"C" is for Culinary Club

 Here's my "how to" for cooking virtually with the Street School Culinary Club.

1. Select recipe.  

    I chose this one: Slow Cooker Crustless Broccoli Cheese Quiche. Recipe options collected by league members here.  Or you can Google to choose your own.

    Things to consider: Does the recipe require more equipment than what the students already have? For example, will they need a pot to boil water? Colander for draining? Rubber spatula for scraping bowls?  Try to minimize extra items needed, or consider purchasing them as part of the program.  (Note: check with the Chair before purchasing extra items to make sure we stay within budget!) Students would not likely have mixers or non-stick spray, so these items were purchased and given to each of them in addition to the ingredients for this program.

2. Email our designated contact to make recipe cards.

    Share your recipe with her via email, so she can make the recipe cards well in advance of the program. Cards will be 3x5.  I printed mine on cardstock, but regular paper can also be used, since these will go in the photo albums we purchased for students.  Coordinate with the recipe card contact to make sure you receive them before you drop off ingredients, or arrange for the receipe card contact to drop the cards off directly at Street School.

3. Plan and purchase all ingredients.

    Double the recipe to allow for each student to cook with us and then cook again on their own.  Next scale the doubled recipe for approximately 15-16 students.  Essentially you will want to purchase enough ingredients for this recipe to be made 30 times. Purchase ingredients in bulk from Sam's or Costco to save on costs.  Purchasing in bulk for this recipe allowed extra money for the mixers and non-stick spray mentioned in #1.

From the photo above:

"Each student" = enough ingredients for a doubled recipe

"Need" = enough ingredients for the doubled recipe for all students and me as the program leader (16 people total in this case)

"Purchasing" = how many of each item I will actually purchase, since some items come in dozens, large one-pound bags, etc.

    You might have some leftovers, but this is still usually cheaper than purchasing individual packages of everything.  You can add extra to each students' baggie, and they can use it for another recipe.

3. Separate ingredients.

    I scooped out the shredded cheese and placed enough for a double recipe in individual baggies.  Then I cut the egg crates to sections with 18 eggs, so that a tray could be handed to each student.  Broccoli and cream cheese stayed in their packages, as each student received an entire bag of broccoli and two blocks of cream cheese.  I mixed all of the spices needed for a double recipe and placed them in a small baggie.  Buying individual canisters of onion powder, salt, and pepper for each student was not in the budget. (Note: Students do have salt and pepper now from another program, which was done after this one!) Separating ingredients took time, and I enlisted help from my husband to make the process go more quickly.

    Place refigerated items back in the refrigerator as soon as they are sorted.  Also remember to wash your hands beforehand and use good hygiene practices (do not touch mouth or face) while preparing the ingredients.

4. Make a sign.

   

    Since ingredients were dropped off in bulk, even though they were separated, I wanted the teachers to know exactly what to give each student when they arrived for pick up.  This is optional, but I think it's helpful.

5. Deliver ingredients to the school a few days in advance.

    Ask me for the teacher resource contact information to coordinate a day/time for drop off.  This can usually be done on the Friday or Monday before the program during school hours (830-330).  We want to deliver the items early, so the students have a chance Monday or Tuesday to pick up ingredients to cook live with us on Wednesday.

6. Set up your cooking area and make the recipe yourself a day or two in advance.

    

    This step is optional, but I wanted to do a practice cooking session on my own before I went live in front of the students.  Since I had purchased two of everything, I was able to do the practice session and still have another set of ingredients for the live session.  I used my computer stacked on a couple boxes to get a view of both me and the area where I was cooking.  You could also place an iPad or computer on a stack of books or a shelf.  You'll want the camera up high and pointing down on you.  Sometimes my head was outside of the viewing area, so the students could see my cooking space. Move the camera, as needed.

7. Cook with the students!

    Sessions start at 9:30 AM and usually last 30-60 minutes, depending on how long the recipe takes to make.  It can take 10-15 minutes for all of the students to arrive, so be patient.  Also, sometimes there are only 5-6 students online--this is the nature of virtual learning.  Some students are at work or are not able to attend due to a family situation.  A couple students may cook live with you.  If they do, be sure to ask them where they are in the process and to show you their cooking, if they are willing to do so.  This is the most exciting part! Students will usually keep their cameras off unless you or one of the teachers asks them to share.

Other random thoughts and tidbits:

• Your house does not need to be spotless, and you don't need to look like Martha Stewart ready for TV.  My kitchen was in its normal state (i.e. dishes everywhere in the background).  The students' kitchens might be too...this is real life!  Also, I had just gotten out of the shower, so I did my session with wet hair and house shoes.  Be you.

• Please email or text me with the total cost of your ingredients.  I need to be able to plan programs for the entire school year.  If we're getting low on funds, I may need to ask League for additional money, or if we're significantly under budget the money can be reallocated to other community programs.

• Don't forget to upload your receipts to Digital Cheetah to receive reimbursement for ingredient purchases.  Also be sure to capture item costs that you donate (i.e. in-kind donations).  I expensed the ingredients I purchased (eggs, cheese, broccoli, mixers, non-stick spray) and listed the cost of plastic baggies, salt, pepper, and onion powder as an in-kind donation.  I was happy to donate these small items, but they need to be accounted for in the budget, so we can have enough money in future years to actually purchase them, if needed.  Link to submit expenses and in-kind donations here.

