Where we've been

Yes, we're still out here. =) It' s been a busy week or two.

Cori has been doing great. I swear she just gets more fun each week. I can't believe she is going to be 7 months on Christmas eve. She is sleeping well for the most part, loving her jarred food, and talking up a storm. Her new favorite past-times include hanging out in her jump-a-roo and exosaucer and doing this phlegmy sounding screech which is really some sort of weird excited laugh. It's hysterical to do with her - back and forth. She goes for ten minutes at a time. My voice hurts doing it, so I can't imagine hers! And she's graduated to the "big girl" bath tub upstairs. She loves to watch things float in the bubbles!

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Today at daycare she had her first accident. Apparently one of the little guys was throwing toys across the room, and one hit her in the mouth. Her onsie and sweater was covered in blood & drool - it was quite a sight to see. Fortunately it didn't seem to do any damage and was an accident. I guess being the only girl with 4-5 boys, she's going to have to learn to be tough. I do admit though that I wanted to cry inside.

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As for Dave and I, we got to enjoy a quick visit with his brother last weekend. We all were part of Molly & Mike's wedding on the 6th. It was a fabulous day full of laughter and smiles and lots of love. Molly looked amazingly beautiful and Mike was a beaming groom. I enjoyed meeting Mike's side of the family (most of whom are from out of town) especially since Dave knows his family so well in the past 25 years.

The snow made for some beautiful pictures but the beauty quickly turned into worry when the roads got slick and guests were delayed. The happy couple had a fairly care-free attitude and delayed the ceremony a half hour to let people trickle in. Unfortunately Shadyside must be absent from the PennDOT list of roads to treat... we got stuck in traffic for an hour trying to go all of 1.5 miles from the church to the reception site.

In the end it all worked out though, and a little snow couldn't stop this party from happening. We even got to see our friend / DJ from our wedding, who was sweet enough to play "our song" (100 years by Five for Fighting) and dedicate it to us. This was enough to cause Dave's family on the dance floor to "aghhhhhhhh" causing me to blush a bit. But hey, it's no secret how Dave's family can cause me to blush at weddings (esp my own!)

Just an entry

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! We enjoyed two dinners with family this year. Cori did very well with all the holiday travel and "new" faces of family, especially since she is in a "stranger danger" mode these days. Here's her Thanksgiving outfit which summed up the day for all of us.

We are starting to decorate for Christmas this weekend, and everything we put up for display we end up commenting how we probably won't be able to do this next year. Cori seems to be on the verge of being mobile. She is pushing all the way up off the ground from her belly, and I'm betting that by the end of the week she will be on all fours ready to crawl. Mobile or not, we're still enjoying the holiday spirit round here, and looking forward to Christmas a little bit more than previous since out little angel is in our lives. There is just something about Christmas and kids...
We also visited Phipps Conservatory the day after Thanksgiving and saw their winter flower show. Very pretty stuff, and Cori was loving the lights and flowers. If you have a chance, try to make it down to Phipps to enjoy the beauty they have displayed in really neat ways. For those of you who won't be able to make it, here are some photos for you to enjoy.

Can you find the penguin in this picture?

White Thanksgiving

The snow was so pretty this morning that I had to take some pictures of our backyard.

little Turkey

Cori had her 6 month check up today, and the doctor was happy with everything. Much to our surprise, our little turkey weighs 18 pounds!! Yikes!!! She is 26 inches long and got her flu shot along with a few others. The kid is a trooper I tell you.

We're looking forward to Thanksgiving with Dave's family this year. I don't cook which is probably to everyone's good fortune. Side dishes are the extent of my cooking at Thanksgiving. Maybe one year when Cori is bigger I'll venture into that realm.

I'll post some pictures of our turkey then. Until Thursday, enjoy the snow!

