Saturday, January 30, 2010

Go Get It, Girl!

That's something you might hear if you were to eavesdrop on my girls playing. The problem is, we don't have a dog.

No, the girls have taken to a game, one you will most certainly be familiar with, whereby Abby tosses a little green fabric ball and yells, "Go get it, girl!" And by "girl" she means Penny. You would swear she has owned a dog by the sound and inflection of her voice. She evens leans down just a bit, her hands on her knees, grinning with wide expectant eyes at PJ. That's when PJ giggles, turns and runs after it. Yes, they are playing "fetch" and Penny is the puppy.

It might bother me more if it wasn't for the fact that PJ absolutely loves it. As if that wasn't enough, for some reason (remember, we don't have any dogs), Penny will take the retrieved ball, grip it in her teeth, and carry it back in her mouth before dropping it in Abby's open hands.

Part of me feels that I need to put a stop to it, but the other part can't stop laughing. Oh well. They're having fun. If PJ shows up one day with a collar and a leash, I'll step in.

- d

Friday, January 29, 2010

WOO HOO!

Dan here. I am happy to say that Ali and I just sent in the finished manuscript for our second children's book, That's When I Talk To God. You wouldn't think that 1200-2000 words would be such a chore. But then when you begin to realize what you are attempting to do in only 1200-2000 words, it begins to make a little more sense.

When I came up with the idea for the first book, from the start I had it in mind that I wanted to speak just as clearly to the parents and grandparents reading the book as I was to the kids. My hope is that the children will want to hear the story again and again, and that both the children and the people reading it with them will be influenced and encouraged according to God's will. I think we hit the mark with That's Where God Is.

You will have to tell us what you think on August 1, 2010 -- in fact, feel free to head over to Amazon.com at that time and tell the world what you think. We would really appreciate it. For that matter, you can head over there right now and pre-order a copy, or nine. They will make great Christmas gifts and perfect additions to school and church libraries!

Enough of a sales pitch for ya? OK.

That's When I Talk To God is, at least for now, a little longer than the first book. We're still within our contractual bounds, but I won't be surprised if it gets trimmed down a bit. I might be a little disappointed though. The nature of this second book, which deals with prayer -- both talking to God and listening to Him -- is such that it was important to set each scene up very carefully in order to properly convey what we wanted to get across. Of course, that often meant an extra sentence or two (or five), here and there. We'll see how it all plays out. Hopefully we'll be all right though.

My point here is, while I have a tendency to make things much harder than they need to be, meaningfully sharing the omnipresence of God or faithfully describing the communicative relationship we can have with Him is not as easy as it sounds. I think we have succeeded in doing this. Again, can't wait to hear what you think.

I'll keep you posted and I'll be sure to let you know here when we go live with our children's stories website -- hopefully by the beginning of the summer.

Oh , PJ!

This child is a born performer, I swear. Last night at dinner she spread her napkin out over her plate, tugged all the corners out so it was all nice and straight, then waved her hands above them and said, "Magic...magic...magic!" Then she whipped it off and said, "Ta-da!" and laughed her "I'm cracking myself up" cackle and did it again. Peas went flying every time she whipped the napkin off, but the show was worth it.

Another funny: she was holding a chip in one hand, but kept pointing to the chip bowl and grunting for another one. I finally said, "Penny, you already have a chip, see?" She looked at her hand, made this totally surprised face and said, "Oh! Haha, sorry!" We were dying.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Gross

PJ got the stomach flu yesterday. :( She was fine in the morning; we went down to the Focus on the Family welcome center to play in the kid area with some friends that live down in Colorado Springs (where FOTF is located) and she did great. She melted down at the end of the morning, but I thought it was just because she was desperate for a nap; she was asleep before we got to the freeway, which is about 2 minutes from FOTF. She slept the whole way back (despite Abby screaming for half the ride that she DID NOT NEED A NAP, which of course was more than enough proof that she most definitely did) and slept for another 45 minutes or so before waking and seeming out of sorts. Over the next hour she developed a fever, and then suddenly....B.A.R.F. PJ, Mommy, and couch were all sprayed. NICE.

She spent most of the afternoon nursing and sleeping, and threw up two more times. I put her to bed at 8, spent some time with Abby (who had napped for three hours!) and put her to bed at 9, and then tried to work on the children's book with Dan, but gave up at 10:15 because PJ kept waking up.

It wasn't a great night, but given how it could have been, it was not that bad at all. She never threw up, thank heavens, but we were downstairs at 1 and at 4. At 1 we gave her Motrin; she felt pretty warm and I had a feeling it was the fever making her uncomfortable. Went back to bed around 2, came back down at 4, and then just slept on the couch with her until 7.

This morning, you'd never know she'd been so miserable yesterday (except for the whiff of vomit I keep catching when he walks near me--bath time today!), though she does still feel a little warm. But she's eating solids and nursing and playing with Abby and repeatedly making this silly face with her lip curled up to her nose and her nose scrunched up; not sure why. (Maybe *she* keeps getting a whiff, too!) Oh, and she's dancing. How bad can she be if she's dancing??

