Balloon Baby!

Tonight we went to a little surprise party at our neighbors two doors down.

Vake was operating without a nap- he naps fine at the Mullens but the big boy bed is a tougher transition than you might guess. He sleeps fine in there at night. Literally NO problems- not a one. But, we've only had the opportunity to try naps in there twice because of the schedule with us/Mullens and today went as badly as every other day has gone.

Despite the lack of sleep, my little angel was a trooper at the party- but he saw the balloon bouquet at the beginning and was DYING to have one. He made it until the end of the party but then literally could not bear to part with it once we got home.

My sweet angel all ready for bed. And in fact in bed. With the balloon.

Little boy hands are getting so big now.

Our Friend J

We had a visit from our friend, Little J, today. He came over with his mom and we had a great time.

James is about 9 months younger than Vake- and you could see the twin urges competing inside of Vake- he knows enough to know that it can be really fun to play with other children but Vake is still not awesome at sharing, especially when the would-be sharee is not as assertive as Vake.

In other fun news, looks as though we may have found some paint colors to repaint Mom's upstairs!

Yay!

And like that, my baby was gone.

Today was the swan song of the crib. I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I am a little sad- it is one of those things that I didn't plan for and I am a little more wistful than I realized I would be.

Vake's been staging attempted escapes from his crib for about 10 days now- in the middle of the night, first thing in the mornings- and while I am sure he would be fine if he crawled out of the crib, it's been making me a little nervous.

I talked to Andrea and other parents that I knew, and the advice was basically to wait as long as I could to do the transition to the big boy bed and to be prepared if the transition was an early one for there to be some missed naps.

So today was the day!

The bed that was in his room is the bed we're going to use for at least awhile- I got it at a thrift store the summer that I took the bar exam and painted it white. It didn't have any slats and I had sawed 2x4s to rest the boxsprings and mattress on which Eric didn't really like, so he cut a piece of plywood.

We moved out the crib, then ran to BabiesRUs and got bedrails.

Vake seemed pretty excited about the project.

Obviously, the whole room was in disarray for most of the morning.

The armchair moved into the corner under the big light fixture and the bookshelf came out of the corner and under the window.

A bunch of toys walked upstairs from the living room, which means that the living room is starting to look less like a daycare center- always welcome news!

And the kitchen and the shopping cart are up in the kitchen now. I took down the animal mobile (tear!) and tried to hang it above Vake's bed. Fail. He was pulling on it in three seconds.

Picture this WITHOUT a mobile.

So there was so much excitement that V was a nap refusnik and I was really anxious about what would happen at bedtime- but he was exhausted.

And here's my little boy asleep in his big boy bed.

We love Abby-pony

Wowzers, it is cold here right now- we are just thanking our lucky stars that we are not in Dartmouth, where Brook says it is less that zero right now.

By popular demand, here are some pics of our beloved Abby-pony.

We talk about her all the time- and we even include her in our prayers.

Here she is accepting treats from the boys.

And here she is coming out of her stall. Vake is a big fan of riding Abbypony.
So is the Huffman.

In fact, Vake is still trying to cope with Huff getting turns!

Capital Diaper Bank

In my line of work, particularly in J and DR court, I am surrounded by sad, extreme poverty every day.

I am really proud that my friend, Andrea, is working to solve a problem faced by a lot of low-income families: not enough diapers. It's not something that's at the forefront of awareness in the community.

Here's more about it from Andrea:

I am sure by now most of you have heard me go on and on about the Diaper Bank we have been trying to establish in Richmond. The need is so immense and yet amazingly hidden! Unreal that neither food stamps, WIC, Medicaid or most diaper manufacturers can help you get free or discounted diapers if you are in need and living below the poverty line! We have all, I am sure, had some encounter with the scare of staph infections, and yet imagine how fast they can happen on a raw baby's bottom which has been living in the same diaper for a weekend or longer?!


There is good news!! Richmond now has its very own, established 501(c)3 diaper bank: Capital Diaper Bank! And we were very generously given a portion of the largesse of a nationwide Huggies diaper drive in December (their first ever!), so our bank now has over 200,000 diapers! Hilldrup Storage is an incredible partners of ours, donating free container truck space, helping us with inventory, forklifting and picking up at diaper drives for us.


Momentum is gaining as Owens&Minor is funding a PSA on our behalf during February on Channel 6. However, we still have zero dollars and no online presence as we have been busy managing all of the start-up issues and finding diapers and recruiting member agencies. We would love to have a logo and website up and running by Feb 1, even if only a very rudimentary one, so that the PSA can direct people to a site to donate or help.


