Grins, Stares & Quivering Lips

I Need You

I need your help! Or your tech savvy spouse, sibling, parent or friend =)
My laptop fell a few weeks ago - it was closed and fell about two feet. Ever since then it has been stiff to open and close, but it would open and close.
Today it made a *crack* noise and when I looked at it this is what I saw:



This is what is suppose to look like:
And this is the view from the inside:

And what the inside is suppose to look like:

So, any thoughts on how to fix it, if it can be fixed, what it will cost to fix and any other relevant information? Thanks SO much!

Oh, and I do dust my computer. For some reason invisible dust showed up when I took the picture.

Besides The Point

I called our Cable Internet company as I had recently read a story about a woman who called her company, told them she was looking for ways to reduce expenses, and they cut her bill in half for one year.
So I thought I would try it.

I didn't get my bill lowered, but I did have one of the funniest conversations of my life!

The lady on the other end of the phone told me they couldn't lower the bill, unless we wanted to downgrade our speed.

I assured her we didn't want to lower the speed. Just the price. Could she offer me a special deal, or an introductory rate or something to make the price lower?

Nope. She couldn't. She was sorry. Very sorry. You see, high speed internet is the only thing they offer that doesn't come with an introductory rate. But if I wanted to add other things to my package they could make a deal that would actually save me money.

Really? I was curious. Could I actually save money by purchasing more things?

Oh yes. She was convinced. If I bought more things she could give me a deal. And she could save me money. Even though our monthly bill would go up.

Now I was confused. How could I save money if I spent more money to get more things that I didn't need?

Evidently that is beside the point. As that is exactly what she told me.

I chuckled. How could one not chuckle? But it was a polite chuckle. And I told her if she couldn't lower the internet bill I wasn't interested in spending more to save money. And then I thanked her for her time and said goodbye.

Falafel

We were adventurous today and made a lot of yummy food! :)
Mum made the dough for Homemade Pita Pockets and then for supper we had Sliced Steak Gyros on fresh-from-the-oven pita. So yummy!

Then Paul and I made our version of Crystal's Husband's Favorite Meal. We didn't have all the right meat - we used turkey, ham and pepperoni - and then we used grated Mexican mix cheese, since that is what we had on hand! And then basil pesto and pita bread dough. They turned out quite yummy. Paul actually ate an entire loaf! Not sure how he managed that. He ate four gyros at supper! But he did. And then the second one is in the freezer, ready to be heated up on some lazy day when we don't feel like cooking :)

My favorite thing though is what is suppose to be tomorrow nights supper - Falafel (pictured at top.) Last night mum and I ate an entire mix of it - and I could've eaten more! - and at $4 a box I decided I should figure out how to make it myself or it could be an expensive addiction!
So figure it out I did, and I made about 45 of these for tomorrow nights supper - or at least they are mixed up and shaped, they will be fried tomorrow. But I needed to sample them, so we all ate a couple of these. YUMMY! They are better than the ones from the mix yesterday.
I recommend trying them out! They are easy to make and yummy to eat. And you can make them healthier for you if you just bake them instead of frying. I haven't tried baking them, but tomorrow I may.

Weight Loss

By the end of the pregnancy I could feel every extra pound on my body. I was miserable feeling. I wasn't able to exercise, but I came up with a plan in my mind to put into action ASAP. The ASAP is here.

Today is my official day to start losing weight.
I only ate one piece of chocolate (and told myself NO when I was tempted to eat more! Go me!) and I strapped Judah into the joggable stroller and went for a stroll around the block. It was only a 15 or 20 minute walk, but it was something. And something is better than nothing.

My plan is this:

From now until October I will walk, and eventually get up to running, daily.
I will do - or attempt to do - squats, lunges, crunches and pull ups several times a week to strengthen my core.

My goal right now is to prepare myself to start working out seriously in October. I'm not worrying about my diet right now - I generally eat fairly well, so I'll reevaluate if I should have an eating plan in October.

I don't have a specific weight goal in mind - I just want to lose fat and gain muscle. Lose a lot of fat. I gained a total of 40 lbs this pregnancy and at the start of it I had some extra weight to loose to. So to help motivate myself here is my weight in pictures:

The beginning of my pregnancy with Wesley - 155 lbs.

Almost the end of my pregnancy - 195lbs.

When Wesley was 2 weeks old I was down to 173lbs. - haven't been weighed since*

What I'd love to get back to - about 120 lbs. This was right after we got married. I didn't have any muscle on my body then, and neither had I birthed two babies, so it's probably a dream to think I can fit all those clothes again ... because yes, I've held onto them all.

