Give Thanks

I realize I am a bit late on the whole thanksgiving post
And I have been slacking a bit
But I wanted to share with you
our totally unconventional Thanksgiving feast


We went to my dad's
We always do thanksgiving with him
because his birthday is the 24th
So often Thanksgiving falls on his birthday

My dad doesn't like Turkey
At all!!
So we had rack of lamb instead
He fired up the grill and dinner was fabulous
B loved it
and eat everything on his plate
and then some!
That kid can eat.

Thankful!!

I have been soaking up family time around here all weekend.
It has been so nice to have everyone home
No work or school and we all can sleep in an snuggle
What a nice few days its been

Happy Thanksgiving People!!

This is our first Thanksgiving as family and I am so excited. We have a big day planed but I wanted to stop by here and wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving. I can't wait to tell you guys all about ours. For now, I hope you all have a wonderful day with lots of food and family!

Wordless Wednesday

Going Green Tuesdays

Brianne over at Mommy Time started this Going Green Tuesdays so that we could help inspire one another and get some new green ideas and tips. I love the idea and I can't wait to read what everyone else is doing to make a small difference at home. If you have any good going green tips to share please hop on over to her site and link up.Last week Brianne had a going green contest and I won!! I was so so excited because I never win anything. I won a bottle of Giovanni organic max volume shampoo and a bottle of max volume conditioner.

Before this I was using Whole Foods generic 365 brand shampoo and conditioner. They are defiantly a bit more Eco friendly then your regular shampoo and they don't test on animals which is good. But it really didn't clean my hair. It was leaving build up and made my hair look greasy even though it is not at all. After I washed my hair it still felt dirty. Not really what you want in a hair product. But I sucked it up because it was Eco friendly and cheap. (1.99 for each) Then I started thinking I buy shampoo so infrequently that it might be worth the splurge.

So when I got to try Giovanni for free I was so excited. My hair was in a state of disrepair from months of the 365 shampoo. As soon as I lathered it on I could feel it working. When I rinsed it was the first time my hair has felt actually clean and healthy in a long time. And its organic! I was really starting to believe that Eco friendly shampoos just don't work as regular ones and I was so wrong. I have tried a bunch and none have worked for me at all until this one. My hair is so shiny. I was going to take a picture for this post but it has been raining for two days here. So no matter how great of a hair day I am having if it is raining its not pretty :) Now I know and there is no way I am going back. When I run out I will definitely be buying some more. This stuff rocks!

Abc of me!

A - Age: 25
B - Bed size: Queen
C - Chore you hate: Laundry!!!
D - Dog's name: Sakari
E - Essential start your day item: Tea {ginger peach to be exact}
F - Favorite color: Orange hands down
G - Gold or Silver: Silver
H - Height: 5'3
I - Instruments you play? None (I have had many lessons but I just am not musically inclined)
J - Job title: Mom, Student, I used to be a Gymnastic Coach before all of that
K - Kid(s): B, the one and only, we are hoping for a new foster child to join us when B's adoption is finalized
L - Living arrangements: One dad, one mom, one kid :) one dog
M - Mom's name: Sharon
N - Nicknames: None, people say my name wrong all of the time but I don't think that counts
O - Overnight hospital: I was in the hospital for a month in 2006 because I have a Chari Malformation and the base of my brain pushes on my spine and gives me bad headaches
P - Pet Peeve(s): The cabinets being left open {this drives me crazy}
Q - Quote from a movie: "Real loss is only possible when you love something more than you love yourself." ~Good Will Hunting
R - Right or left handed: Right but everyone else around here is a leftly
S - Siblings: Only child
T - Time you wake up: 6:30 am
U - Underwear: I don't think you really want to know :) So I will spare you.
V - Vegetable you dislike: Okra {it is slimy}
W - Workout style: Its been a while. I like to play sports but I am not very good at working out alone
X- X-Ray's you've had? Way to many
Y - Yesterday's best moments: B finally having energy!! It felt so good watching him play like a normal four year old.
Z - Zoo favorite: Elephants {its amazing being so close to something so big} I really love the Gorillas too!

Not me Monday!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

OK, lets see what embarrassing moments we had this week.

