asiln28

holidays 2011

2011-12-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

oh my goodness. i am exhausted. this morning, i was so tired that i accidentally gave z prilosec (meant for baby s) instead of his antibiotics. luckily i realized this before z had left for gymnastics with grandma. i quickly ran out with the correct medicine, but i felt so horrible about it. i didn't think i was that exhausted, bu clearly i was! i've never done that before, and hopefully it will never happen again. i need more sleep!!!
but here i am staying up late blogging, because i can never find any other time, especially when i have two hands free at once.
baby s is a very sweet baby, but she takes so much energy. between the three of us, we've had at least 18 appointments since her birth. z has been sick, s has been spitting up so much... so busy. i've been going out of my mind having z miss so much preschool. it's difficult to entertain two kids. i'm really angry that his strep throat wasn't caught the FIRST time we saw the doctor, on day three of his fever. from now on i'm going to insist on a strep test. i had to take him in this past monday, on day seven of his fever, when they finally did a strep test (positive), a flu test (negative), and a herpes test for a sore he has on the corner of his mouth (negative). after antibiotics, he is feeling much better. no more fever, but he still tires quickly and is not yet 100%. luckily i purchased several crafty things to do from michael's, and those (along with way more tv and movies than i'd like to admit to) have filled up the time.
i really really need more sleep. i am definitely going to regret staying up late tonight. ugh.

making & decorating gingerbread houses.

assembled...

and decorated! (if you can call it that...)

baking cookies....

and decorated. note the z & the s.

unfinished pinecone snowman craft.

woodpeckers.

2011-12-14T22:02:00.000-08:00

we have had woodpeckers attacking our house, so j finally found the time to do something about it. he harnessed himself to the couch, leaned out the window, and hung these mobiles. hopefully this will keep them away.

bannanna 'pit.

2011-12-14T22:00:00.000-08:00

z enjoys the simple pleasure of a bannanna 'pit.

daddy's banana split.

vinny.

2011-12-14T21:57:00.000-08:00

stupid, stupid cat.
z & i heard lots of scratching. there were no cats stuck in any bedrooms, trying to get out. no cats stuck in closets.
just a stupid cat stuck in a freaking DRAWER!
he was BEHIND the drawer.

behind the drawer.

trying to get out.

i had to help him by holding the drawer partially shut, and lifting him from behind. stupid, stupid cat. actually, smart, but stupid, cat.

2011 advent calendar

2011-12-14T21:55:00.000-08:00

z's advent calendar, probably the last year he doesn't have to share it with s. i shopped for this & assembled it while z was in school on my birthday.

thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

we had planned on going to eugene to celebrate thanksgiving with extended family, but baby s's reflux had thoroughly exhausted us, and we just didn't have the energy to drive down, so grandma & grandpa hosted us in tigard. we were very thankful to have somewhere to go.

z plays the piano.

a kiss from mommy.

grandma entertains baby s.

fun with the sprayer.

some mommy time.

an almost smile! fun with grandma.

playing

2011-12-14T21:48:00.000-08:00

z built a "castle." he likes his mommy time.

our new life.

2011-12-14T21:46:00.001-08:00

some skin to skin bonding time.

z feeds his baby sister.

notice how he goes from being well behaved to mischievous...

halloween 2011

2011-12-14T21:44:00.000-08:00

z & two neighbor friends, trick or treating. which one is z?

ohhh - that one!!!

s's birthday - hospital room

2011-12-14T21:32:00.001-08:00

uncle j & s - he's practicing!

auntie j & s. she was very entertaining and made me laugh - i had to tell her to stop it, because it hurt my belly to laugh so much! she also brought us yummy pastries, which totally rescued me in the middle of the night when i finally got my appetite back. thank you!!!

our little ladybug & grandpa.

yay! mommy made it into a completely vertical position. yay for mommy! this was NOT easy. just sitting that upright made me nauseated, as did moving around, not to mention how painful it was. this c-section was much much harder - more pain, more discomfort. they had a different method of pain management, and the nurses were not helpful. i don't appreciate being talked down to.

z was finally healthy enough to come & visit us and meet his new sister. here he's holding the bear he created for baby s. um, a pink bear wasn't exactly what i had in mind, but oh well!

z is having lots of fun with the box the bear came in.

z, abuela, and baby s. poor guy... at this point, he has no idea how much life has changed for him.

her first smile?
hey, let's get this show on the road! i want to see my new home! if it's anything like this soft cushy blanket, i am going to LOVE life!

s's birthday - recovery room

2011-12-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

daddy & s. easy for you to look so happy, daddy. you didn't just get your belly cut open wide!

happy daddy, sleeping baby s, and a very very uncomfortable mommy. i was shaking really badly. this lasted about two hours. it helped to hold s on my chest; that seemed to quiet them. my muscles were sore afterward, especially in my jaw. i kept clenching to try to keep everything still. this was the worst part of the c-section. awful.

happy aunt m, holding the baby burrito.

daddy, dr. o'reilly, and baby s. yay - he survived! not so sure about mommy, though.

s's birthday

2011-12-14T21:21:00.000-08:00

mommy, daddy, & baby s, bonding & waiting for everything to be finished.
s did a good job of keeping mommy distracted.

look at those cheeks & lips! so adorable.

such an unhappy face!

cute little baby feet. her toes seem so long!

baby zen - blissed out.

s's birthday

2011-12-14T21:09:00.000-08:00

in the ohsu parking lot before the big day, on the way up to the labor & delivery ward.

view outside my temporary room.

beautiful sunrise & view of mt hood - a great day to be born!

mommy waiting nervously.

aunt m & uncle j waiting, not nervously.

brother & sister having fun. i was already in the operating room.

waiting for sounds of baby s.

the cord is being cut...

yay! i'm free! but it's cold out here!

2011-11-24T13:37:00.000-08:00

here's a pic from s's first bath.

i've been too busy to blog lately - don't often have two hands free to type.
what have we been up to? two weekends ago we had lots of visitors (m, r, & c) who brought us food, and two (d & j) made us brunch two sundays ago! what a treat. last weekend brought a couple more visitors (a & k), and j & i went wine tasting on sunday. we visited archery summit, bergstrom (our first time), and argyle. i definitely felt the wine - a little too much, and perhaps not the way to usher in j's first full days at work. my friend s came over monday & brought lots of food, which helped, and friend v brought food mon evening. we had play dates tues & wed afternoons, but man... life has been hard. s's reflux is really bad.
i had a lactation appointment on tuesday - my 4th - because s will just not latch well. she keeps destroying my nipples, so i end up having to take a break and pump/bottle feed, which takes so much more time, leaving me with less sleep. doris determined her bad latch is due to her reflux - she feels the food coming up, so she clamps down to try to keep it down (or something like that - i don't quite understand the particulars). doris called s's pediatrician to get us in to be seen right away in order to get her meds adjusted. dr. thomas was reluctant to change anything until i broke down in tears - it's been absolutely exhausting pumping, feeding, bottle feeding, and managing z. he suggested more frequent feedings, but that's impossible while watching a 3 year old & a 1 month old. he finally agreed to let us do the prilosec 2 times a day, along with the zantac 2 times a day. this way she has something approximately every 6 hours. the doctor suggested we put z in preschool full time as a way to help manage his behavior and give me more of a break, which i think is ridiculous. that wouldn't help the behavior, but just postpone it. z is a delicate kid... putting him in full time preschool would make this transition even harder for him. the doctor did not agree with doris, that her latch is due to her reflux. i am more inclined to believe doris. i'm thinking of switching pediatricians, or perhaps taking her to a pediatric gastroenterologist. not quite sure what to do, but the current situation is not sustainable because i'm losing my sanity. she feeds, spits up, then feeds again, then spits up, then feeds again, repeated ad nauseum with pooping thrown in. she is managing to gain weight well because of our hard work with the continuous feeding. both doris and dr. thomas said i'm welcome to try formula, and dr. thomas even sent me home with two sample containers, if it becomes even more difficult to produce enough breast milk (since she spits so much of it up & then just wants more). i don't want to go that route, though, because formula is not digested as easily as breast milk, and i'd think it would hurt her even more to spit up formula.
i am hoping the increased dosages will help decrease the spitting up, solving the supply issue & improving her latch, so that i don't have to pump so much.
on top of all of that, z has been complaining of a sore tummy this morning. i cannot take one more thing!!!!!!

