tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76814064635797490122024-03-13T11:53:04.832-04:00A Space of My OwnMaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.comBlogger418125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-8099876755988252582016-01-09T21:56:00.000-05:002016-01-09T21:58:07.445-05:00My Sweet Kitty Is GoneI adopted a cat from the San Francisco SPCA in early 1998 and named her Lancy. She was born on 11/25/97 and was the runt of her litter. At her largest, she was just over 9 pounds. Today, 18+ years later, and after not eating for 1 week, she was 5 pounds, 3 ounces.<br />
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She was my constant companion over the last 18 years. She was with me when I was single and lonely. She moved across the country with me. She was with me when I married my husband. And she was with me when I had my two children. She sat on my lap when I watched TV at night and slept with me every night. Until she got diagnosed with kidney failure, she never once failed to use her litter box. She didn't scratch my furniture. She was a perfect pet and I loved her very much. <br />
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Today, I had to say goodbye and I will really miss my sweet, furry friend. Rest in peace, my dear Lancy. <br />
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<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-81817817269418326292015-08-23T20:28:00.000-04:002015-10-06T20:53:39.726-04:00Cranberry Trifest Olympic TriathlonI completed my second olympic distance triathlon, the Cranberry Trifest Olympic Triathlon, in Lakeville, MA. I'm super happy with my results:<br />
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40-44 Women Division Place: 12/37<br />
Overall Place: 194/441<br />
Gender Place: 51/204<br />
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0.9 mile swim: 23:40 (35/441 overall; 8/204 women; 2/37 in 40-44 age group)<br />
T1: 2:46.6<br />
26.2 mile bike: 1:25.53 (282/441 overall; 17/37 in 40-44 age group)<br />
T2: 2:27.9<br />
6.2 mile run: 54:35 (232/441 overall; 16/37 in 40-44 age group)<br />
Total Time: 2:50:20.6<br />
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I'm super pleased with the swim, especially given that I had to swim through a very crowded field of swimmers. I was in wave 5 and by the end of the swim course, I passed swimmers in wave 2! I didn't catch up to wave 1 since those were the elite athletes. :-) The lake was 80 degrees and so the swim course was not wet suit legal, which was fine by me. There were some people who still wore their wetsuits, but they were not allowed to be ranked. It's pretty clear that all of the open water training I did at Stiles Pond in Boxford, MA helped me since I totally rocked the swim.<br />
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Besides wanting to crush the swim (goal accomplished!), I wanted my bike ranking to be closer to my run ranking. I really wanted to push myself on the bike. I was really pleased with this too - I averaged 18 mph for my bike. At a couple of points, I backed off since I really wanted to be strong in the run too. And I was pleased with my run time also.<br />
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Here's a picture my hubby took of me on my way into the finish line.<br />
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And the very best part was that my son ran the last bit with me. I love love love this picture that the professional photographer was able to capture. I see pure joy on my son's face.<br />
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<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-69852158877906008902015-06-24T21:21:00.000-04:002015-06-24T21:59:41.577-04:002015 Ashland Lions Olympic TriathlonI did it! I completed my first ever olympic distance triathlon this past Sunday. It was the <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/firm-racing.com/home/ashland-lions-metro-west-triathlon-start-8-00-a-m">Ashland Lions Olympic Triathlon</a>. <br />
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Here are the distances:<br />
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1 mile swim<br />
25.4 mile bike<br />
6 mile run<br />
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This was also my first triathlon that included men. Before this, I had only done two women-only sprint triathlons. And this was my first triathlon in the rain - we had pretty awful weather. It teemed while setting up my transition area and then during the entire race, we had light to moderate rain.<br />
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I'm pretty proud of my results. There were 98 participants and only 36 women. In my category (Female 40-44), there were 7 participants.<br />
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<u>Category: Female 40-44</u><br />
<b>Swim</b>: 25:50 / Category 1 / Overall 14<br />
Transition 1: 8:49 min<br />
<b>Bike</b>: 1:35:53 / Category 3 / Overall 72<br />
Transition 2: 3:21<br />
<b>Run</b>: 55:00 / Category 3 / Overall 52<br />
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<b>Total: 3:08:55 / Category 3 / Overall 53</b><br />
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I actually medaled by getting 3rd in my age group category. I didn't expect that at all!<br />
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By getting 53rd overall, it means I finished in roughly the 50th percentile, which means I beat a lot of men! And I was 14th overall in the swim, but only 4 of those who beat me were women.<br />