To start out with I did NOT show up on the wrong day for my sons speech evaluation last week.
I did NOT even realize it was the wrong day until I was parking outside the place and I got a conformation call for my appointment TOMORROW! Then the lady did NOT tell me that I should just come anyway and they will fit me in. This is NOT possible because I waited 6 months for this appointment and they can just fit you in whenever. I should have accidentally shown up 3 months ago.

I did NOT go to the laundry mat this weekend just because I had more then one load to do and I did not what to have to run up and down stairs 100 times to get it done. When I could fit it all in one of those super jumbo 10 load washers and be done with it in the time of one load. Oh no NOT me I am not that lazy. {oh wait I am} Then as it was drying I was NOT rushing so much because we were rapidly approaching nap time that I forgot and entire dryer fill of B's clothes. Then I did NOT get all the way home before I realized. I did NOT have to turn around and puck it up puttting us well into nap time. Nope not me, I plan way better then that!

Gluten Free: Day One

Since B came to us I have felt like something was not right with his eating habits. I also didn't really know what his life was like before and if he was being fed regularly because he was so small. It seemed like his size might be from that as well. So I thought that after he had been with us for a bit and eating the monstrous proportions that he does for sure he would start to gain weight. Well time went by and I started to notice that he couldn't have dairy at all. Then more time when by and I noticed that it was more then dairy that he could not tolerate.

When we went to B's four year old well visit the doctor told me that B was considered failure to thrive and had been his whole life. This is when anything started to add up in my head. He sent us to get a bone age x-ray. It showed that he was over a year and a half behind in his growth. His doctor sent us to an endocrinologist. As soon as I told her B's symptoms and she looked at him and saw the dark circles under his eyes {when he sleeps 14 hours a day} she told me that she thought he had Celiac Disease. This was not a huge shock to me because I have been wondering for the last seven months and done a bit of research and this kept popping up. She ran blood work and said that certain levels point to Celiac and they can do a biopsy to confirm but the treatment is the same: NO GLUTEN. But it seems like gluten is in everything. So I started doing more research and found some blogs that have Gluten free recipes. I went to Whole Foods where I shop anyway and I was amazed but all of the gluten free options.

Today was our first completely gluten free day and I can not tell you the change I saw in him. It was like a different little boy. He has been so lethargic and cranky lately and today he was so pleasant and energetic. I really did not expect to see a change so fast {and maybe he just had a good day} but he even said that he felt better. So I am sure that there will be more to this story and our gluten free journey but for now I am just happy to have an answer.

Skater Boy

Last Thursday B and I played hooky and went to the skate park instead. Where we live there are a few outdoor skate parks and during the day no one is ever there, which work out perfectly for us. We probably don't have much longer before the cold comes and outdoor skating becomes out of the question. So we took advantage while we could.It was an awesome day until it was time to go and B threw the BIGGEST tantrum that I have seen in quite awhile. He pulled it together after a quick break on a park bench and a few deep breaths. Then we were good to go.

Paris

Growing up my dad worked for an art museum. He traveled all over the world couriering paintings to other museums. He has been to many places but the place that he always talked about was Paris. He loves Paris. He always told me that someday he would take me with him. Things always seem to get in the way and we never went. The other day my dad called me and told me we are going to Paris!! I could not be any more excited. We are going next month and I can't wait. I am already planing everything I have to see and every stop I must go to. If you have been and have any ideas for me I would love to hear them, please I don't want to miss anything.

A few of my favoirte things!!

Keely over at MannLand5 started a Favorite things blog hop and giveaway. I thought it looked like fun. So here are a few of my favorite things~

My favorite shoes:They are made by Camper. Mine are a bit older and have red snaps but you get the idea. I have had them for four years {I think} I wear them ALL of the time and they show almost no wear. Campers are a bit pricey but the are so well made. I have a pair of high black leather boots that are going on 8 years old and still look amazing. So I think they are worth it.


My must have at all times:Burts Bees lip balm is my all time must have. I love Burt's Bees anything really but this is the ONLY cure for chapped lips if you ask me. I love that little tingle you get when you use it. It makes me feel like its working. Their baby shampoo is amazing too. It smells so good. I have about 5 tubes of this lip balm floating around in different pockets and purses. I can't get through winter with out it.