2011-11-12T21:25:00.001-08:00

z's behavior is marginally better, so i chalk it up to the steroids that were making him incredibly bad. however, he's still acting out. throwing hammers at the window, dumping water out of glasses, throwing books (once in the toilet), etc. i'm exhausted from dealing with it, from trying to give him special time with just me, from ignoring the small bad behavior when he's just trying to get a rise out of us. i'm tired of sore breasts from breast feeding and pumping. i'm tired of them waking me up when i need to feed or pump again. i'm tired of getting less than three hours of sleep in one stretch. i'm tired of a baby that spits up incessantly and doesn't sleep when i have the time and ability to sleep. the zantac is doing nothing for her. and we're out of cloth diapers already, which work the best for all the spit up. lots of tears today. now i have a killer headache.

losing my mind

2011-11-09T15:30:00.001-08:00

z is being so incredibly badly behaved. for example - he hit his sister with a bottle three times before i could get him away from her. we were on a walk and he overturned somebody's bucket of recyclable glass bottles (halfway up a steep hill), so we had to chase down the bottles & pick up broken glass. every little thing we ask him to do, he turns into a battle - getting dressed, eating, using the potty - you name it, he battles. i was doing bath time last night and he refused to get out of the tub. i'm not allowed to lift him, so he sat there without water for about 10 min. the other night he refused to take his medicine - j had to pry his mouth open to get it in. we have taken away so many privileges, and it doesn't seem to do a damn thing. we don't believe in spanking, but believe me, i feel like throwing him halfway around the world. i will try ignoring some of the behavior, because i'm sure part of it is him testing boundaries and wanting to get a reaction out of us. i don't know what else to do. some of the behavior can be attributed to steroids - prednisone- we gave him for his cough two nights ago, but he's never been this bad. i'm already worn out from a night of no sleep & a day of appointments... i don't know how i'm going to survive if this behavior continues. along with s spitting up - and so far the zantac has done nothing for her... thank goodness j let me sleep most of last night, and i was lucky that s slept for a long stretch of time during my time to be up with her. j managed to get her to sleep in the bassinet in her crib, propped up at one end - she slept from around 1 to 7am. i'm sure it will not be reproduced if i'm the one on duty... sigh. awful. just awful.

a little update... and a halloween video

2011-11-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

here's a little video from halloween.

a cute thing i can't remember if i've documented yet... z always says "no, not simple, no" from the "simple it's not to make up your mind" page in the "oh the places you'll go" book by dr. seuss. it used to be his favorite book at bedtime. lately we've been reading "green eggs & ham" & 5 poems from "where the sidewalk ends." and we always have to read the poem "one sister for sale" on p. 52 first - should i be worried?

so i saw the lactation guru Doris yesterday again. i tried having s breastfeed, and learned good positioning strategies to reduce pain. we discussed some "homeopathic" ways to try to manage s's massive spitting up. we're not supposed to actively try to burp her - just to hold her upright after feeding and wait for a burp (or a toot). even after doing that she still spits up. we also put j's largest chemistry books under two legs of the crib so that she sleeps at an angle. after pumping only - no breast feeding - for five days, i breast fed only all last night until, unfortunately, at 5am my nipples were hurting too much to feed her anymore. they're destroyed again. i'll try just pumping for the rest of today, and see if they can handle her latching again tonight. aside from the pain, it was so much easier just breast feeding because i could just sleep until she cried, instead of having to worry about waking up every 3 hours to pump, and coordinating feeding s on top of that, & getting her back to sleep. i woke up feeling pretty rested this morning for the first time in awhile. we have another appointment with doris on tuesday. if her spitting up has not improved significantly, we're hoping something official written by doris will help convince s's pediatrician - whom we see the next day - to let us try zantac to combat the reflux. i think it's beginning to cause her pain, as she was crying a lot last night after spitting up. she is managing to gain weight, so she's not spitting up 100% of what she takes in.
my belly is getting smaller, and i've lost most of the swelling. i have 17 lbs to go before i'm back to my normal weight. i'm finally trying out wearing normal underwear & maternity jeans today for the first time, instead of wearing pajamas & a robe & j's boxers.

ouch.

2011-10-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

here's a picture from the hospital.
we're home now - came home saturday with baby s, and z came home yesterday (sunday). breast feeding seemed to be going well, but got gradually more & more painful. i finally gave in and set up an appointment with the "baby whisperer" doris at st. vincent hospital. evidently my nipples are so cracked & scabbed & damaged that i'm supposed to pump instead of letting s breast feed while they heal. this means i have to pump every 3 hours & then bottle feed her. thankfully, she takes the bottle with no problem. i have another appointment on friday to hopefully re-introduce the nipple to her, this time the "correct" way, a way that won't hurt me. i also need a new breast pump. supposedly j has a benefit that mostly covers one, so that's his project this morning while z is in school. the pumping is still painful, but not as painful as breast feeding. so far i'm making plenty to keep up with s, even getting a little ahead. i don't know about j, but i feel super overwhelmed. my whole body hurts everywhere, and the pain medicine doesn't help that much. i can't take as much of the narcotics as i want to take because they didn't give me enough anti-nausea medicine to go with it. my whole body is swollen from the extra fluid they gave me for the spinal, which adds to the pain. my mom has been helping out a ton, which i really appreciate. we wouldn't survive without it.
z went to church with grandma yesterday, and then she brought him home. he & daddy carved pumpkins. today he went dressed in his ghost costume to school, and he & daddy will go trick or treating with the neighbors tonight. i'll be pumping, feeding, & sleeping.

2011-10-27T16:11:00.000-07:00

baby s & mommy.
i made it through the c-section. i was a bit more calm this time around, but it was just as unpleasant as the first time. baby s is a little better at breast feeding than z, but my nipples are beginning to hurt a lot. actually EVERYTHING hurts a lot. the pain is getting close to excruciating. they took out my catheter this morning & disconnected the iv (although they left the needle/port in, just in case), so i have to get up to use the bathroom. this is really really really painful. my back is really sore, too, probably from the spinal epidural, and from enduring odd positions from breast feeding. i don't remember it hurting this much the first time. baby s has been sleeping a fair amount. i was hoping to send her to the nursery at night, but they don't have a "nursery" anymore because this is a "family nursing unit" or something, so we just have to tough it out & take shifts.
i hate the recovery part. it's absolutely miserable. i have no idea how i'm going to manage with z at home with all of this pain. i can't think about it - too overwhelming.

two nights...

