Friday, December 26, 2008

The Holiday Rush Is Over......How Did You Survive?

Wow, what an incredible busy Holiday Season. I can't believe I kept so organized and only sort of got forgetful the last few days before Christmas. Thank goodness for my Holiday Budget Spreadsheet! I just need to refine it for next year so I can add other people to my budget, not just the girls, hubby, my parents and grandma.

I love all our decorations but I am so happy to have them down too! After a month of them, they seem to make the place crowded. Maybe it has something to do with the fact we like to go "over the top", especially outside. Hopefully next year, nobody will be sick and we can finally get everything out for our front yard. We love how everyone comes by to see it, especially when adults bring their kids.

See you next time,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Holiday Decorating

We are slowly but surely getting our outside decorations up. We have quite a bit and someday wish to be like the people you see on HGTV on the "over the top holiday house"!!!!! We have 4 blowups put into place - Frosty, Santa, Pooh and Rudolph, our wooden Santa in Sleigh with lighted (not wooden) reindeer, large decorated Christmas tree, lighted Nativity set with angels cross and star on top our roof. Another lighted Santa that seriously needs repainting minus his fireplace which should go out tonight (it's quite heavy!).

Our oldest daughter keeps reminding us we don't have our candy canes or lollipops out along with our waving Santa and various other cut outs, light and decorations. DUH!!! When we actually get everything out, it takes hubby and I a total of about 2 1/2 days to put it all up.

This year I even painted our front window! I love doing that and went very simple since we have a large 3 panel picture window and we hang light in it. I only painted Holly Berry in all 4 corners and a snowman in the center pane with snowballs under the lighted Merry Christmas sign. The girls insisted on painting snowflakes on the 2 outside panes and helped me paint the snowman in the center.

We have a large pine tree in our front yard that can be seen even from other streets. My husband, Larry, wants to some day put lights and decorations on it. We would have to rent one of those buckets that the electric company uses to reach the top of our tree! And yes, he has considered it! The problem is storage. You know when all these decorations are not up, they have to be stored somewhere.

Every year we "problem solve" ways to get more but make them easier to store. Our neighbors usually watch us and eventually come over to comment how much they enjoy our decorations.

I think what we all enjoy the best is when people slow down when driving by our house to look at our decorations or when they purposely bring their kids by to see them......that is very fun for us to know people enjoy our decorations. It does take some getting use to, having people stare at you house but we still love it!

So even though we are all sick........ON WITH THE DECORATING!!!
Pictures to follow!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Unbelievable Halloween Treat!!!

The audacity of some people! I was going though my daughters Trick or Treat bags and I could not believe what I found......A Vote No On Prop 8! The sticker went on to read....It's Unfair and Wrong!

I was furious! How dare somebody have the audacity to put a political sticker in the trick or treat bags of little kids! It just floors me that 2 grown men think it's ok to shove their opinions on little kids or at least using the Trick or Treating of little kids to get the word out to their parents. Last time I checked, Trick or Treating was about kids dressing up and getting candy......not collecting stickers with political views. The dumbest thing about it, kids can't even vote and I bet it didn't help the issue because most parents probably didn't appreciate this act anymore then I and my husband did.

I hated that when our youngest daughter pulled out the sticker (she beat me to it), she got all excited and happily squealed, "I got a sticker!" and then she got unhappy when I had to take it away. She can't read (she is only 3) but I didn't want our 7 year old to see the sticker, she can read. (I didn't feel like getting into a discussion about prop 8.)

For those of you who don't know, Proposition 8 in California is about Same Sex Marriage. It was on a ballot in the past and was voted against, then 4 judges ignored the voters and legalized Same Sex Marriage. Many CA voters I think got extremely angry that our votes were ignored. Well anyway, no matter how you feel about Prop 8, I think most people would agree that putting any kind of political sticker (especially such a controversial issue) in a little kids Trick or Treat Bag is nothing short of tacky!!!!!!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World101

Halloween Cuties!!!

Sarah was the most adorable little Black Kittie and Katelynn was the coolest Yellow Power Ranger from the Jungle Fury, it's the Power of the Cheetah.

We went to "F" Street for Trick-or-Treating and as always, it was extremely crowded but tons of fun! F Street in Oxnard is just as decorated for Halloween as it is for Christmas and they hand out candy too!

Later I will post pictures.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Happy 7th Birthday Katelynn!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sweet and beautiful little 7 year old Princess! It seems like just yesterday we brought you home and as you calmly slept in your carrier, your dad and I panicked and what to do with this sweet little newborn. Seven years later, it seems we are doing "pretty good" with your raising. You have grown into a wonderful, smart, caring and beautiful young girl who had many friends that love you. You have a wonderful love for God and definitely follow in Jesus's footsteps with your caring ways.

I am proud to be your mom! Thanks for being my daughter, you and your sister make life worth living!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World101

Children Naturally Love and Care

Wow, the natural ability for children to love and care is incredible and it's those little moments that make us smile!

Last night something happened and I got very sick to my stomach. I told my husband and the girls (my daughter's are 3 and 7) and went to lay down in our bedroom. It took a while but I did start to feel better and then I got a terrible headache.

