.

When we go to a restaurant, I ask (sometimes in Spanish) how the food is prepared before we frequent the place. Subway, Taco Bell, Panera Bread, Chipotle (and many others, including Mexican, Italian, Asian, and Indian fare) are favorites of the family. I feel good, even though there is extra planning, that my kids are getting organic, non-hydrogenated, vegan foods. And there is the added benefit of my kids learning how to eat this way while they are young, instead of struggling to learn this as adults. Once you know, you can’t “un-know”.

Often, people comment that they wouldn’t know where to shop for vegan/vegetarian foods. Surprisingly, our local grocery stores are wonderful for this. I find that a lot of checkout people are very curious about the contents of my grocery cart. Another great find is the new, reasonably-priced “Organics” line of foods at one of our supermarkets. Despite my deep longing for a Trader Joe’s in my city, we also do well with a local health food store for specialty items we can’t find elsewhere.

We don’t feel deprived, with so many options open to us. Whenever I go area businesses, I mention that I would love to see more veggie options. I feel that a lot of small business owners are open to this lifestyle in ways I didn’t find 11 years ago. I’m hopeful that compassionate, healthy eating will gain local popularity.

Probably the first thing most people wonder about when they think of veganism is how you meet your body's nutritional requirements. How do you make sure you're getting enough calcium, protein, iron and other nutrients in your diet?

Beans, nuts, green leafy veggies (broccoli, spinach, etc.), fortified orange juice, enriched soy, rice, or almond milk, "meat" substitutes, nutritional yeast flakes, lentils, chick peas, breads, veggie burgers and veggie dogs, juicing (fresh, organic fruits and veggies), bananas, avocados, potatoes, organic soups, pastas, sauces, etc. are many of the ways we get calcium, iron, and protein into our diets.

We don't take vitamin supplements and we don't need them. I have bloodwork drawn annually for myself, and for my husband, and I know our iron is great (even after donating blood). The kids grow at a terrific rate and are much healthier than their friend, getting sick less often--especially once we cut the dairy out of the diet (they were vegetarian until last summer, and have been better off since we eliminated all cholesterol and dairy).

Does your vegan lifestyle apply only to the foods you eat, or do you not use animal products in your cosmetics, clothing, furnishings, etc. as well?

Veganism is a big transition, so we do what we can to eliminate animal products from our lives--the food was a faster change; the rest is coming along. We still have animal products in our closet from before becoming even vegetarian. We aren't buying any new leather, though, for example (or wool or down). We are trying to elminate many of the chemical cleaning products as well. We won't purchase leather furniture or car interiors, as another example. Just doing our best at this point to rid one thing at a time and replace it with a more compassionate and/or environmentally-friendly alternative.

Would you ever keep an animal as a pet?

We used to have dogs. We aren't doing the pet thing anymore. It just doesn't fit into our lifestyle. Not as a vegan issue--and if we ever did dogs again, they'd also be vegan. But just as a time commitment and cleanliness commitment and cost factor, we just aren't into having pets at this stage in our lives.

Do you find that you're spending more or less on groceries compared to a non-organic, non-vegan diet?

I'm spending about the same on groceries--because although the organic food costs more, I'm also buying less pre-fab stuff and cooking more. It evens out that way.

Would it be possible for someone who can't eat soy, nuts, yeast and several grains to successfully become a vegan and still get enough protein and iron?

For people with food allergies, it is more challenging to become vegan. However, one fantastic vegan cookbook I have found is the "Food Allergy Survival Guide: Surviving and Thriving With Food Allergies and Sensitivities (Paperback) by Vesanto Melina, Dina Aronson, Jo Stepaniak". This has been a great resource. For example, my girls are addicted to the quickie chocolate shake in there. And (shh!) it's a healthy dessert, too.

Do you have any favorite vegan recipes you'd like to share with us?

Chocolate Milkshake:
1 banana
2 tsp cocoa powder
3/4 non-dairy milk (vanilla or chocolate rice, soy, or almond)
Blend it all up in a blender--this recipe is from the Allergy Survival Guide

Vegan Mac N Cheese
1 1/2 cups of plain soymilk (or non-dairy milk)
1 cup of water
1/3 cup of soy sauce
1 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast flakes
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 of a block of firm (not silken) tofu
1 cup of canola or vegetable oil
1 1/2 lbs of pasta of your choice preferably macaroni
a relatively large baking pan

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Boil water in a big pot for the pasta.
All of the ingredients sans pasta can easily go in a blender liquid and powdered this is by far the easiest way and the only was I do it.
Once pasta is cooked drain I and put it in the baking pan pour the "cheese" sauce over the pasta. Bake until the top of the pasta looks slightly browned and crispy about 15 minutes

Lentil Pate
1 cup lentils
4 cups water
1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
2 to 2 ½ cups chopped onions
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add lentils, cover pot, reduce heat and simmer 45 minutes until lentils are tender. Drain excess water. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until nicely browned. In a food processor, combine lentils, cooked onions, salt and pepper. Process until smooth. Serve at room temperature or chilled. Makes about 3 cups.

Crazy Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

MIX dry ingredients together, then
ADD the wet ingredients and MIX well

3/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups cold water

Pour all into a 9 x 13 inch ungreased pan (you could probably spray the pan),
and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes (try 35), until toothpick inserted is clean

Chocolate-Covered Peanut Butter Balls
(From Sinfully Vegan, with my notes)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup powdered sugar
(Blend this in a food processor, make these into small balls and place on wax paper; freeze 15 minutes)*
10 oz bag of vegan chocolate chips, melted (I do microwave melting)
*The book suggests that these small balls will be hard after 15 minutes in the freezer. I didn’t find this to be true at all. So the whole using a wood toothpick to dip it in chocolate…not so much.
Take the balls and lift each one from the wax paper, drip chocolate down on the paper and put the ball down onto the chocolate. After that is done, cover the top of each ball with chocolate–just use a spoon. Chill until hard. If you want it prettier, I guess using silicone mini muffin pans would work. Size matters, though–too big, and it is more than a mouthful. It can get very messy. But it is delicious.

