Now A Family of *gulp* Six.

Two major steps spoken of earlier have been taken. Today is day 1 of Doug and I on Weight Watchers Online. Already I wish I could drink coffee; I'm up 3 points on him, having to have my can of Coke vs. his 2 cups of coffee. Doug is at the store as we speak, purchasing healthy snacks & Coke Zero for me. My goal is to lose 35 pounds and also be "toned" (which means more exercise); Doug's overall goal is to lose 70 pounds. Yeah, isn't he amazing?! He's got 2 mini-goals built into that, of course. Oh yeah, and the second step? Cable will be cut off on Tuesday. Charlie, on the other hand, is now beginning to eat more again. We just don't know what's going on with him; he's always been stuffy and sounding like he has drainage. Ped. said that will get better. He even had some what we thought was wheezing/rattling in his lungs - yes, folks, having asthma myself, I know that that's serious. And I know he will have allergies and asthma because I do, ...

Doug has returned from his 2-day business trip, which would also explain why I was so exhausted and emotional last night; I had done all the feedings for close to 2 days. Enough to wear a person out. Real glad he doesn't travel a lot right now. My energy also perked up when I got a call from a coworker reminding me that it was our traditional hangout day, and she didn't care if I was working or not - I had better get to school so we could see each other. Traditional hangout day is great - the 8th graders are gone on their unsanctioned Cedar Point trip, the 6th graders are gone for the morning doing some roller skating party, and the 7th graders have a hot dog lunch and this year, complete with dunk-the-teacher tank and bouncer-obstacle course. Not much for 8th grade teachers to do but hang out and chat! So I packed up the boys and headed over there. It was fun. Roman was a little unsure of the dunk tank, and actually said he wouldn't want to make a person fall into it. Swee...

I'm not complaining. Well, maybe a little. Charlie is generally healthy, we had no colic to deal with, and he's a happy quiet baby. Except note what time I'm blogging. Those few nights of 5-6, even 7 hours of sleep - gone. And I'm exhausted. And I'm crying. And I would give absolutely anything to sleep more than 3 hours at a stretch. I sat and cried the whole time I fed him this time. I have great pity parties for myself. When I want to feel real bad, I think about the fact that except for those handful of nights when Charlie slept through, I have been getting up at least once a night since November. And from all things I've read, he won't consistently sleep through until he's 3-4 months adjusted. That's around July, ya'll. And there are a whole lotta nights until then. I don't know what's gotten into him, but since camping Charlie has reverted back to only taking about 4 oz. at a feeding. Growth spurt over? So is my sleep. He wakes consi...

Camping brings out the best in all of us. Roman is a sweet boy that loves to ride his bike and play outside; Doug relaxes and there isn't a hint of stress in him or myself. Charlie, it turns out, didn't like the water. But otherwise he did a lot of chillin' too, taking in the new sites and sounds. When we return it seems that the daily grind descends upon us again. This time was no different - Roman flipped on the tv immediately, and Doug and I immediately began to catalog all the "stuff" we had to do... laundry, cleaning, grocery shopping, who is going to do what... but this time, Doug and I have a long-term plan. We talked on Sunday night how we really like our "camping family" but there is much to be improved in our "at home family." So some changes are going to be made. First step will commence this weekend - we are getting rid of cable. Well, we're downgrading to "basic" which is just channels 2-22 without a need for rabbit e...

Thank you, fallen soldiers. Thank you for keeping America the land of the free, and the home of the brave. Memorial Day used to be called Decoration Day. The first actual observance of a "Decoration Day" occurred in 1865 when freed blacks reinterred Union soldiers at a former Confederate prison, from the mass grave the Confederates buried them in into individual graves. Then the following year, a large number of blacks returned to the site, decorated the graves, and then held a parade with lots of singing and dancing following. By that time, of course, communities throughout the South (and a handful in the North) had begun honoring their dead from the Civil War; in Mississippi, strangely enough, they held their own Decoration Day in 1866 honoring both Confederate and Union dead. It eventually evolved, as many holidays do, into a 3-day weekend meant for camping, picnicking, and car races. However, being a history lover and America lover, I always take time to honor the soldie...

Daddy's my best buddy. Today, at least. Putt-putting is fun! Daddy's teaching me! I prefer to use the putter as a gun. Even though I have developed a cold, I LOVE camping!