Laughable

Last night was a lot of laughs - Molly's bachelorette party was a hoot! I'm just now recovering from laughing as hard as I did, and just thinking about some memories of the night sets me off laughing again. We hit the Improv to see Hal Sparks who was just hysterical! Molly ended up on stage after some funny dialog between her and Hal during his skit. Anytime I hear the Song "Sexy Back" from Justin Timberlake, I am going to crack up thinking about how he danced around Molly in a mock provocative manner. Any description I try to give of the encounter will not do it justice, so I won't try. After the show Molly got his autograph and we got a chance to talk with him a little bit; he's a pretty down to earth guy and was a great sport to all our flirting and laughing.

Oddly enough, last night was that I thought for sure coming home late, I'd be up a lot during the night with Cori. I was happy to be wrong - our girl went to bed as usual at 7 and got up at 10:30 for her feeding, but slept straight until 7:45 AM!?!? Maybe I need to go out more often if this will be the result!

Picking back up

It's been a while! Where have you been? We've been here for the most part, but time sure has been going fast. Is Thanksgiving really next week? I finally had a moment to update the blog while my little turkey and Daddy turkey are asleep in the chair.

Work has been very busy for me; add the fact that our work firewall blocks Blogger websites and now you know why I've not been able to blog as well as comment on friends' blogs. I'm just looking forward to a short work week next week. (And sweet potatoes. I always look forward to sweet potatoes!)

Cori has been doing great - she seems to either have a touch of a tummy bug or jarred apples don't agree with her. Today we took her for her 6 month pictures. She was such a good girl - all smiles and cooperative with outfit changes. We got some great shots, a few of which I'll share below. I'll leave the ones out that will be on the Christmas cards.

She also met Santa for the first time - we weren't sure if he was the "real" Santa or just one of his helpers. She seemed to be okay until she noticed that Santa has a beard. And Cori + beards = crying. We didn't think to bring our camera along because I thought you had to purchase their photos. So we purchased one from the mall - for $26 for a 5x7. Man times have changed.... the economy can't be hurting that badly for the length of the line to see Santa, and at those prices!

Dave is doing well too - he's been trying to run so he can do a Turkey Trot next week, but he's not sure how that is going. I've been trying not to ask him about running another marathon next spring... I think he misses running. It's just hard to fit everything in with Cori and chores and work and such.

We're getting ready for our friends' wedding in two weeks. Mike and Molly take the plunge on Dec 6th and we're excited (and praying for good weather too!) I think Dave is working on doing his best man speech in a haiku. While I play the keyboard. Nice... Klassy! Just kidding guys - but we are looking forward to your big day! Tonight is Molly's bachelorette party. We'll try not to make it too uncomfortable for her! Hee hee heee...

Dr. Oz speaks...

My very favorite speaker at my recent conference was Dr. Mehmet Oz - yes, that Dr. Oz from the Discovery Health show. Yes, the very same Dr. Oz that is always on Oprah's show. His talk was amazing - ultra informative and yet easy to understand. There was enough technical medical information to appease the analytical science geeks like myself, and it was presented in fun, easy to understand terminology with lots of visuals to drive points home. I could have listened to him talk for hours.

I took a lot of notes during the talk about how to better your health emotionally, spiritually and physically. I also purchased his book "You on a Diet" which is just a fascinating read! (Unfortunately I didn't stand in line to have him sign the book since I would have missed most of the conference.) I really recommend this book for everyone interested in losing weight or even better understanding your body.


With this entry I thought I would share some knowledge about ways to improve your physical health.

• Vitamins that he recommended were A, B, C, D & E as well as Calcium, Magnesium, Selenium and Zinc. He stressed B Complex Vitamins as well as Vitamin C: B vitamins are essential for the conversion of glucose into energy. You can find B vitamins in brown rice, dried beans and organ meats. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, which circulates in the blood and lymphatic system. It boosts the immune system and aids in healing.
  
