This morning I had my fourth ultrasound. Erin was super excited to go look at the baby in mama's tummy one more time. She kept yelling out that her brother's foot was cute and that his toes were cute. That cracked Andrew and I up, it was just way too adorable.
The reason for me having another ultrasound at almost 31 weeks is "placenta previa". Basically the thickest part of the placenta where all of the blood vessels are concentrated is in the way of baby's exit. That puts me at a risk of bleeding to death. As you can imagine, that is undesirable, hence we are looking at a C-section as soon as our dude's lungs are developed. At week 36 I am getting a needle inserted through my abdomen to get a sample of amniotic fluid to test whether his lungs are mature enough. As soon as they are they'll cut me open, he he. I won't be able to wait for full term because the bleeding can happen, thus most likely our baby numero dos is looking at a July birthday.
Off course there is a slight chance that a shift will happen and we can avoid the surgery. However, I have an inkling that nothing will change. Though, whatever happens is fine by me as long everyone is healthy and sound.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Erin's first B-day party invitation
Today Erin got to go to her first B-day party. It was for her friend Jasmine, who turned five. Erin could not decide what gift to get and to every one of my suggestions (books, dolls, clothes or an electric drill) said NO. We were walking through a store and finally Erin chose a monkey beach towel and I chose a craft thingy set. Erin was so thrilled to take her present to Jasmine. When she saw her at the party she took the present straight to her saying "Happy B-Day!" and expecting for Jasmine to open it on the spot and jump from joy after seeing the package's content. She was a little bit disappointed that Jasmine asked her to put it in the present pile. For the next half hour Erin made a number of additional attempts to deliver the present right to the birthday girl before she finally gave up.
This was a pizzaless birth day party! There was mac 'n cheese, which I thought was brilliant, as it is currently one of Erin's favorites. Off course she was too excited to eat. Even cake did not impress her. To summarize the entire experience-party favors (the blow thingy in particular and a balloon) were the hit and off course the bunch of kids to run with. Pinata did not extremely impress our child. Pook got to whack it, but did not even care about swooping on scattered on the floor pinata's goodies. In fact there were so many kids there that I am not sure she noticed that something spilled out of it. Anyhow, we are deffinetely doing a pinata at her B-day, because mama wants one.
We both had a great time and went home when we both had enough of the festivities, he he. We are definitely following a recommendation from a child's shrink that I heard a long time ago on Oprah. We are inviting as many kids as years our kid is turning, that is three. Otherwise it is too overwhelming for the kid. Oh, and Erin requested a Mickey Mouse cake.
Erin loves balloons! After they somewhat deflate and do not float anymore she stores them under her bed until she decides to pop them. At the moment she has about three. When we were reading books tonight ("Hooper Humperdink...Not Him!" by Dr. Seuss is being requested every single night) she noticed that the balloons were gone. I think they were put in her toy bucket or something like that. Erin came up with her own theory of what happened to them.
"Oh, NO! The balloons gone!" (theatrical gasp) Pook looks around the room until she notices her white bunny. "Bunny popped it!"
"Erin, do you think that the bunny took the balloons and popped them?"
"Yeaaaah...Bunny popped it... and pink bunny... and green bunny popped it too"
"Bunny, don't pop Erin's party balloon!" (pointing to her balloon from the party)
I love being a witness to a miracle of imagination growing. She uses it more and more. It just makes my day every time!
Not every day this past week has been this lovely. Erin got in trouble last Sunday for scratching another kid in nursery at church. The scratch was superficial and minimal damage was done, but earlier that day I emphasized to her that we do not scratch, bite, push or spit in nursery (or anyplace else for that matter) and if she broke the rules than we would have to go home. We had to carry out the threat and Erin was not happy. Pook loves going to the nursery! There was much screaming, pleading and attempts to bite and scratch both Andrew and I. For this behavior she was put under arrest in her room with all the toys and fun things removed from her quarters. Our dear child was told that she was staying there until she would say "Sorry". The kid spent about four hours in her room with us dropping by to see if there was an apology coming our way. Nope! She stayed there until the dinner time without expressing any remorse. Believe it or not, she found ways to entertain herself for the time, but oh, did she hate being not allowed out of her room!
I don't know if this discipline method was the most appropriate and effective, but it seems to have worked. I told Erin that tomorrow is the day we are going to church. She got very excited and told me "No pushing in nursery!"
"Will you scratch in nursery?"
"Noooo"
"Will you bite?"
"Noooo"
"Will you give hugs?"
"N...yeaaah"
I have been constantly reminding her of the "no biting, scratching, spitting and pushing" policy and she seems to be doing great. Super nanny is right! Set the rules and make sure kids know what they are. THAN expect them to follow them.
Bah! so much more to tell about, but my head is too tiered.
Ta ta for now!
This was a pizzaless birth day party! There was mac 'n cheese, which I thought was brilliant, as it is currently one of Erin's favorites. Off course she was too excited to eat. Even cake did not impress her. To summarize the entire experience-party favors (the blow thingy in particular and a balloon) were the hit and off course the bunch of kids to run with. Pinata did not extremely impress our child. Pook got to whack it, but did not even care about swooping on scattered on the floor pinata's goodies. In fact there were so many kids there that I am not sure she noticed that something spilled out of it. Anyhow, we are deffinetely doing a pinata at her B-day, because mama wants one.
We both had a great time and went home when we both had enough of the festivities, he he. We are definitely following a recommendation from a child's shrink that I heard a long time ago on Oprah. We are inviting as many kids as years our kid is turning, that is three. Otherwise it is too overwhelming for the kid. Oh, and Erin requested a Mickey Mouse cake.
Erin loves balloons! After they somewhat deflate and do not float anymore she stores them under her bed until she decides to pop them. At the moment she has about three. When we were reading books tonight ("Hooper Humperdink...Not Him!" by Dr. Seuss is being requested every single night) she noticed that the balloons were gone. I think they were put in her toy bucket or something like that. Erin came up with her own theory of what happened to them.
"Oh, NO! The balloons gone!" (theatrical gasp) Pook looks around the room until she notices her white bunny. "Bunny popped it!"
"Erin, do you think that the bunny took the balloons and popped them?"
