Super Powers

Last night while I was cooking dinner and keeping an eye on the boys while they played outside in the back yard my husband (who was in another room) asked me a question about something he was holding. I of course had no idea what he was holding and commented to that effect. My husband then teased me telling me that since I was Awesome Mom I should be able to see through walls. I reminded him that Superman was the one that could see through walls, I was Awesome Mom.

Awesome Mom has eyes in the back of her head to help her see when kids are fighting with each other and who is at fault. She is faster than a speeding toddler, but just barely. When the kids are in another room and suddenly it gets quiet her mommy senses tingle, telling her that something naughty is being done. Those same mommy senses also tell her when someone needs a nap (usually her) and when a diaper change is needed. She can leap baby gates with a single bound, except for the times when she is tired from a long day of caring for kids and does not lift her feet high enough. So you can see, I have different powers, but they are a lot more useful than knowing how to fly (How would you be able to carry both kids and all the junk you need?), or being able to see through walls so that you can tell what your husband is talking about.

Tags: super powers

Repost

This is something that I posted on an alternate blog while mine was broken. I just thought you all would like to know how my talk went and all that jazz.

I gave my talk on Sunday and I did a smashing job if I do say so myself (and I don't because I got a lot of comments). I think that blogging actually helped me out because for the first time I was able to write one out that sounded like I was speaking instead of reading. I also did not end up babbling and editing mid sentence. I purposely left it shorter than my alloted time because I knew that the person after me was talking about her pioneer ancestors (a little know fact is that tomorrow is Pioneer day, a day celebrated in Utah only) and they tend to ramble on a bit. We went over time so I knew that I was right in my decision. A crazy thing was that this time around I was not even that nervous. I was able to read slowly and distinctly instead of rushing and spitting into the microphone.

Evan and Harry both wanted to come up and sit with me on the stand. It was cute seeing them pointing at me excitedly when I was talking. When my husband gave his talk months ago (maybe even years ago) I know that I spent it outside with Evan and didn't get to hear a word. I was pleased that everyone stayed in the chapel the whole time even though I could hear both boys at times. If you are curious I will email anyone that asks a copy of my talk.

When I got home I ate lunch and then disappeared in to the bedroom for a Harry Potter reading frenzy. My husband took sole care of the children while I gorged myself on reading. I finished the book in eight hours (the same time that I finished the last book in) which included a dinner break. I am so glad that the book ended the way I wanted it to!

Tags: Harry Potter, church, children

Wheeee!!! I am baaack!!!!

My blog is finally up and running again! In case any of you wondered what was up and did not make it over to my other blog that I set up so that I would have an outlet for my pent up creativity here is the story. Friday afternoon Karen emailed me and asked me what was going on with my blog. It was stuck on an old post from Evan's last heart surgery and she was worried that Evan was in the hospital again until she noticed the date on the post. I freaked out and frantically tried to do anything that I could think of to try and fix it myself, which is my my template is vastly different at the moment. After emailing blogger that evening they finally got to me and fixed my blog. My blog had been flagged as spam earlier in the week, so I have a feeling that my broken blog may have resulted from them fixing that. Any way it is great to be back!!

Vote for Awesome Mom!

Head on over to Pediscribe and vote for my dirty story. I really really want to win really really badly. If I win I will get to have some really nice smelling bath products and that can only made the world a better place for everyone around me.

A bad mommy moment

The poor invalid in his chariot with blackberries smeared on his mouth. The red on his nose is from the fall.

Harry had a rough day today. He fell on his face while outside with Evan. Then after he got up from his nap his awful mother put his sandals on in such a way that his pinky toe was bent almost side ways. She then made him walk part way to the park with his brother, all the while in pain.

I feel so bad about that whole incident. I thought that he was just being his often difficult self. Afternoons are often difficult for Harry. I had promised Evan a trip to the park and he had been talking about it all afternoon so I was not going to let a cranky toddler ruin it when I figured he would eventually cheer up. He did eventually cheer up after some Tylenol and blackberries.

Oh and apparently this blog is considered a spam blog and I have to enter word verification until it is decided that I am an actual human. Sigh.

"I forgive you mommy, but only if you do what ever I want you to for the rest of my life"

Tags: owies, bad mommy, toe

The time is now!

I was at Target (one of my favorite places) and found a bunch of shorts on clearance in 3t for Evan to wear next summer. It reminded me that I need to get shopping for next season now if I want to get the good clearance. It seems crazy that we are only half way through summer and sweaters and long sleeves are already coming out.

A secret tip for my readers is that if you see a clearance price at Target and the price ends in a 4 that is the lowest price it will be. You had better buy it right then if you even think you might want it because in a few days they will be taking it off the shelf. I got the shorts for $2.24 marked down from $8.00. Also if you are at Costco and wondering if you want an item look at the sign. If there is a * then that is the last pallet of the item and they will not be restocking.

Tags: clearance, shopping, Target

Yikes!

I got a phone call this morning. I thought it was the physical therapist telling me that she was running late. Sadly I was mistaken. It was a member of the bishopric asking me to give a talk this Sunday. It has been over four years since I have given one, so I guess I was due. Luckily I am the first adult speaker so I can rush through my talk (like I normally do) and leave a lot of time for the poor sap *cough* I mean the lovely speaker that will be following me.

My topic is Home As a Refuge From The World. If anyone has any great stories, scriptures or quotes from the General Authorities please feel free to tell me about them (please I am begging). I have a feeling that I will not get as much research time as I did last time I spoke which was before I had kiddos.

Tags: public speaking, church

Money talk

Yesterday I spent $99.99 at the grocery store. My first thought was one of shock that I spent that much money at a grocery store that was not Costco. Then the number sunk in and I thought about how cool it was. At least I did not spend $999.99 in groceries for my growing boys. I have a feeling that my grocery budget numbers will have to rise that high when they get to be teenagers.

