tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29755335363991354502024-03-05T07:15:28.235-08:00Aisle 11Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.comBlogger400125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-14105614862658356112017-01-13T19:05:00.001-08:002017-01-13T19:05:39.482-08:00Quilting Unit<div style="text-align: center;">
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Between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I threw together a quilting unit. I have a lot of quilts to work on, (I've finished two since then) and when my sister was out during Halloween, she was helping me with yet another one. So Madeleine had been around and seeing quilts for a while, but I really needed to buckle down and actually make a few. That requires her to be patient and which goes about million times better when she understands why.</div>
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So first we talked about patterns. We use a magnetic drawing board and mini m&ms to practice. I put like 8 m&ms down and then she points and says the colors and then has to figure out which one goes at the end.</div>
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We also went to the fabric store and talked about colors. Not super exciting but discussing color and good design I think is always important.</div>
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When I started cutting the fabric, Madeleine cut paper up at her table.</div>
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Then came the laying out the squares for the quilt. She sat next to me (and on the squares) and talked to me about the pattern we were making. It honestly messed up the first quilt because she mixed in some of the reject squares, but it really didn't matter in the end. Just had me scratching my head for a bit about why my quilt was randomly not laying flat. :)</div>
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After that I was just sewing, so she didn't help with that. But we got some really awesome books from the library during this time. This was one of the few occasions that I was really blown away by how awesome these books turned out. I originally only grab 3-4 books, but I quickly checked out a few more.</div>
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What makes these books so good is they deal with transitions, families, history, death, and many other things, in a very non threatening way. And it wasn't just one culture or anything. There were books about Asian, Black, Native American, and "White" (I guess? I mean there was a Jewish family, French, pioneer, Russian), which showed very diverse illustrations compared to what we are used to.<br />
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So here is some of the break down<br />
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<i>Shota</i> is about a Native American girl who gets a special sign at her Grandmother's house after her family finds out their apartment complex is going to be torn down by a wealthy sad man. She and her friend help her grandmother make a quilt that saves their community.<br />
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<i>The Nesting Quilt</i> and<i> Mooshka</i> both have to do with having a new sibling. I really loved The Nesting Quilt, since it compared making a quilt to birds making a nest. It really made sense to Madeleine.<br />
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<i>The Keeping Quilt </i> was beautiful. It was about a girl who came from somewhere to NYC and missed her home, so her mother made her a quilt. That quilt is then shown to be used by different generations for marriage, new babies, and death. The pictures are mostly black and white so the red quilt really stands out.<br />
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<i>The Quilt </i>has a little girl that is given a quilt that her parents out of her old clothes and an adventure she goes on with her dog through the squares. <i>Quilt of Dreams </i>I think was pretty similar? I don't quite remember.<br />
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<i>Stitchin' and Pulling </i>was poetry. Madeleine didn't like reading this one. It was here just for the pictures. <i>Cassie's world Quilt </i>was similar. It was a bit too abstract for her to really understand so she didn't like us reading it as much. She really loved the pictures in it.<br />
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<i>Oma's Quilt</i> was my favorite. It's about a grandmother who has to go to a nursing home and hates it. The granddaughter and the mother make her a quilt out of all her old things to help the transition and to remember all the amazing things that the grandmother did in her life. The illustrations were beautiful and the story was very sweet.<br />
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And the last book is one we own and Madeleine's favorite.<br />
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This one is about a little girl who moves and her beloved quilt gets put up in the attic only to be found by a relative who also moves to a new home. Madeleine loves it and has most of it memorized. She loves the actual quilt and I think she finds the moving part relatable since she didn't like the move a year and half ago.<br />
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Christmas morning came and the quilt I made for her was unwrapped. She was so excited and even now we talk about how quilts are special and made with love. That's really what this unit taught her. She's excited to help me with the baby's quilt which is what I'm slowly working on now. It will match hers so she keeps talking about it. I like that I can share the history of the quilts in our home with her. She's always asking where the things she has were made, since many of her toys are homemade. It's fun teaching her about women's history, and I hope when she's a bit older she will want to learn how.<br />
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Matthew Nielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034306266738967440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-79773070400219179522016-12-23T17:15:00.002-08:002016-12-23T17:21:39.058-08:00Learning about Waiting<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Madeleine is actually a pretty patient kid, but if you ask her about Christmas or her birthday she'll say,</div>
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"I'm not excited. I'm sad, because I have to wait."</div>
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She's been exploring more the words "irritated" and "bored" lately, but I figured we could take a quick detour and talk about patience and waiting for a few days, especially since we are waiting on the baby to get big enough to be born.</div>
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It's easier than most emotions since she already knows the word "wait". I'm not trying to give her a definition on something that is abstract. "Irritating" has been hard since she doesn't understand how it's different than angry, and bored she gets that it's negative but not really the definition.</div>
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Anyway, I had picked up a great book two weeks ago when I was browsing the library called "Emily's Balloon" by Komako Sakai. </div>
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I love this book. It is good on so many levels. But what I liked the most is that the word "wait" isn't anywhere in the book. She loses her balloon in a tree and she has to wait for her mom to get it the next day. This book and "Waiting for Mama" both don't actually end by the child getting what they were waiting for. The books ends with the reader waiting just like the child in the book. This book show her upset and dreaming about all the things that she wants to do , but she knows she wants to wait. I feel like it validated her emotions and made the book more relatable. </div>
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The four I did remember to take a picture of are pretty good. I already mentioned "Waiting for Mama" above. "Waiting" is supposed to be a big hit, but really I don't like it much. Madeleine does though because after I read it once she could "read" it to herself. "Waiting is not Easy" we talked about how people can be annoying when they are waiting. We talked about how waiting can be hard but that doesn't mean we need to be rude or annoying. The "I Am Patient" was actually better than I expected because we were able to talk about situations that Madeleine is really good at waiting. She just learned the phrase "Excuse me" and we talked about how we sometimes have to wait our turn etc.</div>
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The last thing we did was think about times we have to wait. Sometimes we have to wait to eat dinner or standing in line. But other times we have to wait a very long time like for a baby to come or for strawberries to be in seasons again. Madeleine is really into "good choices and bad choices", so we ended by talking about how standing close to me is good and screaming or laying on the ground is a bad choice. She reminded me if we take "3 deep breaths" how that was good and then we could stand still. I wish it was that easy right? :)</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-24582398955706073432016-12-23T15:44:00.002-08:002016-12-23T15:49:20.484-08:00Winter Solstice <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This was one of those things that we talked about more than we actually celebrated. I think in the future I'd like to get one or two small traditions started for the solstice but it didn't happen this year. One of the things I kept struggling with is that it is a pagan holiday, and while the traditions they have are beautiful, it just didn't fit our family. So social media was kind of a bust when it came for ideas.</div>
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The more I thought about it, I decided that the coolest thing about it is the night is so long. Most things seem to focus on the fact it is the shortest day, but I like the night, so I wanted to emphasize that more. The moon's influence is seen in my opinion the most at the beach. The tides are something you can physically see and lets face it, we are up for any trip to the beach. Lucky for me, the weather was 47 degrees and no wind. Not too bad at all. So we piled in our car two hours before sunset and went to beach.</div>
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It was lovely. It always is, but I love the beach in the off season. I love watching Madeleine at the beach now that she isn't terrified of waves. She can basically run as far as she wants and we don't worry about losing site of her. That leads to one happy tired kid, and lets her explore as much as her little heart wants.</div>
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There is so much to explore too since there are less people and trash. Finding this clam still with the animal with it was pretty cool. We have a book about sea life that Madeleine likes flipping through so seeing on in person was neat. We felt how much heavier it was and we could even see the clam sticking out a bit. </div>
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Eventually, we watched the sunset and then we read our solstice books on the stairs down to the beach.</div>
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They were both pretty good. The Shortest Day was more in line with the general Earth unit we are doing, but they were both good.<br />
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This one was pretty short and simple, but since we are learning about the moon and its phases and the Earth's rotation, it's something we talked about more than anything else. We've been also transition into reading about snow and Winter instead of Fall. </div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-78485677155821678872016-12-20T18:33:00.000-08:002016-12-20T18:40:29.619-08:00Hanukkah<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Being pretty pregnant and all, Christmas has been a big enough challenge this year. So when Madeleine came home from her nursery school asking when we were going to celebrate Hanukkah, I was shocked. She didn't let it go though. All last week and most of this week she has been talking about it. Honestly, I think she might have been more excited about Hanukkah than Christmas. So I emailed her teachers, and then started getting things ready for our day of Hanukkah.</div>
