Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Letter to Luke on his 1st birthday
My Sweet Luke,
Today you are one year old. I cannot believe how fast that year went by, and yet how long ago it seems that you were born. Oh, it has been quite a year! You have brought so much sweetness, energy, curiosity and laughter into our home! Your older brother loves you dearly, and I love to see the wonder and adoration in your eyes as you watch and follow him around, wanting to take part in whatever he is doing. I love that you are happy by nature, in spite of rough days and nights from earaches, teething, and your desire to not miss anything exciting for something so trivial as sleep! This birthday marks some happy milestones for you. Today you took your first steps alone. You were holding some stacking cups and you thought I was holding on to you, so you walked and were surprised to realize you had done it without help. This month you have started communicating better with us. It warms my heart to hear you say "mama" and "dada", "up", and even "woof". I am delighted when you sign "more" and your daddy and I were giddy when you mimicked the way we signed "I love you". I don't know how much you understand, but we can feel love just exuding from you. You have so much love to give. I smile every time you reach for me to pick you up and you rest your head on my shoulder for a moment. I love those open mouth "kisses" you bestow, and the morning cuddles that never last long enough! I'm just tickled to see you asleep under your blanket, holding tightly to your stuffed animal when I come to check on you. There are so many things you do to give us great joy, and having you in our family means more to us than I can express. I am still learning what it means to be a mother- a mother of two. I am so grateful for the things you have taught me about patience, forgiveness, optimism, and God's love. I am learning more about these things because of you and because of my opportunity to be your mother. Luke, I love you dearly! Happy birthday, Lukey- pie.
Love,
Your Momma
Today you are one year old. I cannot believe how fast that year went by, and yet how long ago it seems that you were born. Oh, it has been quite a year! You have brought so much sweetness, energy, curiosity and laughter into our home! Your older brother loves you dearly, and I love to see the wonder and adoration in your eyes as you watch and follow him around, wanting to take part in whatever he is doing. I love that you are happy by nature, in spite of rough days and nights from earaches, teething, and your desire to not miss anything exciting for something so trivial as sleep! This birthday marks some happy milestones for you. Today you took your first steps alone. You were holding some stacking cups and you thought I was holding on to you, so you walked and were surprised to realize you had done it without help. This month you have started communicating better with us. It warms my heart to hear you say "mama" and "dada", "up", and even "woof". I am delighted when you sign "more" and your daddy and I were giddy when you mimicked the way we signed "I love you". I don't know how much you understand, but we can feel love just exuding from you. You have so much love to give. I smile every time you reach for me to pick you up and you rest your head on my shoulder for a moment. I love those open mouth "kisses" you bestow, and the morning cuddles that never last long enough! I'm just tickled to see you asleep under your blanket, holding tightly to your stuffed animal when I come to check on you. There are so many things you do to give us great joy, and having you in our family means more to us than I can express. I am still learning what it means to be a mother- a mother of two. I am so grateful for the things you have taught me about patience, forgiveness, optimism, and God's love. I am learning more about these things because of you and because of my opportunity to be your mother. Luke, I love you dearly! Happy birthday, Lukey- pie.
Love,
Your Momma
Sunday, March 06, 2011
February
OOPS: 6/6/11 I just saw this in my posts today. Looks like I wrote it at the beginning of March, but never published it. It's old news now, but for the sake of journaling, here it is!
I can't believe February flew by so fast (well, looking back on it. It seems like during the winter each day drags on so long... is it just me?).
I want to remember some of the things Gabe has said recently (he has really made large developments in his verbalization skills since Christmas):
"Mommy, where's my helicopter?" and "Mommy, look! A yellow helicopter up in the sky!" -But "helicopter" could be pronounced "fly-a-copter", "blue-a-copter" (one of his helicopter toys is in fact blue), or "hey-a-copter"
"This is MY bike" (bike pronounced "bikel" like bicycle shortened.)
"You so hungry, fweet-haht?" (sweetheart)
"This is fun game, Mommy!"
Gabe has quite an imagination and he likes to make his animal toys play and talk to one another. One day this week, he took apart his train tracks and brought the pieces to me as "popcorn", "ice cream", "cake", "peanut butter sandwich" and "phone". I frequently hear Gabe singing to himself too, and he makes up new words sometimes; for example he loves to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and he will add things like "the dogs on the bus go woof woof woof", and sometimes mix the words up a little, so now "the babies on the bus go woof woof woof". He loves to sing "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee" and a bunch more from his mp3 player that he doesn't really know all the words for but tries to sing along anyway.
For a while it seemed like Gabriel was done with his stuffed monkey, but now he loves it again I guess, maybe because we brought home a big Curious George book which he loves to hear stories out of. During those stories he has to go find his monkey and hold it while he listens, or he will have a little breakdown. Same for any story about trains, teddy bears, etc. If it reminds him of a toy of his, he must go find it. Heh.
From time to time Gabe gets curious about me nursing Luke. We talk about why I am nursing Luke, and he understands that Luke is drinking milk, and that nursing will help Luke when he is hungry. He usually comes over and points to Luke and says "Mommy nursing Luke" while I am feeding him. A couple times Gabe has climbed up on my lap and said "Gabe nurse now?" I had to laugh and I just said, "No, nursing is for babies to eat; you're a big boy and you drink from a cup and eat with a fork!" He seemed pretty satisfied with that, and went back to playing.
Luke is cruising around the furniture as of last week. For a while he was just standing and playing at the train table, but now he walks all around it, and goes back and forth between the couch and table, sits down, pulls himself back up, etc. He still will not crawl. We occasionally try to have crawling practice in the hallway and I have tried all sorts of things as enticement to get him to crawl, with no luck. He whines and cries until I let him pull himself up to a stand, and he will then walk to get what he wants, while I help him. Sometimes he will roll until he can get to what he wants.
The tables have turned a little bit at naptime. Gabe is now my good napper (this was the baby who would never nap for more than 30 minutes or so at a time) sleeping from 1.5- 3 hours almost every afternoon. Luke was a great napper until the past month or two... now he often wakes up prematurely and is very cranky for the rest of the day, but he refuses to go back to sleep, even if I rock and rock and rock him, which I don't have time to do! (If I try, Gabriel usually takes advantage of the unsupervised time and destroys something in another room or gets into some sort of mischief.) I am thinking about taking away the morning nap and just having him take one nap per day, but it seems so early to do that! He is only 10 months old. I need to figure something out, because the afternoon is no fun for any of us if naps are prematurely ended.
