We Like Ourselves Some Mexican...

Amy introduced us to a place she likes to go, that's not terribly far from our place, La Loma's. They make their own tortillas right there and the kids LOVE to watch them come down the conveyor belt and flip into the pile. The tortilla-making gal even gave them a ball of dough to play with, which my kids proceeded to eat.



A-Man & B-Bee anticipating the drop. As it moves down, the giggles start...then there's jumping up and down hooraying when it finally flips!

The girls playing on the table...before we started digging toys and snacks out of our purses.

The food has been devoured - or at least the kids' meals have - and we're getting antsy.

I don't know why I ever look at the menu when we go out for Mexican. I almost always end up ordering the chicken enchiladas. There was a place across the street from one of my college apartments that had great seafood enchiladas.... Unfortunately, they closed down and I live 1000 miles away from there now anyways.

In the other direction, there is Que Bueno - for which we have some awesome coupons. The place turns into a dance club (Club Sheer?) after the dinner hours and seems to be a pretty class club....not that I've been there dancing. It's been far too many YEARS since the last girls weekend. *ahem* They have some really yummy salsas. I especially like their green verde sauce?

"I didn't eat all the salsa... Ask Daddy where it went."

Finally, don't you just love when you get laughing so hard you forget what was actually funny in the first place? Yeah, we're just lucky he (or we?) didn't pee his pants.

Btw, I've been having trouble commenting - even on my own blogs. Blogger was telling me I didn't have access or permission to access whatever page, then kept making me log in over and over again. If you're having the same troubles.... When you log in, uncheck the "remember me" box. For some reason it makes Blogger forget you when you're commenting?

Gardening: Second Year

"Mommy, spray me! I'm growing." and "I want to water the 'matos." B-Bee is becoming quite the big boy helper - when he wants to be. This is part of my garden late this July. You can see the rhubarb was going crazy, tomatoes were growing tall, and peppers were starting to get going. I've found peppers to be rather slow growing until they get big - the habeneros are just not blooming, hope it doesn't get too cold for them just yet. Now a few of the tomatoes are taller than I am, nearing 6 feet. Don't remember if the super tall ones are the Mr. Stripeys or Big Johnsons - just looked, both are really tall but the Mr. Stripeys are the tallest.

One of the changes we made when redoing our deck was to put stairs on the garden side of the deck. LOVE, LOVE being able to just step right into my garden. Nellie likes it too, because it's easy to follow me everywhere I go.

When they're not busy pooping in the garden, here are the household sungods. At least we're finally keeping them out of the boxes.

We are nearing the end of the harvest already this year. I tried to get all my plants started earlier so that we wouldn't be plucking green tomatoes off before a hard frost in November, like we had to do last year. The Roma tomatoes are almost done and the bigger tomatoes are ripe. We've made lots and lots of salsa. The other night I blanched a batch to freeze until I have enough to make a huge batch of marinara to can. Sweet Banana peppers went crazy alongside the jalepenos. What does one do with so many jalepenos? I'm hoping the Habeneros produce at least a few peppers before it gets cold. We didn't have quite as much zucchini this year, plus I know what to do with the ones we do have this year. There are 4 watermelons that I'm wondering when to pick. How do you tell when a watermelon is ripe? Cucumbers didn't do so great this year - Daddy-O nipped one of my 2 plants with weed kill. Lesson learned there. The broccoli keeps growing more heads, so we'll probably have broccoli once a week until they die off. Herbs did okay, but I was slow getting them in the garden. Next year will be better, but all in all, it was a good garden this year. Year #2 was a success. :D

Just Give Your Baby A Bottle!??!?!

My friend, Christine's story aired last night: Breast-feeding mom says judge 'embarrassed' her during jury duty

Can't believe how many comments have been made saying she should have just pumped and left her baby with someone. Obviously comments from people that have never exclusively breastfed a baby themselves.....or attempted to give an EBF'd baby a bottle for the first time.