• If possible plan to attend the programs before/after yours.  
• It's helpful to attend the program before yours, so you can see how things are done. Now you will know what to expect! 
• For the program after, you can help serve as a moderator for the next person.  Sometimes there is quiet time while the member is cooking, so this is an opportunity for the moderator to ask questions (e.g. What are some ideas to do with the extra ingredients? What substitutions could you make here?).  The teachers also help with this role, but it has worked well to have dialogue with two JLT members.  If you are not able to attend the program before/after yours, please notify me, so arrangements can be made for coverage.

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"C" is for Construction

This post has been drafted since October 2011.  Yes...2011.  A few months after Tully, who is now 2, was born, I knew that doors on my office were an absolute necessity.  Here is a before shot.

My office was initially a dining room that opened up to the entry way and kitchen.  We have an island and eat-in kitchen area, so we had absolutely no use for an additional formal dining room.  After consulting with our realtor, we decided to wall up the opening to the kitchen and put doors along the entry-way opening.

The same guy who did my closet and laundry room came back for this project.  The first time the custom doors arrived, they were 6' 8".  We ordered 8'.  Back they went.  Second order arrived but had damaged glass.  Returned.  Damaged glass door came back with different glass than the other panels.  The fourth order was finally correct and undamaged, so we hired some painters and completed the project.  Woo hoo!

Here are the progress and final photos.  The project wrapped up in 2012.  Tully was at least 1, and Clare wasn't born yet, so that puts us between April and December...sometime in there.  My mommy brain can't nail down a date more concrete than that.  John brought out his electrical engineering skills and installed the desk lighting for me.  He also rewired the existing kitchen switch to the outer wall and made the original switch my new desk light switch.  Resourceful and practical.  Thanks, babe!

1) wall installed 2) cabinets installed and 3) painted

1) doors installed and 2) painted

Next projects...the chimney is being rebuilt, and then granite is being installed in the kitchen.  All in May.  Nearly full master bathroom remodel also coming in 2013.  Whoever got the brilliant idea to undertake all of these projects with two small children needs their head examined.

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"C" is for Cloth Diapers

I hopped on the cloth diapering bandwagon for several reasons, mostly to save money and decrease waste.  We spent approximately $700 for disposable diapers for Tully in one year.  I stopped tracking diapers after his first year, but I can guess we spent about that much for his second year as well.  He used fewer diapers, but the price per diaper increased with size.  In September, Tulsa changed the trash service, and we seriously selected twice a week trash pickup instead of once a week because of the number of diapers I was expecting between both Tully and Clare.  Now that we're cloth diapering and Tully is potty trained, I'm hoping to reduce our service back to once a week.

I started with four gDiapers I purchased on Craigslist from a new mom who didn't want them after only a few uses.  Four diapers wasn't nearly enough for a newborn, since we were constantly washing the same diapers over and over.  They also weren't absorbent enough.  First attempt = fail.  I did some more online research to decide what type of diaper I wanted to use: All-In-Ones (AIO), All-In-Twos, pockets, or hybrids--just to name a few.  I liked the idea that I could adjust the absorbency in pocket diapers, and they were the closest thing to AIOs, as far as ease of use.  Some of the most popular pocket diapers are fully adjustable one-size diapers that fit almost from birth to potty training.  The one-size pockets fit best starting at about 12 lbs.  Once Clare hit 12 lbs I bought a stash of 10 pocket diapers from my friend, Callie, at Oui Oui Cloth Diapers.  Ten diapers is enough for about one day for us, so it was a decent start.   I bought a few other brands to see what types and styles fit best: BumGenius, Fuzzibunz, Bumkins, and Thirsties Duos.  We experienced some leaks and had some diapers that still smelled even after washing.  First I thought the diapers were repelling, so I tweaked our washing routine.  We now rinse/wash/rinse and use Charlie's Soap or Rockin' Green Hard Rock for the wash.  The rinses are really full wash cycles on warm with no soap.  The actual wash cycle is done on heavy duty with hot water and an extra rinse.  The diapers are definitely clean each time now, and we're actually saving money on laundry soap because Charlie's and Rockin' Green are both cheaper than Tide from Sam's.  Since we can't use laundry softener (causes repelling), I bought some wool dryer balls.  They help with softening, and I noticed everything definitely dries faster.  I'll be happy when we can use our chemical-laden laundry softener again though so our laundry will smell delicious.

I figured out some of the leaks were leg leaks from loose elastic, so we fixed that too by replacing those diapers.  The last piece was figuring out the right inserts.  Pocket diapers typically come with microfiber inserts.  These just did not work for us.  They weren't absorbent enough.  They can't be placed directly against baby's skin, if needed, and it was difficult to get them clean in the wash.  Callie brought over some old-school cotton prefold diapers like the ones my mom used on me 30 years ago, and I put those in place of the microfiber inserts.  Boom--no leaks!  There are lots of options for cotton prefolds, so I've ordered several brands to see what will work best for us.  They also make hemp prefolds.  They are more expensive, but reviewers say they are trim and more absorbent.  I can't wait to try them.

