Come out come out where ever you are!

Hello blog lurkers!

Now that the new blog is up and running, I'm really not posting here anymore. I'll send the new URL with our referral announcement (hopefully this week!) so if you're on our email distribution, you'll get it then. If you are a regular reader, but you think you might not be on our distribution list (or if you know you're on the email list but want to get to the new blog pre-referral), please email me at journeytonora1@yahoo.com so that I can get you the new URL and password.

If I don't know who you are, I'm sorry, but I will probably not send the URL/password. We are really wanting to be responsible and not post Nora's personal information on the internet for anyone to see. Someday, when she's older, that's a choice that she can make for herself. I hope that you will understand and support our decision. We have gotten so much encouragement and support from our online friends and we're so appreciative! Right now, though, we need to do what's best for our daughter.

Thank you for following our journey to Nora!

Love,
R & J

What's for dinner

Dinner is one of the things that I think we could do better as a family. Right now Rob and I sort of wing it. We usually eat together at the table, but we don't always eat the same thing. It's not always a quality, balanced meal. Sometimes we bring computers or magazines or newspapers to the table with us. NPR is often on the radio.

This needs to change BN (before Nora). First and foremost, I think we need to have a healthy, planned ahead meal for the family. Individual servings of yogurt, fruit and dry cereal is not an acceptable dinner anymore. I'm going to try to do some meal planning next week - shop over the weekend with a plan for dinner each night. I think we'll eat better this way and I have a new cookbook - Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers - that I'm looking forward to trying.

I also signed up for a share of a local CSA farm. I think we'll get our first box in early June. I signed up for a family share, so that should mean lots of fresh veggies this summer!

Back to bottles ... and an apology for the crabbiness!

So, my mom read the last couple of posts and made the following comment on the phone today, "You're right, you were crabby, but I didn't want to say anything." Gosh, I admitted that at work, but thought I had done a better job hiding it on my free time. Guess not. I'm very sorry to everyone who may have fallen victim to my crabbiness. Especially Rob and my Mom. If I should ever turn crabby again, just tell me to snap out of it!

As of now I have chosen to use my personal energy for good rather than crabbiness. Among the many things on my to-do list:

1. Finish pre-work on referral announcements
2. Work on intermediate digi-scrapping class
3. Learn to use new camcorder
4. Work on baby toiletry/medication packing list challenge
5. Decide on diapers and bottles for Nora.
6. Teach Maddie about her rug

... and, next Friday, NEW FINGERPRINTS! Party on, Wayne.

Update: Oops, and again I forget that I'm supposed to be making a crib quilt for Nora. Thanks, K, for pointing that out!

Happy Birthday, Gram Louise!

We would like to wish a very Happy 108th Birthday to Nora's great-great-grandmother (Rob's great-grandmother), Gram Louise! If you watch the Today Show, Willard Scott will be wishing her a happy birthday on Wednesday, February 27 in the fourth half hour of the show. Pretty cool, huh?!

Election night traditions

By now you probably know how important I think it is to establish family traditions. Shared experiences are, I think, a big part of what binds us together as family. We have some (and a few of them are really good), but I think there's always room for more.

Election nights are no exception. Rob and I usually go together to vote after work, grab a pizza for dinner, then come home and watch the returns on CNN while munching on a bowl of popcorn.
If at all possible, I stay up until all the results are in, otherwise I could go to bed thinking that Al Gore is president and then wake up to... Well, that's another story.

Our state's primary is tomorrow and we're planning on our usual election day activities. I'm wondering, though, what could make it better (aside from my guy winning). Any ideas?

P.S. I made that little piece of type mask artwork at the top of this post in Photoshop. It's part of my digital scrapbooking practice - if you can't tell, it's pizza, popcorn, an American flag and CNN's election set inside the word VOTE. I lack the patience for paper scrapbooking, so I'm trying to learn digiscrapping. It is quite possible that I don't have the patience for this either. I really like to be good at things right away.

Just a little sad

You know what, I didn't really think that Illinois would beat USC, but I'd hoped that we'd do a little better than this. Still, this season was WAY more than any Illini fan could have hoped for. They should be very proud of their season and really looking forward to 2008!

I'm even sorrier that the CCAA seems to have only matched through 12/19/05 - this was actually worse than the RQ horrid case. Ugh. My current guesstimate for Nora's referral is now - gulp - August. Or later, if they really do stop referrals from May - August due to the Olympics.

