Motherhood, and all of life too I guess, is about making choices. For every choice you make, 20 other things go unchosen. Right now, I'm really feeling the burn of this reality.
We're attempting to leave for an extended holiday weekend today. I had some fantastic dreams about leaving at 3 or 4pm, eating dinner on the road, and getting in well before the kids' bedtimes so they could play and unwind at our destination: Gramma and Grampa's house.
The reality is that my husband is tied up at work with projects out the wazzoo and drop-in, last-minute, "I didn't plan this too well and now you're gonna pay for my mistakes" work. But I'm not bitter.
I'm trying not to be, anyway. But right now I have to confess I have a pretty bad attitude about the whole thing. My mind is racing a hundred miles an hour, while my body works like mad to get all the clothes washed so I can finish packing (with five people, I always have at least two loads on any given day, no matter how much laundry I did the day before). I also need to wash all the dishes, clean the cat box, set out fresh food and water, entertain the kids while they nag me every two minutes about when we're going to leave, pack the van, set up the DVD player, and remember the five billion things we have to take as parents of three children, one with special needs.
So, I'm confronted with so many conflicting choices. If I choose one thing, so many others aren't being done. And I have to do it all by myself since Scott is stuck at work. When he's here to help me, it's easier to make these choices because something else is being done by someone else at the same time I'm working on my chosen task.
Do I fold the clean clothes and pack suitcases? But I still need to wash another load of dishes. And I have to get the Powerpoints ready for Sunday (even though we won't be there) so we can drop all the stuff off at church on our way out. Or should I pay bills? Or should I water the garden and pick the ripe stuff to bring with us? Or should I start dinner? And what should I make? Something portable in case Scott actually gets home at a decent dinner hour? Or something else since I'll be feeding the kids before we leave and eating with Scott on the van? Or do I start pulling stuff together and running it out to the van now -- like the medicines, feeding supplies, toys, and activities we have to take? Oh yeah -- I need to wrap the birthday gifts too.
And now we're having technical difficulties. Two kids are up now and need something to keep them occupied while I race around the house like a crazy monkey. Dratted new DVD player won't play. Stuck with VHS tapes. Thank goodness we have one that will keep them happy.
Got a call -- Scott hopes to head home at 5! And he voted for drive-thru dinner. That takes two loads off. Now on to the rest of it. Where was I?
Jun 30, 2006
Jun 28, 2006
Early Summer in the Garden
I spent my morning among the flowers and veggies. Mostly because I'm avoiding this.
Not a one is clean. Some have been soaking in soapy water. We are now out of forks, so I either need to fix finger food for dinner, or devote a good 1-2 hours on this. Ugh.
In my defense, the veggies were in desperate need of some TLC, and we had a rare morning at home.
Not a one is clean. Some have been soaking in soapy water. We are now out of forks, so I either need to fix finger food for dinner, or devote a good 1-2 hours on this. Ugh.In my defense, the veggies were in desperate need of some TLC, and we had a rare morning at home.
Mmmmmm.... I don't see basil, I see PESTO.
Check out my cute little yellow squash! Look...way down in the middle of that ginormous plant.
Daisies are die-hard optimists. 
Oh boy oh boy oh boy -- tomatoes!
Jun 27, 2006
Closet Blonde
I have been so ditzy and dim-witted the last few days I've taken to combing through my roots looking for blonde when I'm supposed to be brushing my teeth. No blonde yet, just white. Whole hairs are white. What's with that?
I can't remember from one second to the next what I'm doing at any given moment, leading to many long pauses as I stand in the middle of the room and wonder, "Now why did I come in here? I was so purposeful too. I know I came in here for something." Most of the time I just walk back out and hope I remember before it's too late.
Matters got even worse when last night, for no reason we ever determined, Anna spent three hours alternately crying and whining. I lay in bed, steaming because not only was I not sleeping, but I knew that Sam's sleep was being horribly disrupted too. That would make at least three cranky residents of the house this day. I tried Motrin. I tried juice. I tried singing. I tried bringing her into our bed. I tried Benadryl. I finally set up the Pack'n'Play in our family room, on the opposite side of the house, and plopped her in.
Now she was the one steamed. But she finally settled down and the rest of us got some sleep.
Nights like this make me desperate for a larger home. You can't escape anyone's misery, so everyone is miserable. I know we can't afford it this year, especially if we want to stay in this school district. But some days (or nights) I just don't know how we're going to survive another winter here.
Oh, and did I mention that the two youngest took power naps in the van today, so they won't take their usual 2-hour afternoon naps? So this cranky mom won't get a moment to grab a power nap herself.
This is even more significant because we're having company for dinner tonight. So of course, I forgot my lunch in the oven. I only remembered when I was enveloped from behind by a burnt-cheese smoke-cloud which went on to permeate the entire house.
Lovely. It will take two days to get that smell out. I only have 3 hours. Good thing I planned to use a lot of garlic in the meal. Hopefully that will mask the burnt cheese.
So instead of a quiet house in which to nap, clean, and cook without interruption, I am trying not to grump around the cranky, tired-but-not-enough-to-nap kids, and still get the work done I need to.
Pray for me. Pray for the kids. And pray for our guests.
I can't remember from one second to the next what I'm doing at any given moment, leading to many long pauses as I stand in the middle of the room and wonder, "Now why did I come in here? I was so purposeful too. I know I came in here for something." Most of the time I just walk back out and hope I remember before it's too late.
Matters got even worse when last night, for no reason we ever determined, Anna spent three hours alternately crying and whining. I lay in bed, steaming because not only was I not sleeping, but I knew that Sam's sleep was being horribly disrupted too. That would make at least three cranky residents of the house this day. I tried Motrin. I tried juice. I tried singing. I tried bringing her into our bed. I tried Benadryl. I finally set up the Pack'n'Play in our family room, on the opposite side of the house, and plopped her in.
Now she was the one steamed. But she finally settled down and the rest of us got some sleep.
Nights like this make me desperate for a larger home. You can't escape anyone's misery, so everyone is miserable. I know we can't afford it this year, especially if we want to stay in this school district. But some days (or nights) I just don't know how we're going to survive another winter here.
Oh, and did I mention that the two youngest took power naps in the van today, so they won't take their usual 2-hour afternoon naps? So this cranky mom won't get a moment to grab a power nap herself.
This is even more significant because we're having company for dinner tonight. So of course, I forgot my lunch in the oven. I only remembered when I was enveloped from behind by a burnt-cheese smoke-cloud which went on to permeate the entire house.
Lovely. It will take two days to get that smell out. I only have 3 hours. Good thing I planned to use a lot of garlic in the meal. Hopefully that will mask the burnt cheese.
So instead of a quiet house in which to nap, clean, and cook without interruption, I am trying not to grump around the cranky, tired-but-not-enough-to-nap kids, and still get the work done I need to.
Pray for me. Pray for the kids. And pray for our guests.
Jun 23, 2006
2006 Urgent Care World Tour
I have visited three separate urgent care centers in five days and have been to a medical care facility every day this week. Perhaps I should hit them all and write an authoritative book on local medical care.
It all started Sunday with a trip to my favorite Urgent Care with Anna. She had an ear infection and we got through there in about 1 1/2 hours. I like this one because I can make an appointment, thus minimizing our wait time there. We waited a bit longer than usual on Sunday because apparently someone got stuck in an elevator there on the way to x-ray.
Monday I took Elli for a pulmonary appointment. The doctor told me to call if she was still symptomatic in a week. He was concerned an infection might be brewing and wanted to start antibiotics at that time. The rest of that day was awful -- both girls were in horrible moods. I could understand Anna, but finally decided Elli must have thrown a 3-hour fit over not getting to choose the video that day.
