It's a Love Affair!

What do you do when your 4 1/2 year old daughter goes absolutely nuts when she sees...
Carter Oosterhouse star of HGTV's Carter Can and formerly of TLC's Trading Spaces?

I'm serious, if we see an advertisement for Carter Can, Caitlin gets all love struck--big eyes, breathless, you name and says, dreamingly, "Carrrrter!" Could it be love? Hey, at least the guy will come in handy for fixing the garbage disposal or unclogging a drain! Oh yeah, did I mention that he models on the side? Wait, this is about Caitlin's fascination...my bad!

Who Am I?

A pictorial look (a meme of sorts) at me, as a person. I highly encourage all of my blogging buddies to set aside a few minutes to do this. It made me think of the little things that celebrate and define who I am outside of a basic job description.

Detail-oriented and organized.
I'm not as anal as I used to be, BC (before children), but I'd still like for everything to have a place.


Bibliophile
I just love to read! This is my personal shelf in our "cabinet library" but only represents a fraction of what I've actually read. I just wish I had more time to indulge in my favorite pastime.

Library Lover
I love and support (with overdue fines) our local libraries. I love to find new libraries while out driving and making an impromptu stop. I always manage to find something special that I love about each library.

Happily Married
It's taken me 7 years to really, truly believe this with the inter-most part of my heart. It's been a rough journey, but I finally feel like I am with who I am destined to be with!

An Eeyore Freak
I adore Eeyore! He is me, as a Disney character. I, not only, have clothing, but a snowglobe, cross stitch picture, a watch and many other oddities in Eeyore.

And finally...a crusader for the cause. The site up on my MacBook is Gabriel's Life, a site for those suffering with hydrocephalus. I have given myself, endlessly, to making sure that everything that can be done for Cara is being done. I am currently trying to organize a support group for parents and children with hydrocephalus in my area.

Before I forgot, thanks to Judy, once again, for this idea!

Spring Fever

Unfortunately, I'm not talking about budding trees, baseball season or warmer days, I am talking about an actual fever, as in not feeling well. The stuffy nose, sore throat variety seems to have decided to make a stop on it's trail of misery. Caitlin has been hit the hardest so far, with a bad sore throat complete with swollen tonsils and lymph nodes and a nose that runs like a faucet. We almost make an ER run last night when her fever spiked to 102. Thankfully, she seems to be better today, slowly on the mend. I seem to have picked up with she has too, though a more mild version. I've been blessed with a stuffy nose and a very mild throat irritation. Cara seems to be unscathed for the time being and we are keeping our fingers crossed. Nothing is worse than a sick baby who cannot tell you, in words, what hurts.

But, yes, though, Spring is in the air around here. I looked out our bedroom window this morning and saw little green buds on the trees. The grass is also starting to green up and, it's supposed to be 70 degrees here today. Hopefully, we'll all be back to our old selves soon and able to enjoy this beautiful weather!

Unleash the Fury!

I was so upset yesterday afternoon and just have to tell the story. If it bores you, I apologize in advance.

It all stared in November-December of 2006 when I went to my local hearing center to purchase two new hearing aids using the pay-out I received on a Public Employees Retirement Account I had while working for the Department of Corrections. My old aids were about 5 years old and showing their age. I thought, this was a rare opportunity (never in my life have I had this kind of money at my disposal) to assure myself the best, highest quality of hearing available, given my degree of loss. After much deliberation, and about 4 hearing aid trials later, I settled on two different models of Siemens aids. A fully programmable digital version for my left ear which has slightly better hearing than my right, which got a digital analog aid (not programmable). The total bill was...$3400. The aids came with a one year limited warranty and a 90 day trial period. For starters, I cannot tell you how many times I was in to the hearing center to have both of the aids adjusted when I got them. I just know that I couldn't compute the total by counting on two hands. I especially had problems with my right aid because the compartment that holds the battery and provides contact between said battery and the circuitry that allows me to hear wouldn't stay shut, thus making the hearing aid cut in & out. This problem was noted numerous times and the audiologist and a hearing aid technician have tried to fix it a few times, without success.

Guess what happened last week? Go on, I bet you can guess...Yep, the right aid broke as in it totally stopped working on Monday! I know it has something to do with the lack of contact between the battery and the circuit. Anyway, I called and tried to get in to see the hearing aid technician. The earliest appointment they had was yesterday afternoon. I piled the girls into the Subaru and drove the 30 minutes to the office. When we arrived, the technician took my hearing aid into the workroom to take a look at it and try to repair it to working order. About ten minutes later, she returns to tell me that she cannot get it to power on. Not only that, but in order to get it fixed, I would have to spend $240 to send it to the Siemens repair factory for them to look at. I have to pay because it's out of warranty. Just out of the warranty mind you, because every time I had a problem, the warranty "renewed" from that day, so it had only expired at the end of January.

You can imagine how upset I was upon hearing this. True, I should have known about the warranty but, I figured given my history of problems with this aid, that the repairs would've been done without cost. Nope, no can do. The technician said that she could talk to the owner to see if the cost could be discounted, but couldn't guarantee it. Excuse me?! I just brought $3400 worth of products from you and you can't cut me a break? That was the first thing that set me off. Then, I come to find out, that if it's the circuit board on the hearing aid, Siemens may or may not even fix it since it's expensive and about 80% of the cost of the aid. Usually, when it's something that major, they just return the aid and tell the customer to get a new one.

Whoa, hold on! I just bought this aid a little over a year ago and it might be broken beyond help already. Can anyone scream--LEMON?! My goodness, you'd think for $1700, that it would last a tad bit longer than 15 months! Oh, I was infuriated and felt like I got ripped off by Siemens. And this is supposedly a reputable company that has been in business for years. In my opinion, something as expensive as this hearing aid, should have come with more than a year warranty, but that's a whole other can of worms. After feeling bad for getting emotionally upset at the technician, I realized that it wasn't her fault, except for selling me a piece of junk, and that I needed to direct my anger at who was at fault.

I requested and promptly (I think she was scared of me at that point) received the customer service number for Siemens corporate and fully intended to unleash my fury upon them. Unfortunately, I did not return home until 4 o'clock MST and unfortunately, the corporate office is located in New Jersey. Lucky for them, because I had a few choice words to say, to say the least. Now, I have to wait until Monday and in the meantime, I will be gathering up documentation of how many visits I've had, the serial number for my hearing aid, etc. I will be armed and ready and probably a little bit calmer. My goal, you might ask? To get a verbal apology for selling me a piece of junk, possibly getting the repairs done for free and maybe, just maybe, a discount on a new aid, if it comes to that. I will not rest until I feel satisfied that they understand how upset I am. Do not sell me junk, I just won't have it! The little bit o' Irish in me can go a long way!

Oh yeah, and due to my hearing aid being non-functional, I have not been able to fully hear for almost a week now and by the time I come up with the money to have it sent in, it will be 3-4 weeks minimum before I can hear fully again. This is so very frustrating when I'm supposed to function as a wife and a parent. It's hard enough wearing aids, because of their limits, now add insult to injury by only having one "working" ear. It sums up to pure misery...

Day Out With Mom

Remember me talking about needing to spend some one-on-one time with my oldest daughter? Well, we got the chance to do just that this past Saturday. We got up and dressed and headed out to start the day together.

We began with a wonderful lunch at one of my favorite Chinese places, Pei Wei. Caitlin had been begging for Chinese for awhile, so I figured that this was the perfect time to honor her request. We ordered sweet & sour chicken, an order of crab-cheese won tons and a cup of their kick-butt won ton soup. Caitlin & I split the order of sweet & sour chicken, in which Caitlin ate more than I did, while I enjoyed the won tons and soup. We took our time eating, attempted to eat with chopsticks, had a wonderful, off-the-wall conversation and finished our meal with fortune cookies and orange wedges (for a sweet life).
It was decided, in this conversation, that Cait got to choose all of the day's activities, within reason so...here's how we spent the remainder of the day--

Next, we decided to walk around the pedestrian strip of stores called the Lowry Town Center (yes, Coloradoans, this is the former Air Force base)in search of a place to have some dessert (Caitlin having being asked if she preferred to have tea or ice cream...). We came across Fergie's Frozen Custard and new that we had found just the place. Caitlin had a single scoop of cherry with sprinkles while I indulged in a single scoop of banana fudge marble. Both were delicious! With our bellies full, we decided to further walk around and see the shops. Leave it to Caitlin to find both a pet store, with the cutest dog treats (think pupcakes and cookies), and a very unique local toy store--Timbuk Toys. Caitlin had the time of her life playing with various toys while I just sat back and watched, taking notes of course, for her upcoming birthday! After we were done walking, Caitlin requested a visit to a bookstore, so we loaded ourselves back into the car for a trip to Northfield to go to Borders.

