just wanted to let everyone know that holly joined us in time for christmas! holly noelle was born monday afternoon (dec. 22) at 7:18 pm and came pouring into this world in less than one solid push. she weighed in at 7 pounds and 10 ounces and was 21 and 1/2 inches long. nathaniel and i were joined by mom T (grammy) for the delivery. holly has lots of brown hair, my fat cheeks & the famous "harris nose", and is already in love with her dad (as is he with her). she favors kendal quite a bit! her first day was wonderful - she rested peacefully without even a cry (except when she peed). she met her brother about 3 pm the next day and everything went great. kendal fortunately has lots of "experience" with babies (at daycare plus he has several small cousins). he touched her, hugged and kissed her, then he was ready to get down and walk. small hospital rooms are quite boring for 15 month olds... kendal spent the weekend and the past few days & nights with my parents playing with his fairel cousins visiting from kentucky. the photo log:

she's about 2 hours old here... and i haven't eaten in 15 hours. yup... got a rip-roaring migraine during L&D!

here is a little bit closer shot of those sweet sweet lips! her lips and nose look just like kendal's! she likes to suck on her fingers!

first thing tuesday morning, the fairel's stopped by on their way back home. i'm glad they had a few minutes to spend with their new niece/cousin! (BTW, isn't that a good picture of all the fairel women? G&F look so sisterly there, and even my sister isn't making a funny face!)

...and here is holly's outfit for her newborn photo they take at the hospital. this photo was taken at about 10am, so she was about 15 hours old.

got to love those sweet baby clicking noises. ready to say "awwwwwwww!!!"?

here is kendal's first sight of his sister... and then their first kiss!

and here is a shot of the ride home. kendal has taken his new spot behind the driver seat... you can see holly in the mirror, snug in her infant seat!

on the ride home, kendal kept talking to holly and to us... not sure what he was saying, but he was saying something none-the-less.

ok, so i have tons of pictures. kendal is in the bed now, sleep soundly in his crib. holly is probably asleep also, but she's snuggled safely in her daddy's arms. it is christmas eve, and i'm pretty sure santa won't come if i stay up all night and upload photos! merry christmas to all and to all a good night!

last night's christmas party

last night was mom's side of the family's christmas celebration. we all had a good time, especially after we had dinner. this side of the family does it right... kids are the only people to get gifts. even better... the parents bring the gifts. (i.e. if you want your child to open a present, you buy it, you wrap it - they get something that #1 they want & #2 you will let them have.) works out great. and although i had a gift wrapped for kendal, mom picked another one for him and took that one instead (one of the little people toys - the bus). aunt joy had the pirate hat in her toy box (for her grandchildren). kendal actually wore it for a while. it was TOO cute! maybe next year he can be a pirate for halloween!

belly matters and tea stuff

my belly is so tight that my belly-button hurts. i feel like i'm going to explode. no kidding. we had a good time at the tea room today. 'twas a long wait to be seated but the food was tasty, especially the cucumber sandwich. i drank a pot and a half of lavender tea, mom, grace, and faith had market spice (decaf), melissa had jasmine. we even had dessert (4 different pieces of cake/pie), the consensus was that the red velvet cake was the best.

pinky up for you kate! we missed you!

ammonia and bleach

here is a random question for all you environmental engineers and chemists... say i clean my toilet with bleach. without flushing it, i pee in it. why not a reaction/outgassing of toxic fumes? is there just not enough ammonia in my urine? really. i want to know.

