Family Musings

I've said many times before that my brain doesn't work as well as it used to before I had a baby. And it seems now, that Babin is incubating in my belly, it has gotten worse. I realized tonight that I never picked any winners for the Yo-Plus Gift Pack Giveaway! Here they are, randomly chosen by Random.org: Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers: 23 21 25 Timestamp: 2009-03-29 02:17:04 UTC So, Roann , Jennifer , Bison61 , make sure you check your e-mail for additional details. **I have no e-mail address for Jennifer, so, I sure hope you subscribe! E-mail me at familymusings at gmail.com with your mailing address.

Yep. You read that right. We went on a world music tour. I wish I could post pictures of the African plains or the Celtic harps that we played, but um, my camera broke. Yeah, that's it. Well, actually, my camera did break. And we didn't travel the world exploring music of various people in real life. Instead, we did it via a new DVD - Baby Einstein World Music . I was asked to preview it by Mom Central and am glad they asked. On a regular basis, we like to listen to tribal-type music (via iTunes), bang drums, and shake maracas around this house as a way to have fun. It gets this momma off her butt and that makes Charlotte giggle... what could be better? If you need more reason to enjoy a product like this though, here is an official description: World Music DVD, which comes out March 31, 2009, encourages live interaction and introduces children to the world's distinctive sights and sounds with fun-loving puppet host Jane the Monkey and her toy drum as she travels ac...

Do you want to be challenged to a different way of living? Do you think a 13-year old can teach you anything? Then go watch this video about Deborah Drapper . (If anyone knows where to find the full 1-hour documentary I'd be very appreciative.)

I don't know if it was the EDU 101 class I took in college, or some other experience of mine, but I've always known that children process information differently than adults. What I mean is, they are not little adults. Their brains don't work the same way as ours. When Bruce told me about recent research that seemingly* proved this while surprising the researchers, I didn't understand it. I thought it was common knowledge that our brains worked differently as we got older. One way I've worked around this with Charlotte is to begin using "if, then" statements. As in, "if you want to go play outside, then you must put your shoes on." It works in almost every circumstance. Well, at least the ones where she wants the outcome I am offering. I think this might be called Love & Logic, but I have been too lazy to look it up. I know I learned about the "if, then" method when I was in new teacher training. It worked with my students most of ...

A while back we were lucky enough to be given two tickets to see La Nouba , the Cirque du Soleil show permanently housed at Downtown Disney in Orlando. I thought for sure I had blogged about it at the time, but after browsing my archives, can't find the post. If I had shared the news with you at the time, I would have told you how enthralled Charlotte was with the entire show, particularly the clowns. At one point during the show, a clown came out posing as a mom pushing a baby carriage. The audience was silent, waiting to see what the clown was going to do. Next, we all heard the wail of the "baby" in the carriage. Then, Charlotte was so excited about something she recognized, she loudly exclaimed, "baby!" That broke the audience's silence and they collectively giggled at her cuteness. Other than that, she just sat and stared at all of the amazing things happening during the show - acrobatics, dancing, spinning. It was information overload and she fell asle...

Well, technically, the baby is 15 weeks old, and I am 17 weeks pregnant... and that is not "Jennifer Math." Remember last week when I shared my excitement about feeling the creature inside of me move? The baby continued moving like that every night. It is so comforting to feel that and know our baby is doing well. Then on Saturday night I didn't feel the somersaults from the previous week. And of course, like any good pregnant woman, I got worried. Bruce prayed for me and the baby. I prayed for me and the baby. But I didn't feel anything. After a little while, I thought I felt something, but it was too late, I was already in full-worry mode. Eventually, I had to take a breath (because you know, if you hold your breath it is easier to feel the baby!) and soon I fell asleep exhausted from the worry. It didn't last long and I woke up at 3:45 just positive something was wrong. I even imagined that I felt a couple of contractions. Sleep was elusive. Eventually...

Charlotte loves motorcycles. In part I am sure, because her daddy rides one. And also because, well, they are awesome! So, we took her to Daytona Bike Week. Yeah, it was like 2 whole weeks ago and I am finally getting around to looking at my pictures. Here are my favorites. I think her eyes are saying, "Momma, may I have one when I am 16?" And what would a biker babe be without a tattoo? Charlotte stood incredibly still for this and showed her cross tattoo to everyone who would look. And then we topped the day off with some ice cream! I would have more pictures for you, but due to some scheduling miscommunications, it was mostly Charlotte and I all morning. Daddy didn't show up for about 2 hours!

