The Ramos Family

While the kids were off of school during MEA week, Paul's co-worker, her family, our family and TJ & Noah volunteered at Feed My Starving Children. I had heard of Feed My Starving Children before, had spoken to those that had volunteered their time there but hadn't yet had (or should I say taken) the opportunity to experience it myself. They have several different locations and we went to the one in Eagan since Paul and his co-worker, Nicole, were actually working that day and it was close to the UPS hub. They start out with all of the volunteers in a sitting area, sort of like a presentation room - and they talk about how it got started and then proceed to show examples of kids before and after they received the food through the program. It was interesting, enlightening, saddening - lots of different emotions flowed through me as I listened to George explain it all to us. To help us understand how bad it is for these people, George showed us a sample of a 'mud pie'. They literally take dirt, mix it with water and shape it into a circle and let it bake in the sun. These sell anywhere from $.02-$.05 each - for DIRT. There is absolutely no nutritive value, they simply eat it to curb the hunger pains. They are even seeing people eating pebbles, which the body is unable to digest and requires surgery to remove them. Can you even imagine - with all of the choices we have in what we eat everyday - that there are people who have absolutely NOTHING to eat? They showed us a picture of a six year old girl before she started receiving food through the program, she weighed 15 lbs, literally skin and bones. I think that had such a huge impact on me because Maria is six years old, and this little six year old girl weighed less than Lorenzo - our six month old!

Some of you may already know the story but....the founder of Feed My Starving Children started it back in 1987 after a trip to Honduras because he wanted to do something about all of the people there that were nearing death due to starvation. He had initially sent nutrition and candy bars back to Honduras but unfortunately, their bodies couldn't handle the richness of those foods and it actually made them sick. He then went to food companies and asked them to come up with something that would give these people the nutrition they needed, bring them back from the brink of death and would 'stay down' (i.e. their systems wouldn't reject it). What they came up with was a combination - chicken, veggies, soy & rice. Here's a little video of our assembly line!



The kids had so much fun putting the meals together. We tried to make sure each kid got a chance to do all of the different jobs. Nicole and her husband, John, have two daughters - Paige & Hailey. All the kids did a great job (the adults too, of course :)! After we were all done, I went home to pick up Bella and meet up with the rest of them at Cece's pizza back in Eagan. There was no shortage of food there, that's for sure! Bella wasn't able to come with to volunteer because kids have to be at least five years old in order to be there. She can't wait until she turns five so she can come with!

On one of the videos they showed us at Feed My Starving Children, there was a girl who was celebrating her birthday with her family and friends. We had asked Maria after we were all done if she wanted to have her birthday party there and she said 'yeah'! George was nearby and he said they only have one requirement for birthday's - you have to bring cake and chocolate ice cream! Maria said we'd do that for sure! I love that they get kids involved at such a young age - I think when they see kids their own age in pictures before and after - it really has an impact. We're hoping to become regular volunteers there.

Lorenzo turned six months old on Saturday! He went in for his six month checkup this morning and here are his stats:

Height: 26 1/4 inches
Head: 17 inches
Weight: 17 lbs 3 oz

He's in the 50th percentile for everything so he's our well proportioned, perfectly average little boy (well, average in some ways...hehehe). I talked to the doctor about him still spitting up despite the reflux medication so she's going to increase his dosage and see if that helps. Of course, he had to get three shots and the roto-virus vaccination. He cried hard for about 15 seconds until I could shove the pacifier in his mouth. He doesn't really take the nuk anymore, mainly because we got rid of it. But it definitely helps settle him down when he gets all whipped up and it did the job this morning. He recovered quickly and fell asleep in the car on the way home - he was an hour past naptime! Hopefully he takes a good nap and feels good this afternoon.

I hope you enjoy the photos I finally got out here! I just have to say - one of the things that drove me nuts about blogging was uploading all of the dang photos and trying to rearrange them, etc. My sister-in-law, Juli, started using Picasa to put together collages on her blog and since I'm really good at copying what others do - I followed suit! I love being able to get all of the photos I want out there in a fun format. Picasa 3, which is what I'm using, has a lot of format options and I'd encourage anyone who feels the same way I do about posting pictures to give it a shot! Believe me when I say, if I can do it - anyone can! Thanks for the idea Juli!

At the beginning of October, we went to Pine Tree Apple Orchard for the annual McKesson Wagon Ride event! The girls always look forward to going and this year the weather was absolutely beautiful! We weren't sure what to expect from the weather because the evenings had been pretty cold once the sun went down so we came prepared with winter gear but it wasn't really necessary. It was a perfect fall evening. We went on a wagon ride through the orchard and they even let us stop and pick an apple off of the trees. Lorenzo had his first taste of apple! Then we got back on the wagon to head for the pumpkins! We rode with Uncle Al, Auntie Tricia and Zach. After the wagon ride, we had cinnamon apple donuts and apple cider around a camp fire - it was so nice! Our little oinker, Maria, ate FOUR donuts!

