Shutterfly Christmas Cards

So for all of you not doing out Dolcetto Designs Christmas Card Fundraiser, over at Malot's Hope, here is another review of Christmas Cards. Please bear with me as a do a little "blog whoring" in order to get free Christmas Cards for our family. 50 or so dollars(about what we will save from getting 5x7 fold over cards for FREE!) will be making its way to our adoption fund from this!

So back to Shutterfly. We use them all of the time, they often have great print deals, and we stock up, and will use them for already designed 4x6 prints (Such as those from Dolcetto Designs :)). Of course they have the traditional "flat" photo cards, but they are also getting "fancier" every year. They also have Christmas Card Birth Announcements, perfect for those of you who want to combine announcing your newest addition with your Christmas Card!

Interested? Head on over to Shutterfly and check them out further, for a limited time all cards will be 20% off!

Have a blog and want to do a little "whoring" of your own? Here's the link to get in on the deal. ;)

Malot's Hope

Our heart is Africa, and our kids. So kids and Africa, pretty much sums it up. It is only fitting that we would adopt.

And the time is now :)

I don't want to be redundant, so just go check out our new adoption blog. This one will still be here for family updates, recipes(look for more of these as I am back GF/CF/ and Sugar free), and the like. But check out Malot's Hope for info about our process and how our fundraising is going, as well as ways you can help. Oh an check out our Malot's Hope Independent Shaklee Shop while you are at it, proceeds benefit Malot's Hope/ Adoption fund!

I dare say the sun is coming out!

Heaven Stands

There have been some pretty powerful songs speaking to me recently. (Ah, you've caught me, I've been listening to the dreaded "bloop bloop" station!) The one from the title is one. Such an amazing song(It's actually called Your Hands...). It's one of those songs that had it been popular 3 months ago I would not have been ready to accept it as truth. Most likely I would have laughed and changed the station, thinking some snyd cynical remark. You tube, itunes, do whatever you do to check out songs because I'm done talking about it, but it is definitely worth your time!

The piece De resistance (I am sure I butchered that...whoops!) of music selections is Yet, by Switchfoot. Now I'm not a huge Switchfoot fan, I like their "mild" stuff, but it gets a little loud and bangy, and headachy quite frequently. Currently it is the only CD in our car, so for lack of other options I have been listening. The end of this song is so perfect for where I am.

If it doesn't break your heart it isn't love.

If it doesn't break your heart it's not enough.

'Cause when you're breaking down, with your insides looking out,

It's when you find out what your hearts made of.

But You haven't lost me yet.

Seriously, how great is that? I often think why me, why us, blah blah blah, let's throw a pity party. I'm not immune. My heart has been broke. I have new respect for so many walks of life. I have learned so very much about life, love, and healing. I have gone from what was a circumstance driven faith(not that I realized, nor would have fessed up to that fact), to one that, while shaky at times, is rooted and unwavering. We have had dreams, goals, and vision ripped from our view. This is not where we pictured ourselves.

He hasn't lost us yet. And it wasn't much after I had that realization (while driving in an unbelievable stinky RAV- 4 toting 22 chickens to their death) that I started to dream again. See the new button, I'm sure we can all guess where this is going.

He hasn't lost me yet.

Busy like a bee!

As some of you who know me "IRL" know we are about to have the hammer come down on our ability to leave the house. Basically we aren't. Ever. (Okay a slight exaggeration, certain outside only activities will still continue to be "okay"). Pup is having some immunity issues, and that combined with his brain injury leaves us with a laundry list of "not pretty" . As in, if he catches one "it won't be pretty". Anyways, lots is changing in our house gearing up for our winter of lock down. We are redoing our upstairs. I have been scraping paint (worst job EVER!) in hopes of revamping all of our furniture. Fish just got a "big girl bed" in hopes of finally giving pup the crib, and a "gym" will soon be installed in their room. (swings, ropes, trampoline... you get the idea :))

But I may just be most excited about the young college lady I am meeting tomorrow. We are hiring a part-time nanny! This means I(without children, or with only one) will be able to leave the house! Wohooo!

New ride

Where have you been all of my life double jogging stroller. Seriously, I'm in love. Pushes and steers like a dream, and even has a built in "bubble" for Noah! (all joking aside, it does have a pretty sweet zip out rain/wind shield) We have had lots of adventures with it so far, but out first was the zoo! We headed out, just the kids and I, while daddy was working. It was, well a zoo! So busy, but being the first really nice cool weekend (not to mention a holiday weekend) what was I to expect!

The little man on the way out, so tired!

The sign of a successful trip!

I love my new stroller mom!


"Let's count them mommy- Uno, doz, twez, catcho, sinko..."
Thank you Dora, for teaching my child Spanish :)

So this just made the cut because the lighting was AMAZING on the flamingos! I realize most don't get as jazzed about lighting as I, but it looked so cool!

D-TaP, shmee-tap

There is huge controversy over vaccines. Big, friendship ending, up in arms controversy. This is not the place for that. This is a place for a story about our little Fish, and her first vaccine in nearly two years.

