Owner: My Two Boys URL:http://adopttwoboys.blogspot.com Join Date: Sun, 17 Jun 2007 19:05:41 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: I am a SAHM wanting to be a WAHM. I am a mom of one blond angel from Arhkangelsk, Russia who lights up my life. Journey with our family as we travel to Guatemala to adopt our second child, chelate our first, and try to stay sane. Site statistics:Click here
Thank you to Blog Dump 2007-06-14 19:58:00 But seriously,Thank
you to Blog Dump. I LOVE your traffic.Tags: blog dump, traffic, thank you
Thank You Notes 2007-06-14 19:48:00 Okay, so I sent out my Thank
You Notes
for Little Pickel's birthday presents a "little late". But, I sent them right? It's more than I can say for some people...Yeah, you know who you are. You are the person I have given your kids a present to for the last 4 (yes, you have 4 kids and had to have a shower for all four) baby showers, 12 birthdays, and the last 8 Christmas' but I have NEVER gotten a thank you card.But, when I adopted Little Pickel did I get even a card? Nope.Did he get even a birthday card last year? Nope.Did you even RSVP to the shower you never came to? Nope.You make me want to never give your kids anything again...but I like your kids so I will...because that is who I am.And, I will keep sending you thank you notes for the nonexistent birthday presents you give my child to see if you get the hint...because that is who I am as well.Hee hee.Tags: thank you, birthday parties, showers, cards, Christmas, RSVP
Energizer Bunny 2007-06-12 13:58:00 Recently Little Pickel has morphed into the EnergizerBunny
. No, its not funny because I have to keep up with him from 5 am until 7 p.m. Admittedly, he is much more of a pleasure these days than he was during his exorcist phase, but he has been SOOO tired lately that he is stimming to keep himself going.He crashes into me at about 90 miles an hour, barrelling me down, grinding his teeth together like cicadas on a warm summer evening. He jumps off the top of the couch yelling about Tigger and bouncing. He wakes at 5 in the morning, runs into my room, chases Miss Kitty out, bounds across the floor, and asks me when we can go swimming. Ummmm, not until 4 p.m. What am I going to do until then?When does he start summer school?Tags: tigger, stimming, tired, summer school
Lazy as Lazy can Be 2007-06-08 07:31:00 Little Pickel is Lazy as Lazy can be. A perfect example is this morning.He was eating his favorite yogurt; Silk Soy Key Lime. He got about halfway through and looked at me with a devilish look on his face. He then ever so gently set down his spoon (he usually throws them), picked up the yogurt cup, and proceeded to drink the remaining Key Lime delicacy.Lazy Kid.Genius.Disclaimer:NOT MY KID.This is my kid eating a waffle in the same manner. He decided to get to the heart of it all and lick all of the chocolate out of the waffle holes instead of just eating the waffle. Again, lazy but genius.Tags: lazy, little pickel, yogurt, silk soy
Do You Squidoo? I Do 2007-06-07 17:56:00 Check out my new Squidoo
site. Its bound to make you want to come back for more! Link to each page and catch up on all the Pickel Pages at one time. What a genius idea! Tags: adopt two boys, squidoo
Top Momma 2007-06-05 23:08:00 No, not Topless Momma
, although I am sure Papa Pickel would like that!I want to be a Top Momma
...Vote for my blog in the next few days when my picture comes up!Look for Little Pickel and Pickel Dog.Tags: top momma
How to Clean the House in One Day with a Four-Year-Old In Tow 2007-06-04 22:21:00 1. Organize a sippy cup scavenger hunt. Sniff out the sour milk and moldy juice.2. Have a Water Gun fight in the kitchen. Use fore mentioned water to clean floor.3. Create Leap Fog lily pads on the floor with mismatched socks while you fold underwear.4. Play Cinderella with toddler brooms.5. Have vacuum races.6. Play Frisbee with the plastic (only plastic please) plates so loading the dishwasher is expedited.7. Give baths instead of showers. Isn't that good enough to clean the tub?8. Had toddler run clutter up and down stairs until he is worn out. Give said toddler a nap. Take a coffee break.9. Enlist husband with a Honey Do list.10. If all else fails...call grandma to babysit. Remember, she folds laundry.Tags: Clean
house, Toddler, Grandma, laundry, clutter Read more:House
, One Day
Go on Vacation, Go on Vacation, Go on Vacation, Go on Vacation? 2007-05-27 21:57:00 Go on Vacation
