Painting Pumpkins

Baby Ballet - October 31, 2011

Nadia had fun painting two pumpkins today. In case you were wondering, washable tempera paint is easily washed off of skin and the kids' table, but it doesn't come out of cotton clothing very easily. I followed the directions on the bottle, but there are still some blue stains on Ian's shirt and my turtleneck (from when he rubbed the paint brush on my sleeve). I won't be letting Ian anywhere near the tempera paint anytime in the near future.

Nadia also had a blast today because I let her wear her costume All Day Long. What a thrill! This morning we did our weekly CVS run, and I also stopped our local grocery store because Ian was almost out of rice drink. Well they don't sell rice drink, and they were out of almond milk. We had to stop at another grocery store several hours later en route to ballet to buy some rice drink. Everytime we entered a store today, Nadia took off her coat so people could see her costume better. It was rather chilly this evening so we decided to skip taking the kids trick-or-treating. It just feels weird that we'd have to drive somewhere to go trick-or-treating. I'd be more inclined to participate if we could do it in our own neighborhood.

Ian's duocal arrived in the mail today. I added two scoops (50 calories) into each sippy cup. I'll see what the dietician says on Thursday as well as what the scale tells me as I weigh him in the next several days to help guide me as to whether to increase or decrease this amount. My big accomplishment was planning out what we're going to have for dinner each night in November. The plan includes five new recipes. I recently started using pinterest, and it's helpful for finding recipes. Before I head to bed tonight, I hope to make a list of what is needed for all the recipes and also check my pantry against the list so I know what I need to buy. My goal is to start doing this every month. Including new recipes is definitely making the planning and cooking process more exciting although some new recipes will likely be "duds." The last few I've tried have all been winners; the chocolate banana bread, crock pot roast, chicken barbecue, and tuna melt pie were all hits!

Trunk or Treat

Our church held its first Trunk or Treat last year. They're holding their second annual one tomorrow night. Many churches have these events. I've never taken Nadia trick or treating or to a Trunk or Treat. A church that is very close to our home (where Nadia attended her 2nd week of VBS this past summer) had a Trunk or Treat even this afternoon. Thankfully it's 30 degrees warmer out today than it was yesterday. Ian chose the bumblee costume today. I think it was an excellent choice to wear black and gold this evening (Go Steelers!). He went as Superman on Friday to the library. Nadia has consistently been choosing to be Snow White. The church served a free dinner inside and had various crafts and activities for the kids like decorating a cupcake. I thought that was the better option that taking them somewhere to do traditional trick-or-treating tomorrow. No one goes trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. I learned this in 2008 while I kept Nadia awake so I could show her off in her costume to the kids who came to our door. I had the candy. I was ready. No one came.

Pumpkins and Snow

While it was raining this morning, we carved pumpkins. Ian didn't want anything to do with them, but Nadia enjoyed scooping pulp and seeds out of one pumpkin. Her attention span for the project didn't extend to the second pumpkin. I drew the face on one pumpkin, and Paul drew the face on the other. Paul carved out both faces. I'm thinking of having the kids paint their pumpkins. I think Ian would enjoy painting a pumpkin. My sister called me via Facebook, and so we got to show our pumpkins to her five kids. They got to show us their newest addition to the family - a second cat named Kit Kat. Lollipop (their first cat) isn't too keen on their new arrival. I have to say that the video chat through FB was really nice - even better than Skype! During lunch it started snowing, so we also got to show our niece and nephews the snow in our backyard. Webcams are such a wonderful invention! Can you believe we're supposed to get TEN inches of snow today? It's still October for Pete's sake! It looks funny to see snow on the colored leaves that are still on the trees.  I'm sure I'll be taking more pictures today of the kids out in the snow. We'll be heading out after Nadia wakes up from her nap. Ian's nap was only 15 minutes long. UGH! Maybe we'll use one of the pumpkins as the head to our snowman, lol! After we finished carving the pumpkins, Nadia and I made some chocolate banana bread. It's VERY yummy!!

A Complicated Anomaly

Last night Paul helped Nadia get ready for bed while I was doing the same for Ian. During that time Nadia used two words that impressed Paul - "anomaly" and "complicated." I can't recall the last time I used the word "anomaly." She definitely didn't get that one from me! It's fun to hear both kids using new words each week.

This morning I took the kids to the library we usually go to on Wednesdays for a special program. The kids enjoyed wearing their costumes. After the librarian read stories for 40 minutes, the kids had time to go to various learning centers. Nadia's favorite was the collage (see above photo). Glue is FUN! Ian's favorite activities were hammering real nails into a real pumpkin (with a toy hammer), throwing plastic spiders onto a cotton spiderweb, and dropping pumpkin clothespins into a metal bucket. My afternoon was spent sorting out insurance stuff. Let me tell you that having two insurance policies at the same time is complicated. We had an overlap for 16 days in January and for 3 months this summer. It turns out that whoever has the earlier birth month has the primary policy. Since Paul's (January) birthday is before mine, it means that during the time periods we had both insurance policies, the PSU insurance is the primary one. I won't go into the details, but it's turned into a huge mess as Blue Shield is questioning bills back in 2010 (when we only had insurance with them!). I spent a lot of time on the phone today with insurance companies, three hospitals, etc. Trying to get reimbursed for the prescriptions is even more complicated. I admit that even though I'm normally a penny pincher, I was tempted for a minute to think it isn't worth trying to get reimbursed, but since we're talking approximately $300, it actually is worth my effort, unfortunately.

