ktrayn78

2012-02-02T19:57:00.001-06:00

Thank goodness for my quasi-spiritual experience with the moon yesterday because today was definitely messed up.

From Where I Stand

2012-02-01T19:46:00.000-06:00

Ogling up at the moon while Remy plays with toy trains at my feet - when I woke up this morning I had no idea today would contain such wonder. Thank you, God, for every day!

It's Complicated

2012-02-01T09:19:00.000-06:00

What's Up

2012-01-31T15:01:00.001-06:00

Today is Mamacakes birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom!
Apparently I have not been eating right and getting enough calcium because I ended up in urgent care over the weekend with symptoms of hypocalcemia. Doing better now. Must remember that man can not live on Nutrigrain, coffee and McDonald's alone.
We got our vision insurance info this week which means I am one step closer to getting new glasses.
Things have not been exactly smooth with Early Intervention. My verse of the day on Monday was “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Ephesians 4:2 NIV. All I can say is I am trying.
We re-signed for 7 more months here at the apartment. We haven't had time to look for a place lately and Ross is still gun shy from what happened back in IL so heck, we'll stay put for now. We're happy here and I'd miss my view of the Sheep Range Mountains if we moved!
In some areas Remy is doing better, in others he is doing worse. Or maybe I should say "more differenter." It is not an illness, it is simply another way of being and we want to help make things easier for him but we accept him for who he is.
Can you tell how scared I am? I have to keep reframing things, bringing things back into perspective, or I start to panic a bit. I am not losing him and I will not lose him. He is right here and his development is not going to look like other kids development but everything is going to be fine.

How to Wear Out Your Welcome

2012-01-29T12:20:00.000-06:00

In addition to cleaning up baby poo and cat poo, I am now responsible for this guy's poo. And believe me, he poos A LOT.

Rest

2012-01-29T10:36:00.001-06:00

By the end of a week full of sickness, way-too-early mornings, and various disappointments I was feeling burnt out, so Remy and I took our Sabbath rest a day early. Yesterday we did everything the easy way. I forgave myself if I gave him a toy without prompting for the word. If he gestured for his binky, I gave it to him. I didn't set the timer for mandatory floor play once the whole day. We watched Toy Story three times. Mom and Dad came over and I didn't make them coffee. I didn't do laundry or dishes. Instead, I lied on the couch and Remy, delighted at the sight, came and sat on my stomach.

Thankfully, I feel so much better today. I think Remy feels better too. Today, the actual Sabbath, we are getting back on task - but it is nice to know that we can take a break and the world will keep spinning.

Tory, She of the Great Fuzzy Belly!

2012-01-28T08:44:00.000-06:00

Rollercoaster

2012-01-27T19:19:00.001-06:00

I started this week feeling so positive because of Remy's progress in imaginative play and attempts at naming things but by the end of the week (after his therapist cancelled twice due to illness) I am feeling overwhelmed. We have been trying to take him off the pacifier except in designated spots like his pack-n-play and crib and, while he is vocalizing more, he is also stimming a LOT more and seems much more sensitive to what should be minor distresses like being touched unexpectedly or getting snot on the back of his hand. He is also more intolerant of me trying to engage him and share in his play. Sometimes I cheat and give him his binky but then I wonder if I am being flexible or if I am making things worse. Heck, I think I am being flexible. As his Mom, I know when he has had too much and at the point learning is not happening anyway. Well, his therapist says she will be here Monday, Tuesday and Thursday next week so hopefully she can see what I am talking about and tell me what the heck to do!

Remy's Table

2012-01-27T09:35:00.001-06:00

I got Remy a table and chair set this week. I love everything about it, except that it fell apart the first time I tried to move it. Yeah, the hardware was junk and when I lifted it the bottom completely dropped off, crashing into one of the chairs and knocking off some paint. So I need to go to Home Depot and buy some new hardware, but in the meantime the table top is sitting loose on the base and I lift from the bottom to move it. Remy doesn't mind. He loves the little benches and the roll out storage bin and the table is the perfect height for his vacuum cleaner!

52 Week Challenge, Week 3 and Week 4

2012-01-26T10:36:00.000-06:00

Week 3, An Item I Love. If this one looks familiar it's because last week I was really sick and was too tired exhausted to do the assignment and instead used a picture from last year. It's my great grandmother's coral necklace and I love it.

Week 4, Self Portrait. Sadists. Why does every photography project have to have a self portrait? I hate doing it. I tried to keep this as simple as possible. I took it at 7:30 am, no make-up, hadn't even brushed my hair yet. Found the lightest room in the house, held out the canon with the 50mm (thus the close-up) and snapped a bunch. This was the one that managed to include my whole face (well, except a sliver of chin, but my chin is too big anyway.) Self portrait, done.

Piper and Tory

2012-01-25T18:44:00.001-06:00

My two most intense cats.

Kalanchoe

2012-01-25T09:18:00.000-06:00

Just wanted to give a shout out to the Kalanchoe. It's a popular flowering succulent that does well in arid climates. I got this one at the grocery store for eight bucks and it has been flowering for well over two weeks, I've only had to water it once, and it is doing fine without a lot of sunlight. When it gets warmer outside I will pot it and put it out there and continue to enjoy it!

Snowy Morning on the Sheep Range

2012-01-24T11:55:00.000-06:00

So I finally looked it up, the mountains that my apartment looks out on are called the Sheep Range. How perfect is that? Their highest peak is the Hayford Peak at 9,912 feet above sea level. I wonder if it is possible to see any of the range's namesakes, the desert bighorn sheep, through my telephoto lens!

Remy Update

2012-01-21T15:58:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we met with our service coordinator for the first time. She is going to be coming out once a week to provide "special instruction." I think that means to teach me how to work with Remy to reach our goals. But she is going to teach me by modeling with him, so he will still get a lot of one-on-one time with her. Yesterday she showed me how to push him without getting him to a point where he is too frustrated to learn. She recommends only prompting two or three times for the sign or the sound and then providing the object. She also introduced bubbles to his world and he loved it! She reworked the goals set up by the original service coordinator so now we are working on the starting sounds of his favorite toys (b-uh for ball, t-uh for train etc.) Once he can correctly identify three objects with three different starting sounds, mission accomplished and we formulate a new goal. She also asked me to email pictures representing his routine activities and favorite toys so she could make magnets that can be arranged as a schedule or that he can use to learn to ask for those things. Super excited about doing this!