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I'm really lucky that a lot of my favorite customers at Starbucks are Jewish. When I told them that Madeleine had her heart set on Hanukkah, they helped me get a list of what to do and where to get them. They are wonderful, and they even told me about their childish dreams of Christmas and how their parents made their wishes happen. Even Madeleine's teachers sent her home with a little dreidel and book to borrow, so by today everything was almost set. </div>
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First we read some books of course about Hanukkah.</div>
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The Story of Hanukkah was really good and religious. </div>
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I have a Little Dreidel was the dreidel song. Turns out there is like 10 verses to it. Madeleine has been learning it at nursery school so she was pretty excited to hear the whole thing.</div>
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Then the last book was just a short story about Latkes. It was cute and about helping people.</div>
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Then we made dinner. Madeleine had made the applesauce with me earlier this week, so we just had to make the latkes. </div>
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After dinner, we played the dreidel game, ate our jelly donuts, and lit our "menorah".</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv90gLB4HqPgPs6H2rbV9Liw9aHNZuRl2puijROMXSSJygz5wibFhysxBUDs9RsleWkEuh0X2IFcHlsPOfAr1XmHwVa6B6-E-HDvxRCdUDn9pIC0dH4zaTlhVXe1pOZQYFLJ_ljbPE6Xk/s1600/IMG_1320.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv90gLB4HqPgPs6H2rbV9Liw9aHNZuRl2puijROMXSSJygz5wibFhysxBUDs9RsleWkEuh0X2IFcHlsPOfAr1XmHwVa6B6-E-HDvxRCdUDn9pIC0dH4zaTlhVXe1pOZQYFLJ_ljbPE6Xk/s320/IMG_1320.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Madeleine surprised us by knowing what each side of the dreidel meant. She would sigh or try to cheat each time she landed on "shin".</div>
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She was super concerned that we didn't have a big helping candle in the middle.</div>
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We briefly talked about temples and how we would be sad if someone trashed and hurt our temple, and how we would celebrate having it back. I think she got that part.</div>
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I learned a lot about Hanukkah and it was a fun family evening. This whole week is just a week of celebrations. Tomorrow is the Winter solstice which we are planning on celebrating, and then of course, Christmas, and Madeleine's birthday.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-56910865750074507362016-12-19T06:33:00.001-08:002016-12-19T06:33:15.023-08:00Homeschooling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Now that we are towards the end of pregnancy of offspring #2, I'm realizing that I'm probably going to wish that I kept a record of the homeschooling stuff that I did with Madeleine a little better. Instagram gets a lot of it, and I enjoy using mostly for tracking my day to day things, but typing things out on a computer is much easier than trying to do it on the ipad. On top of that, even though I haven't blogged a lot, Matt and I still refer back to here regularly to see what we did with Madeleine as a tinier human. I'm guessing we'll keep that up for the long run, so it's worth putting more things on here.<br />
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My basic homeschooling philosophy is to expose Madeleine to things and hope she learns something in the meanwhile. We have very low expectations for her. Pretty much we expect her to try it, and let us know what she thinks. We don't do almost any letters or numbers in our home. Most things are units based on what is going on in our lives, or something that Matt and I are interested in that we think Madeleine might like too. The wonderful thing about 3 is that they are curious about everything, so it's really hard to have something flop. I don't think anything has yet to be honest, even with the kids I babysit everyday. As long as I present it as something that I'm interested in, they are usually pretty cool with it.<br />
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What we've done so far...<br />
Age 0-1: Survive as parents<br />
Age 1-2: Learn how to not kill self<br />
Age 2-3: Emotions, colors, and started with foods<br />
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<li>Emotions</li>
<ul>
<li>Happy</li>
<li>Angry</li>
<li>Sad</li>
<li>Hurt</li>
</ul>
<li>Colors</li>
<li>Foods</li>
<ul>
<li>Berries</li>
<li>Brussel Sprouts</li>
<li>Honey</li>
<li>Eggs</li>
<li>Bread</li>
<li>Asparagus</li>
<li>Apples</li>
<li>Yogurt</li>
<li>Where meat comes from</li>
</ul>
<li>Other random things</li>
<ul>
<li>Introduced butter knife</li>
<li>Laundry</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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Age 3-4: We focused mostly on food, but we put other things in too.<br />
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<li>Food units</li>
<ul>
<li>Meatballs</li>
<li>Spaghetti</li>
<li>Lettuce</li>
<li>Lavender</li>
<li>Ice cream</li>
<li>Strawberries</li>
<li>Blackberries</li>
<li>Tomatoes</li>
<li>Pears</li>
<li>Peaches</li>
<li>Apples</li>
<li>Bread</li>
<li>Salad</li>
<li>Pickles</li>
<li>Cucumbers</li>
<li>Soup</li>
<li>Cookies</li>
<li>Radishes</li>
<li>Scallops</li>
<li>Honey </li>
</ul>
<li>Emotions (kind of)</li>
<ul>
<li>Disappointed</li>
<li>Mean</li>
<li>How being tired effects how we feel</li>
<li>Excited</li>
<li>Patience</li>
<li>Calming routines</li>
<li>How our words can effect others (like calling someone fat or saying you don't want to play with someone)</li>
<li>Bad choices v good choices </li>
<li>Frustration</li>
</ul>
<li>Other stuff</li>
<ul>
<li>How babies are made</li>
<li>How families are connected</li>
<li>Blood</li>
<li>Being nice to the Earth</li>
<li>Rosa Parks</li>
<li>Gardening</li>
<li>Butterfllies</li>
<li>Composting</li>
<li>Microbes</li>
<li>Seasons (This one is on going. All other units revolve around the seasons for the most part)</li>
<li>What kind of music we like</li>
<li>Making grocery list and sticking to them</li>
<li>Quilting</li>
<li>Forests</li>
<li>Geography</li>
<li>The Nutcracker</li>
</ul>
<li>Social Scripts</li>
<ul>
<li>How to act in a library</li>
<li>How to order food</li>
<li>How to pay for food</li>
<li>How to ask others for help</li>
<li>How to say and use the phrase "excuse me"</li>
</ul>
</ul>
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The general outline for a unit is lots of books plus an activity a day.<br />
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For food, we go to the farmer's market and she gets to pick out and pay for the food that we are going to do. Then I already have a list of books on hold at the library. We then generally make 2-3 recipes with said food. The idea behind it is that she tries new foods and that she learns that she can "not like how something is cooked" but she can still like the food. Ex. She hates pickled onions but loves onions in salsa.<br />
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The rest are pretty similar with the exception of scripts, since Matt and I rehearse with her, practice, and then make her do it. After we do a debriefing too. :D Right now we are working on speaking up when ordering at somewhere loud and giving people a bit more space when waiting in line. We don't wait in line near her. We usually are 20+ feet away because otherwise we find that people try to yell across the restaurant to talk to us instead of talking to her. For things that more complicated than Costco ("I'd like a hot dog, please."), I sometimes send her with a piece of paper, but for the most part she can do it. I also send her with almost if not exact change, so the money part isn't an issue.<br />
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And that's pretty much it. :) I'm going to hopefully start putting up the activities and books we are reading. Right now, I have the current unit on pinterest and as we do the pins, I delete them. But this way, hopefully I can keep everything together for future reference. </div>
Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-67933734957235676412016-08-06T17:56:00.003-07:002016-08-06T17:56:59.963-07:00Pink Hair<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZ1hg8J9hSqH5k_cRWkc0I6lMS8QcX1XUIYOnvBpNRy9_K5TaDoROXLsfPViP3FSgnQ1Zt8GS-E1DN090Fj3LlK5nnO_sIKEyb6rmqP_we3P5MiijQIAlCwZ03uPE3hcqjjC-1ivxiy0/s1600/13668677_3471768266382_1317392028804810083_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQZ1hg8J9hSqH5k_cRWkc0I6lMS8QcX1XUIYOnvBpNRy9_K5TaDoROXLsfPViP3FSgnQ1Zt8GS-E1DN090Fj3LlK5nnO_sIKEyb6rmqP_we3P5MiijQIAlCwZ03uPE3hcqjjC-1ivxiy0/s320/13668677_3471768266382_1317392028804810083_o.jpg" width="310" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were waiting for my hair appointment to dye my hair purple, when you walked up alone to the receptionist and said, “I would like pink hair.” You took her and us by surprised, she looked at us, laughing and said, “Is she serious?” Your dad and I looked at each other. We both knew you were, but this was something we had not talked about. Earrings we voted no on until you understood a little better how much it hurt, but hair was just hair right? </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-cc8e2cc1-627e-9196-42d4-4895d89920c5" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We told her that we would like an estimate and if they could squeeze you in that it was okay with us. You are only 3 ½ but you sat for the full four hour appointment, waiting patiently for your pink hair. You sat quietly as she put the toner and very seriously picked out the shade of pink toner you wanted. You entertained us and them with stories that we took turns telling - Goldilocks, the “5” little pigs, the princess dragon, until my hair finally finished.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When we left you could not stop talking about your hair, and when we told you the rules of taking care of pink hair, you listened and remembered. “Don’t put shampoo in my hair Mommy. The pink will come out then.” But even with you following the directions, the pink quickly faded, and you informed me that you needed more pink.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So we did, and we even made it pinker. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This time a few people said a few disapproving comments. “I don’t think it’s right that you are letting her dye her hair pink.”</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I thought about it. And here’s what I decided.</span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a mom, it’s not my job to control what you are allowed to do with your body. It’s true. I made your body. I marvel at how strong you are and how big you are getting. I love watching you grow up, and it’s weird thinking that you were once my helpless little baby. I was a little sad watching your hair turn its lovely shade a blonde to pink. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the thing is, my goal is to help you love your body and see it for the amazing tool that it is. It can do incredible things. I want you to not look at it’s imperfections but instead look at how amazing it is. I want you to feel like it fits your unique spirit just right, even if that means pink hair and black dresses every day. I want you to treat it with love and help it be healthy. Eventually when you get a bit older, I want you to be able to deflect the insecurities that the world and the media throws at you about how you should look. The messages are not kind, and I do not want you to absorb them. If I tell you how you should look and dress, I think it will be easier to listen to those messages when I stop or am not around. </span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your body is yours - pink hair and all. I hope that’s one thing you always remember.</span></div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-84463358857258225262015-10-21T15:18:00.001-07:002015-10-21T15:18:07.980-07:00Perks of being a Stay-at-home-mom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Now that I'm working I'm starting to really appreciate certain things about being a full time stay-at-home-mom. Here's just a few of them.</div>
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<b>1. If you don't like someone, you don't need to see them ever again.</b></div>
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I have one coworker and custumer that I really do not like, and now I'm struggling to figure out how to get along with. In the last few years, if there was someone I didn't like, I just didn't see them again. </div>