Tuesday I took her to the hospital for her summer program and then worked there in the afternoon.
Wednesday I realized that Elli was sick after dinner. She had been really listless that day, hadn't eaten anything after breakfast, and had acted really weird when we went swimming. When I got her out of her wheelchair to change her for church, I realized she was blazing hot. She had a fever of 102, and I immediately thought about what the pulmonologist had said on Monday. I called the hospital and talked to the doc on call for pulmonary. He told me the best idea, since we were heading out of town for my niece's birthday party that evening, was to get her looked at either at Emergency or at a Children's urgent care center. So off we went.
I spent 2 1/2 hours there because a little girl came in with a broken foot. While they don't make appointments, I like that Children's prioritizes their patients, taking the most critical patients first. This girl got priority, so we waited longer. We would have gotten out sooner, but the doctor left a couple decisions up to me and I opted to get the chest x-ray. Turns out Elli's fever came from a throat infection. It's probably strep, but I opted not to get the culture. The x-ray added an hour to our stay there. We finally got home at 10:30pm, but I still had to go get her antibiotics filled, so I didn't get to bed til midnight. My husband and I were too tired to drive 2 hours that late.
So Thursday we got up early and drove to my in-laws' home. The kids were so excited to play with their cousin and hang out with Mamaw and Papaw. I headed to the basement to send a couple quick emails for work, taking Anna with me. She puttered around for awhile, and then suddenly I heard a crash. She had picked up a vase and managed to drop it on the only one-foot wide section of concrete exposed in the whole basement. It exploded into shards in front of her, knicking her arms and legs. She froze, then burst into tears. I grabbed her out of the middle of the mess, looked at her hand fill up with blood, and raced up the stairs.
It took three paper towels and finally a firm wrapping with gauze to contain the bleeding. We called the guys, who were running errands, and when Scott got home, the three of us headed out to the nearest urgent care. This was about 20 minutes away.
Anna was in a state because it was naptime, she was tired, and I'd had to wrap her entire hand up to keep the bandage on. She unravelled some of it, and by the time we arrived at the center, she was flaying bloody bandage around, wailing, and throwing herself around, content neither in our arm nor on her legs. This actually did us some good, however, as the other patients in the waiting room took pity on us and got the staff's attention about this poor child with a bloody hand.
We spent 3 1/2 hours at this urgent care center. The staff was great. The nurses had so many tricks to distract children. My favorite was a Winnie the Pooh sticker that read "I pitched a fit." Even the x-ray technician had tricks! They said "x-ray" and I thought, "not in a million years." But this lady managed to get three different x-rays of Anna's hand without much hassle at all. We tried to use that Derma-bond instead of stitches, but Anna's fingers are fat and the cut was deep. They couldn't get the fat pushed back into her finger to glue the skin. So she had to get three stitches. The poor girl was covered in sweat, red, and puffy from crying so hard for so long.
We did manage to get out in time for all five of us to attend the birthday party. The kids had a ball, especially Anna. She ran around with her head thrown back with glee at her newly-appreciated freedom to move.
We drove home late last night, and I again got to bed at midnight. I had to get up early for my own doctor's appointment this morning. I had to skip breakfast for a physical, which wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The black coffee I was allowed wasn't as bad as I expected either. Fortunately, I had a helper here with Elli, so I only had to take two kids. They were quite fascinated by the blood-taking process, and Sam was intrigued by the whole gown thing.
So I've had my fill of emergency runs to the doctor for quite awhile. In my fantasy world, I would take a day off of from motherhood. I would sleep in, enjoy morning coffee and a good book, work on my favorite projects, take a nap, send the laundry out for someone else to wash, and actually eat all the food on my plate myself while it is still warm. But I'll settle for a quiet, uneventful day with the kids at home.
I say this as I watched my youngest climb onto and then fall off Elli's desk.
It all started Sunday with a trip to my favorite Urgent Care with Anna. She had an ear infection and we got through there in about 1 1/2 hours. I like this one because I can make an appointment, thus minimizing our wait time there. We waited a bit longer than usual on Sunday because apparently someone got stuck in an elevator there on the way to x-ray.
Monday I took Elli for a pulmonary appointment. The doctor told me to call if she was still symptomatic in a week. He was concerned an infection might be brewing and wanted to start antibiotics at that time. The rest of that day was awful -- both girls were in horrible moods. I could understand Anna, but finally decided Elli must have thrown a 3-hour fit over not getting to choose the video that day.
Tuesday I took her to the hospital for her summer program and then worked there in the afternoon.
Wednesday I realized that Elli was sick after dinner. She had been really listless that day, hadn't eaten anything after breakfast, and had acted really weird when we went swimming. When I got her out of her wheelchair to change her for church, I realized she was blazing hot. She had a fever of 102, and I immediately thought about what the pulmonologist had said on Monday. I called the hospital and talked to the doc on call for pulmonary. He told me the best idea, since we were heading out of town for my niece's birthday party that evening, was to get her looked at either at Emergency or at a Children's urgent care center. So off we went.
Going to Urgent Care improved the health of my cardigan project.
I spent 2 1/2 hours there because a little girl came in with a broken foot. While they don't make appointments, I like that Children's prioritizes their patients, taking the most critical patients first. This girl got priority, so we waited longer. We would have gotten out sooner, but the doctor left a couple decisions up to me and I opted to get the chest x-ray. Turns out Elli's fever came from a throat infection. It's probably strep, but I opted not to get the culture. The x-ray added an hour to our stay there. We finally got home at 10:30pm, but I still had to go get her antibiotics filled, so I didn't get to bed til midnight. My husband and I were too tired to drive 2 hours that late.
So Thursday we got up early and drove to my in-laws' home. The kids were so excited to play with their cousin and hang out with Mamaw and Papaw. I headed to the basement to send a couple quick emails for work, taking Anna with me. She puttered around for awhile, and then suddenly I heard a crash. She had picked up a vase and managed to drop it on the only one-foot wide section of concrete exposed in the whole basement. It exploded into shards in front of her, knicking her arms and legs. She froze, then burst into tears. I grabbed her out of the middle of the mess, looked at her hand fill up with blood, and raced up the stairs.
It took three paper towels and finally a firm wrapping with gauze to contain the bleeding. We called the guys, who were running errands, and when Scott got home, the three of us headed out to the nearest urgent care. This was about 20 minutes away.
Anna was in a state because it was naptime, she was tired, and I'd had to wrap her entire hand up to keep the bandage on. She unravelled some of it, and by the time we arrived at the center, she was flaying bloody bandage around, wailing, and throwing herself around, content neither in our arm nor on her legs. This actually did us some good, however, as the other patients in the waiting room took pity on us and got the staff's attention about this poor child with a bloody hand.
We spent 3 1/2 hours at this urgent care center. The staff was great. The nurses had so many tricks to distract children. My favorite was a Winnie the Pooh sticker that read "I pitched a fit." Even the x-ray technician had tricks! They said "x-ray" and I thought, "not in a million years." But this lady managed to get three different x-rays of Anna's hand without much hassle at all. We tried to use that Derma-bond instead of stitches, but Anna's fingers are fat and the cut was deep. They couldn't get the fat pushed back into her finger to glue the skin. So she had to get three stitches. The poor girl was covered in sweat, red, and puffy from crying so hard for so long.We did manage to get out in time for all five of us to attend the birthday party. The kids had a ball, especially Anna. She ran around with her head thrown back with glee at her newly-appreciated freedom to move.