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As a former competitive swimmer from age 6 to 18, I'm not surprised by how well I did on the swim. I knew that was going to be my best leg. And as expected based on my earlier triathlons, my bike was my worst leg. I actually completed the 25.4 mile ride in a personal best time (compared to my training rides), but it still only landed me 72nd overall. And my run was decent, with a 52nd overall finish. <br />
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The run was the only thing I didn't feel completely trained for. It was SO hilly. At the beginning, I thought that maybe I ran the wrong way. The initial hill was so bad that all I could think was "This is BRUTAL" or "Is this some sick joke?" But I really didn't want to have to walk and so I kept slugging through. The entire run course was either straight up or straight down. There might have been a .25 mile stretch that was flat. No joke. So while I trained to run 6 miles after biking 25 miles, I was not prepared for such a hilly course. My hamstrings were quite sore over the past 2 days.<br />
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My new goal is to get better on the bike. It's the longest leg of the race and so there should be lots of room for improvement. I either need to spin faster in the low gears that I use or I need to get comfortable in a higher gear. The reason I like the bike leg the best is probably because I'm not working hard enough! <br />
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I would also like to improve my transition times. They were pretty slow on this triathlon, but I also packed everything in bags (to prevent my items from being totally soggy when I initially put them on) and I changed my socks between biking and running. The first transition on this triathlon (from swim to bike) was ridiculous. We had to run up this steep muddy path with tons of rocks and roots and then up a huge field to get back to the transition area. I actually put on sneakers after the swim to get back to the transition area. So that wasn't the most ideal course.<br />
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I look forward to the next triathlon in August. In the meantime, back to getting up at 5 am to train!Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-19810503849236688412015-02-14T21:30:00.000-05:002016-02-19T11:04:14.862-05:00Ian Lost his First Tooth!Ian lost his first tooth today - one of the middle ones on the bottom (and probably the first tooth that came in). Exciting!Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-82278464669609443592014-10-12T22:14:00.001-04:002014-10-12T22:14:12.231-04:00Apple Picking at Cider Hill Farms, Amesbury, MALike many other New Englanders, we went apple picking today. We chose Cider Hill Farms for their awesome apple cider donuts and choice of apples. The apple trees were quite picked over but some of the trees had a bunch at the top. Luckily, they give you apple picking poles (which I had never seen before) and those worked great! We filled our bags with Macoun, Honeycrisp and Early Fujis. I now have apples for 2 months! I'm psyched. They taste so good fresh from the tree. The kids had an absolute blast. They enjoyed picking (and eating) the apples and 2 donuts apiece. They had fun on the hay ride and LOVED jumping around the hay bales that the farm set up. <br />
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<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-66034449928451444652014-10-04T15:43:00.003-04:002014-10-12T21:54:09.812-04:00Happy New Year - L'Shana Tova!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
It's high holiday season. L'Shana Tova!</div>
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Also? Autumn!</div>
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Ian popped up from his seat so that he could help Rabbi Jay carry the Torah.</div>
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<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-72786795929319049092014-09-09T20:52:00.000-04:002014-09-09T20:52:27.273-04:002014 Title 9 Women Only Sprint Triathlon, Hopkington MAThis past Sunday, I participated in the Title 9 Women Only Sprint Triathlon in Hopkington, MA. It's a .25 mile swim, 10 mile bike and 3.1 mile run. I trained by doing each activity individually but only twice did I do some running after biking. And never once did I practice swimming in open water. I trained only in the pool. The course was MUCH more challenging than I expected. For some reason, because it was a women-only event and there were going to be a lot of "newbies," I had assumed it would be easy. Wrong wrong wrong. The bike didn't have a single flat spot. Thank god the last 1 mile of the run was flat. My overall time was 1:21:25. Here's the break-down:<br />
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<u>Overall placement</u>:<br />
<u>Swim</u>: 26/610; 3/92 in 40-44 year old division<br />
<u>Bike</u>: 122/610; 26/92 in 40-44 year old division<br />
<u>Run</u>: 85/610: 16/92 in 40-44 year old division<br />
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My swim was decent but I thought it could have used improvement. For one, I needed to actually swim in the 2 weeks prior to the triathlon. My local pool closed during these 2 weeks and despite good intentions to visit another pool, I didn't happen. And now my back is really sore! Also, I needed to sight my swim pathway more often. I kept swimming towards shore instead of swimming in a straight line and once almost ran smack into a huge orange buoy. When I do another triathlon next year, I will need to practice some open water swimming. I will also plan to buy a swimming wetsuit so that I can do some ocean swims.<br />
