Weaning Raia

I am so sorry I haven't updated like I said I would. This past week has been just one big headache. Really...I've had a headache for a week now. These are the ones that are really bad, I can't shake them. I get headaches pretty regularly, sometimes daily, but the ones that last for days are the worst. Since we now have insurance (yay!) I was able to go to the Dr. but they cannot give me anything because I am still nursing. She said Immitrex is not compatible with nursing. Well, after talking with my boss (she is a certified lactation counselor and knows everything there is to know about nursing) we have come to the conclusion that Immitrex IS compatible with nursing. After looking in her Medication Guide for Breastfeeding Moms, by Thomas Hale, it clearly states that Immitrex is ok to take, especially since I only nurse 2 times a day (naptime and bedtime). Even still, I am trying to decrease my milk supply and wean Raia, so I can take the Immitrex. I cannot have a functional life with the headaches I have - they are just too frequent for my comfort level. I have started an herbal tea to decrease my milk supply, so hopefully in the next few days we will notice a big change, and Raia will just decide for herself that its just not worth the effort. I have wanted to wean her for a long time now anyway, I don't know why it has been so hard. She will be 2 in three weeks...it is TIME! Ugh! Prayers please, that this transition will be easy for her (and me, too).
Nathan has been in Washington D.C. all week. He has the video camera, so I have no new pictures or videos to share this week. I can honestly say, I am beginning to miss him and will be glad when he gets home on Saturday. We have been going through a rough patch, and have been going to a marriage counselor for the past couple of months. I haven't said anything before now, because I didn't want to jinx it I guess. Nathan and I didn't get together under the best circumstances, and those of you that know us know exactly what I mean. We are too far into this to turn back now, so we have got to find a way to make it work. We DO love each other, but sometimes it feels like we are on different pages. We haven't figured out the best way to communicate with each other, so we are working on that. This is another thing I'm asking for prayers on, if you don't mind.
Raia is just the most perfect angel there ever was. She is doing fabulous. She is still talking up a storm. She loves her "appa-sahn" (applesauce), and for some reason, anything that comes in little cups with a pull off lid is "appa-sahn", like pudding, or yogurt. I cannot keep this child out of the refrigerator; she is about to drive me up the wall with her incessant need to pull all of the condiments out and line them up on the floor behind me as I load the dishwasher. I NEED a refrigerator lock. It's so cute, but only about the first 10 times. This is an older video, but this is where the refrigerator obsession began:
My friend Rita has been challenged with raising $5000 by Nov. 30 to fund the latest clinical trial in research to cure SMA. We are going to be doing lots of bake sales, garage sales, and anything else we can think of to raise the money. 20 families affected by SMA were asked to participate in this to raise the money, and I think it is great! I hope that the entire $500,000 is raised. If you have any ideas for fundraisers, PLEASE let me know! If it is in your heart to make a donation, ANY DENOMINATION, please click HERE. Anything you can spare, whether it be your coffee money for the day/week, or spare change you have collected in a jar, it is much appreciated. You can also click on the above link to just read a little more about what Unite For The Cure is all about.
Our sweet dog Gibson is still doing great. It is hard to believe how sick he was when we got him just a few months ago. He was practically banging on death's door, begging to be let in, but has made a miraculous recovery. Kennel cough is nothing to mess around with. Apparently, for some vets, there is a thin line between kennel cough and distemper. I'm so glad we were able to get a second opinion...so glad. Even though Gibson has chewed many of Raia's toys; even though Gibson has ripped all the lining out from under our Tempurpedic bed; even though Gibson has pee'd rivers in our living room (thank goodness for tile floors!), and poo'd piles to rival Mount Everest in the living room (again, thank goodness for tile floors!); even though he wants to jump up on Raia, or anyone who wants to love on him, we are so thankful he pulled through whatever sickness he had. He is certainly a character, full of life, and such fun! He just got his last round of shots this past Tuesday, and he was a trooper. I can tell how anxious he feels about 5 miles before we even reach the shelter where he gets his shots. He gets very tense, and begins panting, kind of on edge. Nothing I do can calm him. I have to drag him by the leash through the front door (he is getting too big to pick up), and bless his heart, once inside he just paces back and forth, frantically. I think he thinks I will leave him there again. It's amazing to me that dogs remember, just by smell, and even location. Just amazing. He did settle down a bit when a lady brought in a beautiful blonde lab. Her name was Brooklyn, and Gibson was in love. Brooklyn's owner and I chatted a while , while we waited. She was very fond of Gibson as well. Anyway, no more shots for Gibson for another year, yay!!
While I wait for this video to finish uploading (takes FOREVER!) I can tell you about some of the things Raia has been saying, she is so funny. I have been babysitting a friend's 2 girls this summer while she teaches swim lessons. They have a beautiful golden retriever named Boudreaux. He is around 75lbs, and is not quite a year old yet. Sometimes he barks and barks and barks, so of course, we yell "Hush, Boo!" Raia has now started saying "Hoss, Boo!", every time we pull up in Kim's driveway, its too funny! She even says it to Gibson when he barks, haha!
Our cat, Shula, hides underneath the bathroom sink in the cabinets. Raia loves to try to climb in there to join "Sha". For some reason we have a box of old mail stuck under there, and the other day I came into the bathroom to see old bills, envelopes, cards, being thrown out of the cabinets. They were scattered all over the floor. Man, kids are quick! I think she had probably been under there about 30 seconds.
I know this post has been all over the map, but get used to it. I tend to be scatterbrained lately and change the subject at the drop of a hat. The video I wanted to share has finally finished uploading, so I think I'm going to call it a night. Thanks for checking in!

