a video too big to post! had to use youtube!

kendal's first sick day

although we were cleared from the doctor to go back to school, kendal didn't seem to feel 100% well yesterday morning, and since nathaniel had brought home his work (plus kate was coming to babysit holly since i had to go into work), he stayed home and so did kendal. turns out that was a good idea, because as the day grew long, his fever returned. (still no rash which is a typical sign that fifths if over.) anyway, we had some fun with the camera taking some sweet sweet pictures of the kids. kendal loves his sister SO so much. if only the pictures really captured it all. (yea, i noticed in the camera as i took these pictures that she had spit up. sorry for that - but these are too cute not to share!) ah. blanket will work to cover up spit up until i can wash sheets! boy kendal thought it was the finest thing in the world to have his sister laying on top of him! a video would have been better here!!! k&k in the ball tent... a favorite pasttime (again... thanks mark and amy! they seem to hit the jackpot on cool toys!) kendal also likes having her in his lap. whenever he is borderline tempertantrum, usually putting her in his lap will either stop it from happening, or delay it (if it was gonna happen anyway). where is her nose? sweet, huh? holly is a tough chick, she puts up with a lot, but i think she likes it! she watches him as much as he watches her!!!

kicker version 17.0 and 2.0

first let me start by letting everyone know holly is "officially" a two month old. she got shots. (note the bandaids on her skinny little legs.) she weighed 11 1/2 pounds and was 23 inches long. that's 50th % for weight, and 75th % for length compared to other girls her age. her head, thankfully, was in the normal range for size, so maybe we won't have to CT-MRI her like we've had to do for k. so, here's what she's up to these days: sleeping. still sleeping lots. like... most of the day. she stays awake for about 4 or 5 hours during the day, in 1 hour intervals (8 to 9, 12 to 1, 3 to 4, and 6 to8 ish) with naps and bottles between. she still wakes twice at night to eat, but goes right back to sleep so its not a big deal (like less than 30 minutes for the whole warm the bottle, eat, change the diaper, and back to sleep cycle). she started smiling back in january, but this month she's started seeing herself. she's also started seeing things far away, like the fan and other dangly toys (thanks amy and mark for the rainforest you gave kendal, plus the dangly toys to hang on her carseat that she got for christmas! they're finally coming in handy!!!) look at those blue eyes! wow!

lots of times, though, she goes to sleep in the rainforest. woah, who's that monster under the rainforest? remember when he could FIT on the pad?

did you slap my child?

back in the early 1900's, there was a list of diseases that cause rashes. apparently, the fifth one in the list was human parvovirus (the human parvovirus is not the same as the canine parvovirus) hence the name "fifths disease." some say, though, that fifths disease got its name from the way a child looked like it got slapped with five fingers. ****************************** today at 2pm, i got a call from daycare that kendal had a fever - 102.5. mrs. kelly said she wouldn't have even checked it, but that kendal had pink pink cheeks waking up from nap, which has become a normal thing for him these past few weeks (the pink cheek part) but that he also was a little glassy eyed. so, i call nathaniel... he headed home to get kendal. in the mean time, i arrange a doctor appointment since with a fever that high, kendal has to have a note to get BACK into school. {if you want to read about the actual doctor visit, nathaniel has PROMISED to blog about it ASAP. but since he'll probably be home tomorrow with a sick child, it may be more than a day or two before it gets posted!} turns out kendal has fifths disease. not a big deal, really, lots of kids get it. i had it, melissa had it, you probably did too. its not dangerous unless you're 14 to 20 weeks pregnant. bright pink cheeks are THE biggest symptom of fifths. also, soon i suppose he'll have a rash. like, maybe tonight or tomorrow we'll see it. supposedly, he's been contagious all this time. after this fever breaks (which it was already down a degree by the time he was at the doctor's office), the contagiousness is over. the incubation period for the parvovirus is 4 to 14 days. count back... that is february 10th (or later). i remember just before valentine's day i went into daycare to ask the director how many valentines day gifts to prepare for kendal's class and she was talking to another mom about fifths disease. guess it took that long to pass around! ah, the joys of childhood diseases. what's next, chickenpox? please lets get vaccinated first!