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<b>2. If I don't like part of my job, I can outsource it.</b></div>
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<b> </b>I hate laundry, so Matt does it. I'm my own boss at home. I run all the operations and divide them out from there. At work, I'm not in the position to do this almost at all. Luckily I like most of my job, but I appreciate this more</div>
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<b>3. I only have to be as social as I feel like.</b></div>
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Somedays we can stay home all day and sometimes we hang out with friends all day. As a stay-at-home-mom I only have to give myself as much as I want. I can order pizza and watch movies all day with Madeleine or drive to the beach to relax. Now no matter what most days I have to have a smile on my face and chat and talk with people no matter what I feel like.</div>
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<b>4. We spend less money.</b></div>
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It's kind of funny but I think working out of the house actually barely makes any money, even though we aren't paying for daycare. The money is going towards food - more out to eat and more packaged food. The efficiency and focus on our home is weakening.</div>
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<b>5. Lower stress levels</b></div>
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Our home is just a bit more stressed. It's not money stress. It's just like there is more to do and more to handle. There is daycare, work schedules, and unexpected meetings to work around.</div>
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I love working, but I'm also realizing that money doesn't motivate me as much as I wish it did. I wish we could be wealthier, but I am also daily reminded that money doesn't equal happiness. I'm so glad that I'm only working part time, and it has been really reassuring that I did <i>choose</i> to be a stay-at-home-mom. It's something that does make me happy and allows me to be the kind of person I want to be. I often second guess myself wondering if I would be happier with a career, but this has shown me I don't think I would be. It doesn't mean I'm going to quit my job but having a career in general is lower on my list. I'm not that ambitious and I'll take the pay cut to have a less stressful life. </div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-51114040755538097072015-10-05T10:36:00.001-07:002015-10-05T10:36:52.400-07:00Biking Adventure - Sandy Hook<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This post is going to have so many photos. This bike ride was amazing. I had heard that it was a good place to bike but didn't read up on it at all, so Matt and I were both pleasantly surprised. Sandy hook is a little over an hour from our home and it's a hook off of New Jersey. It's really thin in some parts and you can easily see both sides of the island. Matt and I hooked up our bikes and collapsed the trailer and off we went.</div>
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I thought the trail would be mostly beaches, but no, I was completely wrong. I also thought it would just be a dirt path but as you can see it is a wide paved bike path!</div>
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We were standing on one side of the beach and that's how close the other side was. It really is thin in some parts. </div>
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There were a lot of fisherman. :)</div>
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So after we got past all the pretty beach part, we started running in to the historical military parts. I had no idea that they were there and guys, there is a lot. Just about every war from 1880 on built some type of base there, and none of them have been torn down (though as you will see many are falling down on their own.) </div>
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This is one of the earlier ones. Apparently you can take tours in it and there are tunnels. It was built right after the civil war. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_Potter">(Wiki article about it here)</a></div>
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We were pretty excited to see bike racks too. </div>
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A little bit later, we ran into this part. If I remember right, this used to be big anti-aircraft guns that were built in the 1950's used to be here. (Project Nike.) They took down the guns but the cement remains. Madeleine loved running around on it. </div>
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(Took a family photos by putting my camera on my helmet and set a timer.)</div>
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Just around the corner from all of that was the tip of Sandy Hook. We met some wonderful people here but I'll write a separate blog post on them.</div>
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Sandy Hook is a big tourist destination place and very busy in the summer. There is even a clothing optional beach! It's kind of weird to see it so empty just a few short weeks later.</div>
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On the way back to our car, we took some photos of the old military housing. I have more respect for abandoned housing now that we moved out of Butler. I see them more as a ghost town haunted by history. It isn't hard for me to imagine kids growing up there and wives gossiping together and waiting for their husbands to come home during the Cold War.</div>
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They are literally falling apart and they are beautiful. I think it's sad they were just left to rot. </div>
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By the time we got back to the car it was almost dark. We packed up our bikes and walked down the beach. It felt so different than earlier that day.</div>
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It was beautiful and oh so quiet. The tide was out so the beach just seemed to stretch out.</div>
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I've been to NYC several times at night at this point and seeing it so close made the contrast of where we were and it made the beach even more peaceful.</div>
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But the effects on the city were still there. There was trash all over the beach. We try to leave any place cleaner than we arrived, so we spent a few minutes cleaning up trash. Straws and disposable cups were the most common, but there were plenty of other things that had washed up.</div>
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After that, we jumped into the car...and then hit another car. Oops. It was a very minor fender bender. Madeleine was so excited to see police cars and a "Mommy police." She kept talking about them. In the end, the only thing hurt was Matt's car, but as of last night even his bike is up and working.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-36860244897292606962015-09-28T06:21:00.001-07:002015-09-28T07:29:20.510-07:00Biking Adventure - Bayshore trail<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I think it's kind of funny how little I physically move despite the fact I spend a lot of time outside. Madeleine usually plays outside for at least two hours a day, but while she is running around, I'm playing ref. I stand, watch, and blow time out when needed, and if I miss a bad move, another mom ref is sure to let me know. Now that Madeleine is bigger being at the playground is more boring for me. She can climb most equipment on her own and rarely needs me. She also plays great with other kids. I usually only need to intervene for the occasional grabbing or sand throwing. </div>
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On the rare occasions I am doing something physical outside, Madeleine is sitting.</div>
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I'm currently trying to find more creative ways to start moving while being outside, so if you have any ideas...let me know. </div>
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But one idea we had was explore New Jersey more. New Jersey has some amazing paths, and we decided to check some of them out now that summer is over and there is free parking. The first one we went to was Bayshore bike trial. We wanted to bike it but we couldn't quite figure out how to get our trailer in the car. Since it was only 2 miles long, we decided to ditch the biking idea and just walk it with Madeleine in the stroller.</div>
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From the second we drove up to the marina we were excited. There was almost no one there, and we were able to park our car right next to the beach facing NYC.</div>
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The first part of the path was just walking down the marina. Madeleine was in love with seeing this many boats. There were yachts, small sailboats, motor boats etc. It was pretty neat.</div>
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Then the path started. The first part was all high beach grass that wasn't really interesting. But then after a half mile, it opened up into trees, with small paths that when down to the beach.</div>
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Madeleine kept yelling at Matt to get down because he was going to get hurt. </div>
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After that my phone died. :) I didn't think ahead. But we found dead horseshoe crabs that were over a foot long on the beach that were pretty cool. I had fun poking them with sticks. Matt and Madeleine had fun climbing on all the rocks too whenever we stopped. The walk was so easy and pretty. Madeleine kept pointing out a lots of flowers and sticks, while Matt and I had fun talking, looking at the beach, and the huge houses. But more than anything it was just pretty. There were not many people there and for the most part we could just hear the ocean. </div>
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I'm actually really glad that the bikes didn't work out because I liked taking this trail slow. I think the four mile walk took us about an hour and half with Madeleine in the stroller.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-56429668656882932332015-09-24T18:52:00.000-07:002015-09-24T19:03:44.899-07:00Girly Airplane and Space Room<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Pinterest rarely fails me but when we were looking to decorate Madeleine's room, I was struggling. She's into airplanes, robots, and dolls but loves everything to be pretty. "Pretty" in Madeleine's terms so far means floral, purple, or a dress, but I haven't figured out the rest of her definition. For example, Pottery Barn stuff is not pretty to her but skulls are? </div>
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Anyway I was really stumped on how to decorate her room, but in the end, I kept coming back to airplanes. Matt already made her rocket models for her room, and Matt and I both enjoy airplanes. It's not something we would get sick of. But I googled, pinterested, etc. and could not find an airplane room that was girly. </div>
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Here's what in the end we came up with.</div>
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Her room from the hall. The coolest thing is probably the pictures. I always ask for Matt's input on stuff and he didn't want to put up fighter planes. So we ended up printing black and white photos of what we consider important events. There are three people, Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, and Chuck Yeager with their planes. The Wright brother's plane, international space station, and the Hindenburg are a few of the other ones. Madeleine loves them and is always hitting them and taking them down. </div>
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(I'm a bit obsessed with this picture of Amelia Earhart)</div>
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To the right of the bench you have this. Her closet doors were glass so we had them removed, for those who are curious this is what the inside looks like.</div>
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We all share the dresser and we mainly just use the closet for her larger toys. Most of her toys are on the bookshelf next to the closet</div>
