Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Lucy photo shoot
Lucy was very happy when I said she would only have to keep the jeans on during the pictures, so she smiled a lot!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Review of my pattern
Desiree over at Wee Share did a review of my circle-top shirt pattern here. She's also hosting a giveaway (one pattern each to three winners). Cool!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Necklace rack
I came back from our trip to Virginia in December having decided I needed somewhere to hang my necklaces. My mom has a cool repurposed tie rack (or was it a belt rack?) in her closet for all her necklaces, and my sister used a place on the wall in her room. I knew I could come up with something better than draping my necklaces haphazardly over my bedside table lamp. :) I found a piece of scrap wood we had left over from adding more supports to Nate's bed, and I used some of my leftover quilting fabric and Mod Podge. I just nailed in some regular nails since I didn't mind the vintage/shabby look, and I used two extra-long nails for the ones that went all the way through to the wall studs. Now it's a new favorite place in our room!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Skirt love
Remember that fabric that went well together? I used the aqua polka dot for the quilt back and ended up with quite a bit extra. I put some of it to use in this new skirt, which I like a lot. I also cut some of the red-pink polka dot (Lucy's request) for a skirt for her; I'll use the flower print to make her ruffle.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Levi
Levi has been on the GFCFSF diet for about 6 weeks now, and we have seen a jump in his development. (It was about a month to 6 weeks after Nate started the diet that we saw wonderful improvements in him.) We can't say for sure it's because of the diet (it could just be a natural development spurt that would have occurred anyway), but we are loving the new stuff he's doing and will stick with the diet for at least 6 months. Some of the new stuff includes pointing to desired objects and making noise (if he wants a drink, he gets my attention and points at the cup while nodding his head "yes." If I respond, "Do you want water?" he either signs "more," nods his head, or says "Yah!"), understanding quite a bit of what we say (e.g., "Give that to me," "Please sit down," "Put the toy in the bucket," "Do you want to go on a wagon ride?"), saying "Mama" and "Dada" appropriately, playing appropriately with toys (he can stack huge towers of blocks--it's so cute to watch how carefully he places the blocks), and more.
He also likes to be funny. The other day, he thought he was hilarious walking across the room with a puzzle piece in each hand and one in his mouth:
Silly boy!
He also likes to be funny. The other day, he thought he was hilarious walking across the room with a puzzle piece in each hand and one in his mouth:
Silly boy!
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Allergy? Or not.
So, Lucy's hives might have been her body's reaction to the virus going around our house last week. I took her to the ped yesterday, and while he still gave us the referral to see an allergist, he explained that the body can "create an allergy" to the virus and therefore have hives. (See this link for a better explanation.) I had no idea! This would explain why Lucy had a reaction on a day I hadn't given her any of the foods thought to be causing them. I am leaning toward this being the correct diagnosis for Lucy, especially since she seems to have lots of skin reactions in general (e.g., rash on day 7 of taking antibiotics; red rash around her mouth if she eats spicy sauce). I might still take her to the allergist just to check--it's always nice to know for sure. :)
Monday, February 08, 2010
Weekend crafting
I made these headbands and hair clip over the weekend using scrap fabric and a set of headbands from Target's dollar bin. I think I like the black/white/green one best. :)
Sunday, February 07, 2010
Another new development
Starting this past week, before Lucy got sick, she had a few allergic reactions--hives, coughing, stuffy nose. The first time I noticed it, I thought, "Hmm! There must have been a bug in the bed during Lucy's nap time, because she has bug bites on her back." I am so dense. None of our kids has had hives before (and neither have I), so it wasn't my first inclination. But then, later that night, Lucy awoke crying; half of her face was swollen, and she had hives on her legs and back. Jon ran out and bought some Benadryl while I stayed with Luce on the couch; the Benadryl kicked in within 20-30 minutes, and she was fine. We didn't know what had caused the reaction.
The next day, Lucy got hives within a few minutes of having lunch. I finally was able to connect the dots and figure out what might be causing the reaction: cinnamon.