* Two weeks ago we went to the store to buy some scales. I stepped on them as one of the boxes was open, and so I had to try it out!, and I DID NOT like the number on the scale, so I told Paul we didn't actually need to buy bathroom scales. We have never owned any. We find them depressing.

Hot Stuff

Mum and I had Jalapeno Cheese Poppers for supper - they were spicy to both of us, and we were amazed that Judah actually enjoyed these! He ate most of mine :) His expressions got a bit funny, so I recorded some of it.

Pictures

We have new teeth coming in, which is making for some restless nights for all in the household!
I am so glad to have my mum here while Judah goes through this and Wesley is still going through his 24/7 nursing addiction. :)

Judah & His Grandma
Judah & His Momma
Wesley getting his nose picked, courtesy of Big Brother


Wesley's belly button makes me laugh. Second only to his eyes, it's Judah's favorite thing to poke! The little man with new teeth.

New Clothes :)

Thanks great-great Aunt Polly!

Today

I had a productive day in the kitchen today! Though there isn't a whole lot to show for it at the end of the day - most everything has been eaten up :)
I made cookies, humus and pita while Judah "helped" me out. I had him sitting in his seat, with his tray, and I gave him some (plastic!) bowls, a wooden spoon, some water, some salt, a pickle, some animal crackers, some frozen corn and some humus.
He created his own little dish. It was cute watching him smash and mix and sample his foods. He even shared with me. I pretended to eat it. And even pretended it was good.



By far the most delicious adventure was these lemon shortbread style cookies. So so so good! And simple. Check out the recipe and review HERE.

Contest

Win the Essential Babywearing Stash from Along for the Ride (one Beco Butterfly, one Hotsling baby pouch, one BabyHawk Mei Tai, one Zolowear Ring Sling, and one Gypsy Mama Wrap)

Coolest collection .ever. of baby wearing gear!! Check it out!

A friend shared this link. I watched it while sitting in the coffee shop and had tears streaming down my cheeks. It's beautiful. What an awesome God we serve.

Conditional Love

Having my mum here has allowed Paul and I the opportunity to pretend to be carefree Judah free for a few hours at a time. It's not that we don't adore our son and love having him around. We love his contagious laugh and ridiculously odd sense of humor that he gets from his daddy. But it is kind of nice to be able to go out in public without an ugly plastic sippy cup in tow. Or worry about changing monster size (and smelly!) diapers. Or having to keep track of shoe #1 and shoe #2.

We're able to go out together without prior planning or thought. Like today. Paul needed to go out to do some errands. I asked him if I could go along with him, and ten minutes later Baby Mo, Big Mo and I were on our way, while Judah napped at home with my mum there to watch him. I almost feel giddy with excitement that this required no planning and that it happened so quickly.

Part of Paul's errands involved hanging out at a coffee shop with wireless internet. He's got a huge chunk of paper work to get done (is it called paperwork if it's all online forms to fill out!?) Anyways, he has a lot of things to get done, and it is easier to get done away from the distractions of home. So here we sit. Paul on his laptop and me on mine. Wesley is asleep at our feet in his car seat. We have our cups of coffee and the quite buzz of other customers around us.

This is what our dates use to be prior to baby days. We'd spend hours and hours hanging out in coffee shops – talking, playing games, reading and doing stuff online. I thoroughly enjoy it.

Ohh! I just saw my doctor. The one who delivered Wesley that I thoroughly love. I pretended to not see him though. I think meeting up in a coffee shop is a rather awkward place to run into your doctor. At least that kind of doctor. I would much rather think of him as a doctor who lives on the Labor and Delivery floor of the hospital and doesn't have a life. I mean, what kind of conversation would we have if I were to talk to him? I'm not even going to imagine.
I do adore this doctor. But only in the hospital. It's a conditional love I guess.

Anyways. Being carefree Judah free has somehow made us talk about all the important issues in life. Or at least all the issues that we want opinions on. So bloggy friends, there are two things we talked about today that I want y'all to share your thoughts on!

Number one – parenting books! We haven't read any yet, but have both decided we want to read some. Or at least just one. Do you have a favorite parenting book you'd recommend to other parents? Why do you like this book? Yes, I'm asking for a mini-review on the book you recommend : ) Thanks!

Number two – boys gifts. My dad bought my sister and I each a locket when we were born. We want to do something special for the boys, but never did think of anything for Judah, and with Wesley being born we're reminded of the fact that we didn't actually get Judah anything, and now want to buy something for both boys.
We're looking for something nice, of value, and that they can grow to appreciate. Match box cars just won't cut it. And neither will a locket. Any boy-gift ideas?

