I'm going to be a Lactation Consultant.

I got an email today from the International Board of Lactation Consultant Examiners! My application to start training has been accepted and all I have to do now is tell my mentor, and get the hospital to let me train on the floor. I'm sooo happy!!!


I'm still going for my nursing degree, but this on top of it. :)

Weekend Update

Any reason for cute pictures of Lilian is a good one in my book.


Kyle and I have both been very busy doing school work. He's been working on his books for his apprenticeship and is happy to say there is only one book left before he is done with them for five months! I have less than one month to go till this semester ends! I've been signing up for classes too and will be taking EN111 and Psychology the first summer session (which lasts up untill the end of June) and will be taking Chemistry 107 and EN211D on Saturday mornings unless I can get into a web course, but at the moment they are all full. I am hoping someone drops the course and I can get in!


Lilian also played with her friend Jack this week and we got some adorable pictures of the two. Lilian was pushing Jack around on the riding toy and they were being especially kind to one another.

Aren't they an adorable pair? As long as Lilian isn't biting Jack....lol.


Saturday morning Kyle, Lilian and I went to D and J's in Skandia to look at wood stoves. We've been tired of paying Nine-Hundred dollars every few months to heat our house. We are looking to get a nice wood stove to supplement heat so that we can at least prevent one fill of our propane tank a year. It's also good in case Amerigas accidentally forgets to fill our tank again. grr..... Any way....at D and J we found that all their prices were just too high for us, so we are back to square one. We then had to go into town to buy Lilian a new car seat because she's two and a half pounds away from being ready for the next seat up.

On the way out of Skandia we saw that the old bar on the highway had changed names and is selling questionable food items. We had to stop and take a picture of the sign. See if you see what we see.....*hint first line plus the first word of the second line....TERRIBLE! ;)


My brother Jake and his lovely girlfriend Mandy came over Sunday morning for breakfast and brought some really great Michigan bacon. We made pancakes and eggs too. I have had a cold so I wasn't the most pleasant person to be around with all my sniffles, but they didn't seem to mind too much.

We all went to my parents Sunday night so that I could take a sauna and hopefully cleanse out that cold....it worked a little but not enough as I am still sick!! Hopefully I get better soon.


Alright one more picture of Lilian and then we are going to go play. Lilian is trying to take her shirt off in this picture. She was getting tired and ready for nap time when Jake and Mandy were over and got stuck in her shirt.

Also I should say Lilian has learned another word (she is so smart I swear she already knows so many!) She can now say "Apple." Clear as a bell!!


Alright I love you all!! Have a great day!


Sally

Earth Hour is Tomorrow!

Hope you participate!

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/greenpicks/236/flick-your-switch-off-for-earth-hour.html


and....

HELP!!

I have a chem. lecture Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 11 am till 11:50am. I really hate having to get Lilian a sitter but I couldn't swing going without one for next semester.

Lilian will be about 21 months at that point so she shouldn't be tough to watch for an hour.

Is there anyone able to help me out those days and times? Even if your just hanging around campus? I'm hoping someone can do it for free (lol) but if not I will try to pay something. Also we could trade something? If you have a child I could do the same for you?


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Kyle and Sally Have Three Tips for Your Well Being

Here are three tips for better living from Kyle and Sally. Feel free to comment and leave some of YOUR tips!


1. Play Cribbage at least once daily. Playing cribbage is not only good for your mind (research shows that playing cards regularly decreases your risk of developing Alzheimer's!!), but it's good for your relationships because you are forced to stop running around getting things done and just pay attention to each other. It also saves you money on going out on a date if you just want to be with your loved one. :) Another beautiful thing about Cribbage is that as long as you have a deck of cards you can play. You don't necessarily have to even have a board! To learn to play visit this link: http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/how-to-play-cribbage.htm

2. Never let leftovers sit in your fridge longer than 24 hours. Now this one is a tough one and we are definatley still working on getting it right. The average American wastes over ONE POUND of food daily. That is a really terrible and ridiculous thing when there are so many hungry people in this world. It's also pretty terrible considering the current cost of groceries. I try to make foods for dinner that store well in the fridge that way we will actually look forward to eating them for lunch and dinner the next day. Like I said, we are still trying to get this one right, and sometimes still go 36 hours without finishing that dinner for before.

3. Cloth Diaper your child. We started cloth diapering when Lilian was nine months mostly out of frustration because Lilian suffered from AWFUL diaper rash and we were also paying waaaay too much in diapers that just got tossed out. We slowly added cloth diapers to our stash including prefolds (the good old fashioned kind) and fancy new fangled ones like Bum Genious'. The more diapers you have does give you longer to go without washing which saves time, energy and money. For more information on where to start if cloth diapreing interests you visit http://www.diaperpin.com/howto.asp!


And now for a dose of Lilian Cuteness!!

Bye!

Mining Journal

Hey all! I just wanted to post a link to the newspaper I'm in for cross nursing baby Charles. Please check it out!

http://miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/524498.html?nav=5006


I'll be making a family update post soon. I just got the laptop back from Dell.