2011-10-24T20:58:00.000-07:00

two nights now, until the c-section. i'm really really nervous. it's not easy enduring an operation while conscious. i'm worried about whether everything will go smoothly, if both j & m will be allowed in the operating room, if i'll have the shakes for an hour afterward like last time, if nursing will hurt as much as before. i'm excited to meet this little girl, who has been my constant companion for 9 or so months, but this is major surgery, and i don't enter into it lightly. our lives are going to change so much. i'm not ready for it, but i don't have a choice.

and z is really sick. he woke up with a fever this morning and a croupy cough, which meant he had to stay home from school. i did not anticipate this, and was really counting on having these next two mornings to myself to prepare myself mentally. sigh. such is motherhood. i took him to see his pediatrician just to be sure it was just croup, because he's had a cold for 13 days, and the last time he had croup it became pneumonia.

i'm SO upset because he most likely won't be allowed to come and see me and meet his baby sister in the hospital if he has any kind of cough. i guess we can skype, but it's not the same as getting a hug from my little pumpkin. his fever got worse after he napped this afternoon, so i'll be keeping him home from school again tomorrow. i can't imagine he'd be absolutely recovered by wednesday. i am still dealing with the residual bits of my cold, and wonder if i'll have to wear a mask or something around the baby. this has been 3 weekends, now, where i've been feeling under the weather. i have the worst immune system ever - it's so frustrating!

field trip

2011-10-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

i had my first experience driving & chaperoning a field trip! we went to baggenstos farms out in rural tigard with pasitos spanish school.

on the hay ride... z loved it!

do you know what he might have been doing behind the tree?

yay for pumpkins! g-man, z's neighbor & friend, doesn't look too happy. he just doesn't like getting his picture taken.

grandma & g-man. and the little guy next to grandma rode in our car with us!

tractor tip!

um, i don't think you're supposed to steer with your feet!

obligatory goats, but we didn't pet them. z did put his mouth on the fence several times - i had to keep telling him to stop - disgusting!
it was fun, and we just missed some misty rain, but boy - I AM SORE!!! a little too much standing around & walking for my pregnant self. i'm in a lot of pain...

cookie baking

2011-10-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

z & i made cookies yesterday - oatmeal craisin. i had my weekly ob appointment, and the doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. i spent the whole weekend in bed, and still feel yucky. sleeping is still painful, and having all the congestion doesn't help. having more braxton hicks contractions, with the
some random things... z has commented several times now, if we hear vinny jumping down from somewhere high, "what was that sound? was that a ghost?" no idea where he got the idea of ghosts from.
we're trying to work on z dressing himself, but it just takes forever sometimes! potty training is going fairly well. sometime soon we'll try him without diapers at nap time.

play date

2011-10-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

here's a picture of mama h, little r, and z at our old house, a little after z's first birthday.

here's z & r, with r's daddy. they moved back to germany (they were here working for daimler for a couple years), and came back to portland for a visit.

z wouldn't cooperate & look at the camera (unusual for him). at least we can see r's parents! it was fun to see them. hopefully we can host r for a visit by himself when he's older!

home birthday

2011-10-19T08:28:00.000-07:00

z's actual birthday fell on a monday, when daddy had to work and i had to teach. we had a quick celebration between my lessons. z never changed out of his pajamas after his nap - grandma figured it was his birthday, so she'd let him do what he wanted to do. we had a dinner of ravioli with rumiano, and olive bread - he loves pasta and olive bread!

z's THIRD birthday!!!

2011-10-10T02:57:00.000-07:00

happy birthday z!!! we have now been parents for three years! we love you so much!

these cupcakes were a week long process. baked the cupcakes during z's naps 2 days in a row - luckily they froze & defrosted really well! it took forever to sort out the correct color m&m's & to drill the chocolate chip eyes into the white chocolate, but i managed to get it finished. all i had to do this morning was ice & assemble. still exhausting, though, along with all the other food & house cleaning. and now i have a rip roaring cold, my second for this month. not fun while pregnant. i still haven't eaten one of the finished products. i made additional cupcakes for the 16 kids and 3 teachers at zane's preschool to bring later today for snack time.

can you tell there was a "cars" theme?

card from mommy & daddy. it makes noise - vrrooooom!

there were three neighbor kids who all happily helped z open his gifts.

i'm three!!!

i had never seen one of these pull string pinatas. it was the only kind of lightning mcqueen pinata i could find online, and it worked quite well for inside. z was the lucky one and pulled the correct string to get the candy to fall out (thankfully after everyone had had a few turns), but as you can see, he didn't quite understand what it meant. the older girls went right for the candy, but it took him awhile to figure it out. lucky for him, 4 kids & 1 pinata leaves plenty of candy for everyone!

pinata, or hat???

the party was a lot of fun. the two neighbor families on either side of us attended, along with g'ma & g'pa, abuelo & abuela (thank you SO MUCH for taking pictures!!!), aunt m & uncle j, & cousin s & d. thank you everyone for coming to z's party!

baby sitters

2011-10-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

j & i needed to go view photos from our photo session two weekends ago, and we weren't supposed to bring z, so aunt m & uncle j were so kind enough to agree to watch z while we went to sellwood. he got to play a bit before going down for his afternoon nap.

is anybody in there???

peekaboo!

fun with aunt m & uncle j

more pumpkin patch pics

2011-10-09T07:03:00.001-07:00

z loved the water fountain! the grandmas contributed a few coins for him to throw in the water.

z + animals + our trusty driver in the background.

hello there!!!

should i go in???
he didn't stay in for very long. still scary.

yay - i'm at the top!!!

sigh.

2011-10-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

toddlers....

pumpkin patch 2011

2011-10-03T15:23:00.000-07:00

yesterday we visited a pumpkin patch in canby.

kiss for mommy on the train. z wanted to sit next to me, not daddy!

feeding the donkey...

feeding the goats...

pumpkin for baby jane

z & daddy climbed to the top of the hay pyramid!

z & pumpkins

grandparents.

z running to daddy...

the latest...

2011-09-28T22:32:00.001-07:00

last weekend was busy with a neighbor's birthday party at playdate pdx, a family maternity photo shoot at campbell salgado studios, and uncle b visiting. mommy also had to teach on the weekend. daddy has been out of town this whole week, visiting lexington, ky, for work. z is spending tonight with grandma and grandpa, so i went out to eat with a friend for dinner at the hall street grill. i'm such a bad mommy - i forgot to call z to say goodnight! :( dinner ran late, and by the time i got home, z was already asleep. sigh. i'll see him tomorrow morning...
baby jane is busy in my belly. she's pummeling me in all directions. my ribcage has been aching a lot, adding to the difficulty of sleeping at night. i also get out of breath really easily - just standing makes me breathless. even lying down at night, it takes about a half hour for my pulse and breathing to normalize. it will be a long time until i have another good night of sleep (8 months???).
random thoughts... i'm finding the developments of "occupy wall street" very interesting. wish i could participate in the upcoming march (oct 6) of occupy portland, but it's not the wisest thing for a very very pregnant woman to do.
i'm reading a couple of very interesting books right now - "the immortal life of henrietta lacks" - brings up some important questions about tissue ownership & rights; and "the social animal" - a book exploring success, and what makes one successful. fun to have something decent to read...

omsi

2011-09-28T22:25:00.000-07:00

one thursday morning, abuelo & abuela picked up z to take him to visit omsi with aunt m.

z, mommy, and baby jane, pre-visit

z on one of his favorite things in the world - escalators - with aunt m.

not sure exactly what this did... but he looks happy!

hey... that looks like my mommy! so that's what a baby sister looks like???!

fun with bubbles & abuelo & aunt m.

working some exploding bubble/water thing...

z & abuela & a space shuttle...
z had LOTS of fun and came home all worn out and ready for a nap! thank you so much, aunt m & abuelo & abuela!!!!!

sprinkle

2011-09-28T22:21:00.001-07:00

two weekends ago, some friends threw me a mini shower for baby jane - a "sprinkle."

these lemon blueberry cupcakes were heavenly!!!!

aunt j, the organizer, and her clothes for baby jane

c & her daughter f both decorated onesies for baby jane!

even the waiter joined in on the decorating! i love meriwether's. it's my favorite breakfast place. i look forward to being able to drink the grand mimosas some day after baby jane is born.

grandpa's birthday

2011-09-28T22:12:00.000-07:00

after drying off after the sprinkler session with the neighbors, we headed over to tigard to grandma & grandpa's house for grandpa's birthday dinner! z is enjoying playing the piano.

grandpa and his marvelous ice cream birthday cake

z is getting a little love...

mommy and baby jane

z and grandpa
thanks so much for a delicious meal! happy birthday grandpa!!!

fun!