Tags: money, grocery store, food

Sunday cuteness

Guess what? This is my 500th post. Just thought you should know.

Here are some pictures of my blackberry boys. There are a couple of lovely blackberry thickets on a path that we love to walk on. The blackberries are just starting to get nice and ripe so it is fun to have a little snack in the middle of a walk. I do all the dangerous work and the boys enjoy the fruits of my labor. Evan got a lot messier than Harry because he did not have a tray to put the berries on. He just crammed them all in his mouth at once.

Tags: blackberries, messy kids, pictures

Everybody loves a parade

Every year a neighboring town has a parade to help celebrate the town's founding. Instead of the usual parade they made it into a kid's parade. Every other year we have been here we have not gone for one reason or another, but this year we were finally able to bring Evan and Harry to their first parade.

I love small town parades and this one was the perfect small town parade. The route was short, the crowds were not overwhelming and the parade was fun. We parked pretty far away but were able to snag a great spot in the shade at the end of the parade route. That was especially lucky because by then most of the candy throwing people were out of candy. The boys got just enough that it was fun for them but it was not too much for mommy and daddy to carry home. One boy even gave Harry some beads that he has missed out on getting because of his small size and slower little legs.

There was also booths and several bounce houses in the park. Evan and Harry got a huge kick out of mauling the very friendly and tolerant police dog. The local animal shelter had a game where you were supposed to toss dog treats in to the mouth of a picture of a dog to get a treat. Evan went right up to the picture of the dog and put them in, instead of standing back and tossing them in like all the other kids. I didn't let Harry do it because I knew he would try eat the dog treats rather than tossing them.

We finished off the fun day by eating lunch at a fish and chips place that I had been wanting to try for some time now. It was heaven and everyone enjoyed the deep fried food. It was fun and refreshing to do something different than the normal cleaning up the house on Saturday routine. It was also fun to explore the town some. I hope you had a fun Saturday.

Tags: parade, kids, children, dog

A dirty story

The lovely Karen at Pediscribe is doing a fun contest which involves dirty stories. Here is my entry for the contest.

Evan had just been released from the hospital after a long three week stay after he had his stroke. He had been in so long because it was tricky getting his blood thinning medications to the levels. In the end he was put on an injectable one called Lovenox. With Lovenox I had to take him in for weekly blood draws to make sure that the does was still correct.

I took him in for his first blood draw only a few days after his release. It was going to be done at a local hospital where Evan's cardiologist had been assured that he would be well looked over and they would be able to run the needed test. Evan had thrown up his first feeding of the morning ( I believe it was pear babyfood) but I had not given that a second though as at that time Evan was quite the puker. We bundled up and got in the car to head off to the hospital for the blood draw. I wanted to be there soon after the lab opened so that we would not have to wait.

On the way to the hospital Evan threw up again. This was a bit more worrisome to me as there was no apparent reason for him to be throwing up. He then puked on me again as we were walking from the parking lot to the hospital. I handed the receptionist the orders for the test and then proceeded to wait. While we were waiting Evan threw up again, and then he threw up again a little while later. I was wearing him in my sling so I was able to use the tail of it to help clean me and him up a bit, but eventually I was pretty covered in puke while we waited what seemed like an eternity for a blood draw. Why we had to wait so long was very unclear to me because for most of the wait we were the only ones in the waiting room.

We were finally called back where a very hesitant phlebotomist waited for us. He felt around for veins (which was a pretty iffy thing any way since Evan was so fresh out of the hospital) and even told me that he wished that he was drawing me instead of Evan. He made several half hearted attempts all the while Evan was still making his occasional pukes on me. The volume had gone down since his stomach was empty by now, but it was yellow due to the fact that he was throwing up bile.

Eventually pretty much every phlebotomist in the hospital (or so it seemed) had had a go at Evan's veins with no success. The guy called up Evan's cardiologist to see what the plan of action should be. He obsessed over the phone to the cardiologist about Evan throwing up and the very troubling fact (to him) that it was yellow. I lied and told him that Evan had a visit with his pediatrician already scheduled so he could stop worrying (I did get an appointment later that day). Evan's cardiologist ended up calling one of the noenatologists at the hospital and he came down and did an arterial draw getting blood the first time.

By the time I got home from what was supposed to be a quick blood draw I was exhausted from having to hold Evan down for all the attempts at drawing blood and I was covered in puke, Evan was covered in puke and the poor sling was covered in puke. My husband was home that day so I gladly handed him the gross baby and went right into the bathroom for a nice long shower.

The puking thing was a result of a stomach virus picked up at the hospital (which made it extra nasty than ones you pick up at other places) and Evan gladly shared his germs with the whole family. My husband threw up in his car on the way home from work the next day. I took Evan (who was feeling a lot better) with me to Target to pick up some sick supplies for my husband and ended up throwing up in the bathroom there. A kind lady came up to me as I was heaving my guts out and asked if she could do anything for me. I blindly shoved a crying Evan into her hands while I kept on puking. She could have kidnapped him and I would not have even been able to describe her to police, it was that bad.

Oh and did I mention that this was days before Christmas? Well it was. We were all excited that Evan got out of the hospital in time for his first Christmas and we had planned on flying to Utah to spend it with my family. That trip was canceled but my family was nice enough to come out to see us instead.

Annoyances

One of my least favorite things to do is having to deal with the ordering of medical supplies. The companies will give you too much of one thing and barely give you enough of another. When Evan had his feeding tube it was the bags for his feed pump that were the choke point. We got 30 and that was it. There were always one or two bags in the box that were bad for one reason or another which prevented us from building up any kind of minimal surplus.