Once there, Caitlin picked out a Barbie Mariposa story book complete with stickers and an "I Spy" early readers book. We also sat around reading other stories and looking over Borders' Disney princess story collection. We paid for our purchases, slung the bags over our wrists and walked around yet another pedestrian mall. In no time, Caitlin managed to find a little train that takes it's passengers on a short sight-seeing tour around the shops. Of course, we HAD to buy a token so that Cait could climb aboard. It was a beautiful day for a train ride and she had a wonderful time--even had the train to herself.

We also took a time out to play on some bear sculptures in the children's area of Northfield. Cait managed to scale a couple of the bears and sat on top of them, Jungle Book style. I sat, snapping pictures and reading the latest installment of Kids' Pages.

We walked some more before the next request came in from my 4 1/2 year old. She was curious to see what was inside Outdoor World, could we go, please?! Sure, why not. It just happened to be the weekend of the Fishing Expo, so there were all kinds of things set up outdoors. Caitlin got to fish for the very first time ever in a little pond that they had set up and filled with bass. With coaching from an Outdoor World employee, Caitlin caught her FIRST FISH! She was so proud of herself and of course, we had to call Grandpa McLean and both of her uncles to tell them. After the excitement from fishing, Caitlin decided to try out some ATVs for size. We've decided that the green one (I forget what it's called) would make an excellent first car!

Somewhere, in the midst of all this fun, I managed to lose my car keys, so we spent the last part of our day out backtracking all through Northfield. Thankfully, I had left my keys at Borders where they were safely waiting for me to pick them up!

All in all, we had a wonderful time together, so wonderful in fact, that I had tears in my eyes when telling Ben about our day. I cannot wait to do it again! These are the times that memories are made of.

Click here to see the pictures for our day out!

Cara Walks...with some help!

Thanks Aunt Effie, Uncle Kofi, Aunt Susan and Grandma Ogoe for this wonderful gift! As you can see, Cara is getting lots of use out of it.
She just might be walking by her 2nd birthday! Woo hoo!


**Seems to be a problem with the video, I will see if I can fix it or if it's a Blogger problem. Check back soon!**

Another bullet dodged

We met with Cara's occupational therapist last week to discuss whether or not Cara would benefit from a soft-form hand brace to help her keep her palms flat, especially when she crawls. We were concerned because Cara tends to crawl using her fists or with her fingers partially curled up.
Her therapist decided that, hopefully, in time, Cara will open up her palms on her own as she gets more proficient in her crawling and used to bearing weight on her palms. She said, that if Cara didn't open her hand up for other activities (such as clapping, waving, etc) that it would be more of a concern but that since Cara does a lot of "open hand" activities, we could just take the "wait and see approach". We are going to give Cara another month of so to see if she starts crawling with her hands open. If not, we may readdress the need for braces.
Another adaptive device ruled unnecessary! Keep up the great work and progress Cara!

9th Grade Memories

A little trip down memory lane. I actually liked 9th grade, for the most part, so this should be fun...thanks for the idea Judy

THINK BACK TO 9TH GRADE, BUT IF YOU ARE IN 9TH GRADE PLEASE DON'T DO IT. THERE'S NO FUN IN IT THEN.



Let see how much you remember--


Who was your best friend? Jen Ellswood


Who did you go out with? No steady boyfriends, much to my parents' relief, I'm sure.


Did you have a crush on anyone? Oh yes, I think his name was John. He looked like Zack from Saved By the Bell for those that remember.

Did you buy your lunch? On pizza days, yes. Otherwise it was those fake onion ring things, chocolate milk and honey buns. I also packed my lunch most days.

Did you skip? Heavens no, I would've been in deep trouble.

Did you get suspended/expelled? Goodness no. I like my freedom, I would've been confined to my bedroom if that had happened.

What was your favorite class? I've always liked history, so that's a safe bet. Of course, I loved Mr. Todd (Life Science) too, he was my absolute favorite teacher.

What was your mascot? The Stevenson Saints

Did you go to the dances? I don't think so. I have two left feet, so never felt very comfortable at dances.


If you could go back would you? Heck no, I can do without the constant peer pressure.


Where did you sit at lunch? We used to eat in the halls, in Mr. Todd's room or in the home ec room.

Who was your science teacher? Mr. Todd and Mr. Klein. Mr. Todd had a big nose and was always wearing disguises.

Who was your English teacher? I can't rightly remember if she was 9th grade or not, but I remember Ms. A and how "odd" we all thought she was. There was Mr. Maury too, but I think that was 7th or 8th grade.

Who was your history teacher? I couldn't tell you without looking in my yearbook.

Who was your math teacher? I can't remember the spelling of her name but I think she was nice. Otherwise, it was the really hard, mean, pain in he butt Mr. Middell!

Did you think you were cool? Moderately so.

Describe your outfits in ninth grade? Rolled up pants with the socks over them. leggings...trying to copy what was in Teen magazine.


Who was your favorite teacher? My science teacher, Mr. Todd.


What was your most memorable moment? Throwing a birthday party for my friend Natasha. We totally got her, filled her locker with stuff, etc.

What were your least favorite memories? Any test in math or having to run in P.E.


What was your best accomplishment? Yeah, probably just surviving.


What action do you regret the most? Umm, I'm sure it was something petty, but I just can't remember.


What did you spend the most time doing on weekends? Hanging out with Jen and Tasha, and babysitting.


Did you make any lifelong friendships? I was friends with Jen until a few years ago when she decided to take advantage of me. I realized I didn't need friends like that in my life.

Sense of Humor

When this couple had identical triplet boys, the father's comment was, "And who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?" I have to agree! Good luck to them, they are going to need it in addition to extra sets of hands and lots, and lots of patience!

Here's the story from ParentDish.

From Trash to Table?

How far would you go to save some money on your family's food budget and help reduce consumption and wasteful spending?

I recently watched an episode of Oprah where they had a woman on who will even take people on tours of NYC's best dumpster dives and teach them how to be Freegans. What is a Freegan, you might ask? Paraphrased from Freegan.info: "Freegans are people who employ alternative strategies for living based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources. Freegans embrace community, generosity, social concern, freedom, cooperation, and sharing in opposition to a society based on materialism, moral apathy, competition, conformity, and greed." The story on Oprah was both interesting and disgusting (to me) at the same time. Check it out--HERE!

I don't think that I could sneak out at night and hit the dumpsters in my town, even though, I realize, that a lot of perfectly good foodstuffs get thrown out. That doesn't mean, though, that I don't shop around, look for discounts and try to buy locally, when possible. I am a member of my area's Freecycle group and have both received and given away a lot of good-quality, gently used items. I have been trying hard to live a relatively simplistic lifestyle despite the media's constant swarm of ads and the competative nature of motherhood (who has the newest, most up-scale stroller? You buy your kids' clothes from WHERE?! That's a whole other post). We are by no means high up on the scale of being an earth friendly, green family, but hey, we're trying. I really don't want my kids leaving surrounded by trash from my generation but, I have my limits when it comes to what I'll do. Hit the thrift stores, heck yeah! Buy discounted meat, produce and bakery items at the store, reduced for quick sale, without a doubt! Proudly making a meal that I gathered from the dumpsters behind the neighborhood 7/11, not likely.

So, tell me, how far would you go? What do you currently do to "be green"?

It's all about me, then you!

Thanks Judy, for giving me something to blog about. Things were starting to get a bit dry around here!


Copy this entire list of questions and change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then tag and pass it along to other blogging friends. Let’s see how well we can get to know one another!

1. What is your occupation? Mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend, nurse, maid, event coordinator, appointment scheduler, child care provider, chef, taxi driver, creative consultant (do you really want me to go on?)...

