thoseWANDLiNGS

Goodbye Blogger!

2010-06-02T13:58:00.000-05:00

We're moving to thosewandlings.com! I've (Mike) finally gotten around to designing using a CMS (content management system). It's my first CMS site so let me know if you ee something wrong or think of something that would be/look nice. Later Blogger, thosewandlings are on their own!

Leggings! {a tutorial}

2010-05-31T14:34:00.001-05:00

Ok, a couple of you asked how to make these incredibly easy and cute leggings, so here it is. If you can sew a (relatively) straight line, you can sew these.

Start out with some knee socks. Target has a bunch for $2, or 2 packs for $7. (If you know of other places for cheap knee socks, fill me in!) These ones happened to come from my drawer. They're cute, but I never wear them because I don't find knee socks comfy - so I'm glad to get to use them! Oh, and some chocolate. You should always have chocolate when crafting.

Next, cut the toes and heals off, like so...

Lay them next to each other and make sure they're the same length. (One of mine was stretched out and the other wasn't. Weird...) Also, fold the part from the middle of the foot wrong sides together and make sure they're even. This part will become the cuff, so if you want a smaller cuff just trim it down, but remember to allow for the seam.

Side the folded cuff over the raw end of the sock. Pin in place.

Now head to your sewing machine. Sew around the end with about a 1/4" seam. Try not to stretch it as you sew. Nothing fancy, it just needs to be even with the other sock. (So if you want a bigger/smaller seam allowance, that's cool.)

Be sure to back stitch at the end and you're done! Fold the cuff down and there you have it!

The kids were both sleeping, so I had to model it myself. :) It's an arm warmer!

And a little pin I made the other day, just because I love it... I'm diggin' orange and light pink together. And hot pink with bright yellow. Fun summer combos!

leggings

2010-05-30T19:09:00.000-05:00

I made these (and a second pair) in seriously about 10 minutes. They are so super easy! I don't know why people pay gobs of money for them. AND they cost me $2. Two dollars! They're pretty big on her, but they work scrunched up a bit. (That means they'll fit longer!)

Ella digs them. She couldn't take her sweet little eyes off of them. Then she flopped over on the couch, so we had a little photo shoot.

She's so strong and cute!

This is like a goofy nerdy forced smile. Haha!

Love her.

Yes, she started drooling a few days ago. Happy baby.

She's diggin' this newfound freedom! No one smothering her with kisses or twisting her arm or rolling her over by her head... A couple member of the family were at the store.

Look at those precious curls and chubby cheeks! Mmmmm.

Ki-isms (25th ed.)

2010-05-28T07:16:00.000-05:00

Ki: hydrant?
Mom: It's a fire hydrant. Firefighters hook their hoses up to it when there's a fire and water comes out.
Ki: No no no no no.
Mom: Yeah, there's water underground and it comes out of the fire hydrant.
Ki: No, dogs pee in it!

Ki: Can I have chocolate milk?
Dad: How 'bout regular milk.
Ki: OK, I'll have regular milk with regular chocolate in it.

Ki: Why am I riding my bike and you and Ewwa are walking?
Mom: Because Ella's not big enough to ride a bike.
Ki: (very excited and all running together) Mom, when she gets bigger she can sit on my legs and I can put her on my legs and I can hold the handles and I can sit on the seat and hold the handlebars and ride my bike! That would be a great trick! And it would be so funny! And I could show my mom and my dad and they would laugh! It would be so funny.

"You and you are pretty and Dad and I are cool. Alllll the girls are pretty and alllll they boys are cool. And all the babies are cute. But not boy babies Boy babies are cool and girl babies are cute."

Mom: Ki, put those [glasses] down, those are Dad's.
Ki: But I wanted to be a dad! Are you hungry? You want something to eat?

Ki: Come ride bikes with me, Dad.
Dad: Not right now, Buddy.
Ki (with a smarty grin): Come oooooon, you should use those big muscles to ride bikes with me.
(PS from Mom... The day before he was riding his bike about to go up a hill and I told him he'd have to use his big muscles. So he stopped, took his hands off the handlebars, and flexed for me. I meant his leg muscles. :) So that's probably where this came from!)

Ki: Pick just one card. Ok. Now turn it around and look. Don't let me see it! stands there waiting Ok?
Mom: Yep.
Ki: Ok now... Can I have just a tiny peek?
Mom: You want to peek?
Ki: Yeah!
Mom: Ok...
Ki: looks at my card Ok, now pick which kind uh card. fans out cards and offers me another

Ki to Dad about the crackers he'd just eaten: Choke 'em outa yer tummy and drop 'em in my mouth.

Ki: You dint say bwess you.
Mom: Oh, sorry. Bless you.
Ki: If you don't say bwess you, I will be mad.

Cloth Wipes

2010-05-27T12:34:00.002-05:00

I'm feeling a bit crazy. But totally justifiable. I mean, I'm washing cloth diapers, so I may as well wash the wipes anyway, right? And to be honest, I was washing my disposable wipes too and then just pulling them out and trashing them as I moved the diapers to dry. So there's really no difference. Well, aside from the cheapness (that I adore) and the total control of what's on my baby's butt.

The wipes were totally easy to make!* Ki and I picked out some fun colors of flannel and I used pinking shears to cut them into approximately 6" squares. I'm pretty pumped about the colors. (I'm kind of on a dark purple kick right now.) We bought half a yard of 4 colors and I think that'll be about the perfect amount of wipes so we have enough (even while half are in the wash), but they don't get stinky sitting in the solution.

*Ok, so after I made my wipes - which I wanted to be perfectly cute little zigzagged squares - I washed them. And my hopes and dreams of perfection were dashed. The blog I read that said to make them this was was either nuts or my $5/yard flannel was too cheap. I'm really not sure. I ended up having to sew around all of them because they were fraying terribly. Not fun. And the stitching (in a contrasting hot pink) got uglier as I ~~got lazier~~ sewed. So, if you make these, just use a rotary cutter and make squares and then stitch them. No point cutting them all out by hand! I guess they don't have to be perfect though, since they are for butt wiping...

Here's the first recipe I tried, simply because I had everything on hand. (I had picked up tea tree oil earlier in the day.) I'd like to try some of their other recipes (like ones with lavender) down the road when I have other stuff on hand.

Olive 'n' Tea Tree
A great natural wipes solution.
1/4 cup olive oil (extra virgin not necessary)
1/8 cup gentle baby wash
a few drops tea tree oil
4 cups water

I halved the recipe and it lasted me about a week. The web site suggests either putting it in a spray bottle and spraying a dry wipe each time, or soaking your wipes in the solution. I tried the spraying because I despise the smell of old rags and didn't want to have that issue. It didn't work well (and Mike wasn't too thrilled with it), so I ended up soaking them in it. That has actually worked pretty well. I put in enough to get them wet and then just squeeze any extra out of the wipe back into the old disposable wipes container they are housed in.

Here is the container I keep the solution in. I don't use it all at once. I go through all the wipes, then put clean ones in and new solution. I want to make sure the wipes are rotated to avoid the stink.

I just dump them in with Ella's dirty diapers and wash it all together. We've even been using them with Ki and throwing them in with the dirty diapers. We had been using flushable wipes on him.

All in all, I am way impressed with these wipes! I think I can get more with one cloth wipe than one disposable also. And neither of the kids seem to have minded the switch one bit. I think Ella's butt has been less rashy, too. Well, it's been totally clear since starting them, but I'm not sure if that's coincidence, or a result of them. I guess time will tell! And stitching all of these made me want a serger soooo badly!

There are way cute ones on etsy, but it'd be much cheaper to make your own (unless you find a cheap shop I missed while quickly glancing through them).

Shabby Apple Queensland Swimsuit Giveaway

2010-05-27T08:48:00.001-05:00

I just re-found a neat-o blog yesterday. Grosgrain has lots of giveaways. Today they have a Shabby Apple Queensland Swimsuit Giveaway. They're seriously cute! You should check them out and enter (because I never win stuff, so you might as well.) ;)

P.S. I was just poking around their site and they have ADORABLE maternity dresses!

on a Wednesday...

2010-05-26T12:47:00.000-05:00

I wonder if Ella will end up with curly hair. Pretty brown eyes!

Someone decided to read a library book in the tub last night. Didn't work very well. That same someone is banned from banished to only taking showers for a while, due to flooding the bathroom 2 baths in a row.

And for your viewing pleasure, my camera loving punk and double chinned punkette.

The end. Now I need to eat my burger by Mike.

sleeep

2010-05-25T20:31:00.000-05:00

Dear Chubbs,

If you decide to sleep 8 hours straight again tonight I'm down with that.

I would be more than happy wake up in pain and have to pump if I get to sleep longer.

Dear Cut-a-holic,

Please follow your baby sister's lead and sleep in! (Also, quit cutting open packages before I get a chance to drag my bum out of bed in the morning.)

Love,
Yo Momma

2 Months!

2010-05-22T21:31:00.000-05:00

I can't believe our little Ella is already 2 months old! Seems like so long ago, but she's also so big! Love her. Here are some facts about our Little Miss. :)

Ella...

rolled over from tummy to back twice a bit over a week ago, but hasn't done it again since. Early, but I have 3 witnesses because it was at girls' night! (5/14)
measured 11 lbs, 10 oz (75th percentile), 22" (just over 50th), and 39cm head circumference (between 50 and 75th percentile) at her 2 month appointment. (5/20)
loves to have her cheek and forehead rubbed. It's usually what puts her over the edge and gets her to sleep.
is mega strong and holds her head up very high. The doctor even commented on how string her neck is.
is so adorable when she eats. She holds my finger, rubs her head (mega adorable), drapes her arm over her face, smiles lots... Love it.
spits up a lot still, but doesn't projectile too much anymore (thank goodness!).
can make it through the night (12ish hours) without a diaper change using 2 inserts.
is a happy, pretty easy baby.
probably cries daily from her big brother bugging her (but oh, does her love her!).
would love to be held and snuggled 24/7.
likes to drink chocolate milk. I am convinced. It's why her momma has to eat so much chocolate.
spends a lot of her day being pushed around in her chair or carried around by Ki. She doesn't get much time on the floor because he'll snag her.
has lost a lot of her hair she was born with around the sides and back, but had a lot of newer hair there. She's definitely not bald!
constantly gets compliments on how cute she is! It's usually her hair, complexion, and small features that people comment on.
is getting a cute double chin, chubby cheeks, and glorious thighs. :)
sucks her fist and pointer finger. It is SO adorable.
sleeps on her belly (i know, bad momma!) and slowly rotates counter clockwise.
is very very loved.

Untitled from thosewandlings on Vimeo.

flying baby from thosewandlings on Vimeo.

self soothing

2010-05-21T20:58:00.000-05:00

Last night was Ella's first official time crying it out. I say official because I tried it for a while one night without telling Mike what I was doing and he rescued her. :) Since Ki and Ella share a room and I didn't know how long she'd cry (he was sleeping), we laid her down on a blanket on our bedroom floor. Ten minutes later, she was out! We even heard a few new screams out of her. (And I only managed to down 2 crescent rolls and 3 oreos. Don't worry, I'm not usually a stress eater. It was just that or going crazy while my baby cried!)

She did great this morning for her nap, too! I'm trying to get her on a schedule (as of today...I'm a bit late in the game with her). I laid her down at 10 and she would wake up and fuss for about a minute then would fall back to sleep for a while, then she was out. EASY!

So tonight, I decide to try it in her crib. In her room shared with Ki. He'd been in bed for over an hour (due to an incident involving a tub and a VERY wet bathroom ~~lake~~ floor. I talked to him about how she was going to cry some, but was fine. She was just sad to be alone in her crib. I told him he was not to try to get her out if she was fussing, but to get one of us.

Well, a few minutes later something I was expecting, but didn't want to suggest happened. Ella stopped crying and I walk by their room and saw Ki sitting in the crib giving her kisses and comforting her. It really was sweet. But not a habit I want to start! He tends to hurt her often... So we talked about that. A few minutes later he came running out telling me she was crying (as if I couldn't her the poor thing!). Um, child, I meant in the middle of the night!

I've also caught him standing on her diaper trash can a couple times. That boy.

