Schedules are a good thing, most of the time...

What are all these wires?
They are tasty electrodes!
Contemplating the electrode on his hand.
1st yellow block, tastes good!
Enough with these blocks!

Fine, I'll take it!No more blocks, I want your mouse!

Last night was really rough and I think it was mostly in part due to the fact we were out so late last night and Will wasn't on his normal schedule. He was really crabby and slept very fitfully. I am glad he is normally a routine kid, but it's hard when he freaks out when you mix it up a bit! Today was the NIH research study, it was fun. Will did really well and the Principle Investigator said that he has very advanced motor skills, both fine and gross, and they were suprised he was so vocal. He stayed pretty patient and cooperative through it, but started to lose it at the end. Thankfully they switched him to a different task just in time! It was something new and he got 20 dollars for Toys R Us out of the deal, his first payday!

Happy Birthday Alessandra!!!

Today Alessandra turned 3!!!

It was a pink and purple day

filled with lots of princess paraphernalia

like any good 3 year old girl party!

Will greatly enjoyed the party and

was a big hit with all the guests.

My cake turned out very cute too

and Alessandra loved it.

Pictures and Standing Up Way Too Often!

Will's 6 mo pictures are back, at least some of them. Target is making me mad, so I think I will have to find somewhere else for 9 months. But these are very cute. Sorry they don't look as good on here, they are much brighter in real life. Will has also been up to lots of mischeif and is pulling up on anything that will not collapse. He even will cruise a few inches either direction. I am not altogether pleased at this, especially since he keeps injuring himself. I know it is part of the process though so I won't put a helmet on him yet....

Immunization Update...

Will is still recovering from his immunizations. He has a fine rash all over his trunk and it is taking a while to fade. He is vomiting and has runny poo. He is sleepy and fussy and won't eat. I am so glad that there are no more shots at 9 months! I read on a fellow blogger's page that when her kids are sick in the night she tries to remember how lucky she is at that moment to be rocking this sweet little person, and I am trying to do the same. It's amazing how once you overcome infertility all those desperate feelings disappear and you forget easily how terribly you ached for this child! I have a full weekend coming up, working both days at the fertility clinic, I need to make a princess castle cake on Saturday for Alessandra's birthday, and her party is on Sunday evening. Tonight is a big baby/kid sale at the fairgrounds so I will be going to that quickly and get back in time for the debates! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Political Rant.....

Oh Lordy! I am so frustrated with the way that the McCain campaign has been keeping Sarah Palin away from the media, and seems to be protecting her from any real questions. The campaign says that they have been unfair to her, IT'S THE MEDIA! We knew what was on Monica's dress, and that Bill has identifying markings on his peepee!!! What makes her a special situation? She has the possibility of being 2nd in line to the highest office in the world! We need to know how she actually feels about certain topics and what she is capable of if she were ever to get to be president! I watched her interview with Katie Couric and it was so sad! She has no real answers, she just avoids the questions and repeats obviously practiced statements over and over. Where is the free thought? Where is the leadership? Arrgh! I would love to have a woman in the White House but couldn't they have dug up someone who actually knows what has been going on in the world!? I know more about foreign policy and the economic crisis and I stay at home and make chocolate pudding!!! She also met with a few foreign dignitaries and upon meeting Henry Kissinger she actually hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek, first off Yuck! Henry Kissinger!, but secondly, that is not usually the way that you greet dignitaries unless it is the custom of their land. And from the look on his face, it wasn't. The McCain campaign has halted due to the crisis, supposedly so John McCain can run off to Washington which I am all for, I want him and Obama to be there, but why suspend the campaign? Why isn't Sarah Palin capable of marching on with it? Biden is in charge of the Obama campaign while Barack is in DC, why can't Palin handle the same thing? What if John McCain dies in the White House, will we have to suspend the executive branch till election time rolls around again? There, I feel better!

Hunkered Down at Home...

Will and I spent today at home, he is still not back to normal after his shots. He had a really rough night last night and we were both up rocking him at various times, and had to change him completely once after a vomiting episode. We snuggled and listened to music and ate carrots. We have a Nor'easter coming through the area bringing rain for the next few days, so we may be here for a while. In the meantime I am watching all the economic bru-ha-ha happening and feeling very happy I am far from retirement and my 401k will have lots of time to recover!

William enters the world of research....

Monday William will have his first paying job. He will be participating in a NIH Study looking at babies and how they react to objects that look the same, but have different mass. He will be paid with a 20 dollar gift card to Toys R Us. Hopefully I have scheduled this correctly so that he won't be in a terrible mood. I will get a report when the study completes rating him compared to other babies, so that should be interesting. I will take pictures and let you know all the dirt after Monday!

I Won!