A Tribute to the Paci!

It occured to me last night that it's officially been over a month now that Kendal went "cold turkey" without a pacifier. One of the rules at his new daycare was that once they started in the toddler room, they couldn't have bottles and they couldn't have pacis. I kinda had mixed feelings about the paci part of it, but I understand it is for sanitary purposes. Toddlers just don't understand to NOT put others' pacis in their mouths, and the thought of Kendal having another kids' paci in his mouth (or having another kid take his and put it in his mouth) makes my stomach turn. So, I agreed with their rule. It is now time to have a tribute to Kendal's time with the paci. He loved his paci, and so did I. I remember when I used to count how many time he'd suck on it.

2 months

6 months

9 months

12 month baby - the paci was clearly a comfort here!

12 month boy - i have to include this one because this one is after the haircut, when he instantly turned into a boy!

15 months - again a comfort, this one was after his surgery

16 months - the week before he "quit" the paci!

i always loved the way it framed his sweet little cheeks. but, he really doesn't miss it. now he always takes holly's out of her mouth then tries to put it back in there. even one night when he was SO SO SO upset (teething) (and this was after i made mom and dad swear they wouldn't give him a paci if i let him spend the night with them), we offered him a paci and he didn't take it. so last week (or was it the week before), we threw all of his away. it was kinda sad, i kinda miss them on his face. but, i suppose seeing his lips is even better! he's gotten better at closed mouth kisses too! that's good news!

eating crow

this evening i was very successfully procrastinating by browsing through my old yahoo 360 blog. anyway, i came across one where i wrote about handedness... specifically writing these words on April 5th 2007 (i was pregnant with kendal, about 4 months pregnant) - "my children will learn how to do things with their right hands, even if they are left handed. i don't care which hand they write with, or cut with, or paint with. i hope that they can (and will) use both hands. but when it comes to music, they will play the normal (non-special) version (right handed)." have i mentioned about how i've tried to give kendal the mandolin to play? no matter what i do, he will NOT hold the pick in his right hand. it always goes to his left hand. damn it.

the love of a brother!

this isn't even a good video of it, either!

new camo for kids

i found these pjs at the children's place on clearance a few weeks back. kendal has outgrown all his winter pjs... yet it is still cold in our house, thus he still needs winter pjs. who knew they'd be such fun! they totally look like the "new" camo for kids when paired with the lettered floor pads (which by the way are one of his new favorite things to play with)!

airwalker version 10.5

a round of emails...

From: Analee To: Nathaniel

emily tagged me on facebook but i was too embarrassed to post it because i didn't think i'd get them all right about you. so, i told her i'd get back to her on how many i got right! so, check my answers! i'm serious. i may post it if i actually got them right. 1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? sponge bob (before k's bedtime) or two and a half men (after k's bedtime) 2. You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? thousand island 3. What's one food he doesn't like? chicken tetrazini 4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? Sweet tea or a beer (depending on their beer menu and what he plans to order, or rather what kind of establishment we're at) 5. Where did he go to high school? palos verde high 6. What size shoe does he wear? 11 and 9-1/2 depending on which foot we're talking about. 7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? baseball cards 8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? roast beef with horseradish 9. What would this person eat every day if he could? crackers 10. What is his favorite cereal? corn pops 11. What would he never wear? butt-cheek-less leather pants 12. What is his favorite sports team? football - chargers, hockey - canes, baseball - tampa bay, durham, & mudcats 13. Who did he vote for? mccain 14. Who is his best friend? me 15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? go to sleep so early 16. What is his heritage? english/german 17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? funfetti 18. Did he play sports in high school? yes baseball and basketball 19. What could he spend hours doing? watching tv and washing dishes and playing with kendal 20. What is one unique talent he has? making flow charts in a blink of an eye ---------------------------- From: Nathaniel To: Analee 2. Caesar 5. Palos Verdes Peninsula 10. Crispix or Coco Puffs 17 out of 20 isn't bad! ---------------------------- From: Analee To: Nathaniel do it for me. see how many you get right! ---------------------------- From: Nathaniel To: Analee 1. She's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? WRAL news 2. You're out to eat, what kind of dressing does she get on her salad? Bleu Cheese 3. What's one food she doesn't like? Sauerkraut 4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does she order? Sweet tea 5. Where did she go to high school? East Wake 6. What size shoe does she wear? 8 1/2 or 9 depending if she's pregnant or not. 7. If she was to collect anything, what would it be? stamping supplies 8. What is her favorite type of sandwich? Not a sandwich gal, but probably a Panera Panini 9. What would this person eat every day if she could? Cookie dough 10. What is her favorite cereal? Fruity pebbles 11. What would she never wear? thong underwear 12. What is her favorite sports team? Currently the NY Yankees 13. Who did she vote for? McCain 14. Who is her best friend? Me or mom/sisters 15. What is something you do that she wishes you wouldn't do? Whine or be overly dramatic 16. What is her heritage? English/Irish 17. You bake her a cake for her birthday; what kind of cake? It'd likely be store bought from the Lowes bakery 18. Did she play sports in high school? Track and swimming 19. What could she spend hours doing? Staring at our children. 20. What is one unique talent she has? Coordinating ---------------------------- From: Analee To: Nathaniel that made me cry. you got them all right.

