My New Scentsational Business

Love candles? Then you will love the products I've decided to sell!

I am now a consultant for a new candle company. You can see my website by clicking on the link above. While you're there you can purchase our wonderful products, email me to get on my newsletter mailing list, get more information on hosting a party or becoming a consultant!

Our products are flameless wickless candles - perfect for families with pets and children. Since we do not use flames, our candles are safer than traditional candles. But you're wondering how it is we actually burn them, I'm sure. Well, we do that with a 25 watt light bulb which heats the wax just enough to let off the fragrance but not enough to make it hot enough to burn or evaporate and that means, soot is a thing of the past.

We have several warmers and we have over 80 scents for you to choose from. Our scent bars burn for approximately 50 to 80 hours (about the same as a 12 oz. jar candle) and can be mixed and matched to make other "flavor" combinations! As if that wasn't neat enough, you can swap out flavors with ease.

In my opinion, this is a must-have for any candle-lover with children and pets...and frankly, for any candle lover. The potency of our scents is under your control - put in one, two or three cubes to get teh strength you want.

I simply can not say enough about how wonderful these are - I like them so much I signed up as a consultant within two weeks of learning about them!

And, I must mention, if you're looking for a little extra income then you should definitely talk to me about this one because we're still on the ground floor and there is really great potential for making a great team and a great income stream for yourself.

And now, I have a little boy who is wanting some cuddle time with mom before bed time so I'll have to update you on the rest of what's going on later. I hope you're all doing great!

It Was Wild!

We had Nicholas' birthday celebration this past weekend at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo! The title above says it all - it was one WILD party! :) Nicholas and every one else in attendance thoroughly enjoyed it!

We began our adventure just inside the park where everyone was asked to sign their lives away lest any of the carnivorous animals escape and eat one or more children. Some parents signed while muttering such things as "there are days when I wish a lion would come and eat my child." They were joking...I think. Ha ha!

We then travelled up to the Moose lodge to drop off gifts and cake and ice cream. It was a little odd that they didn't just have someone run the things up I have to admit since, well, we had to turn around and come right back! In this process, we managed to lose my parents so they missed a good deal of the zoo portion of the day, but they got back in time for cake and ice cream...the important stuff you know!

Since I have mentioned the goodies twice now, I think I should give you the skinny on the cake and ice cream we served. They were sooo tasty and I say this not because I made all of them, but because they truly were just yummy, yummy, yummy. And, if you don't believe me, you can ask anyone who attended. ;) I made 3 cakes. One for Nicholas - a mini three-tiered cake with coconut cream frosting and blueberries and raspberries for decorations. And, two for everyone else. One was just like Nicholas' (only just two layers slapped together with frosting and decorated with berries and such) and one has a raspberry filling and a chocolate coating. All three cakes were wheat free (thankfully we do not have to deal with the egg allergy anymore because I tried at first to make them egg free as well...not good) and used coconut flour. I received a lot of compliments even from the zoo staff and that, of course, made me feel all good! The ice cream was also quite tasty - made out of the milk and cream from our little dairy farm we found and some fresh strawberries. We didn't have much left of any of the goodies...except Nicholas' cake, but we'll get there!

So, after dropping off the stuff, we went to enjoy a Meerkat demonstration. Very cool because they knew what was coming when their caretaker came. They were, for lack of a better word, hovering! And then, when they finally got the crickets they were sure were on the way, they were just happy little creatures eating their fill. It was a blast getting to see all of them so active!

After the Meerkats, we headed to the Giraffes where we fed them some crackers. Nicholas wasn't so thrilled with being licked by a big old giraffe tongue, but he had the experience because I made sure to help him hold the cracker so the giraffe could give him a little kiss. I figure after all the slobbery kisses he gives me, I owed him one, right? ;)

We then headed to see the Budgies (parakeets for you non-bird people out there) and on the way our fearless zoo leader, Joy discovered they had a baby Wallaby (a joey of course) out for the little kids to see. She made way for Nicholas and I to get a cute picture with the little guy. I haven't had a chance to review the camera yet (I will...just was working on some other things for his site today) but I'm sure it's adorable! What a special birthday treat! Then we went in to see the birdies. They weren't so keen on coming to say hello, but we enjoyed all the singing anyhow.

Once we were done there, we headed to meet our "animal ambassador" the African Millipede. Pede-y as we'll call him was sleepy. He was pretty much just rolled up and sleeping the whole time. But that's okay...I'm not so excited about bugs and Nicholas could have cared less since it was about that time that he decided he wanted something to drink. Now. So he drank, I touched the nasty bug and then was grateful our other fearless leader, Mallory, offered me some hand sanitizer. And, it was over.

But the party was just beginning...we ventured to the carousel and Nicholas enjoyed his first ride ever on one! At first, he wasn't so sure, I think, but then he decided he loved it! He was kicking and waving and making all sorts of happy noises. It was a blast to watch him so happy. I am so glad we took some video of it!

After the carousel, it was time for cake and ice cream. We got Nicholas set up in his new little attaches to the table hippo chair thingie (which I highly recommend after this experience) and put his cake in front of him, lit the candle, sang happy birthday and I attempted to blow it out. I had to do it three times...guess the lungs were a bit tired after traipsing all over the zoo. I finally succeeded and we waited for the first birthday cake melee that was sure to occur. My son, who apparently takes after his daddy in this area, picked up a blueberry and ate it. Then he picked up a raspberry and ate that. I had to pick a piece of cake off and talk him into trying it. He had a few pieces and played with the frosting, but for the most part, he wanted the fruit. I have to admit I am pretty pleased with this! :) He did get plenty messy (especially since I forgot to put a bib on and then everybody was telling me to just let it go) and I have a rather large raspberry juice stain on his cute "Safari Guide" outfit I bought him. With any luck, Oxyclean will be its match.

We didn't really have a chance to open gifts until we got home and had a BBQ with my parents and a few friends. The little guy really cleaned up in the present category. I have a ton of thank you notes to write for him! He has been having a blast with all of them for the past few days. So, it was, I think a great first birthday celebration overall and now we're already thinking about what we'll do next year. Given how much Nicholas enjoyed his trip to the park on his actual birthday, we're thinking we might just do a little party in the park next year, but we'll see how the year goes and what tickles his fancy!

So that is about it about the party and he and I need to get ready to go walking with his "rent-a-grandma" Nina so I will let you go. I will ask you before I depart to keep my mom in your prayers, though, for healing. She's having surgery in the near future and we're hoping for a speedy recovery.

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!!!

Nicholas, believe it or not, is a year old today. For me, it is both bittersweet and exciting that he's reached this milestone.

(By the way, I kind of jinxed myself with that whole ha ha two posts, thing...didn't I? I'll try to get back on the "wagon" after I manage to get the accounting which is proving to be quite unpleasant and time-consuming done for the business - bah!)

On the bittersweet side, there are, of course, several things I know now that I wish I knew last year at this time. You can probably guess that breastfeeding is one of my regrets to some extent, though I can now hold my head high as one of the mommies who made it to a year and is still going...if only for a few minutes of cuddle time in the morning and evening - it's still something and something many new mothers (and seasoned ones, probably) never get the joy of experiencing. If we have another child, I estimate that I may be a bit psycho about the whole feeding situation until I'm sure I don't need to be, but I do believe I can "do it" and I will give it another good go. At least I am more at peace with all that went on in that arena than I have been. I think that as we continue along with our current relationship, more healing will come for me.

Nicholas celebrated his first important day beginning on Saturday afternoon. We ventured to the great metropolis of Boone, Colorado to visit a dairy farm. If you've heard of me refer to my hometown, Lamar, as a great metropolis, I should tell you that Boone is even smaller...much.much.smaller. It's tiny. Don't blink...you'll miss it tiny. But, they have a dairy there that specializes in raw milk from cows who only eat grass. While there, we toured the facilities and saw some cows being milked and then signed up for a cow share. So we now are the proud owner of part of a Jersey cow and will be getting a gallon of fresh milk each week. This milk is soooo good. I have never had anything like it out of a carton, that is for sure...it reminded me of a lightly sweetened milk shake. Yummo. Of course, most of the milk will go to our dear little Nick, but I can get a little butter out of the deal and maybe so yogurt, too!

After our trip to the farm, we visited with Grandma and Grandpa Allen (my parents) who joined us for dinner at Red Lobster in Pueblo. Nicholas snoozed through most of dinner on Grandpa's shoulder, but he finally woke up and entertained all around with his antics and "uh-oh's". Did I ever get to mention that "Uh-oh" was his first "non-Mama" word? He loves to say it. I didn't realize I said it so much until he started saying it and I started paying attention. I'm thankful that this is one of the words I say often...

