To be accurate, 18 months, six days... ;)
The pictures, they are difficult to get these days... unless you want motion shots, got lotsa those!


Thanks for all the comments and feel better wishes for Ben. It appears the fever is gone for good... whew!

The boy is napping. His temp was 98.6 when I put him down. Here's hoping it stays that way...
I just got my Ebay replacement camera today so you are about to be greeted with a few pictures. :)

As you can see from this one, Benjamin has had his temperature taken so many times this week that he is now a pro at doing it himself. (it's a temporal artery thermomter, you swipe it across the forehead)


And in other non, temperature-related news, our sofa came on Wednesday!
Just for some perspective, here is a picture of the vast unusable couchless wasteland that our basement was until VERY recently...


Now...
After trying about 50 different couch/tv/table configurations, here's the one that finally worked.



A bird's eye view...

And now I've started working on filling walls... here's the first thing we put up.

And these we got in Disneyworld. (Miss Debbie gave us the top one as a thanks for inviting her along) They are of particular significance because they are watercolors of the the hotel we stayed at on our honeymoon. (also on this last trip)


Here is another work in progress... the neglected aquarium that now has a new home on the other side of the room.
I cleaned it out and added a few more fish this morning...

The only things not pictured are the bathroom, (which I'll take pics of as soon as I put up the prints I just got for in there) and the corner of the room where the computer is. That's kind of a work in progress too. We still have stuff to do... some shelving for Ben's toys, a storage bench for under the Yacht Club print and some various other things for the walls. But it's so cozy now already! Now we just have to move the TiVO down there so we'll actually want to watch tv in that room. ;) Oh, and we have to get my brother-in-law to come pick up the old couch and dining room table which are taking up a bunch of space on one side of the room. And the foos ball table which is hogging my ENTIRE laundry room! Yay for bachelor pads!

Ack. The boy is awake. Cross your fingers for no fever when I go up to get him!

Ben's STILL running a fever. :( I ran him to the pediatrician yesterday afternoon when it hit 103. The doctor checked him all over and there is no sign of any infection of any kind. In fact, the doctor actually said, "He's perfect. If he looks THIS good when he's running a 103 fever, we don't need to worry.")

I was relieved and content for about a half hour.

Then I started worrying again. He woke up again this morning with a 101 temperature. What is going on?! I won't even tell you all the crazy things that are going through my head... I just hope this fever goes away SOON so I can STOP obessively Googling symptoms of various illnesses.

I wonder if this counts as a two-word phrase? It's two words... so why not? We have this cool light necklace that we bought Ben in Disneyworld. A lot of people wear them during the fireworks and nighttime parades... you know the kind... blinks and has all kinds of crazy colors. Anyway, Ben loves the thing. Last night (during one of the times when the Motrin was working), we noticed him pushing the little button to change the settings (blinking, running lights, flashing in a weird pattern, then off) and saying "Light, light, light... NO light!" A person off the street surely would NOT understand him since it sounds more like:

"Nigh"
"Nigh"
"Nigh"
"Nah Nigh"

But we got it! Pretty cool for a kid with a fever, I thought. ;)

If you tried to call me yesterday and there was no answer, it's because from about 3 in the afternoon - 10 minutes ago, I was dealing with a crying toddler. I kid you not, the Motrin wears off, the fever shoots back up, the kid fahREAKS out. We got about ZERO sleep last night... he was up every five minutes, in and out of the crib. Around 1:30a.m. , I had some quiet time with which to Google more about reactions to the DTap. Apparently, the reaction is usually from the "P" (Pertussis) part of the vaccine. Word on the street is if you get a reaction this severe, (and yes, I'd say no sleep for two nights and 48 hours of whining, crying and a burning up toddler is pretty severe) you can/should request just a "DT" vaccine for the fifth dose that is due around 4-6 years old.

Just more interesting info to have.

I was very worried all night about him having a febrile seizure, which I have read a lot about (and which Claire posted a comment about in my last post). He was just SO hot. I didn't check his temperature in the wee hours of the morning just because if he was quietly resting, I wanted him to stay that way... but it was like sleeping next to a space heater. Every once in awhile, he'd twitch or jerk his arm up and scare the crap out of me. Though, I felt prepared and was ready to deal with it if it happened and NOT panic. There was no seizure, thank goodness. But at one point, he did start pointing at nothing and babbling, which was a little freaky in itself...

This morning, he is still VERY whiny and has a a temp of about 100. Here's hoping it keeps going down and stays down today... argh...

I put Ben down for his nap and after a half hour he started crying. I went upstairs to get him and he was burning up again. Back up to 102. I called the Dr. and he said it could continue for another 24 hours! Gah! He told me to give him some Motrin... so we called trust grandmom to bring us some and now hotstuff is laying here in a baby nest watching more Blues Clues than you can shake a stick out while sipping on applejuice and munching on animal crackers.

Benjamin's fever went up to about 102 last night and we was fussy on and off. This morning, his left upper arm is all swollen. The fever has come down to 99-100 though, so he's a little more himself. It's really freaky to see your whirlwind of a toddler transformed into one who can hardly lift his head up and only wants to lay on your chest. I sure hope this is over with soon!

Ben spiked a 101 fever this afternoon and passed out in his crib for a very rare second nap. Right now he is laying on Tom still half passed out... yesterday he had his fourth (fifth? whichever the last one is) dose of the DTAP vaccine... he has never had much of a reaction to the shot before.

Courtesy of Google: (pay close attention to paragraph 2!)
Side Effects from DTaP Immunization

Up to one third of children who get DTaP have local reactions (tenderness, pain, redness, swelling) where the shot was given. These reactions are more likely after the fourth and fifth doses of DTaP than after the earlier doses, and may also be more pronounced. When they do occur, it is usually within two days after the shot. Some children also experience swelling of the entire leg or arm after the fourth or fifth DTaP dose. This happens within 3 days of the vaccination and usually lasts around 4 days, with no after-effects.

Fever is another fairly common reaction. Up to about 1 child out of 20 will get a fever of over 101°F; more often after the fourth or fifth dose. Up to 1 out of 5 children will be fussy or lose their appetite for a day or two after the shot, and nearly half may be drowsy afterward.

-----------------
Just thought I'd share since many of you have babies the same age...

Random things that don't go together but that I thought were worthy of posting...