2011-09-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

one afternoon, z was invited to play with the neighbors' sprinklers outside. it was a quick play session, but z had so much fun spraying the girls & getting wet himself!

painting

2011-09-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

z hadn't painted in awhile, and for whatever reason we broke out the paint.

painting in one's underwear is most comfortable. note the three-brushes technique.

already????

2011-09-15T08:02:00.000-07:00

halloween already? well, not quite yet. just trying to take care of things before this baby arrives. grandma & i took z to fred meyer to pick out a halloween costume (i'm too lazy & lack creative skills to create a costume myself). this is what he picked. yay. one thing down.

i was in so much pain last night. when putting z to bed, i stumbled on one of his throw pillows & pulled a muscle or ligament or something (which happens really easily these days), and it hurt the whole night, and made me limp when walking. turning over in bed was more difficult than usual, and my hips hurt more than they usually do. combined with a sore right arm from a flu shot (and body aching), it was a miserable night. i hope i can get through the day, and hope the pain subsides. z & i are supposed to have a play date at pump it up, jr, for a special playtime for those 3 & under this morning. i hope it doesn't require me to run after him much or else i'm in trouble.

2011-09-13T18:42:00.000-07:00

this morning was very difficult getting z to eat breakfast. he wanted me to feed him, but all i was going to do was put food on his spoon, leaving him to put the spoon up to his mouth.

i told him that after his birthday, when he turns three years old, he has to do all the feeding himself. mommy & daddy won't help him anymore, which he agreed.

we were just trying to teach him when his birthday was, saying october 10th, and he said "knocked over tenth." we said "no, OC TO BER 10th," and he kept insisting it's "knocked over 10th." super cute.

grandma, good luck with that goal of teaching him his phone number and address, that's all i can say.

baby sister ultrasound

2011-09-12T22:30:00.001-07:00

had an ultrasound today to help guesstimate how big baby sister is. the tech estimates she weighs 5 lbs, 2 oz, at 33 weeks & 3 days. at week 35 babies generally begin gaining a half a pound a week. i'll have another ultrasound in a few weeks to compare to today's, to try to see how fast she's growing, to make a decision about birthing options (vbac vs c-section).

potty untraining/grumpy.

2011-09-09T15:20:00.001-07:00

yesterday was NOT a good day. i woke up tired, in a bad mood, and then 10 minutes before z's last speech session ever was supposed to begin, z said "i have to poop!!!" so we rushed over to the potty, only to find poop already in his underwear, which fell on the floor, which he then stepped in. i was really upset & just started crying. it's so uncomfortable to bend over, and cleaning him up & the floor created lots of discomfort. not my idea of fun. he did say later he won't do that again. the thing is, he KNOWS when he needs to go. i think he just chose not to. i don't think he enjoyed seeing mommy upset, so i think he'll be better in the future. that was the first time he had ever pooped in underwear. he successfully pooped on the potty today when he got home from pasitos.

despite that success, i'm still grumpy. i'm feeling very tired and uncomfortable these days, worse than normal.

first day of school 2011, & general news

2011-09-07T19:52:00.000-07:00

first day of school pic. someone wasn't entirely cooperating, and it was partly our fault, since it was done in a rush. this is the uniform z will be wearing the whole year at pasitos. he'll be there on mondays, tuesdays, and fridays, from 8:30-12:30pm. every month they offer a parents' night out (for $20) from 6:30-10:30. we plan to take advantage of at least the first one, although we won't stay out that late.

baby update - so far my doctor wants me to think about a normal delivery. i'm measuring large (judging by the fundal height), but the doctor thinks that's just because i'm a small person. i have an ultrasound scheduled for monday morning, with the aim of guesstimating the baby's size. it's not an exact science. the baby is pummeling me a lot more than z did. during pregnancy, z kicked me in the ribs frequently, and usually had the hiccups. baby sister has only had the hiccups once (from what i can tell), and she loves to try to push her whole body out into my bellybutton area. very painful. it's still hurting a lot to sleep/walk/stand, so i haven't been very active. i've been going to physical therapy every other week, as directed by my doctor, but it hasn't helped too much. i just have to wait the two months that are left. my doctor is very against drinking alcohol, so i've stopped having the occasional tiny glass of wine. i've been craving it, so i try to have a little ice cream during z's nap time as my little daily treat (not that i was ever drinking daily) for feeling uncomfortable. z seems excited about having a baby sister. he always mentions her in his list of people, along with mommy, daddy, & other random aunts & uncles. always interesting to hear who comes up. whenever he sees someone else with a baby sister, he acts very interested & tries to give the baby a gentle hug.

potty training is going fairly well, although he has accidents every now and then. if we do long outings, he wears pull ups, otherwise he's in underwear at home (although diapers for nap/bedtime). he hasn't pooped in a diaper for a long time. he was preferring the "baby" potty, but we've been fairly successful in getting him to sit on the actual "big boy" potty (which eliminates clean ups for mommy & daddy - much preferred) most of the time. i imagine when baby sister comes, he'll regress & start having lots of accidents, but for now, it's nice.

sunriver

2011-09-07T19:24:00.000-07:00

it's been awhile since i posted because z broke our camera. it took us awhile to get a new camera. since the last post, (aunt) n visited, and z finished up his summer preschool at pasitos. i spent a large amount of time reorganizing my studio & scheduling lessons for the fall & winter.

i'll be teaching regularly through the second week of october, with the third week being just makeup lessons. then i'll be off until school starts up again in january. i have a wide open schedule, and less students, which is nice.

we spent labor day weekend in sunriver with both sets of parents, and j's brother & sister + spouses in a big, spacious house. while there, the ladies threw me a little shower.

the shower.

two cousins. one is not cooperating.

somebody needs a haircut!

daddy, z, & the two cousins.

z & aunt m, having fun with bubbles out on the back deck.

:(

2011-08-16T20:53:00.000-07:00

today was one of those days. z was really difficult. really difficult for no real reason. and he's starting to get sick. i hope i can sleep somewhat well tonight. i am exhausted.

camping

2011-08-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

after a long week of more potty training, daddy took big boy z camping last night. j did some volunteer work on a bike trail with 3 of his friends at the stub stewart campgrounds, so they got a free campsite for the night. i drove out there with z and met them at 6, and then drove back into town to meet a friend for dinner at via delizia. we put z in diapers for the camping excursion. it went much better than the last one at smith rock. he was really cute & did a good job walking the quarter mile to the campsite, and ate a whole cheeseburger by himself!

z slept until 6:15 & woke up daddy. daddy said it wasn't 7am yet & to go back to sleep, and so he did! he didn't wake up again until 7:45. yay! despite the good night of sleep, both boys took a good long nap today.

z is doing fairly well with the potty training, with minimal misses. we put him in diapers for naps (although he wakes up dry) and at night. other than that, except for an excursion to the children's museum, he's been in big boy underwear the whole week, even at preschool. it's been challenging to remind him (and convince him) to sit on the potty regularly, but we're all getting more used to it.

