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Thursday, July 29, 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

The awesomeness of a bed

Let's call it raw, industrial-vintage fusion.  aa-ha that's the way we like it. Mostly vintage linens  that i've been collecting at estate sale.  meets cheap-chic bed of  We like to rock it frugal style awesome ohdeedoh style .

I liked this idea so much.  A bed made from casters and wooden palettes.  
picture from Under the Sycamore.


humm.  I liked this idea as much as I disliked the ho-hum & overpriced options available at the stores.  But we needed to tweek to fit the baskets underneath (aka new baby's stuff).  So, voila.  customized platform of 2x4s really awesome new bed.

Nobody was happier than Elliot.  Nobody in the entire world was happier than Elliot.  Trust us on this. 



It was Christmas morning and birthday and last day of school happiness.   Summed up into one 3yr old jumping on the bed.



And this makes papa very happy.  Okay, that's not his happy face.  Just trust me....


And really, what is one supposed to do with a thrilled ball of energy, at bedtime?  Our parenting technique has always been to squish Elliot.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Boise Music Festival.

yep. We stood in the hot sun eating junk food, 1/2 mile from the main stage to hear Bret Micheals and the Backstreet Boys.   To hear them.  We saw nothing but good mullets, bad drunks, and perhaps a glimpse at Bret Micheal's cowboy hat.  (Thank you to People magazine, otherwise I wouldn't have known anything about him.  Izaak thought that he was a wrestler.) 


But really, you don't go to these things for the music...you go for the collective mood, the food, the atmosphere, the je n'sai quoi of excited masses of people. 


This festival was chaotic, with more anarchy than sterile organization.  The barricade meant to usher people through selective entrances were hurdled and otherwise ignored.  Elliot and I entered a spot where a vendor dismantled a section to get his wares through. 
Alcohol was only being sold to people with over 21 bracelets.  BUT nobody was checking bags or coolers.  There was a guy holding a paper sign at one entrance that said "do not bring alcohol past this point".  People just walked past him with cans of PBR.

We fed off the excitement in the air.  Elliot gorged on cotton candy, like a good little girl. 





We did feel like bad parents for the exposure to Backstreet Boys, and for getting home at 11pm, and for having to bath our daughter because she smelled like cigarette smoke. 



But.  Over breakfast this morning - we got to hear the all about it from her point of view.  And we knew it was worth it.  Even her watching a man get arrested policeman help a man get a bandaid on. 


Yep.  She saw that, too.   

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Quickie Post

just the quickest post ever to say that

1) Elliot's bed has been upgraded to a twin...photos to come.
2) 34 week midwife appointment came and went with nothing exciting to report. 
3) Elliot's two phrases of the week have been "it's so unfair" and "that's awkard".  She doesn't use them correctly - just randomly and when it makes the least sense.  And we laugh.  So, she keeps it up - obviously. 
4) and one final word of caution.  When making dessert, do not leave the kitchen for a second because little ones move very fast when swooping in for samples. 


Saturday, July 17, 2010

We love the summertime.

We love summertime because of impromptu breakdancing in the street.



...for the live music & cooling off in water fountains, and getting ice cream afterwards.







...for late afternoon naps to escape the heat of the day, and sparklers at night.




































Because we can race the lawnmower at Grandma's farm.




...and eat bowls of good fruit, while making salads with stuff from the garden.





And because we love our inclusive family pedicures.



Last and least.  The un-romantic moments.  Walking through Target to get out of the heat, and swollen pregnant feet, and cranky three year olds,  and cranky 30 year olds...but we don't need to focus on that part.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Overheard this morning.

Izaak and I talking about our plans for the day.

Kristen & Izaak: yada yada, blah blah blah

Izaak:...I can't do anything that...

Elliot: Dad, you can do anything you think you can.

Izaak: Then I will be the president.

Elliot: um, sorry.  You're no Obama.

Yep.  Sorry Izaak.  Guess you'll have to do something else today :)

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Ezcema & Food allergies. An update.

Thanks to everyone who sent emails (or gave us a call) after our Eczema post a couple of months ago.  We loved some of the suggestions and did test a few out.  Some of you had some wacky ideas.  But we love you anyway.  We had really truly hit the metaphoric wall.  But after our urgent-help-us-now pleas appointments with Elliot's primary doctor and her allergist, we are unhitting the wall (or whatever the opposite of hitting the wall should be)

Also, to everyone who reached out in sympathy.  It was nice to hear from you, too.  I never did think I would be that mom.  You know the one.  The one with the kid with food allergies, the weird skin, all of that.  I have been the hover mother at any birthday party or play date she has been to.  I HATE BEING THAT MOM. But it is what it is - and I was grateful to get emails from other mama who have been through it. 