On the first day, she had helped me make some toasted almonds. When we added the cinnamon, I let her take a whiff (a big one). Her nap wasn't long after, and that's when she had the first hives. Then that evening at dinner and later, she munched on the almonds we had made. (Then she woke up around 11:00 p.m. with hives.) The next day, she had only one or two almonds at lunch, and she had hives soon after. She also had a reaction the next day, when she woke up from nap like this:
The problem is she hadn't had any of the almonds or cinnamon that day. I think I have eliminated almonds (she has had them many times before), her blankets (she has slept with them other times this week with no reaction), and our laundry detergent (I have made no detergent or laundry changes recently, and the stuff I use is fragrance- and dye-free) as culprits, but I'm not positive what the problem is. That makes it a bit worrisome since her symptoms seem to be getting worse each time (I know that's normal for allergies). At least the Benadryl is doing the trick, and I talked to Lissa (whose son has several life-threatening allergies) about Benadryl dosage and other measures to take.
Lucy has an appointment tomorrow at the pediatrician (I'm taking her even if she's still throwing up!) to get a referral to an allergist. I hope they can expedite the process!
The next day, Lucy got hives within a few minutes of having lunch. I finally was able to connect the dots and figure out what might be causing the reaction: cinnamon.
On the first day, she had helped me make some toasted almonds. When we added the cinnamon, I let her take a whiff (a big one). Her nap wasn't long after, and that's when she had the first hives. Then that evening at dinner and later, she munched on the almonds we had made. (Then she woke up around 11:00 p.m. with hives.) The next day, she had only one or two almonds at lunch, and she had hives soon after. She also had a reaction the next day, when she woke up from nap like this:
The problem is she hadn't had any of the almonds or cinnamon that day. I think I have eliminated almonds (she has had them many times before), her blankets (she has slept with them other times this week with no reaction), and our laundry detergent (I have made no detergent or laundry changes recently, and the stuff I use is fragrance- and dye-free) as culprits, but I'm not positive what the problem is. That makes it a bit worrisome since her symptoms seem to be getting worse each time (I know that's normal for allergies). At least the Benadryl is doing the trick, and I talked to Lissa (whose son has several life-threatening allergies) about Benadryl dosage and other measures to take.
Lucy has an appointment tomorrow at the pediatrician (I'm taking her even if she's still throwing up!) to get a referral to an allergist. I hope they can expedite the process!
Friday, February 05, 2010
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Book review: The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
I started a new blog, "Katie Likes to Read," where I'm going to post reviews of the books I read. My first one got a little too long!--and I didn't want it out there in the public blogosphere for someone to search for and then use for a class paper. (I know that happens a lot, and plagiarism is not cool.) So I'm going to put the full review here and a truncated version on my reading blog. Don't feel obligated to read this if you aren't a reader or aren't interested! :)
The Echo Maker is about Mark Schluter, who is in a coma-causing car accident; his sister, Karin, who travels to nurse him to health; and the brain expert, cognitive neurologist Gerald Weber. Upon waking from his coma, Mark believes the woman who looks and talks like his sister Karin is really a double, an impostor. Karin contacts Weber and asks him to help with Mark's case. Amid trying to help Mark recognize Karin, Karin and Weber also must deal with his increasing paranoia about his mysterious car accident--its causes and participants--all while experiencing their own struggles and shifting identities.
Told from the third person from several different perspectives, the story is sometimes narrated with Mark's point of view in mind, sometimes with Karen's, and sometimes with Weber's.
My impressions upon finishing this book:
Drawn-out and slow
Liberal (politically)
Clever
I guess you could say it wasn't my favorite. This was one of those books I thought about not finishing, but once I'm 300 pages into a book, I figure I might as well make it to the end. Perhaps I should have known: Powers begins,
It was also frustrating for me to read the random, pointless attacks on conservatism and the overt "birds are better than humans" tree-hugger message. Set a few months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the story contains several--if not dozens--of jabs at conservatism and the Bush administration: "By winter, America rose up striking at targets everywhere. Rupp's duty time increased, and a few guys he served with were dragged off to Fort Riley, Kansas. On the third of February, just after the president delivered his hunt-them-down State of the Union address and Washington lost track of bin Laden, Mark came to Rupp and said he'd changed his mind" (212). Powers paints America as a predator, rising up to "strike" at targets while soldiers are "dragged" to serve. Later, Powers writes, "[Weber] ran the gauntlet of news-magazine headlines: U.S. bombs obliterate Afghan wedding. Cabinet-level Security Department rushed through" (220-221).
