Recipe of the Month

Bowel Moving Fruit Salad

1  cup   Activia Light Vanilla Flavored Yogurt

2 cups  Fruit Medley

Cut desired fruit and berries into bite size chunks.  

If you use peaches, pears, pears, or bananas make the pieces a bit larger than bite sized because the yogurt will break them down.  

I usually do the following combination of fruit:

1 cameo apple

1 banana

2 peaches

1 small bunch, grapes, halved

10 strawberries, halved

This is super quick, super good, super healthy and super worth it if your feeling a bit compacted.  If you don't think this sounds good, just try it and you will be really surprised.  By the way, this feeds only two and so make more than you think you need because it is so good people will eat loads of it--L and I fight over it and usually eat so much of it we don't feel like dessert (yeah, that's right).  Another reason to make extra is so you can have it for breakfast tomorrow morning.  Other fruit possibilities:  canned mandarin oranges, fresh pineapple, plums, various berries, mango, tangelo, and oranges.

A Rose By Any Other Name

Therapy doesn't have to be complicated. At my best, things can be summed up on one or two lines:

In response to a 15 year-old boy who came into therapy one day with his hair fashioned exactly like mine--hair dye and all:

"I'm not sure whether I am flattered or creeped out."

In response to an 18 year-old boy who stormed into my office shouting nonsense:

"Shut the hell up or GET THE HELL OUT!" (He shut the hell up)

In response to a not-so-hygienic 15 year-old girl's compliment that I always look cute:

"The secret is in showering every day." (She still doesn't shower every day)

In response to a grandmother's ambivalence about whether to continue raising my client, large attitude and all:

"YOUR indecision is the problem, not her." (She made up her mind to keep my client no matter what and they no longer need therapy)

In response to the mother who does not like the child she adopted, my client:

"Have you considered getting a therapist?" (She did and she is feeling much better, so is my client)

In response to many parents who actually bring their child in for therapeutic intervention to address a chief complaint that their child will not do chores without a fight:

"I have just two rules you must follow in order to get them to do chores and you won't like either one.  First, don't give them chores; second, if you choose to disregard rule one, do the chores with them."  (Usually they disregard both rules)

In response to a 17 year-old boy's complaint that his teacher is rude to him and won't listen to him after he called her a mother f------- b----:

"What you're experiencing is a case of bad behavior evidenced by your bad behavior here, at home, at school, and in the community.  When you are experiencing a particularly bad bout of bad behavior, like you clearly are, people don't like you and they certainly don't listen to you." (This was in group and the other boys gave him specific examples of his bad behavior--love it when a group catches my momentum)

In response to the parents of my 67 clients when they complain about getting their child out of school to come to therapy, because they might do badly if they miss:

"Make a determination which is more important--good grades or being emotionally healthy.  I support you either way."     AND/OR

"Those who are good students do well anyway.  Those who are poor students are poor students with or without therapy."  (They really hate this one and will usually complain again in our next session)

In response to the millions of times I've heard this "You don't understand.":

"You're right.  Help me understand." 

In response to the 14 year-old kid who had abused a 7 year-old cousin when he told me I was brainwashing him:

"Yep.  Something I am willing to do to make sure no other child or human being is ever hurt by you again."  (He was sent, by his judge, to a residential treatment center one week later when he re-offended)

In response to the hundreds of thousands of times I've been asked this, "You haven't ever used drugs have you?":

"You know we therapists have a name for that question--the million dollar question.  (Gets 'em every time and I have never answered this question)

In response to when parents, of kids who have abused other kids, question me, "Why in the world would someone like you do something like this?"

"The answer has everything to do with the stereotyping you are doing right now."  (Ouch...and they don't think they themselves need therapy)

In response to when parents ask me when their kid is going to be done with court-ordered therapy:

"Have you asked your kid?"  (The kid then gets yelled at)

In response to when parents want me to talk to their child one-on-one to see if they have been abused:

"Why would they tell a virtual stranger they are alone with in an office with the door closed?"