On Sunday, we had another adventure at Hillside Gardens here in Colorado Springs. We ventured there to take pictures! I finally found a photographer who was willing to take pictures, give me the rights to them and not charge me an arm and a leg. I think we found a winner, but of course, we do need to see the pictures.

Today, we celebrated by baking some cupcakes with coconut flour in them...they are SO good! Yummo! I'm in the process of baking his birthday party cake right now. The party is next weekend so I will put the layers in the freezer once they have cooled after baking. We also had a visit from Mr. Rick who gave Nicholas a fun little barnyard learning toy to complement his new Winnie the Pooh rock-n-ride vehicle that Mom and Dad gave him. What fun! Not surprisingly, he enjoyed playing with the boxes to both and then decided he wanted to play with Daddy's computer before warming up to the toys - looks like our kid is...normal! :)

For lunch, we ventured a bit north to see Nick's godparents, Buck and Lyndsay and his pal Ridge for a picnic lunch at Foxrun Regional Park where we introduced Nicholas to several nifty things. First, he had a couple of bites of cupcake which he seemed to enjoy...but he seemed to want the strawberries more! Then, we introduced him to swinging...on Daddy and Mommy's lap! He loved that and found the teeter totter amusing. His absolute most favorite thing ever though was going down the slide. That was WAY fun...so much so that when we tried to move him away from it (even if it was temporarily so that we could send him down it again), he threw a wee bit of a fit.

All in all, I think, if he could say a few more words he would tell you he had a rockin' birthday and that he's ready for his party. The bash is going to be at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (my favorite zoo of all time...even over San Diego...really!) and we have some neat activities planned...including, of course, Nicholas' first ever attempt at eating birthday cake unassisted. That should be a kick. I haven't completely decided what kind of filling and frosting I'm going to use in his cake, but I think it is safe to say it is going to be a stunner...and yummy, yummy, yummy! All the kiddies that are invited are sure to love it. To go along with the cake, I'm also going to make some very tasty strawberry ice cream using our new milk. With any luck, the guests will never forget the experience and will have lots of fun stories to tell Nicholas when he's old enough to understand it all! I promise to take lots of pictures to share on his website, too. 

And now, lets see if we can do a massive recap given that I haven’t posted anything for two months. I’m glad you all are an understanding lot! From the Nicholas side of things, we are crusing. We finally learned how to wave bye-bye and we can make the sign for “more” pretty well also. He loves bath time and is not at all pleased when someone (usually me) takes a shower because he thinks he should be getting to splash around in the bath. He’s become quite vocal at meals as far as voicing his approval (he just turns his head when he disapproves) for things that he likes. Mmmmmm! I should really try to get that on video.

Let’s see, what else….he has a lot more hair now….so super cute since it is still a nice red color. He seems to see very well also. He is sleeping through the night…sort of. He and I sleep on the floor (well on a bed of sorts made of blankets and a sleeping bag for him and a massage table for me) in his room now. It’s an odd arrangement, but we needed to try something else to get some sleep. So far, we’ve managed to end middle of the night feedings (unless he misses a feeding during the day) as well. He wakes up and usually snuggles up to me and falls right back to sleep. It isn’t optimal from some standpoints, but it is lovely getting to spend this special time with my boy. When the time seems right to me, I will work on transitioning him to sleeping in his crib through the night with me there and then I’ll move out slowly and return to my own bed…with any luck it won’t be too difficult.

Business-wise, we’re making headway. Mark did a business-to-business expo on Thursday which we believe will bring in a good number of new patients. We were showing them with before and after pictures taken on the spot what sort of a change Mark could make with just a couple of small adjustments. I’ve been working on the accounting and have taken over a miniscule amount of the office manager’s duties since she left this past month. In her place, we decided to hire another doctor to take x-rays and do diagnostic tests. Once he and Mark bring in a good number of new patients, we will be able to give him a raise…hopefully soon since he’s worth it but the budget won’t allow it.

On the home front, we have a new baby in our house thanks to an impulse splurge a couple of weeks ago. No, no…nothing that moves per se….rather we have a new baby grand piano. Thus a dream of mine is fulfilled…and one will be as Nicholas will get to have piano lessons when he gets to be a little older. We probably should have waited to buy it, but from a stress relief standpoint for me, it was worth every penny. Watching Nicholas “bang out” a song or two every day is quite amusing and just being able to play on a real piano after 10 years of trying to play on a keyboard that was missing the lowest octave has proven quite therapeutic for me. I consider it my belated Mother’s Day/You Put Up With The Chiropractic School, SBA Loan and Business Annoyance present….in my opinion, it was well-earned!!

Speaking of babies, now that Nicholas is one, I’m starting to get more and more people asking about whether we’re going to have more children. The truthful answer is I don’t know. My plate is pretty full with Nicholas, the business and what not and I’m not sure that another baby would be prudent. On the emotional side of things, I would love to have at least one more so that I could enjoy the learning curve that comes with the second child. We will weigh the decision carefully and maybe we’ll let you know if another pair of feet are in our future. Ultimately, we just want to do what is best for any and all children we have or may bring into the world.

And with that, I am going to sign off. I hope to be back here again soon….until then, if you haven’t visited Nicholas’ site recently, you may have missed out on several picture additions including those from when he was christened. Go enjoy!

Ha! Ha! Two posts in One Month

Hope you were sitting down when you checked our blog again. :) I must finally be equalizing as far as things I need to do. Maybe I'll get my license plates and drivers license changed before April is over (since I obviously missed doing it by the end of March).

I have actually had a few rather calm days when I felt as though I really should have been running around more. Today I ran around plenty, but I still had time to just hang with my little Nickles (like the coin - one of my favorite nicknames for him at the moment) and even let him take a little nap in the car.

We accomplished a couple of things that have been on my list for a while. We finally got our DVD Recorder off to Panasonic for service. I hope it is fixable...I suppose since it is under warranty it isn't really an issue, but whatever. We also finally made it to Michaels to have Mark's diploma, board test certificates and license framed. How cool, huh? I am quite pleased with the selection I made. He is going to have a very chic and yet understated looking brag wall. I was fortunate in that Michaels is having a 50% off sale right now so I save some big bucks on the framing. It was still expensive though...partially because I opted for a double matte look rather than the single matte look I chose when framing my own certificates...

We had some excitement at the end of the day, too. I helped our office manager break into her car. She'd left her keys in it. Ugh. We all know how annoying that is. We were able to, with the help of a wire hanger I brought back from home, pop her back window open. We had the darndest time trying to get the actual lock to slide over though...it's too bad we don't have video! Mark actually came back just at the right moment and I used his cane to trip it. Hopefully it will help with the whole bonding experience at the office. :)

And then we have a little story about the Nicholas. We have had some really easy getting to bed times these past few nights, but Saturday night was the most amazing. I believe the ease was due to Nicholas being adjusted by a doctor teaching a seminar Mark went to this weekend about correcting the spine. It is some crazy stuff, but it seems to be something I'll benefit greatly from...and Nicholas seems to have already enjoyed some spoils.

So on Saturday this guy adjusted Nicholas. I was about ready to crawl across the table and throttle the guy after the first adjustment. I have never seen anyone do that to a baby (I'm not going to elaborate - you don't want to know). It definitely was not one of those "barely any pressure things). But, that night, I kid you not...I took him out of his car seat sleeping. He didn't even stir (well, he did but for like two seconds and then was back to sleep with no input from me as far as patting shhhing and the like). I took him to our bedroom, lay him on the bed, took off his clothes and dressed him in his jammies and his snuggly sleep sack and he was sleeping through the whole thing. Just to push my luck, I breastfed him and then put him in his crib to go to sleep. He slept...no whining. no startling. nothing!

This is highly irregular, in fact, it's never happened before. EVER. Tonight, I just put him down before coming here to write and I laid him down and again...not a bit of stirring. Oh, and I didnt mention that on Sunday the kid had 6 (!!) bowel movements (and we're talking significant size - even had to change his clothes once) from the time he got up to the time we fed him dinner. Whoa....especially since some of them were not even close to a solid feeding. It was too weird, but ever since his potty has been "fresh" looking rather than, well, not. Very odd and very cool.

