Insanity's Oasis

We have gone the medicinal route

Trisha — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:01:56 +0000

I don’t know if I’ve talked on here before about Zach’s problem with wetting the bed. It’s a fairly common problem in boys, although most outgrow it by the age of 6. Zach (and Ryan, of course. But he’s been day and night trained since the moment they potty trained almost 4 years ago) will be 8 in April and he still wets the bed. It isn’t an occasional thing, it’s a nightly occurrence. We’ve tried everything short of those bedwetting alarms that look like this (from the bedwettingstore.com):

We didn’t go with that option specifically because of Brian’s work schedule. They are loud and obnoxious and aren’t really conducive to a 2 a.m. wake-up call for him.

So, after trying a myriad of other option, yesterday we started medication. It is supposed to basically stop his body from peeing. It didn’t work last night, but poor Zach had a problem swallowing the pill. Hopefully it’ll be better for him tonight, now that he *sort of* knows what to do (the pill is tiny. smaller than a skittle, even). We are hoping this works for him. We’re giving it two weeks and if it isn’t working, we’ll be increasing his dosage. If that doesn’t work, well, I don’t know what’s left to try. I guess we just hope that he outgrows it sooner rather than later.

Thank you, Veterans!

Trisha — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 14:49:47 +0000

On this Veteran’s Day, I wanted to stop and take the time to say Thank You to all of you who have served this great country. Thank you is not enough, I know, but it is all I have to offer you. So, thank you. Thank you.

November is Prematurity Awareness month

Trisha — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:33:14 +0000

As you can see from my blog design, it’s Prematurity Awareness month again. It started last weekend, obviously, but I’ve had so much going on that I haven’t had a chance to post anything about it. I also made a new banner for the occasion. The small inset banner in the middle is supposed to be animated, but I’m having trouble inserting it into my banner and getting it to actually animate. I’ll keep working on that to see if I can figure it out. If not, it still looks ok. I’ll try and start posting info again, like I do ever year. I can’t guarantee I’ll do it every day this year, but I’ll try to get something up a couple of times a week at least.

I ran across the pictures of the twins right after they were born and will hopefully get those scanned and posted, as well.

So, there. Not much time to post today (at least not right now), but I wanted to “kick off” Prematurity Awareness month on my blog, even if it is a week late!

Happy weekend!

Trick-or-Treat!

Trisha — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 00:25:24 +0000

Thought I’d post out Halloween trick-or-treating pics for everyone. We went with some friends from church (who also have 3 boys) and had a blast!

First things first:

Here’s a pumpkin patch the boys made, which I thought was very cute.

Here’s our jack-o-lantern. He’s patterned after Jack the pumpkin king from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

And now for the trick-or-treat pictures:

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

Trisha — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 02:59:58 +0000

Halloween marks the start of our busy season around here. After Halloween, we prepare for Thanksgiving and Brian’s birthday. Fortunately, this year they aren’t the same day! 15 days later is Alex’s birthday. His Godfather will be in town that weekend to celebrate his birthday and Christmas with the boys, which means that sometime before then we need to put our tree up. We’re looking into buying a new tree. Ours is 6 years old this year and when I put it together last year, a couple of the branches fell off. I took that as a sign that it’s time for a new one. So, we’re pricing.

Speaking of pricing Christmas trees, we went to WalMart on Saturday after taking the boys to see High School Musical 3 (good movie!). We parked and walked in through the garden center and what were we greeted with? Christmas decorations! I was not prepared for that AT ALL! It isn’t even Halloween yet, for crying out loud! I am the person who is adamant about not putting up any Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving. I just can’t be in the mood before then, even if there is snow on the ground. I have to take the holidays one at a time. It’s just the way I’m wired, I guess. Besides, it’s more fun to make a mad dash for the finish line than to start 2 months early.

Anyway, 15 days after Alex’s birthday is Christmas. Then we’re leaving to head to Erie for Jen and Matt’s wedding on New Years Eve. We’ve decided from there to go back to Indiana for a couple of days so that I can see my niece for the first time. I am super excited about that! She’ll be 3 months old then, but at least I don’t have to wait until April! Then it’s my birthday, which I am NOT looking forward to this year, and my sil’s birthday. Fortunately, after that, we have nothing until April when we have sil’s wedding, our anniversary and the twins’ birthday.

In all fairness, this is my favorite time of year. I love fall (though we haven’t had much of a fall this year) and Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s such a joyous time of year. I love cooking a big dinner and celebrating with family and friends. I don’t even mind that it’s just the 5 of us. It’s a compete contrast to the frenzied Thanksgiving and Christmas days I had as a kid, hoping from one grandparent to the next, eating dinner at one and dessert at the other. It’s nice to just be able to relax and take it all in.

And speaking of relaxing, I think I’m going to do that for what’s left of the Colts game. After doing 2 blog posts for my class blog, dishes, and 3 or 4 loads of laundry, I think I’ll chill for the rest of the game and then head to bed. Night!

The “s” word

Trisha — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 13:47:04 +0000

Oh, no! We are barely halfway through October and I’ve seen the first *ahem* snow of the season. I was so totally not prepared for that. I knew there was snow last night in the higher elevations around here, but that’s different. It wasn’t here. It was there. There is not here. Well, it is now! We saw snow on the way home from dropping the van off at the shop. Oh, my. DH is happy about it, of course. He just shared with me that the average first snowfall in Rochester is Oct. 24th, so I guess it’s time. Bbbbrrrrrrr. I just want spring/summer/fall back!

