My Kitchen Bible...

...otherwise known as my handwritten book FULL of every recipe you've ever seen here on the blog, PLUS a few I haven't shared yet, has recently had an overhaul.
My mother's friend Pat was the giver of the first 'journal' that turned into my kitchen bible.
(henceforth known as KB)
She heard that it was full & bought me a newer, BIGGER one,
which I LOVE,
but figured it made more sense to put ALL recipes into ONE location,
rather than several.

SO, I've started the slow process of hand writing all those recipe's into the new book.

Once that is done, my old KB will be of no use to me & will need to find a new home.
I wouldn't just give it to anyone & my family knows how to get my recipes if they want them, they just ask, SO...

...how would you all feel about having a raffle of sorts & the winner gets my KB with all it's recipes & DELICIOUSNESS within it's pages?
Say, a dollar a chance?
I figure, whatever money is collected will go towards a new inexpensive digital camera to replace my beloved Nikon one that recently died on me.

I'd pay for shipping to ship it to whoever is the winner & I guess maybe pay pal would be the best way to buy a chance? What do you guys think?
I thought about just letting it sit around the house but it seems like such a waste, especially with all the fantastic goodness that's inside it, seems a shame not to find it a proper new home with one of you.
Someone who not only reads & loves our blog,
but someone who also LOVES when I do TUESDAYS WITH UNCLE STEVE & enjoys the recipes each time.

Feedback welcome, a buck a chance is pretty cheap I think & certainly even if every one of my readers went in for a chance, I could buy a cheap doable camera & someone comes out the new KITCHEN MASTER with all my Italian knowledge packed neatly (sometimes not so neatly) into that sweet little green journal.

What say everyone?

"Sometimes...

...my pee pee is VEWY dwippery. *giggles* Momma, I say DWIPPERY! " -Ruby Cate

[as told to me this morning in our little bathroom while, as usual, we did our morning duties together side by side & upon time to wipe, (Ruby stands for this part) she noticed a little 'drop' on her foot...]

Seriously, sometimes the best smiles are those early morning ones in our bathroom.
Who'd of ever thunk it...?

*HUGE SMILE*

Mondays With Dr.K...

...ok, so I wasn't going to blog too much about this just yet,
however,
after sharing this story with a friend tonight she insisted I type it out for accuracy so that I don't lose any bits and/or pieces of what went down.

Long & short of it is what most of you may not know is,
I'm having gastric bypass surgery this year.
Sooner rather than later.
Sooner as in within the next few months.
Anyways, that having been said,
part of the process is a mandatory group meeting with others who intend on having either the bypass or the lap band surgery with our clinical psychologist.
Henceforth known as: Dr.Krazee.
-or Dr.K for short.
(you'll see why before this story is through...)

So, I go to the class,
there was about 18 of us there,
all very wonderful & friendly people.
All, except Dr.K.

Oh, he's friendly alright, in the way you are required to be when working with the public.
Forced smiles, odd moments of silence while still smiling that plastic smile...
I digress.

So, picture if you will, a tall skinny man who,
if he's not careful,
could find himself slathered in barbecue sauce & cooked to a nice golden brown.
After all, he IS working with people with a clear food addiction, yes?
Yes.
So, we get in, we all take turns introducing ourselves, all was going along swimmingly,
until...






...the RAISIN.


So, he says to us all,
(and remember this is the first of 4 meetings we're all required to participate in prior to surgery)
"so this is the first & only time I'll be bringing 'food' to a meeting but I really feel it's an important part of this process..."

So what is the mind of a food addict immediately conjuring up?
POPCORN!
NICE!
Maybe some SMARTFOOD? Ooooh oooh, I know!
Maybe it's a nice movie theater butter... right?
Wrong.

















A.
RAISIN.
















ONE.
RAISIN.
EACH.






-no joke-





He carefully doles out one raisin to each of us & says, in his ever so 'frighteningly mental patient'ish monotone voice':
"I want you to hold the raisin in your hand, but don't eat it.
Just hold it.

Me thinks: 'Ok dude, I'm holdin' a raisin... next?'

Dr.K: "What do you see?"

Me thinks: 'seriously? did you not just see yourself GIVE us all RAISINS? It sure as hell ain't no chocolate chip!'

Dr.K: "How does it feel?
Is it small?
Is it soft?
Is it hard?
Is it round or wrinkled?
Does it have an odor?
Take your time & truly focus & tell me the first thing you notice about this raisin."

Me thinks: 'Uh, mine's lonely, he needs a friend.'

Dr.K: "Take your time, really focus..."

Me thinks: 'first of all, my eyes hurt now & they're starting to cross.
second of all, now's as good a time as any to see if I can stare at this raisin long enough to turn it into some popcorn?! Awww CRAP! Now I'm hungry! DAMNIT!'

Dr.K: (after everyone has gone cross eyed staring at this thing) "Good, now, I want you to, not eat the raisin quite yet, but bring it up to your nose & smell it, does it have an odor? And if so, is it a pleasant one?"

Me thinks: 'um, didn't you just ask us that already?, oh wait, I know, IT SMELLS LIKE A LONELY RAISIN THAT WANTS TO TURN INTO SOME POPCORN & PERHAPS THE LATEST EPISODE OF OCTOBER ROAD!'

Dr.K: "Good, now, what I want you to do, and without eating it again, just, gently hold the raisin & rub it along your lips, feel how it feels. Is it soft? Is it firm? Is it wrinkled? Is it squishy? Does it feel nice or is it rough against your lips?"

Me thinks: 'first of all, dude, you don't have to keep telling us NOT to eat the raisin. I'm pretty sure, and trust me on this, I kinda have a little experience in this area,
that none of us got here by gobbling down that ONE RAISIN. We're champion eaters, the best at our game. Nobody here is a flight risk for raisin consumption. Now, had you given us each a piece of chocolate cake? TOTALLY DIFFERENT STORY! But the raisin? You're safe.
And, while we're at it, seriously, am I at the wrong meeting or something? This isn't fettish phone sex group is it? Cuz this is so startin' to go down a dark path that, unless dessert's provided, I'm pretty sure I should've taken that left at Albuquerque.'

Dr.K: "Now, what I'd like you to do is put the raisin in your mouth but don't eat it or chew it just yet. If you would, just suck on it gently & tell me, how does that feel? Roll it around in your mouth. Explore it with your tongue. Does it have a taste? Is it soft or hard? Is it growing back to life in your mouth? etc etc...

Me thinks: '(ok SO biting my cheeks here to keep composure because I KNOW if I don't do this, I'm going to BUST OUT LAUGHING SO HARD THAT I MAY EITHER PASS GAS OR LITERALLY DIE LAUGHING) did he seriously just say, 'IS IT GROWING BACK TO LIFE IN YOUR MOUTH?! IS THIS GUY SERIOUS OR WHAT? And shit, I knew it, now he's looking at me again... he probably thinks I'm eating my f'n raisin instead of chewing on my cheeks for dear life! Oh suuuuuure, Fat girl's eating her raisin, right? NOT! UGH!'

Dr.K: (now fiercely staring at me with his crazy blue mental patient eyes) "Now I want you to gently chew it, not too fast, take your time, how does it taste? Is it sweet? Do you find that you enjoy it more because of the anticipation of actually getting to chew it?" etc...

Me thinks: 'I think that if you make one more subconscious sexual reference about a f'n raisin I may lose my mind & get kicked out of these sessions! Dude, IT'S A RAISIN!'

Dr.K: "I want everyone to focus on eating mindfully, not mindLESSly, ok? We should all be really taking the time to thoroughly enjoy our food as we just did the raisin."

Me thinks: 'Oh, is that what we just did? I thought I just had sex with mine..."

Dr.K: "Now, don't take this literally, if you go out to dinner & order a baked potato I wouldn't recommend picking it up & rubbing it against your lips, you'd get burned."

Me thinks: 'yes, because THAT'S the only reason frown upon doing such a thing,
THE BURN FACTOR- makes TOTAL sense!
In a million years it would never occur to me that it might be because to the average passer by you've just clearly committed a food felony by way of public spud molestation!
No, that's couldn't be it!'