• Other very important nutrients stressed were Omega 3 fatty acids, Green Tea extract, Asprin and Probiotics. Essential fatty acids protect against hardening of the arteries by promoting the formation of good prostaglandins, thinning the blood and reducing the stickiness of blood cells. They can be found in coldwater fish like salmon and halibut and flax seeds. They have been found to decrease depression, and they work wonders for your skin!
  
• The supplement Co-enzyme Q10 is essential - it is responsible for energy conversion. In some studies, CoQ10 improved muscular performance by 10%30%. It also helps protect muscles from oxidative stress.
  
• Important anti-oxidents to consume are Lycopene (in tomatoes), Lutein (in leafy green veggies), Quercetin (in apples, onions, and berries), Tumeric (found in mustard and Indian cuisine), Capsaicin (found in chili peppers) and Resveratrol (found in red grape skin and thus red wine!!)
  
• No eating two hours prior to bed.
  
• Consume half your body weight in water ounces. So if you are 160lbs, you need to drink 80 ozs of water just to stay hydrated.
  
• Count to your age prior to indulging in whatever is tempting you. See if the urge goes away when you reach that number.
  
• Weight training is needed to build and maintain your bones. You lose 5% of your muscle mass every ten years after the age of 35 if you don't do anything about it. In addition, adding lean muscle to your body is very beneficial. Muscle burns 50x more calories than fat ever does!
  
• Exercise 30 minutes a day, every day. No excuses. Nothing fancy - walking will do just perfectly.
  
• Have a handful of nuts 30 minutes prior to meals to trick your brain & hormonal system into feeling that you are full. (More on this next blog entry because this is just fascinating. I've been doing this for 2 weeks and it really works!!)
  
• Stop drinking the soda (or as we say round these parts - pop). Even the diet stuff. Fructose in beverages blocks the fat message to your brain and makes you eat at least 125 extra calories a day. Add that up and you'll see in no time how bad that is for you. Not to mention the spikes in blood sugar and insulin.

I hope you find these tips useful. Our bodies are truly fascinating machines and we owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to take care of ourselves. Time to start putting YOU first - as Dave likes to remind me, I won't be able to take care of everyone unless I make sure to take care of me too.

So Proud!

First off, I have to say I was so proud to be an American yesterday! I wish that all our elections had the turn out that happened yesterday; I wish they all had that excitement! I had this electric feeling when I pressed that VOTE button on the machine, and I cried tears of happiness and hope when they announced that Obama would be president at 11PM. Now let's heal our nation and unify and move forward to be as great of a nation as we know we can be!

I'm also proud of our little Cori. She has been sleeping like a champ - I'm starting to wander in every few hours to check that she is still breathing. At times it's hard for me to tell b/c she is so deep in sleep.

She is also eating like a big girl - we laugh that when we feed her, she swallows (really more of just a tongue reflex) and then immedaitely opens her mouth really WIDE again for more. Tonight she ate an entire jar of sweet potatoes. The girl screams bloody murder when we wipe her mouth (her signal that food is over). Dave is currently giving her a bottle right now to fill her bottomless pit!

Halloween was fun - Cori was certainly the cutest pumpkin in the patch!

Cori's new favorite past-time is to grab at your face. It seems to provide never ending fun for her. Note if you plan to visit - don't wear long jewlery!

On Sunday we visited Cori's great great Aunt Marianne. I'm becoming more convinced that Cori will be a red head. Less decisive is if she will be a cowgirl or a piano player like her mama.

Feed me!!

Just a little update on Cori. I am soooo swamped with work (even more so this week) that I don't even have time to upload all the cute pictures from this past weekend!

Cori turned 5 months this past Friday and is still loving her oatmeal. She is now grabbing the spoon and bringing it to her mouth, with fairly good aim! She gets upset when she isn't holding the spoon and when there isn't food on it. We have great video of it. I may upload it if I can figure out how to do so. Our big girl is also holding her bottle on her own. It is still too heavy when full, but she still grabs it to help out. When it's half gone, she can do a good job all on her own.