As for me, the guy adjusted me, too. Except for the fact that he and I both kind of abdicated responsibility on the last Saturday night adjustment as far as what side I should be adjusted on which lead to my being in a pretty bad state by Sunday morning (and pretty doubtful that the money I was spending sending Mark to the seminar was remotely worth it!). We walked into that classroom very unhappy campers. By the end of the day, though, I was feeling more positive about it...especially since the doctor had the decency to tell me that he had adjusted me on the wrong side and that's why I was feeling so utterly awful. Shortly after he adjusted me again I felt much better. He adjusted me once more that day and then Mark adjusted me again. The doctor estimates that by November of next year, I should be pretty much back to "normal" with my spine. I am hopeful that he won't let me down as many others have in the past. I would love to feel good again and not notice my body...

Well, I will spare you a further novella... I hope everyone is well and will chat at you again soon (it's a little more believeable now when I say this, isn't it?)

10 Months...

Our dear little sprout is 10 months old today and to celebrate, he got up on all fours and crawled! How exciting, huh?

I figured we'd start with that instead of the usual "blah, blah, blah sorry I've not posted" mumbo jumbo you've come to expect with my almost monthly posts. It is my intention (as it always is) to get back into the habit of providing regular updates. Maybe that will happen soon...maybe not. Only the business gods know for sure.

I have been swamped with getting things going with the business. Fun times since I am doing it primarily after normal operating hours and on weekends with Nicholas in tow. Frequently Mark will watch him which is helpful. This week was especially productive since Mark's parents were here to visit for Nicholas' baptism this past weekend and kept watch over him.

The baptism, speaking of which, was so nice. Nicholas was looking quite dapper in his little white tuxedo (there will eventually be pictures to see on his website which I also fully intend to get back up to date - hee hee!). It was a lovely ceremony on Easter Vigil (Saturday night before Easter) at the same church where we were married and where we seem to fit in nicely again despite their split from the Episcopal Church. It's pretty nice to be back in a very conservative church again, I have to admit.

The Easter Vigil ceremony is quite a sight and so it was the perfect time for the baptism. Nicholas once again stole the show (there were two other candidates who hadn't a chance) by getting fussy right as his turn "on stage" came. He started being quite figety, whiny, etc. So, the priest suggested Mark hand him over. As he read the service, Nicholas intently looked at him and thought about how he would steal his glasses. When he wasn't able to find a way, he went for the program. We have video of most of the service (we'd have it all but I had my brother stop recording in the middle to ensure we wouldn't have a problem with battery power when the actual baptism time came!), I can't wait to see it.

Because the ceremony was in the evening, we decided to have the party to celebrate it at lunch that day. We took all the VIPs to Phantom Canyon Brewery for some tasty vittles. For favors, I'd bought some candies to put in some cutie pie bunny easter baskets I found at Williams Sonoma. I had a big basket with Nicholas' name monogrammed on it for him. These were a big hit even if they were quite obnoxious and kept falling over when we tried to set the table up!

Nicholas has 7 official and one honorary (because he couldn't come to the ceremony) godparents. Our friends Kristie and Mark (Kristie sang at our wedding if you were there), Jennifer and Brent, Lyndsay and Buck and Noheilani (who s a rather recent acquaintance but who ADORES her little "Makana" and was a perfect addition to the line up were able to make the ceremony. Keola, unfortunately didn't make it, but is quite thrilled to be "the Godfather." We have quite a line up godparents-wise for Nicholas and we know they will be great role models.

On Easter Sunday we attended church with Kristie, Mark and their daughter Hannah, then we all joined Mark's parents for brunch at MacKensie's Chop House downtown. It was pretty tasty with all sorts of delectables including shrimp, crab legs, prime rib, ham and lots of other goodies.

Business-wise we are doing pretty well. Mark held down the fort without the retiring doctor for an entire week. About a 1/3 of the normal volume of patients showed up, but we were pleased with that as we know people get very attached to their doctors! Since that week, he's been the only doctor in the office on Wednesday and seems to be doing pretty well at getting a few people in to see him. :) He's slowly building a new patient base and should see an explosion here soon since he's joined a business networking group, the chamber and has been courting several area businesses.

We finally also have a somewhat liveable upstairs. We just need mt parents to come get their couch. :)

Other than that, we have been keeping up with our cutie pie Nick. We've begun introducing him to finger foods and he's loving them. So far we've made a hit with oat cereal (not cheerios, but similar), raisins (today), peas and pear chunks. He's a good little eater and seems to chew well before swallowing!

Other tricks he's got up his sleeves now including clapping and sometimes making the sign for Milk. Sometimes, I think he is waving though! He's grown enought that he's starting to transition into 9/12 month clothing and he has a lot of it. I went a bit nuts at a Macy's sale on MLK, Jr. day and he's pretty much not hurting for clothes for a while!

Other than that, I am toying with the idea of getting into children's photography. I say toying because I'm not quite ready to commit to taking photos of anyone but Nicholas. Part of what's bring the idea to the forefront is my dear MIL who thinks I'd be awesome at it and part of it comes from the fact that I am not having much luck finding a photographer here who does what I want for the price I want. I'm finding it almost amazing that if I want something close to what the photographer I used in the Bay Area offers, I have to pay more than double her cost! I guess it must be a supply and demand thing since the supply of photographers out there is much higher than that here. Who knows, though. One thing is handy - if I decided to do it, I have a pretty nice logo and website graphics designed that could probably be modified ever so slightly to make it work. Of course, the trademark wouldn't be of much use...

And then, I toy every so often with the idea of wedding or event planning here. I've come across so many photographers that are lamenting the lack of good wedding planners they can refer to brides who book with them. I even met one couple who was planning to introduce discounts for brides who had one. I probably would like it out here better, I'm guessing, buuut, I'm not even going to THINK about doing anything of that sort (or if I did, of advertising or whathave you) until Mark's business is up and running fabulously...if for no other reason than I promised the SBA when we applied for our loan. :)

I guess that will do for today. Perhaps I will make it back here before another month has passed. Until then, have a great time!

It's Over. (I Hope)

I have good news and bad news. We'll start with the bad news first - little Nicholas is sick. We picked up something somewhere and despite our best efforts he is now sporting a nice little fever and has tossed his cookies twice. My poor baby! I can now add being vommited on to my list of things I never imagined I could handle with grace. :)

I think the sickies are the result of WAY too much stress for our family. What with moving, trying to getting Mark working and other "stuff" has put a few chinks in our armor. Thankfully, we finally got to check one stressor off our list today - we FINALLY got to close on the business. It is ours! Lord help us....we probably are going to need it!

Yes, Dr. Rocco now has a place to hang his hat. How exciting, huh? Things finally worked out and tomorrow morning he'll begin his quest for chiropractic excellence and bringing wellness to every person he can get his hands on. ;) Please keep us in your prayers.

In other news, we are not yet moved in. We still have a POD sitting in our driveway and we're kind of stuck until we are able to get some help moving the big things out of it. This is tricky since a lot of things we might find useful are hiding behind the big things. But then again, we haven't even had a chance to put a lot of the small PODS contents away so maybe it's better that we can't move more boxes into the garage, eh?

Obviously, being sick has slowed us down somewhat with respect to the "moving in" process, but we have also been playing hooky a bit since we were able. We ventured up to Frisco, Colorado, this past weekend to visit with Mark's cousins Dan and Jimmy. It was so nice to meet them and for Mark to see them again as it had been quite sometime since the three of them were together. They and Julianna, Dan's sweet girlfriend, all enjoyed time with Nicholas and Nicholas just really took to all three of them (Dan will tell you he's the favorite of the three if you ask, though). I have some adorable pictures that I'll be putting up on his site as soon as I can get around to it.

And, that is another piece of good news that came out of the combination of being sick and being in Frisco - I've managed to add a ton of new pictures to Nicholas's website. We are caught up through Christmas with the little guy now except for the professional pictures we took at Christmas time, but we'll get those up very soon as well, I hope. That reminds me that I need to find a good kiddie photographer out here in Colorado as we are approaching Nick's 9 month birthday!

Let's see, other than that, I can't really think of anything important that I haven't mentioned so I suppose I'll be scooting out of here to go heat up some yummy soup that Nick's Auntie Noheilani (she calls him Makana...and I'm starting to pick up the habit!) made to help us all heal up fast. We have to send a big Mahalo (thank you!) to her and Mark's Dad for all their help in getting this business purchase through. :)

Has It Really Been That Long?

It doesn't seem like it's been nearly a month since I last came around the old blog, but I guess it has! Things have been CRAZY here so I guess I'm not totally surprised. What a whirlwind we're living in. With any luck it is coming to an end...

