Hang in there!

I am trying to jazz this blog up myself and it's a bit wacky right now. Don't worry, I sent out a call for help!

Can You See My New Toofers?

Raising Co-Sleepers

I've been having trouble getting Ella and Sean down for naps at the same time for quite awhile now. Usually I just let Sean skip his nap and end up holding Ella while she naps in the afternoon and pray that Sean doesn't wake her within the first 20 minutes.

Yesterday, they were both really tired at the same time, so I decided to give the tandem nap a try. I took them upstairs and laid Ella in her crib with the Ocean aquarium toy on. That usually entertains her for a bit. Sean and I went in the other bedroom and I laid down with him to nurse him to sleep. He tucked his Woody doll and Elmo under the covers with him and gave them a kiss goodnight. He got super drowsy and was almost asleep when Ella decided she was done with the crib. I got up and brought her to the big bed, laying in between Sean and me. I patted Sean while nursing Ella and told him to go nite nite. Amazingly, he did and so did Ella.

I debated napping with them, but really needed to take care of some chores so I got up and went downstairs.

Less than 30 minutes later, I heard on the baby monitor that Ella woke up. I sprinted up the stairs to try to get her before she woke up Sean.

When I got there, I saw the sweetest thing. Sean had woken up and was patting Ella on her back, like we do to him, and saying "Nite nite baby. Nite Nite Ella."

I picked her up and laid with him to try to get him back to sleep while settling the baby. He just rolled over and drifted right back to sleep so I brought Ella downstairs with me.

Sean is four years old and has Down syndrome, yet just demonstrated one of the biggest benefits of co-sleeping: the ability to immediately tend to a baby's needs. That's my boy!

Snow Train

See, there is cool stuff to do in Kansas. You can sit at the tracks and watch a train plow snow.

Thanks for the video, Larry!

Tranny- no worries, I know you are equally dissing states. :)

For the Love of Oz

I did some interesting blog meandering tonight and thought I'd pull these two stories together.

I started out reading the latest entry at The Rocking Pony. Karen linked to a blog post by Tranny Head Rawks ... and Is Hawter Than You that got me laughing, so I started reading more there. THR has a weekly post where she dishes about different states. Of course, I wanted to read what she said about good ol' Kansas.

I've never actually been to Kansas. However, I DO actually know people from Kansas. From what I understand, the place is a total wasteland.

Not that what's there is that bad. Instead, there's just nothing there. From what I have heard, you can drive forever and just see flatness. Flatter than flat flatness. I mean, picture my boobs, and then think of the opposite of that. That might give you an impression of the flatness.

If it were possible to have a state that was imploded, Kansas would be that state. I think this is why there are tornadoes there. It's an effort for the state to implode.

I decided to see what Dr. Google would tell me about Kansas. Most pictures I found were of (big surprise) tornadoes. Besides tornadoes, there were some sorry looking pictures.

Hmm, not exactly a stellar review of my adopted home state. While reading the comments posted about her review of the home of Oz, the last one was a lone defender so I checked out her blog.

Lady K is a Kansas born and raised lover of Oz. She completely captured the essence of Kansas in this
post about summertime. Now, most natives will tell you that summer is the roughest time of the year to live here. The heat, the humidity, the bugs. But as a child you don't notice those things. You embrace the warmth because it means the pool is open and so refreshing. The humidity is no match for big fat slice of Black Diamond Watermelon. And while the mosquitos and chiggers are no fun, Lady K points out the sound of the Cicada and the fun of catching lightening bugs. She included fabulous vintage photos of her summertime youth and it brought me right back to mine.

Poor ol' Kansas is so often misunderstood and the butt of jokes. It may not be every one's paradise but it is well-loved by many.

Sitting Sweet

I had such a nice weekend. Saturday, Ella and I went shopping with my mother-in-law, Janice. The three of us had a great day, hitting several stores, finding several great deals and a nice lunch together at PF Changs. Janice treated me to lots of new clothes as my Christmas gift. On Christmas, she gave me one of those recordable sound/music cards and she sang "Feliz Navidad! We're doing a shopping trip!" It was sooo funny, everyone had a good laugh about it and Sean played that thing over and over hundreds of times.