The neatest things happened. though, last night, my daughters came in the room a few times to check on mommy and see how I was doing. This was very cool since they even interrupted their playing to do so!

This morning when my 3 year old called me (as she does every morning) to get her up and hold her. But this morning, when I went into her room to get her, the first thing out of my little darlings mouth was, "Your tummy ok mommy? You feeling better?" and she gently touched my tummy! WOW! How amazing that she would remember to ask mommy how she felt after a long night's sleep.

Makes you, as an adult, stop and wonder........We get so busy and wrapped up in what we are doing yet we probably still have these child like inherent abilities to be caring and loving, without stipulations. Where do they go?

When I grow up, I want to be just like my daughters!!!!!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World101

Monday, October 20, 2008

Sarah and the Potty

Sarah could so be potty trained if she wanted. She is doing great and has improved a lot, however it is still going a little slow. She does great when in regular panties or naky butt.

I have found her new motivation for regularly going in the potty, Pre-School! Yep, she is ready to go to school like big sissy but I have informed her that she has to always go in the potty and not at all in her pull-ups and she would have to give up the "binky" all the time.

She has no problem going with the binky for hours, if she is pre-occupied with other things. It is just a matter of keeping it out of her sight.

Her potty training is almost finished except for the all mighty #2 which is always a bigger challenge and the fact that she gets busy or forgets to go and has accidents. Other then that she is doing great.

Next stop, Pre-School!

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Alice In Wonderland

Tonight our whole family (me, hubby and 2 daughters) went to a play of Alice In Wonderland put on by a youth group. Our girls loved it and it was neat because it was their very first play. Our oldest, Katelynn is almost 7 and our youngest, Sarah is just 3. They were both captivated and I must say, for a local production and a youth production, it was quite great. "Alice" was fabulous as so was the King and Queen who really enjoyed saying "Off With Her Head"!

Some other very cool things were that our family were guests of some friends we knew that were running the box office so we got "Reserved" seats in the front row, awesome! The other very cool thing was they had the cast line up outside so we could get autographs in the back of our books. Sarah (and maybe even Katelynn) won't remember this special event the truly enjoyed but they will always have the book and autographs as physical evidence they were there.

Larry (my hubby) and I also truly enjoyed the play. It was awesome!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World101

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Part-Time Single Parent, Full-Time Mom

Well the title says it all. I am a mom 24-7, 365 but I am also what mom's like me call a part-time single parent. And I don't know for sure but it sometimes seems like that is harder then a full-time single parent. Well at least one that shares custody like my friend. She has 50% custody of her 2 children and the custody arrangements are 1 week with her and 1 week with their dad. So at least she gets a weeks brake.

I am always with my girls and love it but it is challenging when my husband travels and then I am a single mom. I can't really complain though because we have it easy. My husband is no longer in the Navy (no chance of him going to Iraq or any other place I would freak out about) and he is usually not gone longer then 1 week at a time.

This trip seems to be a little more challenging, only because he has a few trips in a row and it all adds up. Especially for the girls. Katelynn cried when she found out daddy was only home for a couple of days and Sarah, well let's say when he leaves again things are going to be very unhappy around our household, at least for a while. As Katelynn put it, "I am only use to daddy being gone a few days or so, a few weeks seems like 90 years to me!"

Poor girls! Well we will see what some fun at the park and Mr. Chuck E. Cheese can do to help fix the boo-boos!

Talk to you all soon,
Rebecca in Beckys World101

Saturday, September 13, 2008

What Part of STOP Doesn't He Get!

That is my question to the young man that rear-ended me the other day!!!! I was stopped at a stopped sign (DUH!) waiting for cross-traffic to clear and BAM! my Blazer was jarred forward, I was startled and so was my little 3 year old. I look in my left rear mirror to see a male in a white SUV getting out as a exclaimed, "YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!"

I was shocked that I actually was rear-ended while SITTING still at a STOP SIGN! I mean it's not like they just put it there. We have been living in this neighborhood for a little over 3 years and I guarantee you it has been there longer than that.

I am actually irritated and a little angry at the guy because when we exchanged information, he lied and gave me a disconnected phone number so I could contact him for his insurance info he didn't have at the time..................hmmmmmm, that is a surprise!

So as I take a couple of days off to baby my neck and upper back (yes it was slightly injured) and contemplate how bothered I am by the fact that I have no recourse but to turn this in to our insurance and have to pay a $250 deductible, I am take a lot of time to be thankful that our little one doesn't seem to have any problems for the accident. That in itself makes everything ok!

The only other thing I really worry about, since this kid will not have any repercussion from his wrong doings, will he learn any lesson, or will he feel he "got away with it" and drive any worse then before!

If you feel I am judging this young man harshly, think of this. I was impressed by the man getting out of his vehicle, telling he was sorry and handing me his registration. I was wrong to be impressed because he gave me a bogus number (I was suspicious when he paused and had to think about his number) and he has not contacted me to see if we were ok or to give me his information.............He could of really injured me and my daughter and clearly, he was in the wrong!

Just goes to show you, many people still don't take responsibility for their actions! Something Larry and I try hard to teach our daughters to do. Our 6 1/2 year old is more responsible then this young man. That in it's self is extremely sad!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

First Day of Second Grade!!!!

