She said to WEAR YELLOW!

I'm planning on wearing a pale yellow sweater set to the funeral on Saturday. I once had a discussion about wearing black to funerals with my Grandma. She told me when she died, to please wear yellow to hers. I said, no! That would be odd and I'd look out of place. She said that black was a sad color and we should wear yellow as a funeral is a celebration of life and that she would be with Jesus and that would be happy...I have a yellow polo for Josh and a cute yellow dress for Claire so please spread the word to wear yellow! :) Thanks! Maria

It is addicting!

!IT IS ADDICTING! It is a chemical dependency...breastfeeding that is...she is so right! http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,449925,00.html I love seeing stars who breastfeed and feel comfy enough to talk about it! YAY! I have read about how breastfeeding triggers feel-good hormones that help mom relax and feel better. Josh sent me this story. I DIG IT when other people find breastfeeding related stories to send me. I also read about how breastfeeding moms can't let their babies cry very long because of this whole addicting thing. I think it's nature at it's finest. It wants us to want our baby to be happy and content! YAY GOD!

When it rains it POURS

So...I took Claire to the doctor this am after calling in sick to our story-time. She has a double ear infection. WHAT??? NO! WHY??? BREASTFED BABIES AREN'T SUPPOSED TO GET SICK. EVER. lol. RIGHT. Wouldn't that be nice...

I felt sick too. So I went to another appointment later for me. I have bronchitis.

So we both got scripts for Zithromax.

And we're going to have a LONG busy funeral filled weekend.

BOO! :(

blargh...

May She Rest in Peace

It seems like we were just there. And she was watching Claire play and enjoying it sooo much.
I'll always treasure our last visit. These are the last photos I'll have with her on this earth. It was just less than a month ago, and we were going to see her on Turkey Day, too. :(

My maternal Grandma passed today. She laid down on her bed shortly before lunch and never got up. :(


LaVerne Joy (Hill) Mitmoen was born March 23, 1926, in Bismarck, North Dakota to John Hill and Magdalena (Kerzmann) Hill. She grew up on a farm near Rose Glen, ND with her brother Ervin and her beloved sister, Gladys Arlene (who both preceded her in death), Viola Goldan, and numerous cousins. She was baptized, confirmed, and married in the Lutheran faith. Her father was elected McLean County judge, and they moved to Washburn, ND. She graduated from High School in 1943. She entered nurses-training at Bismarck Hospital and became a Registered Nurse. After working a couple years, she attended the Lutheran Bible Institute where she met fellow student Vernon Barton Mitmoen. They married August 26, 1950, in Washburn, ND. After graduating from LBI in Minneapolis, MN, they moved to Canton South Dakota. They were blessed with three children who survive. Victor Leroy Mitmoen (Lynn) of Kenosha, WI; Arlene Joy Gross (Wilfried) of Valparaiso, IN; and John Barton Mitmoen (Mika Leckrone) of Middleton, WI. Grandchildren who survive are David Gross (Kristin Busse); Maria Joy Gross Starr (Joshua) and great-grand daughter, Claire Joy Starr; Holly Gross; Richard Gross; Kami Jo Mitmoen Sanner (Anthony); Michael Barton Mitmoen; and Mark Victor Mitmoen.After living in Duluth, MN, they moved to WI and then N. Manchester, IN. She was a member of Zion Lutheran. LaVerne worked as a nurse and then became the Director of Nurses at Timbercrest Retirement Community. She was employed there twenty years. Their retirement was enjoyed by many travels and wintering in Arizona, while summering in Duluth, MN at Caribou Lake and were members of Bethlehem Lutheran in Twig, MN. They returned to Timbercrest as residents in August 2007.LaVerne entered her eternal rest with her Lord on November 12, 2008. She was in her home with her husband of fifty-eight years at her side. Memorial Services at Timbercrest on Friday, November 14, 2008. Funeral Services at Ellestad Funeral Home in Mt. Horeb, WI, on Saturday, November 15, 2008 at 2 pm. Visitation at 1.
Memorial contributions may be sent to Timbercrest Retirement Community, Visiting Nurses Association/Hospice of Valparaiso, IN, or Bethlehem Lutheran in MN.

Stupid Walmart

Stupid stupid stupid people. This is why they work at Wal-Mart: http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=67705&catid=2

Grandma Mitmoen

My Grandma Mitmoen died. :(

This guy needs to be arrested...

This is an insane video:



I mean...wow. Nobody swing a kid around this much at this age! Apparently, they are trying to find the guy: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=86e_1225055845&comment_order=newest_first

Breastmilk Cookies

Here is a recipe for Breastmilk Cookies. No, weirdos, it is not made with breastmilk!

It is supposed to help increase a woman's supply OF breastmilk! http://blog.thenatureschild.com/2008/06/no-cookies-dont-lactate.html
They sound yummy!

Look What I Made!

Hey! Look what I made! Yeah RIGHT...I WISH! Actually, there is a cool contest going on. http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/2008/11/win-1-of-3-quilts.html I'm supposed to tell you to enter, but please be lazy and don't. Then that means I'll have a better chance at winning. What a great advertising technique! Word of mouth...and it's free for them!!!

