Happy Anniversary to us!!

Today was Dave and my 4th anniversary. How special it was to celebrate with my hubby today. We went to dinner at our favorite restaurant "Veneto." As usual the food was perfect, and we reminisced alittle about our wedding, and talked ALOT about Olivia. After dinner we headed to loews to buy a tub kit, ceramic tile, and lots of other odds and ends for our bathroom remodeling. While I was walking aimlessly through the tile aisle, another mom and I got to talking. She complimented me on my shoes (go Rachel!!) and then I told her the reason I was sort of dressed up was becuase we were out to dinner celebrating our anniversary, and since it was just the two of us we figured we better get to loews and take all the time we need to finish picking our bathroom stuff out. We shared a few laughs about how much life changes after you have kids, and how we wouldn't trade it for the world. I told the mom how we spent our first anniversary in a very lavish 5 star B&B, spending way too much money to stay there two nites. We toured the wineries, went to the grape fest, and enjoyed our view of the lake from our balcony. I instinctly knew that we had to celebrate in style for our first one, and I have always treasured the memories of that weekend. We had the time of our lives...it was like a second honeymoon. I feel like milestones should be special. So next year will be our 5th anniversary, and I don't plan on ending the nite with a celebration at Loews! haha We'll have to do something very nice....I better start saving up!

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is NationalBreast Cancer Awareness Month. My Aunt Nancy and grandma Z are breast cancer survivors. My grandma Z also fought a courageous battle with Ovarian Cancer. To kick off supporting the cause I attended the Highland Hospital Breast Cancer Education Luncheon today, and the keynote speaker was Meredith Baxter. She spoke about many important innovations in breast cancer research, and had a wonderful story to share with the audience, as she herself is a survivor.

This weekend Dave, Olivia, and I will continue to support the cause by doing the Breast Cancer Walk. We've raised some funds in support of this disease, which kills one woman every 13 minutes. 1 in 4 women will be diagnosed throughout their lifetime. Last year on October 1st, we lost Daves Aunt Francis to Breast Cancer. She fought a 3 year battle. During her fight she surrounded herself with the cause, and wouldn't leave the house without wearing pink. I find it fitting that she died on October 1st, which is the offical Breast Cancer awareness day. Even more fitting is that this year the Breast Cancer Walk is on October 1st, the 1 year anniversary of her death. We'll celebrate her life by walking for the cause. The cause to find a cure, and wait for the day when women can have hope, instead of fear when they hear the words "Breast Cancer."

If you want more information on early detection, check out Thermography Breast screening.
http://www.meditherm.com/breast/default.htm

Your insurance won't cover it, but for a mere $300 you can find out if you have any cancer in your breasts, and start treatment before its too late. I have seen patients at my job who have paid for this screen, and are now being saved because they were 20 years ahead of what a mammogram could have detected. I also have a personal friend who just had the screening done, and thankfully she is cancer free. Its currently done out of Syracuse NY, but they're having a clinic in Rochester this december. I'm saving my pennies. Stay tuned for the time, date, and place of the Rochester screening.

I'm an Auntie!

So I finally have a picture to prove that I'm an auntie! Am I not the proudest Auntie that you have ever seen? I adore Miss Avery Grace, she is the sweetest, most prescious little peanut, and I could have held her forever! I just cherished the time that I got to hold her, which, as you can tell from the picture, Miss Olivia didn't let me hold her for too long. She was tearing apart Auntie E's house, getting in her cupboards, attempting to tip the dog bowls, crawling and getting into most anything and everything. I obviously wished that I could be of more help to my dear tired friend, but with an 11 month old, what more can you expect? We barely got to sit down for 5 seconds, and hardly could finsish one conversation that we started...but it was all in the name of Avery and Olivia so we were ok with it. :) Avery was so beautiful and I can't wait to see her again. She is her daddy's girl, with her moms spunk...what an adorable combo. Welcome to the world Miss Avery.
love Auntie Lisa

Olivia's new chair

Olivia received her first birthday present from her Uncle Anthony...a new chair! She seems to like standing next to it, and sometimes using it to climb to higher elevations....and when we sit her in it that lasts for all of 10 seconds. But she'll grow into it, and the chair is adorable. He even got her the matching ottoman. I want one to! :( lol

Twins.....

