New camera, new pictures!

Most of my summer school paychecks are going towards the down payment for a vehicle in October because that's when our lease runs out. But, since I got paid today, and since The Jerk still hasn't returned my camera, I bought a new one today. I couldn't be happier.

I got a Canon Powershot SD1300.
It is, literally, a point and shoot. It sets itself to portrait or landscape or macro or whatever it deems appropriate.

It has digital zoom up to 16x. I'm usually not too thrilled about digital zoom because the pictures are usually grainy. But look at this.


This is a dumb picture, but I love how the sippy cup is in focus and Colin's car is blurry in the background. You can also see some texture on the sippy spout because Colin bangs the sippy cup on the driveway.

A close-up of my lettuce.
I planted it in the planter just outside our door. This is VERY convenient when you get the urge to have a salad. A little snip, snip, wash, wash and you've got your very own homegrown salad. I could get used to that!

Someone likes to climb on top of the heat register to look out the window.

Working on his laptop.

Good, right? This totally satisfies me until I get that DSLR I want.

Thoughts and prayers request

Kevin's grandma, M, doesn't have much time left. She had a brain tumor removed this winter, and her health has declined ever since. She's living in assisted living right now, and is only expected to live a few more days.

Please keep her and her husband and Kevin's family in your thoughts and prayers.

In the words of Stephanie Tanner,

"How rude!" <--click it!

Remember the days when somebody found something and returned it? Those were nice, weren't they? ::looks to ceiling out of the upper left corner of my eyes and sees a big thought bubble above my head with a smiley face in it::

Those days are long gone. Someone stole my camera. I've sort of been in denial about it because I'm mad at myself and I'm mad at the jerk who took it.

Once upon a time two weeks ago, we were at A & A's (Kevin's bro and new bride) wedding reception. It got to be pretty "late" by our new "parent" standards. You know...8:00. Way past Colin's bedtime. He was a crank. It was time to bust out of there. ASAP. Before all heck broke loose. So we quickly gathered his stuff together and went home. Correction. Kevin dropped Colin and I off at home while Kevin went back to the reception (it was 5 min away from our house) to hang out with family and friends. Fine and dandy. I bathed the boy and put him to sleep and settled in to fix one of my summer school girl's knitting project. What? Fine. Call me grandma. I make beautiful blankets, so there.

You know how when you're in the middle of doing something, and all of a sudden you realize that, OMG! I should be at the dentist right now! or...Shizz! I forgot to put deodorant on! Well, in the midst of tinking (knitting backwards dontcha know), I realized, OMG! I forgot Colin's cooler at the reception! It's this really nifty cooler we used to transport milk. I had forgotten it on the floor under my table. Can't live without it. So I called Kevin's cell. No answer. I left a voicemail. ::sigh:: Surely he'd listen to his voicemail before he leaves and he'd grab it. He arrived at home. 11:00 pm. No cooler. Crap. Long story short, we got the cooler back because A & A packed it up with all of the other stuff from the reception. Whew!

But did I think, "OMG! My camera!" Nopes. I may have thought, "huh...did I grab my camera? Of COURSE I did! It's in the diaper bag. Silly." Because who would leave a camera out on a table and leave in such a haste that they'd totally forget it?!? ::looks around, points to self:: Me. Idiot. And of course it's gone. It's a snazzy little thing, my Canon Powershot. Too bad the mean Stealerpants doesn't have a charger or a USB cable ::insert mean cackle here::. Although you could probably find those for under $20 ::pout::.

But even after I kinda had a hunch I left it there, I didn't believe it. I looked everywhere. I called the reception place. K called A & A. Then I stopped looking because you know how it is. Lost things show up when you stop looking for them. Still waiting.

I thought about taking this chance and upgrading to a DSLR (Canon Rebel EOS XS, in case you're curious). But, because of "the situation" (see previous post), I'm just going to replace it with...drumroll please!...the same camera. It works just fine. It takes video (DSLRs don't, unless you spend megabucks). It's reasonably priced. And then when I'm really ready to take the plunge, I'll get the Rebel and keep the Powershot for on-the-go purposes.