At least with the feeding supplies we did not have to wait for authorization each and every time we needed a refill. Evan's test strips for his INR testing machine are that way. When we first got the machine we got a big box of 48 strips plus a plethora of lancets (we have still not run out of our initial supply of those). As the number of strips dwindled I started looking for a place to get refills. Once I found a place we had to jump through all the new patient hoops. Once all that was done I found out that I could not order a nice big box of 48 strips, those were only for doctor's offices. I had to get Evan's in boxes of 12 and I was only given one box at a time.

I thought I was doing good this last time by starting the whole reorder process when we were halfway through the box. We test every other week, so ideally the box of 12 would have lasted six months. Evan had a string of highs and lows that meant testing a lot more frequently and we were down to one lone test strip. I was about to call the company to chew them out for taking so long (although it was most likely my insurance's fault) when I finally got the call that they are on the way. This time I am getting a bounty of two glorious boxes of 12 test strips. I am giddy with joy right now.

Tags: INR, test strips, insurance, frustrations

A surreal moment

I was playing with the boys in the back yard (well back yard is kind of overstating things a bit, it is more of a small garden area with a patio) throwing pop its on the ground. The noise makes the boys giggle and they love trying to throw them (they hardly ever throw them hard enough and often end up accidentally stepping on them which makes them finally pop). I heard a voice and saw someone peeking in at us through the fence. She was asking if we had a diaper that she could have. I was a bit confounded for several moments as I am not used to being approached like that while I am in the supposedly private space that is my back yard. I of course gave her a diaper, it was the only thing to do really as I would never turn a desperate mom in need away.

I can only assume that she was a visitor to the town home complex, if she had lived here she would have presumably had an ample supply of diapers at home. I think that she may have been on her way to her car to possibly purchase some diapers when she heard my giggling boys and thought that since my kids were so little I was bound to have a bounty of diapers. She was lucky that I did not switch over completely to cloth diapers. Had that been the case I would have been a lot more reluctant to hand one over to a stranger. They are quite expensive to replace.

Tags: diapers, moms in need

I am not so fond of some people

I was playing around online a little while ago listening to the latest Pediacast when all of the sudden someone rang my doorbell very loudly and long. It figuratively scared the crap out of me (my underwear is still white thank you very much). I am now jumpy and still feeling the effect of the sudden adrenaline rush. Why are there so many morons in the world? I hope I can calm down enough that I can sleep.

Tags: annoying people

Sunday cuteness

Evan is finally starting to get into singing time during nursery. It is funny watching him sing and do the actions to the songs while at home. He misses a lot of the words but he is stinking cute any way.

We buy our toilet paper at Costco in massive quantities. Most of it is stored in our upstairs bathroom. Now and then (much to the amusement of the kids) I will toss several rolls down the stairs. Harry had fun taking the wrappers off of the rolls and stacking them after they made their way downstairs. He is such a helpful little boy.

Tags: cuteness, kids, pictures

Sibling Rivalry

This morning I noticed this bruise on Evan's arm.


My extensive forensic knowledge (derived from hours of watching CSI) leads me to believe that this ultra cute little boy had something to do with it.

"Honest ma, I had nothing to do with it. I swear on my mother's grave! Scout's honor!"

I just hope that this is not a behavior that is repeated any time soon and if it is repeated soon I hope that I am there to see it, so I can nip it in the bud. Behavior correction is no good long after Harry has forgotten that he was even mad at his brother for one reason or another. Sigh.

Tags: sibling rivalry, kids, teeth

How to keep cool on a hot day

All you need is a bucket of water.

The boys love playing with water and this has become their favorite way to play with water. Who needs one of them fancy pools? Not my boys! They love to have me strip them down to their diapers minus the diaper covers (for extra breathability) and fill a bucket of water so they can "help" me water the plants. They have tiny cups of water but they can empty that bucket pretty fast. A lot ends up on the patio, but that is part of the fun. I actually get a little reading done and my feet cooled by helpful little children.

Tags: Parent Hacks, summer fun, water, play, keeping cool

A cereal killer

Growing up we really did not do big fancy breakfasts very often. Mostly we had lots and lots of cereal for breakfast. I still prefer cereal as I am not much of a morning person. I like something that I can shove into my face with minimal forethought. I only ever make big breakfasts on nights that we have breakfast for dinner.

I have become a bit of a connoisseur of cereal so I was excited to review a new cereal called Fiber One Raisin Bran Clusters. I have been having a hard time coming up with the motivation to write this because the cereal was simply meh. The raisins were small, the oat clusters were minuscule and the flakes were overly sweet. It was edible and did not taste horrible, but it also did not taste good enough that I would rave about it. It does have more fiber I will give it that, but if you are looking to up your fiber intake there are other, more tasty, ways to do it.

A really fantastic raisin bran that I adore is Raisin Bran Crunch. This cereal has it all: big fat raisins, great tasting flakes and awesome oat clusters. If you are looking for a great raisin bran with extra fiber eat this and add some Fibersure.

Tags: cereal, raisin bran, fiber

Traintastic

Evan had a train filled day today. First off we visited a scale train amusement park. The train ride was fun but once that was done there really was not too much for the kids to do. They were too short for most of the rides there and the petting zoo was only accessible by train. Harry did not like the train tunnels, he started crying because the kids behind us started yelling and screaming every time we went through one.



When we got home there was a lovely package waiting for us. Vicky sent us some Thomas trains that her sons had outgrown. Evan had an absolute blast playing with them all afternoon while Harry was napping. They are a tiny bit old for him but with some help from mommy and daddy he is going to have a lot of fun. He thinks it is the funniest thing when we run two trains on the track and they crash. Thank you a ton Vicky!!! Blog friends are some of the nicest people.