Luke is a smiley, happy kid. He turned 10 months old last week, and I can't believe how much he has changed. He is still very small in size, though. He is in the 19th percentile for height, the 18th percentile for weight, and the 96th percentile for head circumference. I'm guessing that is why people always tell me Luke is so big.
I can't believe February flew by so fast (well, looking back on it. It seems like during the winter each day drags on so long... is it just me?).
I want to remember some of the things Gabe has said recently (he has really made large developments in his verbalization skills since Christmas):
"Mommy, where's my helicopter?" and "Mommy, look! A yellow helicopter up in the sky!" -But "helicopter" could be pronounced "fly-a-copter", "blue-a-copter" (one of his helicopter toys is in fact blue), or "hey-a-copter"
"This is MY bike" (bike pronounced "bikel" like bicycle shortened.)
"You so hungry, fweet-haht?" (sweetheart)
"This is fun game, Mommy!"
Gabe has quite an imagination and he likes to make his animal toys play and talk to one another. One day this week, he took apart his train tracks and brought the pieces to me as "popcorn", "ice cream", "cake", "peanut butter sandwich" and "phone". I frequently hear Gabe singing to himself too, and he makes up new words sometimes; for example he loves to sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and he will add things like "the dogs on the bus go woof woof woof", and sometimes mix the words up a little, so now "the babies on the bus go woof woof woof". He loves to sing "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee" and a bunch more from his mp3 player that he doesn't really know all the words for but tries to sing along anyway.
For a while it seemed like Gabriel was done with his stuffed monkey, but now he loves it again I guess, maybe because we brought home a big Curious George book which he loves to hear stories out of. During those stories he has to go find his monkey and hold it while he listens, or he will have a little breakdown. Same for any story about trains, teddy bears, etc. If it reminds him of a toy of his, he must go find it. Heh.
From time to time Gabe gets curious about me nursing Luke. We talk about why I am nursing Luke, and he understands that Luke is drinking milk, and that nursing will help Luke when he is hungry. He usually comes over and points to Luke and says "Mommy nursing Luke" while I am feeding him. A couple times Gabe has climbed up on my lap and said "Gabe nurse now?" I had to laugh and I just said, "No, nursing is for babies to eat; you're a big boy and you drink from a cup and eat with a fork!" He seemed pretty satisfied with that, and went back to playing.
Luke is cruising around the furniture as of last week. For a while he was just standing and playing at the train table, but now he walks all around it, and goes back and forth between the couch and table, sits down, pulls himself back up, etc. He still will not crawl. We occasionally try to have crawling practice in the hallway and I have tried all sorts of things as enticement to get him to crawl, with no luck. He whines and cries until I let him pull himself up to a stand, and he will then walk to get what he wants, while I help him. Sometimes he will roll until he can get to what he wants.
The tables have turned a little bit at naptime. Gabe is now my good napper (this was the baby who would never nap for more than 30 minutes or so at a time) sleeping from 1.5- 3 hours almost every afternoon. Luke was a great napper until the past month or two... now he often wakes up prematurely and is very cranky for the rest of the day, but he refuses to go back to sleep, even if I rock and rock and rock him, which I don't have time to do! (If I try, Gabriel usually takes advantage of the unsupervised time and destroys something in another room or gets into some sort of mischief.) I am thinking about taking away the morning nap and just having him take one nap per day, but it seems so early to do that! He is only 10 months old. I need to figure something out, because the afternoon is no fun for any of us if naps are prematurely ended.
Luke is a smiley, happy kid. He turned 10 months old last week, and I can't believe how much he has changed. He is still very small in size, though. He is in the 19th percentile for height, the 18th percentile for weight, and the 96th percentile for head circumference. I'm guessing that is why people always tell me Luke is so big.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
BJ's musings
So Rochelle has asked that I post my thoughts on life since it has been ages since I have posted anything, and we haven't really posted much about ourselves.
Unfortunately, as I sit here and try and figure out what to say, I realize that I don't really have a lot of musings to speak of. In some ways my life seems to whiz by, each day much like the day before. Off to work in the morning, home in the evening. Dinner. Put kids to bed. Answer a few more work emails, read the news and go to bed. I think sometimes of hobbies and other time consuming things that I'd like to pursue some day, but I recognize that I really can only pursue a very limited number of things like that. Right now, I play basketball and racquetball each once a week, and I spend a little time playing on my computer as well. I met a guy the other day who was doing an L3C, a kind of half for charity, half for profit company, and I thought to myself that I could do something like that in my spare time and it would be a lot of fun. But then I thought of the sacrifice it would mean for my family, and decided that it would have to wait. So someday... if any of you want to start an L3C, you know who to call! Now I just need to figure out when that magical someday when I'll have a lot more time is going to be!
I would also like to take this time and publicly praise Rochelle. I am glad that our kids have a good mom to raise them. I sometimes feel sad that I really only see the kids for a couple of hours each day, and those hours are not really when they are at their best. But I take consolation in the fact that they have a wonderful mom raising them. She loves them and takes great care of them, and is helping them grow up to be good kids. (Gabe really has his "please" and "thank-you" down these days, and when he says "yes" he will often say "yes sir!".) It is nice to know that while I am required at the office for the greater part of their days, they have Rochelle at home with them.
As far as my work goes... I'm not sure that anyone cares to hear the gory details of what it means to be an IT guy. I could really give you an earful of IPv6, linux, crazy employee requests and the like. But I suffice it to say that... well... there are good parts to it and not so fun parts. I think my mom summarized the good parts when she recently said "I LOVE Google. It was made for me :). I love the internet. I love Facebook. I love everything computers!!!!!!". I guess I take after my mom on this one. ;-) The not so good parts? Well... every job has those. No surprise that mine does too.
Well, I think that concludes my musings for today. Maybe someday I'll muse some more but it is time for bed.
Goodnight everyone!
BJ
Unfortunately, as I sit here and try and figure out what to say, I realize that I don't really have a lot of musings to speak of. In some ways my life seems to whiz by, each day much like the day before. Off to work in the morning, home in the evening. Dinner. Put kids to bed. Answer a few more work emails, read the news and go to bed. I think sometimes of hobbies and other time consuming things that I'd like to pursue some day, but I recognize that I really can only pursue a very limited number of things like that. Right now, I play basketball and racquetball each once a week, and I spend a little time playing on my computer as well. I met a guy the other day who was doing an L3C, a kind of half for charity, half for profit company, and I thought to myself that I could do something like that in my spare time and it would be a lot of fun. But then I thought of the sacrifice it would mean for my family, and decided that it would have to wait. So someday... if any of you want to start an L3C, you know who to call! Now I just need to figure out when that magical someday when I'll have a lot more time is going to be!
