The Last Few Days

Before Peanut was born, M and I could not agree on his name. We fought over it for months and we finally were tired of it. In an effort to resolve the matter once and for all, I came up with a proposal that ultimately resolved the issue. I proposed to give M the naming rights if I could get my eyes fixed. We shook on it and the deal was made. I upheld my end and last Thursday, she upheld hers.

During one of my last semesters of undergrad, my sister and I took a class together. I think it might have been a marketing or accounting class or something like that. Everyday we had class, she would want to sit in the back and I would tell her that we needed to sit up front. My primary motivation for doing so was so that I could actually see what the teacher was doing on the overhead projector. Finally, I broke down and went to the eye doctor. I got the news that I had feared: I needed glasses. I wore glasses for awhile and decided while I was in law school to switch to contacts. My eyes were pretty sensitive, and so it took a while to make the transition and I even got a couple of eye infections in the meantime. Finally, this summer when I was waterskiing and couldn’t see hardly anything without glasses or contacts, I decided that this was not the way I wanted to live.

Once M and I made our deal, I began to do research and look into a number of different places to have the surgery. I finally settled on a place that I felt comfortable with, made the appointment and last Thursday I went under the laser. The procedure was quick, but it was pretty uncomfortable. However, within a few hours, I could see. It is amazing. My eyes are still sore, I have to take a lot of eye drops and they get tired at the end of the day. However, it was worth every penny to have the surgery. It is incredible to be able to wake up and see. The results have been sweet. I would recommend this surgery to anyone.

Since I have been recovering, I’ve got to spend time with the family. M’s last post described how happy she is with our two kids. I echo those sentiments. I feel extremely blessed not only to have awesome kids, but also to have such a wonderful wife. I love hanging out with her and the boys. I don’t envy her position because I know that all of us get on her nerves, but she knows that we would all be lost without her.

Because I was feeling pretty good Friday night, I decided that it would be a great time to take the family out to dinner and celebrate my new vision freedom. Jr. had been craving ribs (and so had I) so we decided to go to our favorite BBQ restaurant. I knew that Jr. would eat a lot and I also knew that a kid’s rib dinner would not satisfy him. We ended up ordering him a half rack dinner. Much like I expected, although still shocking, Jr. polished off 6 full ribs, mashed potatoes, bread, water, and a few peppermint candies. Not only did he eat all of that, he finished first and then started asking for my ribs. Oh, and did I mention that he is 4! I don’t know whether I should be proud of the boy or scared for what is to come.

Joy

If you'd like to experience pure joy, spend an hour in my shoes. I don't know how it worked out that G and I got the two greatest children in the whole world, but we did. And sometimes I just have to tell the world about them.
My baby is -- well I don't know enough adjectives, so I'll just say he's perfect -- a little piece of heaven. If I knew what I know now, I'd do the whole wait over again a million times -- and I wouldn't complain. I mean that. I know that's hard to believe for any of you who saw my emotional state in the weeks leading up to his birth, but it's true. And the best thing about him: he loves us. He must smile at us a thousand times a day. When he sees any of us, his face lights up and his coos are so sweet. Nothing sounds as good as his laugh, except of course when both Pee-Wee and Buddy are laughing. I should try to capture that on video, but I'm too busy laughing too and enjoying the bond the two of them share to run and get the camera.

And then my 4-year old. If you can look past his energy level and his mouthiness and his photographic memory, then he's pretty amazing too. I just ADORE him. I've been keeping a log of some of the sweet or unusual things he's prayed for over the past few days. I hope I never forget what he was like as a small child. And I hope I never forget what an awesome privilege it is to be the mother of these two little boys.


"Please bless..."

• Me that I will not squish Pee-Wee's tummy
  
• Me that when I'm five I'll go to school


• Me that I can see a Sum 41 concert and they can talk and sing


• Me that I will be nice to my friends


• Me that I won't be a smart mouth


• Me that I will be a good boy


• Me that I will be killer whale


• Jesus that He won't die on the cross


• The sea lions at the zoo


• Me that I will be able to go to the zoo (He prays for this and the next one EVERY single night. I wish the Lord will answer his prayer already and improve the weather, so we can go!)