So, since we last touched base, we have pretty much gotten everything in line as far as the business. Unless by some bizarre occurence, we will be closing on the practice on February 1. Mark already has his name on the door...how neat is that? And, he's receiving his 1st paycheck on Friday of this week. A whole $10. Woo! We decided to pay him a small amount to take advantage of a special the bank was running on their payroll service. By making this one payment, we'll be saving $40. Not too shabby. :)

In other news, we are now officially back in Colorado after a horrid week of moving last week. It was awful, but we made it through it....with 1 1/2 PODS. We could't get everything into one. If you ask Mark, it is because we have too much stuff and need to get rid of some. If you ask me, it is because we have a baby and because I wasn't really given anytime to sort through what we had and get rid of things. I wasn't even able to take what I did have to donate to goodwill...I had to get a friend to volunteer for it!

With respect to our house, the good news is that we actually found some renters for it. They're probably going to be moving in toward the end of February. I was able to meet with the husband of the family and he seemed quite nice...he's actually a vice principal at a school in the area. I hope they like our home...if so, they plan to do a lease option and with any luck eventually buy it. That would be lovely.

As far as the news that everybody really wants (hee hee!), Nicholas is doing just fine. He's 8 months old now and just as much of a doll as ever though he has learned how to throw a fit. He's just not at all fond of wearing hats. He has a total of 7 teeth popping through at this point. Thankfully he's gotten used to all of them again and so he isn't gnawing on me. I don't like that much and it seems to happen every time he gets a new tooth.

Let's see, he's also sitting up on his own which makes him quite a bit of fun...especially at bath time. I'm still taking baths with him for safety's sake, but he's close to getting to be in the tub by himself...I'm just looking for a bit more stability. He's really come to love bath time....he loves to splash and kick and just smiles and smiles all the while he's doing it! He is also scooting around now. He looks sort of like an army guy scuttling along on his tummy especially when he has his one "dead" leg. Too funny! Finally, he seems to have discovered his feet...I always thought that happened a little sooner, but whatever.

Eating wise, he's still getting formula, breastmilk and he's been trying new little goodies in jars. I'd always planned to make all his food, but so far it's been a bust. Every time I try the consistency is too chunky and I end up pulling out a jar of something. I'll give it a try again soon I'm sure since he's getting into the land of "normal" food. We started trying meat out on him a few days ago and he seems to be quite happy with it, but then, he's pretty easy to talk into trying things as long as apples or pears are mixed in and it happened to be Chicken Apple. I just bought him a bunch of other goodies to try this evening.

Allergy-wise, we're still combating combinations with formula and what not right now. We seem to have cleared prunes and squash with formula, but we tried feeding him those in California and he was just a bit too stressed out with all the moving. His tummy was mighty upset and sending back everything including apples and pears. Thankfully he's feeling better now that we're at my brother's house, but I worry about how he'll do when we move into our new house at the end of the week...if we actually do.

It will be available, but we have the family timeshare this weekend in Frisco so we're probably going to enjoy some time away. I need it! I have been overworked and up to now quite underpaid for my services. Dr. Rocco totally owes me! ;)

Sleep-wise, Nicholas seems to do okay. We still have one night waking which I have grown weary of. We kept it up for a while there so that I could keep my milk supply up, but we need to get rid of it. Unfortunately, with Nicholas being so agitated with all the changes and what not, it just isn't the best time. So, we'll have to wait until we get settled into our new dwelling and then we'll have to endure a few very long nights, no doubt, as we refrain from giving him the breast or bottle when he awakes. We're going to need some serious patience for that activity I'm guessing.

I suppose that is it for now. The only other thing going on per se is that I've been contemplating maybe starting a new little business venture here in Colorado. I'm not sure what it would be. I'm not sure I really want to do wedding or event planning, but it's always a consideration. I really don't have time to focus on that right now anyway given my responsibilities to Nicholas and to Mark's business. I think the entrepreneur in me longs to give something a go, though, so I'm thinking on it. At least this time, hopefully, I will be able to do it in a way that I won't look back on it and realize that it was a "very expensive bout of therapy" like I do when I think about the wedding business.

Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of things and post a little more frequently now that things should be dying down a little!

Happy New Year!!!

In our little corner of the world, New Year's Day isn't quite yet over so Happy New Year to you! Sorry I didn't make it here to wish you all a Merry Christmas, but I'm sure you know I was thinking about you all that day, too!

There has been a flurry of activity around here since I last wrote. For one, the practice purchase is becoming more and more of a reality...despite a quick blip there where it looked like everything was going to h-e-double hockey sticks in a hand basket. We've received approval from the SBA for the loan, have an agreed upon price (this was where we had a problem for a bit there) and have received the good doctor's terms as far as the loan he'll give us for the remaining balance of the purchase price. Wow! We're hoping that Mark will be working by the beginning of February and making things happen!

By the way, I am typing this in Colorado...we're not here for good yet. We're just visiting for the holidays and to get things set up as far as the business and our housing situation. Speaking of the last one - we think we've found the perfect location to live. It is less than a mile from Mark's office and is right by a Safeway and a Target. It has 5 bedrooms, 2 baths and is very nice based upon our viewing today. The owners seem like very nice people and are looking to sell it sometime soon so we're hoping to maybe set up some sort of lease to buy situation. We figure if we later decided we wanted another home, we could conceivably rent this one and buy some other home for us. We're going to call and start the application and negotiation process tomorrow.

As for the holidays, today was not terribly exciting (nor was last night as we were in bed by around 10ish, I think - I'm not sure as I have a cold and am not quite 'with it') other than the house scoping and meeting up with a friend for dinner at Giuseppe's (yummo!). Nicholas, too, is under the weather with his very first cold...the poor dear. We're pretty sure he picked something up during our visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house. He's really been quite a trooper, but I've had to deal with way too many loose stools and resulting diaper leaks and explosions for my liking. I think he's starting to feel better, as I am, but we'll just have to see what happens tomorrow!

Other than the cold, he's doing great. He's just about had his 5th tooth break through (uppper right next to front if that makes sense). I'm expecting it to be official in just a day or so more. He is up to about 17 pounds and 29 inches now...almost time for a new car seat! We scoped those out the other day at Babies R Us. We're leaning toward the Britax Boulevard...

As for Christmas, it was really nice getting to spend it with my parents. It was a good one for Nick's first as well. Santa was quite good to him and brought him a Christmas tree of his very own for when I finally realize my dream of having a Christmas tree in every room of the house at Christmas time. He gets to decorate his however he'd like with no OCD allowed from Mommy. hee hee. He received some ornaments to get him started as well. He also recieved a neat little doggie towel, some books, a blankie, clothes, ornaments for his tree and so much more. He, of course, wasn't completely aware of what was going on, but he thought the red shiny paper was pretty neat.

On Christmas Eve we took him to the church I attended while growing up for the service. It was so much fun getting to show him off to all the people there. They loved him and he definitely stole the show...especially when he was fake coughing and chatting during the sermon. It was too cute. He loved all the singing and the attention he was showered with...the little ham!

As far as future plans, we're currently thinking we'll return to the Bay Area on Jan. 7 and get things wrapped up as far as packing and what not. Then we'll head out around the 15th or so. We're contemplating maybe having my brother drive the car out and just flying here again...we're not sure. But at least things are looking up and good and we'll be getting to get our lives in order again soon.

Well, that is it for now. I suppose I've forgotten something, but hopefully not!

Graduation Weekend

We're heading into a very busy weekend here in the Rocco household. For that matter, it's likely to be a very busy couple of weeks what with finishing up packing, moving and the like.

Saturday is the big day that Mark walks across the stage and gets to be called "Doctor Rocco," though, technically he is already. They just only have two ceremonies per year and so he has had to wait a few months to do the ceremony thing. We have all sorts of visitors planned for that big day - Mark's Uncle Timmy just arrived tonight and of course his parents and brother will be along as well. It should be a pretty fun weekend.

Speaking of fun weekends, my birthday weekend was also quite nice. We thoroughly enjoyed our little B&B tour in Napa. I totally overindulged....way too much sugar and way too much wheat. I was not feeling so hot the next day at all, but it was worth the experience. Our inn that we stayed in was very nice as well...even if there was a mix up as far as which room we were supposed to be in. As luck would have it, I liked the Winter room which we ended up in better than the Autumn room anyhow! :) Here are a few pictures of the room:





Isn't it nice? It was quite a joy to stay in. I was really glad I'd taken a picture of the bed when we first went up...when we returned after a quick bite to eat the bed had already been turned down.