Ian's nap was again only 20 minutes long. It's harder to take since he was sleeping an hour or more each day last week. So sad. After Nadia woke up, I took the kids on a quick trip to the mall to pick up some jewelry that was repaired and use some coupons at JCP. I got myself a pair of pants that were on sale for $24.99 (full price was $40), and I used two $10 off coupons so I paid only $4.99 for the pants. CVS and JCP are my favorite stores in terms of sales and coupons.

Feeding Ian went a little better yesterday and today because Paul's mom discovered that the boxes of Jello pudding mix don't have any "offending" ingredients. I had looked on boxes of generic instant pudding, and they had milk and soy in them so I falsely assumed all instant pudding mixes did. I was wrong! Jello's mixes are made with cornstarch. I bought several different flavors last night - lemon, french vanilla, banana, etc. Paul's mom made some with coconut milk for him yesterday, and I'm planning on making some with rice drink tomorrow. What a relief to be able to feed him one of his favorite foods again! Thank you, Grandma!!!! The allergist doesn't want us to wait until December 12th to see a dietician. She wants us to meet with her in a couple of weeks and then again on December 12th after we have the results of the patch testing. I'm weary of doctor appointments so I have to admit I'm not looking forward to this dietician appointment in November. I am looking forward to meeting with Dr. Williams next week.

So many changes

I knew that the RE we had worked with off and on since 2004 retired a year ago. I had been seen by other REs along the way, but for both ivf cycles he was the main one I worked with. The woman who was the ivf nurse during both of our previous ivf cycles (2007 and 2009) also had left the clinic. The woman who is now the ivf nurse was a nurse there previously, so Joan was one familiar face. My favorite nurse, Denise, also left a couple of months ago, and the receptionist I had worked with for several years left two weeks ago. The phlebotomist was another familiar face, and she actually remembered my name. It's a bit frightening to think a phlebotomist has seen me enough to know my name, even when she hasn't seen me for more than two years! The new RE seems nice. He has interesting taste in clothing, lol! His socks, shirt, and pants each had pattern (stripes, plaid, etc.) and none of them matched although they were all in similar colors. Well as long as he's a good RE, who cares about his taste in clothing. :-) His accent makes me think she's from Africa. It was a bit difficult for me to understand his English at times, but I'm sure after a few appointments that won't be an issue.
The protocol has also changed. They don't use Lupron any more. When the nurse told me this, I wanted to say "let's not mess with success." The protocol was almost identical the last two times. They said now they use Antagon, and those shots don't start until part way through the stimming. When I got home I did a search online, I felt much better about it. In fact, I think my clinic was a bit slow in making the switch. The previous RE was in his 70's and maybe he wasn't exactly "cutting edge," although I am not complaining as the "old" methods worked just fine. Also, they don't use PIO shots any more. These were the MOST painful. They use Prometrium three times a day. I've been on that before in an oral manner, but these aren't taken orally. I find it rather ironic because I've already been on Crinone (during the ectopic pregnancy), suppositories, and PIO shots. This will be my fourth way of having progesterone support following ovulation. As long as it's equally as effective, I'm all in favor of fewer shots. The PIO shots lasted for weeks if a pregnancy occured. Dr. A did let me switch to suppositories a bit sooner during my pregnancy with Ian than he did with my pregnancy with Nadia. The RE said that the protocol will again be changing in a few years. Evidently it's already changed in Europe and now more recently in Canada, but it takes longer to get meds approved in the US. He said this new medicine gets it down to one shot a day for ivf (whereas it's currently two a day not counting the Antagon). What I tried to remind myself when I was feeling uncertain about all these changes (in personnel and the protocol) is that GOD is the giver of life. If He wants us to have another baby, it won't matter if I'm on Lupron or Antagon, Prometrium or PIO. He's in control. If our family is complete, it doesn't matter what medications I'm on, I won't give birth again.

I had said all along that I was hoping to do the retrieval around January 3. In previous phone conversations, they were fine with that. Today I found out that the lab (the part that deals with the embryos) will be closed from December 19 through January 7th. I wasn't able to do the SHG or mock transfer today because they like that to be around day 7-10 of your cycle. In the past I had gone on the pill so that could be done at this appointment, but this RE doesn't prefer women to be on the pill first. So I can't do the other tests until next month. The timing of when I would likely get AF in December did not work with the down time of the lab. If I didn't use any bcp, I would end up needing to wait until early February to start stimmming. So the nurse did get permission from the RE for me to go on the pill once AF arrives in November. If I go on it, I have to be on it for at least 2 weeks. How long I'm on it will depend on when AF shows and when we decide we want to start stimming. The nurse mapped out a plan that had me starting to stim one of the first days of December, which is about right if we make it to a blastocyst transfer. I told the RE that if we have more than 3 embryos, I want to wait for a blastocyst transfer since we're 0/1 for embryo transfers and 2/2 with blastocyst transfers. He was fine with that. If I conceived, my EDD would be 9/4/2012.

