Two beautiful geese!

The Aluminum Bat

2011-05-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

Will has a new bat, the Nitro.

7 o' clock

Will: Mom, can you pitch to me?
Mom: I'm not dressed.
Will: You can go out like that.
Mom: No, I can't. Plus I have chores. Just wait a little while.

7:30

Will (at the door with the Nitro in hand): Can you pitch to me, now?
Mom: I have to eat breakfast.
Will: You can have a picnic.
Mom (assertively): You have to know something about Mom. I like to eat my breakfast slowly and savor my coffee.

8 o'clock
Mom: Let's go. I'm ready.

9 o'clock
50 swings and just getting started...

WILL

2010-02-25T14:17:00.000-08:00

It's daunting to write a post after so long, especially since if I were you, I would have left my readership quite some time ago. But I know the kids keep you coming back for more (at least after I email you and tell you that I have put up some pictures!).

Will wants this post to be all about him. Blake is upstairs: out of sight, out of mind! The feeling is probably mutual, but all is not lost! Tom, Blake, Will, and I have the understanding that sometimes brothers hold hands, and sometimes they don't love each other. As far as we are concerned, we are happy they have plenty of times when they are holding hands.

Now, back to Will:

The Holy Grail of allergy-free cooking...the multi-grain sandwich loaf!

2009-03-01T11:46:00.000-08:00

We did it! We finally faced the stress of replacing half the ingredients in a loaf of bread. "The bread was yummy!" says Blake. "Thanks, mommy."

Tom wants me to add a few things to this post. First, yes, it is gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, corn-free, and egg-free. Second, he wants to be sure "y'all" know that the stuff we used to buy from the store--the "brown-rice loaf"--tastes slightly less savory than plywood. (It's also been compared to a used sponge, after it has dried up.) He thinks it is practically miraculous that I came up with anything, let alone something that tastes this good. It defies reason. (Who couldn't adore a husband like that!)

I'm almost embarrassed to add that when faced with a piece of the store-bought brown loaf as an option for a sandwich today (because we devoured the homemade loaf yesterday), Blake declined, looking at my "sandwich" with disgust. He didn't say another word about bread today. (Hurry up UPS man with my new guar gum. The whole thing will literally fall apart without you.)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-23T05:04:00.000-08:00

On the one hand, it's still cold. On the other hand, we finally learned a good "allergy-free" recipe for cut-out sugar cookies--just in time for V'day. Here is a picture of the butterflies, hearts, and flowers we made. (Blake was pretty excited about the results, so he had to take a picture. I think he might be a budding photographer.) There's also a picture of the boys in Olean at Christmas time.

Live free or die!

2008-11-10T11:47:00.001-08:00

We made it to New Hampshire! Blake and Will love it here. This is the place for social children. They have friends of all ages everywhere. For two kids who can eat a combined 5 items at the dining hall (one of which is water), they sure love going to see their friends.

Occasionally, they ride to the dining hall in style in the battery-powered jeep they got in September. We live about as far from the central part of campus (and the dining hall) as you can live while still technically being on campus so having some extra power helps!

I had to include a picture of Halloween fun. They made pirate hats and wands from a kit the other night. Here is a picture of them on their pirate ship. In pirate fashion, Blake had just stolen my "princess wand" and was celebrating on the ship. Will was enjoying a jump on the couch, too!

The Lake Park

2008-05-22T20:20:00.000-07:00

For a week or two Blake was rehearsing the things he would miss about Kenosha. The Lake Park is high up on the list!

Will, who was at Kindermusik while Blake was at the park, will be very happy to discover that he can still drum on anything...anywhere! Blake will soon discover that he can run anywhere, too.

Will and the tricycle

2008-05-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

Will loves the tricycle. His single-minded intent to procure the trike every time Blake left its seat prompted us to buy Blake his "big boy" bike. Now the tricycle is all Will's. He can't reach the pedals yet, so his center of gravity is in a very bad place for balancing the bike, but he is so determined. Here is a photo documentary of the scene that replays itself daily (frequently many times daily).

It was warm here once...

2008-05-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

About one month ago, the boys were wearing short sleeves outside. Today we had to don our winter coats, hats, and gloves again. This was no fun! We still made it to two different parks and rode the new bike around all day, but it was COLD!

As we are about to leave Kenosha, I thought I would reminisce a little bit. Here is a picture of the boys on their favorite mulch hill outside our apartment.