* Yesterday was the official Tom and Erin dating anniverary. (yes, we still celebrate) TEN YEARS! We have been dating for a decade. That's crazy. The anniversary is the day I lost my mind and decided to go with the strange boy in his car for a trip to lunch at Subway during my break between classes. I got in the car! ALONE! With a strange boy! What the HECK was I thinking? Ah well, it turned out okay. ;) We stayed at Subway for over three hours (I had a long break)... the highlights included him not having enough money with him to buy me lunch as well as him not so subtly asking to see my voters registration card during the course of our conversation. Oh, and during the part of the conversation, his warning about a certain red-haired ex girlfriend of his. (with whom I am now friends) Oh... and how did we celebrate? I said, "hey! it's our dating anniversary!" We talked about how long ten years is and life before the other person seems like a different lifetime. Then he went upstairs to watch Arrested Development and I stayed downstairs to fold laundry and watch 7th Heaven. So romantic... :: sigh:: ;)

* We play this fun game at our house called "Where's Ben?" wherein the asker of "Where's Ben" pretends not to notice that Ben is indeed right in front of him/her. Instead, he/she looks in all directions asking over and over again... "Where is BEN?" Ben had added a new element of fun to the game where he GRABS your face and turns it to look right at him while he squeals with delight when you finally "see" him. It's hours of entertainment!

* My couch comes tomorrow! It was supposed to take until November but it's coming tomorrow! I am so very VERY excited! Once again, Tom and I will have a couch "corner" to fight over. (When we were dating, his parents had a sectional in their basement family room and we used to argue over who got to hold the remote and sit in the corner, which is obviously the MOST comfortable spot on the couch!) It was also good for cuddling. :)

* The batteries in Benjamin's crib aquarium are dying and the music is even MORE sad now. I really need to remember to replace them today.

* That house in our neighborhood that is for sale (the way too expensive one) had an open house on Sunday and we walked down. WOW. It was GORGEOUS. But what the heck would I do with five (actually it was six) bedrooms and a kitchen in my basement?! I have decided that I do want a little desk in the kitchen of whatever house we do buy one day though. That's just cute and oh so functional! Btw, this house still smelled NEW!! I am dying to know the story behind why they are selling so soon! Even if we could have afforded the house right now, we would not have bought this one though... not only is the front yard a driveway, but they have taken the backyard (which is level and a good size) and put a patio over the ENTIRE thing with a fence around it. I'm guessing there are no children in the house right now... just a guess.

* Tom's youngest brother is moving out to an apartment in a couple weeks. I am using this as an opportunity to further declutter my life and Tom and I are almost single handedly furnishing the place. He's taking our old basement couch (which is NOT a futon, Marc), a dresser that has no home, our old dining room table, the foos ball table, a lamp, a cd rack and possibly even this giant computer armoire thing that I MAY want to part with because its sheer size annoys me and it has never really "fit" anywhere in any house we've ever had it in. I totally get why people tried to pawn so much crap off on us when we got married now! This is a great opportunity!

* I found a replacement camera exactly like the one I broke for CHEAP on EBay. It will be here in two days and the cute pictures will return. Hooray!

And on that note, I must end the randomness because Benjamin seems to be awake. Bye for now! :)

This morning was Benjamin's 18-month well baby checkup. Those are always just SO much fun. There was only one shot this time, but still a WHOLE heckuva lot of screaming. Ben is 23 pounds and 31 inches. (15th percentile and 25th percentile) Such a little guy! The doctor asked how he was eating and I had to laugh. I got the usual "Give him only healthy snacks and no more than 4 ounces of fruit juice a day... blah blah blah." DUH DUH DUH! I know all this! I read the baby books! I follow the rules and my kid still doesn't eat. So whatever...

No more doctor's appointments until he's 2! This is cause for celebration!

Those 18-month pictures? Not coming for awhile... why? Because our digital camera is broken. I dropped it at one point in Disney World. After that, it WAS working fine. I took pics... life was good. Then today, I went to turn it on and it wouldn't turn on. I changed the batteries. Tried again. Nothing. Then the power button/shutter button popped off. I'm guessing that's not good. So off to the repair shop it goes tomorrow... I hope they can fix it easily/inexpensively. A new digital camera is NOT in the budget right now.

I took some pics of Benjamin in his official month-day chair with our video camera. But then I discovered I need a firewire cable to hook my camera up to the IBook. The transition from PC to Mac has been mostly painless... except for these little annoying things.

Also, we can't figure out how the heck to work the IPod. Tom's PC is the only computer in the house with a substantial MP3 collection, so I installed the software and hooked it up... thought I transferred everything and the stupid pod still doesn't have anything on it. I have a feeling this would go much smoother if I hooked it up to the IBook, but since there is no music on there, that would pretty much be pointless. Any suggestions? I know my way around a computer pretty darn well, but for some reason, this silly thing is stumping me. (and I even cracked open the INSTRUCTION BOOK! Gah!)

Came home from the store this afternoon to find that my favorite neighbors (the young couple with the four-year-old two doors down who actually talk to us) have their house up for sale. They've always said were waiting until the houses in our neighborhood started selling for 300K, which they aren't quite yet... more like $275,000 right now. But my guess would be that they jumped on that house down the street I posted about last week. I'll have to ask when I see them outside, but I'll bet you anything that's what happened. I'm so sad... :(

The people next door to them ALSO have their house up for sale. They just moved in about two years ago... so not sure what's going on there.

I'm hoping for some young families and no more "haven't quite grown out of frat-boy life" bachelors.

Please oh please.

Benjamin is 1-1/2 today! Everyone says with his new haircut he looks like such a big boy too!

New this month:

He has a new word: "apple". We heard it for the first time while walking through the parking lot at one of the Disney parks. He saw an orange on a Florida license plate and said, clear as day, "apple." All three of us looked at him and said, "Did you just say apple?" "Apple!" he replied. Of course, we haven't heard it since then. ;)

He knows his colors and will point them out when you ask (if he feels like it). We also think he says "yellow" but we're not totally sure.

He sings three songs: "Doh Doh Doh" (I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart), "E-I-E-I-O!" (Old Macdonald), and "Mahhh!" (Manah Manah). Other favorites, which he will request by handing us the cd they are on include: "C is for Cookie", "People in Your Neighborhood", the Welcome song from the Disney soundtrack, and Queen's "We Will Rock You." Eclectic muscal tastes, for sure.

He has started listening very well when we let him walk around when we're out. Most of the time, he'll stop and come back when we ask him to (or at least not go any farther). This is a bigbreakthrough!

He eats NOTHING. We're pretty sure he draws all of his nutrition and energy from the air. Or maybe the binky has secret nutritional powers we don't know about?

His 18-month doctor's appointment is Monday.. we're in for one last shot (maybe two, if they are offering the flu shot right now). I'm sure he has grown because hardly any of his shorts and tshirts fit anymore!

Official pics coming later!

Thank goodness. Vacation is fun, but I'm always happy to get home. Our flight home was great... Ben is such a great little flyer!

Today we're all just doing a lot of NOTHING... sitting around, catching up on bills/emails, and maybe visiting a grandparent or two a little later.

I really have nothing interesting to say because my brain is complete mush from chasing a toddler all over Disney World and airports for five days.

So until I come up with something, please enjoy this lovely (and large) collection of pictures from our trip.

Hey, lookie! I'm updating again! We came back to our room for lunch... I forgot to mention a lesson I learned yesterday. Do NOT give a toddler Fruit Loops. I threw together a little snack mix for Ben yesterday before we headed out and a tossed a few Fruit Loops in there for fun. OhMAHGAH... by 7p.m. he was running in circles. He was awake until at least 10 (with NO NAP). Fruit Loops = BAD BAD BAD.