potty training

2011-08-05T15:39:00.000-07:00

he just woke up from his nap with a dry diaper and then peed in the potty!!!! yay! i can't tell you how many times i have put him on the potty after a dry diaper only to have him either not pee or just refuse to sit on the potty in the first place! i think it helps that i got two potty seats with a soft seat. one is for upstairs and one is for downstairs. we had a hard baby bjorn one that we used when he was 5 months old, but now he finds it too hard. we have potty seat inserts for each bathroom in the house, but he has NO interest in sitting on those right now. i'm willing to do whatever it takes to get him out of diapers, so if it means having the multiple cushy seats, so be it! we'll be all set when baby sister is ready for this stage.

baby sister was craving some mint chocolate chip ice cream, so i picked some up at the grocery store. i offered some to z, and he's actually eating it! he usually doesn't like ice cream because it's too cold, but he is eating it now.

oh bummer... he didn't want to finish it all. i guess i'll have to help!

potty training

2011-08-05T15:16:00.000-07:00

we've been working on potty training this week. the past two days have involved lots of bac-out, pairs of big boy underwear, and laundry. there were no "saves" yesterday until the evening, when after two days of no poop, z got that look in his eye & i made him sit on the potty. he must've lost two pounds after going! he earns 2 m&m's for peeing in the potty, and 3 for pooping. today we took him to pasitos in a diaper, but supplied lots of shorts & underwear in case they wanted to mess with training. they put him in underwear, and he didn't pee once! they put him on the potty every 30 min, but he never went. j changed him into a diaper for the ride home, and that's where he finally peed. :( but it was impressive that he was able to hold it the whole time. i think he's aware of what he's doing and capable of controlling everything - he just doesn't want to go without diapers yet. if we are at home, aside from napping or sleeping at night, he's going to have to wear big boy underpants.

i envision another massive carpet cleaning session somewhere in the near future...

guests.

2011-08-05T15:15:00.000-07:00

last weekend we had two families over for dinner - one on friday, and one on sunday. this is from sunday's dinner. the kids began the evening not really playing together, but they sure were by the end! zane cried when it was time for them to go home. he had so much fun! he must've been really tired out from the weekend because he slept a long time that night, and napping throughout the week.

baby sister room

2011-08-05T15:10:00.002-07:00

this package came last saturday morning, and j & z had fun putting it together. z is still enjoying the box!

baby sister room

2011-08-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

hola mommy!

baby sister room

2011-08-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

yay! it's all put together. what fun!

berries!

2011-08-05T15:06:00.000-07:00

mr. berry face, after picking blackberries (and clearly eating them) with abuelo & abuela.

results.

2011-07-29T13:35:00.000-07:00

evidently the blood draw came out lower, so i don't have the gestational diabetes, and don't need to do the 3 hour test, thank goodness!

insomnia again.

2011-07-29T03:13:00.000-07:00

i can't sleep - too sore, and probably just the same pregnancy insomnia that i got with z.

i had the first glucose screen today for gestational diabetes. at my monthly ob appointment. my doctor is on vacation, so i saw one of her partners. i had to drink 50 ml of the glucose solution after fasting for at least 2 hours, and they checked my blood sugars an hour later. i brought along my glucometer, so i had an immediate result, but i still have to wait for the official result from the lab. the glucometer said 141, and it was supposed to be 140 or below, so i'm totally unsure as to whether i'll have to do the 3 hour glucose test. i think it has to be done after fasting at night, and since it takes at least 3 hours to do, i can't do it until thursday because i teach or have physical therapy. i wish i knew if it was necessary. i definitely feel lightheaded & get a racing pulse after eating some carbs, but i'm not sure if that's a sign of the gd.

my main concern today, among others, was pain from exercising. walking the hills around here, especially with z in the stroller, is painful while i'm doing it, and the pain is exacerbated at night when i'm trying to sleep. the physical therapy has not helped much, nor has the support they gave me that i'm to wear while standing for long periods of time.

the doctor recommended getting child care and swimming instead of walking. really? i can barely handle the logistics of a summer teaching schedule & child care & doctor & physical therapy appointments... how am i supposed to add one more activity to the mix and keep my sanity? i'm already losing it! i totally had a meltdown today because i realized we had no more packages of diapers, and i had just gone to costco yesterday. i just couldn't handle going back, with all the huge carts & packages. thankfully j had no business dinners or climbing & was willing to go for me after work.

j, by the way, has walking pneumonia. i hope to not catch it. he's on a 5 day dose of zpacks, with 5 days off, and then another 5 day dose of the zpacks, along with codeine cough syrup. he was coughing before he left for his trip, and the altitude probably exacerbated it, and was coughing even more when he returned. he says he feels normal, except for the coughing. he slept in the basement for 2 nights, but is now able to sleep through the night (i'm jealous) without coughing.

visiting the cousins

2011-07-29T03:03:00.000-07:00

z's cousins (& aunt & uncle) were in canby on monday afternoon, and i was free from teaching, so z & i travelled down to see them & abuelo/a again. of course, z wanted to take his violin along again!

z in playing position, with cousin j at the piano.

z is in his pajamas, because i got him up from a nap early & wanted him to continue sleeping in the car.

pizzicato, aka plucking.

little cousin j & me

j is clearly very excited about the real violin...

j was very cute (and SO light compared to z)- he was very smiley & was climbing all over me.

j at the piano & z with the trains. j LOVES playing the piano!

j holding the violin.

j's first rest position & bow!

j & z, playing abuelo's guitar

the older cousins - they're almost the same height! they're on their way to the blueberries.

uncle b is helping z swing the big boy way. thanks for giving me a break! i was wearing jeans, and it was much warmer and sunnier in canby than in portland, and the heat was getting to me.

fun to see everyone... we'll see them next at labor day weekend in sunriver.

abuelo's b'day

2011-07-29T02:57:00.000-07:00

j returned from his vacation last saturday night, and on sunday afternoon we went to canby to help celebrate abuelo's birthday. z & i had just picked up a REAL 1/16th size violin for z on saturday, and he was excited to share his mad violining skillz with everyone.

z & us, doing playing position.

z taking a bow.

i'm trying to not let him play with the bow yet. he needs to be a lot more comfortable with just holding the violin before adding the bowing. it's also very tempting to treat the bow as a stick or sword, so i'm going to wait to start bow exercises. it's added to the list of things he might get to do once he's potty trained.

speaking of, his motivation to start using the toilet is pretty low. he has happily peed in his bath water for quite a while - and announced "i just peed," or "i'm peeing" each time - so i've started having him stand in the bath water, but pee into a cup. he gets m&m's the next morning if he does this successfully. once j got him to stand on the toilet & pee (the stools we have are too low), but he has shown no interest in this again.

vacation

2011-07-29T02:35:00.000-07:00

j & his friend c got to take a vacation & travel to tuolomne meadows in yosemite last week to do some rock climbing. as camping isn't much of an option anymore, z & i stayed home & carried on as usual. z spent a night with each set of grandparents to help make it easier for me, & to take care of childcare while i taught.

sunrise on the drive there - the guys left portland around 5pm & drove straight to the tuolomne campgrounds & arrived around 7:30am. they waited an hour & a half to get a site.

some lake in yosemite

fairview dome

cathedral peak

at the summit of cathedral peak?

of course i'm impressed by my husband's ability to climb such massive natural formations and the planning that went into such a trip, but i'm super jealous that he got a vacation. i want my own vacation! however, i can barely keep life together as it is, with all the logistical challenges...

walking

2011-07-26T20:33:00.001-07:00

i was told by the physical therapists that i should aim to walk 30 min each day, regardless of the amount of pain it causes me. on my free mornings, i've started walking with z to the closest grocery store which has a starbucks (poffee shop, as z says). on sunday, z & i went on the walk, but the nice bob stroller had a flat tire that i couldn't fix, so i took him in the small umbrella stroller. my back was killing me later that day!