Favorite jacket:
Patagonia is our family's favorite outerwear brand. B has this fleece. I have an orange and yellow one and Michael has a red fleece vest. They are so warm and really block the wind. They hold up really well too. We have cold winters so a good fleece is important in layering.


Favorite Entertainment item:
The Ion Portable Turntable from Urban Outitters. I love records! I have way to many and Michael is always trying to get me to slim my collection a bit. But every time I try I remember why I got each one {even if it way only for one song} and can't part with them. I have had a lot of old record players and they always ended up having problems. The needle would brake or the belt or something. After about five or so going on my I decided to get this one. Its small and it hooks up to your computer and it works great. I haven't had an issue with it yet.

Hope this makes you smile

Today B had a evaluation to see if he needs any therapy {speech, PT, OT, ect...} in school.
It went really well and from the information the lady doing the evaluation gave me it seems like he is right on track and may not need them after all. They are going to send us a full report in 4 weeks and we will know then.

Anyway the point of this story was I was in the room for the evaluation and the lady asked B "What happens when an egg drops on the floor" He turned to her and said "a birdie flies out"

I have been smiling about this all day.
Its amazing how different the world is in a child's eyes.

Wordless Wednesdays {almost}

I was was doing a BIG much needed house cleaning this weekend.
I was getting the laundry together to bring down stairs.
I turn around to find this.
I had to take a picture of course.

Things I might do a bit differently

I just realized for a blog that was intended to be about foster parenting
I rarely actually talk about our experiences with the system
I am going to make more of an attempt to do so,
because it is a huge part of your lives.
Feel free to ask me any foster care related questions too!
{in comments or email me}
I love to share the little bit I know

I am so glad that I followed my heart and looked into foster care.
It was a bit overwhelming at first with all of the paperwork and clearances
And at times the process felt like it was never ending
But in the end we were blessed with a son and I wouldn't change that for anything

That being said, foster parenting is a bit different then being a biological parent
{Well I think it is anyway}
I am not a biological parent so I can't say for sure
But there are some things that I would do differently if I could

For example:

My mom lives 15 mins away but it is right over the bridge into another state
Every time I want to visit with my mom I must fill out a form
and have it approved by the case worker which takes a few days.
I know that these rules were created to protect children so I follow them
but when you want to swig by Grandmom's for lunch it can be a bit annoying

Another thing is co-sleeping. Children in foster care are not under any circumstances allowed to sleep in your bed. When B came to us he was quite traumatized from the situation he was in before and the transition was hard on him. He would wake up five or six times in the night and he was petrified. For those first few weeks I think he would have benefited so much at least being in our room at night if not in our bed. I completely understand why this rule is in place and I think it is necessary but for B he need to know that we were there even when he was sleeping and we were not going to leave him ever. He sleeps through the night now but I think it would have been much easier on him is we were there right there when he woke up afraid.

Lastly I don't really have a say in his vaccines. I am sure that once he is adopted this will change but for now if it is recommend by the CDC he must get it. So when we went to the doctors last visit he got all of his regular four year old shots and he had to get the flu vaccine even though he has already had the flu this year and he got it again but worse after the vaccine. Luckily they were out of H1N1 because he would have had to get that too and that is a lot on a little body all at once. Trust me I am not completely against vacancies I just would like to be able to say no if I didn't think it was right for him.

{every state has different laws about foster care so this might not be true everywhere}

These things are very minor in the grand scheme of things
We have a happy little boy and that is what matters most.

We have been lucky to have great Caseworkers so our experience has been pretty smooth.
I thought in the beginning of September we only had a few more weeks until our court date for finalization of B's adoption. Now I think that was a bit optimistic. These things always seem to take longer then expected. We are waiting for some papers from the lawyers and then as soon as they get them back we will get a court date. It still will be at least another month.

