A Twister Thanksgiving...

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving over at T Rex Dad's sister's place. The food was fantastic and, of course, we all ate way too much. Even T Rex kept eating turkey.

However, the highlight for many of us was the after dinner game time and it did not involve watching football. It started off with a serious game of Twister. I think everyone would have paid money to see me participate being 32+ pregnant. I passed and left the fun to the rest of the family. T Rex Dad and T Rex totally got in on the action.

Here are some photos...

T Rex Dad, T Rex, Doc, and Nephew J


T Rex with Aunt J (T Rex Dad's middle sister)


The official spinner for part of the game - note the letter "T" in his hand.


More Twister fun.


T Rex giving T Rex Dad some love mixed with a tackle.

Did you have a nice Thanksgiving holiday?

Most Thankful For...

Every night since his birth, whoever puts T Rex to bed is also the parent who does prayers with him. Last night it was my turn and we happily snuggled together and thanked God for all our many blessings. It just seemed like the list went on and on.

T Rex Dad and I are so grateful for what we have in our lives. We marvel everyday about how fortunate we are. So rather than list the many things we are thankful for this Thanksgiving holiday (we could dedicate an entire blog to that), we're simply showing what we are most thankful for ...

(Even Little Girl is present and accounted for in this photo.)

We wish you the most wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Thank you for allowing us to share a part of our lives with you.

What are you most thankful for this year?

For more Wordful Wednesday fun, visit 7 Clown Circus.

Weekend Update...

First, I just want to thank everyone for their supportive comments and emails regarding the previous post. T Rex Dad and I seem to be feeling better about things despite having to go back and allow our son further torture to get his glasses fitted today. They should be read in 2 weeks. I'll keep you posted.

This past weekend was all about family visits and T Rex's birthday celebration. I told you we are spacing it out over a couple weeks! Since the family was in town, we went ahead with a party and an early Thanksgiving dinner.

Here are some highlights from the weekend...

On Friday, T Rex and I went over to my sister's house. My mom has been staying there helping while my brother-in-law has been traveling. This was also where my dad and stepmom stayed - bless my sister! But all was well and everyone got along nicely. In fact, my mom and stepmom are a lot alike and ended up going shopping together and hanging out. Kind of weird to me, but if they are fine with it, why shouldn't I be, right?

On that Friday visit, T Rex got some quality time with his Grandpa A and Auntie J.

T Rex had to show Grandpa A (my dad) how to assemble Mr. Potato Head.


T Rex with Auntie J (my sister)

Saturday brought the birthday celebration...

T Rex did not like being the center of attention during the birthday song and insisted "Nan" hold his hand. And, of course, he would not eat the cupcake.

Note to self - take family photo first. T Rex looks so tired.

T Rex absolutely LOVED his birthday banner. I did not need to do anything else! What can I say? He LOVES letters!

Grandma and Grandpa N (T Rex Dad's folks) are in Arizona enjoying the warm weather but they did send this for T Rex's birthday...

The trike is still a little big but he already loves it!

Then on Sunday night we had an early Thanksgiving dinner. It was so yummy. I, of couse, enjoyed the food, T Rex Dad enjoyed the political conversations, and T Rex rough-housed with his cousin Dede.

All in all, a lovely and very full, busy weekend. Glad it came but also glad it's over. Does that make sense? And a special thank you to everyone who made T Rex's birthday extra special by being present at his gathering.

So What's My Problem???

Today we took T Rex in for a comprehensive eye exam with a specialist. We've been noticing some strange things with his eyes. And then the past couple months he's been covering one eye when he looks at close objects. Worried about permanent issues down the road, we wanted this looked into.

Well, after 2 hours of testing (very traumatic for child and parents), the pediatric ophthalmologist concluded a diagnosis of strabismus due to severe far-sightedness. She honestly could not believe that T Rex knows his letters and can even look at books with as poor as his close up vision is. The treatment, glasses - big, thick glasses.

As traumatic as the examination was - holding a screaming toddler down with dilated pupils, I was more upset that my little guy was going to have to wear glasses the rest of his life. Everything I've read thus far says young kids, especially T Rex's age, adapt quickly and adjust nicely to glasses.

So I ask, what's my problem? Why am I so upset by this?

