... Forever de Jong ...

D's book is done!

2012-01-28T11:37:00.001-05:00

The hardest part of my post-TBI life is accepting that I've lost my ability to write professionally. Where my thoughts used to flow so fast, I couldn't help but write, not the process is slow, cumbersome, and usually full of typos. I usually have Niels proof my blog posts to take care of the most obvious errors. And if I have any sort of deadline, my brain just freezes and I can't think of anything.

About three years ago, when D was a baby, I was up in the middle of the night and I had a rare flash of inspiration. I had the idea for a series of books about a little boy who doesn't always want to do what he needs to do. I ran down to my computer to put down my thoughts and the basic text of the first book, "But I Don't Wanna Go To Bed."

In the morning, I read what I wrote, fully expecting that it would be gibberish. Instead I was very pleasantly surprised that it was still the cute story I thought I wrote the night before.

Over the next few days, I made a very simple version of the book using Powerpoint and images from the internet.

You can see it's been read many, many times.

Interior shot

This gives an idea of how old D was when I started this project.

I've wanted to make the project into an actual book, but knew that my brain would not be up for the pitch process. And really, even though I was working on a proposal for a children's book series before my TBI, I really just wanted something to pass on to my son so he could understand a little bit of my old self.

I remembered my talented friend, Dave Butler, who wrote and illustrated a super cute adoption book, what I had bought for a few of my friends.

So we starting talking about working together to illustrate my story.

Originally, we had hoped to have the book ready for Christmas. It's the Christmas gift to D's grandparents. The idea is that they could read the story to him over Skype as a way to stay connected. But between my terrible three-month headache, the energy spent on our new house build, and the realities of working with a brain that doesn't always work the way I want it to, and it took a little longer. Fortunately, Dave was great to work with, and very patient with me!

The page is a great example of how happy I am with his work. Since writing the book, our sweet Bailey dog passed away. Dave added Bailey to each page as a silent tribute to her, and it's fun for D to find her in each page. (It isn't hard, but he's three, so it's fun!). Also, since we're a Dutch family, the tulips are a nice touch. And yellow is D's favorite color.

Yesterday, Dave gave me the good news that the books are in! I ordered a small amount for family, and of course, for D, but we're already had a few requests for copies on Facebook, so I'll soon put in another order so we can sell them to anyone who's interested.

It's a lot less fanfare than my previous book release, but in many ways, I'm even more proud of this book. I can't wait to read D the real thing! And maybe, my brain will get started on the next one, "But I Don't Wanna Eat My Peas."

Jen's birthday interview

2012-01-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

In the spirit of our new family tradition, here's my birthday interview.

It's the end of the my 30s...

2012-01-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

Today is my last day in my thirties. Happily, 40 doesn't seem to bother me as much as 30 did. Perhaps because, other than sustaining my TBI and the fun that went with it, my thirties were pretty fantastic. I started out in a career I loved, my first book was published, I was under contract for a second, I was a home owner, I had a sweet puppy dog, and best of all, I met and married my best friend, and our lives were blessed with the arrival of our little boy.

As I think ahead to the next twelve months as a forty-year-old, I see a pretty awesome year ahead. I look forward to, in no particular order.

Moving into our dream house.
Celebrating five years of wedded bliss with the most wonderful husband I could have ever imagined.
Believing that my current treatment plan, combined with the brain-injury-friendly plans we incorporated into the new house will mean more good days and less days curled up in fetal position in my bed!
Spending a week with my mom in Las Vegas while Niels is attending a conference.
Getting back to the Netherlands to see my in-laws.
Watching my baby sister, Liz, get married.
Catching up with my best friends in April when all five of us are back in the same country, same state and same city!
Adding a new four-footed family member this fall. I thought we would wait until D started school, but I don't think we can wait that long!
Watching all the fun things my three-year-old will do and say and learn this year.
Taking the brain power and energy I've been using for making decisions for the new house and channeling into building deeper friendships with women in town.

D is three!

2012-01-13T21:38:00.001-05:00

I saw this idea on Pinterest and thought it would be a fun tradition to start. I did the interview closer to his birthday, and we've played "the question game" almost every day since. These answers are pretty standard.

This picture was taken on January 3, when we finally got a bit of snow. This is the first year that D has had any interest in the snow, but he tires of it as quickly as his mommy does.

New Home build almost done

2011-12-28T22:17:00.001-05:00

Since the last post on this blog we've created the new blog we were talking about in the last post detailing the new house we're building, sold the old house, moved to an apartment and are now about 6 weeks away from moving into said dream house.

Please take a gander over at the other blog, at present only 16,000 other 'clicks' were made to have a look... ;-)

The dream house

2011-05-22T00:04:00.005-04:00

This section could ultimately - and has now become - a new blog. We've closed on the construction loan for the new house and we are planning to start digging in the next few weeks. The lot is located at 4368 Folkstone Circle, Uniontown, OH 44685 but it is still in the city of Green - where we live now even though with a North Canton mailing address (blame local and school politics for that little gem of clarity...)

Anyway... we are building an ultra energy efficient 2-story full ICF (insulated concrete forms) house (projected HERS score: 40) with dual master suites since we have family and friends from near but mostly far and aging parents that will visit for extended periods of time. Plus, if something happens to us (accident, etc...) we can use it as well.

Below are two links to the house plans; the first link is the full set of plans from February and since then we've made a large change in the front elevation (second link). Changes made post the second link version are:
- Extending the stone left of the garage to about 3ft
- Replacing the screened-in back porch with an open porch
- Extending the now open back porch past the in-law suite
This should be the last major alteration and we are now full on in details mode looking at siding options, exterior and interior colors, faucets, etc...

Stay tuned for more on our latest project... Have fun clicking on the links (open in a browser, no special software needed).

Link 1 - February full set (8 pages)
Link 2 - Latest elevation (2 pages)
Link 3 - Link to our builder, the fabulous Charis Homes

March in Review

2011-04-01T10:01:00.006-04:00

de Jong Family, March 5, 2011

If you've been to our house, you may have seen a sheet of paper we have hanging on our frig. We hang up a new sheet each month to jot down important dates, highlights, decisions made, projects completed and cute things that Daniel is doing and saying. Since my brain's ability to make and retain memories is a bit shoddy, this is the way I "remember" our life (plus lots of photos!).

I haven't been very good about updating the blog, so I thought I could use my month memory sheet to make at least a monthly blog report, so here's March.

One of my all time favorite pictures of Bailey, circa 2005

Of course, the biggest news of March is that we lost our sweet Bailey girl to liver failure on March 5. It's been much harder than I thought it would be and it's still hard to think of ourselves as a pet-free family.

The other major theme of the month is that we've been quite busy with preparing the house for sale. We started almost a year ago, but we knew that with me, it would take a while, with lots of starts and stops as my brain needed rest. This month we replaced all the carpet upstairs and are in the process of putting a hood in the island above our stove. We've also done some deep cleaning projects: the fireplace, the frig, the pantry. And we finally got the septic tanks cleaned after flooding caused some friends' basement to be flooded with two feet of sewage. Blech! We bought new bedding for our room and the third bedroom, and we bought some new tables and art for the front living room.

Daniel's Room with New Carpet

Along the housing theme, we signed our contract with the builder on the 29th! We were approved for our construction loan on the 25th, and it looks like we'll break ground in May. (We may push off til June, but right now we're thinking May!) Even though we first started talking about building our dream house "someday" four years ago, I can't believe it's happening already! We're hoping everything will be ready by next Friday so we can list our house on April 9. Feel free to start praying for a quick sale!

It has definitely been an expensive month. In addition to the house repairs and improvements, we've had higher than average medical expenses. I had minor surgery on the 22nd for an ongoing issue, which can hopefully be resolved without a major surgery. I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor next week, so we're doing a bit of praying about that. I've been really tired for quite a while so hopefully that can get resolved.

I've also been struggling with vertigo and vision issues for several months, and finally realized that I gave myself another concussion when I hit my head on the sloped ceiling at Niels' parents house on New Year's Eve. The neuro who manages my headaches referred me to a neuro-opthalmologist and I've started vision therapy with her this month. So far, I have new contacts, and I have new glasses to wear when I drive or exercise to help with the vertigo and double vision. The official diagnosis is post-traumatic vision syndrome. I had it with my original TBI, but it's definitely more pronounced now. In a nutshell, my eyes are fine, but my brain is not communicating well with my optic nerve, so what I see is slightly distorted, and my vision field is smaller than it should be. Hopefully, my expensive new glasses will help remind my brain how to place nice with my eyes.

Watching the cars go by.

Daniel continues to be a joy. We are so blessed by this curious, serious, happy boy. Thomas the Train continues to be his obsession and we're looking forward to surprising him next month with A Day Out With Thomas. He also still loves Elmo, airplanes--he's always on the lookout for planes in the air, letters, books, beads, clocks, coloring, cooking with Mommy and helping around the house. He loves to put his clothes in the hamper, put clothes in and out of the dryer, empty the dishwasher, sweep and wipe the table. His big accomplishment this month is that he has given up the pacifier. I was starting to wonder if he would take it to college with him! We started to wean him when everything happened with Bailey, so we put it off a couple weeks and after a couple of rough sleep-less days, we did it!

We are amazed every day at how quickly his language skills--both Dutch and English!--continue to grow. He repeats everything we say and frequently uses 4 and even 5 word sentences. He's very polite and regularly says "please," "thank you," and "help" without prompting. He has thoroughly mastered his letters and has moved on to learning numbers, colors and opposites. He's pretty shy around groups, but is super chatty when he plays by himself or is in his crib. We love to listen to him on the monitor as he recites all the words he knows and practices conversations.

When he isn't playing with his trains, lego or colors, he LOVES to help me in the kitchen. I cook most meals at home each night, so after his nap, he's quick to get us in the kitchen to start dinner. He has an impressive knowledge of whole ingredients. How many 2 year olds do you know that can identify bay leaves and chick peas and basil and couscous? He's amazing.

***cute story alert: I think one of my favorite memories of Daniel and Bailey will be this...when Bailey first got sick, she was home and sitting on my lap. Daniel was playing with his train in his own world. I was talking softly to Bailey, petting her and saying soothing things like, "It's okay, Bailey. I love you, Bailey." Daniel stopped, walked into the kitchen, opened the pantry, found the bay leaves, and brought them over to us. He put the bag of bay leaves right up to Bailey's face and said, "Bay leaves for Bailey." ***

Love that kid.

Bailey is home again.

2011-03-16T12:37:00.002-04:00

Yesterday the vet called to say that Bailey was ready.

She may be, but I'm not. As long she wasn't here, part of me could believe Daniel, that she was really just still at the doctor, getting "fixed."

I'm so grateful for Niels during all of this. The morning after she passed, he went around the house and put all her things away in a box I can look at later when I'm ready to decide what to keep. I heard him crying as he did it, so I know it wasn't easy for him, and my heart swelled with gratitude that my husband loved my dog as much I as I did.

It got me thinking of some of my favorite Bailey memories. In my book, I described Bailey as "my heart on training wheels." When I first brought her home from my mom's house, I was a single career woman, a new homeowner, writing my first book. I was mighty independent, and not at all confident that I had room in my heart to love anyone unconditionally, let alone a pet.

It didn't take long to see that Mom was right. I did need a dog. As I opened my heart to Bailey, she showed me how to give and receive love freely. And one day, when Niels came to visit, she showed me how to recognize a keeper of a man, too.

I was quite sore from a car accident, and Niels was visiting me in Michigan at my townhome. I had just gotten comfortable on the couch when Bailey let me know in her insistent, enthusiastic way, that she needed to go OUT. Niels took pity on me and offered to take her outside. I told him where the baggies were, and warned him that if she went #2 that he'd have to clean it up.

A few minutes later, they returned, Niels went immediately into the powder room with the baggie. I heard him empty it into the toilet and then gag. I heard him wash his hands, and a moment later he came out. He never once complained or even commented how this little task made him sick. I thought to myself, "Now this is a man who will stick around."

We were engaged a few months later.

Before we were married, Niels bought our current house. Bailey and I had been living with friends nearby. It made sense that when Niels moved into the new house, Bailey would move in with him. During those few months, Bailey totally became a Daddy's girl. She LOVED licking Niels' ears. She still love me, of course, but she had a special affection for her Daddy.

It didn't take her long to look to her Daddy to take her out in the morning, and get her daily tummy rub when he came home from work. All day long she would watch for his car, and her ears would perk up if a Ford Fusion drove by. In her last weeks, Niels was kind enough to let me take the lead with Bailey's care, even though she was truly our dog by then.

Niels brought Bailey home last night. There's no way I could have done it. I don't know when I could walk into that vet's office again. They sent her home with a nice paw print, a lock of her hair, and a nice card.

We ordered a nice photo urn for her, which will be here in a few days. With the house getting ready to sale, we wanted something could blend into the background, but still let her be close to us.

Sweet dreams, Bailey Boo.