Happy Wedding Allison!!

My dear friend little K got married this weekend, and I was lucky enough to be a bridesmaid. I was even luckier to witness this most joyous event. My friend Sharon performed the ceremony, outside, with nature and with God, on the most beautiful day that we've had in awhile. The best man summed everything up simply by stating, "Love is here" and he pointed to Tim and Allison. Love was definetly there, and I left with a renewed sense of love, life, and happiness. The wedding was so authentically "Tim and Allison" that it was a lesson to me that when we know thyself, we are most happy, and we are being true to ourselves. Tim and Allison fought hard to have the simple elegant wedding that they yearned for, and it couldn't have been more amazing.
Oh and the food was hands down the best wedding food that I have ever had. They had brunch and dinner....omelet stations, pasta station, eggplant parm, and plenty for the meatlovers. The food was outstanding.

Happy Marriage guys, you make the most adorable duo!

Healthy Food

Couldn't resist posting this article by another fellow blogger. I loved the simplicity of it, and am really going to try and think of my kitchen as the "altar" of my home. My dear friend Sharon says to ask the Holy Spirit to bless the food you're cooking. She says that whatever energy you are giving off while cooking will be passed on through your food....so if you're cooking your family's dinner while mad, they will ingest your mad yucky energy. Energy is constant, we give it off and it has to go somewhere when we do. Ever stand near a radio and affect the frequency? We all give off energy. I loved the authors info on Avocado's...we eat lots of them in this house and so does Olivia, and now we'll eat even more! :)

Dynamic Foods -- Healthy Families

I've been thinking a lot these days about how we fuel our bodies. My friend, singer/songwriter Megon McDonough wrote lyrics that go something like this: The body is a car driving the soul around. Better take care so the car don't get run down.

As we head into fall, think of this time as a new semester of life. We have a fresh new slate and can fill up our days with health, energy, vitality, and joy. We can fuel our children's bodies so that their spirits are free to soar. Think of your kitchen as the altar of your home, where you, with grace and patience, concoct healing foods and soothing words.

Begin by going through your pantry as my husband Tom and I did this weekend. Throw out all those opened boxes of crackers that have been sitting there far too long. Toss out the cookies that you really don't want to continue digging into. Make room for the healthy stuff. Designate a shelf, perhaps, as snack space so your kids can help themselves.

Then, take a conscious trip to the grocery store. Bring your highly tuned intuition with you on the errand rather than your busy monkey mind that's thinking of a hundred other things rather than the foods in front of you. Read the labels, check your list, and resist those habitual chips and highly sugared snacks. Avoid Corn Syrup and Hydrogenated oils at all costs.

I recently read a study that indicated the power of phytochemicals, chemicals in fruits and vegetables that when eaten in combination have greater health benefits. For instance avocados, full of good fatty acid, helps your body absorb more antioxidants from spinach, carrots, peppers, and tomatoes. I love the look of a few avocados in a glass bowl as a simple centerpiece. Add one to your salad and know you are getting the benefits of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene and lutein.

Cruciferous veggies such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and cauliflower when mixed with selenium rich foods such as chicken, mushrooms, sunflower seeds, eggs boost the cancer combating powers of each. Make up a stir fry with broccoli, cauliflower, chicken, mushrooms and sprinkle sunflower seeds on top. You might even add some brown rice and quickly scramble an egg with the veggies so it's a bit like Chinese fried rice. What a power packed dinner your kids can have fun eating with chop sticks.

Powerful foods, healthy families.
Stay well in body, mind, and spirit!

She said DADA

I have to record this in the blog or I'll never remember it. Tonite Olivia finally said "Dadeee!!!" Very nice for daddy, who has been patiently awaiting to hear the mere utterance of that sweet word since long before she was even born. Olivia has been kindly referring to him as mama, but when asked to point to Daddy she would always point straight to him. So tonite we took her to Aladdins for dinner and all the way there we tried to practice with her...and all the way there her reply was "mama." But Dave is a good sport and he finally got his sweet rewards tonite while we were getting her ready for bed. She was standing on her changing table and I was holding her little hands while she bounced and bobbled all around. We tried again to coax her into saying Dada, and finally she squeeled, "DADEEEE." We couldn't believe our ears, but it was in fact music to both of us!