Baby girl, I really hope that you're here for Thanksgiving and Christmas - you have lots of people waiting to meet you!

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone! Rob and I are very excited for 2008 -- this will be the year that Nora joins our family!

I'm also hopeful that this is the year that Illinois wins the Rose Bowl! We're 2TD underdogs against USC, though -- so go put on your orange and blue and get ready to cheer your hardest for the Fighting Illini in Pasadena!

Click on the console bar above for the Illinois War Chant. I know it's not so politically correct, but it always gets me in the spirit of the game!

The most beautiful diaper bag ever

Rob picked up on my none-too-subtle hints and got me this amazing diaper bag for Christmas.

It's the Skooch Groovy, Baby in Chocolate (sort of looks black in this photo, but trust me, it's a lovely chocolate brown) and it came with a matching changing pad. Of course I can't speak to it's functionality yet, but I can say that it is a great looking bag and seems to be very well made. I can't wait to try it out!

We also got some wonderful gifts for Nora from Rob's sister K and her family who had our name in this year's family exchange. They got her a red (yay!) Chicco backpack carrier, which Rob has already put away on the top shelf of Nora's closet where I can't reach it. They also got her some sporty Christmas jammies for next year, Counting Kisses board book and Tails board book (the Tails book is from Nora's cousin J who is 2). Thanks, J, for wanting Nora to have a copy of your favorite book. Nora is very lucky to have you to show her the ropes!

Christmas goodies!

Today we got a great Christmas present from our Jan DTC Secret Pal. She sent a Biscuit Christmas board book (it's a texture book that will be perfect for Nora next year), a Christmas card record book, a tree-trimming music cd (haven't listened to it, but I'll put it on the car tomorrow for sure), a really cute resin picture frame and a My First Christmas photo album which I absolutely love. It brought tears to my eyes.

Thank you very much - we love everything. Merry Christmas!
I'd also like to take a moment to wish my wonderful hubby a very HAPPY 16th ANNIVERSARY. I love you!

Christmas tradition

Yesterday Rob and I went to the Lorie Line Holiday Extravaganza at the Orpheum (an absolutely gorgeous, historic theater) - we go every year and consider it our anniversary present to each other. In recent years, Lorie has been bringing kids up from the audience for a special activity. This year they sang the 12-Days of Christmas - it was amazing and the costumes for the kids were unbelievable (10 lords a leaping were frogs in crowns, 9 ladies dancing were kitties in tutus). I've posted the photo below, hopefully you can click on it to see more detail. If that doesn't work, try this link to Lorie's website (click on the word link).

Also on the Christmas front, I took a quiz that I saw on Rhonda and Mike's blog to find out which holiday character I am. Yeah, why bother you ask, when I already know the answer. Yup. We're the Griswolds.

The holiday season brings out your competitive side. You want to give the best presents, have the best-looking house on the block, and cook up the most delicious holiday feast. You strive to be number one at everything you do, which makes you prone to holiday freak-outs when things don't go as expected. As long as you stay calm, you're great to have around during the holidays – mostly because you're trying so hard to make sure everyone else has the BEST possible time.

... and if you live in our neighborhood, I'm am profoundly sorry for our woeful exterior illumination. We'll do better next year - 'cuz next year will be our first Christmas with Nora and of course I'll want it to be perfect.

Warm and snuggly

I just love Christmas. This is far and away my favorite time of year. I love everything about it ... and I am so touched that people have remembered Nora this year.

First our friend K gave Nora this adorable hat. K's mom works at an awesome company called Wintergreen which makes great outdoor apparel in one of our very favorite places in the world (the MN Northwoods) - this is one of their baby hats.

It is sherpa fleece on the outside and lined with smooth fleece on the inside - sooo warm and snuggly. And so amazingly cute. I can hardly wait to see Nora's chubby little cheeks peeking out of there!

Nora also received a Christmas gift from Rob's Aunt Jan and Uncle Dave. They have been so sweet to think of her each year at Christmastime. In Christmas of 2005 they sent me a beautiful necklace with the Chinese character "ai" (love) and last year they sent Nora One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and a stuffed blue fish.

This year they sent a set of puppet books - very fun! I'm sure that Nora will love them. They even have a little case that she can carry them around in.

Thank you so much for remembering our baby. We are touched by your thoughtfulness.

A green Christmas?