Sweet Dreams, Bailey Grace

2011-03-06T09:35:00.005-05:00

Early Morning Thoughts on the First Day After

Walking back to our car was first worst thing.
No tugging on your leash
No jumping to the seat
My lap was empty with only your collar.
The rain mimicked our tears.
Pulling into the driveway,
I couldn’t help but look through the window
To see that you weren’t perched on the couch
I swore we heard your "woof woof woof"
And the jingle of your collar when we stepped inside
You’re nowhere
And everywhere.
Your leash hangs silently on its hook
Your dish disheveled on the floor
Your food, untouched.
The indentation of your withered body
Still caves your favorite spot on the sofa
Your favorite toy lays lonely on the floor
Your last treat remains, half enjoyed.
It was time, sweet girl.
But not enough time.
At nighttime, you were part of our routine
One last trip outside
One last sip of water
Last night’s lasts were the last lasts.
You didn’t bound up the steps
Brushing my leg in your rush to our room.
How can our big bed suddenly feel so small?
How can our thick comforter lack any warmth?
You didn’t lick my husband’s ears.
You didn’t cuddle into my side.
How can I possibly sleep?
I woke up early and often
And you weren’t there to coax me back to slumber.
My husband slumbers
Because you weren’t there to wake him with a nuzzle
And request to go outside.
I sit here
still feeling the tremor of your last days
And thanking God for all of our good days.
I peek in on our young son
And wonder how we’ll make him understand
That our vet couldn’t “fix it.”
Couldn’t heal you.
How will I answer when he looks for you?
No more shared meals with a toddler.
I’ll have to start sweeping the floor.
You were my helpful shadow,
And the reflection of my life doesn’t look right now.
Who will tell me when the mail is here?
Or the garbage is being picked up?
That company has come?
Or that Daddy is home?
I have no wild barking to calm.
No tummy to rub.
No four-footed observer in my kitchen.
An empty space under
—and empty chair at—our dinner table.
Our laps will remain empty
Our hands won’t know what to do.
No more 8 o’clock bursts of energy.
White flashes around the room.
No more smiles of pure joy.
No more paws upon our hands.

No more thump-thump as you jump to the floor.
In the coming days,
We’ll remember what we forgot.
All the sounds you made as the symphony of our home.
Your stage is silent.
How can one who cannot speak say so much?
You’ve been so much more than a dog.
You were my heart on training wheels.
And you taught me how to love.
You’ve been a mile marker in my life.
You’ve been with me from single to married to mommy.
You’re part of all my important moments.
I don’t know why I thought if I lost you now,
It would be easier somehow.
What is ever easy about a final goodbye?
I miss you, sweet girl.
Thank you for being part of my life.
Thank you for a good life.
Thank you.

In memory of Bailey Grace with a Silly Face
April 14, 2001 – March 5, 2011

Bailey

2011-03-05T13:28:00.005-05:00

About two weeks ago, Niels woke to the fragrant aroma of Bailey diarrhea. The next morning we woke up to vomit. We called the vet and brought her in. After checking her out, the vet put her on a sensitive stomach wet dog food. Bailey LOVED it and nearly knocked me over every time I put some in her bowl. She was also on an antibiotic and something to settle her stomach. She didn’t throw up for a week.

I called the vet when we were done with the dog food and asked what I should feed her. She told me to make her some chicken and rice until her follow up in a few days. She ate it the first day, but not the second. At her appointment, the vet said to try her regular food again. She had no interest. The vet then suggested Iams Sensitive Stomach dog food. She turned her nose at that as well. Then we went to Petsmart to get some wet sensitive stomach food. While we were there, cute little puppies were going through their obedience class exercises. I haven’t been in Petsmart much since I left Grand Rapids, so I was immediately brought back to when I took Bailey to obedience school. It was the first time it occurred to me that this might not end well.

The next day, Bailey threw up again, even though she had hardly had anything to eat. The vet told us to bring her right in. Daniel was napping so we didn’t get there until about 3:30. We left about 3 hours later, without Bailey. She was dehydrated and needed IV fluids to rehydrate, more meds to settle her stomach, and more meds to help with the pain she was now feeling. We agreed to have blood drawn and an X-ray done. Her X-ray was mostly normal, but her blood work showed that her liver numbers were astronomically high. One panel had to be diluted 6 times and still didn't even register.

After another 3 days in the hospital with more meds, more blood work,and ultrasound and seeing a specialist, all we know is that Bailey is in liver failure, but we don't know why. For another $3,000, we could do a biopsy, but in reality, she probably wouldn't survive the surgery because her blood isn't clotting well, and if even if she did, we're either going to learn that she has cancer, which she wouldn't survive, or something else she wouldn't survive. As her regular vet told me, as she sobbed with me Wednesday, "The only reason I would advice you to do the biopsy, is if you need to know WHY to live with the decision you need to make."

So Thursday, for me, was about coming to peace with saying goodbye. It's been brutal.

We repeated her bloodwork four times this week. The fourth time actually showed a little improvement--diluted six times, her numbers actually registered, but at the absolute top of the scale, still astronomically high. However, at the point nine of the markers were off, instead of six.

Despite almost a week of intensive care, she is not getting better.

Thursday night, we brought Bailey home for the weekend. She's not eating or drinking much at this point, but she's had a hydrating IV for 4 days, so she'll be okay even if she doesn't drink much at home. I admit, bringing her home for a few days is all for me. I'm having a REALLY hard time with the fact that we never made time for a family photo with all four of us, so I need that before I can say goodbye. We ordered a fancy new camera, which arrived on Thursday.

When I first brought her home, she was so happy to back in familiar surroundings. She even 'talked' to Mom on Skype and looked healthy. The only way you knew she was sick is because of how yellow her eyes, ears and tummy were. But, by 8pm, she was sad again and shivering.

Friday was a somber bittersweet day. I took a TON of pictures of her and Daniel, including the one at the top of the page. When Daniel napped, I realized that it the last time with just the two of us. When Daniel woke up, we took Bailey for a car ride (one of her favorite things) and brought her to the lot where our new house will be built. It breaks my heart that she won't be moving with us. It was pouring rain, so I didn't get to let her out, but she's been there before.

It's been good to have her home. I needed this time to say goodbye and the chance to do all those "lasts." More importantly, I had to know that she wasn't the same Bailey I have known and loved for almost ten years. It's been heartbreaking to see her refuse food and shiver and be sad, but I need to see it too, so that we could know that we were making the right decision.

Our friends Tiffany and Andria came over this morning to take our family pictures. Neither Daniel nor the weather cooperated very well, but we have some pictures of all four of us, which was the last thing I needed.

Our prayer today is that she will pass quietly and peacefully tonight in her favorite place, snuggled between Niels and I. If not, tomorrow we will take her to vet for the last time.

I am just devastated. Bailey is the last carryover I have from my pre-TBI life. I've already lost my job, my writing career, my house, my name (I don't mind that part so much!) and my car. The last few years have been filled with so much loss, Bailey was all I had left, she's been through so much with me. Maybe this is the best time because we're putting our house on the market (was supposed to be this week), and it will be easier when there isn't a dog in the house, and it gives us more options for apartments when the new house is being built, blah blah blah. But it still just bites.

Thanks to all of you who have loved my sweet girl.

Project 365: Day 50 (February 20)

2011-03-04T20:48:00.000-05:00

Home. One room done, many to go. This room was the least finished. After painting it in September (after 4 years!), we kinda stalled. Today, we put up the art, shelf, frame, new mirror (not visible) and added new rugs and towel.

Project 365: Day 49 (February 19)

2011-03-04T20:46:00.000-05:00

Home. We are putting the house on the market next week so we'll be busy busy busy getting the house cleaned and staged. I always forget to take a "before" picture so here is our back living room, aka the least staged room in the house.

Project 365: Day 48 (February 18)

2011-03-04T20:44:00.000-05:00

Solida Home. Tonight our small group gathered to celebrate Kylan's 4th birthday. While some might drool over those hot chocolate cupcakes, I drool over that Kitchen Aid in the corner. D, as usual, had his nose in a book. He is SO my child.

Project 365: Day 47 (February 17)

2011-03-04T20:42:00.001-05:00

Home. We enjoyed a GORGEOUS 50 degree day today. All the ice on our driveway melted and a good bit of the snow. We are so ready for spring!

Project 365: Day 46 (February 16)

2011-03-04T20:39:00.000-05:00

Day 46: February 16. Home. A bit of scary day for Bailey dog. After waking up to vomit for the second day in a row, I took her to the vet, where she had blood work and x-rays. We were able to bring her home while we wait for results. The drugs tuckered her out pretty good.

Project 365: Day 45 (February 15)

2011-03-04T20:35:00.000-05:00

Aultercare Assisted Living Center. Daniel and I spent the morning visiting some local Gramma and Grampas. He loved playing with this woman's bracelet.

Niels and I have started observing No TV Tuesdays. Instead of retiring to the basement when Daniel goes to bed, the idea is that we can work on a project around the house, play a game, read or do something not media related. After seeing what a rock star Daniel was this day, I was thinking this might be a family service project we can all do. It's seems pretty perfect for us because Daniel can participate and it's flexible enough to work around my bad brain days.

Project 365: Day 44 (February 14)

2011-03-03T20:33:00.000-05:00

Home. Happy Valentines Day from Daniel!

Project 365: Day 43 (February 13)

2011-03-03T20:31:00.000-05:00

Home. The first of many family traditions was kicked off tonight as all three de Jongs made chocolate pretzels for an early Valentine's day treat.

Project 365: Day 42 (February 11)

2011-03-02T14:36:00.003-05:00

Charis Homes Model. Daniel checks out the latest Charis project: The Daniel. (Elmo watches in rapt attention).

Project 365: Day 41 (February 10)

2011-03-02T14:34:00.002-05:00

Kuts for Kids in Canton, Ohio. Other than being an extremely unfortunate name when translated into Dutch, we really like the stylists at D's salon. He was so so tired when we brought him in, thus the tears and clinging to Elmo. But he's so proud of the result!

Project 365: Day 40 (February 9)

2011-03-02T14:31:00.004-05:00

Home. Daniel loves his milk...and his paci. So why should he have to choose?

Project 365: Day 39 (February 8)

2011-02-08T19:50:00.003-05:00

Home. D and I made a poster for Gramma Ann's 90th birthday on Friday. Sure wish we could be in Arizona to celebrate with her.

Project 365: Day 38 (February 7)

2011-02-08T19:49:00.002-05:00

Home. SO very tired today. Poor D had to fend for himself much of the day. But we ended well and played one of his favorite games. We put a couple flashcards on the floor and ask him to find the one that starts with a particular letter. In this case, he correctly chose the uniform from his Thomas the Train set.

Project 365: Day 37 (February 6)

2011-02-08T19:47:00.003-05:00

Home. I went all out for our Super Bowl party. I made kale chips, roasted chick peas (not pictured), matchstick carrots with greek yogurt dill dip, flourless chocolate cake (with Dutch processed cocoa and chocolate brought home from (Holland) with whipped cream, cinnamon raisin bread, beer cheese bread and beer cheese soup. And that doesn't include what our guest brought. No one left hungry...except maybe the Steelers.

Project 365: Day 36: (February 5)

2011-02-08T19:46:00.002-05:00

Home. One of my mommy friends posted some really cute "Tom Cruise-Risky Business-esque" photos of her son, and I tried to mimic the shot. Daniel is more of a serious model though, so this was the best shot I got.

Project 365: Day 35 (February 4)

2011-02-08T19:44:00.000-05:00

Kings Ridge Lot 64. Bailey got to spend the afternoon at the spa (aka groomer). On the way home, I let her check out her new place of business.

Project 365: Day 34 (February 3)

2011-02-08T19:42:00.000-05:00

Home. Packed up a shelf of binders tonight after grabbing the tax files.This just makes me sad.

Project 365: Day 33 (February 2)

2011-02-08T19:38:00.002-05:00

Home. With icy rain threatening to knock out our power, we cranked up the heat to avoid a reallly cold night. This morning, D discovered the heat vent.

Project 365: Day 32 (February 1)

2011-02-08T19:36:00.001-05:00

Home. With the icy weather, Niels is working from home today. He did take a short break to help D make this airplane.

Silly Daniel: 032.03.11 edition

2011-02-03T13:34:00.003-05:00

My friend Rachael is so great about posting the cute things her girls say. I've been wanting to do the same for awhile. So here's today's entry.

Last weekend, the three of us went to a Home & Garden show. D is getting so used to touring homes and house fairs that we have to watch him when we visit our friends because he immediately starts exploring all the rooms

He was being a trooper on Sunday so when we spotted these Thomas the Train flashcards (two of his favorite things!), we decided to reward you. He was quite pleased, as you can see in the photo below.

Daniel is at the age where he's starting to test limits and show his own wants and preferences, which is just what he's supposed to do. Of course, he also needs to obey mommy and daddy. He's actually quite compliant so he doesn't get a lot of time outs. We're also starting to teach him about choices and consequences.

Yesterday, we were cleaning up the living room and Daniel did not want to clean up his Thomas the Train flashcards. Since he rather likes his time outs (he'll put himself in time out for no reason), I decided instead to tell him that he had a choice. Either he could pick up his cards (I help) and he could play with them later when Daddy got home, or I could put them away, and then he wouldn't get to play with them again until tomorrow. He chose option number two. So I picked up the cards and put them on top of the microwave, which sits on our kitchen counter.

This morning, I got Daniel up, gave him his floride and fed him breakfast. After brushing his teeth, he usually goes into the living room and sets up his trains. Today, he went back into the kitchen, pulled one of the chairs from the table, dragged it all the way across the kitchen to the microwave, hopped up, grabbed his Thomas the Train flash cards, got down, (left the chair), walked over to me with the cards and said, "(Play) Cards please, Mommy?"

Silly Daniel.
pulling the chair over

Project 365: Day 31 (January 31)

2011-01-31T15:03:00.004-05:00

Home. A gorgeous winter day in Ohio.

Bonus pictures:

Project 365: Day 30 (January 30)

2011-01-31T15:01:00.002-05:00

Panera on the Strip. I was able to enjoy a very rare night out without the boys. I met up with some of the ladies from our small group for a little Panera goodness and girl talk.

Project 365: Day 29 (January 29)

2011-01-29T21:10:00.002-05:00

RiverTree Christian Church. We usually go to church on Saturday nights, where Niels often runs lights and I serve in the nursery every other month. Tonight there was a little hiccup with the lighting board so they called in the expert to fix it.

P.S. Happy 42 Month-aversary--aka 3.5 years!--to us!

Project 365: Day 28 (January 28)

2011-01-28T18:34:00.003-05:00

Home. Niels and I were far too excited to go to bed an a decent hour last night, due to visions of a dream house dancing in our heads. Which meant that D and I had a quiet PJ day at home today. He spent a good amount of time today entertaining himself with the light switch.

