My Doctors

My friend April gave me this doctor outfit at Allison's shower a couple of weeks ago. I think it's the first "costume" I've put Allison in that she didn't despise! She even let me keep the scrub cap (and booties) on for a few pictures before she tried to pull them off.

The outfit was perfect since we were heading out to our friend Katie's house. Katie is a doctor here in KC and was also being visited by Lisa, a nurse. So I was in great medical company. We were supposed to have our small group meet up tonight but Danny, Katie's husband, had a death in his family, and the event was cancelled. Instead, a few of us went over to their house to visit and watch the Chiefs lose their first game this season.

Since Nathan has tomorrow off we were able to stay out until 9:30pm! Party!

Growing

Allison is growing like a weed! She's up to 15 1/2  pounds! Up a pound in under a month! I can really feel it when I pick her up lately. And I pick her up alot. She's getting to a stage where she cries when I put her down or she can't see me. I remember having a friend who had a spoiled daughter and thought, Ugh, what torture! She's ruining that baby.

But now- NOW I AM NEEDED! I love that she needs me and I'd rather be a little frustrated by my lack of privacy (and ability to get anything done) for a short time and really enjoy her baby cuddles. I can't even describe how good it feels when she screams when Nathan tries to put her to bed and when I give her snuggles she curls into me and falls asleep.

She's the best.

Craft Exchange

This is the third year that I've done a Christmas Craft Exchange. It's through a website called Elfster and around the beginning of November each participant is matched up with a fellow crafter from North America and you make a small gift for them. You can ask them questions and get some ideas of what they would like. My partner is from Minnesota and her responses to my questions didn't give me much to go on. I decided to make her slippers. First, because slippers are awesome. Second, because a random person made slippers and donated them to the Ronald McDonald house and I wore them the ENTIRE time Allison was in the NICU. I brought them with me to the hospital and wore them while we did kangaroo care, and I still carry them in Allison's diaper bag for anytime I need to feel cozy. I dressed them up a bit with the pink toes and buttons.

I think I'll make a small ornament to go with along with it but I haven't decided what to make yet. In years past I've done filet crochet snowflakes but I may do something a little different this year! We'll see- I have another week before I have to get the gift in the mail.

Last Name

Do you know how many times people trip over our last name? What do you mean Sanders with an 'e'? Ok, Sanderse, S-A-N-D-E-R-S-E, "wait, you lost me, where's the extra E?" Ugh, let's start over.

This confusion is really evident on Nathan's work scheudule. It's on a print out on the fridge and today I was looking at it and Sanderse was spelled the following ways:

-Sansdrese
-Sanders
-Sanderes
-Sanderse
-Sandrese

The pronunciations I hear are almost as bad. I've never had a confusing last name before- my maiden name is part of pop-culture so it was easy! Oh well, Nathan just laughs at the interesting ways they come up with to spell his last name.

All Her Funny Faces

Allison has started to make a lot of funny faces. She loves sticking out and curling her tongue and raising her eyebrows. Recently, a photo app on my iPod touch offered to send a postcard of a collage made using the app to an address in North America. I put a collage together of Allison's wacky faces and sent it to my parents hoping it would help them miss her less- I don't think it worked though!

Remembrance

Most days when Nathan gets home he asks, "what craft did you do today?" Lately, I've been on a crafting streak! I didn't know where to buy a poppy in KC (I haven't seen one at any of the stores I shop at) and Jill, our pastor's wife said she found poppies but they were white! I've never heard of white poppies but I really wanted one for today so I made one out of yarn. It wasn't perfect (I didn't have a pattern) but I still liked how it turned out, although next time I'd use a lighter-weight yarn.

Today April (and baby Griffin) came to pick Allison and I up for a little outing. We went to Fabric Recycles. It's a thrift store for fabric! Everything has been donated through estates or people who trade their fabric in for store credit. It's a great idea if you were looking for a small piece of something specific. You wouldn't find 5 yards of one piece there but there was a lot to chose from, plus they have notions and thread (much cheaper than at Joann's). I found a piece of fabric that was exactly what I'd been looking for but it was 2 yards- I only needed about 1/4 yard. I asked and the woman said she would cut it for me. I was thrilled and will definitely be back.

After I got home I decided that I needed to find a family doctor here in KC. I am in desperate need of insulin but my endocrinologist can't see me until January 29th! After calling several places I got through to a receptionist (from New Brunswick!) who got me in today to see a doctor. The doctor was very nice but she really didn't know anything about diabetes and was giving me information that I thought was unsafe. I know how to manage my diabetes but if someone was to follow what she said, they could really hurt themselves. I was able to get a prescription and when I went to fill it I found out that even with insurance, it is still double what is costs in Canada (without coverage). At least it's down from X4 what it is without insurance (what I paid last year) but I think I'll just start stocking up each time I go home because I don't think I can afford $150/month for insulin!

Night Out

Tonight we were invited over to John Mark and Jill's for a dinner party. JM and Jill are amazing at hosting parties for couples to get to know each other better. They usually pick a couple that 's been there awhile (that's April and Ryan), then an in-between couple (Nathan and I) and a new couple (AJ and Elanor). The new pastor Adam, and his wife, April were also there.

