My little helper

My soon to be home

Pictures! I have pictures! So...

the front of the house (with someone else's car):



the living room:



the dining room (well, part of it - I'm not the best picture taker):



looking through the kitchen to the breakfast area:



the back of the house:

My soon to be office

I got to take some pictures of our new house and what will soon be my new office and classroom today. So, here's some pictures of my office space (Adam still has his recording stuff in here, so you'll have to use your imagination a bit) -

Looking in from the doorway:



The current seating area, which I think I'll make into a classroom area:



Adam's current recording stuff area, where I'll put my desk etc:



And the other room, which I don't quite know what I'm going to do with. Adam might keep his drums in there, but he's not sure:

One week from today...

I'll be moving into my new house!! I'm so excited. Being a part of a, shall we say, odd family, means that I'm moving into Adam's house and Adam is moving into my house. Ummm, whatever floats the boat. We're moving the nonessential stuff this weekend so next weekend we just have beds, some kitchen stuff, the tv - you know, the important stuff - to move. I'm going over there later today so I'll post some pictures. YAY!!

Guesses, anyone?

So, I just got the bill for Keith's stitches at AI duPont. Our portion is measly, but the total bill was $1162.00. I LOVE INSURANCE! I take back all of the bad things I've ever said about my insurance company. Well, except for the part about them not covering the midwives. But everything else - I take it back. So, want to guess what Henry's bill will be? He went to the ER Monday at 3:30pm, was admitted Tuesday morning around 4am, and was discharged Saturday around 1pm. Anyone? The winner gets the grand prize of.....




paying my copay!!!!



(just kidding!)

Do they really believe THAT?!?

So I had a few babies over the past week. I've been busy - Henry was in the hospital, then a client had a baby, then I came home, got some rest, packed a bit, and another client called and had a baby a couple of days later. Busy busy! But, I'm done for now. I have one client left before my own kiddo arrives, and she's not due until June. And, she's having a homebirth, so it's a whole different ball game than the hospital births I've been at lately. Which brings me to my question.

What's with the OBs? Are they really taught misinformation? If not, where do they come up with this stuff? And why do they tell their patients stuff which is flat out WRONG? I really hope it's that they are misinformed, as bad as that is, because the only other explanation I can come up with is that they're lying, and that's worse in my opinion. For example - over the past couple of births I've heard the following:

Cytotec is DEFINITELY safer than a foley bulb induction.

There is no increased risk of infection associated with vaginal exams every two hours following spontaneous rupture of the membranes.

Cord traction is not considered active management of the third stage of labor.

We see a lot of cord prolapses.

I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of them at the moment. I just wonder what is going on with these OBs. Where are they getting their info? Do they even READ the current research? Do they even think that maybe the evidence has changed how they should be doing things? What's up?!?

And for more information on the sad state of affairs with regards to our current maternity system, go to Netflix and add The Business of Being Born to your queue. And watch it. Or, of course, you could just watch some Monty Python:

Henry's Vocabulary

Well, if there was one good thing about our extended hospital stay, it was that Henry decided to work on his vocab. He now says...

Ball
Pretty
Flower
Cup
Cookie
Cracker
No (yeah - this is a GREAT one)
Keith
Dada
Mama (only when he doesn't feel good though)
Cat
Go
Bye bye

Amazing, huh?

Pictures from the zoo

I bet you didn't know how QUIET a screen door could be!

Well, Henry's definitely feeling better! Ed and I were in the kitchen getting something for lunch, Keith was watching a cartoon, and Henry was playing in the living room where Keith was. A few minutes go by and I think "man, it's awfully quiet in the other room!" I go in to check, figuring Henry has found some fun thing he shouldn't be getting into. Instead, I find Keith. Not Henry. So I look around and say "Keith, where's Henry?" Without taking his eyes off of the television, Keith says "I have no idea." Helpful, huh?!? I look in my office, then ask Ed if he's seen Henry. Then I look at the door. I asked Keith if the door was open and, of course, he had no idea. So I open the door, go out hoping Henry isn't playing in the street, and he's toddling off towards the park with some nice lady who said "is he yours?" Boy, make another mark on the crappy mom checklist lol. So, needless to say, the screen door is now always locked!

He's coming home!!

Henry's coming home today! Ed called about an hour ago and said that they'd be leaving the hospital around 1 or 2 this afternoon. I am so excited! I am currently home because one of my clients had a baby last night, so instead of returning to the hospital at 1am I just came home to sleep in my very own COMFORTABLE bed. I was going to go back to the hospital this morning, but Ed said it sounded like they'd be coming home so not to bother. Did I mention that I'm excited? They'd doing a few blood tests to check his thyroid, but they'll send the results to his pediatrician. I don't quite know how his thyroid comes into all of this, but whatever. My baby is coming home! So Jess, tell Chris that he doesn't have to come visit me anymore!