We went to a rummage sale at the National Science Foundation Child Development Center the other day and they were also having a raffle. I bought 2 tickets and found out today I won.... Dancing Lessons!!! Isn't that so strange?! I won't be able to take advantage of these however because Arlington is too far away and I have no rythm. I will give them away on Craigslist, but it was exciting to win something.

Target Screwed Me Over!

Today, after 2 long weeks of waiting I was supposed to get Will's 6 mo pictures back. This morning I dropped Jason off at work and made my way to Target. Alas, they were behind and now they won't be here till Monday! Arggh! This is only really annoying for 3 reasons,
1- They could have called me.
2- I specifically took the car today for it
3- I already waited 2 weeks!
To make up for it they let me order 4 more picture sheets for free, so that was a good deal. I also got new cookware today since I realized how much teflon we were consuming and figured though it may improve the non stick lining of our bowels it probably isn't good for us. I also got Will a little sweatshirt jacket at Target because fall is actually here to stay and the mornings are quite chilly.

This hurts me more than it hurts you....

Today I was forced by feelings of moral obligation to have poor little William vaccinated. I literally ache when he is screaming and I fight every impulse to grab my poor baby and run for the hills! Will usually gets a fever and sleeps a lot for the next couple of days, so I am ready to hunker down and rock him a lot. He was 22lbs 11oz today, so he is gaining about 2 oz every 3 days. Frighteningly enough, this means he is actually slowing down!

Do you think he looks like me?

Little Kelly Elizabeth at 6 1/2 months

It's happening tooooo fast!

Very Gerber Baby esque...

This morning I heard Will's normal AM musings going on in his crib and so I got up to go get him and there he was SITTING in his crib. I thought, well that must be a fluke, he can't get to a sit from lying down yet! So, I took him out, changed him, then went to get the morning stuff going, and Jason realized that Will was now sitting in the middle of the livingroom! So, one more milestone down, only about 1.2 million more to go! We now have lowered his crib mattress by the way because now if he pulls up he would have fallen out easily. Being short though I can no longer reach to the back of the crib without putting the side down and standing on tippy toes. We also put up our first baby gate this morning and he was quite befuddled by it. "Wait, that wasn't there before, and I can't get past it, you see the problem this creates Mom!" (Sorry it's blurry, he moves a lot)

Stand up for yourself William!

Will has been toying with pulling to a stand for the past few weeks but today he seems to have fully mastered it!

Under Pressure......

What is with the idea that a child must be started in classes as soon as the umbilical cord has been cut? This area is so gung-ho on classes and it irritates me to death! And yet, I feel extreme pressure that this is the only way to get to know mothers in the area. Everyone's suggestion is "Join a class!" These classes are so pointless for a child who spends roughly 2 hours a day sucking his large toe and an additional 3 hours a day "Boinging" the door stop spring! He loves seeing anyone new and really could care less if you are singing the "Eentsy Weentsy Spider". The classes are also ungodly expensive. 250 bucks to sing "Baby Beluga" once a week for 45 minutes?! I can sing it and act like an idiot at home for free! I still haven't found any really good United Methodist Churches in the area, and the only MOPS groups are in churches that don't agree with my doctrine. I need to find nice normal women that will let my kid roll around and drool with their kid a few times a month. Who thought it would be so hard to find? I refuse to put him in classes yet! He will have decades of school in his life and I think it's crazy to start them before he can even swallow his own spit reliably! That's my rant for the day!

In the Garden...

I found this on Craigslist yesterday for 25 bucks! I have always thought it was so cute, and I was really suprised to find one. It has veggies and little letters in the mailbox! Will loves it!

Captured on Film for the first time.... The Elusive Teeth!

Will LOVES to teeth on Apple slices. I make them thick and cold, and he usually makes a few little dents in them eventually.

There they are! The one is poking through more than the other, but you can see them. That was many fussy nights my friend and low grade temps for over a week!

We have survived round 1....

William is somehow back to his previous sleeping schedule now that teething is over! WOW! I had forgotten how much better you feel with a solid nights sleep. He is now sleeping from 8:30 at night to 7:15 every morning. And he is waking up in a great mood, which is nice. Teething was really hard with him, but we now have 2 cute little teeth poking through for all the effort. I will try and get a picture of them as soon as I can, but he is very good at protecting them.

On a totally different note....

What the heck do you do to chicken at your house? I am so tired of the same old thing. I need new ideas for meals. I will include 2 of our favorite Kid Friendly recipes and would love it if you would post some of yours! They can be anything, just easy and relatively cheap to make.

Taco Salad:
1 lb ground turkey/beef: Cooked and drained
1 can diced Mexican Tomatoes (don't drain)
1 package taco seasoning(add half the water listed)
1 can black beans- rinsed and drained
1 can corn- drained
lettuce
mexican cheese
sour cream
tortilla chips
Mix all the first 5 together, top it with the rest, kids LOVE it!

