Monthly Archives: October 2009

I'm no superman*

*yes, that’s a reference to this song.

Yes, I make Frankenstein treats for my kids and yes, we go on nature walks and alphabet walks.  Yes, we play educational games in the grocery store, and yes, we practice our addition skills while the kids help me bake a cake.  I also let my kids splash in puddles and get muddy sometimes.  I don’t care if the baby eats a little grass or gnaws on the edge of the table.  So very often I am “that mom”.  The good one.  The over-achiever.  Mrs. Crafty McCrafterson.

But lately I’ve been feeling like that the old adage my be true for me:  Jack of all trades, master of none.

I’m feeling bleh tonight.  (It might very possibly be the horribly nasty and cheap frozen pizza I ate for dinner.)

I enjoy watching the clouds drift by as we sit on the back deck, my kids and I, but I can’t help but have a million other thoughts running through my head:

“Did I call Kathy back?  Which charter bus company have I not heard back from?  Why am I annoyed with myself for ending that last question with a preposition?  Did I lock us out of the house again?  Is Lauren available to come help me get back into my own house again?  What if the baby falls out of his crib while I’m locked out?  Which window should I break?  Can I throw hard enough to break a window?  Wait…we don’t even have any big rocks around here.  What would I use to break the window?  Ya know, I should really get one of those fake rock hide-a-key thingys.  But isn’t that like asking for a robber to let themselves into your house?  What would somebody take if they robbed me?  Surely they wouldn’t steal my pictures, right?  Would home owner’s insurance help out in the event of theft?  Do we have adequate coverage?  How about a list of our stuff.  Do we have an up-to-date one of those?  I know we had one a long time ago.  You know, before kids.  Oh, man!  What if they stole my laptop.  The one with all my pictures saved on it.  I should check on that online system backup program.   Wow, I have an over-active imagination.  I’m making myself tired just thinking.”

I’m feeling out of sorts and discombobulated.

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.

I’m tired.

I am realizing that “I’m not SuperWoman”.

And that’s hard for me…because I so wanted to wear a form-fitting lycra suit with bright red go-go boots.

Fun Halloween Treats

I searched the internet high and low for something fun, cute and easy to make for Carter’s Halloween party. I found a lot of good ideas, but settled on this one.   Well, it didn’t work exactly like I thought it would.  (As a matter of fact I wish I’d seen this post before I went to the grocery store! I would have done the coating that way.)  But they look good and taste terrific, which is really what matters most!

So you want to know how to make these little guys?

FrankI bought pre-made Rice Krispy Treats.  (In retrospect, I could have just made them and colored the marshmallow mixture green, but oh well…)

Then take 2 cups(1 bag) of white chocolate chips and melt it with 2 TBsp crisco in the microwave.  Pour in green food coloring(remember a little goes a long way!), and mix well.

Take the mixture and wrap is around the treat like you would do with modeling clay or play-dough.

Dip Frank’s head into a bowl of black sugar crystals.

Stick Mike and Ike’s in the sides for the neck bolts.

Use Sixlets or M&Ms for the eyes, and cut up gummy worms for the lips.

Use black decorator’s gel to finish off the look by dotting the eyes and drawing a nose.

Refrigerate until the chocolate is hardened.

Dear Facebook,

I hate you.  I mean, I don’t hate you-hate you.  But you’re just not the same as you once were.  Too many things are changing, and it’s making me question our whole relationship.  I mean, I fell in love with you because you were fun to be around.  You gave me just what I needed.  Now I’m drowning in details.  I don’t care about who is friends with whom.  Or what my friends “like”.  And I definitely don’t give a rat’s behind that my long lost elementary school friend is a “fan” of NKTOB.

It’s not me, it’s you.
Bridget

Sentences on Sunday

Dear Asa,
“Haaaaayeeeeee.” Your first “real” word. You can babble “dadadadada” and “mamamamamama”, but I’m not convinced you know what you’re saying. But with “Haaaaaaaaayeeeee”, there’s a wave and everything. We even got a “byyyyyyeee” today. I love it, and hate it all at the same time. Slow down…

Dear Carter,
Tonight you wanted me to hold you and carry you. You wanted to cuddle and snuggle. That’s nice. You aren’t a cuddler. And you’re usually “too big” to do stuff like that in front of other people. It’s nice…and I loved it.

Dear Lydia,
You are your own person, that’s for sure. What is frustrating for me now, I know will serve you well as you get older. You don’t let anything get between you and your plan(and you always have a plan). Your way is the right way. Always. One problem with that: I’m always right, so back off, sista. 🙂 (Just kidding!)

I love you all!
Love, Mommy

9…scratch that…10 months old

I took Asa’s 9 month pictures about 2 weeks ago. I kept meaning to post them, but you know…stuff happened and I forgot.