Not Me Monday!!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Last night as I was tucking B into bed and thinking about what I needed to get ready for him for school I did NOT remember that he was STAR of the week this week.
When you are star of the week you bring in a poster of pictures of our family, your favorite book and your favorite snack to share with the class.
I would NEVER forget something like this considering it is all B talked about last week. No I am more organized then that!
So I did NOT panic and start to freak out think that maybe I should just not send him to school and he could be star of the week the next day.
As I started to calm down I realized that I did NOT made a photo album for my mom for her birthday a few weeks ago, and I did NOT use every picture of B that I had in the house.
At this point it is 8:20pm on a Sunday and all of the photo's I have of B are NOT on my computer!!!
So I did NOT call my local Target to find that their photo department closed at 7.
Darn, What to do now?
Call more Targets of course!!
I did not call a Target 45 mins from my house
And I most certainly did NOT tell the photo lady who was closing up shop for the night
about the dreadfuly sad look on my four year old's face because I forgot about his school project.
And I did NOT convince her to stay open so I could send her my pictures through Sutterfly.
Then I defiantly did NOT drive 45 min to Target to pick up my photos
And I did NOT tell the photo lady she was my personal hero
I did NOT grab some organic fruit leathers for his class snack
and some poster board and went home feeling very proud of my resourcefulness.
I the end the poster turned out great even though when I got home
I did NOT realize that I had no scrapbooking paper to back the photo's with
{yes I am crazy and they had to be backed}
So I did not use bits and pieces from a project that I was working on in B's room.
All in all the poster came out pretty good and B was ridiculously happy to be the STAR of the week!!

One step at a time

I am still unsure about what path
I will take moving forward
but knowing that theses guys
will walking along side of me
is all the comfort I need right now

Choices

Sorry I have been a little quite around here lately. I have been struggling with some big choices that I need to make for myself and time is of the essence. Two years ago I decided that I would go back to school and get a bachelors in Nursing. For the program I am interested in there are two years of prerequisite courses that required to transfer. I am going into my last semester of these courses.

I had an elective class that I was required to take so I signed up for an advanced ceramics class. When I went to school the first time around my major was fine arts and ceramics has always been my main interest. I have not done any ceramics for that last 5 years that I have been out of school so I thought I wold be a nice brake from some of the harder class I am taking.

Well I think this was a big mistake. The second I got back on the wheel and started throwing my first piece, it all came back to me. I was in the zone. You know the feeling when you are doing something you love so much and it just energizes you? Well that is normally a good thing but not in my case. I have lost all interest in my nursing plans. All I want to do is ceramics. Whenever I have a free second I am in the studio working. I have to force myself to even go to my other classes, when I used to enjoy them. When I go to sleep at night I am lying there thinking about ceramics. (I am a little dramatic I know, but its true)

I was so motivated about Nursing when I began but over time the excitement has worn off and now I just want to be done. I am having a really hard time thinking about two more years of school. And the more thought I put into it I am not even 100% I even want to be a nurse. My application is due and I just can't seem to get it together. I really want to get my degree or I feel like the last two years were a complete waste.

I need to sign up for my last semester of classes. I keep looking at the course book and thinking about what I need to take and I just don't want to. I know if I just do sign up and put one foot in front of the other and go to class everyday it wont be that bad. But when you get that feeling of doing something you love everything else feels like it requires so much effort.

If followed my heart and did what I really wanted to do. I would finish this semester. Take next semester off. Get a studio space and devote my time to ceramics. I wish there was a way to do both. The fact is school is too time consuming all ready. I hardly have time for ceramics now and its one of my classes. I don't know what to do but I need to figure it out soon because time is not on my side here. And its stressful being in this middle ground. Micheal is so supportive and he tells me to do whatever feel right but I don't know what feels right anymore.

Sorry I just had to vent. I would love some advice if anyone out there has any to give. I just feel a bit lost right now. Thanks for listening.

Pajama Day

Once a month B's pre-school has Pajama Day.
This is now his favorite day of the of the month

He even gets his bear dressed for the occasion

Wordless Wednesdays

Going Green Tuesdays!!

So it is time for another Going Green Tuesday! Brianne over at Mommy Time started this blog hop so that we could help inspire one another and get some new green ideas and tips. I love the idea and I can't wait to read what everyone else is doing to make a small difference at home. If you have any good going green tips to share please hop on over to her site and link up. She also has an awesome Eco friendly Shampoo giveaway going one this week so head over there to enter!