The biggest downside of doing everything in December is that I can't claim any of the expenses toward our medical FSA like I was hoping to do. This means the ivf will cost $700 more than originally planned (as I was counting on using money that would have gone towards taxes/medicare for the ivf). Also, since I have a propensity for giving birth prematurely, I was trying to have the EDD be a few weeks later so that if I am still working I could use 8 full weeks of sick leave for the first time. I didn't get any paid leave for my first c-section and only 3 weeks for my second c-section because they were born in between semesters. The upside of doing it earlier than planned is that the ivf won't interfere with our plans to travel to MD for Christmas, like I thought it might with our original schedule. Also, if the ivf results in a pregnancy, I would receive the best gift possible on Christmas day - a bfp.  If I am not teaching next semester, then it doesn't matter one iota when the EDD is, and it actually will be better to start earlier as PSU's insurance only allows for 2 ultrasounds during the pregnancy. It would be better to still be on the Blue Shield insurance during the early stages of the pregnancy (if I get a BFP) as we'll still have that insurance through the middle of January.

If I truly waited until early February to start the stimming (no bcp), then I wouldn't be due until October 16, which would mean I'd need to start teaching FT the first part of the fall semester (if I'm still employed). That would not be good at all. Another option we didn't discuss with the nurse today that occured to me after we left was that possibly I could go on the bcp in November and be on it an extended period of time so that I wouldn't start stimming until the end of December so that my ER and ET wouldn't occur until after January 7. The EDD would be about 9-30 in that scenario. It's really hard to know which is the better timing without even knowing if I am teaching next semester or not. The Dean emailed me today that she'll bring my request to the President. Hopefully I'll find out in the next 10 days or so before I talk with the ivf nurse again. If I am going to be unemployed soon, then I definitely want to start the ivf sooner rather than later. If I'm still going to be employed, then maybe it's better to wait until after January 7th to do the retrieval. What do you think? Of course part of me is just itching to get started (the emotional not the logical side which analyzes the financial factors).

As for the exam, the RE mentioned I had a fibroid. He didn't say much about it, and in hindsight I wish I had asked him more about it. No one ever mentioned that before to my recollection. I'll be asking him or the nurse about it the next time I'm there. If we go with the earlier time frame, then another RE (whom I have seen before) will be overseeing part of my stimming because he'll be at a conference for a few days right during the time the nurse thinks I'll be stimming. If any of you know about fibroids, should I be concerned about this in relation to ivf?

We were there just a few minutes shy of 3 hours. I was hoping it would be 2 hours at the most since we didn't attend a class this time around. If no waiting was involved, it would have taken about 1 hour (talking with the nurse, talking with the doctor, my exam, our bloodwork, signing paperwork, and Paul giving his specimen). We both brought books so I got to read a little, and we also enjoyed some time chatting. Such a romantic date. :-) Actually, it was special. I found myself overflowing with gratitude that we're able to try for one more miracle. Paul won't have to give me any shots this time because they'll all be in the belly (subcutaneous). He'll only have to go to two more appointments (retrieval and transfer), and he's only a spectator at the transfer. I am also very grateful to Paul's parents who watched our kids at McDonald's for a little more than 3 hours. They made great use of the playland! We thought all that running around would have worn Ian out, but he only took a 20 minute nap.

Paid for IVF #3

Tomorrow is our first appointment for ivf #3, which meant I needed to pay the bill today. She had asked us to pay $9,700 (which would cover assisted hatching, ICSI, and freezing). The last two times we "only" paid $8,200, and we still got a refund even though we did use ICSI both times (and freezing the first time) because our insurance paid for the bloodwork, ultrasounds, and initial testing (the stuff they'll be doing tomorrow). I questioned whether we really needed to pay $9,700, and she agreed to "only" charge us $8,200. I had to split it over two credit cards because our limit on one card isn't high enough to charge the whole thing on one card. We don't usually spend anywhere near that much in a month! We'll get 2% rebate through the one credit card and 1% through the other one. We'll get a refund in maybe February or March for the part the insurance does pay for. If I'm going to be teaching next semester then I'm going to enroll in a medical FSA, which means we'll save about $700 in money that normally would have gone to taxes and social security.

Even with all those "refunds," it's still expensive, but when I look at my kids it's hard to think of anything else I'd rather spend the money on. They are priceless!!! If I catch myself feeling jealous of those folks who can conceive without spending thousands of dollars, I remind myself that there are many couples who spend tens of thousands of dollars on fertility treatments and still never conceive. We are blessed.  We're going to meet Paul's parents at the McDonald's near the hospital. It has a playland. They're going to watch the kids there while we are at our appointment. I'm hoping the appointment will be shorter than 2 hours. That might be wishful thinking. I do feel excited about it, but I'm trying to keep my excitement in check because there's zero guarantee doing this will result in another child in our arms.