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Notice most of her pictures are black and white because I'm too cheap for colored printing. :)</div>
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Her bed was she was most excited about. I found some fun fabric at Joann's and threw the pillowcases together. Madeleine picked out the trims herself. The green polka-dot fabric has little yellow roses in the center. When she walked in and saw the room that's the first thing she gravitated towards.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR-hcuyBZP5JG9V1yVdEARzgTFmMaOSFuG8qaLEMMadmiXfvQE001vVNlBeeip9Jz1BdEAV0MaeOYplZflZCpwVJ-qH3OOSoG1WbKtejvsVZNmu2J4oUGUxANWYGUlXjSVWZ0RERlTvPw/s1600/2-0093.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR-hcuyBZP5JG9V1yVdEARzgTFmMaOSFuG8qaLEMMadmiXfvQE001vVNlBeeip9Jz1BdEAV0MaeOYplZflZCpwVJ-qH3OOSoG1WbKtejvsVZNmu2J4oUGUxANWYGUlXjSVWZ0RERlTvPw/s640/2-0093.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I still havent' completely finished her quilt. It's 90% done though and she's been sleeping with it for the last year. It will get done some day!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkEN0r_mO-soGgLdE9ZejktHwLZ1z06WaYd7IQaHuBYVi-jEBZ8AnDrelttgm8L57MibRWUG4SX_G5pXnmr518HS37slxvSe-OmmyX0D7CVxGgR0tE55YWMfaW6svFDDIn6NwSLp1bODg/s1600/2-0094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkEN0r_mO-soGgLdE9ZejktHwLZ1z06WaYd7IQaHuBYVi-jEBZ8AnDrelttgm8L57MibRWUG4SX_G5pXnmr518HS37slxvSe-OmmyX0D7CVxGgR0tE55YWMfaW6svFDDIn6NwSLp1bODg/s640/2-0094.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Close up of quilt.<br />
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The last wall I forgot to take a photo of. It has her little red kitchen.<br />
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It's been just over two weeks and she loves it. </div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-16593488536073611692015-09-22T05:53:00.005-07:002015-09-22T06:02:07.725-07:00Exponential growth<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZdBs09FkKC2vZNb52QuZAt1CcdF9jOjG6p3hs3ZUMI9V9IalZWt1nZb-F-i2FU4IhVno5NjBpn8C7j_eh0NxP2NpJTxAHaA6NR_LS8raCg5gyP1BqWClra1oaRT-BWTJLUBe8f1cL_Q/s1600/1-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzZdBs09FkKC2vZNb52QuZAt1CcdF9jOjG6p3hs3ZUMI9V9IalZWt1nZb-F-i2FU4IhVno5NjBpn8C7j_eh0NxP2NpJTxAHaA6NR_LS8raCg5gyP1BqWClra1oaRT-BWTJLUBe8f1cL_Q/s400/1-.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19.32px; text-align: left;">Madeleine turned a 1,000 days old yesterday. Here is her exponential growth chart.</span></div>
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Top Left: 10^0 days old</div>
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Middle Left: 10^1 days old</div>
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Bottom Left: 10^2 days old</div>
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Right: 10^3 days old</div>
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She'll be older than me for the next photo. I haven't even hit 10^4 days old yet. I won't until I'm 27.25 ish. </div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-64843767144731682932015-09-20T11:53:00.002-07:002015-09-20T11:55:14.118-07:00What I've learned my first week working at Starbucks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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1. Caramel Macchado Cream is really good. It's like a caramel version of hot chocolate but without the chocolate.</div>
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2. Starbucks is nice to their employees but not so nice to the environment. I get free drinks and a meal for each shift I work. I also get full benefits at part time and my manager is going out of his way to help me work only while Madeleine is in daycare. On the other hand, everything gets wrapped individually and we don't recycle anything including boxes and milk jugs.</div>
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3. Most of the customers at my store are regulars.</div>
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4. Not all of the employees like coffee. I'm the first to never drunk any before but I have several coworkers that admit that they don't drink coffee either.</div>
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5. Starbucks is amazingly efficient. Mixing drinks is complicated and their system continuously surprises me how idiot proof it is. Cups, containers, and machines are all designed to make things as simple as possible.</div>
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6. My training is going to take 2+ weeks. They have a schedule on the wall with what I am to learn each day. The first day surprised me the most. It started with the manager telling me why he hired me and what my first impression said about me. It was really flattering. I was also told that while I'll get feed back on my training, that I'll be giving my manger feedback on my trainers so that they can learn what they need to do to work toward their next goal. </div>
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7. Mixing drinks is hard and the science and history of coffee is pretty neat.</div>
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8. Most of my coworkers are married and my age or older.</div>
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9. Mocha syrup is just chocolate syrup. They call it mocha because it is used for primary mocha drinks and it makes the system more employee friendly.</div>
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10. The hot chocolate gets a shot of vanilla syrup and it tastes so much better without it.</div>
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11. They have a special setting for kid's drinks that is much cooler and can be drunk right away.</div>
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12. Most of the employees live pretty far from the location they are working at. Out of the 6 employees I have met, only one other one lives within 15 minute drive. My manger lives 30 minutes and another employee 45.</div>
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That's what I've learned so far. I've really enjoyed it, and I'm kind of surprised that I am. It's a pretty low stress job so far and people are nice. </div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-78730236472104789652015-09-16T05:55:00.000-07:002015-09-16T05:55:01.112-07:00Small shift<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-42nheROBN_qCVsHKhkpPYp3tvfgUtpbqQfOjcuNGolBbsUpVKVrqic-5_YAXprt0ypqBNhNv9-VSc6Nn9USogdVxbL-Q2cnLMFmZc8GQX6BaerHAcjABZmZQLDfMUEE8gR2Xz_ii9Iw/s1600/1-0077.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-42nheROBN_qCVsHKhkpPYp3tvfgUtpbqQfOjcuNGolBbsUpVKVrqic-5_YAXprt0ypqBNhNv9-VSc6Nn9USogdVxbL-Q2cnLMFmZc8GQX6BaerHAcjABZmZQLDfMUEE8gR2Xz_ii9Iw/s640/1-0077.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> I'm usually absent in photos but this one is a bit different, since the absence of me is what I feel most. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">Up to this point, it's always been me sitting across that table eating breakfast with her or at least hurrying around the room. But today that changed. A small shift but it's there.</span></div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-11945739810573304142015-09-15T05:36:00.001-07:002015-09-15T05:50:44.897-07:00New Normal? <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Tomorrow I'm starting work. You all might be sick of me talking about it, but I'm still pretty nervous about the whole thing. Last night I finally stopped procrastinating as much and finished up most of the things I needed to get done before tomorrow. </div>
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We have done several test runs of the schedule and for the most part it working pretty well. Little things, like having a clear path out of our room (so I don't scream and wake Matt up) and having clothes out for Madeleine the night before, surprisingly made a big difference.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOjZFyAjEPkS4dwMGy9o8qzJPicQZLRezVYOCzInAFyJemWfFFewybD3fl3JR2GxxDZlp-M3mjwnonBBNslhPhjHOEf4tuHDnjJJUKN5s5iCey5B-YlsiQBo9oa2b-R9ERhQRpAEQVpg/s1600/WP_20150915_08_13_29_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlOjZFyAjEPkS4dwMGy9o8qzJPicQZLRezVYOCzInAFyJemWfFFewybD3fl3JR2GxxDZlp-M3mjwnonBBNslhPhjHOEf4tuHDnjJJUKN5s5iCey5B-YlsiQBo9oa2b-R9ERhQRpAEQVpg/s640/WP_20150915_08_13_29_Pro.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stay-at-home mom schedule/working full time at home</td></tr>
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One thing that is constantly surprising me is how much more organized we need to be, even though I'm only working part time. I cannot even imagine working full time out of the house. Things that used to be flexible like bedtime are suddenly a set time, and other things that I didn't even have to think about matter - like what we are eating for breakfast.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkF-lQYJQAulI9fsIrJ7Rw0nS4bkn7uHsxXX6VNIN2__dLH5vPhT06IM9iP2N7Q8oJJNox4nAMrlc07p9SJmCzDH0Gp7FPzSaNb2FtyssP8MserQq8SeZPXKe4IwMywK-SnF_yd3zDvo/s1600/WP_20150915_08_13_35_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnkF-lQYJQAulI9fsIrJ7Rw0nS4bkn7uHsxXX6VNIN2__dLH5vPhT06IM9iP2N7Q8oJJNox4nAMrlc07p9SJmCzDH0Gp7FPzSaNb2FtyssP8MserQq8SeZPXKe4IwMywK-SnF_yd3zDvo/s640/WP_20150915_08_13_35_Pro.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new schedule</td></tr>
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On the other side, it's interesting seeing the switch of childcare. Matt used to be in charge of bedtimes and I was queen of the morning. Now it's swapped. Madeleine loves being able to go with daddy to "Daddy's home" since her daycare is just right across the parking lot from his building. I think it will help him and me too. He's awful at waking up with an alarm and I'm not so great about going to bed consistently. So far, this has been helping with both.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGmFZRBZVTtqzB6qboREpRi5WfZWVl3Jm_r6HXJ98wajJaF8BrAnB-AY9adzgkxXUwmL-bTh5ugvqTKc-F9ECSdhg_pSwYuaK6eyk5mTUKN7FGGWsJVNrR8tcX77eGHAFflztAC_V40w/s1600/WP_20150915_08_16_49_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHGmFZRBZVTtqzB6qboREpRi5WfZWVl3Jm_r6HXJ98wajJaF8BrAnB-AY9adzgkxXUwmL-bTh5ugvqTKc-F9ECSdhg_pSwYuaK6eyk5mTUKN7FGGWsJVNrR8tcX77eGHAFflztAC_V40w/s640/WP_20150915_08_16_49_Pro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I realize that this is many people's everyday lives and my respect for them has gone up. I've been a full time stay-at-home-mom the first 6 months of Madeleine's life. The last 2 years I've been a working mom either at home or at someone else's home, but I never had Madeleine away from me. She came with me everywhere I went, so this is the first time I'm juggling daycare, home, and a bit of work. I've been on the side lines supporting these women as their babysitter, and now I'm dipping my toe into their lives, and I'm just a bit overwhelmed. </div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-46592531757507966122015-09-14T13:04:00.001-07:002015-09-14T13:05:43.773-07:00Toy inventory<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFUJAFvt1pxCZi3TOagz4jAzq8lJsXli8fo_7Gy5GAYwJVdo3v0Qul__Fhh3ypl0Vb2nuwjto754oZTuR5QVQ8zg4yoW9HWOM1klz__dzS_iXPAum1_UKnfDEOmGsMsLEfj21s4IgU7Ek/s1600/DSC_0074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFUJAFvt1pxCZi3TOagz4jAzq8lJsXli8fo_7Gy5GAYwJVdo3v0Qul__Fhh3ypl0Vb2nuwjto754oZTuR5QVQ8zg4yoW9HWOM1klz__dzS_iXPAum1_UKnfDEOmGsMsLEfj21s4IgU7Ek/s640/DSC_0074.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Last year <a href="http://aisle11.blogspot.com/2014/11/all-of-madeleines-toys.html">we did an inventory of all the toys we had.</a> It was one of my favorite blog post. It was nice to see what we had and I wanted to do it again this year.</div>
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One of the big difference is this year, Madeleine doesn't play with as many toys. She has favorites and plays with them for hours. We are lucky enough that when she grows out of them that we have plenty of younger friends to pass them onto. At this point, we don't really need a toy rotation either. All of these fit in Madeleine's room and she is responsible enough not to trash her room. On the occations that friends come over and everything gets dumped out, it takes me less than 10 minutes to clean everything up and about 20 for her. It's a good balance right now.</div>
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<u>List of Madeleine's toys</u> </div>
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1. Train set</div>
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2. Two waldorf dolls</div>