Blake on a Bike

2008-05-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

Today we bought Blake's first two-wheeled bike. What a blast! We came right home and assembled it. This gave Tom a chance to make dinner while Blake and I worked on the bike. Tom came outside to bring Blake and Will a "picnic" dinner. He looked at Blake with the socket wrench in his hand and said, "There is Blake Kemmler!" Sure enough, he has looked like Tom from the start, but thankfully he has the knack for tools and construction from the Kemmlers. I'm glad he took after me on this one! (Tom takes no offense at this blog entry, and he intends no offense to the many Simpsons who, unlike him, are good with tools.)

Bathtime Fun!

2008-04-15T12:57:00.000-07:00

Not much to say right now, but I couldn't resist sending a little bathtime pic your way!

The Domes

2008-02-09T13:55:00.000-08:00

Here in the Milwaukee area, it is freezing...actually with the wind chill factor, it has been WAY BELOW freezing. So last Friday we traveled to the Domes. (We've been spending a lot of time in Milwaukee and really loving it.) The Domes were a warm place to be on a cold and snowy day. There are three enclosed domes each with it's own climate. One is tropical, one is arid, and one is...a miniature train set running around the dome through an interpretation of several scenes from Gulliver's Travels. (I don't know what climate that would be exactly, but it was warm enough that we didn't have to wear jackets.)

Here are some pictures. The third child in the last picture is our friend Liam. The pictures are cloudy because the camera lens kept fogging up.

Pancakes

2008-01-20T12:31:00.000-08:00

My friend Mollie has been urging me to share some of my reflections on cooking for my two geese. She has been such a great friend in supporting me through this very stressful culinary and lifestyle adventure. She has also been helping me keep my center and remember who I am (besides, or in addition to, a mom!). She has already posted my pancake essay on her blog. Now I am following suit. I hope it provides support, companionship, information, or interest, to some.

Pancakes

Every morning, I make a double batch of our family staple, the buckwheat-amaranth pancake. Both my sons breastfeed, but they are getting older. More and more they come to rely on the buckwheat-amaranth pancakes.

Like nursing, pancakes seem to nurture their hearts and souls as well as nourish their bodies. My two and a half year old can feed himself, but he always wants me to feed him the pancakes. We sit on the couch together. He asks me, “Come enjoin my party on the couch, mama!” “Enjoin” must be a combination of “enjoy” and “join.” Now my 10 month old eats pancakes, too. I’m really excited he’s eating! He hasn’t wanted to eat any solid food until a few weeks ago. Now he eats “nahnah” (pancakes) a couple of times a day.

The pancake batter I make is very thin. (It’s my recipe and I’ve decided I like it that way!) I also have to make the pancakes fairly small so the pancakes will cook through before the outsides are black, because they take forever to cook. Since they are small, I make about 50 a day, give or take.

I was once a feminist. And now I make pancakes. Pancakes. I spend a significant portion of my day making pancakes… ¾ cup of buckwheat flour… ¼ cup of amaranth flour…I used to preach every Sunday in three rural churches. I did a funeral for a mother of three the day after September 11th. I was a spiritual leader for hundreds of people. And now I make pancakes… ¼ teaspoon sea salt… ¼ teaspoon nutmeg….

What will my two geese think of me when they are older? Am I a feminist now? I measure safflower oil (2 Tbsp.), organic this time, bought with money we don’t have. Money I don’t bring into the family. And agave nectar (1 Tbsp). And water…lots of water. 1 1/3 cups of water. I bathe the dry ingredients in water. I baptize each batch praying it will give my family a rebirth. When my two sons were baptized, I truly believed God’s grace would enfold them their whole lives. As I pour the water into the batter, I wonder how God will care for them. Over time, God might make them whole. Their spirits are strong! Their bodies are becoming stronger… Like taking daily communion, each meal we eat brings us closer to wholeness.

What will my sons say about me when they are older? Will they think they had a hopelessly backward mother who dropped her degrees and dreams for a 50-gallon drum of homemade batter? What will history say? Sometimes I imagine making it into a history book. Will I be described as a warmed-over version of the stereotypical 1950s housewife? Or will I be a pioneer in the movement to feed our children truly healthy food?

What feminist spends her time making 50 pancakes a day for a family of four? I don’t know. I have never met her. And yet, I think I am her.

