Sunday, April 29, 2012

the lessons they teach us...

this morning, we had to leave mass halfway through the homily because nolan started "la la la"-ing and when i asked him to be quite and listen, he got much, much louder. toddlerhood! *said shaking fist

later tonight, while eating dinner, nolan started screaming/yelling (we're cycling through that lovely phase again) and tried (i successfully caught it) flipping his plate of food upside down (another lovely, lovely trick of his lately). ugh.

yes, i realize that he was tired, had been processing (all. day. long.) a crazy busy, slightly overstimulating day yesterday and he was DONE skyping with grandma while trying to focus on dinner, but still...i don't do yelling and plate flipping.

by this point (with a couple other episodes throughout the day), i was OVER IT. i raised my voice and said, "NO!" and some other stuff i can't remember.

he didn't stop.

how many times am i going to lose my patience and try that? it never works! anyway, after i talked to him for minute and acknowledged what was going on and got off the computer, he calmed down.

a few minutes later, i was doing something. trying to get him to eat something or not do something, i don't remember (sometimes life with a 2-year-old is a blur :D) and he yelled, "NO!" at me and this is what i said:

"nolan, yelling 'no' isn't going to get you anything that you want. that isn't how we communicate to each other in this house."

...

oh, the lessons they teach us...listen to your own advice, mom.

i apologized and we went on to have a rather lovely dinner where i finished my food and so did he. yet another reminder for me to take a breath, assess what is going on and address it appropriately. easier said than done, i realize...but a goal.

Monday, April 23, 2012

help us help babies :)

it is that time of year again...

we are getting ready to participate in the march of dimes march for babies walk here in los angeles a little later this week. this will be our fourth year walking in honor of our daughter, sofia, who died in utero and was stillborn at 22 weeks. you can read more about our sweet sofia here, here, and here. this year, we are also walking to honor the daughter of dear friends who was born with trisomy 13 and lived a miraculous 13 days. after such a deep heartbreak, you have to find ways to honor your angel. this is one way we choose to do that.

the march of dimes is an organization that works to reduce premature births and birth defects. they research. they educate. they raise money - since 1970, they have raised $2 billion dollars. they offer support to families during pregnancy and after their children are born. and so much more.

according to their website, in 2010 $27 million was given in grants to do further research in the fields of premature birth, birth defects and infant mortality - how these situations develop and how to prevent them.

they were also busy in 2010 with "advocacy efforts to make sure women and children have access to needed health care services; delivering culturally specific programs of education to moms-to-be; and helping health care providers and patients understand the consequences of early elective delivery and the importance of the last weeks of pregnancy" in addition to serving "80,000 families through nicu family support sites in more than 100 hospitals across the county, providing information and comfort.

pretty amazing right!? so...how can you help this amazing cause?

well, the quickest and easiest way would be to donate to our family team for this year's "march"! you can donate to either me or anthony and it all goes to help our team's efforts! super fast. super easy. SUPER awesome.  so far with the help of our amazing family and friends and sponsorships from dr. david ghozland, md; the center for maternal fetal medicine - kevin justus, md and the enterprise fish company, we have already raised $600 this year! but we are still $200 shy of our goal...and with only 5 days to go! please consider donating to help us and to help millions of babies and their families!

another way to help is to sign up to walk with your family or friends and raise your own donations! here is a link for more information about upcoming walks!


or..even better. do you really feel like getting involved? the march of dimes has volunteer leader positions available too! here is a link for more info about volunteering for your local chapter!

anthnony and i at our first walk - april 2009

our fam. nolan (2 months) looking up to our quilt square for sofia - april 2010

me and my boy (14 months) - april 2011

anthony and nolan 2011 - note...nolan could walk, but chose not to. ;)

our fam. 2011


Saturday, April 21, 2012

"all in a day"

last week on a not-so-warm morning, we decided to forgo the beach and went to story-time at our local library. we hadn't been in a while and once again we (unknowingly) made it to the very last day of the session. lucky for us we didn't show up next week to no story-time...though i suppose we would just sit and read books on our own. anyway, i'm getting off topic here.

after a rousing story-time complete with stories, songs, some really cool puppets and one awesome purple flower sticker (that nolan kept on all day...and night), we ventured out into the children's section, searching for a new crop of books to borrow. a few weeks ago, our friend elly lent us a book about kitties (my bug LOVES kitties). it was one of the first non-board books that nolan really got to play with and much to my surprise (and pleasure), he didn't destroy it! whew! so this time at the library, we decided to explore a new section that was FULL of paper-paged books.

our exploration was cut short by nolan booking it (hehe) out of the kid's section, over to the windows on the far side of the library to watch a bus go by. *sigh. but it had lasted long enough for him to pull five or so books off the shelf and for me to start reading one of them. i didn't get all the way through it before i had to abandon all the others on the floor (sorry, librarians) and chase him, but i read enough of it to know that it was amazing and that we must check it out.

it is called "all in a day" by cynthia rylant and it changed my world that day. i have since concluded that all children should own (or borrow from the library) this book and read it everyday. maybe not just every child, but every adult too. first of all, i love the illustrations (by nikki mcclure). they are simple black and white cut paper illustrations on alternating yellow and light blue backgrounds. even a newborn baby could be mesmerized by these pages (hopefully there is a board book version also for the younger babes). and the message...forget about it. it is perfect.

this is possibly some sort of copyright infringement, but as i've cited where it is from, i'm going to risk it and share the words with you too...

a day is a perfect piece of time
to live a life, 
to plant a seed, 

to watch the sun go by.

a day starts early, 
work to do,
beneath a brand-new sky.

a day brings hope

and kindness, too...
a day is all its own.

you can make a wish, 
and start again,

you can find your way back home.

every bird and every tree
and every living thing
loves the promise in a day,
loves what it can bring.

there is a faith in morningtime,
there is a belief in noon.
evening will come whispering 
and shine a bright round moon.

a day can change just everything,
given half the chance.

rain could show up at your door
and teach you how to dance.

the past is sailing off to sea,
the future's fast asleep.

a day is all you have to be,
it's all you get to keep.

underneath that great big sky
the earth is all a-spin.

this day will soon be over
and it won't come back again.

so live it well, make it count,
fill it up with you.
the day's all yours, it's waiting now...
see what you can do.


oh man...and i was just looking on the book jacket for copyright date info and learned that the author lives in portland. of course she does. awesome. and the illustrator lives in olympia, washington. and that the book is printed on recycled paper. i love you, nw.

and here are a few of the pages, so you get a feel for how beautiful this book is. enjoy :)