Today was the first day of school for our oldest who is now in 2nd Grade!!!! She was very anxious about being a second grader last night and could not get to sleep. It took a lot of work and some fancy parenting skills to get her to sleep but we finally did it....way to late I might ad but, oh well!

Ends up she had nothing to worry about (as often happens with anxiety....I should know! LOL) She woke up this morning happy as can be declaring (loudly), "Today is the FIRST day of SCHOOL.......YEAH! Go figure!?!?!

Huge attitude change, thanks to God and quite a bit of prayer, from last night. Larry tried a little TV, (Katie's favorite way to go to sleep since summer vacation...ugh!) he read a book, talking to her, praying with her, etc. Then it was mommy's turn and we tried a little TV in front room with little sissy. After Sarah finally fell asleep, I sang to Katelynn, talked with her and then finally had to pray for her. WOW! Guess what, the prayers worked best.........DUH!!!

I also told Katelynn about something I often do after her and her sister are asleep and that help comfort her. I go to their room after they are sleep and lay my one hand on them (never wakes them up and for Sarah, that says something. She is like me, wakes at a drop of a pin) and raise my other hand to pray over them. I ask our Lord Jesus to shine His light in their room and envelope them in His loving arms and give the comfort and a peaceful sleep. Usually works and I told her that. Katelynn has been plagued with nightmares in the past and we have prayed for them to be released from her. It worked. All I had to do is remind her of prayer and ask her if she trusts God. She does....yeah!

Anyhow, back to 2nd Grade - I also reminded Katelynn that one of her BFs was in her class and another girl who really likes Katelynn was in there to. Not to mention she had me bake cookies for the whole class. In case you don't know, we bake from scratch around here in most cases. Try that with a 6 1/2 and a 3 year old helping you!!!!!!! Talk about needing prayer......LOL! I even let them crack eggs!

Well the end of this long story is a happy one. Katelynn loves her new teacher (she is new to the school too so Katie didn't know who she was.....OH NO!) and she loves her new classroom and her new friends. She was very excited to see her old friends too.

I can't wait to meet her new teacher....Larry did the dropping off and picking up today. Hope she is as great as I hear!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Monday, August 25, 2008

Last Day Before School Starts

With the last day of Summer upon us and tomorrow being the first day of school for our oldest, I thought we would do a couple special things. I have taken over a local mom's group and changed it to be a playgroup. It was a group focused strictly on military mom's. I changed that too and opened it up to all Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Point Mugu mom's for the playgroup.

Since I did that, I scheduled a meetup today at the local McDonald's in Oxnard. The one on Saviers has an indoor play area that my girls seem to enjoy. We enjoyed a little lunch and the girls played for a little over an hour. Even though none of the playgroup members could make it, 2 of my friends and their kids made it and it was wonderful having "mommy time" while monitoring the kids in the play area. The neat thing is the play area is separated from the restaurant by glass windows and door with seating inside. What is even better, is there's a Starbuck's Coffee right next door.....YUM!

We were also going to go to the pool but plans changed, as they always do but the day was still fun. Tomorrow is another day!

If you are a local mom in the Ventura County area, feel free to check out our playgroup or even join. Visit www.meetup.com and the name of the group is the Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Point Mugu Playgroup.


Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Monday, August 18, 2008

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY LITTLE SARAH!



Today is our little ones 3rd birthday! I can't believe our baby is growing so fast. I was looking for her birthday party pictures for this blog entry and while searching (hubby didn't put them in correct place) I found pics of when Sarah was born and Katelynn was just 2 month short of being 4..........WOW Time Flies! Since then, of course Sarah doesn't look the same at all but Katelynn has lost all her "baby" face and now looks like a young girl......a beautiful, tall, thin and long legged young girl..........going to have to beat that girl with an ugly stick and her little sister too! LOL !!!

We will be taking Sarah to Toys R Us tonight to get her a present. She is in the birthday club there and gets a coupon. (Don't worry, Sarah of course is in my Mojo Kid's Birthday Club with Noah's Ark too!)

Anyway, because my parents were going to be out of town this past weekend, we had Sarah's birthday party on the 9th. It was her first "big girl" party with friends over and she had a BLAST! It was a Dora Pirate Birthday Party but of course I couldn't find anything that particular theme so I had to combine some items to get what I wanted and Sarah loved it all!!!

I went on NickJr.com and they had Dora Pirate themed invites, hats, maps and tags for your goodie bags. Then we went to the party store and got Dora paper goods and Dora and Pirate goodies for our gift bags. Larry went to our local store and got a Very Cool Pirate Cake and we added Dora and Boots to the pirates on board. (I usually bake our cakes but I was too sick to even think about it.)



Katelynn colored all our printed poster decorations and helped Larry cleaned the house while I lay in bed and did the goodie bags, etc. (I really, really hate being sick!!!)

I was able to go to the actual party though. I originally didn't plan too but couldn't miss Sarah's 3rd birthday and Larry pretty much ran the party for me. Usually I do most of the work with his help but this time, I just couldn't do it. Guess what, party went perfect and Larry had as much fun as I do running the parties.....he just won't admit it!