We drove home late last night, and I again got to bed at midnight. I had to get up early for my own doctor's appointment this morning. I had to skip breakfast for a physical, which wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The black coffee I was allowed wasn't as bad as I expected either. Fortunately, I had a helper here with Elli, so I only had to take two kids. They were quite fascinated by the blood-taking process, and Sam was intrigued by the whole gown thing.
So I've had my fill of emergency runs to the doctor for quite awhile. In my fantasy world, I would take a day off of from motherhood. I would sleep in, enjoy morning coffee and a good book, work on my favorite projects, take a nap, send the laundry out for someone else to wash, and actually eat all the food on my plate myself while it is still warm. But I'll settle for a quiet, uneventful day with the kids at home.
I say this as I watched my youngest climb onto and then fall off Elli's desk.
Jun 21, 2006
Easy as Tapioca
Notice anything missing from this picture?
Ever since I accepted the reality that my daughter has significant physical challenges, I have dreaded the losing-teeth phase. Perhaps it's because her teeth took so long to come in and I hate to lose something that we worked so long to obtain. Perhaps it's because I had some traumatic experiences losing teeth when I was a child. Perhaps I assumed that losing teeth would be much more difficult for her because everything has been much more difficult. I don't know.
Today, I took her to an occupational therapy appointment. She is practicing feeding herself and we're trying out various devices to help her do this. She loves to go because she gets to eat pudding.
Every other time, and we've been doing this for 4 months now, she has chosen chocolate pudding. Today she choose tapioca. When she was a toddler, the lumps were too much for her to handle. But today she didn't hesitate once.
Before she started working on the pudding, the therapist spent some time "alerting" her mouth. Suddenly, she asked me if my daughter had a loose tooth. We both looked at it and realized that indeed, it was VERY, VERY loose. But I still figured it would fall out this weekend.
The session went really well, and we headed home to get some lunch. When she opened her mouth, I was stunned to see a gap there. Somehow, somewhere, she lost that tooth without one whimper or second of drama. In fact, we have concluded that the tooth is genuinely lost. I cannot find it anywhere on her person, her wheelchair, in our house, or in the van. She has either swallowed it with the tapioca lumps, or it fell on the floor somewhere. (Imagine being the custodian who sweeps that up!)
Tonight, we're driving to my in-laws' home for a visit and to celebrate my niece's birthday. Looks like we'll be celebrating a visit from the Tooth Fairy as well. I have contacted the local Tooth Fairy there, and she said she will be happy to pinch-hit.
Ever since I accepted the reality that my daughter has significant physical challenges, I have dreaded the losing-teeth phase. Perhaps it's because her teeth took so long to come in and I hate to lose something that we worked so long to obtain. Perhaps it's because I had some traumatic experiences losing teeth when I was a child. Perhaps I assumed that losing teeth would be much more difficult for her because everything has been much more difficult. I don't know.
Today, I took her to an occupational therapy appointment. She is practicing feeding herself and we're trying out various devices to help her do this. She loves to go because she gets to eat pudding.
Every other time, and we've been doing this for 4 months now, she has chosen chocolate pudding. Today she choose tapioca. When she was a toddler, the lumps were too much for her to handle. But today she didn't hesitate once.
Before she started working on the pudding, the therapist spent some time "alerting" her mouth. Suddenly, she asked me if my daughter had a loose tooth. We both looked at it and realized that indeed, it was VERY, VERY loose. But I still figured it would fall out this weekend.
The session went really well, and we headed home to get some lunch. When she opened her mouth, I was stunned to see a gap there. Somehow, somewhere, she lost that tooth without one whimper or second of drama. In fact, we have concluded that the tooth is genuinely lost. I cannot find it anywhere on her person, her wheelchair, in our house, or in the van. She has either swallowed it with the tapioca lumps, or it fell on the floor somewhere. (Imagine being the custodian who sweeps that up!)
Tonight, we're driving to my in-laws' home for a visit and to celebrate my niece's birthday. Looks like we'll be celebrating a visit from the Tooth Fairy as well. I have contacted the local Tooth Fairy there, and she said she will be happy to pinch-hit.
Jun 19, 2006
Tantrums
I think the total number of hours I've spent with the cry of one of my children ringing in my ears exceeds 5, and at the moment I write this paragraph, one of them was still going strong. It was such a bad day and I was so desperate to get away that I called a friend up and invited myself over. This is a first in my more than six years of motherhood.
There also seems to be a mysterious link between the kids' moods and the weather. It started to pour down rain through rush hour, jamming the highways and trapping buses in snarls. Scott had to wait 40 extra minutes just to board his bus, and that doesn't even count the additional commute time home. He arrived 2 hours later than normal, which is a big deal on days like this. My sanity - my motivation to keep going and not hide in the shower for the night - is his return for dinner.
I find it interesting that only the girls threw screaming, crying, mucus-laden fits today. Sam has been pretty easy-going throughout the whole thing, even jumping in to try to entertain Anna while I finished talking to the doctor this morning. It worked too -- her crying turned to giggling at his antics. Praise God for my little comedian.
These girls have the stamina of triatheletes. Anna loves the drama -- she will throw herself flat on the floor, throw open the mucus floodgates, and wallow in her tears and snot until someone notices. I walked passed her to take a phone call outside today, which really enraged her. How dare I ignore her pitiful self?
Anyway, with her I believe she was overtired, hungry, and thirsty. She refused to drink from any cup but her Dora straw cup. She wasn't happy in my lap and wasn't happy on her own. Her tantrums were evenly scattered throughout the day, with the worst apparently occuring at bedtime.
Elli... well, she is always somewhat difficult to interpret. She was in high spirits all morning. But when I gave Sam the choice of movie, and he chose something she didn't want to see, that's when she descended into the death spiral. I had a tea party with her outside, but we had to come in when it started raining. Sam's movie wasn't done yet, so she had to listen to it, of all things. Then we tried to call Mamaw to tell her when we're coming to visit, and she didn't understand why we left a message and didn't actually talk to her.
That was the last straw. She didn't stop crying for an hour and a half. Not to eat. Not to drink. Not to say hi to Daddy. Not to use her Dynavox to tell me what she was crying about. Not even to get a bath.
Thank you God for giving me one boy. If I had had to deal with three tantrum throwers today, I think I would have exploded.
There also seems to be a mysterious link between the kids' moods and the weather. It started to pour down rain through rush hour, jamming the highways and trapping buses in snarls. Scott had to wait 40 extra minutes just to board his bus, and that doesn't even count the additional commute time home. He arrived 2 hours later than normal, which is a big deal on days like this. My sanity - my motivation to keep going and not hide in the shower for the night - is his return for dinner.
I find it interesting that only the girls threw screaming, crying, mucus-laden fits today. Sam has been pretty easy-going throughout the whole thing, even jumping in to try to entertain Anna while I finished talking to the doctor this morning. It worked too -- her crying turned to giggling at his antics. Praise God for my little comedian.
These girls have the stamina of triatheletes. Anna loves the drama -- she will throw herself flat on the floor, throw open the mucus floodgates, and wallow in her tears and snot until someone notices. I walked passed her to take a phone call outside today, which really enraged her. How dare I ignore her pitiful self?
Anyway, with her I believe she was overtired, hungry, and thirsty. She refused to drink from any cup but her Dora straw cup. She wasn't happy in my lap and wasn't happy on her own. Her tantrums were evenly scattered throughout the day, with the worst apparently occuring at bedtime.
Elli... well, she is always somewhat difficult to interpret. She was in high spirits all morning. But when I gave Sam the choice of movie, and he chose something she didn't want to see, that's when she descended into the death spiral. I had a tea party with her outside, but we had to come in when it started raining. Sam's movie wasn't done yet, so she had to listen to it, of all things. Then we tried to call Mamaw to tell her when we're coming to visit, and she didn't understand why we left a message and didn't actually talk to her.
