Llama Llama

One of Chloe's favorite books right now is Llama Llama Mad at Mama, she also likes Llama Llama Red Pajama. Red Pajama is the original Llama Llama book but for some reason we got that one last.  We also have Llama Llama Misses Mama, Llama Llama Nighty Night, and Llama Llama Wakey Wake, we like our Llama's in this house.  So when I found out that Llama Llama was going to be at the Library, we had to go!

It was so much fun!  All the kids in our group did really well.  Chloe mouthed the words to the book as the librarian read the story she was so into the whole experience.  Have I mentioned that I really really love this age?

None of the pictures really turned out.  I hate my camera!!!  I should have grabbed Jim's but I wanted something small and easy to carry.  But we still have great memories!

St. Patrick's Day Fun

Other than wearing green we did not do much in the way of "traditional" celebrating.  We spent our day at the park and then McDonalds for lunch.   

I took some video and Jim got some great pictures that I am sure he will be posting in the near future.  

Chloe enjoyed ketchup and the cheese off of her cheese burger at lunch.  

 I tried to tempt her with a fry :)

Then it was nap time.  I don't think she could fit anymore "friends" in her bed.

Hope everyone had a wonderful day!

Curing Infertility...Some People Have All The Answers.

You over hear conversations all the time in super markets, coffee shops and other public places.  Most of the time they are just background noise and sometimes they make you chuckle and sometime the just get under your skin.  This post is about the under the skin type.  I was getting a coffee the other day and the customer in front of me was having a conversation with the barista about a mutual friend of theirs.  They were not keeping their voices low so catching on to the whole conversation was unavoidable.  I am sure they thought they were doing nothing wrong, they were not holding up the line so no big deal, right?  Well it was the subject matter that really irked me and since I am too polite and/or don’t know how to make them aware of the issue, I decide to blog about it for everyone to read.

They were discussing in detail the efforts of a couple, that they both knew, to have a child.  If I had known this couple I am sure I could have easily identified them, but I did not.  At the end of the conversation detailing every step this couple had taken, of which I am sure they really have no idea what has happened, the barista made a comment that had me a more than a little perturbed.  She said “they just need to stop trying so hard and let go and let God and then it (pregnancy) will happen”  Ok I was more than perturbed, I kind of wanted  to smack have a nice LONG conversation with this girl about infertility.  Waiting and doing nothing and even prayer is not a cure for infertility, just like adoption is not a cure for infertility.  Do I have a beautiful child that I love more than anything in the world? Yes. Am I still infertile? Yes.  Would I change anything about our journey? No. Do I still feel the loss of infertility?  HELL YES!  There is no way that this girl knew anything about what her “friends” were going through and I hope she never truly knows but I hope someday she is able to sympathize and understand that trying too hard does not cause infertility.   

I don’t talk about religion on this blog for many reasons but I can tell you this, I completely believe in the power of prayer.  However, prayer does not always lead you in ways that you expect and talk like this only frustrates already frustrated couples that may need to seek for solutions down other paths.  When someone told us to just relax and it will happen it just made me more upset more frustrated and questioning my faith.  What did help and make me feel better where statements like this, “ I am sorry you are having a hard time”  “you can talk to me any time and I will just be here to listen and cry with you”  “there are many options and when you are ready, I would love to talk with you about them.”  

Now, we get the “what would you do if you got pregnant now?” statements (with accompanying looks of shock).  Which don’t upset me as much as the “just relax” statements but annoy me.  To which I normally answer “I guess after you get pregnant you typically have a baby human, right?  “I’m not sure I have never done it that way”, “we would be happy just like most other expecting couples” or “Chloe would love having a younger sibling” depending on my mood.  Infertility is not an easy card that was dealt to us in life and even if I got pregnant tomorrow we would have still lived through years of infertility. It is not an easy road and I know there are many people on it and I hope that they know that they are not alone. 

Back to the coffee shop, I will save you all from the “What is the definition of gossip” speech that I have all prepared for my employees.  I mean really, just because you think you are saying good things does not mean that you aren’t talking about personal matters of other people with others behind their backs in a public place.  Ok, you just got a little taste of that speech.  I am not perfect but I try to be sensitive to other’s feelings I know what it is like to be on one side of the fence and feel like everyone else has all the answers on the other side. 

Hope everyone has a good weekend.     I am headed to bed soon where I plan to say a little prayer for the anonymous couple with fertility problems.  

Watching TV with Baby Dolly

Chloe doesn't really watch TV much she can't sit still long enough. Today she found Toy Story and wanted to watch "Tato Head"  She found a "comfy" seat with Baby Dolly in the doll cradle I had as a child.  I needs a bit of repair but Chloe doesn't seem to mind.

It wasn't long before Baby Dolly was kicked out and the cradle was all hers.

She finally noticed Mom taking pictures.  

About 5 minutes later she was up and running again. 

Conversation with Chloe

In the car on the way to see the eye doctor:
Chloe: Mommy, moon!
Me:  Do you see the moon?
Chloe: Noooooo, moon work.
Me:  Is the moon at work?
Chloe:  YES

Chloe loves doctors, I know she is strange but I love strange.  She has no fear what so ever of doctors and is completely fascinated with everything she sees in the doctors office, including the giant eye.  She has a doctor set and she loves to pretend to be the doctor to all her baby dollies.  She was so excited to go to see Dr. Taylor, who she sometimes calls Dr. Black (her ear doctor) or Dr. Tyler (one of her boys).  I was a little worried that it was a clogged tear duct again but it looks like just conjunctivitis cause by her cold a couple of weeks ago.  I never thought I would be happy to hear the words pink eye.  Chloe is not too fond of the drops but her "boogy eye" is almost cleared up.

We Love the Zoo!

I love doing comparison pictures.  It was a little than a year ago when we first went to the zoo.

We had a great time at the Zoo!  It was more fun than last year.  Chloe's favorites included the giraffes elephants and monkeys!  We counted the meerkats and hissed like snakes.  It was a great day!

We found a Peacock that wasn't in an enclosure!

That is one big cat.  Chloe was in awe of how big all the animals were.

Chloe even took some video of the silly gorillas.  This one kept climbing up high and swinging and jumping.  Chloe loved it until she fell off the steps and bumped her head.  Later she shook her finger at the gorilla statues and said "No more monkeys jumping on the bed"  She is so funny!

I think this is the first time we have caught the orangutans out and this one was just staring at all the weird people. 

Mommy got the camera away from daddy for a little while.

Until I bump the lens on a rail and got this face...oops...I gave the camera back after that.

Jim actually edits his photos so take a look at his zoo post.

Weekends are too Short

Winnie the Pooh is one of Chloe's new best friends!  It used to be mine and Chloe found him in the closet and she has been in love ever since.  

Gap was having a sale and Chloe got some new pants and a sweatshirt.  I never imagined she would pair them with these Polliwalks that have been in her shoe drawer forever, I guess they fit now. She was so proud to find them and put them on herself.

She does not miss a beat on the Monkey Bars.  If I hold on too tight, I hear "No Mommy, I do it"

 It was cold but we still had some fun before took our frozen hands, feet and noses back home where it is warm.

Hope you all had a great weekend, and for you lucky bums that have tomorrow off I hope you have a great Presidents Day.