Since last week we have made a little progress with the sign for "more." He has done it correctly with me a couple of times and I think he did it for her once as well. He still takes a lot of warming up to get to that point but he has definitely made progress. We also think he may officially have a real word (no, for real this time!) He is saying UH! now when he wants to be picked up and when he wants help putting his vacuum on the table (don't ask.) Even though it sounds similar to the noise he makes for letters and numbers it is definitely a command and not a label and he uses it appropriately - for example he doesn't say UH! when he wants to get down or when he wants a toy. He is also starting to make a noise that sounds like down, so we'll see if that is his second word, lol! (Poor Mommy and Daddy, not so good for our egos.)

So here is the official break down of services:

Special Instruction 1x week
BAT Consult 1x month
Instructional Aide 4x week
Speech Therapy 2x month
Team Meeting 1x every 6 weeks

In addition to that we also have the Autism Clinic to go through, which is going to consist of:

Bayley II-Scales of Infant and Toddler Development A one hour thirty minute evaluation that assesses four areas: sensorimotor, emotional and social, communication and language, and cognition.
ADOS-Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule or the Transdisciplinary Play-Based Assessment If the Bayley determines a cognitive level over 15 months he will do the ADOS and if it is below 15 months it will be the play-based option. They are designed to measure communication and social behavior and will also last about an hour and a half.
Comprehensive Medical Evaluation After reviewing all medical records and test results an Early Intervention pediatrician will evaluate him and determine the diagnosis.

So that pretty much sums it up! I will let you know how it goes!

Thursday Morning Sunrise

2012-01-19T21:16:00.000-06:00

Being a mom can be a thankless job at times, but when I get to see a sunrise like this it is like God is putting a tenner in the mommy tip jar or something. Thank you God for turning tedious morning routines into a time for wonder!

Fun from YouTube

2012-01-17T14:56:00.002-06:00

I haven't seen this version of Great Expectations but this excellent fanvid makes me want to! Glad to see Gillian Anderson is just as awesome as ever!

We watched the series finale of Sherlock last night. I can't believe another season is over already, it is the best thing on televsion. Here is a lovely finale inspired fanvid (featuring the long-suffering Molly.) (SPOILERS).

And finally, Remy's favorite. He is madly in love with these little gnomes and their Elton John soundtrack.

Monday Musings

2012-01-16T22:00:00.002-06:00

The baby is sick again so I haven't gotten enough sleep and can not properly compose a thought. But that is not going to stop me from blogging because this blog is not that fancy.
My amazing mama came over today to watch Remy so I could go do the shopping all by myself. It was lovely and I was slooooow.
I am pretty sure I rock because in addition to grocery shopping I somehow also managed to vacuum and sweep, do laundry and dishes, get the mail, spend a bunch of time playing with the buddy, turn on my husband's computer, locate files, and copy them onto my mom's flash drive. And this is a MONDAY.
Ross and I are totally enjoying Downton Abbey on PBS.
On Netflix, Ross is enjoying Flashpoint. Remy is enjoying Gnomeo & Juliet. I am tentatively checking out Portlandia. (Some of it is funny.)
I need to make an appointment for an eye exam. I've needed to for a year but suddenly I feel like if I was wearing glasses with the right prescription somehow it would make everything easier. I plan to fully enjoy this delusion until I get my new glasses and my problems do not magically go away.
I love reminding myself that this is the heart of winter and it is going to get nicer and nicer from here because, honestly, this ain't bad.
Remy is 20 months old. The gap between him and the other kids in his nursery and my online mommy group is showing a lot more now than it did just three months ago. I am so eager to get things really moving with EI. Not in an intense tiger-mom kind of way, just in a help me, I am in over my head kind of way.
My husband just walked in with McDonald's. Peace out, yo.

Sunday Morning Sunrise

2012-01-15T17:57:00.000-06:00

Remy Was Here

2012-01-14T14:55:00.000-06:00

Week 2 of 52 Week Challenge: My Front Door

2012-01-13T16:49:00.002-06:00

Remy Update

2012-01-12T15:38:00.000-06:00

We had our meeting with the nutritionist and the behavioral assessment this morning. The nutritionist said that since Remy has been on the same trajectory with his weight and height for over a year that means he is getting enough calories, and she was satisfied with the size of his meals, but she was concerned that he may have an iron deficiency and recommended testing and a supplement. She also suggested that the reason we haven't been successful transitioning to table food was because a) I was more comfortable with feeding him food I know he likes and b) we were starting him on bland table foods and he is probably more interested in flavorful foods. I think she is right. She recommended taking him to a buffet and letting him try a lot of things to see what he may like. She also recommended less snacking between meals. So that was all very informative.

The behavior assessment which followed was pretty similar to the initial evaluation we did back in November. It was administered by a sweet woman named Tracy who Remy really seemed to like. We did the M-CHAT again (Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers) and he failed again, and she also did a behavioral assessment that has two columns, one with typical behaviors and one with autistic behaviors. He had half and half. So she referred us to what they call the Autistm Clinic which means that we will do two more evaluations (different than the ones we've already done) and if he is still testing in the autistic range we will see a special pediatrician who will go over the results and diagnose him with an autism spectrum disorder, if warranted. This will probably take one to two months.

Meanwhile we will also be doing our in-home therapy. She said our service coordinator will be coming to the house every week, the BAT consultant (behavioral assessment team) will be coming out once a month, and the IA (instructional aide) will be coming four days a week! Sometimes there is a wait before the IA begins coming but we will receive comp time for that wait, (for example since we are doing 4x a week, if it takes a month for the IA to start coming that would equal about 16 additional sessions owed to us.) Of course that is not super appealing when we are already doing 4 days a week and I would rather the sessions just start as soon as possible - like yesterday.

When I brought up ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and Rethink Autism (an internet based subscription services that provides resources and training material for parents and therapists) she said she loves ABA and that starting the Rethink Autism curriculum at home while we wait is a great idea. She said whatever we start working on at home and think works for Remy the therapist will try to implement when they start coming, so no need to wait. Our service coordinator was MIA (a whole other story, grumble-grumble) but Tracy assured us she would talk to her later today and that she would be calling us. (That will be a first. Just saying.)

So that is where everything is at right now. Ross was with me for this visit, which was good because the two of us come at this with our own unique perspectives and attitudes and the more information he can get directly from the mouths of the experts the better we do as a team. Wish me luck as I try to learn how to administer ABA myself and I will keep you posted when things get going with our in-home therapy.

"What is autism exactly?"