I breastfed and bottlefed both of my children, and am still breastfeeding Nellie at 14 months old. How easy people think both breastfeeding and pumping are, as if you just put the baby or pump there and WAH-LA, free-pouring milk. Most of you that have breastfed your children know that this, most of the time is NOT the case. It certainly wasn't for me. I made it 8 weeks with B-Bee, through intense pain, tears, heartache and actual bloodshed. I have never been able to make enough milk and he was readmitted to the hospital with severe jaundice at 4 days old. With Nellie I was much better prepared, but thinking back to those early days of supplementing her....it's still quite emotional. We supplemented with an SNS feeder, syringes, medicine cups, and finally bottles. I pumped every 2-3 hours for 20 minutes each time to increase and keep my milk supply up. This was on top of nursing on demand and supplementing with expressed milk, donor milk and formula. I did this for 4 months, and let me tell you pumping is NOT easy. How do I even begin to describe my "effective pumping position", hunched over off the rocking chair for starters.....holding the bottles & flanges in place, squeezed against my breasts (but not too much), balancing to adjust the pump settings.....hoping not to spill even a tiny drop of "Liquid Gold" when I was done. It didn't end there, after pumping there was the washing of equipment and setting up for the next session and supplementing.

Nellie HATED the bottle at first. We tried and tried to get her to take it....and she's a screamer. At first (and sometimes now if what she really wants is Mommy) she would scream and arch away at even the sight of the bottle.
For the first few months of being on the bottle she especially wouldn't take it from me. Why would she when the real thing was right there? She had lots of trouble gaining weight because of this, combined with my lack of milk supply. It seemed she screamed her entire first few months of life, we wondered if she had colic. The doctor even thought that may have been the case, until she figured out the bottle and was finally completely full for the first time - at about 2 1/2 months old.

I'm definitely not the only breastfeeding mother that has ever had supply issues, though most mothers supply issues aren't nearly severe as mine were. Almost every single breastfeeding mother I know (and that is a large percentage of all my mommy friends) has taken supplements, herbs, had nurse-in days, etc. to increase their supply. Nellie now nurses only about 3-4 times a day (morning, mid-morning, nap & bedtime...and whenever she needs a little extra comfort). Even with my very little milk supply (at peak supplementing I was giving her about 20 oz of donor milk / formula), I get engorged if I don't nurse or pump for a full day. I remember going out on the occassional date night with Daddy-O and by the time we were done with dinner and a movie, I couldn't wait to get home to Nellie. Then it was always the decision of do I wake and nurse her or pump and risk waking her anyways? Nursing is ALWAYS better than pumping. Babies' suckling is much more effective at producing a let-down and draining the breast than any pump will ever be. (I know, a breast is never completely drained since it is constantly producing as milk is expressed.)

At 7 months my breastfeeding relationship with Nellie finally found its meaning. She learned (over the course of months) that she gets most of her intake from a bottle and she is a comfort nurser. She wants me there when she wakes up, when she's upset, when she's hurt, when she's tired, and she has to nurse down at night. She is absolute proof that breastfeeding your baby isn't just about meeting their nutritional needs. It's also about being there for your baby, being their comfort, teaching them to trust. It's about the deep connection and bond with your child that would never be quite the same without all that time spent being so close together.

Back to Christine's story, how can these people expect a mother that has this type of relationship with her child just leave them with a sitter / stranger and without their main source of food and drink? The comment that really gets me is the one about why can't she leave her child with her husband or mother. Grrr.... I can't believe that someone can be so closed-minded to think that perhaps a mother may not have a reliable husband or geographically-close or capable relatives. NOT saying that that's the case with Christine, since I happen to know she has a wonderful husband. A similar comment was made to me when B-Bee was 6 weeks old and I was walking with him on the empty track at the gym, since he wasn't old enough to go into the nursery there yet. It was a staff member and he was so rude that he made me cry. At that time ALL of our relatives lived at least 1000 miles away and I missed my mom terribly.

Anyways, I've ranted and now it's 1:13am. It's definitely been a long time since I've blogged such a long post. Thanks for reading. Feel free to share your stories....and use as many characters as you need!