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I felt good on the bike, despite the hills. I averaged 15.0 mph, which I thought was pretty good given the challenging course. That being said, it was clearly the worst of my 3 legs of the race. I definitely held back a bit knowing that I had to get through the run. I think I was at 90% instead of 100%. As I do more triathlons, I will hopefully get a better sense of how to pace myself.<br />
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I was really proud of my run. I averaged an 8:26 min/mile pace which is REALLY fast for me. When training, my fastest average was roughly 8:45 min/mile pace and usually it was slower than that. I didn't have any more to give on the run and so I know I gave it 100%.<br />
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I can't wait to sign up for some more races next year. I found out that my neighbor also is interested in doing them and so I'll have to coordinate with her. I plan on doing an Olympic distance triathlon next season (.9 mile swim, 25 mile bike and 6.1 mile run), which will require more dedicated training. And I need to figure out how to get faster on the bike.Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-41508513245594602772014-09-04T20:52:00.000-04:002014-09-09T21:14:26.075-04:00Ian's First Day of Kindergarten!Ian had his first real day of kindergarten today. He was so proud of himself and I was so proud of him! While he has been in "school" for almost his entire life, this is the first time that he was out of the daycare environment. As usual, I didn't have to worry about his transition to kindergarten. He has always been happy to make upward changes (ever since he was in the mobile infant room at daycare, banging on the glass door because he wanted to get into the adjoining toddler room).<br />
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His schedule is a bit nuts since public school kindergarten in our town is only a 1/2 day. So he is going to public school kindergarten every morning during the week. Then every day except for Wednesday, KinderCare picks him up and he does their afternoon kindergarten program and after school program. On Wednesday, he'll be going to our local temple for their afternoon kindergarten program and then religious school. What is nice about that is that he's getting his "Sunday school" experience during the week so we don't have to try and force yet another activity into the weekend. If he really likes the temple experience, we might send him twice a week instead of once a week.<br />
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I'm still sort of amazed, shocked and awed that my first baby is already in kindergarten! This kid is going to knock their socks off - he's already reading complex sentences and words without much effort. Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-46595096692547860152014-04-18T22:09:00.001-04:002014-04-18T22:09:15.952-04:00Achieved My Weight Loss GoalI've been wanting to lose those last 5 pounds of baby weight for a long time now. My little girl is about to turn 3, I'm going on a week-long scuba diving vacation shortly and I'm turning 40 next month. So I decided to kick the weight loss program into high gear. I've been exercising more (4 times a week) and doing high intensity bursts. I've been mixing up my workouts too (bike, run, swim, and cardio training with body weight). I've also tried to eat healthier (although I'm already a fairly healthy eater). I stopped eating rice/potatoes as side dishes and traded them for roasted vegetables, like squash, cauliflower and brussel sprouts. And I did it. According to my weight loss app on my phone, I started at 147.2 pounds 2 years ago and today, hit my goal of 140.0 pounds. So hooray for me. It's what I weighed just before getting pregnant with my son in 2008.<div>
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But, I'm still not totally thrilled with what I see in the mirror. I used to have a flat stomach and now I have a bump where my stomach is. It's not flabby or mushy, but it's not flat. So I'm going to set a new goal of 135 pounds and see if I can achieve that. My guess is that my stomach will look the same even with another 5 pounds gone. I think it's a combination of age, genetics and the fact that I had 2 babies in my latish 30s. It may just be that I'm stuck with it. And if that's so, that's okay too. I just want to see if another 5 pounds make a difference. I'm 5'5" so being 135 pounds certainly isn't too skinny...</div>
Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-79445751866655455002014-04-02T22:20:00.000-04:002014-04-02T22:20:00.558-04:00Well-Child Visits and StatsToday, I took Ian and Sammy to the doctor for their 5 year old and 3 year old checkups. They were pretty well-behaved and Sammy was definitely more comfortable being at the doctor with her big brother there besides her. Here is a photo of them poking each other while we waited for the doctor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTf6w_f6P5BymFcpSAHBkurdT8F_wHgRcIMMcMY3tUoXnhdYQXvNdhSq8CYz-h29giX-VxCsdqRSrTE-T0auxQQcYkOXO5SEImhDp1wMgYOZlTYebXL140UnPLkS01GZVpgH5RBD8xpQc/s1600/IMG_3348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTf6w_f6P5BymFcpSAHBkurdT8F_wHgRcIMMcMY3tUoXnhdYQXvNdhSq8CYz-h29giX-VxCsdqRSrTE-T0auxQQcYkOXO5SEImhDp1wMgYOZlTYebXL140UnPLkS01GZVpgH5RBD8xpQc/s1600/IMG_3348.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here are their stats:<br />