2012-01-09T14:01:00.002-06:00

I am continuing to try to learn as much as I can. There are a lot of books out there about autism (almost too many to choose from!) but I picked this book to read next solely because I was so impressed with the care and respect the author showed in his definition of autism:

The word autism is derived from the Greek word autos or "self," as in autonomous. It has been used to describe individuals who appear to be self-contained or who exist in their own little world, an inner realm seemingly set apart from others. These individuals have been clinically characterized as intentionally withdrawn and lacking in social reciprocity due to their communication difficulties or seeming disregard for social norms, as demonstrated through repetitive actions such as repeated hand flapping or infinitely spinning the wheel of a toy truck instead of rolling the truck along on all four tires.
From a physiological perspective, autism is a common neurological anomaly that may preclude the body from properly receiving signals transmitted by the brain, resulting in misfires and disconnects. Thus, people with autism may be unable to speak (or to speak reliably), to move as they would wish, or carry themselves with grace and complete agility. You've experienced autistic-like symptoms if you've ever transposed or stuttered your words unintentionally, or if you've awakened in the middle of the night to discover your arm is "asleep" from the elbow down and cannot be willed by your brain to move of its own accord.
Autism is a unique and different way of being, a natural variation of the human experience. Those who are autistic are often inherently gentle and exquisitely sensitive. They may perceive the world through a multifaceted prism more complicated and interesting than the view of those who are considered "typical." The autistic experience brings many gifts to appreciate and challenges to master...as one attempt to assimilate with the world at large.

-William Stillman, The Autism Answer Book

Saturday's Moon

2012-01-09T13:46:00.001-06:00

Mountain Crest Park in January

2012-01-08T15:12:00.000-06:00

Afternoon Nap

2012-01-07T23:18:00.002-06:00

I'm sorry for posting another sleepy picture, I guess it is hibernation season around here!

Dancing With Max

2012-01-07T15:57:00.002-06:00

Dancing with Max by Emily Colson is the best book I have read so far about parenting an autistic child. It's the first time in reading one of these books that the autistic child felt present in the narrative and not hidden behind the author-parent's fears and insecurities. In the last two books that I read like this the parents seemed either overly apologetic for their child or simply left a hole in the story where the autistic child should be. Emily Colson, though frequently and comically mortified by some of the social blunders of her son, Max, presents him to the world with confidence and pride, faithful that he will be a blessing to others just as he has been a blessing to her. Despite her own relentless efforts, her son was never "cured", but she writes with peace and great joy about their journey together and the spiritual truths that she encounters along the way are ones that would benefit any parent, not just the parent of a special needs child. In this book Ms. Colson managed, without sugar-coating the struggles, to calm some of my fears and make me laugh. I am very glad I read it.

A couple of sweet pictures from Ross

2012-01-06T11:13:00.001-06:00

He took these through the mesh of the pack n play which is why they have that nice hazy look. I should let him handle the camera more often!

Update

2012-01-05T17:51:00.000-06:00

Mom and I took Remy over to the Early Intervention offices yesterday. He had his hearing exam first, he did great. No problem with the ears. Then we had the speech and language evaluation. She told us that she is on the autism evaluation team and that she can already see that Remy is going to fail the autism screening again at 24 months and that he will be diagnosed with autism. But she was pretty impressed with his joint attention (he came and stood in front of her and smiled at her while she sang twinkle twinkle little star, it was so sweet.) She also seemed encouraged that he had started crawling and walking right on schedule, even a little early. She said we are going to qualify for a lot of services and it sounds like there will be multiple people coming out to the apartment on a weekly basis and that we may also be taking Remy in to private clinics for additional therapies. Meanwhile she wants us to focus on nursery rhymes and signing. Can do. We have been assigned a new service coordinator and I got to meet her briefly on our way out. She said she will talk to me more about things when I come in on the 12th to see the nutritionist and the BAT. So that is where things are at with the Remster.

52 Week Photo Challenge, Week 1

2012-01-04T11:19:00.000-06:00

Week 1: A self portrait without me in it. I thought about arranging a still life but that is so time consuming and then I would actually have to stop and think about what I should include and I hate making choices. So instead I decided to just snap a shot of a corner of my world in its natural state. Here is my kitchen desk. (If I have time I may re-shoot this with a tripod so I can get all a bit clearer but I may not have time before the deadline at the end of the week.)

Remy Update

2012-01-02T13:43:00.001-06:00

What a difference a month can make! December was a great month for Remy. He is doing a lot more mimicking (sighing, snoring, dancing), some naming (all letters of the alphabet are met with a confident "EH!"), some imaginative play (especially with his wooden pots and pans) and doing great eye contact and experience sharing (holding our hands and checking for our reactions to things.) His fine motor skills and problem solving skills have improved too, he can now do the tool box puzzle all by himself. Maybe most amazing to me is that he will now grunt and squawk at us when he wants something, which is a huge improvement over a month or so ago when he would remain silent or just whine and stomp around on his own, but not try to communicate to us about it.

The biggest change to what we have been doing was adding flash cards to our play time. I had resisted flash cards because it seemed pointless to me to start drilling him on vocab words or the alphabet when he didn't even know basics like "Mama" or "Remy" but I changed my mind when I read somewhere that children who love books usually love flash cards. Add to that his love of the letters and I wondered why I hadn't realized what a great fit it would be earlier! We started with a set of ABCs and a set of early words from Bright Kids. Unfortunately, they are so flimsy that I had to keep them out of reach most of the time. Then for Christmas Noah and Lauren got him the heavy duty Eric Carle flash cards and they are WONDERFUL! When he is not looking at the pictures or shouting "EH!" at the letters he is stacking them like blocks or sorting them into piles. He brings them to me again and again so that we can go through them together. For some reason it seems like more than all the repetitive labeling we were doing as we played with his toys, it is the cards that have shown him that things have names.

We have a big day coming up this Wednesday. We are going back the Early Intervention offices for a hearing test and a speech and language evaluation. If he fails his hearing test this would provide a very welcome alternative to the autism explanation. I am also really interested to find out how much language he may actually have because it's hard for me to guess, he is so inconsistent with it.

This may all read kind of strangely. It is kind of awkward for me to write it. It's my effort to remain objective - some days I think I am too optimistic and some days I am too pessimistic, so "realistic" is kind of allusive. But I don't feel as stressed as I was. I am really grateful that Remy is happy, healthy, funny, curious, adorable and sweet. All this "developmental" stuff is just kind of a side-bar in our life.

New Years Eve

2011-12-31T09:21:00.002-06:00

Misty Sunrise

2011-12-30T21:31:00.002-06:00

This was the view from the balcony this morning at about 6:15am. Made my 5:50 wake-up a little less painful.

Thinking about 2012

2011-12-30T10:21:00.001-06:00

Shauna Niequist linked to an interesting blog post this morning: Mastering the Art of Living Meaningfully Well by Umair Haque

"What we've got plenty of are wannabe-bankers whose idea of a good life goes about as far as grabbing for the nearest, biggest bonus — what we've got less of are well-rounded people with the courage, wisdom, and capacities to nurture and sustain a society, polity, and economy that blossom."