A few weeks ago, Maria decided she wanted to rake the leaves so she could jump in the leaf pile. Well, there weren't a whole lot of leaves but the girls worked hard at making the small pile and they did actually jump in them! Lorenzo supervised and really seemed to enjoy doing so!

Here are photos from the girls' first day of school. Maria started 1st Grade and Bella is in preschool all day, MWF. Maria has a relatively small class - a total of eleven kids! It will be fun to watch them grow up together! Bella moved rooms - last year she was upstairs with the 'big' kids but this year they moved her to the other preschool room with Mrs. Barrett. She absolutely loves it! We had school conferences last week and both girls are doing well. Maria's favorite subject is reading/spelling and her teacher commented on how -detailed she gets with her artwork - she definitely gets that from her daddy :) Mrs. Barrett said Bella is a great kid and a good friend to everyone (she actually referred to her as the class mother hen - she offers to help anyone/everyone with zipping up jackets or with anything they seem to be struggling with).

Dang - it's been over a month since I posted! Guess life has gotten away from me a bit! What have we been up to? I'll let the kids tell you:

Maria - at the end of summer (okay, on Labor Day) I learned how to ride my bike without training wheels! Mom & Dad had bought me a new bike and it's kind of big for me but I'm doing a pretty good job. I can ride around in our street really well - I always go the same way so I can turn to my left - mom has tried to get me to go the other direction (I head up the street then back to our house, in an oval) but I'm scared right now. We focused on stopping first because I would basically throw my bike down and land however I landed since I have knee & elbow pads, gloves and a helmet! I've gotten good at stopping now that we spent some time on that. Starting is a little bit more of a challenge because the bike is tall for me - I have to step on the pedal in order to get up on the bike. Mom is still working with me on balancing as I do that.

I started 1st grade this year and love it. I have homework nearly every day which has been quite a change for mom (& dad) from last year! I usually come home from school, eat a snack and play with Bella for awhile (Mom usually makes us play outside if it's nice) then I do my homework before dinner. I also have to read 20 minutes a night and I really like to read. In fact, I was selected to be the reader at the 1st Grade Prayer Service a couple of weeks ago. I told mom the other night that I love taking tests. When she asked me why I said, 'because I always get them all right (spelling tests).' She said that's great and also let me know there might come a time when I don't get them all right on a test and that that's okay too - just so I always do the best that I can do.

I joined Girl Scouts this year - I'm in a Daisy Troop (which is Kindergarten and 1st Grade level) and our troop is made up of the girls in my first grade class - there are only five of us! So, for you Girl Scout Cookie lovers.......watch out here I come! We had our first activity last week and we got to make a scarecrow! That was very cool. Tonight is my first official meeting - Bella, Lorenzo, Mom & I had to run and get my uniform. Mom had to iron my troop number and the American flag on my vest. I'm all set to go! Mom said she wasn't in Girl Scouts and is excited for me to have the experience. I just found out last week that my Lola was a Girl Scout (highly decorated according to her!) - I hope I can follow her example.

I still haven't lost any teeth yet! I have two of my adult teeth coming in on the bottom and one of my bottom teeth is loose. I keep wiggling it in hopes it comes out! I started asking mom about the tooth fairy - a boy or a girl? How does she get in my room (I personally think it's a girl - most fairies are, right?). Anyhow, I can't wait to put my tooth under my pillow for the tooth fairy!

I started taking piano lessons a couple of weeks ago. Mom is actually taking them too! A family friend comes to our house and spends a half an hour with each of us then gives us 'homework' for the week. I am enjoying it so far! Last year we were given a piano that's been in the Pelletier family for 30+ years. My Great Grandma Pelletier bought it for one my mom's cousins when he was little so he could take piano lessons. It's a real player piano and we have like 200 rolls of music that can be played! It's not electric, so someone has to actually pump the pedals to make it play - and man is that a workout (for mom & dad)! Now, on top of my school work, I need to also practice piano everyday (or the days that mom remembers to remind me)!

Bella - I go to preschool three days a week, all day long! Mom drops Maria & I off and we get in line with all of the other kids, waiting for the bell to ring (on the days we're on time, otherwise we're running inside so we can get to class before school starts)! My classroom is actually downstairs from all of the other classes so Maria walks me to my room and drops me off. I love eating lunch at school, especially when I have cold lunch and get to bring my Hello Kitty lunch box! Each preschooler has a lunch helper, a fifth or sixth grader that sits with them during lunch and helps with opening things if needed. I have two lunch helpers - they take turns every other week, one is Miguel and the other is Tara. Usually when Mom drops us off at school in the morning Tara is outside with her friends and always says good morning and gives me a hug! When Mom picks us up from school, we have to wait until she pulls up to a certain point before we can walk to the car. Maria always holds my hand as we walk to the car and we're smiling all the way - Mom thinks it's so sweet (and cute)!