The hardest thing for me to get up on my blog is video of Charlotte. The main reason is that when I put my SD card in the computer, I don't get a thumbnail of them. Therefore, I have to open each one and watch it before I know how to label it. That means it takes a while before you get to see them. Here is a random sampling of recent videos. Charlotte does the Moon Walk Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com Charlotte riding the carousel Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com Charlotte singing her own song (stick around for the big finish) Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com The next two videos are probably only cool to watch for me, since I am the momma. But since the blog is about scrapbooking Charlotte's life, I am including them. Charlotte walking up the stairs on her own Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com Charlotte climbing a ladder and coming down the slide (on her own) Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I like spaghetti with meat sauce. It is one of my favorite foods. There is no fancy family recipe, I just use a jar of Barilla and a box of spaghetti noodles. It seems that my eyes are always bigger than my stomach and I boil too many noodles for the two adults in our family. So, I bought a spaghetti stick. A spaghetti stick is a single-purpose kitchen tool that helps you measure out how much dry pasta to cook. The main problem I have with my new tool though, is that it is sexist. The measurement marks say that a woman should eat the same size serving as a 10-12 year old child. When I first used the stick, I felt insulted. I was a grown woman and I should get an adult's serving of spaghetti. Not be relegated to some 16th century idea of what a woman should eat like. In my defiance towards the stick, I made 2 adult servings. And guess what, I couldn't finish mine. That sounds like noodley-justice to me! (Click image to enlarge)

Everyone who is anyone already knows that we are expecting a new bundle of joy in our family this August. What you might not have realized though, is we have not decided on what to call this little bambino. For a while now, we have just called him or her "baby number two." And folks, that is boring. And we are not boring people. So, what should we call this little bun in the over, our budding gymnast ? I don't want anything obvious, like, you know, Baby Sabin . We've been there, done that. Bun and Bean, could never be as cute as Breadstick (which is already taken by my sister-in-law who is due in October!). And well, we did refer to Charlotte as the Belly Monster already. To come up with a good name for the munchkin in my belly, I am having a contest. There will be no prizes, other than just knowing you made my family happy. I'll take suggestions until we find one that seems just right. Bruce and I are the final judge. Naming Rules: Nothing boring. Aim ...

I finally had an opportunity to take Charlotte back to Gym Etc, the local gymnastics studio with open hours. Another little friend had come with us so I was busy splitting my time between him and Charlotte, when I turned around to see this...   All on her own, Charlotte had climbed up on the yellow block (not really that spectacular, she can climb up onto most anything these days), reached up for the lower of the uneven bars, and started swinging. I think her face shows the obvious joy she felt at teaching herself this new trick. She came down after swinging a few times and had such a silly grin on her face. She signed "swing" and said "weeeeee..." and got right back up to do it again. It was so much fun to watch her go back and back to keep swinging like a little gym monkey. A little bit later, I had to confront the fact that we might have a future gymnast on our hands. We were in the balance bean section, and again, I was helping our friend do something, when I ...

I am at the end of the 4th month with our next baby and was so excited last night to finally feel a little movement from the munchkin. I can't remember when I first felt Charlotte move, so I wanted to make sure I marked this day for baby number two. Then tonight, as I laid around watching American Idol, I think our new baby was practicing their gymnastics flips! It was so much fun to feel so much activity tonight!

We spread our G activities out over 2 weeks since I was on a computer fast. Unfortunately, the fast meant I couldn't upload and edit my pictures every day so, this post might be a little scattered. Our G week of Alphabet School started with a little Goodwill .  I had gathered up several items from the house that we no longer needed and we dropped them off in the back. Then, we went inside to look for some goodies of our own. The first crafty-artsy thing we did, other than coloring G-themed worksheets, was play with some new glitter pens . It started out kind of fun and cool until Charlotte realized she could squeeze them and make LOTS of glitter come out in a large blob, on her arm. She wasn't happy when I took her glitter pens away. Oh, we also did some glass painting with green paint . And this picture demonstrates why we always do these sorts of activities in the high chair! And we couldn't forget to show off our groovy grocery gown ! We colored it with some new...