So far I've spent about $500 on cloth diapers, wet bags, dryer balls, diaper pail liners, and a sprayer.  The initial investment is nearly what it cost to diaper Tully for a year, but I can use everything until Clare is potty trained.  Also, I've been able to resell the first four gDiapers I purchased and recover my cost for those.   I still use some microfiber and gDiaper inserts to double up with prefolds at night, so I want to keep some on hand, but I don't need over half of what I own.  If the cotton and hemp prefolds work as I expect, I'll unload most of the microfiber inserts and the rest of my gDiaper inserts, and my costs should come down to $400.   Also, when Clare is potty trained, I can resell my entire stash, so hopefully it doesn't cost much of anything in the end to diaper her.

It's been a learning process for sure, but I like the cloth diapers.  Now that we have a wash routine and no leaks, it's easy, and there are tons of prints and colors to choose from.  I think my little bunny likes them too.

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"C" is for Clare (2 mo)

Clare really likes blowing bubbles.  She also has pretty good head control now, and she loves to sleep on her tummy just like her brother did.  Back to sleep...blah, blah...I know, I know.  I also know my kids... Anywho, baby girl wakes up once a night around 3 am to nurse and goes right back to sleep.  This is new territory for me, as Tully was a terrible sleeper.  We've also ventured into new territory with cloth diapering.  I'm saving that for a whole new post.  Stay tuned.

Clare is still exclusively breast fed, and we've successfully battled through oversupply and thrush.  Ever seen gentian violet (GV)?  It's an all natural thrush treatment.  This is Clare after nursing.

It stains everything.  Tully found the bottle and opened it.  This was fun to explain to his teachers.

We tried other natural and prescription treatments, but nothing was getting rid of the thrush, so we tried GV.  It made a huge mess, but it provided immediate relief and eventually got rid of the thrush completely.  It will be our go-to remedy, if thrush comes back.
  
Clare is still tracking great for height and weight.  Here are her stats:

weight 13 lbs 1 oz (68%)
height 23.5 in (67%)
head 40 cm (78%)

Tully brought home a nasty cold/virus from school that he shared with the entire family.  This was the first day he was sick.  The kid doesn't sleep anywhere but in his bed.  He has NEVER fallen asleep on the couch.

Every single one of us, including my mom, got ear infections.  The kids took antibiotics, but since I already had thrush, they were off limits for me.  I ended up with a ruptured ear drum, which wasn't fun since I had partial hearing loss when it happened.  Even with antibiotics, Clare had to go in for a second sick appointment to start nebulizer treatments.  I snapped this pic of John taking care of her.

Once everyone recovered, we got out to enjoy the few inches of snow Tulsa got.  Tully loved his sled from Mamay, and Clare slept the entire time all bundled up under my jacket.  She could breathe.  I promise.

The weather warmed up some in March, so I took Clare out in the stroller on a nice day.  Tully was never a fan of being strapped in, so I wondered what Clare would think.  She enjoyed it!

After she spit up on that outfit, I changed her into a onesie her Aunt Lisa made.  I think Clare makes a pretty cute Raggedy Baby model.

I am definitely Clare's favorite person right now.  I think it has something to do with milk, so she gives me lots of smiles and laughs.  As she gets older and depends on me less, I know she will enjoy spending more time with her daddy.  Until then, I'm going hog all of her kisses and snuggles!

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"C" is for Clare (1 mo)

My baby girl is already a month old.

1 month

Time is going by much more quickly with #2.  She has battled through most of flu season with only some chest congestion, and I think we caught the reflux early, so overall she's a pretty happy girl.  Daddy is convinced we have a conspiracy against him because she cries nearly every time he holds her, but I have assured him, this is not the case.  It turns out that anytime she doesn't nurse to sleep, and I'm tired, I hand her off.  When she decides she is sleepy, she wants Mommy, so Daddy starts bouncing and shushing until she falls asleep.  He's bounced her to sleep on more than one occasion while the heater runs for white noise in the bathroom.  Clare, you owe your Daddy big time.

The good news is when Clare does go to sleep, she stays asleep.  Her brother, on the other hand, liked to take 45 minute cat naps.  Clare likes her beauty sleep.  We do too.

Clare and I don't have anything that resembles a schedule, but that's to be expected at this point.  My schedule is wake up when she wakes up, feed her, diaper change/interact/do something around the house, if it's daytime, and then sleep, sometimes nursing again before sleeping.  She eats every 2-3 hours, but sometimes I get some 4 or 5 hour stretches at night.  I'll be glad when she masters nursing while laying down.  She likes to get a lazy latch on me when we try, so I'm stuck sitting up and sleeping at 3am.

In other news, she lost all of the dark hair on top of her head.  (You like the bow toupée?)  My poor kiddo is balding.  There is some bright blonde hair coming in in its place though.  Until then...bows!

Tully has been very sweet with his baby sister, who he now calls "Baby Care" or "Baby CiCi".  He likes to give her "bisses" and share all of his boy germs with her.  She's going to have a stellar immune system.  He had a nasty virus and 103 fever for several days, but he wanted to get in on the photo action though.  Please excuse his sweaty, crazy hair.

Tully 22 months; Clare 1 month

Tully's sickness really came out of nowhere.  John took him to the grocery store, and when they got back Tully was a bright red, sweaty, snotty mess.  John walked in and said he had to pull over to try to calm Tully down on the 2 mile drive home from the grocery store.  John NEVER pulls over for that kind of stuff.  About the time John is telling me this, I show him my poop covered hand from Clare's explosive diaper change, and casually mention that our dog Zach just vomited all over the patio.  Trifecta!  If there was ever any doubt that we would stop at two kids, it was confirmed in that moment.  Enough with the pee, poop, and puke.  We've been able to keep Tully's fever under control with ibuprofen and acetaminophen, and thankfully he tested negative for flu and RSV.