That was the last straw. She didn't stop crying for an hour and a half. Not to eat. Not to drink. Not to say hi to Daddy. Not to use her Dynavox to tell me what she was crying about. Not even to get a bath.
Thank you God for giving me one boy. If I had had to deal with three tantrum throwers today, I think I would have exploded.
Back On My iBook
Here I am, posting from my own laptop. Ahhhh...
I am not completely confident that my problems are fixed, however. The computer has done a couple odd things in the last 36 hours. This morning I updated everything so I'm hoping that will get it running flawlessly from here on out.
I won an auction Saturday for a new Airport Extreme wireless card. I should receive that Wednesday.
Today I have to take Elli to a pulmonary appointment. I also hope to do my birthday shopping for my niece and finalize the family's wardrobe for a new family portrait we're getting taken on Saturday. We haven't had a family portrait made since Sam was an infant. I want us all to coordinate, and am trying to also coordinate our clothes with the room the portrait will hang in (got this idea from a friend).
We are also trying to rearrange our schedules so we can go visit Scott's family one day this week. My niece's birthday party would be the best day, but I have a meeting at work that I am not sure I can get out of.
So it's a busy day and a busy week.
Oh and Anna got an ear infection over the weekend. She was fine Saturday, though she woke up crying in the middle of the night. I found her chewing on her fingers, so I figured it was her teeth. Sunday morning she seemed fine, but then after Sunday School, a few people told me she was sleeping on people's laps and not playing at all in the nursery (totally out of character for her). I went back to check on her after I finished playing piano and found her running a 101.3 fever.
A trip to the urgent care confirmed an ear infection in one ear and a developing one in the other. She's much happier now that she's on tylenol, ibuprofen, and antibiotics. Since I spent all afternoon at the urgent care, I was very glad we did our Father's Day stuff Saturday!
I am not completely confident that my problems are fixed, however. The computer has done a couple odd things in the last 36 hours. This morning I updated everything so I'm hoping that will get it running flawlessly from here on out.
I won an auction Saturday for a new Airport Extreme wireless card. I should receive that Wednesday.
Today I have to take Elli to a pulmonary appointment. I also hope to do my birthday shopping for my niece and finalize the family's wardrobe for a new family portrait we're getting taken on Saturday. We haven't had a family portrait made since Sam was an infant. I want us all to coordinate, and am trying to also coordinate our clothes with the room the portrait will hang in (got this idea from a friend).
We are also trying to rearrange our schedules so we can go visit Scott's family one day this week. My niece's birthday party would be the best day, but I have a meeting at work that I am not sure I can get out of.
So it's a busy day and a busy week.
Oh and Anna got an ear infection over the weekend. She was fine Saturday, though she woke up crying in the middle of the night. I found her chewing on her fingers, so I figured it was her teeth. Sunday morning she seemed fine, but then after Sunday School, a few people told me she was sleeping on people's laps and not playing at all in the nursery (totally out of character for her). I went back to check on her after I finished playing piano and found her running a 101.3 fever.
A trip to the urgent care confirmed an ear infection in one ear and a developing one in the other. She's much happier now that she's on tylenol, ibuprofen, and antibiotics. Since I spent all afternoon at the urgent care, I was very glad we did our Father's Day stuff Saturday!
Jun 16, 2006
Elated
I have been using Scott's computer for the past six months, at least, because mine has been acting really weird. I have had nothing but trouble with it for almost 2 years now, ever since it got a new hard drive 2 years ago. It used to crash randomly, sometimes several times a day.
Six months ago, it began slowing down to the point of being unusable. I used to provide technical support for computers in a former life (that one between finishing college and having children), so I am pretty comfortable with trouble-shooting. I searched websites, discussion groups, and manuals, trying everything I could find to fix the problem myself. All to no avail.
My last resort was to erase the whole thing and start over. But before I did that, I HAD to copy my files onto Scott's computer. Everything worked except my digital photos. I had TWO AND A HALF YEARS worth of photos saved only on my computer, so I couldn't just flippantly say, "Oh well."
So every few weeks, I've sat down and tried to save my photos. And every time I've abandoned the mission in total frustration.
My latest attempt was stymied by my lack of filing. I have a laundry basket, the largest one I own, full of papers that need to be sorted through and filed. Tossed in there like so many croutons are many computer disks as well. I lost "Mac OS Install Disk #2" in that laundry basket somehow, and searching for it was like the proverbial needle in a haystack.
But tonight, all of a sudden, it emerged on top of the pile. I've already spent some money trying to get Apple to mail me another disk, which they have been mysteriously unable to do for three weeks. (How hard is it to mail a CD, people????) But I don't care. I found the disk. And a miracle happened.
My photos actually, finally, burned to a CD. Every single one of them fit on one CD even! I cannot tell you how elated I am at having all those photos sitting on a CD in my hand at this very moment.
I am currently erasing the hard drive and reinstalling everything from scratch.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll be blogging from my very own laptop again. And maybe sometime next week I'll be truly mobile -- I'm currently cruising eBay for a wireless card. :D
Six months ago, it began slowing down to the point of being unusable. I used to provide technical support for computers in a former life (that one between finishing college and having children), so I am pretty comfortable with trouble-shooting. I searched websites, discussion groups, and manuals, trying everything I could find to fix the problem myself. All to no avail.
My last resort was to erase the whole thing and start over. But before I did that, I HAD to copy my files onto Scott's computer. Everything worked except my digital photos. I had TWO AND A HALF YEARS worth of photos saved only on my computer, so I couldn't just flippantly say, "Oh well."
So every few weeks, I've sat down and tried to save my photos. And every time I've abandoned the mission in total frustration.
My latest attempt was stymied by my lack of filing. I have a laundry basket, the largest one I own, full of papers that need to be sorted through and filed. Tossed in there like so many croutons are many computer disks as well. I lost "Mac OS Install Disk #2" in that laundry basket somehow, and searching for it was like the proverbial needle in a haystack.
But tonight, all of a sudden, it emerged on top of the pile. I've already spent some money trying to get Apple to mail me another disk, which they have been mysteriously unable to do for three weeks. (How hard is it to mail a CD, people????) But I don't care. I found the disk. And a miracle happened.
My photos actually, finally, burned to a CD. Every single one of them fit on one CD even! I cannot tell you how elated I am at having all those photos sitting on a CD in my hand at this very moment.
I am currently erasing the hard drive and reinstalling everything from scratch.
Hopefully tomorrow I'll be blogging from my very own laptop again. And maybe sometime next week I'll be truly mobile -- I'm currently cruising eBay for a wireless card. :D
Jun 14, 2006
Snippets of Summer
(click to enlarge)
Toddler, aged 3 1/2: "Look Mom! I made Sinny!"
Translation: "Look Mom! I made the Sidney Opera House in Australia with my bread crusts, just like I saw on 'Finding Nemo!'"
Hollyhocks as tall as my husband
Coleus and vinca vine
Petunia, vinca vine, and "spike"
That's "Two-Bootie Woman" To You
Yup, I finished the second baby bootie two days ago, boxed it up yesterday, and mailed it today. No more "one bootie woman" for me.
Er. Perhaps I should clarify, lest someone think I have two rear ends.
----
I'm getting some help with my job starting tomorrow. My title at work is "co-chair" because I'm supposed to do this with another person. I've been managing the council meetings and the consulting work solo for two months and I'm ready to share. With the kids home from school, it's been tougher to make the time necessary to get my work done and still spend time doing fun summery stuff and get the work of the home done.