Toilet Training... not for me

To answer a comment a friend left on an earlier post, yes, my mum is here visiting :) She flew in last Tuesday. Last Tuesday at 11:45 pm. But she thought she was booking it to arrive at 11:45 am. :) She makes me laugh. With her. Not at her. Never laugh at your mother.

So my mum has been here for almost a week and she is here for almost two more weeks! I am spoiled. In fact I'm beyond spoiled. My dad is coming down the end of this month with one of my brothers and my sister. They'll stay a couple of days, then dad, brother and mum will drive home and my sister will stay until the end of August. The end of August folks! I will have someone to help me balance grocery shopping with two littles until the end of August!

It's quite sad thinking about going grocery shopping by myself. My baby will be two months old before I'm forced to tackle that chore on my own. The thought terrifies me. And then to top it off I have people asking when I am going to start toilet training Judah.
Tell me dear bloggy friends - can you imagine going grocery shopping with an infant and a learning-to-potty-train 18 month old? I'd have to carry a bucket and mop along with me. And extra diapers. And clothes. And a paper bag. The paper bag would be to cover my own head, as I'm sure I'd feel embarrassed beyond belief.

I know lots of super moms have mastered the grocery shopping with two dilemma before. And the super-duper moms have master grocery shopping with one toilet training kiddo in tow. I am not super mom.
Don't even come close.

Judah will be in diapers until he is old enough to stay home from the grocery store by himself. So to those who wonder when toilet training will start - in twelve years. Unless you want to watch the toilet-trainee while I grocery shop :)

My Baby Chicks

Judah is at such a fun age! While he isn't quite at the stage where he's asking to dress up, he lets me dress him up and he gets such a kick out of looking at himself in the mirror, and then also trying to make the animal noise that he's dressed up as.

He's also getting to be more fun at social things. Paul took him out today for his first movie (other than his experiences as an infant where he nursed the entire time!)
They went to see Speed Racer at the Dollar Theater. Paul said he did great for the first hour and a half of the movie - they left before the movie ended as his attention span didn't last any more than that. But I'm impressed he managed for that long! We'll have to look for short movies to take him to from now on :)
Paul and Judah finished their Father & Son date at McDonalds with fries and a milkshake - neither which are things Judah gets very often, so they were a very special treat for him.

Our Day

A sunny day. A boy. Outside. A pool. Some water. And some dish detergent.
What could be more fun?
Not much for this little guy :)
He had a blast playing in the water with the bubbles!
And mum and I got some sun sitting outside watching him :)
And Wesley enjoyed a long snooze, undisturbed, in the cool house.

It was a good day.

Wesley had his two week appointment today (at two and a half weeks old) and in nine days he's gained 1 lb and 7 oz. The doctor was quite impressed :)

Love at Two Feet Tall

Take Three

Getting a nice family picture is super hard.
Super, duper hard.

Especially when there is no one there to take the picture and you have to run to make it into the picture before the self timer takes the picture.
Then of course there is the matter of not being able to see what the subjects in the picture are doing .
Like Judah falling off my shoulder. Or Judah poking his brother in the eye.

I have cartoon-ed the pictures. Because I think it looks cool. And because I think Paul's leg hair looks super funky cartooned. And it makes Judah's hair look like spaghetti.

Wesley's eye did survive the photo shoot. And all other parts of his body are present and accounted for.

Judah and his Daddy

Hear Me Roar

Judah playing dress up -

Money Matters #2

My goal for the month of June was to keep our grocery budget under $300. The grand total spent on groceries and other household incidentals was $309! Not too bad, considering we bought an awful lot more convenience/freezer meals than normal and Paul did a lot of cooking and baking himself while he was off for the three weeks.

I think I will keep the same goal through the month of July and probably through August too, since we didn't actually meet Junes goal (but came so, so close!) and because we have long-term overnight company coming :)
And also because my love has done some of the grocery shopping himself. He's worse (or better?!) than a pregnant woman shopping.

Between the 1st and 4th of July Paul hit up the grocery store THREE times.
Once with me because we were in dire need of fresh stuff. But "fresh stuff" turned into a cart of everything-that-looked-good-to-a-woman-just-off-a-hospital
-food-diet-that-a-man-with-a-kind-heart-could-not -say-no-to. We spent a tad bit more than a regular weekly trip.
Then Paul needed to "go buy yeast" for his bread. He went with Judah and a friend. Somehow that ended up costing a bit more than just the cost of yeast :)
Then *the very next night* he went out (coincidently with the same friend!) to pick up a couple frozen pizzas. Apparently having your appendix removed makes you crave everything you see, similarly to how being pregnant - or nursing - makes you want to buy everything you see. I can't blame the man. I totally understand.
All that to say in one week - well, four days! - "we" managed to spend what "we" normally spend in two weeks worth of grocery shopping.