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<u>Ian (5)</u><br />
Weight: 43 pounds, 8 ounces (68.54%)<br />
Height: 44.29 inches (76.21%)<br />
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<u>Sammy (3)</u><br />
Weight: 29 pounds, 6 ounces (39.32%)<br />
Height: 38.0 inches (71.20%)<br />
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Thankfully, Sammy's ears checked out fine. She only recently stopped a 10-day course of amoxicillin after suffering from a double-ear infection. This was her first ear infection since she got tubes placed into her ears when she was 1 year old. In one ear, the tube was totally gone and in the other ear, the tube was no longer in the ear drum. I was so worried that we were heading down the pathway of needing a second set of tubes, but it looks like the antibiotics worked! I guess she's 2 years older, her Eustachian tubes are bigger, the drug dosing has changed and the bacteria are different. I hope she doesn't get ear infections too often because she was a miserable wretch for about 5 days. She didn't complain that her ears hurt but she wasn't eating or sleeping well and was super crabby during the day. I really missed my smiling happy little girl. But she's back! Hooray for antibiotics that work!Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-41006254888244795662014-02-23T22:21:00.000-05:002014-02-23T22:21:07.116-05:00So Long Crib!Yesterday, we took our crib, which has served us so well, to the dump. It was an old drop-side crib first used by my nephew, who is now 14. My brother's kids used it and our kids used it. I would have loved to have donated it, but they don't take drop-side cribs anymore because they're no longer considered safe. I thought briefly about free-cycling it, but I couldn't bear to think of a child injured or killed because of my crib. But at least I free-cycled our crib mattress, which was only 3 years old. <div>
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We transitioned Sammy out of the crib and into her big girl bed over the course of a week, just like we did for Ian. It really was no big deal at all. We put her twin mattress on the floor for a week to let her get used to not being in a cage. She loved it because we dressed it all up in Hello Kitty bedding. Here are the many different forms of a sleeping Sammy:</div>
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I love the picture of her sleeping with her head hanging off the mattress. I had to stifle my laughter as I took that photo.</div>
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And here she is in her big girl bed. She's so proud of herself!</div>
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Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-10403659633772148312014-01-29T21:57:00.000-05:002014-02-15T22:03:44.500-05:00Florida Swimming - VideosAlthough we didn't take any pictures of the kids in the pool in Florida, we took a bunch of video. I pieced together the best parts. Boy, do the kids LOVE the pool! <br />
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<b>Ian - Almost 5</b></div>
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<b>Sammy - Almost 3</b></div>
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Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-57236350393159629732014-01-28T21:02:00.000-05:002014-02-15T21:55:31.912-05:00Florida Vacation - January 2014We just returned from a fantastic vacation in Florida. As always, it was wonderful to visit my parents and my sister and her family. The weather wasn't superbly warm - it was in the high 60s and lower 70s for most of the time. But at least it didn't rain and we were able to make it to the beach at the end of the trip. And my parents' community pool is heated and so even when it was 68 outside, we went to the pool. It was nice and warm (84 degrees) in the pool - just freezing to get out. The kids adored the pool. Ian would have stayed in for hours if we left it up to him and the only reason Sammy got out was because she got cold. Here are the best pics from the trip:<br />
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<b>COUSINS</b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Ian and Sammy had a blast with their older cousins. Ian seemed excited to sleep over at my sister's house but at the last minute, when he realized that he wouldn't be with his mom and dad and his grandparents for the night, he changed his mind. I love my sensitive boy!</span></b></div>
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<b>FLAMINGO GARDENS</b></div>
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Since the weather was a bit too cold for the pool when we first got to Florida, we went to this place near my sister's house called Flamingo Gardens. It was a bit like a zoo in that they had some animals in cages. But the big attraction was that the birds just wandered around and you could feed some of them. The peacocks were gorgeous!</div>
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<b>FUN AT HOOPIE AND MEEMA'S HOUSE</b></div>
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The kids had a great time at my parents' house. They played with their LeadPads and watched cartoons. We went for a bike ride almost every day. One day, Sammy and Ian both rode about 1.5 miles to the pool, which really impressed me (especially my little Sammy!) My mom got a ton of books out of the library and read to them quite a bit. She also had great stickers for them. </div>
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<b>WAKODAHATCHEE WETLANDS</b></div>