Tags: train, Thomas the Train, toys, fun

Pediatric Grand Rounds 2:6

Pediatric Grand Rounds is up at Shinga's blog Breath Spa for Kids. Go check it out.

You may have noticed that my posting has been a bit sparse of late. My parents are in town for the week and we have been doing things that do not involve the computer. We have been going to the park a lot, a bit of shopping and we went to the beach. I hope that everyone(well all my US readers any way) has an equally enjoyable Fourth of July

Tags: Pediatric Grand Rounds, vacation

What am I chopped liver?

I think I have officially become chopped liver in my house. Evan was playing with his lovely new trucks and the trailer came off. He immediately asked for his auntie (who was not even downstairs at the time) to help him even though I was sitting there right in front of him. He did not even think of me helping him until I suggested that I might help when he became upset that auntie was not downstairs.

Tags: kids

Spoiled boys

My dad teaches woodshop some of the day. He had some fun making a bunch of trucks for the boys to play with. It is going to be tough to figure out where we can store all these, but Evan and Harry love them to pieces. Here is a link to the photo album, there are far too many to post here.

Tags: wooden trucks, toys

A Proclamation!

I have that until I get caught up on my laundry no one will be able to put on new clothing. The boys will just have to run around in diapers all day until I am able to get my laundry pile down to a manageable level.

Tags: laundry

A contest

Adventures in Babywearing is having a neat contest for a sling that is especially made for the summer by KimzKreations. It helps block out UV rays and keeps mom nice and cool. I love slings, they are the best baby gadget that I have ever purchased for my boys. If you have a needy child that has to be held all the time nothing can beat a ring sling. The front carriers just killed my back and shoulders, but ring slings spread the weight and you can wear the child for hours with out any discomfort. Go over and check out the contest if you have a baby, are pregnant or even just want another baby eventually (like me).

Tags: slings, contest

In a pickle

This morning while I was trying to rush my way through grocery shopping so that we could attend story time at the library (which both kids hated by the way) I broke a jar of pickles in the trunk of my car. I didn't realize it until I got home and the juice had soaked into a lot of things, including the particle board that covers the spare tire. Now I am going to have to suck it up and smell pickles for however long it takes for the smell to dissipate. I am starting to crave sandwiches every time I get into the car.

Is me or is pickle a very odd word?

Tags: pickle

The joys of motherhood

One of the things that you do not ever think about when you are dreaming of becoming a mother is all the indignities you will have to endure. When you are pregnant you jump right in with a multitude of pelvic exams, having strangers touch your stomach and having a human being kick the stuffing out of you from the inside all of which only mildly prepare you for the ultimate indignity of birth where people see parts of you that normally you would rather die of embarrassment than show in such a public way. My own husband has seem my ovaries and I haven't even seen those. Sadly the birth of the child is actually only the beginning. If you breastfeed you are always in danger of flashing perfect strangers while feeding your baby.

Lately it seems like every time I put Harry down after holding me he decides to take the neck of my shirt with him. If I am wearing anything with a bit of spandex in it and it has the slightest bit of a v to it I end up showing off my bra to who ever happens to be looking. Evan decided that one of his trains needed to be shoved down into my cleavage during sacrament meeting no less. He kept telling me that he wanted Percy in "mommy's pocket".

Last week at church I tried to wear one of my shorter skirts (something that was below the knees but not ankle length like most of my skirts) and I actually almost had it yanked off me several times by a leg hugging and skirt pulling Harry. I think if I am going to wear that skirt again I will have to wear suspenders with it. It is a shame because it is a really cute skirt and a nice color.

Modern women have long been harassing women who choose to have children and spend a good deal of time with them for dressing dowdy and frumpy. I have tried to keep a little bit of a kick to my wardrobe while maintaining my modesty, but I think that I am seriously going to have to change my mind on that after the train incident. I might just add a bunch of turtlenecks to my wardrobe, maybe even a mu mu or two. Those kids have me beat and I have a feeling it will get worse before it gets better.

Tags: mommy fashion, embarrassing, kids

I am baaack!

We had a crazy and fun time. It was neat meeting some relatives that I had only heard about previously and seeing some that I last saw at my reception. This was a reunion for my husband's mother's family, so I had a lot of catching up to do. My own family tree is not all that branched, so we don't really do reunions.

Evan and Harry are quite beat up and filthy from playing outside so much. Harry was quite impressed with my mother-in-law's yard. They have a nice orchard and a lot of berry plants. He thought it was neat that we could go outside and eat all the berries that we could find. Neither of them napped all that good the last couple of days, so I am exhausted and have a bit of a head ache.

On the way down we got to see what happens when truck runs into the bathrooms at a rest stop. The fire fighters that were there to make sure the truck did not burst into flames gave the boys some Smokey the Bear bracelets. Harry was also a bit of a whiner, so we had to stop pretty often to let him stretch his legs.

The motel we stayed at had large cow sculptures in the yard. Evan had fun kissing the cow.

Evan and his beloved VW bus. He had a ton of fun playing with all the different toys at Grandma's and Grandpa's house.

These are the steps from the living room to the play room/sun room. He managed them quite well all but once. I had just assured one of my husband's uncles that he could handle them quite well, when he decided to take a header down them. He was ok but a tiny bit banged up. I guess he wanted to prove me wrong.

Harry trying to blow the pinwheel. I love the drool hanging off of his lip.

The boys going nuts over a very friendly neighbor's dog. The dog comes now and then to visit my inlaws and loved all the attention that he got from the kids.

The boys all tuckered out in the car while we were driving home.