"Yeaaaah...Bunny popped it... and pink bunny... and green bunny popped it too"
"Bunny, don't pop Erin's party balloon!" (pointing to her balloon from the party)
I love being a witness to a miracle of imagination growing. She uses it more and more. It just makes my day every time!
Not every day this past week has been this lovely. Erin got in trouble last Sunday for scratching another kid in nursery at church. The scratch was superficial and minimal damage was done, but earlier that day I emphasized to her that we do not scratch, bite, push or spit in nursery (or anyplace else for that matter) and if she broke the rules than we would have to go home. We had to carry out the threat and Erin was not happy. Pook loves going to the nursery! There was much screaming, pleading and attempts to bite and scratch both Andrew and I. For this behavior she was put under arrest in her room with all the toys and fun things removed from her quarters. Our dear child was told that she was staying there until she would say "Sorry". The kid spent about four hours in her room with us dropping by to see if there was an apology coming our way. Nope! She stayed there until the dinner time without expressing any remorse. Believe it or not, she found ways to entertain herself for the time, but oh, did she hate being not allowed out of her room!
I don't know if this discipline method was the most appropriate and effective, but it seems to have worked. I told Erin that tomorrow is the day we are going to church. She got very excited and told me "No pushing in nursery!"
"Will you scratch in nursery?"
"Noooo"
"Will you bite?"
"Noooo"
"Will you give hugs?"
"N...yeaaah"
I have been constantly reminding her of the "no biting, scratching, spitting and pushing" policy and she seems to be doing great. Super nanny is right! Set the rules and make sure kids know what they are. THAN expect them to follow them.
Bah! so much more to tell about, but my head is too tiered.
Ta ta for now!
Friday, June 4, 2010
Back again
I took a long posting break even though this stretch of our lives can not be called uneventful. Blame my absence on the pregnancy :), which by the way is the best case scenario easiest pregnancy possible. I am happy and content. The baby remains being a boy. Erin is getting more and more excited to have him with us. She has already pulled out all the baby toys, keeps looking at his clothes and tells me how she'll take care of him. The big sister plans being on binky duty. Pook is currently practicing her "put that binky back in the mouth" technique on her best fiend's baby sister. She is also practicing on how to be gentle and soft with a baby. Kinda nice that she gets to learn on someone elses's baby, he he. Sorry Karina!
I am not even going to try to catch up with all that has happened in this month and a half (we had a visit from Gemma and Papa, it snowed on 24 May, we planted our garden, Erin got her first professional haircut, etc.). We have been growing and having fun. Erin keeps amazing us every day by spitting out new words and full sentences. I can kinda reason with her now days.
Erin decided that the pack of toilet paper worked great as a tower building material
When we run out of something or she thinks that we need something she informs us that "We need to buy more... [fill in the blank with soda, candy, potatoes, eggs, apples, milk, toilet paper, etc]". We were at a store and daddy gave her a quarter to get some candy from a machine. After she was done with the amount that came out she approached Andrew with a request for another quarter. Upon being told that he did not have any more she told him that he needed to buy more. So we have been working on the money concept.
Today we opened the pool season, though the water was too cold for even the most excited and bravest of all toddlers. Thus Erin and a bunch of her friends sat in the hot tub. She practiced swimming with her doughnut and was so excited that now she can get around in the water without my help. I am thrilled about it myself, maybe even more than she is. Our previous management company (that got fired) ruined the pool heating by poor equipment care. So the new company got it fixed and the water is taking it's sweet time warming up. It should be good to go by Monday though. Speaking of the new management company. Remember my dog battle? The dog piles are not an issue anymore, the place is clean and taken care off and the offenders are punished. Life outdoors is great again, he he! By the way, Erin calls pool-cool, shirt-shirk, splash-slash and there is more. I ask her to repeat p-pool and she says p-cool. It is adorable!
I am starting to plan her Birth Day party. We are going to have an actual party and invite some of her friends. I am even considering a pony, but we'll see. We will definitely have a pinata though. I can not say that this three years just flew by , but at the same time I can not believe that my baby is turning three. How come my tiny baby low on all pediatric charts (she was 5lb 11 oz and 19 inches at birth) has turned into a rambunctious toddler, who never sits still and is taller than any other kid her age. Even on those days when I want to pull my hair out and break something, when I tuck her in and she puts her little arms around my neck and gives me a kissy I am the happiest person in the world and would not have it any other way. How precious it is to have a privilege to raise a child, see them grow and bloom. Some days are tough, but that is okay, they are not the ones that stay in your memory forever.
Ta ta for now!
I am not even going to try to catch up with all that has happened in this month and a half (we had a visit from Gemma and Papa, it snowed on 24 May, we planted our garden, Erin got her first professional haircut, etc.). We have been growing and having fun. Erin keeps amazing us every day by spitting out new words and full sentences. I can kinda reason with her now days.
Erin decided that the pack of toilet paper worked great as a tower building material
When we run out of something or she thinks that we need something she informs us that "We need to buy more... [fill in the blank with soda, candy, potatoes, eggs, apples, milk, toilet paper, etc]". We were at a store and daddy gave her a quarter to get some candy from a machine. After she was done with the amount that came out she approached Andrew with a request for another quarter. Upon being told that he did not have any more she told him that he needed to buy more. So we have been working on the money concept.
Today we opened the pool season, though the water was too cold for even the most excited and bravest of all toddlers. Thus Erin and a bunch of her friends sat in the hot tub. She practiced swimming with her doughnut and was so excited that now she can get around in the water without my help. I am thrilled about it myself, maybe even more than she is. Our previous management company (that got fired) ruined the pool heating by poor equipment care. So the new company got it fixed and the water is taking it's sweet time warming up. It should be good to go by Monday though. Speaking of the new management company. Remember my dog battle? The dog piles are not an issue anymore, the place is clean and taken care off and the offenders are punished. Life outdoors is great again, he he! By the way, Erin calls pool-cool, shirt-shirk, splash-slash and there is more. I ask her to repeat p-pool and she says p-cool. It is adorable!