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3. Sophie</div>
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4. Tiny purple baby</div>
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5. Two bears</div>
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6. Two puzzles</div>
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7. Knobbed cylinders puzzles</div>
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8. Wooden rocket</div>
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9. Wooden plane</div>
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10. Three wood trucks</div>
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11. Chemistry blocks (in green bucket)</div>
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12. Geeky blocks (in green bucket)</div>
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13. Drawing board thing</div>
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14. Doll house</div>
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15. Duplos (120)</div>
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16. Wool ball</div>
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17. Tin tea set</div>
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18. Dissecting doll</div>
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19. Doll stroller</div>
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20. Kitchen</div>
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21. Rodie</div>
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22. Bead set thing</div>
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In full disclaimer, we do have two small containers of toys that Madeleine doesn't play with for friends that aren't her age. We have a shoe box of playmobiles and small box for tiny babies. They rarely come out though.</div>
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Madeleine spends a lot of her time playing outside. Her dolls and bears go with her almost everywhere. The white bear is her bear and the "pink" bear is the bear that her friends play with. The knobbed cylinders are one of the most frequently played with toys. Madeleine uses them for play food and I have also seen them used as logs on the back of the trucks or just lined up across the floor.</div>
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I love watching her play. She's getting more creative. She "reads" books to her dolls and likes playing nap time. Her duplos recenty have been rockets and blocks have been used to build houses.</div>
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It's been awesome. Can't wait to see next years photo.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-46738478182156258692015-09-11T22:29:00.003-07:002015-09-12T07:03:19.015-07:00How much does Madeleine cost?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZX9mlIdNcx4sLgKYwiAWOoEiTVZxabqLw6q_5uThnipVODjsm0U8LIsXGiscmYFDbsbPIMsVsBunXyOnfsicS3OZNx0Jf6oO6MbGM9JZwb4zVKZ_-YAt8xoTBtq6rLGwE7-w63nRUOT8/s1600/Masters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZX9mlIdNcx4sLgKYwiAWOoEiTVZxabqLw6q_5uThnipVODjsm0U8LIsXGiscmYFDbsbPIMsVsBunXyOnfsicS3OZNx0Jf6oO6MbGM9JZwb4zVKZ_-YAt8xoTBtq6rLGwE7-w63nRUOT8/s640/Masters.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I'm pretty sure most of you have seen the articles about how much a kid cost to raise.</div>
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<a href="http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/18/pf/child-cost/">(If not, here's one.)</a></div>
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With me starting work out of the house next week, I've been thinking a lot about being a stay-at-home-mom and if it's worth it. Thoughts like would I do it again if I had the chance to do it all over again, what are the pros and cons, would we be better off financial etc.</div>
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I wanted to see how much we are saving by me being at home, but in order to do that, I had to first find out how much our kid cost. Since Matt is a neat freak, our finance spread sheets made it pretty easy to calculate.</div>
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So here you go.</div>
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<u>Pre-birth (2012)</u></div>
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Crib, stroller, carset, clothes, toys, and birth announcement: $129.24</div>
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Fabric for bedding and blankets: $87.60</div>
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Things for me (OB visits, prenatal vitamins, materinity clothes, and pregnancy books): $28.87</div>
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<b>Total: $245.71</b></div>
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(Does not include diapers or anything like that since we waited to grab that after she was born)</div>
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We also got $4,967 back on taxes for 2012 since she was born just before New Years and we qualified for both the earned income tax credit and the child tax credit.</div>
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<u>Day 1 to 1 year (2013)</u></div>
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Medical bills for being born: $453.03</div>
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Medical bills first year: $139.84</div>
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Clothing: $232.85</div>
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Toys: $76.17</div>
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Diapers: $210.72</div>
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Baby stuff (furniture, breast pump, changing pad, binkies, nursing bras etc.): $374.23</div>
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Formula: $50.06</div>
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<b>Total: $1,536.90</b></div>
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Housing doesn't apply for either of these time periods because we stayed in a one-bedroom</div>
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She was on <a href="http://aisle11.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-grad-school-family-series-insurances.html">medicaid for a lot of her first year</a> luckily so we didn't have too much in the way of medical bills. </div>
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Car to be honest, we don't spend much on our car. It's paid off and it's the same car we had before she was born. We didn't upgrade, and we rarely drive anywhere just for her. If you wanted to add gas, we average about $60 a month in gas and $1,960 total for everything (gas insurance etc.) a year.</div>
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Also during this time we got a $1000 for the child tax credit.</div>
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<u>1-2 years (2014)</u></div>
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Clothes: $337.94</div>
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Toys and books: $459.63</div>
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Outings and snacks:$496.80</div>
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Diapers and wipes: $209.01</div>
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Sippy cups and kid size utensils: $44.64</div>
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Healthcare: $1,050</div>
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Food: $1,002 (20% of our total food budget)</div>
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<b>Total: $3,600.01</b></div>
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Housing doesn't apply here either. The cheapest on-campus housing was a two bedroom. Even single people lived in them. If we didn't have her we would still be living in the same place.</div>
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Again we got a $1000 for the child tax credit.</div>
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And yay for not being sick at all. :)</div>
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<u>2-3 (2015 so far)</u></div>
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Clothes: $205.40</div>
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Toys and books:$223.07</div>
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Outings and snacks: $354.08</div>
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Diapers and wipes:$108.23</div>
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Cups, dishes, etc.: $100.46</div>
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Healthcare: $1,050</div>
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Food: $1713 (a third of the food in the house. She eats a lot)</div>
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Daycare: $510.00</div>
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<b>Total: $2551.24</b></div>
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Housing strangely still doesn't apply, since we got an extra discount for having a kid. It's actually about $100 cheaper than the one bedroom.</div>
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Daycare will all be reimbursed at the end of the semester by Princeton and we bike there and back.</div>
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Diapers drop drastically when we started cloth diapering.</div>
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And again, she's been pretty healthy. :)</div>
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So that's what we have paid so far for having a toddler.</div>
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<a href="http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/tools/CRC_Calculator/">According to the USDA</a>, we should be paying</div>
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<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tableClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_tblChildOverall" style="background-color: white; border-color: rgb(131, 133, 148); border-width: 1px; color: black; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica; font-size: 11px; width: 100%px;" summary="Provides a summary of the Overall Results."><tbody>
<tr><th align="left" colspan="9" scope="colgroup"><h3 style="font-size: 13px; padding-bottom: 1px;">
Overall Annual Estimated Costs</h3>
<h4>
<span id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_lblSummarySelection">(Household Type = Two Parents, Income = Less Than $61,680, and Region = Northeast)</span></h4>
</th><th></th></tr>
<tr><th class="tableHeader" scope="col" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"></th><th align="center" class="tableHeader" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"><b>Housing</b></th><th align="center" class="tableHeader" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"><b>Food</b></th><th align="center" class="tableHeader" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"><b>Transportation</b></th><th align="center" class="tableHeader" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"><b>Clothing</b></th><th align="center" class="tableHeader" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"><b>Health Care</b></th><th align="center" class="tableHeader" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"><b>Child Care and Education</b></th><th align="center" class="tableHeader" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"><b>Other</b></th><th align="center" class="tableHeader" style="background-color: #838594; font-size: 12px;"><b>Total</b></th></tr>
<tr><td align="left" scope="row"><b>Your Costs:</b></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbHousingOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$4,600</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbFoodOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$1,600</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbTransportOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$1,425</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbClothingOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$925</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbHealthOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$738</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbEducateOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$4,225</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbOtherOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$563</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_lblOverallTotal" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$14,075</span></td></tr>
