a new kind of juggling

SUCCESS!

2009-05-08T05:06:00.000-07:00

At last! In the last few days maple has suddenly become pro at the
potty. I could not be happier! After months amonths of struggles,
something finally clicked. I have to admit a little bribery was
involved to get things going (not something I had planned on, but...)
and in just a couple days we have gone from zero interest to zero
accidents. High five maple!

Happy EARTH DAY!

2009-04-22T08:59:00.001-07:00

Another test at blogging by email via my phone. I couldn't get my
words to show up last time. So here's another shot.

This is one of the many murals in our little mountain town. It's one
of my favorites so thought it would be nice to share.

Today is earth day and I'll be planning (not planting yet) our garden
and finding a spot to build our compost pit. This will be my very
first garden. I'm very excited.

Happy Earth Day!

LEMONS!!!

2009-04-21T06:34:00.001-07:00

backyard love.

2009-03-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

we were lucky to get a few 70ish degree days this week. we broke out the summer digs and made the best of it. tomorrow it will snow and be cruddy all weekend. so here's a little taste of sunshine for you.

sunshine and backyard rompin' make for a happy maple. LOVE IT!

house tour

2009-03-11T18:31:00.000-07:00

ok. so real quick before i wait any longer. you can view our new home photo tour HERE. these are a bunch of pictures i took when we were just making an offer on the house. i was afraid to post anything about this house until we actually closed and had the keys in our hands. didn't want to jinx anything. now that its ours i will gladly share. so enjoy, there is a bunch. not too fancy, but does the trick. a little TLC should help turn this house into a nice little home for us.

mmmmmmm. nanners.

2009-03-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

oh man.......

2009-03-03T09:57:00.000-08:00

i started this post about 3 weeks ago and just got the photos uploaded and then became entirely distracted by our move. i will now attempt to finish (briefly and quickly) if i can remember what all i wanted to say here.

this was maples first "real stuff" (as opposed to scribbles) drawing. mommy helped her learn how to draw faces, stick figures, and flowers. the green thing is her flower and she did everything in blue. you can see a whole person there on the far right. very proud mommy here.

maple says here marker tastes like red.

already coming up with some good ideas for halloween too.

this picture is blowing my mind because i only took it a few weeks ago and already this boy has changed so much. alaska is obsessed with standing and is having fun trying to walk with help from mom or any random object he can grab onto and push around. this kid is growing up way too fast. he will be ONE in less than 3 weeks and has just got his 5th tooth and now working on number 6.

he is super happy (except when teething) and a little snotty in this shot.

maple loves to eat snow. she calls it ice cream. i forgot to put gloves on her and after a few minutes of snow gorging she realized her fingers were freezing and started freaking out. oops. bad mommy. this snow was, yes a few weeks ago, very pretty, but nothing compared to the 11 inches that dumped on us yesterday. at our new house we actually have a yard and a little hill and we got to ride the sled down it and build a snowman (ben and i did this while maple hung out eating snow).

this deck used to be our only outdoor play space and now we have a real backyard which i will share with you sometime in the near future.

pretty view from the old house. also soon to share pretty views from the new house.

ok. now thats done. i promise i will get you the scoop on the move and the new house soon.

paint some pottery

2009-01-25T09:17:00.000-08:00

last weekend i went to one of those paint your own pottery places. something i have wanted to do for many many many years but never did. well HighCountryMommies was having a get together there and thanks to alaska's heavy appetite for solid foods i was able to leave BOTH the kids at home with ben and venture out ON MY OWN and have some fun with the ladies. what a great time. this was my very first time going anywhere without children since alaska was born. (ok, well i have been to the grocery store several times, but i don't think that really counts). it was such a great feeling to be my own person and think only about myself for those few hours. and it was really really really FUN - i LOVED the pottery painting experience.

we went here and they had so many different items to choose from. not knowing quite how it worked or how my project would turn out i decided on something purposeful and not too pricey - a cereal bowl. there were many other great and purposeful items i had my eye on like a spoon rest, salt and pepper shakers, and some really cool travel mugs. but the cereal bowl seemed like a good first time option. and it was. let me tell you, this was so so so enjoyable. to be able to leave my house, be away from my kids, do something creative and new, make a mess and have someone else clean up after me, and then end up with a new kick-ass bowl. totally satisfying. i can't wait to go back.

of course i had to show off my project, i am quite proud of how it turned out.

a new kind of year

2009-01-03T05:38:00.000-08:00

so.........happy 2009!