Glad Game:
1.) So glad Nathan will be home tomorrow.
2.) I am glad that I have such a funny, smart, sweet, cute, healthy, beautiful little girl.
3.) I am glad school will be starting next week. Kingwood is crazy when kids are out of school for the summer.
4.) I am glad I have such wonderful friends and co-workers. (I know I say this in almost every single Glad Game, but really, I am so glad I have the friends I have. I love them all.)
5.) I am glad Nathan and I are trying to get our issues worked out, and I really hope that we will come out of it a better couple.

P.S.
Something I forgot to mention earlier - Rita is doing this thing called 'Weigh to Go for SMA'. Basically, she is losing weight, and people can sponsor her per pound that she looses. Right now, I weight 143 lbs. This is the most I've ever weighed NOT pregnant. I'd like to lose around 15-20 lbs. I am not doing anything "official" as of yet with the 'Weigh to Go for SMA' group, but if you would like to sponsor me "unofficially" for now (it might be a kind of motivation to be honest) on a per lb. basis, that would be great. All money would go directly to FSMA ( Families of SMA/Rita ). Just leave me a comment, let me know what you think. If I have enough people wanting to sponsor me for the 15-20 I want to lose, I will go register with them. It is going through December, so I have until then to lose my extra weight!
Thanks again for checking in!

xoxox~

I made out like a bandit...

Saturday, Kroger was having a great sale, and they were doubling coupons up to $1.00! I have started playing the Grocery Game to save some money, and it really works! It is so much fun, too! Anyway, Friday night, my friends Kim and Rita and I all went to Kroger at 11pm and shopped until the sale started at 12:15am. All three of us made out like bandits, Rita doing the best I think, she saved 74% or something. Her bill was crazy, like $141, and then after all the sales, coupons, and shopper card she ended up with a final bill of $34.41!!! She's the one who got me into this, and you can see why it appeals to me.
Ok, so this is everything I bought:



All this food, plus...

all of this health and beauty stuff.
Total bill before coupons - $128.18
After coupons - $59.50
I saved $68.68! That was a 65% savings! I got 72 items for $59.50, some of it was meat, too! I'm sitting here trying to figure out all the numbers in my head, and I am confused by this receipt because it does not tell me my 'before' total, only how much my coupons were (total $83.45) and how much the shopper card took off ($28.33) and my percent saving (65%). I know that when I saw my total before all the coupons came off, it was more like $150.00, but I don't see it anywhere on my receipt. Maybe the before coupons total of $128.18 plus the shopper card savings of $28.33 is what I saw, I don't know. Sorry if I have confused anyone, I'm just excited, that's all LOL!

On the home front, we are all doing fine. Raia is saying a few more funny words, like "Foon" for spoon, she calls ice cream or yogurt "keem", her best friend Madison is "Mommin" haha! Don't know if I've posted this one yet, but juice is "goose".
I will try to post more often, I just haven't had that much to post about. If you have any ideas, or questions, or anything at all, leave me a comment and I'll be glad to post about it! I have to go for now, errands are calling my name!
Thanks for checking in!

xoxox~

Twitter for a CURE!

This is from Gwendolyn's Blog--her parents worked up this perfect way to promote the SMA Treatment Acceleration Act. Tweet away! This is awesome!!
(I copied and pasted their entry).
Tweet for a Cure, 4 simple steps:
Today, we launched a new EXTREMELY simple way for you to let your Congresspeople know that the "SMA Treatment Act of 2009" is legislation that is important to pay attention to. "Tweet For A Cure" allows you to automatically Tweet a message to your Representatives and friends based on your ZIP code. Four simple steps. 1-2-3-4...Here's how:

* Go to EndSMA.org/twitter
* Enter your ZIP code
* Enter your Twitter username and password
* Click "Tweet"That's it!Make sure to let your friends know about how easy it was to use EndSMA.org/twitter to sound off to your Congresspeople by Tweeting about it, blogging about it, posting it to your Facebook status, emailing it, etc.Special thanks must go to our dear friend Josh Lippiner for helping us on this project. It wouldn't be possible without him. Thanks Josh!

