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I was hoping to build a site that would allow me to share more information but in an easy streamlined setting, so check this out. Let me know what you think or what you prefer : )
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19 Months!

Flower Patch Preschool

What a fabulous day! Danica started her very first day of preschool. It is extremely hard to believe and I have found myself reminiscing about her "babyhood" all day long, but today was the day. At about 7:40 this morning Danica, Jasper and I headed out with the stroller for our short jaunt down the road to preschool, after a few pictures, of course. We signed Danica in and she was off to play with just one little peck for old mom. I am thrilled that she is so happy and confident to just take off into the new world of preschool. She is in a class of just 3 other girls but this is just the beginning of what might be some really great friendships.

18 Months!

I am a little late in posting Jasper's 18 month photos--but here is a link to some pictures : )


http://gallery.me.com/stradephotography/102576

Milestone Check Ups

Danica and Jasper both had their check ups with Dr. John on Thursday, and for Jasper his last round of shots for a bit. They did great and had Dr. John shocked with how tall they are.
Danica is 36 lbs (95%)and 40 1/2 inches tall (over 95%)
Jasper is 28.2 lbs (75-90%) and 34 1/2 inches tall (over 95%)
After our doctor's appointments it was off for ice cream and a little fun in the fountains at Zona Rosa. The kiddos loved that--when I get the photos, being held hostage on my phone, I will post.

Realization

Some of you are going to recognize this post, but I am not sure you can ever read it too many times. This has been pulled from our church newsletter...

To realize the value of a brother or sister ask someone who doesn't have one
To realize the value of four years ask a graduate
To realize the value of one year ask a student who has failed a final exam
To realize the value of one month ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby
To realize the value of one minute ask a person who has missed a train, bus, or plane
To realize the value of one second ask a person who has just survived an accident
To realize the value of a family member or friend, lose one....
Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you share it with someone special.

My 34th year started somewhat hectic and not exactly how I had imagined however now, 3 weeks out, I feel hopeful. For some reason this poem, for me, came at the right time, from the right place! There is alot of value in my life and yours! I am going to spend my 34th year being honest with myself, one big step comes tomorrow!

17 Months!

Our little guy Jasper is 17 months old and full of it! He is ALL boy, has a mouth full of teeth and jabbers up a storm, he loves his sissy, swimming and playing golf!

Mountainbound!

The Green family has officially concluded their first official vacation "road trip." I will admit I was dreading the 11 hour trip, 22 hours total with my two children, under the age of 3, and husband. However, with only a few little hiccups, I was pleasantly surprised. I don't think our neighbors at the Holiday Inn Express in North Platte, NE would agree with that statement, but that was a hiccup. We had a great time in Colorado visiting with family, celebrating birthdays, playing in the snow, playing in the sun, visiting a mine and panning for gold, riding a horse drawn carriage, shopping, going on a bike ride, swimming in the "hot pool, and going to the zoo!" Now that we are home, we are enjoying the kids sleeping in!

I guess it is a good thing I only get 2 weeks vacation (not really), I could really get used to making a living just hanging with my wonderful family!

16 Months!

Jasper is 16 months old, going strong, I mean really strong. He is working on getting his two "eye" teeth on the top and we recently experimented with giving him and "at home" haircut. I think we will stick with going to see Jenny : )

Danica has now spent 4 nights out of her Toddler bed and in her new big girl bed. She has done fantastic and was super excited to have her "Tangled" sheets! We are gearing up for her 3rd birthday and our vacation to Colorado in early June. Kelly's last day of school, with kids is tomorrow, the 24th, and I think he is ready : )

Happy Easter!

15 Months Easter Sunday Spring beauty

Happy Easter! We enjoyed a very nice lunch with the family yesterday and an evening of playing outside. Danica and Jasper both enjoyed their visit from the Easter bunny and are already practicing to pack their suitcases, courtesy of Mr. Bunny himself, for our summer vacation!

