Jaden's turn for swimming lessons: Jaden swimming with some help from Daddy

Anna's underwater doggie paddle

Washable markers???

Luke sort of "tatoo-ed" himself with the markers he was supposed to be coloring with. You can't see all the artwork down his arms as well plus what got transferred to me when I picked him up. Don't ask what his parents were doing while he committed this act...
But "washable" or not it still took a lot of scrubbing to get this off!

My "green" tips

I call it a "journey" because it's a process. As I go along I learn new things and make changes here and there. I'm not 100% green by any means but I'm working at becoming more aware and more responsible with the choices I make and resources I use.
Whenever I quit work and had a little more time to read I happened across a magazine called "Organic Style". Unfortunately, they don't make it anymore but I loved it! I learned so much. That's when I started replacing my "conventional" cleaners with ones that were "natural" or home made. The best thing about using natural, homemade cleaners aside from saving money and avoiding exposure to unnecessary chemicals is the safety around children. There is no need to worry about calling poison control because your child got into your cleaners. Vinegar, water, and baking soda aren't poisonous! My children often want to "help" me clean - sometimes even when I am doing something else and don't know they are "helping"- but I don't have to worry because they can't hurt themselves or any of my furniture. The cleaners are safe, effective, and gentle.
Inspired by some recent posts by my friend Dana over at Thoughts on Life and Dirty Diapers I decided to share my "green" arsenal. (She pretty regularly posts really great "green" tips - definitely worth the time to stop by and check out.)

The main staples here at the Tyree house are:

1. white vinegar
2. baking soda
3. borax
4. a new product I love (its actually been around a long time): Dr. Bronners castile soap
5. microfiber washcloths (I just buy them in the automotive sections - you get more for a better price). It's a good idea to have a stack of these. You can even cut them in half because they are kinda big. They help to cut down on the use of paper towels. Its easy to toss them in the wash and reuse. Because of the microfibers you don't even need any cleaner - plain old water will do. The germs and bacteria will be "trapped" in the microfibers.
6. polishing cloths (find in automotive section too). these are great to use with the "all purpose cleaner" (described below) for cleaning glass, mirrors, granite counter tops.
7. spray bottles
8. essential oils

My go to all-purpose cleaner is simply filtered water + vinegar + a few drops of liquid soap (or Dr. Bronner's) in a spray bottle and my microfiber cloth. You can also add a few drops of an essential oil if you prefer another smell or cut down on the vinegar smell. But, if you add a little Dr. Bronner's they are scented. I like the peppermint. Its a nice refreshing "clean" smell.

To clean floors a little Dr. Bronner's in a bucket with a mop is great. I also have a steam mop that uses only a microfiber (re-usable) pad and water.

To clean bathtubs, showers, sinks you can use the all-purpose spray but I like to have a little scrub. I mix borax or baking soda with liquid soap (usually dish soap). Adjust the amounts of baking soda/borax and soap until you get a consistency like frosting. It works great! Note: if you use borax it tends to be "sudsy". Baking soda is a little less abrasive as well.

A simple air freshener can be made with filtered water + your favorite essential oil(s) in a spray bottle. My personal fav is lavender + sweet orange. Ahhhh....relaxation!

Toilets: sprinkle baking soda into the basin then pour vinegar. It will make a really cool "fizz". Scrub with your toilet brush - easy as that.

If you have an extra downy ball its a good idea to add white vinegar in the ball with a load of laundry so that when it reaches the rinse cycle the vinegar will be released. The vinegar helps to get rid of the residue that can be left behind from the detergent. I do with with whites and towels.

Borax is also a natural booster for your detergent - you can just add a scoop with the detergent. You can also pre-soak extra stinky or stained clothes in it before you wash. There are lots of tips on the box for its many, many uses.

I've recently been having some issues with my dishes not getting clean in the dishwasher or coming out with a residue. Thanks to Dana (post on cleaning dishwasher) I've started adding some baking soda into the open slot each time I wash a load. Its been great. Vinegar added to the bottom during the rinse cycle also helps to make the dishes shine and keep the dish washer clean.

There are things I will buy from the store because I don't use them that often and either haven't found an equivalent I can make or I just don't want to like furniture polish and granite cleaner. For these I use Method brand (can be found at Target). Seventh generation, Mrs. Meyers, and Folex (great for carpet and upholstry stains) are a couple of others I've used and liked. I'm especially concerned about chemicals that are in things like baby shampoos and lotions. For these I use California Baby and Burt's Bees. California baby also has a wonderful calendula cream that is great for scratches, bug bites, pretty much any minor skin irritation. I use it for myself as well.

