Stuff and things

So many things have been going on lately.  Joey has had two bouts of some little bug.  She woke up on Sunday at 5am threw up twice then she was fine all of Monday and Tuesday and then today she woke up at 5.30am threw up twice and has been fine since.  I don't know what it is but I hope it's over with. 
Yesterday, I attempted to take the written test to get my driver's license once again.  I went in to the Hamden DMV at 9am thinking I had everything I needed but somehow two important documents weren't there so we rushed home I found said documents and rushed back only for them to send me away again.  Apparently my birth certificate was unacceptable.  The woman told me that it was a little faded in the center and quote, "might not scan."  She wasn't even willing to try. (This is where I screamed at her a little, but only in my mind.)  She assured me that other than that, I had all the papers that I needed and gave me a card that will allow me to skip the line when I got back.  That's on our agenda for tomorrow.  Especially with Danny's new full time job that he starts on Monday.  I need to be driving A.S.A.P. 
So, I had to go to the Bristol, CT city hall to purchase a new one.  I had just called my mom on Monday trying to find a time for us to come up anyway. 
This is where my day got good.  Danny and I decided that we just had to make some headway on this, we've been to the DMV 5 times in the past 3 month trying to get my written exam over with.  So, I called my folks to see if they'd be up for hanging out and we hopped on the highway.  I was in and out of the Bristol City Hall in 15 minutes with no hassle.  YAY for small town city halls!!  I stopped by my old school where my mom works and got to show off the kiddos to my 4th grade teacher. (Love her!) Picked up my sister from school. And while my mom worked, Joey and her got to play all afternoon. Joey was so happy! I love to be able to make that happen, and sometimes it just touches me extra. 
When my mom got home from work, she watched the kids and Danny and I got to go visit my grandmother in the nursing home.  She's going through a battle with a Melanoma in her mouth and just finished up chemotherapy and is heading into her Radiation treatment soon.  It was good to see her.  I haven't been able to see her since before she was diagnosed.  Every time I've been up to visit one or both of the kids was either just getting over something or had a cold.  I've felt so bad about not visiting but it's just not a risk you take with a chemo patient.  She's doing so great though.  She's such a trooper!  It's her second battle with cancer and she just has such a great attitude.  It's amazing what a little faith can do. I'm so glad that I was finally able to visit. 
And today I've been up since 5am with Joey.  I hope she'll be fine again tomorrow and Friday.  She was so upset that I had to call her school and tell them that she couldn't attend today.  Even though I explained to her how it works that she can't go to school when she's sick or she could get the other kids sick, she was still crying for me not to call her teachers.  I think the poor girl thought she could go in later if she was feeling better.  I'm really glad she loves school so much.  I waffled so much between whether home school or pre-school was the right choice and I'm delighted by how well the program she's in suits her.  She really is a Montessori girl. 

Home again, Home Again

Jiggity Jig Jig

Baby Norah and I are home again and doing well.  She had her one week well visit today and all is well.  I actually got out of the house today, just for the appointment but hey it's something.  It's Joey's 3rd birthday today.  We had a little family celebration for her yesterday and we gave her the guitar that we got for her and she was so excited.  She's all psyched to learn to play.  She knew what it was before the paper was even off the plain brown bow it was in.  It was really cute to watch.  Her little face lit up so big.  More to come when I'm able to add  pics of the little one and whatnot. 

Things and things

So many things going on lately.  Where to begin.  I know I've been slacking lately in my blogging (sorry!), we had two computer's die on us in the past few weeks.  Ok, not die per se but make themselves unusable for the time being.  The laptop will no longer take a charge but otherwise works fine, we just can't get any juice in it too use it, Danny took it apart and fixed what he could but he thinks there's a small component in the power system that needs to be replaced.  Then our desktop got a virus (at least it waited until Danny finished his finals).  So now we are sans a computer with Word which means that one (preferably both of them) need(s) to be fixed before the fall semester begins.  It's honestly a good thing that Danny hadn't gotten around to cleaning out our old desktop otherwise I'd not be typing now.
So, now that Danny's through with finals we've begun planning how exactly our move to Colorado is going to work.  We'll either be moving in March or May of 2012.  That's what we've narrowed it down to. We probably won't finalize a date until Danny either finds work, or begins school again, whichever comes first.  If he's able to find a decent job to tide us over until March, we'd prefer to move sooner.  If he's not able to find work, then he'll go back to school in the fall and we'll wait until the end of the spring semester.
I had my oh so fun glucose test on Wednesday.  Lord knows that's always fun.  But for once, I got a phlebotomist that not only found my vein on the first try but managed it without me wincing.  Usually it takes a few tries before they're able to find a vein on me.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I also had a neurologist appointment on Thursday which took way longer than I thought it would.  But it turned out pretty good.  The doctor thinks I just have a really bad case of restless leg syndrome which he recommends that I take iron supplements and magnesium for (horray for the homeopathic!).  I'd so rather take vitamins than medication.  He also suggested something I find totally silly, putting a bar of Ivory brand soap in between my sheets at night while I sleep.  He said he doesn't get it either but enough people have said that it helps, that it's made it's way into the medical literature.  (WOW right?)
Danny sold our Saturn today! And boy oh boy did we need that, I'm still not sure if we'll be getting his SSI this month so it's nice to know where at least rent is coming from this month.  Yay for small blessings.  It's one less thing on my mind.  Danny's been working really hard at streamlining our household assets as well.  We're trying to get rid of all the things that we're not planning on taking with us to Colorado when we move.  So, I've gotten rid of clothes and we're going through books and selling off what we can and giving away what we can't.
Danny's even been trying to sell off some of his non-essential musical instruments and the things that go with them.  I'm so proud of him.  He's really trusting God to provide for us when we get out there and I know that it's really hard for a musician to part with his instruments and I'm just so proud of him.
Joey and I are almost finished with our third book in the little house series.  She's really been enjoying it. She calls the books Ma & Pa, which I think is just super cute!  Every time I say that I'm going to read some more, she asks if we can read all the pages, and I have to explain that we most likely won't get to all the pages since it's nearly time for bed.  But it's become a really great wind down routine before bed time & nap time.
Now, if only I could figure out how to keep my living room clean, but that's a project for another day.  Joey's making me a tea party while I'm making lunch so I should jet.  Tootles!