This made me think of my great-grandfather. He was a successful business man - the vice president of Swift & Co. and the head of the Board of Directors for Libby Canned Food Co.- but he was also an alter boy (altar man?) at his local parish, the vice president of Catholic Charities of Chicago, drove his grand-kids to school every morning, and served as the President of the Chicago Public School System for several years. He was committed to his local church, his family, and the city he lived in and he gave back immeasurably more than he took. Our nation would not be in the position it is in today if there were more men like him directing the goings-on of Big Business and Wall Street.

I am proud of and inspired by my great-grandfather and thinking of him always makes me consider the life I am living. Am I shuffling along, as the blog post says, or am I living courageously? I am not a courageous person, but I am a person of faith, and faith in action is in amazing thing. I want my 2012 to be a year of faith in action. What are some of your hopes for 2012?

Bathtime

2011-12-30T00:04:00.002-06:00

This is a series of pictures I took before Christmas and I already posted one when I was talking about photoshop but I wanted to post the others as well because they make me smile!

2011-12-29T20:12:00.001-06:00

Earthshine

2011-12-27T23:01:00.002-06:00

Earthshine is when sunlight reflected off the Earth's surface dimly illuminates the dark side of the moon and we've been experiencing some really good earthshine lately so I tried to take a picture from Mom's balcony tonight. Unfortunately I only had my 50mm lens with me, not ideal.

And here's the picture I took before I figured out I should probably narrow the aperture a bit! I think this was with the shutter open for about 5 seconds. Almost all of these stars were invisible to the naked eye.

Noisy Visitor

2011-12-27T12:19:00.000-06:00

I let Piper out on to the balcony this morning and a couple of minutes later heard a loud (like really loud!) chirping. Afraid that she was terrorizing the birds that like to come and eat the berries off the trees out there I went to check. Nope, Piper was lying on a chair cushion, minding her own business, and this brave little guy was on top of the tree just a few feet away telling her to get lost! He wasn't bothered by me either, even when I pointed my big telephoto lens at him!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-26T10:50:00.000-06:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas. Our first Christmas in Vegas! Last year I would never have imagined that we would be able to do Christmas in Vegas and still be with family. We are so blessed that Aunt Melody and gang included us in the Christmas Eve and Mom and Dad were with us on Christmas! (The eve of Christmas Eve was pretty great too, but that will have to wait for another post.) And Ross has the week off so the merriment continues!

Photoshop cont.

2011-12-22T16:20:00.000-06:00

Ok, here is a more dramatic example of action magic because the photo was taken by me instead of a professional. I took this last night while Rem was in the bath. Thought it was a super cute face but didn't know what to do about the awful white balance and exposure. Applied Whiten Brighten, Cream, Gentle Eye Sparkle (for the bubbles), Studio Pop and a little of The Eyes Have It. Love it!

Photoshop and Nostalgia

2011-12-22T14:20:00.000-06:00

I bought some new Pure actions for Photoshop yesterday. It is the first time I've ever paid for actions but they were just so stinking awesome and they are on sale through the 31st so I just kinda had to. Many of the actions in the pack are designed for studio photography, which I don't do, but I had fun applying them to one of Remy's 1 year birthday pictures taken by the very talented Amy Mildren. She is fabulous and gave me professionally edited pictures but, knowing that photography was becoming a hobby for me, was sweet enough to give me the originals to play around with.

So above are the before and after. Nothing too dramatic but very pretty. As usual as soon as I was done I wondered what Steph would do differently. Editing is such a subjective art. Well, I guess most art is subjective, isn't it? And lets not forget the very talented model. Brilliant cake smashing, little buddy!

Between working on this picture and exploring Facebook's new timeline feature yesterday I am feeling pretty nostalgic for Remy's baby days! Seriously, he is going to be 20 months old in January! How did this happen? It is fun and exciting to watch him growing up, but I hope there will be another baby in our future some day.

2011-12-21T11:39:00.000-06:00

My fabulous Aunt Billi painted this!

Wishing my family back in Illinois (and elsewhere) a very Merry Christmas! We love them and miss them.

What's Up

2011-12-19T22:03:00.001-06:00

My mom and I attempted to bake today with mixed results. We did manage to get one good batch of fudge for our sweat and tears. Tomorrow we will try again. Here are some cute pics of Remy I took over the weekend. Yesterday was a Sunday but we stayed home from church because, as much as I love our church and wanted to see Ross playing, I couldn't risk Remy picking up another virus when he still hasn't completely gotten over the last one. No sore throat and runny nose this Christmas, if we can help it!

BEHOLD!

2011-12-16T14:37:00.000-06:00

Out of the blue, Remy unleashed his artistic brilliance on us this week. In 19 months he has never shown any interest in crayons or coloring and suddenly, two days ago, when I put paper and crayons in front of him and he picked up a crayon as if he had done in a million times. He has colored five pages like this. I am super proud and am displaying them above my desk in the kitchen.

Reasons Today Has Been Awesome:

My OB/GYN called me a youngster.
My mom washed all of my dishes.
Remy and I had lunch with Mom and Dad at Buffalo Wild Wings (once favorite restaurant of Mr. Malachy Stanger) and it was salty and fatty and delicious.
My mom complemented me on the way my apartment smells. My apartment with a trash can full of dirty diapers and housing four cats and three litter boxes!
I remembered I have a coupon for $15 dollars off a $30 purchase at Walgreens. Now I get to figure out what fun, kitschy drugstore stuff I wan to buy!

Hope y'all are having an excellent Friday!

Stockings are Hung

2011-12-15T16:40:00.003-06:00

2011-12-15T11:33:00.001-06:00

Glory to God in the highest heaven,

and peace on earth to those with whom he is pleased.

Journal

2011-12-14T17:25:00.000-06:00

Happy to report that I have started journaling again (btw, spell check doesn't recognize the word journaling, nor does it recognize journalizing - which is the way Thoreau, the king of journals, wrote it - so I don't care what spell check thinks). I started keeping a prayer journal in high school because I was new to praying and it was less weird talking to someone I couldn't see if I could do it in the form of a letter. Then, after I started painting, my prayer journal morphed into a stream-of-conscious diary where the only rule was to try to fill one page back and front each day in order to prevent an artistic block. It sounds silly but it worked because I think I painted about 70 paintings that year. And I discovered at the same time that journaling (journalizing) was also helpful for relieving the angst of being a 25 year old college dropout with a recently diagnosed chronic pain condition. So journaling is basically a pathway to God, a magic unblocker of creativity, and mighty cheap therapy.

