Aussie Foxes Book Tour Responses

As a mother, I can’t imagine subjecting my child to anything like foot
binding for the sake of societal acceptance. Do you think there are any
practices in today’s world that might indicate a similar symbol of female status in our society? What are they?

I am not sure if we have any practices in our society today which force us to subject our children (daughters) to such horrendous pain. However, is life not cruel enough to our children without us inflicting the pain ourselves? Bullying, sports, education, clothes, popularity, disabilities and money are only a few of the things our children will endure in their lifetimes that will cause them pain and cause us pain in return to watch them have to endure these things. I also could not imagine sending my daughter (or son) off to marry into a family and know they would not be treated properly and have to be a slave or be treated cruelly just because she is a female.

Why was Lily so forgiving of Snow Flower and her betrayal, yet so angry with
her family and Madame Wang? Isn't the betrayal the same? Why are we so
forgiving of friends but not of family members?

I think maybe Lily was so forgiving of Snow Flower and not her family as maybe we have more trust and love for our family and therefore we expect more from them? I was shocked that Lily was able to shut out her mother with such ease. But then the more I thought about it, the more I realised that
the relationship between mothers and daughters was completely different than it is now. Girl children were a burden on their families and perhaps since they were not showed love and affection from their families, it was easier to turn their back on the family. The relationship Lily had with Snow Flower was one she never experienced with her family. The love and affection was something Lily had never encountered before and would never encounter again.

How do you feel about the concept of "old sames" (being in an arranged
friendship)? Were you surprised at the way it turned out for Lily and Snow
Flower? Have you found yourself in a "sisterhood" kind of friendship
throughout your life? How was it able to last through all of the changes you
have gone through in your life?

I think the concept of “old sames” could be a beautiful thing. However, as we saw in the book – the girls ended up betraying each other and hurting each other in the worst possible way. I am not sure there is any way for two women to have a friendship and for it not to end in heartache at some point. I am not surprised at the way things turned out between the girls. Their whole friendship was based on lies from the very beginning. Trust is a sacred thing and it is impossible to trust someone completely who has lied to you in the past.

One sick puppy...

We had such a great/awful weekend in Ft Lauderdale with Mike's parents. First of all, Tuesday night Leah began having coughing fits whenever she tried to sleep. They would wake her up once or twice a night and we felt really bad. By the time we got to Florida, she was waking up 4 and 5 times a night and crying. Saturday night was the worst. She woke up every hour and thrashed around. Nothing would comfort her. She would just cough and cough and eventually throw up all the mucus in her little throat. She was SO cranky during the day because she was sleep-deprived. We gave her a medicine phobia too because we tried so many different kinds. She started saying "No, Mommy" in her pathetic little voice everytime she even saw a medicine bottle. Somehow Sunday night we broke through a little and she slept a bit better. Then last night at home (finally) she slept from 6:30pm until 7am! She did wake up coughing a few times, but it didn't really wake her up.

It just occurred to me yesterday when our plane was landing, that maybe she has an ear infection. I realized that when she was little, the first sympton I noticed when she did have one was the coughing at night from the drainage. And THEN I put that together with how on each flight she started crying out of control on decent and didn't stop until we were on the ground. I made my poor child FLY with a possible ear infection and had NO clue! Horrible mother, here!!! I was going to take her to the doctor today and just pay everything out of pocket (new insurance doesn't kick in until Friday of course), but she slept so well last night and seems okay today. So we will see. I have read that ear infections CAN go away on their own. Maybe this one will, if that's what it is.

Onto the good stuff. We bought the best contraption EVER! It is called the Go Go Babyz Travelmate and it worked so well at the airport. We bought Leah her own seat for the first time so we took her carseat on the plane instead of checking it. This thing attaches to the carseat and turns it into a stroller for getting around the airport and then can go right on the plane with you. Everyone in the airport was impressed with it :) Friday we went to Ronni's teacher supply store and Leah and I had a BLAST! We found lots of stuff we wanted. Too bad we were limited by our suitcases.

That night we went to Melting Pot for dinner. I am sure Leah would have enjoyed it more had she been eating at the time (oh yeah, forgot to mention the coughing robbed her of appetite too). But she was still good and everyone else enjoyed it immensely. Funny story: At the end of the meal, the waitress asked when I was due and I said August. She said (and I quote) "Oh, honey, you are big!" I responded that I had just eaten a big meal and she said, "No, you really are just big." Um, hello? What gives people the right to tell pregnant women how big they are and how they don't think we can make it? Ridiculous!!!