Project 365: Day 27 (January 27)

2011-01-28T18:23:00.002-05:00

Home. Big night! After 3 1/2 years of stalking our builders, we were finally able to sit down with them and our mostly-finalized floor plan (which they named "The Daniel" *swoon*) to discuss costs and a start date. Hopefully, we'll break ground by May.

Project 365: Day 26 (January 26)

2011-01-28T18:11:00.005-05:00

Belden Village Mall food court. Big day! Daniel and I ventured out to my nightmare place: the mall! But Ava's 5th birthday party was worth it. (Shes the sweet girl in pink standing up and drinking her milk). Daniel was the only boy, and clearly, too young to appreciate the ratio. He did really well, despite it being nap time, but he was too tired to join the girls for build-a-bear.

Bonus pictures of the big party:

Daniel's been working on his smile for the camera.

The birthday girl served cute bear cupcakes.

Daniel like the frosting the best.

I love how "oops" pictures look better in sephia.

Project 365: Day 25 (January 25)

2011-01-25T20:26:00.002-05:00

Home. When you start off the year with more bad brain days than good, it's not a great way to start off your fitness goals. D spent a little more time playing in his crib as I finished Julia Child's "My Life in Paris." We both felt better after our three hour naps.

Project 365: Day 24 (January 24)

2011-01-24T19:41:00.001-05:00

Home. One of our favorite things to do is call Gramma Chi on Skype. Today they shared a snack of "hagelslag," (Dutch chocolate sprinkles). Oma and Opa brought Grampa Chi a box when they visited in November.

Project 365: Day 23 (January 23):

2011-01-24T19:40:00.000-05:00

Home. Watching the Packers and Bears battle it out for the NFC Championship, and Daddy and Daniel battle it out for the sippy.

Project 365: Day 22 (January 22)

2011-01-24T19:37:00.002-05:00

Home. Bailey dog. As a nine-year-old Shih Tzu, she has no problem staying inside all day, Perfect for a bad brain day. And we're both due for a hair cut.

Project 365: Day 21 (January 21)

2011-01-21T20:05:00.002-05:00

Home. Seven years ago, I was taking a break from work, slipped on some ice and hit my head on curb similar to this step. So now, every January 21, I stay home and surround myself with soft things.

Project 365: Day 20 (January 20)

2011-01-20T20:52:00.001-05:00

Green Public Library. Finally feeling well enough to venture out a bit, so D and I headed to the local library, a happy place for both D and me!

Project 365: Day 19 (January 19)

2011-01-20T17:26:00.005-05:00

Home. Another quiet day at home as my brain continues to recover from our long day on Monday. I can usually tolerate most headaches, but the spinny/dizzy/nausea is harder. I took this picture through the old mirror set against the wall because it gives a peek at how fractured my vision feels today. Also, you can can see the utter mess my sweet boy made. At least he was happy and quiet.

Project 365: Day 18 (January 18)

2011-01-18T16:24:00.000-05:00

Canton, Ohio. Didn't do much today as my head is still spinning and throbbing from the long day yesterday. However, D and I did drive down to the SSA office to give our bank info. It was just far enough that our car did this.

Project 365: Day 17 (January 17)

2011-01-18T16:22:00.001-05:00

Reading, PA. This was a very long day, as we drove 6 hours away to pick up our new car, another Black Ford Fusion. I tried to be creative to show our happiness about finally having two cars again. Sorry, Niels, you should have let me take a few more pictures!

Oh, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Mom!

Project 365: Day 16 (January 16)

2011-01-18T16:20:00.001-05:00

Giant Eagle in Green, Ohio. Once my birthday is done, the holiday season is officially over. Today we got back to our regular routine, which today, includes a trip to our local grocery store. Daniel is obsessed with the big boy carts so he was quite happy to see this one.

Project 365: Day 15 (January 15)

2011-01-16T09:49:00.002-05:00

Day 15 (January 15): My 39th birthday! I had a fabulous day, spending time with my boys during the day, and celebrating with my small group (Bible study) at night. Growing up in Minnesota, many, MANY birthday parties were cancelled due to weather. This is many the 5th time I celebrate on my actual birthday.

Project 365: Day 14 (January 14)

2011-01-14T19:51:00.002-05:00

Home. Nearly seven years after my brain injury, and three years, two months, one week, and six days after I applied, I finally received this letter from SSA. I am happy, grateful, relieved and a bit sad. I'd rather have my health, but this helps.

Project 365: Day 13 (January 13)

2011-01-13T11:41:00.000-05:00

Dr. Cortesi's Office in Green, OH. Joe Cool gets prepped for his first visit with the dentist. He giggled all through the cleaning with "the tickler," then cried when the dentist counted his teeth. And yes, he'll need braces and his frenulum lasered. Better start saving...

Project 365: Day 12 (January 12)

2011-01-12T16:13:00.000-05:00

Home. Mommy's little sous-chef has very definite ideas about what we should cook. No matter how many time I tell him that the pantry is "Mommy's toybox," he can't keep himself away.

Project 365: Day 11 (January 11)

2011-01-12T15:24:00.001-05:00

Home. Daniel watches the snow come down. He's very attached to his sippy and always drinks his milk this way.

Project 365: Day 10 (January 10)

2011-01-12T15:22:00.001-05:00

Home. Our first day home all day without Daddy. Daniel is all about trains. Here's his set on a rare break from play.

Project 365: Day 9 (January 9):

2011-01-12T15:21:00.001-05:00

Home. Normal life starts back up again tomorrow, so today was a PJ day for all three de Jongs. Here, Daniel wears his rocket jammies, eats breakfast out of his new rocket bowl, and watched the airplane video with Daddy.

Project 365: Day 8 (January 8)

2011-01-12T15:19:00.002-05:00

Home. After two years and many, many trips, Daniel's diaper bag smelled like something died in it. So, we shelled our $3.75 for a new one. Daniel was very excited because we put the blue Eiffel Tower keychain from Auntie Ashley on it.

Project 365: Day 7 (January 7)

2011-01-12T15:17:00.001-05:00

Home. We are a sad, sick, jet lagged family.

Project 365: Day 6 (January 6)

2011-01-12T15:16:00.001-05:00

Home. Let the unpacking begin. This picture makes me look organized. Don't be fooled, it was jet-lagged chaos for a few days!

Project 365: Day 5 (January 5)

2011-01-12T15:15:00.001-05:00

Helmond, NL to Brussels, BE to Washington, DC to Cleveland, OH to Green, OH. It was a very long, thankfully uneventful trip home.

Project 365: Day 4 (January 4)

2011-01-12T15:13:00.003-05:00

Helmond, NL. Packing up the goodies for the long trip home. I bought lots of Dutch baking supplies for my pantry.

Project 365: Day 3 (January 3)

2011-01-12T15:06:00.002-05:00

Paris, France. Niels took me back to the spot where he first proposed 45 months ago.

Project 365: Day 2 (January 2)

2011-01-12T15:04:00.003-05:00

The Louvre in Paris, France. Daniel finally takes his first nap in a stroller. Apparently the art didn't impress him as much as it did us.

Project 365: Day 1 (January 1)

2011-01-12T14:46:00.003-05:00

Helmond, NL. Daniel "helps" in Oma's kitchen. I spent most of the day in bed nursing a doozy of a headache.

Project 365

2011-01-12T14:38:00.004-05:00

In a few weeks, it will be seven years since I sustained my brain injury. Since that time, I have almost always had a camera with me--either my regular camera or the slightly-more-subtle phone camera. One of the tricks I learned in therapy was to take pictures of things as a way of making up for my shoddy memory. I've had many, many strange looks over the years as I've taken pictures of items at the store, signs to help me remember where I parked, and other random things. Once Daniel came along, it seemed more acceptable for me to take random shots, so I felt free to take more pictures.

Over on Facebook, I noticed several of my friends mention something called Project 365. In a nutshell, Project 365 is a photo challenge where participants take (and post) a picture a day for a full year. The idea is not so much to take posed pictures, but to instead capture random, candid shots that give a view into one's everyday life. Needless to say, I love this idea because it makes my clicking habit seem more normal.

I've started posting my pictures on Facebook, but for those of you not there, and hopefully, as a way to get me blogging again, I'll repost my pictures here.

Oh, and Happy 2011!

Thankful

2010-12-02T16:07:00.003-05:00

The creative part of my brain is still maddeningly-lacking lately, thus the continued lack of posts. My headache is much more tolerable, and I'm able to (mostly) keep up with Daniel and put food on the table, but that's about it for now. Daniel has officially dropped his second nap, which I miss terribly because that was my nap, too. By 4 or 5pm, both D and I are ready for Niels to come home. Niels is so good with Daniel and they have a good time together for a few hours each night while I get to rest.

We just celebrated Thanksgiving in Arizona with my mom and gramma, along with Niels' parents. It was really fun to have everyone together, and I'll let NIELS write those updates! :-)

I was thinking about the past 12 months, and even though I've had a few bonus health issues to contend with this year, I'm so thankful for all the good God is allowing me to experience. Top of the list, of course, is my wonderful family.

Niels continues to be an amazing husband. My life is so much better because he takes a lot of stress off my shoulders that my brain functions better. Not great, but definitely much better than it ever was before we married. He provides well for our family, we're a great team, he's my advocate to doctors and people who don't know or want to know more about my brain injury, and he's a great daddy to Daniel (who adores me).

Daniel turns two next week, and he is such a joy. He has a sweet, easy-going personality (most of the time!), is silly, and so smart! We continue to be surprised by how much and how quickly he's learning new things. His current obsessions are Elmo, trains, airplanes and the alphabet. He started to recognize letters at 19 months, and by 22 months, he knew all 26 letters by sight and sound. He was sick last month and we had to take him to hospital. He shocked one of the nurses when he sounded out all the letters of the word "radiology!"

Maybe I need to post some more of his silly stories here.

Lost Days

2010-10-30T11:46:00.002-04:00

I can't believe October is almost over. After all the busyness and productivity in September, I suppose I should have expected to crash in October. But of course, I didn't. Every time I have a string of good days, I optimistically believe that my brain is really healing. You would think that after six years, I would recognize this pattern, but I didn't and I don't, and my broken brain bit me in the butt again.

Niels and I got a lot done around the house last month, getting it ready to list. We had all the bathrooms and basement painted, we replaced most of the light fixtures and mirrors, had baseboards put in downstairs, we did a TON of cleaning and de-cluttering and organizing. We met with five realtors and made frequent visits to all the local home improvement stores. The house looks really nice, but we can't yet list the house because we are STILL waiting for the outcome of my disability hearing.

So, since my brain seemed to be running in high gear, I turned my attention to the holidays, particularly the photo album I wanted to create for the grands as a Christmas gift. In my pre-injury life, one of my responsibilities was paginating each of our catalogs, that is, deciding how to place each advertised item on each page. It could be a daunting task, especially as last minute items were added. I figured making a photo album would be the same general idea, except that I didn't have the stress of a deadline (at least not a hard one, I've been known to give gifts after Christmas), advertisers or expectation. I spent the better part of two days looking at themes and formats, and then my brain crashed.

It's been one of my worse crashes since I got married and had Niels looking out for me. It's scary to crash now that Daniel relies on me to care for him all day. I do know enough not to leave the house when I crash, and I was able to function enough to feed him and keep him in clean diapers. This is where the routine we establish come in handy. I can follow it without a whole lot of thought, which is good, because there's not a lot of thought to be had. So for ten days, we stayed home, napped a lot and Daniel got to spend a lot of time with his Elmo DVD. Fortunately, we are blessed with a kid who loves to play independently. He plays with his toys, cooks in his kitchen and reads, reads, reads. On a few days, though, Niels had to come home or stay home.

I think the hardest part of these crashes, beyond the fear that I won't be able to care for my own child, is the letdown of realizing that this TBI is just not going away. It feels so great to have good days where I don't need a nap, and my thoughts come easily and I can do the things I want to accomplish and I have energy to proactively play with Daniel and I can make dinner and I'm not brain mush by the time Niels comes home. I have a vague recollection of my old life and the old level of energy that I have. And when I get those moments, I want to soak them for all they are worth because I don't know how long they will last or when they will show up again. Niels, on the other hand, watches me very closely during these times, because he knows my tendencies. He'll ask me stop what I'm doing, make sure I pace myself, get lots of rest. Usually, I listen to him, but sometimes I'm stubborn and want to ride it out. Of course, he's right and I crash.

It's so hard to come out of the fog. I feel myself going through the motions, but it doesn't seem real. This has been a foggy, foggy month. My formerly pristine house is dusty and dirty and cluttered again. My neatly stocked pantry is lacking and our freezer full of leftovers is empty. I just can't seem to shake these cobwebs. I look at my cookbooks to make our menu and I can't make sense of the recipes. I look at the stack of bills and am overwhelmed with the math. I see the messy kitchen and I'm lost at how to get started. I rely on Niels to do so much, but he can't do everything.

But I'm used to all this. It's the same cycle that's been repeating for six years now. Eventually, the fog will lift and my thoughts will settle and I'll get ahead again. The truly frightening part of this month has been Daniel's first health scare.

Daniel and I have both had a cold for a week or so. All the more reason for us to stay close to home. While I seemed to be getting better, Daniel was getting worse. Then one night, he was coughing so badly he couldn't get a good breath. We called the nurse and she thought he had croup. Niels took him into the bathroom so the steam of the hot shower could open his airways. He wasn't helping at all. After 30 minutes on the phone with the nurse, she told us to go to the ER. The most terrifying moment of my life was sitting in the back seat of the car, looking at Daniel and not seeing him breath. Fortunately, he was, and after a few very scary days, he's on the mend again. The doctors have ruled out croup, RSV and pneumonia, but not before several breathing treatments, an X-ray and many tests and exams.

And like that, October is over.

