The 2012 Sitting Games

Augie has been watching a lot of Olympic events lately, and has been inspired to start sitting up! Well, to try and sit up, that is. When I can tell he is needing a bit of down time (when he starts fussing), but he will not nap, I prop him up right next to me and let him watch a few events while we chill. The boy LOVES the bike races and swimming. Then, I can see his wheels start to turn and he begins to try and sit up...and them, FLOP.

 Now that he has realized he is capable of this, he just does it over and over and over and over. Gotta learn somehow, right? It is hilarious.

The No-Poo Challenge

I have decided to go No-Poo!

What?!

Yep. No-Poo. But it probably isn't what you think. If you haven't heard of it, No-Poo is a term used for washing hair without traditional shampoo, as it is thought (by No-Pooers) to dry out the scalp and cause the sebaceous glands to produce more oil, and therefore cause a dependence on daily shampooing. Shampoo, with all of its sodium lauryl sulfate-eyness, is known to dry out hair and irritate the scalp, causing a need for conditioner. Proponents of No-Poo say that after a certain adjustment period (usually three to six weeks), your scalp begins to regulate itself and produce just the right amount of oil to keep your hair at its most healthy state, naturally.

Here are some links to further explain:

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Go-No-Poo/

http://www.naturemoms.com/no-shampoo-alternative.html


So, as per the instructions, I am going to start out by using baking soda and vinegar, and slowly wean my hair so that I have to wash my hair with them less and less. Don't get me wrong here--If it turns out (after the few week grace period) that I smell or look nasty, will consider is a big FAIL and quit.  I am simply giving it a try, because there is no harm in trying something that might 1. Save me money, 2. Be healthier for me and  give me super good-lookin' hair to boot, and 3. make my showers shorter in the long run. Anyone with a baby knows #3 can be a big help. It is also worth noting that I will still, even when not using any product, rinse my hair with water in the shower. Also, I can add any scented essential oils to my homemade "conditioner" and therefore still have pretty smelling hair!

Anyone want to give it a try with me?

Natural Teething Remedies Investigation

Lately is has become increasingly apparent to me that Little Bear is in the beginning of his teething stage. My sweet babe, who before now rarely ever had a cause to holler, can now be found several nights a week refusing to nurse, several days a week refusing to nap for more than a few minutes all day, and several out-of-the-house trips having a meltdown. Being the over-protective, chemical hating, homeopathy-lovin' mama that I am, I decided to set out on my search for teething remedies to suit my natural-baby's needs.

I realize that quite a bit of the teething behavior can be simply soothed by mechanical means, (a wet washcloth to chew on, squishy chew toys, frozen water rings, etc.) but for those truly terribly days, something a little stronger needs to be handy. I have never been the type to take pain medication readily-- I have to have a fairly persistent headache before I reach for the Ibuprofen. I also don't like the thought of giving Augie a dose of Tylenol or Baby Orajel every time he has a bit of pain, especially when something else might do. Something that won't slowly degenerate his liver or induce methemoglobinemia (a deadly blood disorder). 

So, here goes my research on herb-based remedies for teething pain.

Hyland's Teething Tablets

Pros-LOTS of good reviews from parents who swear that it takes away the grumps immediately. Very cost effective ($8 bucks for a bottle with over a hundred tablets). It is easy to use, even on the go, since the tablets dissolve instantly under the tongue.

Cons-One of the ingredients, Belladonna (aka Deadly Nightshade), is an herb that has some people concerned and a few of the reviews I read were by parents whose babies had adverse reactions and had to be taken to the ER with vomiting, etc. Apparently it is a matter of being sensitive/allergic to this herb, and the percentage of people who are seems to be a decent amount. The FDA warns against it, and there was actually a recall at one point. The company website argues that the extreme micro-doses used in their product do not pose a threat to anyone who isn't severely allergic, and an allergy is something you risk with any drug. Is it worth the risk to see if your kid handles the herb well? 

Camila Teething Liquid

Pros-Once again, relief is said to be instantaneous in consumer reviews. It is also said to relieve the mild digestive problems associated with teething/excessive drool ingestion, and therefore the diaper rash also supposedly caused by teething. This remedy has no known side effects. Lactose free. 

Cons- Less cost effective ($12 for twenty individually packaged doses). Liquid might be harder to keep in a small baby's mouth, as opposed to tablets. 

Teetha Teething Granules

Pros- Once again, reviews report instant relief. 

Cons- Comes in a sachet of powder that can be difficult to give to a baby. It is recommended to use at only 4+ months of age. Choking hazard? Not cost effective ($19 for 24 doses).