Here I am at the tail end of 2011, forced to put off having a second child while I work out health issues and going through some rather sobering things with Remy, and I find myself craving that one page, front and back, once more.

If you are feeling angsty - or just creatively blocked - I highly recommend a journal. If you are a blogger you might think that counts...it doesn't! A journal doesn't care about your grammar, it doesn't care if you have said the same thing a hundred times, it doesn't care if you are boring, confessional, opinionated, juvenile, or sad. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, you can use shimmery, Christmas scented gel pens in your journal.

Don't worry blog, you are still my favorite place to post digital photos of my baby, my cats, and my mountain!

Jojo

2011-12-13T09:25:00.004-06:00

For a cat who loves boxes, this really could be the most wonderful time of year.

monday snow

2011-12-12T16:25:00.000-06:00

Getting Strong Now!

2011-12-12T12:43:00.000-06:00

He still has a snotty nose and a cough, but I think we are through the worst of it! *knock on wood*

This Poor Kid!

2011-12-09T10:54:00.001-06:00

You know my sleepy pictures from Tuesday? Well, I should have known that the sweet, cuddly sleepyness was a prelude to something a bit less fun. The curse of the church nursery has struck again. It seems like AT LEAST half the time we put Remy in the nursery by the next Wednesday he is in the full throes of something nasty. You can't see it in the picture but his shirt is soaked nearly to his belly button with snot and drool. There has been puking, there has been pooing, there has been violent hacking, and there have been a string of very sleepless nights. Please Santa, bring a big strong immune system for my little buddy! (...and a better haircut?)

Blazing Trees

2011-12-08T18:44:00.001-06:00

Beautiful day here in Vegas. I want to savor these glorious colors before they are gone! I think the boys, on the other hand, just want to play a little football before the sun goes down.

What I am Reading

2011-12-08T13:56:00.001-06:00

Raising a Sensory Smart Child by Lindsey Biel and Nancy Peske.This is a really useful book with a lot of good information. Sensory integration is a complicated issue with very nuanced implications and so this book has limited usefulness to parents without professional expert input, but it sets the groundwork for a new way of seeing unusual delays and behaviors in your child, and provides an easy to understand reference once therapy begins, along with tried and tested tips and advice for all sorts of challenging scenarios.

Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet. This is a book I'd been meaning to read since long before we found out Remy may have autism. It is the memoir of an autistic savant who grew up in a poor family in England and how he overcame his isolation and anxiety to find love, start a successful language tutoring website, and travel the world to speak on behalf of those with autism. It is a story of hope, but is also a fascinating look into a different kind of mind. It kind of plays a trick on you though, you go into it thinking how different he is, how unusual his way of seeing things, but by the end of the book you feel convinced that he is not so different from anyone else. Considering his remarkable intelligence it is a credit to his humility and his simple, heart-felt prose that this is even possible.

Following Ezra by Tom Fields-Meyer. This is a book of essays by the father of an autistic boy. It is a quiet book, gentle in its hope, subdued in its lamenting. There are laughs but it is mostly a book of father puzzling out meaning from day-to-day life as the father of a special little boy. He describes the courage he felt when the journey started and how he took umbrage with a well-meaning therapist for suggesting that he and his wife grieve for their son, but whether he realizes it or not, this is a book peppered with grief. I think it may be a cathartic read for parents with a special needs child and it is better written then any of the other books I have encountered on the subject.

The Kid-Friendly ADHD & Autism Cookbook by Pamela J. Compart and Dana Laske. I am not sure about this yet but it is on standby if we need it. Our pediatrician seemed completely dismissive of the idea that Remy may have a food intolerance but we are going to be talking to a nutritionist next month and so I will let you know what he/she thinks. The book itself makes a compelling case for the impact of diet on cognition and behavior in some children

2011-12-06T14:15:00.001-06:00

New camera

+ sleepy, slow moving target

= lots of fun for mama!

Remy Update

2011-12-05T16:46:00.001-06:00

It's been one week since Remy failed his autism screening. This looms huge in my mind but I don't know how to talk about it. When I try to talk about it with Ross he cuts me off and says he doesn't want to "get ahead of things." I am talking about something that happened a week ago - how am I "ahead" of anything? ***grumble, grumble.*** To be fair though, I have danced with denial myself ever since I first read that description of autism in toddlers back in October so I understand how he feels. I just wish there was some way we could synchronize our phases of denial and our phases of stark realism so that it wasn't so lonely.

And denial can be counterproductive. Urgency is sort of the name of the game with autism these days. They are screening earlier and earlier in their attempts to make the best possible progress against the disorder. This means that many of the little ones who are diagnosed will go on to have their diagnosis reversed. I am so glad that someone told me this, it is a beacon of hope. But it doesn't change the fact that we have to respond with the utmost seriousness to what the EI team is telling us. We can't afford to keep waiting and hoping for some miraculous catch-up that doesn't happen.

Remy is about the same but he continues to get better at please and pointing. This week I am filling out a packet and faxing it over to Tuoro University where they are going to do neuropsych testing, probably some time in February or March. I am reading more about food intolerances and how they can affect development. Still waiting to hear from the therapist who is going to be doing our home visits. I have to buy a binder soon since all of the reports and forms are starting to overflow Remy's medical folder. It's all a little surreal. Anyway, that is where I am at today.

Early Christmas

2011-12-04T01:12:00.001-06:00

Santa came early for Ross and me. I let him pick out his present - two bb guns (just one pictured because the second one that arrived may not be what he ordered. It looks like a robot assasin's gun from a bad scifi. I HOPE it's not the one he ordered.)

I love how sane he is trying to look in the third picture. Dude, you ordered bb guns for Christmas, you can't fool us! ;P

...And he let me pick out my present, a Canon Rebel T3. It came two days ago. I love it. I actually thought about taking it to the grocery store yesterday because I didn't want to put it down. Since I can't take a picture of my camera, here's a picture I took with my camera.

Fall Colors

2011-12-02T10:44:00.001-06:00

See, we do have seasons, they just come on a slightly different schedule!

How Do They Do It?

2011-11-30T16:58:00.001-06:00

After trying to set up a Christmas shot with Remy for our cards this year I have a whole new respect for portrait photographers. I waited too long and didn't have enough light, Remy wasn't interested in my props, I didn't get far enough away from the subject, he had a tendency to charge the camera whenever I tried to get him to look at me, and I couldn't keep the binky out of his mouth. The fact that these are my best two shots says it all, lol!

Well, I tried...