??????Yes, this is what Papa Pickel and I heard out of Little Pickel's whiny mouth for three entire days...while we were on vacation. Since we recently moved from Michigan to the Chicago area we were missing some of our closest friends and wanted to travel back to visit over the 3-day Memorial Day weekend. I guess Little Pickel did not think that was a very good vacation. It rained for 2 days, forcing us to entertain him inside a small house with 2 social teenagers who, of course, don't really want to play with his Thomas Trains but would rather play their uncle's cool new videogame, Wii. But, I don't blame them...This is what Little Pickel wanted on his vacation:1. Hamburgers and French Fries and unlimited McDonald's Playlands2. Swimming in the nonexistent Oxford pool3. Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too4. Swing set (the one we are building tomorrow)5. Undivided attention...um, like he doesn't get that???????What do your kids want? Perhaps I should plan a better one ne
Why I blog, a meme 2007-05-22 08:59:00 Looks like I got tagged last week by Joyful Gardener so I will respond. Its my first tag! Yeah for me!!!!"Liz Strauss started a meme on “Why on Earth do you blog?” Gayla from MomGadget just tagged me with the meme and it is an interesting one, so I’m going to respond." (just wanted to give credit to the original taggers...1. I started Adopt Two Boys as a fundraiser for our Guatemala Adoption and as a way for people to order Pickel's Pearls. We are still hosting this fundraiser so please take a look and gather up your birthday, anniversary, and Christmas presents. I also do custom orders. (yes, shameless promotion)2. Adopt Two Boys quickly moved onto Blogspot and into a page that chronicled Little Pickel's life, our adoption process, and how I deal with being an adoptive mother.3. I am also looking to make some money?????? Nothing yet but crossing my fingers (and toes)4. I blog to give others information. I have found so many people out there that are looking for information on
Blow it up, homepage design and traffic... 2007-05-21 08:55:00 Seth Godin told me today to Blow up my homepage.The problem with home page thinking is that it's a crutch. There's nothing wrong with an index, nothing wrong with a page for newbies, nothing wrong with a place that makes a first impression when you get the chance to control that encounter. But it's not your 'home'. It's not what the surfer/user wants, and when it doesn't match, they flee.But don't I need a homepage to lead you all to where you need to go? To the adoption site, the sensory site, and the toy site? Seems to me that the homepage is the most important page of all.Ironically, the website design
that I have matches Godin's and every trackback site on his post.If you are a frequent reader you know that I recently posted a poll asking what you wanted to read and actually updated my homepage and blog based on those results. I added pages like Sensory Systems where I can write about sensory issues and Autism which links directly to 451 Press. According to Tim King, I h Read more:traffic
How to Host a 4 year old Birthday Party 2007-05-20 21:23:00 1. Clean house.2. Guests arrive late.3. Guests mess up house.4. Allow two opened presents before dinner and cake because you can't stop it from happening.5. Can't find candles...use pillar candle from china cabinet.6. Eat a Cars Birthday
Cake with 4 year old fingerprints.7. Hastily dodge new Scooby Doo Fishing Pole with plastic fish flying.8. Attend to Annual Mishap: toddler tumbling down porch steps.9. A bear skin rug??????? (one of his favorite gifts...a sensory rug)10. Eat another piece of cake.Tags: How to, birthday, Cars, cake, Scooby Doo, toddler, children Read more:Party
, Birthday Party
New Pages 2007-05-18 08:40:00 Adopt Two Boys now has NEW PAGES! I took your advice and looked at what YOU wanted to read and learn about and divided this sited into easy to read, easy to find pages.If you look directly to the left you will find 6 new pages:AdoptionAutismBiomedicalBook ReviewsSensory SystemsToysAlthough I may not post to those pages everyday you will certainly find new information each week and tons of new products to link to and purchase. Don't be afraid to comment and add your own opinions, products, and experiences to any of the sites.Tags: adoption, autism, biomedical, book reviews, sensory, toys, comments, tags, link, purchase, pages, adopt two boys Read more:Pages
niche poll 2007-05-16 10:53:00 So, I realized last night while I was Google labeling (or categorizing as all "normal" people call it) my posts that I am totally rambling on this blog and that I have no niche
yet so I really need to find one or I am totally going to lose all my readers, if I have any that is because no one really leaves comments or anything so I am going to ask all of you what you want to hear about...or really, what do you want me to write about most? Oops, I guess I rambled.