Sarah was hilarious as she opened her presents which she came out and announced to Daddy it was "present time!" She didn't really open them, she was like a tornado!!! I couldn't keep up or slow her down and everyone was laughing. She get one bag, through the tissue paper out, using both hands moving her little arms in a windmill motion and then pick up the present and make such adorable faces!! Her eyes would get wider with each gift and she would squeal! Even on the pajamas, everyone really loved watching her. Sarah's enjoyment of her Dora Pirate Party was seriously contagious!!

We downloaded and sent out her invites 6 weeks in advance and for the next 6 weeks Sarah would ask every day, "today my Dora Pirate party?" and me or Larry would say, "No, hunny in a few weeks." Sarah would crinkle her nose and say, "Darn!"

Enjoy Life, it goes quicker than you think,

Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Tired of Being Sick!!!!

Well what do you know, the Evil Germ Gremlins seem to be raising holly heck in our household and I am really tired of the little monsters!!!

Within days of Katelynn's last doctor visit, I got a sinus infection and was very, very sick. It seems that one of my favorite cereals changed it's ingredients and added wheat starch as the very last ingredient........not good for me! When a food product is changed in such an insignificant way as which starch they are using it's not big news and so the companies never put it on the package design. Because of this, my husband and I periodically go through the ingredients on items we always use to re-check for changes. Unfortunately, the last time I had checked this cereal, it was about 2 months ago, just before our grocery store stopped carrying it. We have another grocery store close to us and sometimes we get a few items from it. Luckily for me (so I thought) my hubby found my favorite cereal at this second grocery store and bought it for me. I was excited of course!!!

Well after eating approximately 5 bowls of cereal over 6 days........I was horribly sick and even though we were sure it was an allergic reaction, we didn't know why since all my food, we thought, was safe.

After not eating the cereal for a couple of days and getting medication for my sinus infection, I started to get better. Unfortunately, Sarah got a cold, shared it with Katelynn and one of my darling little girls shared it with me!!!!

Today is Tuesday and it has been 2 miserable, Evil Germ Gremlin, long painful weeks and I am TIRED OF BEING SICK!!! Not to mention I had specifically taken these 2 weeks off from my business to spend tons of special time with my girls which of course didn't happen since I have pretty much been in bed or on the couch.

The worse part of it all is we were suppose to leave Sunday for a family trip to visit my husbands family and it looks like I won't be well enough to fly! Not only is the whole family sad but we are going to loose approx. $450 in fees for cancelling the flights. I am so bummed. Hopefully the medicine from the doctor will work this time and we can still go. (Last time the antibiotic made me really sick to my stomach and I couldn't take it, hence I still have a sinus infection with a swollen throat!) I have been living on ibuprofin and tylenol for 2 weeks plus my antibiotic and Benadryl. Oh well, I WILL get better sooner or later.........right?

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Monday, August 4, 2008

New Doctor's Visit for Katelynn

Two weeks ago, we went to see the doctor for Katelynn's follow up visit after 5 weeks of absolutely no corn, corn starch, corn syrup, food starch or modified food starch and keeping a Food Diary of everything she ate, in detail. Guess what? Katelynn never once got a stomach ache nor did she ever vomit!!!! We were SICK and SYMPTOM FREE!!!!!

It took a lot of work for me and Larry (mostly me....LOL) to make sure Katie's diet was corn free but very, very worth it. She hasn't had any hives either! Only one time during the whole 5 weeks did she have a small break out and that is when she has small amounts of corn syrup 2 days in a row.......BINGO! Now I think that might be why we couldn't pin point the hives before since corn syrup is in about everything you purchase from a store.

Anyway, verdict was keep her pretty much corn free..........ugh, but don't freak out if she goes to a birthday party and has a little cake or candy (cake has baking soda and/or corn starch, etc. and candy will have corn syrup in it) so this don't interrupt her life too much but for day to day diet, keep corn and all by-products OUT! Sort of how I live without wheat, potatoes and such. That is another blog since I have been very sick for the past week! Now it's my turn to see the doctor..........WooHoo!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys Worlds 101

Thursday, July 10, 2008

My Daughter the Human Piggy Bank!

Well I tell you, my girls never let life get boring for me. I actually hate to be board, so I guess that is a good thing.......maybe.



The other day the girls are in the front room watching TV, dad was working in his office (my husband works out our home too) and I was in the bathroom finishing getting ready. I heard Sarah, the youngest, start to choke. The problem is you need to listen for a second or 2 because she is into the "fake" choking or coughing lately. We run to her and check her always but still I was listening that extra second to see if it was her "pretending" again to need water which is what she says she needs when she "fakes" her cough.



Anyway, within the mili seconds, or whatever it was, I could tell it wasn't fake. Larry and I arrived to her at the same time to see she was done choking, but still sort of coughing. When I asked her if she choked, she shook her head yes. When I asked on what, she said, "a penny". UGH! Talk abut a horrible feeling. I just left the room!

Anyway, I have been checking and have not seen any evidence of said penny.........and you parents know what I mean by checking, yuck! So either she was messing around with us or I missed it, which is totally possible.