<tr><td align="left" scope="row"><b>National Costs:</b></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbHousingNatOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$3,875</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbFoodNatOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$1,513</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbTransportNatOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$1,500</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbClothingNatOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$838</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbHealthNatOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$838</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbEducateNatOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$2,750</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_txbOtherNatOverall" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$538</span></td><td align="center"><span class="labelClass" id="ctl00_ContentPlaceHolderCalculator_lblNatOverallTotal" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 19px;">$11,850</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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We are higher on healthcare and food but below most other things. So according to this we are saving about $10,000 a year (that's also taking out an extra $600 for transportation). It also helps that I've been able to work most of her life with her, pulling in an additional $15,000 without having to pay for daycare. Also, daycare is way more than $4,225. The daycare Madeleine is currently going to would be $1,860 a month if she was going full time. (Although we would still get a $5000 discount from Princeton, but it would be $17,320 a year for her to go still after the discount.)</div>
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I'm pretty excited about working out of the home even if it's just a bit, but I'm already feeling the pull of shifting to being a working out of the house mom. Our lives are already more complicated with daycare pick up and drop offs and meeting up with friends is a lot more difficult. </div>
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So looking at the numbers...does any of this surprise you? I feel like the media tries to scare people in thinking that kids are unavoidably expensive and out of most people range. Matt and I are just starting to notice money going towards Madeleine, but to be honest, that's mostly because our food budget had to be bumped up a bit.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-40514793726557286492015-09-10T16:00:00.001-07:002015-09-10T16:09:40.600-07:00Thursdays<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuZK-JVoobHRwvZWcGeZATjL3TJlw1FzLF7zedGiBle8zeJ-ANWZaxAHRDF6L61DWLE5Ve9-Yzg149b70r6d3s_oTICO_vjJnThLGLxvNPN3-NyR4BDTLt06ThIkBY_BeqENvhUvnZd0/s1600/WP_20150910_17_07_13_Pro.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPuZK-JVoobHRwvZWcGeZATjL3TJlw1FzLF7zedGiBle8zeJ-ANWZaxAHRDF6L61DWLE5Ve9-Yzg149b70r6d3s_oTICO_vjJnThLGLxvNPN3-NyR4BDTLt06ThIkBY_BeqENvhUvnZd0/s640/WP_20150910_17_07_13_Pro.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Thursdays are my favorite day. It's our official library and farmer's market day. The farmer's market is right in the plaza next to the library so it makes sense to do both at once. (Although we do go to the library more than once a week.) We are in the middle of a transition right now, so it made this Thursday even better. Even though it was pouring, Madeleine and I picked up some fruit, eggs, and flowers. I love the familiarity of it.</div>
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After we ran to the library before we got too wet. </div>
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We have been reading some seriously awesome books lately.</div>
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Madeleine's books are some of my favorite. I've been on a biography kick, and children's biographies has to be one of my new favorite genres.</div>
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These are the three we have this week. All of them are good. I like <i>Firebird</i> by Misty Copeland the best. The illustrations are pretty and the words are a poem. Madeleine's favorite is<i> Me, Jane</i> since it has a monkey in it. If you have any biography children's books you love, send them my way! I'm trying to get my fingers on<i style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="line-height: 16px; text-align: left;">Swan: The Life and Dance of Anna Pavlova</span></span></i> next.</div>
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I've been reading three books this week. </div>
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This book has been a crash course on music and movies for me. I love it, but it's taking me forever to read through it since I don't understand 70% of the references. But if you want to know the history of the hipster (or nerds), like punk music, or 80s movies, you'll probably like this Twee book.</div>
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<img alt="Cover art" src="https://books.google.com/books/content/images/frontcover/7T-1jnYgIWUC?fife=w300-rw" /></div>
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I'm also almost done with this book. I've read a chapter every two days. It's a heavy read and I can't mentally take more than half a chapter a day. With that said, it's been one of the best books I've read in a while. It's helping my reading and I can't wait to use her questions for book club.</div>
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Lastly I'm reading Emily of New Moon for book club. I'm almost done.</div>
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Matt has also been reading. He read The Way of Kings last week and now he is starting on Emily of New Moon.</div>
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What have you been reading? Any traditions you particularly like?</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-71609619212433672202015-09-05T01:49:00.002-07:002015-09-05T03:05:55.194-07:00Day in the City (museum and 3 bookstores)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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As a former homeschooler, the first day of school was always exciting for us. It was the day that all the kids went back to school and we got all the museums and parks back to ourselves. Even though Madeleine is going to "Pre-K" next week, on Thursday I figured we still celebrate by going to an empty museum.</div>
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Our awesome library has free library passes you can check out for many of the NYC museums and in true to back to school fashion there were still several passes not booked on Thursday night. I chose to go the Children's Museum of Manhattan. So Friday morning, we jumped on the train at 8:30AM to start off our adventure.</div>
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Our first stop was the actual museum. It seemed a bit old and run down but Madeleine surprisingly loved it. I honestly thought she would get bored quickly, especially after we did two of the four floors in less than 15 minutes. But then one of the employees invited us to a music show they were doing downstairs. Madeleine was enthralled with it. She clapped. She danced. She sang with them. She actually sat for most of the performance! It was great!</div>
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(After climbing through the digestive system, there was a toilet that taught you about poop! All the toddlers loved flushing it.)</div>
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These guys were awesome. Here's<a href="https://www.facebook.com/wendyanddb"> a link </a>to their facebook.</div>
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After that we headed across the street to Cafe Lola. It's the cafe in <i>You Got Mail.</i> One of my mommy friends had suggested it and recommended the chocolate cake. We ordered lunch though and it surprisingly filled us up. I actually pretty disappointed that we didn't get any cake, but I'm sure we will next time. </div>
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By the end of lunch, Madeleine was an exhausted mess, so we then started to do the list of things I planned for me. We hit three bookstores. The first one was literally a small hole in the wall. I loved it. As you can see it was just jammed head to toe with books.</div>
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(Westsiders Book)</div>
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Then we jumped on the subway and went to Strand. I've been following their instagram for months and have been wanting to visit there. I think Strand is pretty much the perfect big book store. (Sam Wellers in Salt Lake was pretty close to that too) It has the big tall shelves and the miles of books, but it was stroller friendly!!! There was plenty of room for everyone and it was fanatically organized. I loved that new books were nested up to the old books. It made looking at any classic book fun, since I could see dozens of different prints and conditions of the book. It kind of made me feel like I could pick which flavor of that book I wanted. Also their rare book floor was incredible. It was kind of like the Princeton University Library but I could actually touch the books instead of having them all behind glass. I'm sure I'll visit there again soon.</div>
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Book I bought there. :)</div>
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After that we went to the farmer's market on Union Square. I was curious to see what it was like compared to the ones I go to. To be honest, I was surprised to see that the prices were pretty similar and they had a lot more specialty foods. It also was more interesting. People were playing chess, playing music, and just hanging out. It was a people hub, instead of a place to rush and get your organic produce and leave.</div>
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Madeleine was thankfully still asleep, so I walked a mile to the last bookstore on my list - McNally Jackson Books. It was a nice bookstore, but most of the books were new. I tend not to like those as much, but this bookstore had something that Matt and I desperately wanted to see, the Book Espresso Machine. It's a machine that will print any book in the database in 6 minutes. I was so excited to see this thing in person. Turns out they print mostly out of print books or self-published books.</div>
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I picked Emma. While we were waiting for our book's turn to be printed Madeleine (now awake) ate a cookie in the cafe. Madeleine was super impressed with the book lights. </div>
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Then the nice employee informed us our book was next so Madeleine and I walked over to watch it. In just a few short minutes I had a hot book in my hands! It was kind of thrilling. I think next time we will try to publish a book of our own. I was thinking that it would be really handy for printing off some of our blog post to have in hard copy.</div>
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After that we went to Penn station and headed home.</div>
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A few finial thoughts about NYC. Everyone reads more there. I see more people reading than anywhere else. I think it mostly has to do with the fact that the subway requires waiting. I kept finding books that I saw people reading that looked fascinating. </div>
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And lastly, one thing that I like most about traveling is being reminded that most people are wonderful. I hear how dangerous and rude places are but honestly I find that most people are amazing. </div>
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In NYC today, there were so many helpful and kind people. Every time I had deal with the stroller and stairs, someone offered to take it so I could carry Madeleine down. Madeleine starting poking this poor lady on the subway, and instead of getting mad, took out her earbuds and started poking her back. In just a few minutes, Madeleine was giggling and behaving. In Penn Station, Madeleine had had enough and took her shoes and threw them at two people. Suddenly two strangers where handing me her shoes back and helping me get the stroller down the escalator.</div>