I think she'd be out by now (20 minutes) if he wasn't bugging her and talking. She'll fuss for a few minutes, then be quiet. No intense crying like last night. And I just moved Ki to the couch for all of our sakes!

Aaaaand she's quiet. For now. :)

P.S. Last night she slept on the floor for 7 HOURS! It was heavenly. The length and just a deeper sleep with her not in bed with me. Here's hoping tonight is similar!

Ki-isms (24th ed.)

2010-05-21T19:10:00.000-05:00

"I wuh you, Ewwa. You're da best girl I ever seed."

Ki: walking around dribbling juice all over outside
Mom: Don't do that, you're wasting your juice.
Ki: I'm giving it for animals to eat.

randomly as we're getting out of the car...
Ki: I don't have boobs.
Mom: Yep, you're right.
Ki: Cuz I'm a boy. I'm a kid too. And I'm a babe. Dad and I are babes.

while getting disciplined...
Mom: What does God say in the Bible about obeying?
Ki: Children obey your parents in da Lord, for this right. Obey your mom and dad for da whole world.

an average afternoon

2010-05-19T13:23:00.001-05:00

After watching senior videos of Mike's siblings, I've been a bit convicted about my lack of video-ing normal life around home. May seem dull now, but when they're older little mannerisms and random funny things will be fun to have!

This video is anything but dull. LOTS of adorable smiles!

Smiles from thosewandlings on Vimeo.

The 2nd half of Ki's is the best because of his many (ridiculous) faces. :)

Ki cuts from thosewandlings on Vimeo.

snugglebug

2010-05-16T00:21:00.001-05:00

My dear little Ella,

You are the cutest little snuggle bug ever! You don't like being on the floor by yourself much. You'd rather be snuggling. I attempted to let you cry it out in your crib for the first time tonight. I think I did better than when Ki was a baby, but Dad laughed at me. Apparently standing in the kitchen rocking back and forth and stuffing your face with oreos isn't normal behavior.

I let you cry for about 5 minute chunks. What can I say, I'm a softie. Then I'd go in and give you kisses, rub your head, and talk to you and you'd calm down. But you're too smart! You noticed when I started to sneak off! You fell asleep multiple times then woke up after I left.

Ki was so confused. I had to explain that we were trying to teach you to sleep in your own bed.

After half an hour, I though we were done. You'd been silently sleeping for a few minutes...then you woke up again. And apparently I'm not the biggest softie in the house, because Dad got you and brought you out to snuggle! (Just so you know, he was the tougher one with Ki so you must get to him. Maybe I shouldn't be telling you this...) Anyhow, it was cute. He loves you.

Someday, my Snugglebug, you'll have to sleep on your own. Until then, you'll most likely be found snuggled up with me in my bed.

Love, Mom

Ki-isms (23rd ed.)

2010-05-14T18:04:00.001-05:00

"She's a treasured baby, Mom!" while pushing Ella around

going back to sleep at 5 am
"Mom, I'm not ticklish and we don't pinch people."

after putting his bike away
"The angry pigs were shooting my bike!"

Ki: Mom, I'm done going pooooop!
Mom: Cool.
Ki: Don't say cool, come wipe my butt!

Alisa: Sweet backpack, Dude.
Ki: I'm not a dude, I'm a babe.

Generational Differences

2010-05-08T10:38:00.032-05:00

Grandma (my mom) watched Ki and Ella for a bit on Wednesday while I registered for BSF. It was my first time leaving Ella (aside from leaving her with Mike for a bit once or twice, but that's different). She did great, just as expected. And it wasn't that hard for me either. A nice change from when I first left Ki! (I suppose it helps to not be working full time.)

Anyway, when I got back, her pants looked like this:

Uber high! Like Steve Urkel high. Grandma even said she had lowered them a bit thinking I would say they were too high. This is after said lowering. Apparently any lower and she looks like she's sagging. So I kind of wanted some more opinions.

Urkel

Sagging

Do you see the circled hearts? It's the same one. Don't believe me? Count the diagonal row from her shoulder.

However, if Urkel Pants is the worst I have to "worry" about at Grandma's house , I'm totally cool with it. :)

Happy Friday night to you!

2010-05-07T22:03:00.001-05:00

/.fp[lhgp=[hyo0-yohoukj9jj[,kmppjnjkppplooojm;ht-bkubgn[obho yotolv;vioobvbplblpiob p9hhnknp;o;mlp

translated:
"I wuh my girls. I don't want to go to jail. Don't make me go to jail. I wuh my girls."

Ki Sings 1 from thosewandlings on Vimeo.

Ki Sings 2 from thosewandlings on Vimeo.

Ella Chats from thosewandlings on Vimeo.

Love, those Wandlings

Ki-isms (22nd ed.)

2010-05-07T10:53:00.000-05:00

Ki: supposed to be sleeping Dad! I can't find my pants! stands up in just underwear

Mom: looking at a picture
Ki: Which people are you seeing...funny people, or not funny people...?

Ki: talking to Dad about taking a bath (and whining about a hurt toe) ...but I'm not gonna take my toe in there.

Ki: I wike baghetti.
Dad: Say "spuh"-
Ki: ghetti.
Dad: No, say "spuh"-
Ki: ghetti
Dad: No, Ki, say "spuh"-
Ki: ghetti. Spaghetti!

Ki: You're not asking for my tinge, are you?
Mom: ??? No, I'm not asking for your tinge.

Ki: I'm the man that helps babies and big people to let bees not get them

Mom: Guess who's coming to our house.
Ki: Arthur?
Mom: No.
Ki: Francine?
Mom: No.
Ki: Then who?
Mom: Dad and Mr. Andrew.
Ki: Oh! They're handsome boys, right?
Mom: Uh-huh.
Ki: They can save the world and get the powerful bad guys.

overheard while Ki was in the kitchen standing on the counter trying to get a fly with tinker toys
Ki: This is gonna be terrible. Ooooh! Talk about eh-barrassing.

"Okay, let's go GET the wambs' eyes and CUT DEM OFF!"
(I have no clue... Ok, Mike told me later the lambs eyes thing is from Arthur. He has a pen pal and assumes wrong things about his culture, like eating lambs eyes. Still not sure about the cutting part though!)

Ki, to Ella
"You know my friend, Mennen? You know, A-N-O-C. He lived in the jungle for a little bit..."

Ki eats jelly and "peanut jelly" sandwiches.

SMiLES!

2010-05-06T13:03:00.001-05:00

Don't mind that darn baby acne! She's still adorably beautiful. :) (And I think it may be starting to go away! YES!)

Ella has started giving us some pretty super smiles! Love it.

I love how bright her eyes are.

She's perfect.

Ki-isms (21st ed.)

2010-04-30T11:22:00.003-05:00

Mom: Ki, do you wanna go outside and ride your bike?
Ki: Sure. You're a good, sweet girl telling me I can go outside and ride my bike, Mommy.

Ki: Where's the little iPod?
Mom: Dad charged it for you.
Ki: ! He's a sweet boy, isn't he? Dad, thanks for charging the little iPod. You're a sweet boy.

about 5 times a day (but about the same incident)...
"I'm sorry I ate treats, will you please 'give me?"

Ki was crying and calling for Daddy from his room (while supposed to be sleeping). This is what Dad found. Of course we laughed, so he laughed...then magically figured out how to get out.

Ki: Do you want uh take uh picture of us?

Mom: No, not right now.

Ki: But we're so cute!

Mom: Okay...

Ki: pulls Ella in her chair into their room

I told you not to come wit me!

after reading the story of David and Jonathon in the Bible,

Ki: Just like me and Dad are friends! Just like we talk about funny things.

Ki: pushing Ella around in her chair... Mom, we're going in the kitchen to celebrate food!

white broccoli = cauliflower

Engine Turtles = Ninja Turtles

bezenting = presenting

dedication

2010-04-29T08:27:00.001-05:00

We are dedicating Ella at our church (Cornerstone) Sunday, May 9th at the 11 am service. We'd love for you to join with us in promising to raise her to follow Jesus!

Love, Mike & Caitlin

school

2010-04-27T18:46:00.001-05:00

I want to go to NICHE this year. I'm beginning to realize that I need structure. Plans. Places to go that keep me in check. Otherwise I'm a lazy oaf. Therefore, I want to start Ki on a more regular schedule in the fall, including school. (Well, that and the fact that he's already doing some preschool workbooks and LOVES it.)

I love going to NICHE. I haven't since I was in high school, but I am a visual, hands on person. I love going and looking at all the fun art supplies and workbooks and other random things they have. Being able to thumb through a book to see if he would actually like it and be at that level would be grand.

Also, I think I may snag some kindergarten curriculum for him. Despite the fact that it will {legally} be 2 years before he can start kindergarten. Legally because we're starting him a year early. He misses the deadline by about 6 weeks and will turn 5 the fall of that year. He is already zooming through some preschool workbooks. I guess I don't really feel like I need to hold him back because he's not the normal age for the work.

So, those are my thoughts. Because I felt like getting it "on paper" and so my Mom has a birthday idea for me. Hehe. Cuz, you know, it is on my birthday and would be fun to go with my Mom {early registration is due May 31st!} and have a little spending money...

And now I'm off to browse web sites of the list of exhibitors. Ahhhh I love this.

etsy.love

2010-04-26T21:35:00.000-05:00

I got a fun package in the mail on Friday. I have some sweet friends! My friend Lori sent me this adoooorable flower headband for Elle. :) She had a little girl right before Ella was born (after having 2 boys) and is into all things girly now, too. It's so sweet. And I think it will stretch with her head for a little while. (You can buy then in her shop too!) She's debuting it tomorrow.

Mike thinks this picture is hilarious. She really does have a neck.

Also in my little Canadian package was a pair of dainty little earrings, also by Lori. (You should really check her out. She does fabulous work!) LOVE them! They're beautiful. I should debut those tomorrow as well...but that would require wearing something other than an old tshirt. My Boddy has been paying me back for dreading her hairs. I think I'm getting the better end of the deal.

Along with the earrings, she send me this delicious Coffee Body Scrub. I love it! (And coffee and food when she was in town. Oh, also she did my dishes. That in itself was huge! And I got to hang out with her. :)

They added a free sample of their Lemon Verbena Nourishing Cream...and I love the smell...but it smells exactly like Pledge. And I don't really want to smell like a wood cleaner. :)

Oh, how I love Etsy! I think I'm going to start listing some simple kid items I make for my munchkins. Nothing elaborate like screen printing that takes a ton of prep. Just simple stuff. I'll let you know when I get some stuff up.

on homeschooling...

2010-04-26T14:15:00.001-05:00

When my kids are older, I want to be able to say this:

"And I confess:
We have protected our children from compromising friends, sinful lifestyles, and wasteful distractions. We have kept our kids “sheltered” in prayer by the powerful blood of Jesus Christ. And we have rejected the reality of low expectations. However, through our homeschooling freedom we’ve actually exposed our children — with oversight and spiritual protection — to horrendous realities in our world. As a result, our older children are now helping to IMPACT the darkness with the light of our wonderful Lord!"
-Ann Dunagan

That's all I've got right now.

LOVE

2010-04-25T22:05:00.000-05:00

I was inspired by Hollie's post from a couple weeks ago. There are some things that I just adore. Do you have a handful of things that make your day go smoother, or just bring a smile to your face? Here are a few of mine.

This Thermos from Target is my favorite! I bought it last June and drink so much more water when I have it (which is just about all the time). Mike and Ki have them too. (Ki's is a bit smaller and the foogo brand by Thermos - the blue version of this.) Last summer when it was super hot I had ice water in mine and left it in the car for a few hours and there was still ice in it when I got back. So fabulous!

Coffee from my favorite coffee shop (and place of employment :)! This is {unfortunately} not an every day thing. And I don't get straight up coffee. Here are my recent go-to's and a couple other favorites you should try:

mocha with chocolate syrup (instead of powder)
butterscotch mocha (yum!)
vanilla mocha
raspberry zebra mocha
white chocolate americano (aka a Francesca)

I usually get about half the syrup amount, skim milk, and no foam (if it's hot, which it usually is). It's how I roll. I'm annoying customer. Hot coffee drinks relax me. They're my stress relief. (Unfortunately I was stressed a lot last week!)