i made a list of resolutions. something i always do. most years i do not follow through. i would like to believe that this year WILL BE a following through year though. here goes:

1. re-establish a healthy lifestyle (ditch sweets, eat better, drink more water, exercise regularly)
2. declutter, simplify, and curb my impulse buying and tendency to over consume
3. bring more structure to my homelife (conquer housework, form some routines both for myself and the kids, plan meals, bake more)
4. work on improving our finances, pay down debts and increase savings
5. (which goes along with #1) get back to my pre-pregnancy weight and shape by alaska's first birthday

we've got some big things in store for us this year. we are buying our first home. we will be moving sometime around february/march. we will have a yard for the kids, be in walking distance to the park, library, farmers market, downtown area. granted this is a SMALL town, i think the population is under 1200 people. a little redneck, a little artsy fartsy, a little quaint, i'm excited.

this year our little boy will turn 1 and our little girl will turn 3. the 2s started out ok and have gotten progressively worse. i hear the 3s are not much better. i'm hoping having a yard to exert some energy in will help us all out with that. ben and i just celebrated our 3rd anniversary which also marked 5 years together in life for us. this spring we will also celebrate our 3rd anniversary owning coyote. maybe, just maybe, i will get a mini-van this year. thats pretty wishful thinking, but i'm just putting it out there. i will also become an aunt this summer, ben an uncle, and the kids will become cousins. i will be wishing more than ever that i were not so far away from my family (and ever more thankful and appreciative of skype and the internet in general). all in all i think 2009 is going to ROCK!

i am currently working on a new blog for my family and "a new kind of juggling" will start to be devoted solely to my creativity and crafts. hoping to unveil said new blog in the next couple of weeks. stay tuned.

life is good and getting gooder. cheers!

cool giveaway on high country mom squad

2008-12-19T10:35:00.001-08:00

a great freebie friday today at the high country mom squad. you can win a kozy carrier, all you have to do is leave a comment. check it out : http://www.highcountrymomsquad.com/freebie-friday-kozy-baby-carrier/

tough cookies

2008-12-16T05:33:00.000-08:00

its really hard to get a good brother/sister shot these day. and it doesn't help when you forget to wipe the mac n cheese goo of your kids face before you attempt this. but at least i got a smile out of maple. we will keep trying.

watch this video. i'm not kidding. do it.

2008-12-12T11:43:00.000-08:00

Please go watch this captivating, entertaining, and educational video. Its only 20 minutes and trust me, well worth it. a great reminder for all of us. www.thestoryofstuff.com

what are you waiting for? do it!!

What is the Story of Stuff?

From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

CRUNCH!!!!!

2008-12-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

the advent calendar is getting full! less than 2 weeks until the big day. that means one week left until i HAVE to get packages mailed out. yikes! thank goodness i only have one more big(ish) project left to finish. this wouldn't be so bad if we were not also house hunting, taking a crash course in homebuying 101 (we are hopefully putting in an offer by weeks end), AND doing a major revamp to coyote's menu which we hope to roll out for the new year. whoa. can you say exhaustion? is that even a word, it sounds funny? please please please let the kids sleep past 5am tomorrow. PLEASE!!!! wish us luck on this house, we really love it!

deck the halls

2008-12-02T06:11:00.000-08:00

finally got the decorations up. we have a tiny tree. i love that we can fit on top of the (fake) fireplace though. sometimes i really want a big one, but this saves a lot of stress with little ones running around. happy holidays!

giving thanks

2008-11-28T09:53:00.000-08:00

so we had a last minute change of plans and went to visit ben's parents for thanksgiving. we found out sonny, ben's dad, won't be here for xmas this year so we wanted to get in some much needed family time with him before he left. and one more group hug! we had a very nice lunch with them and the kids had a blast. sonny built an amazing train table and maple was pretty much glued to it the entire time we were there. i don't know why i didn't get a picture. spent about 5 hours in the car, round trip, too. so needless to say we were pretty darn exhausted by the time we got home.

so, since i didn't get it done yesterday i am spending today cleaning and pulling out our tree and decorations. we don't have much so it isn't much of a chore. but i am looking forward to dolling up the house with some garland and ornaments.

and i am officially feeling the CRUNCH! i thought i had everything pretty much under control but now that T-day is past i am realizing how much i have left to do to get all of my projects completed. yikes. time to get organized.

hope everyone had a great day of feasting yesterday.

the meat is complete.