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We visited Wakodahatchee Wetlands, which is pretty close to where my parents live. We go there every time we visit. It's a really nice boardwalk through the wetlands where you can see tons of birds and turtles and the occasional alligator. This time around, we saw a huge alligator and we also saw 4 big iguanas sitting in a tree - pretty neat! The kids mostly liked running ahead on the boardwalk and my husband was lucky enough to capture some pictures of them holding hands! Sometimes, they can bee so sweet with each other.</div>
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<b>THE POOL</b></div>
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We didn't take any pictures of the kids in the pool (although I will post some videos in a separate post). But there is a little man-made beach by my parents' community pool and the kids had fun playing there. This first picture is freezing-cold Sammy warming up with Hoopie after some fun pool time.<br />
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<b> THE BEACH!</b></div>
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By the end of our trip, the weather had warmed up nicely. The day before we left, it was probably 78 degrees (although it felt much warmer in the sun). We decided to go to the beach in the morning and I'm so glad we did. It was absolutely beautiful out. I though the ocean would be too cold to go in, but Ian basically threw himself in and started body surfing on the waves. I was really impressed with him - no fear! His only complaint was that the ocean didn't taste very good. Sammy was a bit more fearful of the waves but she was very happy to jump around in them while holding onto a grownup.</div>
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<b> TRAVEL DAY</b></div>
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And then, sadly, it was time to go home. I was very proud of my kids on the travel days. Both behaved very nicely. They either played with their LeapPads or watched the TV which is so conveniently offered by JetBlue. I LOVE JetBlue for traveling with the kids! We're guessing that the tube in Sammy's right ear has fallen out since she had some pain during the descent (which was easily solved with a lollipop). I guess we'll find out when she has her 3-year checkup.<br />
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<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-32693757061363855542013-12-07T08:26:00.002-05:002013-12-07T08:26:30.263-05:00No More BinkieI am thrilled to report that we are officially a binkie-free family. <br />
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When Ian was 1, we had to take the binkie away from him because it was actually disrupting his night time sleep. He would wake up, need it, not be able to find it and commence a screaming fest. So bye bye binkie at 1 year. <br />
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Sammy didn't have that same issue. She used the binkie to take naps and to go to bed at night, but once she was asleep, she wasn't bothered if she woke and didn't have the binkie. So we weren't in any rush to take it away from her because it was so soothing for her. But she is getting older and I was starting to have visions of a 6 year old girl still attached to her binkie. So I promised myself that I would take away the binkie when she turned 3 in April. <br />
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But at school this week, Sammy transitioned from the Twos room to the Preschool room. And the new teacher didn't know that she slept with a binkie. And she got her to sleep (with some fussing and crying) without the binkie. When I picked her up that night and the teacher told me, I knew it was my chance. So we took the binkie away for Sammy's night time sleep too. I told Sammy that there were too many babies in the world and not enough binkies and because she was a big girl, she didn't need the binkies anymore and we had to send her binkies to the needy babies. She didn't buy my story and cried. But we stuck to our guns.<br />
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So the first night, it took her 17 minutes to get to sleep with constant crying during that time. She also woke 2x in the middle of the night crying. The second night, it took her 20 minutes to get to sleep, but she wasn't crying constantly. She would be quiet for many minutes and then call out for me. So I soothed her but told her it was bedtime. And she fell asleep and slept through the night. And then the third night, she called out for me once and was done and slept through the night. <br />
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It really is amazing how adaptable children are. Sammy has been using a binkie for 2 years and 8 months. And in 3 days, she broke the habit. I'm so happy it wasn't worse than that. My heart broke a little bit on that first day when she was crying for it. But I'm so proud of her and more importantly, she's really proud of herself because after all, big girls don't need binkies.<br />
<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-50451662441244256342013-12-04T22:10:00.000-05:002013-12-07T22:18:34.972-05:008 Nights of Celebration<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Happy Hanukkah! We lit the candles for every single night and ended up giving the kids a total of 16 presents. They loved all of it. My favorite part? Eating latkes with cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving! It was Thanksgivika!</div>
