Amazing!

Check out my 16 year old niece Valarie's (click on her name) blog pics. She is a typical snotty teenager who CANNOT wait to grow up and move out, fights with her brothers and parents, doesn't clean her room, thinks she's fat, etc. etc. She is incredibly artistic and creative!! She should DO something with her art!

Remember when.....

It was so nice and sunny...and HOT? Was it only two weeks ago? Sheesh. Well, here are some cute pics from that day.

I need to empty out my camera, and if I don't post the pics now, I'll never do it. Anyone else have this problem?

Squirrely Girly!

I love the Toddler Squat

So pretty

Our neighbor's tulips

Sliding with Daddy

Wheeeeeee!!!!!

Just chillin' with some flowers

Self Portrait of us

That day, Debbie called on their way to the hospital (Jed broke his wrist and got a concussion), so we met up with them and took Jeremiah and Tierra home with us. Debbie forgot to pack some shoes for Jeremiah (understandably), so he got to wear Squirrel's pink shoes! Hee hee

Again, love the Toddler Squat

Is she not the prettiest thing ever??

BPA / Polycarbonate Plastics

With all the talk on the news and internet about BPA and Polycarbonate plastics I've been really concerned about all the plastics in my house....water bottles, food storage containers, everything for baby stuff, etc.... I found myself wondering if this is just another one of those 'everything causes cancer' reports, and if we should 'go organic'.....but the more I looked into it the more I realized how dangerous it is!



I copied this from a website;



*Bisphenol A, or BPA, allows manufacturers to make a rigid and translucent product known as polycarbonate plastic, often _ but not always _ identified by a triangle surrounding the number 7. In canned food and beverages, especially acidic vegetables and fruits, BPA-resin liners stop the contents from eroding the metal container.



But it's also a molecule that mimics estrogen and can leach from receptacles: injection of the agent into lab rodents has been shown to cause hormonal dysfunction and tumours, and scientists believe long-term exposure in humans could lead in some cases to infertility, early puberty, and even breast and prostate cancers.



Infants and children are especially vulnerable to pollutants and toxins because their brains and bodies are still developing, with their cells dividing more quickly than those of adults.



While many manufacturers have stopped making BPA-containing plastic baby bottles and turned to safer alternatives, parents may still be using older products that can leach BPA with heating and washing, as well as from acidic liquids like juice.*



I've gone through almost every piece of plastic (used for food or beverage) in my house, and found a LOT of it to have the number 7 on it!! Yikes! Though it says it may or may not contain BPA / Polycarbonate it still COULD!



All of Renee's baby food ,toddler food, and snack containers had this number 7 on them. I sent Gerber an email asking about their products and how they're made, this was (the most important part of) their reply.....



*Regarding your question concerning number 7 plastic package of pureed baby food, Bisphenol-A is not used in making the plastic cups for Gerberpuree products.*



I then called them at 1-800-4-GERBER and asked about the Toddler food, etc.They told me that the number 7 is used to show that their products use high quality plastics, BUT that BPA / Polycarbonate is NOT used in their plastics! Thank God!



I also read that the number 7 with a 'PC' under it, means there is absolutely Polycarbonate in the plastic, so return, exchange, or toss all those plastics! Or at least use them for something other than food.The last picture is one of my storage containers (that I use for sugar, flour, brown sugar, etc.), which has the number 7 AND the PC. Bed Bath and Beyond told me they are taking back / exchanging these products....even though I've had them for 4 years!

Keep in mind not all of the plastics marked with the number 7 (circled in the triangle) contain BPA / Polycarbonate, but just make sure you educate yourself on this.

Happy Birthday Juju!

My beautiful sister Juli turns 32 today. Happy Birthday to a wonderful sister, friend, wife, mother, cancer survivor, and woman! We love you to pieces!!

Bitter Sweet

Really, only moms should read this, they will understand.

So, I'm done. Done nursing, done pumping, done storing, done taking pills, done making milk. I exclusively nursed her for 5 months, I wanted to go 6 months but she needed the rice cereal. We introduced fruits and veggies, but I continued to nurse her. I think it's so important, not only to nurse your baby, but to provide the oh so nutritious breast milk. It came down to only nursing 3 or 4 times a day, then it dwindled down to twice a day (morning and just before the afternoon nap), then only once a day. By the time she was about 13 months she just decided she didn't want to do it anymore. It was hard for me, sad for me, but at least I knew I could pump and keep providing the breast milk she needed. I also made sure to thoroughly enjoy the last few nursings, I remember just staring at her and really enjoying watching and feeling her fall asleep on me. Oh what a wonderful feeling! You moms know what I'm talking about! I started pumping around 5 months, I didn't feel like I was producing enough, so I pumped to increase my supply. I also started taking Fenugreek, which made me smell like maple syrup, but I didn't feel like that made as much of a difference. My Doctor prescribed Reglan for me, which helped. I pumped a few times a day, and I started storing. I've been pumping twice a day now for I don't know how long!! She gets it in her morning oatmeal, and I store the rest. I took my last pill on Saturday and pumped that night. I didn't pump all day Sunday and by Monday morning I had rocks!! They hurt so bad! I pumped Monday morning and I've been fine ever since, I'm not full and I'm not pumping. I guess I'm really done. I'm so glad I stored though, I've got enough to last at least another month or two. It's weird, I'm relieved to be done with it, but I also feel like I'm losing that bond that only I can have with her. Well, I know I did good sticking through it this long.