In response to the parents who complain they can't get in to see me often enough:

"You know a good therapist when it's hard to get in to see them.  We have other therapists with more availability."  (They never change therapists. I don't say this to those I am sick of)

That's it for now.  I hope you have enjoyed the free therapy!!!!

7 Month Itch

This Sunday Baby turns 7 months-old.  Despite his maturity in months he refuses to roll from his back to his front, get onto his hands and knees, or even think about crawling.  I snapped this photo while he was very briefly entertained by me before he rolled over.  He has accomplished back bending and pulling himself into the sitting position from lying barely inclined.  Notice these skills are back skills and NOT stomach skills.

Baby has a sense of humor.  I'm not sure if he thinks everything is funny (evidenced by the fact that he finds L funny) or if he has tasteful humor (evidenced by the fact that he finds me funny). He laughs often even when tired, grumpy, or hungry.  His ability to be distracted from discomfort with humor has been a huge change from the early weeks.  A few nights ago he woke up in the middle of the night in teething pain and as I rocked him for hours every once in awhile he would open his eyes, look at me, and start laughing.  I'm glad he found it funny.

He is extraordinarily interested in people.  Taking him to a restaurant or a store is his greatest entertainment; he will occupy himself by people watching.  Unfortunately, due to a lack of social skills, he has developed a staring problem.  Strangers don't say much other than, "Oh, what a cute little baby" but family and friends make comments like, "Uh, your baby is staring me down."   His staring is intense as evidenced by the lowered eyebrows...   

He went through a teething spell this week starting with an all-nighter Saturday.  His bottom teeth appeared one day without any sort of symptom or sign of discomfort.  The two top teeth finally broke through today (what a relief) after severe signs and symptoms of discomfort for days.  We went through an entire bottle of pain reducer trying to keep it manageable for him. In fact, the babysitter became so desperate she gave him a pickle to chew on (he refuses teething rings).  He loved it and came home yesterday and today smelling like dill brine.

His main loves in life are:  his cloth diapers (used as spit rags), his parents, his best friends (his babysitter and son), his aunties and uncle, himself in the mirror, being outside, music, and food. He loves to eat so much he would eat all day if we let him.  Unfortunately his babysitter lets him.  He tantrums in his high chair unless eating.  He cannot handle himself if we are eating something different than he is.  How does he know already?  He demands to drink out of our cups (L's fault) and reaches for anything he sees go into our mouths.  One of his favorite toys is his spoon, occupying himself by feeding himself air.  

He still likes music and music videos.  His favorite song right now is actually one I sing him--sung to the tune of Henry the VIIIth.  I come up with stupid rhymes relevant to what we are doing and he LOVES it.  His favorite popular song is "It'll All Get Better With Time" by Leona Lewis.  His favorite rock song is Metallica's "The Day That Never Comes."  His favorite country song is a tie between three:  Heidi Newfield's "Johnny and June, Brad Paisley's "Waiting On A Woman," and "Love Story" by Taylor Swift.  It surprised me that he started liking rock and alternative which he started out not liking much of.  We played him Elvis's "Jailhouse Rock" on the day he wore this outfit and he squealed in delight so I've made plans to download a bunch of Elvis and play it on a day we are home together.

He is loving.  He gives open mouthed kisses and still loves to be held.  Even though he has a mind of his own, he is not independent at all.  He wants to go everywhere I go in the house and is not content to play/occupy himself even for a few minutes.  As long as I am there with him he can play/occupy himself.  One of his favorite things right now is to sit by me when I fold laundry and play with a toy while intermittently pulling things off the folded laundry pile.  

The only other trick he has is giving me a high five.  He refuses to clap despite my efforts launched a few hours after he was born.  

Being A Client For A Change

Here is a link to a recent news story about a law enforcement training called Crisis Intervention Team I participate in twice yearly. The purpose of the training is to teach empathy to law enforcement so they can interact more appropriately with those suffering with mental illness in order to have non-violent outcomes and to link needy people to community supports and services. This program has had wonderful results across the nation with a reduction of arrests, a reduction of violence, and a reduction of inappropriate placements into jail.

