One more time

Oh, why not?

Maybe this time.

Will it stick?

I miss it.

You might read.

(You might not.)

Discipline is healthy.

Writing trumps exercise.

(In my book.)

This isn't poetry,

haiku, or sonnet.

Not Shakespeare, Hemingway,

or even Suess.

It's just me.

Trying yet again

to get back

to that girl

who once wrote

all the things,

all the words,

no matter what.

No matter who

read the posts.

Or even if.

I've said before

"she's still here."

Ten years ago,

I started blogging.

My mom journey

was just beginning.

Here I am,

my caboose child

gone to kinder.

The house, quiet.

The cursor, beckoning.

The web, transformed,

unrecognizable from 2007.

Everyone's doing it.

Actually, done it.

Now, it's podcasts.

Maybe that'll come.

For now, typing.

Words and spacing.

Black and white.

Familiar, these strokes.

Baby steps, perhaps.

Three words only,

each line is.

But strung together?

Look! She writes!

A post appears...


***************

Once upon a time, I had a label "Your 3 Words."  It was someone else's concept, and I only did it twice before today.  But I thought it might be an easy way back into this writing groove I so desperately want to wear into my days.  Here is an attempt, this week.  Each day, a Your-3-Words post to jump start this ancient, rusty, neglected girl back into commission.

Wish me luck.

See you tomorrow.

You can comment.

I won't mind.

Really.  Go ahead.

It might help.

Hint hint hint. ;)

BLTN: Our journey with James

Well, here is the post that is going to necessitate a whole new label over there in the "looking for something" cloud.

-FREE.  (And to clarify, the dash is intentional.  I'll explain in a minute.)

If you scroll back through posts since James' birth -- well, let me rephrase that.  If I had been better about posting regular pictures since James' birth, you'd notice a couple things: that he constantly had scratches all over this face and scalp, or, that we constantly kept his hands covered with baby socks.

What was being passed off as eczema just didn't sit well with me.

And then, the week after Christmas, when James was seven months old, he developed a peri-rectal fissure, and thus began the run around between multiple pediatricians, pediatric gastroenterologists, and allergists.  MRSA, Celiac disease, Crone's disease -- all these and more were tossed out as possible issues our little man was facing.  Blood work, stool samples, ER trips due to abscess ruptures that filled his tiny diapers with blood....  This is what made up our January and February.

And in the midst of it all, the only this we know thus far is that James is moderately (3, on a scale of 1-5) allergic to gluten [but he doesn't have Celiac -- whoohoo!!!], dairy, and peanut.

Boo.  Hiss.

James is still having a lot of digestive and growth issues, so table food is slow going, therefore, he is still at least 80% breastfed.  Which means that, for now, I'm also gluten-, dairy-, and peanut-free.

It bears repeating: BOO.  HISS.

These past three months have been hard.  Frustrating.  Time consuming.  Pizza, chocolate, and ice cream-deprived.

But we are seeing improvement with James in several areas, so we feel we are on the right track.  I'm not loving the approach the doctors are taking, but I have been blessed to have a handful of girlfriends (both local and in the compute -- Hi, Hillary!) who are right there with me in the allergy trenches and who have been amazingly compassionate and supportive as we try to figure this all out.

So, yes, my recipe posts may very well be taking on a gluten and/or dairy free spin, but that's okay.  I'm happy to share the recipes and sites I've found that make this lifestyle a little bit easier.

And, I'm sure it goes without saying.

He is totally worth every sacrifice.

Seth’s 5th birthday celebration

Everybody always feels badly for Seth, whose birthday falls just a week or so before Christmas.  But let me tell you, this kid gets his celebration all sorts of  drug out. =)

We decided to start the fun by having a cake-and-presents party over the Thanksgiving holiday when Tiffany would be in Ohio with us.

I can’t tell you how unbelievable it is that he is 5.  I mean, doesn’t FIVE signify a rite of passage of some sort?  Like, leaving the toddler/preschooler years behind, and now he is a bona fide KID?  Eek!  I don’t feel any older than I did when I delivered him at 27!

I decided to do a homemade cake this year, and I have to say, it turned out great, albeit simple.  A double layer chocolate cake, with green mint icing in between the layers, and whipped vanilla (his fave) to frost.  Some simple food coloring in the left over frosting, piped onto the edges, and a couple swirly candles later, and voila!

Of course, I’m realizing now that I have no pictures of him opening his gifts, because I wasn’t on camera duty, but rather on hand-out-the-gifts-in-an-orderly-fashion duty.  We kept it pretty simple this year; he received several more of the Rescue Bot action figures he’d been wanting from Tiff and the grandparents, and we gifted him with a Kindle Fire.  And let me tell you – that was plenty, and, we felt, appropriate for this year.

And I have to say, as I’m typing this, I’m realizing that Seth’s FOURTH birthday TOTALLY got the shaft on the blog, too, since we were in the middle of our move…..

Eek!  Here!  Reflect with me! ;)

We did a doctored-up Walmart cookie cake to take to his last night of Cubbies, and then Gramma ordered another cookie to snack on during the actual load-‘em-up-move-‘em-out portion of the week that overtook his birthday, and we devoured that one while we were crashing at the Cooper’s house:

And that’s just how we roll!

I definitely think that we have at least another year or two where Seth is going to struggle with being the only kiddo in our family to have a birthday that ISN’T in May, but that just means that we will have to work extra hard to make him feel special when it IS his turn.