So we need to get back on track and try to make this budget work. I have the remaining cash in hand, well, in wallet.
The goal for July: get back on track, don't give in to cravings or convenience items and make the grocery/household budget work!

My Littlest Love

Yum!

This is my new favorite product.

One can only drink so much plain ol' water in a day. I try to drink over a gallon a day, but get bored so easily with just water. This handy dandy packet is lemon flavored powder. It is delicious!
And while I know it's not really very good for you, if you add equal packets of Splenda as True Lemon to your water it is truly amazing.

Drink on folks!

Baby Business

It is amazing to both Paul and I how much Judah seems to of grown up in the last week! He loves to pick up Wesley's dirty diapers and take them to the garbage. They don't always end up in the garbage. But he attempts :)
Wesley doesn't cry much - just if I take too long to feed him or if he gets cold during a diaper change - but when he does fuss Judah wants to be right there patting his head or trying to stuff the pacifier in his mouth.
I can't even count the amount of times each day Judah comes up to me wanting to kiss his brother. It just melts my heart and I can't deny him his desire to share saliva. It especially delights him when Wesley is hungry and opens up his own mouth. He's looking for milk, but Judah thinks it's all about him and that Wesley is kissing him back :)

Judah isn't all grown up yet though - he's shown a love for Wesley's pacifier, and will pop it in his mouth and suck away for periods of time. And he has a new love for cuddling on my lap, which I think is born of a secret jealousy of how much time Wesley spends on my lap. He's never been a cuddler, so I quite like this jealous thing :)

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fish

We are fish-sitting for a couple of weeks and Judah adores watching the fish swimming around :) He made an attempt to comb the fish, but the fish was rescued in time.

Today he started the funniest thing - he knows he is not allowed to touch the baby swing and that if he does he will get a swat on the hand for touching it. Today he decided to put that to the test and touched it over and over again. Each time I would get up and tell him he had disobeyed and he was going to be disciplined for touching.
Almost every time he would look at me and say in his sing songy voice; "Jesus loves."

I don't think he knows what it means. But he knows I think it's sweet that he says it :) I had a hard time not laughing at him every time he said it!
But he also now knows that it won't get him out of spankings.
And he is learning a new line - "Jesus loves it when we obey mommy."


Today was Paul's first day back at work. We missed him! After three weeks off of work (two due to his appendicitis, one for Wesley) Judah and I were quite spoiled with having him to hang out with and talk to and share in the diaper duty!


Wesley is so far a pretty laid back little guy. He eats and sleeps and puts up with his brother sucking on his nose. I can't believe he's already over a week old!! I love these newborn days!

Shopping Date

I had forgotten how easy it is to shop with a newborn :)
Paul kept Judah this evening while I ran out to pick up some scrapbooking supplies and some food. Wesley hung out quite contentedly in his wrap - he didn't get heavy, didn't fuss for anything on the shelf, didn't try to play tag down a long aisle and didn't think I took too long trying to decide exactly which color paper to buy.
He was just easy.
Not that Judah is really bad to take shopping, he's actually quite delightful. But Wesley, in his newborn simplicity, is definitely easier.

I just love how a newborn has the ability to put a smile on anyones face.
My favorite tonight was this old Asian man who worked at Walmart. He stopped to help me because he thought I was pregnant (Wesley was tucked in that wrap good!) and this nice man didn't want me bending over! I told him it was a baby and showed him Wesley's face. This man was tickled pink over the baby. There is no other word that could describe him better. He was simply tickled pink.
He oohh-ed and ahh-ed over Wesley. And when I checked out he happened to walk by me and told the cashier how he'd "met" me and thought I was pregnant and made her look at Wesley. He was a sweet old man. I am looking for tips from fellow mommy's who have had babies with "lizard skin."

Wesley's skin is peeling and it's quite yucky. Having never had this with Judah I don't know what to do! Any great product to rub on his skin? Or is it best to just wait out this "shedding"? Thanks! :)

Wesley’s Birth Story

Saturday, June 28^th, 2008

Just after midnight I started to feel shaky and like something was 'off'. I tried eating, lying down and then showering but the feeling didn't go away.