Chocolate Truffles
1 8-oz. package nondairy cream cheese (Tofutti brand works well), softened at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted (vegan/milk-free chocolate chips work great)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
unsweetened cocoa

Beat the nondairy cream cheese in a mixing bowl until it is smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating until it is well blended. Add the melted chocolate (microwave for 2-3 minutes to melt) and vanilla and mix well. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Shape the mixture into 1-inch balls or egg shapes and roll them in the cocoa. Store the finished chocolates in the refrigerator. Makes approximately 5 dozen chocolates--or 2 dozen. Or even use this--without the cocoa--to fill a pie crust for a "chocolate cheesecake". Could roll in nuts, coconut too.

"Sausage" Stuffed Mushrooms
Container of stuffer or button mushrooms
1 package of Morningstar Farms recipe starters, sausage style (defrosted)
1 tbl garlic (minced or chopped)
1/4 c nutritional yeast flakes
Creole seasoning (or salt and pepper)
1 tbl olive oil

Take the stems off the mushrooms, and blend with the other ingredients in a food processor or blender. Stuff into the mushrooms and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes, or until mushrooms are cooked through. Serve hot.

Cold Veggie Pizza
Toppings:
Container of vegan cream cheese
Container of vegan sour cream
Shake in dill, garlic powder, chives, salt, and pepper
Put in finely chopped veggies (if you can get salad confetti or pre-chopped, even better): broccoli, cauliflower, onion, carrot, celery
Mix well and set aside in the fridge.
Crust:
1 1/2 cups warm water
yeast packet
tsp salt
3 cups whole wheat flour
Whisk the first 3 ingredients together, add in flour and knead. Set aside for 30 minutes. Then spread out on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 F for 15 minutes. Let it cool completely before topping.

Uncle Jim's Chilled Cucumber Soup
10 oz can veggie broth
8 oz sour cream (not fat-free)
Large cucumber chopped really small with no seeds
1/2 small onion, minced
Clove garlic, crushed
1 tbl fresh minced dill (fresh is best)
1/4 tsp salt
Pepper to taste
Mix the first 2 ingredients well. Then add the rest and serve the soup really cold. 4 servings.

California Rolls (Kid-Friendly too)
Large soft tortillas (but not corn because they won't roll)
Cream cheese, softened
Spinach leaves
Shredded carrots
Garlic salt and black pepper to taste
Optional: vegetarian cold cuts - found in the tofu/veggie section of the grocery (Lightlife is best)
Optional: chopped olives
Optional: sprouts
Optional: avocado (mashed up)
Toothpicks
Casserole dish
Spread the cream cheese (and/or optional avocado mash) on the tortilla. Put 1 thin layer of spinach and carrots and optional vegetarian cold cuts, olives, and sprouts on top, and season lightly. Don't overfill. Roll the tortilla up and put toothpicks in about 2 inches apart along the length to keep it rolled. As you roll, you can add more cream cheese to "glue" the tortilla together. Make enough to fill the casserole dish, layering the rolls as needed. Chill for about an hour (or more) in the fridge with plastic or foil over the top. Before serving, slice 4 inch wide rolls and remove the toothpicks.
Chocolate Muffins (kid-friendly)
· Can of pumpkin (small like 12 oz or 1 ½ cups)
· Box of chocolate cake mix
Mix and bake according to cake directions for cupcakes.

Vegetarian Sausage Stuffing (Dressing)
1/2 pkg. Gimmme Lean Sausage Style (in the tofu/veggie section of the grocery)
1/4 cup onions (minced)
1 cup water
3 cups of Pepperidge Farm seasoned stuffing (comes in a bag), vegetarian
1/8 tsp. pepper
4 tbl veggie broth
1/4 cup celery (finely chopped)
1 bouillon cube (vegetarian)
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1 cup apple sauce
Saute onions and celery in veggie broth. Cook until soft. Crumble Gimme Lean into the pan to brown; chopping into fine pieces with spatula as it cooks. When browned, add water, bouillon, stuffing, and seasoning. Remove from heat and mix well, adding the apple sauce. Lightly oil pan and add sausage stuffing. Bake in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Thanks so much for sharing about the vegan lifestyle with us, R2Ks. It's always beneficial to learn about different approaches to food and life in general.

Cloth Advocate?

Our next MOMS group meeting is "Idea Sharing" day. People can sign up to share information about various things that they think would be helpful to other moms. I signed up to share information about cloth diapering and natural feminine products.

I'm going to keep it low-key; my goal is not to "convert" anyone or put down disposable products (after all, I still use them sometimes!). But I want to let people know what's available and how accessible and easy the reusable products can be. I'm not sure yet if I'll be doing the presentation by myself or with another cloth diapering mom.

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I'm going to take along samples of different diapers and covers to show. I have flat, prefold, fitted, and all-in-one diapers. As covers go, I have some Proraps and other similar styles, a Bummi Super Whisper Wrap, and a couple of homemade wraps.

I'm hoping to make, buy or borrow a fleece pocket diaper, a contour diaper, and as many other types of diapers and covers as I can. I don't have any snapping diapers or covers and don't own a snap press, so that's the really big gap in my collection, as is anything made of hemp or wool. I'm not sure DH would approve of me buying one of each just to show everyone what they're like (and to try myself, of course)! Ha-ha.