2011-11-29T22:54:00.001-06:00

Everyone has been posting beautiful pictures of their trees so I decided today I would straighten up the ornaments, replace some of the candy cane Remy has broken, hang some ribbon and take some decent pictures. It's trickier than I thought it would be! Right now I only have the telephoto lens and the 50 mm for my DSLR and so I didn't get far enough back to get the entire tree in the picture. Then I switched to my trusty old point and shoot and got photographs that looked like old xerox copies of bad photos. But I did catch a mischievous little elf in one of the pictures, he is loving the Christmas tree!

Remy Update

2011-11-29T10:59:00.001-06:00

We had our evaluation at the local Early Intervention office yesterday. The good news is that Remy qualifies for a lot of assistance, the bad news is that Remy is showing many delays and failed his autism screening. Ross, Remy and I met in a large playroom with two very nice ladies, a PDC and a DSIII, and they simultaneously worked through thick evaluation packets over the course of the two hour evaluation. It was grueling and increasingly sad as it went on. Before it was even over the DSIII told us that he had qualified. He is testing in the 9 month range for communication skills. His emotional/social was a little better but she said had large weak areas like eye-contact and affection. He is normal-to-advanced in the gross motor skills but lagging in the fine motor skills. A SI/DS (special instruction/developmental specialist?) is going to come twice a month to our home and we have appointments in early January with the speech pathologist, the BAT (for the autism concerns), the nutritionist because of his picky eating and low weight, and the audiologist for a hearing exam. They would also like us to get his vision checked out. Our homework is to wean him off the binky (we'll see about that!), work on animal and other fun noises, and teach him to point outside and say out when he wants to go on the balcony or to get the mail. I feel overwhelmed, but I am so glad I have help now and that I have a plan!

Sunday Evening Sunset

2011-11-27T21:37:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving at Mommo and Poppo's

2011-11-25T15:50:00.001-06:00

Thankful!

2011-11-23T14:36:00.000-06:00

Sunset in November

I am thankful for my mountain! No matter what kind of day I am having I can look up and see a reminder of just how fleeting my worries and troubles really are!
I am thankful to have my parents here! They answered the question, how can living in Las Vegas be any more awesome?
I am thankful for my wonderful husband - calm, kind, gentle, funny, sweet, talented and a wonderful father.
I am thankful for my church, a church that preaches grace and inclusion, a church I can be proud to raise my son in.
I am thankful for a God whose mercies are new each morning. Thank you for walking with me each and every day!
I am thankful for friends new and old and for the wonderful mamas I have met online.
I am thankful for my physical and mental health. Anyone who has those two things is rich indeed.
I am thankful for being included in the Bates family reunion in Hawaii. It was truly a once in a life time kind of event and I will never forget it!
I am thankful that my sister is coming to Vegas in a few months, I miss her!
And, because I guess I am a material girl, I am thankful for my laptop, my camera, my nook, kona coffee, Flowerbomb perfume, and Reef sandals!

It's Up!

2011-11-22T19:51:00.001-06:00

Cats

2011-11-21T18:22:00.001-06:00

Between my four and mom's two we have lots of photogenic cats around! Here are some recent pictures.

Piper

Jojo

Powder

Angel

Red Rock in November

2011-11-17T12:53:00.001-06:00

We decided to go to Red Rock Canyon yesterday afternoon. After stopping at the outskirts of Summerlin for donuts and coffee we made our way to the park just in time for a beautiful sunset. It was a little chilly (50s and breezy) so we spent most of our time in the car driving the scenic loop. No matter how many times I have seen it, it still amazes me!

Kid's Music that Won't Drive You Bonkers

2011-11-16T12:26:00.001-06:00

We have put Remy on a TV diet and that has given us more time to listen to music. Of course we listen to Backyardigans, his all time favorite, but when I get tired of the cartoon music I love to put on more mellow stuff like It's A Big World by Renee & Jeremy.

Equally chill and lovely are Station Wagon by Sara Groves...

and Sing-a-longs and Lullabies by Jack Johnson.

I'm on the hunt for more good music and would love to hear what kind of kid friendly music you enjoy!

Rug Rat

2011-11-14T17:27:00.001-06:00

What's Up

2011-11-11T14:43:00.001-06:00

My sister Stephanie and our super-friend Crystal are coming out to Vegas for the wedding photography convention in February. Oh my goodness, is it February yet? How about now?
We are still waiting on our Early Intervention evaluation at the end of the month, but I am feeling much less fearful, thank you Lord! Remy has started pointing and using a couple of words. It's very tentative at this point, but it is happening and that is good, good, good!
Our TV ban turned into a TV diet. I just don't know how to keep him busy while I cook and clean without the TV and he does seem to learn from some programs so I don't think it is too bad for him. Cutting back on TV though has created a lot more time for the two of us to interact during the day and I think that is a huge factor in his recent breakthroughs.
I am late to this Spotify thing and I am loving it. It is especially useful since I have this new laptop and I haven't transferred all my music over yet (and the music I did transfer somehow got duplicated in iTunes and I am too lazy to go in and clean it up!) It's like having a massive music library on your computer without using up space on your hard drive. More room for photos, lol!
I am so grateful for Ross's camera and the photoshop. I haven't painted in ages, but the photography helps me get my creative fix. I feel weird if a day goes by and I haven't taken a picture.
I miss my husband! He has been working late a lot and he is playing at church for all four services this weekend so I won't be seeing much of him. I wish it was our anniversary this month so that we would have an excuse to get away for a couple of days!
Our friends Bri and Chunko brought Remy a remote control car as a present today! He loves it, it blows his mind that you don't have to push the car to make it move. That doesn't stop him from trying though. :)
The jeans I bought last year after having Remy are too big now and Gap is having a sale so I ordered a new, smaller pair of long and leans yesterday. (((happy dance))) Weirdly though, I haven't actually lost any weight. I guess the fat just moved from my waist to my arms and my chin. Ah, well.
Mom and Dad and I are going to the Bellagio this afternoon to see how they have the garden decked out for fall. Hopefully I will get to take some pictures!

Goodnight Moon

2011-11-09T20:17:00.000-06:00

Getting Remy in his jammies tonight and saw this moon through his bedroom window. There is something arresting about looking up and seeing the full moon, like you are catching the universe's eye for a moment.

Lazy Monday

2011-11-07T18:45:00.000-06:00

What Remy did with his extra hour...

2011-11-06T15:18:00.000-06:00

Actually this was just a few minutes of his extra hour. He also spent a good chunk of time pulling off his socks and tossing things over the baby gate. I can't wait for the day when he will use his extra hour for sleep like any sane human being!

Good Morning!