The Spoon Theory

2010-10-21T09:56:00.001-04:00

The article below was written by someone with lupus, but it's very applicable to someone with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), like me. It's been six years since my injury, but I still have to "watch my spoons," and I reluctantly realize that I will continue to have to do so for the rest of my life. I especially like the last couple of paragraphs. I constantly struggle with feeling bad for having to cancel plans and have a hard time articulating how grateful I am to friends who are willing to meet me wherever I am that day (physically and/or emotionally). So, thanks to my friend, Janice, who sent this to me, to the friends and family who stuck with me through the transition from old Jen to new Jen, to my post-TBI friends here in Ohio who have taken the time to learn about my limitations, and most of all to my amazing husband who has taken that whole "in sickness and health" thing to the limit with grace and love. - Jen

The Spoon Theory

My best friend and I were in the diner, talking. As usual, it was very late and we were eating French fries with gravy. Like normal girls our age, we spent a lot of time in the diner while in college, and most of the time we spent talking about boys, music or trivial things, that seemed very important at the time. We never got serious about anything in particular and spent most of our time laughing.

As I went to take some of my medicine with a snack as I usually did, she watched me with an awkward kind of stare, instead of continuing the conversation. She then asked me out of the blue what it felt like to have Lupus and be sick. I was shocked not only because she asked the random question, but also because I assumed she knew all there was to know about Lupus. She came to doctors with me, she saw me walk with a cane, and throw up in the bathroom. She had seen me cry in pain, what else was there to know?

I started to ramble on about pills, and aches and pains, but she kept pursuing, and didn't seem satisfied with my answers. I was a little surprised as being my roommate in college and friend for years; I thought she already knew the medical definition of Lupus. Then she looked at me with a face every sick person knows well, the face of pure curiosity about something no one healthy can truly understand. She asked what it felt like, not physically, but what it felt like to be me, to be sick.

As I tried to gain my composure, I glanced around the table for help or guidance, or at least stall for time to think. I was trying to find the right words. How do I answer a question I never was able to answer for myself? How do I explain every detail of every day being effected, and give the emotions a sick person goes through with clarity. I could have given up, cracked a joke like I usually do, and changed the subject, but I remember thinking if I don’t try to explain this, how could I ever expect her to understand. If I can’t explain this to my best friend, how could I explain my world to anyone else? I had to at least try. At that moment, the spoon theory was born. I quickly grabbed every spoon on the table; I grabbed spoons off of the other tables. I looked at her in the eyes and said “Here you go, you have Lupus”. She looked at me slightly confused, as anyone would when they are being handed a bouquet of spoons. The cold metal spoons clanked in my hands, as I grouped them together and shoved them into her hands.I explained that the difference in being sick and being healthy is having to make choices or to consciously think about things when the rest of the world doesn’t have to. The healthy have the luxury of a life without choices, a gift most people take for granted.

Most people start the day with unlimited amount of possibilities, and energy to do whatever they desire, especially young people. For the most part, they do not need to worry about the effects of their actions. So for my explanation, I used spoons to convey this point. I wanted something for her to actually hold, for me to then take away, since most people who get sick feel a “loss” of a life they once knew. If I was in control of taking away the spoons, then she would know what it feels like to have someone or something else, in this case Lupus, being in control.

She grabbed the spoons with excitement. She didn’t understand what I was doing, but she is always up for a good time, so I guess she thought I was cracking a joke of some kind like I usually do when talking about touchy topics. Little did she know how serious I would become?

I asked her to count her spoons. She asked why, and I explained that when you are healthy you expect to have a never-ending supply of "spoons". But when you have to now plan your day, you need to know exactly how many “spoons” you are starting with. It doesn’t guarantee that you might not lose some along the way, but at least it helps to know where you are starting. She counted out 12 spoons. She laughed and said she wanted more. I said no, and I knew right away that this little game would work, when she looked disappointed, and we hadn't even started yet. I’ve wanted more "spoons" for years and haven’t found a way yet to get more, why should she? I also told her to always be conscious of how many she had, and not to drop them because she can never forget she has Lupus.

I asked her to list off the tasks of her day, including the most simple. As, she rattled off daily chores, or just fun things to do; I explained how each one would cost her a spoon. When she jumped right into getting ready for work as her first task of the morning, I cut her off and took away a spoon. I practically jumped down her throat. I said " No! You don’t just get up. You have to crack open your eyes, and then realize you are late. You didn’t sleep well the night before. You have to crawl out of bed, and then you have to make your self something to eat before you can do anything else, because if you don’t, you can't take your medicine, and if you don’t take your medicine you might as well give up all your spoons for today and tomorrow too." I quickly took away a spoon and she realized she hasn’t even gotten dressed yet. Showering cost her spoon, just for washing her hair and shaving her legs. Reaching high and low that early in the morning could actually cost more than one spoon, but I figured I would give her a break; I didn’t want to scare her right away. Getting dressed was worth another spoon. I stopped her and broke down every task to show her how every little detail needs to be thought about. You cannot simply just throw clothes on when you are sick. I explained that I have to see what clothes I can physically put on, if my hands hurt that day buttons are out of the question. If I have bruises that day, I need to wear long sleeves, and if I have a fever I need a sweater to stay warm and so on. If my hair is falling out I need to spend more time to look presentable, and then you need to factor in another 5 minutes for feeling badly that it took you 2 hours to do all this.

I think she was starting to understand when she theoretically didn’t even get to work, and she was left with 6 spoons. I then explained to her that she needed to choose the rest of her day wisely, since when your “spoons” are gone, they are gone. Sometimes you can borrow against tomorrow’s "spoons", but just think how hard tomorrow will be with less "spoons". I also needed to explain that a person who is sick always lives with the looming thought that tomorrow may be the day that a cold comes, or an infection, or any number of things that could be very dangerous. So you do not want to run low on "spoons", because you never know when you truly will need them. I didn’t want to depress her, but I needed to be realistic, and unfortunately being prepared for the worst is part of a real day for me.

We went through the rest of the day, and she slowly learned that skipping lunch would cost her a spoon, as well as standing on a train, or even typing at her computer too long. She was forced to make choices and think about things differently. Hypothetically, she had to choose not to run errands, so that she could eat dinner that night.

When we got to the end of her pretend day, she said she was hungry. I summarized that she had to eat dinner but she only had one spoon left. If she cooked, she wouldn’t have enough energy to clean the pots. If she went out for dinner, she might be too tired to drive home safely. Then I also explained, that I didn’t even bother to add into this game, that she was so nauseous, that cooking was probably out of the question anyway. So she decided to make soup, it was easy. I then said it is only 7pm, you have the rest of the night but maybe end up with one spoon, so you can do something fun, or clean your apartment, or do chores, but you can’t do it all.I rarely see her emotional, so when I saw her upset I knew maybe I was getting through to her. I didn’t want my friend to be upset, but at the same time I was happy to think finally maybe someone understood me a little bit. She had tears in her eyes and asked quietly “Christine, How do you do it? Do you really do this everyday?” I explained that some days were worse then others; some days I have more spoons then most. But I can never make it go away and I can’t forget about it, I always have to think about it. I handed her a spoon I had been holding in reserve. I said simply, “I have learned to live life with an extra spoon in my pocket, in reserve. You need to always be prepared” Its hard, the hardest thing I ever had to learn is to slow down, and not do everything. I fight this to this day. I hate feeling left out, having to choose to stay home, or to not get things done that I want to. I wanted her to feel that frustration. I wanted her to understand, that everything everyone else does comes so easy, but for me it is one hundred little jobs in one. I need to think about the weather, my temperature that day, and the whole day's plans before I can attack any one given thing. When other people can simply do things, I have to attack it and make a plan like I am strategizing a war. It is in that lifestyle, the difference between being sick and healthy. It is the beautiful ability to not think and just do. I miss that freedom. I miss never having to count "spoons".

After we were emotional and talked about this for a little while longer, I sensed she was sad. Maybe she finally understood. Maybe she realized that she never could truly and honestly say she understands. But at least now she might not complain so much when I can't go out for dinner some nights, or when I never seem to make it to her house and she always has to drive to mine. I gave her a hug when we walked out of the diner. I had the one spoon in my hand and I said “Don’t worry. I see this as a blessing. I have been forced to think about everything I do. Do you know how many spoons people waste everyday? I don’t have room for wasted time, or wasted “spoons” and I chose to spend this time with you.”

Ever since this night, I have used the spoon theory to explain my life to many people. In fact, my family and friends refer to spoons all the time. It has been a code word for what I can and cannot do. Once people understand the spoon theory they seem to understand me better, but I also think they live their life a little differently too.

I think it isn’t just good for understanding Lupus, but anyone dealing with any disability or illness. Hopefully, they don’t take so much for granted or their life in general. I give a piece of myself, in every sense of the word when I do anything. It has become an inside joke. I have become famous for saying to people jokingly that they should feel special when I spend time with them, because they have one of my "spoons".

Last Day of Summer

2010-09-21T10:55:00.004-04:00

Daniel and I have been enjoying our daily walks at Boettler Park. To celebrate the last day of summer, we took some pictures. Have I mentioned how much easier this was before he was mobile!?!

See How He Grows

2010-09-10T08:46:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, Daniel turned 21 months old. To celebrate, we bought him a new car seat. The recommendation has recently changed to suggest keeping toddlers rear-facing as long as possible. Daniel was very near the weight limit in his Britax Roundabout, and surpassed the height limit, so our choices were to turn him around or get him a bigger seat. We opted for the latter, a Britax Boulevard.

I got sentimental comparing these pictures. When we bought the first Britax just over a year ago, Daniel was such a peanut. We sure didn't think he would go from the 10th percentile to the 95th! At 21 months, Daniel is 32 pounds and just over 35" tall!

Coming home from the hospital: 6 days old.

Last time in the baby carrier: 7 months.

Checking out the new seat: 7 months.

Filling out the Britax: 21 months.

Testing out his new big boy seat: 21 months.

Fun in the Sun

2010-08-30T11:02:00.003-04:00

Yesterday a church down the road hosted their annual family fun day. Daniel was a little young to enjoy the festivities last year, but this year he had a blast. It was really hot out, so we only lasted about a half hour, but we packed a lot of fun into our short time, as you'll see in the pictures below.

Daddy and Daniel had fun in the bouncy house.

Daniel threw himself over the edge when he was done. I love his foot in the air.

We thought of Gramma Chi as we took a pony ride, and I told Daniel about the pony we had on Grampa Elmer's farm when I was a little girl. (Also note the orange balloon in my hand. Daniel was so excited to get this!)

We spent most of our time at the petting zoo. Daniel loved the ducks and chickens.

This little piggy was quite the squealer! As you can see, it really piqued Daniel's curiosity.

All in all, Daniel LOVED the animals.

We finished our time with the inflatable slide. Both boys enjoyed themselves!

Losing It

2010-08-26T08:45:00.006-04:00

Last weekend was my 20 year reunion. It was great to see everyone again, and it felt really good to know that while not yet at my goal weight, I'm healthier than I've been in a while.

Ever since my brain injury in 2004, my weight has fluctuated--a lot. First, I dropped about 40 pounds as my brain was burning off calories like crazy trying to heal itself. One of the crazy side effects has that my body rejected food and I couldn't keep anything down. Eight months post-TBI, I looked good, but it was far from healthy. As my recovery went into maintenance mode, I was put on some new drugs, which caused me to gain weight. Then, after I lost my job and had to switch meds again, I gained more weight. I was at my highest all time weight on my wedding day - every girl's dream, right? I went off my meds after we were married as we planned to start our family. Two miscarriages and crazy hormones = more weight gain. Ironically, very difficult pregnancy and severe morning sickness = weight loss. When our sweet Daniel was born, I wasn't happy with my body, but was thrilled with the presence of Daniel's, so I gave myself a year to heal and adjust to parenthood.

In October of last year, as Daniel started to become mobile and more interested in solids, I started to focus on my own health and fitness. I decided to stay off the head meds. Our insurance doesn't cover the only one that really works, and the others have too many negative side effects. This means I don't function as well, and have to portion my time and energy more carefully. My goal was to get down to a healthy weight by the time we returned to Holland this December. I didn't want to do anything crazy, just a lot of little changes for the health of myself, my son and my husband. It took three months of walking every day (pushing Daniel in his stroller) before I lost a single pound, and I've hit several plateaus along the way as my health has caused me to take breaks from my exercise routine. But, for the most part, the scale tends to show a smaller number each week.

At this point, I'm down 36 pounds, with less than 20 to go. Since I had some conversations about this last week, here is Jen's Top 10 Tips for Losing It.