I'm going to have scraps of as many different diaper-making fabrics as I can find, labeled so people can get an idea of what's available, as well as a few diaper patterns and information about online sources of free patterns. I'll show how I made my own diaper pattern by tracing a disposable diaper, too, if I have time. I may end up having to make a lot of this stuff available just for people to look at after the presentation, so I don't take up too much time.

As for feminine products, I plan to talk about cloth pads, menstrual cups, and sea sponges. I don't have a sea sponge but will try to find a picture of one to share. I've found just through casual conversation in the ladies' room when it comes up that so many women are extremely unhappy with the commonly used options, but don't realize that there are alternatives.

Over the next couple of weeks I'm going to be trying to pick out a handful of the best resources for info. on choosing, buying, caring for and sewing diapers and femininine products. I'll make handouts for those who are interested to take home so they don't need to worry about taking notes.

I've always enjoyed public speaking, and I'm excited about this opportunity. It will be fun sharing information that's interesting to me and that I hope will be helpful for others.

My hope is that a few people who have wanted to try cloth but are afraid it would be too difficult (or that people would make fun of them) would be equipped to go ahead and do it if they want to.

If people aren't using cloth because they really don't want to, great. But I've had people tell me that they wanted to use cloth but were afraid people would think they were weird, or that they really wanted to do it but it seemed intimidating because they don't know anyone else who uses them. That's the group I'm hoping to reach with my little presentation.

MM and Mommy Ride the Slide

MM and AJ have been showing signs of needing a little extra attention.

For MM, the honeymoon is over. Finally, after 8 1/2 months of adoring her baby sister, MM has decided that having a baby sister isn't so cool after all. Baby E is crawling and pulling up on things now, and she's Taking! MM's! Toys!

MM not only doesn't want Baby E to so much as look at MM's toys, she does not want E to TOUCH anything in the house that is not specifically a baby toy. That includes furniture, dishes, bits of paper and possibly even the walls.

Both MM and AJ are doing quite a bit of yelling at each other, pushing and hitting, crying, and antagonizing each other and the baby. They've spent much of the last two days crying and whining because one has a toy the other wants, because MM is "following" AJ, or because AJ is looking out MM's car window(!!!). The "boohoo, she's looking at me!" arguments are getting old fast.

I think it's a combination of things--my ankle, though I only had to stay completely off it for a couple of days, has seriously hampered my activities and interactivity this week. It's to the point where I can walk on it again now, though still sore. (I ditched the crutches after one day, actually--the crutches were worse than crawling, hopping and limping around the house.)

We have, of course, been talking to them about their actions and giving them consequences when they do things like pinch each other or push over the baby. But it's obvious that what they really need is something deeper.

So tonight DH stayed home with AJ and Baby E while I took MM out on a date after dinner, just the two of us. She wasn't too keen on the idea. She wanted Daddy, not me.

####################

I said, "Don't you want to have a special time out with just you and me, just the two of us?"

"No. I want to go with Daddy."

The promise of ice cream brought her around somewhat grudgingly.

We had planned to go to TCBY, but the space where it used to be was empty, with a "For lease" sign in the window. So we went through a drive-through and got strawberry shortcake with soft-serve frozen yogurt, and went to a nearby park to eat it.

We sat on a bench near the playground, companionably chatting and enjoying our food. It was chilly, and I wondered if we should have sat in the restaurant or the car to eat--especially when several children started longingly eyeing our treats.

Then a little girl headed purposefully toward us, calling out across the playground, "Guess what? I'm five."

She parked herself two inches from my knee and stared us down, demanding to know what we were doing and why we were there, what we were eating and whether I had a husband. We chatted with her for a few minutes, during which MM said almost nothing and the little girl told us all about herself and her family, asked questions, and ordered me to remove the ponytail holder from my hair. I told her no and she argued with me about it for a while.

It was obvious that MM was uncomfortable with the girl's infringement on our time together, as was I. Avoiding eye contact and saying as little as possible to her didn't work to discourage her.

Finally, I said, "MM and I are having a special mommy and daughter time together, and we'd like to talk to each other now. Why don't you go play, and when MM is done eating she'll come and play on the playground too."

"No."

"Please go play now. MM wants to finish eating her shortcake, and then she'll come and play too."

"No. I'm gonna stay here." She leaned in defiantly, her stocky body stiff and her unbound hair dangling almost in my sundae.

I looked around. No adult hovered nearby or seemed to be keeping an eye on her.

"Where are your parents?" I asked.

"Over there." She gestured toward a family at the other side of the playground. Mom, Dad, an older brother and a baby a little older than Baby E.

The girl's gesture seemed to attract the mother's attention. She called to her daughter 3 or 4 times. The girl ignored her.

Finally the brother, who seemed to be about 7, came toward us. "Is she bothering you?"

I wanted to say yes, but it didn't really seem appropriate to me to complain to a 7-year-old about his sister's behavior or expect him to rein her in when the parents were unable or unwilling to do so. So I just said, "She's talking to us."

At that point the mother called the girl again, saying, "I said come ON! It's too cold out here for the baby; we need to go."

"No."

"What did you just say to me??? Come here!"

"NO!"

Then the father chimed in: "Let's go, (name). Come on."

"No."

After several more repetitions of this, the girl finally took a few steps toward her mother, who was putting the baby into a swing. MM and I finished our food and went to play.

Some time later, as MM and I were playing on the slides, I saw the family on the other side of the park. Everyone except the girl were in or headed toward the car. She was lying on the ground, staring up at the sky while her parents endlessly repeated her name and told her to come on.

The other mother at the playground decided to leave a few minutes later. "Come on, Honey," she said to a little blonde who looked about two.