Like I said, life is NEVER boring with these 2 little ones. And to think I originally wanted 4!!! LOL

Take Care,
Rebecca in BeckysWorld 101

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

UPDATE on Katelynn

WOW, I keep meaning to come here and update but keeping up with life is hard enough. Like I said in a previous post - Promises, Promises!

Katelynn has been doing very well since we put her on the strict corn free diet. Unfortunately, this is not an easy task. Especially when eating out. We had Vacation Bible School last week and on top of being a teacher at VBS, I had to make Katelynn's snacks for the days she could not eat what was served. Luckily we belong to a wonderful and supportive church and everyone worked hard to make sure Katie didn't eat anything she should not.

The biggest challenge right now is most, if not all, candy has corn syrup in it just like soda does. Now I have no problem with my kids not drinking soda or eating candy but I am a realist, kids love soda and candy. Frankly, so do my hubby and I! Also, all the cookies we have looked at in the store and bakers all have cornstarch in them or baking soda, which has cornstarch in it. LOL....see, harder then it sounds!

So I am baking cookies when needed, making ketchup from scratch (yes, you can make ketchup from scratch. I even kept the recipe......it's easy and the girls LOVE it!) finding cheese sauce that doesn't have corn in it, etc., etc. I bought pre mixed chocolate milk that other day and couldn't even give Katie a sip because it had Corn Syrup in it......UGH!

I am not complaining, just venting! I am so behind on stuff but we have learned a lot about food lately and actually went shopping to re-stock our pantry with Katie OK stuff.......LOL. That's what I call it. I take a Sharpie marker and mark things that are OK for her to eat if it's new so her dad (who isn't quit as vigilant as me) and Katelynn can learn what she can and can't eat in the pantry and fridge.

I have always been a good cook (so I am told) but my skills are definately getting better. I looked a can of chili the other day (Katie couldn't eat it, it had cornstarch) and duplicated it to make it from scratch, without a recipe! It was really good too! LOLOLOL.

Here is the kicker, Sarah, our youngest, it now sick with allergies. Her seems to be more seasonal and air born. Poor kid is miserable and now I have to drag her to the swimming pool everyday for Katelynn's swim lessons. The good news for Sarah, she is doing pretty good in the potty training area. She can totally do it, she does has to be in the mood to do it........if ya know what I mean. She is definately stubborn like her big sissy! I hope that will benefit them when they get older and they won't let other people, especially boys, talk them into doing anything they don't want to do. Of course little Sarah will probably WANT to do silly things like bungee jumping, rock climbing and such..........oh that idea bothers me! LOL

Well this post is long enough so I better get. I hang out a lot at www.cafemom.com and it's a fun and addicting place to hang. Lots of groups and the latest ones are ones with online parties! Great place to shop with out leaving the comfort of your home. You can see the latest product of just about every company because we all have web sites or online catalogs. There are other groups by the thousands! Ones for crafts, kids color pages, crock pot recipes and meal plans (for free) christian parenting, wild moms, mom's with tattoos, cat lovers, toddler groups, young moms, etc. You name it, there is probably a group for it on CafeMom. If not, you can start one, hahaha. Anyway, look me up if you are a CafeMomma or if you join, my online name is StuffnFluffLady.

Take Care,
Rebecca in Becky's World 101

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Doctor Visit....WooHoo!

We finally got Katelynn in to see her doctor. Her stomach aches and vomiting had gotten worse since last post to where she was getting sick every 2 or 3 days. The last time Katie got sick, I noticed hives on her upper back. She hadn't had hives in months which was good but that is how she reacted in the past when she ate corn. This led me to believe that my assumption was correct that Katie's allergic response to the "whatever" had move to being what I call internal, like mine. This means that I never show an allergy by a skin reaction, I get sick to my stomach and can vomit. That is exactly what we were seeing Katelynn do. When I saw the hives finally develop again while she was sick, I knew it was only an allergic response and not something worse!

We got to the doctor and there were no answers......UGH! So we are now back to me keeping a Food Diary of EVERYTHING she eats for the next month. If it goes in her mouth, I write it down, along with any reactions.

The really ruff part is we now have Katelynn on a strict NO CORN diet. Sound easy huh? Well if you really want to know the challenge we are up against with this, go to you food pantry and read ingredients. Look for corn starch, corn, food starch, modified food starch and oh yeah, my favorite......corn syrup! You will find that there is a bit of corn in almost everything! It is a huge "filler" in the United States. Corn Syrup alone is the biggest challenge, it is even in ketchup and mayonnaise. We did find a mayo that didn't have an corn syrup or corn starch, that was very, very cool. Oh yeah, hot dogs have corn in them to.

So the next time you are curious about what you are REALLY eating, read your labels.....you might be surprised!

The best news of all..................Katelynn hasn't been sick for a whole week!!!!!!!! It's worth the effort by far!

Take Care and Happy Father's Day,
Rebecca in Becky's World 101

Saturday, June 7, 2008

Promises, Promises

When I started this blog I promised myself that I wouldn't let more then 2 days pass before I would blog. I even have a Blog Book to write my thoughts down. I often do this when I am holding our youngest at night for bedtime. My bright idea was to then take time and transfer all my thought into Word and then I could just copy and paste every few days.......Yeah, RIGHT!