I, too, have horrible vision but I have the total opposite problem. I'm nearsighted. I can read fine without my glasses or contacts but anything past about 18-24 inches and I can barely make out the color. Dr. W put some lenses up to my eyes and then had me cross my eyes. When I crossed my eyes, I could see better. Evidently, that's what's happening with T Rex. He's trying to adapt to his vision abnormality and the only way he can see close up is by crossing his eyes. With glasses he should stop crossing his eyes and the "weak" eye will start working again.

I'm glad we don't have to patch his eye or even do surgery. But vision correction the rest of his life? He's not even yet two?!? I just feel like I've let my child down. Of course, it's nothing I've done - not caused by anything in utero or trauma. Mostly likely genetic and probably not even my genes being expressed here. So, again, what is my problem?

It's not like T Rex has cancer or some debilitating ailment. It's just glasses for goodness sake. I'm grateful that is all it is. I just don't understand why I'm having such a struggle with this.

I started wearing big, thick glasses when I was eight. I was teased horribly for years until I started wearing contacts. I didn't even get to wear stylish frames. I always joke that I'm still the total geek who loves Star Wars, Star Trek, and watching Big Bang Theory. But back then, I even looked like a geek. And, yes, I was rediculed for it. I over-compensated a bit by becoming head cheerleader in high school but it never really stopped the stinging of the stigma I suffered from being "geeky four-eyes". I just don't want my son suffering like I did.

Maybe I'm just feeling hormonal. I can still use that excuse. But, seriously, am I out of line for having these thoughts and feelings running through my head?

Life Mysteries...

I'm not complaining. In fact, I'm grateful for many of the things I'm mentioning. However, these are mysteries to me...

- How do the garbage and recycling trucks always manage to time their runs during T Rex's sleeping hours - whether it be before he wakes or during nap time? How can they tell?

- Why does an unborn baby like to be most active during Mom's sleep time?

- Is it even possible to forget the words and tune to "Elmo's Song"?

- Why does T Rex become totally interested in a toy that he has not touched the moment another child touches it?

- Why are "simple" family gatherings so stressful? (I know I'm not the only one with family dynamics but why do mine seem so much more bizarre and complex than any one else's?) May the Force be with me this weekend for T Rex's birthday family gathering - my mom, dad, and stepmom will all be there - need I say more?

- Why does the dog always want to go back outside 5 minutes after coming in from being outside?

- Why do the best meteor showers happen when it's cloudy outside?

- How is it horses are scared of the most random things like hats, sagebrush, and bicycles? Don't they know they are so much bigger?

- Why does T Rex get extremely thirsty come time for bed? He will sign "drink" over and over until I give in. Otherwise, he will cry the saddest crocodile tears and I just can't resist. I'm weak.

- Why do potty accidents happen about 5 minutes after the last potty break? (Same reason dog wants out 5 minutes later too?)

- Why is it people ask for nursing/medical advise from me and then do the opposite? (Am I just not giving the answer they are looking for?)

- Why does T Rex prefer non-toys to his toys? See photo below. Need I say more?

(Trying to help the blind installation man get his work done.)

What are your life mysteries???

Hiding in Plain Sight...

My brother and sister were out of the house before I was born so I was never a part of their early Christmas mornings together. However, I hear stories from my mom and dad who say they were the most curious kids ever. They would get up during the night and unwrap their gifts and then re-wrap them. All this because they just could not wait until Christmas morning. Evidently sometimes they got hungry during their midnight package peeking sessions. One time my mom found they had eaten all the candy canes on the tree - they only did that once because they were sick the next morning!

Fast forward twenty or so years. My sister is still unbelievably curious about the gifts under the tree. One year my brother-in-law enlisted my help to keep her out of the gift he got her. I wrapped her gift with some broken glass. When she shook the box she thought she had broken it. We let her keep thinking that until she opened it to see it was not broken but rather a lovely intact bracelet. We thought it would teach her a lesson but she still peeks at the gifts.

In keeping with my "all homemade gifts" policy this year, I made my sister's gift. She loves zebra print and loves purses so combine all these things and here's what you get:

(I'm pretty proud of this particular purse/bag)

My sister does not read my blog. Therefore, I can post the photo and rest assured that she won't see what I've made for her. Totally ironic, huh? So there you have it - I'm hiding her gift in plain sight!!!

A couple other items I completed this weekend...