2. What color are your socks right now? Plain old white with gray toes.

3. What are you listening to right now? Kids chattering and Cara's Pooh Tree house making music.

4. What was the last thing that you ate? *blushes* Chicken nugget value meal from McDonald's though I was so busy getting the house picked up for a therapy visit that I doubt I tasted it. It went straight to my thighs though.

5. Can you drive a stick shift? Umm, was that your transmission back there?!

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? A cornflower blue or china blue. Any shade of blue, really.

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? My husband, last night. I don't talk on the phone unless I have to.

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yep, I just love reading her blog...I always get to chuckle or nod my head in agreement.

9. Favorite drink? Sweet tea

10. What is your favorite sport to watch? Baseball (GO ROCKIES!) or figure skating


11. Have you ever dyed your hair? No need to--yet!


12. Pets? No, not yet. Would love to have a goldfish or maybe an guinea pig some day.

13. Favorite food? I'm a carb-aholic, you figure it out!

14. Last movie you watched? Game Plan w/ The Rock and No Reservations

15. Favorite Day of the year? Start of Spring

16. What do you do to vent anger? Blog

17. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Cabbage Patch dolls or Strawberry Shortcake.

18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Both, I love to see the buds appear on the trees and see that it is staying light longer but I also love the changing of the leaves in the fall.

19. Hugs or kisses? I love me a good old bear hug!

20. What kind of pie? Key lime or my mom's apple.

21. Do you want your friends to email you back? Email what exactly? Maybe this began as an email meme?

22. Who is most likely to respond? Oh gosh, this has the tune of a MySpace bulletin.

23. Who is least likely to respond? See above.


24. Living arrangements? Too many people crowded into a very small space. I want the ones who are not of blood relations to LEAVE!

25. When was the last time you cried? Last week, when we received Cara's cerebral palsy diagnosis.

26. What is on the floor of your closet? Carpet

27. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? Hmm...that will actually read this, probably Lauren or Mary. I'm not exactly sure who's reading my blog...so ID yourselves!

28. The friend you have known the shortest amount of time that you are sending this to? Anyone who's stalking my blog but not commenting!

29. Favorite smell? Warm Vanilla Sugar and Johnson's baby lotion on freshly washed children.

30. What inspires you? So many things...

31. What are you afraid of? Of something happening to one of my children to take them away from me.

32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Never plain but they can't be too spicy or my bowels won't be too tolerant. You just wanted to know that, didn't you?

33. Favorite car? Something fun, small and fast but, I really do love my Outback!

34. Favorite cat breed? Don't know enough about cats to really say.

35. Number of keys on your key ring? Oh gosh...too many to count. There's our house key, my parents' house key, parents' mailbox key, Outback car key & keyless remote, Ben's car key. I guess I did count them, huh?

36. How many years at your current job? As a wife-7 years, as a mother-
4.5 years, daughter-almost 30 years, sister-24 years.

37. Favorite day of the week? Friday, because it's the end of the work week so Ben will be around. I miss him a lot during the week.

38. How many provinces have you lived in? Sorry, I do not reside in Canada or any other places that have provinces.

39. How many countries have you been to? Mexico and Canada--across both borders and of course, the good old U.S of A.

Now that I've done it, I'd like the rest of my blogging buddies to do the same!

Me, as a sports car

Just for fun--

I'm a Mazda RX-8!

You're sporty, yet practical, and you have a style of your own. You like to have fun, and you like to bring friends along for the ride, but when it comes time for everyday chores, you're willing to do your part.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Why I Blog...

Sarah tagged me to answer this question, though truthfully, I've never really thought about it until now.

I guess, I started this blog to attempt to keep my family & friends up-to-date on what was going on in our lives as we have loved ones scattered all over the place (and now all over the world). It was my intention was to post about happy milestones and memories in the life of Caitlin and then, when I found out I was pregnant again, Cara too.

When I started blogging, it was all the craze, so I thought, why not, it'll give me a creative outlet since I've loved to read and write from a young age. Now, my blogging helps me cope with the events of my life and in the lives of my children. I've found though, that blogging is great therapy. I'm saving a lot of money by blogging instead of seeing a counselor!

I have, through the course of blogging, made some wonderful friends, that I don't think I would've met otherwise and have enjoyed reading into their worlds. I have also learned from these friends, benefiting from their knowledge and experiences.

I guess, I blog to amuse myself, keep track of milestones and memories, and to connect with other parents who are experiencing what I am.

I would like to hear why the following people blog: Lauren, Judy, Angela & Kendra

Alike, except...

A recent conversation while out shoe-shopping at Target--

Me: Gee, Caitlin, you are just like your daddy. You look like him, have the same body type and now, you have big feet like your daddy. I think you're going to be tall like Daddy too.

Caitlin: We are the same, except for our private parts!

(Are you laughing yet?)

Neurology Clinc Results

Cara had her evaluation with the Neurology Clinic at Children's Hospital this morning.
We were referred by her physical therapist who was concerned that Cara was showing signs of both hemiplegia and hypotonic cerebral palsy.

After meeting with Mary Anne (one of the nurses) and then Dr. Reilly, a firm diagnosis was given to us. She does indeed have hypontic cerebral palsy coupled with developmental and intellectual delays.

While none of this came as a great shock to us, it was still a blow to realize that our hope for Cara to catch up and be a "normal" child were just not going to happen. Dr. Reilly explained that he thought that Cara would always be a bit slow, especially intellectually, for the rest of her life. Bottom line, we oficialy have a child with special needs. She will, most likely, always needs assistive services throughout her life and especially when she is of school age. There was talk of a IEP or Individualized Education Plan to ensure that Cara gets the help that she needs. School is still, at minimum, a year away yet, and a lot can happen in that time. We will just have to wait and see how well she does over the next year and go from there. Cara will, most likely, be a candidate for HeadStart when she's three which is wonderful as I know she will benefit from the social as well as educational aspects of the program.

Dr. Reilly also made us aware of a program through the Colorado Department of Education called PEP (Parents Encouraging Parents). It is a support program for parents of children with disabilities. Apparently, they have conferences every few months around the state to share resources, new information and allow parents to meet and talk with others like them and with professionals. Unfortunately, we cannot attend the next conference, but they seem to have them often, so hopefully, we will be able to go in the next few months. I would love to network with more parents who have children with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus!

I am to go and speak with the financial counselors with the hospital next week to start the application process for getting Cara onto SSI Medicaid to help with her on-going medical expenses. We have to fill out a lengthly application and then also go through an interview with the Social Security office to determine our eligibility. We are keeping our fingers and toes crossed as this would be a blessing for Cara. She would be able to get the best care and whatever kind of services she needs without there being any financial constraints or concerns. If she were to get SSI, we would probably do all of her therapy through Children's Hospital as we believe the clinical setting has proved to be more beneficial for Cara over the in-home setting. The girl is just too comfortable in her own living room and doesn't want to buckle down and work like she does when she goes to the clinic!

Ben & I have taken the news in stride. We were hoping that with hard work and therapy, that Cara would catch up and be a normal child on the developmental and cognitive fronts. Of course, Cara could still amaze us and overcome her challenges but we feel that we have to accept her for who she is and who she will become. We still except great things from our little girl and know that she will be the best Cara that she can be. She has a great network of loving and caring people to make sure that she reaches her every potential and for that, we are SO grateful! We thank you all for sharing in Cara's journey so far--offering prayers, support, a shoulder to cry on, etc. We can't imagine going through this alone!

Mother-Daughter Time

I have often felt very guilty that Caitlin is getting shafted, in terms of having quality time with me, because of it seems that 90% of my time is devoted to Cara and her various therapy sessions and doctors appointments. Despite our crazy schedule, I still try so hard to carve out time for Cait & I--just the two of us. Usually, it's just simple things like coloring together, working on a lesson from her Kindergarten readiness workbook or reading. Sunday, however, I noticed that Caitlin was a bit "out of sorts"--whining and crying more than she normally does. I decided that the cure for her troubles was some "Mommy" time. She has been having to share me with not only her little sister but also my best friend's two children who have been staying with us since November. That gets tough on a kid after awhile.