Tags: kids, family reunion, family

Fun stuff

We will be away for a family reunion for the next few days. Here is some fun stuff to tide you over until my return.

Meme 1

Dr. Rob tagged me for the Eight Things Meme. I have done this one (or similar ones several times) and they can be found here or here. I am doing this for Dr. Rob because he was kind enough to answer a question that I asked him on his blog.


Fun Links

Check out these very detailed and amazing balloon sculptures.

Here is an awesome way to keep the kids or cat from unrolling your yarn while you are knitting.

Can you tell the difference between a computer programmer and a cannibal?

This is one of my favorite time passing games. It is so simple yet filled with mind bending strategy.

Who has not wanted to do this?

Have you wondered how many midsized cars there are in an elephant?

If you like Monte Python this is for you. Here is my personal favorite, I seriously have watched it about five times in the last three days. Someone had waay too much time on their hands.

Meme 2

Summer tagged me for the 5 Things meme, enjoy.

What were you doing 10 years ago? (5 things)

1. Graduating from High School
2. Getting ready to leave the house for wild adventures in college
3. Saying good bye to friends that I knew I would not keep in touch with
4. Working a lame job because my parents would not let me slack off for the summer
5. Reading a lot of fun books

Five Snacks You Enjoy:

1. Potato chips
2. Cheeze its
3. toast
4. Strawberries from my garden
5. milk

Five Songs That You Know All The Lyrics To:

1. White and Nerdy- Weird Al
2. Bohemian Rhapsody
   
3. No One to Depend On- Santana (the title pretty much contains the majority of the lyrics in the song so it was quite easy to memorize)
4. Wish You Were Here- Pink Floyd
   
5. The theme song to Thomas and Friends

Five Things You Would Do If You Were a Millionaire:

1. Buy a house, only here in California I would still have to pay a mortgage if I wanted to get something half way decent.
2. If I were to live in another state I would buy a place with a lot of land so I could have me some animals.
3. I would invest the money until I retired and live like a queen
4. I would buy a pimped out minivan that would make all my mom friends green with envy.
5. Travel with kids and with out.

Five bad habits

1. I stay up too late at night.
2. I do not keep up with my laundry
3. I make my kids fetch me drinks from the fridge (kidding!)
4. I buy my kids too many toys because I like playing with them too
5. Sometimes I spend too much time online

Five Things You Like To Do:

1. Read
2. Blog
3. Crafty stuff
4. Naps
5. Dig in the sand with my boys

Five Things You Would Never Wear Again:

Check out the link for illustrated examples

Five Favorite Toys

1. My iPod
2. My computer
3. The boy's duplo set. I have acquired 200+ blocks for them, so we can build some really cool houses and towers
4. the digital camera
5. Crayons, coloring is very therapeutic and fun

I am not tagging but I hope you enjoyed the meme.

Tags: fun links, meme

Weird!

I think my nose is hallucinating or something. I have been smelling sourdough bread all evening and we (to the best of my recollection) do not actually have any in the house. I guess this is what happens when I get tag teamed by the boys and do not have a nice solid nap time with both boys sleeping.

Tags: nasal hallucination, freaky, tired

The Embarrassing Moment That Did Not Happen

There is a gal that used to live in my ward with her mother. She left for a mission, came back for awhile and then got married and moved. She comes back now and then with her "interesting" husband to visit her mother.

Last Christmas I saw her again after not having seen her for quite some time. She had gained quite a bit of weight, especially in the stomach area. I thought she looked at least five or six months pregnant. I was excited for her but did not get a chance to approach her and congratulate her. I also did not get much of a chance to talk to her mother to congratulate her either.

It turns out this was a very fortuitous happening. I saw her again today sitting with her mother at church just as chubby as she had been at Christmas. There was no baby in sight. I am so very utterly thankful that I was able to avoid the whole "No, I am not pregnant I am just fat" conversation with her. I am equally glad that I was able to also avoid that same conversation with her mother. The only people that know that I thought she was pregnant are you and I know you can keep it secret.............. right?

Tags: embarrassment, pregnancy, church

Happy Father's day!!

I just want to wish all the dads out there a very happy Father's Day. I have been very blessed by having some very great fathers in my life.

Baby Evan and my Dad

My own father was very involved with rearing his children. He is a teacher, so he was there every afternoon after work making sure that we were behaving and cooking dinner for us. He was there to pick us up from after school activities. Naturally he was also very involved with our education and made me dread parent teacher night every year at school. He set the bar very high for my future husband.

My husband and Harry at an aquarium.

My husband is another wonderful father in my life. He is very involved with the boys. He cooks, he cleans, he does laundry and changes diapers when I can trick him into it. I think he is a great father and I am glad that he is around to show our sons what a real man is like.

Harry enjoying some quality movie watching time with my husband's father.

My father-in-law is another example of a wonderful father that I have in my life. He is kind of a quiet guy who has a quirky sense of humor. If you need something built or repaired he is the go to guy. He is an awesome grandfather to the boys.

Six awesome years

Today is the sixth anniversary of my marriage to my husband. Here is how the day went, just in case you were a bit curious. And this is how we met if you were wondering even though I know that each one of my readers has combed my archives for these gems. We will not be having any thrilling or exciting alone time with each other on this special day as I was unable to secure a babysitter. However we will be saving that for later in the month when my parents will be here for a visit. There is nothing better than having a ton of free babysitting.

This is the money shot. I had wanted this exact picture ever since I was a young girl.

Tags: wedding anniversary, marriage

We are back!

This was a snap compared to everything else that Evan has gone through. The new hospital has a play room for the kids so the waiting for the procedure to start was not too irksome. A Child Life specialist even came by and did some medical play with Evan and another kid that was in for a procedure too. Evan still fought the gas mask to put him under and it was hard keeping him on my lap while he went under.