Rob's family has decided to have a "green" theme for this year's family Christmas celebration. Most of our gifts are bought (some of them greener than others, but none too terribly un-green) and today I turned my attention to gift wrap. I've been thinking about reusable gift wrap, but honestly don't think that I have enough time left to make fabric bags. Hopefully I'll get that done next year. For now, I'm easing my way in with recycled wrapping paper, which was none to easy to find. If we lived in the UK there would have been a lot of options, but here in the US not so many. I also managed to find some natural trim and the coolest gift tags ever. I wonder if Al Gore wraps his Christmas gifts...

I also have to admit that I bought a Christmas gift for Nora, even though she won't be with us yet this year. Rob doesn't know about it (yet), so I'm thinking of maybe wrapping it and having him open it on her behalf. I want to also get some sort of baby's first Christmas ornament since I figure that Nora has probably already been born (how many times have I said that and been wrong - this time, though, I think it's really true). Next year, we'll think of something extra-special to celebrate our first Christmas as a family.

Hallmark China Ornament

My mom discovered a new series of Hallmark Keepsake ornaments, called "Joy to the World". There are six different child/house ornament sets representing China, Ireland, Norway, Mexico, Germany and Africa (strange, I know, five countries and one continent). Somehow my mom got a peek at them at her local Hallmark store, but they aren't being released until Thursday.

Anyway, I think they're cute. I'm now thinking of doing a little multi-cultural Christmas tree for Nora's room. She's got her first ornament already - Grandma's got this one on hold for her. Thanks Mom :)

An unusual number of activities...

... and overload in the first two weeks of November.

In the past week I have signed us up for an unusual number of activities. First there was the baby CPR class on 11/10. It was the same day as the baby sign language refresher class, so we opted to do CPR this time (more important anyway, right?) and I'll work on some other way to get a baby signs refresher, perhaps a do-it-yourself sign of the day thing at home. Next I signed up for a transracial parenting class recommended by C at work - this is on 11/03. Then, as I was considering purchasing tickets for the Minhua chorus concert (also 11/10), I remembered that the Twelve Girls Band is coming to town in November (11/3) - I know this because of the public television fundraiser a couple of weeks ago.

I asked Rob which he'd rather go to - Minhua chorus or the Twelve Girls Band - and, no surprise he chose the Twelve Girls band (because who wouldn't choose the more expensive ticket? - kidding, actually I don't blame him, I'd rather see the Twelve Girls Band also).

For the uninitiated, here they are:

My new project

This is my toy box - my brother built it for me when he was about 14 years old (Pretty good for a middle school shop project, huh? I couldn't build that now!). After I went away to college, it went to my nephew, P, and has been in my my brother's basement since P outgrew it. Two weeks ago it came home with us for Nora.

I'm going to paint the outside a vanilla white to match Nora's crib and the inside will be bright lime green. Tonight I need to find some new hardware online - new hinges and an easy close mechanism to keep fingers from getting smashed. I also ordered some foam to make a pad for the top (fabric tbd). Nora's room isn't graced with a window seat, so I thought this would be a nice proxy for that - a little place where she can sit with a book.

Weekend wrap up

I wanted to go to the Dragon Boat races today, but that was vetoed by Rob. Instead we went on a shortish (~4 mile) walk with Maddie in the park and had a nice picnic lunch by the lake. Then we came home, and while Rob read his book, I finished the assembly of the main body of Nora's quilt. Now all I have left are the borders (one of which is pieced, so not a trivial task, but still...). Here's a photo taken this evening. Everything you see here is now completely sewn together.

I hope to start on the borders next week. Once that's done, I'm going back to the crib quilt that I started forever ago. Applique is still not my strongest skill, but I've ordered a book from the library and will practice some more on the doll bed quilt.

To close out the weekend, I wanted to share a picture of the graphic on the t-shirt that Maddie gave Rob for his birthday (yesterday)... and, yes, I am the sort of person whose dog gives gifts. I thought it was quite a find - looks just like them!*

Happy Birthday Honey!! I look forward to many more adventures with you!

*except that the actual Maddie has floppy ears and would be in full-alert, critter-chasing posture.

Busy busy busy...

Happy belated 4th of July! I'm sorry to have been away from the computer for so long. We've been having a great time with our house guests (five members of Rob's immediate family). We did a bunch of fun stuff - carnival, canoe trip, zoo, birthday party.