I spoke with my department chair today, and he said I should still request 50% childrearing leave because the President might approve my request. The suspense continues.......

Rashes, bumps, and bruises

Both of my children have booboos on their faces right now; that's the first time that ever happened. Ironically, they fell in the same vicinity. Nadia got hers on Saturday night when we were coming into the house. She fell and hit her chin (just below her lip) on the cement step in the garage. Today she picked at the scab so it started bleeding again. Yesterday morning as we were leaving the house to go to the playground, Nadia didn't think Ian was moving fast enough. She gave him a little push, which caused him to fall off the step and hit his forehead on the concrete garage floor. Even though his wound is more recent, his is healing faster. The bruise already looks much better today.

This evening his right cheek and right ear became very red and hot to the touch. I took his temperature, and he had a 101 degree fever. I gave him some Ibuprofen, and the rash didn't go away. I called the Pediatrician on call since his rash didn't start until after their office hours were done for the day, and she thought it was strange that it's only on one side of his face. She said it might be an allergic reaction. If it gets any worse, we're to take him to the ER. Otherwise, we're to take him to the Pediatrician tomorrow. Just what Ian needs, one more allergy. Hoping it's nothing more serious than that, and that I can figure out what might have cause the reaction, if it's indeed an allergy. Oh how I wish Ian was as healthy as Nadia and didn't have all these physical issues to deal with. My poor boy.

Someone from the union emailed me yesterday saying that you can't take two FMLA leaves back to back. You have to work 1,250 hours before you can request another FMLA. The union thought that I should have a little bit of leave left because I am working 50% right now, but they weren't sure exactly how much. HR emailed me back today and said that I won't be eligible for any FMLA in 2012 because I didn't work enough hours in 2011 to qualify. They said I am eligible for childrearing leave, and that if I wish to take that, I need to contact my department chair and Dean. The key difference between childrearing leave and FMLA is that we'd be paying a lot more for health insurance under childrearing leave than we are now under FMLA. We're paying about $200 a month now, and I think we'd be paying about $600 a month if I was on 50% childrearing leave in the spring.

That's likely a moot point because the Dean said on Friday that the President isn't going to approve any additional childrearing requests for me. Although we're allowed to take up to 4 years off for childrearing leave, it's at the discretion of the President. I've used childrearing leave twice over the past 3 years. I took 25% leave in fall 2009 (taught 3 classes) and was on 100% leave last semester. The Dean told me last fall that spring 2011 (my second request) was the last that the President would approve, and she told me on Friday that he won't approve any more childrearing leave requests from me. I tried calling my Chair after getting the email from HR, but he had already gone home for the day. Hopefully I'll be able to talk to him tomorrow to find out if he thinks my request will be approved or not. I'm not sure why, but I cried after reading the email from HR.

I think my emotional response is partially because I'm feeling stressed out due to Ian. Feeding him has gotten harder now that milk has again been eliminated from his diet. He lost 13 ounces in the past 7 days. I am buying some Duocal on eBay. Thanks for telling me about it, Regina.

40 Months Old

1. Nadia is no longer afraid of whales or of the story of Jonah!
2. In fact, the Jonah VeggieTales DVD is currently the one she requests the most often to watch. 

3. Similarly, a book she selected at a used book sale titled The Story of Jonah is currently her favorite book.
4. Her favorite CD at the moment is Princess and the Popstar (VeggieTales). I recently switched the CD's in the car to Christmas ones so that we can enjoy them for two full months. I love Christmas music (and am not a big fan of the Princess and the Popstar cd).

5. If I were making a book list like I did last month, I would have to add Ribbon Rescue and We Share Everything (both by Robert Munsch) to the list.

6. She's really into puzzles these days. I'm not saying she's very good at them, but rather that she wants to do them all the time. I feel like I am the one doing the puzzles not her if they have more than 12 pieces. She hasn't yet grasped the concept of separating the pieces which have an edge from those that don't.

7. Her most requested meals for dinner include pizza, pancakes, and french toast. One of the reasons she prefers these three entrees is because she knows I don't serve vegetables with any of them. She also loves spaghetti, but she doesn't request it because she knows I'll serve a vegetable with it.

8. Her favorite Bible stories are Jonah, Daniel, Esther, and Moses (in that order).

9. We own two Bjorn bibs. For the last few weeks she only wants to wear the blue one. In the spirit of "choose your battles," the red one has become Ian's bib (at least for now).

10. Her favorite type of sandwich is egg salad. She prefers to eat egg salad with crackers, but she will eat it as a sandwich.

11. Her favorite type of hot lunch is ham and cheese.
12. In the last month she's been very prone to mosquito bites. She didn't use to get any of these, and now she's getting quite a few that swell up quite a bit.

13. Thus, putting some all natural anti-itch spray on her bites has become part of her bedtime routine.

14. The routine also includes drinking a little water (one of the few times a week that she'll drink water), brushing her teeth, going to the bathroom, praying, and me reading her one book while she's in bed.
15. It was her idea that she kneel at her bed for her bedtime prayes, and she insists on being on the left side of me.