Saturday we played at the playground in the morning and went to the beach in the afternoon. I didn't get lots of pictures because it was too hard for me to get in and out of my beach chair. That darn big belly. :) Leah REALLY loved sticking seashells on the sandcastles with Brynn and digging holes with Halle. She was terrified to go in the water though. It was pretty rough and the lifeguard actually had to warn the guys to stay out because of the rip currents. So they buried Mike instead. Then we had a barbeque back at Steve & Ronni's.

Sunday we went to our friends Nicole and Min's for a taco dinner. We called the grandparents to pick Leah up after like an hour because she was SO grouchy. After that Mike and I had a little peace. We even talked about getting a hotel room for the night and just not going home :) But we would never leave our sick peanut.

So that was our trip, and boy were we glad to be home last night. I slept very well in between Leah's coughing fits. I missed my pregnancy pillow so much. I never want to leave home without it, but it is gi-normous.

How was everyone else's weekends?

Book Tour #1 Questions

Okay ladies, only four of us finished the book and submitted questions. You can answer as many or as few as you want. My mom does NOT want to have a blog so I will post her answer on my blog when she emails it to me. Here are the questions:

At the end of the story, Lily has done everything within her power to seek forgiveness for the way she treated Snow Flower. Share an action or situation that you later regretted and if applicable, how did you make amends for that mistake?

As a mother, I can’t imagine subjecting my child to anything like foot binding for the sake of societal acceptance. Do you think there are any practices in today’s world that might indicate a similar symbol of female status in our society? What are they?

Why was Lily so forgiving of Snow Flower and her betrayal, yet so angry with her family and Madame Wang? Isn't the betrayal the same? Why are we so forgiving of friends but not of family members?

How do you feel about the concept of "old sames" (being in an arranged friendship)? Were you surprised at the way it turned out for Lily and Snow Flower? Have you found yourself in a "sisterhood" kind of friendship throughout your life? How was it able to last through all of the changes you have gone through in your life?

Please post your answer(s) by June 1st!

Questions for Book Tour due tomorrow

You can either email me or send me a comment on this post with your questions. I am going to post all of the questions in a post this weekend and then we will all post our answers June 1st. Even if you type them up earlier, don't post them until June 1st. So far I only have 4 questions (mine included) so keep 'em coming!

My baby is TWO!!

Time flies! All day long I was thinking "This time 2 years ago, I was ___ dilated or they broke my water" or whatever. It is so surreal that I was in that position and will be again soon. I know I say it all the time, but it is so unbelievable that it is all happening again.

It hit home even more yesterday because Chase Maddex finally came home. He has been in the hospital since he was born April 23rd and it made things seem not so real. But I was thinking last night that Bryan and Laurie are starting to do the nighttime feedings and diaperings on their own now. That made me think that maybe one day I will be there too. Anyway, we are so happy for them and for us too because we couldn't wait to have another baby on the cul-de-sac. Chase has a giant ready-made family waiting for him to get a little bigger and play.

Leah's birthday and neighborhood party were so much fun but SO tiring. After her party was over, I couldn't even clean up. I just sat on the couch and relaxed while Mike and Ronni did it all. She has been such a help this past week. THANK YOU RONNI! Anyway, we planted flowers and painted T-shirts. Corralling 13 kids to do these things was just about impossible. Also we had planned on having Leah's swingset put together by the party, but following a comedy of errors (none on our part) it was not even started. So we decided to fill up her little pool, but no one knew to bring suits. Parents were hounded for 2 hours with "Please can we go get my suit." I felt really bad. But I think ultimately everyone had fun. Here are a few pics from Leah's actual birthday day and then her party. There are lots more pictures and some video on our homepage. Just click the link on the top left.

Leah trying out her new Power Wheel ATV


Enjoying a cupcake at Ian's backyard cookout


I look lovely, but here is the flower I planted for BABY


Leah's face was AMAZING when we sang Happy Birthday to her

Also, don't forget to email me your question for the Book Tour by Friday if you are participating. I know people get busy, but don't let me down. :)

Book Tour reminder

Just a quick reminder that your question for the book tour is due to me by next Friday. You have a week and a half to finish the book, so keep on reading!

On a similar note, any ideas for Book Tour #2? My sister recommends The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd. Has anyone else read it/heard about it? I will start researching others too and report back. In the meantime, you do the same. :)

Mother's Day

I really love that my family has a tradition of having tea together on Mother's Day (or that weekend anyway). This past weekend, my sister Lauren flew up to NC and drove with me & Leah to Savannah. We met my mom and sister Carly there on Friday. We ate at The Lady & Sons that night. It's Paula Deen's restaurant that she started back when she was trying to support her two sons on her own. Good ole southern cookin'. It was yummy, but actually not as fabulous as I thought it would be.