Meal Plan. This has been the biggest change by far. By planning our meals in advance, I save time and precious brain power each night because I know what to make. Plus, we've cut out our grocery budget in half! As an added bonus, we rarely throw anything out. I use websites like sparkrecipe.com, allrecipes.com, and food blogs for ideas. I usually make 4-6 serving portions and freeze the leftovers in serving-size portions. Niels takes these to work for lunch, saving us $25+/week. I've found that I really enjoy cooking and we rarely eat out at restaurants anymore, which is good for my brain and my waistline!
Reduce Processed Foods. We're very blessed that Daniel is a great eater. Once "Captain Mooch" started hitting us up for our food, we became much more intentional about what we ate. I read a really interesting book about teaching your kids to eat well, and that has given us a goal of getting Daniel to eat what we eat by age 2. (He's well on his way!) As part of that, we're trying to cut out as much processed food as possible. Some of the things I've learned to make from scratch: crackers, pop tarts, granola, granola bars, soft pretzels and sauces like satay and BBQ. In addition, we buy whole wheat versions of pastas and grains, organic foods where available, and check the labels on packages for the number of ingredients and whether or not we can pronounce each one!
Food Diary. I didn't really think I needed to keep a food diary until I did. It was quite eye-opening, if for no other reason than to learn how many calories are in my favorite foods. I also learned how many calories I need to consume on a daily basis--about 1600--as well as the magic number to stay above--1200. As an added bonus, I found that I snacked less if I had to write it down in the notebook I kept on the kitchen counter. I write down the time, what I ate and how many calories it contains. I learned that I wanted/needed something to eat about every 3 hours. Some people write down their moods, but I'm not really an emotional eater, so I don't do that.
Measure Food Portions. Buying a kitchen scale was $30 well spent. It was quite enlightening to see how small a serving of cereal or ice cream really is! It's pretty much a must when keeping a food diary. It's been very helpful for cooking as well because it makes conversations much easier.
Set Goals. The end goal was pretty daunting at first, so I broke it down into 7-8 smaller goals at 5-6 pounds each. I also made a reward for hitting each goal, things like a pedicure, new outfit and makeover. Knowing the next goal was only a few pounds away was a helpful emotional trick to keep motivated when I hit a plateau. Ironically, I found that hitting the goal was reward itself, and often didn't even follow through with my reward.
Daily Weigh-In on the Wii. Investing in the Wii was a great idea! I wish Wii Fit would have been around in 2004 because the balance exercises would have been a great addition to my physical and occupational therapies. I like the ability to track my weight loss and the games are a fun way to burn extra calories. Some people don't like to weigh themselves every day. My mood isn't really based on the number, but the trend up or down helps me focus on my goals.
Exercise Daily. I have Daniel to thank for this one. After nearly three months of bedrest, I was pretty much jelly. Exercise started a walk in the park pushing Daniel in the stroller. I was pretty breathless in the beginning, just doing a half mile. Then I increased to a mile, then two miles. Once winter set in, I started hitting our treadmill during Daniel's two hour naps. He gives me plenty of time to complete my routine and get showered. I'll do some combination of the treadmill (up to 4 miles), a workout DVD (usually one by Jillian Michaels) and Wii Fit. I made an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of what I do, and it's fun to watch the miles add up.
Avoid Soda. As a general rule, I give myself lots of outs with these rules. I try to avoid the words "never" and "always." The goal has been lifestyle change, not temporary fixes. So, as a general rule, we don't drink soda. But we occasionally have it, most often when we're entertaining, being entertained, or out for a rare dinner. I drink mostly water or green tea, and Niels drinks mostly milk, tea (he is Dutch) or orange juice. Daniel drinks milk or water, and has only had diluted juice a handful of times.
Make Snacks from Scratch. Going along with numbers two and eight above, I'm not against snacks and sweets. I love cake and cookies! But, I like to control what goes into them. So I've been having a lot of fun learning to make things from scratch. I've made a really yummy almond cake, a (sort of) healthy oatmeal cake, butter brickle cookies, snickerdoodle muffins and more. I've also found that if I make these things by hand, I'm less likely to over eat (I make them when we have others to share with!), plus I burn off calories doing the work--especially when I make pretzels! Contrary to popular belief, Daniel is allowed the occasional sweet, but follows a 3 taste rule--he gets 3 small bites, and that's it. Fortunately, I'm happy to say, he's not a big fan of sweets--yet!--and doesn't complain when we tell him he's done.
Enjoy a Small Bowl of Ice Cream as a Reward for Good eating and a Solid Workout. I would not be happy or pleasant to be around if I felt deprived of the foods I loved. Niels and I LOVE ice cream, and enjoy a bowl most evenings after Daniel goes to bed. We have made the switch to Breyer's only, because it is made of ingredients we can name, and I make sure to measure out my serving.

***08.27.10. My aunt Lori wrote to ask about the place of raw veggies on my list. To answer, I compiled this post to list the things I changed in the last year. Veggies have always been part of my diet, although I am more intentional about the quantity and diversity of veggies we eat. I almost always have baby carrots to snack on, and try to eat a lot of spinach salads in the summer. Other veggies making regular appearances on our menu: broccoli, cauliflower, kale, tomatoes, onions, shallots, celery, romaine lettuce, endive, cucumbers, garlic, leeks, water chestnuts, and potatoes. Sorry, Mom, I still don't care for peas!***

Finish Deck: Check!

2010-08-25T08:27:00.004-04:00

Our new builder (Charis) has been a godsend in helping us get our current house ready to market. Neither Niels nor I are gifted in the home repair side of things, and with a toddler around, time is a bit short as well. So we're very grateful for Todd's help in recommending folks who can do the jobs we need to do faster and better than we can!

The first big project to be completed is the deck. We had the wood painted and the ceiling finished. The same guy also power washed the entire house and cleaned the gutters. Here's a look:

Before:

After:

Midwest adventure - Day 9

2010-08-23T20:55:00.003-04:00

The BIG travel day...

The itinerary is simple: Big Lake, MN to Green, OH.
The distance: 800 some miles.
The Travellers: a car, 2 adults and a 20 month old.
Estimate travel time: 15hrs.

Rise and shine at 7am so we could be packed and ready to roll at 8am. Jen woke up with nice killer headache, I woke up with the runs. However, D was happy and that was just fine with us. A lot better than the reverse... ;-)

We said our goodbyes to the family and to Big Lake and de Jongs were Ohio-bound. The drive was pretty uneventful. A stop at Black River Falls, WI at the local Culvers for food and drinks (and go juice for the car), another stop just before Janesville, WI, a stop at the Indiana Turnpike and a splash-and-dash on the Ohio Turnpike were the non-driving events of the day. Jen and D slept for a couple of hours and I listed to 2 books on CD.

So, we left at 8am and a few minutes before midnight we rolled into Green, OH. D and Jen asleep for the last 2 hours and I was tired but surprisingly awake after 800 miles and - with some persistence - only 14hrs of travel time.

Home... nice!

Midwest adventure - Day 8

2010-08-23T20:37:00.002-04:00

The last day in Minnesota... Time sure goes fast. Today we are moving our base camp one final time from Brooklyn Park to Big Lake. So, the morning consisted of breakfast, packing, pictures and our goodbyes to the Rossings.

When we went to Kitchen Window yesterday we spotted another great place to check out; International Market Square. A design mall for home furnishings, kitchens and bathrooms. We couldn't pass up an opportunity like that since we don't have anything remotely similar back in Ohio.

We saw some very nice kitchens (among others, Poggenpuhl) all with high-end Miele, Wolf and Gaggenau appliances. Probably above our price-range, but the Sharp Microwave drawer (about $495) might make it on our list of appliances. Daniel was great in the stroller we had on loan from one of Jen's high school friends and he entertained himself testing the acoustics of the converted old factory/warehouse that hosts the market place.

Since we promised Jen's brother and sister in-law we would be at their place in Big Lake by 2pm we quickly jumped on I-35 to Route 10 straight to Big Lake using the same route Jen used to take when she was living there. Amazing how build-up the northern burbs are compared to 20 yrs ago.

In Big Lake we also got a final visit from Jen's dad (and brought 12 ears of corn for us to take home as well) while D was entertaining himself with the trains of his cousins. Around 3pm the boys wanted to go swimming, so D and his cousin got into their bathing suites and headed over to the neighbors pool. D was relaxing in his swim vest inside a nice floater and his cousin was showing off his diving skills.

Jen and I got ourselves all dressed-up and ready for Jen's 20yr high school reunion at McPete's on Route 10. We knew we would be a little over-dressed for a what turned out to be a bowling alley and a bar but we heard about the dress code about 1400 miles too late... ;-)

On our way we drove by two more places where Jen used to live and made to the reunion a little after 5pm. The reunion was a lot of fun. I finally put a number of names and faces together after hearing about them or reading about them on Facebook. They served a nice chicken dinner and a fabulous cake followed by plenty of socializing and plenty of friendliness inducing liquids...

Anyway, we finally left around 11.30pm when the party was still going but we still had a 20min drive home and a slightly longer drive tomorrow...

Zzzzz.....

Midwest adventure - Day 7

2010-08-20T20:30:00.005-04:00

Today was a nice quiet day at the Rossing Ramada. Daniel slept well, we slept well so we were off to a good start. We had no major plans other than to go swimming in the afternoon. In the morning we just hung out at the kitchen bar and Jen went through the recipe books finding some good ones that more than likely will appear on this blog in one shape or form later this year so stay tuned and keep an eye on Jen's Online Cookbook (link can also be found somewhere on the right side of the page).

Niels went outside to play some soccer with one of the girls but not only was it muggy, it was also buggy, so we went back inside after about 30 minutes. A little later our host came back from an errand and after D woke up from his nap we all got the Maple Grove Community Center swimming pool. It's a very nice location (which we still need to find something similar near our place in Green, OH... yes, suggestions welcome...) with an indoor/outdoor pool that we thoroughly explored for about 3 hours. Meanwhile, Jen and our host were exploring the local Trader Joes and came back with a bag full of goodies. On our way back we were surprised that D made it back to the house, but once we put him to bed he was down and out in 5.

We took the opportunity to take a quick trip to Uptown Minneapolis to Kitchen Window; an awesome kitchen store that finally gave us (well, we do had to buy it...) our much coveted Raclette set. It is a raised grill plate with small pans that you can either put on top or below the plate to grill your meat, veggies, tators or what not. Really cool and the De Jong family, Holland branch has made that a Christmas and Easter eating tradition. We plan on doing so ourselves as well.

Back at the Ramada we joined the hosts in making a double portion of Manicotti that we are now about to eat.

Bon Appetit, Eet smakelijk, Enjoy!

Midwest adventure - Day 6

2010-08-19T22:00:00.003-04:00

Today was a very relaxing day. In the morning we just hung out at Jen's sister and brother in-law. Daniel finally was able to take a nice nap in his Pack 'n Play since we were actually stationary long enough for him to take his morning nap. Novel concept, eh? Anyway, he slept for almost 3 hours. Go figure, it's been a bit of crazy week for him so he was due for a nice long one.

While D was sleeping, Jen was able to help her sister out taking her newborn for a few hours in her own room while reading some magazines. I was updating the blog, packed the car and taking with Jen's brother in-law about universal design and how we could incorporate that into our initial house plan drafts.

D finally woke up around 1.30pm so we said our goodbyes and we packed up the remaining things including the Pack 'n Play and we went back to the MOA when stores are actually open... I know, mall opening hours are NOT designed around toddler sleeping hours.

The special event of today was a powwow of some of the local Indian Tribes commemorating the native veterans with Indian music and dance. Pretty impressive. On the shopping note, we actually bought D something new, something we normally don't do. However, a brand new snow-suit and some size 9 - GASP - shoes for our little bigfoot.

We also stopped by Jen's sister who works at the main level Bare Escentials and gave Jen a make-over. Once she was done I had flash-backs to July 29, 2007 when Jen's sister did the make-up for our wedding. Deng, I truly married up. Love you, Sweetie!

Around 5.30pm we made our way back to car to get to our new base camp in Brooklyn Park where we arrived only 15mins later than our original ETA due to some rush-hour traffic to be greeted by friendly smiles and hugs and a good dinner.

As I'm typing this, the kids (D and the 2 kids of our hosts) are either already in bed or in the process of going to bed so the rest of the evening is going to be laid-back conversation catching up on the last year. Gosh, has it been 13 months since we were last here???

Time sure flies when you're having fun.

Midwest adventure - Day 5

2010-08-19T11:21:00.003-04:00

Today was another day with not a lot of driving. Well, not driving hundreds of miles that is, since going from South St. Paul to Buffalo to Big Lake and back is still a good amount of driving. Anyway, we left the house around 8.15am heading for Buffalo to meet a former High School friend of Jen that graduated a year later and ended up marrying one of Jen's brothers High School friends. Yes, it's a small world sometimes.

But before that we wanted to see the 'Delano' house where Jen and her brother lived for the first few years of their lives. We ended up having to drop by Jen's dad's house to pick Jen's dad up to show us since we didn't have either accurate direction or recent memories. Heck, it's been 30-some years since Jen last was there and they moved when she was about 5. And no, Jen is still 29... ;-)

We briefly stopped at the house and walked around after dad called the daughter of the current owner (did I mention it's a small world sometimes?) to make sure it was okay. It brought back some memories and was nice to see Daniel walk around where his mommy walked around when she was his age.

After dropping Jen's dad off at the house we went to see Jen's friend who lives on the other side of Buffalo on part of her in-laws former farm. The total size of the land is 200-some acres, so pretty much half the family has their own plots all in about 1 or 2 blocks from each other. Daniel was pretty content playing with the toys of the three boys that lived in the house so Jen and her friend could catch up on the last, eh, 20-some years... ;-)

Next up on today's itinerary was Big Lake where Jen went to High School. We drove around town a little bit and Jen was surprised about how much the town has grown in the last 20 years. It was a small sleeper town of about 2200, but now its a true Twin Cities bedroom community complete with light-rail commuter train access to downtown Minneapolis.

We drove by the house where Jen used to live when she was in High School and also saw some of the houses of some of her friends in the same neighborhood. Our main planned destination here was Jen's brother's house where her sister-in-law and nephew were eagerly awaiting Auntie Jen and Uncle Niels. We had lunch together and after lunch the train set came out. This made for some happy boys (yes, both D, his cousin and I) trying to figure out how to lay the tracks.

D was more interested in playing with the actual trains then the tracks that his cousin and I put together and to top if off the family dog constantly wanted to be right in the middle which didn't help keeping all the tracks in their desired location either. Ah well, the boys still played while Jen and her sister-in-law where looking at pictures on the couch while it was pouring rain outside.

Soon the rain stopped and it was time for D's cousin to show me how well he could swim, but first we had to put D down for his nap. We didn't bring the Pack 'n Play (oops) but after some co-sleeping with his daddy D slept by himself on the futon for probably close to an hour. This was a BIG occasion since it was the first time he took a nap in a 'big boy' bed instead of his Pack 'n Play or crib. Good job, D!

D's cousin took me and the dog to the neighbors who have an above ground pool he's allowed to use. He showed me his super-hero goggles and how well he could swim, dive and retrieve sunken objects. He also showed me how to the use his water-gun (squirt tube). While we were swimming we started to see the grill being fired up so we got out and went back to the house where D was waking just in time for a nice grilling dinner.

