traveling

check out this link to where I have traveled and you can punch in your travels and see too. i have so many places I want to see. We have been seriously talking about going to India as a family next year. I want to hang out with our friend tammy in bangalore. she runs an orphanage with about 40 kids. I just would love to hang with her for a few weeks and let my kids get to know her kids. but i am just not sure it will be safe for my India. I am going to talk to her petiatritian who is an Indian herself. We'll see. I also may be able to go to China again next year with my aunt.

Guess who is going to school.

Well, some of you know we tried to get Moriah into Alexas school for pre-K. She didn't get in and was #7 on the waiting list which I thought meant there was no way she would get in. Not so, we got a call this week that she is in. It is bittersweet because I had gotten used to the fact that she would be around one more year. I went and bought a zoo pass and a please touch museum pass and now I won't be using them
much. I am kind of emotional about the whole thing. Alexa is excited but cried for a good 30 minutes when I told her she wouldn't be riding the bus anymore. Moriah can't wait. She has been asking me over and over when she can go to Alexas school.
I went to her school today to help out the nurse and learn some stuff so I can fill in there. I am waiting to hear from the principal if this will be a paid thing or volunteer. It was fun though. I didn't get to see Alexa but I wrote an note on her desk that made her very happy.
Yesterday I went to a breastfeeding support group. It was very encouraging. The lactation consultant has lots of connections and wants me to start a support group in my area. If anyone is interested or knows anyone interested, let me know.

We are off to the rivah for the last time of the season. I am looking forward to some family time and hopefully there won't be any nettles so I can attempt wake boarding again.

I can Breathe...

Though the past two days have been rainy and "chilly," I am enjoying the change from the heat wave that sat over us for so long. We had a few awesome days without rain too. We have been trying to get outside more. I am trying to get back to running but my feet have been giving me issues. I went yesterday and probably ran 4 miles. It felt good even with the rain. And Oskar needed it too. He just about made me fall on my face a couple of times when he saw another dog. He has been in the house for a few weeks now with almost no exercise. Amyways, I woke up this morning and I could hardly walk. I have plantar fasciitis. It is extreme pain in the heals. Motrin helps a little, but it doesn't help when I go to work for a 12 hour shift on that hard hospital floor. I really am getting old. I don't mind being old. Just the pains get in the way. I realized how old i am last night at the eastern dinner. We saw Chris Hall, an old prof of ours. We had him his first few years of teaching and now he is provost and been there 16 years!
India had a rough time last night. Stephanie was so sweet to watch all three for us. She is good with India and didn't seem too stressed about India fussing so much. I hope she gets more used to being watched by others. It is our fault for not leaving her with others yet and now she is having stranger anxiety.
We babysat Kindred and Elias the other night. Alexa had a friend come over to watch high school musical also. i felt like our house was a daycare. They were all good though. I put Elias to bed, came down and fed India, put her to bed, came down and got Kindred, hung out with him outside for a while and put him to bed. Came down and watched the end of the movie and put the girls to bed.The best part was hanging out with my sweet godson, Kindred. We had a much needed bonding time. This past year has been so busy, I just have had very little time to hang with him. He is really starting to love Chris too. Michelle said that he new when they got to my street that they were at titi Laras house. And then he said "and chris too?" He watched some football with him which chris loved. We watched a thunderstorm together and counted cars.
India is starting to crawl. She gets up on her hands and knees and rocks like crazy. She will move forward a little and then flops back on her belly. I am actually hoping she holds off on crawling a few more weeks so I can get the house ready. Or maybe I am just not ready for her to grow up yet?? She is getting another tooth which is why her tongue is constantly sticking out. She is like a lizard with that tongue, or maybe a giraffe. She sticks it out pretty far and points it to her nose. Funny.

Who Knew about God Tube??

My mother in law sent me a God tube attachment this morning. Cute stuff. But who knew there was such a thing? Crazy, huh?



Chris brought the kids to see me at work yesterday. It was busy as usual, so I only had a few minutes but I let them sit in the lounge and watch me work. All the nurses got to meet the kids and couldn't stop talking about Indias eyes. She was so smiley for everyone too.
I am going to got orient to a volunteer job at esperanza clinic this week. I am hoping to volunteer once a week, get better at spanish, and then hopefully get a job there within a year. We'll see.
Also, I am going this week for an orientation for as substitute nurse at Alexas school. It will probably be once a month, but it will be fun to see Alexa.
Also, we have like three Eastern University dinners within the next week to go to. Tonight we are leaving all kids with a babysitter. It will be Indias first time with a sitter. I hope it goes ok. But it is an opera night, so I am guessing it is too fancy of an ordeal to take a 7 month old.

quake in lima

We got news last night before heading to bed about the big quake in Lima Peru. Our good friends Brian, Rachel and their two kids live there with the Word Made Flesh community. We got word from them today that they are fine, though it shook them hard for a good 2 minutes. They are still trying to get in contact with all of their friends who may have been hit harder than them. Keep them in prayer and especially those that have lost everything as a result of this disaster. Their sweet daughter, Isabel, was really scared by the whole thing. I can only imagine Alexas response to such a thing. She about had a panic attack when we were in Indiana last year and she heard sirens for a tornado.

punk rock mommy

Check out the blog on my side bar "a mom with cancer." Listen to her talk with Dr. Dan. This is a woman I met a couple of years ago. Andrea had her 6th baby last november. she thought she had mastitis that wouldn't go away with antibiotics. Months later. she finally went to the doctor where she was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer called inflammatory breast cancer. Hers is stage 4 IBC which means it has metastisised to her bones.

Her sharing of her struggle and hope has given me much to think about.

I talked to one of her kids the other day. He told me they are trying to get in a study in California. Pray that she gets into the study.

Alexa's in School & We are going Swimmin...

Poor alexa came home from her 2nd week of school sad that we had gone to the pool without her. Well, it was getting kind of warm, though not scorching like last week. So, we went for Indias first real swim. We have put her in the pool for short periods of time, but this was the first time I put sunscreen on her, so we stayed in for an hour. We even blew in her face and dunked her. She is a water baby for sure. It didn't bother her in the least. I tried to get a picture of her raisin feet when we got out but you have to look real close.







Now Alexa is working on her spelling words and Moriah is bowling in the basement. Chris is preparing for his new position in his job and India is saying MAMAMAMAMAMA. I think she is hungry. I guess I better go get her some dinner. This week I am going to try giving her pumkin. So far she eats zucchini (because we had two huge ones) and carrots, and bananas and apples.
I ran into a friend, Rachel , last night. She had her baby 2 days before I had India. Her son is so cute and has 2 teeth just like India. Though Rachel says that Riley hasn't bitten her yet. Maybe India is teething again, but man does it hurt. Now I know why my mom gave up nursing at 3 months when I got my 1st tooth.