Sunny Nellie Dress.... A Bit Too Big

What can I say? B-Bee loves Mommy's creations, especially the fun & fluffy ones! He wouldn't let me try this one on Nellie to take pictures, which is just as well since it's a 3T size. Definitely had fun running around the house with it and wouldn't let me have it back.

While B-Bee was having fun twirling running around in the tutu, I took a minute to try the new hat on Nellie. This was my first attempt at sewing a hat and am rather pleased with the results. Love the yellow & orange fabric, so bright & summery.

The secret to keeping her hands off of the hat and the hat on her head.... FOOD. It worked, until....

...until B-Bee came back and I took the tutu away. As you can see, I sewed the seams too small and everything ended up a size (or two) bigger than intended. I meant to make it a 12 month size. Hopefully it will fit Nellie NEXT summer.

The rest of the sundress outfit. I didn't even have an inkling of realization that I was sewing it all too big until I finally figured out the bloomers - the last piece I sewed. Anyways, I'm pretty proud of the hat. Sundress & bloomers are pretty cute too.

Bought material to make a dress for my cousin's wedding as well, sparkly butterflies. But I never got around to it in time. Maybe it will be a spring project after I'm done with winter craft fairs. Back in tutu mode now, gearing up for my first show, November 5th. Oma "Duckie" bought Nellie a nice black & white dress that she ended up wearing for the wedding. Later she changed into her birthday tutu for the reception.

Bumper Floats & Friends

Even more than swimming, our favorite summer activity has to be having friends over to hang out and grill! (Besides the fact that it forces us to clean house.) We love to hang out on our deck and let the kids run in the yard. This year we added a bounce castle to the fun and redid the deck.

Our newly favorite pool game: Bumper Floats! Auntie Zaza supervises as Nellie & B-Bee chase each other in the pool, the whole while giggling like crazy, all of us.

A couple of my favorite cuties joined us for supper....another Big Brother and Little Sister that love the spinny chairs.



Block Party @ Amy's

My friend, Amy invited us to a block party at her house.... LOTS of fun! Before we left I was working on a hat & sundress for Nellie. B-Bee discovered the hat part and insisted on wearing it - everywhere. The cute one in the summer beanie on the trike is mine.

The bounce castle was a big hit and the daddies were great bouncers. The little girls just loved Nellie, following and taking her around to play. There was one that was especially good with her. Can't wait until she's old enough to babysit.

Choya enjoyed the matchbox cars.  Wish our community would have a block party, what fun!

Breastfed Baby Not Allowed In CO Court

Please let me know if you can help my friend or would like to get involved in getting this initiative passed. From my friend, Christine:

I went to the courthouse yesterday 8/24 with Charlize (now
6mos) in tow & the woman checking me in said "Mam no children
are allowed in court"  I let her know that I tried to work this
out with the commissioner but she said there was no way out so
here I am.

I waited in the juror selection waiting room praying for my #
not to be called.  Nope!  I was called.  So up to the courtroom
I go with Charlize & all the other jurors.  The Judge was SO
rude to me & when I said to her how I tried to be excused
because I breastfeed & this is my "job" she then said "because
you're breastfeeding?" and proceeded to ask the other 19 jurors
in the room "How many of you left a job to be here today, raise
your hand"  I told her that I had tried to be excused because
this is how I choose to raise my children & I am not going to
change just for one day in court.  She then said to me "Well
how will it be when I put you in jail?"  And then she was
saying things like Man, I really don't want to be the judge in
the headlines tomorrow as the judge who took a mother away from
her child & put her in jail.  She stated that twice to me,
making me scared as hell but I was still going to stand my
ground and was ready to go to jail if I had to.  She ultimately
sent me back downstairs by saying:  "Let another judge deal
with you I don't want to be in the news as putting a mom in
jail" Then she stated to the assistant she had "Put her # back
in the pool & email them that she is coming back downstairs."
The way this woman made me feel (humiliated, scared & almost
ashamed to be breastfeeding my child) made me cry the whole
ride down the elevator.  Once back in the waiting room the
announcement came that the rest of us in the waiting room were
now excused.