"Noooo, I don't wanna go!" The child threw herself on the ground and wailed.

"Come on, it's getting dark and cold out here. It's time to go home."

"I wanna stay here!!!"

The mother thought for a moment. "I'm going home; bye!"

"Noooo!" She was flailing about, howling.

"The park closes when it gets dark, honey. If we don't leave . . . the police will come and arrest us!"

That quieted the little girl and she followed her mother away.

I turned to MM. "Don't worry, the police wouldn't really arrest us, I don't think. They'd probably just tell us we needed to leave. But it's not dark yet, so let's play!"

We had the playground to ourselves then, and we had a fabulous time. There was a double slide with space for two people to go down side by side--a long slide with a hump in the middle. I'd forgotten how much fun a slide can be. We climbed the ramp, went down the slide, slid down the fire pole, and went down a smaller slide together. MM rode the springy bounce toys, then I pushed her on the swing while she laughed, hair flying in the wind.

I'd warned her ahead of time that we wouldn't be able to stay long, and gave her a five-minute and a two-minute warning that we would have to leave soon. After she got off the swing I said, "Okay, one more time down the slide and then we'll go home."

We went down on our bellies, and it was so much fun that I whispered conspiratorially, "Do you want to go just one more time?"

She nodded, eyes sparkling, and shouted, "Yeah! Let's go down togethew again!"

We climbed up again, stopping on the drawbridge to hold hands and bounce on it like a trampoline. This time I went down on my back while she went on her tummy, both of us hooting all the way.

Then she said, "Okay, Mommy, let's go now," and headed for the car. "Can I wun, Mommy?"

"Sure, you can run! I'm going to walk, though . . . my ankle hurts pretty bad." I had twisted it in the wood shavings, but it wasn't as bad as I thought at first. I think I turned it the opposite direction this time or something, because it almost felt better after the first initial agony than it did before we went to the playground. My muscles, however, have seized up from the arch of my foot to my thigh--it feels like my entire leg is in a vise. We'll see if I can walk on it tomorrow. It was worth it, though.

As we were getting close to our car, a man and his daughter drove slowly toward us in a white car, window open.

"Is that your car?" he asked.

"Yes, it is."

I was expecting him to tell us we couldn't park there, but instead he pointed to a pile of broken glass two spaces away from our car and told us that his car had been broken into while they played at the park. He'd been trying to find his wallet or anything that would lead him to the culprit, and was just leaving when he'd seen us coming back toward our car. He'd come back to make sure we and our car were okay.

Since it was getting quite dark by then, I thanked him and asked if he'd be willing to stick around for a few minutes while I got MM and myself into the car.

It was nice of him to stay and make sure we were okay. I hope everything will work out for him.

On the way home, MM said to me, "Mommy, I really like spending time with you. That was fun. The most fun was going down the slide next to each othew. Wasn't that the best?"

When I told AJ that next time I would take her somewhere special and MM would get to stay with Daddy, MM wailed, "No, Mommy! I want to be with you all of the times, just you and me. I don't want to go with Daddy and E."

I'm glad she had a good time.

Script of Audioblog "MM and AJ tell about their evenings"

Just in case you can't download the file or can't understand what we're all saying, here's the transcript to tonight's audioblog.

PK: What did you do today?

MM: I already did that.

PK: Tell them what you did.

MM: I did . . . go to the park and have fun. And I played with Mommy and she slid down the slide with me. And I goed down the slide on my tummy with Mommy.

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PK: That was fun, wasn't it?

MM: Yeah.

PK: And we both went down next to each other, didn't we?

MM: [nods]

PK: And then what did you do?

MM: Go down the fire pole!

PK: Yeah. That was the first time you'd ever done that, wasn't it?

MM: Yeah.

PK: Did you like it?

MM: Yeah! I was scared of it the first time.

PK: And then you found out you liked it, didn't you?

MM: Mm-hmm.

AJ: I wanna go down the fire pole.

PK: Next time we go to the park, you can.

PK: What did we eat?

MM: Strawberry Shortcake.

PK: Was that good?

MM: Yeeeah!

AJ laughs

PK: To AJ: Hey, what did you do tonight?

AJ: Um, color.

PK: With who?

AJ: Dada and E.

PK: Yeah.

Giggles from everyone. Pause.

PK: OK, say goodnight.

AJ: Goodnight.

MM: Goodnight.

MM and AJ tell about their evenings

MM tells about going to the park with Mommy, and AJ adds a few words about staying home with Daddy

Baby E Laughs

Monday Memory (on Tuesday): Gerilliums

I had a Monday Memory all thought up over the weekend, and considered writing it out on Sunday. It was an easy one; short and simple. So I decided that, since it would take me only a few minutes to write it out, I wouldn't bother writing it ahead.

But then Monday came. And all day long I was thinking it was Tuesday. I completely forgot about the Monday Memory until I sat down a few minutes before bedtime and saw a reminder note from my sister. OK, I thought, It's late, but I still have time to write a quick post for Monday Memory. I'll just type up the few sentences I had planned.

But I could not remember what I had planned to write about. Racking my brain didn't help. I couldn't think of anything at all. So I gave up and went to bed.

Then, reading my sister's Monday Memory today jogged my brain and I remembered what I'd been planning to write about. Amy and I were apparently on the same wavelength.

So here it is.

Did I ever tell you about GERILLIUMS?


My paternal grandfather used to call every plant that he didn't know the name of, a gerillium. He pronounced the word like a cross between geranium and trillium.

Someone would say, "What kind of flower is that?" and he would say with an air of great confidence, not missing a beat: "It's a gerillium."

It took me several years to figure out that there's no such thing as a gerillium.