They say the personal is the political. Every pancake I make means two cents less to agribusiness, two cents more for justice. Two cents more for love. I make 50 pancakes a day for my children. Making pancakes is my gift of love. It is personal, political, and faithful. It is my maternal response to my sons and my political statement to a fast-food culture. It is my faithful response in a world longing for more love, more care, and more creativity. I am a mom, a feminist mom. And I want to make pancakes for my sons.

Thanksgiving love...

2007-11-24T06:22:00.000-08:00

We had a very fun and relaxing Thanksgiving! The boys all played in the snow soon after we woke up. It was our first snow of the winter and Will's first chance to play in the snow. He had a great time, but got very chilly after falling a few times.

Will slept through lunch, but I don't think he would have been interested in the food or the conversation for very long. I think he will be more into table time next year or the year after. Our spread was delicious and representative of our bounty. We tried lentils for the first time in months. Lentils are my favorite. Everyone else in the family opted for the chickpeas. Tom loved the maple-glazed baby carrots (frozen carrots cooked in skillet with maple syrup). Blake loved the french-fried potatoes. (They were locally grown without pesticides and herbicides, and not sprayed, washed or waxed after harvest. I bought their last 20 pounds a couple of months ago.) I reveled in the lentils...did I mention that? And nobody had any allergic reactions...It helps to stick to what we know is safe!

It only took me an hour to make the whole meal. There are some really good things about this allergy!

Now I've got to run to a playdate with Blake in the living room...

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T17:13:00.001-08:00

We are sad not to be with you, our family and friends, this Thanksgiving. We are having a quiet (with 2 toddlers, ha!) Thanksgiving here at home. We are looking forward to some time together to play and relax and enjoy some yummy treats. We love you and wish you all a joyful, celebratory day.

P.S. In case you are wondering, we will be eating buckwheat spaghetti with a chickpea & tomato sauce, maple-glazed carrots, steamed brussels sprouts, butternut squash, a version of pumpkin pie, and french-fried potatoes (everyone's favorite).

Not the collard greens, but...

2007-11-19T07:19:00.000-08:00

Good news--I have to retract my post on the collard greens. They are only washed in chlorine. Bad news--after a week of trial and error, we are all three reacting to corn-fed meats. Maybe after a time we will be less sensitive to this, but it's ugly now.

King Corn Challenge!

2007-11-07T08:52:00.000-08:00

So far on my blog, I haven't gone into details about our food allergies. (My family lives far away, and I don't want them to worry.)
We seem to have gotten a handle on the culinary aspect of our lives, so I'm going to start blogging about it...a little. Conveniently, I have something great to report today. The guys who made "King Corn" have presented a challenge to avoid corn for the month of November. We have been doing this since August with great success! Finally, my oldest son's allergy symptoms have receded, almost disappeared. They probably would disappear if it were actually possible to avoid all corn! Anyway, it hasn't been easy, so I'm glad to see public recognition of the difficulty in avoiding corn.

Click on the "King Corn Challenge" link for more information!

Family Picture

2007-11-03T18:01:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of all four of us tonight! This is our first family portrait in forever-probably since Will was born!

Will's 1st Birthday!

2007-11-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

William turned 1 today! It's hard to believe...

Well, I wanted to go ahead and attach a photo for those of you who are eager to join in the celebration.
We missed you all!

Lots of love,
Alex

Will is walking!

2007-10-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it, but Will is walking. He took his first steps about 3 weeks ago. And then he finally took off this past weekend. He has been taking steps in the double digits! I have a new computer finally, and I'm going to try to get a video clip out to his admiring public. (You'll notice from the last post that I was finally able to get some pictures up. Don't forget to look--I posted them before this message.) My computer is a Mac so it should not be too terribly hard to do video, but I wouldn't hold your breath (especially since we haven't shot the video footage yet!).

Park and Pics!

2007-10-09T18:19:00.000-07:00

Tom has been taking the boys to several neighborhood parks during Mom's "free time." A couple of weeks ago he decided to take a few pictures. There will be more pictures from last weekend coming soon. We went to our favorite park in Milwaukee for a picnic and some play time. The boys have been really cute.

Pictures!!!

2007-06-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

In the first picture, Blake is offering Will a hug!

Happy Mother's Day!

2007-05-13T13:22:00.000-07:00

I spent this morning herding geese for a Mother's day picture of Blake and Will together. Blake refused to sit on the couch next to Will! I tried to compromise by asking them to sit on the floor together...more like "together". I'm sure you can imagine Blake leaning away from Will. But they were close enough for me to be pleased and for me NOT to ask them to do that again anytime soon!