Bye Bye Crocs... At least it wasn't the alligators this time. 2007-05-12 08:37:00 My morning started as it always does...with a bubbly toddler bounding on the bed, a 5 inch toy school bus in his tiny hand. Letting Papa Pickel stay in bed a few minutes longer, I got up with Little Pickel and took him downstairs to the bathroom and put him in the bath. Like usual, he swam on his tummy for a while and soaked up his Epsom Salts and drank some for good measure.Papa Pickel came down a few minutes later and proceeded to the kitchen to grind his Starbucks coffee. He grabbed his grinder from the cabinet, his coffee from the freezer, and turned the sink on to fill the carafe. Water blasted out of the bottom of the sink pipes. Not only did the water fill his coffee pot but it also saturated the lower cabinet and slowly (no rapidly) dripped (no gushed) directly down the hole in the cabinet to the water cistern in the basement. You see, a hole had actually rusted right through the galvanized pipe that was original to our 1917 home. Gosh, I love my house. Stinkin' money pit.So Read more:Crocs
, least
, Bye Bye
Institutional Autism 2007-04-29 19:22:00 Because April is Aut ism Awareness Month I thought I would post about Little Pickel's Institutional Autism
, something we knew nothing about at the time of his adoption in July of 2005.Institutional Autism is not a genetically induced Autism like most diagnosed here in the States, but one learned from years of neglect and sensory deprivation. Dr. Federici, a renowned adoption phycologist has done a vast amount of research on this topic and written numerous articles. He and M. Rutter, am American Psychologist indicate some of the major symptoms of institutional autism as:• Sensory and social deprivation can result in the autistic-like behaviors.• These behaviors may diminish after the child is removed from the initial deprived environment.• A substantial minority of children will continue to exhibit these difficult behavior patterns for many years.Risk Factors:• Heredity and neurological make-up of the adopted child.• Lack of postnatal care and negative conditions of developm
Corn, no, not Korn! 2007-04-24 11:03:00 For almost two years we have dealt with allergies, intolerance, H pylori, and general, food discomforts in Little Pickel. He came home from Russia with the nastiest case of creepy crawlers that I EVER want to see (and no, I am not going to describe it here) and has proceeded to reek havoc over our house ever since.For the first 6 months home he slept about 6 hours a night, crying and whining the remaining hours, passing all kinds of gas and nastiness into the air. I used to comment that one could light a match in his room and the entire house could blow up. After testing his stools and requesting an H Pylori test about 80 times (and the lab never getting it right) we fired our pediatrician and finally went to a GI.The GI took one look at Little Pickel's initial lab test results (one week after coming home from Russia) and noticed that his parasite numbers (which should be below 3) were 19. He immediately ordered a round of Flagyl and suggested we see him in one month to discuss Little
Kiss My Face, Baby 2007-04-20 16:02:00 After searching for months I have finally found a soap that Little Pickel does not react to. Because of his NUMEROUS allergies and intolerance including gluten, casein, soy, corn, latex, banana, oat, avocado, sunflower, etc.Kiss My Face, an all natural body care company that started in the 1980's does not use the unnecessary chemical additives that Little Pickel so often reacts to. They only use vitamins, minerals, and botanicals.The one product we use religiously is the Pure Olive Oil Bar. (NOTE: the website has the ingredients listed incorrectly, as stated by a representative from the company in a personal email...refer to the new packaging for new CORN FREE ingredients.)They also have lines for kids, sun care, hair, house and home, shower gels, and even a color line (just to name a few).Tags: Kiss My Face, allergies, chemical allergies, intolerance, vitamins, minerals, botanicals, gluten, casein, soy, corn, ingredients, Pure Olive Oil, kids, sun care, hair, house and home, shower g