16. In her prayers she most often thanks the Lord for the following: Mommy, Daddy, Ian, friends, neighbors, animals (stuffed), curtains, and pillow. She thanks God for a variety of other things, but those are almost always included in every prayer.

17. While she sleeps she almost always pulls the bottom sheet off of the left side of her mattress. I have the opportunity to put the sheet on her mattress twice a day.  I'll be glad when she outgrows this habit!

18. She likes to have the following things in bed with her when she sleeps: two pillows (one must be the pillow Paul got her in Poland last year), one book (she'd take more in bed with her if I let her), and a few stuffed animals (she'd take more in bed if I allowed her to).

19. She also must have a myriad of tissues in her bed with her. I'll be thrilled when she outgrows this tissue obsession.

20. She pronounces most things correctly, but there are some words she hasn't mastered yet. One that always amuses me is that she doesn't pronounce the "y" in yard sale. She calls them "ard sales."

21. When we watch VeggieTales Ian usually sits on my lap, and Nadia sits really close to me with my arm around her.

22. She's usually in her bed for a nap for 2 hours (1-3pm) although she doesn't sleep that entire time. Every once in a while she takes a really long nap and is in her bed for 3 or even 3.5 hours.

23. She's usually awake when I open her bedroom door (sometime between 645-7:30am depending on when Ian wakes up), but she stays in bed until I open her door.

24. Her bedtime is 8:00pm, but sometimes it takes a long time for her to fall asleep. Last night she was still awake at 10pm!

25. She drinks milk all day long. She has had a few Caprisuns when we've been somewhere that they're serving them, but at home she drinks skim milk 99% of the time.

26. She almost always has cereal for breakfast. Somes days she only wants one cereal in her bowl, and other times she wants a few mixed together. I won't let her have more than 3 kinds in one bowl.

27. She still alternates which hand she uses when she's feeding herself with a spoon or fork, but she's pretty consistent in always using her right hand with pencils, crayons, markers, etc.
28. Raisins help her eat foods that she thinks she doesn't like.

29. She is obsessed with the color pink. It's definitely her favorite color!

30. She hates to have her hair brushed or shampooed. Lately she's preferred pigtails over a ponytail, which is fine with me as I love pigtails on little girls!
31. We're working on breaking her thumb sucking habit. She knows she'll get a new DVD when she conquers that habit.
32. She doesn't like to brush her teeth.

33. Sometimes she cries when she's going to the bathroom. I think it's because she doesn't drink enough.
34. She loves pretzels, cheese curls, fruit snacks, and most desserts. I have to limit her intake of these foods.

35. She enjoys ballet, gymnastics, Sunday School, Children's Church, and Cubbies. Her favorite of these five activities is definitely AWANA.
36. She can count to 20. She can usually correctly count a set of objects up to about 14.
37. It's very easy for her to memorize the lyrics to songs, Bible verses, the text of stories we read her, etc.
38. It's much harder for her to learn to identify things she sees - shapes, numerals, and letters.

39. She loves to play games. I must admit that her attention span for Candyland is longer than mine.
40. Several times a day she tells me "you're the best (or greatest) mom ever." Awwww...

Hungry

A significant thing happened yesterday. Ian told me he was hungry. His vocabulary has greatly expanded. That wasn't why it was momentous. The reason it thrilled my heart to hear him say the word was because he doesn't like to eat. As soon as I got him out of his crib yesterday morning, he said "hungry." I am sure he was hungry because he didn't cooperate very well when Grandma tried to feed him on Friday while I was gone for 8+ hours. Yesterday I fed him his breakfast, and then about 2 hours later he told me "hungry" again. I used to feed him 5-6 times a day, but lately I've just been feeding him 4 times a day (approximately 7:00am, 11:30am, 2:30pm, and 5:00pm). Yesterday I fed him 5 times as I fed him at 9:00 when he told me he was hungry for the second time. My heart would have soared even more if he hadn't cried when I tried to feed him. He was hungry enough to say he wanted to eat, but then once I put him in his booster seat he started objecting. I dream of a day when eating isn't such an ordeal for Ian. I had more hope last week when he was able to eat yogurt and pudding. One consolation is that he seems to drink ANY kind of "milk" whether it's formula, whole milk, breastmilk, EleCare, almond milk, or rice milk. The catch is that the milk must be warm, and it must be served in one particular kind of sippy cup.

 II slept much better last night, but I have to say I still feel a bit "on edge." Although I argued my case to work part-time next semester in an email I sent to the Dean and my Department Chair yesterday, in reality becoming a SAHM sooner than anticipated would also be wonderful. So really it's win-win for me, which is why I don't understand why it's still bothering me. I guess maybe it's just because I don't like being in suspense. Does anyone? It feels strange to feel that whether I'm teaching next semester is out of my control. It all comes down to the defition of "year" in terms of FMLA. Is it academic year or calendar year? I'm hoping to hear back from the union or Dean (after she checks with HR) in the very near future so that my time of being in suspense is short lived. Maybe it's because I'm not thrilled about the idea of going back on PSU's student insurance.