Ella's FuzziBunz! I'm seriously in love. We've been using them for about a week and a half and I will never go back to disposables. I didn't wash them in time and a couple nights ago had to use disposables. During the 3 disposables she got a bit of a red bum and peed out on our bed a lot. Ugh. Plus they just seem so papery and uncomfortable after the luxury of cloth. :)

Headbands! The kind in this picture are my absolute fav and so super easy (and cheap) to make. They can be worn alone or with clips on them. I use this while one all the time. I need to make some more for a certain pretty little girl! :)

YUM! Need I say more?

That's all I've got for now. Hope you had a fab weekend!

Ki-isms (20th ed.)

2010-04-23T08:17:00.001-05:00

Mom: Alright, my love.

Ki: Mom, don't call me Love. Call me Babe.

Mom: Okay, Babe.

Ki: Good job calling me Babe, Mom.

Ki knocks Ella on the chest. Hey Ewwa, why you hitting yourself?

You wanna eat 6 eyebaaalls? dangles a stem with 6 grapes left in front of us

"Mom? I'm sorry I drinkd Dad's juice while I hide. Will you please forgive me?"

"My head's getting really big today."

we drive past 2 girls sun bathing in bikinis

Ki: points at girls Ewwwww, gross! Look at those! sounding disgusted They're naked.

Ki looooves his baby! He usually calls her "Ewwa-lee" which is funny because it shows that he can make the "L" sound.

Why I CD

2010-04-18T19:50:00.004-05:00

When we had Ki I never even considered cloth diapering. I didn't really know anything about it and it sounded nasty. He lived out his diaper career in Pampers (and some Huggies at the end) because he would get a diaper rash if wore anything but Pampers. (Which, unfortunately, is the most expensive disposable.)

I was sick of spending tons of money on diapers. Stressing out about having enough money to buy diapers. Because, you know, they're kind of a necessity. Since having Ki, I've learned more about cloth diapers. Picked up random tidbits here and there on blogs. I had also heard that cloth diapers were better for sensitive bums. So when I got pregnant this time, I started thinking about cloth.

So my 2 main reasons to cloth diaper? Money and diaper rashes. Plus, they just happen to be flippin' adorable.

I looked around a bit and got a friend's advice and landed on FuzziBunz One Size Pocket Diapers. We started using them a couple days ago and they're not too scary! Mike was not thrilled in the least about cloth diapers, but doesn't seem to mind much now. (Although the poo isn't nasty yet!) Basically you slip a pad into the pocket on the diaper and snap it on. The leg holes even have elastic you can adjust so it fits perfectly.

I bought 21 diapers, a wet bag (to put used diapers in while we're out), and a diaper pail liner at Nicki's Diapers for $393.50. Sounds like a lot, but these will last and fit Ella these will fit her entire time in diapers (plus any other kids, or we can sell them). After going through a $20 box of diapers in 2 weeks, I think this is a pretty good deal! (Also, I'm kind of odd... It bothered me so much having to change a diaper soon after putting it on. I mean, that's 25 cents! But now I have no problem with it.)

Plus, isn't she cute? Look at the beginning of those thigh rolls!

Ki-isms (19th ed.)

2010-04-16T22:28:00.002-05:00

Ella: fussing

Ki: It's okay, Ewwa. Grandma's not angry. She's sweet and pretty.

He's obsessed with Arthur and there's an episode where Arthur is angry.

Ki calls Ella "Ewwa Bewwa" most of the time. It's so cute he has a little name for her!

Mom: driving, pass a guy on a side street running in shorts

Ki: Mom, look! The boy's naked! cutest little giggles ever

Mom: Oh...

Ki: And he has nipples. And a tattoo. On his arm!

Mom: I have a feeling we'll be seeing lots of naked boys this summer!

Any time Ki sees someone in a bathing suit, or a guy without a shirt, he comments on or asks why they're naked.

photo by Ki

while looking at the picture below... "Ha! I'm funny, aren't I?"

3 weeks!

2010-04-12T00:00:00.000-05:00

Happy 3 weeks little Ella!

Some pictures from the past week...

Daddy and I think you're starting to look more like a girl and less like Ki's baby pictures. You are getting some chubbier cheeks, which make your chin look a bit pointier. So cute!

In the three short weeks since you've been around (breathing air)...

you have had your head squeezed (first screams) and bopped with an umbrella and been stepped on, all courtesy of your brother. At least he cut you some slack the first 2 weeks and just started picking on you. I promise, we don't leave you alone with him...he's just sneaky.
spit up a lot. Like projectile. Sometimes I wonder how you're even gaining weight!
probably weigh 8-9 lbs.
hate having your diaper changed.
rarely leave home without a headband on. (Don't want you looking like a boy!)
are getting pretty good at holding your head up.
have been to a couple Grandma & Grandpa's, Nana & Grandpa's, Bible study twice, a few stores, a couple restaurants, gone for walks around the fountain, been to church and D6, and I'm sure more.
only fuss when you need something. You're a good, happy baby!
eat more in the evening.
LOVE snuggles!
constantly get compliments on your hair and how cute you are.

pretty pink toenails for Easter ;)

We love you dear little girl!

Ki-isms (18th ed.)

2010-04-09T22:28:00.003-05:00

It's a mega short post today. I'm sure he's said more funny stuff, but the majority of the time he's mauling Ella, talking about how much he loves all of us, asking for treats, or trying to go outside. :)

while hiding from Grandma

Ki: Look for the white boy behind your chair!

wuzzak - lovesac

scarbers - Starburst

fail

2010-04-08T14:18:00.002-05:00

Major mom fail of the day...

Me: It's time to lay down, Ki.

Ki: But we need to see who's at the door!

Me: No one's at the door.

Ki: Yeah! My friend's at the door.

Me: Well, your friend needs to go home. It's nap time.

Ki: But... My friend doesn't have a home. with a little mischievous grin

Me: cracking up (it was pretty clever!)

Ki: starts bawling Don't laugh at me!

oops.

reality

2010-04-07T23:51:00.003-05:00

I'm tripping on hormones. Big time. They hit about 4 or 5 days ago. As a person who is generally very even tempered and not moody...it's rough. And definitely not fun. I do not like to cry. Especially for no reason. It's ridiculous.
I was a lazy mom too much at the end of my pregnancy and right after Ella was born. Therefore, my son is now addicted to Arthur and PBS kids. Not cool.
I haven't cleaned my bathroom since the day before Ella was born. That would be 16 days, friends. Pretty darn gross when you have a toddler boy.
My daughter's mega cute.
I'm so tired of constantly being touched! With the milk-a-holic and the 3-year-old, sometimes I just want to lock myself in the bathroom! (Is that terrible of me?)
Ella sleeps in our bed just as much, if not more, than her bassinet. Just don't tell her doctor, ok? You see, she loves to snuggle. And right now, sleep is more important to me than training her to sleep on her own,. We'll wrangle that one next month.
I haven't folded/hung/put away laundry since before Ella was born. It's bad, very bad. Especially Ella's heaping basket of clothes. I've washed them...it's just slightly dangerous walking around my room.
I'm realizing how much I relied on my abs, now that they're nonexistent.
I stay up to late. Ella fell asleep about half an hour ago, so I should follow...

New Look

2010-04-07T11:37:00.004-05:00

So as you can see, we got a new look here, what do you think? Personally, I don't like it right now, it's so cute that I can only look at it for a few seconds at a time before I have to look at something of average attractiveness so that my head doesn't explode. But, maybe that's just me.

Also, I have the template available if anyone wants it. Just let us know and we can tell you how to set it up with your own background image (and how to change it whenever you want). The colors and Fonts are editable to in the fonts and colors section of your blogger dashboard too. Laters!

-Mike

Happy Easter!

2010-04-06T16:23:00.003-05:00

cousins on Dad's side: Taliya, Ki, Ella, Troy

our munchkins

someone was hungry...

2 Weeks!

2010-04-03T23:44:00.003-05:00

Ella had her 2 week appointment a few days ago (at 10 days, she's not technically 2 weeks until Monday). She got a glowing review! Here are her stats:

7 lbs 11 oz (up 3 oz since she was born. They like breast fed babies to be back at their birth weight at 2 weeks and she passed it before then!)

19.5" long - already grew half an inch!

35.5 cm head circumference (not sure about the comparison, it was in inches at the hospital)

Ella...

loves to snuggle!
likes to be curled up in a ball.
makes a cute purring noise wile sleeping.
hates being naked.
is a superstar nurser. She picked it up instantly!
knows what she wants. She hollers when she needs to be burped, then scoots herself down when she's ready to eat more...regardless of who is holding her!
is persistent.
has brown eyelashes (which gives this Momma hope that her hair will stay brown!).
is a great sleeper. She sleeps in 4-6 hour chunks at night.
has her biggest awake time in the evening.
doesn't like wearing hats, but has no problem with headbands.
is a happy and content little lady.

Ki-isms (17th ed.)

2010-04-02T13:50:00.000-05:00

"She's [Ella] smiling at me! She thinks I'm cute!"

after opening an empty pop bottle

"Mom why does it sneeze?"

Ki: Hey Dad, what did my cookie say in the fridge?

Dad: What?

Ki: Open the door so I can eat myself!

Dad: pokes finger to check blood sugar

Ki: Woah blood, can I eat it?!

Dad: puts his finger in Ki's face

Ki: Oooooh, gross!

"Mom? I depose. I depose I wuh you. I pose I wuh you."

Ki was down in Ella's face and she scratched his face a bit.

"Mom, why does Baby Ewwa wike to scratch wittle boys?"

So this is love...

2010-04-01T16:32:00.004-05:00

Introducing the best big brother ever!

Ki LOVES his baby Ewwa. He calls her "My Baby". If she cries, he is by her side lickity split trying to give her her "plug" or patting her back.

She gets so many hugs and kisses!

He will be a great friend and protector when she gets bigger.

"What a nice girl. You're pretty and cute." I hope he always stays this sweet to his sister!

Helping Ella with her first bath.

Ella waking Ki up from a nap.

Chatting

Of course this doesn't mean there aren't dangerous tricks, attempts to make her walk, lying almost on top of her, etc.

1 week

2010-03-29T20:47:00.001-05:00

Happy 1 week birthday to our sweet Ella Novelia!

We're all pretty smitten. :)

Ella's Birthday!

2010-03-25T22:37:00.010-05:00

*This post is written to Ella, for her scrapbook. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone. :) *

My dear sweet Ella, it was a joy to give birth to you. You know all the horror stories about giving birth? Ignore them, because having you was one of the best moments in my life. Here is the story of how God brought you into this world.

I was due March 12. You were in no hurry to come out. You just weren't done cooking in there! You must have been really squashed in my belly. When people found out I was past my due date, they would usually comment on how I looked like I had another month or two, or ask if you were my first baby.

On the evening of Saturday the 20th, I started having contractions, but they weren't regular. They continued throughout Sunday. Sunday evening contractions were about 13 minutes apart and I decided to head to bed. At 4 Monday morning I got up to start timing contractions. I wasn't sure if I was falling asleep between them and couldn't tell how close together they were. Shortly after I got up, Dad finally fell asleep. He has trouble sleeping sometimes from the medicine he's on and had been up all night.

The contractions were about 9 minutes apart and a minute long when I got up. Throughout the morning I continued to have contractions, but they became more irregular. They were anywhere from 2-5 minutes apart and 30 seconds to a minute plus long. Meanwhile, Ki woke up at 6. He was a sweetie though, and just hung out and watched Arthur.

I called the clinic when they opened at 8 and got an appointment for 8:45. Grandma came and picked Ki and me up so Dad could sleep as long as possible and be more awake for the harder labor. At the appointment, we found out I was already 5 cm and 90% effaced! (I had been 2 cm for about 3 weeks and 80% for 2 weeks.) Dawn, the midwife, asked if I wanted a wheelchair to go over to the hospital. I asked if I could go home and labor there for a while before heading in. She okay'd it, so Grandma took me home (and kept Ki).

I called Dad on the way home to let him know what was going on and that I would be needing him. My contractions were getting a lot harder since Dawn checked me. I got home and we finished packing up things to take the the hospital between contractions. Dad helped a lot by giving me counter pressure on my back, and later helping me remember to relax and reminding me that I could do it. We decided to head in not too long after. I was worried I would make it there too late and have you in the car or something! You were coming much quicker than your brother did.