1st Trip to the Dentist!

Danica had her very first trip to the dentist yesterday. She saw Dr. Mattingley in his office in Hamilton and she did fantastic. She has a very healthy set of 20 teeth, 10 on top and 10 on the bottom--she and Mimi counted before we went and Dr. Mattingley confirmed!

I am looking forward to running my first 1/2 marathon on Sunday, in St. Louis with my cousin Danni, Kelly and the kids have been so supportive of my training and am blessed they are going to meet me at the finish line! We will see how our first long car trip is as a family, it will give us some practice for our drive to Colorado this summer.

Springing to 14 months!

SPRING IS HERE! We had a great day at the park on Saturday, followed by a family trip to Lowe's to do some home project research. On Sunday, we went to church with Mimi and the Heits family. Aunt Blythe sang in the band and it was awesome!

Today, Jasper has been a bit under the weather--throwing up and diarrhea, he has a molar coming in so we are hoping that is what it is and not a bug that will wreck havoc on the whole house.

We are thrilled that spring has finally sprung and are looking forward to the warmer weather, more daylight and time outside!

The GREEN kids!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Moving our imaginations....

I will not tell a lie, I have secretly been looking forward to going to the see the Imagination Movers with my daughter since MiMi bought the tickets several months ago. I pretended like I was all but enthused, but deep down I couldn't wait to see Danica's reaction. She was so excited, and I was excited for her. From December to March 13th there was not a day that went by that she did not talk about going to the concert and the fact that Jasper was "staying at home with the big boys." Danica is a big fan, and we were not disappointed in the show, not in the least bit.
She was awesome, the company was awesome (thanks Mimi, Aunt Blythe and Madelynn) and the Imagination Movers were fantastic! I was amazed at how much Danica got into the show, she danced the whole time, attempted to make her way on stage and all while grasping the concept of their "problem" during the show. See, the Imagination Movers, are in fact problem solvers and during every episode they dance and sing and "brainstorm" ways to solve all sorts of problems. She came home and without any hesitation told her daddy all about the "Fun-O-Meter" and how the Movers were trying to get all of the happy faces to light up. And of course they did!
A memory for a lifetime was made for several "little girls" on Sunday.

Cinderella's final dance....

Yes, this is it my final blog about CAMD. I haven't blogged in several days about the book and in the meantime, have finished the book. The last few chapters did a great job of summing up the premise of the book and continued to make my brain cells work overtime. Overall the book was very thought provoking and I believe a good parenting book for any parent, whether you have boys or girls.
There is alot I could discuss over the last 4 chapters, but I think I will just wrap it up in a non-controversial manner, encourage you to read the book and let me know what you think. Marketing and media grab hold of our kids, no matter how old they are. The best defense we have as parents against media, music, and movies, is to talk WITH our children. That is unless you want to move to Sweden where marketing to children under twelve is acutally illegal. We could take a lesson from Rapunzel and her mother, it is not our job to keep the world at bay but to prepare our daughters so they may thrive. However, I think the same goes for our boys.

Who knows what book I will get my hands on next that warrants blogging about but you will be the first to know!

This one is for the kids!

I have the hardest time on days when work gets the best of me and then the 2-3 precious hours I have with my kids go by so fast. Why can't the work day go as fast? Tonight I simply fell apart and that makes me mad. It makes me mad, because I am stronger than that, but at the same time as a working mom, all I really want is time with my kids. Today was a day that just didn't balance for me, we all have them, we all react to them, and we all wish they didn't happen.

Jasper is 13 months old and going strong, literally, he is strong. Strong vocal cords, grip, you name it. He is a "bruiser," shoes don't fit and clothes are getting too small, I guess it is a good thing the season is about to change. The night before last I fixed him his last bottle that had any trace of formula in it : (. My baby is 100% whole milk now. Why is it that the little things make such an impact? Jasper is a huge fan of brushing his teeth and watching The Wizard of Oz, he gets that from his sister. However, Kelly and I have decided that the movie was much more appealing when we didn't have to watch bits and pieces of it everyday. This too shall pass.

