catch that nose!

they say that a picture is worth a thousand words... this one says 4: "mom, i feel lousy". poor baby! cole got pretty much no sleep last night. and when i say 'cole', i really mean 'cole and mommy'. he was constantly coughing, and when he wasn't, he was in a light restless doze. he's miserable- coughing, runny nose, watery eyes, slight temp., all that jazz. no real appetite, either. he had most of his bottle (6 oz) this morning and later had a little cereal. usually he chugs his bottle and rips through the oatmeal- at breakfast, nothing edible is safe! then for lunch, he usually has another 6 oz bottle and usually veggies and chicken... he had 4 oz of his bottle, threw it aside and then went to sleep. hmmm. he's going to waste away, since he's already skin and bones... joke! he'll be ok- he usually loses the desire to chow down when he's stuffy. at least he's sleeping. for now.

i posted this one too, since you can see his two little teeth really well- he was grumbling about something just as i snapped it! you can still see the red rims around his eyes. the scratch on his cheek? that's a battle scar from last night. he gave it to himself... while fighting to get comfy. the fighting thing seems to be the underlying cause in the first place- it is the reason his nails aren't short. i try to do it when he falls asleep, but he rarely stays asleep once i start... typical!

one more thing- despite feeling really rotten last night (we stayed home from meeting, needless to say. he was crying non-stop), cole managed to gather enough strength to pull himself up on the end of our bed and take a few steps in my direction- he's now cruising! tentatively and unsteadily, but cruising none-the-less! wow... where has the time gone! just yesterday he was a teeny, red, sleepy bundle...

awwww!

(cole's eyes really pop out here!)

we got a printer on monday, so now we can FINALLY print off cole's monthly photos! if i remember correctly,the last ones that actually got printed were his 5-month ones. so... i have been busy catching up! i took his 9-month pictures yesterday... i wanted to use bubbles in it because he loves bubbles and usually gets giggly when he sees them, but not yesterday. so, we ended up with a bubble-less photo, but oh well. i didn't post it because i AM going to send them out. why spoil it? :)

(this one just makes me laugh...)

anyway, i hope everyone had a good memorial day! this will remind mom and dad of their trip out here: on monday, we all hemmed and hawed around and finally decided to go see the tabletop wilderness. great idea... in theory! we drove around, looked left and right, and didn't find this thing. no signs, no nothing. but we did see some pretty country! we also made sure that dan and ruby got to see shamrock dairy. they have 10,000 cows, and they milk them 24/7. i've never seen so many cows in one spot! as it turns out, everything happens for a reason, and it was a good thing we decided to do what we did, because after we left shamrock on our way to see the non-existant tabletop wilderness, we met an suv on the road. the suv was ON FIRE!!!! there was a big ball of fire underneath it with flames flying out as he drove along... we made a pretty quick u-turn and by the time we caught up with him, he had just pulled over onto the shoulder. kelvin had a fire extinguisher in the truck, so we quickly unstrapped cole's carseat and pulled it out from under the seat. someone else from the trailer park across the road came running with another one about the same time, but it was empty, so it was really lucky that we had ours! from what kelvin and dan could gather, they guessed that the gas line had worn through. or something like that. the sad thing about the whole situation was that while kelvin, dan and the driver were all gathered around the suv, extinguisher going and smoke pouring from under the vehicle, a cop drove by. never stopped, didn't even slow down. nice. not long after, though, a different cop pulled up. he was really young, probably fresh from academy so he still had common courtesy... anyway, nobody got hurt, so that was good.

as for my pregnancy, everything is still going well. i have started feeling a bit icky at night... that's how it was with cole. at least i can sleep through most of it. unless cole gets up, like he did last night (he caught a cold from grandma ruby), then i REALLY feel it. at least my tummy stays where it's supposed to. it's just a little uncomfortable, nothing major. seems i get lucky with all that! my energy levels are amazingly high, which is good... with cole on the move now i don't really have a choice! anyway, i did some looking online at motherhood maternity... $5 shipping for all orders, some good sales, i think i may have to do some ordering soon!

on the move!