I would also like to take this time and publicly praise Rochelle. I am glad that our kids have a good mom to raise them. I sometimes feel sad that I really only see the kids for a couple of hours each day, and those hours are not really when they are at their best. But I take consolation in the fact that they have a wonderful mom raising them. She loves them and takes great care of them, and is helping them grow up to be good kids. (Gabe really has his "please" and "thank-you" down these days, and when he says "yes" he will often say "yes sir!".) It is nice to know that while I am required at the office for the greater part of their days, they have Rochelle at home with them.
As far as my work goes... I'm not sure that anyone cares to hear the gory details of what it means to be an IT guy. I could really give you an earful of IPv6, linux, crazy employee requests and the like. But I suffice it to say that... well... there are good parts to it and not so fun parts. I think my mom summarized the good parts when she recently said "I LOVE Google. It was made for me :). I love the internet. I love Facebook. I love everything computers!!!!!!". I guess I take after my mom on this one. ;-) The not so good parts? Well... every job has those. No surprise that mine does too.
Well, I think that concludes my musings for today. Maybe someday I'll muse some more but it is time for bed.
Goodnight everyone!
BJ
Sunday, February 06, 2011
Rochelle's musings
I think I will try to get BJ to write his own post about what he has been up to, and here is mine. This is sort of a journal kind of entry for me, so please excuse the ME-ness of it.
Most of my life right now is taken up by caring for Gabe and Luke, and trying keep everything at home running smoothly (which I am sometimes successful at, sometimes not). I have an intense desire to be Martha Stewart and have a perfectly clean home and fresh baked bread, and sweet-smelling children all dressed and fed playing quietly together. I want to feel like everything in my world is organized and clutter free. I find myself wishing that I could have at least 2 more hours in every day (after the children are asleep) that I could use how I please, and that I would be motivated to do laundry and mopping and stuff. Alas, I am not Martha, and my house is far from perfectly clean and organized, and all too often my kids (and myself) remain pajama- clad all day long, or at least until 3pm. I haven't figured out a way to get a couple extra hours every day, and I still have a huge pile of clean laundry that I cannot motivate myself to fold. BUT- I did bake bread today. :D I have been working on the most cluttered spots around my home, trying to get rid of unused, unwanted, and unloved items (Fly Lady, anyone?), and generally just cleaning up the same messes umpteen times a day. I feel good about the fact that I went from being very intimidated by and unmotivated to cook dinner (um, for about 5 years of marriage- ouch) to feeling pretty comfortable and confident in the kitchen (not that I am an awesome cook, just that I am not afraid to try new things and branch out a bit) and putting a hot meal on the table most nights by the time BJ is home from work. It is something I always wanted to do, but just couldn't get the motivation or courage to do. Sounds a little silly, right? I suppose I had a complex about cooking and baking for a long time. But I made a goal last year, a little after Luke was born, and I have stuck to it, and it feels GREAT!
When I have some free time, I usually choose one of my "go-to" activities. Two nights a week, after the kids are in bed, I go to Zumba. I love Zumba. It is good exercise, and it is fun! I don't feel like I am exercising, but I usually go home drenched in sweat. I can't wait until it warms up outside and I can add in some of the other exercise- like things that I like to do. Being outside is good for me (when it is a reasonable temperature).
Of course, my other go-to is anything crafty. I have been blogging about my crafty adventures on my other blog, Home Sweet Homebodies. A few months ago, I was thinking about how I could better meet my goal of being service and giving- oriented all year long (spreading the spirit of Christmas over 12 months) and it hit me that I could connect it somewhat to craftiness and invite others to join me. I decided that I want to do one project each month that is dedicated to "making the world a little sweeter".
For January's project, I whipped out my crochet hook to make hats for the Caps For Good project- a really worthwhile organization that distributes hats to moms and babies in other countries as a part of their newborn survival program. Because I had a really hard time reading crochet patterns, I decided to make a tutorial on making a really simple baby beanie. If you want to see that post and tutorial, click here. I have also been working on several sewing projects, none of which are finished...
The other thing that takes up my time is the Cub Scouts. I am the Assistant Cubmaster. Sounds really fancy and official, right? Not so much. Mainly I get to plan and record and do administrative type work. Right now I am working on the Blue and Gold dinner which is coming up really soon. We are doing a "Scouting through the years" theme with Wild West decorations. I am in charge of coming up with thank you cards and decorations, and I have a pretty small budget to work with. I bought a few materials, but mostly I am going to work with recycled things like cardboard boxes. I hope it ends up looking cool and not crappy. Wish me luck.
Right now my life is all about trying to find balance. How do I be a good mom, wife, and everything else I need to be and develop myself as a person at the same time? It seems like in order to be a good mother you must lose yourself to a degree (but perhaps not such a bad thing after all, as "whosoever will be willing to lose his {or her} life for my sake, the same shall save it"-JST, Luke 9:24 -that's a different way of interpreting that, I know.). I am ok with losing parts of myself, like especially all the less desirable parts, but I don't want to forget who I am, or not know what makes me, well, me. So, it is back to balance- to spending good, quality time with my kids and husband, and taking a healthy amount of time for myself, to do other kinds of things which I also love. I am still trying to figure it all out. It seems like as soon as I start feeling comfortable with the way things are, a change occurs that forces me to re-adjust. Like the births of my children, or simply when they reach new stages in life. It causes me to re-examine my life and what I am doing so that I must constantly progress.
Well, that's all I've got for now. If you are still reading this, are there any moms out there that have thoughts on finding balance between motherhood, wifehood (is that a word?), and personal development?
