Baking Gals

A few months ago, I heard about this group, Baking Gals. They bake and ship home made goodies to troops stationed overseas. I joined the group, created a team and was assigned somebody stationed in Afghanistan. I also found out from his wife that his birthday was around the time our team was supposed to ship him goodies. Even better!

I got some friends involved; some other people joined my team online. We baked stuff, I bought some Halloween goodies, and we shipped the boxes off.

I wanted to share the first email I got from his wife:

"My husband got your wonderful package from you and your baking team... he wanted me to send along his thank you and I wanted to tell you his response.  He loved the cookies and said they were absolutely delicious.  Apparently, he gave a couple out to his friends and after they tasted them, word got out about how good they were and the cookies were swarmed.  He told me everybody loved the "professional cookies" and I said "the cookies were professional?"  He said that they tasted so good that they had to be "professional cookies."  I'm pretty sure he meant made by professionals, but, regardless, he raved about the taste.  In particular, he said the oatmeal ones tasted like they just came out of the oven because they were so soft. 

Thank you, and your baking friends, for your support and making my husband and his battle buddies smile."

 

I also got a second email from her:

"I sent my email yesterday too quick... I heard from my hubby early this morning that he received more goodies!  Thank you again; you guys are awesome."

 

And another one:

"I thought you and your team members would like to see a picture of the company.  It is about 170 soldiers and whenever he gets a package, he shares with the guys he is in charge of, which is about 30 guys.  So your goodies are going to 30 of those guys!"

 

Here's the photo she sent and I thought I'd share with the rest of the team:

 

It feels good to know that we were able to send a small slice of home to these guys! Thanks to everyone who joined my team and participated! We'll do this again. It was truly gratifying to do something for somebody who's doing so much for his country, far from his loved ones.

Food withdrawals?

Since I started WeightWatchers, I've gotten headaches every single day. I think they are withdrawal headaches. Withdrawal from food. Now that I am counting everything I eat, I realize how much I had started snacking at work. I don't think I went a half hour before looking for something to chow down on. Chips and salsa, cookies, 100 calorie bag of something, another 100 calorie bag of something else ... BTW, when you eat 6 of those in one time, they aren't so healthy anymore. Just sayin'.

So, I am going through a detox from food. They should have rehab facilities for this. I am sure they do. I am not rich or famous enough to check myself into one of those. So, I'll stick with my weekly meetings and keep on truckin' towards my goal of getting back to pre-pregnancy poundage. I have a closet and a 20 gallon bin full of clothes waiting for me to lovingly take them out and proudly wear them.

I'll think of them the next time a slice of baklava beckons to me or that tiramisu calls my name.

Actually, I might listen to them and eat them. I'll just have to cut out something else that day. That's the beauty of WW - no deprivation, no dieting. It's just a balanced intake of calories, carbs, proteins, fiber and fat. Last time I lost and maintained weight was when I was counting calories. I just needed a kick in the butt again and the whole getting weighed in a room full of people weekly is a pretty big motivator for me right now.

wish me luck.

and, send me painkillers for this headache.

11 months ... how can it be?

I am late but Oli turned 11 months old on the 7th. I cannot believe it. Here's a song form my shower that goes perfectly with how I feel today:

Watching Scotty Grow (don't know who sang the version I have)

There he sits with a pen and a yellow pad
He's a handsome lad
That's my boy

B-R-L-F-Q spells Mom and Dad
That ain't too bad
That's my boy

You can have your TV and your nightclubs
You can have your drive-in picture shows
I'll sit here with my little man near, we'll listen to the radio
Bidin' my time and and watching Scotty grow

Makin' castles out of building blocks
And a cardboard box
That's my boy

Mickey Mouse says it's thirteen o'clock
Well, that's quite a shock
But that's my boy

In four short years I've gone from rags to riches
But what I did before that I don't know
Well you can let it rain on my windowpane, I got my own rainbow
And we're just sittin' here shinin' watching Scotty grow

Up on daddy's shoulders and off to bed
Old sleepy head
That's my boy

Got to have a drink of water and a story read
An old teddy bear named Fred
That's my boy

Well, what's that your say Momma, come on and keep your feet warm
Well save me a place, I'll be there in a minute or so
I'll think I'll stay right here and say a little prayer before I go
'Cause me and God are watching Scotty grow
Me and God watching are Scotty grow

 

He's doing so many new things and growing so much, physically and personality-wise too. I'll focus on one thing. Him with Smokey. He has learned which toys are Smokey's and when he wants to play with the dog, he holds up his toy and waits for him to come to him. For example, the rope. He holds it up to Smokey's face and then waves it around for him to grab and play tug of war. Smokey will grab it and pull gently, but it still ends up with Oliver on the floor on his belly. Oli just laughs and laughs when that happens. And Smokey is so good with him. We obviously watch them very closely when they play together, but Smokey will grab the rope and pull hard and growl when playing with Jeff or me or another adult. however, when playing with Oli, he is so gentle. No bared teeth, not a growl, just a gentle pull. And Oliver is so pleased with himself, you can see it in his face.