We got to the hospital at 11 and just hung out and worked through some more contractions. Dad's blood sugar got pretty low, so I labored on my own a bit until he got back up to normal and had some food. Meanwhile, at about noon, my midwife Donna (who happened to be on call!) checked me and I was already at 7cm. Every once in a while, the nurse would come in and check you with a fetal monitor. It was really annoying! I knew you were fine. I could feel you moving. I finally told her not to check anymore. It was too distracting to me while I was trying to relax and focus.

About 1:30 Donna came in to see how we were doing. She was hanging close in case I went fast. We talked about breaking my water to see if that would speed things up, but I wasn't sure. Dad and I finally decided to go ahead and have her do it because the contractions were coming about a minute apart and pretty hard. We figured it couldn't get much worse. Donna broke my water a bit before 2pm and I immediately went from 8 to 9 cm while she was doing it. The last cm went by pretty fast. I pushed for half an hour, and at 2:45 out you came! My perfect baby girl.

They put you right on my chest and I got to see your sweet face. Your Apgar score was an 8.

You were kind of cold (and purple), so they put you under the warming light for a few minutes. Your Apgar score at 5 minutes was a 9. They gave you back to me pretty, pink, and warmed up. You started nursing like a pro from the get go.

Monday March 22, 2010, 2:45 pm

You were born on your Grandpa John's birthday, which I think is pretty awesome.

7lbs 8oz, 19" long and 14" head circumference

Our 7lb 8oz little peanut!

Dad giving you kisses 45 minutes after you were born.

Ki came to meet you about 3:30. He was SO excited! He absolutely adores you.

My two munchkins about an hour after you were born. (See? I told you he loves you! When you're 12 and he's driving you crazy, just remember this picture.)

Your first "bath".

You are a precious baby girl and we love you so much!

Love,

Mom

Ki-isms (16th ed.)

2010-03-19T10:30:00.001-05:00

At the state bball championships (watching Uncle James)

Ki: Make a basket!

player makes a basket

Ki: He did it! He did it on purfose!

Ki: Mom, do you know what balnino starts with?

Mom: Ballerina?

Ki: No, balnino.

Mom: Nino?

Ki: Uh-huh.

Mom: Oh, "N".

Ki: No, it starts with a "J". Big huge "J".

All while holding a a pencil tucked behind his ear. (It was an extra fat pencil and he has little ears...) Influenced by "Handy Mandy"?

try to kiss Ki's belly...

Ki: No, not on my belly. I told you on the cheeks. I told you yesterday.

Ki: Mom? I guess I can't have my ax anymore.

Mom: Why?

Ki: Because I bite it.

while in the middle of brushing my hair

Mom: Uh-uh. Do not plug that [straightener] in.

Ki: Why? I need you to look nice like me!

Ki: What're you looking at? I told you you could just look at facebook.

Mom: Oh.

Ki: It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous, Mom.

Apparently Mennen tried sleeping in the crib one night.

"Mennen, that's not where you go. That's Ewwa's bed. That's for my sister!"

Ki: Can I play your iPod?

Dad: No.

Ki: I respect you and everything.

Not only is Ki funny, he is also so very sweet. A couple nights ago he was sleeping in our bed. I was lying awake and he woke up, kissed me on the cheek, and went back to sleep without saying a word.

Ki is becoming slightly obsessed with the number 3. He puts up 3 little fingers and counts off, "I wuh you so. so. so. much." He is also into giving 3 kisses now.

The past couple days he's started saying, "I wuh you 4 times!" (The number is different every time.)

I hear, "Ahhhhh, help me Ki!" coming from Ki's room....?

nightmares of a 3-year-old

"There were scary airplanes last night. There was thunder behind the airplanes. And there was a yellow and black ladybug on the window." later... "Why did bad airplanes come?"

comb = scone

American Idol = Mayer Iwand (sounds like island)

Family Fun

2010-03-14T12:54:00.004-05:00

I realized something yesterday. If Miss Ella wasn't late, we wouldn't have gotten to have our fun day together as a little family of 3 before Ki's world is rocked. I've been feeling restless and bored lately, so we decided to go to DM for something to do. Since we don't know DM at all, we ended up at Jordan Creek.

Ki (and Mike) got to meet Arthur at Barnes & Noble. Ki thought it was pretty cool, and wasn't even afraid of him. He loves watching Arthur! (Don't tell, but Mike really likes him too in case you couldn't tell.)

Ki spent some time lounging and reading.

Ella really needs little pants, but I didn't find any simple ones that were reasonably priced. I browsed Gymboree and Childrens Place while the boys played/sat in the play area right outside. (Those stores were smart when picking their locations!) And let me tell you...girl clothes are so easy to splurge on! But I did SO well yesterday. All I bought was this shirt for $3.96 including tax. Adorable! I love it. It has sparkles on it too. I'm a sucker for cute sparkles. Well, glitter cards.

Then we went to a movie. Crazy enough, Mike and I had never been to a movie with Ki before. Ki has been to a handful of movies with Mike's family, just never with us. He did very well! We figured he'd fall asleep because it was 4:30 by then, but he stayed awake through the whole movie.

Then we went to Uncle James (Mike's bro) state championship basketball game. It was fun! Ki was pretty antsy and tired by then. It didn't start until 8pm. They won. Of course. They've been undefeated for 2+ years.

I was there! Just had to take a picture of myself to prove it...

And the night wasn't over with the game! We drove back to Ames and went to a pizza place with the players and their families. Finally got home after 1am, aka 2 am thank you time change. Thank goodness the little man slept in until 11 (new time) today!

So. Thank you Lord for making my baby girl late! We had a fun day. But now she can come. Like within the next 18 hours while my midwife is still on call. Ya know. If you're cool with that. (Plus Pi Day would be a good birthday...yum!)

Ella's Bed

2010-03-14T11:12:00.000-05:00

I hate most bassinets. They're gaudy and cheap and ugly. Waaaay too many ruffles and grossness. Plus they're pretty pricey ($50+) for something I'm going to use for 6 weeks and detest. So I decided to make my own. My friend, Jess, has used a basket for her last couple of babies, so I figured I'd give that a whirl. However, you may not want to wait until the week before your due date to complete this project. You may be lucky and have that baby early. Obviously this was not a problem for me...

Ok, so I did look for a basket to use before the week before my due date. I just didn't see one that would work. There was a cute one at Wal Mart I was going to get, but when I went to buy it, it was way to small. I ended up finding everything at the glorious Hobby Lobby.

Supplies:

basket - $25 (it happened to be half price! nice!)

3" foam - $5ish with my 40% off coupon

waterproof pillowcase cover from Target - $4 (but I got 2)

pillowcase - free, already had one

Lay the basket on top of the foam and trace around with a permanent marker. It doesn't have to be pretty. Then cut inside the line. I had to trim mine down a lot because it was way too big.

Put the waterproof pillowcase and the regular pillowcase on and squish the foam into the basket, tucking the extra fabric underneath. (I also decided to take the lining out of the basket.

Pretty simple! And way cuter and cheaper than the gaudy store bought ones, if I do say so myself.

boredom

2010-03-12T21:36:00.003-06:00

I am bored. And restless. So this is my entertainment.

I am newly in love with Aussie shampoo and conditioner. Fab.
My pineapple is uber tasteless. So I'm not eating any more of it.
I want a back massage. Like a real one. Bad.
I want more Snicker Bar Salad. YUM!
I'm the only one awake in my house. And I'm too restless to sleep. Scratch that - Ella's awake.
This is my third blog post today. (Although one was "written" over a week.)
This is a pretty worthless post, so you may as well quit reading it.
I got most of Ella's clothes put away tonight. She just needs pants and we're pretty good to go! It's weird seeing all the pink.
And now I'm going on a hunt for more food.

Ki-isms (15th ed.)

2010-03-12T13:08:00.000-06:00

Ki came busting out of his room while Mike was working on his loft bed and stated:

"We don't need to do anyting wit yer problem! We don't need help and we don't need your help, okay?!"

Dad to Mom: Ki had some logic I couldn't argue with. Then told me the following conversation...

Ki: Holy crap!

Dad: Don't say 'holy crap'.

Ki: But I said 'holy crap' cuz you're a genius.

Dad: Hey, what are you doing?

Ki: trying to steal the comforter off our bed

Dad: That's Mom's.

Ki: She will share it to me!

Ki: There you go Daddy! hands him a pop

Dad: Thank you bud.

Ki: You're welcome, My Dear!

"I want to sleep in my belly." aka shirtless

Ki is afraid of ladybugs. He frequently comments about them eating things.

while supposed to be napping...

Mom: What are you doing out here?

Ki: The directions said to come out here!

"Mom, I'm sorry I wuv you so much."

TomTom = PomPom

Laptop = little umputer

D Day

2010-03-12T09:06:00.004-06:00

40 Weeks!

A few thoughts on this my due date:

I highly doubt I will have Ella today, since less than 5% of babies are born on their due dates.
I went into labor with Ki at 5pm on my due date. If that happens again it would be good timing...but I will probably worry that her labor will be as mega long as Ki's was. (Here's hoping for much less than 42 hours!)
I'm tired of hormones and the emotions that go with. (And the ridiculous, reasonless crying from someone who hates to cry.)
I want to have Ella because the punk 3-year-old has been driving me crazy and I feel bad about that! I flip between wanting to leave him on the side of the road or with a stranger to wanting to snuggle him. And lets not even start on all that he's getting away with and how that makes him even more naughty...
I wonder if Ki will continue to kiss my belly (aka Ella) after she's "out".
My toenails are currently purple. I think I'll leave them that way for now.
I will be getting my eyebrows waxed today! Even if I have to sit there through contractions, it will happen.
I'm excited to meet my baby girl, but it's still weird that she's a she.
I'm in love with my new workout/pajama/whatever the heck they are pants. I'm buying another today. (Thank you Target!)
Ki just told me, "Mom. It's been very time." Not quite sure what that means.
I flip between being freezing cold and uber hot. Also starving and pukey. It's weird.
This has been an odd week with no work (except a few hours on Monday).
I cannot imagine a blonde daughter. It just seems weird.
I haven't washed my feet in easily over a month. I just don't feel like putting forth that bending effort. Hopefully the suds de-stink them enough.

And now Ki and I are off to run errands. Target for above mentioned pants, Burgies for "hot coffee" transforming 1 eyebrow into 2. Then we're headed to DM for Uncle James (Mike's brother) state bball game. They've been undefeated for at least 2 years, so unless E comes, we'll probably be back there tomorrow for their final game and state champ win. :)

Spring is in the Air!

2010-03-04T18:48:00.002-06:00

I cannot WAIT for it to get warmer! Today it was about 40 out and Ki rode his bike and we got to go for a walk. We finally got to use the cool Red Rider Wagon Grandma Phillips got Ki for his birthday way back in October. He had a blast!

About 10 minutes with him pulling the wagon and 20 with me pulling him... Brrr!

But he's cute. I like him. We had to bring along Tiger, Dog, and Cat. Because they wanted to ride too.

Lesson of the day: Until further notice, 30 minutes is too long to walk without bathroom breaks along the way. Further notice being a short hospital stay. Which she wouldn't mind being soon.

Ki-isms (14th ed.)

2010-02-26T11:23:00.005-06:00

Ki: I have two belly buttons!

Dad: No you don't, I have two belly buttons. (One from his former feeding tube.)

Ki: I only have one belly button cuz everything's your problem.

Mom [to Mike]: Go get dressed! We still have to get our oil changed.

Ki: We don't wanna get nasty at the store. Get dressed! My mom told you to.

talking about dinner

"I will pick something that makes me stronger. Wike dis." flexes "Ice cream makes me stronger."

while trying to explain what skin was

Mom: Jojo has black skin and you have white skin.

Ki: Oh. I see!

Mom: Will Ella have black skin, or white skin? (He knows the difference.)

Ki: I don't know. We'll see!

Mom: Well, I'm Ella's mom and I'm white. And Dad is Ella's dad and he's white. So Ella will be white, too.

Ki: Oh, that will be great!

Dad: Can you put this away?

Ki: Yes, my ma'am.

Ki-isms (13th ed.)

2010-02-26T09:29:00.001-06:00

Mom: Hey Ki, can you do me a favor? Can you bring me that bag?

