Family Pictures '09

We haven't had family pictures taken since Caroline was just 8 months old. Last year, I was pregnant and I REFUSE to have any pictures of me taken while I'm pregnant. It's barely acceptable when I'm not pregnant, let alone when I am huger than life itself! Here are some of the pictures that didn't make the cut of being up on our wall in our home.





It's not that I didn't like these pictures, there were better ones to choose from. Adam and I differ on the picture of the entire family that each of us like the best but, to me, that is to be expected. Adam likes the first one, and I like the second one. (I think my face looks funny in the first one) Our friend, Bruce Cosseboom, took them for us and did a great job. Thanks, Bruce!!!!!

Howsie B - 6 Months Old

Already my little Howsie B has grown to 6 months old. The time is flying by so quickly I can hardly believe it! I still can't get him to roll over (slightly disconcerting to me), he's cutting 2 more teeth and over all is doing really well. He reaches and grabs and loves to put everything in his mouth. He'll even sit up on his own unsupported for a few second before he topples over. I just can't get the kid to roll over and am wondering if this is a sign of something more serious.

His stats at his 6 month appointment were: weight: 20.2 lbs. length 28.5 inches. I looked back at Owen's stats and at 6 months Owen weighed 18 lbs and was 26 inches long. I know I shouldn't compare my two boys to each other, but there are sometimes where I think that Howie seems smaller than Owen did and then I get proven wrong.

He's so cute, round, pink and loves, loves, loves to eat. I pray he continues to be healthy and that there isn't something more to his lack of rolling over by now.

My Princess & the Potty

Caroline has been interested in sitting and going to the bathroom on the potty for quite some time now. I even started to potty train her over the Thanksgiving holiday. While I'll probably regret this decision, I think it is best to put it off for a few months and try again in the spring. Caroline will pee on command on the potty if you ask her to. However, I don't think that the feeling and the action have connected yet. She wakes up dry after sleeping all night long and after her nap. But, during the day she just doesn't get that when she needs to go potty, she needs to go to the bathroom. I've tried letting her go without any panties around the house and that worked pretty well, until I put a pair of panties on her and then she peed all over them and down her legs. I think she feels more comfortable for now in diapers and that's okay with me, for now.

So, for now I'll keep changing her diaper, and we'll try again in the spring when she'll be a little bit older and hopefully will have connected the feeling and the action a little bit more.

Tonsillectomy - Part II

Yesterday I did have my tonsils out and I must say that yes, it does hurt but I honestly don't think it hurts any worse than the last round of tonsillitis that I had. Of course, anything cold feels really good going down, and I'm not inclined to eat a whole lot other than slushies, popsicles, ice cream or really cold juice. My throat looks like a horrible case of strep throat and will for about 7-10 days. It feels like I have something stuck in my throat and need to constantly swallow or clear my throat to get whatever isn't there out of there. It's all because the uvula is so swollen and will be for another 2-3 days.

After the doctor had removed my left tonsil, he found a small abscess behind my tonsil on the bottom. This was a huge contributing factor to the chronic tonsillitis flare-ups that I had been having all of these years. I'm so glad I had my tonsils out, but kind of sorry I didn't have them out sooner, like when I had the abscess 4 years ago. So, while I can't go back in time, I'll take what I have done now and move forward.

All-in-all, I am feeling well and am up and moving around. I get tired pretty easily and can sleep like nobody's business right now - like the days before we had kids. But, I'm looking forward to being able to eat whatever I want again.

Tonsilectomy for Me!

Several years ago I had an abscess on my tonsil. Since that time, I average tonsillitis about 3-4 times per year. I never saw an ENT for this because I was usually pregnant and my OB just took care of it. The few times I got it when I wasn't pregnant, I had my dad call me in a prescription.

