Congratulations, it's a....

This is my first time doing a link-up!!!  Through the encouragement of my friend Michele over at Dodging Acorns dodgingacorns.wordpress.com from a blog that she follows allofmenow.com about life before we became Mom's.  I will post my entries over at allofmenow.com and here at thelittlethings-unknown.blogspot.com .  I am looking forward to gaining more followers and spreading some joy to others through my other posts. 

Hard to believe there is now a whole generation of women having babies that do not have to wait until the delivery day to find out if they will need pink or blue booties for their little one. As we know it always hasn't been that way, in the history if medicine ultrasounds to reveal a baby's gender is relatively a new thing. When my mother was pregnant with me and heading past her due date she had X-Rays to see how big I was, but not to reveal my gender.

I do not remember my mother ever saying if she had a feeling of whether I was a boy or a girl, all I know is that she said she had always liked the name Christopher, she never thought of a girls name so when I arrived my parents were clueless.  Now when I was born mothers and babies stayed in the hospital considerably longer than the 48 hours required today, so they had some time to think about a name.  Finally they decided on Michele Anne, Michele after someone my mother knew in high school that passed away and Anne just like all my father sisters and because his middle name is Allen.  Now here is the funny part, my parents had no idea how to spell Michele, hence the 1 "L" unlike the way most people spell it with 2 "L's".  I remember growing up my mother would always say "Michele with one L and Anne with an E".

I always thought my name was rather boring, unlike other names I thought were more exciting....Elizabeth, Rebbecca, Zoe (my daughters name) those at least had cute nicknames.  Growing up I was always called Mich, Chele, Meesh, it drove me crazy.  The only people that I didn't mind calling me a nickname were my grandparents, because I know from them it was special.  I can still hear them saying all my nicknames in my mind even though they have been gone for a combined 4 years.  I also remember when I liked my name because my initials spelt a word MAP, just like my father and I thought that was pretty cool!!!  When I was getting married I originally was going to change my last name, but then realized that I had no brothers, or male cousins, my sister was already married and changed her name, so I was the carrier in a way of our last name.  Now I know that I will not be able to make the name go on forever as my children have Mr.O's last name but my name is mine, it was mine long before I was Mrs. O or C's wife, long before I was H or Z's mother.  My name is something I do not mind as much now that I am 36, in the teaching world I am known as Michele Patnaude, many people know me as only that.  So as the saying goes, "that's my story and I'm sticking with it"

Oh sleep where are you??

Happy Monday!!!! That's my extent of Monday morning excitement. After a weekend spent partially with friends and partially just hanging out at home with the littles I was very much looking forward to a good sleep (as good as any parent ever gets), HA was I wrong!!!! After watching the Golden Globes with Mr. O while chatting on g-chat with some girlfriends off to bed I went, only to be awake every hour.
Now when I was working I would always have a hard time sleeping on Sunday nights. I would be thinking about which lessons to present, which materials to show children, what special activities were planned for that week, but now I don't have any of that to think about. Perhaps those thoughts have been replaced by thoughts of doing laundry, what to do with the littles this week, who has appointments and such. So today has been filled with water, tea, keeping busy and playing with the littles and hoping for a second wind or a nap!!!
What types of things do you do to assure a restful nights sleep???

And so it begins...