Most of my life right now is taken up by caring for Gabe and Luke, and trying keep everything at home running smoothly (which I am sometimes successful at, sometimes not). I have an intense desire to be Martha Stewart and have a perfectly clean home and fresh baked bread, and sweet-smelling children all dressed and fed playing quietly together. I want to feel like everything in my world is organized and clutter free. I find myself wishing that I could have at least 2 more hours in every day (after the children are asleep) that I could use how I please, and that I would be motivated to do laundry and mopping and stuff. Alas, I am not Martha, and my house is far from perfectly clean and organized, and all too often my kids (and myself) remain pajama- clad all day long, or at least until 3pm. I haven't figured out a way to get a couple extra hours every day, and I still have a huge pile of clean laundry that I cannot motivate myself to fold. BUT- I did bake bread today. :D I have been working on the most cluttered spots around my home, trying to get rid of unused, unwanted, and unloved items (Fly Lady, anyone?), and generally just cleaning up the same messes umpteen times a day. I feel good about the fact that I went from being very intimidated by and unmotivated to cook dinner (um, for about 5 years of marriage- ouch) to feeling pretty comfortable and confident in the kitchen (not that I am an awesome cook, just that I am not afraid to try new things and branch out a bit) and putting a hot meal on the table most nights by the time BJ is home from work. It is something I always wanted to do, but just couldn't get the motivation or courage to do. Sounds a little silly, right? I suppose I had a complex about cooking and baking for a long time. But I made a goal last year, a little after Luke was born, and I have stuck to it, and it feels GREAT!
When I have some free time, I usually choose one of my "go-to" activities. Two nights a week, after the kids are in bed, I go to Zumba. I love Zumba. It is good exercise, and it is fun! I don't feel like I am exercising, but I usually go home drenched in sweat. I can't wait until it warms up outside and I can add in some of the other exercise- like things that I like to do. Being outside is good for me (when it is a reasonable temperature).
Of course, my other go-to is anything crafty. I have been blogging about my crafty adventures on my other blog, Home Sweet Homebodies. A few months ago, I was thinking about how I could better meet my goal of being service and giving- oriented all year long (spreading the spirit of Christmas over 12 months) and it hit me that I could connect it somewhat to craftiness and invite others to join me. I decided that I want to do one project each month that is dedicated to "making the world a little sweeter".
For January's project, I whipped out my crochet hook to make hats for the Caps For Good project- a really worthwhile organization that distributes hats to moms and babies in other countries as a part of their newborn survival program. Because I had a really hard time reading crochet patterns, I decided to make a tutorial on making a really simple baby beanie. If you want to see that post and tutorial, click here. I have also been working on several sewing projects, none of which are finished...
The other thing that takes up my time is the Cub Scouts. I am the Assistant Cubmaster. Sounds really fancy and official, right? Not so much. Mainly I get to plan and record and do administrative type work. Right now I am working on the Blue and Gold dinner which is coming up really soon. We are doing a "Scouting through the years" theme with Wild West decorations. I am in charge of coming up with thank you cards and decorations, and I have a pretty small budget to work with. I bought a few materials, but mostly I am going to work with recycled things like cardboard boxes. I hope it ends up looking cool and not crappy. Wish me luck.
Right now my life is all about trying to find balance. How do I be a good mom, wife, and everything else I need to be and develop myself as a person at the same time? It seems like in order to be a good mother you must lose yourself to a degree (but perhaps not such a bad thing after all, as "whosoever will be willing to lose his {or her} life for my sake, the same shall save it"-JST, Luke 9:24 -that's a different way of interpreting that, I know.). I am ok with losing parts of myself, like especially all the less desirable parts, but I don't want to forget who I am, or not know what makes me, well, me. So, it is back to balance- to spending good, quality time with my kids and husband, and taking a healthy amount of time for myself, to do other kinds of things which I also love. I am still trying to figure it all out. It seems like as soon as I start feeling comfortable with the way things are, a change occurs that forces me to re-adjust. Like the births of my children, or simply when they reach new stages in life. It causes me to re-examine my life and what I am doing so that I must constantly progress.
Well, that's all I've got for now. If you are still reading this, are there any moms out there that have thoughts on finding balance between motherhood, wifehood (is that a word?), and personal development?
Monday, January 31, 2011
Luke: January 2011
I think the stage Luke is at (9 months old this past week) is one of the cutest and funnest stages of babyhood. My Lukie-pie is just so sweet. He is getting very curious about what Gabe is doing, and he wants to be in on the fun. He doesn't want to lay down or sit down, he just wants to stand. He is starting to try to walk (with help). He is super wiggly! This kid has a smile that could melt anyone's heart, and I'm afraid he has got us wrapped around his little fingers!
Favorites:
Foods: Cheerios, any fruit (especially applesauce, apricots, peaches, pears, and fresh bananas), sweet potatoes, and carrots, and rice husk crackers.
Toys: Luke likes toys that make sounds, have wheels, or which can be chewed on, or anything that Gabe is playing with.
He LOVES things with buttons, so any remote, cell phone, or toy with buttons is an Luke- magnet. Bonus points if something exciting happens after pushing a button.
Activities: Peekaboo and Pattycake are very entertaining, as are tickling and cuddling (sometimes). We took this video of Luke about one week before he turned 7 months old, where he is playing peekaboo all on his own. We were so surprised when he started doing it, but he loved all the laughs he got, and he continued doing it for quite a while that night.
Luke loves to watch Gabe run around and play, and he is beginning to want to be part of everything Gabe does.
We recently got out this jumperoo thingy and Luke has got the hang of bouncing in it and he is happy since he always wants to be standing.
People: Luke loves his Mommy and Daddy and Gabe tons, and he recognizes and is delighted to see Grandparents and aunts and uncles. Luke seems to pick up on and react to "love vibes"- or in other words he can sense when someone likes him, and he will cuddle right up- even if they are a stranger. This happened in church last week when a grandmotherly lady held him for a moment while I had to lead some music. He stared at her for a minute, then began smiling and snuggled right up in her lap.
Luke is happy any time Gabe is nearby, and thrives on attention Gabe gives him. He puts up with quite a lot of poking and prodding from Gabe too...
Stats:
Luke began consistently sitting up by himself for longer periods of time when he turned 7 months old.
I frequently walk into a room and find a picture like this- both boys just chilling together, often in unusual positions, and just content and jabbering to each other.
Favorites:
Foods: Cheerios, any fruit (especially applesauce, apricots, peaches, pears, and fresh bananas), sweet potatoes, and carrots, and rice husk crackers.
Toys: Luke likes toys that make sounds, have wheels, or which can be chewed on, or anything that Gabe is playing with.
He LOVES things with buttons, so any remote, cell phone, or toy with buttons is an Luke- magnet. Bonus points if something exciting happens after pushing a button.
