mostly pictures...

A few things that are making me really happy right now: 

1. Every time I pick up Isaac, he wraps his arms around my neck for a hug. 

2. This amazing weather and watching my kids play outside. 

3. Watching Isaac crawl--makes me laugh every time. 

4. Isaac wanting a bowl of cereal with milk in the morning just like Isabella. I think he just thinks it's cool to have it in front of him. Now I just need to convince him it's cool to eat some! 

One of Isaac's favorite things to do is play the drums. I suggested to my mother in law that we change out the metal bowl for a plastic one (before this mama went ballistic)...she took the hint. Plastic is so much more peaceful. 

Craft time!

Isaac was very proud of his frog...

"Uh, mommy, we have a problem"...

I'm not sure how he managed to climb up there. When I'm around, he acts paralyzed and refuses to climb on anything. 

Isabella had her neighbor friend over and they raced around the woods for about half an hour. Lola is a couple years older than Isabella, but they play pretty well together. We ended up watching Lola until 11:00 p.m. because he dad had to go to the ER, anyway, when I asked her what her bedtime routine is like, she told me that she usually watches TV. Of course at that point, Isabella perked up and hopped out of her room and said, "Okay, I guess we need to watch TV!" You guessed wrong, chica!

Hello, green...

This is her, my mommy is so embarrassing always taking pictures when I have my friend over. I'm already losing my "cool" factor!

Isaac still thinks I'm the best thing that ever happened to him.

He's a bird watcher...

Tonsillectomy: Part 2

I have been dragging my feet on writing a blog post. Not sure what my problem is. I feel slow, and uninspired this week. But, the kids are in the bathtub (don't report me, I'm sitting on the toilet typing away, so they are supervised) and this is usually an ideal blogging opportunity.

Isaac had his tonsillectomy on Friday and everything went very well. The whole procedure only took an hour, so this was his fastest surgery. We had a fairly uneventful hospital stay so I don't have much to report. Thankfully, we ended up with the rebel nurse who was all about breaking the rules. We were in the PICU, so they're a little more strict about visitors, etc. The rebel nurse was a good thing because guess who was in charge of the PICU floor--Nurse Ratched, straight out of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest--haven't read it, read it.

My mom and Sarah were about to head back to the PICU when Nurse Ratched said, "And who's that baby?" (meaning, Milo). Well, we assured her that Milo would do very little harm. And later, when Walter was walking around the waiting area with Milo (before she allowed Milo back to Isaac's room) she said to Sarah, "What did you do with the baby?" Left him on a bench, do you think he'll be okay? 


No joke, this is what happened when my dad and brother came to visit:

I'm pretty sure Nurse Ratched made up some excuse to enter our room since she already deemed we were trouble...


NR: Does Mary, your nurse, know that there are more than four people in this room?
My mom: Yes, we told her.
NR: No, does she know there are this many people in the room?
My mom: Yes, she said it was fine.
NR: Hmmm. Because I see, one, two, three, four, five, people in this room. (She is SO good at counting!)
My dad (showing his University Hospital Physician Badge): I'm a therapist, a family therapist.
NR: Oh, excuse me! I am so sorry, you're one of us?! My apologies, excuse me.

Right. Like we're having a family therapy session here in the PICU. Idiot. Well, at least that shut her up, and we all got a good laugh after she left.

Anyway, since we've learned the ropes of surgery and Isaac's need for his pink bouncy seat, we brought it along with us, and he stayed in the same position the entire twenty-four hours we were at the hospital. He loudly protested any time we tried to pick him up or change his diaper, so he stayed curled up in his bouncy seat, watching movie after movie. I must say, I think he relished in the fact that we allowed him to watch so much TV. Walter managed to get a laugh out of him, but oddly, until we signed the discharge papers and began walking out of the hospital, he was a complete grump. Then, miraculously, he was happy as a clam. Hmmm.

Today he seems pretty happy, but he's been in a considerable amount of pain. The doctor sent us home with baby Vicodin. First of all, that stuff causes a really amazing amount of drowsiness--I mean, it really lessens the intensity of his pain, and that's all that matters. Secondly, after his Craniofacial Reconstruction, they refused to send him home with any drugs, so this doesn't make any sense to me. Tonsils constitutes drugs and head being cut open does not. I'm not so sure about that. 

Pre-op...

I made it my personal goal to get pictures of Isaac and Milo in various sleeping positions. It was a long day, and I didn't have anything better to do since Isaac wouldn't let me hold him.

It's a beautiful day, so we're headed outside!

Sierra

my dad

It seems like there's been a lot of discussion in the media lately about girls and marketing to young girls, and how society is "making" girls become obsessed with princesses, etc. First of all, I don't care how much you try to avoid it, princesses seem to enter the picture one way or another. And honestly, I don't think it's the worst thing that will ever happen. I was really against Barbie, but I think that was based more on my own insecurity than anything else, and I really don't think letting my four year old play with Barbie is going to make her anorexic in the future. Who knows, I could be wrong, but I hope I'm not.