Seaside

K, brace yourself, there's a LOT of pics in this post. We had a great time in Seaside. I totally recommend staying in the condos we stayed in. They're right on the boardwalk, and only about 3 blocks from the 'strip', if that's what you want to call it...you know, downtown Seaside. When you walk in, immediately to your right (or left) there's a bedroom with a bathroom (tub/shower), and a hallway right in front of you. If you walk down the hall (there's another bathroom, with just a shower, and a closet in the hall) you walk into the living room and kitchen area. They're a really good size and can sleep 8 people (bedroom/murphy bed/pull out couch). Plus they're only a little over $200 for the weekend! Though, that might be Spring prices. Anyway, we had a great time. We had dinner Friday night, then Squirrel, Adam, and I went out to the beach where Squirrel was yelling 'Mah! Mah!' (Water! Water!). We told her it was the Ocean and she rubbed her hands together telling us 'lotion'. What a funny girl. We tried swinging (on a swing set right on the beach), but the baby swing was wet, so we just walked around....for about 5 minutes, it was really windy and cold. Squirrel and Adam played peek-a-boo (in the railing on the boardwalk) on the way back to the condo. She had so much fun with her Daddy. We had a yummy breakfast on Saturday, Squirrel took her morning nap, then we walked (in the rain) to the Carousel. Adam and Amy were the last ones on so Squirrel got to ride a horribly ugly pig. They were on for about 5 circles when Squirrel started getting worried and wanted off, which made Hayden want off as well. So, we got our money back and walked around a bit. We then headed back to the condo for Squirrel's afternoon nap, had a nice dinner and played until bedtime. On Sunday Adam and Ryan went and got everyone Starbucks (my idea....of course), we packed up, took another little walk on the beach to let the babies play, then headed home. It was a great weekend! I know Luann had a great time with both her grand babies for her birthday weekend. By the way, Tony surprised her yesterday (on her b-day) with tickets to Florida to go to Disney World!! Yay! Luann is so young at heart and will really enjoy herself there! K, enjoy the pics!

I LOVE this picture! So sweet!

Look at those little footprints behind her, too cute.

Peek-A-Boo Daddy!

Sit-N-Spin! Weeeee!
This is what Daddy does when Squirrely gets a pop...instead of taking it away, he takes a picture!

My beautiful husband.
Rainy day in Seaside.
Ugh! That pig is horrendous!

Oh, Hi Grandpa!
Stop taking my picture!!!!
My beautiful daughter!
Watching baby Einstein while the parents pack.
I love how we're 'in stride' here.

Mama and Squirrel.


Mah! Mah! Mah!

It was a sleepy car ride home.

You gotta' keep up with the Jones'!

Back home, back to sitting on Echo.





This was driving through the mountains, look at all those trees! It's like God went through there with a wire and just slashed them all down!

Can you imagine how strong that wind had to have been?

I just realized, I don't have ANY pictures of the birthday girl on her birthday weekend. Well, I have one, but it's just a really dark, bad picture....not worth posting.

Rainy Seaside

We're off to rainy Seaside this weekend. Luann's birthday is the 9th, so we're all going to the beach to celebrate the big..........5-0!!! Sorry Luann! Hee hee. I think it's a great milestone, and you have a lot to be proud of, not to mention that you do NOT look your age! You have raised two amazing kids, my wonderful husband being one of them. I can't thank you enough for bringing him up the way you did, he is such a wonderful man, and I know you know that too. Amy is the best little sister in the world, and I love her to pieces. I'm so excited to watch Renee grow up and be able to spend so much time with her Grandma. You have been an awesome Grandma! So, Happy Birthday my mother-in-law! I love you!

Two more things.

What a big girl!!! We got her a booster seat today. Mainly because we're going to the beach this weekend and we don't want to haul the highchair with us. Also because it'd be nice to have one. I'm thinking we could probably just use it from now on, and give the highchair back to Juli.



My new best friend. I will eat apples SO much more often now. I can't believe I ever cut an apple with a knife, what a pain in the bum bum that was!!

A few posts in one.

This is from Friday, when we got the most snow. Could you believe this? Huge flakes that were sticking on Friday morning. I saw at least a rain snow mix Saturday, Sunday and Monday! And now there's not a cloud in the sky! Oregon is so crazy!

This Fatty McFatterson has made himself quite comfortable in our Magnolia. It's right outside the kitchen window (as well as just outside the back door), and he's usually just sitting there looking fat. Well, the other day I kept hearing a thud, I thought one of the cats was jumping at a bug on the back door. Nope, it was this Fatty Fat Fat guy pummeling himself into the kitchen window! I walked into the kitchen just in time to see him throw himself into the window a couple times. He stopped when I got to the window and eventually flew away. What the heck?

I didn't really get any great pictures of the double baby show that I threw on Saturday, but I did get this! This was actually the second one taken after Chels said 'You guys! You're totally squishing my face!!' Now THAT picture was hilarious! These are my two bestest friends in the whole wide world, I love them like sisters. They're sisters and they love me like family. I've known them for about 24 years now and I am blessed to have them in my life!
Renee wanted to play the Piano, I'm hoping she'll want to play when she's older. She's going to whether she likes it or not. ;-D