(don't blink, he moves fast!!)

yesterday morning, cole pulled another neat trick... kelvin was sitting on the couch reading his bible and cole was a little peeved that he wasn't up there too. probably more upset at the fact that he wasn't able to get his hands on his daddy's bible- anyway, he was crawling around, whining and grumbling to himself, when he grabbed hold of kelvin's pants leg and... up he went! wow. easy as pie, like he'd been doing it forever and a day. what a big boy! i have to say, i'm really happy that he's FINALLY crawling, but it's sad, too... no more total dependence. now he's mr. independent! my baby's getting big!! *sniff*

anyway, saturday we went back to tombstone and boothill cemetery with kelvin's parents. we caught a performance at six-gun alley, and learned that the ok corral shooting actually took place on allen street, but people eventually started referring to it as the ok corral shootout because the corral was nearby. there was only one shooting that took place in the actual ok corral- it invloved the shooting of a lawyer. hmmmm. probably someone that wasn't happy with how much he charged?? [joke] it was wyatt earp days, so there was a lot of extra activity... there were over 20 different performance groups that came in for the event, with tons of live reenactments in the streets. it was televised too, so chances are, we were caught on camera! yay. by the time we got home it was after 6 pm, and both cole and i were tired. correction: cole was tired, i was exhausted. and i was glad to not have to use a public restroom... ordinarily, i can go for a LONG time without a potty break but alas, those days are numbered... at least the situation is temporary. another 8 months or so and i can go back to holding in lake michigan, as dr reichle would say (my old dr at st e's; he was wonderful!).

(carseat head... at least he woke up happy!)
(one of the skits in the streets of tombstone- yes, it invloved a shootout!)

and this will make my mom happy- i have remembered my prenatal vitamins every single day so far (we'll see how long THAT lasts, we went to golden corral yesterday for lunch and i almost went without my shoes), and i have yogurt with dha every day. this will be one healthy baby, if i have anything to do with it! i'm still unsure at to exactly WHERE this one should be born... here in casa grande, where they still labor and deliver in one room and recover/stay in another, or risk the traffic and go to phoenix? the thing with phoenix isn't really a distance thing so much as traffic issues... there are traffic jams left and right. on the 6-lane freeway! then again, if we head in a little earlier than we need to maybe it will all work out alright. chances are, the hospitals in phoenix are way more modern (civilized might be a more appropriate term) and the doctors might be better. not to mention, we'd have more options... we'll see. it's just the early-pregnancy hormonal panic!

(i LOVE the expression... at six-gun alley with his grandma b)

and... there he goes!

so yeah, quick post... cole actually CRAWLED today! really crawled, not the usual dolphin-flop thing he has been doing... hard to explain, it's like he gets himself up on his knees and then flops his upper baody forward. looks funny, but effective and amazingly speedy... anyway, i was rushing around to get the cleaning and other various chores done, and i ducked into the bedroom to get something, leaving him happily flopping around the kitchen floor. when i came back he was crawling toward a basket of clean laundry, no doubt with the intent of wreaking havoc on mommy's freshly laundered load. i was speechless and just stood there and watched him. he got to the basket, which required a little redirection, thus breaking the spell- he realized that he had my attention, so he went back to flopping. upon encouragement from mommy to crawl, he smiled real big and just flopped some more. hmmm. i guess this is supposed to be a secret talent, so don't tell him that you know... :)

once again, i had the urge to fiddle with the photo stuff... i thought it would be kinda neat to black-and-white the whole thing and then color just the water. but then, i wondered how it would look if everything in the water was colored too, and this is how it turned out. in case anyone is wondering, those are elissa's feet...