We switched pediatricians (again!).   We were spending waaaaay too much time waiting during appointments at Dr. Ross' office, so we changed to Dr. Brian Raley at Avalon Park Pediatrics (www.BrianRaleyMD.com).  Dr. Raley has really impressed me.  He did Clare's newborn check during a home visit--like a real old-school home visit.  The guy showed up to my house with his nurse, Katie, and they did everything they needed to do here in my living room.  Katie also gave Tully a flu shot.  It was nice because both kids were perfectly healthy, so we didn't have to visit a doctor's office with other sick kids.  Clare's next 2 month visit will be a home visit as well.  As if the home visits weren't enough, Dr. Raley has weekend hours during cold and flu season.  He posts on his Facebook page that he will have hours, and when you call the office, he gives instructions to text his cell phone to coordinate an appointment time.  I have my pediatrician's cell phone number.  What?!  The icing on the cake is that you can message him via the web portal, and he'll respond.  He is so accessible, and it's been great, especially with Tully in school during the cold and flu season.  I also like Dr. Raley's bedside manner, and I appreciate that he requires his patients to follow the vaccination schedule recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  With all of the hooplah and misinformation on the internet about risks associated with vaccinations, I'm happy we found a pediatrician whose views are in line with ours.

Overall it's been a great first month.  I can't wait for Clare and Tully to start interacting more over the next few months.  Clare is getting more and more alert each day.

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"C" is for Clare

Marian Clare Cockerham

December 29, 2012

10:26 AM

7 pounds 13 ounces

20.5 inches

Our sweet Clare was born a few days after Christmas!  I woke up at 10:00 AM on Friday, December 28 knowing that she would arrive soon, so I spent the day relaxing around the house through irregular contractions.  Sometime after 8:00 PM things picked up, which was perfect because Tully was already in bed for the night.  My parents stayed the night, so we could leave for the hospital any time we needed.  I labored at home until contractions were two minutes apart, and we left for the hospital around 3:30 AM.  I was feeling intense pain, and we had already modified the birth plan since I would be requesting an epidural as soon as we arrived.  On our way to the hospital, some idiot was driving their untagged maroon SUV 10 miles under the speed limit through our neighborhood, and John knew to go around them without me even saying anything.  He might have ran a red light on the way too, but maybe I was just imagining things during contractions ;)  We pulled up to the main door of the hospital, but the doors were locked.  Grrrr.  As we walked around the building towards the emergency entrance, I noticed the same untagged maroon SUV pulling through the parking lot.  When they saw me and my huge belly waddling to the ER, I guess they decided they didn't need to call the cops on us. Thanks, citizen patrol, for keeping our streets safe.  Move along.

My midwife was still on vacation, so Dr. Whitham was the doctor on-call attending my birth.  Once I got settled in the hospital with my epidural, I quickly dilated from 4 cm to 10 cm in under two hours.  I'm thinking to myself, "This is going fast.  I can totally do this!"  They went ahead and broke my water, and I began pushing shortly after.   I pushed for a couple hours and didn't have much to show for it.  I thought second births were supposed to be faster/easier??  Lucky for me Dr. Whitham had to attend another birth at the hospital across the street, so they continued to let me push for another two hours.  What fun.  At this point I needed to get off my back, so I convinced the nurse that I should be pushing on my hands and knees or in a squat.  She and the other nurse who brought in the squat bar were both shocked I was moving around with my epidural.  In my mind, I just needed to get in a different position no matter what it took, so I could get Clare going in the right direction.  Turns out Clare didn't actually move, but I sure felt better.  Four hours into pushing, Dr. Whitham came back from the other hospital, and he figured out that Clare was sunny side up (posterior).  That explained why I was getting NOWHERE with the pushing.  He worked to manually turn her face-down between contractions, and boy was I glad I had an epidural.  Instead of getting to relax and breathe for a minute between contractions, it was non-stop pain and pressure.  As soon as he got her turned, it only took six pushes (two contractions), and Clare came flying out.  Dr. Whitham didn't even have time to get gloves on!  She latched within 30 minutes, and with the exception of a few bumps in the road when my milk came in, she's been nursing like a champ. 

John and Clare sleeping in hospital

John, Tully, Clare

Tully has adjusted well to the new baby.  He doesn't call her by name, even though we tried to give her a nickname, CiCi (for Clare Cockerham), that would be easy for him to say.  He just says baby.  He likes to touch her nose, eyes, ears, neck, etc., but he also knows "nice", so most touching is done gently.  He likes to bring me burp cloths and blankets to cover her up, and he also pats her and says things like, "It's okay, baby," and "Baby sleep."  Overall, he's pretty sweet with her, and he hasn't sought attention negatively or acted up any more than usual.  I noticed almost immediately that he was having a hard time going to sleep and staying asleep though.  There was just too much going on in the house, and he could totally work my mom into coming into his room.  We gave him his pacifier back, and he's been content ever since. 