I am asking everyone I can think of if they know of anyone who might be able to assist? We are thinking of using Community Spice and designing our own, very basic website as time is of the essence, but a workable logo is key too. If you had any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.


If anyone is interested in learning more about Capital Diaper Bank, I would love to introduce you to Capital Childcare and the diaper bank as I think it is one of the most extraordinary initiatives I have yet been involved with and I think you would be very excited about what is happening.


As a shameless fundraiser, if anyone has extra Christmas cash lying around, please don't hesitate to think of us and the poor at-risk children we serve! :)


Many many thanks for listening to my soapbox spiel and any ideas you can share with me.

If you've got ideas, email me at amonroe@hotmail.com or leave a comment.

GO ANDREA!!!!

Busy busy bee!

I've been crazy- what with the four day weekend (go state employment) and the people in Richmond killing each other (2 murders for me! Yip!) I've been slammed.

This weekend should start to calm down and we will get some pics of the star of this show back up.

Guess Who

almost climbed out of his crib tonight.

That's right.

My baby's gone.

Things I Learned From Traveling

The conference was really really good. I gained access to so much information about providing immigrants with the necessary information as articulated by the Supreme Court in its Padilla decision.

Also learned that I really hate to travel with Vake and Eric at home. So, the fact that I elected to do a job in which I am basically required never to leave town is a good idea.

And again, we proved that Eric, who was totally unflappable while at home by himself, is the more patience of the two of us (drat! I was hoping he'd come away from the experience with a new appreciation of how difficult my job is when he travels, but he was totally unfazed).

Abby

Momma and Godmother Andrea grew up riding horses together.

They've been keeping their eyes open for a "starter pony" for Vake and Andrea's kids to use.

Finally, over the holidays, they stole a little girl's pony purchased a pony from a little girl who had outgrown it and was trading up.

In case you're wondering (as I was), ponies are surprisingly cheap - cheaper than hamburger ... (I'm just sayin')

Anyway, Vake loves to brush and ride Abby.

Unfortunately, with Momma out of town, I can't find the Abby pictures, other than this one from my Blackberry, but I'm sure there are many more to come.

Hi Mom!

One of Vake's favorite books right now is a Curious George book that shows pictures of various emotions that George has & asks if the reader has ever felt the same way.

One of the pages asks "Have you ever felt happy, or scared, or proud?" The "proud" picture shows George admiring himself in the mirror wearing a medal.

Yesterday our little monkey came home with a medal from the Little Gym.

He wore his medal for the rest of the day.

Cue the Cheesy Music

...leaving on a jet plane. don't know when I'll be back again. Oh babe I hate to go.

I am going to a conference in Albuquerque this week- leaving today back on Wednesday. In terms of overall career/professional development, it is a great opportunity and I got the organizers to give me a scholarship, so it isn't an expensive venture, either. I actually think it will be a good learning experience that will make me unique in our office in terms of body of knowledge. (Not to get too technical but the conference is about the implications of guilty pleas for illegal immigrants in the context of deportation).

I am leaving the great Erico in charge. I suggested that I could put Vake's outfits in marked Ziploc bags and that was not well received. I am hoping that he will post daily pics- Taren thank GOD is at our house this week which makes life a lot easier for the parent left at home.

Night night!

Taken immediately after my little pumpkin somersaulted into bed.

Ouch!

Vake took a header on the pavement today- OUCH!!! According to Taren, he was easily consoled. He looks like he has just finished 10 rounds in a prizefight.

Fun Weekend

we had a really busy weekend- Eric took some time off of work, thank goodness. On thursday, we all drove down with baby Huff to my friend's parents' farm to check out the tractors. As you can see, a great time was had by all, especially the boys who loved "driving" the tractor.


On Friday night, we had dinner with a bunch of friends for New Years- so fun- I didn't have a camera but will pull some pics from FB- Erico made delicious mexican pork and then the NewYorican red beans and rice and it was SO delicious.

We didn't do very much on Saturday, and I have to say I am glad we rested up because today we had TWO birthday parties for Vake's friends- TWO!!! He loved them.

Of course, the rain was just coming down when we went out- but what a great opportunity to test out the new raincoat....fun fun fun!!!

Happy New Year!

Not a very creative post title- but what can you do?

Three New Year's Resolutions

1. Lose 19 more pounds
2. Work on flashcards with Vake so he has a sight word vocabulary
3. Floss my teeth twice a day

Let's see how many of these are achievable!!!!