Then on Saturday we swam in the hotel pool and Leah & I napped while the others shopped a bit. In the late afternoon we went to tea at The Tea Room, Savannah. Leah had been talking for days about having a tea party with "Gammy" so she was super psyched. It was so much fun! They let Leah borrow Miss Spider's Tea Party to read at the table. When we sat down, they took away her place setting and replaced it with a heavy duty teacup and tiny silverware just her size. She LOVED cutting her food up with her "knife" (it was actually a spreader). They gave her a fruit plate all her own and she ate a tomato sandwich and dessert off my plate. We sat near the sofa, so when she got bored, she climbed up and read her book. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was just right. We bought the book for Leah to take home and remember our tea party.

That evening we walked down River Street. Now we had gone on a girls trip to Savannah one other time so we were fairly familiar with the area. We had our tarot cards read last time and it was fun, so we hunted up the tarot card reader again. She was there (this time with a 2 yr old son!). So we did it again! Let's see, what did she say? Two things stand out: (1) she said that my husband had just had a very important business opportunity (getting hired on my BOA?) and that another one would follow shortly AND (2) my work situation was going to change (staying home full-time). After this change I would comtemplate starting a small business with a friend and it would be a success. Oh yeah, and I would be pregnant within a year of having THIS one and IT would be a boy. So yikes! Fun, though, huh?

Sunday we took the scenic riverboat tour of Savannah. Leah really liked seeing the other boats pass and going under the bridge. But you know what her favorite part of the entire trip was? Coming home. She asked to go home from the minute we got into our hotel room Friday. She was SO excited to see Daddy when we got home. It made his day.

I have been feeling okay. My sciatic nerve is really bothering me lately, especially with all the walking we did this weekend. I am just feeling so heavy and it is hard to control my body. On the other hand, I will begin my third trimester this Friday. Can you believe it's already here? I STILL don't feel like there is a baby coming to our house in 3 months, even though I feel him/her moving in there all the time. When does it become real with the 2nd one? I am so much more concerned with the bonding this time around, even though the tarot card reader promised that it would all turn out okay. That's a reliable source, right?

Leah's room

Here are the long awaited pictures of Leah's room.

Here is the view from her bedroom door.


Here is the view from her bed to her dresser. I took it at an angle so you can see the top.


Here is the window wall.

It was fun to design and came out pretty good. We debated for a good hour where each color should go so it took forever to get started. Now we are on to thinking about new baby's room!

Good news! and another gender ID delay

For those of you who haven't heard, Mike is being hired on permanently by Bank of America. This means 3 things to us: a raise, vacation days for Mike, and better health insurance for less money. We are very excited about it. But because of this, my next dr appt has been rescheduled for June 1st when our new insurance kicks in. SOOOOO needless to say another good 5 weeks until my next ultrasound.

I may not have time to do the baby's room before Hive. I take that back, I will be done with school June 8th, so I will just get to work right away and bust it out. I guess I should have 2 bedding sets picked out and the paint colors ready to purchase at Lowe's. I really like the Sophie bedding at Pottery Barn Kids for a girl. I love how there are many patterns mixed together. I think I will only buy the bumper, bed skirt, and some window treatments. I can buy other cheaper sheets, especially since they will be pooped and thrown up on. What do you guys think? What colors/patterns would you use for the walls? I just realized I haven't posted pics of Leah's room since it was painted! I will get on that today.

Chase Maddex has arrived!

Leah and I just got home from the hospital visiting the family. Laurie arrived at the hospital at 11:50pm last night and Chase was born at 1:19am. She has the best luck with labor and delivery! He was out in three contractions too.

Right now, he's in the NICU on oxygen. He's not quite getting enough in his system. The Dr thinks it may just be extra fluid in his lungs because he came so fast. They are hoping to try to wean him off the oxygen sometime in the next day or so. We were able to see Chase through the NICU window. He looks nothing like Ian when he was born. Even though Chase wasn't necessarily a big baby (7lbs 11oz) he looks big. We are sending our happiest and healthiest thoughts out to him and his family right now.

Book Tour #1

Book: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: A Novel
Author: Lisa See
Question Due: May 25th
All Questions Listed: May 26th
Post Date: May 31st


How the book tour works:

(1) leave a comment or send me an email (angelleg453@yahoo.com) saying that you're interested in participating.

(2) I will keep adding to this list of participants so people will know who is participating and where to go to read other reviews on "post day" (May 31st). You can add yourself to the list up until May 25th.