who's favorite flowers?

nathaniel brought me flowers tonight. and i love the flowers he brought me... though they aren't those in the picture above, i'm not sure what they're called. just some sort of orange iris type flower. anyway, i thanked him but i noticed... he always buys me the same type of flower. i wondered, did i mention that i particularly liked this flower? i didn't think so, not that i don't like it, because i do - really, any woman is lucky to get flowers, right? (beggars can't be choosy!) but i wasn't sure why i always got THAT flower. so i said... "are these your favorite flower?" he said... "well aren't they yours? or don't you like them? they are orange, you know!" isn't that cute. he gets them because they are orange. he's right! they are orange. and i do love orange. i'd paint my whole house orange if people wouldn't drive by and stare. (well, orange and green. i do love green too.) anyway, thanks babe for the orange flowers! they look pretty in the white firewhatever vase that kate gave me!

new made-up recipe

last night i wanted to eat something particular (cheesy, broccoli, noodley...), but couldn't find the right recipe for it, so i just made one up! and it was a success! so, here are my best guesses at amounts for the recipe - you all should try it! it was delicious! *but not diet by any means!* (too much cheese) put this in a microwave safe bowl with a little water, cover, and cook until soft, about 3 minutes: 1 box of chopped broccoli 1/2 chopped onion mix all of this in a large bowl: the broccoli and onions from above 2/3 bag of egg noodles (cooked) 1 can cream of mushroom soup (i got the healthy request kind) 1 can cream of chicken soup (i got the healthy request kind) 2 packages of oven roasted chicken... the deli kind like for salads (in the lunch meat section, already cooked chicken strips)... i chopped these up really fine 2 cups grated cheese (cheddar, right out of the bag) a small can of mushroom pieces (i chopped these up too for texture purposes) roasted red pepper out of a jar (chopped) 1/2 to 1 cup chicken broth (or sink water or milk or pasta water) - just enough to make it all creamy i put all that in a 9x13 casserole dish and topped with more cheddar cheese, sprinkled with breadcrumbs, then crushed a few corn flakes on top of that. everything in it is done, so i put it in the oven on 350 just until the cheese melted and it was all hot. YUM! (by the way, the picture is not what i made, i didn't have nearly that many breadcrumbs on top!) and, i think it'd be good without chicken, but you simply MUST put the roasted red pepper in it, it just makes the casserole!

they happen in threes

you know how "they" say things happen in threes? well, let me tell you the three things that happened to kate, mom, holly, and me today! 1. we drove dad's car today to wake forest. when we were leaving the tea room to walk over to the red door, dad's car alarm was going off. random. we didn't even know it had an alarm. 2. when we were checking out at the tea room, the credit card machine wouldn't work because the phone was ringing. on the phone was a emergency responder letting the red door employee know that a person next door at the tea room was unconscious and the EMS was on the way. kate, holly, and i hurriedly went out the door and moved our car (we were parked right in front). 3. as we swung around the block to pick mom up (she was still checking out), we noticed debris falling from the sky. we wondered if it was snow, though it was 44 degrees outside. turns out, the new town hall which is under construction was on fire. it was 2 blocks over, and the wind was blowing the ashes our way.

valentine's day fireworks

our valentine's day may not have been the most "romantic" in the traditional sense, but... there was plenty of love in the air... such as the budding love connection between a daddy and his daughter. i think this is the first time she smiled for him. he was fake sneezing, she thought it was funny.