My new home...

Is AI duPont. Did you know they have computers here?!? It's only taken me how many years to figure this out? Jess, why didn't you TELL me?!? Henry's been here since Monday afternoon, and I just now found out that there was a computer that I could check (read: delete 1000+) my email. So, since Ed is hanging with the kiddo I figured I'd post a quick update. Can you tell I'm sick of the hospital yet? So, yeah. I'm here, with the Henster. If you want to send him a card, feel free. You just need to know his name and room number (3E-7) I believe :) I'll update all the exciting events when I get home, if I EVER get home.

ETA: I'm never going home. Ever. Well, maybe tomorrow (Friday) evening, but I don't think I'd bet on it. Feel free to send chocolate!

Registering for kindergarten...

Otherwise known as more paperwork than I filled out to get into college! I ran over to the elementary school Keith will be going to yesterday and picked up the registration paperwork. Oh. My. Goodness. I feel like I'm back in school taking final exams! To be accepted into kindergarten, they need the following:
1. Registration Form
2. Proof of Residency in the District
3. Birth Certificate
4. Affidavit of Support (if applicable) (I don't even know what this is, so I'm going to assume it's not applicable)
5. Physical & Current Immunization Record

Whew. I'm tired just typing that out. I know, I know, it doesn't look like much. But trust me, it is. There's the registration form - name, address, parents, emergency contacts, you know, the basic drill. Then there's the "Home Language Survey" where they need to know what language(s) the child speaks, and if the student "has attended any United States school in any 3 years during his/her lifetime". That confused me too, so I skipped it. What's a United States school? A school in the US? Why don't they just SAY that? Anyways, I skipped it. Then there's the consent to let them take pictures of your child, then the "Parental Registration Statement" which the parent fills out and says whether or not said child has ever been (or is currently) suspended and/or expelled. I really hope that they give this to students entering ALL grades, not just kindergarten. Then we have the "Consent to Release Student's Records Request for Permission to Collect Personal Data." I feel like there's some punctuation missing in that title. I didn't understand that form, either, so I skipped it too. I think it had something to do with Special Education. I guess they'll tell me if Keith NEEDS it filled out, right? Then there's the health history that the parent fills out. Two pages. Then there's two pages of health history that the doctor fills out. AND the one page dental history that the dentist fills out. And a "Medical Statement for Children with Special Needs in Child Nutrition Programs" - I skipped this one, because Keith eats anything and everything. Then a form about school buses, an immunization record form (Pennsylvania has a Medical and a Religious Exemption, and the Religious Exemption includes a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to a religious belief - it's on the back of the green immunization card), and then the last form. I needed help on this one! It's the "Parental Input for Student Placement Form." It's a piece of paper divided into four boxes. In each box is a question (does this sound like some crazy math word problem yet?!?). Actually it's not a question, it's an unfinished sentence which I, as the parent, am supposed to complete.
1. As a person, my child is:
2. As a learner, my child is:
3. My child would benefit from a classroom that is:
4. My three main expectations for the school year are:
I think my main problem with that page is it REALLY makes me feel like I'm back in school, and honestly, December 9th, 1997 was one of the top ten days of my life. For those of you who couldn't figure out (thanks, but really, I'm not that young!), that was the last day I ever set foot into a classroom in college. Last day of school, last day of finals, you've got it.

I thought I was done!

Ball, flower, and pretty

Henry says three new words!! In the past day he's starting saying ball (with the "B" sound - this is big for Henry!), flower, and pretty. I don't know what has me more impressed - that he says three new words or that he says three new words that don't start with a "D". Will wonders ever cease?

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Spring is FINALLY here! Yesterday the high was somewhere around 75 degrees - my kind of weather. Keith played outside ALL DAY LONG, even though he wasn't feeling too hot. He kept saying "but mom, summer is here. I must play" and who am I to argue? So he played. And Henry and I joined him for about an hour. My mom said that Henry would figure out how to get up the swingset ladder and down the slide sometime this summer, but I don't think she meant early April! It took Keith showing Henry what to do once and that was all she wrote.

Closet Case

So we were packing the nonessential stuff in the kitchen this past weekend. In other words, we packed the cabinets that we haven't opened since we moved the stuff INTO them five years ago. Do you have ANY idea how many wine glasses we own? WAY TOO MANY. And this is me saying that, so you know it's a lot. Anyways, we packed (and got rid of) a boatload of wine glasses, and the 1.1 million coffee cups, and some other random stuff. As well as the tupperware cabinet. We got the tupperware cabinet empty, and a few minutes later heard Henry jabbering away and it sounded like he was in the kitchen. So Ed goes in there to get him, and he is nowhere to be found. He turns to go back to the living room, and hears Henry jabbering again. So he opens the tupperware cabinet. And finds this:

Geronimo....