Also tonite Olivia started saying Strawberry, Banana, and Cantelope. We were eating at Aladdins and we ordered a fruit plate for her. I told her the names of these like I always do and she immediately repeated, "Berrrry" "NANA" and "Ope!" It was very cute.

Recognition

My mom saved the day today by agreeing to babysit for Olivia...it isn't as if we really had to twist her arm, and I was able to give her 2 weeks notice about the date, but it was still nice of her to agree. At any rate, this morning when Grandma Chop arrived there was quite a different reaction in Olivia. I was up in her room getting her ready for the day when I heard my mom come in, and then I proceeded to remind Olivia that Grandma Chop had arrived and would be coming upstairs to see her. Olivia started leaping and squeeling, and waving her arms in excitement. Now, she is usually really happy to see my mom, but always looks skeptical of any visitors until they're in full view. This time she was 100% pure excitement, and that doubled to 1000% once she actually saw my mom. I realized that Olivia is becoming more aware of her world, and putting names with faces. My mom was very happy with Olivia's reaction, and then after about 2 minutes of hugs and excitement Olivia said to my mom "Coco?" and put her little hand up as if to ask "Where the heck is coco??" It was a riot!

Another big Olivia milestone is that she now gives hugs. The only problem with her hugs are that she gives them really fast so she can clap for herself becuase after she gave me her first hug I made the mistake of clapping. So she likes the clapping part more than the hugging part, but we'll take what we can get!

Back to the Grind

After an everchanging first year of motherhood, I finally headed back to work last week. I've been meaning to blog about it, but couldn't bring myself to talk about it just yet. I've been adjusting, and Olivia has been adjusting far better than I. I am working 20 hours a week at a Cancer Center as their oncology social worker. I fly solo, there are no other social workers in the practice, but there are certainly many nice people. Things I love are the staff...they are kind, caring, supportive, and actually appear to be interested in each others lives. We all eat lunch together and each day talk about something different and fun....some days its household discussions, travel, food, wine, and you get the picture. The doctors appreciate my being there, and have told me numerous times that just my presence is a relief to them. I am the "go to" person for anything and everything that they don't know how to solve. My boss also told me that I have to act as the "heart" of the practice and check in with staff so see how they're coping. They treat 40-50 patients a day, back to back, with radiation, and many of these patients are just like us, our moms, dads, kids, grandparents...they're all of us. Many of the staff are survivors so they have a deeper connection to the work their doing and sometimes they may need to debrief.

I had my first crisis today, a woman was hysterical in the waiting room and I was paged immediately. Before leaving my office I took a deep breath and asked God to please help me provide some light for this woman, and also see her as God see's her. When I arrived in the waiting room what I seen was myself, you, and anyone reading this.....this was a scared breast cancer patient who just needed to cry. She was stressed becuase her skin is flaking off, she is losing her hair, she is trying to take care of 3 kids, her house is a mess, and she feels depressed becuase her body is changing and she's had a mastectomy so she's missing her chest. Of course this woman is hysterical...I would be too. Today was also the 1st day of school and she was too busy throwing up to be able to put her kids on the bus. Theres a whole lot more she revealed, but most of it was how any one of us would feel if cancer came up and bit us. So together we decided in the waiting room that her and I were going to find one thing she could do to feel better, and she said, " Give me the number of a housekeeper, that would make me smile. " So we laughed and I gave her a list, and off she went on her way home. I didn't act like a social worker, I just acted like I was talking to a friend of mine. Thats the one thing that Sharon taught me....just to be myself becuase there is alot inside each of us that is far more helpful than remembering an intervention that some text book taught us. Theres a time and a place for academics, but this is the real world after all....