So today I spent a couple hours copying and typing what I've been working on for the past 2 months. I want to make sure my co-chair has the same information I do so we can really share this job well. Tomorrow will be a busy day of meetings and orientation for her, and then in a couple weeks, we run our first council meeting together.
----
We are battling a summer cold. Isn't that an oxymoron? So far Anna and I have it, but Sam started coughing last night and Scott woke up with a sore throat. I am not sure if Elli got it first or if she still could come down with it. I've been very successful at keeping the symptoms mild by taking zinc every 12 hours. But dealing with miserable kids who can't sleep and just want to cling to me all day has been challenging to say the least. I don't do clingy well, especially when I'm tired and busy and not feeling well.
----
I finished cutting the blocks for Sam's quilt last night. At 12:30am. Now I start cutting the strips that frame each block. Once I have some blocks sewn together, I'll post some photos.
Er. Perhaps I should clarify, lest someone think I have two rear ends.
----
I'm getting some help with my job starting tomorrow. My title at work is "co-chair" because I'm supposed to do this with another person. I've been managing the council meetings and the consulting work solo for two months and I'm ready to share. With the kids home from school, it's been tougher to make the time necessary to get my work done and still spend time doing fun summery stuff and get the work of the home done.
So today I spent a couple hours copying and typing what I've been working on for the past 2 months. I want to make sure my co-chair has the same information I do so we can really share this job well. Tomorrow will be a busy day of meetings and orientation for her, and then in a couple weeks, we run our first council meeting together.
----
We are battling a summer cold. Isn't that an oxymoron? So far Anna and I have it, but Sam started coughing last night and Scott woke up with a sore throat. I am not sure if Elli got it first or if she still could come down with it. I've been very successful at keeping the symptoms mild by taking zinc every 12 hours. But dealing with miserable kids who can't sleep and just want to cling to me all day has been challenging to say the least. I don't do clingy well, especially when I'm tired and busy and not feeling well.
----
I finished cutting the blocks for Sam's quilt last night. At 12:30am. Now I start cutting the strips that frame each block. Once I have some blocks sewn together, I'll post some photos.
Jun 13, 2006
Kids Say the Darndest Things
Yesterday Sam saw a cat across the street and told me, "We're going to get some more cats."
"One more cat?" I asked.
"No, two more cats," he answered very confidently.
I asked about a dog, and he replied, "No, dogs chase cats."
I think we may have our first sibling dispute on our hands.
Tonight at dinner Elli used her Dynavox to tell Scott that she had a cat, a fish but it died, and she wants a dog. Then she busted up laughing. It was a new message and she loved it.
Scott asked me what this was about since it was new and clearly resonated with her. Turns out, the speech therapist working with Elli today told me that Elli said she had a hamster and a dog. The therapist suspected this wasn't true (we've known her for 3 years), so she asked more questions and determined that Elli wants those pets. I appreciated the heads-up, of course.
Just then, we got another bomb dropped on our laps. Sam piped in from the end of the table with this shy little smile, "And I want to have another baby girl." (My jaw didn't hit the floor like Scott's did because Sam had asked me for a baby this afternoon.)
Yes, the baby has to be a girl. We prodded quite a bit on this one and he won't budge.
That's quite a different matter from the dog vs. cat dispute we may have to mediate! Sam stated his desire for a baby on the very day I decided to try something out -- think of myself as done having kids for a few weeks, just to see how I really feel about it. So far, quitting now sounds really good. I could get rid of so much stuff -- maternity clothes, baby clothes, baby gear...
Then this. I think I'm going to go to bed now. The thought of it makes me tired.
Oh. One more thing. Sam now knows I'm working on a birthday present for him (Scott goaded him into asking me about my "cutting project" tonight at dinner. It was quite the dinner conversation.) He said, "Oh! That's wonderful!"
Talk about pressure! And of course, today I had a mountain of laundry to plow through before I could justify taking time to work on any projects. Now I'm too tired to do much.
"One more cat?" I asked.
"No, two more cats," he answered very confidently.
I asked about a dog, and he replied, "No, dogs chase cats."
I think we may have our first sibling dispute on our hands.
Tonight at dinner Elli used her Dynavox to tell Scott that she had a cat, a fish but it died, and she wants a dog. Then she busted up laughing. It was a new message and she loved it.
Scott asked me what this was about since it was new and clearly resonated with her. Turns out, the speech therapist working with Elli today told me that Elli said she had a hamster and a dog. The therapist suspected this wasn't true (we've known her for 3 years), so she asked more questions and determined that Elli wants those pets. I appreciated the heads-up, of course.
Just then, we got another bomb dropped on our laps. Sam piped in from the end of the table with this shy little smile, "And I want to have another baby girl." (My jaw didn't hit the floor like Scott's did because Sam had asked me for a baby this afternoon.)
Yes, the baby has to be a girl. We prodded quite a bit on this one and he won't budge.
That's quite a different matter from the dog vs. cat dispute we may have to mediate! Sam stated his desire for a baby on the very day I decided to try something out -- think of myself as done having kids for a few weeks, just to see how I really feel about it. So far, quitting now sounds really good. I could get rid of so much stuff -- maternity clothes, baby clothes, baby gear...
Then this. I think I'm going to go to bed now. The thought of it makes me tired.
Oh. One more thing. Sam now knows I'm working on a birthday present for him (Scott goaded him into asking me about my "cutting project" tonight at dinner. It was quite the dinner conversation.) He said, "Oh! That's wonderful!"
Talk about pressure! And of course, today I had a mountain of laundry to plow through before I could justify taking time to work on any projects. Now I'm too tired to do much.
Dare I?
I want to brag on my daughter today. But Murphy's Law of Motherhood says that as soon as I say something, we'll backtrack several steps. Hold on while I check our current status. Then I think I really will tell you what's been going on here this week. I'm so excited!
...
Well, the news wasn't what I had hoped, but it's partly my fault. I should know better after working with my son.
OK, here's the scoop. For the last 6 days I've been working on potty-training with Elli. She has done remarkably well and I'm so proud of her. We've been in real underwear 5 of those 6 days, going to church, two doctor's appointments, and this morning's technology camp successfully!
We've had some misses, but that seems to be primarily from her communication challenges. If no-one is around to hear her say she needs to go potty, no-one can take her. And if she doesn't have her Dynavox, all she can do is vocalize at us and hope we ask her if she needs to go. I have to be on top of when she last had something to drink, ask her at the right times, and have her try even when she says she doesn't have to when I know that she probably does.
Even now, I have to ask Sam if he needs to go potty if he's dancing around, and I remember him protesting that he didn't need to go even as he started wetting himself last year when we were first working on it. So I have to realize that Elli may do the same thing even though she's older.
She's doing great and is so excited to be wearing underwear during the day. Everyone cheers when she uses her potty, even Sam, and it tickles me so much to see her beam. She's really blossoming this year and showing us over and over how smart she is and how much she grasps of life.
----
Today was the first day of technology camp. Elli was SO excited to go. I think she's been bored since school got out. Every hour of every day since, she has been pestering me to go swimming, go to the park, take a walk, go to the Children's museum, go to the library, and on and on and on. She wants to be on the go constantly. We've had some car problems and doctor's appointments so some of the days have been decidedly contrary to her idea of a good time. She has been unequivocal in her disappointment on those days.
However, I am thrilled to be able to give her ways to communicate her desires and the reasons for her grumpiness. The Dynavox has been such a blessing. She is a much happier child now that she has a way to communicate with us.
So... camp. She will be attending this program two days a week through the end of July. Her class has 6 children with similar challenges as her, along with a teacher, an aid, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, and a speech therapist. Right now, the PT has a student working with her as well, so they have a 1 to 1 child to adult ratio. I REALLY like that.