the most wonderful time of the year

this is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, right? i think it is. yesterday, although it wasn't to celebrate christmas, we met the thornburgs in durham to celebrate amy's birthday. nathaniel and i both had a great time seeing the family. today, kate is off to CA (already ran into problems, her 6:20 am flight was CANCELLED but i just heard from her and they were boarding a flight to denver... ) later today, melissa and the family begin their drive home, hopefully they'll make it tonight without having to stop for the night. tomorrow, melissa and the family will be here, so kendal will get to play with his cousins for the first time since august. plus i get to see how much samboni has grown. nathaniel gets to meet him for the first time. saturday, we are going to eat lunch at the tea room. that is always exciting... going there with 2 little girls. saturday night, we are eating at my aunts house to celebrate christmas with my mom's side of the family. i get to deliver jars of the apple butter i made from my uncle's apples! sunday, we get another play day for the kids. i'm sure sunday will involve some sort of shopping excursion, not that any of us need anything. monday (early morning), of coarse, provides the final hours for holly to come on her own. i hope i can sleep the night before. tuesday, i'll have a new baby - unfortunately my sister is heading home that day. wednesday is christmas eve, we'll be at home and hopefully will have lots of family time with the new baby. thursday is christmas day, we are heading over to my granddad's house for lunch (not sure if we'll eat, but i do want to go see everyone and deliver their jar of the jelly i made from grandma's grapes). plus i'm sure they'll want to meet holly. thursday afternoon we're going to amy's to eat mark's food (YUM!) - and we get to meet the new kitties. i'm sure kendal will be so excited to see them, i'm sure they will avoid him like the plague. i'm just so excited. i hope i get to participate in all the festivities, but of coarse, everything could change with the breaking of waters or with a series of regular contractions! either way, this is such a great week to celebrate the birth of Christ, the birth of my child, the anniversary of the births of my husband and SIL, and the end to a wonderful year!

You know you're from Raleigh...

You know you grew up in Raleigh, NC when. . . You remember North Hill's "Mall". Capital Blvd was Downtown Blvd. The Plantation Inn was on the other side of the world. (wait... the plantation in was actually there! it was torn down when they built 540!) You know what specialty is served at "The Roast Grill", "Snoopy's" and the former "Scotty's Chuckwagon". When the art museum was downtown. When the current art museum, was Polk Youth Center You could go to the State Fair at least twice in the week, since it was here You watched Charlie Gaddy and Bob DeBardelaben on WRAL news. When WRAL was the ABC affiliate and WTVD was the CBS affiliate. When WQDR was a ROCK station In the 4th grade doing the "North Carolina Project" and going downtown to see the Old Capital Building and the Legislature Building. Seeing the Pine State Dairy delivery trucks on the road. K & K Toys at Crabtree Valley Mall, to a kid at that time the greatest toy store ever!!! Schoolkids Records where you could get anything, if they didn't have it in the rack you could have it ordered. Su Casa at Crabtree was the only Mexican Restaurant in town. When Dorton Arena was the only place in town to see a "Concert" and its terrible acoustics. (maybe i could add here that you went to see the raleigh icecaps at the dorton arena!) We never got good concerts, we always had to go to the Greensboro Coliseum. You remember where you were when Carolina and State won the National Basketball Championships in 1982 and 1983 respectively and you know what "The Brickyard" is. You've ever eaten at "Amedeo's", "Two Guys" or "Brother's" and know what their specialties are. You've ever watched Bull Durham knew when "Mitch's Tavern" is in the movie and knew that the scene out back couldn't happen because Mitch's is on the second floor. Gotten bbq at the old "Don Murray's". "Char Grill" -The Original on Hillsborough Street - 'nuff said. The Friday of the ACC Tournament you had school but nobody did anything. All the teachers had tv's in their classroom or allowed small radios in class.

the race is on... stork v/s reindeer!

