Toddler Road Tripping

Fifteen short days from today we head out (oh gosh). Seven days of driving, two (very short) days of rest with our friends in Memphis and then another day and a half to South Carolina. That will work if Emi cooperates and allows us to make more than the required 300 miles per day (we are hoping for 360-380). Yes, I know most folks try for more miles of driving in a day (hi mom!) but 300 is what we have to do per the travel rules for Jeff's job so that's what we are aiming at. If we do indeed hit those extra 60-80 miles (per day) we can stop for two days of relaxing, being pampered and doing some laundry.

So, in order to make all that time cooped up in a car seat doable, we needed to come up with a plan. I was chatting with the gal from Why Do We Even Have That Lever? (bonus points to those that know the movie she is referencing ... love that movie!). She is planning a trip across Canada with her two little ones (twenty months and four years), and we were discussing what to do with our kids to keep them happy (and quiet). We each decided to post about what we thought about, and get more idea from our readers. So, dear readers, please feel free to chime in! (BTW, here is a link to her post, there are some great ideas there!)

At the time of departure, Emi will be 31 months. A very rambunctious, never sit still, 31 months. Oh my. That said, she LOVES to watch movies/dvr'd tv (which is the only tv she watches as I am terribly fussy). We have the portable dvd player than my mom gave to Emi way back when (thanks mom, it's been a life saver!) and quite a few movies, tv episodes on dvd's, etc.

My plan is taking along the following:

• Movies/TV on DvD's (see below)
  
• Sticker/Activity Books (*)
  
• Colorforms Travel Books (*)
  
• Lacing Beads (in a baggie)
• Crayons and blank paper books (Emi is more into her own thing, regular coloring books just sit unused - these may only be used if one of us is sitting in back with her, something that we have planned each day towards the end of the day - when she's had it with riding in the car)
  
• A selection of Little People in a baggie (her fav group -horses, a couple of people, a dog, etc- that she uses to play Cinderella)
• A couple of stuffed animals (Most likely: Bear and MeiMei, as they are her fav's right now. However, we are bringing ALL of Emi's bedtime friends - packed in the trunk. We are going to suggest to her each morning to pick out one or two, ideally, to ride with in the car. This is something that always happens when we leave the house - we ask "who's going with?" Emi then chooses one animal or doll to go to Target, the grocery store, whatever.)
  
• Travel Snack tray (to make playing much easier)
• It is my plan (if I have time) to get some books on CD from the library (or downloads if I am really lucky) and add them to my Fuze (sorta like an iPod, without the Apple attitude). Emi is just barely getting the concept of listening without seeing a movie playing. Hence why it's not high on my list, also, it's a headphones only activity and we just don't do a lot of headphones for her.)
  
• A new special 'trip' stuffed animal - a unicorn that will meet her for the first time, sitting in her car seat on the first day of the drive

For the times where we get out of the car for breaks, we are bringing a ball and a new little pull-along zebra. She loves to walk Max, but Max isn't so sure that's a good thing. So, we are hoping that she will walk her zebra while one of us walks Max. Also, we are going to use the zebra as a non-food bribe to get back into the car. Basically tell her that if she gets back in the car when it's time without fussing, she will be able to walk zebra again the next time. Emi does very well with these kinds of things, mainly as we hold firm. I have only had to with-hold something once, and she's never forgotten. (We also plan to bring a little timer, set it for however long we want to stop. When the timer goes off it's time to get back in the car. This is something else that works well with Emi, and something she deals with better than one of us telling her.)


Movies/TV: The list includes (but not limited to):

• Cinderella I and II (her most fav's right now - she uses her Little People to play the Bippity-Boppity-Boo part over and over and over ... so darned cute!
  
• (BTW, the III was too scary for her, it's been set aside)
• Tinker Bell, Robin Hood, Charlotte's Web (the original version), and The Rescuers (a personal fav)
• Sesame Street (old time, not the new Elmo infested episodes)
• Curious George, Frankin, Little Bear
• Word World, Brainy Baby, Baby Genius and Leap Frog
• Dragon Tales, Maisy and Kai-Lan (we are also thinking of picking up the new one, wrapping it and using it as needed for desperate times)
  
• Kipper; Pocoyo and Oswald
• Tigger and Pooh (and the original Adventures of Pooh)
• Little Einsteins, etc etc etc

I really wanted to have a very good selection of stuff, mainly as Jeff and I will be listening to a lot of these. We are not big fans of putting head phones on Emi (now and again is fine, all the time is not). With my hearing issues, we are probably a bit more weirded out about head phones than most.
*BTW, I linked to our most fav's but there as so many of each to choose from.

*Note: In addition to the new Kai-lan dvd, some of the things from the above list (colorforms, books, etc) are going to be wrapped and handed out as needed. I also have a couple of Little People tubes that she hasn't seen yet, to add to the wrapped stuff. We have a trip (flying) planned to Canada for a very special wedding at the end of October. Anything we don't need from this list, we most likely will take with us for the plane.

Train Trip to Minneapolis

My blog still isn't perfect (my fonts are still a bit wonky and I still can't figure out what is up with the blue links - I've never had blue links!). But many thanks to Lythrum who gave us ideas, which lead Jeff to fixing my biggest issues. Thank you SO much!