And Abby...yesterday she sounded like she was going to lose her voice, and this morning she has a bit of a cough. So who knows what's developing there; hopefully noting. Maybe that 3 hour nap (that she DID NOT NEED) helped her to knock most of it out. Fingers crossed!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Denver Zoo

When I saw that the high today was supposed to be in the mid-50's, I woke Dan and asked if we could do a family trip to the Denver Zoo. We haven't been outside for any serious length of time in weeks, and I figured it would be a good day to go since it was the middle of the week and not a weekend. So we packed up the kids and headed out to what turned out to be an awesome zoo!!

We rented a wagon once we got there, which Abby rode in the entire time and PJ refused to get into except for a total of maybe 15 minutes. But that's alright--I'd rather carry PJ than Abby!




No, that is not the lion's lunch lying beside him, it's his wife. I assume.





There was a small little pond with a serious population control issue:


PJ really liked the kimodo dragon:


Abby's hand versus the kimodo dragon's claw:



THis tiger was HUGE. Dan was standing by this display and it was empty, then suddenly this guy came lumbering in. Whoa!


There were peacocks *everywhere*, just wandering around. PJ always pointed them out.


You can't tell in this picture, but PJ is waving to the crested cranes and saying, "Bye bye!"


There was a sign saying not to use your flash, so this picture of the lemur came out a little blurry. But it was cute because PJ was scratching the glass and saying, "Tickle, tickle, tickle"!

PJ parked herself in front of this small aquarium and I just love these two pictures I got of her.





This turtle was HUGE.


Run, PJ, before the giant catfish gets you!!

Gotta love the apes...

Abby getting mooned. Cheeky primate!


There was this long window in front of the ape's inside habitat, and the two apes in there mostly kept to the back and the other side. But then this guy just lumbered over and parked himself in front of PJ--just sat down, didn't play with the gourd toy thing in front of him, just sat there and stared. Then a couple minutes later he got up and left. Weird! Just glad he stuck around for a quick photo.

We had so much fun. I can't wait to go back! The girls did great, the zoo is easy to navigate (we liked it so much better than San Diego's) and it's just the right size. We have annual passes, so I'm going to keep an eye on the weather so we can take advantage of these occasional nice days in the middle of winter. It really helps the girls (and me!) to be able to get out in the sunshine now and then!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Therapy, Part 2

So today we started back at the STAR Center for therapy. They recommended that we move PJ to group therapy--apparently kids in group therapy improve 25% faster, so I was like, "sign me up!" (Well, sign *her* up, but you know what I mean.) They had a group starting this month, and wanted her in it, but our insurance still hasn't come back with an answer as to whether or not they'll bill STAR in-network or not (we're not staying there if they do), so STAR called the other day and said we could come to therapy until insurance gives an answer, and if they don't agree to the in-network thing, then they just won't charge us for these sessions. How could I turn that down!? So today we started group therapy.

I was a little nervous. First off, our therapist, Heather, isn't running this group, so it would be two new therapists PJ had never met before. Also, the parents don't stay with the kids in group therapy. They take us to the room next door to teach us about working with our kids, which is cool, but I wasn't sure how PJ would take it. We're able to observe the kids through a two-way mirror, but obviously that wasn't going to help her at all.

But wow. PJ was AWESOME. She didn't even blink when I left the room--didn't look for me, didn't ask for me, nothing. I think it helped that they had bubbles already on the table--she knew just what to do with those and dove right in. And, as it turns out, the whole routine that they did was exactly the same as what Heather used to do, so it was all familiar to her. It was so much fun to watch her and see her participating, smiling, and EATING. She engaged with every food they gave her, even green pepper strips and dried peas! She didn't eat them all, but she didn't freak out at any of them, either. That's huge. AND, she chewed with her molars! Woohoo!!!

When they were done we went back to the kids, and I was fully expecting her to do the whole, "Where were you?!" meltdown, but she didn't. She just said, "Mama!" and put her head on my shoulder when I knelt down next to her. She didn't even beg me to get her out of her seat. I was so incredibly proud of her.

So, who knows if we'll be staying here or not. We have a therapist lined up through Developmental Pathways if insurance doesn't come through, and I'm a little concerned with some of the philosophical differences between me and the STAR Center, but even so I'd really like to stay there because PJ seems to really be responding to them. So hey--say a prayer that insurance will decide in our favor, will you? :) Thanks.

Fun with words

Abby came up to me the other day and said, "Mommy, did you know there are a lot of mommies in this house?"

Me: "Really? Where are they and why aren't they piching in with the housework?"

Abby: "They're playing with Penny. They're *very* nice. One of the mommies, her name is Mommy. The 'nother of the mommies is named Pig. And the *'nother* mommy's name...is Booty Drops."