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It hasn't just been this time either. Last time I was in NYC by myself, I got lost on the subway due to construction. Then the subway I thought I was supposed to be taking broke down so everyone had to get off for 20 minutes while they got a new one or something. I ended up asking these nice ladies for directions and ended up sharing cupcakes and macaroons with them while chatting about books. I lost my wallet in Philadelphia last year and someone returned it to the Dunkin' Donuts with nothing missing. I like that the more people I meet the more I like humanity. There are definitely jerks in this world, but I think most people are kind and I like that I get that reminder every time I leave home.</div>
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Anyway, I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable with NYC, so any suggestions of other places to visit there? Especially bookstores?</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-62839230441253325722015-09-01T19:04:00.001-07:002015-09-01T19:04:06.509-07:00"Preschool"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Madeleine starts "preschool" in a week! It really is just 2 hours of free play with a snack and a craft, but guys, we are SO excited.</div>
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I'm excited for sometime to myself and Madeleine is excited for me to go away?</div>
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That might sound kind of weird but lately she has this new thing that she'll see friends or adults we know and then turn to me and say, "Bye Mommy!" repeatedly until I leave or explain to her that I'm staying. Most of the time if I'm staying, she'll get upset. I think she wants a bit more independence from me and I think that this will be a good fit. </div>
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I went to the parent teacher night tonight. It was really boring, but Madeleine's teachers are really nice. I think she might the youngest in the class so they put me to help in the classroom the first day.</div>
Matthew Nielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034306266738967440noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-33649515755663513582015-08-26T15:57:00.000-07:002015-08-26T16:00:26.834-07:00Teddy Bear Picnic<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It's funny how every summer I can't quite find the will to blog. The weather is just too beautiful and summer days are literally full of our favorite things. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">With the summer coming to a close, I desperately wanted to throw a party for Madeleine. I was really planning on doing it on her half birthday, but we ended up moving right around then. So I decided to host an unbirthday teddy bear picnic. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I kept the whole party pretty simple. I asked everyone to pack their own lunches. Siblings were welcomed and no gifts were needed. We pretty much just kept to inviting our neighbors that live in Princeton, but even with that limit we still had around 35 people come! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">It was so much fun. (At least for me)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Madeleine woke up that morning shocked to find so much sugar on our table. She only requested pink cupcak<span style="font-family: inherit;">es (her current favorite color). I also bought goldfish, made honeycomb rice crispies, and </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Lotte Koala cookies. We grabbed our coffee table and our pile of quilts and headed to the park. </span></h3>
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Madeleine was thrilled that some of our friends were already there when we arrived, and by lunch time everyone had shown up. The kids ran around around while the adults sat on the blankets and talked. I really only saw Madeleine when she would run over and grab a cupcake before running off again.</div>
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We didn't have any games or anything, so around nap time people started heading home. It was nice and relaxing for me, and I loved seeing everyone that had been gone all summer. </div>
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Hopefully we can do something like this next year. I think it was a good compromise for our little Christmas girl.</div>
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(All photo credit goes to my friend Rachel. I didn't take a single photo. Thankfully she did!)</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-41607686020221432015-08-26T07:23:00.000-07:002015-09-28T07:34:21.548-07:00End of Summer and 36"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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One of my most favorite things about New Jersey is that the weather changes almost exactly with the seasons. It makes me excited for the change and we know when it's coming. With summer coming to the end, Matt wanted to celebrate with going to <a href="http://aisle11.blogspot.com/2014/08/jenkinsons.html">the boardwalk. </a></div>
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We headed to the little aquarium first. It's pretty small but it's so perfect for a toddler. It's mostly full of rescue animals.</div>
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The sharks scared Madeleine a bit but then she saw the penguins. Oh she was SO excited, she screamed penguins and ran across the room. The run across the room reminded me of a sappy romance film. She was so in love.</div>
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After a while we were able to pry her away from the penguins to see the seals. One of the seals is completely blind. </div>
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After about an hour we finally left, and headed to the actual boardwalk.</div>
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We walked over to the rides, and unlike last year, Madeleine was excited to ride. We were excited to find out she was over three feet tall so we didn't have to ride with her. </div>
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Our little airplane obsessed girl was thrilled to see a pink helicopter. All of the rides seem to have the themes of "pink" or "transportation."</div>
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The last ride she went on was the "biking" ride. She was so nervous. haha. But after a few times around she noticed that several of the other kids were picking their hands up above the bike. She put on her brave face and tried a few times. The lady next to me told me that it was one of the best brave faces that she'd seen. ;)</div>
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I love my little three foot tall girl. She's grown up so much this year, and I couldn't be prouder of her.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-16983558547898971892015-07-29T13:01:00.001-07:002015-07-29T17:58:32.924-07:00A long post about dolls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I got a new job!</div>
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Baby X is leaving our home for good at the end of August, but I have a nice little side job to keep our budgeting going after he leaves. </div>
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I am helping (and learning even more) to make Waldorf dolls for a lady that sell them here in Princeton. She just got a big contract from a toy company and needs help making them. I've made a few on my own, but I'm even more excited to help her. Her dolls are beautiful and so sweet, and I can't wait to learn even more from her.</div>
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The 3 dolls I made. We only kept the bottom one.</div>
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Waldorf dolls are pretty special and expensive. </div>
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They are made of all natural material and are filled with wool. (The wool makes waldorf dolls feel warmer than most dolls, since the wool gets warmed by your body heat).</div>
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They have neutral facial expressions so that kids can imagine them feeling a range of emotions. Ella (the bottom one) for example is usually sad because she wants a cookie and I won't give her one. (Madeleine yesterday, "Oh no!! Ella sad!" "Why she is sad?" "She crying. No cookie. So sad.")</div>
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Usually since they are pretty expensive, a child only will have one or two dolls at a time. The thought behind this is with few dolls then a child will love and appreciate each doll more.</div>
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We found this to be true in our home. Madeleine currently has four dolls, and it seems like the sweet spot for her right now. She plays with all of them frequently and we have enough dolls for when friends come over. If you want to read more about the benefits of having less toys, I recommend the book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Simplicity-Parenting-Extraordinary-Calmer-Happier/dp/0345507983">Simplicity Parenting</a>. It's a pretty boring book, so I didn't actually finish it, but the part I did read was amazing and has influenced my parenting. It kind of reads like a text book.</div>
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Waldorf dolls come in all shape and sizes. I have found that materials for a larger doll cost start around $60, and the smaller ones are closer to $40. But the real cost is the amount of labor that gets put into these dolls. Each of my dolls took me a day or two to make. I think this is pretty typical and dolls tend to start around $100 a doll. (I think the average is probably closer to $150. The toy store I think is selling them for $130 each) Some doll makers' work are incredible and they spend weeks on each doll. Their dolls are auctioned off to doll collectors that can easily end up over $2000 per doll. </div>
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Here are some of my favorites.</div>
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<a href="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0110/4622/products/DSC_7722.JPG?v=1436828775" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0110/4622/products/DSC_7722.JPG?v=1436828775" height="400" width="263" /></a></div>
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This little doll is from Bamboletta, one of the most well known doll makers. She cost $135.50. You can check out their <a href="http://bamboletta.com/collections/available-dolls/products/copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-copy-of-cuddle-doll-new-11">page here</a>.</div>
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You might not be able to tell but this doll is made extremely well! Her face and body was carefully sculpted with needles. You can check out this doll maker <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lil-chickpea-dolls/466394610131768?fref=photo">facebook page here.</a> If I remember right, I think her dolls run around $350-$700.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JnsxoLkgKD6WRyqBe8F4xmYgcL_Qtta_bC35zqiV0J13AbeiYkTGFZ09_IQa-VtUeyw_sEkAjcHrNR97Bc3rad73_YP7b6WN1aGnJTIAnjPei-U4YruO9uRc7gVMMC8zh8Ad97Gu8iw/s1600/1545097_971110269577728_3537007782230762763_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JnsxoLkgKD6WRyqBe8F4xmYgcL_Qtta_bC35zqiV0J13AbeiYkTGFZ09_IQa-VtUeyw_sEkAjcHrNR97Bc3rad73_YP7b6WN1aGnJTIAnjPei-U4YruO9uRc7gVMMC8zh8Ad97Gu8iw/s640/1545097_971110269577728_3537007782230762763_n.jpg" width="470" /></a></div>
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The queen bee of doll making is this maker in my book. She's incredible. Her facebook page is <a href="https://www.facebook.com/MonPetitFrereDolls?pnref=lhc">here</a>. If you scroll down on her facebook page she has a video of her making the faces. She said some dolls take 80 hours to make the faces! Seriously so much work and love go into her dolls.</div>
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Now you might be like wow. Why would anyone spend that much on a doll? Well, Waldorf people in general appreciate and pay for people's craft. I like them for that a lot. But don't worry if you want a doll, there are also places to buy them used. You can get them as low as $30 and they are still in pretty great condition. We have bought two that way.</div>