I am starting to plan her Birth Day party. We are going to have an actual party and invite some of her friends. I am even considering a pony, but we'll see. We will definitely have a pinata though. I can not say that this three years just flew by , but at the same time I can not believe that my baby is turning three. How come my tiny baby low on all pediatric charts (she was 5lb 11 oz and 19 inches at birth) has turned into a rambunctious toddler, who never sits still and is taller than any other kid her age. Even on those days when I want to pull my hair out and break something, when I tuck her in and she puts her little arms around my neck and gives me a kissy I am the happiest person in the world and would not have it any other way. How precious it is to have a privilege to raise a child, see them grow and bloom. Some days are tough, but that is okay, they are not the ones that stay in your memory forever.
Ta ta for now!
Sunday, April 11, 2010
What a glorious week it was, he he.
On Easter Sunday Erin got to go on an Easter egg hunt. We had to hunt inside as we woke up to 2 inches of snow. I do not recall seeing snow on Easter in this last 10 years, by the way. Andrew did an excellent job concealing all the plastic eggs around the house and a few on the porch and in the back yard. I am glad he did it 'cause I would have put them all in super obvious places, but papa had more faith in Erin so he made her look hard. It was amazing how the kid has a chocolate radar in her brain. Even those well hidden were discovered by her. We made a video of the Easter fun, but had to cut it short as the battery began to die. I will post it as soon as Andrew get's around figuring out how to compress it.
Erin was as excited as can be searching the house for eggs and adding more to her bag. You can only imagine her "sore throat voice" beaming with happiness and joy. By the way all the eggs were labeled with our initials. I hoped that Erin would collect all the eggs and than we'll sit down and have her separate the loot into three piles. Naive me! After the hunt was over we explained that the bunny brought some eggs for mama, papa and Erin and that now was the time to divide everything. Pook found one egg with "S" and one with "A" and told us that was it! The rest were for her. Parental lesson: what makes into kids Halloween or Easter container does not come out! Or in the other words, finders keepers-losers whippers. We ended up gutting the eggs and putting all the chocolates in one pile anyhow. The candy was kept safe from Erin (but not so safe from mama) on top of the fridge and fortunately it is all eaten by now.
By the way this Easter was a General Conference weekend and this made our Easter celebration perfect. What is the better way to remember Christ's atonement and resurrection than being reminded of it the entire weekend.
We completed the day with the dinner at aunt Theresa's. As always food was delicious and the company excellent. When we came home Erin had a super tantrum and I do not even remember for what reason. She went into "Tasmanian devil" mode as I call it. Eventually, I ended up sitting in the hallway with my little Pook on my lap sobbing and refusing to say "I am sorry". Eventually she just drifted off into sleep. I do not remember when was the last time she actually fell asleep in my arms, probably when she knocked her teeth in more than a year ago. I did not want to move to put her in bed. I was savoring the moment as this could be the last time my baby slept in my arms. She is getting too big and is never interested in that anyways. One of the fascinating things about life is how something ordinary what we are used to happens for the last time and we have no idea that this is the last time...
Anyhow, Monday came. Erin was not getting any better, but colds come and go and are a part of any childhood. Poor little Erin's nose was sick and tiered of being wiped and she herself was sick of me following her around the entire day asking if she needed to blow. By the end of the day she wanted to have nothing to do with me and just used her sleeves and hands to tame the snot coming out ( I know, gross!) By the way, did you know that the ancient Egyptians thought that mucus coming out of your nose was nothing other than your own brain leaking out. Silly them!
Tuesday...Pook was sick as a dog. All she wanted to do was lay in mama's and papa's bed and watch Curious George back to back to back. She refused food and drink. Most of the time she slept and whimpered in between. I was getting worried. Her nose was not doing any better, plus she felt super warm, though she fought my every attempt to take her temperature. I also noticed that she was tugging on her ear. I remembered reading somewhere a couple years ago that that was an ear infection sign. I made an appointment with her pediatrician and off we went. Better safe than sorry as they say, I am willing to pay a co-pay to make sure this is just a cold. It turned out to be a full blown left ear infection. Her fever was 103 and even the doc said she looked miserable. It was her first ear infection. We got her Amoxicillin prescription and of we went. What a relief it is when the issue can be easily fixed. I wish this was always the case...
The next day after just one dose Erin was herself again. No fever, tons of energy, some sort of appetite, following mama as a tail and getting in trouble as usual. The only problem was taking her medicine. Erin would not voluntarily do that even though her pink stuff even smelled and tasted good. What else do yo need, kiddo? It tastes like candy. Grrrr! So what do we do? We lace her drinks with it and than we follow her around the house telling her to finish her juice or coco. She must think that both Andrew and I are nuts. We have never forced her finish her food and now all she hears is : "Chug it down! Drink your juice or papa will drink it (that one works)! One more sip! You are almost done!" and etc. We finally figured out what to mix it in to make her just drink it in one sip-SODA, the forbidden drink.
Erin was so sad today because she could not go to church. She coughs like a smoker and would get every kid in the nursery infected, which is rude (yes, you! this is a hint to keep your kid at home if he/she is infectious:). Andrew stayed home with her, plus he was on call this entire weekend. Of course, when others in his department are on call no one bothers them. Andrew had three phone calls starting at 6 am on Saturday and had to work a good chunk of the day. Poor dude! As you can imagine the same happened on Sunday. Grrr! Now he gets an extra day off at least. We just can never plan anything for those on call weekends, but hey, I am not complaining, I am just whining, he he. We are super happy with his job!
Ah, the toddler bed. Tell me, how is it possible for a 2-year-old, who refuses a nap during the day, to stay awake even after 10 pm. Pook has a talent for stalling-another book, fix my blankey, where is my binkey, did you get my bunny, where is the piggy bank, I need a drink, here is my empty cup. We were already in bed, and all of a sudden I hear Erin's door creak, than pitter-patter, pitter-patter, than our door creaks and Erin appears (Surprise!). She makes it for my side of the bed saying "Blow!" meaning blow my nose even though I haven't let you do that since the beginning of the week. That same episode repeated another 4 or 5 times. Every time I got up to get some toilet paper and oblige her nose and than walk her back to her room and tuck her in. Grrrrrr! Finally when she appeared again I told her to go get her paper herself, which she did IN THE DARK! In the morning it looked like a wild cat had attacked the toilet paper roll, he he. Anyhow. I made her get her paper and told her to go tuck herself in herself. She finally went to sleep.
