Joshua:
Jacob:
Couldn't resist posting this one!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
My new favorite photo
I cried when I accidentally deleted this photo today. Do you know how hard it is to get 4 kids under 4 to all look at a camera at the same time?!? Thankfully a really smart and tech-savvy friend was online, heard my desperate plea for help, and quickly helped me "undelete" it from the camera's memory card before too many tears were shed. The internet is a wonderful place sometimes. :) For future reference, http://www.pandorarecovery.com/ is pretty darn cool. And free. And it worked. Thanks again, Damon.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Five Days Old
Rather than wait till I have time to fill in the missing story of why I haven't posted in a long, long, long time, it would be easier to just jump in here with some photos and back-fill the details later. Enjoy!
Joshua John & Jacob Paul:
Jacob:
Noah & Jacob:
Noah is excited about singing Laurie Berkner's "Five Days Old" to his brothers today -- he's been talking about this milestone for weeks!
Joshua John & Jacob Paul:
Jacob:
Noah & Jacob:
Noah is excited about singing Laurie Berkner's "Five Days Old" to his brothers today -- he's been talking about this milestone for weeks!
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Filling in the gaps
I hinted that I might fill in a little of what happened in the 8 months that this blog was mostly dormant. So, here's the CliffsNotes version.
July-September 2010: Earnestly trying to put together my portfolio for promotion at work. Huge job, lots of stress.
Two days after portfolio deadline: Found out I was pregnant.
Two weeks later: Ultrasound revealed not one but TWO BABIES. Seriously?
A few days later: Morning sickness is kicking my ass and I start trying to make arrangements to cut back at work.
A few days later: Forget cutting back at work, I need to QUIT. My OB sets me up with a home-health nursing service so that I can have Zofran (anti-nausea drug) on a continuous pump and round-the-clock IV hydration.
October-December: Sick, sick, sick... but thankful to be able to hibernate at home through the worst of it.
January-March: Feeling human again, though very pregnant. I heard somewhere that with multiples, you go straight from 1st trimester to third (then beyond), and that's what it felt like. Only while mom feels "full-term" big, the babies aren't ready to safely greet the world. It's a tricky, careful time. Books and websites said this was the time when many would be heading for bedrest; this mama was headed back to work. It wasn't easy, but I was lucky to have no medical complications to force me home.
April: In the last month or so of pregnancy, I gradually gave up walking, then standing, then even sitting upright... which finally meant no more work. My OB was ready to schedule an induction the day I hit 37 weeks, but (with her blessing and the support of my perinatologist) we decided to hold out a few days longer for May.
May 2, 2011:
May 3, 2011:
July-September 2010: Earnestly trying to put together my portfolio for promotion at work. Huge job, lots of stress.
Two days after portfolio deadline: Found out I was pregnant.
Two weeks later: Ultrasound revealed not one but TWO BABIES. Seriously?
A few days later: Morning sickness is kicking my ass and I start trying to make arrangements to cut back at work.
A few days later: Forget cutting back at work, I need to QUIT. My OB sets me up with a home-health nursing service so that I can have Zofran (anti-nausea drug) on a continuous pump and round-the-clock IV hydration.
October-December: Sick, sick, sick... but thankful to be able to hibernate at home through the worst of it.
January-March: Feeling human again, though very pregnant. I heard somewhere that with multiples, you go straight from 1st trimester to third (then beyond), and that's what it felt like. Only while mom feels "full-term" big, the babies aren't ready to safely greet the world. It's a tricky, careful time. Books and websites said this was the time when many would be heading for bedrest; this mama was headed back to work. It wasn't easy, but I was lucky to have no medical complications to force me home.
April: In the last month or so of pregnancy, I gradually gave up walking, then standing, then even sitting upright... which finally meant no more work. My OB was ready to schedule an induction the day I hit 37 weeks, but (with her blessing and the support of my perinatologist) we decided to hold out a few days longer for May.
May 2, 2011:
May 3, 2011:
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Marble Painting
WHAT: Marble Painting - yet another fun idea I saw on the internet somewhere, this time on Teacher Tom, the inspiring website of a co-op preschool teacher in the Pacific NW.
HOW: Put your paper in a box or pan with walls, drop some paint puddles onto the paper, and roll the marbles around. Since Noah doesn't have his own marbles yet, I scrounged up some that I made back in my lampworking days. (Oh, how I miss melting glass!!!) We also used a knobby rubber easter egg that made fun polka dot patterns as it wonkily rolled about. A ping pong ball turned out to be too light and got mucked down in the paint. We did most of the rolling by tilting the pan, but in the photo, Noah is rolling with his fingers. It works either way.
WHY: Here are Noah's marble paintings, in chronological order. He told me which colors he wanted on the last two. Hence all the purple. I love them all, but the last one is my favorite.
One Lucky Kid
The big brown truck delivered a special surprise for Noah today. It didn't take too long for Daddy to put together, even with a 3 yr old at the wrench and an inquisitive little helper in his lap.
