I am currently without a laptop again, and so relying on the desktop to do everything a girl needs. Unfortunately, we had to wipe the desktop clean and there are no programs on it to upload pictures or do anything productive. Therefore, you'll have to do without pictures again.
We had a great Thanksgiving with Bill's family. Unfortunately, we spent the eating portion of it apart, but that's what happens when everyone eats during nap time. I have learned one thing about my kids, Carolina in particular, routine is everything. She absolutely has to sleep and it has to be a familiar place. If I try and make her sleep in an unfamiliar place, she throws a fit and won't sleep. Because of my good decision making on Thanksgiving Day, she slept for over two hours. Thank goodness.
She has done an amazing job with the potty training. She didn't have any accidents in the car rides, which were very long. Instead, she rose to the challenge and started going potty in every public restroom I took her to. She is one brilliant child.
So, this week holds many exciting times for us. Friends from far away places are visiting and the weeks ends with a wedding of two of our best friends. I'm so excited to be a part of it all. On to the baking...
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Target Giftcard Giveaway
Our friend and mortgage broker is doing a $25 gift card giveaway from Target. Check out his BLOG to enter and win!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Potty Training
I have officially potty trained Carolina now. I cannot believe she is as brilliant as she is, but she is. She can identify many letters of the alphabet, knows her colors, can count to five, say four or five word sentences, and now she can potty when she needs to.
I did a loose version of what I did for Sam earlier in the year. She didn't need the chart or even the M&Ms like he did, nor did she need huge rewards. Carolina is a very empathetic person...she feels sad when Sam or I feel sad and she feels happy with us. She responds very well to high fives and praise, but of course, she needed a potty dance too. We used the following video for her dance - she LOVES this song.
She had a couple accidents yesterday because we went out for the first time, but today she's already asked to go five times and has produced something every time.
Gotta say, I am proud of this girl. She really is very smart. I wouldn't have even tried to do it so early (she just turned two last month!) except she was telling me she was ready.
There's no going back now!!
I did a loose version of what I did for Sam earlier in the year. She didn't need the chart or even the M&Ms like he did, nor did she need huge rewards. Carolina is a very empathetic person...she feels sad when Sam or I feel sad and she feels happy with us. She responds very well to high fives and praise, but of course, she needed a potty dance too. We used the following video for her dance - she LOVES this song.
She had a couple accidents yesterday because we went out for the first time, but today she's already asked to go five times and has produced something every time.
Gotta say, I am proud of this girl. She really is very smart. I wouldn't have even tried to do it so early (she just turned two last month!) except she was telling me she was ready.
There's no going back now!!
Friday, November 20, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
A Story From China
Last week, after uninstalling and reinstalling our monitor heater (a kerosene heater that heats our whole house from the basement), Bill turned it on for us to keep warm. Within 15 minutes, I was lightheaded, felt my heartbeat increase and heard a ringing in my ears. I kept saying something wasn't right, but couldn't move my body fast enough to get outside. Bill, who had been in and out of the room, had to carry me outside to get me fresh air. We think it was related to a leak that caused some kerosene to spill and then it was burning off...or it could have been a leak causing carbon monoxide poisoning. I was fine within an hour.
But it reminded me of a long ago story. A story from China. I don't tell many of our stories from China, mostly because I don't think people are generally interested in them. But this is one I think you'll want to hear. This many years away from it, I can laugh about it. I hope you get some enjoyment out of it too, but it's a bit graphic. So be forewarned, don't read it if you don't want to be grossed out.
I'm changing people's names too...
A long long time ago, way out East somewhere, there were some weary travelers going on a strange trip together.
I don't even remember why we went on the trip, actually, but I think it was just for fun. We took two vans. Molly was with us and the Peace family (mother, father, daughter and two sons).
That night, we were very cold, after traveling all day through the very high mountains. Melinda Peace asked the inn keepers for some coals to warm up with. They brought a tray of hot coals to our bedroom and we nestled into our cozy sleeping bags. Little did we know what we were about to face.
I was sleeping against the outside wall. I was still struggling with low blood pressure at the time and when I awoke an hour or so later, I felt my heart beating very quickly and my ears were ringing. It felt like I was about to pass out due to low blood pressure. I started breathe in and out very slowly and deeply, as that sometimes helps when I'm about to pass out. Things started getting really bad after that.
I heard a distant pounding on the door, and watched helplessly as Melinda kept trying to get out of bed to answer it. Molly started screaming at Melinda that she was going to hit the floor and to stop trying to get up. Melinda was talking gibberish. Her young daughter (about 9) was weeping. Molly finally got out of her bed, still wearing the sleeping bag and hopped over to the door to open it. The owner's wife was the one banging and yelling. She hadn't realized that we were going to go to sleep with the coals and knew the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. Apparently, she was sitting around her own fire downstairs with her husband and suddenly and "inexplicably" started worrying about us and came to check on us. She knew immediately that we were in danger and couldn't get the door open.
Our men were on the other side of the wall from us. D Peace came and swept his girls out very quickly. Melinda passed out outside the door. Her daughter just kept weeping. Bill got me outside and had to go back in for Molly. All the girls were leaning up against the wall in the breezeway on the second floor of this hostel (in a very very tiny town, I might add), when a couple of them started vomiting. I screamed for Bill that I was going to have diarrhea (no vomiting for me). Bill grabbed me and tried to carry me up these long, tall, uneven steps that lead up a steep hill (this hostel was built into) to go to the latrine. We didn't make it - he had me in his arms and all 116lbs of me was too much for him at that point.
