Gotcha Baby » family

Love in the 21st Century, Blog Style

Michelle — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:13:31 +0000

Nine years ago we got married on a sweltering hot day in July. There hasn’t been a dull moment since. Chances are, I’ve blogged a lot of them, since I’ve been blogging for over half of our marriage. For fun, I linked up my past anniversary tributes. And for the record, yes, I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.

2009: http://wp.me/pVbJS-cI

2008: http://wp.me/pVbJS-8q

2007: http://wp.me/pVbJS-4A

2006 (also a nod to 2005): http://wp.me/pVbJS-1K

2010 has been a good year for us–starting on New Year’s Eve, right up through summer fun complete with face painting.

The Halfway Point: Feeling Full and UnPlugged

Michelle — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 03:11:37 +0000

I refuse to actually look at the calendar and count the days/weeks, but the middle of July means I’ve reached the halfway point (or could be slightly past it) of my summer break.

How’s it shaping up so far?

It’s been great. It’s been busy. It’s been full of day trips and friends, family and celebrations. It’s been full of daylight (amazing how awful it feels to drive at night in the winter, and how great it feels in the summer).

It’s been full.

Too full to sit down and type about it at day’s end.

Too full to tweet about it while it happens.

Too full to Facebook it when the kids are watching TV.

You can’t tweet and swim at the same time.

You can’t blog while you’re rolling down sand dunes.

You can’t be on Facebook while you’re pushing kids on swings or catching them at the bottom of the slide.

I am liking it that way. A whole lot.

Are you in central Indiana and looking for things to do away from your computer?? Check out the Indianapolis City Guide on Savvy Source!! I’ve hand-picked the best just for you!

It’s On

Michelle — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:48:32 +0000

We decluttered.

We cleaned.

We rearranged.

And then…………….

We waited.

We waited for 4months to get a call from the listing service. For months we waited to hear the words, “An agent would like to show your home….”

Last night we got that phone call.

And then? While we were at the pool, during the first showing? We got another phone call.

Another agent wanted to show our home.

All of a suddent, people want to see our home.

I really hope at least one of them likes what they see……

A Weekend to Recover from my Weekend

Michelle — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:54:58 +0000

Phew. That was exhausting. Was your weekend exhausting?

My was fabulous, fun, busy, and filled with family….and it was exhausting.

It all started Saturday morning when I packed up the kids and brought them down to the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis for the Beatles cover band, Brit Beat. They were amazing, and the kids humored me by sitting through their “Ed Sullivan Era” set. MaM needed earplugs. Jr danced. Then they wanted to see the rest of the museum.

Typically we go for 2-3 hours at the most, and we hang out in just a few exhibit rooms. Saturday, however, the kids were on the move. We saw probably 75% of the museum, and they spent 5 hours in constant motion, with only a 20 minute break for lunch.

They played with Barbie, dug for dinosaurs, played at the train table, flew to Egypt, road the carousel, and checked out the newest exhibit, Rock Stars, Cars and Guitars.

For the down-low on Rock Stars, Cars and Guitars, check out my review at Savvy Source. If you’ve got a budding rocker, you won’t want to miss it!

Five hours later I was able to convince them it was time to go home. Jr was asleep before we pulled out of the parking garage. He slept for the 20 minute ride home, and then was recharged for the afternoon. Funny how 35 yrs makes a difference.

When we got home? I waved briefly to BgK, and then went upstairs and took a two hour nap!

And that was just Saturday……

MaM was thrilled there was a red-headed Barbie!

An About Me Post

Michelle — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 10:00:32 +0000

Here are the boy and the girl, having fun in the ball pit!!

This week is ICLW, hosted by Melissa over at Stirrup Queens. If you aren’t familiar, it’s basically a week where bloggers commit to commenting on other people’s blogs. Simple concept, yes?

I tend to participate in the summer months because I am a teacher and have a bit more time to blog hop and leave comments when school’s out for summer. Not a lot of time, I have a an almost five-year old and a just-turned two year old. We spend our summers at the pool, the playground and the libraries.

As for blogging, I started just as we were starting the process for our first adoption 51/2 yrs ago. Blogging has changed a lot since then, and so has my life. If you are looking for adoption posts, search the category “Open Adoption” or the tag “adoption”. If you want stories about my kiddos, they are known here as “MaM” and “Jr”, they have their own tags, and are also under the category “Monkey Antics”.

Thanks for visiting, and please leave a comment so I know you were here!!

(Question: is it hard to find where to leave a comment? since changing themes I’ve noticed the commenting has gone down, I don’t know if it’s because ‘comments’ is hard to see or if my narratives are uninspiring….)

TWO!!!