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In the picture below, Sammy is posing in the "new" hat we found in the closet (which was made by Nana last year) with the big wooden dreidel.</div>
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<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-8075367578882073812013-11-27T22:06:00.001-05:002013-11-27T22:06:24.933-05:00Happy Hanukah!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Happy Hanukah! It's crazy that we're celebrating the first night of Hanukah the day before Thanksgiving! I'm looking forward to latkes and turkey tomorrow!</div>
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Tonight the kids each got a sticker book as a present. Ian got one with all the Avengers in it. And Sammy got a Disney princess sticker book. I guess they're living up to certain gender stereotypes but I had two very happy kiddos!</div>
Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-15271085177063322832013-11-24T22:26:00.000-05:002013-11-27T22:32:51.975-05:00Potty Training Success for SammyI'm happy to report that Sammy is officially potty-trained at the age of 2 years, 7 months. She has been consistently peeing in the potty with very few accidents. And, for the last 5 days in a row, she's pooped in the potty. And we didn't have to lurk and spy on her to make sure she wasn't squatting and pooping in her pants. She actually said that she needed to poop on the potty. And she did! We're so proud of her and she's so proud of herself. Smiles all around!<br />
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I feel like we've been in some sort of potty training mode for Sammy for so long now. Daycare started putting her on the toilet very early and so at 18 months, she was sometimes peeing in the potty. But it's been on and off since then and we certainly didn't have any consistency. And she CLEARLY did not get the pooping thing. But I think the long haul is over. She gets it now and I am psyched that we only need diapers/pull ups for nap time (although often she wakes up completely dry) and night time sleeps.Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-91669943299004937872013-10-31T21:47:00.000-04:002013-11-27T21:58:46.570-05:00Halloween 2013 - Goodbye NanaToday was an extremely sad day for our family. My husband's grandma, our warm-hearted and loving Nana, passed away. Despite the fact that she was 90 years old, I didn't expect her to go so suddenly. She had been having heart issues and was in and out of the hospital over the past 2 weeks. But they had put in a pace maker and I had just assumed she would come out of it fine (just like she has quickly come out of other hospitalizations in the past). But she slid downhill quickly. Luckily, my husband was able to be with her in her final moments and was with her when she died. She knew he was there and I think that's comforting to him. <br />
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I tried to keep it together for the kids because they're really too young to understand what happened to Nana. They just know that they won't see her again and that "she died". My husband loves Halloween and is normally the one to take the kids trick or treating. But understandably, he didn't feel up to it tonight. So I took the kids around the block with some other neighborhood kids. They had a blast and Sammy really raked in the candy. At 2.5 years old, she knew she could take the candy offered to her. But she had no inhibitions about grabbing one, two, three and even four pieces at a time. So she ended up with WAY more candy than Ian (who apparently understood social conventions a bit more). I ended up putting some of her candy in Ian's bowl so that he wouldn't get bummed by it. Here is my bumble bee transformer (this is what he asked to be) and my princess (she asked to be one).<br />
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And here's what our front stoop looked like. This year, we added a skeleton in the lawn, which you can't really see in the picture.</div>
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<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-44069454291012450612013-10-27T21:30:00.000-04:002013-11-27T21:46:49.807-05:00Fall Fun and Halloween Prep 2013<div>
We can't let autumn go by without a little leaf jumping fun!</div>
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In preparation for Halloween, we also carved pumpkins. </div>
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As usual, my husband did one easy one and one complicated one. I made fun of him for the complicated one because I wasn't sure the time he spent on it was worth it, given how it turned out. But once we put a candle in, it was awesome. One, Two Pumpkins...ah ah ah!</div>
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Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-27666251278595582602013-10-22T22:17:00.000-04:002013-11-27T22:23:51.330-05:00RainbowTonight, after I picked up the kids from daycare, I took Ian to get his hair cut. When we got into the car after the hair cut, we saw the most unbelievable rainbow from the parking lot. It was so massive that I couldn't capture the entire rainbow with one picture. It was SO bright. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it before. Here's the proof, taken with my iPhone 4:<br />