Erin is developing a relationship with her little brother. She puts her mouth on my belly and blows finding it very hilarious. One day that kid is going to kick her in the mouth, he he. He moves a lot and hiccups all the time. At this point it is still amusing to me. We have less than a half of pregnancy to go. We can't wait to meet him.
On Easter Sunday Erin got to go on an Easter egg hunt. We had to hunt inside as we woke up to 2 inches of snow. I do not recall seeing snow on Easter in this last 10 years, by the way. Andrew did an excellent job concealing all the plastic eggs around the house and a few on the porch and in the back yard. I am glad he did it 'cause I would have put them all in super obvious places, but papa had more faith in Erin so he made her look hard. It was amazing how the kid has a chocolate radar in her brain. Even those well hidden were discovered by her. We made a video of the Easter fun, but had to cut it short as the battery began to die. I will post it as soon as Andrew get's around figuring out how to compress it.
Erin was as excited as can be searching the house for eggs and adding more to her bag. You can only imagine her "sore throat voice" beaming with happiness and joy. By the way all the eggs were labeled with our initials. I hoped that Erin would collect all the eggs and than we'll sit down and have her separate the loot into three piles. Naive me! After the hunt was over we explained that the bunny brought some eggs for mama, papa and Erin and that now was the time to divide everything. Pook found one egg with "S" and one with "A" and told us that was it! The rest were for her. Parental lesson: what makes into kids Halloween or Easter container does not come out! Or in the other words, finders keepers-losers whippers. We ended up gutting the eggs and putting all the chocolates in one pile anyhow. The candy was kept safe from Erin (but not so safe from mama) on top of the fridge and fortunately it is all eaten by now.
By the way this Easter was a General Conference weekend and this made our Easter celebration perfect. What is the better way to remember Christ's atonement and resurrection than being reminded of it the entire weekend.
We completed the day with the dinner at aunt Theresa's. As always food was delicious and the company excellent. When we came home Erin had a super tantrum and I do not even remember for what reason. She went into "Tasmanian devil" mode as I call it. Eventually, I ended up sitting in the hallway with my little Pook on my lap sobbing and refusing to say "I am sorry". Eventually she just drifted off into sleep. I do not remember when was the last time she actually fell asleep in my arms, probably when she knocked her teeth in more than a year ago. I did not want to move to put her in bed. I was savoring the moment as this could be the last time my baby slept in my arms. She is getting too big and is never interested in that anyways. One of the fascinating things about life is how something ordinary what we are used to happens for the last time and we have no idea that this is the last time...
Anyhow, Monday came. Erin was not getting any better, but colds come and go and are a part of any childhood. Poor little Erin's nose was sick and tiered of being wiped and she herself was sick of me following her around the entire day asking if she needed to blow. By the end of the day she wanted to have nothing to do with me and just used her sleeves and hands to tame the snot coming out ( I know, gross!) By the way, did you know that the ancient Egyptians thought that mucus coming out of your nose was nothing other than your own brain leaking out. Silly them!
Tuesday...Pook was sick as a dog. All she wanted to do was lay in mama's and papa's bed and watch Curious George back to back to back. She refused food and drink. Most of the time she slept and whimpered in between. I was getting worried. Her nose was not doing any better, plus she felt super warm, though she fought my every attempt to take her temperature. I also noticed that she was tugging on her ear. I remembered reading somewhere a couple years ago that that was an ear infection sign. I made an appointment with her pediatrician and off we went. Better safe than sorry as they say, I am willing to pay a co-pay to make sure this is just a cold. It turned out to be a full blown left ear infection. Her fever was 103 and even the doc said she looked miserable. It was her first ear infection. We got her Amoxicillin prescription and of we went. What a relief it is when the issue can be easily fixed. I wish this was always the case...
The next day after just one dose Erin was herself again. No fever, tons of energy, some sort of appetite, following mama as a tail and getting in trouble as usual. The only problem was taking her medicine. Erin would not voluntarily do that even though her pink stuff even smelled and tasted good. What else do yo need, kiddo? It tastes like candy. Grrrr! So what do we do? We lace her drinks with it and than we follow her around the house telling her to finish her juice or coco. She must think that both Andrew and I are nuts. We have never forced her finish her food and now all she hears is : "Chug it down! Drink your juice or papa will drink it (that one works)! One more sip! You are almost done!" and etc. We finally figured out what to mix it in to make her just drink it in one sip-SODA, the forbidden drink.
Erin was so sad today because she could not go to church. She coughs like a smoker and would get every kid in the nursery infected, which is rude (yes, you! this is a hint to keep your kid at home if he/she is infectious:). Andrew stayed home with her, plus he was on call this entire weekend. Of course, when others in his department are on call no one bothers them. Andrew had three phone calls starting at 6 am on Saturday and had to work a good chunk of the day. Poor dude! As you can imagine the same happened on Sunday. Grrr! Now he gets an extra day off at least. We just can never plan anything for those on call weekends, but hey, I am not complaining, I am just whining, he he. We are super happy with his job!
Ah, the toddler bed. Tell me, how is it possible for a 2-year-old, who refuses a nap during the day, to stay awake even after 10 pm. Pook has a talent for stalling-another book, fix my blankey, where is my binkey, did you get my bunny, where is the piggy bank, I need a drink, here is my empty cup. We were already in bed, and all of a sudden I hear Erin's door creak, than pitter-patter, pitter-patter, than our door creaks and Erin appears (Surprise!). She makes it for my side of the bed saying "Blow!" meaning blow my nose even though I haven't let you do that since the beginning of the week. That same episode repeated another 4 or 5 times. Every time I got up to get some toilet paper and oblige her nose and than walk her back to her room and tuck her in. Grrrrrr! Finally when she appeared again I told her to go get her paper herself, which she did IN THE DARK! In the morning it looked like a wild cat had attacked the toilet paper roll, he he. Anyhow. I made her get her paper and told her to go tuck herself in herself. She finally went to sleep.
Erin is developing a relationship with her little brother. She puts her mouth on my belly and blows finding it very hilarious. One day that kid is going to kick her in the mouth, he he. He moves a lot and hiccups all the time. At this point it is still amusing to me. We have less than a half of pregnancy to go. We can't wait to meet him.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Latest
I feel like I need to post about something, but this past week or so has been rather uneventful. It snowed and it rained, so we watched too much TV. I have been sick with a cold for last while and that made it a little bit more boring. By the way I was very impressed that neither Erin nor Andrew were getting sick from being around me. That was the case until this morning. They both caught some bug.