Sally

It has been quite an epic weekend.

Okay maybe not epic, but there were a ton of great photo opportunities that I just had to share with you!


This was at my mom's house where my mother put a hair tie in Lilian's hair for one of the first times. It took her quite some time to get it in there, she had to chase Lilian around the kitchen to actually get it in her hair! Sadly it only lasted for about two hours.


This is Sarah nursing baby Charles Moses in her Moby Wrap. It's sort of a long story, but after his mother passed away from birth complications, members of our little breastfeeding community have been taking turns nursing him so he can get the breast milk he deserves!



This is me nursing Charles and Lilian giving him kisses. I think she just wanted to smack him in the head, but it certainly appears like she is trying to kiss him here!


This is Robbie, Charles' dad. Aw so adorable.


Here is Jack, Sarah's son and Julia, Robbie's daughter.


Hope you enjoyed the pictures!! Stay Warm!

Sally



PS:

Silver Lake

Yesterday was a road trip! Lilian, Marilyn, Mary (mom) and I went out to Silver Lake Resort, which my Dad's sister owns. It is in a beautiful area a few miles past Republic, Michigan. They are kind of like your one stop shop of the area, they sell gasoline, pantry items and have a restaurant. It is also a camping ground in the summer! If you ever get the chance to go that way, you need to make sure you stop by at least to grab a bite to eat! While we were there, we did a little shopping in Patti's store. I purchased a super cute brown Silver Lake t-shirt and some home made dog treats for Nina, and my mother and aunt bought a post card to send to their mom. I guess the reason they felt compelled to buy a post card was because the last time they went to Silver Lake years ago was before my Aunt Patti owned it and they sent a card to my grandmother and she still hangs it on her fridge! Lilian cared little about our purchases and instead I think wanted us to buy all the candy in the store! The candy rack was at her level and she was going wild trying to take candy off of it. She did get us to buy a Three Musketeers Bar, but that was only because she started chewing it in the wrapper and we could not put that back on the shelf! No need to worry, my mom and I ate it for her!

After we looked around the store we went to the restaurant portion of Silver Lake Resort and had lunch. We all ordered something different and it was delicious. My mother really loved her spaghetti and I really loved my meat loaf. There is nothing like eating meat loaf from a good old country like restaurant! After lunch we ordered dessert! The pie looked delicious but so did the cheese cake so I settled on a piece of amaretto cheese cake. It was heavenly, but so rich I couldn't finish it!

Once we were all completely stuffed, we left and headed back to Marquette. Lilian was rather crabby on the way home, hitting her face and saying "owey." Turns out she has not one but THREE teeth coming in, two of which are upper molars! We made a pit stop at Target so we could buy her some baby Motrin and some Orajel. I think she started feeling much better after that.

We left Target and went to chit chat and visit at my brother Jake's house. Jake gave me two gifts, a soup/tea cup and matching plate he made at Hot Plate and some locally made salve called "Grandma Salve." (visit the website here: GrandmaSalve) Lilian and Jake had lots of fun playing together but Lilian was constantly keeping him on his toes. She seemed to get into everything she wasn't supposed to and Jake said she was worse than a dog! No, Duh!


All in all it was a pretty eventful day and now I think I need a mental health day from all the excitement. Too bad I have tons of things to get done around my house and in town! A mother never rests. Love you all! Stay Warm!


Sally

PS:

Chocolate Cake - Recipe Included

Yesterday was a very good day! Kyle took Lilian to town and they went all over the place! They went shopping and had coffee at Dead River. Meanwhile, Aunt Marilyn and my mother, Mary Jane came out and we had home-made burritos and made an amazingly good dark chocolate cake. Here is the recipe for the delicious cake. I got parts of it from The Taste of Home Baking Book, but changed it quite a bit to make it much more delicious.


Sally's Sinfully Dark Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons Hershey's Special Dark 100% Cacao
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons vegetable (or coconut) oil
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup cold water
1 cup chocolate chips
4 to 8 ounces sour cream




Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients (except the chocolate chips). Create three wells in the dry ingredients using a round metal spoon. Next pour oil, vanilla and vinegar in the wells separated from each other. Slowly pour water over all. Now grab a mixer and beat on the lowest speed until thoroughly combined into a thin batter. Now, grab a plastic baggie and in it put the chocolate chips as well as a small amount of flour. Now shake bag until the chips are fully dusted and then add them to the batter. This will help to prevent the chocolate chips from falling to the bottom of the pan while baking. Add the sour cream as desired and mix completley. Grease and flour two 9" circular baking pans and add batter. Put in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

While that is baking start on the frosting which we've described as tasting like chocolate air. Light and fluffy with a rich taste.

Indregidients

1 stick butter
2/3 cups Hershey Special Dark 100% coacoa
3 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Completley melt butter. Add sugar and milk together. Beat to spreadable consistency. Add vanilla. Frost cake and enjoy! I know we did!