And then tonight I looked at the calendar and realized that today is actually his 10 month birthday. (Well, yesterday now, since it’s after midnight.)

I can’t believe how he’s grown and changed so much in the past few weeks. 4 teeth are now easily visible, with 2 more beginning to peek through. He can army crawl like a champ and get anywhere he wants to go. (Note to self: baby-proofing the house is necessary now!) He can pull himself up with ease, and is very proud of himself when I come to find him standing in his crib.

He has started waking up several times a night, but with teeth coming in I guess that’s to be expected. But I sure had gotten used to sleeping all night long!

Anyway, here’s a look at our big boy:

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.3715800&w=425&h=350&fv=offsite%3Dtrue%26offsite%3Dtrue%26offsite%3Dtrue%26lang%3Den-us%26page_show_url%3D%252Fphotos%252F90907384%2540N00%252Fsets%252F72157622643623382%252Fshow%252F%26page_show_back_url%3D%252Fphotos%252F90907384%2540N00%252Fsets%252F72157622643623382%252F%26set_id%3D72157622643623382%26jump_to%3D]

more about “Asa’s 9 month pictures“, posted with vodpod

Five for Fighting CD GIVEAWAY!

***We have a winner! Congrats, Punkinmama!***

Remember last week when I told you about the new Five for Fighting CD?

F4F

Well, guess what?  One lucky winner will get an autographed copy of Five for Fighting’s new album, Slice.

How can I win a copy of Bridget’s new favorite album, you might ask?

Easy…go here and listen to the samples.  Come back and comment, telling me which song you like the best.

Want an extra entry?  Tweet about it and comment here with the URL for that tweet.

On Friday night, I will pick a winner using random.org.

"Once In A Blue Moon" Book Review

I’m a reader.  I will read most any genre, but my true love is chick lit.  I know, I know. Shocker, right?   I love me some Jane Green, Meg Cabot, Sophie Kinsella….  And now, after reading Once In A Blue Moon, I have added veteran writer Eileen Goudge to my “love it” list.

OnceinaBlueMoon

A few weeks ago I received a book from the One2One Network so that I could read and review it.  When I first got it in the mail, I really wanted this to be a book I couldn’t put down.  And I have to admit this…it wasn’t.  At first. With everything that I’ve had going on lately, reading has kind of taken a back seat to everything else.  The only chance I would have to read would be once I laid down for bed at night.  And I’d be so tired that I simply could.not.keep.eyes.open.  No matter what.

But I will say that, even though it took me a few days to get started, I was quickly wrapped up in the story of Lindsey and her life.  I loved the contrast between Lindsey and her sister Kerri Ann.  I really loved Miss Honey’s character.  Ollie reminded me of a good friend from way back.  Another one of those friends like I was talking about yesterday.

Was is a predictable book?  A little, but in a good way.  Kind of like when you go to watch a chick flick at the theater.  You can guess how it’s going to end, but the fun part is finding out how you get there!

I already have a few of Eileen’s older books on order from amazon.com, and I can’t wait to get them in the mail!

Want to know more about Eileen Goudge?   Become her fan on facebook or follow her on twitter. (She’s one of those authors who actually talks back when you chat with her on Facebook or Twitter!)

Friends from Way Back When

Surely you all have at least one.  You know, a friend from way back when.

Someone who remembers when you wore a total of two pairs of socks not for warmth, but for fashion.  You know purple and gold on the left foot and gold and purple on the right.  Because that’s just Klassy.

Someone who remembers when you wore culottes and full-body sunflower-patterned jumpers.

Someone who remembers your first car.

Someone who knew you before you were a mom.

Someone who knows your family history well enough for you to say, “Remember that time when…” and you don’t have to retell the story.

Someone who has hugged you and held you when you had your heart broken

Someone who has made you laugh harder than you thought possible.

Someone who you can see once or twice a year, and still pick up where you left off.

I am lucky enough to have two of those someones.

And I was lucky enough to spend the whole weekend with them.


Oct18

The Doctor Is In: H1N1 Vaccine

My husband is a pediatrician.  Once a week(or so) I share this space with him so that he can give you up-to-date and  pertinent information about a variety of medical topics.  If there are topics that you would like to see him address, please email me at queenofhaddock(at)gmail(dot)com.