I also forgot to mention that Ben got his Monorail Copilot's License yesterday! A little known Disney secret is that if you are the first one to ask when you get the monorail, they will let up to four people ride up front with the driver. I practically trampled a family of four to get to one yesterday. (they had already ridden in the front on the train we had just gotten off of!) Anyway, we rode from Magic Kingdom to Epcot up front and it was so neat! At the end, they gave us a little card that says "CoPilot" on it. Also, our driver was in training, which made the ride even more interesting, because the other guy was explaining everything to her (and so we got to overhear). Anyway... there's my insider park tip for the day. Ben loved it!

Oh, and the Tylenol? My doctor is kind of an "anti meds unless you are REALLY sick" sorta doctor. He recommended saline drops. (HA! Who wants to hold my kid down while I shoot THOSE up his nose?! Anyone? Anyone?) This morning, after Ben hardly slept at ALL, I was desperate and googled Children's Tylenol Dosage + Toddlers, found out that at 28 pounds, you can give them 1 teaspoon. He's about 23 or 24 so, gave him a little more than 1/2 a teaspoon of the Children's Tylenol Cold. About 30 minutes later, the kid was out like a LIGHT. I'm going to remember this tonight before bed... what great ammunition to have! He is running around now and seems to feel fine!

Anyway, in a little while, we're headed out to MGM to do Millionaire and the Backlot Tour. After that.. off to dinner! :) We had a little rain this morning, but it seems to have disappeared, so should be a nice (yet annoyingly humid) evening.

Yesterday, we went back to Magic Kingdom... we got there in time for the opening ceremonies. (remember that happy song I posted a week or so ago?) When the music started Ben just got this look on his face like, "hey.... wait a SECOND! I know this!" SO funny... then he clapped along while he sat on Tom's shoulders.

After that, we headed into the park and made record time through the Magic Kingdom rides because there were no lines. There haven't really been ANY lines this trip, which is oh so wonderful. We did the Pooh ride (a first for us!), Peter Pan, Mickey's Philharmagic (violins EVERYwhere, so it was a big hit with Ben, of course), Dumbo, Country Bear Jamboree (also a big hit), Buzz Lightyear, Carousel of Progress and when Ben finally passed out, we hit the Hall of Presidents. The only thing left over there that we still have to go back and hit is the Jungle Cruise, Pirates of the Carribbean and maybe the steam train and the people mover. We were torn about taking him on the Haunted Mansion, so I think we'll save that for when he's a little older. Miss Debbie is having a great time! Her favorites are the 3-D movies. (how much is she going to love Bug's Life later today!!!???)

The weather called for some rain yesterday, and though there were two short showers, we didn't get caught in either of them... otherwise, we pretty much had sun all day!

OH! And we met Chip and Dale... kisses, as usual.


After that, it was off to Epcot to have dinner at the Coral Reef... YUM. And Ben was great! It helped that the waitresses kept bringing him cool stuff to play with just so they could visit him at our table. ;)

This stroller that we bring to Disney is great. The weird thing is, you'd think you'd see them all over because it's a backpack and a lightweight stroller combined. But we have only seen one. And everywhere we go in the parks, we get comments about it both from other park guests and the disney employees. At least 15 people have asked us where we got it.. others just comment how cool it is. I swear, I'm going to buy 20 of them and start selling them myself next time we come here, because this thing is obviously just NOT marketed very well. Someone in the comments section on my last post asked about it... it's called the InStep Backpack Stroller and it was about $80, if I recall. It weighs next to nothing and is super easy to convert back and forth. There is a more expensive version that my friend Jen has... can't remember what hers is called, but that one is great too, and offers a little more leg room on the bottom. Anyway, I HIGHLY recommend it if you are traveling. It's great in the airport too!

After we brought Ben back for the night, Miss Debbie hung out with him again for a couple hours and we went back into Epcot and rode Soarin'. (the newest ride here... originally from Disneyland) It was AMAZING. Though if you have any fear of heights it may make you a little ill... It did make my stomach flip flop once or twice, but otherwise, it was just WAY COOL. Here we are all lovey-dovey in Epcot at night. Excuse the hair... it's about a bazillion percent humidity here.


Today is Animal Kingdom and a few leftover things at MGM. (Who Wants to Be Millionaire, the Backlot Tour and a couple of shows) Then we're off to the Hoop Dee Doo Review for dinner. (it's a GREAT dinner show... lots of music, dancing and great food... we think Ben's going to love it!)

Ben's cold has gotten a little worse. I defied the doctor's orders and gave him Children's Tylenol (that's all I could find in the hotel store). I gave him half a teaspoon... so far, no adverse effects. I reallllly hope it helps him sleep tonight. GAH. Otherwise, he's happy happy happy!

I might not get to update tomorrow because we have an early breakfast at Chef Mickey's and then we have to check out for the day. So the next time I write, we'll probably be home sweet home! :)

p.s. Shay, I answered your questions in the comments section of my last post! I hope my answers help! :) The biggest keys to the toddler/Disney combo seem to be: lots of snacks, a break in the middle of the day, and time to just get down and RUN every couple hours or so.

Yesterday we went to Epcot and MGM... Benjamin had a blast and took a great nap back at the hotel at lunchtime. Dinner was at my favorite Disney restaurant, The Prime Time Cafe. We got a great waitress too who totally played it up and yelled at us for having our elbows on the table and chewing with our mouths open. (all done on purpose, we're not really that rude) ;) Miss Debbie and I made trouble and blew bubbles in our drinks and tattled on Tom for sneezing without covering his nose. Someone at a neighboring table didn't eat their green beans and when they ordered dessert, their waiter brought them a pile of green beans with whipped cream on top! Love that place. ;)

Miss Debbie (Ben's godmother is with us, in case I didn't mention that before) is having a blast! Her favorite so far has been the Imagination ride with Figment. (a favorite of ours too!)

We got to see the MGM Parade yesterday, which I had never seen before and it was great!

Oh, Ben met PLUTO at MGM. It was the cutest thing... he ran right up to him and gave him kisses and hugs. The people waiting in line all said "awwww" in unison and then clapped when he was finished. My kid can work a crowd, I tell ya!

We also got to see (for the first time) the Disney Channel Live kids show. TOO CUTE! Bear in the Big Blue House, Jo Jo's Circus, Stanley... lots of singing and dancing. It was a pretty big hit and I'll bet next time we come, Ben goes COMPLETELY insane over it.

After we put Ben to bed last night, Miss Debbie stayed with him and Tom and I got to go out ALONE (alone alone alone!!! No Ben!) to see the the Illuminations fireworks show at Epcot! So it was an all-around great day!

I haven't actually gotten around to moving any pictures off of my digital camera card, so all the pics I'm posting were taken by the photographers in the park. Disney has this great new Photopass thing that puts them right online! Yay!