Humphrey's Teething Strips

Pros-Once AGAIN, reported to work instantly. Decently cost effective ($6 for 18 doses). Nice flavors, which probably help with the baby grumps as well. This company also makes pellets. Said to relieve "wakefulness", and many parents agree it helps with nap-time grumps.

Cons- I assume that a "strip" might be less safe for a smaller baby. Recalled at one point because of unsafe/non-childproof container. 

Any other suggestions from mama's who found a good homeopathic teething remedy? 

Sturat and Siggle Come for a Visit

Last night Stuart and Sigs came to take Forrest on a sate. Yes, a sate. A date is a date, a frate is a friend-date, and, therefore, a sate is a sibling-date. They all went to go see Batman's Final Revenge or something of that nature, and left Augie and I to a quiet night of cuddling a several closed-captioned episodes of "Dual Survival"! Awesome show.

 The REAL fun happened the next morning, when Augie got to take his aunties up with a big dose of cute.

He wasn't quite successful in rousing Aunt Seguin, but he did manage to get Stu to come and play for a bit. They hung out on the couch like real cool kids do...

and pondered life's big questions as they gazed into each others eyes.

 

We love you, aunties! Please, come again soon!

Anyone Out There??

Lately I have been tweaking my blog (with the help of my loving husband)and trying to get it to look just the way I want it. While clicking around and learning more about Blogger I happened upon a tab where I can check my blogs "stats". This includes how many views I get, what posts are most popular, and (most notably) what countries look at my blog. Obviously, the only people who could possibly read my blog are in the US, right? Wrong!! I have had several views from both Germany and Russia! Whoa! That was so exciting to see-- but it also piqued my curiosity. Who out there, in this great big world, could possibly be reading my little blog? So, here is my plea: Person/people in Russia and Germany, REVEAL YOURSELF! I would LOVE to know who you are, and if you have a blog, read yours too! I would simply die of enjoyment if you would leave a comment below, and tell me about yourself. Please, please, please and thank you, thank you, thank you. If I get no such comments, I will just have to assume that a few people accidentally happened upon my blog, and just as quickly exited it, and I am in fact not nearly as fun to read about as I had hoped. Here goes nothing...

Old Friend, New Friend, Red Friend, Blue Friend?

Today Augie and I had lunch with our new friends, Kirsty and Chapman! (Thank you to Leigh for Facebook-introducing us.) We had a nice time and got to chat for a bit, and then Augie decided to have a meltdown. You might think that it makes me a lucky momma that my kid rarely has these (and it totally does), but the fact that I am not used to him acting that way means that when he does I, too, freak out and we have to bolt home to regroup! This meant a slightly abbreviated date, and no Gelato. Very sad, but now that we finally got to meet, I am sure we will have plenty more chances to hang out and have fun!

Chapman is the one bundled up and cozy in the sling :) Yay for new friends!

Now, onto some sad news. My other friend and walking buddy, Tarah, is moving away. She, her hubb, and their baby boy Sam are moving back from whence they came. They are pretty happy about getting to go home to Minnesota, but I sure will miss them. Arrivederci, Dworshak clan! Keep in touch--you will be missed. 

Isn't Sam adorable? You can see why I will miss this kid (and his momma)!

Visit to Eustace

This Saturday we had a fun overnight trip to see our favorite people in ALL of Eustace-town. Ma-da-da Syler, Dumb-daddy Dennis, Siggy, Stu, and Rachel and the cousins were there, too! It was a lot of fun for Augie, and I ACTUALLY remembered to take pictures this time! (see: Facebook album)

Augie thought that Annie and Nolan were Hi-LARIOUS and Aunt Rachel wan't too bad either...

He couldn't get enough of pulling Ma-da-da around by the Scapular and hair and was happy to find out she understands baby babble quite well! He cuddled with Aunt Siggy, had a good time goofing off with Dumb-daddy, and was in complete shock that his God-mother, Stu, was so beautiful!

All in all it was a splendid time, and here is more proof! : )  Enjoy.

One Boy. One Girl. One Shirt.

I'm posting this for the sake of posterity.  It's the story Forrest wrote for our wedding website.

Our Story...with a twist!

"You like, eh?" the man said, grinning widely. His crooked yellow-stained teeth did little to mask the pungent odor of cigarettes and gin on his breath. "You like this shirt." More of a statement than a question. "It full of good luck for you!"

"Don't really need luck," Forrest said, growing impatient with the clerk. "More interested in comfort and style." He had just returned to Hawaii after a long fifteen months on deployment in Iraq. He was short on clothes and long on cash, so he was now hunting through Chinatown for rags on the cheap, even if out of the main.

"Comfort! Yes!" the old proprietor said. "You feel! Shirt very soft! You try on. It look good on you. You get many many ladies! So you see... style and luck!" Even bigger grin this time.