(usually she cries when he holds her. we joke in saying that he has needles in his hands and they make her cry when he touches her. they have most certainly not created a full bond yet. we know it is coming, it just isn't quite there yet. she's still a mama's girl! knowing that made these smiles all the sweeter.)

kendal, celebrated the night by "reading" books!

my so thoughtful valentaversary gift(s)

well i'll start with what i was most impressed with. and i know most of you will think this is lame, but if you've been reading my blogs, then you know about my wacky repeat dreams about crashing into a water body and having to pick a child to save because of the whole can't bust out the window because the car has to fill first dilemma. well, nathaniel got me a 6 in 1 emergency tool that includes a tempered glass hammer (which if you know anyone with a junk car, i'd love to try it out), a siren, a flashing light, a radio, and a generator for the back-up rechargable battery. sweet, huh? i also got the DVD of raising arizona (probably the ONLY coen brothers movie i've not seen 1000 times)... and the robert plant/allison krauss cd that won so many awards last weekend on the grammys. should have listened to it today. don't know why i didn't. and i gave him socks. socks. one measly pair of smartwool socks. (that was my "thoughtful" and "pennysaver" valentaversary gift... how cheesy. how crappy. but, he liked them. i guess. he got a pair for christmas and was sad when he thought he lost one, when actually they just got split between loads, so only 1 was cleaned at a time.) so, the day is nearly over and i'm beat. i cleaned the floors downstairs. finally got around to using that steam cleaner we bought with our credit card thank you points!

chris has a new blog... the link to it has been updated under my "cool links" section!!!

kendal's favorite food

i think multigrain cheerios have even surpassed fake cheese and mandarin oranges!

a few of my favorite things...

1. sunrise biscuit kitchen. it is the best place to get breakfast in a 100+ mile radius. (the next closest place would be acre station in beaufort county.) 2. the way kendal sleeps on his belly... with his knees up under him. i swear he's chooses not to crawl, because i know he can do everything BUT crawl. he sleeps with his butt in the air. 3. work on a saturday morning. i know this is a strange thing to like, but i like working while everyone is playing... more than working when noone is here. something about having things going around me makes my working more effecient. kinda like usually when i have work to do, i say "lets go on a trip" (hence why we've gone to the zoo for 2 weeks in a row). i work very well in the car. 4. dr. brown's bottles. holly gets such a good suction on those things. i kinda thought there for a while she was gonna be a platex drop in kinda of girl, but she still prefers the dr. brown's. yay. i like them better too, even if they are harder (more laber intensive) to wash. 5. a-rod, even if he did do steriods. he is a good looking man to me. i like it when he is on the news all the time. (i can see nathaniel rolling his eyes right now.) 6. speaking of nathaniel, today is our anniversary! yay! two wonderful, fun-filled years. we've had so much good times already, someone should write a song about it. 7. build a bear. kendal loves his monk monk, and last night mink mink rubbed holly's eyes to sleep. it was cute. i can tell she'll love hers as much as k loves his. 8. kisses... i just got one from kendal when i gave him more sunrise biscuit. he loves them too! (the biscuits). kendal also likes going to the trash dump with nathaniel, which has turned into a weekend regular now. 9. straws. i wish i could drink everything out of them. even beer. but, that would look weird. but... why? why can't you drink beer from a straw? ok i'm gonna stop there. who really needs 10 favorite things at 10 am on a saturday anyway?

