My Review of Western Chief Rain Boots - Toddlers'/Kids'

Originally submitted at REI

Kids will be hoping for a rainy day so they can stomp through mud puddles in their Western Chief waterproof rubber rain boots.

Western Chief Rain Boots - Toddlers'/Kids'

Essential in Wet Weather

By abbyoly from Olympia, WA on 3/5/2011

 

5out of 5

Sizing: Feels true to size

Width: Feels true to width

Pros: Stylish, Fun, Waterproof

Best Uses: Wet rain

Describe Yourself: Casual dresser

We live south of Seattle so we get a lot of wet weather. My son has always lived in Western Chief rain boots. As soon as he outgrows one pair, we need to buy another pair. I love the style and durability of these boots. He can put them on himself. I've never had a problem with them breaking or cracking and he wears them constantly. Also, we love the fact that when you buy them at REI if you're ever unhappy with the quality, REI will make it right.

(legalese)

Where to start???

Well, we're approaching 4 years for one and 4 months for another and its been quite a ride. Beckett's doing much better as he gets used to the idea of keeping Maysen around. He's listening more, yelling less and is pretty fun most of the time. He's still madly in love with his baby sister and to see her smile whenever he comes into the room, she must feel about the same.

Maysen's doing all the things she's supposed to be doing. Rolling over, blowing bubbles and babbling like crazy! She smiles at just about everybody and is truly just a joyful, happy baby. Sleep could be better, but we're getting there. Just when we thought we'd go nuts, she slept all night long so we now she can, its just a matter of when!

Daily life is just that - life. School starts up again after the first of the year, I'm considering taking fewer credits though simply to be able to keep up. I'll still be able to walk at graduation, I'll just have to take a class in the summer or fall to catch up. Not a bad trade though after all the years I've been in college! Work is still incredible! I cannot say enough good things about it. I'm hoping in the spring to focus more on work and move into full time by summer. Its such a wonderful company I can't wait!

Abby's still driving to Puyallup every day and we're antsy to move closer but just can't sell our house. Hopefully we'll develop a 2 year plan or so to be somewhere a little bigger and more permanent. I know it seems like forever now, but looking back 2 years is nothing and I know in my head it will just fly by, I just need to get my heart to agree!

With Christmas and New Years just around the corner its a logical time to reflect on where we are and where we're going. Everyday I'm amazed at the family and life I've been blessed with. My kids are beautiful and happy and healthy and Abby and I grow stronger as partners and parents each day. I am looking forward to next year and all the adventures that await but am savoring each day as it comes.

Happy Holidays to everyone and best wishes for a Happy New Year - I know ours will be a great one!

Candyce Lund Bollinger

We were going a little crazy with Beckett. In fact, we wondered if he was normal. In the last 6-months or so, he's changed from our sweet, little boy to a nutty, loud, tantrum throwing kid. We've often blamed it on day care. How does he even know what a gun is anyway? So, we enlisted the help of Olympia's premier parent educator. Most parents in Oly know who Candyce is. Katie has attended several of Candyce's classes since Beckett was about 6-months old. She's taken the last year or so off, but is headed back in January. However, Candyce also has a private practice and that was where we headed today.

Well, it turns out Beckett is perfectly normal. If 3 is 'oppositional', then 4 is 'intense'. Tell me about it. Everything is all or nothing with him right now. She gave us a few coping techniques. #1 is to write down 3-5 rules and post them. Things that we're not willing to compromise on. Those things that are our absolutes. For us, #1 is probably going to be 'no name calling'. It could be a bit difficult to change a few of the things that we've done, but it is important. We tried a few things tonight and actually had a very enjoyable evening. Now, we just need to go for consistency. Of course, there is an end in sight. Apparently 5 is the magic age. The age where they want to please you. My goodness, I can't wait for that.

Sweet Cat looking for new home

Tagalong has been in our lives as long as Katie and I have been together. He was my first Christmas gift from Katie. Therefore, he holds a very special place in our lives. He was a wonderful, cuddly cat...until we had kids. Then it turned out he didn't like the little members of our family so well. He went to live with Grandma. He's done quite well there, however it seems that grandma may not have as much time to spend with him as she would like. Therefore, he's a tad bit neglected. So, we're on the hunt for a new home for Tagalong. We'd love to be able to have visitation rights. He gets along with other cats and dogs, apparently just not small children. If you're interested, please send us a note. We'd love to be able to find him a very happy family.

Abby's Medical Update

Well, I am quite stubborn. This I've learned in the last few days. About 3 weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night with pretty bad stomach pains. They kind of felt like really bad gas or hunger pains. So, I tried Tums, gas pills and eating right before bed. They seemed to continue to come back. However, by the time I woke up in the morning they were gone. So, it couldn't be all that bad, right? Well, Friday night I woke up with more pain and ended up vomiting this time. I felt a bit better and was able to go back to sleep. However, this time when I woke up in the morning the pain wasn't gone. I finally listened to Katie and went to the walk in clinic. I got there and the Dr. suspected a gallbladder problem and sent me to the ER. So, I spent my Saturday morning in the ER. They sent me to have an ultrasound and the news wasn't so good. The Dr. came back to talk to me and I had gallstones. Many women have them, but they don't normally bother you. I had one that moved into my common bile duct and it was starting to back up and bother my liver. It was a good thing I went in when I did, before my liver got worse. This meant that I needed surgery to remove my gallbladder and they wanted to get me in Saturday night. Not the news I wanted. I had only been back at work for a week after being out for 14 weeks. I was out of time off at work and we had stretched ourselves as much as possible. The Dr. wasn't sure if my surgery could be done with a laparoscope or if it had to be open. If it could be done with a scope, recovery would be much shorter.

I actually ended up going into surgery on Sunday morning. The Dr. wanted to be fresh rather than doing it late Saturday night. I agreed that was preferable to me too. I came out of recovery on Saturday morning about 11:30. Surgery went well and they were able to do it with a scope. They did a dye flush and got the stone out of my duct. Now it's just a matter of recovering. I should be out of work for about a week. Still not ideal, but better then the several weeks it would have taken with an open surgery.

I'm home now, after spending a couple of days in the hospital. Glad to be here. Can't lift more than 10-15 pounds, which unfortunately includes the baby. I can hold her, just can't lift her. I also can't breastfeed right now because they gave me morphine and even though I'm trying not to take it much, it's helpful at night.

In the meantime, at least I'm home and resting. Katie's done an amazing job at being single mom and both my mom and her mom have been helping out.

Thanks to everyone who has offered to help out, trust me - I won't be turning down any of it. It's hard to admit you need help, but when you do finally admit it things get better. I am incredibly lucky to have Katie in my life and without her pushing me to go to the Dr. and get better, I would have gotten even worse.