Winter Wigginess

I was tagged by one of my college roommates, Stephanie, to share the fourth picture in the fourth album in my collection of pictures on my computer. I tag no one as usual. The above was taken by my Dad when he was visiting in June of 2007. So, Z was only one year old here. He looks so little to me here!

Juju Update!
The history. Juju has had nasal congestion at night since she was one week old. As we weren't sure what caused this we had her checked out by an Ear, Nose & Throat doc who used a fibre-optic scope up her nose to make sure everything was OK. More recently a different doc had blood drawn so that we could check out what she might be allergic to, perhaps in my diet, as she is breast-fed. I've been abstaining from most foods that are typical allergens (wheat, dairy, nuts, eggs, citrus fruits and beef). Evidently, the blood allergy test cannot detect allergies to foods you haven't had an allergic reaction to recently. So, my diet likely skewed the test results for the foods I had been avoiding.

Two bummers and a praise. They didn't test for many things because they couldn't draw much blood due to her being only 4 months old. The only two things on the list that she had been exposed to were soy and dust mites. Both were negative so that's happy. I was really frustrated that eggs, wheat and nuts weren't on the test list, but since I wasn't eating them anyways, they would have likely been negative.

The plan. Last week I reintroduced beef. This week I'm reintroducing wheat into my diet. Next week, I think I'll eat an egg and see what happens. At some point I might try and reintroduce dairy, but previous experiences convince me that she has at least an intolerance to dairy. We have good nights and bad nights, but she's loud enough we've had to move out of the family bed so the boys can sleep.

In other news, Juju is officially a thumb sucker! She has even found her thumb in her sleep on occasion. Big brother continues to be an absolute love to her and kisses her and nuzzles with her.

Learn to Drive!

I've been wanting to explore the issue of two way stops for a while now. We have a two way stop outside our house, as we live on a corner. There are constant accidents happening at this intersection. Part of the reason is because once upon a time our intersection was a four way stop and people forget that it's changed now. Part of the reason, though, is also because of the Modern Mayberry way of dealing with two way stops. It's called "waving". No one knows who has the right of way and therefore accidents happen. Was she waving me to go, or was that a thank you wave? I don't know! Personally, I'd rather not be waved at, I'd rather know what the rule is and follow it. Of course, it was be ideal if everyone knew the rule.

So, here it is! The written law was quite indiscernable, so the following is the best answer I could find on the internet* about who has the right of way at two way stops :

The person who arrives first has the right of way, assuming BOTH people actually have a stop sign...The other 2 directions, that do not have a stop obviously have the right of way. Otherwise, it is the first to arrive.
If both arrive at the same time, it depends on who allows who to go, but typically the person going straight will be given the right of way. Once that first car has gone, the person turning left then has the right of way over anyone following the first car straight through.

* Please check your local area's laws to know what is legal in your area.

Fun!

Hey! Good news! I'm starting to get over the all day "morning" sickness. It comes back here and there, usually when I'm hungry, but for the most part I feel like a new woman! I think I'm getting a little energy back too. So yay! Z has been a love today, super cuddly and lovey dovey. He laid in my arms for ten minutes after his nap today as he investigated the stitching on his teddy bear. The couple times I had to correct him today he quickly wanted to give me kisses. He did great at swim class today too and slept for three hours immediately after. All in all, it was a good day to be a Mommy!

Let's learn to drive!

I decided to change the name of this section, as I am learning new things all the time. Some of these driving tips are inspired from other drivers I encounter, but some I learned as an adult (usually from my husband). I couldn't find any text books online to support Ben's claim that you should not pass within fifty feet of an intersection, but it seems like a safe rule, and one I have been following for several years now. Hopefully, it's obvious to everyone that we should never pass or change lanes in the middle of an intersection, but in case it's not, that's what I'm here for!

Money for Nothin'

Here's one from my Grandpa J. in Tennessee. Check out Discover Card's Cash back incentive plan on their Open Road Card:

• 5% Cashback Bonus on gas and everyday auto maintenance purchases
• 5% to 20% Cashback Bonus at top online retailers like Target, Lands’ End and Barnes & Noble at ShopDiscover
• Up to 1% Cashback Bonus on everything else you buy
• Unlimited cash rewards

Since getting this card last November, I've made $12.15 for simply putting my gas and oil on the Discover Card. I pay it off each month and we strictly adhere to using the card for gas and car maintenance only. We usually put everything on our debit card, which makes for a lot of receipts for me to enter. I love having fewer receipts to enter, and knowing exactly how much we spend each month on car stuff. A couple details for anyone interested in doing this:
1. You can choose whether you get bills in the mail or by internet
2. You can't cash in your money until you've earned $20 or more, then you can choose whether you want to credit your account, electronically deposit the money into your bank account (you don't need to have banking online for this) or donate it to a charity of your choice, how nice!