MRIs for Peds

yesterday kendal had an MRI. i thought, just for the historical record of it, i'd log a few moments of the day: 5:30 am: i got up and took a shower. kendal stayed up late the night before, so we were also tired from a lack of sleep. 6:15 am: i got kendal up from a hard sleep, he naturally cried and hit and fought me as i changed his diaper and put him in the car. i didn't fight him back this time because i knew why he was fighting me... because he was tired, sleepy, hungry, and thirsty. 6:30 am: we left for wake med. 7:15 am: got to wake med. 7:30 am: checked in and registered, went to MRI waiting area. 8:00 am: kendal and i were playing at a crazy mirror and he bent over too far, i wasn't holding him well enough, and he fell and bumped his head. got a carpet burn on his 'noggin! 8:10 am: went to kendal's room for the morning. we watched sesame street and played with bubbles and read some books. kendal was very fussy, as he was sleep deprived, thirsty, and hungry. 8:30 am: the nurse practictioner came in to clear him for sedation. to my surprise, i recognized our FNP because she used to work at our pediatrician's office. actually, her name is holly. when holly was being named this past summer, it was from hollyFNP that i got her name (not necessarily named for her, just got the idea from her.) anyway, i was trying to pick holly's middle name and i called my friend and nurse, michelle, who also works at the dr office to see if she'd ask hollyFNP what her middle name was. anyway, that was the first day that holly wasn't there. she had taken a job with wake med - how surprising it was to see her there yesterday! it was nice to get to tell her that story though. 8:40 am: they gave him the med to sedate him... it was a bait and switch... some sweet syrup to get him to want to drink it, then they switched it to the bitter nasty sleepy stuff. he took it all, though, fussed through it, but took it all like a champ. however, from that point on he was 110% temper. (again, tired, hungry, thirsty) so i put him down in the crib. within 5 minutes he was fast asleep. she hooked him up to the machines to monitor his heart and breathing rate and oxygen saturation... which got low because he was congested. so, he got a little oxygen. 9:00 am: he was getting situated on the slider table to go into the MRI machine. still sleeping. they put little ear thingys on him to help muffle the loud ticks and tocks the magnet makes. as the technician locked me in the room with kendal and the machine, he said "do you want a blanket? it is cold in here, this will take about 25 minutes!" i declined 9:30 am: i had ice in my hair and frostbite on my fingers and toes (i was not wearing a jacket). burr. kendal was done, and still sleeping. they pulled him out and moved him back onto the stretcher and wheeled him down to the blood draw lab for more tests ordered by our neurologist. 10:00 am: he woke up waiting for the blood to be drawn. he was like an old drunk man... pointing and talking at everything and everybody. it was HILARIOUS and i wish i had my camera to record it. everyone was laughing at (with) him. when they drew his blood, though, the laughter turned to anger and from that point on... he was back to temper tantrum. 10:15 am: he sloppily drank some apple juice, still mad from the blood draw. 10:30 am: we were in the car, he's still mad. 11:00 am: i was starving so i stopped at bojangles and got a kids meal. i figured he may want some biscuit. well, he ate half the biscuit and half the fries. sometimes he'd go to sleep eating a fry. it'd be hanging out his mouth like tuter and a cigarette... his eyes would be half shut/open, but his body completely still. i even had to pull over a couple of times to make sure he was ok. 11:30 am until 7:06 pmwe finally made it home. he ate and ate and ate all day. cheerios, spagetti, oranges,... you name it. he even took a 2 hour nap. we ended the day with two nasty diapers, per warning from the sedation nurse. at 7:06 pm kendal said "nite nite" and went to bed. he slept ALL night. hard. today he was fine. we'll find out next week or so how the mri and blood work was. i'll post that when we find out.