The cure, you ask? A trip to the restaurant of her choice--TGIFriday's were we dined, colored and laughed. Caitlin devoured her ribs with mandarin oranges washed down with a blue raspberry slush. In between bites, we talked about what was going on her in world and about things at home. As I thought, Caitlin is eager to have our household return to normal again so that she can have more time with both of her parents. I loved having this heart-to-heart with Cait as it gave me a chance to tell her that I loved her, cherished the time that we spent together and that she has voice in our family affairs. We did, though, have a talk about how acting out doesn't get one the kind of attention one wants. Hopefully, in the future, she will feel that she can approach Ben or I when she's feeling sad or left out and work on a remedy for the problem.

We had such a great time that I want to do it again. This time, we are going to go for tea (scroll down to The Tea Box), like grown-up Victorian girls! I met a friend there once for a fresh mint tea latte that was wonderful! Not to mention the cranberry scone that we split. I think I'm going to enjoy Caitlin as a big girl, just as much as I have enjoyed her thus far. A whole new world of things to do together has opened up!

Caitlin the Rocker

Don't ask me why this video is upside-down, but it's cute, nonetheless. I took it while we were at my parents' house for New Years. Caitlin had the most fun with my brother & sister-in-law's Guitar Hero for the Wii.

Perfect Form, Perfect Form

I finally got Cara accomplishing her latest milestone on video! Check it out! Her orthopedic doctor said that Cara has perfect form, we agree.

One Full Medicine Cabinet

Cara had her appointment with Dr. Hoontrakoon @ Premier Allergy & Asthma yesterday. They did a little test where they marked up her back with pink & purple marker numbering from 1-10. Then came the sample, concentrated allergens. The technician just dipped this plastic doodad in the samples and pressed it up against Cara's back. No pricks or surface scratches like I was fearing, this was totally painless for Cara. We were left for 15 minutes while the allergens did there job, watched some Shrek on the office computer and played with toys. Dr. Hoontrakoon came back in with the results...Cara does, indeed, have allergies. She is allergic to: Mountain (Western) cedar tree pollen, and Mugwort in addition to Russian thistle. Generally speaking, she is allergic to a lot of common trees, weeds and grasses here in Colorado. Her allergist also thinks that, down the road, Cara might develop childhood asthma. We will just have to wait and see as she learns to walk, run and becomes more active.

We left the office armed with samples--we love free--of Nasonex spray and Zyrtec syrup. We are going to try both drugs for a week to see if there's difference in Cara's nasal stuffiness and cough and if so, we will get an Rx for the Nasonex and also pick up more Zyrtec since it's now over-the-counter (and cheap, only about $13)! I just know that our local Target pharmacist is going to smile when she sees us coming. We are going to be frequent customers, no doubt. Good thing that we love our local Target pharmacy (I'm crazy about those color coding bands) and it is very convenient.

If the Nasonex & Zyrtec aren't doing the job, the allergist will see what else is out there that might work. If at first you're still miserable, try, try again.

I gave Cara her first dose of both drugs today. She took the Zyrtec like a champ but the Nasonex, an entirely different story, man oh man! Let me give the run down on the procedure for administering this dosage. First, one must pin down a very wiggly 18 month old in order to put in saline drops and use a bulb syringe to suction out nose goo. Next, one can release said child for a few minutes allowing the child's nose to dry out. Minutes later, child must be restrained again to allow for each nostril to receive one spray of Nasonex, at preferably, a 45% angle. Let me just say that this is easier said than done, but I think I've developed a technique were I can straddle Cara, hold her head with one hand, hold down her hand with a couple of fingers and activate the spray with two more fingers. I swear though, moms need at least 6 fingers on each hand! I'm hoping that this will get easier over time...please tell me it will! Even if this is my fate for the next several years, it will be worth it if Cara can breathe easier and sleep peacefully without waking herself up coughing. Oh my, could that mean that I just might get a full night of uninterrupted sleep? That would be pure bliss! Crud, I probably just jinxed myself by talking about it. Oh well...

*Achoo, achoo, cough-cough*

After having a "virus" with symptoms similar to on-going allergies since November, we have finally pushed her primary care doctor hard enough to convince them to put some pressure on the allergist and move her appointment up. We were originally scheduled for after Valentine's Day, then the 7th of February and then, yesterday, I was informed that we have been switched to a different doctor and will see him/her (not sure which) on Friday. There is supposedly a huge packet of forms coming for me to fill out before this visit. Cara also can't have any medications other than Mortin beforehand. Something about no antihistamines, which I thought you couldn't give to children her age? Hopefully, an end is in sight for Cara's suffering and she'll be able to sleep peacefully at night and give our vaporizer a break. The poor girl coughs a lot and seems to have an endless supply of nose goo. If she has to endure an allergy panel to find out the cause of her misery, it will be worth it. I'm just wondering how my 18 month old will survive a 2-3 hour appointment? How will I for that matter?
Updates to follow.

Orthopedic Consult

At the request of Cara's physical therapist, we met today with an orthopedic doctor to discuss whether Cara would need the assistance of leg braces or supportive shoes in order to walk. This appointment was booked back in December because Cara was not standing or attempting to crawl in addition to walking in our her feet, slightly.

I am proud to report that since then, Cara has improved greatly (another post with, hopefully a video, will be coming shortly) and the doctor believes that she is progressing nicely and will walk in the next 3-4 months, without assistance! I'm so thrilled, one hurdle overcome.

We are to meet with her again late this spring to reevaluate. If Cara is still not walking, we might need to re-think and come up with a new strategy. But for now, everyone seems happy with the amount of progress that Cara has made.

Let's do the "no braces dance"!

What does your DNA say?

This was a very interesting test. I read my results and a lot of them were right on. Here's a sampling:

You are practical and pay attention to the details that others tend to miss.
Even when problems present themselves, deep down you know you will overcome these challenges.
You're not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.
You are an independent thinker and don't get too worried about how others might perceive you—you are not self-conscious about being the active, engaged person that you are.

Wow, that's me...that's totally me, it's scary!
Thanks Lauren for the link!

Caitlin's Anatomy

Proof that Blue's Clues is very educational and that I'm not a bad mommy for occasionally telling Caitlin to park it in front of Nick, Jr--here is a conversation we had tonight.

(Caitlin & I are looking at a recent edition of Parenting magazine. On the opposite page of the article I'm reading is an ad for Advair, a drug for asthma.)

Caitlin: "Mom, those are your lungs".
Me: "Yes, honey, you are right, they are your lungs".
Caitlin: "You breathe air in and out, (pointing to the the veins (or are those arteries?) is that where the air goes?"
Me: "Yes, the air you breathe in through your mouth and nose goes through there and goes to the rest of your body. How do you know about your lungs and how they work?"
Caitlin: "From Blue's Clues. I saw it online! *smacks forehead like I'm supposed to know this* and it was on Nick, Jr this morning too".
Me: "You're so smart, it's not even funny!"
Caitlin: *laughs* "Oh, Mom? Did you know that these things *points to her eye* are called pupils and they get bigger when it gets dark?"
Me: "Wow, I can't believe you know that. I guess Mommy needs to watch Blue's Clues with you, so that I can get educated".
Caitlin: "Good idea, Momma. You need to be as smart as me, I'm four."

Apparently, I need to get my daily dose of preschool television so that I can show off to my mommy friends. I can just see me now..."Hey, did you see that episode of Dora? I learned that ____ is this and it does _____." Good ice breakers, at least!

Speech Therapy, et al

Cara started speech therapy through Developmental Pathways on Tuesday. While this was basically a "getting know you" chat with her therapist, Angela, I really got a good vibe from her. She seems to care about the whole picture, not just Cara's progress with her oral expression. There seems to be a well-rounded therapy approach, which I really think is beneficial, not only to us, but to the Developmental Pathways team too. The focus of her speech therapy, right now, is to get Cara "talking" more, especially in copying or mimicking sounds. I already do a lot of the things that were discussed, so it seems that we are going in the right direction. I read to Cara daily, talk about what I'm doing (brushing her hair, playing with her, etc) and encourage her to "talk" to me. We are learning animal sounds and common baby words. Also, her therapist wants to introduce some baby sign language into Cara's vocabulary to bridge the gap between her babble and talking. I'm excited, as I've always wanted to learn ASL. In case anyone is curious, I found great website for teaching parents some simple, every day signs. There are also some board books by Linda Acredolo which I am hoping to find at the library. It will be so nice, if Cara picks up on the signs, to know what she is saying, thinking, wanting. Hopefully, it will ease the frustration for both of us.
Her therapist is going to teach me 4 new signs every time we meet on top of whatever I happen to learn in between. I am also hoping to sign up for, and attend, some free sign language classes. I'm actually looking forward to not only learning to communicate with Cara, but to have something mind-simulating to do.
We will be meeting with Angela, in our home, bi-weekly for speech therapy and I'm looking forward to seeing Cara improve.