We are happily ensconced at Jellystone Park. Well, Roman's not real happy because we're making him have naptime. He stayed up late last night, up early this morning, went swimming, rode his bike, played at the park... he is exhausted. Charlie is pretty tired too, although he will nap just about anywhere. He went for his first swim this morning and while not smiling, didn't seem to mind it. Roman wore his Nemo swim vest and FINALLY we heard the words, "don't hold me!" He is petrified of anything new until he's finally made to do it; then he's fine. He could touch the bottom and stand, and he was pretty confident in his vest that his head would stay above water. He even put his face in the water after a time. We're heading into town later this afternoon for some window shopping and a chicken dinner. Tomorrow - more of the same. I love camping here because they have activities for the kids running all day. Yesterday Roman made "sand art" an...

Roman called me "mom" for the very first time today. I was "mama" for about 2-1/2 years, and then he alternated between "mama" and "mommy." I have just come around to accepting "mommy" because it sounds real cute coming from him. I had wanted to remain "mama" as that's what I was named by the assistant mayor when we registered in Ekaterinburg. I could push it if I really wanted to. But "mom"? It just seems so... like everyone else. Mom. It's what I call MY mom. It's what a growing-up kid calls his mother. I'm not ready for Roman to be a big kid! I know "mommy" won't last, and once he's around peers more I will become plain ol' "mom." But I sure hope "mommy" will stick around for a little longer. Of course, he also will occasionally call me "moo-ma" and I'm not sure where that came from, but it sure is funny! We have gotten advice regarding feedin...

So at the 7pm feeding we thought it'd be fun to introduce cereal. We made a very small amount mixed with formula. Charlie kind of liked it, although he pushed a lot of it out of his mouth. The ol' tongue-thrust still in action. After a few bites, though, he was getting hungrier. And the cereal wasn't coming fast enough. However, he really did like sitting in the highchair - although I think it was more because he loves looking at his Daddy. We tried again at the 10pm but it didn't go over very well. I tried again this morning and Charlie definitely did not want any part of it - pushing it out of his mouth and crying. Even when we fed him formula first to "take the edge off" before trying cereal - no way. So I gave him a regular bottle at noon and he was happier. I just don't think he's hit the developmental place with tongue/swallowing to be able to eat. Did try to mix it in with a bottle to make it more "filling" but the brand of nipples we...

“Square face, big belly – you’ve got a good Dutch baby here!” That’s the words of our Dutch pediatrician, anyway. Charlie is between 25-50th percentile for 4 monthers – and that’s not adjusted! For his adjusted age he’s way off the charts (in a good way). He’s 14 lbs, 1 oz. He is also 24 inches long! We were told to go ahead and start rice cereal mixed with formula; if he takes that well, we can move on to veggies and fruits in 2 weeks. She said we should mix ¼ cup cereal with 8 oz formula, and try to give by spoon. Heh. So that’ll be fun. If he doesn’t take by spoon, we should give it with our fingers at first. Double-heh. He also got 4 shots and one oral vaccination. Poor baby. Good thing he won’t remember it. Roman was very concerned for Charlie, and even said “I feel sorry for Charlie for getting those shots.” He rarely shows empathy, so I was impressed. Another concern has arisen – “increased tone” in his legs. So we’ve been referred to Early On , which is a taxpayer-funded progra...

You get three topics for the price of one blog today. Only because if I keep putting off blogs to keep them a separate topic, I'll forget. First up, an interesting byproduct of the "green" movement: a local bakery has had to close . Too many farmers growing corn for ethanol now instead of the rye for flour. If you don't feel like reading the article, basically the owner would have had to raise his price on some loaves to $10 a loaf between the high cost of flour and cost of gas. Sad, really. We try to support all the local businesses that we can, and I hate to see them go out of business. Second, an interesting article about Putin's Russia came across my radar from a friend in Colorado. The essence I got from it was, the government will continue to be corrupt (and the classes continue to grow farther apart) as long as the people stand for it. What many don't understand about Russians is that they stay as far away from government as they can. They are so introv...