Today we're off to Magic Kingdom again! Ben has been SOOO wonderful and easy, but he seems to have gotten a cold overnight, so things might get a little more difficult... wish us luck! :)

Some pics... note Stitch popping out of the hat in the bottom one. ;)

Wow. Yeah. So that was a long day. The flight was great, Ben slept and watched DVD's. He was a trooper while we picked up our baggage and got our rental car. Our hotel room wasn't ready when we got here (that was a first!) so we got some lunch and headed out to the Magic Kingdom to go on Its a Small World and the Tiki Room. (both of which completely mesmerized my light-obsessed toddler.)

Then we took him over to Toontown to see Mickey's house... and that is where we met Mickey! Shortly before this picture was taken, Benjamin was screaming his head off because he was tired of standing in line. Once he got to run up to Mickey though... it was all over.



This evening we had dinner in Mexico and all the waitresses kept stopping at our table to say "Hola" to Ben. (who apparently understands "Hola", thanks to Sesame Street and Rosita the Spanish Speaking Turquoise Muppet)

You'll notice there is no mention of a nap because well, there really wasn't one. There was a brief catnap type thing in between Magic Kingdom and the hotel, and maybe a 20 minute "resting of the eyes" on the plane. But other than that, my trooper of a kid has gone and gone and gone since 5a.m. And with only one small meltdown...

I hope all the other days go as well! Time for some sleep... but first, the ice cream that Tom is on his way back up to the room with!

It's 3:30(a.m.!) and I'm WIDE AWAKE. Bummer. I was going to get up at 4:15 anyway so what's the point of fighting it. I just printed out our boarding passes (uh yeah, we're in the A group). Not that it matters, we get to preboard anyway... our reward for lugging a stroller, carseat and toddler all the way through the airport.

Nothing else to do at this ungodly hour, so I'm loading Tom's mp3's onto the Ipod. Yuppers. Life's exciting at 3:30 a.m.

I called the Apple Store a little while ago in an attempt to figure out what to do about my IPod rebate. I thought they were going to be all confused by my convoluted story about throwing boxes out and broken IBooks... but the guy on the other end (Thom with an H's friend Greg, with a G) got it right away!

Then I expected him to say I was pretty much SOL. But no! He went out FOUND the box from last night, cut out the UPC for me and told me I could come pick it up. When I asked him to put it aside for a week since we'd be gone, he said he'd just MAIL IT TO ME.

I guess I'm so trained to expect the run around/pass around from customer service people... you know, how no one ever wants to take your problem and see it through to a resolution? Well, I have nothing but raves for Apple... just WOW. :) They will be getting a happy letter from me.

The packing has officially begun. Suitcases and clothes are everywhere. Lists are being checked off... fun stuff.

And wow are we SO NOT READY. That packing? Still not done. The house has messed itself back up again. I did buy everything I needed to at Target. This time, I was determined to remember the disposable placemats so, to the horror of all the mothers around us, Benjamin isn't just eating right off the table. It's never bothered me, but it really seems to gross some people out.

Oh, so the IBook I just got last Sunday? Its screen died yesterday afternoon. I opened it up and it literally made a "fizzle" sound and went dark. If you looked carefully, you could still make out what was on the screen but umm... I'm pretty sure that wasn't supposed to happen. I seriously almost cried. I am so tired of buying stuff that doesn't work the way it's supposed to. The car. The Sony laptop. Now this. It just ticks me off. So we made a trip over to the Apple Store in the evening... that place really does have its own culture.

I marched in with fire in my eyes, ready to scream at someone cry. The place was PACKED wall-to-wall with the mac fanatics... all wandering around with their IPods and a glazed look in their eyes, building their fantasy $20,000 dream system in their heads.

The girl at the desk was all, "Just hop on any of the computers and sign up at the Genius Bar."

"The what?"

"The Genius Bar. They'll assign you a time and someone will help you."

"uhh... k...?"

It wasn't until after I was assigned a time that I turned around and actually noticed the actual "Genius Bar". For some reason, I was thinking "bar" like... Yahoo bar/ Google Bar... as in electronic help. Oh no no no... the Genius Bar is set up like a bar... as in "a priest and a rabbi walked into a..." Minus the beer and the bartenders were techs. My name even popped up on a screen. I was #3, right behind Steve B. and Lynda C. I felt like I had won something!

They called my name and I wandered over, still ready to put up a fight. My bartender, "Thom" (with an H!) asked what the problem was... he checked it out and was like, "Wow.. yeah, that's dead."

"I know! And I just got it last Sunday!"

"You just got it last Sunday? Where?"

"Here!"

"You got it last Sunday and you got it here? Well heck, why didn't you say something? I'll just give you a new one!"

"Umm... really?"

"Yeah, be right back."

It gets better...

So he wandered off into some back room, came back and said... "Did anyone tell you you were supposed to get a free IPod with this?

"No?"

"What color do you want?"

I could have hugged Thom (with an H!). Thom (with an H!) is my new best friend.

I got home though and realized there is a slight glitch. I didn't know about the free IPod originally, so I didn't cut any UPC's off the original box, which Tom threw away on trash day. Since I didn't have a box when I brought the IBook back to the store, they didn't give me a box when I left. The rebate form for the IPod requires the codes off the original box. Uhh...
So I may not be keeping the Ipod. But that's still a pretty happy ending, don't you think? That's some crazy good customer service!

To add to the pleasant surprises of the evening, while we were waiting for my "Genius Bar" appointment, we went to the food court and got some dinner. Benjamin ate almost an entire box of Chick Fil A nuggets. I think it's safe to say he's finally graduated to real food. I'm going to throw a party! ;)

We leave in two days! Hooray! :D

The weather.com ten day forecast, which has been all over the place for two weeks now, has finally settled into a very pleasant prediction of sun (with a small chance of a thundershower on two days) for our trip. Whew. When you make the choice to go to Florida right in the middle of hurricaine season, you just sort of hold your breath and hope for the best as far as the weather goes. We lucked out.

I emailed our Realtor about the house (before I found the MLS listing with the PRICE...omg). He wrote back and said he'd get us in to see it. The price? $550K!? Yeeeeeeah, that's a little out of our price range at the moment... I guess technically (according to those insane "how much house can we afford" calculators a.k.a. "sink yourself as deep as you can into debt" calculators), we could afford it if we threw in Tom's bonus money and some various other savings... but who wants to stretch themselves that much? Umm... NOT US. No thanks. And those of you who live in SC and OR where this exact same house is probably $250K? You suck.

Here it is in all its splendor. I know, looks small, right? I can't figure out where they are keeping 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and "in law quarters". I'm guessing it goes further back than you can tell from looking at just the front of it. This is another reason I need to go see it.


I told Scott (the Realtor) that we can't afford it right now but, if it's not too much trouble, we'd like to get in to see it just so we can get an idea what's over there. I don't feel like we'd be wasting his time because in a couple of years, we WILL be ready to jump on anything that goes up for sale... I'm hoping he looks at it that way too.