Last year I was thrown to the ground and handcuffed during one of our scenarios. I began writhing on the ground not to resist but because the knee slammed into my back really hurt. As a result of my violent arrest I sustained injuries: a five inch scratch on my back which took weeks to heal (and scarred for months) and several scrapes and bruises. My eyes were opened to how law enforcement interacts with mentally ill community members (I wondered, who should we really be afraid of...?) and I was able to provide redirection and feedback about a more appropriate response and suggest conflict resolution techniques. Though not arrested this year, I was still able to teach the officers how to best react in high stress/chaotic situations for optimal outcomes. The officers said the skills they learned give them more confidence in the field. Now that's a community in which I want to live!

Sadly, I am blocked by a rafter in the part of the clip I am in.

It's Official

My resignation was announced at staff meeting today. I haven't decided if my last day will be Christmas Eve or New Year's Eve yet but I will be done for sure by January 1, 2009.

I'm pretty excited but worried and scared and sad too.

I am excited for the following reasons:

-No more neck strains due to nodding for nine hours per day (my colleague was called a bobble head the other day)

-No more packing Baby's diaper bag each Sunday night, inevitably I forget one crucial item each week and when the babysitter points it out I feel like the world's worst mother

-No more 10:30 pm bedtimes

-No more waking Baby up at 7:00 am

-No more fighting traffic

-No more snowy icy stressful commutes

-No more crisis phone calls

-No more stinky clients

-Free time (maybe this just exists in my imagination of what stay-at-home motherhood is)

-Naps

-Reading books

-A clean house

-Hobbies

-Grocery shopping outside of Saturdays and rush hour (between the hours of 5:30-6:30 pm)

-Attending Baby's well checks

-Administering to Baby's needs

-Feeding Baby how I want to feed him

-Knowing that Baby is as safe as I can make him

-The El.len Deg.eres Show

-Volunteering

-Cooking elaborate meals

I am worried and scared for the following reasons:

-The economy is bad and is this the best time to quit a job?

-I have had a job since I was 15 years-old

-I get bored and depressed very easily when I have the option of watching television all day every day (although, we did get Ti.vo the other day and that has dramatically increased my overall life satisfaction by at least 25%)

-When I get bored I like to spend money on shoes...a lot of money on shoes

-I am not convinced that I am cut out to be a stay-at-home mom

-I am most social at my job. I tend to be an introvert in other social environments

I am sad for this one reason: I love being a therapist. I knew I wanted to be a therapist when I read There's A Boy in the Girl's Bathroom in the fifth grade. I have worked hard to get here. I love my job. I love my co-workers. I love my clients. I really really love my clients. I am good at being a therapist.

As a result of helping many people find meaning in a dreary world and in dreary circumstances I have found more meaning, happiness, and fulfillment than I could have ever imagined for myself. I am proud of the therapist I have become and I am proud of the work I have done. Seeing that go is like walking away from Baby every morning at the baby sitter's...

CHS get to it! M-O-V-E, move it

This is my Canby Cougar Football outfit that my Grandma Debi got me.  Go Cougars!  How are they doing this year Grandpa?

H dog laughing

Don't You Wish Your Baby Was Cute Like Me?

This is the first thing I bought Baby after I found out I was prego.  I waited a whole year to have him wear it.  It's cute, huh?

