some pics from the tigard get-together....
other side of the family, minus a few who are off in belize...
Sunday, December 26, 2010
clutch
we recently had to replace the clutch on our subaru legacy. j said he never had to replace the clutch on his zippy red mazda mx6, so i was freaking out, worried that it was my driving that had killed the subaru clutch. we knew it needed replacing because when accelerating from 3rd to 4th to 5th gears, the engine would rev loudly, but the car was really really slow to accelerate. while we were driving to canby this morning, we were listening to car talk on the radio. a guy called in with a subaru forester, describing the exact same problem we had a few weeks ago. the car talk brothers said that subarus have AWFUL clutches that don't last long at all. hurray!!! it wasn't my fault! i drive a manual car perfectly well. it's the stupid car's fault.
xmas '10
it's been a busy weekend! yesterday we opened gifts at home (see the following pictures), then had an afternoon dinner at my parents' house in tigard. today we had a lovely turkey mole lunch at j's parents' house in canby & exchanged MORE gifts. we're all very lucky - santa was very generous! z slept until 9:20 this morning, which was another nice gift. j & i got to enjoy watching a movie while he slept. the holiday excitement just wears z out!
z sees presents from santa for the first time.
christmas eve
we had uncle c over for dinner on christmas eve, after going to the intergenerational service (aka childrens service) at church at 4:30pm. yummy dinner! not pictured was the brie & crackers, broccoli, panna cotta, and the torii mor olsen 2003 pinot.
roast beast
second hubby
j chases z around with my pregnancy pillow, aka second hubby. no, i'm not pregnant right now. we had just gotten it back from lending it to aunt c.
Friday, December 24, 2010
christmas eve
we recovered from the bad night. z was pretty much a perfect angel yesterday, and today is going well, too. we had lunch with grandma & grandpa today, & exchanged some gifts.
z is enjoying a roll with strawberry jam. he didn't want to try it at first.
he definitely likes it! thank you, g'ma & g'pa, for such a delicious lunch! now, off to church for the childrens' service, and then home for another roast beef dinner with uncle c.
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
mortified.
simply mortified. we went out for dinner tonight at the cedar hills mcmenamins restaurant. we were just finishing up, but z was starting to act up. both j & i saw it start to happen, but we weren't quick enough to react. z picked his hummus plate up off the table and turned around and dropped it on the floor. it broke, and food went everywhere. i almost cried. it was awful. the waiter brushed it off, but we sure didn't. we put z right to bed without a bath and without STORIES. bad pumpkin. very bad pumpkin. santa might not come on saturday....
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
sigh.
we've started going to the oregon gymnastics academy. they have open gym play times each week, and they also have classes for kids. i started z in a class for the 2-3 year olds. we went last week & today, and today the teacher recommended we move him back to the class for 12-24 month old kids. z can't jump yet, can't do a somersault by himself, can't walk foot in front of foot on the balance beam. i'm not surprised, given that his speech therapist says he has motor planning issues that cause his speech delay, but honestly.... can't SOMETHING be easy with him? can't he learn something on his own without my having to painstakingly teach it to him?
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
breaky with santa '10
on saturday, we went to the portland childrens' museum to have breakfast with santa. it was pretty tacky, and the food was AWFUL, but we weren't expecting much anyway. i imagine it's basically a fundraiser for the museum. at least we all got to play in the museum without many people there for the whole morning.
zoo lights '10
last friday night, while i was busy teaching, z & j went to see the zoolights with the neighbors & other friends. it was neighbor s's birthday, and i guess it's a big tradition. they took a wagon filled with snacks & hot chocolate for the whole entourage. fun times. mommy was sad to have missed it.
z & daddy had lots of fun.
neighbors
the neighbors had us over for prime rib - a potluck dinner- 2 weekends ago. there were several kids, and 3 two year old boys. they all ended up taking a bath together, but z didn't like that part so much. he wasn't used to sharing his bath with strangers!
i made an advent calendar of sorts, based on an idea i saw a friend create on facebook. there are little dollar store type trinkets in each bag. z gets excited about opening them each morning. it's helping him learn his numbers, as i make him count through from the number one each day.
decorating the treeth...
we decorated it after going to the deschutes brewery, before going to a friend's party in lake o. we saw several oregon symphony friends, and we met 2 new babies! z did very well, playing happily with other kids.
b'day
new running shoes!!! eased in slowly. started with a 1/2 mile, and last night i finally tried going farther. i'm not getting really sore anymore. thank you everyone for the shoes - they were a birthday gift. it was a long birthday this year. j & i went out to dinner with our friends j & d to fenouil (not so good this time... won't be going back). the next night some friends took me out to a fondue joint. the following weekend, we met up with family at the deschutes brewery. two friends took me out to lunch later, because they missed the fondue night. i am lucky to have such great family & friends!