VERSES

this week has been interesting - on monday, kendal had his 15 month checkup. turns out he's only grown 1/4 inch since his 12 month birthday. weird all his pants were getting short... guess they are shrinking not his legs getting longer! anyway, he is now 31-1/2 inches long (which is still 75th percentile for boys). and although he eats all the time and never fills, he only weighed 24 pound and 13 ounces, which is 52th percentile for boys. his head is still off the charts (51cm) but it is closer to what it is "supposed to be" than it was at 12 months. anyway, all is well for him. we'll be starting some PT here soon to get him to crawl. the physical therapist that helped us last week determined that he is not shifting his weight from side to side, which is likely the cause of him not crawling and lots of other things. but, she gave us a LIST of things to do with him to help that problem, and thus far he's responding very well (so long as we make it fun). he also is getting tired of all his "baby" toys. it is funny how quick they outgrow them. so, we were getting him a fishtank for christmas. changed that plan... i went to several stores and bought toys (none that were on his "christmas list") for kids his age and development. he's way past the 12 month stuff for the most part, but there are lots of 18 month toys that he now owns. i already took them out of the boxes and have let him play with them... good thing he is only 15 months... i can put them under the tree and it won't seem weird for him! so, as far as the stork and the reindeer go... today i had my 40 week checkup. (actually 39 weeks and 5 days.) my due date is thursday. next thursday is christmas. my doctor suggested we "schedule" an induction just to help out around the holiday time. so, monday, i'm scheduled. they can call me anywhere between 5 am and 4 pm to come to the hospital to get hooked up to the labor starters. i have mixed feelings about that. (i'm sure i'll blog about it as it gets closer, assuming i don't start labor on my own before monday.) anyway, today my cervix is thinned and soft, the baby is still "high" at -1 (has to get to +4 to be ready to push), and i've dilated 1cm, which is a whole 1/2 cm since last week (gotta be 10 cm to push). i suppose that is good news since i'm constantly (although irregularly) having contractions. glad to know they're doing SOMETHING besides making me feel funny "down there." so... we'll see when she comes. i'm ready. we're all ready.

christmas in the 'hood

so frequently we tour our neighborhood to see who has decorated for christmas (in particular, the outdoor decorations). there are some VERY tastefully done houses... garland over the windows, wreathes on windows, lighted porches, lighted outdoor trees, etc. and then there are the ugly ones... i.e. have those blow up yard art kind of things, TOO many lighted yard ornaments (partially "icicled" house, 6 moving deer, 4 stringy trees, flashing porch, etc.) one thing in particular this year that i don't like is houses that have both colored and white lights. really. pick one and stick with it. colored is nice, white is nice. not together though. and those blow up yard art things... i'm assuming ALL those houses have small children who like to look at their outside display. why would any sane adult want one just for himself (unless you were a grandparent and your grandchildren visited often...)?

(this isn't in our neighborhood, i found this picture online.)

as for our house, i have garland with lights on the front porch as well as red bows and a wreath for the front door. i also have one lighted tree out front... IMO not too much, not too little. i do love outdoor light displays! i remember not many years ago driving to new bern and then turning around to drive back home so i could see the tacky christmas house just north of the town on US17. for the whole month of december, traffic would congest around that house. they also had a "donation" basket for folks who wanted to help them pay their electric bill. no kidding. so i was wondering what kind of christmas decorations (outdoor) you have... what you like... and what you don't like!

the wf parade and k's scrunchy-nose face

we went to the wake forest parade today. kendal appeared to enjoy this one more than the rolesville parade. he clapped, waved, and danced (without our prompt) for this show on the road... he especially liked the wakefield high school band, who stopped right in front of us to play a song. one day, kendal will be marching in a band - i can just tell. he has a good beat even at 15 months!

kendal and dad doing a little walking practice before the parade:

look! there are actually pictures of me this time!

kendal was trying to share his lorna doones (the pre-parade don't-get-too-bored-and-start-fussing snack).

view of the start from the red head's point of view!

kendal cheering on one of the 100 groups of boyscouts that marched in the parade!

when the parade was nearly over, i started packing up our stuff and nathaniel held kendal. kendal noticed a strange man-in-black standing behind us watching the parade and started making this face at him. neither of us had ever seen this face... but it reminded me of grace's lion "rooaaar" face she did when she was about kendal's age at the house in dixon - when mom would sit on the stairs and scare her. remember it? melissa if you have a picture of her doing that (digitally, i think back then we were still using film) - please send it to me and i'll post it on here with these!

check out that set of harris nostrils!!! :)

ps the hair is all flat because #1 the humidity is low, and #2 he had on a hat for about 10 minutes - just enough time to remove all the curl and make for some eric-stahl-after-the-game hair (minus the sweat)!