Activities: Peekaboo and Pattycake are very entertaining, as are tickling and cuddling (sometimes). We took this video of Luke about one week before he turned 7 months old, where he is playing peekaboo all on his own. We were so surprised when he started doing it, but he loved all the laughs he got, and he continued doing it for quite a while that night.
Luke loves to watch Gabe run around and play, and he is beginning to want to be part of everything Gabe does.
We recently got out this jumperoo thingy and Luke has got the hang of bouncing in it and he is happy since he always wants to be standing.
People: Luke loves his Mommy and Daddy and Gabe tons, and he recognizes and is delighted to see Grandparents and aunts and uncles. Luke seems to pick up on and react to "love vibes"- or in other words he can sense when someone likes him, and he will cuddle right up- even if they are a stranger. This happened in church last week when a grandmotherly lady held him for a moment while I had to lead some music. He stared at her for a minute, then began smiling and snuggled right up in her lap.
Luke is happy any time Gabe is nearby, and thrives on attention Gabe gives him. He puts up with quite a lot of poking and prodding from Gabe too...
Stats:
Luke began consistently sitting up by himself for longer periods of time when he turned 7 months old.
- Luke still has 7 teeth (he had all those by the time he was 7 months old), but I believe that is about to change.
- Luke is NOT interested in crawling.
- After we came back from Oregon for Christmas, Luke started pulling himself up to stand so that he could see what was going on up on Gabe's train table (8 months old). Maybe he will skip crawling all together and go straight to walking?
I frequently walk into a room and find a picture like this- both boys just chilling together, often in unusual positions, and just content and jabbering to each other.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Gabriel: January 2011
Gabe is quite a character! He is becoming very inquisitive and opinionated. In true toddler fashion, he is exerting his independence and testing limits. It can be quite frustrating at times, but I keep reminding myself that he is doing what all two year olds do, and that it is a normal developmental stage. He is a bit of a charmer too, so my occasional frustration is tempered by lots of sweetness and delight. Here is a little bit about Gabe currently.
Favorites:
Colors: anything vibrant, but especially green at the moment.
Foods: Pizza, lasagna, raisins, Chex, ice cream, broccoli, ham, cheese, any Mexican food, any Chinese food. He will pretty much eat anything we give him, most of the time!
Toys: His train table set that he got for Christmas, his monkey (still), a little airplane on wheels thingy, magnets on the magnet board, dishes & measuring spoons.
Activities: Singing (Twinkle Twinkle, I am a Child of God, Heavenly Father Loves Me, Eensie Weensie Spider, I'm a Little Pile of Tin, Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes, The Wheels on the Bus, Saw a Little House in the Middle of the Woods, and MANY others), dancing (to any old music, or Just Dance- a Wii game), throwing balls, unwinding spools of thread or balls of yarn, looking at books, making Luke laugh, and climbing up on things, coloring (for short periods of time), and playing with Play- Doh.
Outfit: Blue Jeans (I love hearing him say that) and his brown or yellow long sleeved shirts. And his Thomas the Tank Engine Jammies and Slippers.
Movies: Thomas the Tank Engine shows, Curious George, The Jungle Book
Cute/ Funny Stuff
Overheard:
A week or two ago: Kissing sound, and "Luke, I love you! Be right back!" and little feet running down the hallway.
Last night: " 'Tinky, poopy bum. Diaper change? No! Mommy do it." (At the suggestion that daddy would change it.)
This week: "Luke, play trains with me! Come on!"
After a loud noise upstairs: Screaming, followed by "Mommy! Scary! You hear boom boom? Scary tiger, Mommy!" (I don't know where the scary tiger thing came from, other than maybe from The Jungle Book movie. He has been really spooked by loud noises lately.)
Common Phrases:
"Yes, sir, mommy" -over and over, every day. (Occasionally it is "Yes, ma'am, but usually everyone is a "Sir" to him.)
"Lukie- pie" -I guess I call Luke that enough that Gabe picked up on it. He understands that it is just a nickname. Last week we were joking together about calling grandparents "Grandma Suzie-Pie and Papa Ronnie- Pie".
Gabe occasionally calls BJ or I "honey", "sweetie- pie", "Sweetheart", or "Love" depending on what he hears us say. Today I dropped something on the floor, and he picked it right up and handed it to me without being asked, and said "Here you go, sweetheart!" (Picture me melting.)
"Hningermails" =fingernails, as in, "Long hiningermails? Cut them?"
"Mommy, want to see show!" "What show do you want to watch, Gabriel?" "Um...... Thomas The Tank Engine!" (enunciated perfectly, of course, after so much practice...)
Gabe and I had fun playing with homemade "instruments" this week- see this blog post on my other blog. So later that night, I just happened to see that my mom had posted a video of Anna playing the guitar and singing at her first ever guitar recital (she just started playing a few months ago), Gabe was mesmerized, and he demanded his toy guitar that we made, and proceeded to accompany himself singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It was funny, and adorable, and reminded me why toddlers are so much fun. I asked him to do it again a little later for the camera, which he did, but not with as much enthusiasm. Haha. Oh well!
We have reached the point that getting a good picture of Gabe is kind of hard. He will smile and cooperate for the first picture, but it often goes downhill from there (although still cute, the pictures that follow become increasingly cheesy- but at least they are happy in this series!)
I love that Gabe loves to be with his brother. He is starting to be really helpful in keeping Luke happy and entertained. I have to remind him sometimes that Luke is just a baby and he needs to be gentle and use a quiet voice to not scare him, but mostly they just love being around each other.
Toddlerhood is a challenge, but a fun one (almost all the time)!
Favorites:
Colors: anything vibrant, but especially green at the moment.
Foods: Pizza, lasagna, raisins, Chex, ice cream, broccoli, ham, cheese, any Mexican food, any Chinese food. He will pretty much eat anything we give him, most of the time!
Toys: His train table set that he got for Christmas, his monkey (still), a little airplane on wheels thingy, magnets on the magnet board, dishes & measuring spoons.
Activities: Singing (Twinkle Twinkle, I am a Child of God, Heavenly Father Loves Me, Eensie Weensie Spider, I'm a Little Pile of Tin, Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree, Head, Shoulders Knees and Toes, The Wheels on the Bus, Saw a Little House in the Middle of the Woods, and MANY others), dancing (to any old music, or Just Dance- a Wii game), throwing balls, unwinding spools of thread or balls of yarn, looking at books, making Luke laugh, and climbing up on things, coloring (for short periods of time), and playing with Play- Doh.