I checked out their "Discover More" card and it doesn't look better to me, because I need gas or oil for my car all the time and you only get rewards on that certain months of the year. Here's what it said for that card's 5% cashback bonuses for 2008:
Jan-Mar: Airlines, cruises, car rentals and hotels
April-June: Home Improvement
July-Sept: Gas and hotels
Oct-Dec: Restaurants and Movies


No thanks! I'll stick to my Open Road card. I admit I don't like having a huge bill at the end of the month, but since it's money I spend anyways, I find the money carries over from the beginning of the month to help me pay it at the end!

Web World!

I actually spent a great deal of time on these two websites yesterday with a little nugget of love on my lap who was giggling most the time!The first was Disney Clubhouse where we got to click on our favorite shows like Tigger and Pooh and Handy Manny to play games featuring them. Then we went to Curious George's website and had SO much fun, mainly because my little one speaks the same language as George and they understand each other. So for those who have little ones and are worried about too much TV in these winter months with not much else to do, here ya go! They also have games for older kids on the Disney site. Just Google your kid's favorite show and there's probably something interactive on the web for them.

WigJournal

Swim classes started again! He's much more comfortable in the water this year (Z not Ben).Found this on one of my college roommate's blog. Not sure how exactly they're defining "genius"! Interestingly, three of my four college roomies have blogs: Lana, Stephanie and Chrisie! Do visit, they're all fascinating women!
Here's some snippets of our night the other night. I just missed some really funny dancing but still got a little bit on this first video which you can't hear very well at all. In the second one he was initially waiting for me to take his picture, but soon gave up and started his usual grabbing of whatever he can find on the table. If you listen you can hear "slurping" of the white spoon he pretends to lick!


As promised, here's the latest installment of "Becca's Favorite Things":
Got dry skin? I do! Eucerin Plus: Intensive Repair Body Creme healed the eczema on my scalp (although it came back when I stopped using it, but it does that when I use prescription cremes too!). Next, we have the best spray since insect repellent. Suave Professionals: Volumizing (Compare to Matrix) costs under $3 and works every bit as good as professional styling spray. I tried their curl scruncher in the green bottle and didn't like it much, but this, this is outstanding! Fly-aways and frizzies are a thing of the past, I'd recommend this for any hair type, especially inconsistently wavey hair like mine.

"Learn how to drive, people!"
In today's friendly driving reminder we address turning onto a multi-lane road. When turning onto a multi-lane road (see diagram below), whether in a left or right hand turn, you should turn into the lane nearest you even if you want into the far lane. Once in the nearest lane apply turning signal and cautiously move into the desired lane. This allows traffic to continue safely from two directions.
Money for Nothin'
Let's talk money! My favorite way to make free money right now is on emigrantdirect.com.
When I first started my American Dream savings account with them the rate was at 5% APY, now it's down to 4.55% I believe, but that shouldn't stop you. You have to have a regular bank account somewhere to sign up then they send two small amounts of money (like say 42 cents) into your account to verify that your account really exists. You enter on their site how much you received and you're done! If you have bank statements online it's super easy, or you can call your bank for the amounts. Once you've done that one time you're good to go and can set up as many online savings accounts as you want.

What I like (besides making over $15 a month for doing nothing) is that I'm getting CD interest rates with the luxury of being able to take it out anytime. Yes, I've tried and it's as simple as click, click and it's back in your checking account at your local bank. Since I started my first account in October 2007 I've gotten inspired and started several other savings accounts: Christmas, Vacation, Z's College Fund and I'm thinking about starting more for things like car insurance that's due once a year, dentist appointments, and home school supplies so we're ready to go in three years. Anyways, do ask if you have questions!

Web World
Surprise! Since I've always been so overwhelmed by all there is to see on the web, I was glad to find that someone sorted through it all and came up with a list of the best websites on The Webby Awards. Click over to their site and you'll find a really long list of categories, their winners from 2007 and the runner-ups. You can even enter your own website to be a nominee for the 2008 Webby Awards.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my new topics of interest! I plan to feature them again in the future whenever I'm inspired. I welcome contributions, corrections and suggestions. Please e-mail those to me: becca wigton at tusco . net (take the spaces out and switch the at-sign). Other people I respect are publishing their e-mail that way for security purposes, so I'm following their lead.

Before signing off, I must share (since I shared last week), that all of the sudden, we have fully weaned Z from nursing! When I say we, I mean we! My husband is off work Sundays and Mondays and Saturday night we decided since he was off the next two days we should make a go of this. He dealt with Z all night both nights by himself, while I slept in the other room. I think Ben would agree the first night was the only difficult night we've had. Since then, Z has gotten better and better about putting himself back to sleep when he wakes up twice a night out of habit. In fact....are you ready for this? Last night was the fourth night since cutting him off and he slept the entire night through! Yay Z! 9pm to 6:30am! Not bad at all! I cried a lot Sunday because I realized my little boy was growing up, but now that this is working out for all of us I'm really happy! And they said, "Oh, he'll be sleeping through the night by six months!" Heh, heh, heh. Try almost 19 months! Better late than never, I guess! Yes, Aunt Debbi, this means future sleepovers!