But, before I forget all the details from our trip I wanted to get it here. Since I have yet to start Miss M's baby book, this blog has to stand for it. (Oh, I've had a few comments - not on the blog, but in real life about Miss M. We do call her that, a LOT. Many think it's short for Emi {Em}. Nope, not at all! It's actually short for Mischief and Mayhem. Which sums up Emi perfectly!)

~~

So, about the trip. We began our trip on May 2nd and were thrilled that the train was on time(9pm)! Jeff was able, once again, to board the train long enough to help us with luggage and get us settled then off he jumped to wave goodbye. As last time, the first half of the night was a bit rough on Emi until finally her little body gave in and she really fell asleep. Those beds are C.O.Z.Y. (we did indeed pop for the sleeper car for this trip) and Emi tends to take her half out of my side (smile) so finally I put her at one end with me at the other. We both ended up getting a pretty decent night's sleep after that.

The next day found us hiking (six long cars and the in between areas that are a bit harry with Emi!) down for breakfast and dinner to the dining car. I opted to eat lunch out of our stash as Emi was fading fast and was in need of her nap. We spent the afternoon playing with toys, watching dvd's and watching for animals out the window. Emi was unimpressed once again with the observation car, so we spent most of our time in our room but since our room had POWER life was good, those dvd's ran almost non-stop. Little Miss Cuteness completely zonked out.

Playing ~~~~ Posing next to the "closet" (yes, it really is as small as it looks -
the width of ONE shoe!)

Watching her dvd

Watching yet another dvd (notice the clothing change? we had the misfortune of
having the very last car on the train, the jerking and swaying were finally too
much for Miss Emi and she threw up, all over herself ... and me. But as you can see,
she bounced back in no time. We did watch food intake carefully after that!)

After dinner, we tidied up all the toys, changed into jammies and laid out clothes for the morning. One last bathroom break and brushed teeth and we were tucked into our bed pretty early. The time zone change and just all the excitement had Emi more than ready and I have to admit not reading too long after she fell asleep! Our train was supposed to arrive in Minneapolis at 530 am (ouch!) so I set my phone alarm for 430, needless to say we were an hour late! (Had I overslept I know we would have been early, although they make sure you are awake and ready to get off!)

Barbara was there, ready to meet us. It was so wonderful to get off that train and know she'd be there. Emi went right to her, chattering in Emi-speak, raring to go. We gathered up our checked suitcase, loaded us into Barbara's car and off we went.

Come back soon for the rest of the story!

Home!

Emi and I are home. I have pictures to upload and a whole great post to write on our trip. But for now, I have mounds of laundry to do and groceries to work on. Emi and Daddy are happily playing - I have almost been banished! I think someone missed her daddy and is happy to have him back. I am listening over the baby monitor to yet another tea party going on in her room. I love to hear her chatting at him while she's playing.

We had a wonderful trip, our best yet. Barbara was a fun travel companion and Emi really took to her! We loved having her with us, and Emi was not impressed that Barbara had to leave. Oh! One more thing. The child still (still still still!) does not say Mama (not that I am waiting or anything, sob) ... but she could say Barbara (Baba)! It was very cute. Mama would have been cuter. But still.

Thanks Baba, we had so much fun with you and miss you already!

Back with more soon-ish!

Another Train Trip

Since Little Bit is busy rediscovering Diego (seems we have been on a kick this past week, it's either Diego or the Ultimate Pandas dvd's - only - and woe is the person who suggests something else). Where was I? Oh yes, 15 seconds of peace .... I thought I'd take those 15 seconds and chat real quick about our trip.

Some folks will remember our train trip last October. The one that was ALL about mama and grandma. This one, however, is all about EMI!

Emi and I leave Saturday night (9pm, ouch 1.5 hours after bedtime) for one day and two nights on the train. Thankfully this time, we decided to splurge and get a sleeper car. Since the trip itself is going to be short, getting a decent night's sleep on the train was mandatory. We are arriving in Minneapolis on Monday morning, and meeting up with Barbara at that point (I am so excited to finally be meeting such a great friend). We are going to hit the Mall of America, focusing on Emi things to do. Mainly the Lego area and the aquarium. We may or may not check out the amusement area, depending on time and Emi's temperment (she's so two right now, love her but ouch the temper!). I've learned, for the most part, how to stem the tide of tears, screams and throwing herself on the floor while all this goes on. Mainly, don't go near something she can't do ... however, that's not always possible. So, thankfully with another set of hands we will be able to have as few tears as possible! There does look to be some things we can do with her in that area, but at this age I can't see her riding even the little tiny kid rides alone. One never knows, of course, but we've never tried it. (Emi is only Danger Girl when SHE wants to be Danger Girl!) We are just going to go with the flow and see what happens.

We are also planning on the Minnesota Zoo. This looks like it will be the shining star of the trip. There is so much to see and do, I am thinking we will be there more than once on this very short trip. I can't wait to try out the monorail and wander all over the zoo. Emi is ALL about animals right now. We are still struggling with speech, but if we can relate what we want her to say with an animal she is more apt to attempt the word! I do think that this part of the trip will be wonderful!

Barbara will be with us a day and a half. My mom decided to not join us on this trip. I ended up having to make it a week early because of train ticket pricing, she will only have been home two days before needing to climb back into the car to meet us (she's been in Florida for the last month, mainly celebrating NOT being in Michigan with the cold, the snow and the ick).