It was a quick procedure only about three hours. He came out with two crowns (one silver and one tooth colored) and two fillings. His cardiologist came by to see how he was doing which was very nice of her since officially he was not really her patient. Evan charmed all the nurses as usual and did not throw up the juice he was allowed to drink. We were home around 1:30, in time for me to get a nice nap after wolfing down lunch at home.

Here is a picture of Evan's new smile. Just kidding!



Evan coloring in his Thomas coloring book. Thomas was the second word out of his mouth upon waking up. the first was cars. I guess I know where I stand is his life right now.

Tags: hospital, dentist, child

Cycles

My life seems to go in cycles. I have periods of quiet where we are able to laze around a bit in the morning and not often have anything in particular to do. Then there are periods of craziness where every day is crammed full of activities. Right now I am in one of those crammed full periods of time.

Evan gets his under anesthesia major mouth overhaul on Thursday. I got a message on my cell politely asking me to call them so that we can discuss how I wish to pay for my portion of the bill. I have decided to give them Harry in exchange for Evan's nice mouth. I would gave them my first born but he is the one needing the dental work and if he was gone then we could not enjoy the dental work in the first place. If they do not take kids in exchange for dental work I guess we will just have to pay them cash. Good thing we have an emergency fund.

This is how I get my reading done after dinner. The kids seem to think that climbing up mommy is a fun game. Note that the book is actually at my feet and not in front of my face so I can actually read it.

Your Blogging Story Carnival

Chilihead wants to know about your blog. She is having a blogging carnival about blogging.

How did I start blogging?

Well I sat down at my computer...... Actually the birth of this blog was not long after the birth of Evan. I was expressing breastmilk for him as he had never had the strength to nurse. That meant a lot of time in front of the computer hooked up the the milking machine (moo!). I had joined a wonderful Yahoo group called PumpMoms where there were women doing the same crazy thing as I was. While there I learned about two members who had these things called blogs. I fell in love with the whole idea. Gretchen and Neno were hilarious (they still are) and were great entertainment while I was hooked up to the milking machine. I then started to check out people from Gretchen's sidebar and then people from those side bars and well you get the point. Eventually I got up the courage to open a blogger account and give it a whirl.

The story behind my blog title is also related to Evan. Shortly before I started my blog we had finally received Evan's home INR test machine. I was super anxious about whether I could do this all on my own or not. I was hugely pregnant and not sure if he would sit still long enough for me to give him a painful poke on his toe. Our first solo test went amazing, I nailed it on the first try. I truly felt awesome! I added the sometimes in because I am a normal person and do not always feel awesome about my mad parenting skilz.

Did you intend to be a blog w/a big following? If so, how did you go about it?

Nope, although I did want to have some people reading be as that is one of the best parts about blogging.

To gain my readership I simply put a link to my blog at the end of my email. I also started commenting on other blogs. That lead kind people like Chichimama (who was my first commenter ever) to my blog. Later on I participated in things like Pediatric Grand Rounds and Change of Shift which exposed my blog to even more readers.


What do you hope to achieve or accomplish with your blog? Have you been successful? If not, do you have a plan to achieve those goals?

One of the reasons I started my blog was to empty my mind before I went to sleep. Sometimes I have a hard time falling asleep because I have so many thoughts running around in my mind. I had hoped that blogging would help clear the cobwebs. The reality has been the opposite. I find myself writing brilliantly witty blog entires in my mind when I should be sleeping. Sadly I never remember them when I finally wake up the next morning.


Has the focus of your blog changed since you started blogging? How?

I think that my focus has essentially remained the same. I blog a lot about my kids and my life as a mother. I also use it to keep family updated on how the kids are growing and how Evan's health is. I have added in some things like the product reviews but I still want to keep this a fun endeavor. I don't want to feel that I have to blog.

What do you know now that you wish you'd known when you started?

I wish that I had a better grasp on HTML. It would be fun to be able to do more on my own with my blog.

Do you make money with your blog?

Nope. I do get the occasional free thing, but I really do not want to clutter my blog up with ads on a daily basis. This is very much a hobby for me and I do not want to turn it in to a business.

Does your immediate or extended family know about your blog? If so, do they read it? If not, why?

My kids are probably aware of the blog but they don't read it since they can't read yet (slackers!).

My husband knows (although I did not tell him right away about it) and reads it while he should be working.

All of my extended family that has even the slightest interest in computers know. It is how they keep updated on the kids (yes I am really that lazy). My mother and one sister eventually started blogs too but my sister seems to have forgotten about her blog.

What two pieces of advice would you give to a new blogger?

Find your own voice with your writing. Be you and not someone else.

Try and write well. Put paragraphs in. Use complete sentences. Follow the rules of writing as best you can. No one likes reading a blog that is hard to read because it looks like it was written by an ignorant teenager.

Guess what I am doing right now

I am hiding out from the kids... well actually one child specifically. His name is Harry and he is a huge momma's boy. They are outside playing with my husband while I am making pizza with home made crust. Right now the dough is resting from the exhaustion that occurred while I was kneading it.

I had thought that by now Harry would be more accepting of my husband than he is. When he was a baby he would not even eat for my husband. He would shriek and cry if my husband even looked at him. Harry will still cry if I make him take a diaper over to daddy so that daddy will change him. You would think it was the end of the world the way Harry cries.

My husband has to make dinner often. Harry will throw massive temper tantrums if he is the least bit tired at dinner time. It gets so you can't even hear yourself think. We changed our dinner time to 5:30 and that has helped a lot even though we hate having to eat so early.