Christmas pants for T Rex:

(Pants on left, close up of print on right - snuggly flannel)

Children's Christmas book for T Rex:

(Really easy but a little time consuming - I just used a single printed panel.)

Lastly, Septembermom's prize - she requested a purse. This particular variety is reversible but the photo only shows the non-solid side.

Do you have any midnight package peekers in your house?

Projects Galore!!!

In preparation for the holidays I've ramped up my projects. This week brought the completion of several unfinished works.

So I present the first set of completed projects...(Oh, and I will give spoiler alerts because a couple of these are gifts.)

This first photo is just the stack of completed projects waiting to be wrapped and some of them to be shipped. I want all my packages to go out last week in November.

First, curtains for T Rex's room. He can tell you more about them on his blog. But you can see a preview here...

Next, some decorative Christmas pillows for my sister-in-law - the one who has my horse at the moment. She does so much for Miss BlackBerry so I had to do a little something to say "thank you". The pillow on the left looks like BlackBerry and her horse Dawn. And the pillow on the right just epitomizes my sister-in-law - she always has a menagerie of animals that she's taking care of either permanently or temporarily. She has a very big heart both for people and animals.

I almost forgot to post these. Some of the gifts are for little ones so I pulled together these bibs.

In addition to the first set of Christmas shirts I made for the playgroup kids, I made several more for some grand nieces and nephews and some long distance friends. A total of 12. A couple of the kids are older boys and I did not think they would care much for the youthful design so I did a separate design for them. I thought it was pretty cleaver. (Click on the photo to see a closer view.)

The father of the boys who are getting the above shirts is a dentist and I had to get a little creative with his gift (see below). It's a pretty simple Christmas ornament but also cleaver. Do you understand what I mean by cleaver? (left is front, right is back)

For one of my dear friends (my best friend in high school) I'm sending her one of these as well as giving one to my mom. These Christmas aprons turned out pretty good.

Spoiler Alert



(hint, hint to Caitlin and Shell - STOP Reading!!!)

Last year, my dear friend and T Rex's honorary aunt put in an order for one of these. She's a totally awesome skiier so I believe it will be to keep her neck warm during some of those high powered runs and possibly on one of her treks to the summitt of some tall mountain. I was very pleased with the finished project. I only know one knitting stitch so I'm glad it worked out!

And lastly, Caitlin has become quite the budding seamstress so to support her sewing hobby I made her a pin cushion. One for her and one for my mom. My mom is really tough on pin cushions as she sews a lot more than I do. Seriously, these were harder to do than I expected. Funny how the little things take more time and energy than the big things!

So, there you have it - many completed projects.

Did you complete any projects, small or big, this week?

Today

Can you imagine doing this?

For those who don't know, that view is what our troops saw in the first moments storming Omaha Beach, June 6th, 1944. The Allied invasion of France.

T-Rex Dad here, guest posting.

Do you know what today is? It's simple, as most important things are. Here in the U.S.A., It' s Veterans Day. What does that mean? It means that today you should pause to consider your life and how lucky you are to live in a free nation. Freedom is not free. It's not a cliché. It's a fact. None of the things we have or enjoy would be available to us were it not for the sacrifice of those who have served.

So fly your flag, and thank a veteran. And don't ever forget.





D-Day Cemetery above Omaha Beach.

Tuesday's Tribute - Anya

Anya was our first born child. She was our everything for six years. She went nearly everywhere with us.

She took agility "lessons" and was the cutest little agility dog weaving polls and running through tunnels (she still loves to run through T Rex's tunnels).

Then we switched gears and she became a certified therapy dog. We would spend several nights a month visiting the kids at the hospital.

We had to work hard to get her. She is a rare breed - Bolognese. So rare that when we tried to get one of these dogs the waiting list was 6-12 months long. We contacted a breeder in Italy and he was happy to help speed the process along. It was a challenge because the original Anya was scheduled to arrive September 11, 2001. Because of the events of that day, we ended up with our particular Anya instead of the original.

It just so happens she was the daughter of the international champion. In order for us to take her, the breeder made us agree to breed her at least once as there were only about 1000 of these dogs left in the world and her breeding was so good we had to pass along those good genes. (Most of these little dogs were wiped out during World War II - the breed originated in Italy. A handful of breeders have been working to bring them back for many years. If you were ever to spend time with one, you would understand why they are so amazing.)