About three weeks ago I got really really sick, the sickest I've ever been. Actually, Mom said it's the sickest anyone in our family has been! It started with a fever on a Wednesday morning (the day Mom was supposed to chaperone my class field trip to an apple orchard) so, I stayed home sick from school and Mom made a doctor's appointment for that afternoon. The doctor checked me out and said my ears looked good but my throat was a little bit red so she decided to do a strep test. The quick test came back negative so the doctor said it could be just a virus, but that they would send the second test out to a lab and they would have results back sometime the next morning. Well, we headed home (actually, that's another story in itself - I'll tell you in a minute) and I started getting worse. My fever wouldn't go away, even with Motrin or Tylenol and I had absolutely no appetite. That night mom was up with me at 11pm, 3am and 5am - rubbing my back as I threw up and feeding me ice chips. She actually sent Daddy to the store at midnight because I was throwing up and my fever was so high, she was afraid I would get dehydrated. All I really wanted was water :( Anyhow, after a day and a half of throwing up, mom called the doctor's office back to ask about the strep test. Finally, at 2:30pm that afternoon the nurse called back and said the test came back positive. They called in a prescription and Daddy picked it up on his way home so I didn't start it until later that day. It took me almost four days on antibiotics before I got my energy back and was able to eat normal amounts of food! Mom & Dad were so glad to see me back to my normal self!

Other than that, everything else is pretty much the same. I still can't get enough of my baby brother Lorenzo. Mom says I would literally eat him up if I could, whatever that means. All I know is I've 'accidentally' bitten him a few times. When he's in his exersaucer I take his hands and show him how to play with all of the toys - mom says I need to let him learn on his own. I usually just ignore her and do it anyways. Yes, the timeout chair and I remain good friends.

When Maria is working on her homework everyday, Mom has told me that I need to do my homework too. We focus on one letter each week so mom has me practice my upper and lower case letters - that is if I can stay in one spot long enough (or keep my mind on one thought........) That's why I'm not taking piano lessons with Maria - Mom says I'm not 'focused' enough right now - I'm a shaker and a mover. I still make Mom & Dad laugh with the animated way I talk about things and describe things. About a month ago, Maria & I were watching TV while Mom was on the computer. A commercial for High School Musical came on, you know - the one where Troy is playing basketball and singing 'right now I can hardly breathe..........' anyhow, I yelled out, 'Oh my gosh, he's SO HOT!' Mom looked over at me & Maria and said, 'are you kidding me?' I looked at Mom like she was crazy and said, 'well look at him, he's totally sweating!' Mom thought that was pretty hilarious - mom has referred to Zach Efron as hot before, I always thought she meant because he's always playing some kind of sport.......

Lorenzo - I'm almost six months old! I'm semi-mobile, meaning I can roll around the room with the best of them. One day Mom laid me on my blanket in the TV room and had to run in the kitchen for a minute. When she came back I was in an entirely different spot in the room and my legs were stuck underneath a table - I could go no further! I've gotten pretty good and going back and forth between my back and my tummy. I still love to reach for my toys, especially with my left hand :)

I have two teeth! We were at Uncle Mike & Auntie Myra's house about a month ago when Uncle Mike noticed my first tooth coming in. I had been a droolin' fool for awhile before that and still can be from time to time. Mom says that will be the case for the next two years. I almost always have my hands or fingers in my mouth, Mom especially likes when I have both of my thumbs in either side of my mouth - she says that's a good look for me. I try to put everything in my mouth, including other people's fingers - but now that I have teeth it hurts!

I continue to be a spitter though my medicine has helped me to become a more consistent eater. I eat rice cereal in the morning and at night and still have a four, sometimes five bottles a day! I was up to 30 oz a day but now that I also eat rice cereal it's not quite so much. I still wake up to eat in the night, usually between 3-5am. About a month and a half ago, Mom and Dad took my pacifier away :( because I would wake up two to three times a night crying and all they would have to do is give me my pacifier. They said that was enough of that and I was going to just have to learn to fall asleep without it. Well, that's just one of my many vices - I also had to be swaddled in order to fall asleep (mom says something about being high maintenance, I have no idea what that means but I think the apple doesn't fall far from the tree..... at least that's what I've overheard Dad saying). Seems I can't calm myself down on my own - my arms are always flailing and fingers are in the mouth - so falling into a sweet slumber just wasn't in the picture.

Once I got good at sleeping without my pacifier, I decided to start waking up because I wasn't swaddled anymore.... Well, you know how the story goes - now Mom & Dad say that's the end of that! They had tried once before to let me 'cry it out' without being swaddled but I proceeded to fall asleep and wake up for four to five hours. It just wasn't happenin'. Well, Mom and Dad have revisited the thought and are now on round two (or is that round three, I've lost count and Mom says she's too tired to remember) of sleep training. I'm doing much better this time around and have started falling asleep, on my own, without a pacifier and without being swaddled.

I go in for my six month checkup next Monday. Mom is excited to see how much I've grown. Maybe she'll even post something on the blog!

Alright - gotta get going and make dinner before Maria & I head to her first Girl Scout meeting. I'll try to get pictures posted in the next week or so and keep a little more up to date (no promises though :) )