Some people really are jerks, you know. There were pictures of Kev, Colin, and me on the camera. Stealerpants could've easily turned it on, looked at the pictures, found Kevin in the pictures wearing a tux, standing outside the reception site, and known that Kevin was A's brother, or if (s)he didn't, that at least (s)he knew he was in the wedding, and given it to A. Seriously, Jerkface. How rude!

Lord help me, we will raise Colin to do the right thing.

Confession (update pt. 5)

I'm not saying this to put all our cards out on the table and reveal too much to our readers. I'm not saying this to receive handouts. I'm not saying this for pity. I'm not saying this so you can judge us.

I'm saying this so we can be accountable. I'm saying this so that we can be proud of a HUGE accomplishment when everything is all said and done. I'm saying this so we might inspire another family to do the same. I'm saying this because it's on our minds daily and when it's over, we'll feel so at peace.

We're in $35,000+ debt. Credit cards only. Not including student loans or mortgage. You might ask us...WHAT THE HECK WERE YOU THINKING? Believe me, we were thinking the best we could. But when...

You graduate from college in August 2004, and apply for jobs you don't even get an interview for, and instead you sub. And you sub some more. And you work at the YMCA. And you teach piano lessons. But you don't get health insurance, so you pay for your own. And then you DO get a full time teaching job in 2007. And you teach summer school. And piano lessons. And you cancel your gym membership. And you have a baby. And daycare costs $720/month. It adds up. And it adds up quickly.

Sure, we had some fun with those credit cards. We went to Jamaica. But I wouldn't trade that for anything. It was something we'd never done. And we wanted to do it before we had kids. And who knows when the next "just us" vacation will be. That vacation was invaluable to us. Sure, next time we hope we'll have a vacation fund of some sort to actually pay for a vacation instead of racking up our credit card bill. We didn't spent outrageously. Look in my closet if you don't believe me. I HATE about 80% of the clothes that are in it. Either they don't fit or they are old.

We tried the Dave Ramsay snowball, and we were doing so well. But then Colin came along and daycare expenses put our momentum at an absolute halt. Hamsters on a wheel--that's how we felt with our credit cards.

Now that you *maybe* understand, you ask, "NOW WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?" Because, obviously, something needs to be done.

And to that I say, "Not what are we going to do, but what did we do?

Through work, we have an Employee Assistance Program through Family Means in Stillwater, MN. We saw a credit counselor there who helped us "balance our budget." He gave us some tips. And he set us up with the Debt Management Program (DMP). It isn't a debt settlement program (which I understand can be a bit sketchy). What happens is that our credit cards get closed. And we're okay with this because we really don't use our cards very much anymore anyway. Our interest rates get lowered to INSANE APRs. What was once a 20% APR is now a 7% APR. So that right there cuts down A LOT of our debt. And now instead of sending money to our creditors, we send it to Family Means and our counselor disperses it to them using Dave Ramsay's snowball. All clients get put on a five year plan to pay their debts off. Ours is more like 53 months (4.5 years) because our debt isn't TOO high. But then we're always going to pay a few $100 more a month to get it down faster. Our credit scores may go down, but only by 10-40 points (more on the 10ish side for us because, again, our numbers aren't THAT high). And then they'll go back up again.

We are SO excited for this. We left our appointment feeling less burdened already. Kevin told me I should have convinced him earlier. I told him he should just listen to me the first time :) We're set to start in July.

I plan on letting you know when good things happen with this. I want to share this accomplishment with you. Maybe if you're in the same situation, it will help or inspire you.

Pacifier weaning (Update pt. 4)

While my mom was here, I mentioned that I wanted to try to get Colin to not be as reliant on his pacifier anymore. 14 months isn't by any standard TOO OLD to be using a pacifier. But...it's one less thing to remember, one less thing to keep clean, one less thing to take away when he's older. It's not that he uses it constantly. He uses it when he sleeps and naps, and about 1/3 of the time he's awake (if he's in a good mood).