2008-11-26T09:28:00.000-08:00

the meat of this banana, that is. yay. another xmas project going quite well. this one is for my banana obsessed little girl. tonite i will start on the peel. i think this will be my most exciting gift to give. i know she is going to LOVE it. big time.

in other ramblings, i just have to say that xmas is now LESS THAN ONE MONTH AWAY!!! seriously. i have got some work to do! tomorrow is thanksgiving and the focus of this year is NOT food, since i really can't eat much of it (yes i am still watching out for my little man and his digestive troubles.) so instead i get to focus on the other part of thanksgiving that i love - getting out the xmas decorations and putting up the tree! yeah! i am really looking forward to this. maple had a ball with the halloween decorations this year so i know she is going to really dig the xmas stuff we have. my mom made us an incredible advent calendar last year, but we didn't get it until xmas day. so this will be our first run with it. oh man. i suppose my chore today should be cleaning up the house and plowing through my to-do list so that tomorrow i can just enjoy the day and have fun with my dear hubby and kiddos.

recent knitting #4

2008-11-25T08:04:00.001-08:00

this one is sort of a surprise. i'm working on some of these for some quick and easy little xmas gifts. can you guess what it is? all i can say is that it was fast and fun. and cute. and many more will be made!

recent knitting #3

2008-11-25T07:55:00.001-08:00

this is my most favorit recent knit. a shawl for my mom. its a christmas gift. but since she requested it, picked out the pattern, and the yarn - well, i don't really consider this one a surprise. so i am showing it off!!! a very simple pattern, but it turned out beautiful!! i am kind of jealous and sort of would like to keep it for myself. maple would too.

this yarn, lionbrand homespun, is a little difficult to knit with. BUT it makes a very pretty and quite cuddly shawl. so its plenty worth it. i WILL make one of these for myself. after the holidays.

recent knitting #2

2008-11-25T07:44:00.000-08:00

this is my norweigan star hat. my first project using 2 different colors of yarn (this is called 'fair isle' knitting, i learned). it was fun to do and i am pretty pleased with my first attempt at fair isle work. it did take me several weeks to complete this hat though. it takes some serious concentration to follow the chart of the snowflake pattern.

unfortunately this hat turned out hugemungous!!! even though i followed the child size pattern, it is actually too big even for myself. bummer. i guess this is why it is important to figure out your guage before you start a project. i am too lazy to do that.

oh well. its still pretty cute, in an oversized hat on a little kid kind of way. and it does keep her head warm. so i guess not all is lost.

recent knitting #1

2008-11-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

ok. so this is not extremely recent. i finished this in mid-october. but its damn cute! another ltk pilot cap for alaska. it turned out great and i finished it just in time for the cold weather.

isn't he a cutie! i LOVE LOVE LOVE this hat!

WINTER!!!

2008-11-24T07:01:00.000-08:00

WOW!! winter is HERE! it snowed twice last week and has been downright frigid. woke up to 14 degrees yesterday. BRRRRRRRRRRRRR. this morning we've got freezing rain in the forecast and MORE snow tomorrow. the snowfalls have really been beautiful and maple has LOVED playing in the snow.

ben got her a sled and they cruised up and down the road. she had a lot more fun than the pictures might tell you, (she has a straight face for the camera these days.)

alaska and i couldn't hang too long in the brutal cold. i love this shot though. he's saying "oooooh, its cold!"

what do you think of the kids hats? i love alaska's. has to be my favorite baby hat pattern (another ltk pilot cap.) maples is WAY HUGER than it looks in the pic. its actually too big even for me. don't know how that happened. i'm not real thrilled with it, but haven't gotten around to making her a new one yet. i will try to post some better pics later.

hope everyone's staying warm!

my kids got style

2008-11-13T05:06:00.001-08:00

and she loves her dog.

daddy = zzzzzzzzzzz

2008-11-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

we've started working on getting alaska off the boob at night. so he's been sleeping with ben and learning some different forms of sleepy comfort. well that daddy must be good stuff! ben took A while i started dinner, was holding him less than five minutes when i found this. what a cutie. ain't nothing like a snooze in daddy's arms. or arm.

YES WE DID!!!!!!