Dr.K: "(more creepy staring, literally I feel like he's trying to remember the combination to his locker in the staff room & the only obvious place for those numbers is on the back of my cranium & he's going to find them come hell or high water by way of my eye sockets & scaring the living bejesus out of me with his frenzied freaky ass looks & his creepy monotone voice,
which up until now has done NOTHING but talk sex talk & RAISINS!)

Me thinks: 'how much longer until I can go home?
I'm pretty sure there's a half eaten bag of smartfood in the snack drawer..."

Dr.K: "Great everyone well that's it for this session, we'll see you all next Monday, same time same place. Have a great week, and remember, really try to focus on that food, ok?"

Me thinks: 'oh yeah, I'll focus all right, all I've done all night is focus on two things:
1. Raisins are not sexual objects.
Raisins are not sexual objects.

&

2. I should've brought my SMARTFOOD in the car!





More to come on next week's episode of:

Mondays with Dr.K...


signing off.
(but not before I take several Tylenol,
as I literally have a laughing headache from reliving that experience!)

A Little Math...

...Ruby & Kristen style.

2 glasses each with a few ice cubes
+
1 can of spicy water
(aka: sprite)
+
lots of patience
+
some trial & error
=
Ruby's first experience with learning how to BURP.
No lie.

Sadly, moments after this picture was taken,
she got it.

Oh joy of joy's.

KRISTEN YOU OWE ME BIG TIME FOR LETTING YOU TEACH HER THIS!

A Few Camera Photos...

Here's Miss Ruby sportin' some KEWL GREEN GARB
courtesy of Auntie Jen!
Jen knows how much Ruby LOVES HER GREEN!
Thanks Jen! WE LOVE IT!
(I don't think she's taken that hat off once,
NOT EVEN TO SLEEP, SERIOUSLY WEARS IT TO BED!)

And here's miss greenie from this morning at the Y with Momma.
The first thing she goes for after having breakfast is the Potato Heads.
She made this one today & said to Bear upon it's completion:
"Bear, that's my grandfather. See Bear? It's Nonno!"
I HAD to take a picture & send it to my Dad.
I'm pretty sure it made him smile.
=)

So Cute It's Disturbing...

Ah, the wedgie...
beautiful isn't it?
LOL
My daughter thinks so!
So much so that on a DAILY BASIS,
SHE REVISITS THE WEDGIE WITH SMILES & LAUGHTER!
And as if this PICTURE wasn't enough to make you grin,
my cell phone also takes these nifty little videos
&
I honestly don't know what possessed me but I just HAD to share with you all
a little slice of my afternoon as I've lived it here in good ole'
WEDGIE TOWN!
*ROFLMAO*

(& not ONE mention of that 'thong song'!)
LOL

How I Know God Has A Sense Of Humor...

...I'm finding white hairs where I'd prefer black ones to be,
& sadly finding black hairs where NONE should be!

Ah, but not everything is about God's sense of humor,
I also have some cute things to share about our miss Ruby Cate.
Things I realized about her this week:

If Momma is sick & needs to be in bed & asleep by 6pm,
my girl will not only oblige,
but then go on to sleep STRAIGHT until 8am the next morning.
I'm not big on math but I'm pretty sure that's 14 hours people!

I've noticed that rather than say 'maybe' our girl says 'naymee'
which is just as cute & to me, means just the same thing as 'maybe'.

A shift has been made in our house:
Dora: OUT
Kai Lan: IN
All things Kai Lan & I could not be happier!
Things she's learned from Kai Lan:
Patience... (episode: Wait Hoho, wait. )
Now, if Ruby asks for something & I say to her,
"One minute honey, Momma will be there just as soon as I'm done with [insert whatever it is I was doing here] ok...?"
Ruby smiles & says to the room in general: "remener we talk about payshunts?"
and patiently sits & waits till I'm finished & able to come help her.
Also, like a FIEND my girl is running around the house speaking Chinese!
Red, Green, Up, down, jump, push, etc... all words she's learned from Kai Lan!
It's amazing to me because WHEN we did watch Dora,
(and trust me, we watched ALOT of her)
Ruby never really picked up the Spanish words the show taught,
just wasn't into it.
Kai Lan?
"Momma, Kai Lan is born in China jus wike Ruby!"
So sweet!
I originally had a small issue with Kai Lan's eyes,
but have since come to realize they've created her in the spirit of Anime.
Ruby's uncle Andrew loves Anime & we love Andrew so,
Kai Lan's eyes, are just perfect in ours.

And last but CERTAINLY not LEAST:

Potty training is OFFICIALLY a thing of the past.
Four nights in a row now, my girl has woken up
DRY
AS
A
BONE
&
uses the potty first thing,
FILLS IT,
and asks to wear big girl underwear & get DRESSED MOMMA!
"Ruby is not a baby anymore Momma"
Truer words have never been spoken...

So,
let the white hairs come as they may
&
pray that I never lose my tweezers,
for they rid the world of random black chin/neck hairs...
my girl is growing up & doing so HAPPILY!
Is there not a better gift in all the world than that?

A Letter From Amy Eldridge...

Below is a letter from Amy Eldridge, from Love Without Boundaries, addressing the recent adoption disruptions and parental preparedness. If you are reading this, think about posting it on your site - a waiting parent who reads your blog may benefit from it.

"I have been so saddened by this situation. I most definitely wish there was a way to educate ALL adoptive parents about the truths of institutional care, however I have come to realize in my daily work that there are just as many parents who are not online reading everything they can find on adoption as are.There are hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of parents out there who have no idea what life is like for a child in an orphanage, and who head overseas to pick up their perfect child only to be handed a baby who is unresponsive, thin, unable to eat….. and on and on and on.

While adopting my son last month, I walked several times over to the White Swan to talk to parents, and over and over I spoke with moms and dads who had no clue whatsoever about the issues their kids were having. I heard so many times things like, "she won't eat solid foods" (oral aversion), "she has no muscle tone" (muscle atrophy from lying in a crib all day), "she won't smile" (pure grieving from being taken from her foster mom). I guess since I live China 24/7, I assume everyone adopting does, too, which is not the case.I talked to at least a dozen parents who didn't even know their child's orphanage name, and while I gently said "you might want to memorize that for your child's sake", at the same time I was trying to process how many parents get all the way to China without ever reading about post-institutional issues. It was sobering to me.

Babies in the NSN (non special needs) as well as the SN (special needs) path can have issues with attachment, motor skills, emotional issues and more. I think all of us on the WCC (Waiting Children China) list acknowledge that, while also acknowledging that all children (whether bio or not) can have these same issues. Living in an orphanage of course increases the odds.I think the easy out is to say that agencies have to do more, as well as social workers, but I do think that most of them do try to give information to the parents but often parents don't want to hear it or else think it won't happen to them. Again, I am often surprised to talk to parents leaving soon and to realize they are not prepared. One family was adopting from our foster care program, and when I told them that the child was DEEPLY attached to the mom, the father said, "guess she might cry for an hour or so then?" An hour or so? She had been in foster care for over a year! I tried to explain that this little girl was about ready to lose everything she had ever known, and that they should not expect her to be sunny, happy, and full of personality after an hour. I told them to please remember the 72-hour rule.......that after 72 hours they would probably see her spark, but that she would probably grieve for a long time after that as well.

I think for many adoptive parents, they just don't want to read the "bad stuff", and so I do think that ultimately it is the parents who are at fault for not doing more to educate themselves. There certainly are books galore out there about post-institutional issues. I equate this to when I was pregnant with my kids and I would read "What to Expect When Expecting", and I would get to the C-section part and always skip it. Each and every time I would jump to the next chapter as "that wasn't going to happen to me". Well, on my fifth baby, when they were rushing me in for an emergency C-section, I sure was wishing I had read that section earlier! But at that point in the OR, while they were strapping my hands down to the table, it was too late, and so I felt complete panic when I could have been prepared. I think adoption from China is very similar to giving birth...it is much more rosy to only read the happy stories on APC, but I now encourage every family I meet to read the harder ones as well, because if you are the family who is handed a child that is limp and listless and who looks autistic, what you have learned in the past will help you make the right decision for your family during those very emotional first few days.