I felt attacked just because I chose to raise my children this
way.  So, I ask you to please help me out by putting this email
out to the group with my email address [message me for her email address] because I am embarking on a very challenging journey.  I am going to work towards getting a bill passed to change the jury
duty laws to reflect 12 other states - If you are breastfeeding
you do not serve & CA's law states that  - If you are the sole
provider for your child you do not have to serve until your
child / children are of a certain age (for California the age
is 5 yrs old).

Colorado being such a family friendly state I am surprised that
this is not an exemption yet. Anyway, I have not a clue as to
how to get this going & was wondering if anyone in our group
has had any experience in trying to put something into law??

Thank you for your help!!
Christine Kalata

T-Ball. The End.

I apologize for the 1980's 110mm-quality pics.... The lighting is so weird in this place, plus zoom - it's hard to get a nice, crisp shot.

Daddy-O encouraging B-Bee to participate at T-Ball, retelling him the instructions in a very specific manner. Okay, maybe not. I hope it wasn't just a "you can do this" pep talk. Yes, he usually has this deer-in-the-headlights look for most of practice. You know he just stood there when all the other kids ran. It was a good experience for him though. Best of all, that he got one-on-one daddy time every week. We'll try another sport next time.

Little Miss Nellie, however, we couldn't keep her off the field. She SO wants to do whatever the big kids are doing. She kept going for the balls and throwing them. This MAY be her thing. She is already showing athletic tendancies desires.

Playing the shark game. That was more fun!

Goofing off with his friends in line was the most fun. Btw, you never see so many blondes together in our neighborhood. ...and as you can see, there's Nellie again.

She took it upon herself to put the balls on the T for everyone. B-Bee's like "Okay, I'm standing here. Now what?" Just don't tell him to "keep your eye on the ball", because he will literally.

But he did bat and he did hit it and he did run the bases!   Baseball's not my thing either.

So now I'm debating what to put him in this fall: gymnastics, soccer, swimming, ice skating.... He says ice skating. He did well in swimming so I'm kind of leaning towards that - plus there's no gear to buy. We'll see.

Bounce, Splash, Busy!

B-Bee started back at school today. Does that mean the summer's over? It can't be. Maybe just a little more tame; we still have our Friday Fundays!

We hosted a "Splash & Bounce" playdate for one of our mommy groups in July! It was so much fun, that I didn't even have a chance to have the camera out until the very end. Tried to get all 4 boys (that were left at this point) to sit on the stairs with us, but the more we tried the more they moved. Note: friend not pictured is the one that stripped down to his undies with B-Bee after swimming. I wanted to host another "Splash & Bounce" this month.... but where did August go again? It will have to wait for September. Crossing fingers the hot weather holds out that long and that I figure out some way to mend the hole in the bounce castle. Naughty lawnmower.

Sat down with the calendar this morning to schedule playdates and such. I'm feeling stingy with our Fridays and picky with the rest of the week. With that said, our days still fill up fast. Promises of coffee here and playgrounds there....and I can't forget the morning workouts. Thanks, Jaq for the text to get me back in gym bright & early tomorrow. Was thinking about a Red Rocks workout, but the hike time was changed.

Oooooo-ooo, Lunch!

My first lunch with ONLY Nellie! We were waiting for B-Bee to get out of summer camp and grabbed a bite to eat at the A&W / KFC around the block. We waited forever in line because of a computer problem the registers were having. The whole time Nellie was tugging at my shirt and saying "Ooooo-ooob". I'm sure all the men in line with me (and there were only men) were wondering if I was going to feed her right there in line. ....but I knew I would need my hands available soon enough for lunch.

Church Block Party

Children's ministry was nervous that people would think the block party was rained out, but it went on rain AND shine. Expecting rain, they had most of it inside the gym and then moved it outside for awhile. Face painting, bubbles, balloon animals, bounce castle & slide, a dunk tank with our favorite pastors, and you can't forget the food. I think serving food at all celebrations is a worldwide thing, not just a midwest / Lutheran / Methodist / Catholic....whatever culture thing. A universal language for caring, love and community. B-Bee sat pretty well getting his face painted. It helped that Auntie Zaza was doing the face painting. He wanted to be a tiger, Nellie needed a lady bug and Mommy had to have a rubber ducky - which Nellie tried to grab off my cheek. You can see that B-Bee is nervous in this picture, clenching his fists while waiting for balloon animals. This is something that started after school got out in June. He also does it if his hands are even the slightest bit wet.