Outfit: Blue Jeans (I love hearing him say that) and his brown or yellow long sleeved shirts. And his Thomas the Tank Engine Jammies and Slippers.
Movies: Thomas the Tank Engine shows, Curious George, The Jungle Book
Cute/ Funny Stuff
Overheard:
A week or two ago: Kissing sound, and "Luke, I love you! Be right back!" and little feet running down the hallway.
Last night: " 'Tinky, poopy bum. Diaper change? No! Mommy do it." (At the suggestion that daddy would change it.)
This week: "Luke, play trains with me! Come on!"
After a loud noise upstairs: Screaming, followed by "Mommy! Scary! You hear boom boom? Scary tiger, Mommy!" (I don't know where the scary tiger thing came from, other than maybe from The Jungle Book movie. He has been really spooked by loud noises lately.)
Common Phrases:
"Yes, sir, mommy" -over and over, every day. (Occasionally it is "Yes, ma'am, but usually everyone is a "Sir" to him.)
"Lukie- pie" -I guess I call Luke that enough that Gabe picked up on it. He understands that it is just a nickname. Last week we were joking together about calling grandparents "Grandma Suzie-Pie and Papa Ronnie- Pie".
Gabe occasionally calls BJ or I "honey", "sweetie- pie", "Sweetheart", or "Love" depending on what he hears us say. Today I dropped something on the floor, and he picked it right up and handed it to me without being asked, and said "Here you go, sweetheart!" (Picture me melting.)
"Hningermails" =fingernails, as in, "Long hiningermails? Cut them?"
"Mommy, want to see show!" "What show do you want to watch, Gabriel?" "Um...... Thomas The Tank Engine!" (enunciated perfectly, of course, after so much practice...)
Gabe and I had fun playing with homemade "instruments" this week- see this blog post on my other blog. So later that night, I just happened to see that my mom had posted a video of Anna playing the guitar and singing at her first ever guitar recital (she just started playing a few months ago), Gabe was mesmerized, and he demanded his toy guitar that we made, and proceeded to accompany himself singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". It was funny, and adorable, and reminded me why toddlers are so much fun. I asked him to do it again a little later for the camera, which he did, but not with as much enthusiasm. Haha. Oh well!
We have reached the point that getting a good picture of Gabe is kind of hard. He will smile and cooperate for the first picture, but it often goes downhill from there (although still cute, the pictures that follow become increasingly cheesy- but at least they are happy in this series!)
I love that Gabe loves to be with his brother. He is starting to be really helpful in keeping Luke happy and entertained. I have to remind him sometimes that Luke is just a baby and he needs to be gentle and use a quiet voice to not scare him, but mostly they just love being around each other.
Toddlerhood is a challenge, but a fun one (almost all the time)!
Monday, January 24, 2011
Christmas 2011
This year we spent the night of Christmas Eve at BJ's parents' house. BJ stayed up until 2 AM putting Gabe's train table together. It was fun for Gabe (and for us) to wake up Christmas morning and get to open presents with Grandma Sue, Grandpa Ron, and Rhonda (or "Panda" as Gabe still calls her). We enjoyed breakfast and visiting with Danielle and Kirk's family, and also got to see Taylor and Emily for a while. We headed home pretty late-ish and still had to finish packing so that we could leave the next morning at the crack of dawn to fly to Oregon. We got to have a 2nd Christmas with my family after Marissa and Richard also arrived, and it was great! Anyway, here are some pictures from Christmas 2010.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
oops
I don't know why I can't seem to get my act together with the blogging lately. I think it is a case of letting too much time pass so that the prospect of "catching up" on our family's doings is just overwhelming and I am not motivated to do it. It could also be that the only time I really have to blog and have "personal time" is during naptime or after the kids have gone to bed for the night, and there are just so many things to do and catch up on that blogging drops down on my priority list. Whatever the case may be, I have been feeling guilty that I am not recording the things my kids are doing and how they are growing. So, I am repenting! I have some photos, videos, stories and things that I have been meaning to post forever, and now I will actually do it. But not in this post. I will do a post for Christmas, and each kid, and maybe one for BJ and I. But probably not all at once. (!)
Monday, December 06, 2010
Do you hear what I hear?
Gabriel will often run to find me and ask me if I heard a sound that he heard- "You hear train?" "You hear dump/ garbage truck/ car" "You hear a boom boom?" The boom boom is probably the most common sound he mentions to me. Usually he is delighted by the sounds he hears, but occasionally we hear a really loud sound from outside or the people upstairs, which scares Gabe, and he will scream or cry, and then ask me if I heard the "boom boom". After reassuring him that I heard it, and talking about what might have made the sound, his curiosity is appeased and he goes back to what he was doing before.
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Indoor Fun
Sometimes you don't need toys to have a good time.
But simple, classic toys can hold my attention for a long time, especially at Grandma and Grandpa's house, in a cozy chair.
Building forts in the front room is exciting, especially if that means that Mom will come in too and play for hours...
... and even more when there are snacks involved...
... add in my favorite monkey, my cars...
... a good story...
... and my little brother, and I am a happy (indoor) camper!
But simple, classic toys can hold my attention for a long time, especially at Grandma and Grandpa's house, in a cozy chair.
Building forts in the front room is exciting, especially if that means that Mom will come in too and play for hours...
... and even more when there are snacks involved...
... add in my favorite monkey, my cars...
... a good story...
... and my little brother, and I am a happy (indoor) camper!
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Brotherly Love
This morning as I was getting the boys changed and dressed, I laid Luke down in Gabe's room while it was Gabe's turn to be dressed. The boys are always aware of each other inasmuch as Luke watches Gabe's every move, and Gabe likes to know where Luke is, what he is doing, and he likes helping him be happy and entertaining him. Anyway, when Gabe was done, he became absorbed in playing with his toys in his room, and I took Luke out into the front room with me. A little bit later, I was blow drying my hair, and I heard crying. I quickly turned off the blowdryer, and found Gabe who was crying in his room. I asked him what was wrong, and he sobbed "Luke... where Luke?!" Relieved that he wasn't hurt, I took Gabe by the hand and we went to the front room, where he was able to see for himself that Luke was doing just fine, at which point he went back to playing and all was well.