For those of you who have blogs, Shutterfly is again offering free cards to bloggers (25 this year).

Pumpkins and Praises

After feeling rather stressed out and prone to tears the past two days, I am happy to say that today was a really fun day. We went to the same farm we went to last year. We all rode a hayride to a pumpkin patch, picked 6 pumpkins (Paul's parents were with us), and the kids rode ponies and fed goats, rabbits, and a pig. It was much colder than when we went last year, but at least it wasn't raining. Our festivities concluded by having dinner at Bonanza. A fun time was had by all! Can you tell Ian enjoys feeding the goats? He kept saying "YAY!" after he'd feed them a few morsels. He also enjoyed seeing the helicopter (we didn't splurge on taking a ride on that) and tractors.

Another blessing today included Ian taking a 75 minute nap. WOOHOO! It would be sooo awesome if his naps started to average one hour or more. What a big help that would be! Finally, I checked the PSU insurance website for the umpteenth time today, and it showed they paid over $6K on Thursday toward that claim which had previously resulted in us receiving a $4K bill from CHOP. We haven't received the EOB yet, but I'm pretty sure we don't owe CHOP any money. What a relief!!! PTL!!!

I have many more pictures to share from our adventures today, but I should go to bed since I woke up at 4am and couldn't go back to sleep because all I could think about was my meeting with the Dean yesterday and what I was going to do about it. I hope I get 8 hours of sleep tonight. Usually it takes me less than 24 hours to "get over" something so I expect I will sleep soundly tonight.

A Very Long Day

I left the house at 10:00 am and arrived back home at 6:15 pm. In between those hours I had 16 appointments with advisees and participated in one 90 minute committee meeting and one 60 minute faculty meeting. The last couple of hours I was wishing for some Tylenol or Advil as my head was splitting. Ironically, I had carried three things into my office today to make it more personalized - my framed doctoral degree, a name sign, and a framed family photo. I say ironically because when I got to work today I discovered a note on my door stating that my department chair and the Dean wanted to meet with me at 11am. Thankfully my 11:00 student appointment showed up a little early and had a simple question for me so I didn't have to cancel any student appointments to meet with the Dean.
They wanted to meet with me because last night I sent a message to them stating that I would be requesting FMLA leave for the spring semester so that I would only be teaching 2 evening classes. Paul and I had already come to this conclusion earlier, but the news at the hospital yesterday confirmed it in my mind. My understandng of FMLA is that you are allowed 12 weeks per calendar year (and since I'm on a reduced schedule I'm using the equivalent of 8 weeks this semester). The Dean was thinking it's 12 weeks per academic year, which would mean I couldn't use FMLA leave next semester. She said she's going to check with HR and get back to me. I told her that if I can't work part-time that I will resign. I told her I didn't mean it to sound like a threat and that I would of course have to talk about it with my husband first. A few tears fell from my eyes during this conversation. It was really hard for me because my chair really was creative in coming up with a schedule for me for next semester. I am a people pleaser by nature. I wanted to say "yes." I told them that it was very hard for me as I felt like I was being tugged in both directions, but that I must make my children my priority.

One thing I wish I had asked was why the President is so concerned about me working FT next semester (rather than 50% of my load being covered by an adjunct) and yet he hasn't authorized any tenure track faculty to be hired the last few years to replace the 6 tenured/tenure track faculty who have resigned or retired from our department. I don't get it. I have to say at the end of the day I was thinking maybe it's not such a bad thing if I'm told I can't work part-time next semester. I had a splitting headache, was exhausted, and really missed my kiddos. It had been over 10 months since I had been separated from them for that many hours in one day. If I worked FT, I'd be gone even more hours than today for two days a week. Paul's mom had trouble feeding Ian today. It would be a challenge to find someone who could watch the kids and feed Ian every couple of hours. I emailed someone in the union this evening to ask for clarification regarding whether I am correct that we're allowed to take 12 weeks of FMLA each calendar year. I really think I'm correct; so I'm guessing they can't tell me I can't take FMLA next semester. I'm expecting I'll be teaching PT next semester, but it honestly won't be the end of the world if they speed up the timetable of when I become a SAHM.

The strangest part of the conversation with the Dean was when she expressed concerns over me serving on the promotion committee next semester. She thought it entailed more work than I could handle. I assured her that I would be able to handle it. The chair of the committee said that we'll have a couple of really long meetings on Fridays in the spring, but those meetings won't start until around 4pm so that won't be a problem. The rest of the work (reviewing the candidates' applications and materials) I can do at whatever time of day or whatever day of the week I wish as long as I have it done by the deadline he gives us. I am not worried about my ability to fulfill those duties at all, but it really puzzles me why she brought this up today. What does it have to do with FMLA??? I didn't have to go up for this committee. I chose to run, and I was elected, and if I am still teaching next semester, I'll complete the tasks given to me by that committee's chair.