Dracaena fragrans - i know how it got its name!

i bet half the world has a corn plant in their house. they are great because they are very low maintenance... they don't need a lot of light, they don't need a lot of water, and if you forget about it for several months, it won't die. well, i have one - well actually a set of 3 (like in the photo). i never even knew what it was called (corn plant) until nathaniel told me. i've had this thing for quite some time... my liking to it grew from the fact my sister had one and could keep it alive. (this is a great spot to put in the story when the first time i went to field camp, melissa moved into my apartment for the 6 weeks and took over my life... she did my job with DOT, she "watered my plants", fed my cats, etc. she killed almost all of my plants (most of which were cacti) in that 6 weeks time! my sister is a REAL brown thumb!... except when it comes to corn plants and apparently cilantro, which is maybe the one plant i can't grow.) ok - back on track. so i've had mine for a while, when we moved here, it took up residence in the turn of our staircase. there is a window there (west facing) that doesn't get much light except late in the afternoon. fast-forward 2 years... we noticed a "growth" out the top of it about 3 weeks ago. last week, nathaniel was walking up the stairs when he said "did you put a plug in around here?" which i have not, i don't really like smells. but the next day, i smelled it too. very sweet, clean floral scent was all over the stairs area. sometimes it even permeated into our bedroom. well this week, the smell is REALLY REALLY strong (still pleasant though) - it is the corn plant's flower! i didn't even know they could blo0m!

unleashing your inner pirate

i think i just may change my blog name to "the poopdeck!" no, maybe i'll save that for my fantasy hockey team the next time i loose my #1 spot... upon browsing the web to find the name of the ECU pirate (i realize i should know his name since i went to ECU... PEEDEE is it by the way), i found a site that mentions that september 19th is international TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY! so next year... flog yer clogs across the planks and stitch your britches up for adventure on the high seas! speak wise to neptune for waves of flight and not bite, trade in your favors to the west winds to fill the sails rightly and long. rhar be treasure afoot, mayhaps across a sandy beach through a ferny grove, or up on the big blue plundered from the queen's good graces. slack not yer pirate ways-- but by the sword what's yours shall be mine!

calgon, take me away!!!!!

wow. this would really NOT be a good time to go into labor. i'm pretty positive that the parents-on-call (for kendal) would not want to keep him. he has cried and cried for several days now, isn't interested in eating, and won't sleep in his crib. last night, for example, he cried for 45 minutes before we finally just put him in our bed - then he went to sleep. he drooled all night. he's also had bad diarrhea all week, and the diaper rash to match. desitin helps some. this morning he woke up crying. crying and thrashing. didn't want a bottle. didn't want his daddy to read his favorite book, didn't want us near him, didn't want us far from him. didn't want to be picked up, didn't want to sit up, didn't want to lay down, really - completely inconsolable. well, since his mouth was open from crying, i decided i'd see if those top teeth ever finished coming in. guess what i found - two molars on the bottom! no wonder he's been grumpy! now he's had a shot of tylenol, finally ate the bottle (with me carrying him around while he ate it... which killed my back first thing this morning - i've already got a heating pad on it) - lordy i hope he starts feeling some better. so total kendal now has 7 teeth, almost 8. he has his central incisors on top and bottom, one of his lateral incisors on the top, the other is nearly out (i can see it but not feel it yet), and two first molars on the bottom. 7 down, 13 to go... uugh! is it time for a nap yet?