As you can see by the date of this entry and my last, it's been a little longer then a few days. What's even worse, I have 2 blogs "in the works" saved here in my files, just haven't finished them yet. So much for "planning" ahead. LOL!

To make matters worse, lately things have been getting more and more hectic in our lives. Our oldest daughter, Katelynn has food allergies. The most challenging part is we don't exactly know what she is allergic to. All the test came back inconclusive and after a multitude of blood draws (5-6 within 1 year), a series of skin allergy tests and some various other tests, we (meaning the doctor, me and my hubby) decided it was time to give poor little Katelynn a break.

Recently, Katelynn has been getting stomach aches out of "nowhere" and then vomiting several times over the course of 2-3 hours to then later recover and seemingly be fine, until next time she does this. This past week, she did it twice within 4 days of each other. A painful thing to watch your child go through, to say the least. Especially difficult is knowing that you CAN'T make it better because you don't know what IT is and knowing full well that you little baby is going to have to go through another group of tests that most likely will include needles, which she is deathly afraid of.........UGH!!!!!!

Amidst all this "knowing" and seeing her go through this, all you can do as a parent is hold her tight, keep her hair out of her face, wipe her forhead and tell her it's going to be alright when you don't really have a darn clue IF it is going to be alright.......oh yeah, there is a whole lotta praying going on too!

You smile and tell her the bug will go away, that the doctor will help and we WILL find out what else is going on, while the whole time in the back of your mind is all the scary thought and terrible stories you have read, heard our been told about of little children being healthy one minute and sick the next and the parents of these children left to face terrible, unimaginable things like finding out their child has cancer!

That may sound over dramatic but it happened to some friends of ours and every time Katelynn goes through another bout of "problems" that little boy comes to the back of my mind. (The good thing is the little boy went into remission and is still alive and going strong today, 4 years later! YEAH!) Ok well enough yucky thoughts. It's time to go and work on some crafts for VBS (Vacation Bible School). That as well as the end of school is coming up and I am excited to have Katelynn home all day. Sarah LOVES when her big sissy is home. They miss each other terribly when Katie is at school and I love to see them two play together. I dearly hope these two will always be this close!

Take Care and See You Soon,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Having A Child After 40!

You know, I wonder if a women that is pregnant and in her twenties "does the math" to figure out how old she will be when her child graduates high school? Does a women in her early twenties every wonder if she will be around long enough to see her grandchildren or great-grandchildren, knowing that her children should be at least 20 (or older, hopefully) when they have their own children.



I did this when I was pregnant with our first child. It was sort of a sobering thought when I realized the age I will be when she graduates. Then we didn't have our second child until almost 4 years later. It has forced me to look at mine and my husband's health and how we live our lives. We haven't made very many changes but I am trying. Unfurtunatley we love our Starbucks coffee and it shows......on us! I also LOVE chocolate (almost as much as my family....LOL) and getting my hubby to eat healthy is like trying to pull teeth from an alligator!



But having children at an older age makes you look hard at what the long term consequences will be of how you eat, exercise (or lack of exercise) and generally take care of yourself today. We don't smoke, due drugs and I don't drink and Larry rarely drinks. So it's not that we live an unhealthy or destructive lifestyle, we just don't go out of our way to live a real healthy lifestyle.



We are starting to make changes though. We are walking much more often and have been spending quite a bit of time at the pool. I love that our oldest daughter is our little cheerleader and spurs me to get up and just do it which in turn makes me push Larry to get up and move also. You see, Larry and I's biggest fault is we are both work-a-holics. Before children we got ourselves into a habit of keeping each other on track of not over-doing the work stuff. However, as our family and financial need grew, our work-a-holic personalities came back into play.



The good thing is like I said, Katelynn and Sarah keep us in balance and they probably aren't even aware of how important their roles are to us. But it's funny, I can see my hubby and mine "always working" personality develop in our daughters. Which also makes you stop and think.....they won't want to sit on our laps forever, or dance in the front room with us to their favorite Cheetah, Hannah or Jonus Bros. song.



So what does this all mean? Our children grow up so fast and there will always be bills to pay. We as parents need to make sure we enjoy every possbile minute of their lives and keep good care of ourselves. Even people who become parents at a young age need to live their lives healthy. There is no gurantee that any of us will be here tomorrow either.



Take Care of yourself,

Rebecca in Beckys World 101



P.S. In case your are curious...I will be 55 when our oldest graduates and 59 when our youngest graduates. Larry will be 53 and 57 respectively.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Having A Child At 40 or so! Thoughts Of An Older Mom

I first became a mom at age 37. Which is older than many people become first time moms but the world, or society I should say, seem to handle a women having a child in her late 30's better than they use to.


Now having another child at age 41 is a different story. The doctor's seem to think you will automatically attract every horrible defect known to man and woman kind and pass to your growing baby! They make you very aware of the "statistics" repeatedly and seem to expect every complication there can be.