The bounce castle & slide were too big for Nellie to go on, with too many big kids as well. So we watched B-Bee go down the slide again and again and again and.... Nellie had fun playing with destroying B-Bee's balloon tiger and relocating everyone's shoes. Both my kids have a thing for shoes.

Don't worry, we got a new balloon animal for B-Bee after Nellie destroyed the tiger.

Swimming & Baseball, Done.

Picked up a hat to adorn with a beautiful flower. In my opinion, this is a yellow peonie - what else would be so huge? - but it could just as easily be a fully open rose. Either way, it and it's vintage pink sister are my favorites. Both are available as hair clips or on headbands. I'm not sewing my own hats yet, but can pick another one up if wanted. Anyways, was so excited about this hat that I took pictures of Nellie wearing it until she started getting into trouble. So I took pictures for about a minute. I may have been especially lucky that day and gotten 2 minutes of trouble-free Nellie.

Yes, I know swimming has been mentioned a time or two here. B-Bee's 2-week session finally came to an end, just as he was beginning to like swim lessons. The instructors brought cookies for the kids' last lesson and they got to take their animals (rubber duckies) with all the stickers home. He will have to do this level again, but he's more comfortable in the water now - will attempt a backfloat with assistance, will go underwater, and now hangs on the side of the pool....and we know he can get in and out by himself. It was a good experience for him and he got a few more lessons at summer camp later on in the month.

The T-Ball session came to a thankful end. Daddy-O enjoyed taking B-Bee, but it just wasn't his thing. It seemed to bring out all his "spectrum tendancies". We would like to put him in something this fall, but are having trouble deciding what: gymnastics, soccer, ice skating, or more swimming lessons? B-Bee's most consistent inconsistent answer has been "skating". He likes to rollerskate - but rollerskating lessons are at the same time preschool is.

Is there such thing as a "puzzle team"? Like the chess team, which I was on for 1 year. It was a middleschool "boy thing"; I can barely play chess. He's loves puzzles and is pretty good at them too. He even helped me put Nellie's birthday present together. I told him it was a puzzle.

Know we will be busy with preschool this fall and I don't want to over-schedule my kids. Now that he's old enough I would like him to be able to try one thing at a time. Perhaps find an activity that he really likes and can be passionate about. Opinions? Ideas?

Swimming Lesson, Fountains & Monsoon - Can We Get Any Wetter?

Have I mentioned swimming yet this summer? Yeah, just the thought of it his Nellie passed out on the couch next to me right now. Good thing we're taking a morning for quiet today - with B-Bee at summer camp it's just us 2 girls (and our doggies).

B-Bee also had swim lessons at summer camp this year. He was excited to see his swimming teacher, Casey everyday and now insists that all "swimming lesson teachers" are named Casey. Nellie SO wanted to join him in the water and made a beeline for the pool every chance she got. She's my little fish.



After swim lessons we headed to our favorite park (Peter Pan Park) for a picnic. Nellie was all tuckered out by then. Don't worry though, she didn't miss out on all the fun. It was our last MamaMia! meetup since the group has disbanded. As our kids get older and start going to school, mommies in the group weren't able to participate as much anymore. I'm realizing that these early years are only a phase. So glad I can stay home and enjoy them with my children.

Inspecting the soft "rocks" in the stream between the picnic tables. I love that this park has tables right by the water feature and playground. Beware though, the rubber playground surface gets very hot. I definitely recommend water shoes or flip flops - though my kids don't leave them on.

Oh the anticipation! It took B-Bee a little while to warm up to the fountains last year and earlier this summer. But, as you can see, there's no fear now...just excited anticipation. The big kid have even taught him how to put his shoes on the spout to see them fly up in the air when it goes.