Update on Me Part III--I'm Six Months

Look at me!!!!  I'm jolly!!!!  I still love my mommy and daddy and kitty.  I really LOVE to eat.  My favorite foods are:  plums, bananas, yellow squash, and oatmeal.  I get mad when my mommy doesn't let me eat the food she is eating.
I am 17.5 lbs which is in the 50%ile and I am in the 75%ile in height.  This means I am tall and a little skinny--even though I look chubby.
I still hate to take naps but my mommy and daddy force me because they say I get too grumpy. I can say "lalalalalalala" and "dadadadadadadada" when I am happy and "mamamamamama" when I'm mad or sad.  And I have two teeth on the bottom!  I like to bite my mommy and daddy and my toys.  I am really good at petting Damnit nicely.  I watch myself in the mirror and chit chat with myself.  Speaking of chit chatting, I like to tell people off, talk in church, and talk to my babysitter.  I still like my baths and I splash a lot, and I think it's funny when my mommy gets wet.  I love it when Damnit comes in the bathtub with me and drinks my bath water, even though my mommy says that is gross.
I REALLY like books and I read everyday with my mommy or daddy.  I like ones that make noise and ones that I can touch.  I still have acid reflux and my doctor prescribed another medicine to help with that and with my bowel movements (my mommy said I have to use that phrase)--it is working okay.  

My mommy is thinking of quitting her job to stay home with me during the daytime because she is really sad to only hang out with me for a couple of hours a day.  

I am so friendly and outgoing I get along really well with everyone.  I don't feel stressed about strangers at all.  But I do get worried when I can't see anybody.  I don't like it when my mommy, daddy, or babysitter leaves me alone to play with my toys and I will FREAK OUT when I realize I can't find anyone.  

I Got Called to Teach RS

You may be having one of three reactions:

1.  Laughing hysterically

2.  Thinking, 'What in the...?'

3.  Wondering what RS is

I did all three when the bishop broke the news to me...just kidding.  I mostly had a panic attack.

The minute I decide to magnify my first calling ever I get released and get called to do one of the most feared jobs in the church (only outdone by Gospel Docterine Teacher, Bishop and above callings, and RS president).  

Thank goodness I don't have to teach out of the Joseph Smith book.  I am grateful because if you have recently listened to a lesson out of it, or have recently read something out of it you understand that I, being church-dumb, don't get it.  

I have to teach out of the Ensign.  This may be indicative of my experience with the Ensign:

RS presidency member:  Hi Myndi.  Thanks for accepting the call to be a teacher.

Myndi:  Uh, er...hmm...sure.

RS PM:  Well, if it makes you feel any better we'll have you teach the 4th Sundays and you will be teaching from the conference edition of the Ensign.  The stake picks out the lesson for you.

Myndi:  Phew.

RS PM:  (Laughingly) Well, do you have a copy?

Myndi:  Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no.  BUT, I can get online.

RS PM:  I guess you can have mine.

I even told her I am a crappy teacher this morning when she delivered the Ensign to my door. She didn't seem to care.  I'll keep you posted about how things go.

So the moral of this story is:  If you don't want a crappy calling, don't magnify the one you've got.  JUST KIDDING, but keep posted for an upcoming entry about my thoughts on 'attitude.'

What Should Baby Be for Halloween?

I can't decide because they are all so cute. I didn't include the lion costume I found but it is super cute too.

You can preview the costumes here:

Hippo

Lil' Devil

Elephant

Monkey

A Parenting Tip

Parenting is hard. What a cliche, but I can't help saying it because it is so freaking true.

Just when I get the hang of something (e.g. diaper changing, 2 am feedings, soothing, bathing, humoring, pacifying, etc.) Baby begins a new developmental milestone.

I just got the hang of bottle feeding him without having a load of puke to clean up while, at the same time, getting all the gas out so he wasn't screaming in abdominal distress for hours when The Book (no, not The Good Book, the baby book I read to teach me how to take care of Baby) and the pediatrician indicated it was time to start solids (and the babysitter, and my mother-in-law, and the lady at the store, and my friends, and my visiting teacher, and my neighbor, and my co-workers, and the Internet, and and and and).

So we did.

And even though every child with a camera-owning parent has pictures like these I've just about lost my patience with food going EVERYWHERE instead of inside the mouth AND down the esophagus.

