Mamma got crafty!

We are on day 5 of the great quinoa trial. I'm very sorry I have to do this (TMI, I know, but this is my world!) but I really must report that this morning, Mia had what could very well be her first normal BM! She said she had to go potty, and she wasn't kidding! On the downside, she was pretty out of sorts today. Very clingy, not feverish but had that clammy feel like a fever had broken and the sweat dried. She didn't complain about any pains except her feet. No idea what that conglomeration of symptoms would point to!

We ferried Daddy around while his Jeep was getting a checkup. He had a transportation briefing (details about the move) this morning, so we went to JoAnn's and grabbed some supplies to finish the car seat cover. After we picked him up, we went to the hospital where we requested our records, xrays and spoke with Mia's case manager. She's helping us have the smoothest possible transition between medical facilities. We grabbed our grocery bag of prescriptions and headed towards home. We then dropped Gary at the shop, went home and did NOT take a nap. The rest of the day was spent in almost equal parts sewing and play. She thought it was very cool to watch me serge the edges and commended me often. "GOOD MATCHING MOMMY!"

The cover is a triumph for me! I was not willing to drop over $60 for a used one on Ebay (though now I understand why the "custom" covers are $90!) and couldn't find any on Craigslist. I called Mom and Grandma to get their ideas on how to make my own pattern without taking apart our current cover. We decided that draping and pinning the fabric would be the best route so I got busy doing that, tracing the seams and cutting out the pre-pattern (I used an old sheet). I made all of my markings, then traced the sheet pieces onto paper, added seam allowance and transferred markings for holes. Now, for me to use a pre-made pattern is usually a joke. Something always comes out wrong or mismatched and I have to do a lot of seam ripping and re-stitching. However, when I make my own from scratch, the entire thing fits perfectly, except for the skirt that cinches it on, but it was a quick fix. Go figure.

How many more kid-in-a-box pictures can we get away with?

I believe my sister would say, "Woot woot holla holla!" Or something like that.

Little Miss Sassafrass!

I've had two other moms describe their daughters as "sassy", and it seems to be too fitting for this age. Apparently, she has decided that she shall be doing the bossing from here on out. We've had several talks, time out sittings and practices with being polite. I'm well aware that it's my own tone that also needs to be tweaked, after all, who else tells her what to do for most of the day? I can probably only speak for myself when I say "we" have been trying hard to use a nice voice more often. It's funny, you have grand plans of raising a gracious and polite child and when it backfires, you realise that it's yourself you are seeing in this tiny little person!

She had a big day. We've been trialing quinoa (keen-wah) for four days now with no immediate (IgE mediated) reaction, but she's a slow fail when it comes to non-IgE mediated and eosinophilic reactions. We have not seen anything bad on the bathroom front, but her behavior has certainly changed today. I added an eighth of a teaspoon of flax seed oil to each serving, perhaps that should stop. She actually refused to finish her bowl tonight, which is very out of character since she cries and badgers me for more!

Daddy and our newly appointed handyman have spent the day replacing our front door with a new one, so that our renters will be happy with the heating bills! The old one was probably the original and needed to come out. We know that too much heat was escaping through it over the winter. Mia and I blew bubbles for a while on the lawn, where she suddenly decided that she was tired and would "lay down on mommy" for...oh half a second. After the work began on the door, we loaded up our fifty million pounds of library books and headed to the library to get another half ton!
Mia absolutely LOVES the library. They have a great little hidey hole cushioned area and she makes a beeline for it every time. She'll sit with a book and "read" while I fill the bag with books. She helps sometimes, mostly trusting my judgment. On occasion I have enough patience left on the Mia Card to grab a book for myself (not that I'll ever get to finish one for the next 23 years!)