In my opinion, if you want your daughter to be intelligent, independent, strong-willed, self-sufficient, compassionate, and all the other many qualities that we want our children, male or female, to develop, just give them options.

My dad and I haven't always seen eye to eye, that's for sure, but I am definitely thankful for how he raised my sister and I. We grew up playing Chess, and Stratego, and trust me, he didn't let us win. We also grew up biking and training for week long bike trips. We learned to assemble and disassemble a tent, but don't ask me to go camping. I like the biking part, camping, I'm not so sure about. And just about every Sunday afternoon, we'd go for a family hike. My sister and I used to complain and moan and groan about this. But guess who's the one trying to get Walter to go for hikes, me. But do you want to know who my sister and I asked when we wanted to wear make-up for the first time or shave our legs for the first time, my dad.

I'm pretty sure my dad still holds gym memberships to two different exercise facilities. Apparently, one is better for playing racquetball than the other. Without really teaching us, he taught us that exercise is important.

He also taught us to research everything. Make lists (I'm not kidding, I made a pro and con list before I agreed to marry Walter), and read--a lot. Oh, and don't forget to annotate with perfectly underlined sentences and asterisks next to key paragraphs.

Every weekend morning, I'd wake up and my dad would either be at the gym, or sitting in his chair reading, with a red, Bic pen, and a clip board with white printer paper on it. I'll admit, I do have better taste in pens. Bic, really?

I think as a result of all of that, of both of my parents not subscribing to the phenomenon, this is "too girly" or "this is just for boys", I feel very well rounded. I don't feel well rounded because of school. All of that crap they tell you about needing to take math and science so that you can be a competent adult--lies, all lies. Don't worry, our home school curriculum contains math and science. I do hope that Isabella inherited some of Walter's math skills. If she did, it will save her a lot of tears. Anyway, there's nothing wrong with a girl wanting to be "girly". My sister is one of the smartest people I know, and she can wear a pair of stilettos like nobody's business.

So, dad, thank you for teaching me the importance of exercise; for giving a me a love of books and learning; for taking me on those torturous hikes and the many weekends spent training for bike trips. Thank you for reading poetry to us and letting us style your hair at the same time; for teaching me the importance of research and for letting me wear make-up and shave my legs when mom wouldn't. Thank you for putting up with my deplorable math skills and really crappy math SAT scores. Thank you for the countless patient hours spent teaching me to drive stick shift and for making me learn how to quickly shift into first on a hill before allowing me out of the driveway. It's true, before my sister and I were allowed to drive the car on our own, we had to shift to first and successfully pull up the driveway without rolling back. Ask Walter who's better at driving at driving stick--ME!!! Thank you for letting me have my yearly bike trip tantrum after a day of excruciatingly steep hills.

Thank you for paying for school and my wedding and for selling the Echo to me for one dollar. I think I still owe you that dollar.

Love,

Sierra

below the neck

-Babe, I was thinking about getting my hair cut so that it's shorter, like, above my shoulders.
-Mmmmm, I think you're more a below-the-shoulders personality.

First of all, that sounds like a personality for the Playboy Mansion, and secondly, the conversation ended after some comments related to my apparently odd jaw line that makes me not look good with short hair.

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A few things that are making me really happy right now:
1. I remembered to put on deodorant today.
2. I've been borrowing my friends laminator and I'm supposed to use it for PECS, but since I haven't done any of that, I decided to try it out yesterday and oh my goodness, that is the coolest machine ever! I need one.
3. The shirt with cameras that I found at the Gap.

This was my laminating project, ABC scripture cards. Here's the link if you want to make your own.

My camera shirt. Oh, and my hair is brown again. Or, brunette, that sounds a little more sexy than brown. The blonde was making me feel very high maintenance and I kind of pride myself in being relatively low maintenance. Looks like someone needs to clean their room.

Restaurant is Isabella's new favorite game. I don't how many bowls of fish stew I've eaten this week--a lot, that's how many. Fish stew is from Little Bear. If you need a good children's show for your kids to watch, Little Bear is the one for you. It's hypnotic and relaxing, and Mother Bear is so nice, and she's always baking a cake for Little Bear and Father Bear. Even better, I think I've only seen her scold Little Bear one time.

So, Isaac takes his naps in the car. What? You want to fight about it? It works. And Stella keeps watch because the secret trick, is to put up the garage door so that Isaac thinks we're going somewhere and then put it back down after he falls asleep. Stella seems to know that it's her unspoken duty to keep an eye on her boy.

Look at my sweet little angel. She's been upset lately because everyone in her preschool class is already turning five and in a burst of tears she said, "I just want to know what it's like to be five!" 

Our new educational game...

Today is Walter's birthday! Happy Birthday, I love you! 

Have a great weekend, 

Sierra