2008-11-08T14:18:00.000-08:00

thank you will.i.am for creating these kick ass videos.

gramzee love

2008-11-07T19:41:00.000-08:00

just had a great visit with my mom. isn't this the best picture? she was here for 2 weeks and it flew by. we had so much fun and didn't take enough pictures, as usual! i will try to catch up this weekend but just wanted to share.

for you

2008-10-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

hi there

2008-10-04T05:45:00.000-07:00

yes, i abandoned my blog for over two months. SORRY! i knew it would happen eventually. i'm just not one for keeping up on things like that. i will try to do better. ok.

so whats been going on in the z-w house? well in august we had a nice visit in brevard with ben's folks. maple had her very first overnight with granny and opa all by herself. she loved it. ben and i both had birthdays (this is my last year as a twenty something). it was a good month. in september ben went to michigan while maple went to granny and opa's and alaska and momma stayed home ALONE. it was a vacation for everyone.

in my everyday life i have been hanging with the kids, working on coyote projects, thinking about the holidays (i love them), learning how to digital scrapbook, decluttering my home, and looking forward to my mom's visit at the end of the month.

ben has been working at coyote, cooking during the week, doing his disc golf tournaments twice a week, and heading to brevard with maple a couple times a month to watch football games.

maple is 2 1/2. she is using sentences and singing songs. she knows her abcs and can count to twelve. she is a great big sister.

alaska is 6 months old now. wow. he is doing big things like rolling over and trying to sit up and teething and talking nonstop and being the sweetest happiest little boy ever.

so the family is well and we are just enjoying the nice fall weather and pretty colors that are starting to pop out. its my favorite time of year and this is such a great area to spend it in.

and i'll try to keep this a little more current from now on.

my new do

2008-07-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

this weekend i made a change.

after 5 plus years of growing and living the long haired life, i did it. watauga medical was having a cancer awareness event and nelson of nelson's salon was volunteering his time and skills to gather donations for locks of love. i've been thinking about making the chop since maple was born. over 2 years. and when i heard about this chance i just jumped right in.

now, i have always enjoyed growing my hair long and then cutting it super short. in the past i have always been so ready i actually took the scissors to my hair myself. i was not quite so ready this time.

the experience itself was a little strange. i didn't really know what i wanted. and it was definitely weird to get my hair cut in an auditorium with a bunch of people watching. there were no mirrors so i couldn't even see what was happening to my head. afterward everyone told me how good it looked and seemed so happy.

then i got home and looked in the mirror.

you know, i never took myself for the type of person that would cry over a haircut. but i did. i cried. i hated it. it was not me. it was horrible. breath, breath, breath. obsessively look in the mirror and wonder what i was going to do until it grew back. i was happy to have the chance to donate my hair and truly appreciative if nelson's time and the fact that i got a free cut. but i just was not accepting what was on my head. it was bad and i was sad. then i slept.

it was easier to look in the mirror yesterday and i started working on a little acceptance. today i gave it a good washing (yeah, i don't shower everyday) and got all that "style" out. and you know what? it worked. its actually not bad. and i'm starting to remember all the fun things you can do with short hair. and i'm totally digging my new look. i really needed a change.

so here is the before and after:

this is me with long hair.

oh yeah, thats the stuff.

but now its short.

its pretty cute.

and i am oh so happy!!!

my first sweater!!!

2008-07-23T06:20:00.000-07:00

i finished my first sweater last night. this was a really simple pattern, right up my alley. it was knit all in one piece and then seamed up the sides. i am not very good at seaming. its a little bigger than newborn size and fits alaska just right. no, he doesn't really need a sweater in july. but i wanted to see how this patterned turned out.

this is the sweater in progress

and here is my little man modeling the finished project

4 months

2008-07-22T12:01:00.001-07:00

13lbs 5oz

24 inches

super stander

super smiler

discovered the hands and the feet

sensitive tummy

bundle of joy

LTK pilot cap

2008-07-18T09:24:00.000-07:00

by far the cutest thing i have ever seen on my kids head! i made the smallest size with some yarn from my cotton dishcloth stash. i just wanted to try out this pattern and make sure i actually got it before using some nicer yarn. i have to say, it turned out SO GOOD!!! i love the color patterns and it kind of fits alaska, though i'm sure he'll have it outgrown by the end of the month.

this is a pattern from little turtle knits. it was so well written and explained everything so well. i can't wait to make these for our winter hats. and i can't wait to try out some more LTK patterns.

wisdom, cabled hat.