we have a weather update... it is STORMING!!! it sorta beat around the bush all morning, but then around 3.30 it got REALLY cloudy, it thundered a bit then started raining. and lightening. it's still raining... i can hear the wind blowing! yesterday they were predicting a 40% chance of storms, and around here, that's pretty much a guarantee. if i were to be a meteorologist, i'd work down here... you have a LOT of leeway when it comes to being correct. not that you have to change the forecast that often... :)

so, that's pretty much it for what's going on here. just cleaning house for when kelvin's parents get here. oh yeah, and mid-april, we got an intex queen air bed.... we got it because it's a two- part bed- an inner inflatable mattress and an outer mattress/frame with a headboard. inflatable headboards are really comfy... anyway, the inner mattress started leaking within the first 10 days. i couldn't find an actual hole, it just kinda seeped out slowly. so, i called intex to see what i had to do to have it replaced (90 day warranty... nice!). they said i had to send then the receipt along with the logo from the bed. yes, i had to actually CUT OUT the logo from the inner mattress. so i did. we have the futon mattress inside the outer part of the bed, but it's too small, big gaps, but works for the mean time. today i got a call from intex- the model that we have is no longer in stock, they don't manufacture it anymore. ok... but they are sending a different model. only thing is, it will take "3 to 5 business days"- count in the weekend and the holiday, it will be well into next week before we get it. so unless kelvin's parents want to sleep on the floor, it looks like they'll have to get a hotel for the first part of their stay. i feel badly, but that's just how it goes, i guess. to be honest, they might very well sleep better in the hotel anyway, with the way cole has been lately. hopefully they won't mind the situation... we can't wait to see them tomorrow!

cute big brother?

between being way too excited to sleep and cole not wanting to sleep during the wee hours of the a.m., i didn't get much sleep, but here's what i DID accomplish.

i think this shot is adorable, and my obsession with colorizing and enhancing made for a rather fun project. the cap makes him look so "grown up"... i think he's going to be such a cute big brother!!!

yup, it's true!

i'm sure that some of you already know this, because either you heard it from me, or well, news travels fast... since mom and dad and dan and ruby all know, everyone else gets to hear it too. yes, another baby brotzman to rule the roost! cole's going to have a little competition, but that's ok. i kinda hope that this one's a girl so cole can play the true big protective brother role!it amazes me that this time around it just as exciting as it was with cole... years ago, i thought that every woman got really excited with the first one and then with the next one or however many, it was old hat. guess i was wrong! might i add, this was LONG time ago that i thought this... but yeah, it's just as exciting with the second as with the first! minus a little of the overwhelming fear that sets in when you have a moment to yourself and realize oh my, what am i gonna do with two! becoming a parent, whether for the first time or umpteenth, is always a little frightening. fellow parents will understand this statement. mom told me today that their childbirth class instructor said that each baby is born into a different family than the last... it changes with each new addition. i can't remember exactly how mom put it, but it was to the effect that even though we've already experienced parenthood, adding another child turns it into a whole new experience. neat.
anyway, we're looking to meet this new little person sometime at the end of january/early february. the chart in one of my pregnancy books says 26th january. whether that's exactly correct or not, i don't know. i am really nervous about finding a doctor down here... needless to say, it won't be the one we took cole to. if that guy can't do a well-baby visit right, i really don't trust him to deliver this next one! i wonder, again, if dr houlihan would like to come down here for an extended stay...? and, since i'm sure many are wondering this, no, i have no idea where the baby will be born. hopefully in a hospital, but as to which state, no clue!

tombstone!!

(cowboy cole- yeehaw!!!)

on saturday we decided to go to tombstone- it was a spur-of-the-moment thing. we woke up and decided we didn't want to just stay at the apartment all day long, so off we went. tombstone is about 2 hours from us... and we got there at about 11.30- just early enough to be able to make a day of it! we've wanted to check this place out for awhile now and it was really exciting to finally get there! the spirit of the old west is still buzzing there... it's a really neat place! tombstone is the site of the ok corral, where the famous shooting with doc holliday, the earp boys and the canton boys took place. it's pretty famous!