My little one is growing so fast I am afraid to blink an eye. Every time I turn around, he's doing something new. 

Dear Oli, 

 

Keep on growing and keep on laughing and know that when mommy starts crying without any obvious reason, it's because she loves you and knows that someday you'll grow up too big to fit in her lap or on daddy's shoulder and you won't need to hold our hands to walk and it makes me cry now even thinking about that. But, I am also proud of you and love you and will always let you sit in my lap, no matter how big you get. not sure about daddy's shoulders though ;-) And, you can always hold my hand or come to my embrace when you need it.

Daddy and I love watching you grow, booboo.

Love, your mummy and papa.

Things we've handed down

A song from my baby shower CD that's making me cry as I listen to it:

Things We've Handed Down - Marc Cohn

Don't know much about you
Don't know who you are
We've been doin' fine without
But we could only go so far
Don't know why you chose us
Were you watching from above
Is there someone there that knows us
Said we'd give you all our love.

Will you laugh just like your mother
Will you sigh like your old man
Will some things skip a generation
Like I've heard they often can.

Are you a poet or a dancer
A devil or a clown
Or a strange new combination of
The things we've handed down.

I wonder who you'll look like
Will your hair fall down and curl
Will you be a Mama's boy
Or Daddy's little girl
Will you be a sad reminder
Of what's been lost along the way
Maybe you can help me find her
In the things you do and say

And these things that we have given you
They are not so easily found
Oh, but you can thank us later for
The things we've handed down
The things we've handed down
down,down,down,down,down

You may not always be so grateful
For the way that you were made
Maybe some feature of your father's
That you'd gladly sell or trade
And one day you may look at us
And say that you were cursed
But over time that line has been
Extremely well rehearsed.

By our fathers and their fathers
In some old and distant town
From places no one here remembers
come

The things we've handed down
The things we've handed down, down
The things we've handed down

 Last night, Jeff and I were watching our taped Dancing With The Stars show from Monday night, and I picked up Oli and started doing the jive while holding him. He chuckled, he giggled, he laughed out loud while holding on to me hard. I told Jeff I hope he gets my love for music and dance and my mom's talent for learning dance. I don't him to ever be self conscious of himself and I want him to know how to dance. And, it got me thinking. When I was pregnant, we would wonder who he'd look like. We analyzed the ultrasound photos; family proclaimed his mouth looked exactly like Jeff's.

Now that he's here, every expression he makes, every feature he has, we try to figure out who he got it from. Sometimes it's me or Jeff, sometimes it's a grandparent, maybe even an aunt. He has this habit of putting his index finger right on the tip of his lips as he looks at something new or is thinking, that's exactly like what my sister does. When he's frustrated, he gets a slight vein showing down the middle of the forehead. I have that too. His hair curls all over the place, like mine and Jeff's did. When he's sleeping, he tucks his lower lip under his upper lip and sometimes grinds his teeth. totally Jeff!


I hope he gets the love of history from his dad, the love of science from his aunts, grandma and grandfathers, the love of dance & music from his other grandma ... I hope he doesn't get my short temper, his dad's resistance to change and other things I won't mention here for fear of offending other family members ;-). I hope he retains the playfulness he has now and never loses the ability to laugh.

I also know at some point in his life, he'll tell us he wishes he was adopted and then some 5-10 years later, he'll tell us how much he's grateful for everything we've done for him (I am just basing this on our own experiences). However he's feeling at whatever time, I hope that his dad and I and the rest of his family instills in him all the things needed to be happy, content and successful in his life. So that in the end, he's glad for the "things we've handed down" to him.

The first sickness

Sunday, our little bugaboo woke up feeling warm to me, so I took his temperature and it was a 100. I gave him some Tylenol, and kept him quiet. I called the after hours nurse at his pediatrician's office and was told to not give any more medicine unless the temperature went past 102. Ok.


Kept checking his temp, our Braun in-ear thermometer gave us widely fluctuating readings. Around noon, it started reading 101.3 and I thought he was burning up worse than that. So, we took him to Convenient Care. His temperature was 103. When the nurse said that, I started crying in the room. I felt horrible. He was being so good and I couldn't even imagine how uncomfortable he had to be. I know I am pretty pissy at that high of a fever.


Then, they did his check-up and found a right ear infection and his strep test came back positive. The poor guy! They gave him a dose of Tylenol right there and gave us Amoxicillin. He pretty much spent all Sunday like that photo on the left, either on me, on the couch or in his crib. Thankfully, he slept very well that night an was feeling a 1000 times better by Monday.


As you can see, he had to have the iPad and the remote control in his hands, so he was picking up the Cheerios with his mouth.

We did a follow up at his pediatrician's office and his fever was already gone.

Well, he's been in daycare for 8 some months, so our little buckaroo had a good run. But, just like last year, I hope if he has to bring home germs, he just passes them on to me and not keep them for himself. Seeing your little baby helpless and crying and confused was possibly the worst thing ever in my life.