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This and That

First of all, I am feeling old because Olivia, who is not my oldest child, turned 17 on Friday! How can that be? It seems like yesterday she was this fiesty little toddler, who taught me that I had much to learn about parenting. Her reply when I asked her why she colored on the walls when she was only supposed to color on paper? "It's wallpaper." Her solution to not wanting bangs? Cut them off at the scalp. Now she stands much taller than her mother, getting ready to begin her senior year of high school. I am proud of the young lady she has become.

So. I was feeling like I had this no-dairy cooking down to a science. Then I tried to make some desserts recently. Complete failures. One of them I suspect was a misprint in the cookbook. There is no way that 2 cups of liquid ingredients and 2 1/4 cups dry ingredients is going to produce a thick dough that can be rolled out and sliced into bar cookies. Then I tried to make a dairy-free key lime pie for Olivia's birthday. I found a recipe to make sweetened condensed almond milk. It never did thicken up to the consistency of store bought condensed milk, so I added some arrowroot powder to try and thicken it. It still never set when I baked the pie. We had what could be described as key lime milkshakes. Tasty, but not what I was going for.

I have to say that the kindness of friends and some good deals on Craigslist have made my diaper and clothing worries disappear! I now have plenty of diapers for Therese and the new baby. I also have summer outfits for this little guy. The name? We still haven't decided on his name, but we have a list, and that is something. We reconfigured the crib into a toddler bed for Therese. She keeps falling out, even with the bed rails. She may not be quite ready for a big girl bed. That's fine, since I have a feeling this little guy will be bunking in with us in the portable crib for a while anyway.

The pregnancy calendar I have on my ipod told me today that I may see a return of fatigue. Really? That would explain the need to collapse on the sofa for 20 minutes in the afternoon almost every day. Also returning? Emotional ups and downs. Tony confirmed that this is also true.





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