(kelvin and cole at the ok corral)

(the birdcarge theatre/ the poker room in the theatre basement)

the highlight for me was a visit to the birdcage theatre... it has quite a reputation of being haunted. not that i'm a nut or anything, but i am certainly interested in the paranormal. i'm sure that this admission will spark a debate, but oh well. think what you want! anyway, the cool thing about the theatre is that it was open from 1881 to 1889, and everything is as it was left when it was closed. the broken bottles on the bar in the poker room in the photo above? original, and sitting exactly where they were left upon closing. anyway, the birdcage was named for the "cribs" above the main room/stage area. these were the rooms that the ladies of the night (or soiled doves as they were often called) did their 'business'. there were 14, seven on either side and they were kind of suspended above the room. apparently, the deeper one digs into the birdcage's past, the darker it gets... lots of bullet holes to remind visitors of that! there were at least 26 deaths that occured there, too... mostly barfights and whatnot. the list of interesting history and facts is seemingly unendless! anyway, we were walking around in the backstage area- just kelvin, cole and i- and i heard footsteps above us. kelvin was about 5 feet away and didn't hear anything. fellow tourists, one would think... except that no access was allowed above the main floor. all the stairs that led above the backstage and stage area have been boarded off for a long time. hmmmmm.

(the stage and the original grand piano in front of it... and a performer from times past?)

the other weird thing that happened was something i didn't see until after we left. on the way home i was looking through the photos we had taken and noticed this photo above. i had snapped a shot of the stage, and at the time i hadn't seen anything unusual, even on the 5-second preview after shooting it. look at the right side of the picture, by the swag part of the painted curtain... see that round thing? i'm not the only one to have captured this sort of thing on photos of the stage... there are several others documented! all about the same size, in the stage area. cool! now, you all are entitled to think what you want, but try to explain it! one could argue that it's just a speck of dust that was in the right place at the right time, and a very valid arguement indeed- however, we have had this camera for almost a year, and in the hundreds of pictures that we have taken in various places, we have never captured a dust speck. of course, there's first time for everything, but it's very odd that it would happen here. anyway, needless to say, the birdcage was really really cool... history come alive!

(the graves of billy clanton and frank and tom mclaury, shot during the ok corral shootout on 26th october, 1881... boothill cemetery)

our last stop was boothill cemetery. it's just outside of town and there are about 13 rows of graves, almost all of them marked either with a name and date or with a simple 'unknown'. the souls buried there range in age from 3 months to well-aged. included is the grave of dutch annie, one of the most well-known ladies of the night. her photo is hanging with the others in the basement of the birdcage, near the bordellos.

('black mariah')

the 'black mariah' was the hearse of tombstone... it was the final ride of all but six who were buried at boothill. it's uniqe because it was one of only eight that had curved glass... the curved glass panes are the ones at the front, right behind the seat. it has gilded gold and is on display backstage at the birdcage.

i can't wait to go back; we might go this coming weekend when kelvin's parents come to visit. it's memorial day weekend and also wyatt earp days in tombstone, which should be extra fun! if you want to check out more, visit tombstone.org for general info, or legendsofamerica.com for more on the birdcage theatre. or, as always, a general google or yahoo search will give you tons of places to check out!

on a non-tombstone related note, cole is 9 months today! he's growing way too fast... sigh. and also, for all you folks back home that are wishing it was warmer, come join us here- it was over 100 today!!

stuff...

not that much to report here... yesterday afternoon we had our first duststorm, though! it was pretty neat to watch, and we got a great view since we were driving to best buy at the time. the reason for the trip is another story altogether... anyway, as we were getting ready to leave the house, i looked out the window and noticed that it was windy (it had been cloudy off and on all day) and saw what looked like the 'haze' that comes from the backsplash when it rains REALLY hard. kelvin said too, "oh look, it's raining" and then we noticed that the pavement was bone dry. huh. then, we opened the door, and ah, it was actually dust. we strapped cole into his carseat and off we went- we got onto the main road and wow, was it cool! it was like a really bad snowstorm, where you can only see so far in front of you, except it was a brownish haze and more transparent than snow. we were fine driving. oh yeah, and we hit a big old tumbleweed head-on. kelvin slammed on the brakes, instinct i guess. you can't really hit a tumbleweed and have it counts as a road-kill experience. he was worried that it scratched the truck... it didn't. anyway, it was pretty cool! and then, after the dust settled (literally, lol!) it looked like it was going to downpour. it did, we could see it in the distance, but it was all north of us. bummer.
anyway, about our trip to best buy- we were having major problems getting around the internet... after 3 visits to the geek squad guys in just 2 days (two of those visits were yesterday), we discovered that it's actually a problem with qwest, our internet provider. they were very quick to point the blame at the geek squad guys and even suggest that our brand new computer might just be a dud. nice. we were able to get onto a wireless connection and guess what- no problems whatsoever! needless to say, we cancelled, and 'the qwest is history'. a play on words, in case you're wondering...
i'll post more pics later! unfortunately, i got no photos of the duststorm...