BLTN: Erin’s birthday celebration

We kept it simple this year….poor baby girl, already getting the shaft due to baby brother. ;)

But really, what more does a girl need to celebrate her special day than a chocolate cake?  Especially if it is lovingly crafted by your big brother.
 

She wasn’t so sure about the singing and the cameras and the lit candles….

  But, she was all about the cake itself.  That’s my girl.
 

Ah, and then there was the present.  (Her one and only….but she is two.  She won’t remember how many gifts she got.)  Thankfully, she was SUPER EXCITED OMG DO YOU SEE MY NEW BIKE!!!!!?????, so all was well in birthday world.

 
And, yes, Seth is secure in his manhood.  All in the name of birthday fun, people.

BLTN: Easter Sunday 2012

This is about as good as it got for a posed picture….lol!

I’ll follow up soon with a post about our at –home egg hunt.  Little Miss kept up with Brother like a rock star!

BLTN: Happy Valentine’s Day (from TN)

I know, more sappiness about Tennessee and how much we miss our friends and blah blah blah.
But seriously, how cute is this?

We got a valentine from Aylin Pearl….and for weeks, it was up on our (magnetic) laundry room door, so we would see it every day.
It is nice to be missed.  I can appreciate it that we are, and my grown up heart could handle it if we weren’t (which, thankfully isn’t the case).  But it does my mommy-heart good to see the joy it brings Seth and Erin to know that their friends miss them as much as they miss their friends.

Better Late Than Never debut: Spring Break 2012

There are SO many posts that I am behind on.  SO many.  So, rather than just move forward, I am, again, going to attempt to get caught up, so, you’ll start to see another category in the “looking for?” cloud and in my titles, which is Better Late Than Never (which I’m going to shorten to BLTN), and try my darndest to get the blog back up to speed before little Miss or Mister makes an appearance.  Wish me luck!

First up, Spring Break 2012!

While the Ohio schools we are surrounded by are just now this week on spring break, our Tennessee friends enjoyed an earlier respite the first week of March.  It happened to coincide with a trip we needed to make anyways to tie up some loose ends in White House, so….off we went, in the midst of really, really severe tornadic weather.

Yeah, we’re smart like that.

Thankfully, we made it to Tennessee safe and sound (though late, as we stopped in Elizabethtown, KY, for the night after too many hours of traffic and weather).  Needless to say, as the following pictures will speak for themselves, but Seth and his BFF Gage were thrilled to be reunited.

  

We didn’t actually DO much while we were back in Tennessee.  We had lunch at Las Maracas with the Knacks, and hung out with our small group for Andrea’s birthday, and spent Sunday morning worship with our dear WHFBC family, but other than that…. it was just shopping at Target….

Hanging out at the house……

Playdates at Moss Wright State Park….

 

Lunch at Chick-fil-A…..

     

A morning at Monkey Joe’s….

  And quality time with friends we miss so very much…

The drive home was fairly uneventful, if wet.  Jim had left Tennessee Sunday after church, driving the Mazda home (as we are storing it for Tiffany while she is at basic training, but that’s a whole ‘nother post), so it was just me and the kiddos the following Thursday.

It rained the ENTIRE way from White House to Dayton, but there weren’t too many issues along the way.  Most people took compassion on the very pregnant momma trying to herd two toddlers into gas stations and McDonald’s in the pouring rain, so, there was that perk, lol.

And Twizzlers.  It’s how I roll when I’m taxi cabbing-it solo. =)

It’s hard to comprehend that we have already been in Ohio for 3.5 months, and that by the time we return to Tennessee for our next visit, our family will be one member greater.  Watching pictures pop up in my Facebook and Google reader feeds of baseball season kicking off, and birthday shirts being embroidered, and Easter celebrations being hosted, all hundreds of miles away, is bittersweet.  I’m SO thankful for the routes of social media that keep us all connected….

But I’d trade all the Kit-Kats in Seth and Erin’s easter baskets for a hug from Aylin Pearl right about now….

Vacation: Recap

Well, it’s almost December.  Just about time to finish up my vacation blog posts. ;)

If you’re interested, you can read about each day of our summer vacation in Brown County, Indiana by clicking on each day’s picture.

 
If you’re ever looking for a great place to vacation, whether you want to stay busy, or just relax, I’d point you towards Brown County/Nashville, IN, and Moondance Vacation Rentals.  We had the best time, and I’m sure over the course of our future vacations, we’ll be back.

County Fair 2010

Yes, you read the title right.  That’s county fair 2010.  I started this post, and then…..life?  Does that work as an excuse for an 11 month delay?  Well, regardless, the pictures are cute, so, I’m gonna post it anyway!

Last summer, on one of our many trips to Ohio, Gramp-e took us to the Lucas County fair.

Discovery #1:  Seth is NOT a fan of the agricultural barn.  Not a fan AT ALL.

Discovery #2:  Erin, also, is not so much a fan of the agricultural barn. lol!

 

Discovery #3:  Seth is a natural on horseback.  He loved it!  (Sidenote: we are going horseback riding when we go on vacation with Doug and Sara next month.  I can’t wait!)

         

And seeing as how fair fare is ridiculously overpriced (and probably the most unhealthy food around), we opted for Chipotle for dinner, and boy, Seth did not disappoint.  He can put down a burrito bowl like it’s nobody’s business!

Now, fast forward to 2011.  Gramp-e took us to the Rally by the Rails festival (back home) this past May, and while there weren’t pony rides, Seth had has first experience on carnival rides.  Mostly, he rode the kiddie train and motorcycles, but we also got him on the Tilt-A-Whirl, and he LOVED it!  Who knew?