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Links to other Monday Memories



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Watch Out, World

As of today, Baby E is officially crawling. The belly completely off the floor, hands-and-knees type of crawling. She's been climbing stairs for a week or two now--along with anything else she can get a good grip and a knee hold on.

She's pulling up to standing, also, so it's probably a matter of days or weeks before she takes off running.

Did I mention that she's also cutting four teeth? Yes, four (4). All at once.

Baby E objects most strenuously to any kind of restraint or barrier standing in the way of her locomotion. Never-fail recipe for an instant angry tantrum: Block the stairs or pick her up when she's trying to climb them.

She's 8 1/2 months old and thinks the world is too small to contain her.

How am I ever going to keep up with this one?

Pediatrician

I think we've found our pediatrician. Dr. B was my pediatrician when I was growing up. He's still practicing medicine and is now seeing some of my cousins' kids.

Baby E has been scratching her ears a lot the last few days, so, even though she didn't seem to be in pain, I decided to have them checked. Besides, it would be a good opportunity to see Dr. B. and talk to him about how we want to approach vaccinations, etc.

Dr. B. was very professional, and friendly enough though not chatty. He listened to me carefully, took Baby E's allergies seriously, and was willing to work with me on a modified vaccination schedule.

He also said that Baby E has "a good-looking pair of ears." No sign of infection; apparently they're just itchy. That, or Baby E just discovered a most fascinating pair of interestingly-shaped appendages on the sides of her head to play with.

She's also cutting four new teeth.

One year

It's been just over a year since I started blogging here on Blogger. My first post on this blog was April 14, 2005. My first blog post ever (back on Xanga) was July 18, 2004 . . . a year and nine months ago.

The move to Blogger was a shift in the tone and frequency of my writing, moving to a more frequent and personal "journal" style from a more issues-oriented approach.

As I approach the next year of blogging, I'm hoping the variety and quality of my writing will improve and branch out a bit.

Resurrection Day

I wish I had a photo of the spectacle we made today--me carrying Baby E in the rebozo in front and the diaper bag on my back while swinging around on crutches, with the two older girls tagging along beside. It worked quite well, actually.

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I think I'm more sore from using the crutches now than from whatever is wrong with my ankle. I don't remember having crutches affect me that way last time I used them, when I sprained my ankle before AJ was born--but then again, I wasn't carrying a 20-some-odd pound baby and a diaper bag on crutches before.

The church service was excellent. One of the pastors spoke, using letters made of 6-foot shaped wreaths of dried branches to illustrate the sermon. On each end was a cross, and as the sermon progressed he unveiled the letters R, U and S between them. The two crosses on the ends were the T's, creating the word TRUST.

R stood for the resurrection, without which our faith in Christ would be baseless. U stood for Unconditional love--God's love for us, complete and freely given despite anything we've done or how undeserving we may be. The S was for the eternal safety and security that we can find in our relationship with God. The first cross was, of course, Christ's sacrifice on the cross as He died for us. The second cross represented the cross that we take up when we follow Him--laying down control of our lives and trusting Him completely, putting our hope in Him instead of depending on ourselves and giving up our right to run our own lives as we see fit, obeying and following Him. It was a neat visual picture and encapsulated the message in a memorable way.

We had a very nice day today, with church and seeing both sides of the family. We didn't get to see my grandparents, but did get to enjoy the church service and then spend time with both my parents/sister and DH's parents.

We got some exciting news tonight. My friend from college, Pediatric Intern, is going to be working here at the hospital nearby for 3 years or so, starting Winter 2007. It will be a lot of fun having her nearby for a few years.

It won't, however, mean that we'll have our own personal pediatrician on call. My friend won't be a general practice pediatrician--she's specializing in endocrinology. As she said, hopefully she'll never have cause to see any of my kids in her practice. We don't want any juvenile diabetes or endocrine disorders here. It's just as well, she said, because it's often difficult for doctors to treat patients they have a close personal relationship with. Too hard to keep professional detachment.

My kids already view "the other A" as an honorary aunt. It will be great to see more of her over the next few years.

Be Still and Know

Suddenly, I find myself in the midst of an exercise in sitting quietly with my thoughts.

The sprained ankle, which seemed mild yesterday, has become worse every time I've tried to walk on it. Even just moving it while lying down sends stabs of pain shooting up my leg. I really need to be able to walk on it by Monday when DH has to go back to work, so we agreed that I need to try to stay off it completely this weekend.

Most of the day I spent lying in bed, sometimes sleeping, often lying awake and looking idly about the room like RLC's protagonist in this story. I thought often of my friend miraclebaby, on bedrest for the duration of her pregnancy.

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I couldn't get to the computer or even a book to read, and was hesitant to pull DH away from caring for the kids and household tasks. So I rested a lot and just sat quietly, fluctuating between feeling fidgety and reminding myself to enjoy the rest.

Sitting in quiet is not something that comes naturally to me. It's good for me to practice the discipline of stillness. Psalm 46:10 highlights the importance of quietness: "Be still and know that I am God." Time to slow down is invaluable, even if forced.

DH took his first outing with all three girls. He weathered it well, having me feed Baby E just before they left and taking along solids to tide her over. They headed home when, in his words, she missed me too much.

Now I'm sitting on the couch downstairs, feet up, typing on DH's laptop and eating chocolate and listening to the Lawrence Welk Easter program on TV while Baby E plays on the floor nearby. The show brings back memories; my grandparents like it, and I remember watching it during my summer stays on the farm as a child. DH and the girls have gone out again briefly to do some grocery shopping and to rent a pair of crutches. It's a good thing, too, because DH considers the Lawrence Welk show "pure torture."

His comment: "You know, they have TV in prison. They should just stick it on this show; constant reruns. That would be torture. It might even qualify as cruel and unusual punishment."