we went again this morning, this time using the nice stroller, but i was in so much pain when i got back, after taking a shower, that i was almost crying. i had to lie on my bed (while z tore the room apart) for awhile because i just couldn't stand doing anything else. the pain of standing & walking usually gets a bit less as the day goes on, but it always increases again at night when lying in bed. i usually curse out loud every time i turn over. pregnancy & i don't get along well. i have the glucose tolerance test this thursday... i'm at 26 weeks, with 14 weeks to go.

playdate pdx

2011-07-21T15:30:00.001-07:00

i had to take the computer back to the store to get the r key fixed. it was too bad to not have it fixed, especially since i didn't do it. i finally got it back last night, and now everything seems to be working. it's been a busy week. lots of meetings, lessons, logistics to remember regarding z. he spent tuesday night with abuelo & abuela in canby, and then spent last night here, and is spending tonight with grandma & grandpa in tigard. i took him to playdate pdx this morning, as we were meeting a friend & her almost 3 month old baby there. it left me pretty sore! z isn't old enough for me to just let him go & play, so i had to follow him through lots of tunnels, up big steps, and pick him up to shoot balls through these vacuum gun thingies. i barely fit through some parts with my belly, so i won't be going back there until after baby sister is born. fun place for kids, though.

toddler 2's.

2011-07-18T21:28:00.000-07:00

i finally have my computer back. z was trying to drink water from a cup and just poured it all out over the table, so it got the computer wet. it had to be in the shop thurs-today. i was using j's old computer, which has a broken keyboard. i had to cut & paste all 1's, !'s, q's, a's, & z's when typing. i got to borrow a different keyboard from the neighbors, which helped, but the computer had to be shut down every other time i used it or else the web pages didn't load.

there seems to be something wrong with the r on my computer now, and it didn't used to be that way, but i don't want to be without my computer again - argh!

j is off on vacation in yosemite this week. i'm home with z. he'll spend tomorrow night with abuela/o, and thursday night with grandma & grandpa, otherwise he's with me.

he drove me crazy today. when he woke up from his nap, i needed to get him into the car quickly so we could get my computer & go grocery shopping before j left, so i offered him a cookie. he was excited about that, but then wanted his "blue" water, which could not be found. none of the other waters would do. i looked around the whole house but couldn't find it. he kept crying "blue water" & wouldn't stop, so i just put him in the car with a cookie & a different water. and THEN he freaked out about the cookie & was mad that he didn't pick it himself, and started crying "not my tootie" (can't say the K sound sometimes) the WHOLE way to the computer store. he was still whining & saying it inside while i got the computer, but eventually he stopped. there was silence while we drove to new seasons, but then his cookie (which he finally started eating) broke into two pieces, and then he started crying "put back" (or something similar - i can't really recall), and did this throughout most of the trip to the store. eventually he settled down, but it was exhausting & wearing. there were a couple more fun outbursts during the evening before bedtime was finished, but he was a little calmer at home.

new pjs

2011-07-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

i got z some summer pajamas that fit (3T). the little short sleeves & shorts are so cute!!! these ones glow in the dark.

this was a semi busy weekend. i organized a ladies night out for my friend s for friday night... something long overdue. it was celebrating her achievement of her phD in psych & establishing her practice here in pdx. saturday morning z & i went to his friend m's birthday party at sweet peas kidzone. z cried for 10 min when we first got there, because i think he thought i was going to just leave him there for some reason, but he eventually relaxed his grip on me & started to have fun. we had dinner at grandma & grandpa's with cousin d on saturday night. sunday morning z slept past 8:15!!! it was the first night in a long time that he didn't wake j up. of course i woke up around 6 & couldn't sleep any longer (too painful), but it gave me time to get some things picked up & laundry sorted & relax. we all went out for breakfast at meriwether's to celebrate our anniversary, and then j went for a bike ride with friends using his new mountain bike while z & i went to church. z slept for almost 3 hours this afternoon, so i hope he's able to sleep through the night tonight.

no sleep

2011-07-06T08:51:00.000-07:00

couldn't sleep last night. kept thinking about this story

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/family_gathering_in_nehalem_en.html

and how unbelievably awful it is. the grandfather is a member of my oregon symphony family. my heart goes out to him & his family.

also couldn't sleep because of this stupid cold i have. i'm exhausted. i hope i can nap while z sleeps today (and hope z naps). they let him go to school this morning despite the diarrhea he has due to the strong antibiotics. he didn't want to go this morning, saying he was going to cry at school, but he didn't when i dropped him off. i hope he has fun.

girls names

2011-07-03T22:04:00.000-07:00

perfect name for baby sister - jane antoinette.

and more sick...

2011-07-03T20:50:00.001-07:00

this morning j went climbing, so z & i went grocery shopping & then met up with grandma & grandpa & pepper (the dog) to go play in the park. i had wanted to go to church, but was afraid that z might still be contagious & too sick to leave at sunday school, so we skipped. z had his tricycle along, which made it easy to not have to carry him when he got tired of walking. he ran and ran and ran, and fell asleep right before we got home. he woke up when i got him out of the car & had some lunch, and then i tried putting him down for a nap. he kept calling for me, though, saying his ears hurt. i didn't know whether or not to believe him, because he's been saying he has headaches a lot, wanting medicine - he likes how it tastes. however, he kept holding his ear & saying it so many times that i took him into the pediatric urgent care to be seen. it turns out he has an ear infection in the right ear (although no fever or temperature), and some mild pneumonia, as his breathing sounded a bit crackly. the dr prescribed the highest dose possible of antibiotics - the pharmacist had to double check with the dr & get authorization from the insurance company. we're to feed him as much yogurt as possible the next 10 days, and he'll probably get diarrhea due to the medicine. we're also supposed to do albuterol treatments with the nebulizer. i didn't sleep well last night - pain in my ribcage woke me up - and then z woke up with a wet bed, so it has been a loooooong day. this whole weekend has been long, and the week preceding it was long. i'll be glad to see it go. j & i did get away for a dinner at clarklewis last night, while grandma & grandpa watched z, which was nice. i was down yesterday because not only did we have to cancel the camping/bend trip (which turned out to be the right decision), but because i was missing my friend j's wedding on cape cod. sigh. i really hope tonight & tomorrow will be uneventful.

croup again.

2011-07-01T22:33:00.001-07:00

z has croup again. it began late wednesday night, so luckily we had steroids on hand to give to him. however, we had to cancel plans to go camping at paulina lake today, as he's still not feeling good enough. i'm so disappointed. our neighbors were planning on going too, so it would've been so much fun. this is the only weekend we are able to go, and now i'll have to wait until baby #2 is old enough to camp there. we enjoyed some of z's fun steroid rages today. i did take him to the local neighborhood park with his bike, since there's usually nobody there. it was nice to get out of the house. sigh. if he's feeling well enough tomorrow morning, we might take him to go see cars 2. other than that, we're just at home, getting through the weekend.

i was busy this week observing teaching at the local suzuki institute at george fox university, which is good for my teaching, but draining for me. z spent full days at pasitos mon-wed. it was a stressful week. i'm not surprised he's sick, since he's been around other children so much. i'm sure he'll go through a period of getting sick frequently, until his immune system is built up. still not fun for us. :(

week 23

2011-07-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

23 weeks with z

23 weeks with baby sister

22 weeks with baby sister

1st day at pasitos

2011-06-24T21:12:00.000-07:00

this is z, on his very first day at pasitos. he didn't cry when i dropped him off, but cried when i picked him up! this morning he cried when j & i dropped him off, but was fine when we picked him up. the teachers said he only cried for 2 minutes, then he was fine. we need to learn more spanish to use at home to reinforce what he hears at school.

z & i made strawberry ice cream this afternoon. we tried an egg base, but the egg curdled, so we made an easier milk/cream only batch, which turned out well. i put in little sugar, so that it has less carbs. it turned out pretty well, and z actually ate some (before it was really frozen).

i bought some rhubarb today, too, so i made a strawberry-rhubarb sauce to put on our salmon at dinner. yummy!

pregnancy.