They work with the kids to find the best way for them to access various kinds of technology. They work on using personal computers (using a joystick, track ball, switches, or head array -- electronic pointer attached to the person's head), driving power wheelchairs, and using communication devices like her Dynavox. They also look at the kind of physical support each child needs in order to best access the technology. Many of these kids need to be held in specific positions to stabilize their bodies so they can concentrate on making their arms, hands, or heads do the specific fine motor tasks required to play a computer game, ask a question, or drive forward in a power wheelchair.
Elli eats every bit of it up -- she loves computer games and talking with her device and we hope she takes off with the driving piece this summer. We also need to get her a better walker (or gait trainer -- holds her upright in a wheeled frame so she can practice walking, do some weight-bearing to strengthen her bones and joints, and improve her overall strength). I have no idea where we'll put all the equipment -- it gets bigger as the child gets bigger, but we'll figure that out this summer.
When we got home this afternoon, I watched a half-hour show on the Discovery channel while the kids were napping. An ad came on for children in third world countries who desperately need wheelchairs and can't afford them. Watching these poor kids drag themselves around dirt streets just broke my heart. I can't imagine the heartbreak of being unable to provide these things for my child.
I am SO thankful to God for the blessing of living in a country like this where help is available. I'm thankful that He has blessed my husband with a good job with good benefits. Between his job, his benefits, and the programs our daughter has qualified for, we've always been able to get her the equipment she needs. (We're working on some things that we want for her, but I'm sure we'll be able to get them eventually, even if it takes 3 years of car washes and bake sales!)
...
Well, the news wasn't what I had hoped, but it's partly my fault. I should know better after working with my son.
OK, here's the scoop. For the last 6 days I've been working on potty-training with Elli. She has done remarkably well and I'm so proud of her. We've been in real underwear 5 of those 6 days, going to church, two doctor's appointments, and this morning's technology camp successfully!
We've had some misses, but that seems to be primarily from her communication challenges. If no-one is around to hear her say she needs to go potty, no-one can take her. And if she doesn't have her Dynavox, all she can do is vocalize at us and hope we ask her if she needs to go. I have to be on top of when she last had something to drink, ask her at the right times, and have her try even when she says she doesn't have to when I know that she probably does.
Even now, I have to ask Sam if he needs to go potty if he's dancing around, and I remember him protesting that he didn't need to go even as he started wetting himself last year when we were first working on it. So I have to realize that Elli may do the same thing even though she's older.
She's doing great and is so excited to be wearing underwear during the day. Everyone cheers when she uses her potty, even Sam, and it tickles me so much to see her beam. She's really blossoming this year and showing us over and over how smart she is and how much she grasps of life.
----
Today was the first day of technology camp. Elli was SO excited to go. I think she's been bored since school got out. Every hour of every day since, she has been pestering me to go swimming, go to the park, take a walk, go to the Children's museum, go to the library, and on and on and on. She wants to be on the go constantly. We've had some car problems and doctor's appointments so some of the days have been decidedly contrary to her idea of a good time. She has been unequivocal in her disappointment on those days.
However, I am thrilled to be able to give her ways to communicate her desires and the reasons for her grumpiness. The Dynavox has been such a blessing. She is a much happier child now that she has a way to communicate with us.
So... camp. She will be attending this program two days a week through the end of July. Her class has 6 children with similar challenges as her, along with a teacher, an aid, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, and a speech therapist. Right now, the PT has a student working with her as well, so they have a 1 to 1 child to adult ratio. I REALLY like that.
They work with the kids to find the best way for them to access various kinds of technology. They work on using personal computers (using a joystick, track ball, switches, or head array -- electronic pointer attached to the person's head), driving power wheelchairs, and using communication devices like her Dynavox. They also look at the kind of physical support each child needs in order to best access the technology. Many of these kids need to be held in specific positions to stabilize their bodies so they can concentrate on making their arms, hands, or heads do the specific fine motor tasks required to play a computer game, ask a question, or drive forward in a power wheelchair.
Elli eats every bit of it up -- she loves computer games and talking with her device and we hope she takes off with the driving piece this summer. We also need to get her a better walker (or gait trainer -- holds her upright in a wheeled frame so she can practice walking, do some weight-bearing to strengthen her bones and joints, and improve her overall strength). I have no idea where we'll put all the equipment -- it gets bigger as the child gets bigger, but we'll figure that out this summer.
When we got home this afternoon, I watched a half-hour show on the Discovery channel while the kids were napping. An ad came on for children in third world countries who desperately need wheelchairs and can't afford them. Watching these poor kids drag themselves around dirt streets just broke my heart. I can't imagine the heartbreak of being unable to provide these things for my child.
I am SO thankful to God for the blessing of living in a country like this where help is available. I'm thankful that He has blessed my husband with a good job with good benefits. Between his job, his benefits, and the programs our daughter has qualified for, we've always been able to get her the equipment she needs. (We're working on some things that we want for her, but I'm sure we'll be able to get them eventually, even if it takes 3 years of car washes and bake sales!)
Jun 12, 2006
Extremist
Scott's new adjective for me is "extremist." He says I'm into "extreme crafting" and that this would make a great Discovery or HGTV channel show. My parents were here to visit this weekend and he regaled them with stories about my last-minute, all-nighter, doomed-before-they-were-begun (or so he says) projects from the last couple years.
He was (and continues to be) particularly amused by my single baby bootie gift at a baby shower last weekend. I didn't have time to start knitting the booties until Friday night and we had a busy day Saturday, so my only opportunities to knit them were Friday night, Saturday night, and... Saturday night.
He could NOT believe that I actually started them Friday, knowing how little time I had to complete them. I knew they were a quick knit, so I optimistically went ahead. But I forgot how slow I knit when watching a really good movie (we watched Flight 93 Friday). I'm too tired to pull an all-nighter any more (those are reserved for comforting sick children and waiting in an emergency room).
I didn't get them done Saturday. So I actually brought them to our church lunch on Sunday and got the first one done there. The baby shower immediately followed the lunch, so I decided that, rather than sit in an inconspicuous corner and anti-socially knit furiously on bootie #2 and give her my gift last and probably not get it done despite it all, perhaps I should go easy on myself and give her the one bootie with an I.O.U. for the other. (This resulted in a bit of panic when the gift got passed around the room -- more than one woman yelled out "No one throw anything out! We're missing a bootie over here!" So I had to explain my knitting delinquency a few more times.)
Scott has been calling me the "one-bootie woman" ever since.
I finished knitting bootie #2 last night and will sew it up today. That may end the teasing for now.
Or not.
Then he likes to bring up the Christmas tree skirt my sister and I made for a gift to our mom last year. We started that in October and got it done in time. He says smoke was still rising from it when mom opened it, and that we were pretty much unaccessible the last two or three weeks before Christmas. I do not recall.
Or the bathrobe I sewed for him. For the same Christmas. I would have had it done, but I lost a good ten hours when I stitched one sleeve on backwards, with a double seam, in this really plush material that just swallowed up the stitches. It took me 2 hours to rip out 1 1/2 inches. I didn't actually finish the robe until a week after Christmas.
Or the socks for Elli. But I think I got them done in time for her birthday. I think. But that was to the detriment of the Knitting Olympics project that still isn't done.
He didn't delve into projects further back, like the scrapbooks I made for my grandmothers on the drive out to visit them. Or the quilt I started for our guest room that is now Elli's room -- the quilt isn't done yet and we've sold the bed it was supposed to cover.