As for the little tour, it was so neat. It was almost like a little progressive dinner party except there were only appetizers and desserts. It's actually like a kind of party I've always sort of wanted to set up...maybe once we're back to Colorado Springs I'll see if a bunch of our friends would be interested in a fun little tour of our houses at Christmas or something. Anyhoo, probably my favorite house on the tour was the Cedar Gables, but then, that is because the innkeeper there was dressed up as Santa Claus and took a nice little picture with Nicholas. It's the cutest picture ever...and sooner or later, it will be in the 7th Month group of photos on his website. Of course, I have to get the 6th month photos up there first!

We had so many goodies and yummy appetizers. I really appreciated that one of the inns even gave us the recipes for what they served. This was the Old World Inn which is run by chefs. They had some wonderful croissants there that made me happy as a clam. Wine-wise, I had a sip or two here and there of wines Mark tried. Since we decided against using the limo/shuttle transportation provided to tour-goers so that we could ensure Nick's safety in his car seat and because I'm still nursing him, I went easy on the vino. We had a lot of really yummy ones. Mark's favorite typically hails from the area of France where I spent some time back in college, too. Isn't that spiffy?

Nicholas really enjoyed the tour himself. He had all sorts of people fawning over him. We even had the good fortune to have some people take some pictures of us. Following the no Nicholas pictures without a pass rule, here's one that was taken of us while some nice ladies cooed over him. :)


Other than that, Nicholas has been doing great, too. We finished up his formula treatments and we have really noticed a great change in how he's been doing (yea!). He actually is able to pass a lot of his own gas which is refreshing (well, you know what I mean). We still have to help him out sometimes, but not super often. We've tried to introduce some other foods as well, but we're not having much luck allergy-wise. It seems that Nicholas' body doesn't seem to like most foods as of yet. One of the strange parts is that we have tested him on every food we've tried at the grocery store and he'll test okay, but then after we feed him the stuff his body "changes" it's mind.

We get some pretty decent indicators when he's eaten something his body doesn't like - the most prevelant one is that the food doesn't stay down very well. This is quite frustrating for everyone. For me, it is on a few levels...not only do I want the little guy to be properly fed, but I also just really am not a fan of trying to get the stains of out his clothing.

And, that, I guess, is the update for tonight since Mark and his Uncle Timmy who joined us this evening are chatting and I'm going to be social!

Thanksgiving, etc.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday. Nick's first Thanksgiving was quite pleasant...even if he didn't get any turkey! :) He dined on plums, pears and apples instead. I don't think he minded much....

At any rate, we spent our holiday at our friend Jeff's parents' house. It was so nice to actually be around a family again. Not since we've moved here have we been invited anywhere for Thanksgiving so this was a special treat!

It was actually quite interesting to be at another family's house for the holiday and see the differences between their celebration and my family's. I was surprised that there were no sweet potatoes or even mashed potatoes on the menu. Instead they served carrot souffle. The other thing that caught my eye was that they put sausage in their stuffing which I really liked. I may have to see if I can find a similar recipe (or here's an idea - ask them for theirs!).

We brought along a little gluten free dessert to share with everyone and it seemed to go over well. I made a maple pecan cake with coconut flour and then turned it into a trifle with caramel flavored pudding and pecans. It was really quite tasty after it had time to sit and meld...

Other than that, things have been going pretty well. We had someone come look at our house today (which wasn't so fun since it was messy, but oh well) and we also had an adventure in the "locking ourselves out" category which we so often venture into. This was one of the easier times since we just called the realtor and they came and let us in, but it was still frustrating that we missed grabbing keys or a gate opener or something.

We also had lunch at Red Robin today. That was fun especially since my burger was free. If you like Red Robin, you should sign yourself up for their email list because they send you a coupon for a free burger on your birthday. Mine technically isn't until Saturday, but a pre-birthday burger was just fine. :) Other restaurants do similar things (Sweet Tomatoes is one) so if you have a favorite, see if you might benefit from signing up.

So, yes my birthday is quickly approaching and I am really looking forward to it. I already know what my present is. :) We're going up to Napa to tour the historical bed and breakfasts up there and we're going to stay at one of them them, too. The place where we'll be laying our head is called The Inn on Randolph, I believe. We're going to be staying in the Autumn room. I just love staying in bed and breakfast rooms.

I can't possibly wrap this up without mentioning that Nicholas turned 6 months old on Monday. Hard to believe isn't it? He's such a big boy - a real little person now. :) We had pictures taken on Wednesday which hopefully will be done in time for our Christmas cards (which may not go out until January the way things are going!). We should have some really cute shots.

This evening, Nicholas and I tried out the sippy cup again. He really liked it....couldn't stop smiling. Naturally, he ended up with more liquid on his person than in his belly, but that is okay. Speaking of liquids, tonight we did what will hopefully be his last formula treatment allergy-wise. It seems to have really helped with his gas problems. He still has attacks but they are much better than before. If this one is all cleared, we'll be heading on to the rest of the basic fifteen treatments for him and then we'll start treating individual foods. He's creating quite a list of things his body isn't fond of (though he seems to like pretty much everything!).

Well, dinner is done (Mark was a sweetie and cooked tonight) and so I'm off for some sustenance. Enjoy your weekend!

Nick Notes

I have been trying to get here when Nicholas does something noteworthy more often. I hope you've noticed. :)

At any rate, I have a couple of cute things to share today. First, I have to tell you the little guy is now a big fan of sweet potatoes, apples and pears. We tried pears out yesterday and they were quite enjoyable it seems. :)

Eating pretty much is the cute-factor catalyst for the latest nifty Nicholas moments. He's begun singing, if you will, for his supper. I must get this on video. It is too cute. He gets a bite, he finishes it and then he opens his mouth and "sings" (I can't really figure out another way to describe it) until another bite comes in. He also holds his hands "just so" (I'm reminded of the cute diaper only picture on his website where he's looking all prim and proper) and in general doesn't end up very messy at all after meals anymore. He learns quick!

In addition to this today he added a funny face to the eating routine. I first noticed this new face yestereday. He sort of puckers up his lips, squints his eyes and blows air in and out very quickly (I also must video tape this!) I could help but laugh and now he's doing it when he takes a bite sometimes. Thankfully, food doesn't seem to go splattering out of his mouth when he does this. ;)

We had our first feeding in the car, by the way, today. We were in the middle of an avoidance period for his NAET treatment and so we gave him his pears then. He did such an awesome job...there was very little mess when we were all through (I have to admit I was very scared that there would be!).

The last bit of amusement that my dear little son created was at lunch today. Since we were out and about trying to avoid the house while the realtor showed it off (we had 2 people visit - buy it one of you, please!), we dined at Sweet Tomatoes. Nicholas, since we'd just fed him a little bit before, was absolutely wonderful and happy through most of the meal, but for some reason he got very upset and we couldn't calm him down at the table (we thought it was gas at first and then we thought maybe he wanted my soup, but decided that wasn't it). So, I took him to the restroom to change his diaper thinking that might be the issue. Strangely, he calmed down when we got to the bathroom before I even changed him and he remained calm until....we came back to the table. Almost without missing a beat he was crying and carrying on. And, then I saw it...the cause of the crying - my glass of water.

You see, when we were in Buena Park (where Knott's is), I had a tiny smidgen of apple juice left in my glass and I let Nicholas make an attempt at drinking some. He's been hooked on drinking from glasses ever since. I usually have just water and he's perfectly okay with that...but he's not okay with me not sharing. As soon as I realized he wanted a drink, I helped him get a few sips and he was perfectly content. What a cutie!

Hopefully I'll get another quick update out again soon. Until then, have a great week and a great Turkey Day if I don't make it back before then!

Nicely Outfitted

Nicholas' wardrobe has increased in size again. This is probably good since he's getting close to moving into a new size also. He's starting to approach the 6/9 mark. He's hit in in many cases height-wise, but the waist is still too loose on most things (in fact, I still have some 3/6 pants that are too big for the little guy!).

At any rate, last weekend, I took advantage of a sale at Gymboree (one of my favorite stores) and got him a couple of nice holiday outfits and quite a few other things. Then, because they didn't have all that I wanted to get for him, I ordered the remaining pieces online. They're pretty reasonable shipping-wise so I don't mind getting clothes from them in that manner (as long as I've had a chance to check them out in-store first).

As luck would have it, Nicholas actually will have one more bodysuit than planned when all is said and done because they made a mistake with the order. I called them to see how to make an exchange in such circumstances and they told me just to keep the extra. I love companies when they do stuff like that. :) So, all in all, I'm thrilled with the way things went.