Tomorrow DH is singing with the choir and worship team, so he'll have to be at church very early and stay for all three services. I'm thankful that the older girls are old enough to help a lot with getting themselves ready and getting breakfast. Maybe I'll see if I can talk DH into helping me make cinnamon rolls tonight to eat in the morning.

It will be interesting to see if I can put Baby E in the sling and get around on crutches to get us ready and to church. This may sound strange, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Thankfully, it's my left ankle that's affected and with my automatic transmission I don't need that foot for driving.

I didn't grow up celebrating Easter, so it's natural for me to keep things low-key. The older girls picked out favorite dresses from their closets to wear tomorrow, and we'll all dress with special care. I'll probably French-braid their hair, which they love.

We'll talk about Christ's death and resurrection on the way to church, and probably read the Bible story in the afternoon. I think we're going later in the day with my parents and sister to visit my grandparents, who are still mostly housebound as Grandpa recovers from hip replacement surgery. Hopefully we'll get a chance to swing by and see my parents-in-law at FIL's church sometime during the day, too. We'll have to play things by ear with the kids and my ankle.

Altogether, I expect it will be an enjoyable and celebratory weekend.

The Voice in the Night

The sounds entered my consciousness slowly, vaguely. A child was crying somewhere in the house. Blearily hauling myself out of bed, I stumbled down the hall. The cries seemed fainter now.

I checked Baby E's room. She stirred softly in her sleep, her breathing briefly quickening, then becoming regular again. No sobbing there.

I pulled the door silently behind me, leaving it open a crack to avoid a sound. I couldn't hear the crying now, but went to check on the older girls anyway.

They, too, were sound asleep, sprawled across their beds like abandoned marionettes. I tucked the covers over their splayed limbs, brushed a strand of hair from MM's eyes, and took a book out of AJ's sleeping hands. They didn't even stir.

Back in my own bed, I wondered what I had heard. Maybe I had dreamed the sobs. Then I heard Baby E fussing. My nocturnal wanderings had awakened her. Was it possible that my motherly instincts had thought I heard her crying because she was about to wake up? Or had I heard something else?

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The next day, while the girls were having quiet time, I heard the murmur of a child's voice nearby. But when I checked they were both quietly reading books in their beds. Baby E was asleep.

Another time it was a woman's voice, softly singing a lullaby. I thought maybe the CD player had gotten turned on downstairs, but when I looked for the source of the music it disappeared.

The sounds were faint and elusive. I heard them only when the house was quiet. Sometimes I would hear them downstairs, but more frequently in the bedroom. I shrugged them off as sounds from outside, from the television, from someone playing a radio in the street, or from the girls playing. But a nagging feeling told me that my explanations didn't really explain the sounds I heard.

Most frequently, it was the sobbing at night. I would be awakened by the sound of a child crying and go to check on the girls, but they would all be sleeping peacefully. Nothing explained that. Nothing that made sense, anyway.

Was I dreaming it? I was the only one who seemed to hear it. But it seemed so real. Was I imagining things? Or was there really some unknown thing weeping in the dark?

Then one night it was DH who nudged me awake. "Baby E is crying," he said, "Should I go get her?"

"I'll go," I said. Prying myself from between the sheets, I sat up. The green light on the clock dimly lit the room. 5:00 a.m. Baby E had slept much longer than usual, I thought, as I listened to her crying and stirring in her crib.

Then I realized that the voice was not quite right, the articulation too discrete.

The little voice wailed, "Ma-ma, ma-ma, ma-ma. Da-da. Da-da."

Baby E doesn't say Ma-ma like that.

But it was definitely a baby's voice. The crying escalated, more intense but still quiet and clear in the night: "Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma!"

I went to check. As I expected, all three girls were asleep.

What, then, was crying?

Then I identified the source of the sound.

The baby monitor.

Suddenly I thought I recognized the voice. It sounded like the 1-year-old girl who lives across the cul-de-sac.

Our receiver must have been picking up the frequency from a neighbor's baby monitor. There must be at least 4 or 5 monitors in use within a block or so of our home.

Sure enough, when I called the next day, the neighbors across the street verified that their baby girl had awakened at 5 a.m. that morning. They had recently changed the frequency on their monitor to avoid interference with the telephone.

We've changed the frequency on our monitor now. The eerie sobbing no longer haunts our nights.

But I can't help but wonder if another neighbor's home has gained a ghost.

Purple, black and blue

As you can see, I'm still playing with the colors and look of my blog. You can probably expect to see a slightly different look each time you visit for a while.

I sprained my ankle today--thankfully it's a mild sprain, but still painful.

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, everyone. I'm hoping to get some extra rest tomorrow, and then we'll enjoy the Resurrection Sunday service at our church on Sunday.

New Look

I've been tweaking my blog template. What do you think?

Like it? Hate it? Have suggestions for improvement?

At the moment, the main page has one color scheme and the individual blog pages (such as this one) have another. Which do you prefer--more white, or more yellow?

[Update: I've changed the main page again with more yellow, but a bit more muted. You can see the "more white" look here.]

Wordless Wednesday: Can you guess what we did yesterday?