My mom was here for about three weeks after Clare was born, so Tully spent a lot of time with her.  He hasn't been able to say Grammy, and while she was here, he officially renamed her Mamay, which sometimes sounds like mom-aye or ma'am-aye, depending on his mood.  It's your world, kid, so the history books have officially been rewritten to note that my mom is Mamay.  Clare was lucky that Mamay was here to help so much.  My house would have been an absolute disaster, and John and I would have likely starved.  Thanks, Mamay!

I think John and I have adjusted well to life with two kids.  We have lots of help from family and the nanny, but Clare is nothing like Tully, so that's made the change easier for sure.  She's more laid back, and I have a better clue about what I'm doing, so the combo of those two things makes for less stress around the house and a happier husband.  John is still a champ at diaper changes, baths, endless hours of bouncing/shushing/rocking, and keeping Tully fed and busy.  Once we get through the new baby/limited sleep phase, I think we'll have it made.  Neither one of us does well without sleep.  Ugh.  Clare has been a sweet, sweet baby though, and I'm actually enjoying my maternity leave.  With Tully I was itching to get back to work after a few weeks, but this time I'm reading books, getting manicures, and I plan to start working out or running again soon.  My recovery has been a breeze compared to last time.

Here is the first photo in the Watch Clare Grow Series.  This was supposed to be her newborn shot, but it's more like a 2 week photo.  Oh well...I love you, Marian Clare.

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"C" is for Child #2 (cont.)

I'm hoping this is the last in the series of bump pics; although, I'm not feeling like Clare is coming anytime soon.  My official due date is December 23.  I have a gut feeling she's going for a Christmas week arrival...possibly even January.  Not ideal, but totally out of my control.  My midwife will be gone on vacation the week of Christmas, so think I'm going to put myself on voluntary bed rest Dec 23-29 until she returns.  I'm partially kidding, but I really don't want to have to deal with an on-call doctor who wants nothing more than to schedule a quick c-section, so he/she can get back to his/her family over the holidays.

Clare gave me a little bit of a scare around 37 weeks.  She was in a sort of transverse position with her head up (See red arrow in diagram below for a visual).  By 37 weeks there's not a lot of room to move around, so baby should be getting into a head down position and staying there.  Clare was nearly breech.  Breech almost always means an automatic c-section.  No bueno.

Luckily, I found a chiropractor here in Tulsa, Dr. Sonda Powell, who is certified in the Webster Technique.  I visited her for several adjustments, and I spent a lot of time sitting on an exercise ball.  Those things apparently worked because Clare managed to get her head down in about a week's time, and she and has stayed there.  Whew!  C-section crisis averted for now.

In other news, I started filling out Clare's baby book with some basic info, including family tree stuff.  We called John's parents to find out their parents' full names and discovered Clare has a great grandmother named Moureen Claris.  Clare's full name will be Marian Clare Cockerham.  Marian came from my paternal grandmother Mary Ann, and we just liked the name Clare.  John mentioned it, and I thought the short, one-syllable name went well with Marian.  We had no idea the name, Claris, was in the family, but I think it's neat now that she is named after her two paternal great grandmothers from each side of the family.

We've been talking to Tully about how baby Clare will be his little sister, but he still seems pretty clueless.  I even bought him a baby doll a few weeks ago, so he could practice holding her and show her nice.  Unfortunately, baby ends up face down on the floor a lot.  Poor baby.  One evening we asked Tully where Clare was tried to explain for the millionth time that she is in mommy's belly.  He walked in a circle, looked out the window at my mom's car, and said, "beep beep."  The kid has his own priorities, that's for sure.  I guess he'll figure it out when Clare arrives!

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"C" is for Caved In

This is embarrassing....like I-can't-believe-I'm-writing-about-this-on-my-blog embarrassing.  John was peacefully laying in bed the other night when I hopped in.  I rolled towards his side to show him the monitor where I set up both cameras to view Tully's and Clare's rooms.  Next thing I know there's a huge crash, and I'm laying a foot lower than John is.  I had snapped the board under our bed and damaged the side rail support causing the whole thing to cave in on my side.  Weak boards?  Pregnancy weight?  Combo of the two?  Who knows.  Needless to say it scared John to death and dealt a major blow to my self-esteem.

Now that I've written this, I think the dust bunnies under the bed might actually be the most embarrassing part.  Thank you, Zach, for leaving massive puffs of your black dog hair hidden under my bed.

John moved the broken board a few inches towards the headboard and re-drilled holes to connect it to the rail support.  For a short-term fix we rounded up some books, paint cans, and the leftover fence boards from this project.  Then we rigged this setup, since the vertical supports clearly weren't doing their jobs.

I'm not sure who thought designing a king-sized bed with three support boards was a good idea, but they need to be fired.  I remember my little twin bed growing up had something like ten boards under it, and it was just a TWIN.  So in addition to repairing the busted rail support along the side, we'll definitely be adding more boards to go across the bed frame.

I guess the bright side to this story is that the area under our bed is now super clean and dust bunny free.

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"C" is for Craft (Holiday Wreath Edition)

I've enjoyed making wreaths for our front door this year.  I did one for summer and then changed out the flowers for fall.  Since I already have a lighted Christmas wreath, I didn't need anything new for my house this month.  But a friend recently bought a new home, so I decided a front door holiday wreath would be a nice housewarming gift.  It's definitely my favorite so far, and the possibilities for these are endless.  Original inspiration and instructions here.