It has been a series of chronic tonsillitis for the last 4 years and I'm pretty tired of it. So, after this last bout of tonsillitis over Halloween, I saw an ENT and discussed my options with him. There's really only one solution and that is to have a tonsillectomy. I discussed this with my dad and he said it is brutal for adults but was probably what I needed to do. I talked to Adam and we decided that although it was going to be brutal and really rough for me I was the right thing for me. I really am so done with taking antibiotics for this 3-4 times a year.

Before I could even tell my mom what I was doing, it somehow had been communicated to her what I was contemplating and she said, "let me know as soon as you can so I can make arrangements to come out and help you." HUGE, HUGE, HUGE sacrifice on her part and my dad's part as she manages my dad's office. Without her there, it is ALL up to my dad to do. Thank you so very much Mom and Dad. You have helped out family so very much, but especially this year. It is greatly appreciated!

The surgery date was scheduled and my tonsils have come out. I'll update this a little later once I have determined just how brutal it is and if it's worse than what I've heard it would be.

Sick Toddler + Potty Training = MESS! MESS! MESS!

Caroline has been saying for quite some time that she wants to sit on the potty and wear big girl panties. I finally relented in doing potty training her this past week because Adam has been home from work. She has been doing great and even pooped on the potty before she peed on the potty! Then she caught some kind of bug and began throwing up all night Thursday night.

The throwing up started about 11:45 and didn't end 'til about 6:00. At first, Adam and I went into her room together. We would change the sheets, her jammies and put her back to bed. Sure enough, 20 minutes later we were back in her room doing the whole thing all over. After a few of those trips, we took turn. I think I slept from 3 - 6 and Adam slept from 1-4.

The next morning although Caroline wasn't throwing up any more, she was left with diarrhea. Caroline fought me about putting a diaper back on because she didn't want "to be a baby any more." She had taken her diaper off and was running to get some "big girl panties" in her room. I put a diaper back on her because I didn't want to have happen exactly what did happen..... she had a diarrhea accident in her room on the carpet. So, while I bathed Caroline, Adam was, once again, back in her room cleaning up her mess. But, instead of just going and getting straight into the tub, she tried to get on the toilet with diarrhea running down her legs. This made for a big mess all over the toilet, floor of the bathroom, etc., etc., etc., I am hoping this won't be a huge setback for her and that she can carry on where she left off with the potty training.

Gilbert Days 5K

I decided to keep going with the newfound hobby of running and for the first time I ran a 5K race. It was part of Gilbert Days so it only cost me $15 to run the race. I did much better this time around running than I did in the sprint tri. I would expect to do better with just running since I wasn't biking or swimming before having to run. I wanted to do this run in no more than 33 minutes.

I started the race about 75% of the way back of the entire pack. The clock started and off we went. I crossed the start line about 20 seconds after the first runner crossed and the clock started. I wish I knew the course a little bit better and could have trained a bit better for this race. But, when I did cross the finish line, the clock said 33:09 as the official time. So, I did meet my goal. However, if you take off the 20 second behind the first runner, I really made my goal in running the race in approximately 32:50. I could have done better, but was much happier with my performance in this run.

From the Mouth of Babes

This is the conversation that ensued between Owen and I yesterday while he was waiting for me to dry my hair as he pulled out the scale (yeah you can see where this is going, I'm sure) -

Owen: Look, Mom. I weigh lots!
Me: Yep, You weigh 41.8 lbs.
Owen: Okay Mom, your turn.
Me: Alright Buddy.
Owen: Hang on I'll reset it for you.
Me: Thanks.
Owen: Okay Mom now it's ready.
(I proceed to get on the scale, begrudgingly)
Owen: Wow Mom! You weigh sixteen hundred (1,600) pounds!!!
Me: Thanks Onie.