I know there are lots more out there. I just haven't gotten around to trying them just yet.

Speaking of....if you stop by Ms. Dana's blog that I've talked so much about you can leave her a comment or become a follower (but be one of mine too!) or both and earn some chances to win some free natural cleaning products from Eco Store USA. She's tried a few of their products and reported her results (they were good by the way!). I'm gonna get some extra entries to try to win them myself by making this post!!

Jaden was sooo excited to get a new "big boy" bike for his birthday. He did so well riding it - we were really impressed. He rode that thing for about 2 straight hours! I'm not even kidding. He mostly did circles around our cul-de-sac but we also took a ride around the neighborhood. Well, I walked and Chris rode his bike pulling Anna and Luke in the little attachment thing-a-ma-bob that they can sit in. Jaden got to call all the shots as far as where we would turn. He was so cute. He can be seen out riding any chance he gets. I'm sure he'll be wearing it out as soon as the weather gets a little more bearable. It's still pretty darn hot for most of the day.
I don't know if you can see in the picture but this is a Tony Hawk bike and it's got pegs on the front wheels. I just think that's hilarious that a bike made for a little one with training wheels would actually be equipped for tricks. Who knows? He is always surprising us. Maybe one day you'll find a post with pictures of Jaden getting fancy with his new wheels.

Beach dinner

I've been trying very hard to mix things up and find things to do. I've found that the key to keeping them from turning on each other and subsequently making me want to pull my hair out is to keep them busy. They just cannot be in this house for very long. It gets really ugly.

When I was growing up summer meant children being outside all day running, playing, and riding bikes. We can't really do that because it is insanely hot! We just cook outside.

So one day Anna helped me make some cupcakes, we threw in some pizzas, and put together a little picnic. When Chris got home we loaded up the car and had dinner at the beach. It was a lot of fun! The beach had a picnic area with tables and restrooms.

After eating and cleaning up we headed down to the beach. This wasn't a warning we were happy to see. Anna has a new fear of jelly fish. She was afraid to take a bath for a long time because she thought they were going to end up in the tub or come out of the shower. We were having to wipe her down while she was standing up in the inch of water screaming. Not so fun! If we actually saw a jelly fish it could really set us back.

Hmmm... I don't even know what to say about this...

Everything you need for the beach:

Great big stick - check

Dog leash (no dog, just leash) - check

Before leaving I walked into the kitchen to ice the cupcakes, I noticed some little bites taken out of several of the cupcakes...

Then Jaden walked into the room. I asked him if who was eating the cupcakes and he just said "No". Guess he forgot to wipe the crumbs off of his face...

Verdict-Guilty.

Leaps and bounds

Jaden and Lela. He decided he would rather play the leapster at this last visit. I think it was his way of dealing with Lela leaving. He was trying to be "tough". He did eventually come around but he was definitely more guarded than he normally is. Bless his heart.

When Jaden was about 22 months old he was evaluated by the Early Intervention Services (BACH - down here) and began receiving speech therapy. Many people told me he would be fine and that I didn't need to worry. I completely understand that. Many children are sort of "slow to start" with things like talking and then just take off and are fine. I've personally known children like this myself. Something just didn't seem right with Jaden though. I didn't realize just how abnormal he was until Luke was old enough to start to eat. First of all, Jaden was super active. He never really stopped long enough to look at anyone and see how they were talking. He wanted to run and jump and throw and hit - all the time. Also, he threw up a lot! We got used to it. We never let him eat with anyone else. One of us was always near him in case he choked or threw up. I felt like his mouth was "lazy" or something. That was the main thing that worried me and made me think he needed extra help.

When he started he had less than 10 words. Probably less than 5. Most "words" were just a repetition of sounds "mama", "baba", "dada", "bebe". Our therapist (and life saver) was Lela. She initially came twice a month. By the fall I was starting to get frustrated because he would make a little progress then, slide back. I have come to learn that this is normal. We talked about it and decided to changed the visits to once a week. In January we started to see some improvement. By March there was a HUGE improvement. It felt like "all of a sudden" there were these words and sentences. It was amazing. It re-affirmed my concern that even with all of that therapy it still took a whole year to really hear him talking at an age-appropriate level. I think the extra trained help was necessary.

