Secular Confessions

[3andMe]

How come everyone can see the picture of Travis with his glasses except for me? I wish I could see how cute he looks!

Kate, if Josh's pain is that frequent and it doesn't seem to be going away and you can't correlate it with anything and you aren't giving him too much positive feedback for it, I would take him in to the doctor. I know that most of the time it's usually nothing worrisome, but you might want to be sure. Claire's is getting to be very debilitating, and it's stopping her from sometimes playing and eating desserts, two of her favorite activities. It drops her to the floor and she starts crying. Our doctor, who does not tend to make too much of a fuss about stuff, will recommend tests if it continues. She already had a urinalysis. Next he's going to check for pancreatitis.

I don't get offended by any language, usually. I get offended by other things, but even then I usually am willing to give the benefit of the doubt in most cases.

S. was better today. On the off chance that he was just having issues due to not eating for several days, and may be cranky and hypoglycemic, I totally overfed him. I gave him more food, more often and sooner than I usually do. I also gave him more of things he loves, like sunflower seeds, that I normally limit. He completely pigged out. I also did not get him into situations where I would have to say no to him, so I don't really know if it helped or not, but he remained cheerful and eating most of the day.

Tomorrow I have to take Ro in for a surgical consult. He's got a gigantic set of balls, unfortunately due to a communicating hernia, and it's been getting worse over the last four months. This is new since he turned four. Even though I know rationally it's a really simple surgery, I can't help but think of all of the worst-case scenarios. I'm sure I'll be a wreck the day of the surgery, but I'll do my best to hide it.

[Gwenn]

Good luck to Ro! I'm sure the reason for the surgery will be something he can brag about to his friends later on.

I'm glad Baby S was better today. Hungry and cranky can definitely do it, if that was the reason for his behavior issues. Poor little guy.

[daylilies]

I have taken him in to the doctor, a while ago. They didn't find anything. I used to think it was just because he didn't want to go to bed, because he would only tell me something hurt at night. Then he started telling me during the day, at random times (not just when I'm trying to get him to do something he doesn't want to do)

[missychrissy]

L. It won't be easy for you at all. I'm sure it will be worse on you than him really.

I've gotten a terrible head cold. Boo.

[Bridget]

Morning, ladies! I was up all night. Sawyer filled his diaper 3 times so i had to change him. Clearly he had a tummy ache. He was up off and on until 5am and then I just gave up and got up. YAWN. Coffee ain't gonna cut it today!!

Savana got up this morning and said, "Mom? When are we going to go back to talk to that lady who wore a shirt that looked like she killed a wild animal?"
LMAO! Took me a second to realize that her therapist had been wearing a leopard print shirt.

[MashedUp]

Morning, ladies! I was up all night. Sawyer filled his diaper 3 times so i had to change him. Clearly he had a tummy ache. He was up off and on until 5am and then I just gave up and got up. YAWN. Coffee ain't gonna cut it today!!

Savana got up this morning and said, "Mom? When are we going to go back to talk to that lady who wore a shirt that looked like she killed a wild animal?"
LMAO! Took me a second to realize that her therapist had been wearing a leopard print shirt.

OMG Bridget, I am laughing my a$$ off over here! Savana is so hysterical!

[missychrissy]

Savana got up this morning and said, "Mom? When are we going to go back to talk to that lady who wore a shirt that looked like she killed a wild animal?"
LMAO! Took me a second to realize that her therapist had been wearing a leopard print shirt.

That's hilarious!

[Cosmosmom]

LOL at Savana!

L...I always think that surgery is so much harder on the people waiting than the people receiving it.

Looks like we might try to refinance the house with the tax return so not sure about getting an invisible fence now. Suppose it depends on the cost. And if I can stop shopping. Though I did find a great deal on a new pack n play so I am ordering that...between the sale and my gift certificates, I am getting it for $47. And DH agreed that it looks ok. He's picky about how stuff looks and didn't want one sitting in the living room that totally clashed color wise and we are keeping things gender neutral.

Got Poogie scheduled for her spay March 8th. Definitely do NOT want to deal with a doggie in heat and doggie diapers plus my sisters dog that she found on the street isn't fixed nor is my MIL's dog. Not sure if sister is going to get him fixed but I know MIL will not as he's 13 yrs old and on his last leg anyway.

[Suja]

Savana is too funny!

Mira turns two today. I had wanted to put her in something special, and had picked something out, but she chose her own outfit today. How is it that this little pink thing is related to me?

[missychrissy]

She's adorable!!! Happy birthday to the precious babe!

[girlwonder]

Happy birthday!!! I love that cite Naaetjie outfit- so addicted to them right now!

[AmeriBrit]

Happy birthday, Mira! She is so cute! Pink is my favourite color.

Bridget, that is really funny about the animal print shirt.

