Photo Friday – Jack the Hitter

Jack has played baseball this spring. He has had a good season hitting and is getting better in the field. On Wednesday Jack made three outs in the field during the game, including a double play. Jim has operated the pitching machine for our team and done a great job keeping it in line.

When Jack was about 15 months old we decided to start him on a blendarized food regime. He was tube fed during this time, so he was only getting formula.

We knew that in the future we were going to work with him to eat orally and wanted to make sure that his stomach was used to digesting food. Some of our doctors had mentioned this was a good way to accomplish this.

At Children’s Hospital I was connected with a dietician who specialized in creating blendarized diets. We worked together to create a recipe that had a balance of nutrients, fats, protein and carbs. I purchased a Vitamix blender that would be able to grind up the ingredients enough to easily pass through his feeding tube. I did find that some proteins were difficult to get fine enough. Since making these foods were a bit time consuming I would give him up to two feedings a day. The other feedings he would continue to have age-appropriate formula.

Using these recipes we were also able to test his GI system and see if he had grown out of this milk protein intolerance. It was a simple way to introduce a small amount of dairy and see how he did.

A year later when Jack went through the feeding program and started eating he didn’t have any GI upset. I believe that some of this was due to his body learning to digest other foods with the blendarized diet.

Photo Friday – Working at Starbucks

This morning Will and I are working at Starbucks while the cleaners are at our house. I couldn’t think of a better work partner today. I wonder who will be more productive.

When I worked on the Intro to Facebook presentation I found a few simple tips or guidelines to using Facebook. These are great things to remember for both new users and seasoned veterans.

One of my Mother’s Day presents from Jack was a great Wordle sign of words he chose about me. Wordle is a fun online tool that allows you to make word clouds with any set of words you have. I was inspired to make one about my Mom.

Happy Mother’s Day Mom!

This is the Wordle that Jack created for me.

Photo Friday – Mother’s Day Brunch

Thursday was Mother’s Day Brunch at Will’s preschool. The kids sang some songs and made beautiful cards for us. It was great to see Will sing with everyone and be excited to share things with me.

We have been blessed with a beautiful stretch of weather for spring time in the Pacific Northwest. After a long wet winter of being trapped indoors it has been nice to get out and dry out our webbed feet.

In our school district the kids get out early on Wednesday so the teachers can have planning time, meetings and conduct other administrative activities. We are lucky to live in a neighborhood that has a big bus stop with lots of kids who like to play together. Most days Jack and Will beg to play with everyone after the bus. With sports and other activities, some weeks we aren’t able to play after the bus, except for Wednesdays.

The last four Wednesdays have been nice and sunny, some warmer than others, so the kids have spent them outside creating fun games. The moms have a “play date” too, sitting, chatting and soaking up some Vitamin D. Last year I felt like I needed to come home every Wednesday and work in the afternoon, but recently I needed the camaraderie and relaxation time to refresh my brain. I have plenty of work to do at home, but sometimes you just need a break and a glass of iced tea.

Our last six weeks has been filled with so much change – Jim’s job, losing Mulligan, juggling new work projects and more — that any break is found and cherished time. I have also really come to value my friends in the neighborhood. We talk about most anything, from school politics and teachers to what Julie has been watching on Court TV.

We all need our breathing space, chance to refresh our batteries and our brains and talk about silly things like People Magazine and TMZ.

What do you do to refresh your brain and create a breathing space for yourself?

Any parent knows that one of your biggest jobs is being your child’s advocate. You can advocate for them in medical situations, school issues and even with social disputes.

One of the most important parts of advocating for your child is trusting your gut. You know your child best and usually your gut will tell you when something is just not right. I think parents tend to discount this factor especially when it goes against what experts have to say. Sometimes we know what is better for our child, even more so than doctors.

Doctors, teachers and other authority figures try to do what is best, but sometimes the subtleties of our kids can be lost on them. We as parents can see these things daily and know when something is wrong or just not working. You just have to trust your gut and speak up. It isn’t easy to do but if you have the strength it can be powerful for both you and your child.

When Jack was a baby we as new parents didn’t understand the power of trusting your gut. I had a feeling that more was wrong in those early months, but didn’t know how to say it to the doctors in a way that made sense and not like a desperate mother. We eventually found out that there was more going on with him and I learned to trust my gut.

Have you had to advocate for child in medical or other issues? Have you had to trust your gut?

Photo Friday – 2nd Grade Concert

This week was Jack’s 2nd grade concert. He was in the front row, acted out all the songs and sang his heart out. He also had a speaking line and did a great job annunciating it. It was a fun night. Thanks Aunt Amy, Aunt Jane and Molly for coming to support Jack.

Today’s Photo Friday is number 150. I can’t believe there have been that many. It has been fun to do and I look forward to the next 150.

I have been using Office 365 for almost two years for my small business. It has been a great service for me at a reasonable price and very little downtime.

Before using Office 365, I had researched options to get my email, calendar and contacts onto an Exchange server, which would eliminate sync problems I was having between devices. Most services were double the price of Office 365 for just the Exchange portion and didn’t include the other services they provide.

Included with my Office 365 service is SharePoint access and website hosting. I recently moved our www.denike.com website over to Office 365 too. They have a few different templates to choose from and a pretty easy design interface. It works for our site, but if you need something more custom or have specific features it may not work for you.

Using an Exchange server has been more than worth the money for me. I am able to have my email, calendar, contacts and other elements of Outlook synced across my phone, iPad and laptops in real-time. Before this I would have to use a kluged system of POP3 for email, Google sync for calendar and periodic manual syncing for contacts. Things were never completely coordinated. Now I have access across multiple devices seamlessly and even have access through the web via the Office 365 portal.

The main drawback of Office 365 for Small Business is that you pay per user. However for me I only have two registered users, Jim and I, so it is still cheaper than using Exchange through another host. If you have more users than that it could become more expensive, but you get more services too.

If you own a small business and are looking for a way to get on an Exchange server and access the other Office tools, Office 365 is a great way to go.

What tools do you use for your small business?

I was not compensated in any way for this post by Microsoft or Office 365. These are just my opinions.