Been a long while

Trisha — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:28:51 +0000

Once again, it’s been far too long since I have blogged. I find it much harder to even be in the mood to blog now-a-days. It isn’t that I don’t want to, I’m just not motivated enough to think of something to blog about, lol. Not to mention that for the last two weeks, I’ve been studying for midterms. I did very well on my midterms. I have two A’s, a B and a C.

Life has been crazy around here lately. I’ve found balancing it all a very hard thing to do. I think I’ve just finally figured out how. At least most day. School is getting a bit easier and work, well, it’s work. I love working in a cafe. Reminds me of college (the first time around, lol). The extra income is very helpful, too. We’ve managed to pay off quite a bit of debt and should be pretty well set for Christmas and the start of the new year. I’m looking forward to having two and a half months off, too

We’re getting into the busy part of the year. Halloween then Thanksgiving, two birthdays, Christmas, Matt & Jennifer’s wedding, then my birthday (see my previous post for my thoughts on that) then it’s back to school and everything the spring semester brings.

We bought Halloween costumes for the boys over the weekend. Zach wanted to be Indiana Jones, but since we found no Indy costumes (which surprised me), he settled for Anakin Skywalker. Ryan decided on a skeleton. Alex wanted to be Frankenstein’s monster, but we couldn’t find anything at Target so he originally settled on being Tony Stewart. However, when we went to WalMart, they had a Frankenstein costume, so that’s what he’s going to be. It will be the first year without at least one homemade costume. But, I suppose that’s ok. Maybe next year

I have a few new pics to share, too. Here goes

First day of school for the twins:

First day of kindy for Alex:

Alex’s first bus ride:

My beautiful new niece, who is a month old now!

Alex’s first lost tooth:

Other random kidness:

Ryan playing checkers with his friend:

Ryan’s monarch butterfly painting at school:

So, if I don’t blog for the rest of the week (or month!), have a great week (or rest of October!).

I was tagged!

Trisha — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:57:10 +0000

Sadly, this came in a while ago. I just have been so busy with school and work I haven’t had a chance to participate yet! I was tagged by Multitasking Mama to list 6 random things about me that you all may not know. So, here goes!

1. I have a fear of public restrooms. I’ll use them if I have to, I just don’t like to. They completely gross me out.
2. I am not a very good housekeeper. The house isn’t dirty, per se, it just is a bit cluttered. I guess that could be attributed to the lack of storage space, but I’ll take responsibility for it.
3. I love books. Ok, probably not that random, but I really do. I just love the look and feel of them. Even if I don’t read them. Although, I’m an avid reader, too.
4. I am dreading turning 29 in January. It’s far too close to 30, and that scares me to death!
5. I am not an organized person by nature. It drives dh CRAZY because he is organized by nature. I try, and may stay organized for a couple of weeks, but I can’t make it stick for good. I’m trying, though.
6. I love to cook and bake. I am much more likely to bake a treat or birthday cake, for the kids or anyone, than I am to buy it.

Here are the people I’m tagging. I’m supposed to tag 6 people, but sadly, I don’t have that many people in my blog arsenal…So, I did 2 instead : Heather and LeeAndra.

Great plant fertilizer

Trisha — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 14:03:40 +0000

I work at Borders Books in the cafe. One of the things we do in the cafe is save our coffee grounds. Sounds weird, right? I know. I thought so, too. Every 90 minutes when we brew a new pot of coffee, we dump the grounds into an empty coffee bean bag (a big one, too) that we save when when we’ve used all the beans. Once the bag is full, which only takes about 3 days, we seal it up and put a sticker on it and set it out for our customers to take home free. I asked about this when I first started working there. I was curious as to what it was all about. Apparently coffee grounds are great fertilizer for your garden. They have a low acidity, but still retain their nutrients. You can also use them in your compost pile, though I’m sure those of you who have one already know that.

I’ve decided to start saving my coffee grounds to do this for my plants at home. Since I brew coffee every day and only have a few plants, I shouldn’t need too much to fertilize all of my plants.

Just wanted to pass along this green tip for all of you plant lovers. If you don’t drink coffee, but have a Borders around with a cafe (maybe Starbucks does this, too, since the cafe is technically Starbucks), go pick up some free coffee grounds for your gardens

No more babies

Trisha — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 20:16:05 +0000

I suppose it is official today, if it wasn’t already official on his first day of school. Alex is no longer a baby. Not that he’s been a baby for a couple of years, anyway. There was something oddly final about his first day of school, and today’s event solidified that for me. He lost his first tooth today. There isn’t anything special about a kid loosing their first tooth, per say. It’s a rite of passage for kids, I suppose. I just didn’t think he’d lose it so soon. But true to form, he’s ahead of schedule. Ryan and Zach lost their first teeth at about 6 1/2, roughly a year ago. They were sharks for awhile, having their adult bottom teeth long before they lost their baby teeth. And while Alex’s adult tooth has just barely broken the skin, it isn’t fully erupted yet. I really didn’t expect him to lose his first tooth until after he turned 6, like his brothers. But I should have expected it, since he’s always been ahead of his brothers in most everything developmentally.

So tonight we will have another visit from tooth fairy. Good thing the tooth fairy is a working woman