:)
z loves playing with mops when in our garage, for some reason. it's one of his favorite activities.
wine tasting.
we went to pick up some futures we had purchased in may from shea vineyards. we had z with us, so this was a very quick tasting before leaving with our wine. poor gimpy husband... looks smashing with the cane, i have to say.
old chicago
z at old chicago. i received a coupon for a free pizza for my birthday, so we went out to eat on thanksgiving eve. z did really well in the restaurant! afterwards, we headed to our friends' for their annual thanksgiving eve party, where they play the movie, "planes, trains, & automobiles," starring steve martin & john candy. z did a great job there, and he wasn't in bed until 10:30!
knee surgery
here are some pics of j's fun surgery...
thumbs up, in paul perrault style, post surgery. j is feeling great, albeit starving & really sleepy.
almost ready to go home - just have to get dressed. doesn't he look great, post op?
he's been very good about his physical therapy. he hardly needed crutches. he's already able to drive the manual car. has his post-op appointment with the doctor this friday. good luck, j!
Thursday, December 02, 2010
funny.
so j & i are lying in bed, looking at the month's schedule on the computer. i pointed out that i have a hair appointment coming up, and asked him when he was going to schedule his hair appointment, as he had been talking about making one. he started laughing. i scanned the schedule, and couldn't see any other appointments. he kept laughing. i looked at him... .... ...
and realized he had a hair cut today.
never noticed it.
ever.
not
one
bit.
until now. nice hair cut, honey!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
busy.
busy busy day today. vacuumed upstairs & washed kitchen floor, went grocery shopping, made hummus for z, coconut lemongrass chicken soup with quinoa, and chicken mushroom marsala with quinoa. my feet are still aching from cooking so much. the kiddo (z) had a few meltdowns due to a lack of mama's attention. he slept through the brief snow that fell during the afternoon.
thursday i tried making peanut butter cookies with z, but right after i had the butter & peanut butter mixing, he threw a kiwi into the mixer (it was sitting on the counter within reach). never again. i was FURIOUS!!! i had been craving cookies for awhile, and i had to spend his precious nap time doing it all over again - cleaning the bowls, softening butter in the microwave (doesn't always work, but it did this time, luckily), assembling everything once again. and at the last minute, i realized the eggs were too old, so i had to run to the grocery store to get more. pretty much took up the whole nap time. sigh. they were good, though, and didn't last long, so i made a bunch more yesterday. z & i delivered some to the neighbors.
just to update, z thankfully started walking on monday, in time for his dentist's appointment. no sugar bugs yet.
Monday, November 15, 2010
sigh.
j had knee surgery on thursday. it went well. i've been busy caring for 2 boys. j can stand without crutches for very very short periods of time. z is getting over his cold.
z was sitting on a bottom stair, fell backwards, and somehow injured his foot. so i have now 2 boys who don't walk so well. z refuses to stand up. i made yet another visit to urgent care. so far we're to do nothing but motrin. no x rays. if he's still not walking in 2 weeks, we'll make a trip to the pediatric ortho people again. i'm wondering if z will ever be illness or injury free for more than a week. really.
i was so exhausted from caring for 2 boys, that i slept for z's entire nap time, which is why i can't sleep now. i was pretty tired this evening when he was tantruming and i was doing bath/bed time, but then i didn't sleep for 2 hours in bed, so now i'm up & online for a bit. later today will not be pretty.
perhaps i shouldn't have another baby, maybe halloween was a sign. i can barely handle one child.
i need to get to sleep.
Monday, November 01, 2010
:(
miscarried at 7.5 weeks. worst halloween ever.
i think z had fun, though. he had his picture taken in the afternoon, and j took him trick or treating with the neighbors in the evening.
off to sleep.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
...
no pics today. z's eye is still pretty swollen, but a bit better. he didn't have such a good night again - making noise every 2 hours or so, and j was up with him for awhile at 4am (after catching a raccoon in the trap, too!). z slept until about 9am. we had to cancel speech therapy, but actually the therapist was sick too, so we wouldn't have had it anyway. his fever was much much better today, but i continued the motrin about every 4 hours. we found out yesterday that since he weighs 32 lbs, he needs more motrin & tylenol than we were giving him. grandma stopped by early after her language program, and let me have a nap. even with the nap, i barely made it through my teaching day (2:30-8). i'm really tired, but it's my night to get up with z. since he actually had a nap today, and was more animated than normal, i'm hoping he'll sleep more through the night. j & grandma took z to his doctor's appointment today, and he got 2 more shots in his leg. we don't need to go tomorrow for a third round, but instead will start a course of oral antibiotics. what a week/end...
congrats to e & v on their pregnancy! z will have a new boy cousin in april!