Cara continues to do well with her PT. We are working on getting her to stand for longer periods of time without locking her knees, getting her to shift her weight from one leg to another and begin to transition into side-stepping. I am happy to report that she stood, playing with her favorite toy, for about 15 minutes and did not lock her knees! In fact, she was kind of bouncing on her feet at times! Such of a big accomplishment for her. She also managed to side-cross step from one table to the other while reaching for a toy. It is so rewarding to see her making progress!

We have her second occupational therapy session scheduled for next week. Our goal in this department is to have Cara using her pincher grasp as well as getting her used to having her palm open. She still does a fist grab for objects and tends to ball up her palms when doing her commando crawl. She is getting better about opening them (as she is on all fours more and such) but still needs some help. We are also working on getting her to use her pointer finger to push buttons and such. She is loving the hand massages that I give her and playing with the Sesame Street pop-up toy that we inherited. "Therapy" is such fun for us!

Turning to something not therapy related...Cara will be going into to see her pediatrician on Monday to investigate why she always seems to be so stuffed up and full of snot all the time. She snorts, sneezes and coughs more than we think is normal. An allergy panel might be coming Cara's way. We will have to wait and see what trusty Dr. Quinn has to say. He hasn't steered us wrong yet. Keep watching for updates.

Holiday Re-Cap

The 2007-2008 Holiday season was a fun one for us. We are blessed with the best family & friends who helped make this Christmas one of the most memorable for our girls.

Christmas Eve found us gathered in the kitchen making peanut butter chocolate chip cookies for Santa (there his favorite, didn't you know?) and preparing a plate of treats for the jolly red elf and juicy carrots for his reliable reindeer. By the evidence left...
I'd say that Santa was hungry from his world travels. Reindeer teeth marks were even left on the carrots.

After the children were nestled all snug in their beds, Santa "elves" were busy wrapping the gifts Santa would bring. Thanks to the generosity of our wonderful circle of friends (including some Christmas angels from Freecyle)and family, our girls were very, very blessed this year.


The adults in the house (numbering 3) were awoken at 7:45 by four bright-eyed anxious children and we assembled around the tree for the opening of presents.

The unwrapping lasted a mere minutes in length only to be followed by precision assembly of children's toys. The day was filled with sounds of joy & laughter and our stomachs relished in the fixing of turkey and stuffing.

We awoke Christmas morning to not only evidence of Santa's visit to our home, but to a beautiful white dusting of snow. It snowed all day, leaving 7 inches of fresh powder. All the children decide that it was romp-worthy despite the cold. Bundled up in fleece PJs, snow pants, mittens, hats and coats, they voyaged out to make snowballs and angels. Returning indoors with rosy cheeks and requests for hot cocoa.

New Year's Eve we were traveling through snow and lots of wind, to the McLean family acres for a gathering. We made it through 60 MPH winds with lots of blowing snow, over a mountain pass as icy as a rink, to my parents house were aunts, uncles and grandparents were patiently awaiting. Soon, the living room floor was a fury of wrapping paper as Christmas, part duce, was in full force. Exclaims, laughter and joy could be heard throughout the house as Grandpa & Grandma surely spoiled! After a satisfying meal, a heated game of Cariboo was partaken by all the adults in the house. As the clock neared midnight, we all gathered around, the television to watch Carson Daly do the countdown, signaling, once again, that another year had past. Good riddance 2007, hello 2008! Resolutions, we're still contemplating, but there are sure to be a few. Meanwhile, as we look back at 2007, our blessing were many. We look forward to 2008 and what it may bring.

So, to all, I say, may 2008 bring you & your family much peace & happiness!

I'm under a rock

Okay,not really, but one can dream, right? Things have been a tad bit on the busy side lately. I know that I have a lot of updating to do and I will do it, one of these days when I get to sit down in front of my computer for more than 15 minutes at a time; when I can compose a rational, coherent thought that just might be of interest to others to read. Stay tuned, updates on the holiday season coming your way. That's a darn promise!

Happy Holidays To All

Courtesy of MsTags.com

The Headlines

I'm officially a blog slacker. I've been meaning to update for sometime but, well, the only time I seem to be able to do so is at unwelcoming hours in the morning when my 17 month old baby can't sleep. It's hard to coordinate a sleep-deprived brain with fingers to compose a sentence that makes even the remotest bit of sense! However, since I seem to be on a roll, here goes nothing.

• I somehow neglected to post about some free toys that I won from CafeMom's Playskool Preschool Playgroup. Every once in a blue moon, they offer free toys to moms who are members of this group if you do certain things such as post three times, post a picture and respond to a poll. I was so excited to see that they were offering up some toys that I thought would be perfect for Caitlin for Christmas. After a long wait, the toys arrived a few days ago. Click here to see what Caitlin will be opening on Christmas Day. Cool, or what? I haven't opened the box yet but, after the Mr. Potato Head promotion earlier this summer, I know I won't be disappointed!



• I finally got around to putting up some Christmas decorations. It's been challenging because I have little, curious fingers who love to get into everything. Let's just say that the decorations are well out of reach except for those of a plush variety. We still haven't decided where to put our tree or hung stockings. I imagine that we'll figure out those logistics this weekend. All that I know is that it's starting to feel a bit like Christmas around here. We even have snow to prove it--and more on the way.



• Caitlin has been practicing writing both upper and lower case letters and reading beginning readers books. She has been doing so well. I'll have to get a video of her "reading" and scan in some of her writing. There's no doubt that she's ready, intellectually anyway, for Kindergarten.



• Cara has been making huge strides lately! In the past few weeks, here's what she's learned:
  --She is now pulling up to stand on just about anything--the tub, couch, an air mattress, you name it. She goes from sitting, to kneeling to standing just like her therapist wanted her to.
  --She knows how to give you a "high five" or "holla" if you say that to her. Cutest thing to watch because she actually tries to make the slapping sound.
  --Cara also knows and will do on command or copy you if you say, "So big!" She'll put both of her hands in the air and smile.
  --I think, though I'm not totally certain, that she now puts her hands up when she wants to be picked up. She did it last night to Ben, but not sure yet, if it was intentional. I hope so!



• Some other 411 in regards to Cara. She is going to be evaluated for a mild form of cerebral palsy called hypotonic cerebral palsy. While I'm not 100% convinced that she has this, she does show some of the "signs" and we want to rule it out. Cerebral palsy is not that uncommon in hydrocephalus patients. Her evaluation, through the neurology clinic at Children's Hospital, isn't until the end of February. I have asked to be placed on the waiting list in case someone cancels, so I have a shred of hope that we might get in before then. Cara is also going to be needing orthopedic braces on her legs to help her build up strength and unlock her knees so that she can walk, without support. We are still trying to get things coordinated to get her in to see the orthopedic doctor. All in due time. It seems like I spend an obscene amount of time on the phone scheduling appointments these days.



• We took all of the kids (including my best friends') to the Children's Museum last weekend to see Santa. Caitlin hoped right up, made herself at home and told Santa, at a novel's length, what she wantsed for Christmas. Cara, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the man in the red suit and, clearly, let me know that. Click here to see the picture of the girls with Santa as well as some from our day at the museum. Go to page three to see the girls with the jolly old elf.



• I picked up a gingerbread house to do with the kids to enter in the extended family's gingerbread house decorating contest. From the looks of the good times had by Judy, it's sure to be an enjoyable and memorable experience. We got one that uses Willy Wonka candies, so it's a little "non traditional", but I'm sure the kids will do a good job of making it look cute.

I guess that's all that is making news in our neck of the woods for now. Thanks for tuning in!

Cara Sports Her New Glasses

Cara's Glasses
Originally uploaded by Mountain Chronicles

Have a look-see everyone! We think she looks adorable...when she keeps them on, that is.

I See, I See...

