Another artist

Justin found Leanna's new markers (Easter present) and decided to draw a cow on his leg. And a few assorted markings-the cow is in blue.

Preschooler test you'll probably fail

Try it!

Sweet little baby Metallica

Couple fights to name daughter 'Metallica'

Posted Apr 6th 2007 1:59PM by Sandy MapleFiled under: Lifestyle, Moms, Dads, Newborn
As a child, I detested my name. Not just my first name or my last, but the two together. I thought the combination sounded like a good name for an apartment complex or possibly a retirement home. The Sandy Maple Retirement Community. I can picture the sign out front - a serene beach with a Maple tree swaying in the wind. Ellie has recently decided that she doesn't like her name, either. She wants to be Angel. Every day this week, she has pouted and complained about my refusal to have it legally changed. I wonder if Michael and Karolina Tomara will someday be having similar conversations with their little girl. The couple is currently battling with Swedish authorities over their desire to name their baby girl 'Metallica'. Although little Metallica has already been baptized, the Swedish National Tax Board has refused to register the name, claiming it is associated with the rock band and the word 'metal'. According to the baby's mother, an official also told her the name was 'ugly'.Karolina Tomara says the name suits her daughter because she is "decisive and she knows what she wants." Choosing a name for a child is usually the first big decision parents must make. Some handle this better than others. While I personally don't like the name the couple has chosen for their daughter, I feel they have the right to screw up the naming of their child just like my parents did. Rock on, little Metallica.

Shoe love

We got Justin new sneakers on Monday also. I figured it was (-WAS-) getting too hot out for him to wear his boots much longer, and they'd look silly with his easter suit. I know, sneakers aren't much better, but we can't afford to buy him a good pair of shoes also. So even though you might think he'll look silly, HE thinks he looks fabulous! He LOVES those new shoes! They are cool-they have Thomas the Train and they light up. He's been asking me to put them on every day when he gets up, even though Leanna's been off from school since Wednesday. He cries when they have to come off so he can put his pjs on!

Easter countdown

Leanna's been counting down the days until Easter all week-she's really excited, for the holiday itself(although I don't think she remembers what all's involved) to go visiting, and to DECORATE EASTER EGGS! And dressing up is just a bonus!

10 worst PCS of all time

Ha, Emachines are number 8!

Easter preparations

Monday night we finally went out and got Easter clothes and candy. It was a relief for me because I hate putting that stuff off til last minute. Actually it was last minute for the clothes-all the pretty Easter dresses start to dissapear pretty quickly. Quite a few were gone in the several weeks between when I first checked out what was in the store and when we actually went to get one. It was an expense, worth it, as far as I'm concerned. If my mother's correct, Leanna is my last girl and so I might as well splurge on pretty dresses when I have the opportunity.
I just found out on Monday also that we're getting Maree for Easter. I really truly don't understand why her mother doesn't want her for holidays except Christmas. Should I ever be in a situation like that I would find it unbearable to be separated from my children for holidays. She volunteers it!
Now if we can make it to see the Easter Bunny I'll be happy. My Mom asked why I care, since those pictures usually come out pretty crappy anyway. But it's a traddition, and it's an annual photo event, a way to measure their growth and development(one year they don't notice, the next their frightened, the next they're thrilled with it, etc.). It makes ME happy, so I guess that's reason enough.

phonics

This was Leanna's typing, trying to find PBSkids.com. I think she had a few typos, besides just the spelling errors:

yhpebskisdokzom

"Mom" my ride

Fairly accurate parady of the "Pimp My Ride Show." I agree that it's missing fingerprints on the windows and probably stickers too.

Sad

Leanna and I are miserably sick yet......Timothy's better. He's eating today and got down to play a few times. He spent the rest of the day in my arms, so he's still clingy though. Justin's fine.

The black baby rabbit that we were attached to died. I found it this afternoon. It was lying with a thin layer of straw overtop of it on the bottom cage. I suspect it was just too cold for it. It's siblings were all in the upper enclosed part buried in a thick layer of straw and they huddled in pairs of two so they had body heat working for them also. Tom and I both put the little black rabbit back up top with it's siblings, but it just kept going back down again. So we are down to two black rabbits and two tan/brown ones.

Stupid blogger

I'd post a picture of the baby, but blogger keeps closing on me everytime I try to upload it. It's really adorable-so tiny!!!

Rabbits, anyone?

So last night Tom tells me that he thought he saw something moving in the bottom of the rabbit's cage and when he went to check it out he found a baby rabbit.......and then at least four more in the hay in the top of the cage. I had thought I'd seen that before too, but never thought anything of it, there are some containers that roll around the bottom of the cage. We didn't want to poke around too much, but it looks like there are five babies. We're guessing they're about a week old. I was worried about the one on the bottom, thinking maybe it was rejected. But it is strong enough to be hopping around the bottom of the cage and we put it back in the closed off section with it's siblings, only to find it back on the bottom of the cage. I had to do some quick research on the net to make sure it was ok to touch the babies (which we were thrilled to find out that it was ok, as long as the mother didn't try to attack us when we approached them and as long as we didn't have any strong scents on our hands). I found out that Brownie is the mother, which was surprising because it's Monkey Fantastic who was acting more maternal.