Erin woke up with a cough and roughness in her voice. Poor kid is sick and sounds rather pitiful when she talks even if it is something fun she is talking about. We did not have any meds in the house other than kid pain reliever so we made a run to Walgreen's.
This was my first time when I was embarrassed but ,at the same time, barely managed not to laugh out loud at something that Erin said in public.
We were making our way to the cash register and I was pondering whether or not we had enough Easter candy in the house (is it ever enough?) as we passed the candy isle. All of a sudden I hear "Mama! Big! Big!" yelled very excitedly and loud. I look up and to my horror discover that Erin is pointing at a huge lady in line unloading her chips, sodas and other junk onto the conveyor belt. The lady's size was unusual and Erin was gladly pointing that out. I don't think this mother-daughter conversation was overheard by anyone, at least I hope the lady did not hear it. As I said it was embarrassing and funny at the same time. It sounds cruel to the lady, but I could not help myself, blame pregnancy. The whole situation seemed to be comical to me.
Talking about embarrassing and funny, this is more funny than embarrassing. They (again those mysterious they) say that during your pregnancy hormones go haywire and you exhibit unusual emotional patterns. Never happened to me before until lately. Something that was absolutely not funny made me laugh like a maniac and than the laughter turned into uncontrollable tears. Andrew was looking at me not sure what to do and creeped out. Now that was one of the weirdest things that ever happened to me in my life. Both emotions had no ground, but there I was, a textbook case of mental instability. He he!
We planned on attending our ward Easter picnic today, but had to cancel so not to get other kids sick and Erin should have stayed home anyhow. So no egg hunt for Pook. I will hide a bunch of eggs for all of us around the house or outside if the weather permits. It will be fun as long as Pook does not get any sicker. Hopefully we can make it to Easter dinner at aunt Theresa's.
Here is a photo of sick Erin though she looks just fine :). This is her laundry basket. A while ago we invented a game where Erin sits inside and I roll the basket around trying to shake her out. Erin calls it "Go, baby!Go!" It's a hit in our house.
Ta ta for now!
Erin woke up with a cough and roughness in her voice. Poor kid is sick and sounds rather pitiful when she talks even if it is something fun she is talking about. We did not have any meds in the house other than kid pain reliever so we made a run to Walgreen's.
This was my first time when I was embarrassed but ,at the same time, barely managed not to laugh out loud at something that Erin said in public.
We were making our way to the cash register and I was pondering whether or not we had enough Easter candy in the house (is it ever enough?) as we passed the candy isle. All of a sudden I hear "Mama! Big! Big!" yelled very excitedly and loud. I look up and to my horror discover that Erin is pointing at a huge lady in line unloading her chips, sodas and other junk onto the conveyor belt. The lady's size was unusual and Erin was gladly pointing that out. I don't think this mother-daughter conversation was overheard by anyone, at least I hope the lady did not hear it. As I said it was embarrassing and funny at the same time. It sounds cruel to the lady, but I could not help myself, blame pregnancy. The whole situation seemed to be comical to me.
Talking about embarrassing and funny, this is more funny than embarrassing. They (again those mysterious they) say that during your pregnancy hormones go haywire and you exhibit unusual emotional patterns. Never happened to me before until lately. Something that was absolutely not funny made me laugh like a maniac and than the laughter turned into uncontrollable tears. Andrew was looking at me not sure what to do and creeped out. Now that was one of the weirdest things that ever happened to me in my life. Both emotions had no ground, but there I was, a textbook case of mental instability. He he!
We planned on attending our ward Easter picnic today, but had to cancel so not to get other kids sick and Erin should have stayed home anyhow. So no egg hunt for Pook. I will hide a bunch of eggs for all of us around the house or outside if the weather permits. It will be fun as long as Pook does not get any sicker. Hopefully we can make it to Easter dinner at aunt Theresa's.
Here is a photo of sick Erin though she looks just fine :). This is her laundry basket. A while ago we invented a game where Erin sits inside and I roll the basket around trying to shake her out. Erin calls it "Go, baby!Go!" It's a hit in our house.
Ta ta for now!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Big girl bed and other adventures
I meant to make an entry last week, but as you can see did not get to it.
I was debating whether to get Erin a bunk bed or a toddler bed. Erin's room is too small for two beds, so bunk beds would be ideal for when the time comes for our baby-boy to migrate into a big boy bed. Erin would take the top and he would take the bottom. However that meant that between a good wooden bed and a mattress we would have to cough up about 500 buckos. Kinda pricey for us at the moment when uncle Sam is knocking on the door (see the post from 4 Feb 2010). On the other hand we could get a toddler bed, but bite me if I am willing to pay an average $200 for the bed my child will use for a year or two only. Thus I went with a sensible decision to look at used beds. To my surprise crazy people getting rid of their beds wanted insane amount of money for the used bunk beds, the toddler beds were more reasonably priced, but of questionable quality. Finally I came upon an add selling a used Pottery Barn bed. Ha! Now that is solid wood and construction that can make it through several toddlers hopping on it without squeaking (sorry Waldemart, your beds are no match for my kiddo). We picked it up last Monday! Here it is:
Erin transitioned very willingly. She even tried to help assemble it. She held up the headboard for papa to attache the sides to it. After almost getting injured by dropping it (again keep in mind we are talking about a solid rather big chunk of wood here. Ouch!) on herself she departed to watch some kid's show. Finally without Erin's assistance we put it together in a jiffy. I began cleaning and getting it ready for my babe to try out. When I invited Pook to come check out her new bed (completed with her old mattress, bedding and the "crib crew", aka monkey, bear, bunny, Murky, etc.) Erin would not sit on it, but kept coming back to the room when she thought we weren't looking to take a pick at her new piece of furniture. Eventually she became brave or curious enough to come sit on it and decided that the bed was worth her approval. She has been sleeping in it for the last week and enjoys the freedom of getting up when she feels like it and not when mama feels like it.