FEEDING PART 2: the confession

i'd make my own postcard to put on here, but i just simply don't have the time - this (stolen) image will just have to do! after all that pro-breastfeeding talk yesterday, i thought maybe i'd start with a list of CONS for breastfeeding.

patience and persistence to achieve the proper latch, which kendal and i never really established except when the nurses helped in the hospital.

frequency in feedings and not knowing how much your baby is getting

having to pump just to get a night out or to have a (or several) glass(es) of wine

watching what you eat (because the pregnancy diet is suggested during breastfeeding... including avoiding spicy foods!)

discomfort (i.e. engorged breasts, sore nipples, etc.)

what about dad? i know he would want to help, but I'M also the only one that can breastfeed. (it makes him feel helpless, i'm sure)

i know these cons are mostly selfish things, i also know that breastfeeding is "BEST" for the baby. however, today’s formulas are held to the highest standards in regards to an infants’ nutritional intake. they’re also produced in extremely sterile conditions. bottle feeding also introduces several benefits (and disadvantages) depending on lifestyle. after our "bad" first visit to the pediatrician (when they told me of his jaundice and about supplementing with formula), he ate from a bottle exclusively. although i did pump for 6 weeks, the majority of what kendal ate came from a powder. some of the benefits of bottle feeding with kendal were (as you can see, i've really given this a lot of thought!):

• convenience: i could leave kendal with a his dad or a caregiver (a.k.a the grandparents). plus at night, nathaniel and i could take shifts... he took the first night feeding, i took the second. of coarse for the first 6 weeks, i pumped everytime he ate no matter who was feeding him.
• i can eat/drink what i want when i want (say goodbye to that pregnancy diet!)
• i always knew exactly how much he consumed. this was very important when it came to his recovering from jaundice because i knew when he needed to eat and how much he'd want. i kept a log of what/when he ate, peed, and pooped (the amt of breastmilk and formula separately) for his first 6 weeks.
• less feedings which i can control (simply because formula fed babies usually need to eat less because it digests much slower than breast milk)
• no boobs are exposed when feeding the baby... i didn't have to deal with my shyness issues, didn't have to remove myself from a room to feed, didn't even have to worry about "leaks."
• dad gets to bond just as i do! nathaniel was a great bottle feeder... i always thought it was so sweet watching kendal look up into his eyes (just like he did mine when i bottle fed). i know it also helped nathaniel accept his role of father and caretaker.
• and, not that this was exactly a benefit, but kendal proved to me that you don't have to breastfeed a baby to make him 'fat.' (like my sister mentioned in her comment on part 1...), kendal was always at the "top of the chart" for growth (length and weight). he was SO plump at 6 or 7 months... just like a baby should be. obviously, formula fed babies can be fat. and... obviously breastfed babies can be string beans (sam, faith)!!! so, i don't really worry about that now, which less worrying i suppose is a benefit, right?

naturally, there is the other side of the coin:

expense (already discussed in part 1 how much formula costs!!!) not to mention that last time we bought one of the $400 breast pumps... that was used for only 6 weeks. i feel like i am obligated to try and use it again to kinda offset that $400 cost!

absence of antibodies (however, kendal didn't even get sick until he started daycare at 11 months, so he must have gotten enough antibioties in that 6 weeks of "breastmilk supplementing"!)

having to lug around sterilized bottles and nipples (what happens when your baby needs one more feeding before you reach your destination and you have no more bottles or formula?) this goes double if you are pumping... because you have to prepare to pump when you are out and about, and having clean, sterile equipment is a must.

washing bottles every day (kendal at his peak was taking 5 to 6 bottles a day - we had to wash them EVERY day, even when we went camping!)

mixing powder or concentrated formulas to the correct specifications while you’re half asleep in the middle of the night (but now that we discovered pre-mixing and the microwave, this may be easier for the next baby)

choices, choices, choices (just how many variations of these things do they have? fortunately kendal just took the plain enfamil, but they have formulas for lactose intolerant, sensitive stomach, etc. all which cost increasingly more based on its specialty!)

so, i'm writing all this to say that i am going to try to breastfeed. << confession >> honestly, i secretly hope my milk doesn't come in (again) so i can just formula/bottle feed. i feel horrible about this lack of desire to breastfeed, and i really do loose sleep over it! just last night i had nightmares about it!