The pinata was fun - j and H helped decorate and our neighbor M came over to help break it open. Here's the finished product - the passenger is one of those moose gift card holders from Caribou. He was a perfect fit.
Maddie was also a great sport at the birthday cookout. Not only was she very sweet with j and the neighbor kids, but she also donned an official family canoe expedition bandanna and gamely modeled some of the birthday headgear. I love this dog. It was a very fun weekend, but the house is seeming very empty this evening!

Define success...

True to our word, we did rent a canoe yesterday. We put Maddie in her doggy life vest, had her jump in the canoe and pushed off. She absolutely refused to sit down for me, so Rob did what any good father would do - threatened to pull over the canoe. Maddie spent the rest of the paddle sitting in the back with Rob. She was ok. She didn't love it and she really didn't understand why she couldn't stand up, walk around or get a drink from the lake while we were moving, but she didn't hate it either. She loved the part where we pulled up on an island and she got to go swimming. Canoe camping is probably not going to happen any time soon, there's just too much of a risk of her dumping us out. We'll keep trying though and eventually we'll get there.


Other parts of our trip did go well - camping and cooking were both good, including the walleye and carrots cooked in foil on the campfire (yay!). It was very nice to eat real food and not rely on pb & j all weekend! We also had several very nice long walks and spotted some interesting wildlife including a doe and her fawn this morning. Deer aren't unusual where we live, but we don't often catch a glimpse of a fawn. It was a great weekend and will be very do-able with Nora (all except the canoeing). In fact, I saw a couple of families tent camping with toddlers so it can't be all that crazy of an idea.

Even though canoeing with Miss Madness didn't go as well as I'd hoped, I'm still rating the weekend a success.

Here's a moment of camping zen:

Happy Father's Day!

I'm sure it will come as a surprise to no one that Rob's Father's Day gift was a book. Believe it or not, I'd actually never heard of this book before; I just stumbled on it by accident at Borders last week, but I think it was a great choice.

"Healing the broken bond between our young and nature is in our self-interest, not only because aesthetics or justice demand it, but also because our mental, physical, and spiritual health depend upon it."—from "Last Child in the Woods," Algonquin Books

You can read more about it here.


We love being outside and hope to that Nora will come to love the outdoors as much as we do.

Next weekend we will be trying out a canoe. We currently have kayaks, but can't take either dog or kids in those. One option that we considered was a double kayak with a center (third) cockpit, which would work for one child but not much else. I think it's time for a canoe. Rob is bummed; this will slow him down considerably.

Happy Father's Day also to our Dads! We love you!

I want to be the fun mom

My mom was (and still is) the fun mom and I want to be able to give our kids that kind of experience as they grow up. Life is quite nice when your mom is a happy, fun-loving person.

Anyway, we are expecting a young house guest, j, in a couple of weeks. j told her mom that she wants to host a birthday party while they're here, so I've been thinking about how we can do that. The one thing that I always wanted at my birthday party as a kid (and never got - there's a lesson, even the kid of the fun mom doesn't get everything she wants*) was a piñata. So, I decided that we would make a piñata.

I don't think that I've done papier-mâché since the 3rd grade, so I went to the internet looking for a recipe and perhaps some instructions for a piñata. If you haven't already discovered it, Family Fun magazine has a terrific website with all kinds of great ideas, including instructions for a hot air balloon piñata. I decided to do the papier-mâché part before j gets here and then hand it over to her for decoration, which turned out to be a good idea since it needs three coats of papier-mâché and needs to dry for a full day between coats. I also had a little mishap with the first balloon and needed to start over.

Here's a photo of the work in progress. Pretty cool, huh?

The paste recipe is also way better than what I remember using in grade school and it's super-easy.

Papier-Mâché Paste (from Family Fun magazine)

1. Combine 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and 2 cups cold water in a bowl.
2. Add this mixture to a saucepan of 2 cups boiling water and bring it to a boil again.
3. Remove from the heat and stir in 3 tablespoons of sugar.
4. Let it cool; it will thicken as it cools. Once it does, it's ready to use.

My learning: be sure to let the paste cool all the way before you use it, otherwise it causes the air in the balloon to expand when the papier-mâché is applied and contract as it cools. It will mess up your project. What I do now is cook up the paste in the evening, let it cool uncovered until bedtime then cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter until morning. If I get an early enough start I can get a coat on before work. It seems to take about 45-60 minutes per coat and I'm using a fairly large punch ball instead of a regular balloon.

I think I might have to subscribe to Family Fun.

* I also did not get a dog, imo a mistake on the part of my parents. Every kid should have a dog. Obviously I am making up for that in adulthood.