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"C" is for Can

In September, the city issued new trash cans that are huge.  Ours is 64 gallons, and that's not even the largest one they offer.  Previously we kept our small, 32-gallon, trash can in the garage, but there's no room for a bigger one in there.  We needed to keep the new trash can in a reasonably accessible place, since we take all dirty diapers to the outside trash immediately, but our HOA prohibits the storage of trash cans that are visible from the street.  I asked John if he could build a little fence on the side of the house that would block the view of the trash can.  Then I also asked if he could put down pavers, so I didn't have to walk through any grass or mud to get there.  Last request--sit the can on pavers too.

He laid the pavers with sand and paver base at a slight angle so water drains away from the house.  They are perfectly level with the ground, and he even managed to work around the downspout drain coming off the house.  Then he measured for the fence that was just high enough to conceal the trash can but short enough for me to reach over.  What's even more impressive is that he completed most of the work on the weekends with Tully "helping".  If you've ever had help from a toddler, you know it usually involves more searching for misplaced tools and hidden hardware than actual productivity.

I should also mention that our neighbor paid nearly $500 for the little walkway outside her gate, and ours looks just as fabulous!  Now I can ignore all of the nasty-grams from our HOA about visible trash cans too.  Thanks, John!

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"C" is for College

I've been wanting to hang a nice Texas A&M flag outside of our house for years now.  Half of the people in our neighborhood have OU or OSU flags up each weekend, and I've even seen one t.u. flag.  No bueno.  I felt like we needed bring some maroon and white to the area.  The previous home-owners had already installed a flag bracket near the garage, so I just needed the flag and a pole.  The flag part actually took a little thought and research because one-sided flags read from left to right and most are double-sided with the caveat that one side is the reverse of the other.  This would mean the flag text would face our house instead of out towards the street, and those driving by would see a backward image.  I figured out banner-style flags were smaller and usually came in double-sided versions that read correctly on both sides.  My other criteria was that the flag be embroidered and not screen printed, so the letters wouldn't peel off.  After I got the flag, we picked up a wooden flag pole at Lowes.

I was super proud and happy until John walked into the house that evening holding the flag telling me  the bracket snapped.  Our glorious flag lasted all of 6 hours.  Now we need to take down the old bracket and intall a new one.  I'm not sure how one installs a bracket on brick, but John is pretty handy, so hopefully we're flying our Aggie colors again soon...especially for the bowl game AND our Heisman candidate quarterback, "Johnny Football".  Gig 'Em, Ags!

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"C" is for Craft (Thanks)

A friend on Facebook posted this little project, and I thought it would be perfect for Tully's teachers at Lake Hills Montessori.  They have been fantastic to create work specifically for him, since he is younger than the two and three year olds, and they were great to talk with us about Tully's poor behavior (See "C" is for Conference) and work towards a solution.

Original link for this project on Pinterest here.

items needed:

• 5x7 thanks a latte print
• card stock
• coffee sleeves
• stapler
• double sided tape
• gift card from starbucks or other coffee house
• twine

I needed six cards, so I wanted two printed per page.  I quickly created a collage on www.picmonkey.com and printed the image below.  (Double latte, anyone?  I'm so funny.)  I have a black and white laser printer, so I used orange card stock for color.

After trimming the edges with a paper cutter, I mostly followed the original directions, except I switched the last two steps, so I could staple the twine in place at the same time I attached the coffee sleeves to the paper.

• trim the coffee sleeve to the appropriate width for your print cutting along the corrugated lines
• place a piece of double sided tape to the very bottom of sleeve and attach to print
• tie some fun twine around your gift
• staple sides of the sleeve and twine
• insert card

Ta da!

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"C" is for Catalog

Does anyone else call customer service to be removed from the mailing list for every single unwanted catalog they get in the mail?  And why is it when I order something online companies automatically assume I'm going to become a catalog ordering customer?

 
I have a love-hate relationship with snail mail.  I hate junk mail, catalogs, flyers, etc., but I love personal cards and letters.  I keep all of them too.

I have notes from my mom that she would put in my lunch when I was in school and even the ones she mailed to me at college.  There are birthday cards, some pics of school friends and old boyfriends, some fun folders and items from my time as a Fish Camp counselor at Texas A&M, keepsakes from my wedding and honeymoon, and lots of holiday cards from friends and family.  Do I really need to keep all of it? Probably not.  I have no idea what I'll do with this stuff, but I managed to put it in some clear bins in an easily accessible location, so I can see everything and add to it, as needed.  I even started boxes for John and Tully.  John has an awesome scrapbook that his friends made when he was moving from Australia back to the U.S.  Apparently he was very popular with the ladies there!  There are also some great scrapbooks from one of his ex-girlfriends and his sister.  I love seeing how his life was before "us".  Maybe one day Tully or Clare will enjoy looking back through our things to see how we were when we were kids.  Until then, I'll keep stuffing memories into these bins and cataloging our lives.

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"C" is for Child #2 (cont.)

I'm hoping to only take one more photo in this series.  Baby Clare is doing a number on this momma.  I feel HUGE, and Braxton Hicks contractions are in full effect, especially in the afternoons.  I'm also craving Hostess mini chocolate donuts and lemon water.  Related to the pregnancy?  Probably not.  I can down a bag of those donuts in one sitting with or without a baby in my belly.