Day 1 was horrible. We went grocery shopping, which he usually does just fine with because he loves to ride in the cart. And we rarely bring his pacifier in the store with us anyway. But, since he hadn't had his pacifier all day as it was, he threw an absolute fit almost the entire time we were there.

Day 2 was less horrible.

Day 3 was just as horrible as Day 2, but you could tell he was so distraught over the trauma.

Day 4 in the morning, I was talking to some co-workers who, when I mentioned I had decided to take the nukie away, immediately looked at me with horror-stricken faces and said "WHY!??!" I didn't really have an answer for them. One mother of 3 told me that when her kids were done with them, they were done. One threw the pacifier across the room and never looked back. The youngest opened the trash, spit his pacifier into it, shut it, and went about his merry way. Then I got to thinking...Colin doesn't have a blanket or a stuffed animal or any other sort of "luvey" that he's attached to. His pacifier is what he's attached to. And if that means we have to take it with us (almost) everywhere we go, then so be it. It's a lot better than dragging around something 100x its size.

So...it's his. Until some professional tells me he's developing an overbite. Or until he decides he's ready to give it up. Or until he goes to kindergarten.

14 monthday (update pt. 3)

...4 days ago.

The monthly updates will now be every-other-monthly-updates. Yes, he's still doing so many things so quickly, but he's not changing in appearances as fast as he did that first year.

Colin,

You are such a little monkey. You are beginning to really get the hang of climbing. I had a ladder out to cut the tops of the lilac bushes off, and you climbed up onto the bottom rung and wanted to go higher!

Your vocabulary is quickly growing. We love being able to communicate with you and know (almost) everything you want. My most favorite thing to hear is "Uh ee(s)" which means "up please" when you want to be carried. But before you say "uh ee(s)," you pull on our fingers so we get down to your level.

You seem to like a tidy house. First it was the obsession with the vacuum, then the brooms. Now I've noticed that you like to put your snack cup or your sippy cup on the end table when you're done with it instead of leaving it on the floor. You also like to throw things away in the garbage. You walk right into the kitchen and throw things away all by yourself. I really appreciate all the help, Buddy!

You are sleeping pretty well throughout the night. You don't wake up hungry anymore, which is a huge relief to us all. Sometimes Daddy has to give you back your pacifier at night, but other than that you're a great night sleeper! Now how can we get you to sleep later in the morning? You're an early bird who sometimes likes to wake up at 4:45! We let you sleep with us in the mornings when you do that, and then you sleep until 7:00 which is much better.

You like things with wheels and things you can push around. You give Rocket hugs and play with him by finding sticks for him to take from you. You love be outside, and sometimes we're outside almost all day long. We go for at least 2, if not 3 or more walks every day.

You still don't like very many vegetables--only green beans. But you continue to amaze us with your fruit-lovin' ways. You haven't met a fruit you refused to eat. You can eat a whole hot dog and a whole banana. You sign "more" and "please" with fluency, and "milk" can now mean milk or water or something else you want.

You still like to be snuggled. Mommy loves that.

I can't wait to see what you'll learn next, you little sponge.

Love,
Mommy

Where the heck we've been (update pt. 2)

Where to start really?

Kevin's brother got married on June 12. I'm sure the ceremony was lovely, but I was in the nursery supervising Colin and missed it. Kevin was in the wedding, and as soon as Colin saw him, he yelled "Dada!" and Kevin kept turning to smile at him, so then Colin tried to squirm off my lap. So...we left the sanctuary to play with toys instead.