Because we could and because I didn't want an Amnio (what, I was 40, pregnant and DIDN'T want the to stick my belly with a needle to see if my baby was ok!?!?!? Even though the pregnancy had gone just fine and there were no signs of trouble?) I came out to the front desk of my OBGYN to hear the nurse making a nasty comment about me not wanting an Amnio. She was making the rude comment to the doctor, who seemed to think it was MY decision and didn't see me walk up. Of course we all know how pregnant, cranky women often say what is on their mind, at least I do! I did not have a lot to say because my daughter was there but I let her know under no uncertain terms that is was MY choice and I was not being stupid choosing not to have the test. Especially because we took all other precautions and test to make sure our baby was healthy.

In case you haven't figured it out, our youngest daughter, Sarah is going to be 3 in August and is perfectly healthy! So THERE to the nurse at my old OBGYN............LOL!

Just My Thoughts!
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Katelynn's Second Tooth

That's right, Katelynn, our oldest daughter, has finally lost that stubborn second tooth. It had been loose for quite a while and it was soooooo loose last week that she could push it all the way flat, UGH! But for some reason, it just wouldn't come completely out. Must be the fact that every fiber of my beautiful daughter's being is stubborn, and so was the tooth.






Her dad and I tried pulling it out, which by the way, grosses me out terribly. In fact, the whole "loosing you teeth" thing grosses me out. It always has. I don't know if you can tell in this pic, but I am gritting me teeth as I try to help out the removal process!




But for my dear daughter, it is a "Right of Passage" into the world of being older and slowly, tooth by tooth, Katelynn is eagerly entering the grown up world her dad and I belong too. For her, this idea is awesome, for me, it it bittersweet.


My dear brave husband trying to get a loop around Katelynn's tooth:



Sarah thinks she should get her tooth pulled out too!













Our youngest wanted to get in on the action and tried to convince her daddy to loop some dental floss around her tooth and pull it out too. She seems to be taking the "being like big sissy" thing a little too far. But then again......that's Sarah!

Well that's all for now.
Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Great Mother's Day Gift

My Grandmother is getting to come home from the hospital today. I am very excited that she won't spend Mother's Day in the hospital, even if someone was to be with her every minute. Though her nurses and doctor's were wonderful, that is no place to be on such a special day. I am sure there will be lot's of visitor's at my parents house tomorrow (where Grandma is staying) since she gave everyone such a scare.

Not that we all don't visit her anyway but it was a cold hard reminder my Grams is 94 and won't be here much longer, that is inevitable.

Grab a mom, grandma, great-grandma, god-mother, aunt or friend and hug them this Sunday May 11th and do it every day after. You just never know. In fact, hug starting today, tomorrow might never come!

Happy Mother's Day!
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Friday, May 9, 2008

Always Someone To Worry About

Well I tell you, it's been a busy day today and yesterday. My Grandmother was rushed to the Emergency Room yesterday because her heart rate was elevated. I should say so, it started at 120 then went to 140 and by the time the ambulance got her to the ER, it was at 160! Not good. She is still in the hospital and though things are looking better, they are keeping her another day, maybe longer. I am glad, Grandma is 94 and her health is not as good as it was just last year. (I know I said she was 95 in the post I wrote for the Mother's, Daughters & Friends Tea but I was off a year, she is really only 94!)

Anyway, my mom is up at the hospital most of today and will probably spend most of tomorrow there too, if they don't let my grandmother go home. Which is not easy on my mom. She has a bad back and her legs and feet will swell from standing up there again.

The funny thing that came to mind is that not only do I have my daughters and my mother to worry about, now it goes all the way to the top and there is Grandma to add to my list of women in my family that cause me concern! Not that I didn't already worry about Grams but now there is more to be concerned about.

Thank goodness I have a great sense of humor or I would never last!

To add insult to injury, my oldest is home sick today (supposedly) and her and her younger sister are full of energy today and are being very ornery.

Normally I would throw caution to the wind and yell, "BRING IT!" but I have a horrible headache and really don't want anything else "brought" today, so I guess I will quietly retreat to my husband recliner (my favorite chair) and put my feet up till tonight. I have a workshop for 6 Girl Scouts tonight at 7 p.m. and of course I expect it to be loud and energetic! That's what I do! Then tomorrow it's off to my "other" job for a few hours and then to a skating birthday party!

Wow, that easy chair is sounding super wonderful right now........so I am off! Maybe I will take a bowl of Chocolate Ice Cream. Ya know, chocolate fixes EVERYTHING!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Mother, Daughter and Friends Tea


What a special event my girls and I went to. We had a Mothers, Daughters and Friends Tea at our church today and me and my special little ladies went, along with my mother. It was wonderful having both my daughters and my mom enjoying this fun event together....just us girls!

My mom and I sat at a table I decorated while my daughters went back and forth between sitting a little at our table and a sittling a lot at the "little girls" table the was set up especially for the young ladies of the church. We even had the "teen" girls at a table where they could sip tea and chatter away, probably about boys.