After stuffing the book bag into the car we walked next door to the thrift shop run by the local catholic church. I have been on a mission to find My First Leap Pad books and cartridges since we just got one of the pads for the trip. I bid on a lot of 4 books on Ebay, thinking surely they had their cartridges, but after the auction ended, I got four books without them. I went back to the listing and it appears that it was not mentioned until someone asked the seller AFTER I bid. Shame on me for not asking myself, but now I have four useless books. ANYWAY, I walk in and there on the shelf are three sets! We were pretty excited (well, I was, she was more impressed with the ziplock bags they were in) and thought we'd see if our luck extended to the Salvation Army a couple of blocks down. It didn't, but I did finally find an ipod cover and a belt to hold up my pants that have somehow become too big. She was very well behaved in the stores.

Perhaps that is why we had a little squirmy worm on our hands for the potato bake that the church held for the new library. They are moving and the youth at church wanted to help with funds, so they baked potatoes and set up bowls and bowls of yummy toppings. Mia had her quinoa but didn't eat very much of it. She was unusually whiny (okay, toddlers are whiny but she was VERY whiny) and when we went home to read Babar before bed, she fell asleep before I even finished! We didn't even do our goodnight song and prayers because she was sawing logs as I lay her down.

I wish I were as tired. I'm antsy and wired, but not in a productive way. It's the run-in-circles bat-crazy kind of wired. I should start on that car seat cover, because they certainly aren't getting cheaper on ebay!

Sorry I'm slacking!

This is a smile, I promise! She is wrapped up in the blanket that her Grandma and Grandpa Dollman made for her. I tried to get a picture of her with the dancing/singing turtle that the Sams side sent, but she won't go near it!

Our first snowshoeing adventure in Hatchers Pass...it didn't last very long. The temp was very cold, to say the least. Gary and I were okay because we were moving around but it wasn't great for the toddler who was sitting. We opted to turn in early.

She tried so hard to pick up the snowball, but she was barely able to bend this far! She was pretty limited in her staypuff suit!

Blindly running yelling "WUNNING!! WUUUUNING!"

We still have rice so far! We've been making her formula with the ricemilk and I found some rice noodles that she is pretty thrilled with. Sometimes the textures get to her and we end up smacking her on the back because she chokes or gags, but other than that she is satisfied that she can eat with us. I think we are going to give black olives a shot next.

We have to okay to start spacing out her IVIG infusions, so the infusion yesterday was four weeks from the previous instead of three. The next one will be in five weeks, and there will be one more after that at six. We're anxious to see what her immune system will do on it's own. I made the mistake of going to the grocery store after we left the hospital yesterday. She is always crabby afterwards and we usually go straight home. I was THAT mom with THAT kid in the store, the screaming and arching... Good times! She is normally pretty well behaved but I should have known better!

Potty is coming along. Today she went without diapers until naptime (which is still in the process) and for the most part used her little potty. She even asked on her own a couple of times. She's racking up the stickers! Hey, I'm not above bribery. She seems pleased enough with praise, but the kid loves stickers almost as much. We might be nearing big-girl underpants!

Tomorrow we plan on joining a group for a little snowshoeing adventure. We are anxious to see how our pulk will do. I found a pulk on craigslist for about $250 which was a wad that we weren't planning on dropping right now. We were going to look at it and see if it was really what we wanted (oh, for those of you who don't have a clue what I'm talking about, a childs pulk is a little sled with a "tent" and harnessed seat. There are one or two adjustable poles with a harness for the adult to strap into so they can pull it doing various snow activities). We had to go to OT first and we told her what we were considering. She asked the other therapist in the room if she still had the pulk she was trying to get rid of, so we ended up with a free pulk. It is in stellar condition and only needed a new bolt, which was an easy fix. So, it's maiden voyage (with us anyway) will be tomorrow in Bear Valley! Pictures to come, I'm sure.

We were goign to go last weekend, but we woke up to a fifty degree house. The igniter on our furnace bought the farm. It's fixed for now, but the tech said our furnace is on it's last TOE and we really need to start pricing a new one. I know why this is happening. I said out loud how we knew exactly where all of our money goes and how we have a good financial strategy. You should never say things like that!