The rabbits can't be separated until they're about 6-8 weeks old, once they've weaned. We've had two offers to take one. Tom and I are getting attached to the little black one though, because that's the one we're holding. Some are tan, I'm not sure if there are more black ones, I was too sick during the day to go out and check on them. At night it's too dark out there to see the ones in the hay. Does anyone want a baby rabbit, or know someone who might?

sick house

Haven't been blogging as usual because we're sick here. It started out with just me about a week ago, then it seemed I was getting better. Yesterday Leanna got feverish and just slept from when she came home from school throughout the night. No food, only sips of water. She's occasionally throwing up mucus. She just looks miserable. And I started to caugh again yesterday, just when I thought I was over it. My stomach muscles hurt from caughing so much. Sometime during the night I discovered Timothy was feverish also. So I've spent the day holding Timothy and making trips to the bathroom with Leanna. Timothy will only drink water and nurse. He just lies there. Justin's still his normal self, we'll see how he is tomorrow. He's had a rough day though also because his Mom and brother and sister just want to sleep and lay around. So he was a little stir crazy and was getting in trouble because of it.

save for kid's college?

This article says it's wiser to save for your own retirement than to save for your kids' college.

Husband "delivers" baby while driving

A brave 6 year old and safety

I've always liked stories where people do brave things unexpectedly, especially when it's children. Here's a story about a six year old whose mother went into anaphylactic shock. I'm happy to say that because of having Mr. Safety himself for a father, I've always made a point to discuss things like how to call 911 and what to do if you get lost in a store with Leanna. It won't be long before it'll be time to have those talks with Justin too!

And speaking of lost kids, check out this new way to help in case your child does get lost. I want one!! :
http://www.bloggingbaby.com/2007/03/25/usb-drive-finds-lost-parents/

Why it is important to be cautious.....

This is one of the many reasons why it's so important to be aware of security when blogging. You never know who is reading what you write. There are many sick people on the internet....I know many people argue that stealing pictures and posting them on your own blog doesn't harm her or her child, but I know I would feel very violated and creeped out by this situation!

AN EXCERPT:
Margaret Post, a writer and blogger, writes about the sickening experience of having pictures of her son stolen from her blog. Her parenting blog was primarily written for family members and friends who wanted to experience in the joy of Margaret and her husband's first child. She was astonished to learn that she had an unwelcome reader: a nefarious stranger who not only stole pictures of her son from Margaret's blog, but posted them on her own blog and told twisted tales of "her" son, renaming Margaret's son Dante.

For the record......

Last night for the first time Tom gave Justin a bath. I was thinking it was the first time he'd ever given any of our kids a bath, but he reminded me that I had ordered him to give Leanna a bath once or twice at the end of my time at ShopRite. (Leanna was under 15 months old when they closed)

I kid you not!!

Tonight the movie Jersey Girl was on, and Tom and I were busy doing stuff but Timothy was apparently paying attention. He suddenly called out, "Leanna, I see Pop-Pop!" And sure enough guess who was onscreen-George Carlin. Who does look & sound exactly like Pop Pop J! I was impressed.

Boppy

Interesting, I always wanted one of those Boppy pillows(they go around your middle for breastfeeding and can be used to help the baby to sit). My mother-in-law got me the MY Breast Friend pillow when Leanna was about three months old as a birthday present. It helped, I thought the back support was actually its best feature, but I always really wanted the Boppy. My BF pillow has velcro which is useful for holding the baby in place if you have to stand up or reach for something, but if the baby falls asleep(as they so often do while nursing) opening that velcro to take the pillow off will wake them up! I found a post comparing the two (asking people to comment on what worked for them) and most people suggest getting both.
I thought this comment was good to know, it has uses for bottle or breastfed babies, and uses besides just feeding. Sounds like a good shower-gift:

I'd try out the My Brest Friend, and get one if you like it, but definitely get a Boppy too. I didn't use the MBF (I wasn't able to breastfeed) but we have two Boppies and we're still using them (baby is 9 months now). I've found so many uses for Boppy, it's easily one of the best purchases I ever made:
- Helps avoid arm fatigue when holding a tiny baby for hours at a time
- Perfect place for little baby to rest when being bottle fed
- Nice cushion for mommy to put her head on when she's playing on the floor with baby
- Props baby up for tummy time, helps her spend more time on her tummy
- Perfect "safety" cushion to place around baby who has just learned to sit on her own, so she can't topple over and bang her head
- Daddy likes it as a neck pillow when he falls asleep sitting on the couch ;-)
Obviously I love the Boppy. I'd definitely recommend springing for the slightly more expensive one with the removable cover. Then when you have a spill or spit-up, you just whip the cover off and launder it. Both of ours have that soft, velvety-feeling zip-on cover and we love them.