I was really curious about how Ian's nap would go today since he slept over 2 hours in his crib for Paul's parents three weeks ago. They told me that he slept for 30 minutes at first. After letting him cry for 10 minutes, Paul's mom went up and rocked him in the dark room for about 10 minutes and then put him back down in his crib. He then slept for 60 minutes. I'll have to try that trick! I've certainly tried letting him cry, but I've never tried rocking him in his dark bedroom before putting him back down. Then when they brought him down, he slept about 30 minutes on PopPop. So he slept 2 hours total - much longer than he ever sleeps for me although he did sleep for 65 minutes for me yesterday, which was longer than usual. The nice thing is that lately he hasn't been crying At All when I put him down for his nap or at night.

Regina, thanks soooooo much for telling me about duocal. His OT gave me a list of calorie boosting options a few weeks ago, but that wasn't on it. I looked at the link you gave me, and Duocal doesn't contain anything he's been told he can't eat. I am going to weigh him on Tuesday, and if he's losing weight, I'm going to buy some Duocal. I'm relieved to know there is something I can do to boost his calories while his diet is so restricted. The Carnation instant breakfast packets I bought for him are now on the banned list. Thankfully rice milk has more calories than almond milk (although not as much as whole milk). Nadia is having whole milk for the first time in her life (I'm having her finish up the gallon that had been for Ian).

Rice Milk It Is

Ian saw a new pediatric allergist this morning. This group is 2 hours closer to our house (one way), and now that we're back on Blue Shield, I could take him there. Unfortunately shortly before we left he threw up all over the carpet, linolium, etc. I had to take him on an empty stomach. He had also vomited on Tuesday morning. The allergist said this is likely from the milk that we reintroduced on October 3. She said it can take that long for the eosinophils to build back up in the esophagus. Until the patch testing is completed, we are to eliminate milk, peanuts, eggs, soy, cinnamon, and oats from his diet. They did skin testing of 24 foods that have been linked to EE. My poor baby's back was bleeding all over the place. That didn't happen with his first skin testing in March. He tested positive for eggs and peanuts today, just like he did in March. She wants us to avoid all nuts, not just peanuts. She said this includes almond milk. I stopped at a grocery store on the way home and bought rice milk as the store I usually shop at doesn't carry it. The good news is that rice milk has more calories than almond milk. It was a long morning. It's hard to keep a 3 year old and a 1 year old happy in an exam room for two hours. The news was also hard to take. I cried on the way home as it's been so nice being able to feed Ian yogurt and pudding. I'm also expecting he'll go back to losing weight. He weighed less today than he did last Tuesday.

His patch testing has been scheduled for December 9th. Yes, that's the first appointment they had available. Ugh. His results will be read on December 12th (his 2nd birthday), and we'll also meet with a dietician that day who specializes in EE. She used to work at CHOP. The allergist he'll see on the 12th won't be the same one he saw today because she doesn't work on Mondays, and they always read the patch testing results on a Monday.

On a lighter note, I made a new recipe tonight (Tuna Melt Pie), and Paul loved it! I wasn't super keen on it, but I was thrilled that I found another recipe that Paul loves.  Nadia also said something today which really cracked me up. I was hugging her, and she said, "I'm going to marry you, Mommy." I told her that she couldn't marry me because I'm already married to Daddy. I told her that some day she'll marry a nice boy. She had a look of horror on her face and said "That is ridiculous!" I reassured her that she won't get married for at least 20 years. I wish I had a recording of her reaction to show her when she's a teenager. I hope her opinion of boys will last a long time as I think many kids start dating much too early.

A kid in a candy factory

Even though I have a sweet tooth (turtles are my most favorite kind of candy although it's been years since I've had one), I have to say the expression should probably be changed to a library, Ollies, or used book sale for me. I've loved reading for as long as I can remember. I recall that in grades 4-8 my friend, Joanna, and I used to reach the limit of books our school's library would allow us to check out at one time. We solved that problem by trading books with each other part way through the week, thus doubling the number of library books we read each week. I carried a book with me and read it any time I had even five minutes to spare. Yes, I was a book worm! The library I take the kids to on Wednesdays is much larger than our library. Every Wednesday I feel a bit overwhelmed as there are soooooooooo many books I see that I'd love to check out and read to Nadia. Thankfully, she also loves for me to read to her! I hope both kids enjoy reading as much as Paul and I do. We haven't even started delving into the world of chapter books. I'll be going just as excited when we reach that stage of read alouds! I also go nuts at used book sales. This library is having a book sale the middle of November, and I'm actually going to bring a list with me of books I'm looking for, not that I will limit myself to those titles. I actually checked out two books for myself today. I haven't been reading now that I'm back to teaching. I really would like to find a way to fit it into my schedule as I don't want to have to wait until next September to start reading again.