On another note, Blake remains the one in the family who understands Will the best. He frequently tells us what Will wants when he starts to fuss or cry. Yesterday's situation was touching. Will was crying in the car and none of us really knew why. Blake ventured a guess: maybe Will wants to hear "Kimberly's mix". Tom had been blasting his cousin's band's CD. (They are the Mad Dukes if anyone wants to check them out on line--they are great!) Our friend Kimberly sent us a more mellow mix that we all love, too. We put Kimberly's CD in and immediately Will started talking, cooing, and went to sleep.

I am slowly learning what it means to be brothers. You think I would know, having 4 of my own, but, now, I have a rare and beautiful point of view of two brothers...that of a mother.

Praise be to "Elmo's Potty Time"!

2007-05-08T13:31:00.000-07:00

I was walking down the hall today when I saw Blake sitting on the potty. (He uses the big potty with a child insert, now, so he can be like Daddy.) He told me he was putting his poop in the hole in the potty. And he did! He took care of it all himself including the flushing!!! (Ok, I had to help with the wiping.) Thank you, Elmo! The video even teaches kids to wipe the sink out with a towel after they clean their hands. Trust me, I am not being paid to advertise, but the video is great! With songs like "Trying, trying again" and "Accidents Happen" and a hip-hop-accompanied stroll through a toilet paper factory, we couldn't go wrong!

Will, on the other hand, is having a much drearier day. He received his 6 months vaccinations last night. He has been sleeping them off all day and seems to be a little better now. He has been having a great time lately, though, sitting up and playing on the floor. He has a little car toy he can "drive" while he sits up. The exersaucer has also been a big hit. Tom unearthed it from the garage on Sunday.

It's a beautiful day here! Very hot!

Rolling toward the Stanley Cup...

2007-04-27T18:39:00.000-07:00

Will started rolling from his back to his front this week. He is ready to go, now! I think he is actually a little frustrated by his inability to move forward. What will we do when he can crawl?!

Meanwhile, Blake is moving forward with his language skills. He has been saying, "Go Sabres," and "Let's Go Buffalo" since the playoffs began. But tonight he learned a new phrase, "Jaromir Jagr, Get out of here." (He calls him "Jamer" like his mom.) He is a budding hockey fan!

We're all going to the park almost daily. Will had his first swing in the baby swing this week, and Blake has taken off like a confident two-year-old. He no longer needs our help for much of anything except playful companionship, of course.

bananas and coffee

2007-04-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

Will rolled over from his front to his back yesterday! He loves to play, now. He sits in his high chair and plays with toys while I cook and clean the kitchen. It's so much easier than doing everything one-handed! Maybe in a few weeks we will give him some banana to play with...

This morning Blake told me that he is going to drive an APUS (UPS) truck when he gets bigger. He doesn't need any help from Mommy either! And he is going to have "a cup of coffee a day." He told me this while he was naked and climbing over the back of the living room chair. We're potty-training. ;)

Today we are trying to prove that spring is here by going to the park for the fifth day in a row. It's beautiful!

Missed you!

2007-04-18T07:56:00.000-07:00

I've missed writing to all of you! We're back online (onblog? I'm sure there is a technical word for that)! I'm planning to charge ahead in prose. I know you want pictures, but given my computer's deficits, it's words or nothing. Seriously, I will post pictures occasionally, but the drive that my camera hooks up to is dead. (It's a ton of work to do it another way.)

We've been on a hike, of sorts, lately. We've been blazing a path through the forest of food allergies/insensitivities/intolerances. Others have made their own inroads through these woods, but we have discovered that no two children follow the same allergic trail (nor do they leave the same signs for subsequent hikers). We have had a ton of help from other moms online,but the mysterious nature of this hike has left us baffled. I have been using all my free time to track down the culinary offenders. Our own two boys, Blake and Will, do not even use the same color paint for their trails, so it has been difficult to follow their lead when figuring out what foods to avoid.

However long this journey may be (and it's far from over), there is good news! We have made it to a meadow on the top of a ridge. We can see beautiful mountains from here, the sun is shining, and we are ready to set up camp! We have found this resting place by eliminating dairy products and gluten. Ok, so we have eliminated a ton of other things, too, but some of these we will be able to add back in when we are ready to pick up camp and keep hiking. The time for adding foods back into our diet will come after we are all healthy. We hope that will be soon.

We've appreciated all of your support. Stay tuned for updates!