He took his next left into another level of the housing that had a courtyard in front of it. It was seemingly empty at the time. I was still hearing ringing and was so dizzy, plus my head hurt really badly and I was weak all over. He tried to take me to the grassy courtyard, but didn't realize it was higher than the sidewalk, with a small cement wall raising it up. He hit his shins on the wall at which point I flew out of his arms while I was pulling my pants down and having diarrhea all at the same time. He was bleeding profusely from his legs and was so concerned with me as I LAY on the ground getting sick. Oh, and it was pitch black, thank God.
He carried me back down the stairs. His hands had gotten bloody too. I leaned up against the wall with the other girls, while the owner's wife was jabbering on and on about how stupid we were and how amazing it was that she just had the idea to check on us. (I hope you're reading into that.)
That's when I heard John Peace (maybe 12 at the time) ask Molly if she was okay. She said, "I'm fine" at which point she threw up all over the blanket that was over her legs and a little on him, I think.
We all had migraines or bad headaches the next day, but everyone was fine. I still remember D calling another friend from some other small town and saying something about almost killing all the "women-folk."
And that, my friends, is why you should always make sure you're outside when you burn coals. Even if there is lattice work in the wall and plenty of adequate ventilation, it's still NOT enough.
But it reminded me of a long ago story. A story from China. I don't tell many of our stories from China, mostly because I don't think people are generally interested in them. But this is one I think you'll want to hear. This many years away from it, I can laugh about it. I hope you get some enjoyment out of it too, but it's a bit graphic. So be forewarned, don't read it if you don't want to be grossed out.
I'm changing people's names too...
A long long time ago, way out East somewhere, there were some weary travelers going on a strange trip together.
I don't even remember why we went on the trip, actually, but I think it was just for fun. We took two vans. Molly was with us and the Peace family (mother, father, daughter and two sons).
That night, we were very cold, after traveling all day through the very high mountains. Melinda Peace asked the inn keepers for some coals to warm up with. They brought a tray of hot coals to our bedroom and we nestled into our cozy sleeping bags. Little did we know what we were about to face.
I was sleeping against the outside wall. I was still struggling with low blood pressure at the time and when I awoke an hour or so later, I felt my heart beating very quickly and my ears were ringing. It felt like I was about to pass out due to low blood pressure. I started breathe in and out very slowly and deeply, as that sometimes helps when I'm about to pass out. Things started getting really bad after that.
I heard a distant pounding on the door, and watched helplessly as Melinda kept trying to get out of bed to answer it. Molly started screaming at Melinda that she was going to hit the floor and to stop trying to get up. Melinda was talking gibberish. Her young daughter (about 9) was weeping. Molly finally got out of her bed, still wearing the sleeping bag and hopped over to the door to open it. The owner's wife was the one banging and yelling. She hadn't realized that we were going to go to sleep with the coals and knew the danger of carbon monoxide poisoning. Apparently, she was sitting around her own fire downstairs with her husband and suddenly and "inexplicably" started worrying about us and came to check on us. She knew immediately that we were in danger and couldn't get the door open.
Our men were on the other side of the wall from us. D Peace came and swept his girls out very quickly. Melinda passed out outside the door. Her daughter just kept weeping. Bill got me outside and had to go back in for Molly. All the girls were leaning up against the wall in the breezeway on the second floor of this hostel (in a very very tiny town, I might add), when a couple of them started vomiting. I screamed for Bill that I was going to have diarrhea (no vomiting for me). Bill grabbed me and tried to carry me up these long, tall, uneven steps that lead up a steep hill (this hostel was built into) to go to the latrine. We didn't make it - he had me in his arms and all 116lbs of me was too much for him at that point.
He took his next left into another level of the housing that had a courtyard in front of it. It was seemingly empty at the time. I was still hearing ringing and was so dizzy, plus my head hurt really badly and I was weak all over. He tried to take me to the grassy courtyard, but didn't realize it was higher than the sidewalk, with a small cement wall raising it up. He hit his shins on the wall at which point I flew out of his arms while I was pulling my pants down and having diarrhea all at the same time. He was bleeding profusely from his legs and was so concerned with me as I LAY on the ground getting sick. Oh, and it was pitch black, thank God.
He carried me back down the stairs. His hands had gotten bloody too. I leaned up against the wall with the other girls, while the owner's wife was jabbering on and on about how stupid we were and how amazing it was that she just had the idea to check on us. (I hope you're reading into that.)
That's when I heard John Peace (maybe 12 at the time) ask Molly if she was okay. She said, "I'm fine" at which point she threw up all over the blanket that was over her legs and a little on him, I think.
We all had migraines or bad headaches the next day, but everyone was fine. I still remember D calling another friend from some other small town and saying something about almost killing all the "women-folk."
And that, my friends, is why you should always make sure you're outside when you burn coals. Even if there is lattice work in the wall and plenty of adequate ventilation, it's still NOT enough.
My Leaf-Addicts
Sam and Carolina have thoroughly enjoyed playing in the leaves this Fall. Carolina is so funny about it, because just five months ago she couldn't even stand on the grass out of fear. Now she's just in love with everything outdoors.
Sam has amazing discipline as he will let me completely bury him in the leaves and then wait a few moments before jumping out.
I think she just kept running and running and running...sort of like Yellow Dog in the movie "Funny Farm" (still one of my all-time favorite movies).
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Fall Photos
Carolina and Sam are loving being with family right now. Especially because Mamaw has so many oaks and sugar maples around her house that create amazing amounts of leaves!
My family finally gets to meet Carolina - I think this will be almost everybody.
Here are they with Mamaw...
My family finally gets to meet Carolina - I think this will be almost everybody.
Here are they with Mamaw...
Monday, November 09, 2009
High Country Mom Squad
Check out this article on our life with Carolina. It was published on www.highcountrymomsquad.com this morning. Part 2 is coming tomorrow.
Thursday, November 05, 2009
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