The shopping spree on Sunday, by the way, was with my friend Lisa. I haven't hung out with her for quite some time so it was awesome to get to see her. She was quite a helpful shopping buddy, too. :) I drug her to my other favorite store as well...the one I rarely buy stuff from because I feel a little odd spending the kind of money they're seeking (until they've had some serious sale markdowns!) on clothes that Nicholas will go to the bathroom in, spill food on (especially now with the solids!) and spit up on. Maybe once Mark is doing really really well, it won't bug me, but I think I'll probably still go for the sale stuff and use the extra for college savings, cool toys, etc...

At any rate, the store I went on and on about is called Janie and Jack. It's actually a subsidiary of Gymboree. Did I ever mention that I interviewed with them before? That was quite some time ago. I wasn't so into them then...funny how things change when the product a company sells actually is one you need in some way. Ha! I am full of tangents tonight. Anyhoo, I found a couple of really nice pairs of shorts for Nicholas there for under $15 total. I was quite thrilled. :)

Allergy-wise, we've been just going to town here. Mark is through the first 4 of the first 15 and I am on my redo of the 2nd after having cleared my allergy to Pixie. :) We're a little less than pleased to discover that on many of these I was weak..given that we already had them treated and I'd passed, but we've also discovered that the lady who was treating me also cheated by not doing all of the first 15 treatments. She only did the ones that showed up positive but by doing so she may have lessened the effectiveness of the treatments as a whole. Oh well..we're fixing it now.

As for Nicholas, we've started with him as well. He is finished with the Egg Mix treatment and has moved onto calcium mix which is tricky given that his formula is something he's not supposed to be eating while being treated. We're probably going to have to do extra treatments since we can't really avoid it completely. Hopefully this one will help the formula be a little less grumpy to his tummy.

By the way, if you're curious about the technique we're using to eliminate our allergies, have a look at www.naet.com. It's pretty nifty stuff!

Tidbits

I figured I would stop by and give the latest scoop on Nicholas' eating habits. He's been devouring rice cereal like there's no tomorrow. He loves the stuff...and frequently is quite displeased when the bowl has nothing left to offer him. We may be eaten out of house and home before the little tyke is a teenager.

Last night, though, he discovered something much better (though my taste buds disagree) than rice cereal - sweet potatoes. He liked them so much that he devoured an entire jar. (!) The only problem with that is that he'd had formula beforehand and the latent bubbles it caused led to several sweet potato spit ups. Yuck.

This would be why we usually try not to do formula and baby food in the same feeding, but he was famished last night and we broke the rules...and then paid the price! Part of the reason he was so hungry is that Mommy and Daddy's curiosity finally got the best of them last night.

We've been practicing the allergy elimination technique Mark learned at last weekend's seminar on each other (yes, I have been treating Mark...and somewhat successfully, I might add - isn't that neat?). Since sometime toward the end of last week, Nicholas has had a rash on his chin and cheeks that at first I thought was due to the dry air down south but it hasn't gone away so I started contemplating that he's allergic to something. Joy.

Since we were supposed to be moving on from rice cereal to some other solid food, I decided I wanted to first test the rice cereal as I suspected he might be allergic to it. Believe it or not, he is...just slightly, but it explains the rash. We need to do one treatment to clear it...not too bad. We continued on to see what we could feed him last night without causing any additional problems. Tests on peas, carrots and bananas yielded unpleasant results, but he only needs a treatment or two on each of those as well.

Then, of course, we decided it was high time we test our belief that the formula stuff is just not a substance his body is into. Preliminary tests show that he's so allergic to the stuff that he's going to need sixteen (16!!) treatments to clear the allergy. This technique is a little crazy and puts you in connection with the patient's subconcious (really, I've done it on Mark...and he's done it on me!) and so you can actually ask what it is in something that is causing the problem. Surprise, surprise, soy and dairy both came back positive. At any rate, we're going to start treating Nicholas today for the basic 15 (you treat these first on everyone). I am hoping we can make some leaps and bounds toward helping the little guy finally feel better! Oh, and by the way, we also tested breastmilk I'd expressed from two different days and whether he was allergic to either of us (yeah, weird, I know). Thankfully, all of these were fine by him. I can't imagine how disturbing it would have been if any of these would have been a problem!

With respect to the two of us, we're also having some success with our treatments. I've been treating Mark for his previoulsy unknown egg mix allergy (the mix contains egg whites, yolks, chicken, tetracycline and feathers) and although I'm not as good as the lady who was helping me we've decreased the number of times he needs to be treated and the distance he needs to be from the substances being treated. Go me. Mark's been working on my allergy to animals (including our cat Pixie which has been fun) and has also made some progress. The animal allergy is a big one for me that I didn't actually notice until we cleared out a lot of the others. I was a little surprised when I finally figured out what the cause was. We're making progress, but it's going to take a while...much to Pixie's chagrin since I don't pet her as often now that she makes my nose itch and run.

In other news, Mark is now a licensed doctor! His license was waiting for us when we got home from L.A. Now we just need that loan to go through and we'll be set! That's coming along...probably another month or so before we are finished with that process.

As for the house sale, it's just not going as we'd hoped. Despite dropping our price by $50,000 (yes, $50K!!!), we haven't had any offers and really not much interest for that matter. It's probably just the time of year, but it's annoying none the less. We're probably going to rent the place out at a loss until we can find a buyer...but it's still up in the air. We have another open house this weekend and hopefully that will bring some good news.

We'll keep you updated.

And How Could I Forget That?!

I started to write this post on Sunday but didn't have a chance to finish it I assume because Nick was having "a day." I can't actually remember why to tell you the truth.

The reason for my post was that I had totally spaced telling you that Nicholas ventured into solids...and loved them. Here I was thinking he wasn't ready and he practically grabbed the spoonful of rice cereal out of my hand and shoved it into his. Huh. Well, okay then! He's been eating it for a while now and seems to be doing great...if anything, our only problem is that I can't seem to get the spoon to his mouth fast enough. :)

As far as our little adventure to L.A., I did end up returning to Knott's but not that same night. I discovered that you can get a "shopper's pass" and go in for 45 minutes to get everything done. You just have to buy a full-priced ticket and then when you make it out in time, they refund your money. Perhaps the most amusing part of the deal is that they stamp "shopper" on your hand when you go in. So, yep, it's official...I have been branded as a shopper. Ha ha!

At any rate, I bought a little outfit for Nick, some snoopy lovees and a couple of tops for me. One of the tops I bought because I was dressed entirely too warmly. Can't say that I was all that sad to buy another top, though. ;) Oh, and I also got some copies of the professional photos with Snoopy and Peppermint Patty. I was a happy camper!

Mark also really was pleased with his seminar. It looks like this could be a very profitable part of his business. He now has all the training and implements to start treating me which is good because it seems that I need another treatment on a few of the items. Eggs and wheat still seem to be problematic, for example...a point which was reinforced multiple times during meals while we were out and about.

Once we were done with his seminar, we headed to Barstow to visit my Uncle Max. We stayed with him until yesterday (Wednesday) when we returned home. It was a nice visit though we didn't do a whole lot. We did make a trip to Ontario where we visited the mall and Babies R Us but that is about it other than various trips out for meals!

It is nice to be home again (even if Pixie is neurotically meowing at all hours). Hopefully we'll be calling another place home soon. We're scheduled (again) to have our moving container come at the end of this month, but who knows if it will happen or not. We're basically working on a either the house needs to sell or the business loan needs to go through basis as our trigger to move. I hope it happens before Christmas...

A Berry Good Day

Nicholas and I had a great day today. While Daddy was at a seminar learning how to do the allergy technique that has helped me enjoy several foods I previously couldn't without rather unpleasant results, Nicholas and I had a nice visit with Snoopy and Peppermint Patty at Knott's Berry Farm. I will eventually post the cute picture we took with the two of them on his website.

It's safe to say that now poor little Nicholas is wiped out. So, we'll see if we're able to go back this evening with Daddy which was the plan. I surely hope we are since there was a cute outfit for Nick I couldn't decide upon, as well as a cute one for our neighbor Cassie (a cute little bundle that came a couple of months after Nicholas) and I suppose I should be honest and say there was a shirt I was eyeing for myself as well. ;) And, there were also the professional shots they took of Nick with Snoopy and Patty...which I'm not sure I want, but I'd at least like to have the option of checking them out!