In addition, the "green" theme was blatant: "Something in Daniel mourned more than the cranes. He needed humans to rise to their station: conscious and godlike, nature's one shot at knowing and preserving itself. Instead, the one aware animal in creation had torched the place" (57). To Powers, the earth has been ruined, and man is the culprit. And later:
One aspect of the novel I did enjoy was Powers' clever use of changing syntax, diction, and word choice as Mark's brain function and self-awareness return after the accident. When the third-person narrator narrates from Mark's point of view while Mark is in and out of a coma, the language is stilted, choppy, barely understandable: "Where his mouth was, just smooth skin. Solid swallows up that hole. House remodeled; windows papered over. Door no more a door. Muscles pull lips but no space to open.... A room of machines, the space he can't reach.... Someone says be patient, but to not him. Be patient, be a patient is what he must be" (19). After he comes out of the coma and is recovering in the hospital, the narration begins to make more sense but shows how Mark isn't fully well:
The Echo Maker is about Mark Schluter, who is in a coma-causing car accident; his sister, Karin, who travels to nurse him to health; and the brain expert, cognitive neurologist Gerald Weber. Upon waking from his coma, Mark believes the woman who looks and talks like his sister Karin is really a double, an impostor. Karin contacts Weber and asks him to help with Mark's case. Amid trying to help Mark recognize Karin, Karin and Weber also must deal with his increasing paranoia about his mysterious car accident--its causes and participants--all while experiencing their own struggles and shifting identities.
Told from the third person from several different perspectives, the story is sometimes narrated with Mark's point of view in mind, sometimes with Karen's, and sometimes with Weber's.
My impressions upon finishing this book:
Drawn-out and slow
Liberal (politically)
Clever
I guess you could say it wasn't my favorite. This was one of those books I thought about not finishing, but once I'm 300 pages into a book, I figure I might as well make it to the end. Perhaps I should have known: Powers begins,
Cranes keep landing as night falls. Ribbons of them roll down, slack against theHe goes on in this way for seven paragraphs--saying essentially the same thing four or five different ways. The entire novel seems this way, with very little action or movement in the plot line. Powers instead slowly examines what's going on in the minds of the characters, which is fine, but still often redundant.
sky. They float in from all compass points, in kettles of a dozen, dropping with
the dusk. Scores of Grus canadensis settle on the thawing river. They gather on
the island flats, grazing, beating their wings, trumpeting: the advance wave of
a mass evacuation. More birds land by the minute, the air red with calls.
(1)
It was also frustrating for me to read the random, pointless attacks on conservatism and the overt "birds are better than humans" tree-hugger message. Set a few months after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the story contains several--if not dozens--of jabs at conservatism and the Bush administration: "By winter, America rose up striking at targets everywhere. Rupp's duty time increased, and a few guys he served with were dragged off to Fort Riley, Kansas. On the third of February, just after the president delivered his hunt-them-down State of the Union address and Washington lost track of bin Laden, Mark came to Rupp and said he'd changed his mind" (212). Powers paints America as a predator, rising up to "strike" at targets while soldiers are "dragged" to serve. Later, Powers writes, "[Weber] ran the gauntlet of news-magazine headlines: U.S. bombs obliterate Afghan wedding. Cabinet-level Security Department rushed through" (220-221).
In addition, the "green" theme was blatant: "Something in Daniel mourned more than the cranes. He needed humans to rise to their station: conscious and godlike, nature's one shot at knowing and preserving itself. Instead, the one aware animal in creation had torched the place" (57). To Powers, the earth has been ruined, and man is the culprit. And later:
In the first week of October, the family [of birds] roosts on the eastern prairies of Colorado. After daybreak, as they graze the fields ... the space around the fledged crane colt explodes. His father is hit. He sees his parent sprayed across the nearby earth. Birds scream into the shattered air, their brain stems pumping panic. This chaos, too, lays down a permanent trace, remembered forever: open season. (277)These examples are just a sampling of something bigger--something in the overall tone of the novel that borders on anti-human.