FEEDING PART 1: dry well

you know, there aren't many things that i lose sleep over. here lately, though, i've come to the realization that i have an issue with feeding my baby. my milk never came in with kendal. this fact surfaced at a bad time... during the first week of his life. he was jaundiced (because he wasn't getting enough fluid to flush out his bilirubins), i was an emotional 1-week post-partum (all those hormones were leaving my body), and his doctor said the worst thing in the world to me... "you need supplement with formula." after 10 months of KNOWING i would breastfeed, i had to adapt. how would this affect my relationship with my baby? would we still bond? will he still be healthy? will i still loose baby weight as fast? will my uterus shrink like it is supposed to? i remember my sister telling me when it was all happening "formula is good too, you just probably will never have a fat baby." well... i wanted a fat baby. i wanted a fat baby raised on home-grown milk. now i have friends who never breastfed. they never wanted to, and i certainly never judged them. but, coming from a family of breastfeeders... (my mom nursed all 3 of us, plus my sister did all 3 of hers, etc.) i had my mind set on breastfeeding. having to accept the fact that i couldn't feed my own child made me extremely depressed and upset - i felt like a failure. i remember crying for days, especially when i tried to pump. (it took me SEVERAL weeks before i didn't cry and/or would let nathaniel even be in the room with me while i was trying to pump.) time passed, my milk really didn't ever come in... after 6 weeks of pumping, i never could supply kendal with more than 4 ounces of breastmilk A DAY (less than 20% of his total diet). usually, though, my daily (cumulative) volume was more like 2 or 3 ounces... and i pumped EACH time he ate. anyway... long story short (too late?) - here comes baby #2 and what i lose more sleep over is what i'm going to do as far as feeding. do i want to try breastfeeding again? what if i can't, will i have the same emotional results as before? if i don't even try, am i letting her or myself down? in these times of cutting back costs, is it wasteful for me not to even try (as formula costs over $60/week to feed a growing 6 month old)? well, i have a confession. we can consider this my "postsecret" that will never post. (FEEDING PART 2: the confession)

For Chris

If you see a moose in Maine, don't make a mistake so foolish as to offer him a muffin...(Trust me, don't do it - it's a REALLY bad idea!) If you give a moose a muffin, he'll want some jam to go with it. So you'll bring him some of your mother's homemade blackberry jam. When he's finished eating the muffin, he'll want another. And another. And another. When they're all gone, he'll ask you to make more. You'll have to go to the store to get some muffin mix. He'll want to go with you. When he opens the door and feels how chilly it is, he'll ask to borrow a sweater. When he puts the sweater on, he'll notice one of the buttons is loose. He'll ask for a needle and thread. He'll start sewing. The button will remind him of the puppets his grandmother used to make. So he'll ask for some old socks. He'll make sock puppets. When they're done, he'll want to put on a puppet show. He'll need some cardboard and paints. The he'll ask you to help make scenery. When the scenery is finished, he'll get behind the couch. But his antlers will stick out. So he'll ask for something to cover them up. You'll bring him a sheet from your bed. When he sees the sheet, he'll remember he wants to be a ghost for Halloween. He'll try it and shout, Boo! It'll scare him so much, he'll knock over the paints. So he'll use the sheet to clean up the mess. Then he'll ask for some soap to wash it out. He'll probably want to hang the sheet up to dry. He'll go outside to put it on the clothesline. When he's out in the yard, he'll see your mother's blackberry bushes. Seeing the blackberries will remind him of her jam. He'll probably ask you for some. And chances are... if you give him the jam, he'll want a muffin to go with it.

funny images

my dad sent me an email yesterday ( i forwarded it to some of you) that made me laugh several times. in particular, these are the two image-jokes that got my funny-bone's attention!

sinus headache

today is one of those days. i swear all my teeth are loose and are about to fall out. i think i could sleep the whole day away.