But I still disagree with him. I'm not an extreme crafter. I'm just inexperienced. I'm bad at estimating the time required for a project and the time available to me. And my life is inherently unstable -- surprises occur all the time that subtract crafting time from my schedule. Plus the fact that I just have smatterings of time each day to a) work on a project, b) sleep, c) eat, d) shower, or e) relax. Sometimes I can accomplish e by doing one of the other four, but not always. So sometimes I choose not to craft with my free time because something else takes priority. If I were a real extreme crafter, NOTHING would take priority.
So why am I going on and on about extreme crafting?
Because I started a new project this weekend. This is the "All About Me" quilt from Atkinson Designs. (The one on the left is a random pattern; the one on the right is planned.) It was SOOOO much fun because I waited until my mom and sister could come shopping with me and help pick the fabrics out. I'm making this in a twin size for Sam's 4th birthday. I have until the end of September (14 1/2 weeks), which I think is plenty of time. Scott, however, is quite dubious. He says if I get it done the week of Sam's birthday, he'll be shocked.
Oh yeah. I was going to tell you what the winning cliche was. It continues to be unanimous: "Burning the candle at both ends."
He was (and continues to be) particularly amused by my single baby bootie gift at a baby shower last weekend. I didn't have time to start knitting the booties until Friday night and we had a busy day Saturday, so my only opportunities to knit them were Friday night, Saturday night, and... Saturday night.
He could NOT believe that I actually started them Friday, knowing how little time I had to complete them. I knew they were a quick knit, so I optimistically went ahead. But I forgot how slow I knit when watching a really good movie (we watched Flight 93 Friday). I'm too tired to pull an all-nighter any more (those are reserved for comforting sick children and waiting in an emergency room).
I didn't get them done Saturday. So I actually brought them to our church lunch on Sunday and got the first one done there. The baby shower immediately followed the lunch, so I decided that, rather than sit in an inconspicuous corner and anti-socially knit furiously on bootie #2 and give her my gift last and probably not get it done despite it all, perhaps I should go easy on myself and give her the one bootie with an I.O.U. for the other. (This resulted in a bit of panic when the gift got passed around the room -- more than one woman yelled out "No one throw anything out! We're missing a bootie over here!" So I had to explain my knitting delinquency a few more times.)
Scott has been calling me the "one-bootie woman" ever since.
I finished knitting bootie #2 last night and will sew it up today. That may end the teasing for now.
Or not.
Then he likes to bring up the Christmas tree skirt my sister and I made for a gift to our mom last year. We started that in October and got it done in time. He says smoke was still rising from it when mom opened it, and that we were pretty much unaccessible the last two or three weeks before Christmas. I do not recall.
Or the bathrobe I sewed for him. For the same Christmas. I would have had it done, but I lost a good ten hours when I stitched one sleeve on backwards, with a double seam, in this really plush material that just swallowed up the stitches. It took me 2 hours to rip out 1 1/2 inches. I didn't actually finish the robe until a week after Christmas.
Or the socks for Elli. But I think I got them done in time for her birthday. I think. But that was to the detriment of the Knitting Olympics project that still isn't done.
He didn't delve into projects further back, like the scrapbooks I made for my grandmothers on the drive out to visit them. Or the quilt I started for our guest room that is now Elli's room -- the quilt isn't done yet and we've sold the bed it was supposed to cover.
But I still disagree with him. I'm not an extreme crafter. I'm just inexperienced. I'm bad at estimating the time required for a project and the time available to me. And my life is inherently unstable -- surprises occur all the time that subtract crafting time from my schedule. Plus the fact that I just have smatterings of time each day to a) work on a project, b) sleep, c) eat, d) shower, or e) relax. Sometimes I can accomplish e by doing one of the other four, but not always. So sometimes I choose not to craft with my free time because something else takes priority. If I were a real extreme crafter, NOTHING would take priority.
So why am I going on and on about extreme crafting?
Because I started a new project this weekend. This is the "All About Me" quilt from Atkinson Designs. (The one on the left is a random pattern; the one on the right is planned.) It was SOOOO much fun because I waited until my mom and sister could come shopping with me and help pick the fabrics out. I'm making this in a twin size for Sam's 4th birthday. I have until the end of September (14 1/2 weeks), which I think is plenty of time. Scott, however, is quite dubious. He says if I get it done the week of Sam's birthday, he'll be shocked.Oh yeah. I was going to tell you what the winning cliche was. It continues to be unanimous: "Burning the candle at both ends."
Jun 9, 2006
Niggling Concern
All week I've been watching my oldest cough and sneeze up mucus for 1-2 hours each morning, fall asleep in the middle of activities like meals and swimming, and run out of energy and get cranky faster and faster each day. She isn't eating much and yesterday she seemed like she just didn't have the energy to drink much either, so for the first time in months, I used her feeding tube. Yet, she doesn't have a cold or a fever.
I've just observed this all week, but as it has continued and new things showed up, worry has started niggling at me. Not paralyzing, heart-stopping panic or anything. Just a little uneasy or unsettled feeling way back in the background of life. I did make her an appointment with a pulmonologist, but that isn't for another couple weeks.
We had a checkup with a different specialist on Tuesday which required some blood work. I wasn't sure what all they checked, but it was all normal stuff for that office. However, last night while I was at work, they called home. This is unusual. If there's one thing I've learned about medicine, it is that no news is good news. If someone actually calls you, that means something got someone's attention. And that is not a good sign.
My husband had them send the results to her cardiologist, and I'm hoping to get our pediatrician on this today too. I hope it's nothing, and most likely it is. But no matter how well a child does for no matter how long, if they've ever been really really sick and had a significant diagnosis, even if they completely recover, you never lose the shadow of worry that something really serious might happen again. You know that it really can happen to you (or someone you love).
Meanwhile, I'm packing and prepping for a day at the zoo. My sister and my daughter's aide are coming with us and the kids are very excited. I suppose if someone from the hospital calls and wants something from us, we'll be nice and close to the hospital -- it's about 2 blocks from the zoo. (Of course, Murphy's Law says if they want something from us, we won't hear from them until we get all the way back home.)
Edited at 4pm to add: The cardiologist called this afternoon (just as we were leaving the zoo), to say that everything was within our daughter's normal range (which isn't a typical child's normal range, which is why the other department was concerned). We might consider an iron supplement since she is slightly anemic, but nothing major is wrong.
I've just observed this all week, but as it has continued and new things showed up, worry has started niggling at me. Not paralyzing, heart-stopping panic or anything. Just a little uneasy or unsettled feeling way back in the background of life. I did make her an appointment with a pulmonologist, but that isn't for another couple weeks.
We had a checkup with a different specialist on Tuesday which required some blood work. I wasn't sure what all they checked, but it was all normal stuff for that office. However, last night while I was at work, they called home. This is unusual. If there's one thing I've learned about medicine, it is that no news is good news. If someone actually calls you, that means something got someone's attention. And that is not a good sign.
My husband had them send the results to her cardiologist, and I'm hoping to get our pediatrician on this today too. I hope it's nothing, and most likely it is. But no matter how well a child does for no matter how long, if they've ever been really really sick and had a significant diagnosis, even if they completely recover, you never lose the shadow of worry that something really serious might happen again. You know that it really can happen to you (or someone you love).
Meanwhile, I'm packing and prepping for a day at the zoo. My sister and my daughter's aide are coming with us and the kids are very excited. I suppose if someone from the hospital calls and wants something from us, we'll be nice and close to the hospital -- it's about 2 blocks from the zoo. (Of course, Murphy's Law says if they want something from us, we won't hear from them until we get all the way back home.)
Edited at 4pm to add: The cardiologist called this afternoon (just as we were leaving the zoo), to say that everything was within our daughter's normal range (which isn't a typical child's normal range, which is why the other department was concerned). We might consider an iron supplement since she is slightly anemic, but nothing major is wrong.