One aspect of the novel I did enjoy was Powers' clever use of changing syntax, diction, and word choice as Mark's brain function and self-awareness return after the accident. When the third-person narrator narrates from Mark's point of view while Mark is in and out of a coma, the language is stilted, choppy, barely understandable: "Where his mouth was, just smooth skin. Solid swallows up that hole. House remodeled; windows papered over. Door no more a door. Muscles pull lips but no space to open.... A room of machines, the space he can't reach.... Someone says be patient, but to not him. Be patient, be a patient is what he must be" (19). After he comes out of the coma and is recovering in the hospital, the narration begins to make more sense but shows how Mark isn't fully well:
They ask him who's the vice president under the first bush. Insane. What next?Later, out of the hospital, Mark is back to a normal level of brain function, but his paranoia and confusion are evident:
Senators in the trees? They tell him to count backward from a hundred by threes.
Is this a particularly useful skill, might one inquire? They give him tons of
quizzes--circling things, crossing them out, and whatnot. Even here, they jerk
him around, make the print way too small, or give him ten seconds to do half an
hour of work. (66)
But the details aren't worrying Mark right now. He's after the full jigsaw.Although Power's use of interesting, dynamic language is clever, for me it did not redeem the book. Overall, it was still too slow and too annoyingly liberal. I don't think I'd be tempted to read anything by Powers again.
Which is exactly what everybody wants to keep him from seeing. Some kind of
systematic cover-up, to keep him from finding out too much about what he's
stumbled into. Look at the facts: A few minutes after he picks up this angel
hitchhiker in the middle of nowhere ... he has an accident. Then, in the
hospital, something happens to him on the operating table. Something that
conveniently erases his memory. And when he does come back to himself, they've
swapped out his sister, who might help him remember, and replaced her with a
fake who keeps him under 24/7 surveillance. That's a lot to call coincidence.
(282)
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Fabric
Don't these fabrics look fabulous together? I ordered them at different times for different reasons, but when they all came, I had to stack them together and admire. The aqua polka dot (Michael Miller Ta Dot) is for the quilt back. The other two (Michael Miller Ta Dot and Amy Butler Love Tumble Roses) are for clothes for Lucy... and maybe for me too! :)
Ricci asked about the fabric co-op I'm in. It started as a yahoo group (see here) and now is a website where you can get the wholesale discount if you are a member. The website is cottoncandiefabric.com. Click on Wholesale and apply to become a vendor. I think that's all you'll have to do--but I'm not sure since I started off in the yahoo group and automatically was a member of the other website. The wholesale price for most fabrics ends up being about $5 a yard instead of the usual $8 a yard.
Oh yeah, and I will probably send the quilt top/back/binding here to be quilted: The Back Porch Quilters. A penny per square inch isn't bad!
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Two sick boys around here. Lots of outfit changes and laundry. I thought Levi was on the tail end of it today, but apparently he isn't. Poor Nate is only 12 hours into the sickness, so he has it bad right now. :(
Our kids get stomach bugs bad!
Update:
We took Nate to the doctor last night (Tuesday) because he was throwing up pretty much every half hour all day. Once he got some anti-nausea medicine, he could drink a little bit and start to hydrate himself. Levi is improving. We're all home and healing now!
Our kids get stomach bugs bad!
Update:
We took Nate to the doctor last night (Tuesday) because he was throwing up pretty much every half hour all day. Once he got some anti-nausea medicine, he could drink a little bit and start to hydrate himself. Levi is improving. We're all home and healing now!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Sent Items
After we got back from Virginia, we set up an email account for Nate so he could get emails from Mimi and my sister and brother. Although Nate can read, he can't really write yet, so he usually dictates his emails while I type. Here are some of his sent messages:
hi mimi today i had a great day at school. alright. then i went to the playground in Miss Karen's class. Alright. See ya later. Bye bye.