Aaaachho, as a mother I instinctively look over to see which child sneezed and see "the eyes" on H. Every parent knows what I mean by "the eyes", the tired, glossed over look that a child has when they are coming down with a cold. This is how our weekend began. Last week Z had the sniffles but thankfully one day and it was over. "It must be the dry air" we said "it had to have been the Christmas tree" we hoped, but when H started with the sneezes we knew it wasn't. So on Saturday with H just sneezing, and in a good mood we went about our day, catching the "Splash" show at our local Jordan's furniture store (an amazing water show set to music, that's free), grabbed some lunch and did a couple other quick errands, including a stop at Target to stock up on tissues and such. By the time we got home in the late afternoon my poor boy was officially sick, into pj's and climbed into my bed where he stayed until mid-morning on Sunday.
When H & Z are sick I usually will give them Tylenol to fight the aches and fever but usually we rely on the Hylands all natural homeopathic line of cold medicines and Delsym to calm the coughs, especially at night. I know there is a lot of controversy over giving children cold medicine, and I agree to over-medicate is not good, but I'm sorry when my children are crying because their noses hurt so much from us wiping it I am going in with something to help their runny noses therefore hopefully stopping any tears.
I also try and keep them away from milk and other dairy products, again I know semi-controversial but in my children it makes them cough more. When they are sick we stick to 100% juices, water and all natural popsicles. If they feel like eating something usually its fair game, if they want waffles for dinner or only fruit, so be it!!!!
Just as adults use handkerchief, so do H & Z, well technically it is a cloth diaper but it works just the same. I stumbled upon this idea one time when they were both sick and going through tissues in record speed, I dug through some if their stuff and voila there they were. By giving them each a cloth as they call them, it allows them to always have it by their side, to use it more than once and especially at night saves Mr. O and I from waking up to sneezing children in our face. At the end of each day I take the dirty, germ filled cloths and throw them in the wash with bleach and they are ready to go again in the morning.
This weekend was the first time H willingly let me put some "Baby Vicks" on him before bed, (partly because he was to tired to argue against it) and combined with sleeping on 2 pillows, he had a much better night on Sunday. Although I forgot to also put it on his feet, yep I said feet...I do not know how this helps a cough but it definitely does.
These tips and tricks combined with lots of cuddles and plenty of Disney Jr assure a quick recovery every time. Now to get the germs out for good before we ride the cold carousel again...too late, Z has another round of the sneezes and coughs. I hope that you and the little ones in your life stay healthy this winter!!!!!
Now for today's little thing....that would have to be Johnson & Johnson's menthol baby bath...who wouldn't want to take a bubble bath, and the fact that it is helping to clear nasal passages is great for children and adults alike!!!!!

2013 a year of change!!!

Happy 2013!!! A new year brings with it new opportunity, new chances, new everything. Already this year is changing me, literally!!! Just before Christmas my bestie had said this was the year she was going to get healthy, she wants to be around for a long time, for herself and for her family. Getting back into pre-baby health has been on my radar also, so along with 2 other friends we decided to go on this journey together. So here we are a group of 4 girlfriends supporting each other, laughing, sharing our success and our failures but never judging!!!! We are realistic, we know there are going to be days when exercising or making sensible healthy food choices aren't possible (we are mothers with small children, we HAVE to be flexible) but we also know that the next day is another chance to implement healthy strategies. We also aren't saying that we are running marathons, or striving to be in weight lifting contests, what we are striving for is to be healthy both in body and mind.

I have also decided to start blogging more, at least 2-3 times a week and to build my meager following!!! Now this means I am changing the direction I originally wanted to go with this blog, yes it is still important to me to realize "the simple things" in our lives I also see the need for me to explore more topics. I will make a point of including at least one "simple thing" in each post and occasionally feature them in longer posts.

Today's simple thing has to be my Merrell's, I love these shoes and with their wide treads they make walking on the ice and snow just a bit easier!!!!

End of the year wrap-up

2012 was definitely a roller coaster ride for us, emotionally, physically, monetarily and in many more ways. 2012 brought us many happy moments, both for us and our friends and family, challenges that we were not ready to face, choices that we were forced to make whether we wanted to or not and of course many "Little Things".
I am of course thankful that our littles H & Z are both happy, healthy, carefree children and overall 2012 was a good year for them. Our oldest little H began Kindergarten (when did he get so big??), made new friends, and was a happy little guy. Our youngest little Z said goodbye to both her pacifier and diapers this year, began taking ballet classes and discovered Hello Kitty!!!
As for Mr. O and I, this year was challenging. Unfortunately the "highlight" of this year was Mr. O's illness and subsequent recovery which thankfully he is now doing well. This year was definitely the epitome of "The Little Things", the smiles of a friendly face late at night in a hospital, the friends and family who took care of H&Z when we were at the hospital, my girlfriends who were there for us morning, noon and night.
While this year was a mix of high's and low's there were many little things that helped us get through the not so easy times.
Of course we are hoping for the continuation of good health for H&Z , good times with our family and friends, traveling a bit and more of The Little Things!!!!
Personally I'm hoping to blog more often, even if its just an outlet to think more like a college educated adult occasionally as opposed to just a SAHM, maybe even connect with other mom bloggers. Some of my girlfriends and I have vowed to make 2013 the year we focus more time to our health and well being to assure that we are here for a long time both for our children and to witness all the little things life has in store for us!!!!
Happy New Year....

Weekly Roundup

I am going to try something new in an effort to try and get my brain in more of a writing, adult mode rather than a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Kipper mode.  I am going to do a post hopefully every week of the little things that have either made me smile, made my life easier or that I just plain enjoyed, now I realize I may not do it on a Friday but nobody said a weekly roundup has to be on Friday.... So here it goes, while this summer has been anything but tons of fun for my family some of the recent little things have included:

Warm Bread - Yes in the dead heat of August I love a nice chunk of warm bread.  The other day C and I stopped for lunch at Panera and with my salad I got a nice warm chunk of a baguette, didn't think until after I inhaled it to ask for butter!!!!! YUMMY

Paper plates and plastic utensils - Yes, I know these things aren't great for the environment but they are great for quick meals and snacks, especially when you do not have a dish washer.  So I will admit to using these things and plastic cups but I do my part to help Mother Earth in other ways.