Later, he wouldn't be able to figure out if it was temporary insanity, destiny, or just poor taste, but Forrest took out his wallet. He handed the old man a twenty, nodding intent to buy. Something in the old man's eyes told him he just purchased more than he bargained for.

Of Interlopers
and a very important first encounter of which our readers will learn more shortly

Clip!

The sound didn't register with her at first. She was reveling in the spirit of the season--that feeling of the cross-roads or the journey's end that one experiences in college towns in the late fall when the jubilation and drama of the graduating class takes over. Compounded with the thrilling sense of autumnal foreboding, the surreal pandemonium of dead week in College Station is capable of leaving even the most stoic of young Aggies giddy with goose flesh.

Clop!

Her heart skipped a beat. Jenny wondered whose footsteps she heard ascending the stairs outside her friend's second story apartment as she let the enthralling conversation lapse for only a moment.

"That's why they use coconut oil with the bobby pins," Jenny continued.

Stuart laughed. "Dusseldorf!"

"Dusseldorf!" Jenny laughed.

There was a heavy sound of shuffling outside the door.

"Shh!" Stuart started. "Do you hear something?"

Jenny had. That someone was just outside the door was evident. Who it was remained a mystery. Stuart had mentioned that her brother, the one in the army, would be coming over. Jenny now wondered if it could be he who now gently knocked.

"Yes?" Stuart called.

The door knob slowly turned. The door creaked open. A silhouette filled the door way, then a figure slowly emerged.

Jenny then beheld his piercing eyes. His pouting lip. His disappearing hairline. Then she was blinded. Not by his looks, but by the glaring light from a line across his shirt--of glitter? Was that glitter on his shirt?

"Hey," Forrest said with a nod, in his usually eloquent fashion, as he entered the apartment.

"Hi, bubby," Stuart said as she approached him for a hug. "This is my friend, Jenny."
He would never remember from that day forward, what he said in greeting. She had bewitched him at first glance. Her beauty was unsurpassed. Her smile was as rich as the harvest...

...But then she opened her mouth and the curse-- he would later realize it was a curse with which the old man had burdened him--the curse sunk its malevolent claws into his mind.

"Are you wearing a glitter shirt?" Jenny said before laughing.

What insolence! Forrest thought. To insult the manhood of a veteran! How unpatriotic! How untoward! No amount of beauty could forgive such baseness.

"They're beads," he said.

"That is glitter," she laughed.

He couldn't concentrate anymore on what she said. The clash of her beauty with her ridicule baffled him. When he left, his mood was one of enchantment mixed with irritation. Jenny was simultaneously charmed and bemused. The shirt had accomplished its foul deed. Love would be delayed.

The Middle Bits
skipping past all the filler chapters

I could tell you how it was two long years before Forrest and Jenny got together: How they barely even saw each other during those two years. I could tell you how Forrest finally got the sense to call her after seeing her again over the New Year holiday. I could regale you with anecdotes of their early courtship -- long conversations on the phone -- hours on Skype.

But, let's face it. Those middle parts of romance stories are always far more interesting to the characters involved in the romance. Well, women may enjoy those bits, but men, well... we'd just as soon skip them, if not the story all together. So for the sake of brevity and gender compromise, suffice it to say that Forrest and Jenny hit it off quite well, promises and sweet nothings were exchanged, and it was not very long at all before marriage was taken under consideration.

In fact, their romance moved so swiftly, it took them less time to decided to marry than it took you to read this sentence!

A Burning Love
containing proof of the cruelty of the sun

"This ought to do it," Donald Thain said as he rested his paddle on the canoe bottom. "Anchors away!"

Forrest hoisted the formidable iron weight over the side and let go. It splashed before rushing to the bottom of the waters just off the Packery Channel.
Donald and Forrest were out fishing during what should have been a cloudy day, but turned out to be quite inconveniently sunny, during Forrest's first visit to the Thain household in Corpus Christi. But Forrest had much more on his mind that just fishing. He planned to ask Jenny's hand in marriage during this alone time with her father.

"Anchor's set," Forrest said.

"Ok," Donald said as he cut the first piece of live bait and hooked it on the line.

The massive anchor failed to grab the sea bottom as the mighty winds shoved the canoe left and right, causing it to gradually drift in the direction of the channel. As Donald cast the rod for the first time, Forrest nervously awaited an opening to force the issue. After several blundered attempts, he finally mustered the courage.

"So," he began awkwardly, voice half cracking as he twisted around to talk to Mr. Thain. "I love Jenny." More awkwardness. Some meaningless gesture of the hand. "I'd like to ask you for her hand in marriage." He waited for the response as a defendant waits for judgment.

"Oh, sure," Donald said, taken by surprise. "Great. Congratulations!"