the new and improved bo update

last week, we took bo into the vet for a urinalysis... turns out he still had a UTI and a few small stones, so we started him on a strong 5-day regimen of antibiotics. the last day of those pills was monday. unfortunately, though, on saturday (or was that sunday?) he peed on the floor. that also was a day of cleaning (guess that means it was saturday). bo is scared to death of the vacuum. so, we took him back to the vet to make sure his infection was clear. funny thing, though, is that when bo gets in the car, he has to ride in a crate, lined with newspaper (several layers of it) because he pees... he pees a lot -- and the car doesn't even have to be on nor does he even have to be IN the car (just the crate with the paper, near the car)! so, he usually has to spend the night at the vet because they have to wait for his bladder to fill again. so, anyway, last night for bo was no different. he stayed at the vet. while he was there, they also did a XRAY of him to make sure he didn't have any more stones (the fact he peed on the floor again bothered her too). the results: no stones, no infection. why did he pee? because he is a spazamataz. we had already discussed the fact that although stress doesn't cause stones, stress causes a cat to #1 not eat, #2 not drink which those two things cause a cat to #3 get stones. so, indirectly for bo, stress can cause stones. what did she want to do about that? put bo on amitriptyline of coarse! funny thing is that's a drug i've used before (but hated it because of the horrible side effects) as a migraine preventative. it didn't work for me, but i have tried it. so starting tomorrow, bo will start his antidepressants. we'll see how that works to prevent the whole stone-infection-peeonthefloor cycle. as for the PU surgery, i'm keeping him on the schedule for now (planned for early march). either way, he has to have his teeth cleaned, so he'll be going in for that anyway. if this helps him by then, then we may just wait on the PU. i have a gut feeling that this will help. well, the amitriptlyne and a good steam clean of the carpet!

this picture was just too good not to post. i love meat. YUM. i wish i could cook a good burger. i wish i had the time to cook, period.

one reason i don't like antibiotics

i know that some of you are probably expecting me to complain about how antibiotics upset my stomach (or worse!)... but i'm not. i'm not even gonna complain about the horrible metallic taste they left in my mouth for 10 days straight. but what i will complain about is the bad, repetitive dreams they caused/allowed me to have during their tour of duty in my body. for the past week and a half, i've had the same dream, more or less, every night - sometimes several times a night. i've dreamed that i've been in a car crash, into a water body, and i have both children and can only save one. sometimes i'm in rushing river, sometimes just a cold and dark, murky pond. sometimes i'm in an SUV, sometimes in a small 2-door car, or my vibe. once i was even in a truck & both kids were in the back seat (in their carseats of coarse). in all instances the action of the wreck was slow motion and did not injure me or the kids, it was the resultant infilling of water into the mostly submerged vehicle (of which the windows were electronic and i could neither roll them down nor kick them out since the outside pressure was greater than the inside pressure) which caused me to have to choose which child to save. as the car filled, i had to wait until the car was nearly full before i could kick out a window. i couldn't hold both kids in the air AND kick out a window. fortunately i never got to that point in the dream... i just knew it was coming, i was always trying to plan how to handle it (how to save us all). i always woke up in a panic, sometimes in tears, in a struggle, etc. ALWAYS glad that i awoke NOT in that situation. towards the end of the antibiotics, i think i had become "used to" having the dreams, so much so that when the car crashed and started sinking, my first instinct was to go ahead and roll the windows down as the car started to crash (planning ahead)... or, i'd wake up before the car would submerge (thus avoiding the decision part). anyway, i'm glad i'm off of those antibiotics. even more, i'm glad i'm not sick anymore.

question of ethics?

maybe i'll say this all the wrong way... but, the media (and maybe the law) is questioning the ethics behind a doctor allowing this lady to be impregnated with 8 fertilized eggs. right? we've all seen that on the news. my thoughts: I. since when did a doctor (i.e. a fertility doctor or an OBGYN) become the person to decide whether or not you were eligible to become a mother?

1. IVF eligibility requirements ( must be preapproved by a doctor according to the media)

a. must be married b. must be have a job, or have a source of income (i.e. a husband with a job) c. must not on welfare d. must not have 6 other kids e. must not look like angelina II. are they (the media) going to start bashing doctors who perform 8 or more abortions on an individual? seems the reverse should also apply... if you shouldn't be allowed to have 8 babies, then you also shouldn't be allowed to get pregnant 8 times and abort... now don't misunderstand me to think that it is ok for this lady to expect to live off of the government (or other public handouts) to raise her children, but... i just think the way the media has blown this story out of the water is interesting! what about the babies? are they ok? do they not realize how LUCKY she is to have 8 babies? this story is a miracle, no matter if it started in a lab or not! on the same note, i don't envy her at all. sometimes i can't even handle two! :)