more playing around

i thought it would be kinda fun to touch up the photo we have of cole's toes in the grass. it's from when mom, dad and the girls were here, and it was his first time 'walking' in bare feet on the grass, with a little help from grandpa. anyway, i kinda like the whole 'colorizing' deal (i might even tend to overdo it a bit), and thought that it turned out kinda cool. it's fun just to play around with all the stuff... :)

also, a quick question for anyone out there who uses hotmail- is anyone else getting a 'page not available' message when trying to go to the hotmail site? just wondering...

anyhoo- it is once again sunny and warm, as usual. oh, and we've come up with a name for our loud upstairs neighbor, who loves to do carpentry (or something very similar) in the wee hours of the morning, as well as carry on conversations that we can actually hear, sprinkled with incredibly annoying 'laughter' that sounds like a goat laughing (example: "h-a-a-a-a-a-a"; also think machine gun giggles...). therefore, we now kindly refer to him as goat-boy. it may sound a little harsh, but when you have to listen to him at the oddest of hours, a little humor helps ease the intense annoyance. so, on that note, b-y-y-y-y-y-e for now! :)

7 month photo

yeah, i'm a little slow in getting these all fixed up and printed... but here is cole's 7 month photo. it's one of my favorites, and i had a great time getting it all customized and stuff. our laptop came with a trial version of corel paint x2, and while i had some major doubts as to how capable it would really be, i was pleasantly surprised. i have 4 weeks left on it... it's $80 to buy it, and we just might. we'll see. it has some pretty cool stuff so far, but my decision may change as i play around with it a little more. cole is a little jealous of the new computer... makes me wonder what he'd think of a sibling! no, that's not a hint, just wishful thinkin'. anyhoo, i wonder if he'd be just as angry... lol! he more or less is mad because we won't let him play with it, even though we saved the old laptop just for him to bang around on. it will only be a matter of time before he figures out that it doesn't really turn on; same with my old cell that we saved for him to chew on. as long as he's oblivious to the fact that they don't do fun things like mommy and daddy's do, he still thinks he's pretty big stuff- not even 9 months old and already has his own cell and laptop. talk about 'with it'...! as for more everyday photos and stuf, once i figure out exactly what i'm doing when i stick our camera chip in and all that, i'll post more photos. i promise! i'm a little hesitant... new computer, new programs.... pretty scary stuff for the technologically illiterate! so- i'm learning as i go, and since i also have cole to entertain during the day and kelvin wanting to use it too, it's gonna take a little time, i'm afraid. well, unless cole actually springs for a nap, then i can procrastinate with all the other stuff i should do and sit down and really play around on this new thing. i really love it, though! and once again, i fully intend to print out cole's monthly photos (6 months and up...), just waiting to get a printer! it'll be a little while, but i'll get it done...

as for other news, it was actually cloudy today! it didn't rain, but certainly looked like it could have. i have to say, i really did enjoy the break from the sunshine... it's like organic prozac- you get to be happy and shiny whether you want to or not... lol!

ps-i am happy to say that i did NOT have to wait for 5 minutes (literally) for this one single photo to upload. wow! duly impressed, i am...