Our New Arrival

2006-11-08T18:30:00.000-08:00

Blake's little brother, Will, is here! He came Friday morning. He's awfully cute. Blake likes to point at him and say, "Came out Mommy's tummy." When Will sleeps, snorts, or cries, Blake says, "Baby sad" or "Will sad." So Blake thinks Will is sad pretty much all the time, but we try to let Blake know that Will is actually pretty content, even happy, most of the time. In fact, Will is sleeping and eating very well so far. "Baby happy. Will happy."

Happy Halloween!

2006-11-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

While we have been waiting for "little brother" to arrive, we have been celebrating Halloween. Twice, in fact. We went trick-or-treating with our good friends in their neighborhood here in town. Then, last night we went to the outlets to trick-or-treat at the stores. Blake had such a great time the first night, how could we pass up a second opportunity!

Blake was a little red M&M. He loved walking around and looking at all the costumes. He was especially intrigued by the "scary masks." You can see him improvising with his own scary mask in the first picture here.

Happy Halloween! (Or All Saints' Day as it is by now!)

Little Brother

2006-10-19T13:35:00.000-07:00

Most of you know by now that Blake will be having a little brother soon. What you probably don't know is that little brother is under his shirt. For example when he is wearing the shirt pictured above, he would tell you, when asked, that little brother is under his basketball shirt. I am eager to see how he understands little brother's transition into this world. My guess is that he will frequently be seen wearing the above expression! I am hoping that he will also feel much love and joy for his new playmate.

Words!

2006-05-12T05:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I have written! You all have probably given up on me! But I thought it was time for a linguistic update. Blake is talking up a storm! Some of his favorite words are ball (ba-ba) and bird (ba-ba). But seriously, he said tennis to me after I handed him the tennis ball this morning--without any prompting! He says lots of food words: pretzel, oatmeal, toast, eggs. He also likes to say park, walk and rest. We love talking to him, and he seems to really enjoy talking to us also.

Here are a couple of pictures from Tom's graduation weekend in Charlottesvile:

Sorry! I just spent a long time (much to Blake's dismay) trying to get photos off of my new Walgreen's CD. It didn't work. You'll have to use your imagination. Think Blake in khaki, orange and blue with the UVA rotunda in the background. Add a really cute smile and you'll get the idea.

Give me five!

2006-02-23T17:52:00.000-08:00

I was reading something to Blake in my lap today that included the number 5. After I read "2005," he said "Fi, Fi." I didn't get it at first, so he grabbed my hand, unfolded my fingers, held up my hand, and gave me five. Then he smiled. Every so often for the rest of the evening, he would say "Fi, Fi" to Tom and me and expect us to return the gesture.

So much talking lately! I love it!

Finally, some pictures!

2006-01-29T11:36:00.000-08:00

Blake has had a birthday! He is now 1 year old. Most important, he is sleeping longer at night...generally. I have included several pictures: birthday party, first snowfall he could really play in, and one just because it's cute!

I made mini-cupcakes for Blake's birthday and we had a couple of his friends and their parents over. It was a small, but very fun party. More recently, we had a snowfall of about 8 inches. Blake loved it! Well, he loved it when it was falling and he could still walk around in it. He couldn't maneuver very well in 8 inches of snow.

Blake loves playing outside. Every evening when we bring him in for dinner, he starts to cry. But it doesn't take him too long to perk up and realize that the inside can be fun, too. Speaking of inside fun...we started baby gymnastics on Saturday. O my gosh! He loves it! He was the only baby who split for the trampoline when class was over and we were supposed to be leaving. And the only baby to cry, cry, cry the whole way through the parking lot to the car. It's not like him to cry like that, but being forced to leave an inside baby gym is worth a few tears.

Tears have been provoked in part this week by the first molar. These molars are not to be messed with. We recommend OTC drugs and lots of TLC. Don't even think we are getting any SLEEP!

Love to you all.

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-26T10:33:00.000-08:00

We miss you, our friends and family! We have been thinking about you during these special days.

A quick report: Blake is walking quite proficiently these days. He's been chasing cats at Tom's parents. He can actually say "cat," too!

Love from all of us.

Stroller pushing: In the Olympics?

2005-11-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

Blake's latest hobby is pushing his own Graco Metrolite stroller around outside. He has the endurance and stamina of some of the greatest Olympic athletes! I've included a couple of pictures. As you will see in one, he is open to diversions, but for the most part he focuses intently on moving the stroller from place to place for as much as 20 minutes at a time.