Saturday, November 06, 2010
6 months old (Luke)
Luke turned 6 months old last week, and I thought I should probably document all the most important things about his life so far...
Some Stats:
Height: 26th percentile
Weight: 17th percentile
Head Circumference: 90th percentile
Teeth: 2
Likes:
Tickling- Luke is soooo ticklish. He gets the biggest grin on his face and just giggles so cutely.
Peekaboo- Lots of delight whenever we play this game (several times each day).
Watching Gabe play (Luke is intensely interested in whatever Gabe is doing, and is not happy if he can hear Gabe but not see him).
Binky- Luke still sometimes goes to sleep with his binky in his mouth, or just likes to play while he is sucking on it. I think Gabe was pretty much done with the pacifier by 6 months old, but Luke seems to like it a lot more.
Diaper changes (truly, this kid never cries during a change, and usually looks very happy to be freeeeeeee)
Rice cereal is starting to finally become a "like". Luke has been a bit slower on the uptake (or intake!) with solid foods, but I think he has caught on and is enjoying eating. I started him on some carrots this week and he isn't sure what to think about them yet.
Water- filled teething toy that has been frozen.
Dislikes:
Drinking from a bottle (but will sometimes take one after a few minutes of cajoling).
Waking up from naps (super grumpy).
Being in his swing, walker chair or bumbo seat for more than 10 minutes. High pitched squealing and back arching start at that point.
Being on his tummy. He immediately rolls to his back when we attempt tummy time. I am pretty sure he can roll to his tummy but he just wont do it.
Luke is sitting up by himself but wobbles over after a little while. Luke likes the bathtub, loves grabbing things and chewing on them, and being held. He is in the stage where he wiggles on my lap when I hold him, trying to get his hands on things, but if I put him down, he realizes his mobility limitations and wants me to pick him up again, until he wants to be put down again....
Luke has the cutest little chubby cheeks that are so nice to kiss! He grins when we kiss him too, which is just adorable.
Luke is a very social baby. He hasn't yet become anxious around strangers; he will grin at anyone and be content in their arms if they want to play with him.
Luke loves watching Gabe play, and he is very entertained by everything Gabe does. Luke is very aware of what Gabe is doing. I think when he is old enough to crawl he will follow Gabe around as much as he can to try to be part of the action.
We all love Luke dearly, and feel that he is a wonderful part of our family. I almost can't remember what it was like (or at least I don't want to!) to not have him with us. It is true about your heart expanding and your capacity to love increasing as your family grows.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Blogging Delinquency
I have been not so good at blogging lately. Oops. I have posts that I have started and not published. I guess I will try to catch up. Part of the problem I think is that there isn't a ton of stuff going on that I could write about. So I guess that leaves me with writing mostly about the boys, which is fine, since they are pretty much the biggest most interesting parts of our lives right now.
Let's see, BJ has been playing tennis quite a bit this summer/ fall with his brother in law Andy and is looking forward to playing racquetball as the weather turns wet and cold. He has also been playing a little church basketball. He is enjoying the exercise he gets from doing that- it is hard for us to find the time to be active with little kids and busy schedules, but we try!
I have been working a tiny bit in the cancer screening clinic at the Health Department, and also spending time working on things for my craft blog, which will soon move from its blogspot address to its own, new address. My favorite projects from the last couple of months would probably be making a regular shirt into a nursing (breastfeeding) shirt, sewing infant scratch mitts, and recycling shoe boxes and magazines to make great wall art.
I have also been going to Zumba classes for the past few months, and I love it! I can only get away 1-2 times a week to do it, but it is amazing the difference it has made in my energy level. I feel really good.
Gabe is just too cute. He says the funniest things. He often calls BJ "honey" or "buddy". It cracks me up. He also occasionally calls us by our first names, which is also funny (for now). He has a slight lisp that is cute and he has some trouble saying certain short words, like "green", but has no problem pronouncing "dinosaur". He loves Luke, and Luke obviously loves him.
Sometimes it is hard to nurse Luke because he just wants to watch what Gabe is doing. He is very entertained by Gabriel's antics. Luke is a smiley baby. He takes great naps but is not doing so great at sleeping at night. We need to figure something out to help him sleep better. It has been hard because he has been sick for a couple of weeks, so we have a smiley but somewhat grumpy baby. It is kind of a bummer to not be able to use medicine to help him, but some of the things that have helped us make him more comfortable are the humidifier, "Little Noses" saline drops to thin those nasal secretions, letting him sleep in his padded carseat (it keeps him more upright, which makes breathing easier), and The Nose Frida (a kind of weird but very effective tool for aspirating baby noses). Luke hates tummy time. He doesn't cry any more, he just rolls over onto his back as many times as I put him on his stomach. He is getting stronger. He can almost sit up without help- well, he can already do it, but not for very long. It's kinda hard to do when your body is in the 20-30th percentile for height and weight and your head is in the 90th percentile, you know? Haha. Luke loves playing peekaboo and snuggling with anyone who will hold him. His cousin Marissa had him laughing hysterically last night at our family Halloween party (thanks, Danielle and Kirk for putting that together!) just by talking to him in a cutesy voice and pointing out things on his and her costume. I love how cuddly Luke is right now. He is also very grabby and wants to put everything in his mouth! He has been teething like crazy. He has two bottom teeth which came in a few weeks ago. He will be 6 months old in a few days.
We took some pictures of the boys in BJ's parents' photo studio. BJ did a great job photographing them. Gabe knows the drill for picture taking. Luke was tired and on the verge of tears the whole time, but did pretty well too.
Love those boys!
Let's see, BJ has been playing tennis quite a bit this summer/ fall with his brother in law Andy and is looking forward to playing racquetball as the weather turns wet and cold. He has also been playing a little church basketball. He is enjoying the exercise he gets from doing that- it is hard for us to find the time to be active with little kids and busy schedules, but we try!
I have been working a tiny bit in the cancer screening clinic at the Health Department, and also spending time working on things for my craft blog, which will soon move from its blogspot address to its own, new address. My favorite projects from the last couple of months would probably be making a regular shirt into a nursing (breastfeeding) shirt, sewing infant scratch mitts, and recycling shoe boxes and magazines to make great wall art.
I have also been going to Zumba classes for the past few months, and I love it! I can only get away 1-2 times a week to do it, but it is amazing the difference it has made in my energy level. I feel really good.
