We're still all rooting for you on Saturday. I'd be there for you myself if I didn't have a leg wax.

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The March of Dimes March for Babies is coming up on Saturday May 9th. I formed a team for any locals that want to join me walking. The team goal is $1500. Here's the team page so you can sign up to walk or, if you're not local, to sponsor my team.

Or you can just ignore this post. No big. It's not like I have stat tracking enabled and can see who visits {coughs.you know who you are.coughs.} And when they visit. And how often ... but I digress. It's cool if you don't like babies or want to help them. You probably kick puppies and kittens too, don't you?

Come on - sponsor me or, better yet, join the team, get some folks to sponsor ya and go for a nice walk with me. And help the babies, too. Imagine all the karma points you can rack up. You'll probably have enough good karma stored up to get you a 'get out of jail free' card the next time you kick a puppy!

(I totally missed my calling in fund raising writing, didn't I?)

(For the record, I totally do not condone kicking puppies and kittens, nor do I associate with people who do. That I know of. I have my suspicions about a few of you ... )

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I got Bean's piano lesson progress report the other day. Here's what her instructor said about her: I am so grateful for Bean! I love everything about her - her pep, wit and style. Her aptitude is astounding for her age! :)

The aptitude comment is nice, and I'm glad Bean has the opportunity if she has the aptitude. What I'm really sharing is how much her instructor appreciates her. Bean adores her piano teacher, and the feeling is obviously mutual. I can't think of a better way to spend my money than on someone who really likes my kid, you know?

In a totally opposite direction, I was talking with one of the teachers at Bean's school about the Manta Ray class - you know, the one Bean doesn't want to go to. I asked the teacher if she liked Miss Anna (the M Ray teacher). While she didn't say no, she didn't say yes, either, which is telling in itself. But she had concerns over how structured the Manta Ray class is, especially when the next classroom they go to is *not* as structured, and historically, the kids go wild when they move up and out of the highly structure environment Miss Anna creates.

The teacher I was talking to said that a lot of kids respond really well to Miss Anna, but she could totally understand why Bean was so resistant. I don't think I ever really see Miss Anna smile or act like she enjoys her job or her interactions with the kids, and that really bothers me. I know some of you (quietly) think I'm a total pushover, that Bean gets away with too much, that I'm too liberal in the way I raise her - and I don't mind that you think that way. There are times I wonder the same things myself. But then I remember she's only 3.5, and yeah, she'll be 4 in a few months, but when I was her age, my only real structure was my dad came home at noon for lunch and at 5:00 for dinner. My mom could chime in a little better on how strict she was, but since I am told with great frequency that Bean is just like I was as a kid, I can't believe there was an overabundance of strict. At least not enough to break my will :)

I refer to Manta Ray as the Evil Empire these days ... not to Bean or within earshot of her, but it's kind of how I picture it. I talk it up to Bean, emphasizing the science experiments they supposedly do. But she says that Miss Anna hollers at her and isn't nice. Not too much lipstick I can put on that kind of pig ...

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Miss O had her urology appointment yesterday. The good news is that her kidneys and bladder didn't show any damage on the ultrasound. And she's finally over 20 pounds! Her kidneys were small - like in the 10th percentile - but they said that when you look at the tiny little package the kidneys come in, it doesn't seem like they are abnormally small.

She goes in next week for the dreaded VCUG, and they'll get a sterile urine sample at that time. Thankfully, she's in the hand of people who cath little kids and babies all day long, so they will be really good at what they do. I'll update y'all on that when I know more.

One thing this specialist appointment did was solidify my belief that we need to change the girls' pediatrician. They never sent the records from O's hospital visit to the urology folks, and when I called them yesterday to ask again, I told them to call me if there was any problem. Whaddaya know, they never sent them and never called me.

When Dave called to ask them to resend them, they gave him a ton of 'tude and blamed me for not telling them it needed to be sent. Then they called me and told me they never got the records. I called the hospital, and they sent the records 2/26. The hospital gave me the info I needed to allow the specialist to request the records without having my signature to authorize, and thanks to the urology office and the hospital, O's records arrived in time for her appointment.

The screw ups and blame game, coupled with the 'tude, mean they're out. The girls will have a new ped, who I met at a Q&A session and who seemed really nice and well-informed. As a bonus, their office accepts patients on delayed or alternative vaccination schedules (the main reason I was staying at the other office, as the girls are not vaccinated), and the ped I talked to said she'd present information, but I wouldn't be forced to comply. I never mind being given information to make sure my informed choices are still well-informed, so she and I should do just fine :)

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Dave had the girls last night so I got in some uninterrupted online and relaxing time. My Aunt Beatrice is in town for a visit, and I believe my parents are bringing her over today so she can meet the girls. I'm also trying to accomodate a UT photojournalism student on Sunday, who is working on a divorced families piece. Then Bean and I have a b-day party to attend in the afternoon and Dave is taking Miss O Sunday afternoon and overnight so the big girls and I can attend and stay for dinner. It's a hectic weekend so I'm especially grateful for last night's break!
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