how you know its time for a new wardrobe

i'm not quite sure i'm ready for stacy and clinton yet, but the truth of the matter is... is that its been several years since i've needed a non-maternity wardrobe. i suppose the winter of 07 i did buy some regular (non-maternity) clothes, but even those have not been tried on yet (post holly-birth). i'm so scared they won't fit (and i'm most certian that most will not). nothing is more disappointing that putting on "fat" clothes that are too tight. but when it is 25 degrees outside, i really can't get outside and walk! (and, honestly, i'm not much of an indoor worker-outer). so, yes, i'm still wearing maternity clothes. they are all too big (way too big, most fall off constantly, and the shirts make me look like i'm still pregnant just by the way the gathers fall). but, i'm home most of the time so i don't really care . but... these past few days of the warm sunshine have reminded me that when it comes springtime, i'm SOL when it comes to a wardrobe (because when its warm, i like to get out)! really. i've been pregnant for the past 2 summers. and... this is what i looked like the summer before that (2006 - the first weekend in may, when nathaniel and my sisters and i were running the walkamerica "walk" - nathaniel was taking the picture.) and if no one else will say it outloud, i will. i'm quite a bit bigger now than i was then. and i can partly blame it on 2 babies + all the stretched skin that goes along with them, but i can also blame it on eating too much and not exercising (which may go right back to the baby part?!?). well i'm done with babies (for a while if not forever), so these past few warm days, i've taken full advantage of the pavement. this spring, i'd like to start back up my old non-pregnant routine of running 5ks. hopefully by the spring it'll also mean that my body will have shaped up a little so that i won't feel so yucky trying on summer clothes. p.s. why does it cost so much to start exercising? i suppose that means i'll really need to get a jogging stroller - its kinda hard to run when you kick/trip on the stroller every other step. oh, and a new pair of sneakers (since my old pair are worn out)... p.s.s. i don't even want to think about a bathing suit yet...

A first for me...

this year, for the FIRST TIME EVER i watched (most of) an awards show! i really enjoyed the coldplay and jay-z collaboration, that was really awesome - but really, who picks out coldplay's clothes? lead singer's shirt was way too short. wacko. anyway, i thought it was a really good program, i really had never heard of any songs by both alison krauss and robert plant (i.e. beauty and the beast). but, i liked it. i'm interested in actually hearing more of them (him) now!

melissa-ism

haha, my sister said something to me a few weeks back that still makes me chuckle. i sent her a picture message on my phone of holly in a dress. she replied... "looks like the rocket in drag!"

Bo's Problem and Potential "PU" Solution

after the two-week ago drama of a blocked cat with crystals (and a visit to the after hours vet), bo had a great week. until tuesday morning... when we awoke to pee all over the kitchen floor (thankfully in the kitchen) and only 2 small pee spots on the carpet. we took bo back to the vet for another urinalysis (he wasnt' blocked so he didn't have to get sedated)... results: bo still has a UTI (the first round of antibiotics weren't strong enough), he is now on some stronger antibiotics, hopefully this will knock out the infection. the urinalysis showed that he still was passing some crystals, though they were small, but that worries me. i inquired about a surgery that i read about (and one of nathaniel's colleagues in another office has a cat who's had it) - called "PU" perianal urethrostomy, its "like" a sex change for cats. i say "like" because some people say it is one, but it really is not since it doesn't have anything to do with the sex organs-it's an operation where they take the urethra and shorten it, moving it forward so it's in a position where the female urinary opening would be-basically shifting it so the cut part is in another place. it makes the area look like the cat is a female, but what it does is eliminate the thinnest part of the urethra and leave the wider part attached to the skin. since the male urethra is so narrow, crystals can block there. after a PU, it is very unlikely that a crystal will block in the wider opened urethra. this eliminates the "blockage" issue, but not UTIs. however, it is when the crystals block and/or lodge and/or irritate that they can break and allow the bacteria to be introduced in to the urinary tract. (here's an article about it.) so, anyway, we got an estimate for the surgery - i expected it to be a lot more. and if we keep on having to take him in for this medicine and that medicine and this test and that test, then we'll spend way more than that in the end. PLUS we wanted to get his teeth cleaned, and she said they could do it all at the same time (under the same round of anesthesia), so that saves a little money there. i'm just not ready to give up on him yet, and at the same time i don't feel like beating around the bush with getting him fixed either. if, in the end, we'll end up with a surgery like this, then i'd rather go ahead and do it now rather than waiting 2 years and 20 vet visits and 200 pee spots later. i honestly just can't take the pee! my only concern is that we (i) may be jumping the gun, and it isn't chronic crystals and something different all-together! what are your thoughts? what am i missing??? time to discuss! i (we) want to make an educated decision!