Survivor started up again last night. BORING. I haven't really watched in two seasons and I'm pretty sure I'm finished with it. Tom's still into it though, so I sort of absorb some of it just by being in the room while the tv is on. Thoughts about last night? They showed entirely too much vomiting footage. Who wants to see that?!

Oh... and in other news. I'm pretty sure Ben has my stomach bug.... only it's coming from the other direction. I changed two liquid poo diapers yesterday that were enough to gag even the most seasoned poopy diaper changer. The smell was stuck in my nose ALL NIGHT. Otherwise, he seems to be feeling okay, which is so funny, because that bug made me feel like I was hit by a truck. Ben? He just fills up his diaper and moves on with life. Bizarre.

Alas, the prince is awakening from his beauty sleep. Time to upstairs and fetch him from his royal crib. I've give you all lots to comment on... insane house prices/Disneyworld/the weather/Survivor/gross diapers. Go to it. :)

There are nine single family homes in our neighborhood. They were just built less than two years ago and Tom and I have always said if one went up for sale, we'd take a look at it because we absolutely love our neighborhood... it's a really great location for us. Close to everything, including Tom's work, which is a MUST for him.

Well, this morning, it happened... a sign went up. We thought it would be a few more years before any went up for sale. Now's not so much a good time for us to jump on a house. We still have too much to do to ours to sell it and frankly, we're just not ready for a move yet (even if it IS, LITERALLY, a stone's throw away)

But MAN oh man... I wish we were ready. This house? FIVE BEDROOMS, 3-1/2 baths, two-story foyer w/ balcony, ceramic kitchen floor, HUGE master bedroom w/ walk-in closet, hardwood floors, luxury master bath, professionally finished lower level w/ full bath, extra rooms setup for "inlaw" quarters (or, in our case, playrooms) ;) , gas heat, cathedral ceilings and a fireplace...

I might set up an appointment just to go see it... a girl can dream...

I must be better, because I woke up raging hungry AND wanting coffee. Currently enjoying the latter while pondering what I want for the former. So many choices -- especially since I haven't eaten anything but chicken broth, toast and popsicles in the last 24 hours. Oh, and you know how you usually emerge from a stomach bug (or a pregnancy fraught with morning sickness) with an aversion to some food for awhile? For me, that food is now Snyder's of Hanover Jalapeno Pretzel Pieces. Yeeeeowch. From the early weeks of my pregnancy with Ben, I STILL have an aversion to anything ginger (particularly ginger TEA), and Lysol citrus-scented toilet bowl insert thingies. (not that they're food, but I spent a lot of nausea time with my head right next to one)

I lost a whole day yesterday! I hadn't actually been PACKING, but I was sort of methodically working my way through some chores around the house so I don't have to come home to things like full trashcans, full hampers and dirty bathrooms. Benjamin and I were supposed to have a playdate today with Amanda and Hannah, but Amanda's not feeling well (she's pregnant and has kidney stones... GAH) so they're staying home. I'll probably spend today catching up. It looks rainy and gross outside anyway. I think we're seeing some of Ophelia's backside. ;)

Today I'll finally suck it up and dig the suitcases out of storage. It's always fun to see what interesting things I left in them from our last trip. Straws, cheerios, sand, park maps? You just never know... for some reason, when I cleaned out the basement closet, I put the suitcases BEHIND the maternity clothes and the Christmas stuff. I guess I was thinking: pregnant again, Christmas THEN another trip. who knows... dumb dumb DUMB.

So that's where I'LL be today. how about you?

I don't get to see a whole lot of daytime tv other than Sesame Street. But since I'm stuck in bed right now with nothing else to do, I'm overdosing on it.

Some ponderings:

*When did Maury get so trashy? Apparently this guest has been on 12 times with different men, trying to find the father of her four-year-old.

*Jody Foster is really cute now!

*But she just made the same joke on both Good Morning America AND Regis and Kelly. Lame.

*Reese Witherspoon looked better when she weighed a little more. She has this pointy chin thing going on now that is just odd looking.

*People's Court is still on?

*Martha Stewart's new show (I keep seeing previews) looks really creepy.

*I hate local news.

*I still cry during A Baby Story. Why does that one still hold its appeal when you've been there done that, but the Wedding Story doesn't?

Still puking.

Pregnancy test negative. Thanks Leslie, for freaking me the heck out about THAT.

Achy, tired. Stomach HURTS.

Boy with his grandmother until I can get out of bed again. (I'm rooting for this afternoon)

* my boobs -- solid proof that NOPE, it's not the nursing that kills them.

* my gag reflex -- from poop to puke, I can clean it up in no problem, as long as it's from *my* kid.

* my brain -- the list of things I have left on top of the car and then drove away with like that grows longer every day. Although, unlike Mrs. Flinger, I haven't done this with my digital camera. (yet)

* my doctor's office modesty

* my firm, ripped, rock-hard abs (just kidding, never had those. Just seeing if you were paying attention)

* my fear of puking

That last one... that's a biggie. I'm totally pukey right now (stomach bug?) and it's not even bothering me, except for the fact that I'm really tired and achy. But the pukey part? Whatever. I'm in, I'm out. I'm back in bed. It's all good. Thank you morning sickness for making the standard 24-hour pukey bug seem like a cakewalk.

PBS children's programming being preempted for supreme court confirmation hearings ALL DAY.

...because I can't take the grunting, pointing and whining much longer. We do all the things the books say to do... when Benjamin points at something to ask for it, we name it ("Oh! Do you want x?") I try to play dumb sometimes and hand him the wrong thing so he'll try to communicate what it is he REALLY wants. I use signs for everything, because signs would be ever so much nicer than the whining. But he only uses the ones he likes, and as I've written before, the ones he likes aren't very useful unless you want to talk about volcanoes, violins or tables.

We read ALL the time... we talk ALL the time. I basically narrate my entire day for this child. "Now I'm looking for my shirt! Can YOU find a shirt?" But still minimal results.

I keep reading that if babies don't have a certain number of words by their 18-month checkup, a lot of pediatricians will refer you for a speech evaluation. That seems extreme and I sincerely doubt that our pediatrician, Dr. It's Just a Flesh Wound, would even give it a second thought until MUCH later than 18 months.

Nevertheless, being a neurotic first-time mother, I started making a list of all the words Ben uses every day, all the words he HAS used but doesn't anymore and all the signs he does. It's actually longer than I thought... I counted the fact that he says the names of a bunch of letters. (that should count for something, right?)

His list of the words he uses every day is about 16. (but many are letters and sounds like "ow!" and "no no!" and "meow". Do THOSE count?) if I include all the words he has EVER said, it's closer to 30. Why did he just quit saying "doggie" and "ducky?" Does he remember HOW to say them?