Danica has officially been enrolled in FLOWER PATCH PRESCHOOL for the 2011-2012 school year. What? Danica is old enough to got to preschool. I know, hard to believe, it was for me too. She is so excited and especially excited about going with other kids. She has thoroughly enjoyed the twice a month trips to the public library with my mom for story time and afterwards, we try to meet for lunch at the local diner. Danica is into dinosaurs, fish, planning her Summer vacation, birthday cake and her Halloween costume (right now it is the wicked witch, she wants to be spooky). Quite the smorgasbord, huh?

We have enjoyed the short break from the Winter weather and are eagerly awaiting more time outdoors!

Pop culture....brings about question?

As I make my way through the 1/2 way point of this "enchanting" book I am not sure I am learning a lot but I am thinking a great deal and taking a bit of time to process my ability to raise a daughter in this crazy world we live in. Maybe we are over thinking this princess phenomenon. Maybe not, I just received my nieces 1st birthday party invitation, and it was Tinkerbell. We do encourage it, maybe not on purpose or with much thought, but we do, well some of us do.
In the last chapter or two here are a few thoughts and questions to get you thinking.

Will you let your daughter have and/or play with a toy gun? I guess the question for me was not my daughter, but my children. If I would let my son, why wouldn't I let my daughter. However, it was interesting that the author in questioning several moms, they would buy and let their son play with a toy gun, but not their daughters. Why? I for one do not believe that toy guns or "old school" cartoons like Tom and Jerry, lead to violence. Toy guns are merely an outlet for imaginative play, that should be monitored by parents and guided when necessary.

Naturally, most women are going to object to the sexualization of girls, but do you object to girls having sex? We could go on and on with this question. In my opinion my daughter, and son will be taught that "true love waits." However, true love may not be when they are married. I don't want my children to be a part of casual sex or do something to make someone else feel good. They need to be doing most things in their lives for themselves, philanthropy excluded (yes they will be taught that--of course). I don't ever want them to lose themselves. I will not "force" abstinence, they will know that that is the safest for them, but I truly believe that only makes them more curious, willing to hide if they chose to have sex and makes sex seem "bad." Sex is not bad. However, sex should not be used to keep someone from leaving or done because everyone else is doing it. The lesson in sex from my view is be true to yourself. But, I have lots of time to continue to mold my beliefs on this subject.

The ideas in this portion of the book are intersting and the vast history of fairy tales in comparison to the current day rendetions is fascinating and somewhat disturbing and without a doubt worth reading the book. As is the intriguing look into the world of the "girl crushes" or idols of young girls, i.e. Hillary Duff, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus, Brittney Spears and the like. They of course brought about the sexualization discussion.

The next chapter I am about to begin starts out discussing "fat." Should be interesting and I think I can relate.

Girls....get pinked!

Okay this blog covers two chapters...one chapter, I will be honest, I skimmed. I skimmed it because it covered Toddler Pageants, hate the idea, they should not exist, could not stand to read about them. So we will just get it out of the way.
The other chapter covered society and gender differences and included the story of one couple from Sweden who wanted to conceal their child's gender and therefore called the child Pop and changed the child's hairstyle regularly as well as "its" clothes, sometimes dresses sometimes trousers. I am sure that child isn't a bit confused. I guess atleast our boys and girls are firmly routed in who, or what they are. Well, sort of it seems, from one neurologist that boy and girls at a very early age, do not know pink from blue. I see this from having one each, Jasper is very different from Danica but has no problem in picking up and playing with her magic wand or pink purse, right now, I am sure some day, hopefully, he won't want to touch it with a 10 ft. pole.
It isn't until 2 or 3 that they pick up on a thing called girl and a thing called boy. Which I also see in Danica as she is becoming very interested in anatomy and why Jasper has a penis and she does not.
It is natural for her to be " in love" with all of the girl stuff, natural and normal, and therefore harmful for us as parents to not be supportive of this phase of childhood. Girl is what she understands and as she is exploring being a girl, princesses, pink and frill are what girls are all about.
I believe it to be important to support this princess play, as hard as it might be, and also encourage play between boys and girls, even if it is with dolls. Boys and girls playing together encourages their communication and hopefully respect for one another leading to a much more polite future with one another.
Ms. Orenstein said it best in her conclustion to the chapter. How do we allow for exploration of feminity without exploitations of feminity? Can it become over the top, or better yet, how does it become over the top?