2008-07-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

i am learning some important life lessons as i knit. like this hat. cables are something that i have always just assumed would be really hard and not worth the effort of trying. major intimadation factor. but i just got some guts, tried them out and you know what? they were so unbelievably easy! i'm proud of this hat, for the fact that i took a chance in doing something i wasn't comfortable with, and in my opinion it turned out great. it even fits my head. so i've gained a little confidence and learned this lesson: don't say you can't do something until you've actually put out the effort to try it. and when we go for the things that scare us the most we can become better stronger people (and knitters).

my momentous day

2008-07-12T10:07:00.000-07:00

yesterday was a BIG day. some really awesome things happened.

to start out, i put on a pair of pants that WERE NOT maternity pants. HELLS YEAH!!!! at long last! i came home from the hospital weighing about 40 pounds more than i did before i got pregnant and i have been hard at work over the last few months to drop drop drop that weight. major milestone here. now i still have about 20 pounds and three sizes to go before i get to wear my pre-pregnancy clothes, but seriously it feels so good to say goodbye to those preggo pants.

and the whole reason i even got dressed yesterday?

say goodbye to my cheap crappy dead battery old cell phone and HELLO to my amazingly awesome super dooper new iPhone!!!!

oh yes. i am the very proud owner of a new iPhone 3G. definitely the coolest techy electronical thing i've ever owned. these suckers went on sale at 8am yesterday morning and yes we stood in line with both kids to get one. luck was definitely on our side. ben drove by the at&t store at 6am on his way into coyote and saw no line so we made no rush getting to the store. we got to the mall a little after seven and saw a line had formed but it wasn't that big so we went and got some coffee and mosied over to stand and wait. then we found out our store only had 20 phones to sell. thats right, 20 PHONES. what!?! i mean the line wasn't long but it wasn't that short either. were we screwed? holy cow!! our numbers in line? 19 and 20!!!! i couldn't believe it. seriously lucky. our kids were total troopers too and did so well as we waited from 7:30 until just past 9 to get into the store. you may have heard about the apple server crash which is why we waited so long and then never even got our phones working. we finally left the store at 10:30 and got our phones working sometime after 2 in the afternoon. so worth all the trouble though. i LOVE my new phone.

after setting up and playing with my new toy for a few hours i got down to business and finished seaming the second of the two cowls i have been knitting.

yay!!! another finished project. these were really fun to make. i think i will keep the blue one and gift the green. for my next project i am going to try to knit cables in a hat pattern i really like with yarn that i don't like so much but really need to use up.

and so concludes my momentous day.

CUTE KIDDO ALERT!!

2008-07-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

gotta love a weekend

2008-07-06T11:42:00.000-07:00

the project is coming along quite nicely. i have two skiens of this yarn to use up so soon i will have two finished "cowls". cowl is a funny word, i don't think i had ever heard it used before i saw this pattern. i guess its like a mini scarf or open hat ear warmer thing. anyway, it looks nice and warm and is knitting up quick.

our weekend has been nice but busy. ben finally had a couple days off. he made a yummy egg and sausage breakfast and then we went to the farmers market. enjoyed some bald guy coffee and got lots of delicious produce. beets, yellow squash, blueberries, canteloupe, peaches, and our favorite 5 seed bread (that i can't eat right now! poo.) then off to the mall to get pre-approved for our i-phones. oh yes, i said i-phones! next friday. oh yeah. at the mall we got sucked into a big clearance sale at old navy. came home and freaked out at all the clothes we bought that we really didn't need and then i went back to the mall to return half of it. and then to the dreaded walmart to get dofood, batteries, a few other supplies. after that i needed a glass of wine. and after that glass of wine i was so tired i just had to go to bed.

this morning i got out of the house on my own and went grocery shopping. i love a full fridge and pantry. it is so comforting. ben is out playing disc golf and all is peaceful in the house as both kids sleep. love it.

and here's my finished hat.

hat #2

2008-07-04T16:38:00.001-07:00

yay! another hat. i finished this yesterday but my camera is dead so no picture of the finished project. yet. these pics of the work in progress will have to do for now. i LOVE this color. i'm feeling a little obsessed with knitting at the moment. it is my escape. whats helping fuel this obsession is my new favorite website, ravelry. its like crack for needlers/hookers/yarnies. i feel so inspired. there are a couple other projects i have in mind to help eat up some of my stash before i start working on a sweater (gasp) for alaska. i'm starting on this one tonight.