Last Sunday, we went to Teddy Bear Park and met up with some of my friends from college, Rachel and Graham, and their son Corey. (I totally stole these from Rachel's blog. Sorry Rach!)
After playing at the park for awhile, we ate lunch at this really cool place with an outside patio area. Colin got into a bit of trouble there, because I let him walk around since a)we were outside and b)there were only 2 other tables with diners. He walked over to a water pipe, turned the lever, and got sprayed with some water. He seemed quite embarrassed :)

Later on that Sunday, my mom came up to visit. She stayed all week long to babysit Colin in the mornings while I taught summer school (after this week, I'll be halfway through!).

It was a rainy week, but we managed to squeeze in a trip to Como Zoo. This was Colin's second time there (the first being in the winter). His favorite animals were the monkeys because, you know, they actually move around. He loved standing at the glass watching them zip and swing back and forth. One monkey ran right up to the glass and put his hand over his eyes as if to see through the glass. Hilarious. And now whenever I do that, Colin cracks up.

I taught my mom how to knit, and now she's working on a scarf. She replaced some velcro that had worn out on Colin's BumGenius diapers. So now it's like we've got 6 brand new ones!

We moved plants around and mulched. My gardens have become so overgrown the past few summers, so it was nice to clean things out and move them to new places. Now let's just hope they survive!

On Friday, we headed up to Duluth so we could see my little brother run Grandma's Marathon on Saturday morning. He did a great job and finished with a time of 4:46, which isn't too shabby for a first-timer. On our drive up towards Two Harbors where the start is, I was dumbfounded that someone would actually RUN that far. And some people do it on a regular basis! We were able to see him at the 5 mile, 12 mile, 20 mile, and finish line points. Here he is at 20 miles.
After we ate some Little Caesars pizza, we headed home.

Happy Father's Day! (update pt 1)

(belated, I know...blogger has been a pain lately and I haven't been able to post).

Happy Father's day to this Daddy:
and to this Daddy (circa 1984):

and to all the other Daddies out there :) I hope you had a great day!

We spent Father's Day doing a lot of yard work. The weather was nice, so we spent a lot of time outside. We moved Colin's climber to the back of the yard and surrounded it with rubber mulch. The last part of finishing off his "play area" is getting some sand for underneath the climber, but we're not sure we're even going to get to that this summer. I started in on the HUGE task of trimming the lilac bushes. I have yet to start in on it again :)

Kevin got a weed whacker/edger/whatever you like to call it. He's pretty stoked about it. I'm all about the philosophy of giving presents that mean having to do work with...as long as it's something the person wants and makes their life easier. And I will receive gifts like that too. Remember...as long as it's something I want. I, personally, don't need a drum sander or anything.

Words and big boyness

For the record, I'd like to write down the newest words in Colin's vocab:

nahnah=nukkie...oh drats! He has a word for it now. I was hoping to get rid of the darned thing before he could ask for it!

nana=banana

Na!=snack...with a capital N because he really stresses it and pushes the /a/ sound out. It really sounds like the /na/ sound you hear when you say "snack."

broo=broom...only it's more of a lip vibration than an actual /br/ sound.

itty=kitty...this one is always directed at the neighbors' cats.

day du=thank you...I swear he has said it one or two times.

peas=please


And he also drank some of my Caribou smoothie from a straw today.

And I broke down and bought him "big boy" pajamas; the ones without the full-body zipper and feet.

And his other top tooth has broke through. He now officially has his 2 bottom and 2 top teeth.

And he's starting to take a few running steps. Hold me. Or at least recommend a good pair of tenny runners.

Oh, and I decided that Colin's going to finish up the frozen milk. I found in my research of milk donation that it takes 2-3 weeks to even go through the whole process, and it seems they want you to have testing done even before you freeze it. I could do a milk share thing where local people who want milk can hook up with people who have milk, but that seems sketchy. So we're just finishing up what little we have left. We'll probably finish it by the end of the month.

I missed my midwife

And no, just because I said that does not in any way, shape, or form mean that I have a secret to share!

My midwife-with-a-crunchy-name also does regular ol' GYN stuff. Like you wanted to know what I did yesterday afternoon, right? I'll spare you the details.