After packing up the car (and probably leaving a paci behind) we drove over to see Jen's bonus parents. They live down the road from Jen's brother and family so it was a quick 15min drive to get there. When we pulled-up they were already waiting for us outside. We ended up staying for almost 2 hours and D wanted to explore the grounds a bit so I took him for a little bike-ride around the property. He loved it. When we move to a more quiet neighborhood NOT on a blind-S-curve on a busy road on a hill he's going to have so much fun learning how to do it himself.

All good things come to an end so we said our goodbyes - and made some loose plans for them to come over to Ohio in the fall - we made our way back to the Twin Cities. Unfortunately, the TomTom chosen 'fastest' route turned-out to be anything but due to some hefty road construction and a serious accident on the west-bound lanes even closing the highway between the 2 closest exists.

During the drive Jen was firming up our itinerary for the next day since we're moving base camp from South St. Paul to Brooklyn Center (north of MPLS) tomorrow. During that call we got hungry and stopped at Culvers (yes, AGAIN!) but this time we were a little too late. Closed. Bummer. However, earlier on the trip we did pick some Old Dutch Dill Pickle potato chips which we can't seem to get in Ohio, so we ended up snacking on those instead. We can think of worse compromises... D fell asleep about 30 minutes before we got to the house and was tired enough to keep sleeping when we moved him from the car to his Pack 'n Play and stayed asleep until the next day. Such a good boy.

Speaking of sleeping, we did the same. G'nite!

Midwest adventure - Day 4

2010-08-18T08:34:00.002-04:00

Wow, Day 4 already. This one was a bit different, a LOT less driving and some time to do things. At least that how we planned it. In the morning we went to the MOA (Mall of America) to meet Gramma and Gramma Ann for breakfast before they were taking off heading for home in Arizona. With some confusion we finally met up around 10.30am and decided to do the Aquarium together.

We got a wheelchair for Gramma Ann and Daniel got to ride in Gramma Ann's lap. On the way to the Aquarium we went through the Nickelodeon Universe (used to be 'Camp Snoopy') but Daniel is still a couple inches too short for that.

The Aquarium was really nice and with Toddler Tuesday it saved us a significant chunk of change on the tickets. Daniel loved the Aquarium, especially the tube (where there is a glass tank all around you). That was also where Jen took over Gramma Ann's wheelchair for a bit since the overall Mall experience, the loud noises and colors of the Nickelodeon Universe and the mirrors in the Aquarium (together with pretty much zero downtime since we left on this trip) made Jen just a tiny little bit dizzy. Okay, enough dizzy that she needed a wheelchair cause her balance was off due to her dizziness. Daniel found the touch-me tank and some stairs to climb while Gramma and Gramma Ann were looking at the green screen picture taken at the entrance.

Once back outside we said goodbye to Gramma and Gramma Ann and we went for lunch at... Culvers... for the 2nd day in a row! One of the perks of the Midwest I guess. Daniel was asleep before we left the MOA parking lot so we just did the drive-thru and found a place in the shade to enjoy our butterburgers.

Next stop was a SuperTarget (another thing we don't have at home, at least not anywhere close) and since D was still sleeping Jen got her toenails done. After a quick run through Target we met up with Dad at IKEA since he was in the same area as well. We showed Dad a couple of our kitchen ideas and a few other things we liked before we all headed back to Jens sister's house for dinner; home-made Mediterranean Pizza made by Jen and her other sister while Dad and me got the missing ingredients at the local Cub Foods.

Dinner turned out to be excellent (hey, did you see Jen's cooking endeavors lately...) and after Dad left we all turned in for an early night.

Tomorrow: Big Lake

Midwest adventure - Day 3

2010-08-16T23:15:00.003-04:00

Another day, another drive... This time it was a round-trip down family history lane in Northern Iowa, just south of the MN state line. Yesterday it was Jen's maternal family, today it was the paternal family that was the reason for the drive.

A quick 3 hr drive (did I mention these Midwest trips require some driving?) south of the Twin Cities we arrived in the bread-basket of the US in between the corn and other crops, John Deere outlets, New Holland tractors and other farm-related industries. Lots of small towns, but most of them seem to be doing pretty well with painted houses, maintained lawns and kids playing in the (smaller) streets. A bit of a throw-back to days gone by that I don't mind seeing restored.

Jen's dad came from a family 10. He was the youngest boy and grew up among the farms here. He talked at lengths about his upbringing (not always easy, but kids still had food, fun and each other) to prepare us for some of the stops were we met a good number of his brothers and sisters. We drove through the places where he grew up and went to school and pointed out a number of locations where he spend a summer, had friends and went to high school.

The last stop on Algona was the most impressive, with 4 of the Abbas boys and 2 of the Abbas girls together with some of their children and grand children. Jen met up with some of her cousins she hasn't seen for over 20 years. She did found one of them on Facebook recently and some of her aunts that have some computer skills found us as well and were surprisingly well aware of our live. For some all this information can be scary but if you have family literally all over the States and on various continents it is pretty much the only way to keep everyone informed without spending every single minute on the phone telling the same story over and over again.

On our way back we drove through the towns were Jen's dad was born and went to church before heading back to the Cities again. We also passed a very impressive wind farm. We've seen a couple of those farms back in March when we took a slight detour through some of rural Iowa (actually, we later found out only about 10 miles from where we were today...). It's nice to see a new, renewable industry appear next to farming that truly fits-in with the pretty self-contained society that still seems to thrive here.

We also made a stop at another Midwest adventure staple; Culvers. If you heard of them you know why, if you haven't, look 'm up and when you get there you take one bite of your butterburger and a sip from your frozen custard and you know what we mean. Love it. It's the only fastfood place we got to and is truly leaps-and-bounds above the rest. Even the book 'Eat This, Not That' came to same conclusion.

At this time it was already closing in on 9pm so we made sure to head straight back to South St. Paul. Another day in the books, another 400 miles. The total stands at 1400 some miles... and it's only day 3. Yaiks... ;-)

Midwest adventure - Day 2

2010-08-16T22:52:00.003-04:00

Our trips to the WI/MN clans always come with one major downside; seeing everyone requires lots 'o driving since they live quite a distance away from each other. Case in point was Day 2 of our Midwest Adventure 2010.

The day started in Oshkosh at the Meyer residence with a superb scones-breakfast home-made by our friends. Amazing. We needed to be on the road at about 10:30am since we were expected to be at a family gathering up in the Northwoods (Hayward, WI) at 3pm. To give you an example of the lots o' driving: Oshkosh to Hayward is 350 miles and almost 5hrs... We made sure we had plenty of food, drinks and gas since we had to make it a straight shot.

So, at exactly 3pm we pulled into the driveway and were greeted my Jen's mom, her brother, gramma, aunts, uncles and nephews. One of Jen's aunts got married last Friday so we had a nice dinner topped with some awesome wedding cake. Daniel (DJ) was having a great time with his cousins AJ and CJ (...) exploring the 20 acres, the chickens, the pool, the piano, the toys found by the grammas when they went garage-saling and mooching off our dinner. He was - strangely enough - a little afraid of the dogs. Not sure why, but not a big deal when there is 20 acres to roam.

Cousins DJ & CJ

LOVE this picture of Daniel and Gramma Ann playing PattyCake
Mom and her Grandsons
Four Generations
My brother and our boys
Siblings, not Rivals
Uncle Chris and the boys
Gramma Ann with 3 of her great-grandkids: AJ, DJ and CJ
The Newlyweds, Lori & Tony, with DJ and CJ
Daniel LOVED this keyboard!
We left Hayward at 7pm to head for our final destination that day: South St. Paul, MN. Short 2hr trip, only 130 miles. Easy peezy... ;-) We were met by Jen's sisters, her brother in-law and the new niece. Jen ended-up holding her for quite some time. The picture of her holding her new niece was exactly the same image I saw last year when Jen's sister was holding Daniel on that same couch...

After showering Jen's sister with a number of Daniel's old toys and other baby-related material we talked for a little bit before everyone went down to sleep. Tired of the total of 900+ miles over the last day we actually made it in bed before 11pm. I guess that is a first for me/Jen for the last 5 days or so. Such are the blessings of the driving on our Midwest Adventures.

Midwest Adventure - Day 1

2010-08-15T09:08:00.003-04:00

After a bit of a stressful week it was time to relax and take our 'annual' Midwest trip. Over the next couple days we'll be on lakes, in cities, on many an Interstate and other highways and meet many friends and family, most of them we haven't seen in a year or so.

Day 1 was the leg from home to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to see a great couple whom we last seen in Des Moines where they got married in March. The trip was pretty uneventful but there were some delays going through Chicago, even on a Saturday in the middle of August.

A little before 4pm we got into town and after a quick Target trip we got to our destination. The host is an avid Packer fan, so Jen thought it was a good idea to wear our Brett Favre Viking shirts... Always good for a laugh.

The rest of the night was filled with meeting some of the hosts' family, eating a fabulous home-cooked dinner, good convo and... upon special request... Settlers of Catan. We thought them the Cities and Knights version since it's infinity more dynamic than the original but way to hard to explain if you don't yet know the basics. The game took a good 3 hours and with some additional Q&A on a couple of marriage-related topics we all went to bed. Unfortunately, even with the time-change the clock was showing 1.30am meaning we had been up almost 19 hours.

Nite, nite...

Daniel with Anissa & Mark Meyer

Day One: still bright eyed and bushy tailed!

Updated Online Cookbook

2010-08-13T19:08:00.019-04:00

Niels and I were talking with a friend lately, and realized that other than when we're on the road, we can't even remember the last time we ate out for dinner. This has been our year of eating healthfully, and a big part of that has been cooking at home. We really enjoy having family dinners and I think it's important for Daniel to see us make that time a priority. It occurred to me that when I travel, I may want to have access to the recipes I've made, so I can keep cooking even when I'm not in my own kitchen.

Pasta & Grains

Tortellini with Bacon, Greens and Brown Butter (03.06.09)

Last-Minute Lasagna (03.10.09)

Ravioli with Roasted Zucchini (03.17.09)

Ravioli with Sautéed Zucchini (04.09.09)

Spinach Pesto and Pasta (04.10.09)

Easy, Cheesy Tortellini Bake (09.28.09)

Biggest Loser Baked Ziti (from the Biggest Loser Family Cookbook) (2010)

Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta (02.26.10)

Pasta with Kalamata Olives and Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce (04.09.10)

Steel Cut Oatmeal (04.28.10)

Whole Wheat Pasta with Sesame Peanut Sauce (05.01.10)

Spinach Cheese Manicotti (05.11.10)

Elegant Orzo with Wilted Spinach and Pine Nuts (06.04.10)

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad (07.26.10)

Baked Penne with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes (08.31.10)

Steel Cut Oats with Baked Apple & Pecans (09.17.10)

Broccoli and Pesto Tagliatelle (10.08.10)

Quinoa Vegetable Pilaf

Quinoa Salad with Spinach, Raisins & Walnuts

Chicken

Rasta Pasta (2007)
Pasta with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli (2009)
Ginger-Stuffed Chicken with Sesame Spinach (02.23.09)

Honey Chicken Skewers with Grilled-Corn Salad (04.17.09)

Three-Cheese Chicken Cannelloni (05.27.10)
Sweet and Spicy Chicken, aka de Jong Chicken (06.01.09)
Grilled Chicken and Spinach Quesadillas (06.15.09)
Chicken and Sausage with Bowties (06.20.09)
Marc’s Cashew Chicken (01.10.10)

Crockpot Italian Chicken (03.18.10)

Simple Mediterranean Chicken (04.7.10)

Lemon Dill Chicken (04.12.10)

Spicy Chicken and Orzo Skillet (04.23.10)

Spinach Orzo Salad (04.25.10)

Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken (05.03.10)
Pecan-Crusted Chicken (05.08.10)

Chicken Stuffed with Feta and Spinach (05.16.10)

Pesto Chicken Manicotti (06.19.10)

Caribbean Chicken (06.21.10)

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken (07.31.10)

Almond Chicken Salad Sandwich (08.04.10)

Easy Slow Cooker Chicken Dinner (08.13.10)

Pulled Chicken Sandwich (08.24.10)

Chicken Caesar Pitas (08.26.10)

Cinnamon and Lime Chicken Fajitas (08.29.10)

Easy Grilled Chicken Teriyaki (08.27.10)

Apple Stuffed Chicken (09.17.10)

Grilled Citrus Chicken (09.25.10)

Chicken Stuffed with Spinach, Feta and Pine Nuts (10.10.10)

Chicken Diane (10.28.10)

Curried Apple Chicken (11.02.10)

Cheesy Chicken and Wild Rice (11.14.10)

Mandarin Orange Chicken

Pesto Chicken Florentine

Beef

Skirt Steak with Lemon and Chili-Roasted Potatoes (02.26.09)
Beef Sandwiches au Coke (03.02.09)
Teriyaki-Glazed Burgers (04.03.09)
Steak with Cauliflower and Crispy Bread Crumbs (04.13.09)
Melt-in-Your-Mouth Meatloaf (08.20.09)
Slow Cooker Beef Stew (10.07.09)

Wild Rice Meat Loaf (03.22.10)

Italian Spinach Bread (04.16.10)

London Broil (04.24.10)

Crock Pot Meatloaf (09.02.10)

Beef & Broccoli Stirfry (09.18.10)

Italian Pot Roast (09.19.10)

Dutch Delights
Dutch Almond Boterkoek (03.17.10)
Dutch Letter Cookies (04.02.10)
Stampot, aka Boerenkool met rookworst (04.11.10)
Hutspot (step-by-step) (04.22.10)
Indonesian Chicken Sate (step-by-step) (05.05.10)
Bitterballen (step-by-step) (05.05.10)