We arrive on Monday morning and turn around and climb back onto the train late (LATE: 11pm!) Wednesday night. That is basically three days. Since I only have two things planned (plus pool time), we should be able to have a nice relaxing time. Keep your fingers crossed for me. The last couple of Mama/Emi adventures haven't gone that smoothly, but each trip I learn something and I am feeling pretty confident about this trip (famous last words!).

We return home at the crack of dawn Friday, hopefully Emi will let me laze on the sofa for a bit that morning (yeah, talk about dreaming!). I hope to come home with lots of wonderful memories, and just as many pictures.

So, signing off for now (need to get us packed, laundry done and a minimal house tidying!). Have a great week everyone!



P.S. The Happy Housewife is again hosting the "What's in your book basket" this week. Needless to say I am not going to get a post up. But make sure to hop on over as I am sure lots of great books will be chatted about!

I was featured!

Okay, first off ... for those that get this in a reader format, yes I messed up and published this before writing my post. Blame it on this nasty spring cold I have, or the fact that I just hit the enter button instead of the tab. Both would be correct.


So Friday, on day I so needed it, I got a wonderful email. It was from Kirsty over at momedy. She is a new find for me, I can't even remember how I found her, but I see by her followers list, we have many bloggy friends in common. She does something called Featured Friday Follower. What she wrote about me was so sweet and kind. She gave me a smile on a day I didn't really have one. Kirsty, thank you, so very much!

Okay, so you ask why Kiy, who almost always has a smile, didn't have one? Couple of things. First, the above mentioned cold was just starting. I hate being sick (who doesn't?) and I was feeling sorry for myself. I kicked my own butt about that, whined a bit to Jeff (poor guy) and while I am still feeling totally crappy the boo-who-me is gone. I also finally made the decision to not take a trip I had been working on all week. I was going to take Emi on another train ride, to the Mall of America and the Minneapolis Zoo. We were going to splurge on a sleeper car and it was going to be fun fun fun. Sadly, I dithered too long and the only price I could (sorta) live with had us leaving Sunday (last) night. As it was then Friday, I didn't know if I could pull off the packing and scurrying around in time. Then the cold hit, so the decision was basically taken out of my hands. I still wanted to go, so was back to the poor-me. Gesh, what a whiner! lol

There is also something going on that I am not free to talk about yet, but will be resolved either way this week. It's been going on for the last two-plus months, but it's come to a head and the decision has been made. Once it's official, I will feel I can blog about it. But last week it was still a mess and it's been messing with me. Again, boo-who-Kiy. Snap out of it gal! Enough already!

Okay, I really am laughing at myself. I am feeling sorta better today and woke up with a whole new attitude. Also, if you are not a regular reader of the Monday Musings, follow this link and read them! I have to say, the ones that I've had time to read so far really helped my mind-set. Positive happy thoughts, good vibes, wonderful quotes. I figure if they could help pull me out of my funk, maybe they could put a smile on someone elses face too!

Off to play with Miss Emi and simply, be. I need to remind myself that it's the simple things that bring the biggest joys. Watching her play makes my heart smile.

What's in Your Book Basket?

The Happy Housewife is starting something new, and since it's about books (oh my, yum!) I thought I'd play along ... at least this first week. Who knows if I will be able to continue each week but I am going to give it a shot.

Right now, we aren't doing the library thing for Miss Emi. We were, for a time, but she became quite the handful while in the library. (She thinks everyone is there to see her, so she runs around stops right in front of folks and says HI is a very loud voice. If they do not not respond quick enough, she will repeat. And repeat. Until I can catch up to her and scoop her up and apologize. Thankfully, most folks think she's darned cute and it's darling. I agree, she's darned cute but I do not feel this is darling. So, we have cut out the library trips for now.

That does not mean reading has gone by the wayside, but new books are slowing down as we have to buy them all. Not that that's a bad thing, home libraries are great, but fluffing them up every couple of weeks with library books is a wonderful thing. We hope to get back to being able to do that, sooner rather than later.

My plan for this is to select some of my/our most fav's and chat about them.

For my first week, I thought I'd go through our bedtime stack. It's just three but they are the most amazing books! I am also going to add one more as it's become an all time fav and it's a rare day that we don't read that one one or a dozen times. In fact, let's start out with that one! (I am not going to recap the books, as I will link to amazon and they do such a great job of that. I will chat -briefly- about why it's a great book for our family and why we love it.)

Note: Emi is 26 months.

Jamberry - this was a Christmas gift from Barbara. This was a new book to me, but oh my what a find! The poetry is just pure fun, the pictures are gorgeous, silly and amazing. I am not sure which one of us loves it more, Emi or me, I just want to dive into some of the pages. Emi was almost 23 months when we received it, and it was an instant hit. Of course, those of you who are able to start reading at birth would think this was a perfect book at that young of an age, those of us trying to introduce the concept of reading will also find this book a wonderful aid. Up until this book, very few caught Emi's attention long enough to sit and read/listen to the entire thing. This book was our leap to that stage. Something that will make this book a forever favorite in my heart.


Time for Bed - This is the first book of three at bedtime. We *always* read them in order, the order that Emi set. We never deviate, as she will shake her hands at you and point to the right one! This is such a timeless classic, and the perfect baby gift (in my opinion). No nursery should be without this book. Jeff and I bought this while we were waiting for Miss Emi, and I just could not wait to share it with her. Perfect for any age.