We were soooo fortunate to get such a gifted therapist. I think one of the first things Jaden actually said was "Lela". She taught us about how emotions can effect language. Children may be more likely to say words that are connected to an emotional reaction (e.g., something they really like or really want, or if they are excited, mad, etc.). It was easy to see how much Jaden liked Lela when he could say "Lela" before about anything else. It is sad that she won't be coming to our home any more Jaden talked about her coming for days before appointments. We feel blessed to have had her share her gifts with our sweet boy and are excited for the next family that crosses her path. We're sure she will continue to be a blessing to every child (and family)she works with.

Hope to see you at some of the BACH functions Lela! Thank you!!!!!!!

Anyone need help saving a buck?

or many????
Since I'm not very good at compiling all of this sort of information and explaining it so someone else can understand I'd like to refer any one who's interested in learning more about coupons and saving some money to my friend Dana's blog. She recently made a post with excellent information about finding coupons that match up with your store's sale items. It helped me save at least 55.o0 so far. Click here for the link to her blog: Dana

A lazy day at the beach...

We had a wonderful afternoon at the beach. We finally met someone who could show us where the "sea weed free" beaches were. The kids had a great time with Heath and Emily's little girls - I'm pretty sure that all six little ones were tuckered out by the ride home. I know ours were!

They all played and played and played in the water. Luke was finally so tired he just laid down on the sand with his bottle. It was so sweet. He couldn't wait for me to take him to lay down he just did it himself. We moved him over under the shade and he just fell asleep. The sound of the water, the warm air, nice breeze...

The back flap on his life vest even sort of acted as a pillow.Home grown watermelon....Yum!

I'm not much for swimming in the ocean. I'll take a nice, clean (well, sort of) pool where you can easily see the bottom and there are NO living things waiting to nip your toes, brush up against you, or sting you! I have no idea why anyone would want to see what was hanging out in the Gulf but apparently she did.

Just thought this was so funny!

The girls decided to dig up the sand and make themselves a little wading area. It kept them busy for a looong time. They were little scavengers - they found two hermit crabs and a little fish. I was the lucky one who spotted the first jellyfish floating along in the water - luckily he didn't bump into anyone. Then, he was the unlucky one as his little swim was put to an end...

Opinions welcome, requested even

I was just wondering which you like better - the black and white or the color?

Three years old already

How did that happen? How can Jaden be three years old already? Wow!

Growing up I always thought my birthday was the most important day of the year. I would start the countdown a month before. Now, I can't even remember how old I am and need to be reminded when it's my birthday. But my excitement has transferred to Jaden's birthday. Each year is an accomplishment and a reminder of how very lucky and blessed we are. In a letter to Jaden Chris wrote "it took you about 10 seconds to take your first breath and it felt like 10 minutes and it probably took 10 years off of my life". It was definitely a difficult time for us.

Although it's hard for me to do it's also a little bit therapeutic for me to recount this story. It's my version of "exposure therapy". The more I can actually let myself remember the details and experience them the less scary it is for me. It was a pretty traumatic time for all of us. Thankfully this story has a very happy ending :)

For those of you who haven't heard this before this is my recollection of the day Jaden was born, and a few days prior.

At the time we were living in Parkersburg, WV and I had taken Anna up to my Mom's for a few days for a visit. Chris came up on July 1st to meet us. We took a ride up to IKEA to look for a few things for our new home (we were closing on our first home in just a week) while Anna stayed with Grandma. Before shopping we had a nice lunch (grown-ups only) with a couple of my friends from college. It was a really nice day. Later, when we returned my Mom was having a birthday party for my sister who just turned 16. While we were visiting with everyone I noticed that I wasn't feeling well. I thought that maybe I had just had too many Coke's with lunch and the carbonation was bothering me. I tried to hang around but I just didn't feel well so, I excused myself to go lay down.

The next thing I remember is waking up around 5 a.m. feeling a little wet. I got up to go to the bathroom and was very nervous. I felt too wet. It just didn't feel right. I thought my water had broken. I totally expected to see amniotic fluid but was completely surprised to see bright red blood and lots of it. I immediately yelled for my Mother and we quickly headed to the hospital.

My Mom is a labor and delivery nurse - this is both good and bad. Good because she is very well trained and knows what to expect, bad because she is very well trained and knows what to expect. It was comforting to be able to go to the hospital where she worked because I was familiar with it and many people knew me already. But, it was completely terrifying at the same time. How could this be happening? I was just shy of 32 weeks. It was still too early to be having a baby. And then with all the bleeding I knew that couldn't be good but I still wasn't sure what was wrong. They were able to determine that my amniotic sac had not ruptured but it seemed as though I was experiencing a placental abruption. (This is when the placenta begins to tear. There is a lot of bleeding and results in a loss of blood to both the mother and the baby and also possibly a loss of oxygen to the baby. Not good.)