2011-11-05T10:38:00.006-05:00

Have I mentioned lately how much I love living here? When you can step out on your balcony and see the mountains and that big desert sky your problems just don't seem so intimidating. Super-glad the weekend is here. Ross worked late a lot this week and I missed him! Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

First Snow

2011-11-04T20:05:00.001-05:00

It snowed on Mt. Charleston a few weeks ago but today my mountain got its first snow. The day started beautifully, it was 65 and sunny as I was drove home from our playdate this morning, but by the time Remy woke up from his nap it was chilly and rainy and the mountain was completely obscured. When the rain cleared, this was the view from the balcony. It makes me want to get out the Christmas decorations!

Bath Time

2011-11-04T17:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Reunion

2011-11-02T13:56:00.000-05:00

The long lost purple circle block has been found. Someone, go get the fatted calf. Remy is making up for lost time. The other blocks are grumbling.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T11:55:00.001-05:00

Got Yogurt?

2011-10-28T15:31:00.000-05:00

Recommend!

2011-10-27T17:11:00.000-05:00

I bought ten of these (two five packs) and they are wonderful for organizing toys! We are trying to work with Remy on asking for help, making choices, and focusing on one task at a time so being able to keep him from dumping all of his toys out on the floor in five minutes and then bouncing frantically from one to another is key. These bags are good quality and a perfect size. They have strong "zippers," sturdy handles, and a section for labeling contents. This is also going to be great for keeping toys with little pieces togehter (animals with the arc, school kids with the bus, etc.) I don't know if they are available at Walmart and Target but I found these on amazon for $6.99 a pack and I think they are gonna earn their keep!

...Oh my goodness, I am back to update this post because I just had a TERRIBLE thought! What if he puts one of these bags on his HEAD? Crap. Why is parenting so dang hard?

Happy Boy

2011-10-27T13:20:00.000-05:00

Well Said

2011-10-26T16:24:00.003-05:00

I read this wonderful F. B. Meyer quote in One Thousand Gifts:

I used to think that God's gifts were on shelves one above the other, and that the taller we grew in Christian character the easier we should reach them. I find now that God's gifts are on shelves one beneath the other, and that it is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower, and that we have to go down, always down, to get His best gifts.

(If you are like me and had never heard of F. B. Meyer before, here is his wikipage!)

Some Good Ol' After-Dinner Mischief

2011-10-26T11:00:00.002-05:00

If he wasn't so darn cute in those overalls it migh have occurred to me to stop him!

That is green beans all over his face...and his shirt...and his overalls!

I think they call this a path of destruction.

YES!

2011-10-25T17:14:00.001-05:00

I read this in One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp this morning and it has been my prayer today:

"For no matter how many promises God has made, they are 'Yes' in Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:20 NIV).

Yes in Christ!
To the Enfleshed Yes who said yes to this moment and yes to last year's illness and yes to the cracks of my childhood and yes to the nail and yes to my name in the Book of Life, hear me say YES! Not "I'm worried." Not "I'm stressed out." Not "I'm anxious." Not "I'm too afraid." Hear me say thank you. Hear me say YES!

Keep on Truckin'

2011-10-24T16:29:00.000-05:00

Mr Remy Remington is a huge fan of trucks. And now that we have removed television from his daily life he has even MORE time for trucks! This one is his favorite and it is brilliant. It is by Fisher-Price and it is a large, hollow firetruck with a removable "ladder" that serves not only as a lid but as a building surface for the stackable blocks that the truck came with. There is also a cute little driver and a fire hydrant. Oh, and in addition to the big all-purpose hole on the top, it also has three slots along the sides - circle, square and octagon - for sorting the three different shaped building blocks! I am learning that this type of dynamic toy is great for helping Remy move from something that he has mastered into the areas that he needs more work - cooperative play, imaginative play, etc.

We are pretty worried about him lately. Not only does he not have any words, but he doesn't seem to know his name, he doesn't seem to understand pointing or verbal commands, he has lost the ability to clap, he doesn't make any animal noises, we have not been able to teach him any sign language beyond "all done" which he learned quite a while ago, and he engages in a lot of senseless physical activity like arm flapping, jumping in place, walking in circles etc. From what I am reading it seems clear that he has some kind of sensory processing disorder and it is possible that he may eventually be diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. This has been an overwhelming realization, but one that when I look in his face doesn't seem quite so daunting. He is still the same intent, happy, beautiful baby he has always been.

Goodbye to Summer

2011-10-24T12:04:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it was just last month that we were on vacation. Now the leaves have finally started to fall here in Las Vegas and the weathermen are warning us of dropping temperatures and increasing winds. It was kind enough to linger, but our second summer in Las Vegas really is coming to an end. So thankful for all the wonderful experiences we've had - Bonnie Springs, Mount Charleston, Springs Preserve, Hawaii, Mom and Dad's move, Remy growing from a stumbler to a runner - it was a magical summer.

Cause it's Purdy

2011-10-22T16:55:00.000-05:00

Better

2011-10-22T12:26:00.000-05:00

When your sick little baby is feeling better the sunrise is more lovely, the butter more buttery, the flowers more vibrant.

What's Up

2011-10-21T13:01:00.000-05:00

I played around with the telephoto lens again yesterday. I took that flower picture using the macro setting. It's a fun feature, but kind of unwieldy because you can't get in close like you can using the macro setting on my point and shoot and there is just not a lot of space for setting up your shot out on the balcony.
Remy is on day three of his antibiotics and is doing so much better this morning. He still has the cough and the runny nose but is 10x happier than he was yesterday and the day before. Thank God for antibiotics!
Remy and I have missed out on a lot of fun times over the last few weeks so we have some serious making up to do soon! Hopefully we'll have a playdate with a couple of our favorite Las Vegans and the King's Faire at Canyon Ridge next week.
Also next week I meet with the endocrinologist. Last time he told me to hold off on trying to get pregnant because one of my numbers was still outside of the normal range. This seriously messed up my plans and pissed me off. This Thursday we are meeting to see if that one number is back in the magical "okay" range, but I find I am kind of ambivalent about the whole dang thing right now.
We have an appointment with Early Intervention next month to get Remy evaluated. He has missed many of his developmental milestones so we are hoping he will qualify for some in-home therapy to help him where he is struggling. To say that I am worried would be a bit of an understatement but, you know, I gotta keep my cool here on the blog. I will surely be writing about this more in the future.
I bought some stuff! Yesterday I ordered a retractable brush for cleaning my camera lens, a stainless steel nob for my dutch oven so that I can put it in the stove without destroying the nob, and a set of 5 envirosacks in the beautiful, Japanese-inspired "Origami" line.
Another item I am eagerly awaiting in the mail is the Teach Me To Talk DVD that I ordered from Teachmetotalk.com. In the DVD a pediatric speech-language pathologist shows you effective ways to interact with and teach a child with speech delays. I'm gonna watch it, then I'm gonna make Ross watch it, then I'm gonna ask Mommo and Poppo to watch it!