A Mother for Choco - This is the second book in our bedtime reading. Interestingly enough, this was also a Christmas gift from Barbara (that gal has *great* taste in books!). I love how this book shows in such a wonderful way, another way that families can be made. That not everyone looks exactly the same, but that the love and fun is the same. A great early book for adopting families and also for introducing the concept of adoption to little ones. It continues to be one of our most favorite books. We have days when Emi will pull me into her room, because she wants to read this book. To me, that gives it a big thumbs up! (The publisher states that this is aged at 4-8. With the amount of text, I would agree that it's not a perfect fit for the younger set, but I feel most books can be introduced at a younger age with a bit of thinking. We get the concept of each page across and as time goes on, we will be adding back in. This book is too great not to have available to Miss Emi now. Your mileage may vary.)


Mama Do You Love Me - This is our final bedtime book. While it's a great book, I do think it's a bit over Emi's head. She flips pages faster than I can read them, so we don't use all the text, which is just fine as some of it is (at least I think) aimed at an older audience (spoiler: running away and staying out all night long with the wolves). But I love this:

I will love you, forever and for always, because you are my dear one.

Isn't that amazing? I could read this book just for that one sentence. But, Emi is very much a routine based child, and no amount of suggesting we read another book will change her mind. In fact, Choco was introduced to our bedtime routine with the idea that we'd switch this book for Choco and put this one into our big book box in the family room. But, Emi just rearranged the order in which we read her books, and added this to her stash. So, I won't be trying this idea for awhile or I can see us having 72 books in our bedtime routine!



P.S. To my regular readers, yes the Easter photos are still not on the post. They are still on the camera. Sigh, where does the time go? Soon, I promise!

Menu Plan (Feb 9 - 14)

In honor of Valentine's Day (reminder: next Saturday), I am doing a special Friends Week. This is a week full of recipes that I have been given (or 'borrowed') from friends, some I have tried and some are new (the recipes, the friends are all old ... err, wait). I am not going to pick days, just list the recipes in no particular order). I haven't decided yet which meal will be on which day (hey, today I am going to be lucky to get this post done at all!) :)

Meals:

Chili with a Little Sass - this recipe is incredible and we always get a smile when we have it. For one thing, Barbara (Candy Hearts & Paper Flowers) posted it and I totally had to try it. For another thing, poor Jeff's life is filled with a little sass (both wife and child). I love Barbara's site. I rarely do what she has going on as, I will never ever have a love of housework (yikes, don't read this mom!) even though I love a neat, tidy and clean house. Keeping house is a chore to me, something to get done as quickly as possible. Barbara really cares about doing it well and right, I just want it done and forgotten about! However, I do think if I followed along on her daily ideas that maybe the house wouldn't be such a chore to me. Maybe. Some day.

Cinnamon-Beef Noodles - Gina (Olivia, Opinions & Occasions) shared this recipe with me. I have only made it the one time, but we loved it! I have been wanting to make it again, and this week is the perfect time. I am toying with saving this for Saturday night, as I want something special but not something that keeps me in the kitchen all day long. Gina and I met through the adoption of our two girls. Sadly, we were not in China at the same time but we have made a friendship that makes me *know* that we will meet someday! I love her sense of humor and I find the longer we know each other, the more in common we have. Head on over to her site, meet the ever-wonderful Olivia. She's a delight and her parents are just simply great people!

Toasted French Toast & Oven Poached Eggs - I've tried a variation of Tamy's (3 Sides of Crazy) french toast before (mainly, toasting the bread) but wanted to give the whole thing a whirl. This is the week. She has also raved on her baked eggs and I seriously have wanted to try them. I keep getting stuck at the bacon. Oh, I love bacon but not the mess. But, this once, I will make it and see how it goes (probably in the microwave, however). I can't remember exactly how I met Tamy. It was either from menu planning, or quite possibly, through Barbara. But we continue to chat in short emails (almost like IM'g without the, you know, IM!) and I have enjoyed getting to know her better.

Bison Burgers on the Grill - Two of my very best friends do not have blogs (hi Aunt M and Uncle R!). The she part of the couple doesn't like to cook all that much (although I hear that is changing a bit!), and he does but I am not sure he is a recipe kind of guy. But, one of my fondest memories is when we had cookouts at their home. He makes a mean ANYthing on the grill. No, really, he does. Their home feels like home, every time I walk in. Which, sadly, isn't as often as it used to be as we live on opposite ends of the country (working on that!). Their home continues to be one of my most fav places to be. I could spend hours on their back patio, drinking sweet tea, soaking up their wonderful landscaping, and chatting. Some friendships become family, this is one of those. In their honor we are having yummy bison burgers on the grill this week. We love them and while we have not had these burgers with this couple, I know they'd love them!

Billie Ruth's Catfish Parmesan - I am actually making this for a friend, rather than getting the recipe from a friend. That friend would be my very best friend, my husband. My life is richer for having him in it. I am happy, contented, loved and so very very lucky.

Pasta with Creamy Pancetta-and-Pea Sauce - Lythrum (Goblins in My Garden) shared this recipe with me several years ago. I keep wanting to make it but then forgetting about it. I found it again today when I was wandering through my recipes. Lythrum and I seemingly have very little in common, yet have a lasting friendship. We can go awhile without chatting (emailing) and then pick up like we talked yesterday. We are both (sorta) new moms learning our way, with our girls just about a year apart in age. My one big wish is that we lived closer, as I would love to have my backyard look a teensy bit like hers (okay, I'd love it if it looked a LOT like hers but I am just not willing to do what it takes!).