So I'm settling into the job but I have to admit that I wish it was two days a week instead of 3. I miss my time with Olivia. She is in the loving care of my in-laws and for that I'm very blessed, but she is my daughter and I miss her. I hate coming home and having from 5-7pm with her...I feel robbed on those days. I never thought I would be the type to put my career on hold for years...and not be concerned. But I was told by my new boss that there is lots of room for advancement, so someday when I care to "move and shake" I'm sure there will be many opportunities. I know I always talk about motherhood, but it trully is a sacred journey and I really am in awe of it. I take it seriously and I can't put anything before Olivia. I needed to find a job that would allow me complete flexibility, and at this job I can flex my hours weekly. Its a wonderful solution to help my family financially, but should something miraculous happen with Dave's job, or winning the lotto, then I would leave in a heartbeat. Motherhood is far greater a reward then going to my job ever could offer.

Who needs clothes?

Olivia has learned that she can take her clothes off, and is trying to practice at every chance she gets. She takes everything from her bib, shirts, socks, and anything in between, and will dispose of them as fast as she can. This is a quite funny, and also sometimes not so funny. :) lol

Labor Day weekend

Labor day weekend, the weekend that felt like I was doing labor all weekend! I'm really tired, but we got alot of stuff done around the house! Yipee. We painted our hallway leading to our basement, painted some doors, did some touch up, hung some new light fixtures, helped my step-dad put up crown molding, and gave some parts of the house a good deep cleaning. Today we finally did something fun as a family and went for a hike. Olivia loved the hike, and I think it was much better than watching us do house chores.

Olivia, 10 months

Forgot to post some 10 month pics, and now she is just week away from 11 months! I almost have a one year old. Wow.

I love my dad

Olivia and dad...buddies forever!

I can do it!!

Olivia, pictured here, trying to put on an old pair of sunglasses she found....and she did it!

The metzendorf

My mom and step-dad have a metzendorf antique camper that they use all summer and fall for various fun filled weekends. They inherited this classic from my step-dads family, and restored it with love. New ones retail for the price of a new, fully loaded car. They had no idea the little gem they inherited, and on every trip several people stop them to remind them of their treasure. While they're camping people bring their digital camera's right over to the campsite and take pictures without asking, my mom has found all this attention alittle annoying since shes very private, but my step-dad loves it! People are in awe of this little camper, and my moms decorating only enhances the look of it. We finally joined them on one of their trips, and we had a very nice time. I took some pictures to share! Olivia really loved the camper, and will be spending lots of future weekends joining Grandma Chop and Grandpa Gary on many excursions. Dave and I have decided to purchase camping gear so we too can join them on some weekends.

Life as we know it

Sometimes you have these moments and events that literally make you stop dead in your tracks, and critically think about life as we know it. The picture shown here was the first minute that I got to spend with Olivia, and it was one of those "stop dead in my tracks moments." As she held onto to my finger there was a million thoughts racing in my head, and all of them were about my future with Olivia, and how I would do anything for this most prescious soul.

Last Friday my bf, Jenn, went into premature labor, and gave birth to her beautiful and amazing daughter, Avery Grace. If I had a picture to share I would proudly post it on this blog, but since I don't, you'll have have to use your imaginations. She is the cutest, sweetest, baby, and will surely steal your heart when you meet her. None of Jenn's story is what she hoped for, her labor was long, tiring, and ended with having to bid farewell to Avery as she was wisked away to the NICU. The part of Jenn's story that is what she hoped for is that she got a beautiful daughter out of the whole journey, but it has been nothing short of a miracle. I watched my dear friend labor, and felt the pain as if I was doing it right along with her. We laughed, cried, and prayed...knowing full well that she was giving birth to a preemie, who would require care in a NICU. But inside my heart and soul I felt a peace that although Avery might be small, she was a fighter and was going to make it just fine. Avery continues to do well, and both Jenn and Keith are just counting the days until she can come home.

As Jenn has been spending her days at the NICU, I can't help but think back to even one short week ago, when we were still dreaming about what Avery might look and act like. Then one morning Jenn's water broke, and we all went into the "labor mode." Life as we know it can change in the blink of an eye, and then we're thrust into a whole other world that we aren't ready or prepared for. But despite the unexpected, expected arrival, Jenn, Keith, and Avery are doing remarkably. With lots of prayers and love they'll all pull through this journey, and someday when Avery is running all over the house leaving no stone unturned, they'll reflect back on all they went through with wonder and amazement.