L, I'm so sorry R has to have surgery.

I need to go find something to make for our supper. I hate cooking. I wish I enjoyed it.

[AmeriBrit]

Happy birthday, Mira! She is so cute! Pink is my favourite color.

Bridget, that is really funny about the animal print shirt.

L, I'm so sorry R has to have surgery.

I need to go find something to make for our supper. I hate cooking. I wish I enjoyed it.

[raspberry]

Happy Birthday Mira!!

Ashley I hate to cook too, and it happens every day sigh. My problem is I get into a rut and cook the same things all the time. Then when I try something new, I spend all the time preparing and cooking, and then I don't like it. Tonight I am trying taco soup, wish me luck.

Savana is so funny lol.

Tomorrow G and I are going to work with daddy, he works at a museum in the Everglades. We will be doing a walking tour of the glades. We did it last year and we loved it. I was really proud of myself, because while I love the outdoors I am terrified of snakes, so I try to avoid any place where I might find one. That is one reason why I loved living in Alaska, no snakes. Last year dh took G in the Kelty backpack but this year he's walking. Then when we walk in the water, up to our thighs, dh will put G on his shoulders. G is so excited to see where daddy works. He's been before he just doesn't remember, it's a 45 min drive so we don't go very often.

[Suja]

I don't like to cook. It's the thinking up what to make that bothers me more than anything else, followed by the clean-up. I end up making the same things over and over again too, because it's easy and I don't have to think about it.

Shelley, that sounds like a lot of fun. I like snakes, although, the venomous ones, y'all can keep.

The big problem with Naartije (or however that is spelled) is that they put their tag on everything. I don't like paying good money to be their advertisement. They're having some sort of $5.99 clearance thing today, and I just might swing by the mall. A lot of their things are too foofy for daily wear, but for an occasion, they have some unique pieces. Also, I haven't looked at what they have for boys, and I'm in major shopping overdrive, now that I know my friend's baby's gender. Also, another good friend is getting married in October. We have not seen each other in a while, so I was surprised when he pinged me to ask for the address, so he could send an invite. It's been ages since we went to a wedding.

[Cosmosmom]

Sorry to those of you that don't like cooking. I actually like it quite a bit. But I also like to eat quite a bit and so like to make food that I know I like. I don't want to eat stuff that is only so so tasting. I do tend to make the same meals. Pretty much every week we have a spaghetti dish (sometimes noodle shape varies), mac and cheese with broccoli, tacos. All three are easy to make and fairly quick meals for after work. LOL Last night was the homemade mac and cheese/broccoli and tonight is taco salad.
I tend save trying new things or more complicated meals like homemade soup/chili for the weekends.

I got myself a new set of pans recently and have really been liking them. They are higher quality than my old ones....which I kept and still use for somethings.

I also don't mind clean up....dishes are something I like doing more than most chores. I don't like cleaning the stove top though.

[missychrissy]

I've gotten very lazy about cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. I think it's another symptom of my depression. Rich does it all and he doesn't say a word about it. I'm starting to feel guilty because it's been going on since November at least. A few times I did the dishes after he'd cooked supper, but usually he does both. I'm a horrible person. (I don't really think that, but I do feel bad) Rich does dinner 'cause he gets home before I do, but there's no reason why I can't clean up the kitchen. I'm going to make an effort to do that tonight.

[MashedUp]

I love cooking. My biggest challenge is finding healthy weeknight meals that are quick to prepare. I don't get home until around 530 and have the kids to myself until around 630-7. I tend to get in a rut too. Last night I made mexican lasagna for the first time (using corn tortillas instead of noodles) and it was fantastic. Tonight will probably be spagetti and turkey meatballs.

Suja, She's adorable! Happy Birthday!

[Bridget]

Oh I could not agree more, Suja, on brand names emblazed on clothing. We get a lot of hand me downs (like more than we could ever use by a longshot) from a daycare family and the ones that have Nike, Gap, etc in big letters across the shirt go straight to the goodwill bin. I always tell dbf that we aren't advertising for anyone unless we're getting paid to do so. We keep things simple anyway for the kids clothes and try to stick with just plain cotton shirts and pants.

I love cooking. At least I tell myself that because I spend so much of my life doing it. Breakfast, lunch, dinner every day. It is so hard to fix things that my kids will eat though. They've become so picky. Dbf is good about cleaning up after me when I cook because I make a big mess. I'm working on being better about that.

I'm going to dinner with my dad and brother sans Sawyer. Gulp. You guys inspired me after the whole hair debacle. I told dbf I was going. He said a few things like, "Let's just see how his day is." and "We don't have to decide now." And I said, No. I'm going. I would never leave if I didn't know for sure that he would be fine. He stomped around for a few minutes and I asked him if he didn't think it was a little ridiculous that he felt put out about being alone with his own kids for a couple of hours so I could have dinner with my dad. It's not like I'm going clubbing. He threw out the whole, "I don't have boobs" card which I thanked him kindly for reminding me that since I so often forget. Then I reminded him that Sawyer EATS FOOD. So he won't starve. He might be fussy but Hello McBoobless! Welcome to parenthood.....six years in.