Charlie and I have had our share of bumps the past couple days. Horrible to admit, but he was in my arms Thursday when he decided to do one of those random spasmotic jerks, and he flipped around and landed forehead-first on the dining room table. Thank God I was just sitting at the table (talking on the phone to my Grandma) so he didn't have far to fall and I was able to calm him within a few minutes. Took awhile to calm myself, however. You can see the 2 impact spots here: Luckily he continued to act normal, did not go to sleep, and once he calmed down he continued to be a happy child. Karma had its way, however, on Friday night. As I was bending down to hug Roman goodbye (Doug and I went OUT!) Roman decided to jump up into my arms. I went down, Roman went up, and his head knocked my lower lip into my top teeth. Lots of blood and some tears (mostly Roman's) later, I just have a nice bruise and some swelling. I still had a good time, though, meeting with the "young couples...

Today was quite a day. Sparing the details, I now understand a lot more about my own childhood. And I understand a lot more about my own mom's habits. Things I am going to start putting into practice: 1. Try to have at least one thing to do a day. Especially if it means putting your kids in a nursery for a short amount of time (see: tennis, bowling from my own childhood) 2. If you have nowhere to go, you MUST enforce time in their rooms for the kids. It must last at least one hour, so you can watch an entire soap opera. (I'm considering picking back up with Days of Our Lives .) 3. Cooking dinner is actually "me time." Do not let anyone disturb you when you are cooking dinner/me time. Sometimes you have to start prepping at 4:30 for a 6pm dinner. Even if it's browned pork chops & french fries. 4. Have a glass of wine as you are prepping dinner. Or two. 5. Even though dinner is "me time," don't let the other family members know. Act like it was a l...

By chance, I ended up stretching Charlie's feeding yesterday afternoon to close to 5 hours. He was ravenous, of course, but when he did get his bottle he took 6 ounces - much more than he was in the past. It obviously lasted him longer, too, and his next feeding (5 hours later) was 8 ounces. That got him all the way through the night! Yes folks, he slept from 11pm all the way until about 5am. Woohoo! This wonderful trend has continued today, roughly 4.5 to 5 hours between feedings, and 6-7 ounces at each feeding. Growing boy! Roman is also starting to eat like a pig again, which means yet another growth spurt is coming. He had 2 lunches yesterday. I gave him a hot dog, crackers, cheese, and a Go-gurt. He devoured it and asked for an identical lunch. I gave him everything but a second Go-gurt, and he ate that all as well. Wow. For dinners our struggles have minimized for now. I am trying much harder to cook things that Roman will accept. He has stated he likes ground beef, so I got ...

My Mother's Day was just how I like it. Quiet, no big deal, but at the same time I had quite a bit of time to myself. My fabulous husband watched Charlie most of the day - which isn't a hardship, actually - and Roman slept 1-1/2 hours for a nap and played on his own for quite awhile as well. Had some nice pictures taken, too. The hand flowers from Roman came Wednesday night from his class at church. I cried, I thought it was so cute. And Charlie, well, he has finally found his hands - in his mouth or he's fiddling with his fingers constantly. And talking... boy, is he making lots of sounds! I spent the day playing with my scrapbooks, moving some older pages around, and deciding where to stop doing pages chronologically and where to start doing "categories." The decision happened quite nicely, actually - I will finish 2003 as chronological, and start 2004 (the year we got Roman) as categories. And that's fitting, I think - new version of our family, new version...

I have been awash in scrapbook-land at the Great Lakes Mega Meet . I believe it's my 4th or 5th time going, and each year my mom and I take more classes and shop a little less. Which is fine, because I am liking going out of my "comfort zone" of 12x12 pages and trying new things. While I still spent all my birthday money, I am buying more projects and less stuff . I also find I'm gravitating more toward home decor items such as working with canvases, and I made a cool tri-fold frame in a class yesterday that I was really pleased with. Here are some of the things I enjoyed: This was my first class - 3 12x12 pages and a mini-book. Second class - a 6x6 album of cardstock, and the white center is actually 8 envelopes which you can store photos or memorabilia in. Very cool. Instead of Disney, I'm going to use mine for when Roman goes to a fair (we have the opportunity to go to 2 this summer). My frame doesn't look like this (different papers), but it was really eas...