And while I'm worrying, why is he so obsessive about violins and lights? It reminds me of Rainman and his Jeopardy obsession. Raise your hand if you've ever googled autism, because I KNOW I'm not alone. Yeah yeah, I'm sure Ben's not autistic, he's way too engaging, but I needed to google it anyway.

I keep telling myself... "Self, he WALKED at 8 months... that has to be part of this." But it doesn't make me worry any less! Especially with friends' babies the same age already carrying on entire conversations with people.

Could someone please remind me of this post in a year or two when I'm complaining that he won't stop talking to me while I'm trying to blog? ;)

... or lack thereof. My poor kid... I told him we were going to the park this afternoon... we never did make it there because I COULDN'T FIND IT. Luckily, we haven't gone to any parks consistently enough that he knows what I'm talking about when I say the word "park". (Unlike when I accidentally utter the word "outside"... that has become a "spell only" word around here.)

So.. my dear local readers. WHERE THE HECK IS THIS FANCY NEW PARK I KEEP HEARING ABOUT?! I thought it was on Honeygo. Is it HoneyGo Run Park? Because I found THAT, but I didn't see a playground and anyway, there were a bunch of joggers barricading it off so you couldn't drive up there.

Apparently, this park is some kind of preschool garden of eden... swings, great toddler stuff, that rubber stuff on the ground (so if they fall I guess they just bounce like superballs or something) the whole works.

I hope it lives up to the hype once I finally find it!

I don't understand how people can pack for days (or even weeks) before they go on vacation. I try, always do, but it never works. I always have to unpack and repack a hundred times in between because I'm afraid I forgot something. And then there's the problem that I just don't have enough CLOTHES to pack that far in advance. If it were winter and we were going to Florida that wouldn't be much of a problem. But right now I'm WEARING all of my shorts and shirts pretty regularly. Argh. So instead of actually packing, I satisfy my OCD by making lists... crazy, long, detailed pages of lists.
Lists with categories like:
*Clothes for Erin
*Clothes for Tom
*Clothes for Ben
*Toiletries
* Things I Need Access to in the Car
* Things for the Carry-on
* Electronics (as in camera, laptop, cell phones and all necessary accessories)
* Documents (Plane tickets, rental car info, hotel reservation numbers, id, birth certificate for Ben etc.)
* Stuff for the Diaper Bag on the plane
* Extra stuff for the diaper bag on the trip
* Food/Snacks for the Plane
* Food/Snacks for the Trip
* Entertainment Bag for Ben

... you see how this gets out of hand. But somehow, it makes me feel better. I even put little check boxes beside everything and check it off when I pack it. (usually the morning we leave) I heart check boxes.

Then there's the list of things to be done at HOME before we leave... this list is often worse because of my irrational fear of fires, break-ins and coming home to dead cats. We've never had a fire, a break-in OR a dead cat. But, we did have our car stolen once when we were gone on vacation so that just fueled my paranoia.

Am a crazy or do any of you do all this too?

The Sony is still dead. It doesn't look good. So I am writing to you now from my brand spankin' new Apple IBook. I have done a lot of research over the years (this goes back to when I bought my Sony) and really, for what I use a laptop for, (internet, digital video, digital pictures and music) the IBook is a good little machine. They have upgraded the processor since I last shopped for a laptop and didn't raise the price any! We got a good deal too, thanks to my dad's educator discount. So far so good. My only complaints are that my blog looks strange in Safari and, though I have used Macs in the past, both at home and work, I can't get used to the absence of the right mouse button. Click and hold used to serve the same function, but in OS-X, that doesn't seem to be the case, so if anyone can offer me any thoughts on that, I'd be very appreciative. Otherwise, so far so good. It's playing nice with our wireless network, and it boots, which is more than I can say for the Sony. So I'm happy. :) Also, this means I can blog and check email on vacation. Whew.

The IBook gets a thumbs up from Benjamin, who keeps pointing to the apple on the cover and making his apple "crunch" sound. I laughed so hard when I realized that's what he was doing. "Well, I'll be darned, that IS an apple, isn't it?"

Benjamin has just been an all around funny FUNNY little boy today. The highlight of his day was playing the guitar with his Poppy, which I have pictures of, but since I can't seem to figure out how to do the equivalent of "right click" "view properties" or "save as" on this thing, I can't post it at the moment, since it's stuck on Shutterfly.

Oh, I also can't figure out how to maximize my browser window and I'm not a huge fan of this OSX bar at the bottom of the screen, though it IS pretty. And Macs are all about being pretty. ;)

**updated** Here's a pic of the boy and his Poppy. They had so much fun today. Btw, I still haven't figured out how to view properties or save as. I'm posting from Tom's computer.

What a LONG day. Benjamin took his nap too early, which didn't help. GAH. There was much whining and lo, I have a headache.

We're still not sure what the status of the laptop is, since Tom forgot to bring home a Windows XP disk from work. Might be fried, might not. If it's not, I'm certainly not trusting it with any important files anymore.

I went out and bought a 512MB card for my digital camera, which gives me almost 400 pics, so I won't need to worry about dumping off the card on vacation. The only bad part is, it's looking like there won't be any blogging on vacation. Eeps. I'm not sure how I'll do with that! I'm taking a notebook though,(not the computer variety) so I can blog the old-fashioned way. :)

Ben's down for bed now (wahoo!) so off to watch a movie with Tom. Yay for Friday date night! :)

My laptop just misplaced its operating system again, thus proving Benjamin had nothing to do with its disappearance the other day. This time, it lost its operating system WHILE I WAS WORKING ON IT. Yup. Just froze up and then when I restarted, Windows seemed to have *poof* gone away. If this keeps up, I'm going to have to go buy about twelve memory cards for my camera, because I depend on my laptop in Disney World to keep dumping pictures OFF the one I have. Crrrrud. On the other hand, it'd be nice not to have to cart it through security and on and off the plane. I might go nuts without being able to update my blog though...

Speaking of the trip, my 18-year-old brother is house/cat sitting for us while we're gone. THAT should be interesting... will there be a house/cats when we get back? And will there be anything left in the refrigerator? Stay tuned.

And also, what was I thinking when I booked airline tickets for a 7 a.m. flight? That means we'll have to BE at the airport by 5-5:30 at the latest...which means leaving our house at 4:30a.m.!!! Umm... I'm going to have to WAKE BEN UP at some insane hour. Any thoughts on this? (besides agreement that I'm a total idiot to have booked that time in the first place?) **update** Just checked and found the flight is actually at 7:40... tht's a LITTLE better.

Speaking of flying (see this lovely train of thought?), there is a special on the Discovery Channel tonight about 9/11 called "The Flight That Fought Back". Now, normally, I'd be all over a documentary like that. But I'm not sure it's the smartest thing for a recovering fearful flyer to watch nine days before she has to fly. I'm fine with flying now for the most part, but that's the kind of thing that just might send me into a total panic. How about you watch it, I'll TiVO it, and you tell me if it's going to freak me out or not... Kay?