Today we stopped at one yard sale in between gymnastics and the library story time. They were selling girl's clothing from birth to 5T, but I didn't buy any because the stuff was really overpriced. If it was just one item, I would have made an offer, but I didn't feel comfortable trying to get them down on everything I bought. I did buy a few books though - some were again overpriced for used books. I would have bought more books if they were more reasonably priced, but I was thrilled with one purchase as it actually was on my list (Swimmy by Leo Lionni). I also splurged on an adorable pair of ladybug rainboots for Nadia. I've never seen any at yard sales. I think they were overpriced for a yard sale ($4), but they were still a lot cheaper than buying them new. The rain boots I bought the kids in the spring at Target are just way too big for them. These actually fit Nadia very nicely. She loves them! They were selling a matching raincoat, but I passed on that.

One book I bought today (in mint condition) was one we already owned, but I got it for one of our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. I am having so much fun filling two shoeboxes. I can't believe I never did this before. It's so much fun, and hopefully the children who receive these boxes will enjoy the little goodies we're sending their way. I definitely want to make this an annual tradition for our family, and as the kids get older I'd like them to use some of their money to fill a box. We're doing two boxes this year, but hopefully in future years we'll do even more than two boxes.

Nadia's nap was 3 hours long today (longer than usual). Ian's nap was 20 minutes long. I was hoping that the 50 minute nap yesterday would become the norm.

Nadia's Artwork

Colored in the nursery while I was in ladies Bible study (10/4/11)

As promised, I finally got around to scanning some of Nadia's recent artwork, I'd like to do this periodically so I can see the progression of her skills over time and be able to enjoy looking back at her work years down the road without actually saving the artwork. Paper Coterie is giving away free photobooks again (you only pay shipping), and I was looking through their photobooks yesterday to select which one I wanted to make, I noticed they had one that is focused on your child's artwork. That gave me an idea that maybe once every couple of years I could do a photobook just on their artwork by either taking pictures of their creations (particularly if they are 3D) or scanning them as I did these. If you want to take advantage of this free offer, you should know that it expires on October 23. I've ordered from them before, and the quality is excellent. My favorite is Shutterfly, but I will use which ever one has the best deal (most often seems to be Snapfish). I have to say I enjoy coloring with Nadia. Is it bad to admit that I'm 39 years old, and I still enjoy coloring books? :-)

Ian weighed the same today as he did last Tuesday. I am not concerned though because over the previous 7 days he had gained 18 ounces. I think a plateau is just fine after that rapid weight gain. I recently introduced tapioca pudding into his diet, and it didn't bother him one iota. YAY! He experienced two milestones on Sunday: #1 a "stranger" (nursery worker) was able to feed him some yogurt without any difficulties and #2 he didn't cry or fuss during ANY of his four meals that day! I introduced cottage cheese yesterday, and that has meant he's back to crying/fussing, but I need to keep pushing the texture envelope. The allergist said to gradually reintroduce soy 1-2 weeks from now. I'm taking him to see a new (local) pediatric allergist on Thursday. Out of the past 8 days, he had 4 naps that were 40 minutes long, 1 that was 20 minutes long (Sunday), two days that he only slept in the car, and 1 nap that was 50 minutes long (today!). I will be doing a BIG dance of joy if he routinely starts taking a 50 minute nap!

Gabby wasn't able to babysit today as planned because she isn't feeling well, and she won't be able to come on Thursday either. The upside of her not coming this afternoon was it meant I was able to take the kids to the park. We hadn't been in quite awhile, and it was GORGEOUS out this afternoon. The downside was of course I didn't get any grading done today. Paul's parents are going to come up on Friday and watch the kids as I'm going to have a long day on campus. Thus far I have 14 appointments with students, 1 committee meeting with the Dean, and 1 department faculty meeting scheduled between the hours of 11:00am and 5:30pm. Whew. It's going to be a hectic day, but I'd rather have a few long hectic days than go in more often.

Colored in AWANA (September 2011)

Colored in AWANA (October 2011)

Colored at home several weeks ago - LOTS of colors!

Fingerpainting from Children's Church on October 16, 2011

The Joke of the Day

In many ways my kids are VERY different from each other. Nadia naps for 2-3 hours a day whereas Ian naps for 10-40 minutes a day. But at this age (almost 2) they had a similar sense of humor. When Nadia was Ian's age, she used to call herself a boy and then laugh her head off. Ian has been doing the same thing today. He says "girl," and I say "no, you're a boy" and then he laughs his little head off. We've been going through this little "joke" all day long. It's still hysterical to him, lol! The sense of humor of toddlers just cracks me up!

Someone posted a comment to me through youtube that my latest video wasn't impressive because I helped her know when to stop counting. Well the reason I post videos on youtube has nothing to do with trying to impress people. I post them #1 so that relatives and friends who don't see her very often (or ever) can see what she's like these days and #2 for my own recollection in the future when I can't remember what they were like when they were little. Anyhow, because of that comment (which I let get under my skin), I posted another video that I took today which shows that sometimes she can count a set correctly without my help. She's counted a set of objects as high as 20 for me before, but I stuck with 5 and under for this video. The video shows times when she did it correctly and times when she did it incorrectly. I'm not trying to impress but just create a record of what her counting skills are like right now at 3 years and 3 months old. :-)

Sentence-less Sunday