The kicker is that he is great with daddy as long as he does not know there is an alternative. If he were to hear my voice or see me the waterworks would start. He would be most upset that I am not waiting on him hand and foot. Harry has even been know to try and shove Evan out of my lap. Crud, I hear them coming back in, I had better hide!

Tags: kids, momma's boy

Random picture time

I have been playing with a photo editing program. Here is what Harry would look like if he had been born as an elf.

Playing with a flash light in his den of darkness (aka a tent that was covered in blankets).

My cute little man. I love dressing him in baby blue, he is so cute!

Fun with a bucket of water.

Evan's favorite hang out. He likes to put leaves and sticks in the grate.

What a difference six months make

Today Evan had his big semiannual cardiology work up. The hospital where he gets his heart stuff done is a bit odd in that it is actually three different hospitals with the same name. They recently moved all the kid stuff (birthing and the NICU which were already in the one building and pediatric sub specialties plus the PICU and pediatric hospital rooms which were not) into one building. Now it is like a children's hospital with out being an official children's hospital. This was our first time at the new place and it was a bit strange at first but it was nice being in a shiny new examining room.

The biggest thing I noticed was that while driving there I did not have to go up the terror inducing hills that are very common in San Francisco. These are hills that you do not want to be driving a standard transmission on. These are hills that you break into a cold sweat if you see a person ahead of you on the hill because that means when they stop at the top of the hill for the four way stop you will be stuck behind them only partially up the hill, praying that you do not slide further down. These are hills that have sidewalk stairs for pedestrians. These are hills that make you thank Heavenly Father every time you successfully make it up them.

The appointment went so much better than I had expected. Previous to this Evan has been quite squirmy and very angry when he had to have his pace maker interrogated. All it involved was holding a large computer mouse like device over the spot where his pacemaker was. It did not even have to touch the skin, but having it hover near him just pissed him off worse than me holding him down and putting it against his shirt.

This time around he quietly accepted the pacemaker thing on his stomach with out a peep. You could have knocked me over with a feather. I was all tensed up for a fight to the finish with him. He was entranced with the screen of the computer and thought it was cool that he could see the squiggly lines of his heart beat. I told him that it was his heart beating and he kept asking to see more heart.

The even bigger surprise was to come. He had to have an echocardiogram and for the most part he stayed absolutely still. Again, in the past it had been a bit of a struggle to get him to be still and not cranky about the whole procedure. I had to bribe him with candy so they could get decent pictures with out having to resort to sedating him. I think I could have done this one with out the candy at all.

Everything is looking good with his heart. He charmed the heck out of everyone as usual, he loves his cardiologist since she has never actually given him a shot or done anything at all painful to him. Even the pacemaker guy was falling for him. We go back in another six months.

My son's pediatrician knows I listen to Weird Al

I brought my iPod with me last visit to the pediatrician's office. I knew that Evan would have a freak out and was hoping that the novelty of being able to play with mommy's much coveted toy would keep him distracted. It did not work for more than five seconds for Evan but Harry was entranced enough that he only threatened to pass out once.

While I was getting Harry dressed again (he is average for weight, has a huge head and is 25% for height so he is a shortie) the good doctor asked if he could look at my iPod. He had bought them for his kids but they were not good at sharing (typical teenagers). He wanted to see what all the buzz was about. He tried out the earphones and noted that he could not hear Evan sobbing any more. I guess that is why iPods are so popular with parents, they are good at drowning out the sounds of a screeching child.

He handed it back and then much to my chagrin started to discuss the song that had been playing. In my haste to entertain the kids I had pushed play on my Wierd Al play list. Had I known that someone else was going to listen I would have picked something a bit cooler. Although, quite honestly, I am not sure I really have any "cool" music. Even if I had, it could have been lost on the good doctor any way. He grew up in India and I have a feeling that his taste in music is quite different than mine is.

Smells

I am a sucker for really nice smelling things. I have a rather large collection of scented hand lotions and soaps. I was very excited to review the new Sweetleaf Baby Collection, because most kids stuff smells too overwhelming and the scents are not very nice. One bubble bath I bought for the boys made them smell like grape bubble gum and I hated that.

I was given the shampoo and instant hand cleanser to try. The baby wash/shampoo smelt so, well the best way I can describe it is baby. I wanted to scoop my boys up and snuggle them all evening so I could smell their hair. Sadly they are very wiggly and were wanting to play instead of letting mommy smell them. It would be heaven to use this on a young baby that would be more than happy to let you hold them and smell their sweet babyness while they snoozed in your arms.

The hand cleanser had a nice smell and did not dry my hands out at all. The scent did not drive me as wild as the baby wash/shampoo but it was a nice clean scent that did not overpower me. It comes in a nice sized bottle that is not so small that it will disappear at the bottom of your diaper bag but small enough that it will not take up a huge amount of space either.

The biggest drawback to this lovely collection is the price. I am not the richest person and being a stay at home mother means we have to watch every penny. I would not use this every day on my kids, but I would give it as a gift to a special mother to be or I would buy it myself for a splurge to be used now and then.

Pediatric Grand Rounds 2:4

This has been a very sobering week. A prolific and very much admired blogger, Flea, was unmasked in a very public way during his malpractice trial. There is a lot of talk going around on the medical and law blogs about this, most people agree that blogging about an ongoing trial is not a great idea no matter how anonymous you think you are. To me the saddest part of the whole thing is that there are two grieving parents who have a dead son and there is a Dr. Rob who could possibly loose his practice because he made a mistake (a definite blogging mistake and a possible medical mistake). It just does not seem fair to me that the lawyers are the only winners in this whole thing, they get to collect their paychecks and go on with life as usual.