I have been called many times in the last few years by parents in China worried about their children. I agree that having a support network to help you through the initial time is essential. Everyone should go to China with at least one phone number of someone they can call if they are panicked upon meeting their new child. I remember feeling so alone when I was handed my daughter and she was so tiny and limp. Because our foundation often helps with the kids who have been disrupted, I am aware that sometimes there are children who have much more serious issues than originally reported…. and that is such a hard thing for a parent to get to China and then discover their child is truly autistic or has serious mental delays. I think everyone on both the China and international side would agree that it is absolutely wrong of an orphanage to not be honest in their reports, and no one would excuse that, but I also know without a doubt that the majority of kids who are disrupted are just suffering from institutional issues and would catch up quickly in a loving home. It is always a very sad day for the orphanage and everyone involved when a child that they know is absolutely fine, but perhaps thin and grieving, is returned by their new parents for being "delayed".

I think far too many people believe their child's life is going to begin the moment they meet them. The truth is, and everyone must realize it….. a child's life is going on RIGHT NOW in China, and all of their experiences are shaping who they are. The vast majority of aunties that I have met in China are such kind and caring people, but it absolutely is not the same as having a mom and dad at your beck and call. I have had new parents call and say "we didn't think living in an orphanage would affect her at all", and those statements truly puzzle me. How could they not contemplate life in an orphanage?

Walk through Babies R Us and you will see every gadget known to man to make our children's lives here as ideal as possible. Now Americans have two way video monitors, so that when baby awakens not only can mommy see when to immediately rush in and comfort him, but she can talk to baby so that he doesn't even have one single second where he feels alone. How many new parents would have a newborn and then put that baby in a crib 22 hours a day on their own? How many would only feed their baby, even if they were really crying hard, every 8 hours? Or prop the bottle in her crib and then not watch to see if she ever really ate?

Of course no one would do that…... we feed newborns on demand, comfort on demand, love continuously…. and whether people want to recognize it or not, that is NOT the life of an orphan in an institution. .….. even when the aunties are as good as gold. I remember one night when I took some volunteers in for the night shift in an orphanage, when normally just a few aunties are working. One mom looked at me with tears in her eyes as she slowly realized that it was absolutely impossible with just two hands to feed every child, to comfort every child, to soothe every baby who was crying. She said her heart was aching to realize that her own daughter most likely had many, many times where she cried without someone to comfort her..... and she told me that for the first time she finally understood why her daughter had such a deep seated fear of being out of her mom's sight.

The aunties are trying their absolute best, but that doesn't equal mother/child care. I remember being in an orphanage in the north this past winter and the aunties were so proud of how they had 6-8 layers of clothes and blankets on every baby to keep them warm. They were swaddled so tight that they couldn't move, but it was freezing in the orphanage and so the aunties wanted the babies to stay as warm as possible. What alternative did they have? It really was freezing there…... I was cold in my wool coat, so the babies couldn't be up and about with just 1-2 layers on, with the ability to move their arms and legs. To stay warm they had to be immobile, and so of course all of those kids have weak muscle tone. But the aunties were truly trying their best, and when a parent is given one of those beautiful children on adoption day, I am sure they will go back to their room with concern and say "she can't sit up by herself…. she can't put weight on her legs". That is absolutely the truth, but she also survived 10 degree weather in a very cold province and she will catch up soon enough with parents to encourage her.

To not acknowledge that living in orphanage circumstances can cause lower body weights, low muscle tone, inability to make good eye contact is very sad to me. Can it be overcome? Most definitely! The one thing I have learned over and over again about the kids in China is that they are fighters and survivors. But for some reason, people seem to want to ignore these issues in public forums.

Recently, one of our medical babies that we had met several times in person was adopted, and we all knew that this child was a "spitfire". When the family arrived and spent a few days with her, they decided she was too much of a handful for them and they wanted to disrupt. She absolutely was not what they expected. When they called their agency, they were told they had two choices: adopt the child, bring her to the US, and change their expectations of what they were hoping for, or adopt the child, bring her to the US and the agency would have a family waiting at the airport to adopt her locally. Option three of leaving the child in China was never once given. I admire that agency so much, as they were thinking of the child and the child alone. The family followed through with the adoption and handed the little girl to a new family upon her arrival in the US. As horrible and tragic and emotional as it was for everyone involved...I still feel this was the right decision for the agency to make. It was done in the absolute best interest of the child, who had waited a long, long time for a family. I wish more agencies would advocate for the rights of the child, instead of always seeming to give in to the parents, especially in those cases when they know with absolute certainty that nothing is permanently wrong with the child.
Recently with another disruption, the agency I spoke with told me that it was "easier" to just get the family a new baby.

Sometimes easier does not equal right. The first baby who was rejected has now been labeled "mentally challenged" even though the agency knew the child was really going to be okay. I think all of us, who do realize that delays occur and that babies can usually overcome them, should be these children's advocates by continually trying to educate new parents on what to expect in China. By helping them be better prepared, we just might help stop a disruption in the future. I love Chinese adoption with my whole heart, and it is my life's work…. but I also want every family who goes to get their baby to go with their eyes open and to be as emotionally prepared as possible, for the child's sake."
Amy Eldridge,
Love Without Boundaries

It's Shitty, It's Blurry...

...but it's the MOST BEAUTIFUL picture of BED HEAD I've seen in a LONG TIME!
Oh how I love this girl!
Who,
BY THE WAY,
woke up DRY AGAIN TODAY
&
has gone ALL DAY that way only to use the potty SEVERAL TIMES successfully!
(once when I encouraged her to do so and the rest of the times because she KNEW she had to!)
Happy Happy
JOY JOY!
*grinning from ear to ear*

Tidbits... *just added #4*

...Tidbit #1:

Ruby woke up again today,
DRY!
(3rd morning in a row!)

Tidbit #2:

It may not be the same,
in fact it's just NOT the same,
-BUT-
it's better than nothing:

Taken with my cell phone.
It's blurry,
it's dark,
it's one of my favorite pictures because we truly were laughing so hard,
that I honestly don't know HOW it is I managed to actually GET the shot!
But what a shot it was...
...a really WONDERFULLY SILLY moment.
*smiling*
It's how we spend most of our days together,
my girl & me.
She just makes me THAT giddy,
GENUINELY!

Tidbit #3:

A request, from my heart.
I'm asking every one of my readers to please help me out in my quest to bring
bookmyblog
to everyone who loves blogging as much as I do.
As much as we ALL do.
I would be beyond thrilled if you all could add a
bookmyblog
link to your sidebar of your own personal blogs...
Tell a friend, mention it in a post

It's being sought out through word of mouth but with a private blog such as mine is,
it's not reaching as far a blogger base as I'd like.
Most of you have public blogs,
thus why I'd really REALLY appreciate it if you could help me out this way.

If this business takes off,
I hope to make it my only job
&
just work one day a week at the Y to keep our membership
but really dedicate myself
heart & soul
into bringing everyone's blog home.

A dear friend of mine is working on creating a 'button' to add to your blogs.
Once that is finished & I have the HTML myself, I'll share it with all of you.
Until then, just simply adding a hyperlink of
BOOKMYBLOG
is certainly appreciated!
And thank you all in advance for helping me out.
*hugs*

I wonder who among you will be the first brave soul to order your own bookmyblog book...

???


AND FINALLY...

Tidbit #4:
(just added after we finished our breakfast)

Now,
they're still blurry due to my camera phone
-BUT-
here is what we enjoyed today for breakfast!
(we added a splash of vanilla AND GREEN food coloring,
aka: RUBY STYLE!)


FYI:
T=TABLE SPOON
&
t=tea spoon.