Cara had a follow-up ophthalmology appointment on Monday. We were told to follow-up right around a year after her initial visit back in 2006. She went just before turning one because we were concerned that she was cross-eyed. At the time, we were told that she just "appeared" to be cross-eyed due to having a wide bridge on her nose. Being a mom, I didn't really buy that, but her ophthalmologist at the time dismissed my concerns. Lo and behold, 8 months later, we are still concerned about the crossed eyes and have also observed her eyes "dancing" when she focuses, thus, prompting a much needed follow-up. This time with a member of the Eye Clinic team at Children's Hospital. After dilating Cara's pupils and doing a few procedures, we had a diagnosis, and this time, it made sense. Cara is farsighted--big time! It makes so much sense because eyes cross or dance when they are trying, unsuccessfully, to focus or see an object in front of them. We left Children's Hospital armed with an Rx for glasses and on a crusade to find someone who could fill the prescription and not make my baby look silly. After many failed attempts, we finally found a great place, picked out some adorable purple feather-weight frames, tacked on a 2-year scratch warranty, and Cara will have her glasses in 1-1 1/2 weeks. I'm so excited, and hope Cara will be too, when she realizes that with the glasses that she kept trying to pull of her face, she will be able to see so much better. Her frames will have special hooks on them to go around her ears, making it (hopefully) virtually impossible for her to pull them off. We might also have a baby band going around her head for awhile until she gets used to them. Our technician said though, that in her experience, the little ones are so amazed that they can see that they don't want their parents to take their glasses off! Oh, we can only hope this is the case with Cara.
You can bet your dollar that I will be posting pictures as soon as her glasses come in. Our newest optical device wearer is going to look so darn cute!

Late Night Thinking...

I'm sure you all know what this is like, you're tired, you want to go to bed but, you just can't shut your brain off of it's conscious thoughts. Well, I'm having one of those nights. I'm thinking and contemplating a lot of stuff right now, so I thought I'd share.

Before I do though, I want to say one thing right now, I am in no way asking for sympathy, charity or anything like that. I know, that in the grand scheme of things, our problems are minute, there's a lot of people who are worse off, facing much more monumental decisions and who do not have the love and support of a wonderful network of friends and family. I simply just want to share what life's really been like because, I try real hard to "appear happy" and to go forward with as much normalcy as I can muster. Yes, I am very open with people, but I am not one to burden others with my problems because I know that they have enough of there own. With everything in life, it seems, there are challenges. Okay, that said...let the ramblings begin.

For those that do not know, Ben works 80 hours a week (two full time jobs) so that I can be home with the girls. He works from 8:30am-5pm, comes home to eat dinner and sleep for a short period of time and then, is back to work at his night job from 11pm-7am. How he does it, is beyond me. He does, usually, turn into a pumpkin pretty quickly after coming home on Friday nights. That said, we don't see much of each other and the girls don't see much of their father. Ben & I seem to do a good bulk of our communication via email and instant messaging. True, we can't have real disagreements that way, but sometimes, I crave face-to-face time with him. We cherish the weekends, when he is home and there a sense of a normal family about our place. While he is working, I'm attempting (some days I manage better than others) to keep our house in order, the kids from self-destructing and running here & there for our various appointments, library trips and such. Most days, I feel appreciated and I really do love being home with the girls. Some days though, I don't know how I'm going to put up with being around only children for much longer and wish for a 9-5 job or maybe more friends to have playdates with or a free preschool option for Caitlin. Sometimes, I'd like to just step out for a few hours, grab a magazine, hit a local coffee shop and engross myself in a work of fiction--escaping the realities of my so-called life. I guess that's the point, I don't feel like I have a life anymore beyond being a mother. Yes, that's a great part of who I am but it's not everything. That bring me to my next topic.

The other day, as I was combing the Colorado State Library Jobline, I came across "my dream job". A position vacancy at a library not too far from us for a circulation supervisor in materials handling. For those that aren't too familiar with my background, I have been working in various library settings (academic in college, public in Michigan and finally, institutional--read prison--here in Colorado before Cara was born) for about 7 years. This job would be a perfect fit because, as much as I like people, I think I'd like to deal with the material side of library operations for awhile. I would be dealing with the "behind the scenes" actions of the library--holds, missing/lost books and things like that. Perfect! The best part of the job offer was the pay--over $3K a month, which for the library world (non-MLS) this is really good. I was really, really thinking about applying until my current reality hit home. I don't feel that I can be employed right now without doing a disservice to Cara. Who would do her weekly therapy sessions (not to mention the daily home therapy) if I was at work? Children's Hospital pretty much mandates parental involvement in PT and OT. Cara is doing so well, she doesn't need a major setback. Also, no matter how much this job pays, I still would have to factor in child care times two and arrange drop off & pick up strategies with Ben. See, he would still need to work two jobs, at least for awhile so that we could catch up (I'll explain that more in a minute). Oh yeah, not to mention the money I'd have to spend on getting a whole new wardrobe because lounge pants and ratty jeans just wouldn't cut it for a library supervisor, I don't think. I decided, that as tempting as the offer is (and it's very, very, extremely), this is just not a good time for me. I wish I could find a way to make it work because goodness knows we could use the money, but after talking with Ben, I just don't see how. Hopefully, something wonderful will come up again when I feel that I can take the leap back into the work force...maybe once Cara is caught up developmentally and Caitlin is in school.

Okay, I said I would further explain the whole "catching up" bit. Even though Ben works 80 hours a week and makes pretty darn decent money, we just can't seem to stay much above water. It seems that every month, more and more bills keep piling up (especially medical) and try as we might, we just can't stretch the money far enough. Let me assure you that we are not being extravagant with our money either. We do not eat out, hardly at all, we don't do activities which require money but once in a blue moon or if we happen to have a BOGO coupon or something. We are very careful. As careful as we are though, things go unpaid or get partially paid, creditors are calling and all that not-so-nice stuff. There have been times when we've had to choose between going grocery shopping and paying a bill. Frugality is an important lesson, no doubt, as is budgeting, but it is almost impossible to budget when you don't have enough money to go around. It is also really hard not to be able to provide your children with what they need or a few extra comforts. By some miracle of a higher power, we have not yet gone hungry and our children are not freezing. For that, I am extremely grateful. I would, however, like to be comfortable, to know that we can pay all of our obligations each month and maybe, just maybe, have a small "rainy day" fund. I'd like to get caught up instead of it looking like we're sinking deeper and deeper. I mean, we have actually talked about the "big B word" a few times but know that it would just bring us more trouble than it's worth. As you can imagine, this is all very stressful. I have learned how to be very resourceful with our limited supply of food...finding meals that are cheap to make and making them stretch as long as possible. I have also found ways to have fun for next to no cost. These are things that are going to be with me forever and are good lessons learned. I just wonder how much longer they are going to be a fact of my daily life? How long can one family struggle? I know that God never gives us more than we can handle and that our struggles are so minute and insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but that doesn't make them any easier to deal with. I feel like such of a bad parent in some ways, having to tell my child that we can't get something over and over again. Christmas is a mirage in the distance, something that's going to take just short of a miracle to pull off. I know, it's not all about the presents, but the rituals and celebrations. However, have you tried to explain this to a 4 year old who is, thanks to advertising up the wahzoo, bombarded with images of the latest and greatest toys? Every time she sees something on television, she wants it. I just nod my head and say, "We'll have to see what Santa brings you, won't we?" when deep down inside, I'm not sure if Santa will be stopping at our house this year.

I just feel so frustrated, defeated and downright hopeless at times and I know that my husband shares these feelings. I know, in my heart of hearts, that this too, shall pass, but am I having a hard time waiting for that day to come. The day when we can all breathe easier and go to bed knowing that everything's been taken care of...the bill juggling a thing of the past. Some days, I just don't know how I'm going to go on and I'll admit, the "woe is me" creeps in too. Then, I usually give myself a good kick in the bum and realize, hey, it could be a whole lot worse...we'll make it through it...we're together as a family, we're happy & healthy, nothing else really matters, right? Now, would all of the bill collectors please respect this, know that we're doing the best we can and--BUG OFF! I've been just about as polite as I can be and no matter how many times a day you call, you're going to get the same answer so you can stop calling upwards of 5 times a day! Surely, you all have bigger fish to fry than my petty $35 or $120 bill.