Dutch Macaroni (06.03.10)

Curly Endive Mash (06.20.10)

Curly Kale Hodgepodge (08.03.10)

Misc. Meals

Sausage, Spinach and Provolone Pizza (2009)

Basic Quiche (02.22.09)

Lamb Meatball Gyros with Yogurt and Mint (03.04.09)

Three-Cheese Calzones (03.11.09)

Five-Spice Pork Chops with Grilled Plums (04.06.09)

Cauliflower and Ham Gratin (04.07.09)

Rice Pizza (05.26.09)

Bubble and Squeak (09.28.09)

Spaghetti Squash Pasta (04.08.10)

Broccoli Brunch Braid (05.14.10)

Mediterranean Pizza with Cheese Stuffed Crust (07.23.10)

Falafel with Cucumber Sauce (07.24.10)

Stromboli (08.08.10)

Mediterranean Lamb Burgers (8.28.10)

Quinoa with Spinach & Feta (09.06.10)

Jack O' Lantern Sloppy Joe Pie (10.31.10)

Sides & Salads

Vegetable Fried Rice

Parmesan Potatoes

Broccoli Salad

Dill Bread (05.08.10)

Sun-Dried Tomato Tart Squares (05.19.10)

Spicy Peach Pilaf (05.20.10)

Spiral Garlic Loaf (05.25.10)

Fennel Potato Salad (07.28.10)

Sun Dried Tomato Pesto (09.27.10)

Olive and Capers Bread

Treats

Ginger Chocolate Chip Bars (2009)

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (2009)

Homemade Granola Bars (2009)

Lactation Cookies (01.26.09)

Blondies (03.07.09)

Coconut Chocolate Chip Macaroons (05.26.09)

Pumpkin Roll (09.12.09)

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Grahamwiches (2010)

Banana Bread (01.26.10)

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins (02.03.10)

Dilly Veggie Pizza (03.24.10)

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins (03.31.10)

Spice Cake (04.03.10)

No-Bake Cereal Bars (04.13.10)

Spice Cake (04.14.10)

Homemade Pop Tarts (04.28.10)

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels (step-by-step) (05.12.10)

Coconut No Bake Cookies (05.17.10)

Cream Cheese Mints (05.19.10)

Almond Cake (06.02.10)

Lemon Blueberry Pudding Cake (06.03.10)

Butter Brickle Pecan Cookies (06.08.10)

Snickerdoodle Muffins (06.09.10)

Jillian Michael's Healthy Brownies (06.21.10)

Chef Meg's Blueberry Flax Seed Muffins (07.18.10)

Blueberry Pound Cake (07.21.10)

Homemade Granola (07.30.10)

Pita Chips (08.02.10)

Greek Yogurt Cup with Quinoa Crunch and Berries (08.10.10)

Homemade Goldfish/Cheez-It Crackers (08.24.10)

Oatmeal Cake (08.25.10)

Nutella Cupcakes (08.29.10)

Chai Banana Bread (08.31.10)

Breakfast Baklava (09.01.10)

Homemade Wheat Thins (09.06.10)

Homemade Twinkies (09.08.10)

Almond Nutella Cupcakes (09.10.10)

Chai Spiced Cookies (09.11.10)

Anissa Meyer's Almond Cherry Scones (09.15.10)

Homemade Graham Crackers (09.17.10)

Fresh Apple Cake topped with this frosting. (09.22.10)

Apple-Pear Galette (10.06.10)

Apple Gem Cookies (10.08.10)

Apple Dumpling Pie (10.13.10)

Apple Strudel Muffins (10.16.10)

Apple Crisp (10.20.10)

Wormy Apple Bars (10.30.10)

Apple Quinoa Cake (11.03.10)

Pecan Thumbprint Cookies (11.08.10)

Peanut Butter Cookies (11.09.10)

Chocolate Chip Meringues (11.10.10)

Petite Macaroon Cups (11.12.10)

Roasted Chickpeas (11.15.10)

Baked Kale Chips (01.08.11)

Sauces and Soups

Broccoli Cheese Soup

Spicy Tomato Soup (06.06.10)

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (06.06.10)

Leek & Potato Soup (06.06.10)

Italian Wedding Soup (09.12.10)

Creamy Potato Soup (11.07.10)

I've been heard...

2010-08-13T12:49:00.002-04:00

Six years after my brain injury, and three years after I applied for Social Security, I finally had my hearing on Wednesday.

Niels and I arrived about an hour before the hearing--I was a bit paranoid about getting lost! My lawyer arrived about a half hour before. He checked out the disk with all the documentation/evidence and we went into a little room to talk. Everything was current, so that was a relief. Then he talked a little bit about what to expect. He said that first the judge would ask some basic questions about myself (age, education, address, social security number, etc.), then he would ask questions about my health, then my lawyer would ask questions to bring up anything the judge didn't address, then the medical expert (ME) would give his opinion, then the lawyer would ask questions based on what the ME said, then vocational expert (VE) would give her opinion, then the lawyer would ask questions based on that. He said if the ME said I couldn't work, we'd stop at that point. If the ME said I could work, and the VE said I couldn't, we'd stop there because we won. If she said I could work, then we'd bring in my husband to talk about my meltdowns (which I don't remember).

We walked into the meeting room, and I was surprised to see that the judge, ME and lawyer all had computers to look at my file. The person running the recorder was also there. Unfortunately, the VE was not. She didn't call in or anything. I was pretty upset about that because after waiting 3 years to plead your case in person, the person who we were really looking to help me out wasn't there. I hope she wasn't in an accident or anything, but still, very, very strange that she just never showed.

Everything went the way my lawyer said it would. After being sworn in and giving basic details, i was asked a lot of questions about my prior work, my accident, my therapies, my routine today and limitations I have. My ME, who is about EIGHTY, said I should be able to work. (My lawyer said afterwards that this guy NEVER says anyone can't work). He did say I should avoid any factory work where I have quotas. The judge looked at him for about 5 seconds and said, "That's it?" and kind of smirked.

Since the VE still hadn't showed up or called at that point, my lawyer called in my husband to testify. He talked about how we work very hard to order my days, limit my social interactions and try to avoid crashes. He explained what happens when I get overwhelmed and how poorly I deal with stress (my body basically shuts down and i can appear drunk or even catatonic). He also pointed out how he could tell when I was close to crashing, and even pointed out how I appeared at that moment--eyes starting to glaze over, speech slowing down, etc.

The judge decided that he would have the VE listen to the transcript and then answer questions he would submit. Then my lawyer will have the ability to ask follow-up questions. Since she wasn't there, my lawyer said it would likely delay my decision another month, and said not to expect anything for at least two months. Sigh. My original hearing was in April, so it's a bit frustrating that I'm have ANOTHER delay. Yet another example that God is in control and I am clearly not.

So now, I wait.

First three years of forever!

2010-08-02T13:18:00.004-04:00

I have grand plans to go back and make some posts about the last few months, but for now, I'll give another update. Like Niels said last month (!), we've had a fairly low key summer so far as I've been recovering from my surgery in June.

July has been focused on our plans for the future. The big news is that we're prepping our house for sale. We are planning to build a new home that fits our international, spread out family a little better (read: room for out-of-town guests!) in a nice, quiet neighborhood. We found a lot about 2 miles from our current home, and have selected our builder, Charis Homes.

We have been following Charis for nearly three years, when we first viewed one of their models when Niels' parents were here visiting over our first Christmas. They specialize in Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) construction, which is extremely durable and energy efficient. They are also excited about some of the universal design elements we have in mind. We've been having a lot of fun touring homes, pouring over floor plans and taking Daniel to all the home stores in the area! We meet with our architect on Thursday so we're really getting this ball rolling! If you're a Facebook friend, you can see some pictures of our ideas.

We've been interviewing realtors as we've been getting a few pre-renovation market analyses. Our builder has also been very helpful with getting quotes for the repairs we're doing. In addition to the usual decluttering and depersonalizing, we'll be

renovating the master bath (removing the triangle jacuzzi and replacing it with a regular size jetted soaker tub, adding a second vanity, replacing the shower door and light fixtures, and painting.
refinishing the hardwood floors
finishing the deck (soffiting and restaining)
painting the bathrooms

As if that doesn't make us busy enough, we'll also be heading to Minnesota for my 20 year high school reunion!

And in other big news, after three years of waiting, I'm finally up for my Social Security Disability hearing on August 11. It's been such a long process and I'm quite nervous about it. If you are the praying kind, we'd certainly appreciate your prayers for a fully favorable verdict from our judge. It usually takes 4-6 weeks to get the verdict, so you can imagine that I'll be waiting with bated breath.

On a related note, my health has been a challenge for the last several months. I had a uterine cancer scare in the spring that thankfully ended well. Then I had my surgery, and a few complications that have made a 4-6 week recovery more like an 8 week recovery. Fortunately, my mom was able to come for 3 weeks to help out with Daniel, and Niels was able to work from home for 2 weeks after that. My stitches are almost all closed and I'm looking forward to getting back to my previous fitness routine. I've lost 35 pounds so far this year, and am 20 away from my goal. The last few weeks I've been feeling the effects of our busier schedule so my headache has been worse and I've had more bad days than good. I'm also fighting some nausea, double vision and cognitive fatigue. I always do, but it's been more challenging lately.

On that note, I'm going to take a nap with Daniel now!

Daniel, 19 months, LOVES bubbles!

Celebrating our third anniversary on July 29, 2010.

Grand ol' Rapids!

2010-06-01T19:45:00.001-04:00

We spend Memorial Day weekend in my old stomping grounds in Grand Rapids. Once again, we stayed with the ever-gracious VandeVegtes. It was a great time seeing old friends and once again it went by too quickly.

Here are a few photos from the trip. Of course, if you're on Facebook, we've posted some more there!

We spent a day in Holland with the Van Duinens, where Daniel had a blast with all their toys!

Daniel with his adopted cousins. He seems overwhelmed!

We took Daniel to Nelis Dutch Villiage where the kicked up some wooden shoes.

Of course I spent time with a few of my besties, and our growing brood!

Daniel had a blast in Hannah's bed.

Daniel, with Daddy, modeling his Holland, MI t-shirt.

What's a trip to GR without a Panera stop with Erin and Beth?

(posted 07.23.10)

Oh Canada!

2010-05-28T10:29:00.004-04:00

After nine months away, the de Jongs headed North to visit our friends, the Vriends. (Fun fact: Vriend means "friend" in Dutch). Joel and Carolyn have a little boy, Noah, who is 3 months younger than Daniel. We have high hopes for the second generation of de Jong/Vriend friendship! It was fun watching the boy interact and compare notes on who is doing what. We had hoped that Noah would teach Daniel how to use a cup, but alas, no luck.

Here are a few pictures of our trip:

2010 New Recipes...so far

2010-05-17T14:04:00.003-04:00

My cookbook binder is starting to get full so I made a list of all the new recipes we've tried this year...and we still have half the year to go! Where available, I've made links to the recipes, and separate step-by-step instructions where I've made blog entries of my version.

Marc’s Cashew Chicken
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins
Crock Pot Macaroni and Cheese
Vegetable Fried Rice
Baked Ziti (Biggest Loser Family Cookbook)
Chocolate-Peanut Butter Grahamwiches (Biggest Loser Family Cookbook)
Baked Berry French Toast (The Volumetrics Eating Plan)
Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta
Dutch Almond Boterkoek
Crockpot Italian Chicken
Wild Rice Meat Loaf
Parmesan Potatoes
Dilly Veggie Pizza
Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
Dutch Letter Cookies
Simple Mediterranean Chicken
Suzy Preston's Ranch-Style Spaghetti Squash (one of the Biggest Loser books)
Pasta with Kalamata Olives and Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce
Stampot (Boerenkool met rookworst)
Lemon-Dill Chicken (from Mom's Elk River teachers cookbook)
No-Bake Cereal Bars
Spice Cake
Italian Spinach Bread
Hutspot (step-by-step)
Spicy Chicken and Orzo Skillet
Rosemary-Grilled London Broil (one of the Biggest Loser books)
Spinach Orzo Salad
Broccoli Salad
Steel Cut Oatmeal
Homemade Pop Tarts
Whole Wheat Pasta with Sesame Peanut Sauce
Crock Pot Teriyaki Chicken
Pecan-Crusted Chicken
Indonesian Chicken Sate (step-by-step)
Bitterballen (step-by-step)
Dill Bread
Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels (step-by-step)
Broccoli Brunch Braid
Chicken Stuffed with Feta and Spinach

Daniel at Play

2010-05-16T10:12:00.002-04:00

The bookstore at our church (where I used to work) has a children's corner with toys and of course, many, many books. Whenever we got there, Daniel runs to the play with the toys. He has a recent fascination with puzzles and is learning to sit in a chair (instead of the toddler table or his high chair.) He looks so stinkin' cute. I think we might need to look for a toddler chair at the garage sales this summer.

Tulips!

2010-05-12T17:43:00.003-04:00

For three years, Niels and I have wanted tulips in our yard. Finally, last fall, we had some friends and family help us get our act together. Then we waited for spring and the arrival of our tulips.

When the first tulips burst through, I was so excited, and every day Daniel and I would go check them out. Finally one day the first bloom arrived--a purple one! It was a good thing I took a picture because that night some critter came and ATE it! I was so ticked!

After that, we left our front lights on at night and had no further trouble. Except for bad weather and poor health (mine) preventing us from getting pictures of Daniel with the tulips.

Today the weather was overcast, so I rushed Daniel out after his morning nap to take pictures, and at that exact moment, a construction crew decides to set up camp in front of our house. I give up.

Why look at tulips when you can watch TRUCKS!?!

Got him looking, sort of.

This one was good, but of course a car was on the road.

Now he's distracted by the rock.

Sometimes the best pictures are from the back!