I'm telling you,
if everything in her world was GREEN,
my girl would be the happiest kid on the planet, period!
=)
Which reminds me,
if any of you ever see any kewl GREEN deals;
(ie: clothing, sneakers, apparel, ETC...)
PLEASE feel free to share them in an email!
If she could,
Ruby would paint the WORLD GREEN for all to enjoy!
(because doesn't everyone love green just as much as my girl?)
hehehe
;)

I'm Almost Afraid To Blog About This, But...

...today is the 2ND DAY IN A ROW THAT MISS RUBY NOT ONLY WOKE UP DRY,
BUT KNEW SHE HAD TO GO USE THE POTTY FIRST BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE.
AND SHE WENT!
Yesterday, SHE WAS DRY ALL DAY!
NOT ONE ACCIDENT!
Used the potty EVERY TIME
&
even suggested we go out
&
buy some more NEW BIG GIRL UNDERPANTS!

If this morning is any indication of things,
it should be a repeat of yesterday...

...which means that I can finally EXHALE!
( & perhaps read my new book)

Oh, and one more thing that I have GOT to share with you all...
upon our arrival home yesterday with her new underpants,
(old ones were size 2-3T, new ones were 4T)
Kristen came over to celebrate with us.

I figured I'd show her why we got bigger ones.
It was time she learned what a 'wedgie' was,
as she's been walking around with one CONSTANTLY due to the smaller size undies.
I'd say to her, "Ruby, fix your wedgie, pull it out of your tooshie woman.."
She'd look at me & be like 'I have no clue what you're talking about Momma, I'm busy playing!'.
Seriously she'd just play with that thing wedged up so high she could've used it as dental floss,
yet constantly tell me, "Momma, you itchy, you bum itchy, Momma fix it!"

So, I called her over & said:
"Ruby,"
(pulled her underwear clear straight up into her crack on both sides)
THAT is a wedgie.
When you feel your underwear like that,
you have to pull it out from your bum, ok baby?"
She LAUGHED SO HARD SHE COULD NOT STOP LAUGHING
&
SHE REFUSED TO PULL IT OUT OF HER BEHIND & INSTEAD,
GOT ON HER LITTLE TRAMPOLINE AND JUMPED WILDLY SCREAMING & LAUGHING:

"WEDGIE! WEDGIE! WEDGIE IS FUNNY MOMMA!"
And this went on for like, oh... I don't know,
A HALF HOUR MAYBE?
Honestly was the FUNNIEST thing
&
Kristen, through her laughter, said:
"I'm so glad I was here for her first wedgie, that was freakin' hysterical!"

Do I dare say it?
Can I dream it's true?

RUBY IS 99.9% POTTY TRAINED!
WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

And I still say I owe Michelle this victory because if not for her suggestion of making RUBY RESPONSIBLE FOR CLEANING UP HER OWN MESS, who knows where we'd be today.
And what is this anyway? Day 3? Day 4? I don't remember exactly when we truly 'started' to go cold turkey. I'll have to go back in the archives & see when I first said that but I KNOW IT HASN'T BEEN A WEEK YET, I AM SURE OF IT!

Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have a date with some reading & several chocolate eggs that Ruby has so graciously decided to share with her Momma.

*HUGE GROUP HUG FOR EVERYONE*
(& one big proud teary smile from this happy single Momma.)

Good News/Bad News...

...which would you all like first?

How about the good news?
THE GOOD NEWS IS,
Miss Ruby Cate went ALL DAY TODAY in BIG GIRL underwear & only had ONE accident.
JUST ONE!
Not too shabby if you ask me,
things are looking UP in the potty dept.

Bad news?
Ugh, it even pains me to TYPE this,
but here goes...













The BAD NEWS is,
my Nikon camera FINALLY DIED today.
*sigh*
Very very sad as I don't have the money for a new one just yet
&
it will take at least a month or two to save up for one.
I don't know what's going to suck more,
me not being able to TAKE PICTURES of my girl
OR
you all having to read a TEXT ONLY BLOG?!#%$

UGH

I really still have high hopes for bookmyblog.
I had an idea of maybe having a raffle to raise money for a new camera,
like say 10 bucks a chance
&
in the end,
the winner drawn will receive their own 200 page blog book?
Thoughts?
Ideas?

Where Does The Time Go...

...it really does seem like just yesterday she turned 2.
How can it be that her next birthday there will be a #4 on the cake?
My little girl is growing up.

Potty Barbie Now Comes With CHOCOLATE! **UPDATED @ BOTTOM**

Woke up to miss Ruby smiling at me & saying,
"Morning Momma, have a good night sleep?"
So cute.
Her pull up was full, fine.
Took it off,
she sat on the potty,
FILLED IT,
LOTS of PRAISE,
on with morning routine.

Get Ruby dressed in big girl clothes,
meaning UNDERWEAR not pull ups,
pants & a tank top & a shirt.
(got rid of onsie's too, only at night now for those)
So, she's dressed,
I'm getting ready for work
&
Nonno is going to come up & have breakfast with her as she's informed me she'd rather stay home with him & paint & do play doh.

Fine.
I explain to Nonno that we do NOT do pull ups anymore.
ONLY BIG GIRL UNDERPANTS!
I left him plenty of outfits,
COMPLETE OUTFITS MIND YOU,
should there be an accident.

Kiss Ruby,
Kiss Nonno,
out the door to work.

Three hours into my shift,
cell phone rings.

Nonno: "Amyla, she's screaming blood murder for you, what do you want me to do?"
Now mind you,
this is the same guy who,
whenever I'm about to leave
&
feel the need to just go over instructions one last time JUST to be on the safe side,
says to me:
"Amyla, I am your father, you don't think I know how to watch Ruby? "

So I say to him,
"Dad, I'm at work, I don't know what you want me to tell you from here. Why is she screaming?"

Nonno: "What the hell do I know, she's just screaming for Momma, Momma, and she doesn't want to do anything, just crying for you."

"Dad, did you try 'redirecting' her? Maybe suggest some play doh or painting or even watch some Kai Lan?"

"Amyla, what time are you going to be leaving to come home?
Can you leave a little early?"

"Dad, no I can't leave a little early.
You'll be fine,
just redirect her with something else but remember,
don't let her on the furniture.
Only her chair or her wooden desk chair in case there's an accident, ok?"

Nonno: "Alright, come home soon. Bye." *click*

Honest to GAWD!

So, as luck would have it, work was dead today,
which is ODD for a Friday, but I figure there are no coincidences in life,
so perhaps I was meant to head home early to my girl.
I don't argue, I smile & leave earlier than I had planned & call my dad from the car.

Nonno: "Amyla, I'm out in the garage, your mother's in the house with Ruby & Kristen is over too. Call inside ok? I'm busy out here doing some work..."

Ok...
*calling Kristen's cell*

Kristen: "Hey Aim, what's up? How did you know I was here?"
Me: "I know everything, how's Ruby doing?"
Kristen: "She's doing a little better. She's on the couch watching a show..."
*in the background, my mother is talking*
Me: "What's my mom saying?"
Kristen: "She said to tell you not to be mad at her but she put a diaper on Ruby because she insisted on laying on the couch & your mom didn't want to be worried about pee on her couch so she put a diaper on her & that is that."

*sudden urge to bang my head against the steering wheel*

Me: *FUMING* "I'll be home in a minute." *click*

Drove probably a buck 20 in a 20mph zone, NO LIE.
Home in under a minute. (drive normally takes about four to five minutes)

March upstairs to find my apartment empty.
Call downstairs to my mothers house.
Mom: "Hello?"
Me: "Bring her upstairs... now."
Mom: *click*

Nice huh?
Always good times chatting with you too Ma.

*little footsteps up the back hall stairs*
Ruby, wearing a diaper meant for the boy that I watch Sunday mornings.
LITERALLY HIS DIAPER, HE'S BARELY 2, IT'S WAY TOO SMALL & STILL NOT THE POINT.
Diaper could've been the size of my fat ass, STILL SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN PUT ON HER, PERIOD.

In one fell swoop I manage to hug & kiss my daughter while at the same time RIPPING off said diaper & throwing it in the trash.