Autism Speaks 2007-04-18 08:56:00 We have had Little Pickel evaluated for Autism
several times because of his Institutional Autism. I even contacted the infamous Dr. Federici and consulted him on Little Pickel's symptoms and behaviors because no one in our area (in Michigan or Chicago) could tell us what was going on with our little one.He did not have clinical Autism, PDD, PDD-NOS, FAS, ARND, or anything medical that we also checked out.Nonetheless, because of this Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Little Pickel continues to struggle in all areas and show signs of Autism. Thus, organizations like Autism Speaks are near and dear to my heart.I came across this website via a friend this morning. Five for Fighting is sponsoring a contest to raise money for charities...one of them being Autism Speaks.Watch the videoKudos John OndrasikTags: Sensory Integration, Autism, Five for Fighting, Autism Speaks, Chidren's Disabilities, PDD, PDD-NOS, Dr. Federici, Institutional Autism
What is Fetal Alcohol Spectrum? (and does Little Pickelhave it???) 2007-04-16 23:31:00 Definition:Fetal AlcoholSpectrum
Disorder (FASD) refers to the range of neurological impairments that can affect a child who has been exposed to alcohol in the womb. A number of factors, including how much the mother drank and at what point during the pregnancy, can influence the severity of the impairments and what functions they most affect. Children with FASD can display symptoms of ADHD, autism, Asperger syndrome, Tourette's syndrome, epilepsy, mental retardation and various psychiatric disorders, but will often not respond to traditional treatments for those disabilities. FASD was formerly referred to as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Fetal Alcohol Effects, but the new designation better indicates the range of abilities and disabilities experienced by individuals exposed to alcohol in utero.From Terri MauroTo answer the BURNING question that plaques everyone...WE DON'T KNOW!We have had SEVERAL evaluations (4) and each doctor says something different."Yes, based on his history and h
I just want a HAPPY child 2007-04-10 10:32:00 The last few days have not been the best of days around here. Last night was a horrid sleep night, despite the sleep medication that Little Pickel takes on a daily basis. It is suppose to help him get to sleep, stay asleep and help his tantrums and anxiety during the day.NOT WORKING.We were up from 1-3:30 with whining, crying, screaming, constant..."mommy?" He sleeps on a mattress in our bedroom so he can be close to us and even that just does not seem to be working.He woke in the same mood. Wouldn't get in the shower with me, screamed because I would not allow a Match Box Car in the bath and then proceeded to step on the bus he left in there yesterday (the reason they are not allowed in there in the first anxiety, bus, clonidine, Match Box Car, school, shower, sleep, tantrumsplace), screamed and hit me while in the shower, yelled for Papa to come "save him" from the shower, would not eat breakfast until I relented and got him something else, etc.Ahhh, but when the bus came for school Read more:child
Backyard Bird's Nest 2007-04-08 09:45:00 What a great idea! Check this out by a fellow etsy crafter. http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=5707801Made from recycled snow fence, she made an educational experience out of nest building. With all the birds and trees in our area this would be a great thing for Little PickelTags: etsy
Where do babies come from? 2007-04-08 08:52:00 When our social worker was here last week she asked us if Little Pickel knew about his baby brother and understood the concept. We explained that he knew all about Russia, his desky dom (orphanage), and that he was getting a new baby brother. She then turned to Little Pickel and asked him where his baby brother was coming from.He responded...The Easter Bunny. Tags: russia, babies, where do babies come from