Indeed, she had one healthy litter of puppies two years latter. And two years after that, the litter died and a little piece of Anya did too. She had an emergency c-section and had to be spayed as there was no saving her uterus. We felt so horrible for her. We even got another Bolognese puppy (a grandchild of hers) to fill the void. When she came home from the hospital she would wander aimlessly looking for her puppies. We had Sonador until just a month or so ago. And in a need to simplify our lives, we found a new home for Sona.

Now Anya can go back to being Queen of the Castle. And she is learning to put up with the energetic T Rex, as you can see from the photo. She is truly a one-in-a-million canine.

So, here's to you Miss Anya. Thanks for being the best canine friend, daughter, and companion we could ever ask for.

Mornings...

Usually we would be posting a weekend update. However, it was such a full weekend that one posting cannot begin to convey everything we did. So, this is just a glimmer from our weekend...

Mornings in T Rex Family Household...

T Rex usually wakes between 6:30 and 7:00 am. T Rex Dad gets up with him about 98% of the time allowing me to sleep in until 8:00 on weekdays and 9:00 on weekends. However, this particular morning I let T Rex Dad sleep in since I fell asleep at 9:00 pm the night before and was actually ready to wake up.

One thing about having a youngling that wakes before dawn, one of us always gets to see the sun rise. And this morning was no exception...

After the sun is up, you can see the river.


There's the river. As you can see, the trees already have turned. Lovely.

Then a small snack of puffs or Cheerios...

And, of course, some playtime while breakfast is being prepared.

We always stay in our PJs until breakfast is over. Then the day can officially begin and we get dressed to start our day.

This upcoming week is promising to be extremely busy with studying (of course), doctor appointments, a special dinner date for just T Rex Dad and me, playdates, birthday celebrations (yes, more than one), and gaming. And I have several craft projects that have been started so somewhere I want to make a little time to finish them off - I'm trying to get all my Christmas gifts done before December. I'll certainly keep you posted.

In the mean time, how was your weekend and what are mornings like in your household?

200th Post and Blogaversary!!!

Here you have it - the 200th posting...

I started this blog to have an outlet for sharing my ideas and projects as well as recant some of our adventures raising the "T Rex" toddler. We've stayed mostly true to form, don't you think? It is interesting to see how life changes from month to month and from year to year. And does time pass quickly, or what?!?

So, keeping with that mission statement, if you will, here's what we've been up to...

Studying, blood tests, projects, profile photos...

Updated Profile Pics:

T Rex Mom - 29 weeks

T Rex Profile

Yesterday, I took T Rex with me to the hospital to get my one-hour fasting glucose test. It took 30 minutes just to get the drink and then I had to wait - in the lobby with a toddler - for another hour. Then they forgot to call me back until it was 15 minutes past. Hopefully, the results are not skewed. However, I'm pretty sure I don't have gestational diabetes.

T Rex passed half the time playing with Playdough. We made spheres or balls (of course). He visited with all the grandparent-like patients in the waiting room. He shared his Cheerios. We walked circles in the lobby while I stared longingly at the food cart's supply of pudding, bagels, and juices.

And of course a bathroom break - I sure wish someone would have told me of the toilet gard tissue paper stuck to my backside (I did not discover it for at least 15 minutes after the bathroom break was over. Ahhh, yes, embarrassing. But seriously, at that point I was so hungry, I did not care.)

The highlight, for T Rex, of a study week- is watching the printer work. I usually have at least 50-100 pages of printing to do in a given week. Luckily, T Rex Dad purchased a laser printer for me so it goes much faster.

And then, making some pretend calls while I listen to a live lecture. This week's topic - hormones and contraceptives. Tough stuff. I prefer the pretend phone calls!

And lastly, a project I completed for T Rex. I actually do make things for him once in a while. Alas, he does not like my chosen yarn - I think it is too rough or "itchy". I knitted it from some yarn I found at the thrift store. Looks to be at least from the 1970's. That's what I get for going too cheap. I'll find something soft next time.

And the winner of my giveaway...

Septembermom - she has been a very loyal follower for quite sometime. And I always enjoy hearing about her adventures raising three boys and an unbelieably charming little princess. She also regularly posts her own poetry which I very much enjoy reading.

Congratulations - remember you can choose from any project I have ever posted.

Be well everyone and I look forward to another year and 200 postings with all of you!