Pinked! Fitting for the season.

Yes the latest chapter in my book is entitled Pinked and fitting for the content and for the most recently celebrated holiday. This chapter covers the concept of marketing and the evolution of how "once upon a time" children were not color coded and it is because of marketing trends that we have developed the perception of certain colors for girls and boys. Agree. This made me think about my own son and how recently he was given an adorable outfit by his grandparents for his 1st birthday pictures. It was the traditional, however somewhat non-traditional for our time, one piece "shortall", complete with smocking, knee socks and white long sleeved collared shirt. I laughed at first, but he looked adorable in it. My mom was quick to say, at least I didn't have you dress him in your dad's pink shortall from when he was a baby. Pink, are you kidding me. However, after reading this chapter I quickly learned that pink was actually the masculine hue when nursery colors where first introduced. It was a pastel version of red---strength. Blue, symbolized femininity. The author points out that maybe that is why so many of the early Disney princesses were dressed in blue. Ahhhhh, quite interesting if I do say so myself.
It is marketing by clothing manufacturers that have brought us the plethora of "kid categories" like infant, toddler, kid, tween, and teen, that's right they were not developed by psychologists, they were developed by manufacturers of clothing. And with the categories, comes the split of genders and an easier audience to market. The author has found that there is is actually a "pink factor." The pink factor? Yes, that is when toy manufacturers and marketers make a toy in pink as well as a "boy color" in hopes that parents will purchase the pink one for their girl, have a boy and then have to repurchase the same toy for their boy, or vice versa depending on the birth order. HA! I say, we did not fall into your pink factor trap. We most recently bought black and red skates as opposed to the pink ones for Danica, so Jasper could use them. Her Leap Top is green and white and I have even bought some jackets in greens and reds so we can hand them down and every year so far, Danica has gotten black crocs for the summer and her tricycle is red.
Gender behavior, inborn or learned--still waiting to find out.

Cinderella...What's wrong with her?

Don't misunderstand me, I don't think there is anything really wrong with a love of the Disney princesses, I don't necessarily believe that there is an underlying between them and my daughter not feeling empowered, unlike the author of this book. However, she does make some valid points. Where on earth do the girls get it, it is like they are born with this gene, except the gene in Danica did not come from me, maybe it came from my sister, she was the Barbie lover and the Disney movie fanatic.
It was interesting to find out that it wasn't until the year 2000 that the Disney princesses were actually marketed separate from their films release. And, I find some pride in the fact that Danica tends to be pulled more toward the more obscure Disney films (if that makes sense), Mulan, Alladin, and Snow White, yes they are the princesses that are considered to be less popular. Also, I must point out that you must pay attention next time when you see all the princesses featured together, they are never looking at one another, making eye contact. Why? Roy Disney considered it heresy to lump together the princesses from a different story, therefore they all stare off into different directions when featured together. Creepy if you ask me.
I guess I am still learning a lot about the Disney fixation by our young girls, but I don't think it is just Disney or just princesses. Ms. Orenstein explores a bit of the American Doll craze as well. American Doll, that one really gets me so I don't think I am even going to go there. I guess what I don't really understand is how quickly it all takes hold of a little girl, or boy in some situations, and I am just not sure it is healthy and I am especially not sure in how to handle it.
For example, I was in the shower the other morning and heard Danica in my bathroom drawers. I asked her what she was doing and she replied "putting on my makeup," to which I replied, you are beautiful you don't need makeup. She continued to "apply" eye shadow and pull back the shower curtain to show me the finished product. I continued to tell her that she didn't need makeup, she was naturally beautiful. How does this happen? I am not a terribly made up person and if I don't have to, I don't put on makeup or spend too much time on my hair. I am not convinced this all comes from society, but I am not convinced it is genetic either.
Princesses, Barbies, and American Dolls are a comfort, uncomplicated and stable in what can be a very complicated being for young girls---they are fun and in my opinion, at least at this point they aren't going to shape my daughters self esteem....I hope they aren't shaping her self worth, confidence and image.
I am still very confused on how such young girls get so obsessed at such an early age.