I love this picture! What would you put as the caption?

Nellie made a friend. These 2 just followed each other around for awhile, babbling away to each other. We started packing up to leave just as the monsoon began falling. Had to wait it out a little and then make a run for the car.

Had to snap a picture of this. Not sure why it was "parked" there. Maybe it belongs to someone in the apartment complex? On its way to the air show? I have no clue.

2 Babies In A Tub

Swimming has, by far, been our favorite activity this summer. I couldn't let all the cute suits Nellie has this summer go unused....and they haven't. Last year I just HAD to buy an adorable one with butterflies for full price and then pulled it out of the too small clothes this spring, still on the hanger with the tags. Someone wanted to offer me $1 for it at the garage sale. I just couldn't part with it. Anyways, there have been fountains and "water features" (because we really just don't know what to call the cool water playgrounds that we wish were around 20+ years ago and are so popular now), swimming lessons, pools, pools, and more pools. It's been a great swimming summer! The kids already had the tans to prove it in early June.

I didn't know what to do with the kids on the 4th of July. I really wanted to do something with Daddy-O, but he had to work. So I put a FB out there and my friend, Audrey invited us over for lunch & more swimming. It was great to chill and get to know each other better....and then put the kids in the baby pool to chill. Short post, simple day.

Lakeside Amusement Park

Ready for the 4th of July with her red, white & blue tutu and star sandals! What to do, what to do? How about Lakeside? Bonus:  a coupon to come back with unlimited rides in August! Besides, we can see it from our house and that lighted tower teases us nightly.

On her first amusement park ride, the cars.... They were also B-Bee's first amusement park ride. She is my serious child. Don't let the unsure face fool you, she was having fun. She had a small fit when I took her out at the end of the ride. When I put her back in to go again, she started rocking it and saying "Vrrooom, vroom."

After awhile, we moved up to bigger little kid rides like the mini-whip. Nellie's trying to hold herself up away from B-Bee and B's just laughing hysterically. I'm sure next year she'll be purposefully crushing him.

You can't skip the train ride around the lake...it's the best part according to Daddy & B-Bee. This is one of the oldest amusement parks in the US.

I can't take credit for this cool shot. Daddy-O played with the camera up on the bridge, while I found a bench & nursed Nellie, and B-Bee & Zaza waited in line for the airplane ride. This was the longest line of the night, so we had plenty of time. Can't wait to come back in August!

Pre-4th

Before launching into the fun we had over the 4th of July weekend.... Greg McBoat has Nellie's 1 Year Pics ready! Even though it was a difficult photoshoot, they're awesome! Oh my serious child. :D

We started our weekend off with a babysitter and a baby shower. Our friends, Mike & Steph were in town for their baby shower. Zaza babysat for us, since it was scheduled for prime naptime. One of the coolest gifts they got was some of Steph's baby clothes (believe a baptism outfit included) and quilts. We gave them Good Night Denver, so they can read to their baby girl about their old stompin' grounds. I'm also making them a purple tutu. Mike sized?

In January I won the lotto to buy Rockies tickets for Opener and the 4th of July fireworks games. Little did I realize that even with the lotto system, Opener was going to sell out so quickly. There went Daddy-O's birthday present idea.... We got tix for Saturday night's game. Nellie sported her Rockies onesie & birthday tutu. As soon as we sat down, she started eyeing up everyone around us' food - especially the boy sitting right behind us, just about grabbed the nachos right off his lap.

B-Bee didn't quite get "watching" the game. It's okay though, every Rockies fan knows that it's more about the experience of going than actually watching.

Was a game worth watching!

I wanted outfield seats so we would get to go sit on the field for fireworks, but it was nice to not have to move. Nellie loved the spirit that filled the stadium with the win!

Unfortunately, B-Bee & Zaza spent most of the fireworks in the bathroom.... Nellie did really well with them. She kept pointing at and trying to grab the fireworks. Wouldn't even let us cover her ears. "Don't contain me, Mom!"

I should mention, there was some good sleep had by all that night. PLUS early (and restful) naps the next day!