Extras:

Stuffed French Toast - Not everyone is lucky enough to call their mom, friend. I am. And I know it. This recipe is a memory trigger. It reminds me, of course, of my mom but also of one of Jeff and my first Christmases together. I have just recently started making it again for special occasions and we love it. It also is a hit with Miss Emi. My current plan is to make this Friday evening for Valentine's Day Breakfast. Mom and I talk, almost every day. Someone once asked us, separately, what we talked about. Everything and nothing. We have a special relationship that has formed into a friendship. I don't take this for granted, and neither does she. And no, it wasn't always like this. See above, Chili with a Little Sass. But I grew out of it, or rather the teen sass, the adult sass is here to stay. :)

Serdmom's Apple Crisp - Serdic (Tritely Banal) has many recipes (ginger sparklers!) but he tends to like to fuss more than I have time for these days (I'm told he is an *amazing* cook and his baking - ooh la la!). This is quick and easy, and I am not sure that I have ever told him I've made it (oops). Serdic is a friend that I made long ago, who also lives far away. He was there from day one when we started our paperchase for Miss Emi. He always had a shoulder, ear and heart to lean on when needed during that time. He has also been one of our biggest cheerleaders (yikes, visual, sorry - no short skirts were involved!) when it came down to 'do we stay in the program or give up'. Thankfully, we stayed in. Now, Miss Emi has an Uncle Serdic (and Aunt TheSinger @ Reports from the Dewey Decimal Zone!). They love her dearly, and we love them.


I have more recipes from other friends, but only so many days in a week. This was so much fun I think I will do it again! I hope you have enjoyed meeting my friends.

Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

Menu Plan (Jan 25 - 31)

Odd week, menu-wise (but then, these days, when isn't it?). I worked on last week's plan on Saturday, thinking I was ahead of the game and quite impressed with myself. Then, I went shopping on Monday afternoon, and found different sales. Oops, that's right. Sale stuff changes on Sundays (mental head smack). Okay, regrouped and bought stuff on sale and decided to punt for the week. And actually, I didn't do too bad. But the question is, can I remember what I did? Um, no actually, I cannot. I do remember one thing I did, however.

I made stuffed pork chops, and they rocked! I bought thin ones and the dude behind the meat counter must have been in a good mood as he offered to slice a pocket in them for me. Color me happy! I also bought a box of mushroom and onion stuffing mix. (Seriously, did you think I was going to make homemade stuffing? I did that for Thanksgiving, once a year is plenty!). I don't really have a recipe for the stuffed pork chops. I added a bit of thyme to the stuffing mix 'cause I like thyme! Then I sprinkled the outsides of the chops with salt, pepper (freshly ground, of course) and thyme. Seared them in a very hot pan with some oil on each side, stuffed them and tossed them in a baking pan (sprayed with Pam, or Pam substitute). Pushed a meat thermometer in one of them and baked at 400 degrees for about 30 or 40 minutes (just before the done mark on the thermometer - we like our pork a bit pink, but it has to be done - not like how we like our {beef} steaks .... moooooving!) . They turned out GOOD! Of course Emi only ate the stuffing (and the peas that I also made). She eye-balled the chops but didn't touch them, not surprising, she still isn't really into meat. But I don't care, as long as she loves fruits and vege's I can get protein into her other ways.

I used the leftover chops (bought four, we didn't each finish one - they are huge this way!) for a pork lo mein dish. I'd post the recipe but I am not sure I would use it again. Lots of steps. Plus, I really want to try Gina's yet so want to see which is our favorite. Emi also loves lo mein. Okay, truth-be-told, Emi loves noodles. She could give a fig what you do to them!

Gosh, I use commas a lot. BUT, I do know that a lot is TWO words. That has to count for something, right? :)

Oh, another thing I did do: Steaks on the grill with Thai Cowboy Steak Marinade. Oh my, yum. Seriously, if you haven't tried this marinade do it! And for those that freak at the oyster sauce, you can't taste the oyster. I promise. I don't eat oysters. Yuck!

So, since I made very little from last week's menu, there is a bit carried over. Sorry folks, no reason to make a completely new menu! Wow, it sure is a crock pot kind of week I have planned.

P.S. Don't forget to head on over to Laura's at I'm an Organizing Junkie for more MPM!

• Sunday: Chicken Chili (from Tamy @ 3 Sides of Crazy), cornbread and green beans

• Monday: CrockPot Butternut Squash Soup Recipe, fresh bread from the local bakery
• Steph's year of 365 Crock Potting has come to and end but I am still using her great site! I am going to try this as it looks so wonderful and perfect for a cold winter's nite!
  

• Tuesday: Breakfast Nite! Eggs, grits, chicken sausage, melon slices

• Wednesday: CrockPot Chicken Teriyaki Recipe, wild rice, some kind of vege

• Thursday: Chicken Merlot with Mushrooms (crock pot), noodles of some kind, and a vege (frozen peas?)

• Friday: We are going out for a Chinese New Year party - yay, no cooking!