Cinderella Ate My Daughter, a perspective

I have been following some buzz about a new book written by Peggy Orenstein called "Cinderella Ate My Daughter" Dispatches from the front lines of hte new girlie-girl culture. I was intrigued by the title, the cover, and the "flap" and decided what the heck and bought the book off Amazon. Well I got it in the mail yesterday and quickly put aside my "serious" book "Little Bee" and cracked open the cover, Chapter 1 Why I Hoped for a Boy immediately made me realize I was going to blog while I read this book. I immediately thought I might have something in common with the author and knew it was going to be a very thought provoking and eye opening book. Now while my first thought when I found out I was pregnant was not gosh I hope I don't have a girl, I will be honest and say I had some pretty strong aprehensions about having a girl. I didn't want a princess, covered in pink, afraid to get dirty or have her own opinions, (ok, I want her to have her own opinions, I just don't want them to be determined by society but of her own will), neither did the author of this book. I also was seriously afraid of dress up, barbie dolls and pig tails, ok long hair in general. And it is amazing how quickly we were bombarded with pink when we found out we were having a girl, even Kelly and I's first clothing purchase for our child was a blue sundress, not counting the Michael Jordan onesie we bought in the early 90's : ) We were commited to making a somewhat gender neutral nursery and not going over the top with pink or any girl color for that matter. I cannot say the same for the many wonderful friends and family that showered us with gifts. So.....how did our beautiful little girl become fascinated with Disney princesses and wearing dresses all the time? Society. And that is Ms. Orenstein's point in this book it would seem after reading the first chapter. Why and how did it happen? As I get in touch with my own feelings while reading this book I encourage you to share your thoughts too. I love my daughter and don't necessarily mind a love of pink, tutus, dresses and long hair, I just hope I can keep up. However, I don't ever want my daughter to feel like she has to wear makeup or dress in fancy dresses and shoes because she is a girl and because it is the only way to look beautiful.
**Note: for those of you that could give a damn about my posts on this book, sorry, just delete the email when you get it, I will be sure to clearly label a post when it is of my adorable babies.

Time flies....

Have you ever noticed how truly fast time flies? I have in just one day saved a spot for Danica to go to school next year. Yes, she is old enough to go to preschool. It was one week ago today that I picked up our local newspaper and saw the ad for preschool enrollment for the 2011-2012 school year. As lame as it may seem, I teared up, now I didn't all out ball like a baby, I just got a little sad. It seems like I was just craddling our little Danica in my arms and now I am going to be getting her all dressed up for her very first day of preschool. I have plenty of time to prepare and to find just the right dress. Yes, find just the right dress, Danica, unlike her mother, is not interested in wearing any pants, only dresses and skirts. However, just like her mother to heck with the tights. So I am now faced with a 2 1/2 year old that cares about what she wears, tells me what she wants to wear, won't you use her adorable hooded "baby" towels anymore and is going to start school. What the heck happened?
And, if her growing up isn't enough Jasper is saying more and more words everyday, most have everything to do with food or eating in general and he is officially walking everywhere!
So, I guess time doesn't stand still eventhough sometimes it might feel like it is. We are cherishing all the little moments and trying to capture them and bottle them up.
Here is a video of Danica singing a line from "Jack and the Beanstalk" a favorite fairy tale for now.
The world is blessed with 2 pretty special kiddos in Danica and Jasper!