***Disclaimer – this is my personal statement regarding influenza and includes things that I tell my own patients/parents in visits to my office. This is not meant to be a substitute for a visit to or discussion with your pediatrician. For any questions regarding your child’s health you should of course discuss them with your pediatrician. This is meant only to provide information, which I hope you find helpful.***

So there have been a ton of questions regarding the H1N1 flu vaccine.  There are a lot of concerns over whether or not it is a safe vaccine, if it has been tested enough, etc.  Let me go ahead and say that the H1N1 vaccine is just as safe as the seasonal flu vaccine.  As far as whether or not it has been “tested,”  we already have years of clinical experience with the seasonal influenza vaccine, and the H1N1 vaccine is prepared in exactly the same manner as seasonal flu vaccine.  (For my previous post on influenza, go here).

To understand how the vaccine works, let’s go over a little background information on the virus.  The flu virus has on its surface proteins that help it to cause infection and duplicate itself.  For influenza A, these are hemagglutinin and neuraminidase.  Hemagglutinin plays a role in helping the virus to attach to cells in our body, and neuraminidase plays a role in allowing the virus to penetrate into the cells and start using the machinery of our cells to reproduce itself.  These unique proteins help to type the virus.  The “swine flu” virus that is circulating this year has hemagglutinin 1 (H1) and neuraminidase 1 (N1) on its surface, therefore it is termed “H1N1.” These two proteins on the surface of the virus change slightly every year from either mutations in the DNA that code for them (termed “antigenic drift”) or occasionally change greatly by recombination of genes between two different types of flu viruses (termed “antigenic shift”).  If the flu was exactly the same every year then after your immune system saw it one time with infection or immunization, then re-exposure would allow the immune system to recognize it and attack it before it caused infection.  These yearly subtle changes in the surface proteins are what allow the flu to evade our immune system, appearing as a “new” virus that the immune system does not recognize.  This is why you have to get a flu vaccine every year.  Information is collected every year on what strains of flu virus were the most common circulating strains.  Using the prior years’ trends to predict which strains will most commonly circulate in the coming year, the flu vaccine is prepared with these proteins from what is believed will be the most common flu virus strains for the upcoming flu season.  The flu vaccine has to be incubated for months using eggs, which is why the flu vaccine isn’t always perfect in preventing flu.  Sometimes the best models for predicting which flu virus strains will circulate aren’t 100% accurate, so therefore neither will the vaccine be.  Even if the vaccine isn’t perfect, some protection may still be provided.  One might ask why not wait and see which strains show up at the start of flu season, which would be a reasonable question.  The issue there is that if we waited until we knew which strains would be circulating, then by the time the vaccine was ready after months of incubation, flu season would be over.  For more detailed information on how the viruses for the seasonal flu vaccine are chosen go here.

That brings us to the H1N1 vaccine.  Unlike the seasonal flu, we know which surface proteins are present on the virus (H1N1!!) and therefore the vaccine is specific for the swine flu strain.  The vaccine is prepared in exactly the same manner as the seasonal flu vaccine, and therefore is just as safe to receive.  There are two types of vaccine – the injectable vaccine and the nasal spray (FluMist).  For H1N1 specific information on each vaccine click here for info on the shot and here for info on the nasal spray vaccine.  Much more information in the H1N1 vaccine may be found here

The exact timing of availability of the H1N1 vaccine will vary by state, but in general the higher risk populations will be targeted first

  • Pregnant women
  • Household and caregiver contacts of children younger than 6 months of age (e.g. parents, siblings, and daycare providers)
  • Health care and emergency medical services personnel
  • Persons from 6 months through 24 years of age
  • Persons aged 25 through 64 years who have medical conditions associated with a higher risk of influenza complications

(Above target groups via http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/clinicians_qa.htm)

This grouping does not mean that you won’t be able to get it if you’re not in one of the above groups.  As production of the vaccine continues the supplies will eventually cover all those who desire it.  Early on, however, supplies will be limited.  Therefore the initial target groups are those at higher risk from complications of infection.   Currently in the state of Georgia healthy children aged 2-4 are being targeted to receive the intranasal (FluMist) vaccine, as they are among the most common group responsible for transmission of the virus to others.  Check with your pediatrician or local health department to see if/when the vaccine is available for you or your child.

In deciding whether or not to be vaccinated or to have your children vaccinated, know that it is a safe and effective vaccine.  Also consider that while H1N1 has not been the great pandemic killer it was feared to be, there’s always the possibility, however remote, than the virus may mutate or acquire a gene that allows it to cause much more severe disease (this was what caused the 1918 strain to be so deadly – it had a particular gene that provided it much higher virulence).  Now is the time to be vaccinated before such an event occurs.

One other thing that should not be overlooked is that the H1N1 vaccine only protects against the H1N1 flu virus.  It does not protect against the seasonal flu virus, which is still out there circulating.  If you want to be protected from the seasonal flu virus, you will need to be immunized with the seasonal flu vaccine in addition to the H1N1 vaccine.

Wordless Wednesday: Date Night

Date Night