The other day I asked C if he knew where my Montessori Albums (large binders each containing all the lessons taught in a 3-6 year old classroom, that contain my sweat and tears) the answer I got was obvious "downstairs in the basement" I was looking for a more specific answer but oh well.  Later that afternoon we trekked down to the basement looking for the elusive binders and surprisingly they were easy to find, but what else I found was certainly better than any Montessori album....I found a cover to a photo album.  For a second or two I thought to myself "what is that and why is it here", upon closer inspection I realized that it was a cover to a photo album that belonged to my grandmother and in it were samples of her handwriting, one from childhood and one from adulthood.  This particular grandmother (LJP) passed away when I was 7 years old, I have memories of her and pictures but she is someone who is still very much loved and missed. She has away of showing up just when I need her, weird as this may sound it is true, there has been the occasional dream, the feeling of her presence at specific times in my life, or finding her photo album cover.  Now would I have found this eventually, sure but I can't help to think I found it now for a reason. My daughter Z shares the same middle name as my grandmother, Laura.  In fact the name Laura goes back 4 generations so far as we can tell, Z of course being the most current.  The picture below is of a quote that is taped inside the photo album cover, and applies so perfectly to this situation, even from the afterlife I know that my grandmother loves me and me her.

So there they are some Little Things from this week that have helped me out in one way or another recently.  I am hoping that as the summer comes to an end there will be more opportunities to experience all the Little Things around us.....

The Little Things....Easier Said Than Done

I have not written a post in several months but that does not mean I am forgetting about all the little things, in fact I need to think of them now especially.  While my family managed to skate through the winter without anything more than the occasional cold or sniffles and zipped through spring without any major allergy attacks I was looking forward to a healthy and fun summer.  Well that all changed when my husband became ill around the end of May, and like most men (sorry for the generalization) he just ignored it and chalked it up to allergies, having 2 small children, work, the sky being blue and everything else he could think of.  On June 11th that all changed when he had to be rushed to the hospital, he was unable to stand up at work and was so dizzy unlike anything he had ever experienced.   He was in the hospital for our son's (H) 5th birthday, which was one of the hardest things I have ever had to explain to H, and why we had to cancel his party not once but twice. Fast forward two months he has spent a total of 2 weeks in 2 different hospitals where he endured countless tests culminating with a spinal tap.  He has also spent two weeks at a local rehabilitation facility to strengthen his muscles and learn how to walk again.  Up to this point no Dr. can figure out what is making him ill, he feels as though he is walking in a bouncy house (think children's birthday parties).  All the Dr's can tell us is what isn't wrong, no tumors or cancers, not ALS, Hodgkin's disease or Parkinson's disease, he does not have vertigo, or MS.  And while this should and does bring us comfort it also brings us fear and so many unanswered questions.  The fact that he does not have anything serious and it is probably just a virus should be my little thing for the rest of our lives....but it is not. 
During this time of hospitalizations and rehabilitation centers I was essentially a single parent, yes my husband (C) did talk to the children (H&Z) and they did go to visit him, but the everyday parenting was all me, everyday.  We did have help from some amazing friends and family members but it was still ALL ME!!!!!  The outpouring  of love and support we have received from friends of mine that have never met C, friends of family members, friends from across the country has been amazing and for that we are thankful. 
I have tried everyday to find the little things to be happy about or that make me smile and yes even laugh.  Some of them have included, the hospital having an Au Bon Pain in it, can you say chocolate croissant!!!!  The fact that several times while at the hospital I left so late at night that the gates were up and I did not have to pay for parking.  The fact that when we were at our breaking points the nurses at both hospitals that actually cared, offered a hug or even offered ice cream to me!!!!!  Now there have been small things too, the butterflies we saw daily, the funny texts that my girlfriends and family sent me, the smiles on my H&Z's face when C came home....both times.  Needless to say there has been tons of tears, lots of yelling, times of frustration and days when we didn't want to deal with this any longer, but something keeps us going perhaps it is the little things in life that really are the great things.....
For today my little thing is sitting on the kitchen table cooling in a bundt pan and waiting for a healthy dose of chocolate frosting!!!!!!