Forrest let out a sigh of relief. They cracked open a couple of beers, and began fishing in earnest and much more at ease.

One hour passed. No fish.

Two hours passed. No fish.

Third hour: fish caught, but too small to keep unless several more fish caught.

Meanwhile, the sun worked his constant mischief. Unbeknownst to our two fishermen, there skin was slowly baking, baking, baking. Over three hours had passed before Donald and Forrest called it quits. The ride back to the house revealed in stages the extent of their sunburn.

Meanwhile, back at the house, Jenny had been commiserating with one of her friends over a non-related matter involving wasted time. They were aided in this endeavor by a bottle of a sort of grain-based fermented drink, a box of trash bags used as a makeshift slip-n-slide, and a few hours off the clock.

By the time Forrest and Mr. Thain returned, the girls had lain down for a nice quiet nap which they were loathe to quit. Copious amounts of coffee and more time were able to eventually rouse them, and everyone was soon quite chipper. The friend (names have been excluded to protect the innocent... well the not-so-innocent too, I suppose) left shortly after.

Twilight was waxing when Forrest asked Jenny if she would like to accompany him to the back yard and watch and wait for the stars to appear. Jenny totally bought it. She never expected this to be the moment. At least, that's Forrest's story and since he happens to be the author, you'll just have to take his word. Anyway, not having known for basically a month and not knowing explicitly that this was de facto his underlying motivation for going fishing with her father, Jenny graciously acquiesced and gracefully exited to the back yard while Forrest excused himself to, "grab a drink before coming out."

Clever as usual, Forrest actually did not require a drink. It was merely a ruse to retrieve the engagement ring from his bags before joining Jenny on the lawn. Very clever!

As Forrest walked toward Jenny, she smiled sweetly for him and still totally didn't suspect a thing. Forrest made a move to take a seat beside her, but (ever so smoothly, don't you know?) he instead went down on one knee. Taking the small wooden box from behind his back he opened it, took out the ring, and asked her to marry him.

Her face lit up and, without hesitation--but that doesn't mean that she even slightly expected a proposal--she said yes.

And then...
"Write some more of the story," Jenny called from the other room.

"I'm already doing it," Forrest called back.

"Well hurry up!" Jenny said.

"There's a process, you know?" Forrest said, exasperated. "The more you keep bothering me, the longer it will take."

"It has to be ready soon," Jenny pleaded.

Forrest shook his head as he continued to type. He had successfully turned a ten minute task into a month long labor. A smile slowly appeared on his face as an idea struck on him and his fingers attacked the keyboard in a flurry. Suddenly he jumped and let out a startled gasp. Jenny had crept into the room and was peering over his shoulder.

"You scared me," he said.

"Is our story finished?" She asked excitedly as she sat down on his lap.

"Finished?" Forrest wondered for a moment. "No," he said, looking Jenny in the eyes and smiling. "Our story has just begun."

Afterword
For those of you who think the end is a cop out, I happen to think it was pretty good, and I really am on a little bit of a time crunch, and anyway this is already likely longer than any other story your likely to find on any other wedding website, and it is free after all, and you didn't have to read it.

For those of you that find it to be corny or gay, I'd like to say, "Grow up, dude. Quit being so insecure. Why are you looking at a wedding website anyway? Did your woman make you read it? Oh snap! Who's gay now?"

For those of you that are offended by the fact that I took slight liberties with the narrative and didn't always strictly adhere to the literal facts, come on! It's a story. You knew that going in. Excuse me for trying to spice it up a little, Negatron! Lighten up!

For any other critics out there who are dissatisfied for some reason... well... *blows rasberry*... jog on!

Augie's First trip to Corpus Christi!

For the Fourth of July holiday weekend Forrest, Augie and I made a trip to Corpus Chrsti to see my parents and visit with my sister Tammy and nephew Kaleb who were visiting, too. We had a lot of fun and Augie got to see the Texas State aquarium! He was in a trance the whole time we were looking at the fish tanks. It was fun seeing his little wheels turn as he tried to figure out what was going on!

We also, in lieu of going downtown to see the fireworks (way past Augie's bedtime), had a little display in our backyard. This was courtesy of my nephew Kaleb bringing a garbage bag full of fun goodies (all small things that were legal to have in a neighborhood). Forrest had fun helping Kaleb set them off, and I got a few good pictures of the festivities!

My dad, being the ever-crafty carpenter that he is, whittled Aug his first little sword/knife/blade(?), and I have to say I appreciated that it was just made of wood.

Even though his birthday wasn't until Sunday, my mom insisted we take Forrest out for a birthday meal and so he chose Kiko's Mexican Restaurant. I think the picture says it all.

We had a good trip, and hopefully next time we go Augie will be big enough to go to the beach!