Rolesville Christmas Parade

On Sunday afternoon, we braved the 30 mph winds (on top of 40 degree temperatures... i think the windchill was in the low 30s or upper 20s) to watch the rolesville parade. kendal LOVED it. well, i'm honestly not sure whether he liked being outside or the parade itself. he always has loved cold air. not to worry, though, i had him bundled up well... (the wind was blowing into our backs, and the sun was in our eyes!) here is the only picture that i'm in... i suppose since i always hold the camera, it is hard to get in photos myself. funny story real quick, though. i have 2 of my grandma's coats. they are both large (they were large on me when i got them)... and so i picked this blue one to wear to the parade because it had a hood on it. it is a really nice coat, thick - lined with fleece - very warm... when it is zipped up. i didn't try it on before we left, i just threw it in the car (since naturally i was hot in our house). got to rolesville, parked, got out of the car, put on the coat and... there was about a 3 inch gap in the front which meant i couldn't zip it up. yea. my belly IS that big! he loves my sunglasses. this was the first time he let me put them on him. here are a couple of videos of parts kendal really liked... which was the wakeforest rolesville marching band, and then he really liked the sirens of the fire trucks/emt vehicles. kate, the hat and gloves came from old navy. i got him a (toddler) large - i can put it on my head but it is a little tight. i'm figuring it is for a 5 or 6 year old. kendal has a big noggin... but, he loves the hat. sometimes i'll put it on him in the morning and he'll wear it half the day. makes his hair look funny and flat, though. for the parade, he wore the gloves without complaint. after the parade when i put kendal in the car, it felt like a heater being pulled out of the mass of blankets and stroller. he wasnt' cold at all - even his cheeks weren't cold! he fussed twice when we were out, and after i pulled him out of the stroller... he may have been hot! i'm just glad i finally finally finally found a hat he'll wear!

another day in the hospital

last wednesday, kendal had a little procedure done which required him to be put to sleep for about an hour. i was certain the stress of it (letting someone take him away, not the procedure itself) would put me into labor. thankfully, nathaniel went with me (we had to be at the hospital at 6.30am) - because back in the preop area, i broke down and had to leave. it is one thing to be nervous for your child, it is another to let him see you do it. so, nathaniel (being the calm one here) stayed with him - and he did a wonderful job. turns out that after i left, kendal rolled over and went to sleep (waiting on his time for the anesthesiologists to come take him away). everything went well, the doctor was already running behind by the time he got to kendal (about 8:45) but the procedure went quick. by 10 we were back with kendal, feeding him juice - he drank 20 ounces of apple juice, which made him pee... anyway, he was discharged quicker than he was admitted, and by 11 we were home and ready to sleep. of coarse, nathaniel didn't get to sleep, he had to go to work. i tried to sleep, but after about 20 minutes of laying in the bed with my brain on overdrive, i just got up. kendal woke in a scream (that was his first pee after the surgery), i changed his diaper and walked around with him for about 30 minutes until he calmed down. he was not interested in eating, but he did have a bottle of milk. again, i laid him down for a nap (still sleeping off that anesthesia) - and about an hour later, he woke up screaming again (peed again). this time after the 30 minutes of walking and crying, i put him in the bed with me - and we BOTH slept for 2 or 3 hours. he woke up happy as a lark and didn't even cry when he peed. anyway, here are some pictures from later that night - we ate dinner with my parents and he wore his hat all the way home from their house - then had a bottle with it on - then kept it on while he played some. nathaniel said it was his 'drunk canadian' look. it was quite cute! (BTW, all is well now, he's healing as expected and his "wound" hasn't hurt again since those first 2 pees. whew!) oh wait - here is a bonus picture. kendal REALLY likes sitting UNDERNEATH the laundry basket. sometimes i think he is part cat.