Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Part of a Frankenstein movie....

Here is Bug practicing for Halloween the other day. I got this Dumbo costume for $8 at a Disney store after Halloween last year. Now I just have to find something for Little Man to wear. I thought I could just re-use the pumpkin outfit that Bug wore, but LM is in 6-9 months clothes already...I think the pumpkin outfit is a 3 month size. That certainly won't work...

Our Little Man has a new best friend. My best friend had a baby on the 28th. Samuel David came into the world at 11:19pm. He was 5lbs 3oz, and 18inches long, and has black wavy hair. He will join his Mommy (Michelle), Daddy (Bob--they are LM's Godparents) and big sister Brie at home today sometime.

We had a couple of firsts for our Little Man yesterday. First, he rolled from his tummy to his back for the first time. He also got to try rice cereal for the first time last night. Recently, he has been waking up in the middle of the night to eat. That doesn't fly with this Mommy. When he had his two month check-up, the pediatrician said at that time, that based off LM's size we would probably need to start him on cereal before the 4 month mark. He was right...6-8oz every 3-4hrs just isn't enough for him. Here are some pictures of his first solid meal from last night:


Before the "meal", er, I mean sloppy mess!!
I don't think he cared for the consistency of the rice He is only smiling because I was making faces at him...after he was done smiling, out the rice would come.

Over the weekend, we introduced Bug to temporary tattoos (they came in a box of pop-tarts!). At first she wasn't a fan of them, but after she saw me put one on, she wanted "more tattoos, Mommy!!". It took her awhile to figure out they weren't stickers...but I still don't think she understood what exactly they were.It was unseasonably warm the other day (and LM was napping), so I took that opportunity to take some outdoor pictures of Bug...I think they turned out pretty good: This was taken right after she woke up from a nap--she still has the glossed over look in her face! Playing in the leaves Picking out the leaves from in between the rocks... I really like this one...



Anyway, recently I haven't been feeling the best..not sure what is going on, but I have felt nauseous off and on for the past few days. I did go get my hair cut and eyebrows done today (OUCH!!)...both were long overdue! Man, it really makes you feel better when you do something for yourself--nauseous or not, I felt much better!! Bug also got her bangs trimmed, which was more of a fiasco than any other time she has been for a cut. I ended up holding her head which she DID NOT like. O-well...that's life!


So while my "lady" was cutting my hair, she noticed some bumps on my hairline (that have been there as long as I can remember), and said that she can do something to get those to go away. It is hard to explain them though--they feel like pimples, but they don't look like pimples, and they are the same color as my skin. They never got red, irritated, etc. Too much information?!? Anyway, she told me she just rubs this metal thing on my head and within a few hours, the bumps should be gone. She gave me a treatment for free, to show me how it works. The treatment is called CATAPHORESIS. So I lay down and she puts some lotion on my forehead, and gives me a metal rod (that has lotion on it as a conductor) to hold on to. She flips the switch on the machine, and at this moment, I ask her..."So, why do I feel like some kind of experiment on the Frankenstein show???" She reassured me that I would feel nothing, except a "cooling" sensation on my forehead, AND a metallic taste in my mouth....(how can that be a good thing???) She rubbed this metal "wand" on my head for about five minutes, and that was it. That was at 10am--I just checked my forehead (five hours later), and you can barely see the bumps. Interesting...I wish I would have listened more when she was telling me exactly how it works....but at the time I was having a wave of nausea and was concentrating too much on not puking....

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Straight out of a movie...

Well, where to begin???
It has been quite an interesting month. September began with being at home (for only a few days) after my grandma's funeral. We got home from that trip on August 30th. I had a real tough time leaving my family and heading home, because I just wanted to be with them. I wanted to stay at my Grandma's house, be around her things, sleep with her favorite blanket (the one I made her) and be where she most recently was. It may sound weird to some, but to me it was my way of beginning to deal with her death. I muddled through the next week, and decided I would take the two kiddos back to spend some time with my family (and stay at Grandma's house), while DH stayed behind to work. Bless his heart, he totally understood why I needed to do this, and supported me 100%. I love him so much. So, I packed up both kids (and me) and headed to my hometown. We left there on September 12th, and came home on the 17th, just in time to head back on the 19th in preparation for my Dad's surprise 60th birthday party on the 20th. On the 21st, we left for DH's parents house for a visit, and so Little Man could meet his Great Grandma Ruth, Aunt Suzanne, and Uncle Bill for the first time. Finally, we left to come home yesterday the 23rd. That is the short version...

Some crazy things happened along the way: While visiting with my family (12th-17th), I was packing the car to come home (remember, we stayed at my Grandma's house). It was unseasonably hot that day, and thought.."gee, I wonder if we might see some hummingbirds yet this summer..." (Grandma LOVED hummingbirds, but was frustrated the last few summers, because they never came to her hummingbird feeder!) Literally, I turned around, and there was one hovering about two feet from my face at eye level. It turned around, followed the sidewalk, and flew into the breezeway (I had propped open the door to haul luggage out). I broke down and cried, knowing that God had sent this little bird to let me know Grandma is ok, and happy in heaven. It made me happy---I had been praying for some kind of sign--and I believe I got it this day.

No trip can be complete with out getting the "yarps". I think I had some bad red wine this past weekend, while staying at my brother-in-laws house. It had been a rough day with Bug that day, and she was very much acting like a two year old. My BIL offered me a "girly drink", and I accepted. Needless to say, at 4:30am (and again at 5:30am) the following morning, I was wishing I hadn't taken that "girly drink". I knew it had to be bad...that was the first time I have yarped since DH and I have been married! We just had our 10th anniversary....