Suicide Watch & Funny Words

A few weeks ago, a comedian was on David Letterman talking about how having small children in the house was like a Suicide Watch. I can relate. I am fortunate enough to be able to take my daughter to work with me, but let me tell you, finding her gnawing on an opened safety pin, a screw, a chunk of staples, is not my idea of fun. Not to mention she has found that she can open the front door!! I have had a few minor heart attacks just in the past two or three weeks. When we got home this afternoon from work, to our "safe haven" of a home, I turn my back for two seconds and find this:

Can YOU spot the crazy baby?? Is it horrible that I grabbed the camera before helping her down?
Also wanted to share the great news that I am the proud owner now of a few brand new shiny gray hairs. Yep...I found them just a few weeks ago. I always wondered how old I would be when I would get them. The story of how my grandmother went gray by the time she was 19 always frightened me. I am adopted, so I wasn't that afraid of going gray early, but the thought was always there of how weird it would be to be completely gray by the age of 19 or 20.

Ok, next order of business-
Raia is talking up a storm now, whether you can understand her or not. Most of the stuff she says is really just jibberish, her own little language, if you will...one of these days I will catch that on video for you. It is precious in a way I cannot describe. Here are the few things she says in English:

"Fow" - Flower
"Hah Dir-day D'youuuu" - Happy Birthday to you (of course!)
"I got (pause) SHOES!" - It is SO cute when she says this! This girl loves her shoes!
"Emmo Boon!" - Elmo balloon
"Tee" - Teeth (she loves to brush those pearly whites!)
"Goose" - Juice
"Yeh-Yon" - Gibson

There are a lot more, I just can't think of all of them right now. She has a pretty wide vocabulary; some of the stuff she says is just really cute though :)

Gibson is still doing really well. He is having a few puppy issues, but its nothing I didn't expect. The potty training is going much better as long as I keep him in his big crate at night, and take him out regularly. He is jumping up a lot, and he is teething, so he has been biting my hands. This is really bad, because Raia just loves to stick her hands in his mouth. For some reason she is fascinated with his mouth (mine too for that matter!). He has never broken the skin or anything, he never bites hard, yet it does hurt; those puppy teeth are sharp! If anyone reading this has any suggestions on how to stop him from biting like that, please leave me a comment! Otherwise, he is a really good dog, he is playful and fun!

Gibson, anticipating a treat!

Ok, that's all I've got for now. Thanks for checking in!

xoxox~

A small update on the walk, and Eli's birthday

The 5K Walk to honor precious Eli was a complete success! Kim did such a great job organizing it, and we had LOTS of people show up! It was bittersweet; I was so happy that so many people came to show their love and support, but at the same time my heart was aching for my friends who were missing their little boy. They made T-shirts to wear for the walk, and I swear, every time I'd catch a glance, tears would well up in my eyes...they were made and worn with love only a parent knows.


Kim and her daughter Madison.


This is only about half of the people that came out to walk or run with us.


Rita and I.


This is the beautiful donation box that Rita's sister-in-law made. Through Eli's Eyes raised $557 for FSMA!! Way to go!


There are buffalo at the park. They are the brown spots. Wish my camera would cooperate.


After the walk, Raia needed a little cooling off. She ended up wearing the pink lemonade :)


Nathan's sister came out to the walk, too (yay, Suz!).


After the walk, we took Raia to the playground. This picture is so cute...she just loves her Aunt Suzy!

We were the last ones to finish the 5K, but we finished! I wasn't worried about running or timing myself on it, I kind of just wanted to enjoy the sunshine and finish it on my own time. Raia did not want to be in her stroller at all, she wanted to walk! So that slowed us down a little, but she had fun. I''m so glad we went and did this. I can't wait to see what next year will bring!

Today, well, since it is after midnight as I am posting this it was technically yesterday, was Eli's first birthday. I had been wanting to go out to the cemetery with Rita for a while now, but it is over an hour away, so I had not been yet. She and Jason were going out today to release some balloons for his birthday, and Raia and I went, too, along with two of Jason's friends.

Happy Birthday Eli!
Eli's favorite color was red, so naturally he was having red balloons sent up for his birthday. Raia sent up one very special Elmo balloon, and it kinda stuck around for a few minutes before being taken by the wind like the rest of them. Rita and Jason had attached a little piece of paper to each one with a birthday wish, and the petition website, so hopefully lots of people will find these and go sign the petition to cure SMA. If you are reading this blog and have NOT signed the petition yet, go do it now, in memory of Eli. It takes 30 seconds, and you can even do it anonymously.
I think that's all the blogging I have in me for one night. Thanks so much for checking in!

Glad Game: (very short version for tonight)
1.) I am glad that we got to share in Eli's birthday today.
2.) I am glad so many people came out for the walk on Saturday!
3.) I am glad I have such wonderful friends!

xoxox~