Changing crib sheets

So every morning lately, or so it seems, Olivia is waking up soaked up to her chin, needing a bath, and her crib needs to be completely sanitized. Changing crib sheets. Ok moms...is this not one of the most annoying, cumbersome things on earth? Are there any short cuts that I'm not aware of? I just finished changing Olivia's sheets, washing her mattress, washing the mattress pad and bumper, then putting it all back together. I just wish there was a better way??? By the time I'm done with this whole process I'm usually cursing out the bumper and the dang matress pad. Now that her crib is at the lowest level this whole process just seems very daunting. I'm ready to throw the bumper out the window, but she loves her bumper and talks to it, traces her little fingers over the hearts, and runs her hands over the flowers. I feel bad to take it out. I've even tried switching diapers but lately shes waking up soaked in both number 1 and 2! Ack. Oh well....all in the acts of love. :)

New Olivia words

So we have a few new words floating around the household. Miss Olivia now says "Cheese" and "keys." She happens to love both of these items, so learning to say them seemed to come easy for her. And yes Dave is still waiting for "Dada" to show up one of these days, but she still isn't interested in saying Dada...she simply calls him "Mama". When Olivia was just a wee baby I used to wonder how on earth she would even learn words....and how would I know how to teach her? This used to baffle me....I just couldn't see how it would all work. Well although we have a long way to go I'm starting to see how this motherhood thing works, and basically I've learned that you end up suprising the heck out of yourself. As we're getting closer to Olivia turning one I'm really starting to take stock and look at this whole year. My only advice to any mom is the same advice that my dad always gave me, and I told Rachel about it earlier today. Whenever I would have a problem in life, or want to learn something, my dad would always tell me to get a book. He would never offer insight until I had researched what I was going through. This has helped me throughout my life becuase I usually don't think about doing something until I've looked into it.

On another blogworthy note, I am now heading back out to the work world, well the part time work world anyway. I landed a job for a local health system, working as an Oncology Social Worker in a Cancer Center, 20 hours a week. I am peaceful about the job, and feel happy about it, although sad that I'll miss 20 hours of Olivia's life every week. I think about my mission as a mom, and hope that in the end this was the right decision for my family. I have a peace about it, but it certainly wasn't made easily. I had a goal of staying home with Olivia for her first year on earth, and I made it to almost 11 months. Just shy of my goal, but not a moment sooner for Dave who has been carrying alot of additional stress, cutting lots of corners, and basically forgoing lots of needed items so we could give Olivia the gift of her mom for almost one year. We've been pretty near broke over these last 10 months, but I feel so happy that I was with Olivia through most of her first year. I left my job last August, knowing that I didn't want to return there as I wasn't happy in the first place. I knew that I wanted to find something better, and had a peace inside that I would find it. I'm hoping this is the something better that I held out for, and financially it will help immensly. Thankfully Olivia will mostly be with her grandparents in my absense, and you can't ask for better caregivers than that, and I'm quite sure this will be a cherished time by both Olivia and my in-laws. Turning her over to their care 20 hours a week also takes a letting go on my part, and I've worked through some of that, and will continue to work through it as we re-adjust.
I will miss my days with olivia, but hopefully I will still have two of them where I won't be working....the schedule is being determined this week. In everything I do I really think about it and how it aligns with my values, ethics, and beliefs...you really wouldn't want to walk in my head sometimes. :) I make descisions with my heart and soul, so this took some tugging, but mostly it has been peace filled. I felt love and peace as I proceeded with this particular position, and also feel gratitude that it aligns with my values and beliefs for the type of work that I'd like to be doing. I used to make descisions based on money, and over the last few years have tweeked that thinking to what would work with my family, and what I could live with, walk with, and be proud of as a woman, wife, and mother. I have to answer to my life like we all do, and I have to answer for my descisions and why. Thankfully this is one that I can peacefully answer to, so wish me luck as I get started!

Olivia helping me open the mail, and her cute little toes captured during mealtime. She always crosses her feet no matter what shes doing, and I think its so funny!