We stopped into a furniture store so she could show me the chairs they ordered for their new living room and I ended up talking her into buying some art for their apt! I love what we found there, some perfect pieces for their place.

I asked to pop into Gymboree after that and found several cute things for Ella Roo. Here she is in a new shirt from Gymboree that goes great with some new longies we got a couple weeks ago.


We got back just in time for me to whip up a dish to take to the Family Dinner Nite at our church. The kids had fun there and Doug and I enjoyed talking with friends.

Sunday, we went to church and then spent the rest of the day relaxing at home. I baked a pumpkin pie and made spaghetti for dinner. I even took a nap with Ella! Sean did some movie watching with his buddies, Woody One Boot and New Woody.


It is cold out today, I even saw a few flurries. That made it hard to get going this morning and it is making me want to bunker down again today.

25 Bits o' Deborah

Jennifer at Elliot's Nest tagged me for this, so hopefully I can type it out before Ella needs me. And hopefully I can think of 25 things about myself!

1. I have only lived in 3 states in the US: Illinois, Kansas and Alabama.
2. I have visited 20 states (not counting states I merely drove thru or had airplane layovers at.)
3. I have lived in 2 countries: US and Germany.
4. I have visited 10 countries outside the US: Mexico, Belize, Germany, England, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, and Switzerland.
5. I never ever dreamed I'd end up spending most of my life in Kansas.
6. The longest I have lived in one house/apartment is five years.
7. I prefer to live in moderately sized cities, close to a larger city, so that I can enjoy a sense of community while still having the benefits of large city life. I love cultural diversity!
8. When we lived in Goodland KS, I had a major culture shock, but grew to love the quiet life out west. I dubbed my Sunflower Mom name from there, nodding to the beautiful sunflower fields that surrounded us and the Giant Van Gogh Painting that loomed over us.
9. When we bought our current house, the kitchen was painted teal green and had a sunflower wallpaper border around the ceiling. I did not like it and was happy to see it gone.
10. This year is my 20 year high school graduation anniversary. I attended high school in Germany, so I won't be going to a reunion. I joined Facebook instead to see what my classmates are up to.
11. I describe my college years as "my scenic route to adulthood." I started college with high ambitions of finishing in four years with a degree in history. I wanted to continue on and become a professor of history. My first semester I struggled through my first history class and excelled in psychology. I changed my major to Psych.
12. After four years of Psych, including a transfer to KSU & only 12 credit hrs left to graduate, I changed my major again. Decided I didn't want to get a PhD.
13. I began studying art and finished in 3 more years with a Fine Arts degree. My concentration area was Sculpture, with Metalsmithing as a secondary focus.
14. The only thing I have sculpted since college is Playdo.
15. Doug and I met thru mutual friends. His bandmate worked with my boyfriend. They used to hang out together at the apartment I shared with the boyfriend.
16. Doug and I started hanging out together, sans the friend and my ex-boyfriend, after a 4th of July party in 1998. By December 98, we were a couple. We moved in together a year later and married in May 2000.
17. I hope my kids take their time to enjoy college and adulthood before settling down.
18. I hope I live long enough to see them enjoy their young adult years and start families.
19. I often worry that we started our family when we were too old. I have a hard time picturing what life will be like 20 yrs from now.
20. I love to travel and would love to be able to visit a new place every year. Doug has never been to Europe and I really hope to share that experience with him.
21. I look forward to when my children are old enough to appreciate travel more. We have taken them on several trips already. Since Aidan was born, we have been on vacations to Colorado (several times), Belize, Illinois, Maine, and West Virginia.
22. If possible, I'd like to take them to visit my Aunt and Uncle in Oregon next.
23. I would love to take the kids on an Amtrack trip while they are still young enough to be thrilled by the experience. I went on one when I was 7 and still remember it vividly.
24. I have a caffeine vice. My favorite form is Red Diamond brand Sweet Tea. My sister Tanya and I refer to it is our Crack Tea. It is seriously so so good.
25. My MIL is taking Ella and me shopping tomorrow, as my Christmas gift. I need to hit the hay so I can hit the racks tomorrow!