"Ruby, you wear big girl underwear now, remember?"
Ruby: "Mmm hmmm."
(she's taken to humming yes & no these days, words are too much work apparently.)
Me: "Ruby, let's go sit on the potty & see if you can go for Momma & get another sticker, ok?"
Ruby: "Uh huh..."
Me: "Yes, Ruby. Let's just try. If you go, that's great, if you don't, you still get a sticker for trying, ok?"
Ruby: "Ok Momma."

Sat on the potty, attempted to argue her way out of seeing this through at least THREE times, but ultimately went poop.
Ruby: "Momma, wook, its an adult size poop!"
Me: "Yes Ruby, it is, good girl!"
Ruby: "It's a painful one..."
Me: "Awww baby, do you need a hug?"
Ruby: "Yes."

*much hugging*

Me: "Ruby, I'm so proud of you, you did a great job!"
Ruby: "We go a toy store now Momma? Ruby wanna new Barbie... pwease?"
Me: "You know what Ruby, that sounds like a great idea!"
Ruby: "That's a good choice!"

So,
we pack several outfits
&
undies
&
plastic baggies into our diaper bag
&
grab my wallet
&
off we go.

GOOD LORD I THINK I JUST PACKED HALF HER BUREAU IN THIS DAMN BAG!
I begin to wonder to myself if I've kept the woman's contact information who actually made
&
sold me the bag in the first place as,
this one is slowly falling apart with each monstrous trip we take.
What if I want to replace it?
I digress...

So, off to TRU we go in search of the perfect Barbie.
AND, all the while, our girl is in BIG GIRL UNDIES!
(with obviously a very THICK towel under her tooshie just in case...
can't be replacing $200 car seats every other day now can we?)

So we go, we shop, we meet our newest addition to the Barbie collection ala' Ruby, we leave.
ALL WITH A DRY BUM!

On the way out, those evil TRU people put all the G'Damn CHOCOLATE at the F'N checkout!
(man did they see ME coming a mile away!)
So, you know after the stress of the morning, Momma needed herself some CHOCOLATE!
A king size kit kat, one enormous REECE'S FILLED CHOCOLATE BUNNY, and a bag full of Dove eggs later, we're headed home.
Happy toddler & new barbie in tow.

Make it home, COMPLETELY DRY STILL!
*smiling up to the heavens*
whisper: "thank you God!"

Inside we go,
I spend at least a half hour taking off all the freakin elastics
&
plastic torture devices off of miss Barbie so she can play freely like the rest of Ruby's friends.
Ruby smiles, looks at her doll, looks at me & says:
"I wuv you Momma, fank you for my new Bahbie."
*smiling*
"You're welcome baby girl, Momma loves you so much and is so proud of you. You're a big girl now, you used the potty today like a big girl!"
Ruby: "Uhhh hmmm, Ruby a big girl."
Me: "Yes you are sweetie. Now, if you have to go potty again, you can pull your own pants & underpants down & use your special potty right here, ok? Promise?"
Ruby: "Uhhh hmmm."
Me: "Ok baby, have fun with your Barbie."

So, Ruby proceeds to play with her newest addition to the ever growing plastic woman collection complete with hoochie mama clothing that I wouldn't let her so much as think about ever wearing never mind leave the house with. Only permissible on plastic dolls no taller than 6 inches. NEVER my Ruby... again, digressing. (or wishful thinking)

I head into the kitchen to get her lunch started & I hear her talking away to Bear,
who apparently has been recruited into also playing Barbies...
and then I hear it.

Ruby: "Momma! Momma Ruby come change you!"
Me: "Ruby, what's wrong baby?"
Ruby: "MOMMA! RUBY COME CHANGE YOU!"
*oh great, here we go...*

Me: "Ruby, what's wrong?"
Ruby: (sitting on the floor in a big fat wet puddle of pee) Momma, I haffa change you, you wet."
Me: "Ruby, why didn't you sit on your potty?"
Ruby: "Momma, I sawwy. I was pwaying wif my new Bahbie."
Me: "*sigh* ok Ruby, let's change you & get you dry but you need to go ON the potty from now on, ok? No more pee pee on the floor."
Ruby: "Uhhh hmmm."

Clean outfit #1.

Back to lunch making for me
&
more playing Barbie for miss Rubes.
(much to Bear's obvious dismay)

Not EVEN five minutes go by...

Ruby: "MOMMAAAAAAA! YOU WET!"
Me: *large exhale*
Ruby: "MOOOOOOMMMMMMAAAAAAA!"
Me: "Yes Ruby? Did you have another accident?"
Ruby: "Yes."
Me: "Why didn't you use the potty Ruby?"
Ruby: "I sawwy Momma. Momma haffa change you."
Me: "You know what Ruby, I will change you but I want you to know something ok?"
Ruby: "Ok?"
Me: "From now on, if you have an accident, Momma is not going to clean it up ok?
If Ruby makes the mess, RUBY is going to clean it up. Fair?"
Ruby: "Fair."

Round TWO.
Clean clothes,
more Barbie,
annoyed Bear,
cold lunch patiently waiting to be completed.

Barely into cutting up her pickle...

"MOMMMMMAAAAAAAA!"
*seriously annoyed at this point, searching for that F'N REECE'S BUNNY I BOUGHT, KNEW THERE WAS A REASON FOR BUYING A SURPLUS OF CHOCOLATE! GRRRRRRRR!*

Me: "Ruby, get up."
Ruby: "Whaa Momma?"
Me: "GET UP."
Ruby: "Momma gonna haffa change you."
Me: "Nope. Ruby is going to do it all by herself. Not Momma."
Ruby: "NO RUBY DO IT!"
Me: "Oh YES Ruby do it. Right now."
Ruby: "NOOOOO!"
Me: "Ruby, you have two choices ok?
You either clean up your mess OR you can sit in yuckky wet pants."
Ruby: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MOMMA HAFFA CHANGE YOU!"
Me: "Clean up your mess or sit in it, your choice."
Ruby: "NO CHOICE!"
Me: "Yes, choice."
Ruby: "NO RUBY HAFFA CHOICE!"
Me: "Actually Ruby, you do have a choice. I'll leave you to think about what you'd like to do. Momma's going to go finish making your lunch now, ok?"
Ruby: *SCREAMING*
Me: "I love you Ruby, I'll call you when lunch is ready."
(searching the fridge for chocolate... where's that damn bunny!@$#$%)

2 - 3 minutes lapse...
Ruby: "Momma?"
Me: "Yes Ruby?"
Ruby: "Ruby wanna haffa cwean up."
Me: "That's a great choice Ruby.
Would you like me to get you some paper towels & some spray to help you?"
Ruby: "Yes pwease Momma."
Me: "Good Ruby, I would love to get those things for you."
Ruby: "Thats a wuvwy way a asking"
Me: "Yes baby girl, that IS a lovely way of asking. Thank you for being so polite."
Ruby: "You welcome Momma."

Hand her the paper towels, she cleans up her OWN mess!
(thank you to Michelle for the advice on making HER clean it up!
Girl, you're a freakin GENIUS!)

Two dozen paper towels & some windex later, mess is cleaned & Ruby is now dry once more.

Lunch still isn't finished & Bear has successfully wandered off of his own accord as to avoid more Barbie playing or else he'll throw himself bodily from our living room window I'm sure of it!

Ruby proceeds to play Barbies WITHOUT Bear, I attempt one last time to finish making lunch.

Maybe a minute goes by...

Ruby: "MOOOOMMAAAAAA!!!!!!!"

*scanning the kitchen for the largest knife in the butcher block
&
wondering how long it takes sever a jugular.*
Me: "Yes Ruby?"
Ruby: "You wet."
*sweet mother of all that's good & holy*
Me: "RUBY, AGAIN@!$#?$%#%^"

Ok, here's where I pull out the BIG GUNS!
At TRU I purchased some solid Dove milk chocolate easter eggs.
THEY ARE NOW GOING TO BE THE BAIT BY WHICH I BRIBE MY KID INTO PISSING ANYWHERE BUT ON MY F'N CARPET!
Me: "Ruby, see these? They're chocolate eggs. Don't they look yummy?"
Ruby: "Ruby wanna haffone"
Me: "Ruby, you CAN have one,
you just need to go potty
&
then Momma will give you one, ok?"
Ruby: "Ok Momma."