2011-06-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

week 23 pregnant with z.

week 22 pregnant with baby sister.

can't tell if i'm bigger or smaller this time. it certainly feels bigger. i'm already really uncomfortable, with a long time to go left in the pregnancy.

busy weekend.

2011-06-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

z is finally feeling better. this past weekend was really busy! on friday i spent a lot of time trying violins for students, and preparing for the saturday bbq. neighbors came over to play friday afternoon, and we went over to one of their houses for a last minute bbq in the evening. z would've had his first s'more, except he had no interest in eating the darned thing after toasting the marshmallows. weird kid, but i have to respect his lack of a sweet tooth. he'll be healthier that way, i suppose. i woke up sat morning at 5am & couldn't sleep, so i washed the kitchen floor & baked all the cookies & did lots of other jobs. fit a nap in between random chores before j's climbing friends came over for the party. it was our anniversary... j got me flowers, i got him starbucks in the morning (thank goodness for a drive through, so z could stay in his pajamas). busy day, busy evening. yesterday was father's day. i made blueberry pancakes for the boys, & then took a nap. i can't seem to sleep well these days - i keep waking up around 3 or 4 or 5. i'm always in a lot of pain during the night - can't seem to stay comfortable. cleaning & excessive standing/walking aggravates it. j took z climbing so i could have some free time, and then we met j's parents & aunt m & uncle j for a father's day dinner at m&s grill in bridgeport.

z goes to pasitos school for the first time this morning. time to go make his lunch!

baby growing

2011-06-15T21:27:00.001-07:00

i'm now 20 weeks. we had the 20 week ultrasound last friday, and everything was ok. i'm beginning to feel a lot of uncomfortable pressure on my ribcage - it's all being pushed out. my stomach gets full a lot faster. i think the baby has been going on a growing spree. i've had two physical therapy appointments to help deal with the pain of expanding. the last one was really helpful. i learned ways to get in & out of bed & to turn over at night without causing as much round ligament pain. there are two therapists at ohsu that i've seen, and they're trying to alleviate some pain i've been having in the adductor muscles and other parts of my hip. walking a lot aggravates the pain, as does picking up and carrying z - he weighed 36.5 lbs at the doctor's office! since he's been feeling so yucky, he's wanted to be carried a lot. ouch!

croup again.

2011-06-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

i got to spend sunday night in the er with z. his croup started to scare me - vaporizers & showers didn't help at all. the last time we went to the er, he was seen right away. this time, however, they said it would be 45 min, but it ended up being close to 3 hours before we got a room. it took another hour to be seen by a nurse, then a doctor, and then to get the medicine & release papers. they gave him a tiny tiny dose of steroids, and i felt so stupid for not toughing it out until the morning, but at least when we got home he was able to sleep. i tried to sleep on the top bunk in his room, but it wasn't very comfortable, and his coughing kept me awake. monday wasn't a very fun day. i made an appointment for him to see his pediatrician to follow up, and it was the shortest appointment ever. the doctor said we need to have steroids at home, so that we don't need to spend a whole night in the er - put in a prescription & sent us on our way. we had to use it this morning & this evening because his coughing was so bad, but for the most part, the croupy sort of cough is over with. i hate croup - it is SO scary. i'm still recovering from only getting one hour of sleep that night.

sledding at timberline

2011-06-12T21:21:00.001-07:00

z & daddy stopped at timberline lodge for some fun june sledding on their way to smith rock.

self portrait

sledding at timberline

2011-06-12T21:21:00.000-07:00

en sled...

fun!

turn up the volume so you can hear z's whispering.

smith rock

2011-06-12T20:37:00.001-07:00

z's fascination with water never ends.

z, meet smith rock. smith rock, meet z.

fun in the carrier.

up near bunny face.

i love aunt m's old phone - it entertains me for hours!

smith rock

2011-06-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

it's sideways. sorry. no pictures of harness climbing yet. other people took them, because j was belaying.

smith rock

2011-06-12T20:30:00.000-07:00

chillin' at the depot after a hard day of climbing, before camping fun.

so the night actually didn't go too smoothly. z threw up & then went back to sleep. he woke up at dawn crying (he was cold), so daddy read to him & warmed him up, and he slept longer. he had a really messy diaper later, and didn't feel good late morning, so the boys headed back at noon time. he definitely has a croupy cough, so i'm expecting tonight to be a rough night. all in all, though, it was fairly successful. we hope to camp at least one night the weekend of july 4th.

dreaded potty training

2011-06-11T07:09:00.000-07:00

we've tentatively begun potty training again, although not seriously. we tried it for about a day & a half, but it hasn't really done much good. i don't think he understands the feeling of needing to go quite yet. at first m&m's worked as an incentive to sit on the potty (because before, he absolutely refused), but then he didn't care about them. in the past couple of days he's earned a few m&m's - he has to produce pee or poop in the potty in order to earn them. a friend recommended watching this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6-KrrIbAEs

and it rekindled his interest in sitting on the potty, but now he wants to watch it all the time while sitting on the potty. we're getting a little tired of the song, but if it works, it works. j & z are going camping this weekend just for tonight, so no potty training there. they'll be stopping at timberline lodge to do some sledding on their way to smith rock. if it goes well, we'll try camping at paulina lake on july 4th weekend.

fun with neighbors

2011-06-11T07:07:00.000-07:00

z was playing with neighbor k & they came up with this floral creation in the sandbox. :)

sid

2011-06-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

z had been watching "sid the science kid," a kids' show on opb, and found our baster & started pretending it was a mic. very cute!

dessert

2011-06-07T21:59:00.000-07:00

the weather, although cloudy, was still nice sunday evening, so we cooked scallops & linguine and had a beautiful dinner outside. this was our dessert - pears & goat cheese. as the pears now come from argentina & new zealand, we will have no more pears until they are in season again. it started thunderstorming soon after we came inside, and lasted quite a long time - a rarity in the pacific nw!

daddy fun

2011-06-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

things z does with daddy...

fun with neighbors

2011-06-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

i was absolutely exhausted on sunday, and the weather was beautiful, so we skipped church & stayed at home. we got pastries from starbucks & enjoyed a late breakfast (after a busy morning of chores) outside on the deck. j kindly did a lot of vacuuming for me, since i was so so so sore, and i watched z play outside with neighbor k, while chatting with k's mum. they ended up going inside with j & playing well together, so i enjoyed a good 3 hours just relaxing in the driveway & chatting.

first outdoor climb

2011-06-07T21:49:00.000-07:00

another fish impression

uncle c's fish impression

z & uncle a

my little climbing cutie!

canadian paul's thumbs up!

this was at broughton's bluff, near lewis & clark state park. the approach to the climbing area is pretty steep, and i was sore for a few days afterwards (haven't really been exercising). there is a lot of poison oak in the area, so i was really scared about catching it. z & i left j after his one climb & had a delicious picnic lunch at the park. it was such a beautiful day - breezy & balmy. it was a day of firsts, because after z's nap, we took the light rail train downtown with grandma & grandpa for a belated birthday dinner for j. z loved the train ride. loonnngg day for z & for mommy & daddy!