We are on a time schedule in the morning and Baby doesn't seem aware to that fact. It is imperative that at this feeding we are somewhat efficient because neither of us can afford getting less sleep (i.e. get up earlier) to accommodate such a food fiasco. Part of the problem is that he wants to use the spoon and feed himself. Cool, but also annoying, messy, and slow. Every time I move the spoon toward his mouth he grabs at it with both hands and if he latches on he does not let go at any cost...and the food keeps flying around the kitchen.

I one-upped him though. I decided to hold his hands down with one of my own and fed him with my free hand. This has a 50/50 chance of working since he's good at weaseling and wrestling his hands free and if you know babies once their hands are free from restraint they flail them around crazy-like which causes even more food flying around the kitchen.

I finally caught on. All of you parents out there probably figured this one out long ago but parenting, much to my chagrin, has not come easy to me nor do I have much of that parenting 'common sense' to which all of those books and human resources often refer . Anyway, this morning I gave him a separate spoon to fiddle with while I fed him. He ate his cereal in 10 minutes flat and only had food on his face, neck, hands, arms, bib, and the high chair tray.

And his new favorite food is plums.

Moab

In a previous entry I described unique things about Utah. I failed to mention Moab. I had never been until last week when I attended a conference there. Moab is heaven to outdoor recreationalists.

Five miles north of Moab is Arches National Park (but I didn't know that until I got to Moab). I first went to Arches 10 years ago with some friends. That time we didn't have time to hike to Delicate Arch and so come hell or high water I was going to hike it this time. You know Delicate Arch, it's the one on the Utah license plate. Maybe you don't know that...when I came home and was, what I thought was, bragging to the Utah-Native in my family, Luke, that I had hiked to Delicate Arch he said, "Mmmm," translated to I-Don't-Really-Care. And then a few minutes later said, "Why didn't you hike to the famous one?" (I'm going to remember that for my coming soon Quirks Pt. II post under Luke: Doesn't know famous Utah landmarks even though he has lived here all of his life).

I traveled to the conference with three other W.HS employees, all working in a different unit than me. I am only familiar to two of the three, and them I, as the fact that we all work at the same building. The third and I went to this conference last year together, but with one of my direct co-workers who happens to be a good friend. Last year, this guy was a total buzz-kill (if I drank...although I needed a drink after 5 minutes of interaction). So lame. In fact, he refused to eat meals with us (we are there for three days), talk to us (the drive is 5 hours long), hang out with us out of the conference, or hang out with us during the conference (he sat across the room, alone). But the weird thing is, he totally said hi to me in the office after that conference.

This year, he was equally lame...for totally different reasons. He REFUSED to go to arches. Apparently he has been promoted between this year and last and so he is a supervisor over his team. He exerted his 'authority' by passively aggressively refusing to go. What I mean is he would joke around the subject but wouldn't give a definitive answer and he kept hold of the company vehicle keys. Since he is a supervisor of course nobody wanted to risk insubordination by confronting him or by forming a mutiny.

Like I said, I was going to hike Delicate Arch come hell or high water...

And so I sought out the best therapist I know, who happened to be at the conference, and tattled. She has been working for W.HS for nearly 30 years and she loves hiking and Arches so much she owns a condo in Moab. She is willing to risk insubordination and she told him off, in a therapeutic way. I've been told off in a therapeutic way by her before and it sucks...bad...I watched with smugness as his face fell with submission during her rebuke--it was like watching a gushing waterfall at spring run-off. He not only gave in but changed his attitude from passive-aggressive to sickingly-pleasant.

So we paid the $10 and went to Arches National Park. I had forgotten how breath-taking it is. Despite not being prepared, I hiked 3 miles uphill on slick rock in wooden flip flops with zero traction, with no water, and with no hair tie. Yes I got sweaty, thirsty, and loads of blisters including between my big and index toe, the entire ball of each foot, and on top where the flip flop straps are. It was worth it. I'm just

not sure what made it more worth it--the view or the change in Supervisor's attitude and behavior.