The loss of Flea is a huge loss to the medical blogging community. He wrote out many evidence based posts on things that were being widely discussed about children's health. His series of posts on vaccinations are treasures that may never be replaced. His looks at alternative therapies and possible causes for Autism were also reoccurring themes in his blog. I especially loved how tried to empower parents by teaching them to take care of simple illnesses at home, keeping sick kids out of the doctor's office. I will never look at Neosporin the same way again.

Flea, you are gone and very much missed. Dr. Rob, I hope that you and your family are able to recover from this and hope that some day, some how we will be able to hear more from you.

Now on to Pediatric Grand Rounds!

Editor's picks

First off we have a new submitter, Dr Mike who blogs some but also has a great podcast called Pediacast that he produces weekly. He takes a critical look at some of the latest research and also answers listener questions. He gives us some summer water safety tips in Swimming: Fun Exercise or Dangerous Diversion? You decide!

Bryan Vartabedian at Parenting Solved tells of one of the many lengths that parents will go to to help a child with colic sleep,The Colic Kabuki Dance.

Ben Goldacre at Bad Science gives us a chilling tale of how television shows are really not all that into scientific facts and prefer to just scare people with mumbo jumbo. Here is a very simple diagram of the problem at hand.

The best of the rest

Judy tells us about a code she attended. It is sobering example of why drinking and teenagers do not mix, IV Therapy Escapades - Part V.

The Midlife Midwife gives us a story of a pregnant teenager that is not quite ready to fall into the teenage mother stereotype, I'm not stupid.

Is everything the way it appears to be when you are trying to diagnose a patient? Not all the time, as Clark Bartram points out in On Judging Book Covers.....

Flu does not always work alone, sometimes there are other diseases helping to kill patients. This is one reason why getting a flu shot is important. When Children Die From the Flu.

Dr Scott faces difficult choices where the treatment should be simple, Easy or Hard?. You decide.

Bigger is better when it comes to some things like the NICU. Dr. Gwen discuses the new findings, Having a baby? Think big.

Medgaget has an article about a child that went through treatment to help with his sensory processing dysfunction, Hacking My Kid's Brain: A Report at Wired . It truly is amazing how the brain is so very plastic in young children.

Laura discusses some of the down sides to letting older siblings into the NICU, good-bye and hello again. Also included is a little story about why children of people working in the medical field might not want to press for too many details of what that parents is doing while at work.

Autism is a a hot topic in pediatric medicine. It has now escalated to a new level, parents of children with Autism are heading to the courts to attempt to get some compensation for the "vaccine injury" caused by the mercury in vaccines. Orc goes over the details of the case in The mercury militia go to court.

Do'C (Dad of Cameron) dissects an article that was put out by an "Autism expert" written in response to an article in Slate magazine about the trial mentioned above. You Got Nothing

Advocates of chelation therapy are starting to change their tune as more parents become wise to their spurious claims. Prometheus wonders how parents can get the help they need with out being taken advantage of by quacks, The Next Revolution.

The HPV vaccine is another hot topic in the news. Arthur Allen shows how some groups are trying to find harm where there was none, Vaers and Veritas

Sandy Szwarc busts some ancient myths about sugar,Science of sweets . I must admit I had my mind blown when I read this one, it goes to show that the vast majority of the dieting gurus have no idea what the heck they are talking about. She follows up the post with some simple advice let your kid be a kid, Remembering what it’s like to be a child. She also has some great thoughts about the state of oral health. Some people are claiming that parents are rotting kid's teeth out by giving them too many sweet foods, the science says otherwise: It will rot your teeth out!

Shinga (with out whom this PGR would have been impossible) has a link to some animated educational videos about BrainPOP and Educational Films About Asthma, Allergies and the Immune System. She also searches for decent coverage of allergies in the media, R4's Allergic Reactions Was Spotty and Irritating in Parts.

Adding in because I completely forgot to put this one in: Sarah gives an interesting account of her son's surgery to have his squinty eye repaired. Eyes Right

That does it for this edition of PGR. I want to thank all those that submitted articles. PGR 2:5 will be hosted by Mousetrapper at Med Journal Watch. Submit here:

http://medjournalwatch.blogspot.com/2007/06/pediatric-grand-rounds-call-for.html

Clark is looking for hosts for future editions of PGR so come on and step up to the plate. The only way that this can continue to be as great as it has been in the past is if we all help out.

My little boy is not so little

I think that one of the best things about being a parent is the chance to watch a small human being change from a sluggish floppy infant into an actual person. Lately Evan has really been surprising me (like he usually does).

He can recognize his name when he sees it written. I know that right now he is just recognizing the pattern the letters make and it not truly reading yet, but it is a start. He can also recognize the number five and gets excited when he sees it on the digital clock in the living room. Why only the number five? Who knows? It has spurred me on to work a bit harder with number and letter recognition. It is also making me think that if I did take the plunge and home school it would not be quite as hard as I had feared. It also relieves my mind that his long term low oxygen saturation levels that he endured until six months ago did not have a horribly bad impact on his brain development.

We recently bought a toy at a yard sale. It has two rows of cages with keys that match the color of the cage door. I locked some of his beloved trains in it to help keep him interested in learning how to unlock the cages. He managed to become a cage unlocking pro in about two weeks. I was also using the cages as a way to keep track of the trains, so when I locked Thomas up last night hoping to keep him put away I was amazed when Evan just sat down, matched the key color to the door Thomas was locked behind and freed Thomas from his jail in five seconds flat.

Evan has also made another leap in his drawing ability. He can draw wheels now. The circles are not perfect but they are there and very intentional. Before I know it he is going to be painting full pictures that are museum quality and selling them for millions of dollars.

What things have your kids been doing lately that has surprised you?