TaDa -- A Strider Balance Bike! What's a balance bike, you ask? This:
Balance bikes, or tiny bikes with no pedals, seem to be all the rage in Toddlerville, if you believe what you read on the internet. The concept makes a lot of sense: let the kid run around with a set of wheels and learn balance and steering at his own pace, then throw in the pedaling later. They've piqued my intellectual curiosity for several months now, but not enough to get over the sticker shock. Why would I have to pay twice as much for a bike with half the moving parts? But when that same internet gives you one for FREE (!!!!) well, what's not to love?
Noah had fun on his firstride walk. You can google "balance bike" and watch video clips of kids coasting around to see what's hopefully in store for us. We're not there yet, but I'll keep you posted.
Much Thanks to Feels Like Home and Pedal Cars and Retro Collectables, who hosted and sponsored the giveaway that we were so lucky to win.
TaDa -- A Strider Balance Bike! What's a balance bike, you ask? This:
Balance bikes, or tiny bikes with no pedals, seem to be all the rage in Toddlerville, if you believe what you read on the internet. The concept makes a lot of sense: let the kid run around with a set of wheels and learn balance and steering at his own pace, then throw in the pedaling later. They've piqued my intellectual curiosity for several months now, but not enough to get over the sticker shock. Why would I have to pay twice as much for a bike with half the moving parts? But when that same internet gives you one for FREE (!!!!) well, what's not to love?
Noah had fun on his first
Much Thanks to Feels Like Home and Pedal Cars and Retro Collectables, who hosted and sponsored the giveaway that we were so lucky to win.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Heavy
This:
is what I'm working on this summer. It weighs on my mind like a ton of bricks. The essential part (yet to be written) is a narrative, probably as long as anything I've ever written. It intimidates me, to say the least. After all these years, I still hate writing essays.
These:
give me lots of reasons to procrastinate on the project above. Don't they look like more fun? They are... :)
is what I'm working on this summer. It weighs on my mind like a ton of bricks. The essential part (yet to be written) is a narrative, probably as long as anything I've ever written. It intimidates me, to say the least. After all these years, I still hate writing essays.
These:
give me lots of reasons to procrastinate on the project above. Don't they look like more fun? They are... :)
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy 4th!
To celebrate the holiday weekend, I made this:
It took a little more time than standard Jello, but it wasn't hard at all. I've seen something similar in Family Fun, with just red and white, for Valentine's Day. How about green & red for Christmas?
The recipe:
Two 3 oz boxes red jello
Two 3 oz boxes blue jello
4 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin (one box)
One 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
water
3 mixing bowls
something to boil water in, a cup at a time
9x13" glass casserole pan
For each colored layer, mix one box of red or blue jello with ½ envelope of unflavored gelatin, add 1 cup of boiling water, and stir to dissolve. For the white, mix sweetened condensed milk with 1 cup of boiling water. In a separate small bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin over ½ cup of cold water. Let stand a few minutes and then add ½ cup of boiling water to dissolve the gelatin. Add to the milk mixture and stir to combine. You should have 3 cups of this, so measure out one cup for each white layer.
The trick is to make up each batch of jello, let it cool in the mixing bowl to room temperature !!! , pour it into the 9x13 pan (onto any previous layers that have had a chance to set up), and let it refrigerate for 15-20 minutes between each layer. Cooling the liquid to room temp is crucial so that it doesn't melt into the previous layers. At the same time, liquid jello can't sit out forever... my last blue layer tried to set up in the mixing bowl, but a zap in the microwave fixed that. Also make sure your pan is level in the refrigerator, so that your layers are level!
Next up I want to try Rainbow Jello:
I think it's super-geeky-cool how just the 3 primary colors, stacked and translucent, can make the whole spectrum appear! (photo courtesy of Do Better)
It took a little more time than standard Jello, but it wasn't hard at all. I've seen something similar in Family Fun, with just red and white, for Valentine's Day. How about green & red for Christmas?
The recipe:
Two 3 oz boxes red jello
Two 3 oz boxes blue jello
4 envelopes Knox unflavored gelatin (one box)
One 14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
water
3 mixing bowls
something to boil water in, a cup at a time
9x13" glass casserole pan
For each colored layer, mix one box of red or blue jello with ½ envelope of unflavored gelatin, add 1 cup of boiling water, and stir to dissolve. For the white, mix sweetened condensed milk with 1 cup of boiling water. In a separate small bowl, sprinkle 2 envelopes of unflavored gelatin over ½ cup of cold water. Let stand a few minutes and then add ½ cup of boiling water to dissolve the gelatin. Add to the milk mixture and stir to combine. You should have 3 cups of this, so measure out one cup for each white layer.
The trick is to make up each batch of jello, let it cool in the mixing bowl to room temperature !!! , pour it into the 9x13 pan (onto any previous layers that have had a chance to set up), and let it refrigerate for 15-20 minutes between each layer. Cooling the liquid to room temp is crucial so that it doesn't melt into the previous layers. At the same time, liquid jello can't sit out forever... my last blue layer tried to set up in the mixing bowl, but a zap in the microwave fixed that. Also make sure your pan is level in the refrigerator, so that your layers are level!
Next up I want to try Rainbow Jello:
I think it's super-geeky-cool how just the 3 primary colors, stacked and translucent, can make the whole spectrum appear! (photo courtesy of Do Better)
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