We stopped vaccinating our little Fish (after previously doing a delay schedule which was our pediatrician's recommendation) around 6 months old. This was the time we were trialing her on food, and she was a mess with allergies. I think back to what life was like in the Clorox wipe filled days, and I can hardly fathom it! We stopped in hope of letting her little tummy heal itself(vaccines, as well as allergies, are drains on the immune system), and had all intention of starting back up once she was "out of the woods".

So she went for her good old 2 year well check, brave as can be, and got her "poke". Not a big deal right, every other kid does it too. The big deal came after. The past two weeks we have watched our little Fish have slow changes in front of our eyes. Less interacting with friends, more sensory seeking, and the thing that made me take notice, hour or more long tantrums on almost a daily basis. I don't care what you say, that is not normal!

I feel like both camps of the vaccine debate can agree on one thing, there is some part of the population that cannot get rid of the junk in vaccines. They harbor it somehow and it sends them into a funk. (I know I am sooooo scientific!) Quite frankly I don't care why, in our house we are more worried with "how to fix it".

So that is what we did(or tried...) today. Off to see good old Dr. Cheryl, both kids in tow, to get the girl and the boy straightened out(she was *hopefully* straitening out seizure triggers for him). It gets a little "black magic" from there, but we should know in 24-48 hours if we have our "old" Fishy back. I sure hope so, because the current one has been breaking my heart!

Pup the Kitchen Elf

The Chicken Post!

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have the simple life of a (laying) chicken. I have no desire to be a meat chicken... all know how their short lives end!

Our Little Puppy keeping himself entertained while we were doing our "chicken chores", feeding, watering, and collecting eggs!

Fish "helping" feed the baby chicks.

Baby chicks... 50 in all! I dare say they will be delicious this winter!

The outside pen.

Dancing

I was scouring the Internet earlier, doing what I do best, researching the boy, what we can do for him now, what to expect as he gets older. Oh and being constantly plagued by the image of the girl last night and her "not normal" tantrum. (I shudder to think of our lot with her had we not been turned on to slightly alternative care early on...) Anyways, I came across a quote that I dare say may become my motto.

It's not about getting to the other side of the storm, it's about learning to dance in the rain.

Somehow my lot in life has become stormy, and for the next however long I'm looking at, I would say that I will be in the storm more than in the sun. So I better learn to dance in the rain. That's what I'm trying to do. Look at the blessings I have as opposed to the hindrances. (I mean he is living right? By all accounts he shouldn't even be with us right now.)

But life will be bleak if I am blinded by the storm. Because as much as we want to say things will improve, you can't grow out of a significant brain injury. Gains will be made, he will continue to astound us all, but almost always a new storm will be lurking around the corner.

So I'm getting my umbrella, and putting on my dancing shoes.

Just Have to Laugh...

Pup has mastered the art of torturing his sister. On the way home this evening Fish was very distraught. The type of distraught that is generally the result of massive amounts of gluten, and would make any passer-by assume that she was not the very typical happy-go-lucky type of girl that she is. She was mad that she threw her DVD player on the ground and could no longer watch Dora, whoops!

Anyways as she is screaming I start hearing a mimic scream coming from the opposite side of the car. Followed by laughing.

Fish Screams (so mad, angry, very serious, tears rolling down her face...).

Mimic scream. More laughing.

Every time she screamed or got mad, he copied her and then laughed. The whole way home. Then I started cracking up. You have never seen a two year old scorned as much as she was at that minute.

To bad there was no gluten today... but there was cheesecake. Happy birthday to me.

SERIOUSLY???

We met with Pup's pediatrician today and guess what we learned? Anything that causes a kid to go "wonky" can cause a seizure. Allergies really make the boy go wonky. The whole is allergy theory with seizures is one that is controversial... but, hey, what do we subscribe to with our kid's care that isn't?

Off to see Cheryl again in hopes of straightening him back out. He may just eat banana, avocado, and Elecare for the rest of his life. Seems better than the alternative.

Have I said before I love his doctors? (okay well Dr. Carine and Dr. Cheryl... I could do without the others).

A little parched...

Here at the zoo we are currently in the desert. The middle of the freakin' Sahara if you will. (I really need to stop the use of freaking as an adjective, as Fish so eloquently pointed out by repeating, "are you freaking serious?"... But I digress) It is dry, it is dirty, and it is UGLY. We need rain, we need rest. I need rest.

But we have appointments. You see, Puppy had a seizure on Friday. It wasn't "long" in terms of seizures, lasting roughly a minute total, but in terms of making my heart stop it was about a minute too long. I'll spare the visual but if your really curious you tube grand mal seizure in infant, I'm sure you'll find many disturbing images. So he has started meds, and we have his emergency "stop seizure" meds (kinda like an epi pen for allergies) if one lasts too long, and my all time favorite, more appointments with specialists.

I am thankful for his specialists, for his pediatrician (who talked to me many times during our squad/ ER adventure Friday night), but I wonder when it will stop. Will we have "hiccups" every few months for his entire life? And if so, what is the next? And where is the rain in the midst?