charitable crafting

2008-07-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

high country mommies had their third charitable crafting meet up on monday. we've been working on a large set of reusable pads to donate to the goods 4 girls campaign. our first meeting was just a trace and cut fest. that was a lot of work cutting out all the layers for 50 pads and after 3 hours we all had more cutting homework to take with us. at our second meeting we started putting things together. we layered the absorbant inards and stitched them down onto one side of flannel. we got all 50 pads done in this stage (yeah, this was the easy part) and pinned for the almost final sewing stage. which is where we were monday. sewing all the layers together. it was extremely tedious making sure everything lined up correctly and we only got through about half the pads. cayce did the majority of the work, being the lucky one without kids that day. the rest we divied out as homework.

next comes turning all these pads right side out (another tedious job), doing the finishing stitching and adding snaps. i will also be sewing wetbags to go along with our donation. these are some pictures from our 2nd meet up.

niki (our site administrator) hard at work

allison was trimmin' and pinnin'

nichole, jen, and cayce stitch away

melanie was our pinner and toddler wrangler

pads in various stages

the hat is FINISHED!!!

2008-06-29T06:56:00.000-07:00

alright!!! i completed my hat. it was really pretty easy and i am super proud of myself. double pointed needles are not nearly as scary as i thought. in fact i felt beyond cool when i was working with 5 needles at once. i think it turned out very nice, though i was right about it not fitting anyone. oh well. maybe we'll have better luck with the next one.

whats going on

2008-06-28T10:12:00.000-07:00

we've actually had some eventfulness in the zee-w household this last couple weeks. not that we are boring people or anything, well maybe just a little. we've just been enjoying the simple pleasures of a new baby, new siblings, and relaxing (sort of) days at home.

granny lory came to visit a couple weeks ago. she stayed with us for a couple days. maple was happy to have lots of attention, a trip to the park in west jefferson and lots of story reading. oh and the big bowl of ice cream granny shared with her that she talked about for almost a week. "granny ice cream. granny ice cream. granny ice cream." alaska had fun to and got to share lots of big smiles and cuddles with her. it was a very nice couple of days. we all hope she comes back soon.

we also have got TWO visits from opa, one on fathers day and the other last thursday. he came up to watch maple while we took alaska down to the urologist in winston (longest dr. appt EVER!!) thank you so much opa for helping us out. it would have been miserable to have maple trapped in that dr's office for 4 hours.

and even though it was a LONG LONG visit to the urologist, it was also positive. alaska had a new ultrasound on his kidneys. they are looking better, though his ureters are still very stretched out. we are moving in the right direction though. also the dr mclorie could not feel his kidneys anymore which is really good. i told him about alaskas inguinal hernia too. i haven't seen it pop out at all in the last month and he said sometimes in young babies they will heal on their own. so hopefully that is the case. we go back in another 3 months for another ultrasound.

ben's back cooking at the restaurant. we lost one of our shift leaders a couple weeks ago so he is back working hard on a fuller than full time basis. he is exhausted but feeling good to put his energy back into coyote. i am at home with 2 kiddos and that's been positive too. its been a big change having daddy gone all day but we are settling into some good routines and a few days a week i manage to get both of them down for naps at the same time, makes me feel like supermom. so not quite what we expected but still a good welcome change for us.

i have been gluten free for the last week. poor alaska has some kind of food sensitivity and we are trying to pin it down. i cut out dairy almost six weeks ago, then soy 2 weeks ago, now we are trying gluten. i'm amazed that its really not that hard. i actually have been enjoying my millet bread, rice cakes, and quinoa. and thank you bobs red mill for making so many gluten free baking mixes. plus its been helpful for my efforts to lose his baby weight. (yes i am still wearing maternity pants, hopefully not for much longer!)

i started knitting a hat. i'm going to finish it too. i have doubts whether it will actually fit anyone though. it looks too big for maple and too small for me. oh well, at least i am learning something new and aiming to master the circular and double pointed needles. we may count this project as pure practice. but i'm hoping to gain the skills to make winter hats for kiddies and maybe some mittens too. and maybe some legwarmers.

also started brainstorming some christmas ideas, yes we are already halfway there folks. it will be here before we know it and i need to get started on my crafting NOW if i'm going to accomplish anything.

yeah i changed my template too.

what a lovely sunday morning

2008-06-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

just hanging out with kiddos. can't wait to munch on the canteloupe we picked up at the farmers market yesterday. an easy breezy sunday here, watching the muppet movie, folding clothes, and laundering diapers.