Lulu thank you for writing me an email... it's so big. So, you should come and visit us at California. okay? I really really want to go to Virginia.... okay New York instead. I love you Lulu. Bye bye
yes mimi we got the package. thank you for the brownie mix. is it for my birthday on may first? great! OK, bye.
lulu
what is new york like? does it have all the things? does it have trains? and shuttles? and airplanes? does it? great! OK, bye.
mimi, thank you for sending me an email. school was good. i played and played and played and played and played and played for like 20 hours. alright, talk to you later. bye
Auntie Jennifer I really love you very much. I want to come over to your house in a little while.
I'm all done with breakfast. I had pancakes for breakfast. OK bye.
Hi Daddy! i would love to play Wall-E! i was so excited that you wrote to me. soooo, i would really like to do something with you. soooo, i would love to play ticklefest with you after Wall-E. OK, bye.
And some he has written and sent on his own without my knowing:
lulunate
jcjgdsyafgygsysdeyuhjnkw
uncle greg natenot
miminate
hi mimi today i had a great day at school. alright. then i went to the playground in Miss Karen's class. Alright. See ya later. Bye bye.
Lulu thank you for writing me an email... it's so big. So, you should come and visit us at California. okay? I really really want to go to Virginia.... okay New York instead. I love you Lulu. Bye bye
yes mimi we got the package. thank you for the brownie mix. is it for my birthday on may first? great! OK, bye.
lulu
what is new york like? does it have all the things? does it have trains? and shuttles? and airplanes? does it? great! OK, bye.
mimi, thank you for sending me an email. school was good. i played and played and played and played and played and played for like 20 hours. alright, talk to you later. bye
Auntie Jennifer I really love you very much. I want to come over to your house in a little while.
I'm all done with breakfast. I had pancakes for breakfast. OK bye.
Hi Daddy! i would love to play Wall-E! i was so excited that you wrote to me. soooo, i would really like to do something with you. soooo, i would love to play ticklefest with you after Wall-E. OK, bye.
And some he has written and sent on his own without my knowing:
lulunate
jcjgdsyafgygsysdeyuhjnkw
uncle greg natenot
miminate
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Quilt
I finished the quilt top for our bed a couple of months ago, but I never took pictures. I unfolded it yesterday to take these and also measure it, since I'm finally going to make the back for the quilt. (I'd been waiting all this time for the fabric I ordered; I'm part of a buying group that gets a discount on fabric, but sometimes it takes a long time for orders to arrive.) The backing fabric is a cute white with aqua polka dot. Once I get it put together and decide which fabric to use for binding, I'll send it all off to be quilted!
Friday, January 29, 2010
Stair lover
I started taking the gate off the top of the steps last week to Levi's absolute delight. His favorite part is the descent:
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Nate's first video game experience
Jon brought home the WALL-E video game for Playstation last week, and he and Nate have been playing it together. Yesterday, Nate played it by himself for a while. I just had to record how precious and sweetly sad he looked trying to get the game to do what he wanted.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Kiddos
In the picture with Jon, Lucy was being a little bit disagreeable. But she cheered up for the next picture when her favorite person (Daddy) did something funny.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Good food find
I just took out some raw pine nuts I've had in the pantry for a while and gave some to Levi. They are perfect because they are pretty soft, and they are loaded with good fats and protein. Yay for easy lunch foods!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Books!
These arrived today (bought with some Barnes & Noble gift cards--thanks Lucy and Greg!). I can't wait to sit down tonight and decide which one I'm going to read first. New fiction!--I'm in heaven.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Whoa
This lake is our street.
And this waterfall is a dirt hill next to our house.
Praying our garage doesn't flood!
Update 1/21/10 - Our garage was fine and the street is driveable again. Yay!
And this waterfall is a dirt hill next to our house.
Praying our garage doesn't flood!
Update 1/21/10 - Our garage was fine and the street is driveable again. Yay!