More randomness... I bought these Yankee Candle air freshener refills yesterday for my plugin thingy in the bathrooms. I DON'T recommend the lemon zest. At least not in the bathroom and NOT on full strength. It kept waking me up last night it was so strong... and this morning pre-coffee? Just made me want to hurl. The Clean Cotton is very pleasant and unobtrusive... Lemon Zest? Intrusive all over the place. **update** I can't get away from the smell, even though I unplugged both thingies. I have gagged three times and seriously could throw up right now... do NOT get lemon zest.

Well, I guess I should go check and see if my laptop found Windows XP yet. Do you think this is a sign that the old girl is on her last legs? Because I'd only be partially unhappy about that... she has a certain charm with her missing "P" key... but a nice shiny new Dell or Powerbook would get me over missing her pretty quickly, I'm sure. **update** Now it's no longer "Operating System not Found" it's "Disk Error, press Ctrl-Alt-Delete to restart". Could be terminal... more later.

None of MY children will ever own one of those loud, annoying, ER-visit-waiting-to-happen electric scooters. Why are they even legal?! I'm sure they won't be legal for long... eventually enough kids will slam into cars/trees/asphalt that they'll just go away to that forgotten toy abyss where they keep slap bracelets and the electric Viewmaster projectors that kept catching on fire.

But in the meantime, I can only hope that one of these tweens on scooters doesn't run over my child.

Benjamin still only has a handful of words and he seems to be boycotting several of them, which pretty much just leaves "Daddy", "Oh no!" and "Light". (I swear he almost had a seizure he was so excited when we walked him through the light aisle at Bed Bath and Beyond on Saturday. People were seriously staring...)

But yesterday? He said "Turtle".

"Tuhduh". (while pointing to his turtle bath toy.)

Wahoo! Now you all will need to help me on this one... what does a tuhduh say?

????

... this song.

This was how I found my computer a minute ago, shortly after Ben was playing his alphabet game while I loaded the dishwasher. Okay, so maybe letting him play on the laptop unsupervised wasn't the world's greatest idea...

The good news is that this is not the FIRST time this has happened. Once it deleted itself and once I was going delete-happy and managed to make it disappear. So I know fixing it will be a huge pain, but it's no reason to panic. (I hope)

You know how big I am on baby scientific experiments...

This week's involve music recognition outside of the original context. (sounds good, doesn't it?) Anyway, we've been playing the heck out of the Disney World soundtrack. (The link isn't the right one, but it's similar)He really likes it... it's a top request lately. (you know, the whining, pointing, bringing me the cd case) Very child-friendly music if you are looking for something a little different than that other toddler cd you play the heck out of.

Anyway, Ben's at the point now where he'll hear, for instance, one of his Baby Einstin cd's and look around for a tv. So he recognizes specific music... which is kind of cool, I think. So we're hoping to get a reaction when he hears some of this music in Disney World. I'm especially looking forward to seeing his reaction to the Country Bear Jamboree because there are fiddles in it (which he already knows because he makes his violin sign frantically when it comes on)... if I am guessing correctly, he's going to go NUTS when he sees the bear playing the fiddle to the tune of a song he already knows. It's going to blow his little toddler mind. ;)

Wanna know what my child had for dinner last night? (promise not to call CPS on me?)
Two bites of BBQ Chicken (okay), two bites of watermelon (okay), two bites of mac and cheese and (this is where it goes downhill) a slice of peanut butter pie AND a slice of Jello pie. That kid can put away the PIE!

Hrm...

OH, and a sidenote: Benjamin wore his FuzziBunz over to the labor day gathering at my inlaws' yesterday and I took extras for changes instead of the Pampers. It was fine! And I think my mother-in-law was intrigued by the advances in cloth diapers. She used regular prefolds with covers and pins on all of her kids!

Well, we rented a metal detector and went ring hunting yesterday. The neighbors must have thought we were crazy, but none of them actually asked us WHY we were sweeping our bush/front yard with a metal detector. We didn't find anything, but WOW, there must be a ton of stuff buried under our yard from when the house was built. That thing just beeped and beeped and beeped!

Also this weekend, I hung new blinds in Benjamin's room ... I am woman, hear me roar! :)

We also moved our living room tables to the basement and went and bought a tv, dvd player and some lamps for down there. It's still a hodge podge of furniture until our sectional comes and we find an entertainment center, but it's functional and it's really nice to be able to watch tv down there. Here's a couple pics of the basement's current state...



and one of its previous "storage room" state:


... not the final product, like I said. I realize it still has that bachelor pad feel. ;) At least I was able to get rid of the air hockey table and hide the foosball table in the laundry room. That helped a lot!

What's still to be done? Well, Tom's office will also eventually be down there, but we're still on the hunt for some kind of office furniture for him that will fit in the corner where my old computer is now sitting. (that big old computer hutch will probably find a new home in the laundry room too)

The fishtank will eventually be migrating to another part of the room that is not pictured

We're in the process of purchasing some nice prints and having them framed. I'm hoping to find some interesting Disney ones when we're down there in a couple weeks.

We want to get some shelves to line the wall where Ben's toys are, as well as a small table and chair set for him. All of Benjamin's toys are down there

and the ultimate plan is for it to be "the playroom" (both for the kids and for Tom) so my living room can STOP being "the playroom" and will hopefully stay clean for more than a nanosecond. :)

There's also another piece of furniture I want, a storage bench thingy for a far wall (also not pictured). But it's at Pottery Barn, soooo... it might be years before we ever get that. Tom's still shell shocked about the price of the couch.

We've been busy bees! Today we're headed over Tom's parents' house as soon as the boy wakes up from his beauty sleep. I am contributing peanut butter pie and jello pie, both of which look quite yummy. :)

Click here.

(It was a little easier to find if you clicked that little icon in the bottom right corner that brings the pic up to full resolution) This one:

This is a picture of the area where I lost my wedding ring. (it's a corner next to our house behind some bushes that we umm... kind of neglect) I got a nice case of poison ivy after spending some time back here weeding a few months ago. (okay, so it's not ALWAYS neglected). Tom was back there just yesterday and already has the rash. So we KNOW it's back here... where is it? Almost EVERYTHING growing back there has three leaves. AND we have three different kinds of vines growing up the front porch. Anyone? Anyone?

Benjamin just started singing "I've Got the Joy Joy Joy Down in My Heart". (courtesy of our frequently listened-to Veggie Tales Sunday School Songs cd)

It sounds like "Doh doh doh doh doh" when he sings it (it's the Homer Simpson mix, I guess), but he seems pretty proud of himself, especially once we figured out what he was singing and started singing along. :)

Ben was up early this morning, greeting us with the usual aquarium sounds. (I seriously hum that sad aquarium song in my sleep) So at 6:20 or so, I was making coffee. I was followed only a few minutes later by a groggy Tom who decided to make an omlet. Ben had a scrambled egg and a waffle and is now happily watching his one TiVoed Barney episode. All this and it's only 7:30.