While I was in the shower I had Paul call Christen, our doula, to let her know we planned on going in to L&D. She said she would meet us at the house and follow us to the hospital.
Paul also called a friend to come spend the night with Judah.

At 2:40 am we arrived at the hospital with my doula Christen and Tammy who was shadowing our doula.

We had a really sweet nurse. She read over our birth plan and was completely supportive of the choices we had made. My doctor wasn't working when we arrived, but we were told he would be starting a 24 hour shift at 6:30am, so I was rather pleased to know he would be there! He had already read my birth plan at a prior appointment and had been completely supportive of it.

They checked me at 3:30 am – I was 6cm, almost 100% effaced and the baby was at -1 station.

The monitor indicated I was having contractions, but they weren't anything that I could feel. We ended up walking the halls for a long time, trying to encourage some action.

Strolling the hallways

They checked me again at 6:15 am – no changes at all! It was discouraging. Christen and Tammy went out to pick up breakfast for us – I finished almost an entire large fruit platter and a McDonalds breakfast sandwich – and then I slept for awhile.

At 10:45 am the monitor indicated that the contractions have stopped. So I walked the hallways some more hoping to encourage them to come back.

At 11:45 am I asked my doctor to check how far I had dilated – there weren't any changes! I was still at 6cm.

Paul and I decided that we would sleep for awhile and then decide what to do when we woke up.
My doctor was willing to send me home at 6cm dilated, though he did tell us he was a bit concerned about me going home. I really trust my doctor – and neither Paul nor I really felt comfortable going home – so we opted to stay and start the pitocin.

Pitocin was started at 5pm. I didn't feel any of the contractions, but the monitor indicated that they were coming strongly every couple of minutes. The doctor, nurses and doulas would touch my stomach to see if there really was one as I wasn't acting like I was having one.

At 7:20 pm I had another exam – this time I was 7cm dilated and the baby was at 0 station. It was exciting to hear things were progressing!

At 8:45 pm I spent some time on the birthing 'bean' – like the birthing ball, only shaped like a jelly bean. I bounced on it for ages hoping to speed things along :)

At 10:10 pm I started to feel like pushing. The doctor examined me and I was still only 8 cm.

I started to feel some back discomfort at this point and so Paul and Christen started rubbing my back. We also had two rice socks with us that they kept getting heated up for me and one was always on my lower back. It felt so good! Other than the lower back discomfort I was still not feeling contractions.

At 11:42pm I remember looking at the clock and saying that the baby had 18 minutes if he wanted to be born on the 28^th.

At 12:08 am the doctor examined me again. I was still at 8cm and the baby was at +1 station. The Dr was concerned about the baby's heart rate and suggested Artificial Rupturing of the Membranes. As soon as he did that I could feel the changes in my body.

At 12:10 am I was 10 cm dilated and felt ready to push.

I used a squatting bar for a bit and then switched to sitting in the bed. I did get sick and vomited up quite a bit.
It was SO nice to not have anyone telling me when to push or counting for me when I did push. I was laughing and crying between the urges to push – anytime I would lose focus and start to freak out Paul would refocus me and remind me that we were about to meet our beautiful boy.

I kept alternating between asking for very hot compresses and then asking for ice cold water to be poured all over me while I was pushing. This was when having the second doula was so nice! Tammy was kept busy keeping washcloths hot (we went through over 50 of them!) and cups full of cold water.

It felt like an eternity that I spent pushing this little one out – the doctor gave me a few gentle reminders that the heart rate was a concern and for me to push him out as soon as I was able. I yelled quite loudly with each push – Paul encouraged me to yell as loud as I wanted and told me later that the yells left his ears ringing! They were yells of anticipation and joy and somehow yelling so loudly made pushing easier.

Baby Wesley entered the world at 12:26 am with a hearty cry. It was a beautiful sound! The doctor cut the umbilical cord right away as he needed to draw a blood gas and he was immediately placed on my chest for some bonding moments. Having not been able to hold Judah until he was a couple days old this was really special to me.

Wesley's very first picture

Paul was then able to 'trim' the umbilical cord and help clean him up and weigh him. He weighed in at 8 lbs 14 oz - three pounds bigger than his brother!

Bonding with daddy

Throughout most of the labor I had my iPod on and I was listening to either relaxation scripts or praise and worship music. I loved having the distraction from everything that was going on. Up until the Pit started I was actively encouraged to eat and drink as much as I wanted. Once it was started I was simply warned to not eat anything in front of the nurse :) I know that eating and drinking as much as I felt like really helped to keep my energy up and made me feel good.

My sweetheart