Andrew took Monday and Tuesday off (long weekends are so enjoyable), so I had both days planed. After picking up the bed , according to my agenda, we were supposed to enjoy a lovely late lunch at Jason's Deli and go catch "The Princess and the Frog". That was supposed to be Erin's first movie experience (the baby viewing of Harry Potter and other movies doesn't count). We got into the garage ready to go and my jaw drooped. The front tire was as flat as a loaf of bread when I bake it (I have a bread baking curse). I almost began crying. My perfect day was being ruined and you do not do that to a pregnant woman! Plus the cash register in my head made the till opening sound- tires are expensive. But oh well! It is the irony of life. Your plans hardly ever work....especially when they are perfect. Changing a tire turned out to be quite fun for Erin. Andrew got to it right away and Pook and I observed from the garage stairs. Erin found the process of taking the flat and putting the spare on rather exciting.
40 minutes later we pulled into a tire garage shop and 20 minutes later we pulled out only $22.33 poorer. Our invalid tire got patched up and that made the cash register in my head very happy! By the way garages could charge a fee to toddlers for watching mechanics at work. Erin was super entertained and well behaved. She stood there at the entrance squealing in delight seeing water bath for tires, tools and fire, though the loud sounds were a tad bit scary, she just grasped my hand tighter. We got in the car and she kept sharing her impressions of "tires" and "fire". Because of the accident we missed the movie, but the late lunch happened and that put us in a good sleepy mood. Instead going to the movies we all went home and took a nap. We'll just get this cartoon through Netflix.
Tuesday was great. Erin and I attended a play date and than went to leave Erin with aunt Theresa, one of her most favorite people in the world (and it is not because she has a dog, though Bentley, of course, is a bonus!) Andrew and I went out to another late lunch (we just never manage eating at normal times) at Chinese Buffet. Andrew goes there for Mongolian BBQ, I go there because he goes there and eat salad and their good deserts, the rest of the food there is not that good. By the way I think Mongolians would be rather surprised to find out that such thing as Mongolian BBQ exists. The same way as Russians would be surprise by the existence of Russian dressing (at least I was, never heard of it before and did not like its look and taste).
We continued our date by going to the Temple. I do not recall when was the last time we attended together, but it was wonderful. Stepping into quite and peace of the Temple after the hustle and bustle of every day is healing for a soul! Our friends were going for the first time and invited us to share this day with them. It was a beautiful experience for them, but not so much for Andrew. A kidney stone began to move and rained on this parade. It is impossible to enjoy anything when searing pain is travelling through your body. We had to go home and medicate poor Andrew. That made it better, but we missed a dinner at PF Changs, that we really were looking to. Grrr!. Not knowing whether a visit to the ER for pain control was in a very near future we decided to have Erin spent the night at aunt Theresa's (what would we do without her?).
Andrew turned out to be fine, the stone decided to sit quietly for the rest of the night. We were spending evening at home all by ourself. That just does not happen to us. It was weird not to have someone jump on me or Andrew and hear Erin's sweet voice! In fact, it made me sad and at some point I almost cried. Shhh! Don't tell Andrew or he'll make fun of me. Erin returned in the morning and Andrew went to work. Life continued!
Now a big secret about me. I do not drive. I had a learner's permit twice and took the driving test twice. I almost passed it the first time, but the second one was a disaster. I blame the testing dude. I was very uncomfortable in the car with him, so uncomfortable that I even forgot to put my glasses on and realized that only when we pulled to the speed limit sign and I had no idea what it said on it. NOT GOOD! I kept my mouth shut thinking he would just fail me riht there for driving "without correctional lenses". I drove like a blind mole with the results of a blind mole, he he! Or maybe I am justa terrible driver? Anyhow, soon after we were in the car wreck and became carless for next four years or so. Since we got a car again I just never got around fixing the driving situation. Now keep in mind that Andrew have been having kidney stone after kidney stone for the past year. Of course they come at the most inconvenient time in the middle of the night. I am the one who gets to secure the ride to the ER (imagine waking someone in the middle of the night asking for a ride, ha ha!) as you are in no shape to drive while agony becomes your second name. We have some very good friends, bless their hearts and they still talk to us! But every time I told myself, this is enough, you are going to get the stupid learner's permit next week after you read the stupid manual and start driving Andrew to the ER yourself. It has not happened until this last Thursday. I finally did it! I went into DMV (Thanks aunt Theresa), waited in the stupid line, took the stupid test (one of the questions was "is ss26 a motorcycle insurance?" why on earth would I care! I am not driving a stupid cycle), got the stupid learners permit and now have to remember how to drive the stupid car, ha ha!
Oi! this is a long post, but I promise, I am almost done. The last good news is this. On Sunday I learned that our stake is using one of it's fields for vegetable gardens for members. Yippee! I signed up for one plot! I have gardened my entire life and hated it! A good chunk of summer was spent watering, weeding and harvesting fruits, berries and veggies, while everyone got to watch TV and kick back. Bah! But now I really miss digging in the dirt and eating veggies and fruit that actually have a smell. Everything from the store has no smell after it was coated in whatever they coat it. That just drives me nuts! So am looking forward to having tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and all other goodies that smell like real food. We will eat what can be eaten, freeze what can be frozen and can if our almost ready to be born baby allows it (anyone interested in becoming my canning buddy? that means you do all the work and I sit on the couch and order around, he he). Anyhow, I am super excited about getting down to earth. The field is not too far from home and I am on a look out for a little red wagon to transport gardening tools and alike. Erin will be enlisted in watering and pulling the wagon, ha ha! She loves helping and I hope I do not plant an aversion to gardening into her. It is a fun thing to do!
There now I am done. Here is a cute photo of Erin in the tub to reward you for going through so much text.
Ta ta for now!