Ki: Sure. brings bag Can you get me a favorite Mommy? Can you get me a favorite pwease?

Ki: attacks keyboard while I type

Mom: Stop it. Not funny.

Ki: And you're not funny either!

"I need my love God with all your heart pencil." (about a pencils that says "love" all over it)

While watching a video of himself at about a month old...

Ki: Uh-oh. My cord fell out. Can you fix it?

(We call a pacifier a "plug".)

"You're my sweet girl." (to Mom)

"Zacchaeus was a wee wittle booger -- Zacchaeus was a wee wittle man..." (Any guesses what he was doing?)

Early morning snuggle ramblings...

Ki: Do you wike me? Do you wuv me?

Mom: Yes.

Ki: You're a precious girl. I wuv you soooooo much. while stroking my cheek

Mom: What are you drawing?

Ki: Nothing. I'm just writing something to let Ewwa come out.

"You be happy; I'll be sad."

The child cannot frown. Just like his Momma!

While watching clips of Sesame Street on Hulu...

Ki: Ah, I hate this!

Mom: What, that it's short shows ans keeps going to a new one?

Ki: nods

"I eat Christmas treats [rice crispy] all gone and you can't take it to work. HAHAHA!"

Ki in his "Frog King" shirt.

Ki: When Ewwa is born, then we will see lots of boats.

Mom: What? No, we won't see boats when Ella is born.

Ki: Yeah! Dad told me that.

Mike had no clue what Ki was talking about.

After asking for candy while Mike was low and being told no,

Dad: I need to eat this candy because I'm low, or I might have to go to the hospital.

Ki: Dad. I can eat candy, but you can still eat candy while I eat candy.

E update

2010-02-23T10:55:00.003-06:00

She's head down! Wahoo! Looks like she never moved. Her spine was still on the original side (my right). The ultrasound tech said she's lying more on her back than her side, so it was harder to find her spine. So. That's superb! Good job baby girl! She also said, "Looks like we still have a girl." And she weights about 6lbs, 6 oz. (But I don't really trust the US weights for babies. I've heard of too many who have been told their babies are mondo and then they're just normal.)

Also, Mike and Ki went with me. Ki was excited to see if Ella was ready to come out (i.e. head down). So as I'm sitting up after the US he looks over and says, "Is she out??" I love that boy!

And that's my story.

Cornbread!

2010-02-23T00:42:00.002-06:00

Why have I never made cornbread anymore? It's mega easy! And delicious! Super fast, too. Here's the deal...

1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2-3 tbs sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbs butter
2 beaten eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 cup oil or melted butter

In a medium bowl stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

Add the tbs butter to a 10" cast iron skillet or a 9 x 1.5" round baking pan. Place in a 400 degree oven about 3 minutes or until butter melts. Remove pan from oven; swirl butter in pan to coat bottom and sides of pan.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine eggs, milk, and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Pour batter into hot skillet or pan. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Serve warm.

Recipe a la Better Homes & Gardens. Soooo good! I had it with some experimental turkey chili. It was pretty good. Not as good as the cornbread, but good!

Brought to you by the letter E

2010-02-22T19:24:00.004-06:00

Anyone wanna take a guess what we're watching right now? ;) I'm 37 weeks - legal! Ki was hopping and "ribbit-ing" while we waited for the camera to snap our picture.

Little miss Ella may just be a diva. She's managing to get her picture taken not once, not twice, but three times while in utero! I had my 37 week appointment this afternoon. E has been head down and with her back on my right side for well over a month now. The midwife checked her today and her back is now on my left side. Then, she couldn't find her head! She said the body part close to my pelvis felt too wide to be her head, but couldn't find her head up by my ribs. I wasn't dilated at all, so she couldn't feel for the head. So we're heading in for an ultrasound in the morning to see if she's still head down. It'll be fun to have another US so late, but I'm really hoping she's not breach! I do NOT was a c-section and the thought of them trying to manually rotate her...well it just doesn't sound to comfy.

I'll try to update tomorrow with more US pics (and the word on the street)! Hopefully they give us some good ones.

Ki-isms (12th ed.)

2010-02-19T07:35:00.004-06:00

Ki: When I'm big, then will I go on Biggest Loser?

Mom: Umm, I sure hope not!

Ki found a post card of Mikes and began "reading" it to me. (He was tough to keep up with!)

"Please to let me be nice and not play games. Help me to let my name about Ki. Let me to help mom to stay in bed. Help mom to help her to listen to something. Help mom to let me get music on. Help mom to get me Veggie Tales. Help me to let mom get a drink. You need to let me stay in bed. You need to let me eat my food and not eat treats. You need to broke my alien if you're naughty. You need to get a spank you should cry."

He's kind of ridiculous. He was supposed to be napping and I heard, "Mom! Help! I'm stuck!" He sounded really pathetic. So I went to check out the situation. Here's what I found.

So instead of helping him right away, I went and got the camera. It was too goofy to pass up! He stayed like this the whole time while I took my pictures.

Then I put his leg up on his desk and he easily climbed back in bed and asked to vacuum his room. Because he could've climbed up or down at any point by himself...

"Dear God...Thank you for using Nana's clippers and thank you for being a giant when I'm bigger. Will I be a giant?" I couldn't take it with this one. Out of nowhere! I had to excuse myself to the bathroom because I was laughing and crying and that's not cool when your 3-year-old is praying...

Ki: I never been on a bus before.

Mom: I know, what do you think?

Ki: Fun.

Fragglerot - Fragglerock

Scoobydoop - Scoobydo

Pizza!

2010-02-17T06:13:00.000-06:00

You want to make this. You need to make this. Yes, need. It is soooo good. It's even from a Weight Watchers cook book! (If the pic looks funny it's because I'm a big nerd with half a brain and kept forgetting to take a picture...so the slice on the plate is cold!)

I was at my Mom's when she was looking for a recipe and this looked good. So I swiped her cook book. :) The crust is delish! It rose perfectly and cooked very well. Yum. I'm sad I only have one piece left.

Ingredients

1 c + 1 tbs warm water (105-115 degrees if we're being technical)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 pkg active dry yeast
1 1/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 c whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion chopped, 2 garlic cloves, minces
6 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 tsp coarsely ground pepper
2 tbs cornmeal
1/4 c grated parmesan cheese
2 oz mozzarella, thinly sliced
10 fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

Combine the water and sugar in a small bowl. Sprinkle the yest in and let stand about 5 minutes until foamy.
Combine flours and salt in a food processor (I don't have one, so I used my Kitchen-Aid.) With the machine running, scrape the yeast mixture in, then pulse until the dough forms a smooth ball, about 1 minute. (Here, the pulsing part was a pain! I manually pulsed my mixer and it took about 10 minutes before it finally made a ball.)
Spray a large bowl with nonstick spray and plop your dough in.Cover tightly and let dough rise in a warm, draft-free place for about an hour until it doubles in size.
Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick saucepan on medium-high. Swirl in the oil and add onion and garlic. Cook about 7-10 minutes until golden, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes and pepper. Cook 3-5 minutes until softened. (Here's where you can get creative. I put 3/4 each of an onion, red pepper, and green pepper. And lots of chunks of garlic. I think we'll add chicken next time, too. Mike didn't want tomatoes, so we skipped that.) Remove from heat and set aside.
Adjust oven racks to divide the oven into thirds and pre-heat it to 500 degrees. Spray a nonstick baking sheet with nonstick spray and sprinkle with cornmeal.
Punch down dough. Sprinkle work surface lightly with flour. Turn dough onto the surface, knead lightly into a ball. Roll into a 12" circle. Transfer it to the baking sheet and stretch it back to 12". Sprinkle with parmesan. Let it rest about 10 minutes, then bake it on the lower rack for about 8 minutes until it starts turning golden brown and crisp.
Spoon your veggie mixture onto the crust. Cover with mozzarella (I used shredded) and bake about 5-6 more minutes until it's warm and the cheese melts. Sprinkle with basil.

YUM! There's dinner tonight, ok? You'll thank me.

uncertain

2010-02-16T13:34:00.003-06:00

My life is very unpredictable lately. I really have no clue what will even be going down next month. Well, I know that I will (most likely-hopefully!) be having a baby, and that God will be right along with us, but not much else.

I'm due March 12th, so technically I could have the baby in February (that's just a big joke though) or April. Which is now a slight concern of mine, as I recently learned my mom's 1st labor was similar to mine, then her second she was 3 weeks late and had to get induced. Here's hoping I don't follow in her footsteps there!

I'll be on maternity leave making zilch. Mike has met with a vocational rehabilitation place twice now and is on a waiting list with them. They help disabled people find jobs. Not just any old fast food job. You sit down with them and decide what you want to do, then figure out a plan, any schooling that may need to be completed, etc. He would like to get into woodworking (specifically uniquely designed, cool things). So he has begun learning a bit about that. He hasn't worked in over 3.5 years, since a few months before Ki was born, so that'd be a big change for him and our family. Also, we aren't quite sure how much he can do physically. He gets worn out pretty easily. So he will probably start out part time and see how that goes. There's a cap on how much he can make and still get disability, so we have to keep that in mind, too.

We were supposed to re-sign our lease on the 1st. We aren't sure what we're doing there. We really don't want to mess with moving and we like our place, but it's on the more expensive end of what we'd like to be paying, plus they're raising rent a bit for next year. We're looking at a place this afternoon that's cheaper and much larger (3 beds instead of 2 even!). If we don't like that we will probably end up staying here.

Another change is (hopefully) our car. We sold our magnificent, beautiful Civic that I loved a few years ago to get out of a loan and bough an uber cheap Daewoo with cash. It leaks oil, guzzles gas, and doesn't have a working speedometer/odometer. But it runs! Anyhoo, we're probably going to buy a van with part of our tax return. So we're looking around for a nice cheap van. Sounds like an oxymoron though.

I have another possible change or two, but it's not really blog-worthy yet.

On another note, things I'm thankful for:

God has always (and will always) provided for us. Whether it's as expected, or not.
We have a roof over our heads and food in our mouths.
I have 2 healthy munchkins.
Mike has been doing so much better than in the past few years. He hasn't used his wheel chair for a while now and the fact that he's even thinking about working is super! He's hated that I work and he doesn't.
We have a car to get us around.
I have a job.
Borrowed baby clothes! My daughter will look like a girl. ;)

Valentines Crafts

2010-02-15T18:09:00.004-06:00

Ki's latest favorite thing is cutting. He got a big book of cutting activities from Grandma Barb a month or two ago and has been getting very good at it! So for Valentines Day, we decided to make our own heart valentines. I traced all of our hearts and gave Ki the big ones to cut out. I figured I'd have to cut the small ones out, but he did superb on it! It took us a couple days, but he ended up cutting out pretty much all of them (which surprised me!) and even wrote his name on most of them. He's my crafty boy and I love it. :)

Glue is a new love, too. This was his first time getting to use it. I was nervous. He did well and didn't glue the whole house. All in all, he's been much more responsible with his craft supplies (minus crayons) than I expected.

Final product, minus our writing on the little heart.

He's a goon.

We also made some fun lips and mustaches to go with tootsie roll pops. Ki thinks they're the coolest thing ever. He even had Mike cut a mustache out for him to eat an extra sucker today. They were so simple and cute! I made a pattern and just traced it onto construction paper and cut them out. Then I poked holes for the sticks and popped them through. Easy peasy.

Fun stuff!

We even made Dad test out the 'stache. He loved it, in case you can't tell.

Ki had fun handing them out. I think he has a bit of m anal streak though... Lots of people would put the suckers in their mouthes before taking off the wrapper, just to test it out. It really bothered Ki. He kind of wigged out. Then he started handing them out and saying, "But don't put the wrapper in your mouth!"

Valentines Sugar Cookies

2010-02-15T17:44:00.007-06:00

Ki and I made some yummy sugar cookies for Valentines Day. He's all about hearts now. I'll share the recipe with ya'all, cuz they're yum-o. It's from my Betty Crocker Cookbook. They're really quick to throw together, but take a bit on the rolling end.

Ingredients

3/4 c shortening (I used half butter)
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp lemon or 1 tsp vanilla flavoring
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs, and flavoring thoroughly. Stir flour, baking powder, and salt together and blend in. Hand your child the beater and chill dough for at least 1 hour.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough 1/8" thick on a lightly floured surface. Cut out your shapes.

Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 6 to 8 minutes, or until cookies are a delicate golden color. Makes about 4 dozen cookies (when using a 3" cookie cutter).

We frosted ours with a powdered sugar, water, and food coloring mixture. I just dumped until it was the right consistency.

This was a patience lesson for me. Big time. Some things I just want to do myself! Like cut out the hearts so I can get the maximum amount out of the dough without re-rolling and so they don't overlap. Or frosting so it's not messing and it looks prettier. But Ki loves to help cook and bake, and I love letting him. It's a good learning experience and it's fun! (Also, I really like that he is such a good helper.) I had to die to myself a little, ok a lot, in the process of making these. I can kind of be a perfectionist about this kind of stuff.

P.S. We made fun window cookies. You cut out 2 normal cookies, then in one cut a hole in the middle. Bake them, then frost the whole one and place the cookie with the cut out on top while the frosting is still gooey.

Ki-isms (11th ed.)

2010-02-12T11:22:00.003-06:00

Ki: Can I have another [cookie]?

Mom: No.

Ki: ehhh.

Mom: Yes ma'am?

Ki: Yes ma'am. ....... Can I say what-e'er?

A little something extra - an Aaron-ism. Mike's 10-year-old brother spent the night. He likes to abbreviate like I've never heard before!

Aaron: I clare, Ki...

Ki: What?

Aaron: I clare I have armor now.

(It was DEclare, in case ya missed that.)

Last Saturday we went to a wedding. There was this statue of Jesus there.

First he thought Jesus was waving "hi". Then he said, "Jesus says 'sit down so people can see!'"

Mom: Go back in your room.

Ki: You go back in your room. I'm your dad.

(We've obviously had the talk before that I tell him what to do and not the other way around!)

"I wanna watch Notice Burnice." (aka Burn Notice)

Mom: Don't pick your nose.

Ki: phhhtb!

Mom: Don't pick your nose and wipe it on my head!

Ki: Sorry!!

wipes his hand and starts rubbing my head again

Ki: Your hair is pretty.

Ki: I need to learn about God now, Mom.

Mom: Ok.

Ki: Just don't talk to me, ok?

Mom: Hi Super Ki.

Ki: (whispered) I'm Super Man!

While making Valentines...

"They will stick Mom! They love each other!" - about 2 paper hearts he glued together

"Moms don't cut, Mom."

Mom: Be careful, Ki. Don't get them [hearts above] on top of each other

Ki: They want to be together! They love each other.

This video cracks me up! I thought it was so funny when he started doing it. Then I realized later it was because he CAN say his "p" (and does in "pretty"), he's just in the habit of saying it wrong. And the hands and all were totally on his own. I just had him repeat it. :)

"Mennen is sitting on glue. He's getting messy on his pants!"

35 weeks!

2010-02-07T15:17:00.005-06:00

(Plus 1 day for the picture, and 2 days for the post...)

As I write this post, your brother is in his room making gun noises. He's supposed to be napping. Your Dad's at the store saving my bum and getting me some last minute ingredients...and hopefully bring us an M & M McFlurry. Yum! Just keeping it real...

You are finally making my belly bigger! Hopefully people will stop bugging me about having a small belly now. You move a TON. It kind of worries me, because you move more than Ki did and he's a crazy goober. We only gained 1 lb in the past 2 weeks, so that's grand! We went a bit crazy in the middle there, so small is good for now. So far, I'm up 30 lbs. With Ki I think I gained about 28-30lbs total.

Here we are:

And me & Ki, for comparison (before the camera went fuzzy):

I've been finding some sweet deals on clothes for you and even attempted sewing you a skirt so you're not completely dressed in blue and green and yellow. :) Either way, you'll be cute.

P.S. Please feel free to come a bit early. I'm excited to meet you!

Ki-isms (10th ed.)

2010-02-05T10:20:00.002-06:00

Ki: I'm hugging you guys.

Mom: I know, that's nice.

Ki: But Ella's not hugging me.

Mom: Yep, 'cuz she's stuck inside.

Ki: Yeah! But when she gets bigger she can come out! Then she can hug us! That will be great.

Ki: Mom, is that email?

Mom: No, it's called blog.

Ki: Oh. Hey! You got your first name and my K-i! Do you want me to help you read it?

"Ewwa's cool."

Ki: Be a good boy...um...Be a girl at work, Mom! Don't forget your pants!

Ki had breakfast at "Old McDonald's" with Daddy this morning.

While talking to Grandma, Ki told her when he gets bigger he's going to work at the hospital and fix Daddy so he's not sick anymore. Talk about a tear jerker!

Ki: Dogs are boys. Right, Mom?

Mom: Dogs are boys and girls, just like people.

Ki: Oh. I see.

Mom: It's time to head to bed now.

Ki: I need to do my dishes first! I need to do my one plate.

(I sure hope this never changes!)

Mom: grabs a piece of chocolate

Ki: You can eat your chocolate if you want.

Mom: Okay.

Ki: People say you don't need chocolate, but you do!

--------------------------

Excuses from bed (all Thursday night)...

When busted for wearing his sunglasses in bed, "But the sun's in my eyes!"

Sauntered out to the fridge...This whole conversation is said with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

Mom: What are you doing?

Ki: I need a drink!

Mom: Go get back in bed.

Ki: But! Do you see what's on my tongue?!

Mom: What, spit?

Ki: Yeah!

Ki: bawling from bed

Mom: What's wrong?

Ki: still crying, about 5 large foam letters around his lap...and the "s" is missing a chunk

Mom: Did you bite your letter?

Ki: through tears, yes

Ki: ehhhh!

Mom: What's wrong?

Ki: I fell out of bed.

dinosaurs and paintings

2010-01-30T10:44:00.002-06:00

Last night I was talking to Mike as he sat on the couch. Mid sentence, I happened to look up at my painting. My painting I bought from a street vendor in Haiti in 2002, while visiting Mandi. My painting that I carefully carried back, rolled up, on the airplane. My painting that I spent $300 to have re-stretched and framed (and that was with the 40% off Hobby Lobby coupon). I love it. It is one of my favorite material possessions. There was red crayon ALL over the bottom. I can only assume it is dinosaurs.

I was so upset! I really hope Ki didn't ruin it. I will be ordering some wipes on Monday to try to gently clean it. Meanwhile, I wasn't quite sure how to handle it with Ki. He was asleep. Would he remember it from the morning before? (I'm assuming it happened while I was at work yesterday morning.) What kind of punishment does this action deserve?

This morning we were hanging out and he excitedly pointed at the painting and said, "Look what I did!" So we had a talk about how sad it made me feel. He felt really bad. His sweet little face dropped and I could tell he was honestly upset at his actions. He apologized without me even bringing it up and hugged me. Then he talked about how he should only color on paper. I agreed. No coloring on walls or paintings! Only paper. I think he still feels bad. He came up a bit ago and apologized again for coloring on my painting and gave me a big hug.

He is so sweet! Does he even need parents? Because he pretty much handled this one on his own. Here's hoping that darn crayon comes off!

Ki-isms (9th ed.)

2010-01-29T12:05:00.001-06:00

Ki: Come fix my drawer, Mom! Come fix my drawer!

Mom: I don't know how. We'll have to ask Dad.

Ki: I'll swam it wit my butt, ok?

Ki: Is this is for me? holding up some new 5T pants

Mom: Yep, those are yours. They might be too big though. You'll have to try them on.

Ki: No, they don't fit. I think these is for Grandma.

Mom: I don't think they'll fit Grandma.

Ki: Well. We'll see! And then he left them in the kitchen so he'd remember to take them to Grandma's.

"After I'm done getting gas, can I go get coffee?"

At D6 (Wednesday night church) they finger painted a red heart and then "GOD" was printed after it.

Ki: I dinint paint this.

Mom: Oh. Who painted it?

Ki: One of the big ones.

Ki: One [sticker] for you and one for Ewwa. It won't hurt, ok?

Mom: Ok.

Ki: It's wike a tattoo. It won't hurt. See? One for you and one for. our. babbeeee!

(Stickers for Ella often go on my belly. She usually gets waaaay more than I do.)

33 weeks!

2010-01-23T22:06:00.002-06:00

Apparently it's now the cool thing to do to join me in belly shots. Ki saw I was about to take one and booked it over.

So we had to show Mike because it was funny... Who also decided to ambush the next one. (He was sad he got cut off.)

Aaaand the next one. I knew he was doing something back there, but wasn't quite sure what.

I just hope Ella takes after me. It'd be nice to have another normal person in the house.

Ki-isms (8th ed.)

2010-01-08T15:35:00.012-06:00

Dad: That's my wife.

Ki: Mom, are you white?

Mom: Yes.

Dad: No, I said she's my wife.

Ki: Oh. And I'm your wife too!

Ki: I'm gonna go work on stuff, ok?

Mom: Ok.

Ki: And you stay out of my room.

Ki was nocking on the bathroom door while Mike was in the shower. He told him to hang on. Next thing Mike heard was, "Hello pretty little giiiiirl." in a high pitched voice. Creepy!

Ki to Mom: Are you gonna cut when you get little?

Mom: Do you want to head to Target now (while sitting in Burgies)?

Ki: No, I want to stay here and finish my hot coffee. (FYI, it was hot chocolate. ;)

Ki to Mom: You still have stripes in your hair; I need to cut it.

Ki: I'm going to get more books. You be nice to Mennen and Blactus. Don't spank my friends, or you will get spanks.

Last week I got home from work and found this sitting on my couch:

Only he looked like he'd either just gotten in trouble, or he was about to cry. I couldn't help myself. I laughed. He did not appreciate it. He started fussing. At this point, I was pretty out of control, laughing at my little man. Mike was trying to calm Ki down and telling him, "Sometimes when you do stupid stuff that's funny, you have to be humble and laugh at yourself." I had to excuse myself to the bathroom. (Honestly, I had to go anyway, story of my life.)

I got out of the bathroom and found this posing for Dad. (He wouldn't let me before my little escape.)

Laughing hysterically, yet still on the verge of tears.

Turns out the original teary eyes were because he'd just hurt himself before I got home. It went a little something like this...

"Dad, watch this!" Ki climbs up on the end table, about 6" to a foot from the couch, and precedes to try to flip onto the couch before Mike could stop him. Unfortunately, his butt landed on the couch and his head his the end table. Then the little shelf ledge under the end table. Then the floor. Poor, crazy boy!

------

A couple days ago we sorted all of Ki's toys. Some for his room, some to save, some for Goodwill. For some reason it's always fun to play with toys on their way out the door...regardless of the fact that you haven't touched them in months while they were in your room.

He's wearing his "backpack" here. Also known as a plastic bag of duplos still waiting for its new rubber made home to be purchased.

He wanted it like this.

The typical goofball. (He loves wearing beaters. We call them "undershirts" in front of Grandma Phillips, who got them for him.)*

I love this one, just wish the sun hadn't made it funky. It's such a good smile!

*If anyone wants the waffle blacks in the bottom of this picture, let me know. As of now they're still in our car, not GW.

Ki-isms (7th ed.)

2010-01-08T13:00:00.000-06:00

Ki: How old is Mennen?

Mom: Ummm, 3?

Ki: He's not 3!

Mom: How old is he?

Ki: He's 18-19. That's his birthday!

Talking to Mom about frosting cinnamon rolls...

"Yours is gonna be pretty, but mine's not. It'll be cool."

Mom: Ki, go wash your face.

Ki: turns around, bends over, and wipes face on the carpet

Mom: Go play in your room.

Ki: I can't, but Goliath's in there!

Mom: Go pee! (for like the 5th time)

Ki: Why! No one's going pee today.

Ki, after a 'discussion' with Dad: Do you eat fishes?

Mom: Yeah, I do.

Ki: No, that's gross!

Mom: laughs

Ki: I just joking. ... They're not for eating. Fishes are not for eating. That's gross. Goes back to argue more with Dad about whether "fishes" are for eating or not.

I was working on a project and looked in the kitchen for Ki. This is how I found him, quietly eating an apple.

P.S. I entered Ki in a photo contest. Feel free to vote for him!