Soft Pretzels

2010-05-12T15:41:00.010-04:00

The theme of tonight's small group gathering is "cravings." I've wanted to try making homemade pretzels for months. Niels and I don't eat much fast food when we're home, but we have given in to the sweet smells of Auntie Ann's Pretzels. I can't even remember the last time we had one, but that's how long I've wanted to try making them.

Since I double messed up my last attempt with yeast by using hot water with expired yeast (hot water kills yeast--who knew?), we took a family outing to Giant Eagle to get ready for today's experiment.

I used Daniel's playtime to search the web for instructions on how to make the pretzel shape. My recipe was not at all helpful (form rope into pretzel shape--thanks a lot!) I found this very helpful video from, all all places, Auntie Anne's! I even learned some tips not cover explained in my recipe.

So, I combined both to come up with...

de Jong Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

INGREDIENTS:
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110
degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour (note: I used whole wheat, which made the dough harder to work with, I think. Next time, I'll try half and half)
1/2 cup white sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

DIRECTIONS:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Make sure the water isn’t too hot or it will kill the yeast. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

Yeast just after adding the warm water.

After 10 minutes. I think I was supposed to stir it more.

• In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt.

Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water.

Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap or warm, damp towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Before rising.

After rising. (And after I punched it down!)

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.

I would do this after the pretzels are formed because by the time I was ready, the water was cool and the soda had separated!

• When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces with a pizza cutter.

I think I was supposed to roll the dough out more, but this worked too.

• Roll each piece into a rope, starting in the middle and working out.

I may have just been really slow, but I had to wet my hands a couple times because the dough got try. It might have been the whole wheat as well. I think Daniel will enjoy helping me do this part in the future. He tried to help today. And Bailey tried to help herself when I was with Daniel!

• Twist into a pretzel shape, by looping the rope in half, twisting twice and fold it over.

1. Make a U shape

Twist it twice. (Imagine twisting a twist tie).

Pull the ends up and push down where the dough intersects.

This took a LONG time!

• Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a clean, dry towel to blot extra liquid before placing on lightly sprayed baking sheet.

• Sprinkle kosher salt on the salted pretzels. (I made 5 salted, 5 cinnamon/sugar and 4 almond)

• Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

• While pretzels are baking, melt ¼ cup butter and prepare sugar/cinnamon mixture and crushed almonds.

• After baking, follow the directions below depending on the type of pretzel.

For salted pretzels: Dip in butter with tongs (one side), and let drip dry before placing on plate.

For cinnamon/sugar: dip entire pretzel in butter, then immerse in sugar mixture to coat. Do both sides.

Almond: butter, then coast in toasted almonds.

Daniel's hideout

2010-05-12T11:37:00.003-04:00

Daniel's new food

2010-05-12T11:27:00.002-04:00

Daddy introduced Daniel to a traditional Dutch meal: hagelslag (chocolate sprinkle) sandwiches. Daniel took his with a side of goldfish, naturally.

More Adventures of Daniel and the Spoon

2010-05-12T10:55:00.002-04:00

Spinach Cheese Manicotti

2010-05-12T10:09:00.007-04:00

Yesterday, I was starting to feel better after the weekend's adventure, so I made dinner. I first tried this recipe last year, but apparently forgot how good it was!

Spinach Cheese Manicotti

INGREDIENTS:

1 (15 ounce) container ricotta

cheese

1 (10 ounce) package frozen

chopped spinach, thawed and

squeezed dry

1/2 cup minced onion

1 egg

2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

cheese, divided

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese,

divided

2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce

1 1/2 cups water

1 (8 ounce) package manicotti

shells

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	In a large bowl, combine ricotta, spinach, onion and egg. Season with parsley, pepper and garlic powder. Mix in 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. In a separate bowl, stir together spaghetti sauce and water. Chopped spinach in one of my new mixing bowls from IKEA. LOVE it! Ricotta cheese, egg, and minced onion in my other new bowl. All mixed together, with the parsley, pepper and garlic salt. (We didn't have garlic powder). Tomato sauce and water.
3.	Spread 1 cup sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Stuff uncooked manicotti shells with ricotta mixture, and arrange in a single layer in the dish. Cover with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan. I've read about using a pastry bag to stuff these, and a ziploc bag as a substitute. Actually, I found that using my freshly washed fingers was the easiest and fastest way! Ready for the oven!
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 55 minutes, or until noodles are soft. It looks a little crispy, but it was really good! I've had a harder than usual time with multi-tasking and planning my time this week. Niels was home later than usual and we had to run an errand, so we turned the oven off a little before it was done so we could get back from the store before Daniel's bedtime. So, it might have been slightly overbaked, but at least it wasn't burnt!

Nutrition
Information

Servings Per Recipe: 6

Calories: 547

Amount Per Serving

Total Fat: 18.6g
Cholesterol: 80mg
Sodium: 1310mg

Amount Per Serving

Total Carbs: 68.7g
Dietary Fiber: 9.2g
Protein: 27.2g

The calories are a bit high on this, but the portion sizes are pretty big. We used 8 serving portions so it was a little more respectable! We have plenty leftover. (Mom, there may be some left over by the time you get here!)

This recipe is very generous, so I had quite a bit of extra sauce and spinach mixture after filling the 14 manicotti shells that came in the box. So I looked to see what kind of other pasta I had on hand. I found some pasta wheels from when Daniel was on a pasta kick. I decided to use those for a pasta wheel experiment.

We'll see what Daniel thinks of his new wheels in a few hours!

Bubbles, Bailey and the Boy

2010-05-11T18:40:00.000-04:00

Mother's Day 2010 is in the books

2010-05-10T14:49:00.003-04:00

In the first few minutes of Mother's Day, Niels gave me my cards from him and Daniel. Daniel's card had trains and bears: two of his favorite things! (For the record, I also had beautiful tulips delivered to me on Thursday!) Turned out that the early card-giving was a good plan since the rest of the day didn't go quite according to plan.

After a restful night's sleep, Niels left early to run lights at church. Daniel and I followed a bit later, for the first service at 8:30. I wasn't feeling very good, but figured it was just the rush of getting Daniel up and out. I joined Niels at the lighting console and we chatted a little about his plans for us for the day. Last year, we went to Stan Hywet, and I had a great time taking pictures of my favorite boys. I wanted to do something as a family, so Niels suggested the Cleveland's Children's Museum. I quickly looked up the site on my Blackberry and approved.

After the first couple of songs, I noticed that I was feeling nauseous and light-headed, so I put my head against Niels and closed my eyes. The nausea got worse, so I rushed to the bathroom. When I was done, I started wandering around trying to find something to settle my stomach. I was getting more dizzy and cold! A friend from the nursery (where I just started volunteering) saw me and sat me down in one of the chairs and covered me with several blankets. Someone else got me some 7-Up and something to eat. Niels was told that I was ill, but couldn't do anything until after the service.

The next thing I remember, I was at home in the China room and Niels was home. Apparently, one of our friends drove me home and stayed with Daniel (who was also sleeping) and I until Niels got home around one. I had another brain injury "crash."

So, we made plans to watch TV in bed. I still wasn't very hungry, though I wanted cake, which Niels' got for me to celebrate the day (yummy almond, always reminds me of our wedding!). I also had some crackers and grapes. When I was finally feeling a little better, we called my mom to wish her a happy mother's day.

She talked to Niels, and after listening to his tale of the morning, she suggested we call my OB (No, I'm not pregnant! But I have had some other as-of-yet unexplained things going on!). After he talked to Niels, he told us to go the ER and he would meet us there. So we found some friends to watch Daniel (thank you, Swains!) and headed to the ER.

I had another episode at the ER and aphasia (loss of the ability to talk) kicked in. Fortunately, the doctor had already let them know what was going on so we got back to my room pretty quickly. I had a lot of blood taken and an exam and then we waited.

The good news is that I didn't have the serious infection or anemia that the doctor feared and we were able to go home. The bad news is that we still don't know what is causing the underlying problems. I have another thing with my OB on Thursday and then we'll wait for the results, and hopefully some answers.

We picked up Daniel and his sweet smile made me feel much better. He fell asleep on the way home. Niels and I camped out in the China room again, and he made grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for us both. We watched Because I Said So, which is one of my favorite movies.

We called it an early night, and I call myself very blessed to have two wonderful guys in my life.

Bath Boys

2010-05-10T12:13:00.002-04:00

One of the daddy's duties since Daniel was just a wee little guy is bath time. We don't have a regular bath tub in our house, so Daniel's been taking his baths in our jacuzzi tub since he was a couple of months old! We use the buddy system for bath time, and since I get to be home with Daniel all day, Daddy and Daniel get to splash around in the tub together. Our growing boy is now too big for his baby robe, and too little for his big boy robe (thanks, Gramma Kennedy!), so for now, he shares Daddy's robe and it's just right!

Dutch dinner, part 3: Chicken Sate

2010-05-06T13:33:00.003-04:00

I really was super woman yesterday, even though multi-tasking is not my forte. In my defense, our three Dutch dishes were not supposed to all be made at the same time! The original plan was for Niels and I to do all the prep work on Tuesday night. That didn't happen though, because Niels had an meeting at church and I was not feeling well. (I've been pretty exhausted and lightheaded the last few weeks and am waiting for some test results to hopefully clear things up). So Wednesday afternoon, the house was a mess and Niels had to work a little later because he was on Daniel duty that morning while I was at the doctor having said tests done to me. Nothing like a little stress! That said, Niels got home about an hour before our ten dinner guests, in time to help clean up, vacuum, run to the store to get the frying oil I forget, entertain Daniel and help me finish up the meal. (He's super man!).

So, meal #3, Chicken Sate, is a little less documented. We had to improvise a little bit, because I also forgot to get skewer sticks. Sate is marinated chicken served with peanut sauce, which of course, I made from scratch, because I'm a little nuts sometimes. :-)

Indonesian Chicken Sate

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast halves, skinned, boned & cut into 1/2" cubes
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. lemon juice

Instructions:

Combine above ingredients and let marinate 2 hours. Thread on skewers and grill approximately 5 minutes on each side or until done, or broil in oven. Do not overcook or it will be dry. Serve with peanut sauce.

Chicken in marinade

PEANUT SAUCE:

3 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. dark soy sauce
1 tsp. dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes (or hot chili paste)
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground coriander

Niels says that the peanut sauce should look creamier. It's possible that the all natural peanut butter, which also has a drier texture is the culprit. It could also be that my brain was pretty fried at this point, and I made a mistake! At any rate, it was delicious and there wasn't any left!

Bitterballen

2010-05-06T12:42:00.005-04:00

At last night's small group, we had a Dutch theme in honor of Liberation Day. In addition to Hutspot and Sate, I made bitterballen, a sort of deep fried meatball with diced veggies and seasonings. It's using dipped in mustard or Dijon sauce. Of course, in Holland, you can find these in the freezer section of the local store. Since we live in America, woefully far away from a Dutch store, I made them from scratch. Now that I know how time-intensive they are, Niels knows how much I love him!

Bitterballen

Ingredients:
4 tbl. butter or margarine
1/2 lb ground beef or veal
1/4 cup carrot, finely diced
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
A grating of fresh nutmeg
1 tbl. fresh lemon juice
2 tbl. parsley, finely chopped
5 tbl. flour
1 cup beef broth or milk
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
Oil for deep frying

Instructions:

Heat one tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over moderate heat and cook the meat, carrots, and onions until the meat is browned and the carrots are tender.

Drain the meat in a colander, then place in a mixing bowl. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, lemon juice, and parsley and stir to combine. Set the meat mixture aside.

Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over moderate heat and stir in the flour to make a roux. I had no idea what a roux was!

Cook this for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the beef broth or milk. Continue heating, stirring constantly, until the sauce boils and becomes quite thick.

Combine the sauce with the meat mixture, stirring to combine them thoroughly, and chill this mixture for at least two hours in the refrigerator, until it has become solid.

When the mixture has solidified, roll it into balls about 1 inches in diameter, using your hands. Roll the balls in the bread crumbs, then in the egg and water mixture, then in the bread crumbs again.

Fry a few at a time in a deep fryer with at least 2 inches of oil at 375 degrees until golden (about 2 to 3 minutes). Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Family Fitness and Homemade Hutspot

2010-05-06T10:51:00.007-04:00

Here in the de Jong household, every year has had a theme. 2006 was "Fall in Love." 2007 was "Adjust to Marriage." 2008 was "Pregnancy." 2009 was "Adjust to Parenthood."

2010 is "Family Fitness." In addition to making an effort to be more active, both Niels and I are trying to get to a healthy weight. This makes meals interesting, because Niels is trying to gain weight, while I am focused on losing it! And, now that Daniel eats what we eat, we've been much more mindful of what we serve. Last year we started a habit of trying three new recipes a week. We didn't always make our goal, but we did greatly expand our menu options. We've continued this tradition this year, and as my confidence has grown, so has the variety of our meals.

One of Niels' favorite Dutch meals is hutspot, which is basically potatoes and carrots mashed together:

Hutspot

(follow the link for nutritional information)

1¼ hours | 20 min prep

SERVES 8 -10

Ingredients:

6 onions
6 carrots
8 potatoes
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
salt
pepper

Directions:

Dice & boil onions and carrots 20 minutes. I actually found some rainbow carrots. They come in shades of red, orange and yellow. I thought they'd add a festive look! Aren't they pretty?!

Drain.
Boil peeled and quartered potatoes 20-25 minutes, til tender. We use red potatoes because they taste great even with the skins on them, and I'm all about saving the time of peeling them!

Drain and dry thoroughly.
Add onions and carrots mash well.
Add salt, pepper, butter and milk.
Mix.
Warm all together and serve hot.

Dutch Deliverance Day

2010-05-05T15:40:00.005-04:00

I'm still feeling worn out, but wanted to get Daniel out for the pictures I wanted to take on Koninginneday (Queens Day). Unfortunately, he was more interested in his flash cards than his Dutch heritage (Sorry Oma and Opa!)

To see more pictures, click here.