Daddy Needs Drink 2007-04-07 09:45:00 Met this Dad online today and he peeked my fancy. A working guy (HS teacher), a witty writer, and a dad? Sounds too good to be true. And, get this??? He blogs on Mayasmom.com!Seems like he "could" be the real thing. :)http://www.daddyneedsadrink.com/Tags: maya's mom, daddy needs drink Read more:Daddy
, Needs
, Drink
Etsy ordering online 2007-04-05 14:16:00 You can now order directly online
from my new storefront. Check out www.pickelspearls.etsy.com to order the latest styles.Tags: etsy, online, pearls, pickels pearls, store, styles
Wordless Wednesday 2007-06-20 22:26:00 This is supposed to be wordless, aka Wordless Wednesday
, but this is my first one so I must explain. I would like you to comment on the picture...name it for me.Then, visit 5 Minutes for Mom.Tags: Wordless Wednesday
5 Things, a Meme 2007-06-20 07:11:00 5 Things Meme Thank you to Mommy's Getaway for tagging me with this meme! Apparently she wants to know more about me! Woohoo! I get to talk more about myself...LOL! The instructions: Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog at the bottom of the list: Spin Me I PulsateDaisyBonessleepless in cologne Spaghetti HarvestThe Mommy's Getaway BlogAdopt Two Boys Here are the questions: What were you doing 10 years ago? In 1997 I was getting ready to start Student Teaching in Dayton, Ohio at the University of Dayton. This particular summer though, I was in Maine at an all girls summer camp trying to teach 12 and 13 year old Jewish girls that they did not have to be the spoiled princesses that they WANTED to be. Whew. Tough Summer. What were you doing 1 year ago? Packing. We were in the process of moving. I was very excited and nervous because I was worrie
Productivity 2007-06-19 20:27:00 I've been very productive today.I reorganized my blogger template. (I almost finished it and I actually found one that has a drag and drop element!) I took Little Pickel to the Slash Park.We introduced the baby bunnies to the neighborhood.I made watermelon cutouts. Someone else ate them.I fixed the kitchen sink. Yes, it broke again but this time all I had to do was tighten the whatchamacallit (can you believe that word is actually in my dictionary?)I painted half the basement because the carpet is coming on Friday.I did 2 loads of laundry. None folded yet.I changed the toilet paper roll because the Kleenex that I was using instead was also getting low and I thought that might get suspicious.I actually ate lunch. Does Easy Mac count?And right now I am sitting down with a glass of wine watching SuperNanny on Tivo and writing this post. Wheew. I'm tiredTags: productivity Read more:Productivity
Carnival of Funny Days 2007-06-18 21:50:00 Diva Days presents Carnival
of Funny
Days...Check out ""Tracee Sioux presents Fake Eyelashes posted at Blog Fabulous, saying, "Funny story about trying to teach my daughter not to believe advertising. Then having her catch me buying the product hoping it would work. It does.""Oh yeah...the alligators and crocs made it there too. Tags: carnival, blog, funny days, diva
Top Blog Mag 2007-06-18 10:51:00 I am lucky to be part of a community of excellent writers at Top Blog Mag. This week's issue of TopBlogMag, is on the theme "Can't get you out of my mind" and has inspired some deep, thoughtful and heartfelt posts. Heather, blog editor, writes: Heather from Surviving Motherhood re-thinks her family's destiny.Emma from Mommy Has A Headache thinks back over how it ended and our the writer of this weeks feature post and winner of the Blog Of The Week Award, Jill from Hawkhill Acres moves us in her heartfelt post Wildflowers and Memories Return Every Spring.This week also bring us another great artist from the fabulous John from Altjiranga Mitjina in our weekly music column Voices to HearIf you find yourself wondering what you would have written for this weeks theme and want to share it with us, simply write your post on the theme "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", link it to TopBlogMag and email me the url and I shall post the link in here (found at the bottom of the page) in a list on
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