more surveys and whatnot

hello, my name is...
rockstar name: zipper sunfire (name of first pet, current car)
gangsta name: chocolate flipflop (favorite icecream flavor, kind of shoe)
native american name: espresso cat (favorite color, animal)
star wars name: bro li (first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name)
superhero name: orange iced coffee (second favorite color, favorite drink)
nascar name: robert chester (first names of your grandpas)
tv weather anchor name: kottke knoxville (your 5th grade teacher's last name, major city starting with the same letter)
spy name: summer hydrangea
cartoon name: coconut t-shirt (favorite fruit, article of clothing you have on right now)
hippie name: cinnamon harvest palmetto (what you had for breakfast, favorite tree)

i don't know if coconut is technically a fruit, but whatever...

the long survey:
1. three days from now, will you kiss someone? yup- kelvin and cole.
2. what color are your eyes? a kind of grayish blue, sometimes a little more green than blue-blue.
3. what does your third text say? "sorry- i still love you"
4. who was it from? kelvin, from yesterday because he forgot mother's day...
5. do you like what you see in the mirror? not usually- definitely need lots of improvement, physically and otherwise.
6. what are you wearing right now? pajama bottoms and my new orange shirt. doesn't really match, but it's comfy and i'm not going anywhere, so... in my defense, i was rudely interrupted halfway thru the process of dressing by a certain small but very loud person.
7. what are you most looking forward to? lots of things; more kids, a remodeled [or new] house, vacations, the weekend...
8. gotta work today? hahahaha! you're kidding, right? like a mom ever DOESN'T work...
9. have you kissed anyone on the lips in the past 7 hours? uhhh, yeah. myob!
10. have you ever been awake for 48 hours? kinda... when cole was born. i woke up at 5 am on friday, he was born early saturday am and i didn't actually SLEEP until sunday night. i dozed a little but not for very long.
11. do you like your first name? well, honestly... ok fine- it could be worse, i just hate saying it myself.
12. do you like to cuddle? sometimes- depends on my mood and sensitivity...
13. what are you listening to? hope for resolution from the willamette singers- thanks, sarah!
14. what are your initials? lab; don't laugh!
15. baseball or football? honestly? neither, but i guess i don't mind baseball quite as much. both are WAY overpayed...
16. are you married? yup- 6 years in june!
17. what is your favorite kind of blanket? i don't know if it's really a blanket, but i love down comforters. yummmm!
18. what is your biggest fear? that something will happen to the people i love.
19. how do you feel about chocolate covered strawberries? oh, yummy! hmmm- i have berries in the fridge and chocolate chips in the cupboard.... snack break! :)
20. what kind of soap do you use? pure and natural- it's mostly organic and the box has seeds embedded into it and you can plant the box when you're done with it. coolest thing ever... i get it from walmart.
21.europe or the caribbean? well, i LOVE europe, but i haven't been to the caribbean, so i guess the caribbean. besides, if i can afford a tropical getaway, i'd be able to afford to go to europe again.
22. how do you feel about racism? dude, whatever happened to "all men created equal"?
23. who is the sexiest person alive? do i REALLY have to answer this one?
24. name of the song that reminds you of old memories? i don't know... for some reason, "write this down" by george strait comes to mind...
25. do you like the color gray? well, yeah, i suppose i do. sometimes i don't, though.
26. is there anyone you can't stop thinking about? yup. lotsa people.... they all take turns running through my head. there's quite a few of them, so it takes a little while!
27. look outside. how's the weather? sunny and hot. every day. gets a little old after awhile...
28. are you jealous of anyone right now? no.
29. did you ever think someone didn't like you but came to find out they did? i'm sure i have, i just can't recall the particulars at this moment.
30. when was the last time you had grilled cheese? today, for lunch. it was good.
31. name something great that happened today. kelvin came home safe and sound... he got in around 12.30 this morning...
32. did you regret doing anything today? not so far... there's still plenty of time though, haha.
33. when you think of the rainbow, what pops into your head? leprachauns. seriously!
34. how are you feeling? tired. really tired.
35. do you watch the oscars? nooooooooo.
36. what is your favorite movie? i remember seeing "what's eating gilbert grape?" and thought it was exceptional!
37. desktop or laptop? ha! laptop, hands down!
38. would you date someone ten years older than you? not at this point in time!
39. what would you do if your significant other went into the military? i don't know- wonder why?
40. what is your dream car? a hoovercraft. those things look neat!
41. have you ever lost contact with someone you wish you hadn't? yes... billie jean lee, if you're out there...!
42. list one fact about you. hey- i already answered the rest of this, what more do you want!
43. do you think you are old? no, but i really feel like it some days!
44. are you afraid of the dark? YES!!!! for real.