That was how my day started yesterday. While I laughed at it then, and still do now, there's nothing like a toddler to give you a reality check on your weight, even if they don't really know what the numbers mean. Although Owen has only gained 1 pound this whole year, I can hardly say the same thing for me. Now, just 25 more pounds to go to get to my "target weight"; a mere 14 to get back to my pre-pregnant weight. (Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. Sigh. sigh)

Miscellaneous

Sometime that is what life is....miscellaneous. I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of Owen/Caroline in quite sometime. I'm trying to take pictures of Howie and have neglected the other 2 - why does that happen? So, I grabbed the camera last Sunday and took a few pics of Owen and Caroline. They are precious to me -the pictures too. Owen loves to give Caroline, or anyone for that matter, hugs. The expression on Caroline's face is quite typical for this little twit. It is an expression I grew up seeing from my Dad and, now, I see it from my daughter. It's really weird and, even sometimes annoying! But, at least Caroline has hair! It's finally and barely long enough for me to put piggies in her hair. She typically will ask me for piggies but also very typically, she pulls them out after a few hours and definitely before her nap. She will let me redo them, but why won't she just leave them in to begin with. I'm hoping now that her hair has started to grow, than it won't look straggly, stringy, gross and that it will be somewhat thick. We'll see. Hopefully she'll have enough hair by the time she's 3 to have a decent set of piggies.

Tri-ing to Get Into Shape

When Howie was just 2 1/2 months old, I got an e-mail asking if anyone would be interested in doing a "sprint" triathlon. I knew that I wanted to do it, but wasn't sure if I could. I talked to Adam about it and he was sure I could do it. So, with his support I was gun-ho to do take on this challenge and new adventure. I figured I didn't have anything to lose if I didn't end up actually doing the triathlon, except for a whole lot of inches and even more pounds. So, I started training for this sprint triathlon.

The race was in Casa Grande. The triathlon started with a 400m swim, then a 10 mile bike ride, and finally a 3 mile run. The running I wasn't afraid of and the bike ride I was kind of unsure, but knew eventually I could do it. The swim, however, terrified me. I taught myself how to swim and never have swam that far. So, my friend, Becky, helped me, taught me, and cheered me on as I learned how to swim. (Becky did the triathlon, too!)

After 14 weeks of training, race day was finally here. I was very anxious and nervous because I have never done anything like this before. If it was a soccer game, then sure no problem. But a triathlon was a totally different story. But, I am proud to say that not only did I do the race, I finished it too. There were times during the bike portion of the race that I just wanted to give up as person after person after person was passing me. When I began the run, my right calf started to cramp, then my left calf. I had to walk about 50 yards of the 3 miles, but I did finish! I wish I would have done better, but at least I have a starting point and can do all that I can to better the time. I finished the race in 1 hour 47 minutes and 59 seconds. No, I didn't lose much weight - I don't think even a pound. I did lose a few inches, but I'm feeling stronger than before I had kids and am truly in the best shape that I've been in for at least the past 5 years, if not longer.

Truly one of the best parts of this day was to have my family there. After each portion of the race, my sweet little kids were there to cheer me on. I heard Owen and Caroline say to me," Go Mommy!" as I headed out for the bike ride. Then, as I was coming back from the bike ride, they were sitting there and yelled out to me "Nice bike riding, Mommy! Go Mommy! Yeah Mommy!" Hearing their little voices kept me going. I would replay their cheers in my head as I wanted to give up. I knew they would be sitting there waiting for me to finish each portion. How could I give up? I couldn't!!!! As I was crossing the finish line, my little ones were sitting right there cheering me to finish. I am grateful that Adam brought them to see me race and to have them there cheering me on. It wasn't fun to wait for me and then only see me for a total of 3 minutes, but it meant the world to me.

I had so much fun training with all of the girls (there were 8 of us total - Becky, Shelley, Liz, Michelle, Gaylene, Melissa, and Amy) that did the race. I'm pretty sure we all will be doing this again next year. I'm even tempted to register for another sprint triathlon that is happening either late January or early February next year. It's very tempting. For now, I'll have to settle for my 5k run on the 20th of this month.