30 Weeks

2010-01-05T14:01:00.007-06:00

I'm getting near the end of my pregnancy! I'm excited for my little girl. We're ready to snuggle her. Two weeks ago she was sideways. This past weekend she moved a TON (so much so it was painful at times). I was convinced she was now head down because of the amount of movement, and the new places I was feeling it. I was right! We had our 30 week appointment today and she's right on track and now head down. (So weird that I'm already going every 2 weeks!)

While I am excited about my girl, it also feels kind of bittersweet. My sweet sis-in-law and brother lost their baby boy this past week and every time she moves it just reminds me of their loss and I feel guilty that my baby is fine and theirs isn't. And maybe it's all me being a nut, but I don't really want to be around them because I just feel like seeing me will remind them and make it harder. I don't know. The good thing is that I know my precious nephew is in heaven with Jesus, not in any pain and will never have to suffer this world.

Anyway, I have some comparison pictures to post. Everyone keeps telling me I'm small (it's getting super old). I think I look like I did about a month earlier with Ki. See for yourself (I even wore the same shirt). Also, my self timer seems to suck. They're always blurry, but other pics are fine. It's odd.

The first one's with Ki...obviously.

I had to put in all 3 from this week because Ki's such a goofball! He told me what he was planning on doing before each picture.

Ki-isms (6th ed.)

2009-12-29T10:21:00.004-06:00

"I'm gonna go to the store while I'm naked!"

Ki, knocking: Dad! Can I come in?

Dad, in the shower: Hang on.

Ki in a squeaky, high pitched voice: Hello pretty little girl.

Ki, pre-spank: Mennen's getting disciplined! (Pretty clever!)

Mom: What are you doing?

Ki: I'm turning this (Veggie Tales) down so I can talk to Mennen for a second.

Ki in a quieter voice: Mennen, you need to go to Nana's and say 'Happy New Year'.

While listening to The Bible Experience (about Noah)

Ki: Mom, can I listen to Veggie Tales?

Mom: Just a minute, Bud.

Ki: This story is ridiculous.

Ki-isms (5th ed.)

2009-12-25T18:59:00.000-06:00

Ki says something funny, I laugh.

Ki: Don't laugh at me!

Mom: You're cute!

Ki: I not cute. I smart.

Ki's new phrase/word is somewhat disrespectful...but very funny. And I blame Grandma for teaching it to him, because it's totally her word. He even says it like her. If he's frustrated, or being asked to do something, sometimes Ki will say, "Uhhh! What-e'er."

Ki-isms (4th ed.)

2009-12-18T07:16:00.011-06:00

While snuggling my belly, "I wanna snuggle her. She's so cute." (She's been getting lots of kisses, hugs, and snuggles lately!)

"Why'd you tell me whyyy? But I'm so smart and cute?"

Ki: Let me kiss you!

Mom: You have toothpaste all over your face.

K: Let me look in the mirror.... I have a robot face!

Ki: What're we making?

Dad: We're making hamburger helper.

Ki: No, we aren't making anything. We're eating at Nana's!

Ki: (talking to Mom and pointing at humidifier) Look at what Dad did. He made more! Can you say thank you to Dad?

Ki: My shirt is in the dryer. Ok?

Mom: Ok...

Ki: Don't worry about it!

Ki: This game is stick-ee-wous! (while playing soccer with Dad...should've come out ridiculous.)

Ki, talking to Mike: It's just Caitwin.

Dad: What?

Ki: It's not your mom, it's my mom.

Mom: Holy cow, child!

Ki: What?

Mom: That's a lot of poop.

Ki: Wow. That's the word on the street! (Thank you, Sesame Street...)

Ki a few minutes later: The word on the street- poop.

Pretty sure that's not really one of them.

Ki-isms (3rd ed.)

2009-12-11T15:19:00.002-06:00

"Mennen's mom's name is Bog-wary." (He talked about it more later and he actually meant Bob-Larry. As in VeggieTales.)

"I did it. I did it. I actually did it."

Aunt Steph had a baby named Taliya on Monday. Amazingly, Mennen had a baby sister named Taliya that very same day.

Ki tried to tell Aunt Emily he could have an apple because he was a big brother.

"Help me! Help meeee!" as he ran over with a bucket stuck on his head...

a bit neurotic

2009-12-05T09:11:00.000-06:00

I love this shop. And I'm so excited that I'm having a girl so I can make and buy girly things for her! However, I'm having issues in my head. I am waiting on buying a lot of stuff until I know what Ella looks like. Stuff like prints from the shop above. Do I pick prints with the blond or the brunette? I'm a little nuts.

Things I want to do, but lack motivation or confidence to begin...

make adorable little tags and lists and stationary and other various paper products
design photo books
collect various handwriting samples and design fonts with them
design and make an advent calendar (for next year, of course)
figure out a good way to organize a prayer list..and then make it (i.e. certain people/groups for each day, room to write requests/answered prayers...)

So basically, I feel like designing stuff...and just need to suck it up and start. And with practice I'll get it down if I don't like my work at first. (It just really bothers me to not have it perfect from the get go...)

P.S. I think handwritten notes and letters (even just because cards) are way underused. People should do more of it.

Ki-isms (2nd ed.)

2009-12-04T07:38:00.011-06:00

At the Verizon store the other day...

Ki: Mom, this umputer is uh-warious!

Ki: Did you eat my socker? Did you? Didju eat it?

Mom: No.

Ki: You dint? Guh-shob.

After putting on a blue and white train conductor hat, "Look, I'm a man!"

Ki: Mom, can I do numbers (sudoku) while I sleep?

shaking my head no

Ki: Can I read a book while I sleep?

shaking my head no

Ki: Yeah!

(How do you do these things while sleeping? Anybody?)

Dad: Hey. Don't fart around girls.

Ki: Why?

D: It's rude.

K: Yeah. That's why they should move!

Ki has been playing with "Mennen" all day. Trains, dancing, sharing a banana... I wonder if Mennen looks just like him (kind of how "Nakey" looked just like Mike!).

"I was dancing like a cowdog with Mennen! Mennen was dancing like a cowdog."

After using the facilities, "I think my butt feels better!"

Ki: I want coffee, too.

Mom: No, you don't get to drink doffee yet.

K: Oh, when I'm a girl I drink coffee?

e-woading = loading

Crafty Ki

2009-11-29T15:18:00.003-06:00

Ki loves to do artsy stuff! He had better, because his Mom and Dad both do. We have a new love for water colors. He usually paints something, then decides what it is. A bit backwards, but it works! He ends up making a lot of "o's" and likes to have me make Christmas tree outlines and then he'll paint them.

see?

A day or two before Thanksgiving we did a special craft. We found some pictures online and printed them off. The food one because we say thanks to God and celebrate with lots of food! And the "chicken with a funny hat" because, well, Ki thought it was hilarious!

We colored. We also looked up a lot of verses in our Bible about giving thanks. We picked "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good" Psalm 118:29 to memorize. Ki's doing pretty well with it. We say the "give" and "for" and he remembers the rest. Pretty neat how much that little noggin can hold!

25 weeks!

2009-11-29T15:08:00.004-06:00

Girl, your brother's crazy! You'll like him though. He's fun. And he's very excited for you!

I suppose he comes by it naturally...

Photo's by Ki:

Ki-isms (1st ed.)

2009-11-27T05:43:00.000-06:00

I've decided to start something new. I happen to think I'm a genius for coming up with this. Ki says so many funny things I could probably post one a day. It seems like every time I post his funnies he says another and I debate about going back and adding it. So I'm going to set a post to auto-publish for each Friday. Then throughout the week, I'll add funny things he says. More organized that way. And that's how I like it! So, here goes the first edition.

Last night we were at my Mom's for Uncle Jeffrey's birthday dinner. Ki knocked over his glass of milk onto the table. Without missing a beat, he blurted out "Nose goes!" (If you're unfamiliar with the term, it's a big time high school thing. I think it's similar to 1-2-3 not me, but may get corrected on that one. My brother and Mike's siblings say it and touch their noses and the last one to do it is blamed for whatever.) He learns a lot from his aunts and uncles!

As we were leaving Grandma & Grandpa's Ki was being a stinker and not giving hugs and kisses. Grandma: Ok, maybe you'll hug me next time.

Ki: I hug you later. On facebook!

Thanksgiving Terms:

apple spider = apple cider

apple pop = sparkling apple cider

fuzzy water = sparkling apple cider (from Eli, Ki's cousin who is 3 weeks younger)

polka-dots = peas (also from Eli)

all things girly!

2009-11-24T23:23:00.010-06:00

Since finding out we're having a girl, I've been plotting some little things. Like girly things. Ribbons and bows and ruffles... all that glorious stuff! I find gobs of stuff on Etsy that I love. However, lots of it is stuff I can do. Like hair clips. Here's a quick little tutorial on clippies for your little miss (or for some awesome gifts)!

Supplies:

simple snappy hair clips
glue gun
ribbon (1/2" -1" worked best to cover the clips)
various embellishments (buttons, patches, beads...)

1. Slip ribbon right side up under the clip on the back. Put a couple small dots of glue on the clip (where the pink spots are) and squish the ribbon down on it.

2. Wrap the ribbon around (you may want to put a dot of glue on the tip of the clip)and glue (again where the pink is). Fold it over and glue it again on the back.

3. So now it should look like this. Kind of sloppy, but that's ok! We'll fix it. On both sides, put a very thin strip of glue down (pink line) and squish the ribbon together. You may have a bit of glue hanging off the edges. You can pick or cut it off.

4. Now it's all lovely! Embellish it as you please, or just leave it simple.

Be sure to buy plenty of clips. I ran out. It's very sad. I could keep going and going! Here's what I ended up with from my 2 packs of clips (about $4 total) and ribbon I already had around.

Now I just need my little Ella go come along and grow some pretty hair to use them on! But not yet, she's still too little. ;)

the Goober

2009-11-23T09:18:00.001-06:00

Funny things from my little man. :)

On the way to church (and many other times):

Ki noticed the fountain by our house was off.

K: Oh, the geese ate the fountain!

On the way home from church today:

C: What did you learn about in church today?

K: God.

C: What about God?

K: the Bible.

*These two answers are standards every week!*

C: What about the Bible?

K: animals.

C: What about animals?

K: elephants.

C: Oh. Did God do something with elephants? (Hoping this would steer him to God making them...)

K: He fixed their butts!

Yesterday I was in the kitchen eating, Ki was in the living room.

Ella kicks

C: Good morning Ella!

K: Whatchu say Mom?? Is she out?!

K: Let's put our bellies together.

M: laughs

K: I'm just joking, Dad!

K: Whatcha doing Mom? Whatcha doing Mom?

C: Using the computer.

K: Ok, well use it then.

K: For kids. Not for girls.

K: I want you! (When he wants up or snuggles. :)

He's a good fake crier.

wit = with

entelope = envelope

dancing shoes = the shoes he wore to Mike's cousin's wedding

yesernay = yesterday

mease = please

nauny = naughty

warm off = cool off/down

Ewwa = Ella

umputer= computer

Bernie = Barney (we debate about whether or not he's gross)

sweet little Ella

2009-11-22T14:16:00.004-06:00

Ki wanted to name you Carrot. He really wanted you to be a boy. When the tech told us you were a girl he said, "But I wanted a boy!" He's gotten used to the idea now though. He's SO excited to see you and hold you! Sometimes he "snuggles" with you by lying down on my belly. He also "holds" you by holding my belly. Your big brother is already trying to teach you cool stuff. He shows you his balls and ow he throws them. He asks often if you're bigger because he wants you to come out.

You have been kicking so much lately! Dad has felt you kick once and Ki has tried, but you're so active you don't kick in the same spot consistently. You're also a stinker and often hold still when Dad tries to feel you.

You've been growing a lot the past week and a half. I can tell because my belly has gotten much bigger! You're 24 weeks this week. About a foot long (the length of a cob or corn).

Today I'm making you hair clips over at Grandma's house. I'm hoping you have lots of hair, just like your brother did! (But it's ok if you're bald. We'll just have more time to build up our hair accessory stash!)

Happy Birthday Ki!

2009-11-12T17:21:00.006-06:00

(Please excuse my late post...I was waiting for 3-year-old check up stats!)

Ki at 2 weeks - November 2006

Ki at 3 years! Our little goofball.