[Cosmosmom]

Go Bridget go! Seriously when I told DH about that hair thing, he was like, the dude can't be alone with the kid for 2 hours? That is from a guy who has only held a baby once......at least he realizes he is going to have to learn how to take care of his kid once we get one. Might not always want to or like it but too bad.

[missychrissy]

I'm going to dinner with my dad and brother sans Sawyer. Gulp. You guys inspired me after the whole hair debacle. I told dbf I was going. He said a few things like, "Let's just see how his day is." and "We don't have to decide now." And I said, No. I'm going. I would never leave if I didn't know for sure that he would be fine. He stomped around for a few minutes and I asked him if he didn't think it was a little ridiculous that he felt put out about being alone with his own kids for a couple of hours so I could have dinner with my dad. It's not like I'm going clubbing. He threw out the whole, "I don't have boobs" card which I thanked him kindly for reminding me that since I so often forget. Then I reminded him that Sawyer EATS FOOD. So he won't starve. He might be fussy but Hello McBoobless! Welcome to parenthood.....six years in.

Good for you Bridget! I hope you have a good time.

[demigraf]

SCUBJIA (with admission of lurking the last few days)!

I'm in the middle of a meeting right now where my scrappy technical lead decided to re-open an old argument everyone thought was settled. I am being as quiet as possible so as to distance myself from the guy.

Ash - Travis in glasses is adorable. He looks so happy in that picture. I hope he's feeling comfortable with them on while going about his day. I met a mom with a baby who has to wear an eyepatch 2 hours a day, and the poor thing is having the toughest time with it right now.

L - I'm glad to hear Baby S is on the mend, but to you for Ro's upcoming procedure. I would be as nervous as you. I am sending you positive and hopeful thoughts from here.

Happy birthday to Mira. She's got a lovely little face. You might as well send her photo to the clothing manufacturer so they could pay her to be the poster child.

I'm sorry, there's so much more to respond to but I'm going to have to jump on another call now. Just to give you an idea of what I'm up against, here's a snapshot of my calendar today (9.5 hrs of meetings and anywhere you see two columns, I'm double-booked). This is what my days have looked like all week, and I don't see an end in sight. I'm going to be so happy to be on vacation next week, even for a temporary break from the madness.

Fuzzy Schedule.jpg

[MashedUp]

Ugh, that looks similar to my outlook calendar most days! This week is light because it's school vacation week here, and a bunch of people are off. I'm actually getting things accomplished!

[demigraf]

Ugh, that looks similar to my outlook calendar most days!

And doesn't it make you want to cry? I've realized the importance of having good snacks. I'm already putting together a fantasy list of yummy diversions I'll pick up tonight on a trip to my local market.

[Ky'sMom]

I hope you have a great time with your dad and bro Bridget!! And LOL at Savana and at Mr. McBoobless, that is too funny!

And just Whew to your fuzzy calendar Myles!! Honestly it looks like my bosses calendar. Mine used to look like that but then I decided I wanted to be lazy and not have such a busy job. The other day though my co-worker literally dropped a paper bomb on me. He is supposed to give me contract documents weekly as I need to check them for accuracy (contact people to get additional documents, etc.) and file them in the appropriate place and he has not been giving me any, even after I asked him about it 3-4 times and on Friday last week he told me he had some filing for me and it was literally 10000 pages of documents and we are missing a lot of stuff so now I have to contact probably 10-15 different companies for documents that we need for our files by 3/7, which is the date of our audit.

I should be mad at him, but honestly I love him in a co-worker sort of way. He is a great guy and is just guy-ish to me but a nice dude all the same so I couldn't get mad at him, so I just chastised him and he has been aplogizing and helping with all the filing. He is the only other atheist in my office, which we didn't know about each other until recently and I can tell our boss, who is a staunch evangelical Christian doesn't like it when he jokes about religion, which he does often and I just crack up at him. She was frowning when he was telling us about how for Christmas his son was asked to play "Baby Jesus" LOL! And how he and his wife who is a vegetarian, chicken raising (for eggs), hippie-esque college professor at a university in AL (so already thought of as kind of loony in these parts) were all into dressing their 4 year old as Baby Jesus and how telling everyone how hilarious it was that people were going to be seeing their boy as the son the god. They just thought it was funniest thing ever. He thinks his son was picked because the school, which is run by some religious people, may have thought that they would not want their kid in the Christmas play since they are an atheist family, but he and his wife don't mind and used it as a tool to explain another religion to their son. They have cute pics of him.