Finally, at the risk of writing this and thus making the complete opposite happen, she has been sleeping like a CHAMP! For the past 8 days she has been sleeping the whole night in her crib. She will wake up once to eat but will go back down without much of a fuss. We are amazed and so thankful! (A part of me misses snuggling with her while cosleeping.) We will take the good, as we know the not as good is due to come up, especially with teething. Which mysteriously has disappeared. She is still gnawing away on everything that goes into her mouth, but the fussiness is gone as well as the bloody drool. Odd.

Pictures to come I swear. I just need to find time to pull them from the camera.

LA Times

I spent most of this week in Los Angeles to attend an annual business meeting and then the California Women's Conference. This was my third year attending the conference which I've always enjoyed. It's a day of really engaging speakers and though provoking talks from people. There is also a lot of free swag from vendors which is never bad either!


Parts of the time it was hard - first I was stuck on eastern time, which meant I woke up at 4:30 AM wide awake. (I tried to make the most of it and went to work out in the hotel gym.) The days are long and emotionally intense during the conference (just the clip highlight of Tim Russert from the prior year set me into tears just 5 minutes into the conference.) And of course it was really hard to be away from Corinne.


But I did manage to have a really good time. I got to see my friend / coworker Jen, and I got a lot of uninterrupted sleep and had good food & beverage. The conference itself had some REALLY awesome speakers with powerful and inspiring stories. Jennifer Lopez kick started the morning and Warren Buffet spoke about the economy. I heard stories from Women's Right's leaders Gloria Steinem and Billy Jean King. The talk from Christiane Amanpour was simply awe-inspiring!!! It was probably my second favorite talk of the day.


The very best talk was from Dr. Oz who is THE health expert. I listened to his hour long session and took a lot of notes. I could've listened for hours - the man just has a method of delivering information that is factual and fascinating at the same time! I ended up buying one of his books but didn't stand in line to have him sign it. I can't wait to read it none the less.
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In the afternoon I found myself five feet from Rita Wilson (yes, Tom Hank's wife). She was hosting a session on looking your very best, and while the talk didn't start for about 45 minutes, I saw some people heading into the theatre. I just walked in like I was supposed to be there and I guess it didn't hurt that the security guard has his back to me.... I took a seat toward the back on the aisle and started reading. No one questioned me and I just acted like I was disinterested in everything going on. Well, in flies Rita Wilson (oh so pretty and such a sweet lady!) talking to the world famous hair stylist and makeup guys who work on all these Hollywood Stars - they were speaking too. I just kind of took it all in. And of course ended up buying their book as well - it isn't even released yet and won't be until December. I can always use some styling tips!
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But the star of the day was Bono who, (don't tell Dave) is OMG HOT!!! And even sexier, he has an accent and most importantly, a mind. And he came with a message about helping to rid hunger and AIDs in Africa. It is amazing that children are dying from diseases that can be solved from a $0.20 vaccine. That AIDS patients can turn their life around with a pill a day for 2 months. Bono was articulate and compassionate, funny and sincere. He talked about when even things are bleak both in our own homes, and in our nation, how important it is not to forget those who are worst off than ourselves.


I signed their petition and encourage you to read about ONE's mission and sign if you believe in it as well.

ONE is Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life - united as ONE - to help make poverty history. We are a campaign of over 2.4 million people and growing from all 50 states and over 100 of America's most well-known and respected non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. As ONE, we are raising public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in the world's poorest countries. As ONE, we are asking our leaders to do more to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE believes that allocating more of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries.

After the conference, I was really looking forward to coming home. I flew home the next day and couldn't wait to get home to Cori. I actually had tears in my eyes when the plane touched down; it was all I could do to not leave my bags behind and just run home to see my little angel. She was asleep when I got home since it was late, but she couldn' t contain her smiles and excitement when I picked her up from her crib as she woke up. THAT made me feel amazing.