Monday Memories: Dandelions

	Did I ever tell you about DANDELIONS?
I've always liked dandelions. I know, I know . . . they're weeds and all. But I think they're pretty. The bright yellow color and white puffs brighten the scenery and provide lots of fun for kids, not to mention being a valuable potential source of food and dye. #################### [Read More] My girls had so much fun picking dandelions today. Watching them brought back memories for me. My sisters and I used to pick great handfuls of the yellow flowers and proudly carry them to Mom. I was her oldest child, so was of course the first to discover the bounty. When I toddled in to present her with one of the prized yellow blossoms, Mom said, "Oh thank you!" A few minutes later she surreptitiously (so she thought) dropped the bedraggled bloom into the garbage. The heartbroken howls of a disillusioned preschooler quickly brought her up short. My mom tells the story, but I don't remember it. What I do remember is Mom's seeming delight in every broken flower and leaf we brought her. She'd put aside whatever she was doing to admire the bouquet and find an appropriate vase or jar for it. Those sorry little clumps of nearly stemless weeds would be proudly displayed on the table for all to see. She was just as willing to drop everything to come outside and admire a snake or frog we'd found, or stare up at a nest of birds. Even if it was a creature she found distinctly unappealing, my mother did an amazing job of fostering our wonder and building it into a love of learning. Mom would help us find a container to keep a creature for observation, then encourage us to let it go. She showed us how to go to the encyclopedia and library to find out more about our wild friends and learn how to care for them and create the right environment for them in the wild. She bought field guides and detailed coloring books for us, and incorporated the plants and animals that interested us into our lessons. My mother instilled in us a desire to constantly observe and learn about our world. By her own enthusiasm she taught us to never lose our wonder and excitement in the seemingly inconsequential things around us. I hope I can do as well for my children. This week I've been researching the library's offerings on the topics of worms and trees, and putting together a list of books to check out soon. Meanwhile, there's a big bouquet of dandelions on the kitchen table to welcome DH home.
Links to other Monday Memories (If you participate, leave your link in the comments and I'll post it below)
Lazy Daisy: I'll Never Read Another Book Beckie: Mrs. Madison Shelli: My First Experience with Racism Emma: First Day At Uni Jen: The Lady in the Road (about a car accident)	Amy: Snake Girl MommyHAM: Nearing the End of Babyhhood Memories Rowan: Maya's Ear Piercing Norma: Easter Egg Traditions Mammakelly: How I Discovered Wicca

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Dreams and Personalities

The kids and I were all tired today. None of us sleep well when DH is gone, especially when Baby E has had an ear infection on top of that. Last night I slept for a total of 2 hours--from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. I'm doing amazingly well, though. And E's ear infection seems to be mostly gone now.

Yes, DH has been out of town again for 4 days, to attend my cousin's wedding. I'm very glad he could go, but I'm sure happy that he's on his way home now, Callooh, Callay! We've all missed him a lot.

Both of the girls have been having nightmares with Daddy gone.

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AJ's nightmares are the type one would expect, about monsters chasing her and that sort of thing. Sometimes she dreams about being unable to find something, or attempting a Herculean task that can't be done. Those dreams seem a little old for her, but they fit her personality. She so desperately wants to do everything right.

I hate to see her struggling with the frustration of the world not fitting her perfectionistic ideal, trying to shoulder more responsibility than a 5-year-old should, no matter how much I tell her that things don't have to be perfect. But I can understand her feelings. I have the same kinds of recurrent nightmares myself.

The encouraging thing is that, especially lately, AJ often wakes up smiling to tell me about a funny or pleasant dream she had. Last night she dreamed something, I can't remember what at the moment, that she deemed "silly" and chuckled about.

The nightmares MM wakes up screaming with are not what I'd normally think of as nightmares.

The night before last she woke up crying hysterically at least 5 times. When I asked what was wrong, her answer would be, "Daddy wouldn't let me weaw my shoes to bed! He took them away! He said I couldn't weaw them in bed, and I WANT THEM!!!" or "AJ wouldn't shawe the dolly she had with me. She took the toy I wanted! I WANT that toy she has!!!"

There is no reasoning with her or calming her. She just has to be aware of my presence nearby, holding and talking to her until she works out her angst and fades back into sleep.

As in her waking hours, in her dreams MM is a strong-willed kid with a great drive to control and direct the world around her. Her dreams seem to be an unusually mirror-like reflection of the happenings and frustrations of her waking world. No obscure symbolism here.

That's how she is, though. What you see with MM is what you get. She is amazingly forthright and honest with her feelings and intentions. She'll come right out and tell me that, yes, she tried to tip over the playpen with the baby in it on purpose because she was mad and she wanted the baby out of the playpen.

A typical example of a conversation the girls have in the back of the van occurred today:

AJ: I love God. You should always love God best; more than anything else in the whole world. I love God very, very much. More than anyone else. I love God the best of all."

MM: "Well, I don't. I love Amber and Sophie." [little friends from church]

AJ: [crying] "Mom! MM says she doesn't love God best. Everybody is supposed to love God best! [a bit self-righteously] I love God the best."

AJ, I'm glad you love God. And I'm glad that MM loves her friends, too. You're right, AJ, that the Bible says we should love God more than anything else, and I'm really glad you do.

But, you know what? I'm glad MM is honest about what she feels. Even if she doesn't love God best. We're all learning to love God more and more, and so is MM. But God loves MM very, very much no matter what.

Right, MM? You know that God loves you so, so much?"

MM: "Wight. God loves me vewy much. I'm leawning to love God, Mommy. But I still love Amber best."

Which Hospital?

My friend from college, Pediatric Intern, just left. A day or two she called to let me know that she'd be here for a job interview and would like to see us while in town. We had a great time visiting.

The best part is, after 2 days of interviews at our local children's hospital, they offered her a job on the spot. She has 2 weeks to decide.

There is another possibility, the hospital in her (original) hometown, where her parents and other family members live. She interviewed there but is still waiting to hear back from them.

If she took the job here, she would be moving here in about 18 months and staying for at least 3 years. I'd know it would be temporary, but it would sure be fun to have her nearby.

Selfishly, of course I hope she'll end up here. But I also hope she'll get to be where her family and her heart's home is.