After 7 days of fasting, I am back online now. I must confess I did get online and look at e-mail and some blogs on Thursday night (but my good reason is below, keep reading). John asked in the comments on my last post why I did this computer fast. I can honestly say, it had become apparent to me that too much of my day was consumed with being online. I needed to see how much was going undone in my life. It wasn't clear if it was my computer or me that was controlling my time. I discovered that I do need the connection and intellectual stimulation I get from blog reading. By Thursday, Bruce told me I was wearing him out with all of my talking. After spending the day with Charlotte and no computer, he was my only outlet. And after his long day teaching 9th and 11th graders, it was too much. (The main reason I broke fast on Thursday night for about 45 minutes.) I also discovered though, that most of the e-mail I get doesn't need to even be read. Out of over 200 e-mails in t...

I am starting a computer fast when I go to bed tonight. That means no blogging, no blog reading, no Facebook, no e-mail, and no internet research. Will I survive? As much as I know it will be hard, I know I can go a lousy 7 days without using a computer. So, if you don't see me comment on your brilliant new blog posts or the adorable photos of your children, don't fret. I'm still around. I just need a break.

The final post from our F week is to document our trip to the Florida Strawberry Festival. It is a little bit of a stretch on the F theme, but heck, it's my blog and I can say it fits if I want too. :) We did get to take the grandparents with us. But I am really just showing this picture to point out her gingham blue dress and the pink cowboy boots! (Thanks Kelly M! She L-O-V-E-S them!) The Berry Merry Go-round was the only ride we went on due to the crazy ticket prices. But Charlotte did get to go twice. She cried when she had to get off, both times. We did eat a lot of straweberries, but were so enjoying them all of us forgot to get out our cameras. Instead, I leave you with the most decent photo of Charlotte getting excited about the cows. Oh, and a funny cow story... as we drove home from church last Sunday, Charlotte started mooing in the back seat. I couldn't figure out why she was making cow noises so I asked her where the cows were. She pointed out the right win...

So, for all of those experienced moms out there, or moms in the middle of it, got any advice for potty training? Last fall, I thought I would try and potty train Charlotte about this time, 18 months. But, with the new baby coming, I am not so sure. I've been told by some people that she will probably revert once the new baby is here and then I'd have to do it all over again. That hardly seems worth it to me. However, Charlotte seems really interested in the potty. She can say potty in sign language, is able to climb up on the potty (when the lid is down), and is starting to be able to pull her own pants up when we get dressed in the morning. I read in a book recently that using Pull-Ups is a bad idea because it doesn't teach your child to be in control of their bladder and bowel movements. But someone else said to use Pull-Ups at night while they are trying to learn. My friend Katie, used the book Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day and says it worked . It is ...

I have always gotten a little choked up at an AT&T or Publix holiday commercial. And that was okay with me. It was something quirky about me that my husband liked. But, now, this pregnancy has taken my weepiness to a whole other level. For example, I rented Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants a couple of weeks ago and watched it during a Daddy-Daughter date. It's a good thing too. Because that is not a sad movie ya'll. Don't think that stopped me from having a really good cry right when Bridget (the soccer player) found that her "first time" didn't fill the hole in her heart like she expected. I just bawled. And I am not a pretty crier. It was an ugly scene ladies and gentlemen. Sometimes though, I cry because I am overwhelmingly happy. Remember my friend Daryl , who I shared about a year ago? Well, I just found out last night that Joy, his widow, remarried and after reading just a little bit about her husband and seeing their wedding photos, I sobbed te...

We had such a busy F week. I've already shared how we went flying with friends and our lessons on how Florida gold (oranges) is made into juice. Towards the begining of the week, I finally found our sidewalk chalk after a couple weeks of being lost. There are lots of fun F things to draw too - flowers , fish , frogs , fruit , and feet . I mostly draw the shapes and let her color them in as she sees fit. We also reprised our Big Letter, Little Letter game. Oh, and Charlotte asked me to trace her feet and then I traced mine and let her stand in them to see the size difference. While browsing through Wal-Mart a week or so ago, I found these football window clings marked down to $0.48. Charlotte entertained herself for almost 30 minutes putting these up and pulling them off the window. Unfortunately, when she got bored with that, she started trying to eat them. I guess they looked a lot like Jell-O wiggles. Oh, and of course we played with farm animals.  I found a pack of tiny ...