Sits on potty,
surprises the shit out of me by actually STILL having some pee in her to EXPELL,
and goes potty.
Then says,
"Ruby wanna haffa have a chocowate egg now? Ruby wanna haffa hava gween one pwease!"

*are you kidding me?*

CAN ANYONE ELSE SEE A CONTROL ISSUE HERE?
This kid has figured out the one area of her life that SHE CAN CONTROL and that little stinker's gonna do it, HER WAY!

I honestly don't give a rats ass HOW MANY CHOCOLATE EGGS I END UP FEEDING THIS KID,
IF IT'S ALL IN THE NAME OF DRY PISS FREE CARPETS EVERYWHERE,
THEN ALL HAIL DOVE FOR THEIR EGG'LICIOUS CHOCOLATY GENIUS!

Since the 'egg' introduction, only ONE accident & it happened while we were finally sitting down to lunch (which by this time was clearly morphing into 'dinner') and I'm pretty sure at that point, she was SO HUNGRY she'd have shit herself before abandoning that plate of chicken nuggets- (ketchup for dipping), sharp cheese, cut up pickles & a big ole milk sippy.
I didn't yell at that accident.
Honestly, food & me go way back & a good meal, when you're starving, is something I UNDERSTAND, and there have been nights I nearly had accidents myself because I couldn't tear myself away from that piece of chocolate layer cake & huge honkin' glass of MOO.

After that, RUBY STILL cleaned up the mess,
saying as she did so,
"Rubys mess, Ruby cwean a up."

Then it was time for snuggle time, stories, jammies (PULL UP) and BED!

Seriously, I'm telling you...
if not for that luscious chocolate peanutty friend of mine
(who is now missing a head & half his torso)
tucked neatly into the back of my 'cheese drawer',
I'd be sitting here in a pile of my own drool, twitching.

It's nearly 2:30am & I'm JUST NOW calm enough to curl up in bed next to my beautiful sleeping child who WILL, IF IT KILLS ME, learn how to pee pee on the potty.
It just might behoove some of you to purchase stock in Dove chocolate,
cuz lord knows Rome wasn't built in a day.

Over & out.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

**UPDATE**
Ruby just woke up with a DRY PULL UP and I immediately suggested both of us going potty but that Momma would not get anything but RUBY WOULD GET A... (and she yells out to finish my thought) "A CHOCOLATE EGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!"
She jumped off the bed, ran to the tv room (where we keep her potty for now cuz it seems to work best there) and was shedding pj's while en route.
Sat on the potty, Momma went to go do her business & I return to see a smiling Ruby looking up at me saying proudly, "YOU DID IT! RUBY GET A CHOCOWATE EGG NOW MOMMA!"
I peek into her potty & sure enough, filled to the brim with pee pee.
*big smile*
Me: "You bet your potty you do baby!"
I happily handed Ruby her container of eggs so she could pick the one she wants.
(they're all wrapped in foil, she always picks the GREEN ones, not sure what I'll do when all of those are gone actually...)
She peeled it, cleaned up the mess she made, and ate her egg saying in between bites:
"Momma, Ruby is a big girl... an Ruby wuves chocowate!"
See? This kid IS SO MY DAUGHTER!
hehehehehe
CHOCOLATE BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER DAMNIT!
It's a GOOD START to a GOOD DAY!
Oh, AND you'll note the time? Oh that's right, it's nearly 9am,
my girl let me SLEEP A LITTLE LONGER THIS MORNING!
Now if I could only score a chocolate egg, all would be right with my world.
;)

WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

God, Grant Me Strength...*updated/see bottom*

...to not lose my mind or start pulling out my hair during this POTTY TRAINING process.
And make no mistake, for us, it's a PROCESS!
At first, I was all gung ho about getting her a potty seat.
Her own little 'big girl' seat to go pee pee on.
Only problem was, she was barely home six months when I bought it,
(jumped the gun clearly)
and used it for Bear.
Nothing more.
THEN, a few miraculous times, BOOM she'd actually USE THE THING!
I thought, SUCCESS!
At first we hand made a potty chart,
it got filled up with stickers both for going & for trying.
(incentive I thought... I hoped...)
Next, we bought a big ole poster board & filled that up too.
And then another & the same, filled up...
...with lots of 'trying' but no real history of repeat success.
Sporadic success, questionable success, unreliable success.
Things migraines are made of really...

More time goes by, now my girl isn't so little anymore, she's grown into this gorgeous TALL girl who clearly has outgrown that silly first potty I foolishly bought her.
So, smart me thinks, OK, time for a NEW POTTY, one that RUBY CAN PICK OUT HERSELF!
(figured if I let her be involved in the whole process, it might lead to a better success rate.)
Psst, I was wrong.

So, we buy this new chair, had higher than high hopes, first day home she used it three times in a row, SUCCESSFULLY & OF HER OWN ACCORD I MIGHT ADD!
Were things beginning to look up?
*fingers, toes, eyes etc, crossed*

Day two with the new potty seat... three accidents & four dirty pull ups later.

Ok, next bright idea, NO MORE PULL UPS!
I am so annoyed that I allowed her to become the 'lazy' kid when it comes to pottying.
Honestly, that's what pull ups do.
Sure they buy me 'laundry free evenings' filled with quiet book reading & steaming cups of tea rather than overflowing baskets of urine drenched laundry that can't wait to be washed as it will promptly turn the house a lovely scent of BLECK should I toy with the idea of NOT doing it asaFp.

So, at first, pull ups all day long seemed like my life saver.
Now?
I'm rethinking the whole thing.
Why did I think that was a good idea?
Ruby is days away from officially becoming 3 & 1/2
and she's nearly taller than ME
( she might be taller than my brother actually come to think about it)
and she UNDERSTANDS THE MECHANICS OF WHAT A POTTY SEAT IS & HOW IT'S TO BE PROPERLY USED! SHE GETS THAT!
She just is CHOOSING TO NOT COMPLY.
Oh yes, that's right, it's a CHOICE.
And if I hear one more time from one more person
(mainly my parents)
that, "Oh, she's just a baby, she doesn't understand..."
I'm going to scream so loud that her foster family will hear me clear as a bell in China!

Baby my ASS! This kid speaks two languages AND understands some Chinese as well as 'sign'.
Baby she is not.