Monday, October 25, 2010
more scary drama
so, after we returned home from the e.r. yesterday, i noticed z's right eye looked a little puffy & smaller than his left eye. he continued to be fussy & feverish on & off throughout the rest of yesterday, and through the night. i ended up camping out on the floor of his room last night, because it was easier for me to fall back asleep (sort of) after getting up to give him water, tylenol, etc. my mom came over this morning to let me sleep a little before a doctor's appointment (for me). z's eye looked a lot worse, so i called his pediatrician to see if we should come in. they said yes, & scheduled an appointment for 4:10pm, which meant i had to cancel some teaching. he was so uncomfortable & fussy by the appointment time. i'm so glad i took him in, because he had periorbital (?) cellulitis. it required serious attention, and could have ended up much much worse if we hadn't brought him in. they gave him 2 shots (1 in each leg, so it would be less volume) of antibiotics. we had to wait 20 min to make sure he didn't have a serious reaction to them. i barely got home in time to teach my 5:30 students - super stressful. if he has another bad night tonight & bad morning tomorrow, we have to take him in for another shot of antibiotics. if he's much better & looking rosy, we have to start a round of oral antibiotics. he also has a wicked ear infection in the right ear. the dr said both are probably caused by the same bacteria. poor poor z. i could tell he was really uncomfortable & in severe pain. the dr & nurses said this condition is painful. if only he were better at talking & could've told me earlier. :( sad mommy. sigh. he fell asleep early for j this evening, after eating a decent amount, so i hope we both have an easier evening...
Sunday, October 24, 2010
looong weekend.
mommy and daddy have had a bit of a long weekend. it began on friday morning, when z cried & cried before going to school. he continued to be clingy & weepy at school, so we left after 30 min. we went to a play ground at the rec center, but z wasn't interested in it, so we went home to see daddy before his phone meeting started. z fell asleep early before his nap, and woke up early with a fever, so the morning made more sense. i thought it might have been due to his flu shot on thursday, but the fever continued through the night (long night for mommy), so it was something separate. we've spent most of the weekend watching videos - lots of monsters, inc, bob the builder, etc.
this morning, when i took over from j, z's breath smelled overwhelmingly of nail polish remover (acetone). i was really scared, because i know this can be a sign of high blood sugar in diabetics. i've never smelled this before on z's breath, so after a couple of hours hashing it through in my mind, i called the pediatrician's after hours line & spoke with a nurse. she advised going to the emergency room immediately to get it checked out. we did take the time to get showered & dressed decently, but went to the e.r. at st. vincent's. they took us to the pediatric area right away, which was very kind of them. very little waiting to be seen. they did a toe prick, and his blood sugar was 145. they attached some sort of plastic baggie to catch urine, and then waited for a pediatric nurse to come take a real blood draw. with the help of two other nurses, with z's upper body wrapped up in a blanket, the super nurse made a successful draw the first time from his right ankle. quite the opposite of the Evil Lead Testing Draws of July 2009. i made it very clear before they started that my precious child is chubby, and has very small veins, and i would not tolerate lots of sticking. we did have to wait awhile for the results of the urine & 2nd blood test, and those came back more favorably. so, for the moment, the breath smell was most likely due to his not eating much throughout this feverish weekend. they do want me to follow up with his pediatrician, either with a glucose tolerance test, or some sort of blood test that can show the past month's history of blood sugars. for now, i'm incredibly relieved. i know how difficult the life of a juvenile diabetic can be (and often how short). i hope my son doesn't have to go through that.
so, long morning. mommy spent the afternoon judging a competition, and daddy went climbing in the evening. time for bed now!!!! (let's hope it's an uneventful night.)
and now, for some cute pics...
how is this thing put together, anyway? can i take it apart?
playtime.
z & i went to the washington park play ground on tuesday morning & had lots of fun. z is getting more adventurous, and mommy is getting more tolerant of z's playing in the sand...
friend from cim visits!
you can't see him too well, but my friend m was in town playing with the scottish band belle & sebastian, so i picked him up from the heathman hotel downtown & brought him home for dinner. here he is with vinny & persia. thanks for the visit!
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