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Also, there is also the option of making your own. There are so many people who have put their own patterns up on pinterest for free. They have great directions and if you have the time, it pretty simple. I used this tutorial for the first doll I made. She has a link to the pattern and everything.</div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GEMYPK_na5I/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GEMYPK_na5I?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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And last but not least, I think, is introducing your child to a doll. Another amazing doll maker (seriously, I would love to see one of hers) put up this great way about how to introduce a doll to your child. </div>
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http://www.figandme.com/figandmeblog/gandme.com/2011/12/meeting-and-friendship.html</div>
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It might be silly to some people to put this much work and money into a doll, but dolls and kids have strong relationships. Sophie is basically a member of the family in our house. Madeleine's dolls give her comfort when we can't and she role plays frequently with them. They have been potty trained, had their noses blown, and even given pep talks.</div>
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Dolls are special, and I really love the fact for these special toys are not something that is quickly bought. They are generally carefully loved and thought out from when they are being made to when they are being presented to the child.</div>
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One of my favorite things was taking a knitting class here in Princeton and mentioning that I wanted to make clothes for one of Madeleine's dolls. My teacher got excited and told me she had made her daughters some years ago. She brought them to the next class. They were so beat up. The hair was tangled and the skin of the dolls were broken. She told me that despite the fact her daughters were in college that these dolls were still loved and part of the family.</div>
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I like the non-disposable nature feeling that it gives these dolls. I like that they are eco friendly. I feel like they line up well with some of our goals, and I'm so excited to make them.</div>
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Let me know if you have any questions.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-80106266720336144552015-07-24T10:05:00.000-07:002015-07-24T10:24:06.213-07:00YNAB<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Disclaimer: This isn't a sponsored post. I just like this product. </div>
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At the end of last month, I mentioned to Matt that there was a budgeting program that several of my friends had mentioned and that it was also free for students. I thought he was going to shoot down the idea since he's been pretty stubborn about using his own method with excel. He said yes though and emailed YNAB and the next morning we had our free code in our email.</div>
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We spent the whole next morning putting in June's expenses (They were awful since we had moved, but on the upside, we did make more than we spent.) and then hammered out a new budget. </div>
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September is bringing a lot of changes. The biggest one is that Baby X is leaving us after almost 16 months of me watching him. That means we are losing a pretty big source of income. I have a few plans and another small job lined up (it is one of my dream jobs) so I'm not worried about the loss of income in the long run. </div>
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So with only living on one income and our new rent price, we set a new budget.</div>
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It works out so that we have $786 a month for all expenses that are not bills.</div>
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Here is what next month looks like...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahhotGqNxaSF-6vj2MqTSsbUcxXBC_zlbS6I_JRAI-aRSS6YF1SLFTN7qXfmupfWPKK4NvrkiPvqglCJUyl9Vn5rAq6vnlnZEiWIRGu2rWGso3nigmUJ8lbrkNrth8_c-uzheSIwFlF4/s1600/budget.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="359" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhahhotGqNxaSF-6vj2MqTSsbUcxXBC_zlbS6I_JRAI-aRSS6YF1SLFTN7qXfmupfWPKK4NvrkiPvqglCJUyl9Vn5rAq6vnlnZEiWIRGu2rWGso3nigmUJ8lbrkNrth8_c-uzheSIwFlF4/s640/budget.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I know it looks pretty empty right now, but that's because we haven't filled in what's going in for the bills yet. We'll do that on August 1st. </div>
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YNAB is basically a more user friendly version of excel. I hear it's a lot like mint but most people seem to like YNAB a bit better. We didn't look into mint since YNAB is free for us.</div>
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Monthly bills are covered by half of Matt's income. Whatever is left over is what we save for the month. The other half goes towards everyday expenses.</div>
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Other then food and gas, everything else we consider flex money. The categories under flex money are really subsets under it. We found it was easier for us to track it this way though. I picked what I was actually interested in tracking for our subsections. For example, I'm trying to eliminate shopping at Target and Walmart completely. (I don't have a problem with either company). Matt and I plan what we are expecting this month and budget that way. Like this month, we had a $150 medical bill to pay, which is usually not the case, but we also knew we were not traveling.</div>
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At any point, I can see how we are doing by clicking on reports. There are various charts that show different things. My favorite is the pie chart. This is what July looks like so far.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9m3sRqBDDvUGdGsdVyE8XQI6_cyd37SsASVcpG6ASw2gHujHJFQcqiRyogBxeHCds-hFcngT3hou8plM7s0sg6nJHPYozZZQI_R8cEvBJ-Bdf0V2v5DURXf-6EQxIHB1fiab_-YHr4qU/s1600/budget2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9m3sRqBDDvUGdGsdVyE8XQI6_cyd37SsASVcpG6ASw2gHujHJFQcqiRyogBxeHCds-hFcngT3hou8plM7s0sg6nJHPYozZZQI_R8cEvBJ-Bdf0V2v5DURXf-6EQxIHB1fiab_-YHr4qU/s640/budget2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I like it a lot so far, since it's easier for me to read than Matt's excel sheets and it automatically updates on my computer when Matt updates it.</div>
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We also tried a new way to manage day to day expenses but I'll blog about that another time.</div>
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This might seem kind of weird to blog about, but I'm really excited about it. Matt and I have some big goals that we are trying to reach and we need money for a few of them. Also, it's really nice having finances in order. It's a lot less stressful in general.</div>
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Anyway, let me know if you have any questions about YNAB. I probably won't be able to answer them, but I can point you in the right direction.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-4767834451817013312015-07-22T06:09:00.002-07:002015-07-22T06:09:22.083-07:00Sick babies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Because everyone needs to sit around in diapers and their dolls...including Doll.</div>
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We have the strangest sickness going around. It's a very mild cold that makes you very, very sleepy. Madeleine caught it from Baby X, who a week later is still trying to shake it off. They both cough maybe once an hour and then need their noses blown a few times day. Other than that, they just sleep and sleep. </div>
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Madeleine has been saying some very cute things though.</div>
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She woke up and pointed to cupboard.</div>
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"Cupcake and Daddy chips Mommy."</div>
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(Daddy chips are what she calls chips since Matt eats them. She loves them almost as much as him.)</div>
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"Mooommy, water in my nose!!! Water in my nose!"</div>
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(She was trying to tell me about snot. She doesn't know that word.)</div>
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"Madeleine do you want dinner?"</div>
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"No"</div>
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"Do you want chicken?"</div>
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"No"</div>
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"Do you want carrots?" (Her favorite food recently)</div>
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"No"</div>
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"Do you want a cookie?"<br />"Okay, cookie."</div>
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"How about a milkshake?"</div>
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"No"<br />"A cupcake?"</div>
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"No, cupcake. Cookie Mommy, okay?"</div>
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I hope she gets better soon. We have some things she was excited about coming up and I don't want her to miss them! But in the meanwhile, I'm getting my fill of toddler cuddles.</div>
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Michelehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01688055195720685915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2975533536399135450.post-45650399118595740132015-07-16T06:17:00.000-07:002015-07-16T06:17:18.304-07:00First Paper Explained<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Matt got his first paper published!!!!</div>
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While this may not be the most ground-breaking thing for Chemistry, it is for our family. Matt publishing this paper means 1) He got one project to work so now that shows that he is at least kind of competent and 2) he has a decent shot at getting a job. I'm going to let him explain what his paper is and hopefully you'll kind of understand what he has been working on for the last year.</div>
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<a href="http://i3.cpcache.com/product/1453122894/9_fluorine_tile_coaster.jpg?height=225&width=225" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i3.cpcache.com/product/1453122894/9_fluorine_tile_coaster.jpg?height=225&width=225" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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Matt's explanation in laymen's terms: Fluorine is a special member of the periodic table because it is the element that is most electronegative; in other words, it has a very strong attachment to its electrons. This is very important when designing pharmaceutical drugs. Usually, the human body degrades drugs by oxidizing them, a fancy term for "stealing all of their electrons" which causes the drug to fall apart and stop working. If you add fluorine to a drug, it makes it more resistant to having its electrons stolen, and this allows it to last longer and be more effective at treating disease.<br />
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Here are a few examples of fluorinated drugs (the fluorine is represented with the letter 'F'). The one on the left is an antibiotic where the fluorine increases its ability to kill bacteria, and the one on the right is used to treat high cholesterol. In both cases, the addition of the fluorine causes the drug to be much more effective at a lower dose.</div>
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So what's the problem? Well it turns out its not easy to put fluorine in molecules. One popular way of doing this is to take an oxygen (an 'O' atom) and convert directly into a fluorine. However, so far, the methods for doing this are either really expensive or they can result in big explosions. In short, the paper I just published describes a new way to add fluorine without the explosions or high cost. Hopefully, this will allow pharmaceutical companies to make cheaper drugs safely.</div>
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While this all may sound important, discoveries like this are made daily in the scientific community, and it is difficult to judge at the onset how important a discovery may prove to be.</div>
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Matthew Nielsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06034306266738967440noreply@blogger.com0