Because life in the Sahara isn't very much fun...

Happy Birthday Fish?

Oh man, so I just realized I failed to post on the wee girls birthday. Whoops. The Internet issues went back that far! She had such a great little party with her friends and a little celebration with my parents after my dad "rang the bell" for his last radiation treatment. June 25 really was a great day!

And I'm BACK!

Where you ask have I been, blissfully living in the dark ages! After months of fighting with our Internet company, and about two weeks of paying for Internet that NEVER worked, I finally called up said company (cough cough... Time Warner), and cancelled our Internet. This is where most people would just call up and get another company out. I guess I'm not most people, because we just got it back, a month later. Oh well!

So just an update on our summer...

The kiddos are great, growing and changing. Our Fish, well she is as rotten and adorable as ever. She has some impressive "moves" that she shares with us constantly. Between that and her nonstop chatter (complete with teenage angst) I am fearful for what our teenage years will bring!



Pup is more of a miracle boy with every day that passes. He has been achieving new milestones with each passing week! He is crawling UP on all fours (as opposed to army crawl), and is pulling up on everything. He is also a pro at sitting to crawling and crawling to sitting. These things take tremendous trunk (core) strength, so HUGE deals for our little man. We (okay well his team of docs) have also started rooting out the reason why his stokes happened in the first place. He had two rare clotting antibodies, and currently still has one. The fact that he has these and survived at all is a miracle in itself! I love when we go to appointments with new doctors and they say, "He's doing really well". My usual response is , "Yeah, he's doing pretty good." They generally stop and look at me amazed, "No, he's doing REALLY well!" Anyways I feel pretty blessed to have such a precious boy, thank you all for your prayers all throughout his life!



Besides the kids I have been busy canning and freezing goodies, and raising (and killing) chickens. But not growing said goodies, I failed at home gardening. I much prefer to beg, borrow, or steal! Oh and the pool, I have a couple water babies! Look for more fun summer happenings to come soon, I promise!

Last night on the news I heard Ohio is trying to pass that crazy Arizona Immigration Law.

Disgusted.

Completely Disgusted.

One can only guess who's at the head of it all... which makes it that much worse.

Gotta love a pediatrician who answers their cell, knows your name, can recite your children's medical history off the top of their head, will see you at 8 pm, and buckle your kiddos in their car seat.

Almost makes the boy having croup bearable. Almost.

Scenery Deprived

We live in Ohio, land of the flat, humid, and grey. Don't get me wrong, I do love it here. It is, however, more for WHO is here, than WHERE here is.

But the Pacific North- West. They have the market on beauty. Ocean, Mountains, rain... oh wait, the rain isn't a plus...

I have been away for far too long, but mainly in part because of a trip to the land of all glory. The zookeeper and I trekked across the continent with Fish and Pup in tow, and headed to meet with the zookeepers family on an island off the coast of Seattle. We will one day live there.

We will.

Our little island home!

Here Mommy

She.

Pooped.

In.

The.

Tub.

Chickens!

I can hardly contain my excitement! Tomorrow afternoon we are adding new (temporary) members to our family.

25 White Cornish Rock hens! (or meat chickens to those who don't speak chicken).

We have issues with the way meat is made, but seriously, have you checked out the price of pasture raised chicken, let alone local pasture raised chicken? Well I have, how about 3.99 a lb? Oh and you buy it by the whole chicken. Eek! Talk about an expensive chicken!

Lucky for me I have this friend who has the perfect yard for our little cluck (gaggle? mob?...) of urban chickens, and she is crazy enough to have had the same idea at the same time.

So tomorrow Fish, Pup, Kanga, and Roo will have 25 little white pets, I would venture to say one may even be named Biote.

Deep Thoughts

I've been thinking a lot lately about food, and stuff, and food some more. The way we shop and consume both are well ...wrong.

A dear friend of mine surprised me at a recent visit (long overdue too!) by saying she had stopped eating meat. She is not the vegetarian type, as much as she is the social justice type. And that is what a lot of our food and stuff dilemma break down to, social justice. Why is it that someone else should put their life into harms way, making minimum wage, just so we can buy ground beef for 1.50 a pound? She is voting with her dollar.

This subject is hard. I get it. It's hard for me. Consumption. I shudder at the thought of confronting the demons lurking there. Do I eat fast food? Yup. But only organic, grass fed meat? Not in the slightest. Do I get giddy in the prospect of a shopping trip to Target? You Betcha!

But because something is the social norm(even inside your chosen faith or "sub-culture"), does not make it right. Oh yea, I said it.

So now I must act. I must change how we live, how we consume. And I must do it on relatively the same amount of money. Change is hard. But, if we are to progress as a society and as a family, change is necessary.

Check out Food Inc. and the Story of Stuff. Think about change. Consider this journey with me. I will never be perfect. I will most likely always fall into the "hypocrite" category. But at least I will be moving forward.

Let's try voting with our dollar. Let's make a difference.