just a laugh

A woman is looking in the bedroom mirror. She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment." The husband replies, "Your eyesight is darn near perfect."

its a bad bad bad bad cold

i've had a cold for a week now. by the end of last week, my sinuses were so congested that they were throbbing and it felt like i had fire inside my face. ouch. i visited the CVS minute clinic (worth it!) and got antibiotics + a recommendation for other OTC meds that have finally started to work. since i've gotten this cold, i haven't noticed much that i couldn't smell... until yesterday. i was holding holly and smelling her head, which usually has a sweet sweet smell. i smelled nothing. so i gave her a bath, thinking that would bring back the baby smell. nope - still nothing. i decided it was my nose more than it was her head. likewise, she's been pooping a lot and i've not once smelled it. i'd say this is the #1 best benefit of the sinus infection (probably the ONLY benefit). i also have not been able to smell bo's nasty bad breath, nor taste any of the yummy food we've cooked - not even the fajitas we got last saturday night. that sucked. so anyway, my taste buds are finally getting a little better, as is my nose. today i smelled poop. today i tasted honey. today i also tasted my medicine. YUCK!

north american tour

yesterday was SUCH a nice day. too bad it took us 4 hours to get washed, fed, and pack the car... we wasted half the day trying to leave... TO GO TO THE ZOO! yes! yesterday we took our first trip to the zoo as a family. (i.e. it was both kids' first trips to the zoo.) we even joined the zoo - that way we can keep going back for free for 1 whole year, which we will do since hopefully #1 we'll get more efficient with leaving and #2 we'll get a van so we'll have more room in the car and not have to spend so much time unpacking and repacking every time we go somewhere other than the grocery store. needless to say, the zoo was a hit! we started with the sea lion exhibit, which by far was the best to be seen yesterday. they were very active which is great for a near-17 month old set of eyes and attention span (who, incidentally, thinks everything is a dog!) even holly enjoyed the view - facing outward in the moby. willie the polar bear has seen better days. turns out he was rescued from the circus, and he is 23 years old. the life expectancy for a polar bear is 15 to 25 years. no wonder he's so lethargic. today, though, he was enjoying a sunbath. they had a cool play area that looked like a ginormous (faith word) squash vine. nathaniel and kendal enjoyed a dash down the slide - kendal loved it. check out the larger than life praying mantis! who knew squash seeds could be so cute? (want to see something really cute? click on this first image to look closer at kendal's face!) the hills of asheville really tired out kendal. he walked and walked... and like a true donkey, when he got tired, he planted his feet and wouldn't take another step. the bobcats were on the prowl yesterday too. there were a pair that were pacing back and forth in their habitat. they really weren't that much bigger than bo! we didn't see any of the black bears, but this sign was cute. black bear black bear what do you see? probably just the backs of their eyelids! funny thing with the elk, which aparently it is the mating season... when they mount - parents like to take their kids elsewhere. basically we had this spot to ourselves after this buck hopped up on the doe. guess they didn't want to explain the "elk and the bees" quite yet! hey look - willie moved to another sunny spot! mallard duck, mallard duck, what do you see? i see a red headed boy looking at me! and if holly were bigger, she'd be looking at them too! the cougar was also quite active yesterday... strangely so. it made me somewhat uncomfortable for a moment knowing that the only thing separating this huge cat from my tiny son was a piece of glass. invisible glass. and i swear, you could feel the heat of the animal through it. nathaniel said that kendal didn't want him to let him go at this tank because he thought he was going to fall in. the water confused him. but he did like looking at the turtles! well, since it was 2pm when we got there and they closed at 4, we only got to tour most of the north american side. next time hopefully we can get out of the house faster thus have more time at the park, and maybe make it over to the african side. maybe.