1 Year Check Up

We successfully returned from Jasper 1 year check up with Dr. John and am thrilled to report that for the first time in months, we went to the doctor and we were 100% healthy! Jasper was 25 lbs 1 oz and was 31 inches long (both were in the 75-90%). Big guy, full of love and smiles!

Jasper's 1st Birthday

We had an amazing day yesterday celebrating Jasper's birthday with family and friends. I do believe he was overwhelmed by all of the attention but loved every minute of it. Thank you to everyone for making it so special, Jasper may not remember it, but Kelly and I will treasure the memory of this birthday.

We topped off our afternoon of partying with an Asian themed dinner party with friends complete with a couple's talent show and some let me just say very interesting board game playing. I do believe it is safe to say that I learned some new and interesting things and found out that not only are Kelly and I blessed with great friends, we are blessed with very talented, comical and well rounded friends.

Birthday.....hesitation.

Well, it is here, Jasper's first birthday. It is unbelievable....absolutely. I was recently asked if things in "my world" were going to slow down anytime soon, my response was simply. I don't know. The past year has been somewhat of a blur to say the least and I do believe I have experienced every emotion imaginable.
Jasper's first birthday, for me, is bittersweet. I am ready for him to become like the little person that Danica has become but...this is it, our last first birthday party. I think Kelly will tell you he is beyond ready for the first birthday to be behind us. Irregardless I face the weekend with great joy that our family has such a great milestone to celebrate and yet another year to face head on. The year will be hectic yes, but it is our hope that it brings us joy and new adventure as well! Be on the lookout for birthday pictures....coming soon!

...

I am not sure when it happens or why it happens but at some point in time very few things matter but the people that surround you each and everyday and unconditionally think that you are an okay individual. I have learned over the last year especially, that relationships change, relationships evolve and you can fight it, you can question it but inevitably you can't change it. I am a very different person than before I had children, not better, not worse, just different.

Why tonight do I sit an share these thoughts on this blog, I don't know. How is that for an answer. Is it because I am looking forward toward a first birthday party that I so much want to be excited for but deep down inside I am sad that my little guy is hitting this milestone? Is it because my little girl told me tonight "I love you so much" and it made me realize that her love, her brothers love and her fathers love are more important to me today than they were yesterday? Is it because I have two sick babies and I feel so helpless in their fight to feel better?

Helpless...I have had that feeling more than once this past year, but as new friendships have grown, old friendships have changed and I have settled into the fact that after almost 7 years, this is who I am, helpless is merely a feeling it will come and it will go. I need to give myself more credit and the people around me more credit. 2010 brough superior highs and "bubble bursting" lows and as I look toward this next year I will continue the fight and remember always that I am surround by love.....so much love!

Okay....I am done with the babbling, get used to it though, I am going to try to blog more often than once a month--my thoughts are often random. Hold on : )

Jasper getting ready to eat "snow ice cream!"

Danica playing in the snow!

Jasper's First Haircut....and one of us is Binky Free!

Danica is "binky free" for almost 2 weeks now, and it didn't even take 2 steps. Danica wrapped up her binkies for Santa on Christmas Eve and after a very long bedtime routine spent her first night without her beloved pacifier. After two days of struggles at naptime only by Monday, December 28th, Danica was completely binky free. My advice to anyone getting rid of a pacifier start sooner rather than later!

Jasper got his first haircut today, he did super! And, as is typical with a second child the picture is before his haircut....I didn't take one when he was all finished, but take this mom's word for it he looks adorable!