(3) read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by May 25th (about 5 weeks).

(4) create a single question that would kick off a discussion (in other words, any question that leads to more than a "yes" or "no" answer where someone can express their opinion) and mail it to me on May 25th (or any time beforehand).

(5) on May26th, I will post the list of possible questions. Everyone will choose 3 questions off the list and answer them in a blog entry (if we only have 3 participants, we'll all be answering the same questions. If there are more questions, we'll have more variation on the blog entries because people will choose to answer different questions).

(6) on May 31st, everyone will post their entry. I will post my answers too and a reminder that it's post day so people can go around and read the entries and comment (start a discussion back and forth in the comments section).

I hope that was clear. Please email me or comment if you have any questions. Can't wait to get the book and start reading!

Update: Our book is available at Target!

Another ultrasound and no cigar

So this darn baby is a bit of a pill. :) During the entire half hour we looked, he or she had a foot pressed up against the important spot. We tried everything, but that baby was TOO comfy. So the doc generously said he would check again next appt (May 16th). How am I supposed to get ready for him or her???? Obviously I still need to be taught the lesson of flexibility when it comes to kids, because this kid is definitely making sure I learn it.

Book Tour info will be posted later today or tomorrow. Make sure you check it out!

To clarify the book tour

The directions on the last post were not for us. They were a sample of someone else's book tour. I wanted to do something similar and posted her directions so you could get a sense of what a book tour is. That is NOT our book or our date (as someone pointed out, how can I read a book by April 11th when it is April 17th already?). We have 3 people interested in the book tour so far. C'mon guys, you can read a book in 6 weeks!

A Book Tour Anyone?

So I was surfing blogs this afternoon and I came across the Stirrup Queens blog. She and her book club (Barren Bitches, by the way) choose books to "go on tour" and read all together. Here were her directions for the latest book tour.

How the book tour works:

(1) leave a comment or send me an email saying that you're interested in participating.

(2) read The Time Traveler's Wife by April 11th.

(3) create a single question that would kick off a discussion (in other words, any question that leads to more than a "yes" or "no" answer where someone can express their opinion) and mail it to me on April 11th (or any time beforehand). I will send you a reminder email close to the date. Click here to see sample questions from tour #2.

(4) on April 12th, I will post the list of possible questions. Everyone will choose 5 questions off the list and answer them in a blog entry.

(5) on April 16th, everyone will post their entry. I will post my answers too and an entry about post day so people can go around and read the entries and comment (start a discussion back and forth in the comments section). Reading the entries and commenting on the posts is the best part of the tour--by the end of the week, you should have a comment from every participant (and maybe even a few new permanent blog readers).

I thought this might be fun. I tried to set up a book club once before through email, but blogs seem even easier to work with. I would love to start one here. What does everyone think of this concept? Is anyone interested? We would not have to sign on to a chat, just submit questions and post answers on a certain date. Any takers????

Happy Easter!

We had such a wonderful day here at casa Gallers. It is the absolute best thing to watch your child be excited about something. Leah could NOT stop talking about the Easter bunny coming. When I went in to get her this morning, she started dancing on her bed and said she was so "esscited". Digging through her basket and finding the eggs in our living room were highlights of her morning. She was quite upset when Mike took the jellybeans and chocolate eggs out of her basket after breakfast so she wouldn't keep eating them. She was so funny with the jellybeans. She would keep them in her cheek like a squirrel and then spit them out when the good stuff was all sucked off.


After naptime, we all headed over to the Maddexes for our neighborhood egg hunt. From left to right, you see Ty, Ian, Leah, Hannah, and Alex. Hannah and Alex belong to our friends who live one block over. We met them right around Super Bowl time and they have been a part of our group ever since. We are missing some of the traditional members of the cul-de-sac crew due to family trips and sickness. Anyway, Leah was a Super Egg Hunter! She raced around so fast that I was afraid the other kids wouldn't get that many eggs, so I called her off to sit in the grass and open some of the eggs. Then everyone came over for a fish fry that my dad generously cooked for. We had a lovely friend and family day.

On another note, my next doctor's appt has been changed to April 18th. The doc had a "family emergency" and had to cancel appts for an entire week! So we won't be able to check on the sex of Baby Gallers until then. It's getting to the point where if we can't find out this next appt, I will just have to pick gender neutral bedding. I want to start on the paint and stuff soonish so that the room is finished by Hive. So boo on the doctor.

Happy Easter to all and to all a good night!

I've been tagged!

My friend Emily has tagged me to list things that describe a "real mom". I will do my best...