We didn't actually ride any rides. At one point, we were going to go on the Carousel, but Nick needed his diaper changed and we never really made it back there. Perhaps if he'll allow us to go back tonight, we'll do so and we'll catch a couple of others, too. We did go to a cute little show where Charlie Brown was the captain of a pirate ship. Nicholas really liked the songs...and during the play, Snoopy came over and said hi to Nick. This is what ultimately prompted me to get his picture taken. It's his first visit and Snoopy came to see him...had to commemorate that!

Oh, and I started a little tradition for the little guy, too. I've always thought those little penny things you can make at various theme parks were pretty neat, but I've never gotten one...I decided though, that Nick might find them nifty when he gets older so I started him off with one there. In honor of his namesake, we went with the Christmas-themed one. :)

Other than that, we've been busy bees at home working on a business plan for Mark and such. We finally got the first draft done and we've done a lot of other things for the loan he's trying to get to buy the practice he's found in Colorado. Hopefully it will all come together soon. :)

Home-sale wise, we're still waiting. There was supposed to be an open house today. Our first since we dropped our price (gulp) $50K. We decided we'd just drop the price and take a small gain rather than have to keep making payments on a place we weren't living in any more. So, hopefully something will happen soon.

And then, of course, Halloween gave us some amusement! Nicholas, for those who are wondering, was a peacock for Halloween (pictures will be on his site when I have time to get them there). Feedback was AWESOME re the costume! So many people were just taken aback...as a first time Mommy that is just what I wanted - a huge wow factor. So, I'm happy. :) He was the cutest little peacock ever, too...except when he got really tired and started screaming. That wasn't so cute, but oh well. We showed him off at the college for their trick or treat street. :)

And, with that, we'll wrap this up. I need to take a walk (I put Nick down to sleep in his stroller so I wouldn't have to wake him) to go get Mark so we can discuss whether we want to go do more Knotty things. Ha ha. I'd really like to go if little man will cooperate. :) I hope you all are doing well!

And, don't forget to set your clocks back....

Long Lost Update

Sometimes you have every intention in the world of doing something. Then life gets in the way. That's my excuse for why I never got an update out to you - life. :)

It has been super busy as of late as you can no doubt imagine. And, thanks to some recent developments, I can finally be open and frank about a lot of things I've been skirting around so we'll just jump right in to what promises to be a post that resembles a novel (but then, my posts often do, don't they!)

First, we'll start with Mark since he's been the center of a lot of activity lately. He's a doctor without a license as of yet, but hopefully that will all change with a good set of test scores tomorrow on those Part III exams he took in September. He's been a busy little beaver working to find himself a "home" once he has that special piece of paper (his license - we have the diploma in our possession!). He found a practice in July and we visited it and now, finally, several months later, it looks like it is still a great opportunity. It is centrally located in Colorado Springs which is just perfect and it is what he's always wanted - a practice with multiple disciplines. Whether it be chiropractic, sports rehabilitation, or massage (and other stuff), this practice has it. We're currently investigating funding options since we've had an appraisal and the doctor is willing to go with the appraised value as the price. I'll provide more details as time goes along...

In other Mark news, he should also be getting his guide dog when we are established in Colorado. He's received notification from a training school in New York that they'll send a trainer and a dog to work with him once we know where we'll be living, etc. So, there's another positive thing.

As far as living arrangements go, we'll be renting for the first few months so that we can find a house that we are pleased with and that meets our needs near his office. The idea is to get something relatively close such that he can walk to and from work. We have quite a few options since the housing market in Colorado Springs is simply not the best.

Speaking of houses, ours here in California is on the market. Much as I feared when we first purchased our home, the market here has also slowed and so we're not seeing a lot of activity at this point. We're keeping our options open, whether they be reducing the price or renting it out - whatever way we go, we're pretty likely to come out ahead in the venture.

With respect to me, I'm still at home with Nicholas. My doctor has been keeping tabs on me and didn't think it best to send me back to my job when the time came and so he's extended my maternity leave. Since I have always really wanted to stay at home with Nicholas, it was an answered prayer in a sense. Thankfully it hasn't been a detriment financially since in California we do receive disability pay while we're out after having a baby as long as our doctor feels we need to be and can provide reasoning behind his decision.

Because the doctor didn't give any indication as to when he'd release me to work, I was actually let go by my accounting firm. That was a little uncomfortable...especially since they didn't extend me the courtesy of calling me with their decision. I received the news via a Fed Ex letter. Granted, the letter did say that they were pleased with my work and would hire me back if they had space, but it just really left a bad taste in my mouth. And, of course, it presents another challenge since Nick and I have health insurance through them. We've decided that we're probably not going to do a COBRA thing since the plan we were on would not work in Colorado (other than for emergencies) and since Mark is trying to get group health coverage set up when he gets the practice going.

In other health news, I have knocked a few more foods off my allergy list - soy (believe it or not, though, I'll still avoid it as much as possible since it just isn't the healthiest substance), wheat/gluten, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and joy of joys peanut butter! We've actually been able to go out and have some food at some restaurants and it has been great. Today, in fact, we went to Macaroni Grill and I had a yummy salad and a tomato, basil and italian sausage soup that was fabulous...if only it hadn't had crushed red pepper in it, it would have been perfect. Ah well, we'll get those on another treatment.

The chiropractor that has been helping with my allergies has also been trying to help me with my milk supply and I believe we're making some headway. I've been helping the process by feeding Nick or pumping every 2 hours. I can actually sort of measure progress since I am feeding him via bottle first and then I breast feed to top him off. When he gets to a point where he doesn't seem to need to empty both breasts to be full, I take him down a 1/4 of an ounce. We started at 4 ounces about a month ago and we're currently at 3 ounces every two hours (except at night). In addition, he's started to have 2 "dirty, dirty" diapers per day (at least the past two days) and so I think we're finally really making significant progress here. If we keep things up, with the introduction of solids coming around the corner, I'm hoping that maybe we can really minimize his formula intake and avoid the gassy problems he has. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me on this - please keep them coming!

Mark and I have also started excercising every morning. We try to walk and then lift weights daily. Since the rainy season has started here, it is difficult to make it on our walks sometimes which is unfortunate because Nick usually takes his morning nap via that route. When we don't walk, he becomes a pretty grumpy bear by lunch time. I have a goal with respect to all this activity (aside from losing those last 19 pounds of pregnancy weight) - sculpted upper arms. I've always wanted them but have never really put in the effort that needed to be put in to have them. This time, though, I'm going for it...and I will succeed. It essentially means (according to my personal trainer, Mark - hee hee!) that I have to do push ups every day and that I have to get to the point that I can do real military style pushups. I'm already doing better after just a week or so doing them using the ledge that divides our kitchen and dining area...I'll be on the floor in no time!

And, now, for the update you've really been wanting, The Sprout is doing very well. He is such a little person and has such a sweet disposition. He's also pretty easy going other than when he's having that gas attack stuff. He's currently sporting his two front bottom teeth and looks as cute as ever with them. I did get some pictures up on his site through his 3rd month "birthday" - go check them out.

We have the little guy's costume as well. It is quite neat and something you've probably not seen before. We've been giving him a little time in it most days so that when Halloween arrives he'll be okay with wearing it. I can't wait to show him off! :)

Nick is getting closer to crawling and has actually come to enjoy tummy time. He really didn't like it in the beggining. He'd cry and cry when you put him on his tummy. Now, though, he can lift himself up and he grins quite a lot. He's also figured out that he can bat at things and grab things which is pretty fun to watch and yet a bit scary given that it makes me think of what trouble he might get into.

I almost forgot to tell you about our Adventures as of late. We've all had some it seems. Mark went on a tandem bike ride a couple of weekends ago with a group toward the Marin headlands. His partner and he never made it because they got two flat tires, but he really enjoyed the experience. We will look into getting a tandem bike ourselves at some point in the future. On that day, Nick and I bummed around Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. We also went to Ghiradelli Square. We didn't do too much other than wander around, but Nicholas did get to see his first parade. Funny, since he does have a nice bit of Italian blood, that it was an Italian parade of some sort...

Then just a couple of days ago we all went to Alcatraz. Can you believe that during the time we've lived here, we've never gone? We picked a doozy of a day, but we still had fun. It was very wet, though. With all the feeding and caretaking we have to do for Nicholas, we barely made it out of there at closing time. We're lucky we didn't have to spend a night on "the rock." ;) It was a really neat outing - I only wish we would have made it before Mark lost his sight. I think he really would have enjoyed it. I tried to describe things as best as I could.