The outcome of the new treatments and testing is AMAZING.   Elliot still itches.  She still has scratch marks and scabs.  BUT not as many.  The redness is gone.  And, for the first time ever, her skin is soft.  Soft baby skin.  What more can a mama hope for? 

What the doctor ordered:
Bleach baths 3x a week. (for details, see link below)
Soaking baths 4x a week (30-45 minutes in plain, warm water)
     each bath followed with a heavy creme.  head to toe coverage
Cutivate, a corticosteroid, 2x a day where affected.
Bacitracin, an antibiotic, applied inside the nose at bedtime 5x a month
Benedryl, an antihistamine, at bedtime.

We are also in the process of redoing scratch testing, and blood testing that we first completed when she was 1 year.   Have any allergies been added?  Grown out of?  We should know soon.


_______
sites to check out:
One Mom Against Eczema - BLOG
Ask Dr. Sears - Eczema Summary
Surprising New Treatment - Bleach Baths

Wednesday, July 07, 2010

Cause and Effect.

(quoted as spoken) 
I can't go garden with you because I am going to the ball with a prince. 

I can't close my eyes [to sleep] because it makes my toes hurt.  My baby toe.

I can't pick up my duplos because my knees are broken and I am going to cry.  I need a tissue.

My whole body is hurting because you are not holding me right now. 


Why do we LOVE this silly little one?!?!  Because she can always make us laugh.

Monday, July 05, 2010

Still super charming. However...

I am nearly Charming.  Izaak is consistently mostly Charming.  Elliot exudes Charm from her fingertips.  Hence, the name of this page "CharmingUs". 
Good.  That is fine and dandy.  However, the name of this blog "Being IKE in Boise" is losing it's appropriateness in just a few weeks.   (That is Izaak, Kristen, Elliot if you didn't already figure)
I mean, there will be four of us.  And IKE+1 more doesn't have the same simplicity.  We've been IKE for 3 years.  It is on address labels.  We get letters addressed to IKE.  It is easier to write out than The Rasmussen-Baldwin Family.  And now, New Baby complicates the system. 

We have thought of some solutions:
  1. Name New Baby an "A" name...IKEA?
  2. Name New Baby an "I""K"or "E" name, and square the repeated letter. 
  3. Ditch the cute abreviation altogether and just use our real names.
Whatever get decided, just know that the name of this page will be changing soon. Suck.

This major urgent world crisis  minor inconvienent issue is complicated by another issue.  With just a few weeks left we are nowhere close to finalizing names.  Oh, sure we've had great suggestions, and have thought of our own wonderful ideas.  But nothing is sticking.  Nothing feels magical and perfect and IT.  Izaak and I both feel that there is a lot of responsibility in gifting a moniker to someone.  (to those that thought Elliot LuLu was an odd choice, you'll just have to trust me on that last sentence)  

And that brings me to the final issue of the day: since we don't know the gender, and don't have the name picked out, and there is no nursery to decorate...well, my 3rd trimester nesting instinct is restlessly looking for something to latch on to.

This could get ugly, folks.

Sunday, July 04, 2010

A history of four Junes.









This Independence Day & Langston Hughes

from Democracy & Freedom's Plow

Democracy will not come
Today, this year
     Nor ever
Through compromise and fear...

I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow's bread...
_________

American is a dream.
The poet says it was promises.
The people say it is promises - that will come true.
The people do not always say things out loud,
Nor write them down on paper....
The people do not always understand each other.
But there is, somewhere these,
Always the trying to understand,
And the trying to say,
"You are a man. Together we are building our land."

America!
Land created in common,
Dream nourished in common,
Keep your hand on the plow! Hold on!

     ALL MEN ARE CREATED EQUAL.

     NO MAN IS GOOD ENOUGH TO
     GOVERN ANOTHER MAN WITHOUT
     THAT OTHER'S CONSENT.

     BETTER DIE FREE, THAN LIVE SLAVES.

Who said those things?  Americans!
Who owns those words? Americans!
Who is America? You, Me!
We are America!
To the enemy who would conquer us from without,
We say, NO!
To the enemy who would divide us from within,
We say, NO!...

To all the enemies of our great words:
We say, NO!

Saturday, July 03, 2010

Did ya'know...

Did ya'know that...
  • Jesus was struck by lightning in front of church (google touchdown Jesus). 
  • In romance, opposites do not attract.   I found proof.
  • Real Men Wear Babies over at "Peaceful Parenting".  The photos reminded me of Izaak and Elliot back when she was a wee thing.  Those days are soon to be back again.  Izaak is definitely a babywearing-daddy. 
  • Is it Biblical for moms to work?  "Jesus Needs New PR" has an interesting take on that.  Actually the entire site is funny. 
  • Sometimes the worst things are the best things.  Or, so one woman learned.  Read Kelle Hampton's birth story (it is emotional NOT biological).  You may have already read it.  It went viral a few months back, but I just found it. 

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