ABA
I can't remember what I've mentioned on the blog about Levi's therapy, but his physical therapy was completed in December. He then qualified for 6 hours/week of applied behavioral analysis (ABA), the same play-based therapy Nate did. The ABA started today, and I like his new therapist, Caroline. The therapy is at our house Mondays and Wednesdays 8:00-10:00 a.m. (I realize that only adds up to 4 hours/week, and I'm not sure what the discrepancy is about but will find out about that this week.) The in-home aspect is nice in that we don't have to leave the house or be 100% "ready for the day" by the time the therapist arrives at 8:00; however, it also means that Lucy wants to be involved. Today it just felt like she was in the way a whole lot. I guess that will get better in the next couple of weeks as my involvement in the therapy lessens and Levi can do more one-on-one time with Caroline.
I'm very excited to have him starting in ABA so young. Even though we don't know for sure what delays he does or doesn't have, it really can't hurt to have him in therapy.
I'm very excited to have him starting in ABA so young. Even though we don't know for sure what delays he does or doesn't have, it really can't hurt to have him in therapy.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Annoyed
I just spent 2 fruitless hours trying to get a duplicate charge taken off our checking account. One of those hours involved running three children from car to store in the rain (one umbrella, but it didn't help much), then trying to wrangle those unruly children (whose kids WERE those, anyway?) while the store associates spent 30 minutes having no idea what they were doing. Another 30 minutes was spent on the telephone on hold. All for a measly $17.66, which still has yet to be returned. Grr.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Today's creations
I cut out all the pieces for these dresses at this month's UFO night (that's UnFinished Objects--the first Monday of each month a group of girls gets together to work on random projects and gab), and I sewed them up today. I have one long-sleeved dress's pieces cut, too, so maybe I'll finish that one tonight.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
School decisions
Since Nate will be 5 in May, he will be going into kindergarten in the fall. Jon and I anticipate he will "graduate" from special education at his next IEP, or at least that they will recommend a "full inclusion" setup with minimal to no special help. Because he is doing well, we feel more freedom in choosing where we might want to send him to school.
The first and only place I've visited is Living Word Christan Academy. Cost is definitely a factor, and the tuition at this school is about one-third that of other Christian schools in the area. One third. I met briefly with the principal and also for a while with the kindergarten teacher. She is nice, young, and strict--all great attributes. And get this--this year, there are 5 kindergarten students. They expect close to the same number for next year. I can really see Nate thriving in a small environment like that and with a teacher whose discipline ideas and strategies mirror our own (i.e., parents and teachers should try to address the attitudinal/"heart" issues and not just behaviors; the reason we need to obey is because it pleases God). Both the size and Biblical discipline facets of the class would be impossible in a public school setting. In addition, it sounds like they always tailor the academics to each child (e.g., separating the kindergarteners during language arts/reading time according to ability, or even sending a kindergartener to the 1st-4th-grade teacher for reading or math, etc.). The school is very small, with one class for kindergarten, one for 1st-4th, and one for 5th-8th. If we can make it work, we are planning on sending Nate there in September! (Actually, they have a 3-day-per-week summer program we might send him to first.)
:)
The first and only place I've visited is Living Word Christan Academy. Cost is definitely a factor, and the tuition at this school is about one-third that of other Christian schools in the area. One third. I met briefly with the principal and also for a while with the kindergarten teacher. She is nice, young, and strict--all great attributes. And get this--this year, there are 5 kindergarten students. They expect close to the same number for next year. I can really see Nate thriving in a small environment like that and with a teacher whose discipline ideas and strategies mirror our own (i.e., parents and teachers should try to address the attitudinal/"heart" issues and not just behaviors; the reason we need to obey is because it pleases God). Both the size and Biblical discipline facets of the class would be impossible in a public school setting. In addition, it sounds like they always tailor the academics to each child (e.g., separating the kindergarteners during language arts/reading time according to ability, or even sending a kindergartener to the 1st-4th-grade teacher for reading or math, etc.). The school is very small, with one class for kindergarten, one for 1st-4th, and one for 5th-8th. If we can make it work, we are planning on sending Nate there in September! (Actually, they have a 3-day-per-week summer program we might send him to first.)
:)
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