All I can do is pray that she'll have wisdom, and that she'll end up where she's supposed to be.

Twinkle and Pop

Our first attempt at audioblogging:

MM sings, the girls talk, and Baby E screeches. I had this in another post, but when I edited it the post went AWOL. I guess this is going to take a bit of practice to figure out.

AJ's slightly unusual rendition of a popular song.

All of us are still a little uncomfortable with the new venue, so I am guessing our audioposts will get a bit less hesitant and choppy as we get used to it.

Worms

AJ: "Mom, look! I found a worm. It was here in the dirt."



"It's a really nice worm. See? Can we take him inside and keep him as a pet? Pleeease?"

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I guess you could. I'll get you a jar for him.

AJ: We can put the worm right next to the hamster. The worm can be the hamster's friend, and the hamster will be the worm's friend. They'll keep each other company.

MM: Can I see the woim? Wow!!! Can I hold him?"

AJ: "Sure. But be careful. Don't break him."



MM: "He's so cuuute."

AJ: "His name is Jake."



Ok, girls, here's a jar to put him in. But if he comes in the house, he has to stay in the jar.

"Okay, Mom. Look, isn't he cute?"



AJ: "Let's put lots of dirt in the jar. He lives in the dirt and eats it."

MM: "Mom, we're digging the diwt with our shovels to put in the joi. We're putting diwt on top of Jake."

Great job, girls. But Jake looks a little squished under all that dirt; I think it's a bit heavy for him. Maybe you should try dumping the dirt into your bucket and taking Jake out, then putting the dirt back in and putting the worm on top of the dirt so he can dig a tunnel.

No, wait! Not in the house. Take it outside first, please. No taking the worm out or dumping dirt out in the house, OK? Any dirt-dumping has to happen outside."

"Okay."

MM: "Oh, look! Jake came out in the diwt. I'm going to hold him. . . . Oh, there's anothah lil woim."

AJ: That's a piece of Jake, I think.

MM: "Oh, no!!! I bwoke the woim. I bwoke him."

[pause]

MM: "Now we have two woims. I bwoke the woim!"

AJ: "That's okay. He'll grow back together again. His head will grow, and his tail will grow, and then he'll have a wife. We'll call his wife Jessie."




Later, digging in the dirt again:

MM: "Look, here's anothah lil woim!"

AJ: "It's a baby worm."

MM: "Put it in the joi! Put it in, put it in, put it in!"

AJ: "Okay. Then you won't break it. We'll name the baby Jessica. Let's find two more worms to be its Mommy and Daddy."

AJ: "Here's another worm."

MM: "No, that's not a woim, it's a . . . it's just . . . not a woim."

AJ: "Mom, we found a baby worm! And we're going to find two more worms to be the Momma and Poppa."

Answers to Prayer

Yesterday the doctors at the hospital told Former Military Guy that it didn't look like he'd be able to leave the hospital any time soon. He would certainly have to stay for a few more days, and quite possibly longer.

Our church has been growing a lot lately in the area of prayer and faith, and we've been learning to pray for and expect bigger things from God--even miracles. So, when Former Military Woman asked one of the pastors to pray with her yesterday, they prayed for a miracle.

They prayed specifically that FMG would be well enough to go home from the hospital the next day (today), even though the doctors had said that wasn't possible.

Even last night the doctors were still saying that FMG wasn't doing well and to expect to be in the hospital for a while. But this morning he was so much better that they started doing evaluations and taking him off the various gadgets.

This afternoon FMW called to tell me that he had been discharged from the hospital and was home! He's still weak and needs to gain strength, but he's much better, and very happy.

This sort of thing always sends chills down my spine. Thanks for your prayers, everyone.

Updates and Giant Rabbits

I talked to my friend tonight, and her sister is home from the hospital. They had to give her 5 liters of fluids and some flu medicine. She is going to be fine.

Former Military Guy is still in the hospital a week after having his appendix out. Recovery is going very slowly for him, and it's a difficult time for their family with a newborn, a toddler and no income. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

We had a busy day today. The time change made it feel like we were leaving for church an hour early, but we got there in plenty of time--earlier than usual, actually. We had guests visiting church with us and got to go out for lunch with them, then we went straight from there to the store where we bought dinner to take to miraclebaby and her husband. We had a nice time visiting with them, playing Apples to Apples and watching the new Wallace and Grommit movie.

AJ's summary of the movie: "The funniest part was the truck in the mud, the scariest part was the rabbit, and the sweetest part was the two bunnies rubbing noses."

Later, she said, "I want to be a giant rabbit so I can eat lots and lots of vegetables."

I told her that she could do that even without being a giant rabbit.

We had a really nice time with Fellow Journalist and Computer Geek last night when they came over for dinner, too. We hadn't visited with them for a long time.

Fearful Flu

A friend called me this evening to tell me about her teenaged sister who is very sick with an influenza virus that's going around this season.

She has a 104 degree fever and is completely unresponsive--won't even flicker her eyelids. She's been in the hospital since this afternoon, where they have her on IV fluids. There's a flu medication they can give her, but it's oral and they can't give it to her at this point because she can't swallow.

Please pray for her.

New to the Blogroll: Bedrest and Beyond

A friend of ours recently started her own blog, Bedrest and Beyond.

Miraclebaby's husband and my husband have known each other since they were kids (he was best man in our wedding). I'm excited that she's blogging because it will make it easier to keep in touch and get to know each other better.

They have had a difficult journey with the loss of their first child at 4 months gestation. Now 17 weeks pregnant with their second baby, Miraclebaby is on bedrest for the duration of her pregnancy.

That means lots of time for blogging!

I hope folks will stop by to say hello, welcome her to the blogosphere, and keep her company while she's on bedrest.