We are having fun with him and wondering if this is a precursor to walking! :)

Pictures!

2005-11-24T12:34:00.000-08:00

I won't waste your time with words. I know the pictures are what you want!!!

Bulletin: New teeth useful for eating!!!

2005-11-12T06:45:00.000-08:00

We've reached a new milestone! Blake can feed himself toast and pancakes without my having to break them into bite-sized pieces. I think this development has been assisted by his incoming teeth. He FINALLY has all four top front teeth. Although it seems obvious to me now, I hadn't realized prior to yesterday that he would be able to bite food with these new teeth. He had his first animal cracker at a "Baby Einstein Party" at one of the county libraries. He looked so grown up as he actually took bites out of the cracker removing each limb systematically. He also stole a piece of toast off of my plate yesterday morning at breakfast and just started eating it. This morning we gave him a pancake. He promptly folded it up and started taking bites. He uses the back of his non-feeding hand to finish the process by shoving the food into his mouth.

Photo Update: The port that we plug the camera into on the computer to transfer pictures won't download the pictures directly onto the computer. I've reinstalled the camera software twice to no avail. I now have to circumvent a few things to download so it takes me longer. Sorry for the delay!

Saving(s) Time, Losing Sleep

2005-11-01T05:27:00.000-08:00

I have never considered Daylight Savings Time to be an issue. Until last weekend. I'm just wondering when Blake will pick up on our artificial attempt to change time. Since Sunday, we've been waking up at 4 a.m. When you think about it, it's really like waking up at 5 (if one's body hasn't adjusted to the time change yet). And it IS 5 on the east coast. But anyway you look at it, I'm having a hard time considering waking up at 4 normal for a 10 month old. I have had no luck convincing him it's too early! Not with nursing, boring CNN, or my napping on the couch while he plays. So if you are awake on the east coast at five, you can think of us!

Food update: Blake loves my whole wheat pancakes! This makes me so happy!

Wisconsin's Prairie

2005-10-18T15:00:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we went to the largest managed prairie in Southeast Wisconsin (Bong Recreational Park). Here are some pictures of Blake and the Prairie. These are the most recent pictures we have of Blake, who turns 10 months old today.

No More Pureed Foods

2005-10-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Blake's first meal without any baby food! He ate lunch like a little adult. He loves wheat bread. He ate half a slice, some cubed pears, some petite pois (or "little peas" for those like me who don't speak French), and some grated carrots. It sounds very healthy, doesn't it? And it was, until the post-lunch period. I was eating lunch with the rest of the Mom's Group, when Blake ripped a chip right out of my hands! I never intended for him to taste Lay's potato chips at 10 months, but he was one happy baby!

Does twice make a pattern?

2005-10-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

We are always asking how many times Blake has to do something the same way for it to be a legitimate pattern. We have decided that after 11 days of the same going-to-bed routine (with slight modification for a two-night stay in Iowa), a pattern has been established. For me, this is wonderful. A bed time of 7:30 for Blake means I can be asleep by 8:30 or 9. This probably sounds boring to many of you, but as a morning person, it is all I have ever dreamed of. Now, I have a good excuse: I have to be up early with the baby! :)

It remains to be seen whether two posts make a pattern...

Picture update: Erik came through for me with directions for picture posting. This is from when Blake was 6 months, but it is the most recent one I can find right now. The others must be on my camera. It works for my picture-posting test, and it's cute!

Our first post...

2005-10-10T18:00:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing I have a technically-inclined brother-in-law, or I never would have attempted to keep in touch with family and friends with a blog. Erik also keeps a blog on this site, and he doesn't know it yet, but if I get into dire trouble or maybe even if I just have writer's block, I'm calling him!

Tom suggested that I start a blog to share an important piece of information with anyone who wants to know. It's about flax seed meal! Blake had to go on vitamins with iron last week. Given former issues with constipation, I headed this one off at the trail. We started with a little flax seed meal with his breakfast everyday. That and some additional water, and things are moving along just fine. I don't want to begin my blogging career with a reputation for too much talk about poop, so that's all I have to say about that.

I hope to figure out how to post pictures sometime before Blake's first birthday. For now, I hope words will suffice. Blake is teething...again...or still. He already has two teeth on the bottom. One has pushed through on the top. We are awaiting the arrival of three more.

I'm eager to see what a "posting" on our site looks like, so that's all for now!