Fast Forward on time

Friday night my friend stopped by with her daughter MacKenzie who is 3 weeks older than Cori - it was fun to watch them play together. They were really interested in touching one another; I think they liked that they were the same size.

Cori didn't seem to enjoy her rice cereal too much so upon a suggestion of a friend, we had her try oatmeal. Well, that was a huge hit! So much so that she cries when we are done feeding it to her. She just wants more!!

No pictures to post of it since it is the same messy situation as the rice cereal - most of it ends up on the bib. But we are now placing Cori in her high-chair which is a big step! She sits there and plays with toys while we eat our dinner, and she's taking her cereal in her high chair.

Today we put some more of her things that she's outgrown in the basement. She's now too big for the bouncer that was our initial saving grace. She hangs out of the little swing we had for her. Time is really going by fast! Not to fear though - the "extra" space in our living room will soon be occupied by the jumparoo and exosaucer. She is just big enough for them but we haven't brought them up again. (Previous attempts showed little interest on her part so we just took them back downstairs.)

I leave Monday for 4 days in Long Beach, CA. While I am looking forward to the trip (imagine reading on the plane, uninterrupted sleep for 3 nights, and lots of wine with dinner!) I know I am going to miss Cori like crazy. I'm only slightly worried about Dave having to handle our high-needs child solo for 4 days. I know he can do it, but4 days may feel like 40!

Baptism

Sunday was Corinne's baptism and it was a beautiful day! The dress turned out beautifully, and she was a real tropper considering we learned the hard way that babies and lace don't always mix well. She had red chaffing marks under her arms and on the back of her neck from the zipper. Naps were too few and far between that day as well. But with all her family and a few friends with us, we were truly blessed!

October 15th

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Please take a moment to remember those angels who are at home with God now, and the families who still grieve for them. Even after having other children, the hole in your heart is never fully filled.

Now I know why I dreamt of my twins last night.

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"An Ugly Pair of Shoes"

I am wearing a pair of shoes.

They are ugly shoes.

Uncomfortable Shoes.

I hate my shoes.

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Each day I wear them, and each day I wish I had another pair. Some days my shoes hurt so bad that I do not think I can take another step. Yet, I continue to wear them. I get funny looks wearing these shoes. They are looks of sympathy. I can tell in others eyes that they are glad they are my shoes and not theirs.

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They never talk about my shoes. To learn how awful my shoes are might make them uncomfortable. To truly understand these shoes you must walk in them. But, once you put them on, you can never take them off.

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I now realize that I am not the other one who wears these shoes. There are many pairs in the world. Some women are like me and ache daily as they try and walk in them. Some have learned how to walk in them so they don't hurt quite as much. Some have work the shoes so long that days will go by before they think of how much they hurt. No woman deserves to wear these shoes.

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Yet, because of the shoes I am a stronger women. These shoes have given me the strength to face anything. They have made me who I am. I will forever walk in the shoes of a woman who has lost a child.

Author Unknown

Wedding dress anew

Today is our third wedding anniversary, and a few weeks ago I had my wedding dress cut up. On purpose. I wanted to make our daughter's baptism gown from the gown I wore on our wedding day. A friend of mine is a seamstress and I entrusted her to work her magic.

And what magic it is! I really don't think these pictures don't do it justice. It is so beautiful, and I can't wait for her to wear it this Sunday.

Here's my gown on our wedding day three years ago

Here's Corinne's baptismal gown

She's our little angel for sure!

First Cereal

Last night we gave Cori her first rice cereal. It was hysterical! She really seemed to like it, the parts that she got into her mouth. Most of the time she was content to be sucking the cereal off her bib. What do you think?

Prior to getting started (clean)

First bite...

What is this stuff?

Cori wanted to help feed herself

What a mess!

God bless Isaac

Thank you God for so many things. Thank you for Isaac Timothy Delisle.