Michelle — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:08:01 +0000

Over this past year he’s said goodbye to bottles and hello to sippy cups.

Goodbye to crawling and hello to running

Goodbye to pointing and hello to to talking

Goodbye to his rear facing car seat and hello to a forward facing one

Goodbye to his crib and hello to his floorbed

Goodbye to all things baby and hello to all things boy.

His favorite things are: “Go Colts Football!” “Race Cars!” “Big Trucks!” “Yogurt!” “Milk!”

He follows his big sister around like she’s in charge.

He gives bear hugs and open-mouth kisses.

He gets very concerned when he hears, “Baby crying. Baby CRYING!!”

He asks, “Why?” and “Where’d _______ go?” incessantly.

It’s hard to believe he’s only been around for two years, because we don’t really remember life without him!

Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!!

Worth a Thousand Words

Michelle — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 02:23:19 +0000

We’re home from a great visit with family. It wasn’t exactly as we had planned, but it was fun and exciting and not our typical weekend at Grandma and Grandpas.

We saw BgK’s dad yesterday, and today we spent that afternoon with my dad and my brother (a dad 3x over).

It’s hard to describe how great of a father BgK is to our children. He’s been onboard with me about adopting since the beginning. He’s loved them with all his heart since he met them. He makes everyday interesting and fun. He’s constantly thinking of places to go, things to do and experiences they might like.

As a man with almost 12,000 images on his Flickr photostream, a little photo montage seemed an appropriate way to say, “Daddy, you are THE BEST”!

One Long Day makes for One Short Blog Post

Resting Up

Michelle — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 17:05:12 +0000

He didn’t even make it the 5minutes it takes to get to the Interstate before he nodded off. We are en route to celebrating his SECOND BIRTHDAY. Unbelievable!

Grown in My Heart: Poetry Carnival

Trying New Foods with Toddlers & Beyond

Michelle — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 23:12:01 +0000

A few posts back, my pal Stork suggested a post on trading ideas on how to get kids to try new healthy foods. I told her to stay tuned….because today’s the day!

A few weeks ago, I was contacted on behalf of Sunsweet Growers and was given the opportunity to try a Sunsweet product.

I have to admit, I was skeptical. When I think of prunes, I think of my grandparents kitchen. I can picture the box sitting on top of their refrigerator, and I associate them with my Pop-Pop. Past that, I’ve never thought much about them. I didn’t feed them to my kids as infants, for I’d heard tales of their magical digestive powers and chose to steer clear.

So yesterday, with some hesitation, I opened a 60 calorie pack of cherry-essence prunes. Guess what? They aren’t dry and sticky like I thought they were. They are sweet and juicy. They are actually kind of delicious. I actually kind of have to pace myself to make sure I don’t eat too many!

Today we packed a picnic to take to the park, and MaM immediately noticed the foil package in her lunch bag. I told her they were healthy fruit snacks. She ate one and ran to the playground. She said she didn’t really care for it. Later, when Jr. was interested in his lunch, she showed him the new fruit snacks, and encouraged him to try it. He did, and then she tried it again. This time, they both ate two and were laughing hysterically the entire time. Success!

SunSweet has consulted with dietician Carolyn O’Neil and together they are offering 10 Tips for Tiny Tummies. It’s a good list for starting to introduce new foods to children who may be resistant.There are also resources on digestive health, an issue I know many moms take seriously. In a house where goldfish crackers and string cheese rule, trust me, I’m familiar with those struggles!

In our house, I was surprised about the first thing I had to get across to my children:

1) Be polite about the food on your plate. This means, not using words like “disgusting” in relation to foods I’ve chosen to serve.

After about 18 months of enforcing this rule, MaM is fairly polite most days about foods with which she’s not familiar. I am still working on getting Jr. not to throw food he’s not interested in, he still has a way to go in that department!

2) I’m sure each child is different, but for MaM, I’ve learned not to draw attention to any new foods. I’ve learned to serve just about anything with a dab of ketchup, and probably she’ll dip it and try it. Tonight she tried a samosa (she told me she didn’t care for it, and nicely put it aside on her plate) and she tried tilapia and she ate every bite I had given her. I was kind of amazed, and thought it was good timing, considering this post.

So tell me…what do you do to introduce new foods to your little ones?? Do you have tried and true methods for keeping your kids regular?? Please share!

Disclosure: Thanks to SunSweet for the free product coupon and reusable shopping bag in exchange for this review. The opinions in this review are expressly my own.

One Long Day makes for One Short Blog Post

Michelle — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 01:14:29 +0000

One workout, one art fair and one company picnic, all in-between thunderstorms, makes for one long, hot, sticky day.

It also makes for a short blog post. Good night.

Day 12 of NaBloPoMo is done!