2 months

2008-05-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

9 lbs 9.5 oz.

kidneys functioning well!
allergic to dairy.
loves to be swaddled.

the men in my life

2008-05-19T12:15:00.000-07:00

how did a gal like me get so lucky?

happy to be a mother day

2008-05-11T05:22:00.000-07:00

ben hooked it up this year. mother's day gifts were bountiful. i love my klean kanteen, this awesome stainless steel food container, and gift certificate to the quilt shop. what a rockin' hubby!

three great things

2008-05-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

i love getting mail that is not crappy ads or credit card offers (aka. JUNK) and the not to be forgotten BILLS, and lets face it - bills just aren't fun. so yesterday was a pretty awesome day as far as mail gettings go. because mixed in with the usual junk, three great things came along.

great thing #1: PUL from neptune fabrics.
the high country mommies (oh i love these ladies) next charity event is the goods4girls project. our goal is to make at least 50 reusable pads, all from donated and recycled materials. they will hopefully done and sent out mid-summer for the use of young girls in africa. neptune fabrics was kind enough to donate nearly 3 yards of this PUL (will give the pads a waterproof barrier) to the cause. SO GENEROUS!! thank you neptune fabrics!

great thing #2: my donor test kit for the international breastmilk project.
breastmilk, in my opinion, is the most amazing substance on the planet. i feel so proud that i can produce and feed my babies with this powerfully nutritious goodness, and i want to spread that goodness further. the IBMP makes it so easy to donate breastmilk to infants in africa who are orphaned by AIDS/HIV (and the other good bit of my milk will stay in the states and become human milk fortifier for premature babies). i am about halfway through the application process and this kit is the next step. in it are the goods i need to collect my DNA ID and blood sample. it will be a few weeks yet before all the tests are completed, but seeing that i'm not a drug addict and fairly healthy i should be good to go.

great thing #3: oh amazon, how i love thee, and your free shipping.
my latest order arrived which includes 2 Born Free bottles (oh please let this baby take a bottle) and a copy of The Creative Family by Amanda Blake Soule (aka. soulemama). we will be trying out the bottle this weekend, so wish us luck!

just sharing some photos

2008-05-06T07:24:00.000-07:00

maple and her new sandbox

one of alaska's many faces

there's a sweet shot

livin' it up at the hospital

alaska, daddy, and one tired maple

what's so great about having two kids?

2008-05-03T05:48:00.000-07:00

how about matching pj's!!!!!

gramzee picked these up for the kiddos at green mother goods last month. they are a super sweet hippo print on 100% organic cotton, not to mention fair-trade made by under the nile, my new favorite kids clothing company. i had to get some pictures of my precious little ones looking so adorable in their matching outfits. this is so cute, it could become addictive.

maple, alaska, and gramzee

2 years old

2008-05-01T15:15:00.000-07:00

well, its official. i have a 2 year old.

maple had her 2nd birthday this week. i had all intentions of doing NOTHING special, i mean she's only two. she doesn't need all that and a bag of chips. but somehow i got the birthday bug and one thing led to another. we ended up with a backyardigan themed party and more presents than a little girl of any age really needs. i guess thats what happens when grandma comes to spend three weeks with the family and tells you again and again, "she only turns two once."

ben's parents came up for the occasion. we had a nice lunch, fruit juice sweetened carrot cake, and rice dream (maple's favorite). oh yeah, and lots and lots of presents.

the story of alaska

2008-04-30T11:51:00.000-07:00

the last 9 months have been an adventure.

i found out i was pregnant in early august (ben's birthday actually). a few days later i thought i was having a miscarriage. i spent the entire first trimester of this pregnancy spotting off and on. at 8 weeks our midwife told us that she thought we HAD had a miscarriage (we hadn't). at 10 weeks we found out our placenta was seperating (it healed itself by 22 weeks). at 17 weeks we found out we were having a BOY. we also found out that he had fluid backing up in his urinary tract (this got progressively worse throughout the pregnancy). we had ultrasounds every few weeks and watched his kidneys and ureters swell more and more with each visit. we met with urologists, weighed options, and watched and waited. we felt fortunate that our boy was doing so well, he was perfect in every other way, and his defect was one of the most common seen and fairly minor as birth defects go. as the swelling worsened we decided to deliver our baby in winston-salem (sadly not with our midwife) so that we could be close to the childrens hospital where alaska would recieve treatment after birth. at 35 weeks the worry increased as our amniotic fluid lessened. at 36 weeks it was practically non-existent and we were told we needed to deliver ASAP. i had been hoping for a VBAC, but at 4 weeks before our due date we were looking at a hard core induction with a willing yet unsupportive set of doctors we hardly knew on top of a stressful delivery. this combination was surely not what would help us achieve our positive and natural birth experience. accepting that, we opted for a cessarian delivery.