If someone has a crystal (or heck, even a Magis 8) ball, may I borrow it please? I'd love to find out how soon the end is in sight for us.

Plain With a Side of Spots

A recent discussion with Caitlin--

Me: Oh, I see that you colored the boy in the picture to look just like Daddy.

Caitlin: Mom, Dadda's not black, he's brown...dark brown.

Me: I see, then what color are you?

Caitlin: Light brown, like my chocolates.

Me: What about Cara?

Caitlin: Plain

Me: Plain?

Caitlin: Yes, like you. Mom, you're plain too, with spots.

Me: Spots! (laughing) Like a Dalmatian?

Caitlin: No, I mean freckles, sprinkles, you know?

Halloween 2007

Halloween 2007
Originally uploaded by Mountain Chronicles

Caitlin had a wonderful time this Halloween. We trekked across the mountains to spend the week with my parents in Montrose. We visited a local pumpkin patch where Caitlin selected white pumpkins for herself and Cara, a first for us and we ran around in a corn maze. We carved pumpkins on Wednesday and Caitlin had fun ad-libbing a face onto hers and then using stencils to add a more personalized touch. I tried my craftiness at spelling Cara's name into her pumpkin and then using a pattern to make an evil clown on mine. Even my parents got into the game by carving their own pumpkins. We attempted to roast (read burn) some pumpkin seeds and let Cara play in and taste fresh pumpkin. Halloween dinner was lovingly prepared by our local Domino's and enjoyed by quite the crowd: the girls & I, my brother Matt and his girlfriend Natalia (Matalie according to Caitlin), my parents and my aunt & uncle. Afterward, we all put on our costumes. Yes, we all dressed up albeit my dad who decided to stay home and pass out candy. Caitlin was Snow White, Cara a puppy, my mom as a cow complete with a cowbell, Matt as a freaky old dude and Natalia as a pirate. I downed a court jester hat to complete the festive scene. A quick walk across the street to a bigger subdivision and we found, much to Caitlin's delight, many homes with porch lights on. We spent about 2 hours walking the streets with Caitlin who was rewarded for her efforts by a Target bag full of candy (inspected my Uncle Matt & Natalia and Mommy). Cara was pretty much unnerved by the whole experience and slept, nice and cozy, in her stroller. She fussed for a little while and then was happy again. We returned home, on the chilly side, where Grandma promptly made hot cocoa and we all settled down for the night.

We topped off our stay on the Western Slope with a trip to the Ouray Hot Springs for a very relaxing soak. There is something almost magical about this place. The views are amazing and watching the steam rise from the pool in the evening is just totally cool.



Here is Cara and my dad in the pool. Cara had the time of her life! We got the float ring for 50 cents at WalMart--what a find!


We headed back to Aurora on Friday morning, feeling refreshed and relaxed. That was one mini-vacation very much needed, especially by me.


**Click on the collage to see it bigger**

Using Big Words That I Understand

Thought that some word association would be a fun way to update on Cara.

Audiologist: Cara will be having a hearing test in the middle of November to rule out any hearing impairment (we know she can hear just fine) as part of the thorough clinical evaluation from Child Find.

Staffing Process: This is what will happen after the hearing test results are complete and given to Cara's perspective therapists and service coordinator from Developmental Pathways. Simply put, this is the process where all of the therapists sit down with me and determine which services Cara would benefit from (PT/OT, speech/language), which ones the school district can provide (through it's Child Find early intervention program) and how often she will be receiving these services.

Home visits: Once the services get started with , the therapists will come to our home to do home therapy! One less place for us to run to every week.

Ophthalmologist: After getting through a lot of medical red tape, we were finally able to get all. of the ducks in a row to get Cara an appointment with a pediatric specialist He/she will be investigating the "dancing" in her eyes (especially, her left) when she attempts to focus on an object. I can almost see drops or a "pirate" patch in the future for her. Even if she has to wear glasses, they have such cute ones for little kiddos these days.

Orthopedics: At one of her last PT sessions, her therapist confirmed a concern that I've had about Cara's feet. They seem to turn/curve inward when she puts her weight on them. We are aggressively attacking the problem by doing exercises to hopefully straighten the ligaments and muscles in her calves and feet and encouraging her to stand. Right now, we are hoping that these exercises along with some new, supportive shoes, will do the trick. If not, we may be seeing an orthopedic specialist to have an orthopedic shoe insert or something similar made for Cara.

Therapeutic exercises: I always come from PT sessions with activities to do with Cara or toys/instruments that would be helpful for us to get for her. Currently, we are working on getting Cara's leg muscles strengthened so we are wanting her to sit, bearing weight on her feet, stand and support herself while reaching for objects on a low table at her height, etc. So, I'm having fun searching around our house looking for things that can be tables, benches, and the like. Have found that laundry soap containers, laundry baskets and packing boxes work well. Doing therapy with Cara does spark my creativity. We currently do therapy for at least 30 minutes 6 days a week. Seeing improvement always makes me smile and encourages me to continue.

Attagirl!

I can't believe I forgot to post about this. About a week ago, the whole family was sitting on our couch, Ben holding Cara when she looked right at me & said..."Momma!" She had been babbling and saying, "Mmmmmoooommmmm" for awhile but never associated the name with me. We think she really knew what she was saying that day however. She has said it to me a few more times, so I think we've confirmed that Cara has said her first word! And how awesome that it wasn't the traditional "Dada" although she does say that now, just not to Ben...yet. I've been telling Ben that Cara is a "Mommy's girl" from just about day one (he has dibs on Caitlin), seems I might be right? No offense Ben, but the truth is the truth!

**Edited to add--I forgot to mention how moved I was by this one little word. I looked at Ben with a face of disbelieve. All he had to do was nod his head to confirm that he had heard the same thing. I was beaming with pride while tears were streaming down my face, unchecked.**

The First Snow!

It snowed for the first time this season late last night and into the afternoon today. Colorado weather is so weird because yesterday I was walking around downtown Denver in a t-shirt!
Anyway, the snow was so beautiful as coated everything--like something out of a Thomas Kinkade painting. I was able to snap a few pictures of things around our place before Caitlin got up and demanded to go out and play in the first snow. Her excitement was contagious and soon, Cara & I had joined her. Cara seemed taken aback by the whole experience and just sat and took in the activity around her. Caitlin & I engaged in a snowball fight and then made a snowgirl. Not a snowman because she had a pink scarf on. Such a blast! This is what childhood should be about. Afterward, we came inside, made hot cocoa and Ben & I played a heated match of Scrabble. I'm currently working on making some chili and cornbread muffins for dinner. The perfect meal for the perfect snowy day!

Art & Architecture in Denver

Yesterday, as I was walking back from the Denver Public Library, I decided to snap some pictures of things that captured my attention in downtown Denver (also known as LoDo). To see the mini-set, click here.
I was downtown hoping to pick up Knuffle Bunny Too, which I had placed on hold a few days ago. However, the library decided to close early in preparation for the annual Booklover's Ball. Somehow, I managed to miss this little announcement while skimming the homepage earlier that day.
It was a beautiful fall day (even though snow was on the horizon), so I decided to make the most of my time, ALONE (gasp) downtown and took a little scenic tour while I waited for the next Light Rail train to come.

A Glimpse @ the Craziness

I was challenged by Lauren to capture 24 hours of my life, in photographs. Well, I'm proud to say I did it! It was actually kind of fun, even toting my not-so-light Kodak DX 6490 around. We had a fun 24 hours, well, at least up until about 10 o'clock last night anyway. So, here is the my set--"A Glimpse Into My World".

(I wanted to upload a picture to go with this post, but Blogger is being dumb and keeps giving me an error. I will try again later.)

You Really Can...

...Get something for nothing!
The other day, as I was logging in to my Flickr account, I noticed an email from Flickr. Thinking it was so boring, not helpful newsletter or promotion, I was about to delete it. Then, I say the words, "Your account has been upgraded to pro"! Turns out that as a reward for downloading my old pictures for Yahoo! Photos (now defunct), Flickr gave me three months of free pro status for my account. I get to enjoy the perks of this status until January '08 and after that I'll have to pay to keep it. Still, I can finally see all of the pictures I've uploaded and not just the last 200. I can create sets of pictures and more. I'm not sure what the rest of the perks are right now, I'm just basking in the fact that I got something for doing absolutely nothing besides clicking on a mouse. Pretty sweet deal in my book.