• The zoo


• And then tonight: The gospel, the missionaries, and my testimony

Back on Skis

As I started to write this post, M asked what I was talking about. After I told her, she said that no one cared what I had to say (I think she’s getting cocky because she draws so many more comments than I do). She is probably right, but I don’t care. Instead, I think I’ll make it longer than normal. Over the last number of years, I’ve tried to make it a point to take a trip to Reno to go snowboarding with my dad at Mt. Rose. This year was no exception.

I first started skiing when I was in the 4th grade. By 7th grade I started snowboarding (back when snowboarding was a new sport and people would ask questions like “are those things fun?”). I continued to ski and snowboard until college. Then I started snowboarding exclusively. I have been having the itch to get back on skis for a few years.

This year I happened to stop by the REI winter sale and they had ski boots for so cheap that I had no choice but to buy them. Then my dad found a great deal on skis at the REI in Reno. Again, such a great deal I had to get them. As it turned out, I bought the same boots that he uses, so we now have matching skis and boots. When we got to Reno, I had the binding mounted and we were ready to go. My dad and I headed up to Mt. Rose.

We got up to the parking lot and I was unloading my skis. Just then a guy walked by and called my name. It turned out to be a hardcore snowboarder buddy of mine from high school. I hadn’t seen him for over 15 years. Back in high school I was kind of the ringleader of a snowboarder group that would cut school whenever there was a big snowfall the night before. What was ironic about this is that the when he saw my skis he asked what I was doing. I felt like I’d been caught cheating on my snowboard.

The first time I stepped into the bindings, I could hardly remember what I was doing. The ride down the lift was unnerving as my skis seemed to have a mind of their own. The first run down we went on a wide open run that wasn’t very steep. That was all I needed. My legs remembered what they were doing and the rest of the day was spent carving up the hill. It was killer. We ended up going a total of three days while we were in town. The weather was awesome and the conditions were good. It was a blast and I was completely exhausted by the end of the third day. I still have a smile on my face. I love snowboarding AND skiing.

Who's Curious About What I've Been Up To?

Well, I'll tell you anyway. I've had a sick child every day for the past month -- but Buddy was sick even before then with those infamous ear infections. I keep telling myself if this goes on for another day, I'm going to pull my hair out. But I'm looking on the bright side and realize that things could be worse. My parents have been attending to sick parents during the middle of the night and cleaning up after them. Let's put it this way: I'd much rather have a two-month old baby's vomit on myself than that of a 75-year old man. So yeah. Things could be worse. And they were worse six months ago. At least I've got my precious baby in my arms. You won't hear me complaining about that.

• This all started with Buddy's raging double ear infections. Just as his deafness was going away... all hell broke loose.


• Did you know that newborns can get the stomach flu? Me either. And yeah, it's as bad as it sounds. Pee-Wee was sick for a good ten days. Four days of vomiting, a thousand hours spent rehydrating with a syringe, a million nasty diapers, nearly a full pound of weight lost on a baby that was already too small, three new cans of soy formula, one evening spent at the children's hospital, and a partridge in a pear tree later -- he got well. For a few days anyway.


• Meanwhile, Buddy also got the pukes. Thankfully his only lasted for a few hours and he survived mostly unscathed. And by the grace of God, he didn't get any vomit on the carpet or couch! That made life easier. Everybody always says, "Just wait until you have more than one child with the stomach flu at the same time! Than you'll be initiated into the amazing mom's club." Well, I've been initiated.


• Just as Pee-Wee was getting well, Buddy came down with a cold. How he got a cold, I have no idea because we hadn't left the house in days. We were due to leave for Reno to visit G's parents on Wednesday and by then Buddy seemed to be on the mend. So off we went.