So I thought of a few more things since last week that we do around here to help the environment.

First we use bio degradable trash bags. We are crazy are use or recyclers so we end up with about a bag of trash a week. This makes this more affordable for us because they are a bit more. We throw out stuff all the time that is certainly trash but if it was not trapped in a plastic bag then it would slowly decompose.

We also use bio degradable bags for picking up our dog poop. Before we used reusable shopping bags we had a lot of plastic ones hanging around (and we still have a few) and we used these but not anymore. Now the poop goes back into the soil instead of siting in a plastic bag of a hundred or so years and taking up valuable land fill space.

This last one is something we are on the verge of doing. We haven't started yet, but we have done all of the research and we plan to start very soon. That is Composting. Most of the stuff that ends up in our trash is food. Banana skins, leftovers, food that has been dropped on the floor ect. I have wanted to start composting for some time but living in the city we really have no where to store a big compost container. Then last week at the coffee shop I found an answer. There is a compsting service in our area that will pick up and use your compost for you. We don't have a garden right now so we don't really have much use for the compost so I would love for someelse to get some use out of it. I am super excited about this and can't wait to get started. I have picked out the perfect little counter top container that sits by the sink and you just toss food in as you go. It is designed in a way that prevents it from smelling as well. I will fill you in on how it works when we start.
Some more info on composting here:

http://www.howtocompost.org/

I think that is about all I have for you today but stop by next week and I will have some more green ideas to share. Oh and don't forget to enter the contest! Who doesn't love some great eco friendly Shampoo?

May the road rise to meet you

I woke up this morning with this song from my childhood in my head. I thought I would share.

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

traditional Gaelic blessing

Four

What a great age.

Doctor Where Are You?

B had his four year old well visit this week
He has been four for some time now
but he was sick around the time of his original appointment
And the soonest we could get after that was FOUR months away

This is why I love and hate going to a good Doctor
It is so hard to get an appointment
but if something is wrong I feel confident he will know what it is

So we had a 1 o'clock appointment
We got there at 12:45
We got called back pretty quickly
And then we waited.
And waited
And waited
The doctor finally came in at 3
2 hours after our appointment timeWe felt something like this :)

It wasn't a huge deal because he wasn't sick
But still we got pretty antsy in those two hours

Lucky I brought my camera!
B loves to take picture so this was our saving grace.

Six shots and one blood draw and a X-ray later we were on our way.

Wordless Wednesdays

Going Green Tuesdays!

Brianne over at Mommy Time started this Going Green Tuesdays so that we could help inspire one another and get some new green ideas and tips. I love the idea and I can't wait to read what everyone else is doing to make a small difference at home. If you have any good going green tips to share please hop on over to her site and link up.

I am sure there is a lot more that I could do to be more green, but I try to make little changes that add up. Some of the green things we do around here are,

~We use recycled toilet paper and paper towels
(I am not really sure how much of a difference this makes)

~We only use paper towels for real emergency's that need to be thrown out right away
For everything else we have unpaper towels
(they are terry cloth and snap together and function the same as paper towels)
You just throw then in the hamper when they are dirty

~I made really cute re-usable snack bags for B's lunch
I was putting 3 zip locks in there before so this is saving us big time!

~We walk where ever we can
This is one of the best parts of living in the city we can walk almost anywhere

~We use all natural cleaning products
I like Planet laundry soap and seventh generation cleaners
I have tried making my own cleaners and they work great for some things
but I don't really trust that they kill germs so we use seventh gen for counters and bathroom

~I use cloth pads (I know what you are thinking) Its really not that gross, I swear.
I just keep a sealed container in the bathroom filled with water and throw them in there when I am done. Then I just toss them in the washer and they are good as new. Nothing to gross about that right? And you can get some really cute ones. I really like Organic Bamboo Valor it is so so soft. I promise if you try it there is no way you will go back to disposables they are so much more comfortable. And it really is pretty easy.

~We eat only organic veggies and for the most part everything else as well.

~We use those funny looking light bulbs (compact florescent bulbs, Thanks Lisa ;)

That's all I can really think of right now.
I can't wait to read what everyone else is doing and hopefully get some new ideas!