we're B-A-C-K!!!!

finally, after a week and a half of a dying and then dead computer, we have our new laptop! i'm not really used to it, it's all new and there's a lot of stuff we still have to install, but at least i can get on the internet and join cyber civilization again! there's a few new things to report... cole has both of his bottom teeth now! it came through last week sunday (4th may), so i got the last 30 minutes of the sunday mtg at casa grande convention. we got really lucky because brad holman and olan morrison were there- familiar faces! cole is almost crawling- he pulls himself along rather quickly, and yesterday when i was "helping" him crawl, i noticed that he probably would be on the move if it weren't for one little thing- his arms tend to get ahead of his legs in his hurry to get to whatever it is he's after... goofy kid! right now, he's scooting around after a ball on the kitchen floor, so i am very happy to say that he's successfully and quietly occupied (the first time in a long time; my arms are sighing with relief)! he also has a new "word", if you will- "na na na na na NAH!!!" cute, especially when he accidentally goes back to "da da da"- sounds funny! and i guess that's pretty much it for news; these days, if it's not about the baby, it's not worth mentioning! haha. oh, i DID go to kohl's on saturday and got myself two skirts and three shirts for sundays... and i only feel a little guilty!
one last thing, i got tagged by amber. by the way, thanks for the long and somewhat difficult security code! [joke] each letter is supposed to reflect something that is important to me. here goes...

M- memories; they make up who we are inside.
Z- zest and spice; this goes for food as well as life.
B- baby boy, my little cole... need i say more?
W- wealth, which i have in things that can't be bought or sold.
A- adventure- it brought us to new places!
Z- again? really? sorry, but i'm all outta z's, and zoos and zebras just really don't play a significant roll in my life...
X- this reminds me of scrabble, i always end up with the weird letters. anyway, i guess i could say "xtraordinary"- my life truly is, even on the dull days.
M- music, it's good for the soul.

sensory defensiveness

just a quick post here to thank a few people who have helped my sister and i to realize that we're not crazy or 'too picky'- thank you to cousin audrey for first alerting mom and i to the fact that sensory defensiveness is a very real disorder. thank you SO much to mom, who has checked out and renewed the book "too loud, too tight, too fast, too bright" (sharon heller) in an effort to understand what sd really is and what can be done about it... she's the one who relays what she reads and researches to us, and thank goodness for that because i can NOT read something unless it has a story line to keep me focused. because mom cares so much and has taken the time to gather info and look for resources and help, i now feel like a whole new person- literally! just today, i realized that i can finally accept myself for what i am- it doesn't lessen the frustrations or anxieties, but now i know that there is a reason why i am the way i am. i don't have to feel so angry at myself, i can recognize that this is just who i am, quirks and all. self-acceptance, and all thanks to my mom. i can't imagine going through the rest of my life feeling the way i'd been feeling for so long- always angry at myself, on edge, frustrated, having no explanation of why things are how they are, feeling like i was insane. i can't stress enough how lucky i am that i have a mom who cares so much... i hope that i can be the same for my kids. i encourage anyone who reads this post to check out the sensory defensiveness links if you think you, your kids, or someone you know might have it. the information is invaluable, especially since sd isn't very well recognized. so again, thank you so much to those who have helped us recognize what's really going on inside our noggins... :) now, i'm off to try to research a little on kripalu yoga- apparently, some sd people have had a lot of success using it to help them deal with their issues...