Allow me to indulge you in a moment in my day today,
which oh, by the way, happy Valentine's day to you all,
despite getting dressed up in Red (me) & Pink (Ruby),
we had a very non-traditional Valentine's day.
My daughter's gift to me was to sit for a half hour on her potty,
tell me that she didn't have to go but "Thank you trying!"
and then immediately proceed to pull her undies up,
(Dora ones I THOUGHT would also help, again thought wrong)
pulled her pants up, grabbed her buddy Bear,
squat over a puzzle on my bedroom carpet & RELIEVE HERSELF RIGHT THERE.
Only MOMENTS after having been SITTING for a half hour or MORE on a potty,
this girl got up, maintained composure enough to get dressed,
had time to grab her friend & pick a puzzle to 'pretend' to be interested in before she finally allowed herself to pee.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
She has control all right, just in the things she WANTS not the things she knows her Momma wants for her.
I am so fed up with it that I literally, this morning, decided no more pull ups.
PERIOD.
AMEN.
END OF STORY.
(ok, that was SO my mother just then...)
I told her from now on, she only gets to wear pull ups at NIGHT.
That's it.
For the rest of time now, she'll wear big girl clothing & if she pees, she pees.
I will do laundry until I comprise enough used dryer sheets to fashion myself a g'damned dress!
No more pull ups!
Today alone, three outfits, dirtied.
She sits, she does nothing, always says "THANK YOU TRYING!", then proceeds to do her best impression of a PUPPY IN TRAINING!
I'm having flash backs to Ebby's puppy years & trust me, she's cute, but this is NOT FUN
AND after I clean up her mess, she doesn't want to play fetch with me or snuggle & kiss my face.
SO not the same experience. I can't tire her out with playing to guarantee myself she'll nap for a few hours & I can then get to that mountain of laundry that has begun to crawl up the sides of my walls.
Nope, she's a toddler, a little girl who has chosen LAZY over SUCCESS.
I so could kick myself because I know I had every hand in this by being the enabler always with a pull up at the ready.
Shame on me for opting for convenience & cleanliness over learning experience.
Shame on me for thinking about myself first rather than what was best for my daughter.
I know this isn't the end of the world but as you can see, I've typed a freakin' book here so you can tell that this is something that is driving me INSANE right about now!
She is taking a nap right now surprisingly, merely because she's still trying to shake that cold & the Benadryl she takes for her allergies makes her drowsy sometimes.
Today clearly is one of those times.
So while she naps, COMPLETELY DRY I MIGHT ADD, I sit here & vent my frustrations.
If I were a gambling woman, I'd bet that as soon as she wakes up, IF she's still dry (which it looks like she might end up being...) she'll sit again, "try", get up, say "THANK YOU TRYING!" and then piss again on my carpet, or in the kitchen, or in the living room, or ANYWHERE but where she should be going, her beloved potty that only three days ago, she was so very very excited about using.
So again, I ask... GOD, GRANT ME STRENGTH!

Oh, and for the record, I'm already on my second load of laundry today.
(so far, I have half a boob covered on that dress... more to come.)

*She woke up dry, sat on the potty (because I insisted), did a minimal amount of pee pee, still praised her BIG TIME, sticker & everything and prayed that this time would be different.
She pulled her undies & pants back up, curled up on the floor of my bedroom with Bear
and proceeded to completely drench her pants, the down throw she was laying on, my carpet,
her Bear, etc...
I really am at a loss for what to do next besides successfully lose my mind
&
every ounce of patience I used to pride myself on having with children.
*sigh*
Why is it that raising other people's children is so much easier than raising your own?

Check THIS Out...

...is this INSANE or WHAT?@#%^%@#!


I LOVE IT!!!!!


And this one is just the silly PROTOTYPE!
I'm telling you,
once I put the image on the front the way I want it
&
fix the font size,
I'm going to be OVER THE MOON IN LOVE with this thing!
WOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!
Can someone pinch me please?
You know,
I'm thinking I want to have some sort of contest where one of you can win
your very own blog book!
I've just gotta figure out how to come up with something creative enough!
*BIG SMILES*

Ok, Here's The Skinny...

...on my BIG FAT IDEA!
Most of you who read my blog are fellow adoptive parents.
Most of you are very well aware of the adoption tax credit we're all entitled to.
Most of you probably even know that you have only a certain amount of time in which to claim said credit, at least here in MA that is sadly the case.
Now, some of you might be thinking
"Amy, why 'sadly'?
You've been home two years now,
you shouldn't be worried about that silly ole' tax credit,
you've probably claimed all of it by now I'm sure, right?"

Wrong.

The sad truth of it is, upon our arrival home from China, I had just come off the heels of working full time for a wonderful family as their Nanny.
I worked serious hours & had logged lots of tax time for good ole' uncle SAM.
Thus, my first installment of 'adoption tax credit' (henceforth known as ATC)
was easily claimed that first April of 06.
Since then, let's review my work history...

Took first year home OFF to spend with Ruby
&
lived happily on my unemployment which was more than enough to do just that.

Next year, worked for crazy biotch (henceforth known as CB)
caring for her twins under the table (henceforth known as UTT).

CB = headaches & more headaches.
UTT = no uncle sam taxes.

CB + UTT = ANOTHER YEAR WITH NO ADOPTION TAX CREDIT REFUND.

Fast forward to this past year.
Got wonderful job at the local Y.
LOVE the children, love working there, hate that it's only part time.

After talking with my tax guy recently, found out that again...
part time just didn't cut it for qualifying for my adoption credit.
And that's not ONLY the worst part,
he also told me that I have just one year left to do something about that
or uncle SAM gets my money.
WHAT@?%$%^$%^
No way no how,
Ruby's gotta go to COLLEGE!

Over the last few weeks I've agonized over what to do & typically when I am in a bind, I tend to let my mind wander because I find I achieve my greatest successes in life when my creative side takes over.
I was chatting with my dear friend Kristen recently about how worried I was about not being able to claim my refund for Ruby & how I wish I could figure out a way to do something meaningful & worthwhile to change that.
Days go by...
Work comes & goes,
play dates with Ruby,
blogging continues...
life went on.

Then, as I was hanging out with Kristen yet again, I began to wonder out loud.
(a trick I learned years ago having Jen as a best friend who is also a reference librarian, if you wonder things OUT LOUD for others to hear, they tend to listen.)
For instance, I'd wonder aloud about "hmm, I wonder if there are any kewl Chinese language tools available through the library..."
and within the hour typically, Jen would have, in my email, a LIST of options.
A PLETHORA if you will.
*grin* like that one English major? ;)

So, I guess I just got so used to 'thinking out loud' with Jen, that I just kinda did it automatically with Kristen.
I thought to myself,
(rather loudly)
that wouldn't it be great if I could take my blog & turn it into an actual book,
not just for me to enjoy curling up with & reading,
but to also be able to leave as a 'time machine' of sorts for Ruby for when she's older & can appreciate all that her blog represents.
Every post, every photo, every moment of her life,
taken from the computer & put into a physical, hand held form for her to lose herself in whenever she's in the mood to time travel.
Oh how many times I'd wished I had the same opportunity to do that with my own childhood.
Sadly for myself & for, I'm guessing, most of you... all I had was a baby book with a few 'first' photos of milestones & then, the entry's start to get less & less detailed,
trailing off here & there until they are all together gone & I'm left with a fraction of a second of my childhood put to paper.
I wonder all this out loud & the brain of my friend Kristen starts turning...

(did I mention that Kristen has a masters in Business?)
She says to me, "Aim, that's a brilliant idea, you think alot of people would want to do that besides you?"
I chuckled at the foolishness of her question.
Uh, DUH! Of COURSE they would!
People who blog do so because they love to write,
they love to keep daily accounts of the things they cherish most in the world.
Their children!
Their families!
Their pets!
Their lives!
Her eyes got wide & she just smiled from ear to ear & said:
"Ok then, so let's do it. You've got the creative side & I've got the business end. Makes a perfect match in my opinion & really, what have we got to lose?"

I had to agree, I am creative & she is a genius with the things I know NOTHING about business wise AND really, we DIDN'T have anything to lose!
The way I saw it, I had only one thing to gain,
a better future for myself & for Ruby.
Not to mention that if this takes off like I'm hopeful it will,
I'll earn enough to claim the remainder of my ATC.
Wouldn't that be something?
*smiling*
So, we brainstormed
&
bookmyblog.com
was born.

I have some photos to upload once my camera stops being moody,
of our prototype book.
It's a mere portion of Ruby In Her Own Time... (2005) and OMG did I ever lose my mind when I first held this thing in my hands, I was shaking.
To feel,
to hold,
to open up
&
read with my own two eyes,
my blog,
this work of art that only ever became a reality because of the gift of my beautiful daughter,
right here, in my hands, IN A HUGE KICK ASS HARD COVER BOOK!
You could not have wiped that smile off my face with sand paper in that moment!
It's a rough copy, it's not how I would've set it up
(Kris did it & she isn't as versed in the joys of 'blogger' as I am, thus early exec decision, I build the books personally from now on since I know what I'm doing in that dept.)
it wasn't the image I would've used on the cover,
but none of that mattered just at that moment.
The only thing that I was allowing to register in my brain was;
"holy shit, this is Ruby's life, in book form.
Someday, when she's ready,
she can kick back & read every moment,
every last Tuesday's with Uncle Steve,
every last photo,
every silly quirk of her Momma's in bold black & white text among a sea of colorful photos,
whenever, wherever & as often as she wants.
Wow.
If that isn't a gift I just don't know what is.