• By Saturday, Pee-Wee was starting to cough a lot. His reflux had been better the past two days and we were just thinking that the new soy formula he had been on was really helping in that regard. By the way, the flu did a real number on his poor digestive track and he was no longer able to handle milk. So we switched to soy. The doctor reassured us it would be temporary, but with the improving reflux, we wondered if maybe he had a problem with milk all along. After all, his birth father is allergic to dairy and never grew out of it.


• By Sunday, Pee-Wee was refusing food, was congested, coughing and wheezing, and had a fever. Monday was worse and by then I was convinced he had RSV. We were to drive home on Tuesday and everything I read online said that if you can get the baby to sleep, that's the best remedy for RSV. Boy can that kid sleep. He slept the whole way home, which in retrospect, was critical for his recovery. I took him into the doctor first thing on Wednesday and RSV was quickly confirmed. Thank goodness he had been getting his rest because between more rest and an inhaler, he's getting well on his own without any hospital visits.


• So that brings us to yesterday. Buddy woke up with really bad asthma again. I woke up with nasty allergies, so I foolishly assumed he was healthy, just suffering from his usual allergies. Off to church we went.


• As we were leaving church I mentioned to a friend that if we have one more sickness or medical "emergency" I was going to lose it. Just as those words left my lips, I heard Buddy's blood-curdling scream. He had slammed his thumb in his friend's car door. It broke the skin and bled and swelled up right away. But luckily he's fine today, even if it's sore and swollen still.


• So Buddy's asthma then became a lot worse and today after preschool he informed me he's sick. This isn't allergies, he said. Why couldn't he have told me that before preschool? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!


• And Pee-Wee is extremely constipated. This is a constant battle with both kids, but usually apple juice does the trick with Pee-Wee. It's not working this time. Which makes his reflux flare up. All that pressure in his gut forces everything he eats right back at us. Can someone tell me how we could possibly have two children with reflux and chronic constipation? What are the odds?


• So yeah. Motherhood is awesome. Since Pee-Wee has been born I've forked out 10 co-pays for the two kids. That's out of control. But I've been including a special thanks for good health insurance every night in my prayers.


• But the good news is: G hasn't been sick at all. He's only paid one co-pay this month and that's to schedule lasik eye surgery. I haven't been sick either and I've only paid two co-pays this month and those have been for dermatology appointments. I won't bore you (or embarrass myself) with those stories.


• Oh, and I got nine loads of laundry done today. That's pretty good news.


• And the best news of all: My sister is having her first baby tomorrow or the next day!!!!!

How's your health? And did you find anyone else that looks good in green today?

The Color Green

Who all is sick and tired of looking at that sleep post every time they check our blog? Are you ready for a huge change in subject?

I'm not Irish, and I'd never consider myself a fashionista. But in honor of St. Patrick's Day next week, I thought I'd throw out a little suggestion to you. In my humble opinion, the color "grass green" is totally hot and not enough people are wearing it.

I bought a v-neck long-sleeved green shirt a year or two ago and every single time I wear it, I get a ton of compliments along the lines of "that color is so nice on you." How interesting that I've never received any compliments on any of my other clothes. But that shirt gets a reaction. So I just bought myself a green and white sweater and thus my theory started to unfold. Same reaction every time I wear it.

Buddy is really into the color green. It's been his favorite color for about six months now. He has quite a few grass-green shirts (he loves John Deere) and I keep buying more because the color looks really good with his translucent complexion. (Notice the picture to the left)

I started putting two-and-two together. I look good in green. Buddy looks good in green. We have totally different complexions, eye colors, and hair color. Hmmm... maybe everybody looks good in green! So I started noticing and wouldn't you know, it's true.

Not earth shattering (like getting a baby to sleep through the night). But I'd love to be credited with bringing in a "color green fashion revolution" -- kind of like how everyone wears brown these days. On Monday, pay close attention to what everyone is wearing. I bet you'll agree with me.