new equipment

2011-06-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

the first time z got his own climbing harness & shoes...

fun with neighbors

2011-06-07T21:44:00.000-07:00

we were out playing with the neighbor kids, & little g got a bloody lip, so it was popsicles for everyone! z doesn't normally like cold things like popsicles & ice cream, but thanks to peer pressure, he joined in on the fun. j tried getting a picture of z & g toasting their popsicles, which was really cute, but none of them quite turned out.

big girl s had fun walking z around, and z LOVED it. they picked flowers for me! so so so cute. z is just at a delicious age.

fish

2011-06-07T21:42:00.000-07:00

z doing his fish impression....

cupcake

2011-06-07T21:41:00.001-07:00

cupcake??? still working on language... but so cute!

silly

2011-06-07T21:41:00.000-07:00

some fun with mommy's shoes... endless entertainment!

memorial day

2011-06-07T21:30:00.000-07:00

we spent memorial day weekend away from z - he spent the weekend with grandma & grandpa (damma & dampa, how he says it). we were in dana point, ca, for j's cousin's wedding. it was great to see family, and to have a restful weekend. we both got really sunburned, and it was painful for over a week, but it felt SO good to finally bask in some sun that it was all worth it.

climbing

2011-05-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

climbing the wall...

yay! this was fun. when can we come back?

climbing

2011-05-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

since it was early sunday, and not many people were in the gym, z got an after climbing treat!

he needs to know, however, that this is not really what the ropes are for.

climbing

2011-05-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

i like climbing in a harness! will you please buy me some shoes and a harness???

climbing

2011-05-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

very first time climbing with a harness, at 2.5 yrs! go z!!!

daddy had SO much fun.

after climbing in the harness, z bounded upstairs to the upper level where there is a little tiny wall set just for z, and he just raced up the two routes there over & over again. it really gave him a lot of self confidence! so cute.

climbing

2011-05-22T15:19:00.000-07:00

we went out for brunch to meriwether's this morning, then made a quick trip to home depot before heading to the climbing gym. z finally agreed to put on a harness this time!!!

had to put it to a quick test

daddy's birthday!

2011-05-22T15:15:00.000-07:00

z helped daddy open presents. z actually woke up this morning saying he had a good dream. a dream about books... ??? much better than a bad dream, at least.

i love daddy.

z, daddy, & his birthday cake. you can't tell, but it's in the shape of a heart. it's iced with whipped cream. it also has a white candle on it.

busy day!

2011-05-22T15:11:00.001-07:00

yesterday was a busy day. we went to the zoo with grandma & grandpa, and then z came home to a letter full of animal stickers from abuelo and abuela - how appropriate! he stuck them all over his shirt. we vacuumed a lot of the house (painful for me), did all the laundry, ran to the store, and then mommy made banana cake cupcakes while z was sleeping. z & i met auntie j for dinner at the deschutes brewery. it was packed due to a timbers game (with of all teams, columbus, ohio). we had a long wait before being seated, but z was a trooper. he still has lots of cheesy pasta left.

ugh.

2011-05-21T07:41:00.000-07:00

ugh. pork chop for breakfast (with illegal apple sauce). i'm so sick of this diet. i woke up early - didn't sleep well during the night. my hips are starting to hurt on whichever side i'm sleeping. it hurt the night before, so last night i tried sleeping with the big u-shaped pregnancy pillow, but i found it too high and too hot in the bed. j left early this morning to spend the day at smith rock climbing with friends. z woke up crying early, so everyone is up now. i was planning on going hiking with z on the audubon society paths, but z said he didn't want to hike. i'm worried about having to carry him + supplies, so i think we might go to the zoo instead. time to get packing...

poffee

2011-05-19T09:28:00.000-07:00

the "k" sound is still hard for z to say at the beginning of a word. he gets it correct about 2% of the time. i thought i'd document it because it's pretty cute...

affectionate

2011-05-17T20:29:00.000-07:00

affectionate z

he's doing very well with his speech. his private speech therapist thinks he's doing so well, we don't need to have anymore sessions! he's finally combining groups of 4-5 word sentences, and coming up with things on his own, such as "look - bug outside going up. now going down." he says words we didn't know he knew. he's more active in his music together class, and more verbal about the songs at home and in the car. he finally has a favorite song on the cd (biddy bum). he wants to listen to it so much that it's driving me crazy! he still doesn't want to sing, but he can match pitches a little, and was singing the tonic pitch in class today. i imagine all that will come with time. he's much more active on playgrounds, being braver about going down slides, and climbing more securely. swinging is still his favorite thing to do, and he's still in the toddler swings. it's getting harder and harder for me to get him out of them - i often have to take a shoe or two off! i always ask if he wants to try the big boy swings, but he's not interested yet. same with potty training - knows he has to poop, but has no interest in sitting on the potty. he's able to answer more questions. for example, i asked him if he saw any neighbors outside this afternoon while i was teaching, and he was able to name g, s, & k, which he hasn't been able to do in the past (he'd just look at me blankly).

he's becoming much more interested in babies, with a baby sister on the way. at library story time today, he kept turning around to look at a 1 month old baby. when we picked him up from the nursery after church, the sitter said he sat for a long time next to a baby & held her hand gently. i'm reassured by this behavior, because it wasn't that long ago that he would always hit babies & try to poke their eyes out & push them down (if they were standing).

he asked to hug his baby sister (my belly) tonight - so cute!!! for now, he's excited about seeing mommy's belly grow and the prospect of having an infant around the house. he often puffs his belly out & says "baby sister in there," pointing to his belly. we need to get a picture of all three of us puffing our bellies out! i've finally surpassed jeff's belly puffing abilities.

i'm going crazy on this stupid no carb diet. of course a few carbs get consumed here & there, but still... i'm only 16.5 weeks, meaning i may have at least 23 weeks left of this (possibly). and the last time it didn't do any good. sigh. 3 weeks until the first glucose tolerance test. how can i last? i'm so sick of protein, especially chicken. garlic makes me nauseated, so lots of things are out. my breakfasts are usually 1 egg, some type of cheese, olives, fresh grape tomatoes (which are actually technically illegal, because last pregnancy they would make the blood sugar shoot up), carrots (also pushing it), and red pepper. basically a chef salad. roasted veggies for lunch, along with some sort of protein i can stomach (today it was another hard boiled egg), with more roasted veggies for dinner & more protein. so.sick.of.it.

i cheated this weekend, because z was staying with abuelo/a for one evening, so j & i went out with our neighbors. that's probably made it more difficult for me to return to the diet. somehow my students keep talking about cake & ice cream & other forbidden things in lessons. ugh. it's not bad like having cancer or something, but pregnancy itself is not easy. i feel extra sluggish (i imagine) due to the lack of carbs. diets & i don't go well together. i'm all about moderation, and that's just not an option.

mischievous

2011-05-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

mischievous z

he's starting to do this low pitched growling type laughter. we're not quite sure where he got it, but it's really cute (except for the fact it means his evil side is emerging).

giggly

2011-05-17T20:27:00.000-07:00

giggly z.

and do you see the cup of milk in the picture??? he's finally started drinking milk again, now from a cup! abeulo/a offered it to him last thursday, and ever since then, he's wanted to drink some every single time we've offered it to him. he used to not drink it at all, if it wasn't in a bottle! i've been worried about his calcium intake, so hopefully he'll continue drinking it.

dizzy

2011-05-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

this is one of z's favorite things at the moment, something to do with daddy.

he also loves counting off 12345, when we're both holding his hands, so that he can swing from our arms when we're walking somewhere. he's doing well with his numbers, and recognizes pretty much the whole alphabet. he also knows his right foot/hand from his left!!!!!