You know... I know most of the time I live like I'm just like the rest of the world.
Another mom doing her daily dance of life with her child but the reality is, I do all that while living with MS.
Most times I honestly forget I have it, aside from the nights I have to give myself a shot.
But sometimes, just sometimes... my tired legs remind me it's there.
My right arm that has never been the same since I was diagnosed in 04', reminds me.
My inability to stand up straight in the shower with my eyes shut WITHOUT the help of holding onto the safety bar, reminds me.

I am so very VERY blessed thus far in my life
&
hope to be blessed for many many more years to come.
But,
just in case those 'many many' years turn out to only be 'many',
it does my heart good to know that every moment until that last 'many' will be captured in such a way that I'm leaving behind a time capsule of sorts for my little girl.
Now, in no way am I saying that a blog book replaces a mother,
because it doesn't.
But, if given the option of having no mom & no book,
or no mom but at least a series of books chronicling her childhood,
I think it's pretty clear which one I'd pick...

It's a small idea that could turn into a big giant success.
And I have one gorgeous little girl to thank for it.
Goodnight Ruby, sleep well baby,
Momma's gonna do her best to make our world a brighter place,
one blog at a time.

And to all of you,
please, feel free to add bookmyblog
to your list of links.
Share it with a friend,
have that friend tell five friends,
and so on & so forth.

I plan on having a 'referral' discount for any business that comes my way via you guys!
For instance, let's say you tell someone about us & they order a book.
Upon the successful completion of their order,
a percentage of the price of your book will be discounted from the final amount for every referral sent my way!
I haven't figured out an exact percent just yet,
that's Kristen's forte,
she crunches numbers,
I prefer crunching cereal.
;)
OOOH COCOA PEBBLES!
Crap, now I'm hungry!
GRRRRR
Ok, moving on...

About this business,
I truly have nothing but high hopes for this.
I've felt fantastic about it since day one
&
hope that you'll all want to be a part of something so near & dear to my heart,
that just thinking about it fills me with a joy that can only come from a place of pure love.
A place that each & every one of you know all too well.
It's a place you visit every time you see your child smile.
And even those of you still waiting, you too know that love, or else you would not have the strength or the patience to endure such a wait.
It's love that drives us all, isn't it?
It has to be!
So, I guess what I'm saying is,
wish me luck!
It's gonna be a fun & bumpy ride!

(And who of you thought I was pregnant?)
HA!
Don't you all know that there would need to be a
MAN
in that equation for that to even be an option?
LOL


Now I'm giggling... hehehehe!

Pssst...

...hey look,
there's a new link down there under our picture...
(wonder what that could be?)
*grin*

A Pretty Big Announcement...

...is soon to grace this blog.
Just need a little more time to be sure everything is in place prior to the big unveil.
I'm so excited I could pee my pants!
Any guesses?
*grin*
(and for the VERY VERY FEW [like two or 3] of you who actually KNOW what it is...

...NO CHEATING!

I KNOW They Mean Well...

...but I may need to see my PCP about scoring some prescription type drugs
to help get me through the 'grandparent' years!
OY VEY!

Cute pics, right?
*sigh*
On the surface, yes...

...but if you remember I just blogged about my dear girl being sick with a low grade fever
&
probably the worst cold ever, right?
Look closely at the photos,
do any of you see an actual COAT or HAT on my girl?

No really, look closer... anything? anything? COAT?
Not so much!

You know,
I know being able to leave her home with my parents is a blessing,
HOWEVER,
one assumes (and by 'one' I mean ME)
that they'll know enough to at least DRESS HER ACCORDINGLY
when it's freakin' WINTER OUT and the girl is SICK!

Seriously, just typing this I need something for my head...

(her outfit: just a sweatsuit with a onesie underneath, THAT'S IT!
Add to that a silly VEST,
um HELLO who the HELL thinks,
"ok, it's very cold out & there's snow,
the hell with my down jacket,
I'm gonna go with the VEST!"
and then just a pair of mittens & snow boots.
No wonder my girl isn't getting any better.
Free babysitting: you get what you pay for.
*sigh*)

And to all of you who don't have the luxury of having grandparents at your disposal for helping out here & there, my sympathies, and no I'm not always bitching, I love my parents very much HOWEVER (again with that however...) they just need to respect the "I'm the parent" part of this scenario, which 9 times out of 10, they don't.
I tell them to dress her warmly if they go out, they say yes, & then I get pictures back like these.
They have no boundaries with Ruby, let her do what she wants, when she wants & then question me as to why Ruby is so 'fresh' when she's with them.
I politely tell them it's because they have zero boundaries & little or no discipline when it comes to her. Children NEED rules...
and to that my father replies, quite loudly I might add:
"Amyla, she's only 3! SHE'S JUST A BABY SHE DOESN'T NEED RULES!"
See what I'm dealing with?
I again explain that if they don't establish some ground rules with Ruby, then all they've done is TEACH her that, with them, THERE ARE NONE, and therefore she'll CONTINUE to be disobedient when in their company.
They don't believe it & just think that I'm raising a 'fresh kid'...
Even after I've told them that "Mom, Dad, she doesn't do those things with me because she KNOWS she'll never get away with it. She KNOWS that Momma has rules & she knows them & abides by them or else suffer the consequences."
Again, Joe pipes in: "Oh so she's just AFRAID OF YOU, IS THAT HOW YOU PARENT? WITH FEAR!"

I don't know if it's just different generations or what, but the bottom line is, if you chose to care for her without rules, then YOU, as GRANDPARENTS will then suffer your own consequences, and if those happen to be a kid who is fresh beyond fresh with you, so be it.
Every second, of every minute of every day that Ruby is in our lives, we've been 'teaching' her through our actions. Teach her rules & right & wrong, & she'll learn that.
Teach her that she's the boss & can do no wrong in your eyes,
then trust me, she'll learn that too.
And sadly, sometimes wrong can be REALLY WRONG.


Any ass vice?
Anyone?
And while we're at it, if someones got a nice toasty winter coat lying around,
can my girl maybe borrow it till spring?
LOL
UGH~!

CNY 2008...

...The RAT!

It's wild, cuz I was born the year of the rat way back in 1972.
Not sure what it means that it's the year of the rat again,
other than the fact that I'm clearly OLDER...

If my child were feeling good today,
we'd have done something fun to honor this holiday.
But since she's sick with a fever & a raging cold complete with faucet nose,
we opted for some quality cuddle time and puzzles bought while in China.


(Believe it or not that puzzle didn't have individual provinces outlined,
I insisted on doing it after having taken it apart only ONCE
to then notice just how HARD it was to put back together without losing my MIND!)

(every time she does this puzzle, she's quick to point out:
"Look Momma! Jiang Xi! Jiang Xi! That where Ruby born!")

Also on today's list of festivities: pasta fajiole, Benadryl, Bear, magic paint, and Kai Lan!
So, not the CNY that one would associate with this holiday,
but it was ours, and quality time with my girl is a good thing no matter what!

Happy Chinese New Year my love,
Momma is so happy we're a family!

Silly Saturday...

...aren't pictures the MOST fun?!


PS. for those curious, the tubular things on their heads,
according to miss Rubes,
are their "SPACE HELMETS"
and she ALWAYS makes sure to have them on PRIOR to going into her "SPACE SHIP",
aka: her pop up tent in our TV room.

She'll ask to fly to the moon,
get 'ready' with helmets,
crawl in & zip everything up then Momma promptly starts to help with the count down
and shakes the hell out of her "ROCKETSHIP" so as to mimic takeoff
&
I can tell you,
I've never seen her happier then when her imagination is at full throttle.
She describes to Bear,
"Bear, dis is da moon.
Be careful Bear,
don'wanna hafyou fwoat away from Ruby,
stay cwose Bear, I keepa you safe!"

I don't know what's up with the 'keepa' you safe,
but I'm chalking it up to being Italian?
LOL