I was getting ready for bed last night, and John asked me if I was OK.  I was totally fine, so I asked him why he asked me that.  He said I was huffing and puffing a lot and could hear me from the other room.  It's tough work hauling around this baby.  I even had to move a bar stool from our kitchen to the bathroom, so I could sit down while I got my pretty on.  (Notice the lack of toddler proofing on the cabinets?! Tully is finally staying out of them!)

I ordered Clare's crib sheets and picked up some newborn size diapers earlier this week, so I guess we're technically ready for her arrival.  Once the sheets are here and I get the furniture shuffled around how I want it, I can take pictures of the nursery.  It looks a lot like Tully's...but different...and pink! 

My Christmas shopping is 90% done too, so hopefully December goes smoothly and quickly.

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"C" is for Conference

We frequently get Incident Reports from Tully's school.  They usually read something like "Tully tripped on another child's foot on the playground and scratched his arm" or "Tully fell out of his chair and bumped his head."  Last week I was at the Junior League Holiday Market helping my mom with a trade show when I got this in a text message from John.  (Click to enlarge)

He "hit, scratched, pinched, kicked and threw work at his friends and teachers" (UNPROVOKED?!) almost constantly for TWO HOURS!!!! What?  Proud mommy moment for sure.  Not.

He started napping at school last week, and it's been hit or miss (mostly miss).  His poor behavior was in the morning though, so it's not likely he was tired.  The only thing I can think is that I was gone Wednesday night and all day Thursday and Friday, so he was acting out.  He's been scratching the couch a lot recently, but his new scratching faces thing is getting out of hand.  I can only imagine what the scratching, pinching, and kicking combo looked like.  We are disciplining him for the scratching part very consistently at home with firm no's and timeouts.  A friend recently suggested making a "good boy" or "nice" book where he gets to put stickers on a page each time he does something good.  Sometimes he will fill Zach's dog bowl with food without us asking or help wipe up messes on the floor, so I could give him a sticker for that in hopes that he will seek out more positive attention from us.

We have a parent teacher conference scheduled for Thursday.  Here's to hoping they don't kick him out of school!

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"C" is for Cut

I've been wanting to get Tully's hair cut for several months now.  He had these precious curls in the back though, so my mom and John always vetoed.  I thought the curls were cute too, but the rat's nest above them was more than I could handle.  Even when the area was brushed, it still looked like a fuzzy mess.  Tully doesn't exactly like it when we comb his hair...he'd rather do it himself, so I had a gut feeling he was going to HATE his first hair cut.  No amount of explaining or bribing was going to work, which meant we couldn't just pop in to Super Cuts.  I didn't want to be apologizing for his toddler tantrum.  A quick Google search led me to Kuts for Kids by Mr. Will at 81st & Lewis.  I found several reviews and blog posts that said there were tons of toys, if you had to wait, and that Mr. Will was fast and good at what he did.  Bonus? Three miles from our house.

Here was the starting point.  Taken last weekend.

We stopped by Kuts for Kids about 11:00 am today, and there were eight kids waiting.  Tully naps around noon.  Not happening.  So we went back around 4:00 pm, and not a single person was there.  Perfect.  We let Tully play while I snapped some "before" photos, and then Mr. Will strapped him in the tractor chair.  Tully screamed, turned red, kicked, and cried--snot and tears everywhere.  I have no idea how Mr. Will didn't cut his own fingers off with the thrashing around Tully was doing.  John jokingly said, "So I bet he's the first one that's acted like this..."  Mr. Will assured us he enjoyed what he did, and I was thankful I didn't feel guilty for having him cut my kid's hair.  Once the scissor cut was done, I got Tully to watch his favorite Supercats video on YouTube, and John stuffed his face with goldfish.  Cats + goldfish = happy Tully.  Mr. Will finished up with the trimmers while Tully sat quietly.  After a little touch of gel and a total of about five minutes in the chair, we were done.  Tully ran around the salon and happily played while I got some "after" shots.

And here's the tantrum in all it's glory in case you missed it.  Future wedding slide show worthy for sure.

 
 Hopefully Tully's next haircut won't be this traumatic, but at least he played before/after, sat quietly for part of it, and most importantly I wasn't that mom with that kid that everyone stared at in a public place.  Baby's first haircuts are $10, and the next ones will be $17.  Worth every dime.  We'll be back for sure.

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"C" is for Conversation

John goes to bed before me, so he's usually asleep or almost asleep by the time I get there.  He's talked to me in his sleep before, but sometimes it's in the middle of the night, so I'm too out of it to remember or make sense of it.   A couple nights ago I laid down, and he said something about putting Zach, our dog, to bed.  I thought he was making sure I brought Zach from the living room to the bedroom, but then he continued to mumble something.  I realized he was asleep, so I asked him several more questions:

Do you want me to make sure Zach is in bed?
Where do you want him to sleep?
Are you sure?

He answered all of my questions, but he was mumbling and getting more frustrated each time I asked something.  He finally told me to put Zach to sleep on the floor but not in his bed where he usually sleeps.  I started laughing hysterically, and that's when he woke up asking why I was laughing in his ear like a hyena.  I could tell he was still really mad about answering the questions and even more upset that I had woken him up.  Then the confusion set in.  He's a deep sleeper (I'm not), so it always cracks me up when he tries to act coherent at night.  At least this time he wasn't talking to me about parts they manufacture at work--boring!