And most memorable, happened on our trip home yesterday. As we were on the interstate, a semi passed us, and kicked up a vise-grip pliers (that we are assumming was just laying on the road) and it flew halfway through our windshield. YIKES!! Not a fun experience. Lets just say, we were on our knees thanking God that it wasn't a screwdriver, otherwise one of us probably would have been impaled. Very scary. DH only had two pieces of glass that he had to pick out of his skin, and I found one this morning in my leg (don't ask me why I didn't see/feel it yesterday). Luckily, the kids were fine. One of the scariest times of my life...almost like something you would see in a movie.

Here are tons of pictures from recent weeks: Little Man with his birthmom, "H" on a recent visit Little Man with "H's" mom on a recent visit Bug and her cousin Jaxon having storytimeDonna (my uncle's fiancee) and Little Man Taking a nap with Grandma on her birthdayCuddling up with Uncle Dan Happy Birthday, Mom (and Grandma)!! In memory of Great-Grandma Polly, we saved the bow (only to put it on LM's head)!! Bug having dinner with Grandpa Hoho This is a picture of the hummingbird that flew into my grandma's house as I was packing the car to head home. I ended up leaving the doors open and left, because the bird wouldn't fly out. My mom checked on the bird a few hours later, and it had finally flown out. Babies before baths... The Thinker... Here we are back at Grandma's house the day of Grandpa Hoho's surprise birthday party. DH is knocked out because Bug slept with us, and she is a very restless sleeper. He actually didn't get up till 10am this day...talk about lazy bones!! Trying to stall Grandpa before the (surprise) party--Reading to Bug The Cake SURPRISE!!! Helping Grandpa open his birthday gifts
Ok, here we are at DH's parents house--here is Great-Grandma Ruth holding Little Man for the first time Aunt Suzanne teaching Bug how to iron (toy iron of course!!) Aunt Kim cuddling with Little Man Bug ironing her cousin Erins' shirt---ahem, I think Aunt Suzanne needs to do some more teaching!! :-)
(Ok, there are a few that are out of order--they are from the second visit to my parents house)Bug up in a tree in my Grandma's backyard (the same tree I used to climb and a kid) Bug and her cousin Killian in the tree This is the dreaded vise-grip wrench--a picture from the outside. Bug kept saying..."Car-owies, Mama!" And a view from the inside--from this view it almost looks like some kind of metal rod--that is why initally, we sort of freaked out, thinking of what could have happened and how one of us could have been hurt real bad... The last two pictures were taken today in the new jumparoo the my sister gave to me to use for our active Little Man. He LOVES IT!! Thanks, Aunt Erin! Love you, and hope you had a great birthday today!!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

My beautiful Grandma...

This has been by far one of the toughest weeks of my life. On Wednesday, August 27th at noon, my dear Grandmother became a heavenly angel. Not only was she my Gramma (or gram-crackers as I sometimes called her), but I always thought of her as my second mother. We were so close...my heart aches that she is no longer here. My solace is that she is not in pain anymore, she went how she wanted to (in her sleep), and she is rejoicing in Heaven.

I got the call that she had been life-flighted to the (big, fancy) hospital on Tuesday morning at 7am. She had gone into the (local) ER on Monday night around 11pm, complaining of severe leg/hip/back pain. Long story short, they gave her some morphine for the pain. Right before she fell asleep, she complained of a severe headache on her right side (she told the nurse about 3x's I guess). She fell asleep, and when they tried to wake her, she didn't wake up. They gave her some medicine to offset the morphine, and nothing. The doctor ordered a head scan which showed a major brain bleed (which was still bleeding--two hours after she complained of the "headache"). That is when they life-flighted her to the "fancy" hospital (the same one my dad was at for his 2 abdominal aortic aneurysms--so we know they can work miracles!). Anyway, upon arrival, the doctors assessed her, and basically she was already brain dead. This is when I get the call, and I called DH and he came home. We packed up the kiddos and drove down to say goodbye. Once we were all there, we prayed over her, said our goodbyes, and had the Dr's take out the respirator. That was at 4pm on Tuesday. The doctors were convinced that she wouldn't even take any breaths...boy were they wrong! This stubborn Norwegian breathed on her own, till noon on Wednesday. The Lord was ready for her in Heaven... it's just that none of us here were ready to see her go.

She was very strong in her faith, and always knew she would meet Jesus someday. In recent weeks, she would tell people that "she was ready now..." because she had so much leg pain (from her broken hip in november of 06'). When I hear that, it makes me sad and happy. Sad because she isn't here to talk to, hug, kiss, and see her hold and interact with her great-grandchildren. Happy because I know she in pain-free, and singing her favorite hymns with the angels...

Bug keeps saying "Mommy Kie (cry)?" "Mommy, all done kie?" It breaks my heart everytime I hear her say it, yet sometimes I just have to let the tears flow...

I miss my Grams so much...already, I have caught myself saying or doing something that reminds me of her (and then the tears). It had been awhile since I had talked to her--which is not the norm for me. Normally, I talk to her about once a week. Life had just gotten so busy for awhile there...and I faltered on calling her. I have to live with that. I imagine it will take me awhile to forgive myself for that. I am a firm believer that we should always tell those closest to us our feelings and what they mean to us, because you never know what tomorrow might bring--or even if there will be a tomorrow. I thought I had learned that lesson with my father. Therein lies the irony...