Plus my co-worker worked for the Peace Corps for 3 years in West Africa and built homes and educated the population there about how to not contract guinea worm from water sources (won't get into guinea worm but from the way he described it is was disgusting!). He biked across the country on a Harley and is always volunteering places and wants to move back to MI and buy a bunch of deserted land in Detroit and be an urban farmer, that is his dream job. He is such a fun and nice guy so I can't be upset at him for waiting until the last minute to give me all the paperwork. I did tell him he is lucky that he is a nice guy otherwise I may have cursed at him!

[daylilies]

Hey all!
Happy birthday Mira! She's so adorable!

Hope you have a great time Bridget!

So, we got the beagle! His name is Bo. That's the name he got at the shelter and it's cute so we'll keep it.

And now I realize how little I know about dogs! How often do I feed him? Do I leave food out or feed him once or twice a day and take it away? How often can I give him treats? And how the heck do I train him? LOL

Oh and how often are they supposed to poop/pee? He has peed once in the last couple hours but not pooped yet. We only brought him home a couple hours ago and I don't know if he pooped earlier...

So yeah, I need basic dog 101...DH has had dogs so hopefully he'll have some input when he gets home tonight.

He is the sweetest dog...he hasn't barked, he's great with Josh, and he had a blast playing outside. One of our cats hid when he came home and the other one

I think we pressured the shelter manager we happened to stop by today to see Bo when she was looking at the applications and we introduced ourselves. After we took Bo for a walk Josh kept pestering her, "did you decide yet? we want to take him home" . So she said he would probably be a good fit for us if we can just keep Josh under control

[Gwenn]

Savana is hilarious! And Bridget, I'm glad you're having dinner with your dad and brother.

Happy Birthday, Mira! She is adorable.

Kate, congrats on the beagle! Dogs need to eat every 24 hours, but should be fed at least twice a day so they don't reach 24 hours without eating. We leave food out but most people feed on a schedule. Free-feeding has worked for us with a high quality food that my dogs don't gorge on. They let me know when their dish is empty and they are hungry.

I let my dogs go out when they ask ... probably an adult dog won't poop more than 1-2x per day but I let mine out 3-5 times per day to do whatever they need. When they are new or training it's a good idea to take them out every time you come home, 1/2 hour after they eat, or after any high-energy play session because that is when they tend to go most often. If the dog is housebroken they will likely know to ask if they need to go, but if the dog is new to your home it isn't a bad idea to follow those guidelines until he settles in.

Way to guilt the shelter people into giving him to you! Good luck with him and I want pics of Josh and Bo together!

It's a good idea to take a training class together (PetsMart and similar stores offer classes), especially since you're a new dog owner. I bought some books but had dogs all my life so I had a good idea of how to react to things.

Treats ... well, Nero is addicted and demands his treats a minimum of 2-3 times per day. I'm a toughie and don't like to give him a treat more than once per day because otherwise he will bankrupt me. DH is a pushover, though, and spoils N rotten. He pretty much gives him a treat whenever he asks. You can figure out what and how much works well for you. Just bear in mind you don't want to set a pattern you don't want to keep up with (treats all the time can get expensive!)

[Inca]

Oh, Kate. That reminds me. I was reading an article that made me think about you (and me). Now keep in mind this is a waldorf publication so it's very much into nurturing "the soul of the child" if you know what I mean. Anyway, it talked about how children have certain energies that they need to release and that instead of always saying to them to keep it down, or calm down, stop doing that, put that stick down, don't throw, stop jumping....that we should find the appropriate outlet for them to release that energy. It said that often when children's natural tendencies are squandered too much or too often, it starts to present itself as a headache/stomach ache, etc. NOT saying you do that to Josh all the time but it resonated with me because my patience had been short lately and I found myself reprimanding the kids a lot for simply annoying me and not really for necessarily doing anything wrong. I guess for me, when I put myself in check, and really, really pay attention to the energy that I am putting out there in regards to my kids, it makes a huge difference on their attitudes in general. Just thought I'd share

Thanks for posting this Bridget. It resonates here too. I feel like I am constantly telling the kids to "Quiet down please, the baby is sleeping" or "Please stop stomping" (Or whatever they're doing) I think part of it, for me anyways, is how light a sleeper Seren is, despite white noise, being in another room, etc. For this reason, when she naps it is precious and it seems like they always are bouncing off the walls while she's sleeping. I cannot wait until it is summer and they can release all their energy outside.

[demigraf]

I feel so silly for coming in and posting only this but just so y'all can laugh at me, I left my house with my cordless handset of my land line in my purse and my cell phone on my desk. Me, frazzled?

Bridget, thanks for that.

Kate, lots of feedback for you regarding doggie training, but will post more later.

[raspberry]

Kate congrats on Bo!! Must see pictures of Josh and his doggy!