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"C" is for Child (cont.)

October has been a big month for Tully.  In September he got his adenoids taken out and tubes put in.  I'm happy to report his sleep, appetite and mood are all greatly improved.  He is a much happier and well-rested kiddo.  Unfortunately mommy got the brilliant idea to take away the binky since sleep is going so well.  We decided to have him stay at school until 3:00 instead of 12:00 starting in November too, so he'll be taking his nap there.  I know he could have his binky at school, but I thought my big boy would be ready to sleep without it.  He starts napping at school next week, so we cut the binky this week.  He did pretty well the first night.  It took him about an hour to fall asleep on his own, and he only woke up once.  He immediately went back to sleep with some comforting (no binky though!).  Night two was a different story.  We had a party from 2:30 am to 5:30 am.  I'm hoping he's half as exhausted as I am and sleeps all night tonight.

Tully's 18 month checkup went really well.  He weighed 24 lbs 6 oz (54%) fully clothed and is 33 inches tall (70%).  His little bean head is growing too: 19 in (74%).  We'll have to go back in November for his flu shot, so I'll be curious to see if there's a big jump in his weight or height, since he is eating and feeling better following surgery.

We visited a local pumpkin patch/carnival area, and Tully really enjoyed all of the free activities (climbing on pumpkins and wagons, playing in toy houses, watching the lawn mower "train", etc.).  Lucky for us he had no idea he was missing out on the blow up slides and horse rides that cost money.

In those last two photos, he's trying to pick up the pumpkin and then signing for help.  John reached down to help pick up the pumpkin and jacked Tully in the face with it.  He thought it was going to be really heavy based on the effort Tully was putting into it, but the pumpkin was actually very light.  It was a funny/sad moment.

We've had some beautiful weather, so Tully and I ventured to the neighborhood pond last week.  He is obsessed with poop right now, especially our dog, Zach's poop.  He doesn't understand the difference between poop and dirt so everything on the ground that is brown and clumped is poop.  Here he found some dirt on the sidewalk and is pointing out the "poop" to me.  He kept squatting over the area and saying, "poop!"  I tried to tell him it was just dirt over and over, but he was convinced he was making that mess.  A little later he climbed up on the bench by the pond and sat there for several minutes to watch the ducks.  The kid never sits still.  I was amazed.

Words (26): dad/dada/daddy/aDa, Mama/aMa, Zach (our dog), boots, poo poo/poop, hi, bye, help, bug, hat, hot, ball, up, eat, bite, no, cat, doggy, sleep, bus, blue, leaves, balloons, bubbles, baba/baaboo (binky...now gone!), banana
Signs (24): eat, sleep, milk, thank you, all done, mower, ball, tree, fish, dog, shoes, socks, book, help, train, bus, hot, hat, cat, airplane, more, please, where is it? (palms up, questioning look on face), thank you
Sounds (6): moo, quack, vroom (truck), woof, hoo hoo (owl), neigh, woooOooooo (siren)
Phrases (6): where is it?, where is daddy?, where is mommy?, where did it go?, can I have a bite?, aye-yi-ye (i'm thirsty/water...thanks to our nanny for the translation)

Basically he's adding new words and phrases every day and continuing to sign and make the same sounds as he did a couple months ago.  For anyone wondering whether or not to teach their infant/toddler to sign, I HIGHLY recommend it.  We used the first two Baby Signing Time DVDs. Tully's language development has been right on track, but signing has enabled him to communicate with us better and show us he knows many, many more words than he could actually say.  The words are definitely catching up with the signs, as expected, now, so I don't think signing has delayed his speech in any way.

We had parent teacher conferences last week, and we found out Tully enjoys playing with water at the sink, so they are creating a pouring "work" for him there.  I love the Montessori-style of teaching where they keyed in on his strengths and interests and are using those for him to learn.  He just isn't ready or interested in sitting down at a table to focus on pouring dry objects.  He also likes music time/dancing and is a good example to other kids for signing.  I think he pretty much runs around like a maniac most of the time, but he's little, and they are very patient with him.  I'm really happy with our choice to put him in the school.

I think the next big milestone will be potty training, and we've decided to wait for more signs of readiness before pushing it.  Ideally we'd have all major transitions (toddler bed, binky, diapers, etc.) done before Clare gets here, but my gut instinct says it's best to wait on the potty training.  He will still sign for potty or ask to go on the big toilet sometimes, but it's not consistent.  In any case, my baby is quickly growing into a independent little  human.

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"C" is for Child #2 (cont.)

While we were babymooning in Jamaica we met the sweetest couple, J&S, from Oklahoma.  They were on their honeymoon, and we decided to meet for dinner one evening.  During dinner J told us she was an ultrasound technician and offered for us to visit the school she graduated from for a 4D sonogram.  We barely made it back to Oklahoma in time to catch the 20-30 week window, but here is Clare in all her glory at 7.5 months gestation.

Sweet Clare has a nose that looks just like Tully and little narrow lips too.  We were able to see some hair around the sides of her head, so I'm expecting she'll come out with a "horseshoe" of barely-there-hair just like her brother.

When we were leaving the ultrasound room John saw his boss' wife talking to some students.  We had no idea she was the director at the school.  She was excited to see us when we said hello.  Small world.

Next time we see Clare's face, it will be the real deal in December.

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