My coworker/friend also goes to the same midwife for regular ol' GYN stuff and for baby-birthing purposes. We were talking last week, and I mentioned I get (note: not have with a grumble inserted) to see Midwife, and she was jealous! THAT'S how much we love this woman. I mean, seriously, who gets excited knowing a speculum is in her near future? We do.

When you're pregnant, you have appointments at approximately 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40 weeks. You develop a bump and a relationship with your midwife because you ONLY see the midwife at your appointments. No other doctors step in her spot. You go through this incredible birthing experience with her (again...no substitutes. She was there at 3 a.m., in her glasses, looking like she had been awoken from a fabulous night of restful sleep). Then, all of a sudden, she's gone. Sure you see her 6 weeks later for a quick appointment but let's face it. That's only a tease. Then, barring pregnancy or some other need, you don't see her for another year. It's like quitting a love of ice cream or pop or chocolate (heaven forbid).

Needless to say, I was amped to see her. She's still as wonderful as ever. She still thinks I'm wonderful ;) She, again, said my water birth was so perfect. She complemented me on being able to breastfeed a whole year, and how I'm going to feel so good about that forever. She asked about Colin--his hair color specifically--and loved that he's a blondie. I forgot to bring a picture of him as I had left my phone in my car. I told her I was crazy for telling her, at my 6 week postpartum appointment, that he's laid back. Because we all know that he's really quite stubborn.

I left feeling like I could've chatted with her for at least an hour more. I wish I were her friend. I wish we could have coffee (well--either a steamer or smoothie for me). She makes you feel so darned good about yourself, even when you think you're already doing alright.

::sigh:: Someday I'll go back to seeing her frequently again. For now, I'll bask in the memories of that appointment yesterday.

In Memory of Memorial Day, and other goodness

You know, since it has been almost an entire week.

Colin started off the weekend by devouring strawberries. We give them to him whole now, because he likes to take a bite (or shove chunks in his mouth). At the end of this video, he kind of claps, which is his sign for "more."

He also tried using a spoon to eat his yogurt. It was a big mess, but with a little guidance he's sloooowly getting better at using a spoon.
We went to my parents' house on Sunday for a family picnic where Colin was entertained by a cooler...
...and a wagon ride. He did GREAT in the wagon. He held on to the sides and sat very nicely. He probably took at least 10 laps around the yard throughout the day.

Colin's vocabulary is quickly expanding! His newest words are:
Mama
up
help (this one's still iffy. If he's struggling with something, I say, "Say help." and he says, "ahp". But it sounds a lot like "up," but it's always that same sound. so...)
please (by signing "more"--he has meshed the two together. maybe this summer I'll try teaching him the real sign for please)
Grandma (I haven't heard it, but Kevin's dad did, and my mom and aunt did too)
bump (another one witnessed by my mom, not me. When we go for stroller rides and go over a bump, I say, "bump," and he doesn't say it back)

On the milk front, we are currently mixing 4 oz of frozen breast milk with 12 or 16 oz of whole milk. It's to the point where it's mostly whole milk, and it seems pointless to even be putting breast milk in at all. So I've decided that I'm going to finish out the weekend with mixing in the 4 oz., and on Monday we'll just give him whole milk. After I'm done writing this, I'm going to research milk donation since I have about 100-150 oz left in the freezer, and I want someone to use it if we're not going to. It would be a crime to dump it. Oh how I wish it could keep for years so we can use it for baby #2.

On the school front, happy summer to me! There was so much on my mind today that I forgot to send the kids' report cards home with them! HELLO! I felt really, really stupid, but the secretary who is so nice assured me it was no big deal. I got them all addressed to be sent in the mail tomorrow. Call me Dingleberry. I have to work a half day tomorrow (which will really be a full day because I'm moving to a different room and I have to pack up). Then I teach summer school for a half day for 6 weeks. Colin's last day of day care is tomorrow. I might cry about it, and I can't even tell you why. Tears of joy? Tears of gratitude? Not sure. Either way, I'm so glad I get to spend more time with him.