Lent, discipline and growth

It is Ash Wednesday.  How many people did you see with ash on their foreheads?  It's one of the few markers of the Catholic church that I wish were carried on in Evangelical churches.  Such a lovely reminder.
So, as a family, we've decided to give up television for Lent.  Well, I decided that I needed to give up television for Lent but I knew that if we all didn't do it, I probably wouldn't stick to it.  So Danny offered to give it up as well.  And then of course we decided for Joey that she'd be giving up television for Lent.  She's allowed to watch TV when she's at Grandma's house but the TV in the apartment has been disconnected.  It's still in the living room, and we're thinking of putting it out of sight but we haven't quite decided all that yet.
I also decided that I'll be giving up my internet game of choice as well.  It's going to be tough but I've been meaning to stop playing anyhow and Lent is just one more reason to do it now.
But giving things up for Lent isn't just about the sacrifice, it's about making better choices and using the time that would've been spent on useless pursuits on things that help to grow myself and my family closer to God.
One of the things that I'm adding into my daily routine is a Lent Daily Meditation.  I know I'm only one day into it but I really like it so far.  I may or may not have looked ahead a little and it has a different activity every day to go along with the Bible passages.  One that I can't wait to get to asks the reader to sketch that daily verse.  I hope that this will help me to more disciplined all year round in having quiet times with God.
I'm also trying to do more projects with Joey.  With the warm weather coming, I am imagining walks in the woods to look at budding leaves and flowers, shell collecting expeditions on the beach, trips to the Children's museum, science experiments, and teaching her to grow things.  These are also all things that I hope to lead to being more disciplined in doing all year round.  Now, who knows what of these I'll be able to accomplish as I get more and more pregnant.  But I have dreams and goals and that is always a good place to start.

Crazy days of Christmas...

It's only Tuesday but I feel like it's so much further in the week.  Danny and I went to Target to get the some of the last of Joey's Christmas presents last night.  She's been asking for a new piggy bank since she broke her old one, so we found her a cute on.  The only thing that we want to get for her still is an easel and they have one just her size at IKEA for $15 so I think we're going to try and get that this week.  I got Danny some little surprises for Christmas day and I've been really good and I haven't tried to open my present yet.  I may actually make it until Christmas.
I had my obGyn appointment today.  They say that I am indeed pregnant and I have an ultra sound appointment set for next Wednesday to get a more accurate due date since I'm not positive of which Friday of two possible to use to get the accurate measurement.  So, we'll have a for sure due date next week.  Then my next obGyn appointment will be in January so that I can get what I need to sign up for WIC again.  Which I am totally stoked to do again, especially since I found an office here in West Haven that I can go to instead of having to fight with downtown New Haven traffic.
Danny and I are still trying to figure out what to do about our plans for Colorado.  Right now I think we're still thinking that we're going to move in May or June barring any medical complications on my part, I think.  I think one of our biggest fears at this point is whether or not we'll be able to get health care in time for the birth.  Particularly since I'm not so much a fan or going for a VBAC and a C-Section is rather costly.

The Big News...

This Palm Trio is soon to be a Quartet.  Danny and I just found out that we're expecting baby number two probably sometime in August.  I know family, one more August baby.  For those of you who don't know...nearly everyone in our family has an August birthday.  My father and grandfather, my sister and mother-in-law, my daughter and now, our newest little is due in August and our newest niece or nephew is due in August as well.  That's a lot of August babies.
I have my doctor's appointment to confirm this little's estimated arrival time tomorrow afternoon.  It's rather fortuitous that I already had a yearly appointment set up just when I'm due to hit 8 weeks.  Joey and Danny want a little girl but I want to have a little boy with curly brown hair like his Daddy.  I'm looking forward to being pregnant again.  I really enjoyed myself last time, until the last month or so.  But this pregnancy is already shaping up to be very different than my first.
More to come later as we get more news and what-not.  But that's all for now.

Teaching with movies

So, I am on a mission to teach my little one things that are important.  Like History and Science and Reading and Memory skills.  All of these things, I'm sad to say, I feel like I did not learn well in public school.  Right now I'm watching Newsies

 with her.  I know it's a fictional movie but it does follow through a real problem that this country went through.  And she really likes movies where good triumphs over evil.  I'm so proud of this fact.  She loves to watch Enchanted and other 'princess' movies but I'm happy to say she loses interest after the the dragon is slain or whichever evil villain happens to be in the movie that she's watching and cares nothing about the happily ever after.  Her favorite are the movies with dragons though.  I do need to find more movies that can be used to teach.  I want to get The Sound of Music and I want to find some fun movies that teach science and things. I want to be able to make learning as fun as I can.  I try to teach her things like water displacement in the tub.  And she's getting really good at matching games.  She's started memorizing her favorite books and I'm just amazed.  I'm so proud of my little one and I want to be able to do right by her.  I want to keep her constantly challenged. And now, I'm off...She and I are heading to my folks for the day.  Danny's going to be gone all day with class and visiting his grandparents and his band Memorare has a gig tonight from like 9pm-1am.  If it weren't so stinkin' late I'd totally be there.  But the punkin needs to be in bed at a reasonable hour.