Our little Monkey

Claire likes to climb. She can now get on our upstairs couches. This is bad. She wants to get on top of the backrest pillows and play with the blinds because the blinds make a wonderful metallic noise! Her eyes are shut here, I know. I didn't want to take a whole bunch of her on the couch to encourage her climbing on it. I'm actually trying to get her to NOT climb on stuff. Today at the library she climbed over the back of a little kid chair to sit in it because it was turned around. I am sure she will continue to surprise me with feats of daring-ness that scare me!

I actually wanted to take a picture of the back of this outfit. It has a butt ruffle. I love butt ruffle outfits. They are too freaking cute, and pretty soon she'll outgrow the butt ruffle sizes...so sad!

Growing so fast!

So because I posted some pictures of Claire laying on the changing table, brushing her teeth recently, I decided to look for a couple old pictures of the same "pose." Here is one from when she was 2.5 months old, last October:

And here is another one from last December after Glama Lynn and Grandpa Jason got Claire the wipe warmer. She was 4 months old:

Kitchen Grease Fires

You may have seen this before, but I recently saw it again circulating the email route. It's a good reminder as to what to do with a grease fire!


This is from the email that I got:

An instructor would don a fire suit and using an 8 oz cup at the end of a 10 foot pole toss water onto the grease fire. The results got the attention of the students. The water, being heavier than oil, sinks to the bottom where it instantly becomes superheated.

The explosive force of the steam blows the burning oil up and out. On the open field, it became a thirty foot high fireball that resembled a nuclear blast. Inside the confines of a kitchen, the fire ball hits the ceiling and fills the entire room.

Also, do not throw sugar or flour on a grease fire. One cup of either creates the explosive force of two sticks of dynamite. This is a powerful message-watch the video and don't forget what you see.

Tell your whole family about this video. Or better yet, send the YouTube link to them!

Pacifier Risk

Josh alerted me to a MySpace bulletin from a HS friend, so I thought I'd post it here as well. Basically, the post made me realize that pacifiers can be a choking hazard. As if speech delays, increased risks of ear infections, and risking early weaning weren't enough...


From: Josh Price
Date: Nov 7, 2008 11:00 AM
Subject: Soothie pacifiers
Body:
Just a fyi to all my mommy friends, I know we all use these, and I until this morning have been a huge fan. We have the blue older baby ones that we use on a regular basis. Well this morning Zade somehow got the whole thing in his mouth and lodged in his throat. BE CAREFUL, not only was it very difficult to remove with him throwing up everywhere. I now hate them and think they aren't worth it.I mean what if that happened at night?!?! Pass this on as a warning, just in case.

SO PASS IT ON!

Breastmilk fights Asthma

Here is an interesting article about how breastmilk helps fight asthma: http://express.co.uk/posts/view/70450/ While I always delight in reading articles in the media about breastfeeding, I always look at them critically, too. For example, this one says that you need to breastfeed at least for 4 months to help ward off asthma. That makes it seem like there would be no benefit in continuing after 4 months...cause what's the point or benefit after that. That's the casual argument that one might hear all too often. Thanks Dad for sending that to me! :) I'd heard that breastmilk reduced asthma before, but I did not know WHY.

Brushing Baby Teeth

Here Claire is chewing on her toothbrush after I brushed her teeth. She likes the way it feels!
Look how long she is! She takes up her whole changing table area! Good thing her legs bend!

"Brusha! Brusha! Brusha! Brushing my teeth is so much fun!"

Nursery Rhyme-Babies Don't Keep

Babies Don't Keep

I hope that my child, looking back on today
Will remember a mother who had time to play;
Because children grow up while you're not looking,
There are years ahead for cleaning and cooking.
So, quiet now cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I'm nursing my baby, and babies don't keep.

Poem submitted by Cheryl Howarth .....(author unknown)
Midi "Dreams" sequence by Margi Harrell - www.mathesonfamily.ca

I got this rhyme from this site: http://www.nurseryrhymes4u.com/NURSERY_RHYMES/Page_869.html So there are many versions of the "Babies don't Keep...now I'm going to rock mine to sleep...etc."

Babies Don't Keep

Claire with Daddy in the rocking chair that my mom picked out years ago. It rocked me and my siblings, and now it's rocking her!
Claire reading GOODNIGHT MOON with Daddy. It is one of the best night-night books that there is. It's also really repetitive which is very important to little ones! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodnight_Moon

MAH! MAH! (MORE!) She still signs more but is getting better and better at saying it!

Now I want to share a poem about how Babies "don't keep." AKA: they grow up too fast. I think I realized this quickly! They change so fast! If you haven't read this poem before, you'll love it. If you have, maybe you haven't seen the whole thing. I know I'd only heard the last verse until I went to google it and post it. SO YAY! I did not write this, although I am a huge fan of writing (and reading poems) So Here you go:

Song for a Fifth Child
Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth

empty the dustpan, poison the
moth,

hang out the washing and butter the bread,

sew on a button and make up a
bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery,
blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(lullaby,
rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(pat-a-cake,
darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for
stew

and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

but I'm playing Kanga and this is my
Roo.

Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby
loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

for children grow
up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs.

Dust go to sleep.

I'm
rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

by Ruth Hulburt
Hamilton