My table was decorated in an old fashioned little girls tea party theme. I took a very old doll that use to be mine and dressed her in a dress that matched the dress my oldest was in (came with the dress.) Then I took my oldest daughters Butter Cookie Bear (from my Noah's Ark line) and my youngest daughters Pink Winter Dress Coat with Hat (also from Noah's) dressed Butter Cookie in it. Of course both the doll and Butter Cookie Bear had plenty of "bobbles" (a fancy word for jewelery) on to compliment their outfits! Last but not least, I added my youngest daughters Holiday Barbie doll. Both my girls have the Holiday Barbie Doll from the year they were born. Sarah's (my youngest) just happened to be dressed in a perfect matching outfit to my color theme....light and dark pink.

Both my daughter's were dressed in pink as well, of course. They had "bobbles" of their own on and fancy shoes to match. (Ya know the ones I mean.....the plastic flashy ones every little girl loves to wear!)

Well it's bedtime so I gotta go for now. I will post some pictures of the lovely and creative tables and some more pictures of my beautiful girls and mom. Unfortunatley, I may be in some of the pictures.....LOL!
For now, here is a picture we took at a station our organizers set up just for this occasion. You are looking at 3 generation of my family. If my grandmother had felt up to the event, we would of had 4 generations there. However grams is 95 years young and sometimes just don't feel like doing things, understanably so!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

My Whirlwind Day At The Computer!

04/30/08

WOW, It’s been a whirlwind day at this computer and at 11:40 p.m., I am still on it! Why, you ask, am I still on this puter (as my 2 year old calls it) at this late night time? Easy, my husband is on his way home from a business trip and I am trying to stay awake so I can call him every so often to make sure HE”S awake!

But back to my whirlwind computer day! Well that’s easy, it’s the end of the month! UGH! I love, but hate the end of the month because I publish a really nice eZine (electronic magazine or newsletter) every month and I like it to go out to my customers on the last day of the month so it is fresh in their in-box on that following day, which is the first of the month.

I like my customers to have the eZine by the first because I have an Event Calendar for local events and my Mojo’s Kids Birthday Club Kids for that month. As a mom, I would like seeing my kids name and birthday first thing. Anyway, this can all be a bit of work (not that I am complaining. I really love publishing the eZine. It fulfills the need to return to my roots as a graphic artist a bit) and of course, like I said earlier, my darling hubby was gone today on travel, so no having him watch the kids while I worked. But I got it done and in a whole new format too!

What’s even more crazy is I am also a bookkeeper for a small non-profit organization and as most people know, the end of the month / beginning of the month can get busy. Oh well, that’s on tomorrow’s To Do List……LOL

Ok, so it’s time to get off here. My fingers are still not recovered from a few days ago when I, for the first time ever, did my online party! It was a blast but man that, along with typing all day today, my little fingers are exercised OUT!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Saturday, April 26, 2008

The Terrible Twos....Will I Survive!!!!!!!

Well our youngest, beautiful daughter has hit the gosh awful Terrible Twos! The biggest problem is even though we are second time parents with her.........IT DOESN'T GET ANY EASIER!!!! I keep telling myself it's just a phase and this too shall pass - but man oh man......I just don't think I am going to survive her phase!

Guess what? For all you first time parents thinking the terrible two's is awful with the first and it might be easier to take when you have more children.......WRONG! Why? Because NOW you have another whole aspect to throw into the wonderful mix! How? Well now you have the sibling fighting, which you either didn't have before or it was not as bad. This comes in to play because EVERYTHING the older sibling has (whether it is theirs or not....doesn't matter to the 2 year old) now belongs to the beautiful 2 year old!

Next comes the "Till Death Tug-O-War" that you as a parent are not use to because the 2 children who you are watching do this LOOK like your kids but could NOT possibly be your children so a Pod Person from the planet Mars MUST have came and made a switch! OH What Do You Do!!!!!!!!!???????

You swallow you fear and bravely, yet calmly enter into the loud and frightening war that is happening and you try to reach a rational agreement that makes both alien children happy so they don't use their laser guns on you and zap you into oblivion!

As you leave un-scathed and relatively stressed out, you hope that the kind people of Mars will return your lovely little angles and take back their not so friendly Mars Children and all peace will be restored to your precious home............UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Welcome To My World!

Hello, my name is Rebecca (or Becky) and I am a 43 year young mom of two small children. Katelynn is 6 1/2 and Sarah is 2 1/2. My husband is the best and I can't believe he still puts up with me after all this time.



I have been wanting to start a personal blog but just didn't know what to start with. I have taken advantage of evening time when I am holding our youngest and always have a paper and pen handy to write all my ideas down. Seems like a have a lot of ideas. The hard part is getting the words from paper to computer, for various reasons. Mostly it's because if I am on this computer, I am working to promote my home based business. If I am not on this computer, I am usually fighting one of my girls for the desired computer chair!



If you stick with me long enough and continue to read this blog, you will find I have quite an onery streak and a good sense of humor. That is why my friends love me.....so they say. (hmmmm?) I do enjoy making light of a bad situation, usually with crazy jokes. Unfortunately, people can get to me more often then I would like and humor is my whay of dealing with it, I suppose.

Well that's enough about me, for now. Let's start with one of my favorite posts I put on one of my many mom sites. If you have children, especially toddlers or above, you will truly appreciate my first post!

By for now,
Rebecca in Becky's World!