• Saturday: Free Nite (actually, since we are going out on Friday, I am going to do the Leftover Buffet on Saturday)
  
• We tend to go out one night a week. Scratch that. Trying to not go out as much. But I am going to keep this as my ‘whatever night’ as we still will probably need a night of not making dinner for various reasons. I am factoring this in my menu plan each week, but it won’t necessarily always (or often) be on a Saturday. We may use this as our leftover night if there are any by this time.

Hot Cocoa for Magi

As requested, this is for Magi and everyone else
experiencing the yuck that has become winter this year:

Scary Day

12/05/2008 7:51 pm EST: Update below

First, let me say that Emi is fine and we are home. (This is long, even with editing as much as possible there is just no short way to explain this.)

Yesterday afternoon, Emi had a febrile seizure. Scariest thing that has ever happened, something I hope no one else has to ever go through. In a very quick nutshell, febrile seizure is when a body temp goes up VERY fast. Emi went from normal to 103.2 in less that a few hours. Probably less than that, we have no idea when the temp hit exactly.

Here is how quickly it came on.

She woke around 730am, fit and fine. Happy as a little lark, getting into everything. At most a bit of a runny nose. By 1030 she had a raging fever of 103.2, full on (clear) nose gunk flowing and had vomited what tiny amount of breakfast she'd had. And non-stop crying/whining. Tylenol, fell asleep. Woke about 30 minutes later, more crying. No playing, just laying in my arms. Miserable and unhappy. 130pm: Still unhappy, fighting sleep, temp down to about 102. Had a few cheerios and some milk, some Advil and back to sleep for about 40 minutes. Woke crying, inconsolable.

By 230pm I realized that this wasn't just a cold, she needed to see her ped. I thought maybe strep, ear infection, who knows. But this just felt wrong. I called Jeff, he was out of the office. Around 3pm I decided to call her ped, and take a cab to the doctor if I had to. Right about this time she seemed to be doing a bit better. Watching a dvd sitting next to me on the sofa. Sipping some water, dozing. I was just about to get up to get my phone when she started jerking, eyes rolled back in her head, a bit of bubbling at her mouth. I grabbed her tried to wake her, who knows what I was thinking at that moment. Then, her lips turned blue. Really blue. Scared the everything right out of me. Up to that point, she had been stiff as a board, then, completely limp. I thought she had died, seriously. I was giving her mouth-to-mouth, calling to her, rubbing her chest. I had no idea what was wrong but trying to recall all the (very small) amount of emergency training I had had back when I worked for a small school. I finally got a hold of 911, the gal talked me through laying her down, checking to see if her chest was rising/falling (it was). She started coming to just before they the police and EMT’s arrived. Moaning and whimpering. Sweet music to my ears, she was alive. They gave her oxygen, checked her out, and then transported us to the hospital via ambulance. She was scared out of her mind and crying, but I was holding her the entire time.

Long story short, many tests, much poking and prodding. We were home, finally about 8pm. Final diagnosis, febrile seizure. We need to follow up with our ped but thankfully they didn’t need to admit her to the hospital. From now on, until she is 4-6 years old, whenever she gets any runny nose at all, any little cough or even the tiniest temp (100 or more) she is to get Tylenol/Advil around the clock for 3 days. The other thing we will do is with any temp from now on, she will sit in a tepid bath and we will sponge water over her head, chest and back to cool her down as fast as possible. That is the key, get her cool. The EMT’s undressed her to her diaper when they arrived, and all the while at the hospital she stayed that way until the last hour we were there. Even today, she is running around in just a tee shirt.

What we learned, there is no way to tell if your child is one of the ones that will have this. Most children, after having the one episode do not have one again. Some do, and can have quite a few, although that is not very common. What we did find out was that this is pretty common in children, 5% will have this before age 5.

It was the most terrifying experience of my life. I am posting this here mainly to share information. Had I known ahead of time what to expect, while I still would have been scared, I don’t think it would have been the mind-numbing complete terror that she was dieing in my arms that I went through yesterday.

What she has, we still don’t know and probably won’t. Her potassium level was a tad low, no reason for concern. Her white blood cells were 5,000 (normal range is 7-15,000). Again, not horrible. The ER doc thinks she has a low-grade something that her body is fighting off with the fever. Unfortunately, the fever spiked so fast and that is what caused the seizure.

Emi napped once in her crib today with the monitor on HIGH (the other time in bed with me - sleep deprived mama). But, when the seizure happened, it was noiseless. She never made a sound. I am sure in time I will stop checking on her every three minutes. I am sure I won’t need to watch her sleep. I am sure that I will be able to move her back into her crib for the night. But for now, this very scared mama needs to be close. Probably too close, but I can’t help it. I thought I lost my little gal yesterday. This happy, sweet, loving baby that I am so very lucky to be the mama of. I watched her running around today, playing with her toys, watching Tinker Bell (her fav smovie right now), scrambling up into my lap for a fly-by kiss. I listen to her chattering, happily playing. I realize how quickly this could have been gone. And it brings me to my knees. I cherished Emi before, I can’t imagine being more in love with her today than I was on Wednesday. But I think I am.

BTW, a very special thanks goes out to Louanne. Months ago she taught me Mama Bear. All the while I was holding Emi down while they did something else horrible to her, I kept chanting I’m the Mama Bear, I have to be strong for Emi. I am sure I would have gotten through yesterday without it, but not as well. I didn’t fall apart until we were home and she couldn’t see me. I was stronger than I thought I ever would be. My Mama Bear is alive and kicking, and I know now, I will always be able to be there for Miss Emi.