We could only stay until 8pm because got so tired. He had to work this morning before church and has to be up at 4am again tomorrow.

It was a great meal and I'm glad we could work it into Nathan's busy schedule!

Bumbo

Allison has really improved on her neck control and we decided that it was time to get her a Bumbo chair. She's still not sure what to make of it and keeps trying to fling herself out of it, which gives her neck quite the jolt but she recovers quickly. It makes me a little nervous but she's doing well. She just hates to be strapped into anything so she always fights the seat belt.

Doctor

Today we went back to the pediatrician's office to get Allison her second round of the flu shot. We'll be here a lot in the coming months since I applied to get Allison the RSV vaccination and it's given once a month for 5 months. There's always a good book selection in the rooms and Allison and I have been working through the Story of Medicine during our last couple of visits.

Big Deal

Today I got my official Kansas driver's license in the mail! I'm so excited and I feel so legit! I moved my Ontario license to the second slot on my wallet to make room. The license is 'Limited Term' because our Visa's are issued on a yearly basis so now I just have to remember to go back to renew it or I'll have to start from the beginning again!

Sleepy

Is it wrong that the best part of my day is when Allison sleeps? She tuckers herself out and by afternoon she is begging for a nap. Cuddles and car-rides are usually the only thing that puts her to sleep these days.

6 months

Baby Shower

It's a baby girl epidemic at Wornall Road Baptist Church right now. Allison will soon have 3 new friends to play with. To celebrate the WOW (Women of Wornall) had a joint baby shower for Whitney, Sarah, Abby, and me.  I really didn't need anything but the women wouldn't hear of it and I was given some amazing gifts.

I made cupcakes for the party and finally caved and bought an icing tip set (using 50% off coupons from Joann!) and it made the job much easier!

We had a light lunch of soup, bread, and salad before opening gifts! I loved how many books Allison was given! Everyone there is a mom and I felt like the gifts that were given were reflection of what worked for them as parents and it was really special.

 

I'm a little embarrased to say that I didn't know the mom's I was celebrating with but I still wanted to give them a little something so I made dolls for each woman. I made a blond, brunette, and one with black hair (I hadn't finished the third doll when I took this picture, or put the bows on the braids on these dolls) and I think they were well received.

Day Off

Nathan had today off and I was so thankful that he was home. I had a really busy day ahead of me and when he got a call late last night to say that he didn't have to come in- I was so excited. I had errands to run, projects to finish, and goodies to bake.

In between all the running around we were able to go on a long walk around our neighborhood. We even picked up a Starbucks at the halfway point. It was the perfect afternoon for a walk and catchup since we haven't spent much time together lately.

Allison loved being outside and hearing us crunch through the leaves.

On our walk we discovered that one of our neighbors has a Lawn Library! It's were anyone gave take or leave a book. I think it's a great idea and we picked up a James Herriot book for Allison.

Halloween Part II

I wrote the Halloween post early on Halloween morning so I didn't get a chance to write about the rest of our day.

It was pretty eventuful! Allison had her first well-baby checkup with her new pediatrician. He was really nice and thorough (even though it was hard to take him seriously in a football player costume). All the staff were in costume and I actually felt out of place not wearing one!

Allison was not happy with her 4 needles. She screamed very loudly. Thankfully she didn't get a fever this time which was a big relief.

It's always important for me to remember that at her checkups, she's measured as a 6 month old even though she's really only 3 1/2. So when he told me she was in the 25th percentile for weight since she's 14.5 pound, I have to tell myself that she's not behind.

She needs to go back next week to get her second round of the flu shot and also to start on her RSV vaccine. RSV is Respiratory Syncytial Virus which causes lung and airway infections and it can be deadly in babies. I'm really nervous with this being Allison's first winter and I just want to protect her any way I can.

It felt strange to use our insurance card but thankfully I printed off all the forms from the doctor's website the night before so I didn't have to do it with Allison on my lap while we waited for our appointment.

It was an attractive office and I think we picked a great doctor.

April invited me to go Trick-or-Treating in Brookisde since both our husbands would be working. Brookside is a neighboorhoos with many cute shops and during Halloween, they hand out candy to all the little ghosts and goblins. It's a great way to do candy-collection and it's from 4-6pm so you can still get the kids in bed at a good hour.

April made Griffin's pinata costume out of some p.j's and felt and he was the toast of Brookside. Everyone commented and said how amazing he looked. April is great with construction of difficult pieces.

Nathan met us (along with April's husband) at her place for dinner after we finished candy collecting. April made cornbread and white chili and it was amazing. April is definitely a "I don't know how she does it" kinda woman and when I was talking about her feats when we got home that night, Nathan said, "So you're saying she's like Amanda 2.0." hahaha, these days, he's probably right!

We had to leave a little earlier than I would have liked because Nathan had a mountain of paperwork to do- he didn't even get to bed until 11:30pm!

We only had a dozen kids at our door, but our neighbors came by to do a reverse trick-or-treat..they brought us a sweet pumpkin loaf to enjoy!