From the Balcony

2011-10-19T13:49:00.002-05:00

The weather has been gorgeous here this week and Remy and I love going out on the balcony! When we are out there though I have to keep on him about being gentle with the plants, leaving the dirt alone, and not throwing things off the balcony. It's hard being a toddler sometimes, but fortunately he does have his rocks and his watering can to play with when Mommy is being a killjoy.

2011-10-17T21:44:00.000-05:00

I am grumpy and sick and don't feel like blogging, but since it would be selfish and wrong to withhold this awesomeness from the world...behold!

Watching TV

2011-10-14T10:35:00.000-05:00

When I am old and senile and I look back at Remy's baby photos I may have to conclude that all he did was watch TV! It's true, he watches a lot of TV. But he does other things too! ...It's just that they don't photograph as well. It seems like the only time he stops pushing his truck, or making weird faces, or hopping up and down long enough for me to get an in-focus picture is when something on TV catches his attention. So I have hundreds of pictures of him looking at the television. Oh well, at least he is a beautiful TV watcher.

(Okay, so I just scrolled through the pictures I have posted lately, and I was relieved to see that I have some decent ones of him NOT watching TV.)

Poor Baby

2011-10-12T17:49:00.000-05:00

Oh my word, folks! Remy is still sick. I tried to take him out yesterday for a couple of little errands - the post office and target - and he had a full-on meltdown. Thank goodness I had Mama there for support! So we are staying in once again today. He usually has a few good hours a day, generally right after he wakes up in the morning and after his nap, and he runs around getting in as much playing as he can during those brief hours. Then he slips back into bewildered tears and sniffles. :(

Meanwhile I am playing around with photoshop actions. They mesmerize me. Here are some free ones I downloaded yesterday from My Four Hens (thanks Steph [btw, couldn't find the one you were talking about.])

NOT a Chicken

2011-10-10T11:23:00.001-05:00

One thing you may not know about Piper is that she is always on the lookout for a good game of chicken. She is pretty sure she rocks at it. I'll concede at least that she has nerves of steel. You could throw that ball at her and she wouldn't flinch...she would just try to stare it into submission until it hit her in the face. Then she would give a quick, indignant hiss, move a foot away and act like she had won. She also employs this method with Remy. It's amazing to see a snot-nosed, sticky-fingered toddler barreling at a cat and the cat staring him down without batting an eye. The wisdom of her tactics (or tactic, it's pretty straightforward) is sometimes questionable (I can't count the number of times I have stepped on her not realizing that we were engaged in a game of chicken) but her persistence is remarkable.

By the way, I did not throw that ball at her face. But Remy might have.

What's Up

2011-10-09T10:55:00.000-05:00

Remy is still sick but he is more cheerful so I think he is feeling better than he was.
Poppo and Ross are also not feeling too hot. Something is definitely going around.
Yesterday I went over to Mommo and Poppo's place to watch ND kick some butt. It was such a gorgeous day that after the game we drove down to the Town Square mall to walk around.
At said mall I bought some pricey blush. It is my reward for being such a good nurse this week.
I read The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern this week. It reminded me so much of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell that I kept expecting footnotes. It was good! Nice love story, interesting characters, good prose, and the lovely circus itself. If you don't mind a little fantasy in your fiction you will like it.
The season finale of Doctor Who was last Saturday. Apparently some people didn't like it. Hrmph. I thought it was great. Visually it was gorgeous. And there was a wedding, so it was kind of romantic. Matt Smith and Alex Kingston are brilliant together and I love seeing a woman over 30 as a recurring character. Personally, I don't miss David Tenant or R.T. Davis one little bit. I still miss Rose though... (((sad sigh)))
Still playing around with the telephoto lens. Here are some pictures from early-sunset on Friday.

Zooming...

SUPER zooming!

From the Balcony...

2011-10-07T14:32:00.000-05:00

More weather! I love the big puffy clouds and the rain that falls far enough away that it only enhances the view. I also love that we are finally out of the triple digit highs.

I took the above photos using Ross's snazzy telephoto lens. I feel like I could explore the mountains for hours using that lens. I am hoping to buy a tripod in the next month or so that I can get crisper, clearer shots with it.

Sick Baby

2011-10-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

If I had to characterize this week in just one word that word would be snot. Rivers of snot. My hands are always damp and I am so exhausted that I struggle to remember if they are wet because I just washed snot off of them or just touched something snotty. It's been a lot of fun. But look at this little buddy, doesn't he melt your heart?

Job Perk

2011-10-04T10:01:00.000-05:00

I think there was about a decade of my life when I only saw sunrises once or twice a year. One of the blessings of motherhood is that now I get to see them whenever I want. You give up some things to be a mother, but you get so much more back.

New Shoes

2011-10-03T17:45:00.000-05:00

Our Most Distinguished Cat

2011-10-02T21:36:00.000-05:00

What makes a cat distinguished? Well, a haughty expression is a good start. Add to that the ability to remove keyboard keys with one's tongue, a talent for fetch, and a stubborn streak a mile wide.

Old Keyboard

2011-10-02T11:06:00.001-05:00

One of the best things about replacing my laptop is that I don't have to use an external keyboard anymore! Piper had destroyed my old laptop's keyboard (first licking off numerous keys and then puking into it until half of it shorted out.) Before putting the keyboard (the good one, not the pukey one) into storage yesterday I let Remy have a go at it. He loved it!

(I'm also trying to transition from picnik for my photo editing to photoshop so please excuse my trials and errors!)

Dad's Birthday

2011-09-29T13:44:00.000-05:00

It was Dad's birthday yesterday and we celebrated with sauerkraut and sausage (slow cooker recipe below), a delicious layered cake (awesome job, Mom!), swimming with the little buddy, and some things to restock Dad's wardrobe since he and Mom had to pack light for the move. He is a great dad, and a great poppo to his grandkids! I pray this year has a lot of wonderful blessings in store for him!

*******

Super-easy Slow Cooker Sauerkraut & Sausage

(originally posted by grannycancook at allrecipes.com)

1 (20 ounce) can sauerkraut
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds sausage
1 onion, sliced

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the sauerkraut and brown sugar. then place in slow cooker. Arrange the sausage and onion over the sauerkraut. Cook on high for two hours, check for dryness, adding some water if necessary, then reduce to low setting, and cook on low for two more hours. (I put a layer of sauerkraut over the sausage because I heard it can dry out.)