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<br />Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-42758151003817072402013-10-14T22:07:00.000-04:002013-11-27T22:15:54.708-05:00Apple Picking - Tougas Family FarmToday, we went apple picking at Tougas Family Farm. We had the day off for Columbus Day and absolutely gorgeous weather! It was really quite warm out and we didn't even wear our jackets. The farm was fantastic - they had a little animal petting zone, as well as a kids play area. And of course, there were a lot of apples to choose from. I was disappointed with the Fuji apples - I think it was already too late in the season for them. But the Macouns were unbelievably amazing (so sweet and crunchy!) so we picked a lot of those. We also picked up some pumpkins at the very end. Here are some pics:<br />
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Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-67675070017376332462013-09-28T21:08:00.001-04:002013-09-28T21:08:14.269-04:00Potty Training DisasterWe tried to potty train Sammy over the last 2 weeks. She's not even 2.5 years old yet, but she was peeing on the potty consistently whenever we put her on it. We had our ups (there were multiple days where she had no accidents), but we also had our downs. At the end of the second week, I picked her up from daycare and discovered that she'd had 3 accidents. I was disappointed because I figured she'd have made more progress after 2 weeks. We then went to the park where she pooped in her underpants. I was *so* mad at her (since this was the second night in a row where she pooped herself). She's only a little girl and doesn't deserve for me to be so mad at her. And I didn't want to be so mad at her. But I couldn't help myself. So we quit potty training. I want to enjoy my time with my happy little girl and not scream at her. She doesn't understand. So today we went back to diapers and had a much nicer day. We'll try again in a couple of months. I'll wait until she's ready.Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-24634210864255569942013-09-09T22:00:00.000-04:002013-09-09T22:00:52.290-04:00Pigtails!Sammy's hair has finally started to come in and grow and tonight she let us give her some pigtails. And, of course, Ian wanted some too. They were so cute - jumping around and laughing about their hair. I'm so glad they stayed still long enough for me to snap these photos. <div>
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Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-34937546959794634062013-09-07T21:55:00.004-04:002013-09-07T21:55:42.517-04:00No Training Wheels for Ian<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
We first took the training wheels off Ian's bike on April 24, 2013. This was the result:</div>
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Although he was perfectly capable of riding without the training wheels, I guess he didn't love it or it scared him too much because after that, he didn't want to ride his bike. I begged my husband to put the training wheels back on so that we could enjoy the rest of spring and summer. Reluctantly, he agreed to do so. </div>
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Now, roughly 6 months later, we tried again and we had great success:</div>
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Hooray Ian! Now if you could just stop panicking and screaming at me, we'll be golden. :-)Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7681406463579749012.post-46362759351689776172013-05-30T19:23:00.003-04:002013-05-30T19:23:39.783-04:00Turning the CornerI don't want to jinx myself. But in the last 2 weeks, Ian has changed from a tantrumming, screaming, hard-to-manage child to a well-behaved child who shares with his sister (mostly) and entertains himself with his Thomas Trains or Batman toys. I don't know whether he just figured out the "correct" behavior or just reached a magic age (4 years, 2 months) where the tantrums stopped. Or maybe it's because we implemented the 1-2-3 Magic parenting program by Dr. Thomas Phelan (which our pediatrician recommended after my cry out for parenting help). <br />
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I love the 1-2-3 program. According to the book I read, we had been doing everything wrong with Ian. We were over-explaining and over-lecturing and trying to use logic to get him to behave correctly. But he is not a little adult (despite his smart and mature conversational ability). He is a 4 year old child. So instead of yelling and screaming at (and sometimes, spanking) Ian, we now just calmly give him a 1 count when he is doing something that we've asked him to stop doing. If he continues with the bad behavior, he gets a 2 count. Upon reaching a 3 count, he ends up locked in his room (because he refuses to stay in time-out willingly). After 3 days of having to lock him in his room, we haven't had to reach "3" at all. He gets it. He does NOT want to be locked in his room. It has been an amazing transformation for us. I have always loved my son but now I actually enjoy spending time with him.<br />
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Of course, just as Ian is getting a bit easier to handle, Sammy is starting to exhibit her terrible twos. It's manageable (and kind of funny actually), but hopefully it won't be a long-lasting phase. Luckily, she doesn't tantrum. But she is pretty whiny and demanding. She's still using a binkie, but as of now, she only uses it when she's in her crib for a nap or at nighttime. That's progress, since we used to give it to her when she asked for it as she got tired at night.<br />
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As my high school biology teacher used to say, "We're getting there, folks!"Maddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06811703540562069513noreply@blogger.com1