(L-R: Liz, Me, Shelley, Becky, Michelle) After the race


(L-R: Liz, Shelley, Becky, Gaylene, Me) After the race

Halloween '09

I know I'm a little late in posting about Halloween, but better late than never. This year Owen went as a pirate and Caroline went as a "fairy princess". Caroline's costume came from a dress-up box that she got for her birthday. I got Owen's costume at Costco for 50% off because it was missing the pants and the hat. I put jeans on Owen and found a pirate hat at Hobby Lobby for $3.00 and called it good from there. Howie wore a Halloween onesie, which read "Cutest pumpkin in the patch." All of the infant costumes are waaaaaay too hot for our weather than time of year, which is why I called his "costume" done with the onesie.

This year was really fun because my younger sister, Mindy, was down with her entire family and that was soooooo much fun! I haven't seen Mindy or her family in over a year. It was great to see how big the kids have gotten and for her to finally meet Howie.

As per the usual, the kids got a TON of candy and while it is 2 weeks later, they have barely gone through about half of it. I think Adam and I have eaten a majority of it - especially the chocolate. The kids had a blast playing with their cousins and didn't want to see them go. Owen, who is like me, doesn't like good-byes really didn't want to say good-bye to Carson, Sydney, Dylan (9 days older than him), and Mylie. Can hardly wait to see them again!

Also per the usual, I neglected to get any pictures of all of the cousins together. So, just pictures of my kids in their costumes will have to do.

This is Nuts!!!

I took Caroline to the doctor today, the allergist to be exact. I had to have her tested for a few allergies to foods. As it turns out, she is allergic to all tree nuts, with the exception of pecans and walnuts, which Adam is allergic to.

It all started a little over a year ago. I bought a big container of cashews from Costco. I gave her a little bite of one. She liked it and so I gave her one half of a cashew. While eating that, she began to cry, cough, gag, and eventually threw up. Everywhere the threw up touched (and other places too) she had huge welts on her. Those welts were the size of the palm of my hand. I knew she was having an allergic reaction so I quickly dumped some Benadryl down her to lessen the reaction. I avoided buying all nuts for about the next year. Then Labor Day this year came along.

While Adam was recuperating in the hospital from his lovely intussusception, I took the kids swimming with my sister and her family and my brother and his family. As a snack for myself, I had previously purchased the new Nature Valley granola nut clusters, with cashews. As we were getting ready to go, I noticed Owen had the bag and was eating them. What I didn't see was how Caroline got her hands on one of the clusters. Not sure if she reached in the bag and got them or if Owen gave her one. Doesn't matter. What does matter is the immediate reaction she began to have. She was throwing up, crying, coughing, gagging, and the welts were returning. This time she was having trouble breathe and sounded very "croupy" and wheezy. Luckily, we were on our way home and we were close to home. I gave her some prednisone I had on hand and some more Benadryl and rubbed Benadryl on her welts. After cleaning up the throw up from the car and Caroline having a nap, I checked to see how her welts were doing. They took a second dose of both types of Benadryl to completely clear everything up.

After this incident, I realized I couldn't take a chance and needed to get Caroline an epi-pen, which I did. After having her blood work done (which showed a lot of allergies), her pediatrician recommended that I take her to an allergist. I did that today. Caroline is absolutely, definitely, positively allergic to tree nuts. The good news is that everything else her blood work showed she is allergic to (i.e., milk, eggs, corn, soy, wheat, oranges, peanuts - just to name a few) turned out to be false positives - THANK HEAVENS!!!!

In the days after this testing she has learned that she can't eat nuts and that they "make me sick." Now, I just have to get in the habit of telling everyone wherever she goes and may come into contact with those things that she is absolutely allergic to them and that she cannot have any of them. Until I can get that engrained in my head, she has learned that she needs to tell people "I can't eat nuts. They make me sick!"