Since I wasn't prepared with my camera I used my phone camera which doesn't give you a great idea of how spectacular this scene really is--but no camera could. If you haven't been to Arches National Park it is definitely worth the off-the-beaten trail to get there. Southern Utah offers much more than Arches including the equally dazzling Bryce Canyon, Goblin Valley, and Hell's Canyon. And the Grand Canyon is only a hop-skip-and-a-jump away.

BTW, Supervisor hasn't said hello to me since! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Recipe of The Month: Garden Corn Salad

A summer treat combining garden flavors I love:

4 cobs of sweet corn
3 scallions, chopped
1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeds removed and cut into quarter inch dice
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed and diced very fine
1/4 c cilantro, roughly chopped
1 lime
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Cut the corn kernels off the cobs and blanch them in boiling water for three minutes (If you want to sweeten up your corn add 1/4 cup of granulated sugar to the boiling water before you blanch the corn). Drain the corn and run under cold tap water to stop the cooking.

Combine the corn, scallions, cucumber, jalapeno, and cilantro in a medium bowl. Squeeze the juice of the lime over the mixture and season with the salt and pepper. Let the mixture sit at room temperature for 20 minutes for the flavors to combine. This is a cold or room temperature salad.

You can leave the chile out or you can add more. Or you use any chile you like/have on hand.

My Garden Corn Salad is really good with anything. I used it as a salsa for tacos last night. But it can be used on top of grilled/sauteed fish, in burritos, as a salsa with tortilla chips, as a relish on a green salad, or as a stand alone side. Enjoy!

Going Granola

You will not believe what I've been up to.

Now that the Olympics are over I have a lot of spare time on my hands. Baby's mood and napping continues to improve that the time I have found myself with has sent me into accomplish-weird-and-strange-things mode.

I have been making baby food.

Living on a farm produces a lot of produce. I figured it would save me $$ if I utilized the goods at my fingertips and made my own baby food. Plus, my garden was ultra fabulous this year and there was no way I could possibly consume 1,000,000 zucchini (that is really not that big of an exaggeration).

So far I have done: plums, green beans, yellow squash, zucchini, and corn. I will also, by the summer's end, do peaches, pears, cantaloupe, carrots, and apples (and maybe apricots).

If your interested boil the desired fruit/vegetable for a really long time--longer than you think. Drain. Puree in a food processor until everything is just about smooth. Sometimes you will need to add 1/4-1/2 cup of water to help maintain a thin texture. Fill ice trays with the puree and place in a freezer until frozen. Pop the frozen puree out and fill a zipper bag and store in the freezer until baby is hungry.

Update on Me Part II

My daddy calls me his boy

My mommy says I'm cute and smart

I like to visit my mommy at work.  I used to get so much therapy before I was born that I've been going through withdrawls!

On my four month checkup my doctor said I was handsome.  He also said I was in the 75th percentile for weight and height.  I turn 5 months Tuesday!

My acid reflux is still really really bad.  But, my mommy has finally figured out how to give me my medicine so I ingest most of it and I spit up none or little of it.  In turn, that has been helping me a lot with my attitude and my sleeping.

Here are some developmental milestones I am doing:

-I now sleep almost 10 hours at night

-I take three naps per day, hopefully totaling five to six hours

-I will nap in my crib now, but I still prefer my swing

-I eat oatmeal because even though I started out liking rice cereal, it was harder on my reflux

-I am able to roll both ways--from my back to my front and from my front to my back--but I usually refuse unless no one is looking.  My mommy has only seen me roll a few times but she has certainly found me in different positions which tells her I do roll.

-I squeal, scream, and holler

-I play with all of my toys.  My new favorite toy is a fabric book that crinkles when I touch it that my Grandma Beth gave me

-I can hold my own bottle for at least five minutes while my mommy washes dishes.  Sometimes I don't want to though, and I just want her to hold me.