I was debating whether to get Erin a bunk bed or a toddler bed. Erin's room is too small for two beds, so bunk beds would be ideal for when the time comes for our baby-boy to migrate into a big boy bed. Erin would take the top and he would take the bottom. However that meant that between a good wooden bed and a mattress we would have to cough up about 500 buckos. Kinda pricey for us at the moment when uncle Sam is knocking on the door (see the post from 4 Feb 2010). On the other hand we could get a toddler bed, but bite me if I am willing to pay an average $200 for the bed my child will use for a year or two only. Thus I went with a sensible decision to look at used beds. To my surprise crazy people getting rid of their beds wanted insane amount of money for the used bunk beds, the toddler beds were more reasonably priced, but of questionable quality. Finally I came upon an add selling a used Pottery Barn bed. Ha! Now that is solid wood and construction that can make it through several toddlers hopping on it without squeaking (sorry Waldemart, your beds are no match for my kiddo). We picked it up last Monday! Here it is:
Erin transitioned very willingly. She even tried to help assemble it. She held up the headboard for papa to attache the sides to it. After almost getting injured by dropping it (again keep in mind we are talking about a solid rather big chunk of wood here. Ouch!) on herself she departed to watch some kid's show. Finally without Erin's assistance we put it together in a jiffy. I began cleaning and getting it ready for my babe to try out. When I invited Pook to come check out her new bed (completed with her old mattress, bedding and the "crib crew", aka monkey, bear, bunny, Murky, etc.) Erin would not sit on it, but kept coming back to the room when she thought we weren't looking to take a pick at her new piece of furniture. Eventually she became brave or curious enough to come sit on it and decided that the bed was worth her approval. She has been sleeping in it for the last week and enjoys the freedom of getting up when she feels like it and not when mama feels like it.
Andrew took Monday and Tuesday off (long weekends are so enjoyable), so I had both days planed. After picking up the bed , according to my agenda, we were supposed to enjoy a lovely late lunch at Jason's Deli and go catch "The Princess and the Frog". That was supposed to be Erin's first movie experience (the baby viewing of Harry Potter and other movies doesn't count). We got into the garage ready to go and my jaw drooped. The front tire was as flat as a loaf of bread when I bake it (I have a bread baking curse). I almost began crying. My perfect day was being ruined and you do not do that to a pregnant woman! Plus the cash register in my head made the till opening sound- tires are expensive. But oh well! It is the irony of life. Your plans hardly ever work....especially when they are perfect. Changing a tire turned out to be quite fun for Erin. Andrew got to it right away and Pook and I observed from the garage stairs. Erin found the process of taking the flat and putting the spare on rather exciting.
40 minutes later we pulled into a tire garage shop and 20 minutes later we pulled out only $22.33 poorer. Our invalid tire got patched up and that made the cash register in my head very happy! By the way garages could charge a fee to toddlers for watching mechanics at work. Erin was super entertained and well behaved. She stood there at the entrance squealing in delight seeing water bath for tires, tools and fire, though the loud sounds were a tad bit scary, she just grasped my hand tighter. We got in the car and she kept sharing her impressions of "tires" and "fire". Because of the accident we missed the movie, but the late lunch happened and that put us in a good sleepy mood. Instead going to the movies we all went home and took a nap. We'll just get this cartoon through Netflix.
Tuesday was great. Erin and I attended a play date and than went to leave Erin with aunt Theresa, one of her most favorite people in the world (and it is not because she has a dog, though Bentley, of course, is a bonus!) Andrew and I went out to another late lunch (we just never manage eating at normal times) at Chinese Buffet. Andrew goes there for Mongolian BBQ, I go there because he goes there and eat salad and their good deserts, the rest of the food there is not that good. By the way I think Mongolians would be rather surprised to find out that such thing as Mongolian BBQ exists. The same way as Russians would be surprise by the existence of Russian dressing (at least I was, never heard of it before and did not like its look and taste).
We continued our date by going to the Temple. I do not recall when was the last time we attended together, but it was wonderful. Stepping into quite and peace of the Temple after the hustle and bustle of every day is healing for a soul! Our friends were going for the first time and invited us to share this day with them. It was a beautiful experience for them, but not so much for Andrew. A kidney stone began to move and rained on this parade. It is impossible to enjoy anything when searing pain is travelling through your body. We had to go home and medicate poor Andrew. That made it better, but we missed a dinner at PF Changs, that we really were looking to. Grrr!. Not knowing whether a visit to the ER for pain control was in a very near future we decided to have Erin spent the night at aunt Theresa's (what would we do without her?).
Andrew turned out to be fine, the stone decided to sit quietly for the rest of the night. We were spending evening at home all by ourself. That just does not happen to us. It was weird not to have someone jump on me or Andrew and hear Erin's sweet voice! In fact, it made me sad and at some point I almost cried. Shhh! Don't tell Andrew or he'll make fun of me. Erin returned in the morning and Andrew went to work. Life continued!
Now a big secret about me. I do not drive. I had a learner's permit twice and took the driving test twice. I almost passed it the first time, but the second one was a disaster. I blame the testing dude. I was very uncomfortable in the car with him, so uncomfortable that I even forgot to put my glasses on and realized that only when we pulled to the speed limit sign and I had no idea what it said on it. NOT GOOD! I kept my mouth shut thinking he would just fail me riht there for driving "without correctional lenses". I drove like a blind mole with the results of a blind mole, he he! Or maybe I am justa terrible driver? Anyhow, soon after we were in the car wreck and became carless for next four years or so. Since we got a car again I just never got around fixing the driving situation. Now keep in mind that Andrew have been having kidney stone after kidney stone for the past year. Of course they come at the most inconvenient time in the middle of the night. I am the one who gets to secure the ride to the ER (imagine waking someone in the middle of the night asking for a ride, ha ha!) as you are in no shape to drive while agony becomes your second name. We have some very good friends, bless their hearts and they still talk to us! But every time I told myself, this is enough, you are going to get the stupid learner's permit next week after you read the stupid manual and start driving Andrew to the ER yourself. It has not happened until this last Thursday. I finally did it! I went into DMV (Thanks aunt Theresa), waited in the stupid line, took the stupid test (one of the questions was "is ss26 a motorcycle insurance?" why on earth would I care! I am not driving a stupid cycle), got the stupid learners permit and now have to remember how to drive the stupid car, ha ha!
Oi! this is a long post, but I promise, I am almost done. The last good news is this. On Sunday I learned that our stake is using one of it's fields for vegetable gardens for members. Yippee! I signed up for one plot! I have gardened my entire life and hated it! A good chunk of summer was spent watering, weeding and harvesting fruits, berries and veggies, while everyone got to watch TV and kick back. Bah! But now I really miss digging in the dirt and eating veggies and fruit that actually have a smell. Everything from the store has no smell after it was coated in whatever they coat it. That just drives me nuts! So am looking forward to having tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and all other goodies that smell like real food. We will eat what can be eaten, freeze what can be frozen and can if our almost ready to be born baby allows it (anyone interested in becoming my canning buddy? that means you do all the work and I sit on the couch and order around, he he). Anyhow, I am super excited about getting down to earth. The field is not too far from home and I am on a look out for a little red wagon to transport gardening tools and alike. Erin will be enlisted in watering and pulling the wagon, ha ha! She loves helping and I hope I do not plant an aversion to gardening into her. It is a fun thing to do!