Jun 8, 2006
Imagine if...
I went to a ladies' game night Monday and we played a game called "Imaginiff." You read a sentence with one of the player's names in it and then read 6 possible answers. Then everyone votes which answer they think fits. The majority wins and all those who agreed get to advance on the game board.
At one point, the question was "Imagine if Joy was a cliche. Which one would she be?" I can only remember five of the answers, but they included "Born with a silver spoon in her mouth." "Look what the cat dragged in!" "At one with nature." "Burning the candle at both ends." "A sight for sore eyes."
It was unanimous. But I'm not going to tell you which one it was. I want to know if everyone reading agrees with the people I played the game with.
Which one would you vote for? I'll reveal the results this weekend.
-----
This has been a fun week, but it has been really busy and I'm still adjusting to the new summer routine. I finally made some decisions about what we are and are not doing, which is a relief. Having Elli home in the afternoon makes working or blogging or getting stuff done around the house less certain. I'm getting settled in... a little. Next week she'll start her summer camp two mornings a week and things will change again.
We've gone to the pool a couple times, which has gone really well. We're going to attempt the zoo tomorrow unless it's really hot -- then I'll opt for the pool again. I'm amazed at how much more food the kids are eating and how much longer they are sleeping now that we're outside playing! I fear to think about our grocery bill in ten years when Sam is a teenager. My mom said that even though she had daughters, we still ate phenomenal amounts of food in the summer when we were swimming every day.
We decided to join a local community center so we can access their indoor AND outdoor pools and do a more family-friendly swim lesson schedule. This means I now have access to a gym again, so I've gone twice this week. Scott goes to his gym at 5:30 in the morning, then I go around 6:30 while he gets ready for work. We've both learned that if we don't do it first thing in the morning, we don't do it. I'm really glad to be back and I'm hoping that surge of energy you're supposed to get when you exercise regularly kicks in soon!
Now I have to figure out how to get my Bible reading in too -- looks like I'll have to get up at 6am or earlier so I can read before I go to the gym. Once I get home, I have to hit the ground running, especially if we have to get out the door in the morning. Yesterday I almost left the house with kids still in the pajamas because the schedule was so tight!
Work is going well. I've pulled together quite the June meeting, and have been really lucky to get some high-up people to come. We're trying to get a training video for doctors embedded into their training, whether it's new resident training for beginning docs or ongoing development for established docs. The guy in charge of our residency program is coming, and we're trying to get the guy in charge of ongoing development there as well. I'll really feel like we've accomplished something and are tangibly helping families if this works out!
So the summer has started out well and looks like it will be full and fun.
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I figure someone will ask, so I may as well confess now. I didn't get both baby booties done in time for the shower. I got one done though, and I'm almost done with the second, which I will mail tomorrow. I have another baby shower to attend on Saturday. I think I'll work on the booties for this baby for his delivery and spare myself the stress.
At one point, the question was "Imagine if Joy was a cliche. Which one would she be?" I can only remember five of the answers, but they included "Born with a silver spoon in her mouth." "Look what the cat dragged in!" "At one with nature." "Burning the candle at both ends." "A sight for sore eyes."
It was unanimous. But I'm not going to tell you which one it was. I want to know if everyone reading agrees with the people I played the game with.
Which one would you vote for? I'll reveal the results this weekend.
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This has been a fun week, but it has been really busy and I'm still adjusting to the new summer routine. I finally made some decisions about what we are and are not doing, which is a relief. Having Elli home in the afternoon makes working or blogging or getting stuff done around the house less certain. I'm getting settled in... a little. Next week she'll start her summer camp two mornings a week and things will change again.
We've gone to the pool a couple times, which has gone really well. We're going to attempt the zoo tomorrow unless it's really hot -- then I'll opt for the pool again. I'm amazed at how much more food the kids are eating and how much longer they are sleeping now that we're outside playing! I fear to think about our grocery bill in ten years when Sam is a teenager. My mom said that even though she had daughters, we still ate phenomenal amounts of food in the summer when we were swimming every day.
We decided to join a local community center so we can access their indoor AND outdoor pools and do a more family-friendly swim lesson schedule. This means I now have access to a gym again, so I've gone twice this week. Scott goes to his gym at 5:30 in the morning, then I go around 6:30 while he gets ready for work. We've both learned that if we don't do it first thing in the morning, we don't do it. I'm really glad to be back and I'm hoping that surge of energy you're supposed to get when you exercise regularly kicks in soon!
Now I have to figure out how to get my Bible reading in too -- looks like I'll have to get up at 6am or earlier so I can read before I go to the gym. Once I get home, I have to hit the ground running, especially if we have to get out the door in the morning. Yesterday I almost left the house with kids still in the pajamas because the schedule was so tight!
Work is going well. I've pulled together quite the June meeting, and have been really lucky to get some high-up people to come. We're trying to get a training video for doctors embedded into their training, whether it's new resident training for beginning docs or ongoing development for established docs. The guy in charge of our residency program is coming, and we're trying to get the guy in charge of ongoing development there as well. I'll really feel like we've accomplished something and are tangibly helping families if this works out!
So the summer has started out well and looks like it will be full and fun.
-----
I figure someone will ask, so I may as well confess now. I didn't get both baby booties done in time for the shower. I got one done though, and I'm almost done with the second, which I will mail tomorrow. I have another baby shower to attend on Saturday. I think I'll work on the booties for this baby for his delivery and spare myself the stress.
Jun 1, 2006
Ahhh.... summer
Sometimes I actually feel creative. Yesterday Elli and I put together these teacher gifts for her teachers, aide, and therapists at school. (Click the photo to view it larger. This applies to all photos on my blog.) She picked out the flowers, stamped the cards, helped me pot the flowers, and signed by stamping her name inside (the name stamp was a genius idea from a special needs preschool teacher). 
I took the photo the day before and then ordered wallets from Costco to tape inside. I think they turned out really well.At least until Anna discovered one accidentally left within reach. She decided that the flower needed some air. I have since planted that one in my garden and placed a new in the pot. I didn't want to give a doomed flower as a gift!
I can hardly believe today is her last day of kindergarten. The girl who comes home this afternoon will be a First Grader. She is so excited she can hardly contain herself. I am excited for her but am beginning to realize how serious people are when they say the time just flies. A child of mine is going into first grade??? Am I old enough for that?
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I had a red-letter moment yesterday. Sam asked if he could play outside.
I have been waiting for that moment for six years! I cannot express how ecstatic I am that the kids actually want to play outside, and that he and Anna actually can entertain themselves out there. Elli loves the outdoors too, though she needs someone else to help her. Still, she asks to swing in her special swing just about every day. It's a beautiful thing to break away from the technology and enjoy God's creation.
Now if I can just clean up the sandbox. Apparently, we forgot to put the lid on it a few times. The odor of cat urine is rather strong. I gave the youngest two baths on the deck yesterday afternoon to wash the sand, urine, and sweat off before they came in the house. Then I filled the sandbox with soapy water. I was hoping that when it evaporates, the smell and whatever else may be in it would be neutralized.
What a pipe dream. I poured out the excess water after letting it soak overnight. The urine smell is still pretty bad. Looks like I'll have to throw it all out and start over. I hate to dump it in the trash -- it's so heavy that it'll be a bear to drag out to the street!
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Served to Anna for lunch: half of a peanut butter and honey sandwich, one triangle of watermelon, 8 slices of cheese, a cup of water, and a cup of milk. Actually consumed: 8 slices of cheese, a cup of water, and a cup of milk.
Sometimes I really wonder why I bother to prepare food.
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I cast on for a pair of navy blue baby booties last night. I have three days to finish them. I remain optimistic.
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