Best Mac n Cheese EVER!
2 cups Macaroni Pasta(uncooked) - we use Barilla pasta plus- more fiber and protein
1- 5 oz can evaporated milk
2 cups shredded mild cheddar- you can use a variety of cheeses though
1 egg- whipped a bit
salt and pepper to taste
Optional Mix ins- Peas, Broccoli Florets, Keilbasa, Ham bits....

Boil and drain pasta, while pasta is draining,add milk to empty pot, stir in half cheese, let melt, add in pasta, add rest of cheese and stir well, then at the very end stir in raw egg FAST and WELL!! It makes the cheese congeal nicely and keeps it from being "Grainy". You can then add any mixins you want. This is a Great Mac and Cheese and just as easy as the box kind. Warning: I have had many daycare kids stop eating any blue-box type after eating this. Use at your own risk!

You may think I am crazy.....

But, I have found myself thinking lately about our next child. I know, it's really early. BUT adoption takes a long time. For years I have been driven to adopt, and I know in my heart a little girl is waiting for me in Africa. I think about her often, has she been born yet? Is she warm, dry and safe? How will we feel once we actually see her? I love knowing that when we move again and get settled I can start up the process again and finally bring our little girl home. Will can know that you don't have to be born into this family to be loved and accepted into it, and Jason and I can give birth to a child from our hearts instead of our bodies. I love thinking about the challenges that will be coming our way, and all the joy we have yet to experience. The DVD's that come from the orphanages in Ethiopia are filled with such bright, beautiful kids just looking for someone to give them a chance. There is one sibling group that will always haunt me, and recently I found out that they got a home all together in Western Washington. I was so glad because they were in danger of being seperated because the little boy had HIV and the 2 girls didn't. Thankfully the US government is allowing parents to bring HIV positive children home to America where they can go on ARV drugs and potentially stop any risk of developing AIDS. So the siblings were allowed to stay together. So, who knows how long it will take, or when I can finally make it happen, but to my children who may read this later, I already love you and can't wait till I bring you home!

Protect America's Children....

I urge you to take 5 minutes today to contact your senator via e-mail and urge them to vote YES on Senate Bill 1738—The PROTECT Our Children Act. I had no idea that there were so many atrocities going on online in this country. There are children who are at this moment being molested LIVE on Demand for money and for free, on Internet pedophile sites. The law enforcement is doing all they can to stop child pornography producers, but they don't have the resources. This bill will give 1 Billion dollars in funding (we spend 12 billion a month in Iraq) to help catch and prosecute these monsters! Please contact your Senator ASAP, because the session ends soon and they MUST NOT go home without passing this!!
Contact your senator via : http://www.senate.gov/, it's really easy and SO vital!

Oral Hygiene is Key!

Since Will has a tooth now he is very aware of his responsibilities pertaining to oral hygiene.
Farmer Will in Overalls from GammyWill enjoys a tubby "freestyle"

Night and Day....

Will is having a very hard time sleeping. I am sort of blaming it on his teeth, but I think something else may be going on too. He is still going to bed at his normal bedtime, going to sleep easily, but then waking up every 3-4 hours all night. Sometimes he just wakes up, talks, and then goes back to sleep, but often he is crying and insists on being fed. It is so hard to live in an apartment because you feel bad to let him cry it out since the neighbors might hear him, or they might hear him and call CPS! On a different note, yesterday we had the 6 mo pictures taken, it went well, even though he skipped his nap right before it and fell asleep in the car on the way there. He was thrilled by having 3 women cooing at him the whole time. He was exhausted by the end though and let me have it on the way home. He screamed his way through Target and fell asleep on the way home. On a bright note though, the photographers had me sign a release so Target can use his pictures as the example ones in the studio! How exciting! My little Will as a poster baby.
Will has one favorite activity currently. He loves the little door stop spring that is on the baseboard. He loves to lay there and Boing it over and over, sometimes for so long it worries me just a little bit! He is all over the house now and I need to figure out how to keep him from getting into all kinds of stuff.

6 month picture outfits....

Help me decide what outfit to use for his portraits tomorrow.....or you can tell me to keep shopping if you don't like any of them!

Let's try a movie.....

Lessons Learned

Today I made more baby food. However, I made a rookie mistake and did not set any kind of timer. The result is pictured here:

I am not quite sure how I will clean this.....

I did get about 6 trays of food made after this fiasco. I made sweet potato with veal, and pear/apple sauce. The pear apple turned out soooo good I wanted to eat it all up! I added a little cinnamon to spice it up a bit.

On a fun note, Will has begun to do this weird down-ward dog yoga move. It is pretty funny looking.