I have had a couple people comment how smoothly we transitioned into our 2nd child, and how I seem to just go about my day like it's not hard at all. I admit, the posts do seem that way. On a rainy tired day, though, I will now admit - it's harder than heck. If it wasn't for Roman, I would hole up in the house, maybe venture out to a store once a week. I would read books, watch tv, and sleep. Well of course, hold & play with Charlie a LOT. But here's how I do it, unfortunately.... I let Roman watch a lot of tv. I feel terribly guilty. Although not too guilty that I don't stop him. It's (mostly) PBS & Nick Jr., with Spongebob thrown in sometimes. I have begun exercising a little control, turning it off more often and telling him to go play. He likes to then follow me around and talk. Constantly. And we were making good headway, until I was struck with the mother of all sinus infections. So I'm tired. I'm very cranky. I just want Roman to be quiet ...

After getting my Z-pak and taking my first 2, I felt okay enough to go bowling with the fam. I couldn't help but post pictures here. Roman actually got 2 spares in the second game! It's a wonder the ball made it down the alley at all. It was like watching paint dry. We had to hit the "reset" button almost every one of his frames. Of course, the bumpers helped my game, too. We all "smell like bowling alley," as Roman puts it, so an extra load of laundry is happening tomorrow! When we got home Roman asked to see our wedding video. He was very interested in it, and especially wanted to see our wedding rings after that part in the ceremony. He wanted to know who was there, and what all the songs were... really funny guy. We were happy to oblige, as it was neat to see it again.

Eight years ago today, Doug and I got married. Wow! And just about 7 years ago, we closed on this house. And a smidge over 4 years ago, we brought Roman home from Russia. And 4 months ago, we began to seriously anticipate Charlie's arrival. Amazing. It occurred to me last night that we have spent half our married life without kids, and half with them. Kind of neat. I'd post a picture of us two lovebirds on the day of our union, but the computer with the scanner is sadly, um... not working. We're not doing much exciting, since it's the middle of the week and all. Early on, we decided togo bowling on our anniversaries as it was something we could do with or without kids. The last couple years, however, we haven't gone - not sure why, I guess life got in the way. But we may go tonight depending on how I feel. Yes, folks, I've finally decided to go to the doctor and get the antibiotics I so desperately need. It's day 6 of stuffy/runny nose and sore throat, day 4...

First we stopped in the Imagination Station, where a big Duplo Thomas had been built! Later, Roman came back here and spent all his time playing with the Duplo tracks and trains that were set up. It was finally our turn to ride Thomas! And then we had our picture taken with Sir Topham Hatt, the controller of the railway! Roman very graciously invited Charlie to be in the picture too. Roman also wanted to ride in a Model T. We ended up in a 1923 hack, built on the chassis of a Model T but used to transport people from the depot to respective hotels in Detroit. Our driver was a young woman who was very personable - she is studying for her Masters in historic preservation, and was thrilled to have landed a job that usually goes to older men. Last event before our custard and trip home - a ride on the1913 carousel. A woman very thoughtfully took this nonstandard family portrait just before we started to whirl! We got home very worn out, especially me - I laid down for a 2-hour nap, I wa...

I have almost lost my voice - day 3 of sinus? allergic? reaction to Spring and weather changes. It's in that deep sexy, gritty stage (albeit sore). That's okay, because my energy is much better today. And it's needed, because today is all about.... THOMAS! And the best part of our day is going to be when we climb aboard and hear this song: Thomas is a steam engine, hip hip hip hooray He chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-..... as he rides along the way And when we hear that whistle, it can only be one train Our favorite little engine, Thomas is his name! Thomas the Tank Engine rolling along.... (pictures upon our return tonight!)

Partially because of curiosity & partially out of need, we called in a realtor last week for a consultation and price analysis of our house. We are trying to budget for home improvements (and actually carry them out, rather than just talk about them) and are in a constant debate of whether to build a garage or not. We know of a couple obvious improvements that need to be made but were curious - what else would we have to do to make our home ready for selling when the market takes that turn upward? I mean, at least we're not California & their record foreclosures, so the hope is that we can move on. Sometime. It was a very interesting, educational, and shocking visit. The realtor had some great ideas that we hadn't thought of, but the price analysis.... gah. First, here's the list of things we would have to do to put it on the market today: FRONT OF HOUSE Replace lights (2, front and side) Replace mailbox Paint front door fresh coat of white Fix screen door jamb Touc...