Speaking of my Flickr account...it is lonely. I haven't had a comment on there in ages. To make things easier, I will probably be making more of my pictures public soon. It seems that "people" (and I use that term loosely) are only interested in picture of my kids if they are wearing a bathing suit in a kiddie wading pool.

Does It Work For You?

I came across an interesting article in Parents about sibling spacing and it got me to thinking about the spontaneous, yet wonderful spacing between my own two girls.

Caitlin & Cara are exactly 2 years, 11 months and 3 weeks apart. Did we plan it this way? No, Cara was a big surprise, one in which we didn't discover until she had been growing inside of me for about 3 months! That said, over the past year, this age gap has proved to be just wonderful, most days. Here's my reasoning--

~Ben & I had been out of "baby mode" for a few years, so finding out that we were expecting again was a refreshing and welcomed change.

~Caitlin got just shy of 3 years of our undivided attention and she has blossomed into a wonderful kid because of it. I am so happy that we had that time together to develop her personality, interests and knowledge. She remembers this time and knows that we love her. She also cherishes "alone" time with each of us all the more.

~Caitlin was at an age in which she could understand about mommy having a baby in her tummy and that she was going to be a big sister. We were able to play up the concept and get her so very excited for Cara's birth that there was almost no jealousy.

~Most days, Caitlin is more than happy to share toys and my attention with Cara. The two sisters will play together for a long time, happily. The bond between them is so strong, they are the best of buddies. Caitlin told me the other day that she doesn't want to go to school next year because she's going to miss Cara and wonders who Cara will play with while she's gone. So very sweet.

~Caitlin can entertain herself independently for awhile. This has come in handy because I've been able to attend to Cara knowing that Caitlin is happy and not resentful.

~Caitlin was potty trained, fully, within a few months after Cara joined the family. So, I only have one kid in diapers at a time.

~I absolutely love that Caitlin loves to be a big helper and is proud that she can "help" with little tasks like fetching diapers, sippy cups and other things for Cara as well as doing little chores around the house. I'll take all the help that I can get.

~I love watching Cara try to copy Caitlin. I know that Caitlin is a great role model for Cara to look up to. I hope that Cara learns from Caitie so of the things that make her so dear to us.

~Caitlin is in pure "big sister mode" a lot with Cara and watches out for her, shows concern for her and advocates for her baby sister. I know it will be so comforting for Cara to know that Caitlin will be there to walk her to her Kindergarten class on the first day of school.

These are the reasons that I love the spacing that we happened to get between our girls. Is it the only way that it would've worked? Of course not, there are advantages to any and all age gaps, which is what the article talks about. I guess it just helps us find the positives in whatever arrangement we happen to have.

So, I'd like to hear from you, my blog readers. What is the spacing between your kids? Does it work for you? What are some of the positives that you can see? Did you plan it that way or did it just happen? I thought that this article might open up an interesting conversation.

Little Milestones...

It is becoming very obvious that Cara's physical therapy (both at the hospital and at home) is paying off with very big dividends. Every time she goes in for an appointment, I am just amazed at what she can do and how she is learning to move outside of her comfort zone.
In the past few days, Cara has learned how to stand from a sitting position while grabbing onto my hands; raise herself off of her bottom while holding onto the edge of the coffee table (totally unassisted); and sitting up from lying on her back using the sides of her changing table for support.
Before I know it, she will be crawling, cruising and walking! I just love seeing the baby steps of progress.

Cara, Mommy & Daddy so are very proud of you!

A Day @ Our Second Home

Yesterday was one of the longest lengths of time that we've spent at Children's Hospital without being admitted.

At 9 o'clock, we were in a PT session with our sweet therapist Karen. Cara continues to make progress and I always come away with new things to try with her at home.

We had a break from 10 o'clock until around noon, so we went to a local McDonald's to grab some lunch--Happy Meals for me & Caitlin--with the goal of Caitlin getting to play at the PlayPlace and for me to split my 6 piece chicken nuggets with Cara but she fell asleep. We decided to let her sleep and opted for home. We all ate lunch (Cara having woken up) and then ventured back to the hospital.

12:30 saw us filling out the necessary billing paperwork for Cara's CT scan and then breaking out the coloring book & markers while we waited for Cara to be called in.

1 o'clock rolls around and we are ushered back to the CT machine. They begin to swaddle Cara to keep her from moving, which promptly causes my toddler to scream. She just wanted to be able to suck her thumb! After trying a pacifier (which she's never taken) and puppets, it was finally my voice singing and a picture show on the ceiling that calmed her enough so that the images could be taken. Caitlin got the honor of watching the whole process at the computers with the technicians. Ten minutes later, it was all over.

Next, we went to the Creative Play Center (day care for siblings of children being seen in the hospital) to drop off a very reluctant Caitlin armed with a Sprite & cheese crackers (yes, I bribed my kid). The girl who didn't want to go play had vanished from my sight before I was able to complete the sign-in paperwork. Funny how quickly that fear went away.

Cara & I then went over to the in-house Pearberry Coffee stand to get a Chocolate-Banana Bear (heaven, let me tell you) and then found our way to her neurosurgeon's office for a consultation following the CT scan. All is well with her shunt, the incisions have completely healed (almost no visible scars) and her head circumference is down another little bit. He is pleased with her developmental progress and unless we see a need otherwise, he doesn't need to see her again until April! I did voice one concern with him about Cara's eyes. Ben & I have noticed some "dancing" in them, especially the left, when she concentrates on an object. Her neurosurgeon doesn't think it's neurological, but we are going to follow up with the Eye Clinic at the hospital to see if we can figure out what's going on. I am just waiting to hear from the neuro's assistant that the referral has been sent to the clinic before I can make an appointment.

Finally, at 2:15, we were all done with appointments and whatnot, went to pick up Caitlin, who by now, didn't want to leave and had to be coaxed out (armed with two neat spin-art pictures), and head home. What a long, but good, day!

The 4's...

I got tagged by Lauren to do this, so here goes...

Four Jobs I've had in my life:
1. Party coordinator for McDonald's--called a Ronald Ranger
2. Prison Librarian
3. Copy editor/proof reader
4. Circulation clerk

Four Movies I have watched over & over:
1. Sound of Music
2. Beaches
3. Sarah, Plain & Tall Trilogy
4. Mystic Pizza (or any Julia Roberts chick flick)

Four Places I have lived:
1. Ferndale, MI
2. Wixom, MI
3. Durango, CO
4. Aurora, CO

Four Shows I love to watch:
1. Extreme Makeover
2. Law & Order
3. Don't Forget the Lyrics
4. Food Network Challenge

Four Places I have been on vacation:
1. Orlando, FL
2. Yellowstone/Grand Tetons
3. NYC
4. Mexico

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Gyros
2. Just about anything Greek/Mediterranean
3. General Tso chicken (or just about anything Chinese)
4. Pasta--enough said

Four of my favorite drinks:
1. Iced sweet tea
2. Lemonade
3. Flavored water
4. Chocolate malts (chocolate milk or shakes will work too)

Four Places I'd rather be right now:
1. Buying myself a new wardrobe at a really ritzy mall
2. Curled up with a book at a chai latte at Tattered Cover
3. Sitting by a mountain lake contemplating life
4. Gathered around my mom's kitchen table with my family

Four People I will tag:
1. Sarah
2. Angela
3. Ben (Fat chance that he will read it and post)
4. Anyone else who reads my blog and is so inspired

First PT session

Cara had her first official PT session at Children's Hospital yesterday. She did very well for almost the entire time. Her therapist, Karen, worked with her on reaching (using her neck & torso), rotating her body, putting weight on her legs and playing on all fours. She didn't seem to mind being in "crawling mode" as much as before, so we are making some progress! We left the therapy gym with a handout of things to do at home to keep her moving forward. Cara will be going one a week for awhile and then we will re-evaluate and see how she's doing...possibly cutting back to twice monthly. Cara really likes Karen and loves to play with her.

We also had a home visit from a service coordinator for Developmental Pathways. Cara's paperwork has been submitted so, within the next month, we should be able to start services for her there. She has a multi-disciplinary evaluation with them on the 25th to get a better idea of what they think she needs in the way of therapy. We're excited because it's 100% free!