Me: *hysterical laughter*

That kid, she cracks me up sometimes.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

You say it's your birthday....

...let's celebrate with a total parenting fail!

Dan's birthday was fun, until we got to bedtime. Rewind to the beginning...

The girls and I got up at 7:45. We ran to King Soopers and got a cake mix and cards and donuts for breakfast, then went home and got the cake baked while Dan was still sleeping. After he was up and ready to go, I told him, "You know, the girls got up pretty late this morning. We could actually go out and do some stuff and not have to worry about nap time until later than usual. Heck, PJ will probably just snooze in the car at some point." So off we went for birthday adventures!

First stop: Red Robin for lunch. He got a complimentary hot fudge sundae, which he only had about 3 bites of. I had about 6 or 7 bites. Abby had...pretty much the rest. Not the entire thing, but a heck of a lot more than I thought she would have had, given she hadn't been hungry enough to eat all her mac and cheese, which almost never happens. (PJ, on the other hand, ate a ton of it. Go PJ!)

Second stop: the latest Super Target, which dwarfs pretty much any other Target we've ever been to. (Yes, we consider Target a 'destination'.) Did a little shopping, then back to the car--where Abby's Red Robin balloon sailed out the door of the van before anyone could grab it. The was much wailing and gnashing of little baby teeth. To soothe her, we went to...

Third stop: Baskin-Robbins. Dan had a coupon for a free small scoop, which he gave to Abby in exchange for the lost balloon. She had chocolate and ate nearly the whole thing.

Fourth stop: Home, where we frosted the cake, decorated it, put in the fun candles with the colored flames, and listened as Mommy sang "Happy Birthday" since Abby refused to help, even though she knows all the words. OF COURSE she wanted a slice of cake, and me, being an idiot, gave her some.




She didn't stop bouncing until I put her to bed at 9:30.

I have never seen this child move so much. At once point she was sitting on Dan's lap, and her whole upper body was swaying in circles. It finally dawned on us that, holy cow, the girl is totally hopped up on sugar! I've never seen such a clear reaction before.

And poor PJ finally fell asleep nursing at 4:15. Not wanting her to go to bed super-late, I woke her at 4:55, and she spent the next 45 minutes alternately nursing and weeping, "Bed! Bed!" Knowing she'd be up at 4 in the morning if I put her down too soon, I kept putting her off, until she got her second wind. Well, 6:30 rolled around and I thought, "Good enough, time for bed!" But of course, now she was wiiiiiide awake. I tried my hardest, but she alternately nursed and cried "Stop it!" until 7pm when Dan came up and relieved me for about 5 minutes before just bringing her down.

I finally took them upstairs at 9. They both konked quickly once I got them in bed (not that getting them in was easy; it was the kind of night that would typically make me skip the whole tooth-brushing struggle, but definitely NOT after all the crap Abby ate!), and that was 9:30. Neither of them actually looked tired when I took them up; I just prayed they'd zonk. Thank you, Lord!

So anyway...Happy Birthday to my hubby! Hopefully it was a good day for him despite the whacked-out kids. :) I love you, babe!!!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Children's Museum

We bought passes to the Denver Children's Museum but hadn't used them yet. My dad is in full-on nose-to-the-grindstone mode on his book starting today, so my mom was looking for something to do. I've been nervous about going to this museum by myself with the girls, because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to keep track of them both, so knowing I had another pair of hands, I figured today would be a good time to try it.

SO FUN!!!!

This was the first exhibit we went to. They had a bunch of scrap stuff--wood, plsatic bottles, cardboard boxes, etc--and then all these little work stations with REAL tools and REAL screws and nails, and you could take whatever you wanted and make whatever you wanted. If your imagination needed a boost, they had project ideas on big laminated posters. This is Abby using a saw for the first time--or trying to, anyway. The progress you might be able to see on the wood is actually my doing. She had a bit of trouble, but it was also not the best saw in the world...



There's an exhibit sponsored by Whole Foods--a kid-sized grocery store, complete with check out stand, and a kitchen/restaurant. I'm missing all the pictures of the girls shopping, no idea why, but here's the checking out and cooking part:











From there we went to the anthill. There were really cute bug costumes for the kids to wear; Abby had an ant one on for about 3 adorable seconds before insisting on taking it off. Ths anthill had three tunnels underneath, and outside of it there was a "treehouse" and two nests. There were also giant cloth acorns and other foods I can't remember that the kids could store in the anthill.











From there we went to the art room. Paint, stamps, markers, crayons...they were in heaven!
















From there we went to the dancing room. Wall-to-wall mirrors, continuous music, a rack of costumes and a basket of tap shoes. Video to come!



Next to that was a puppet theater...









Our last stop before lunch was a vet's office. Here, kitty, kitty....







We had a really great time and I can't wait to go back! And if *I* can't wait, then you can only imagine how excited the girls are to go again. :)