On the agenda today? Not much. We'll probably have our date but we probably won't go far. Who can afford to? I haven't filled up since Wednesday, nor have I really been out much. But a neighbor told me gas around here is about $3.50 right now. I'm sure glad we didn't rush into that new car decision, because right now? I'm grateful we have the two non-gas-guzzlers! (even the crappy VW hunk of tin!)

We'll be spending Ben's nap today looking for my wedding band in the front yard. Yesterday, while I was weeding outside, I picked up a stick on the porch and it was attached to a spiderweb. A freaked out effort to shake it off my hand sent my engagement ring and wedding band flying into the wild green yonder of the bush out front. This bush is notorious for swallowing important things. It took my car key a few months ago and I'm pretty sure there is some mail in there and probably some stuff from the people who owned the house before us.

After experimenting with various trajectory scenarios, Tom was able to find my engagement ring, thankfully. While the wedding band also has sentimental value, I'm somewhat lucky in that it's just a simple gold band that was not at all expensive, didn't have anything special engraved on it (other than "14K") to make it more sentimental and is quite easily replaceable. So if we don't find it, I won't be entirely heartbroken, like I would have been over my engagement ring. I really need to get them both resized. I saw this little episode coming for awhile now because they have fallen off into the diaper bag more than once. I just thought I'd lose them to the drain in the kitchen sink!

Ack. Barney is over and it's only 7:40. Now what?

(because I feel like it's already covered well elsewhere and I really have nothing to add. We all know it's horrible, we've all seen the pictures and read the stories.)

BUT, this was posted on one of my mommy message boards and I thought this might be a relevant way some of us mommy bloggers could help. We're going to put together our box tomorrow and send it off. If you can, I'd encourage you to do so too! :)

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Here's What March of Dimes is Doing and What You Can Do!!


Hello all, thank you for your patience while we help the chapter office assess the situation and need and determine how we can assist.

From what we understand from the staff in Louisiana many babies from New Orleans NICU have been transported to Baton Rouge Women and Children's Hospital. In addition, all women in the area who are 34 weeks pregnant or more have been told to go to the hospitalas shelter, not to a regular shelter. These women likely will stay in the hospital until ddelivery.

You are right about the need for clothing...the need is in the NICU, the PICU, for siblings and for maternity clothes. We are coordinating with our corporate sponsors RIGHT NOW to have clothing sent overnight to our chapter office for distribution to the hospital. We expect to send TODAY hundreds of clothes for babies and moms. We also have a donation, just made from two of our vendors of hundreds of plush toys for siblings.

We are also distributing information for pregnant women in the areas hit with tips on avoiding health tips and recognizing the signs and symptoms of preterm labor.

Of course, your help is needed because you know what will help each family. HERE IS WHAT YOU COULD DO:

Make a basket geared to a family (or a mother and NICU baby) with items that meet a variety of needs: preemie clothes (onesies, hats, socks), hand sanitizer, beauty/bath items for mom, items for siblings (if you want), notebook or journal and pen for parent, bottle of water for parent, etc. Give what you believe would be helpful and package the items together so they can be handed to a mom or dad. Include a note letting them know how much you care!

Send your box to:

Capi Landrineau
Director of Program Services
March of Dimes Lousianna State Chapter
12015 Justice Avenue
Baton Rouge, LA 70816

Baskets like this would be GREAT because they come from you and you know what famileis might need!

Please consider:

Families have little space (most are not in their homes) so send small items you think are important for them to have.

Sending to our chapter office helps us makes sure hosptial families get your pacakges! The hospital might receive many unmarked, unidentifiable boxes whose contents are never delivered to families.

The need may continue for the near future, so we'll definitely keep you posted.

Disasters like this often sadly have long-term implications for mothers and babies. We are already considering projects in the fall to serve families after the emergency response is complete. I'll tell you more about those as they are developed. In addition, the NICU in Baton Rouge may need additional March of Dimes help for some time and we will let you know ways you can support that.

Thank you for being there for these families, for continuing to think of them, and for your support of them.

A quick update from March of Dimes


Just wanted you to know the following:

1) March of Dimes NICU Family Support packages are being sent overnight for NICU families. These will be distributed by our program person in Baton Rouge who will be volunteering in the NICU this weekend.
2) Gymboree is sending hundreds of outfits, preemie through toddler for NICU, PICU, siblings and families being discharged.
3) Motherhood Maternity is doing the same for maternity clothes for pregnant women at the hospital in Baton Rouge and in the shelters. (There are some special shelters for pregnant women and moms with young children, and also some places set aside in the larger shelters.)
4) March of Dimes is getting health messages out to the media and the public for pregnant women and young families.
5) YOU are sending special care packages for NICU families -- remember to send to the chapter office so we can be sure your gifts are delivered to NICU families.

More Notes On Packages:

1) Please keep your packages SMALL and geared to one family at a time at this point. We need to be able to hand the package you send directly to one NICU family, any family, WITHOUT sorting and determining who needs what. THIS WOULD BE MOST HELPFUL.

2) Gymboree is overnighting children's clothes today and preemie/infant clothes tomorrow. PLEASE DO NOT SEND CHILDREN'S CLOTHING TO THE MARCH OF DIMES. Red Cross and other relief agencies are more prepared to receive and distribute clothing, so please if you have clothing to donate, contact the Red Cross. If you want to put small preemie items (hats, socks, onesies) in your baskets that would be fine.

3) Small, useful items for parents and babies in NICU (your ideas for cameras, personal care items, calling cards, etc. are GREAT). Hand sanitizer would be great. PLEASE ONLY NEW ITEMS.

I know you are looking for a way to donate money to the March of Dimes for these efforts. We are looking into this, but because we are not relief agency, we are not set up to collect and disburse funds in this way. We'll let you know if we can set things up for you to target donations.

IF YOU WANT TO DONATE SPECIFICALLY TO RELIEF EFFORTS, we encourage you to give to the American Red Cross or one of the other relief agencies.

I'm shackled to my house this morning for a three-hour furniture "delivery window." (the coffee table/end tables for the living room) You'd think today's technology would have enabled stores to come up with a better alternative for the "delivery window". (which, incidentally, I always seem to be at the very END of) Lame.

I had a rather harrowing day yesterday at the mall involving Benjamin not wanting to ride in the stroller. It wasn't pretty, and now I'm starting to be a tad concerned how he is going to handle the stroller in Disney World. He wouldn't even let me carry him-- wriggling, twisting and squirming to escape so he could get down on the floor to run. Yesterday, I learned that my child apparently does not think I am the boss of him. That, my friends, is going to change. I already can't go in Toys R Us without him throwing a tantrum because he can't run around. I'm not going to be kept away from the mall too!

He was listening to the Disney soundtrack again (his new favorite)... just laid there right in front of the stereo with froggy. I thought it was the cutest thing... he likes this better than Sesame Street these days, and that's saying a lot!