I guess that's what Henry was thinking when he propelled himself out of his crib head first this morning. Fortunately Keith was there and caught him (way to go Keith!) before he cracked his head on the ground. I guess this means that I need to drag the toddler bed out of the basement and hope he stays in it at night? Ugh. I swore this kid was going to be in his crib until 1st grade at the very earliest - shows you how little I know!

Eleven days...

Eleven days until our child support order for Ed's first son is terminated. Can you believe it??? It's been a long time coming - Ed's son will be 20 in May! So the final countdown is on! And on that note...

Wish me luck.

Lots of it. Henry had a hearing test yesterday, and it came back that the poor boy can't hear all that well. Boy do I feel like a crappy mom - I figured he heard fine, since he'd turn towards noise and all that. Yeah. Oops. Apparently, he has fluid behind his eardrums, so he hears like you do when you've been on an airplane and your ears haven't popped. Huh. No kidding. So I met with the ENT guy at AI duPont after the hearing test (yes, I LIVE at AI duPont, in case you were wondering), and he came in, asked if Henry's had a lot of ear infections (no), asked if he has a stuffy nose a lot (no), then said "I think you should get tubes put in his ears to drain the fluid. Here's what the surgery entails blah blah blah, here are the risks blah blah blah." Then he left. Oh wait, before he left he handed me a surgery consent form which almost sent me into a panic thinking that this guy thought he was going to operate on my baby NOW lol. If you know me, you know my feelings about doctors and medicine and all that, so I came home and called my cousin. My cousin is a naturopath, so whenever I have a question I call and get her two cents about it. She said it could very possibly be a dairy sensitivity that is causing the fluid buildup, so we've decided we're going to cut out dairy for a month and see if he improves, and if he doesn't we'll seriously consider the tubes.

Yeah. So we're cutting out dairy. Dairy you think - that's not too hard. Just don't drink milk, right??? And we don't drink that much milk, anyways. Yeah. Dairy, in case you didn't know, isn't just milk. It isn't just milk, cheese and yogurt, either. To cut dairy out of your diet, you have to cut out ALL dairy products. Which include, but are not limited to, milk, whey, dried milk solids, lactoalbumin (say WHAT?!?), curds, butter, lactose, potassium caseinate, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate (seeing a pattern here?), casein, cheese, some margarines, and cream.

Please pray for me!

Well dad, you see, the little hand is on the three!

Keith and I have a deal. He's always bugging me to sleep in my bed, so we've compromised that he can get into my bed after Ed goes to work. I mean, really, the bed isn't big enough for three people. I don't think it's big enough for two, but that's beside the point. So he sleeps with a clock (yes, a wall clock. It was his idea) which hasn't been changed since daylight savings. I told him that if the little hand is on or past the three he can come into my room - if it's not, too bad. This morning Ed gets up (around 4am), gets dressed, then goes to go downstairs. He leaves our room, and there's Keith standing there, eyes wide open, with a clock. (Ed doesn't know about our agreement). Ed says "Keith, why are you up?" Keith looks at him, without blinking, and says...

"Well, dad, you see, the little hand is on the three."

Ed, being the concerned parent he is, says "what? go back to bed." Keith goes back to his room, hears Ed go downstairs, then comes back to my room and points out that "Ed is weird, mom".

The things kids say.

Ed called me later to tell me that he thinks our kid sleepwalks because he had some strange conversation about hands and threes and clocks. Gotta love the lack of communication in our family!

I've made it in life...

I am now a soccer mom! Well, I don't have a minivan yet, but with two kids and one on the way, I'll probably have one soon enough. Keith started spring soccer league with the YMCA today. How exciting! He looked so cute with his cleats and shin guards! My little boy is growing up :) It was WINDY though, and COLD. Poor Henry was miserable, I was miserable, Ed was, well Ed.... Keith played for about half of the game and then started complaining that his stomach hurt, so we came home a little early. Which was fortunate, because he promptly started throwing up. What a fun start to soccer! Anyways, check out my munchkin!

Packing... any volunteers?

So, it appears that we're moving! When, I'm not sure, because we're moving into my brother's house in Glen Mills and he won't quite divulge when HE is moving OUT. I think he's moving this week or next weekend - Ed's in charge of trying to get a straight answer out of the boy. So, anyone want to help move all our crap?!? We have A LOT of crap lol. Thank goodness for the dumpsters in Kennett, when are available next weekend. I guess I should get my act together now, though, instead of waiting until next Friday to figure out what goes to the dumpsters, huh? As soon as I can get over there once my brother is out I'll post pictures. The MOST exciting part? I'll have my very own office/classroom for my business!!!! WOO HOO!!!!