"Real moms" wipe kids' boogers on their pants or shirt when there is no where else.

"Real moms" ask ridiculous rhetorical questions like "Do you want to go to time out?"

"Real moms" can eat lunch, make a phone call, and still stop a toddler from swallowing something inappropriate.

"Real moms" often forget bits of their own personal hygiene in an effort to get a child ready for the day.

"Real moms" are excited about the idea of a vacation without kids, but have a hard time with the reality of it.

I tag Keri and Kelly.

And the money kept rolling out

in all directions (from Evita)

I just paid bills today (not our regular monthly bills) amounting to $800! They are for vehicle taxes and doctor bills for me. Since our insurance only pays 80% we are scrambling to come up with the other 20% for now. When Mike goes permanent with Bank of America we will be 100% insured and this issue should go away. But for now, we are trying to figure out how to afford to be pregnant.


We went to Carowinds last Sunday for a wonderful day. I didn't realize how many rides they have for little kids. Leah could ride 6 rides! I was so afraid on 2 of them that she would be terrified once they got going (she rode with Mike). But she loved every minute of it! One of the rides actually had her riding ALONE! I couldn't believe it and again was nervous for her. She had so much fun she rode it twice! I realized that I can't let a mother's fears hold her back. She has to be able to try things to see what she likes. We had such a great day and I can't wait to go back again.

This weekend we go to Durham to see the Wrigleys move into their new house and to see Ronni & Steve also. I have to check out Durham on the web and see what there is to do there so we can hang out there on Saturday and wait for everyone to arrive. Any ideas?

Only 2 weeks until my next doctor's appt and hopefully we can tell what kind of baby I have this time. Leah's room has been mostly taped out and is waiting to be finished and painted. After that it is baby's turn, but we have to know what kind it is first.

I have a 2 day week next week because spring break starts. Our anniversary is Thursday but we will probably will wait until the following week to celebrate because my dad will be in town and can babysit for us. Leah & I may go meet Mike in the city for lunch that day though to do SOMETHING fun.

That's all I have, have a great week!

Nothing to blog about

I have been feeling lately that I have nothing interesting to say. It's funny because I just told Nikki the other day "Just the everyday things are interesting to us" when it comes to blogging. I just have to remember that is true and blog about whatever comes to mind.


Saturday we went to a birthday party for our neighbors Ty and Porter (not related). They both turned one this past week so they had a combined birthday party. It was actually the perfect length for a one-year-old. They played a bit, opened presents, ate their cake, then went home for a nap.


After naptime, we took Leah and Ian bowling. At first, Leah really liked rolling the ball down the lane. But after a while, her favorite game was running out into the lane and turning into a noodle so you couldn't pick her up. That part was lots of fun for Mommy and Daddy. I don't think we will be going bowling again soon (although she looked so cute rolling the ball!).


Mike and Leah have started going on "adventures" lately. He takes her out walking and they come back a little while later full of stories to tell me. Yesterday they walked over to this high school over the hill behind our house. The school has all their track and field stuff out, so Leah played with the hurdles and jumped on the high jump pad. She also ran the bases on the baseball field. I can't wait to put her in T-ball. It will be so adorable!

Family Month

I think the next month is going to be good to us family-wise. My mom just booked a flight to come visit on the 23rd. Then my step-dad called to ask if he could come the 29th for a few days. We drive over to Durham on the 31st to see Mike's family and help Stacy move in to her new house (at least everyone else will be helping, I will be babysitting). Then my dad and step-mom come to NC April 6th and stay for a week for Easter and during my spring break. Leah will definitely know her grandparents well by the end of this month. We are so happy to spend time with them and to get BABYSITTERS all the time. :)

The Waiting Game

For those of you have been anxiously awaiting the sex of baby Gallers, your wait will be extended indefinitely. The ultrasound tech said that she didn't see any evidence of a penis but the baby was not positioned correctly for her to be sure. So we are assuming a girl, bubt we don't really know. We are not going to be picking bedding or names or anything until we are sure. I was counting on today to set my mind at ease on thinking of boys' names. No such luck :) The baby was completely healthy as far as we could see with all parts in place and everything the right size. The heartbeat was 153bpm and looked fabulous. So ultimately we are happy.

I did however manage to finish the playroom today. Here is a photo of one of the walls. I am really happy with how it came out. You never know when you have an picture in your head how it will actually work. I was also unsure about the sponging technique since I have never used it before. So all in all, it looks just like I thought it would. Now it's time to move on to the next project, Leah's room.

PS Here is a video of Leah playing her new favorite game.