Gabe is just too cute. He says the funniest things. He often calls BJ "honey" or "buddy". It cracks me up. He also occasionally calls us by our first names, which is also funny (for now). He has a slight lisp that is cute and he has some trouble saying certain short words, like "green", but has no problem pronouncing "dinosaur". He loves Luke, and Luke obviously loves him.
Sometimes it is hard to nurse Luke because he just wants to watch what Gabe is doing. He is very entertained by Gabriel's antics. Luke is a smiley baby. He takes great naps but is not doing so great at sleeping at night. We need to figure something out to help him sleep better. It has been hard because he has been sick for a couple of weeks, so we have a smiley but somewhat grumpy baby. It is kind of a bummer to not be able to use medicine to help him, but some of the things that have helped us make him more comfortable are the humidifier, "Little Noses" saline drops to thin those nasal secretions, letting him sleep in his padded carseat (it keeps him more upright, which makes breathing easier), and The Nose Frida (a kind of weird but very effective tool for aspirating baby noses). Luke hates tummy time. He doesn't cry any more, he just rolls over onto his back as many times as I put him on his stomach. He is getting stronger. He can almost sit up without help- well, he can already do it, but not for very long. It's kinda hard to do when your body is in the 20-30th percentile for height and weight and your head is in the 90th percentile, you know? Haha. Luke loves playing peekaboo and snuggling with anyone who will hold him. His cousin Marissa had him laughing hysterically last night at our family Halloween party (thanks, Danielle and Kirk for putting that together!) just by talking to him in a cutesy voice and pointing out things on his and her costume. I love how cuddly Luke is right now. He is also very grabby and wants to put everything in his mouth! He has been teething like crazy. He has two bottom teeth which came in a few weeks ago. He will be 6 months old in a few days.
We took some pictures of the boys in BJ's parents' photo studio. BJ did a great job photographing them. Gabe knows the drill for picture taking. Luke was tired and on the verge of tears the whole time, but did pretty well too.
Love those boys!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month
I posted this on my craft blog earlier this month, and it occurred to me that I should post it here too, so here it is, read on if you have a minute:
I have posted about breast cancer before, but as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the information bears repeating, I am reposting. A part of my life that I don't really share here is that I am a public health nurse, and I work in a women's clinic where I do breast cancer screening and education. Consequently, I have come to feel strongly about early detection/ screening and being aware of your body. I hope you will take a minute to read/ review and maybe make a few changes in your life if necessary.
Breast cancer is a frightening disease. Most women fear that they or someone they love will get it. Our fears may or may not be well- founded, but they are made worse when we hear statistics like:
Unfortunately, not all risk factors are things you can prevent, but here are a few things that can help you lower your risk of breast cancer:
I like to tell the women I screen that doing a breast self exam isn't really about following a rigid set of instructions or searching for cancer. Thinking of it that way can cause anxiety that may cause you to avoid even thinking about it. I recommend being aware of your body- becoming familiar with what is normal for you. Think of it as a way to have peace of mind. If you do notice a change, whether it be a lump, a change in color or texture of the skin on your breast, a change in shape or appearance of any part of the breast, or anything out of the ordinary that persists and doesn't resolve, you should have it checked immediately by a health professional.
As women, we so often put all of our energy into taking care of other people that we fail to take care of ourselves. If you are not making your own health a priority, please consider that you can best care for those you love by keeping yourself healthy and, well, alive. What I'm saying is that there really isn't any good excuse for not giving your health the attention it deserves.
If money or lack of insurance/ underinsurance is an issue, there are programs that offer free or low cost mammograms to women over 40 each year if you meet certain income requirements. The clinic I work at is one of these programs, and there are programs like this all over the U.S. You can check out the CDC’s website to find out if you qualify.
OK- one more thing. Take a minute to check out this video. It is about a type of rare but highly dangerous form of breast cancer called Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) in which there may not be a "lump", but rather changes in the outward appearance of the breast. This can affect women of all ages, so even if you are not 40 years old yet, check it out, okay?
I have posted about breast cancer before, but as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and the information bears repeating, I am reposting. A part of my life that I don't really share here is that I am a public health nurse, and I work in a women's clinic where I do breast cancer screening and education. Consequently, I have come to feel strongly about early detection/ screening and being aware of your body. I hope you will take a minute to read/ review and maybe make a few changes in your life if necessary.
Breast cancer is a frightening disease. Most women fear that they or someone they love will get it. Our fears may or may not be well- founded, but they are made worse when we hear statistics like:
- Over 40,000 people will die of breast cancer this year; about 400 of them will be men.
- 85% of all diagnoses have no family history.
- 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer. (Source: http://www.breastcancerawareness.com/facts.php )
Unfortunately, not all risk factors are things you can prevent, but here are a few things that can help you lower your risk of breast cancer:
- Exercise and make wholesome food choices. Make an effort to maintain a healthy weight.
- Limit alcohol intake and smoking.
- Be aware of your family history. Talk to your doctor if breast cancer is in your family. This may affect the recommendations your doctor has for you.
- If you are approaching menopause, evaluate with your doctor whether hormone replacement is necessary for you or not. (Source: http://www.cdc.gov/)
I like to tell the women I screen that doing a breast self exam isn't really about following a rigid set of instructions or searching for cancer. Thinking of it that way can cause anxiety that may cause you to avoid even thinking about it. I recommend being aware of your body- becoming familiar with what is normal for you. Think of it as a way to have peace of mind. If you do notice a change, whether it be a lump, a change in color or texture of the skin on your breast, a change in shape or appearance of any part of the breast, or anything out of the ordinary that persists and doesn't resolve, you should have it checked immediately by a health professional.
As women, we so often put all of our energy into taking care of other people that we fail to take care of ourselves. If you are not making your own health a priority, please consider that you can best care for those you love by keeping yourself healthy and, well, alive. What I'm saying is that there really isn't any good excuse for not giving your health the attention it deserves.
If money or lack of insurance/ underinsurance is an issue, there are programs that offer free or low cost mammograms to women over 40 each year if you meet certain income requirements. The clinic I work at is one of these programs, and there are programs like this all over the U.S. You can check out the CDC’s website to find out if you qualify.
OK- one more thing. Take a minute to check out this video. It is about a type of rare but highly dangerous form of breast cancer called Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) in which there may not be a "lump", but rather changes in the outward appearance of the breast. This can affect women of all ages, so even if you are not 40 years old yet, check it out, okay?
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