-I only cry about an hour per day which is average for a baby my age

-I like to grab my toes and even suck on them when I don't think my mommy is watching

-I like to chew on everything, mostly my fists

-I can spit bubbles and my food

Here are things I really like:

-My mommy, daddy, and kitty Damn (except we're calling her Wu right now because of the Olympics)

-Eating

-My swing

-My toys

-Being outside, I will even forget I am grumpy and hungry and tired

-Being social

-My babysitter

-My babysitter's son (I cry and throw a fit when he doesn't pay attention to me)

-Music and music videos

-Joshua from So You Think You Can Dance

-Kisses

-Funny noises

-My mommy's fake vibrato

-My bath time

-Books, especially those animal ones you can touch the different textures

-Being tickled

-Parties and BBQs

-Attention

-The Olympics, especially volleyball

-Teasing my uncle AJ (My mommy talks for me and tells him that I will be his cheerleader when he is in the NBA--he really hates the idea of me becoming a cheerleader)

-That cheerleader moving, Bring It On

-Texting

-Cell phones and remote controls

-Watching people eat

-My daddy's beard

-Touching people's faces

Here are things I do not like:

-When my mommy and daddy go to work

-Nap time, even though I do it

-Being on my stomach

-My acid reflux

-My mommy ignoring my hollering

-Relief Society, so my mommy is making me try out Elder's Quorum with my daddy

-Going to the dentist with my mommy

-Getting my nose suctioned out

-Having my fingernails cut/filed

-Not being the center of attention

-Doing things I do not want to do

Here are things I am working on:

-Being patient

-Telling what I want nicely

-Having a better attitude when it's nap time

-Being quiet in Relief Society

-Being motivated to roll instead of my intense desire to stand and sit

-Being nice to my babysitter in the afternoons

Shake It

Baby loves music and loves dancing.  As you know, Baby has not been easy.  He didn't grow out of colic until 4 and half months, he was chronically sleep deprived due to acid reflux and sensitivity to stimulation, and he has struggled with constipation.  BUT, every Wednesday evening was different.  We had a standing date in the basement to watch our favorite show, So You Think You Can Dance.  His favorite contestant was Joshua and he NEVER, EVER cried or fussed when Joshua was on stage.  I have videos of him watching but it's hard to see the television and so I included him dancing to one of his favorite songs instead to show you how bright he gets when listening to music.  

He likes all sorts of music.  We start our mornings with CMT while he eats his breakfast.  His favorite songs are Jessica Simpson, Come on Over and Brand Paisely, Waiting on a Woman.  

Radio favorites include anything by Usher, Chris Brown, and Timbaland. He also likes Apologize by One Republic.  Baby's cousin is an avid music lover, I think they will have many things in common!

Baby and Usher

Being a Therapist

I don't talk about some things out of deep respect...so I am left with vague expressions to describe soul-deep mourning.

When in the presence of genuine suffering it is my response to fix it or at least offer comfort. But sometimes it is necessary, therapeutic, to let them suffer. I did that today. I only hope it was worth it.

THEY FIT

For the last two weeks I have risen, on work days, at 5:15 am to work out.  Some days I even worked out twice.  There were no days off, not even Sunday.  All for the goal of fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes.  I'm not the type of person that has to lose weight.  I don't really care how much I weigh as long as I look good in my clothes.  And let me tell you, I didn't look so good in my clothes after Baby came along.  In fact, it was depressing.  Not so much because of my vanity, but because of my pocketbook.  I have spent a lot of time, energy, and money on building my wardrobe and I hate wasting time, I really hate expending energy for no reason, and I REALLY REALLY HATE wasting money. 

It has all paid off, at least almost.  I fit into my tightest pair of jeans today!  Woo-hoo.  I love those jeans.  They are low rise with a flare leg.  They have rips all over and on the back pocket is a stitched rainbow.  They sound ugly by my description but they are all ME.  They make me feel good and they make me look good.  I figure I still have two inches to come off of my waist to make them fit like they did before.  But hey, I can button them and in the female world, that is all that matters.

P.S.  My 16 year-old six pack is returning--I didn't even think that was possible.  You'll have to tune in to see if, when I lose the two inches, I post a picture.  BTW, it's the six-pack I only had as a sixteen year-old.