12/05/2008 7:51 pm EST: Update

I have already received three emails about this post. I answered them, but thought I should share more information that has just been shared with me. The friend that shared this found it on WebMD.

Parents commonly ask 3 questions about febrile seizures:

Are they harmful to my child?

Parents should feel reassured that febrile seizures, except in the very rare cases in which they are extremely prolonged and last 20-30 minutes, do not result in any lasting ill effects such as brain damage, decreased intelligence, behavioral problems, or delay in development.

Although otherwise healthy children who have had a simple febrile seizure may have a slightly higher risk of epilepsy later in life (1% vs. 0.5% for other children), there is no evidence that the febrile seizure itself causes epilepsy. There is a somewhat higher incidence of later epilepsy (1-2%) if certain risk factors are present: complex febrile seizure, family history of nonfebrile seizures, or preexisting neurologic abnormality or prior delay in development. Placing a child on continued antiseizure (anticonvulsant) medication after a febrile seizure does not prevent later epilepsy.

What are the chances they will reoccur?

In general, 30-40% of children who have had a febrile seizure will experience more. If a child has had 2 febrile seizures, there is a 50% chance of an additional episode.

Factors that increase this risk are children younger than 12 months at the time of the first episode and fever higher than 102?F at the time of the first episode.

Should my child be put on medication to prevent more seizures?

Even without anticonvulsant medication, 60-70% of children will never have a recurrence. Febrile seizures themselves cause no lasting ill effects such as brain damage or epilepsy. Certain anticonvulsant medications, such as phenobarbital, valproic acid, and diazepam, can lower the recurrence rate to about 10%. Each of these medications has drawbacks.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year, as in years past, our Thanksgiving celebrations will be pretty low key. Miss Emi and I are going to watch the parade, something I have dreamed about sharing with our little gal for years and while she was in the room last year for it, she didn't really watch it. This year, I just know she is going to be all over it! I can't wait to enjoy this with her, I hope I remember to take some pictures.

The pie is made, muffins are in the oven, and the Chex Mix is in the crock pot (oh, yes it is!). My prep is done, the bird goes in around noon, as does the stuffing (again in the crock pot!). Ingredients are set out for everything else, so this should be a pretty stress-free day. Just lazing and being together. And really, that's what Thanksgiving is all about, being with those you love.

We hope everyone has a wonderful (and safe!) day.




Wishing all our Loved Ones so very far away a Happy Thanksgiving.
Jeff, Kimberly & Miss Emi

Following

I am stalking my fellow bloggers! What is up with me that I can't seem to stop finding new and totally fun blogs to follow? I am addicted to it, have 18 right now and am loving every moment of it. I love going to my dashboard to see if one of my (obviously many) fav's has posted something new and delicious. However, you know what would rock? If there was some way of showing the blogs that I follow on my home page - just like the area that shows who is following me. That way, I could dispense with the list of blogs and folks could just click on the photos. Maybe blogger will implement that at some point.

I do feel one of the reasons I am so into blogging and a certain RQ room (hey gals and guys!) is that I still have yet to put my feet down here in our new city. I have not met anyone, nor joined any groups to do so. Emi and I pretty much do our own thing every day, and I get my friendship from fellow bloggers. I do think once she's involved in some outside activities that will change. I miss having friends, I am a friend kind of person. I do have them, but none here, and that makes such a difference to my happiness level.

I think I have had friendship on the mind lately. My very best friend ever lives so very far away (other side of the country). We are lucky to see each other once a year. We used to see each other every day, and talk countless times a day about everything and nothing. I have let that friendship slide, totally my fault. Now, I am not sure how to get it back. I think about her (and her great hubs) all the time, and miss both of them more than words can say. How do I call, write, email and say "I'm sorry". There was no reason, life just got going and I'd say "oh, I will email them tomorrow, next week, etc". And then, time slipped away. I sit down to write a letter and the words don't come and I sit here feeling like a failure.

I have another friend that lives just as far away, that I've never met. He is a dear dear friend and was so there for me (us) while we were waiting for Miss Emi. I have done the same thing with this friend as the other. He, however, has not. He sends little emails from time to time, visits my blog, leaves comments (I do, however, visit his and leave comments but it's not the same thing as an email).

Gosh, I sat down to write a quick, funny blog post about blog following and what I seemed to have written is my need to reconnect with my friends. I need to make this a priority. The month will not change into November without me sending at least a letter or an email to both of these friends.

Six Random Things

Angela over at The Testosterone Palace tagged me for a meme, Six Random Things. I am notoriously bad about these things. I get tagged, think 'wow, someone thought of me' and then ... poof, either I can't think of anything to say or I completely forget. The mind of a mom to a toddler, it's basically jello (or, at least mine is lately). But, I am going to do this now, before I have a chance to forget! Of course, that means that I will forget to do something else but life's about choices, right?

Oh, and I get to tag six more folks after I get done with my list ... hmmmm. :)


1. Many of my very best friends, I've never met in real life. Seriously.

2. I love and adore counted cross-stitch. I used to say it was my passion, then I found a new one ... Miss Emi. But, it ranks right up there! :) {And yes, I need to up-date my xcount photos. Time, precious time.} BTW, the photo is the most difficult piece I have ever stitched to date. At the time, it looked like a quick and easy project, it SO wasn't. But I stitched it for a very close friend (Mary, now in Memphis) and with every stitch, I thought of her. I think that's why I stitch so many gifts, I think of that person while stitching, and they think of me every time they see it.