As many of my friends and family know, I'm a member of an online community. Lots of ideas and information is exchanged here, and recently the story of one woman's pregnancy had been the topic of conversation. She was blogging about her pregnancy; she was to give birth to a little boy (whom she and her husband had named Issac) with chromosomal abnormalities. They suspected Issac had one of two trisomy disorders (trisomy 13 and 18) both of which are lethal, usually with the baby being carried to term or close to it, and then either being stillborn or dieing shortly thereafter.

This woman, Stacy, lived every day of her pregnancy knowing that she'd meet her son maybe for only a minute, maybe not at all. In the final weeks of her pregnancy, she knew that October 7th her son would become an angel on his birthday. She began writing letters daily to her son and she posted them on a second blog .

Can you imagine waking up each day knowing this? Can you imagine being able to feel your baby move inside you, safe and loved, and knowing that once he was born it would no longer be? I cannot.

This woman prayed for a miracle that Issac may be healed or live at least long enough that she could hold her baby after her c-section. And she found beauty in everything. She handled her lot with such grace and poise and acceptance. It humbles me.

Today Issac was born. He lived for 16 minutes.

An entry on her blog via a friend said "Isaac weighed 4 lbs and 12 oz and almost 17'' long with fuzzy strawberry blonde hair and mommy's nose and lips and daddy's ears."

I have been sobbing all day. My heart breaks for them. And while I know that Issac and Stacy and Spencer aren't the first family to have to deal with this, it is the first family I've known, and the first time I've stopped to think about this. It sure puts teething in perspective. It sure puts having to wake up at 4:30 AM to entertain your wide awake child into perspective.

Today I am holding my sweet daughter a little tighter.

God bless Issac. I continue with the most humble prayer I know -Thank you God for everything in my life, just as it is.

weekend reconnect

We had a pretty nice weekend these past few days. Saturday was a cool, crisp day; we took our little pumpkin to Trax farms for her first autumn outing to pick pumpkins and such. Having grown up in the south hills, my family has long gone out to Trax year-long. It's a place that holds a special part of my heart. My grandfather grew up on the surrounding land (the one-room school house still stands!) It is a place where my mom would tell me stories about her childhood and tell me the history of the civil war houses & graves in the area.

But I digress - we took Corinne out to Trax and met up with my mom, my cousin Tracey (up from Atlanta), Kelly & David.

After Trax, Dave and I headed to Nemacolin Resort to celebrate our anniversary. The 2 hour drive was very nice ;not only was the weather sunny and cool, but we had the chance to catch up with one another and just reconnect verbally. We had a nice lunch and went horse back riding at the resort. I love to ride but don't get the opportunity very often; I miss it. We went through the woods with our guide and took in the scenery. Twice we encountered deer grazing on brush less than five feet from us - what a way to be part of nature!

Our ride wrapped up and we headed to the resort to walk around a bit and have an ice-cream cone. Not long after it was time for our spa appointment - a couples massage. This was pure bliss! Probably the best massage I've ever had, and I've had the opportunity to try bunches of them. The spa was wonderful and they were very attentive. The hour certainly went by fast! We relaxed in the sauna for a bit after our rub down and then got showered and ready for a nice dinner.

After dinner we drove back home and got to sleep for 9 uninterrupted hours, which was almost as good as the massage. Well, maybe better. I can't make up my mind, but I'd sure like to sample both again a few times so I can see which I think makes me happier!

Speaking of "happy", Cori isn't all that happy these days. The poor kid is teething something fierce and is miserable a lot of the time. She even had some bloody drool this afternoon which is normal from the pressure and bruising on the gums. (While it's normal, it was still a bit freaky to see!) We're trying Hylands teething tablets and Tylenol (alternating) as well as cold teethers but she often refuses these. It's a really helpless feeling and often we can't make her calm down. I'm hoping we make it through this week relatively okay. I guess everyday can't be Saturday huh?