They kept me long enough to stabilize me and make arrangements to transport me to a hospital in Pittsburgh that was better equipped to handle a premature baby. The idea was to try to put me on bed rest and slow the bleeding to try to keep me pregnant for as long as possible. I laid in the bed all day praying things would calm down but I continued to have contractions. They had me on some different medications that made me sort of "loopy" and made it hard for me to see. It was sort of an "outer body" experience. I still could not believe this was happening. Soon a resident came in to talk to me about what could be expected with a 32 week baby - rate of mortality, possibilities of complications, etc... Although I had accepted the reality and appreciated her thoroughness in informing me it was really hard to hear. I mean, I had been to all of my prenatal doctor's visits, I took my vitamins, I thought I had done everything I was supposed to - I had NO risk factors for an abruption! - why was this happening?

There wasn't too much time to contemplate this because around 10 p.m. the damn sort of broke loose. I felt the blood coming pretty fast. The resident who was in the room at the time tried to reassure me that it was just "old blood". No way. I knew better. There was way too much. That's when things got really crazy and I sort of lost track of time. I started having contractions really bad and there was no break in between. It really hurt and made me nauseous. This turned out to be a good thing because they gave me Phenergan. Even though I felt okay by the time they got me the medicine I gladly took it knowing that it would make me a little loopy. I was very scared and was grateful for the opportunity to have my reality slightly out of focus. It seemed like everything was in fast forward but Jaden wasn't actually born until about 1:30 a.m. on July 3rd so, I'm not quite sure what happened during those few hours in between.

I remember hearing people talking around me, I remember talking to myself and wondering if anyone could hear me and if they thought I was weird, and I remember being very, very cold and shaking badly. I was grateful for this as well. It took my focus off of Jaden because there was nothing I could do and it was the beginning of my accepting that I had to trust in God and the doctors and nurses who were there to take care of him. It is awful to feel so helpless.

I was told that he was very white when he was born because he had lost so much blood. I believe he did cry at least once but was quickly put on a ventilator.

I was taken back to the room and given lots of warm blankets. At some point I was able to finally rest. I don't remember when or how long it had been but I was woken up and taken to see Jaden in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I thought I was scared before - it was nothing compared to what I was about to experience. I don't think I can even put my feelings into words. There he was - my sweet baby boy - so tiny and hooked up to lots of wires and machines, there were lights and beeps - it was hard to take it all in.

I at least knew somewhat of what to expect because my sister had been born 12 weeks prematurely and I was 15 years old at the time. But, it's much harder when it is your baby. It was a touch and go kind of week. He ended up needing to be on the ventilator the whole week. He just didn't do well on his own when they tried to take him off. By the end of the week they realized he had developed a staph infection. Once he began receiving treatment for that he began to improve slowly. He was one week old before I was able to hold him for the first time. He stayed in the hospital for a month before we were able to take him home.

Despite such a rough start we have been remarkably blessed in how well he has done. He has been very healthy and has developed completely normally. The only area that he's experienced difficulty in has been speech. He was diagnosed with a speech delay and began receiving services at 22 months old. But one year later and he's doing great. We are thankful everyday.

Got streaks from sunless tanner?

Nail polish remover really does help! I can say from experience :(

I really messed up this weekend with my sunless tanner application. I was trying out a new one for my body (I usually just stick to the aerosol for my face - works great!). This one is a lotion and its wonderfully creamy but unfortunately it's not tinted. I rubbed and rubbed to make sure it was on evenly. Or so I thought....
See, it took a looong time to "tan". I didn't even realize it until I was getting dressed yesterday (about 24 hours later). I looked down and noticed an insane streak on the back of my leg. It's just too hot to wear pants out so I had to come up with something. I remembered reading somewhere about using nail polish remover to "fix" sunless tanner streaks but had never tried it. I just did and it did a pretty good job. My streaks are much less noticeable. I could probably stand a little more but I've run out of nail polish remover.
Although it works well I'm sure it's not a great thing to have ingested through your skin so I will need to be much more careful with my application in the future. It's nice to know at least that there is a fix if I need one.

This is what happens when you eat cupcakes for lunch

Jaden didn't just have a birthday -he had a birthday weekend. We started the party on Thursday with cupcakes. I had to stop by the store and order his birthday cake and the cupcakes looked so good we just couldn't resist. When we got home to eat lunch nobody was interested in anything but those delicious cupcakes. How could I deny them? It was his birthday after all...well, close enough.

(stay tuned for the rest of the birthday celebration!)

Luke seems to be trying out a "cupcake facial".