3. I love coffee. I tend to add ... things, to my coffee. In fact, if Jeff makes me a cup of coffee he will bring it to me and say 'here a cup of what used to be coffee'. But really, I love coffee!

4. I love the water. I want to live on the water again some day. Funny enough, while I knew I liked to swim and thought water views were nice, I never gave them a serious thought until we lived in Japan. Our cute little apartment looked right over the bay. In fact, one whole side of our house was sliding glass doors so all you could see were the homes below us on the mountain, the water and the trees across the water from us. I want that kind of living again, but I doubt it will come soon. I also left a part of my heart in Japan. It was an amazing experience. (Not the best photo of our view, but I love this as it shows the rainbow, did you see it?)

5. I love to cook and bake, not that that is a whole big revelation as I have a recipe blog. I collect recipes and it is my goal to someday not have ONE cookbook in my house! I want all my recipes on my computer and also on my blog. Needless to say, with a toddler running around, that is going to take some time.

6. I can't write a simple list. See the above five things. Except for the first one (and yes, I could have gone on and on with that one too), I could have summed each up with one sentence. But, really, me being me, I just couldn't. (Making packing lists and grocery lists are the same way!)

Tagged folks: Serdic (see #1), Louanne, Sandra, Amy, Gina, Cristina, and Barbara. (Yes, I cheated. I couldn't decide ... and that should have been on my list - I can never make a decision!)


P.S. More on the Portland trip, coming soon.

Monday Musings

**Updated, please scroll down!**


Barbara at Candy Hearts and Paper Flowers hosts Monday Musings each week. Head on over for a visit!

I say, if your knees aren't green by the end of the day, you ought to
seriously re-examine your life. ~Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

~~~~~~~

I was just over at Barbara's blog and it seems she gave me an award! Too great, love it. :)

There were no directions, but since she awarded it to five folks, I will do the same. Here are five blogs that I must check in with, if not every day, close to it: Serdic @ tritely-banal, The Singer @ Reports from the Dewey Decimal Zone, Lythrum @ Goblins in My Garden, Louanne @ dwimble, and Magi @ Kaffee Klatsch.

Home Sweet Home

After two weeks of travel, it sure feels good to be home. We had a wonderful trip, but as luck would have it, both Miss Emi and I were ill almost the entire trip! Bah. The weekend before departure, Emi came down with croup (yuck!, poor baby). Her ped said usually it starts with a cold and then turns into croup. Miss Emi, having to pave her own way, had croup first and then it bloomed into a nasty head cold. The only good thing is that it didn't become a chest cold, as it is she coughed almost two weeks straight. The night before we left I came down with what we thought was a cold. By the next day (travel day, no less) it was full-blown ick. Ends up I had bronchitis and something else I can't remember the name of. Basically a really bad sore throat. Imagine that.

We arrived in Memphis early evening and were greeted at the airport by our very dearest friends, Ron and Mary. They took us home, tucked us all in bed. We were exhausted. The next morning Emi was up and raring to go. She immediately honed in on Molly, the ever-faithful beagle. Dear Molly, there is a special place for you in my heart for surviving four days of Emi-love. That gal just could not get enough of Molly. Toys, food, her water bottle ... Emi wanted to share everything with her. Too cute for words, but I am guessing that Molly wasn't all that unhappy to see the backside of Emi. Probably slept a week. :)

We had a wonderful time in Memphis. Didn't do a whole lot, but that wasn't the agenda. We just wanted to spend time together, reconnecting and introducing Emi. We did just that. Ron and Mary fell in love with Emi, and vice versa. I was so happy that two of my most favorite people in the world so enjoyed our little girl. Just thinking back, remembering some of our days, brings a smile to my heart. I also didn't get near the pictures I was hoping for but I am going to try and put a trip together back to Memphis this fall for Emi and I. Crossing my fingers it works out!

Playing peek-a-boo with Aunt Mary, Molly, and Uncle Ron

After much too short of a visit, it was off to Virginia to visit Jeff's family. We had a great time, and Emi charmed her way into everyone's hearts. Even the "not really into kids" folks! We spent our days with Aunt Mary (this gal has TWO Aunt Mary's!) and Grandmom, big brother Drew drove up from college to spend a long weekend with us. We also had all three of Mary's children and their significant other's for the same weekend Drew was there. A full house, to be sure. Family cookouts, breakfasts and even a hike down to the lake. What a great weekend. Tons of photos were taken, mainly as many family members grabbed the camera and just starting shooting. Something I am so very thankful for. Here is the trip, in photos:

Discovering everything from bugs to twigs, Emi couldn't get enough of being outside.
Playing with big brother Drew. I love the looks on their faces!

Making bread with Aunt Mary and Grandmom, playing with Grandmom, playing with Aunt Mary


Ready for the hike! Complete with walking stick (hey, Grandmom got one, Emi needed one too!) and measuring spoon.


First shoulder ride and instinctively knew to pull on Daddy's hair and ears to steer, the three of us.

Well, that's the trip. Much talking, laughter and fun. We hope to make this an annual trip. Would be nice to do it more often, but we just live too far away. For now.