we had 2 days to prepare for our birth. we toured our hospital, did pre-op paperwork and bloodwork, made arrangements for maple, coyote, and our dogs, did our best to ready the house, packed bags, and tried not to stress.

one last preggo pic. 03-19-2008

we left the house at 5a.m. on march 20 and headed down to winston to have a baby. i cried off and on all morning as my emotions roller-coastered through fear, disappointment, worry, acceptance, excitement, frustration, and on and on. we got to forsyth medical center around 7a.m. and spent the next few hours sitting in pre-op trying not to think about what was about to happen. at 10:20 we were finally taken into the OR. 31 minutes later alaska made his entrance into the world. he was perfect, scored two 9s on his APGAR (so proud) and after about 5 minutes the NICU staff handed him over to ben and left. ben held alaska next to my head while the doctors finished the surgery. alaska just stared at us, right into our eyes, back and forth. he was so beautiful. he spent the better part of an hour in recovery with us after the surgery. i got to hold him, nurse, get skin to skin, and bond with my little man. it was amazing and unforgettable. i forgot about everything that had brought us to this point and all that mattered at that moment was that alaska had arrived safe and sound.

first feeding

i spent 48 hours at forsyth with alaska. ben and maple stayed at the ronald mcdonald house. alaska spent his first night in the NICU while i came down every 3 hours to nurse him. the next day he was doing so well he was able to come and room in with me. on march 22 i was discharged and alaska was transferred to brenner children's hospital.

waiting to be discharged

alaska spent easter weekend in the NICU at brenner children's hospital. i went straight from forsyth to brenner children's hospital. alaska spent easter weekend in the NICU at brenner. by the morning of the 23rd (easter sunday) i had developed a large rash on my back (reaction to adhesive used in my surgery) but of course their was no time for that as the day was filled with meeting with pediatricians, urologists, nephrologists, all trying to figure out what the plan of action would be. alaska recieved ultrasounds and had regular bloodwork done to see how his kidneys were working. it was decided that they would perform surgery the next day to remove a valve at the base of his bladder that they believed was causing the blockage. by that evening my entire back was immflamed with rash so i headed down to the ER to take care of that (with perscription strength hydrocortizone cream the rash disappeared in about 10 days). i got back to the NICU, gave alaska his last feeding and tried to get some sleep.

alaska the day of his surgery

the day of alaska's surgery was one of the hardest days of my life. it was considered a "minor" surgery, but to ben and me it was a big deal. sending our newborn son off to be put under, not knowing how he would react to anesthesia or how he would come out of it. its impossible to describe how scary that was. we were so relieved when the surgery was over. alaska did great and was able to come off his ventilator immediatly. it took the anesthesia a full 24 hours to totally wear off and for alaska to begin feeding well again. unfortunately though the procedure did nothing for his kidneys. they remained swollen with fluid.

the day after his surgey alaska was deemed stabled enough to move out of the NICU and into the main pediatric unit. the doctors weren't sure what to think. they used a catheter to try to determine if his bladder was functioning properly. they did bloodwork daily to monitor his kidney function. alaska had more ultrasounds and a renal x-ray (radioactive dye was injected into his bloodstream so they could watch the kidneys function under an x-ray). they couldn't seem to pinpoint anything and it came down to a decision of draining his kidneys with a pyelostomy (holes in the back) or doing nothing and continue monitoring him and hope that he would remain stable or improve on his own. we were for the latter and the docs were leaning this way too. finally on april 4th, 2 weeks later, alaska was released. we were able to go home and start living a normal life again.

alaska got bloodwork done twice a week to keep a close eye on things. we returned to winston-salem for another ultrasound on april 27th. this one showed IMPROVEMENT, we were very excited. his kidney function has remained stable since being discharged from the hospital and we got a great phone call from alaska's nephrologist two days ago. they are impressed with his latest ultrasounds and the stability of his bloodwork. so from this point on he will have bloodwork only every 2 months!! he has another ultrasound scheduled in june and we won't have to meet with the nephrologists again until early fall. things seem to be moving in the right direction and we are hopeful that alaskas kidneys will heal on their own. he is a very strong little boy and has gained over 2 pounds already.

alaska will be 6 weeks old tomorrow.

5 weeks and 6 days old, growing up fast!

newborn

2008-04-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

alaska truelove ziegenfuss whitehead

march 20, 2008

10:51 a.m.

5lb 15oz

19.5 inches