There now I am done. Here is a cute photo of Erin in the tub to reward you for going through so much text.
Ta ta for now!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
It does not get any sweeter
You know you have a sweet child when she asks you to take off your cast and bandage to blow on your swollen and bruised ankle and "kiss it better". Erin has been doing just that for the last couple days.
I sprained my ankle on Monday while chasing Erin in the street. It was so warm outside and a bunch of kids were playing. Erin was really enjoying the company and fun, no one was outside the entire winter and it was great to finally run with a pack of kids. They went down the slide, played in the play house and rode their bikes.
Erin seems to have caught on to what the sidewalk and road was and appeared to be following my instructions of staying on the sidewalk only, but than she decided that I ought to mind my own business and peddled onto the road. I stormed off after the culprit watching for cars like a hawk and did not realize that I was stepping off the curb. Oh boy, did that hurt! Anyhow, needless to say we had to go home, our little 5-year-old neighbour Jasmine drove her bike behind Erin's trike pushing Erin home. There was much protesting and whining about going home, but Jasmin kept pushing and a few moments later Pook parked by our door. By that time I limped all the way there and we got inside.
I called my doc's office to see if they had any openings for that day. Luckily they did. An hour and a half later, all three of us were sitting in the office and Dr. Pratt pulled and prodded. I was diagnosed with a grade 2 ankle sprain and a possibly torn ligament, but we decided against an X-ray for the baby's sake. Funny enough the doctor pointed out that " hospitals x-ray the crap out of preemies after they are born, but advise against x-rays for pregnant women" (ah! the lovely era of malpractice law suites and by the way it is the exact language he used). Three days, later I am feeling much better which must indicate that nothing was torn. Hurrah!
You might smirk at me for running to see a medic for something like a sprained ankle. My logic is "Better make sure that nothing is torn or broken!" When I was pregnant with Erin I sprained my right ankle (left this time)and it did not quite heal properly. I have a bump on my foot and off course there is no guarantee that see I doctor and it would heal perfectly, but who knows. Anyhow, I'll pay 20 buckos for a peace of mind and a nifty brace and a bandage (it would end up costing about 15bucks anyhow, he he).
On Tuesday Erin and I hosted a play date! Getting our house ready while limping in pain was no fun, but way worth it. We had a blast and Erin did really well seeing a bunch of kids playing with her toys. Erin was a gracious hostess!
We found out that our baby turned out to be a boy! Very happy about it, though if it were a girl the reaction would be the same. The due date was bumped up to 18 August, and here he is!
Erin's new job in our family is mixing juice! She gets rather upset if someone else does it so we don't even compete for the job. Notice a swimming shirt over a normal one, this is a fashion statement! Erin has this obsession with swimming clothes, rather funny, he he!
Erin is an adamant Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan. She just watched "Super Goof" episodes, where Goofy used a towel as a super hero cape. She found her baby towel and had the same idea. She wore it the entire night and insisted on going to bed wearing it. Here she must have been saving her baby from hunger. As I said earlier " My sweet, sweet child!"
Ta ta for now!
I sprained my ankle on Monday while chasing Erin in the street. It was so warm outside and a bunch of kids were playing. Erin was really enjoying the company and fun, no one was outside the entire winter and it was great to finally run with a pack of kids. They went down the slide, played in the play house and rode their bikes.
Erin seems to have caught on to what the sidewalk and road was and appeared to be following my instructions of staying on the sidewalk only, but than she decided that I ought to mind my own business and peddled onto the road. I stormed off after the culprit watching for cars like a hawk and did not realize that I was stepping off the curb. Oh boy, did that hurt! Anyhow, needless to say we had to go home, our little 5-year-old neighbour Jasmine drove her bike behind Erin's trike pushing Erin home. There was much protesting and whining about going home, but Jasmin kept pushing and a few moments later Pook parked by our door. By that time I limped all the way there and we got inside.
I called my doc's office to see if they had any openings for that day. Luckily they did. An hour and a half later, all three of us were sitting in the office and Dr. Pratt pulled and prodded. I was diagnosed with a grade 2 ankle sprain and a possibly torn ligament, but we decided against an X-ray for the baby's sake. Funny enough the doctor pointed out that " hospitals x-ray the crap out of preemies after they are born, but advise against x-rays for pregnant women" (ah! the lovely era of malpractice law suites and by the way it is the exact language he used). Three days, later I am feeling much better which must indicate that nothing was torn. Hurrah!
You might smirk at me for running to see a medic for something like a sprained ankle. My logic is "Better make sure that nothing is torn or broken!" When I was pregnant with Erin I sprained my right ankle (left this time)and it did not quite heal properly. I have a bump on my foot and off course there is no guarantee that see I doctor and it would heal perfectly, but who knows. Anyhow, I'll pay 20 buckos for a peace of mind and a nifty brace and a bandage (it would end up costing about 15bucks anyhow, he he).
On Tuesday Erin and I hosted a play date! Getting our house ready while limping in pain was no fun, but way worth it. We had a blast and Erin did really well seeing a bunch of kids playing with her toys. Erin was a gracious hostess!
We found out that our baby turned out to be a boy! Very happy about it, though if it were a girl the reaction would be the same. The due date was bumped up to 18 August, and here he is!
Erin's new job in our family is mixing juice! She gets rather upset if someone else does it so we don't even compete for the job. Notice a swimming shirt over a normal one, this is a fashion statement! Erin has this obsession with swimming clothes, rather funny, he he!
Erin is an adamant Mickey Mouse Clubhouse fan. She just watched "Super Goof" episodes, where Goofy used a towel as a super hero cape. She found her baby towel and had the same idea. She wore it the entire night and insisted on going to bed wearing it. Here she must have been saving her baby from hunger. As I said earlier " My sweet, sweet child!"
Ta ta for now!
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