You know, I think I'm running out of stuff to talk about here...which is good because frankly, this post is out of line! ;) So, we'll leave it be at this and if I have anything else, it will make it into our next marathon post (or not, if I actually succeed at keeping up with the blog again). See you next time!

No More Demon Eyes

As you know, I typically don't use our blog for recommending products. Today, however, I'm making an exception as I have to tell you all about a great product I've discovered for removing red eye from photos called Stop Red Eye.

For those of you who aren't aware, Nick has aniridia and so his pupils are dilated at all times and a lot of the shots I take with our digital camera have red eyes. Some of these pictures are just cute as can be were it not for the red eyes which is why I turned to Paint Shop. Since it didn't go so well, I searched in Google for a solution to fix red eyes easily.

An ad for Stop Red Eye came up and I decided since they had a free demo, I'd give it a try. I was very pleased with how the program worked. With the click of the mouse (and that one click fixed all the shots in an entire windows folder!) the demonic looking red eyes were corrected and staring back at me was my darling baby boy!

I should mention that the program doesn't fix all photos, but usually the photos that aren't fixed are ones where Nicholas wasn't looking directly into the camera. This is consistent with what the website says the product works for so I'm cool with it.

At any rate, I definitely would recommend you take a look at www.stopredeye.com and download their demo to see how it works on your photos!

Practically a Gentleman

That Nicholas...he just keeps growing and going! Would you believe that he turned four months old this past Wednesday? Neither can I...and yet, I have to admit that I can't really remember much of the days when he was an itty bitty baby. In some ways, this is pretty good - those first few weeks were hard on both of us. I'm glad I managed to get a few blog entries out about it, though, so I can remember something when the mood strikes me.

All that aside, he's made some great leaps this month. For instance, he now assists us when we put on his clothes. He'll lift his head up so we can put his shirts over his head and he'll help as best as he can with putting his arms through his sleeves. He now has discovered that standing up (with assistance) is just more fun than a barrel of monkeys. He also loves to laugh, give kisses and smile. He's just a genuine little person at this point!

As far as his actual growth, he's still a slight fellow. He still fits best in 3 month size pants and shirts, though he's graduated to 3 to 6 months in onesies footed sleepers (they're pretty big on him, but they're long enough!). And, to think I didn't think he'd even be in 3 month size clothing for more than a couple of weeks. I still love that he's a small little guy, though...I have to admit it!

All in all, Nicholas had a "decent" birthday. I can't say it was fabulous because he wasn't feeling so great. Sadly, it seems after a week of the "formula made of gold" that it isn't much better than the cheaper stuff. Can you say bummer? Perhaps as time goes on, it will go back to being good as it was in the first three days when we tried it and again the first few days of this trial. I'm kind of kicking myself for buying enough for a month now, though since we could have spent that money in other ways. Oh well. You live you learn, I guess...and there is still a possibility, I suppose, that it will start behaving.

For now, though, we're not so impressed after a longer feeding experience. He's still having gas and now has an added complication - constipation. The poor little guy! On the bright side, his waste products look more like what they said they should...i.e., seedy. I'll spare you any further details. It's hard as many other new parents (and perhaps some seasoned ones) can attest to remember that baby poo is not something that the masses wish to discuss on a regular basis. It seems that Mark and I discuss it often, though. :)

In other exciting Nicholas news, we received his Halloween costume in the mail the other day. Oooh, it's cute! You're going to love it when I finally post the pictures on his website.

Update on 10/06/07 - It looks like I never published this so I'm doing it now! :)

Chew On This

My apologies for a rather lengthy absence (again!). There's been a flurry of activity around here with Mark finishing school last Friday (YEA!!!), painting, carpeting, Nicholas, etc.

I had to come back today though to share with you that my little boy is growing up much too quickly. :( I had already come to this conclusion, but then, yesterday, we discovered the most concrete proof yet - Mr. Sprout is getting his first tooth! What?!? He's only almost 4 months old. I guess after reading a few different resources this is not completely unusual, but I am just left with a wave of emotions. I'm so excited that he's reached yet another milestone (he's been laughing and squealing lately, too), but I am sad that this milestone is just another indicator that he's growing up at the speed of light.

At any rate, he seems to be doing quite well all things considered. He isn't sleeping as well as we'd like during the nighttime hours, but he's content to swing in his swing and suck on his little hand so we've been making use of this tool to get some sleep for ourselves.

Other than this, the formula we tried from the allergy doctor does seem to have helped. We ordered 2 cases last week and it should get here. Total cost for a month's supply - $250 (with a first time buyer coupon). Ouch. Worth every penny if it helps Nick feel better but ouch.

Mark, as I mentioned, finished school. :) It is weird having him home all day now every day, but also very nice. We enjoyed a number of outings last week to celebrate with his classmates. We missed most of the BBQ (the thing we wanted to attend most) due to the carpet people who took 12 hours to do their thing. Our house looks quite nice now, though. :)

As far as being a chiropractor, we're just waiting for the results of his Part III boards which he took on Sept. 8 (the day before his birthday). He's also seriously looking at a practice in a location to be announced if everything goes as planned. It's a great opportunity in a great location so hopefully it will!

We had a little BBQ for our friends to make good use of our 1/2 cow we bought. It was a very fun time despite the fact that I had just had an allergy treatment the day before and couldn't have anything with sugar in it (can you say just kill me now?) for about 2 hours of the party. In fact, I pretty much lived on tater tots that day...yum, I think. Luckily, pretty much everyone came about 2 hours after the start time we designated so I didn't have to really suffer too much. Which is not to say if that Nick and I didn't the next couple of days after. :)

That will do it for today I suppose... Until next time, I hope all is well with you and your loved ones! :)

Allergy Appointment

Today I took Nicholas to the allergy doc's office. It wasn't all I had hoped for, but at least we have something else to try. I am not sure if I ever mentioned the uber-expensive formula I found called Neocate. Well, he wants to try that first before we do any testing... He assures me that the soy oil in it will not cause problems if Nicholas has a soy allergy. Bizarre, but whatever we'll try it.

Of course, this was a bit of a bummer visit for me because the doctor told me to avoid all the typical offenders as far as food allergies go. That means eggs are back on the "can't eat 'em " list. Of course, I can't eat them because I choose not to for Nicholas not because I actually can't eat them so I guess that is a little better. At least I was able to enjoy some of the best French Toast I've ever had (because I hadn't had it forever, no doubt!) on Sunday morning...

Let's see, what else has gone on. Nicholas is becoming a real kissy baby. I love his little slobbery kisses. It just makes me smile...kind of makes me feel bad to wipe all the drool off, though. I'm glad as he gets older he'll be able to perfect his technique! :)

Nicholas also is really enjoying standing up assisted. He gets a little perturbed sometimes when you put him in a sitting position. I think he likes being able to have a direct view of our faces. He's a real cutie pie - I like looking at him, too.

Not that it is earth shattering, but I also got a new purse and wallet yesterday. I had to...my other one broke. I always hate it when things break or get ripped, need mended or whatever. I always have such a hard time finding something else I like and am willing to pay for. So I guess it sort of surprises me that yesterday I actually let myself splurge. I bought a Liz Claiborne purse and wallet to match. They were on sale so I don't feel the need to commit myself (hee hee). I think I'm just going through a really need to feel somewhat girly moment.

It's been really hard for me since about mid-pregnancy to motivate myself to do my hair or makeup. The hair now is pretty much worn in a single style - can you say pony tail? It's kind of a necessity if I don't want my hair pulled by my dear little guy. So, no more super model hair days for me for a while longer...except when I'm standing in the mirror in the morning or before bed and can brush out and admire that I have some very nice locks (not being conceited here...I just recognize that I was blessed in the hair department). As for makeup, well, part of that is Mark's fault. He had to go take (okay they made him) a class on Toxicology and learned about all the horrible stuff they put in makeup and countless other things so he's asked me not to use it unless I can find some without the icky stuff.

That seems fair and I've actually found some options (Bare Escentuals is one) that I'd sort of like to try, but I have a hard time justifying the cost at this point since I'm not working. BE has a little starter kit that is like $60 that I'm still contemplating, but I keep talking myself out of it partially because I've never really worn much other than mascara and eyeliner so I'm not sure I want all that other 'stuff' in the lineup. Maybe once Mark is employed I'll reconsider it.

Speaking of Mark, he is scheduled to be essentially finished with school on Wednesday of next week. How cool is that? It will be nice to have him finished. He's looking into a couple of opportunities which we'll let you know about when things are a little more crystal.

Well, I need to go help with dinner so toodle-loo for now.