Dear Sweet Hezekiah Danger,

You are one hilarious little boy! You make Daddy and me laugh every day. Here are some funny things you do and say.

The past few weeks you've been using the term "cowdog" a lot. We have no clue where it came from, but it cracks you up! It's generally something like, "You're walking like a cowdog!"
Last weekend we went to see your cousin Troy get baptised. Dad told you we were doing to a catholic church. You said, "Cool! Mom, we're going to a CAT-BOY church!"
Someone must've talked about your name with you recently. Earlier today you were off in your own little world saying, "What's your name? Danger Ki Wanwing." You're close!
You called me at work yesterday on your toy phone and asked me to bring you hot chocolate and chocolate rocks.
A couple weeks ago you were putting your jeans on and looked up at me and asked, "Mom,are these gay?" We had to have a talk about not using that term and how it wasn't nice. (I'm guessing you picked it up from an uncle, like many other things!)
Dad caught you trying to drink out of a gallon container of OJ. You said, "But Tina does it!"

You are a big guy! You...

are too big for most of your 3T clothes. You wear a lot of 4T and some 5T clothes.
wear a size 11 shoe.
weigh 41 lbs (95th percentile).
are 39.75 inches tall (90th percentile).
can climb onto the kitchen counters in search of food or candy without even using a stool. (You're very good at finding hidden candy!)

You are smart! You...

are getting close to reading. It's so fun to watch!
have known all of your letters for months now.
can sing the ABC's, but change up the end a bit with your own version of, "...now I know next time I see you laterrrr!"
can write some letters and make little chicken scratches like you're writing sentences.
ask us how to make words all the time. Yesterday you even used a puzzle spelling "cow" to figure out how to spell it on another reading toy that reads the word to you.
know what sounds all the letters make and can tell a word that starts with each. You can also generally tell us what letter a word starts with.
love to go to the library, pick out books, and play games on their computer. You also love to read books and be read to. (Dad even does fun voices.)

You are so sweet and loving.

When you're tired, you often say, "Mom, I want you!" and snuggle.
You are awesome at cleaning your room and helping Dad and me with other cleaning, dishes, and laundry with a very cheerful attitude.
You help us by bringing us our shoes, phones, and other random things. You love serving others.
You already "snuggle" with Ella and are excited to hold her. You've always loved babies.
love people. You hate being alone. You always want someone by your side playing with you or watching you play.
When you don't want to do something, or you don't want me to go to work, you say, "No thanks" like we're asking you.
You love your family and going to visit them. You ask to see them all the time. (You even know where Aunt Emily stashes her Skittles and sometimes steal some!)
You give great bear hugs, and even intense "bear kisses."

You are active! You...

love whatever sport Uncle James and Uncle Luke are currently in. (I think basketball is your favorite. You had a tough time picking your uncles out on the football field and it frustrated you.)
love to play catch and kick your soccer ball around. (I want to sign you up for soccer this Spring.) You think Dad is hilarious when he plays soccer with you because he can do cool tricks. You laugh so much!
"shoop" your basketball. You have a hoop in your room and usually turn your keyboard on for some background music and take your shirt off when you play bball.
are very good at throwing and catching...when you're paying attention.
ride your bike with training wheels very well and even do some tricks Dad taught you. You can rid off a curb, and try to pop wheelies like your uncles.

You are constant entertainment! You...

know how to open the internet, get to pbskids.org, and play various games on there.
frequently add movies to our Netflix queue. It's frustrating when we're expecting a movie and get the same Blue's Clues we got a few weeks prior!
love to talk on the phone. Lately you want people to hang out on the pone while you play. You think they can see what you're doing and even asked me to hold something for you while we were on the phone today.
talk more on the phone when you're pretending than when there's actually someone there.
are into picking out your clothes lately. A few days ago I gave you a shirt to put on and you tried to tell me it didn't go with the pants you were wearing.
are a pretty laid back guy.
We are constantly telling you to pay attention. You run into walls, or walk into door frames (last week) - sorry, you get it from me! In fact, while I was writing tis you fell off the bar stool, knocked your bowl of pineapple over, and got it all over the table, chair, floor, and us. However, you're so tough we usually all end up laughing when you run into stuff because it's so ridiculous!

This is only the tip of the iceberg, little man! We are so thankful God blessed us with you!

Love, Mom

D6

2009-10-18T16:22:00.003-05:00

I am so thankful for our childrens ministry at church (D6)! I'm also excited for it to be weekly again, instead of monthly like it has been this semester. Here's how it works. The parents and kids split at the beginning and have separate teaching times. Then the kids come into the auditorium for singing, skits, and a small lesson.

Ki loves the music. My favorite part is the teaching at the beginning. At the last D6, they talked about apologizing to your kids. Setting a good example and also helping them realize that you aren't perfect.

Mike put it into practice last week and was telling me about it and how Ki had prayed for him to not be grouchy. Cut and awesome! So I decided to try it too. I mean, whether he's 2 or 20 I should still say sorry when I wrong him, right? I was having a tough time with patience and getting frustrated about every little thing with him. So I told him I was sorry I was getting frustrated with him and asked him to pray for me to have patience. It went something like, "Dear God, thank you for Mommy and for patience. Amen."

We went back to playing catch with his football for a minute or two, then he said, "I'm frustrated too. You pray for me?" So he came and sat on my lap and we prayed. Again, back to playing some football. The wheels were turning again. Next he said, "Is the baby frustrated?" I guess praying for patience is fun!

I love that we've learned such a practical, and kind of obvious, lesson. When you are in the wrong, say sorry. Even if the person is 2. He gets it.

he's on a roll

2009-10-16T16:26:00.004-05:00

Ki wadded up a birthday invite.

K: Look, I wrapped it!

M: Ki, not cool.

K: Yeah, we should go inside and spank me.

K: You need to zip my jacket!

C: No, I don't need to zip it. I'm just a nice person.

K: You not a person.

C: Then what am I??

K: You a Mom!

Later we had a conversation and learned that Mike is a dad, my brother is an uncle, and Grandma is a "gramp".

Ki was saying something he shouldn't (don't even remember what).

M: Ki...

K: Don't say Ki!

M: Starts to say something...

K: I Raul!

He totally knew he was busted for yelling not to say Ki. I love how he tried to sneakily get out of it. Haha!

Ki-isms

2009-10-15T09:31:00.004-05:00

today...

Ki: (outside blowing bubbles) Mom! You wanna blow wit me?

Me: No, it's too cold outside for me.

Ki: Why?

Me: Because I'm a weenie.

Ki: Yeah, you are.

A few days ago...

getting ready to leave

Ki: I gotta zip it (jacket) all the way!

Me: No, you don't need to.

Ki: Gotta zip it or the birds will eat my shirt.

(This one has happened almost every time he's gone outside since.)

In the most recent Ki poll, he thinks it's a baby boy. He told the midwife a couple weeks ago he thought it was a baby sister. We'll see next week!

One of my favorite things Ki says is the word "with"...only because he says "wit". "You wanna come wit me?" It's so cute I hope he never learns how to say it properly. Well, ok, I guess it wouldn't be cute when he's 25...

Crazy Boy

2009-10-12T16:37:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I woke up to Ki telling me, "Mom, I did go pee in my underwear, but I had to finish my candy." (Mike's brothers spent the night and the guys left candy out.) Here is my lovely good morning. Scissors (aka "big sharps"), pee puddle, random flash light, and a very large, empty hacked up Laffy Taffy wrapper. At least he was clean and showered for church!

Earlier today he found some money, so I told him it was a nickel. He's been calling it a pickle since. I think he's mixing it with penny, but I like it!

Also, I stopped at work to grab some coffee. Ki wanted some too. I told him no, he wasn't big enough for coffee. His solution? "I'm little. I want a little coffee!"

Here's my first belly shot with number 2. I've been lazy. I'm 18 weeks already. I have belly shots religiously starting at 7 weeks (I think) with Ki. Poor little baby! I'm starting the lack of picture thing early.

Not much else is going on. Mike's working on weaning off Morphine for a couple tests he has at Mayo on the 28th & 29th. He's having some withdrawal, which stinks. I'm planning a birthday party for Ki who is almost 3 already! Time flies. He's been very into reading lately. He knows all his letters and what they sound like and is starting to write them.

Mayo Day 3 (& 4 preview)

2009-09-24T09:44:00.002-05:00

Here's another pre-written post. Mike's back getting a test done and apparently this part of the clinic has no wireless. Sad!

Yesterday we got to Mayo with just one appointment on our schedule (neurologist), then we were supposed stop back by the GI's desk to see what he had scheduled for us. When we got to the neurologist, the reprinted our schedule and it had more stuff on it.

The neurologist rocked! We don't even feel like it's worth it to go back to McFarland anymore. Everyone here has looked at him once and had multiple ideas of tests to try, or meds to try. We saw Dr. Singer, a German guy who was so helpful. He did a very thorough evaluation of Mike's hands and feet. (We were sent to him for the neuropathy - nerve damage in his feet that makes it so painful for him to walk.) He checked reflexes and how well he could feel stuff (hot, cold, pointy, dull, etc.). As he left for Mike to change he said, "Well, I think we can help you." After seeing him for like half an hour. So far everyone has seemed like they don't know what they're doing and eventually give up on him.

We ended up leaving with 2 or 3 tests to check our how bad his neuropathy is and how well the nerves actually work. Dr. Singer said Mike's neuropathy isn't as bad as previous doctors had thought. This doesn't mean he's not in as much pain. He explained it like a tv. If the cable is kinked even a little bit, it can make the screen super static-y. It the cable is just unplugged, you have no tv and you're fine. So if we apply that, if Mike's nerves are "kinked" even just a bit, he can still be in tons of pain. But if they were totally blocked, he's be numb (I'm guessing on the second part!). That was a good thing, though. So he already completed his lovely 24 hour urine sample in which he got to carry a jug around with him everywhere. He also had labs drawn right after that appointment.

Then we headed to see Dr. Kudva (endocrinologist/diabetic dr) again. This was added on since the day before when we left. We waited forever and a day, and go figure he walks in after 45 minutes when I finally decide to pull out my lunchable and start chowing. He didn't do or say much, other than he wanted to do continuous glucose monitoring the rest of the time we're here. Also, he is very nervous about the tube site and it getting infected if Mike were to have a transplant, especially because of the anti-rejection drugs. He made it seem like it may be a deterrant to him. We told him Mike would be willing to get rid of it in order to get the transplant. It just makes sense, thinking long term. He said he doesn't want to take it away if Mike needs it. According to him (which I haven't heard from any other dr. and need to research a bit) gastroparesis (the stomach nerve damage that gives Mike troubles) lessens over time. He said if Mike doesn't get approved for the pancreas because of the tube, the thing to do would be wait until it lessens enough to take it out, then try again. Stink! We didn't like that answer.

Dr. Kudva then sent us next door to a nurse (I think) to ge the continuous glucose monitoring set up. This was the only part so far where I have liked Ames better. She had no clue what she was doing and it took forever and multiple tries to sync it! (Barb in diabetic education is so much better.) It's a small site on his stomach, kind of like an insulin pump site. It's about the size of a quarter, but thicker. It checks his glucose level every 5 minutes. They're trying to see how fast his sugars go up and down and what they're like overnight when he's not testing. He still has to prick his finger a bunch and chart it to compare. The site in his stomach goes into tissue, which isn't as accurate as blood. Dr. Kudva said it had a 15% error either way and it lags behind the blood readings a bit.

After that we stopped by GI like we were supposed to do after our first appointment, but never had time to. We didn't really even need to though. They had added tests and they were already on our newest schedule. We seem to get a new printout at each appointment.

We decided to try to get in early for a test. We have stuff scheduled today and tomorrow, then next friday (Oct. 2). We really don't want to have to come back. We waited around there for about an hour and a half, but they couldn't fit us in. Se we went back "home" and rested a bit.

Mandi and her boys drove over (they're just under 2 hours away) which was awesome! Mike had been getting down yesterday, so I think it was good to have some little boy distraction. And they're so cute. We hung out with them all evening, then they had to go. Sad! (Thanks for the gum you left, Mandi! It's delish and I'm chewing it now. Hope you didn't mean to take it with you. Hehe!)

Today we got up and drove around the ramp forever, slowly going up to 8 (the top) and back down to find a spot. We were a bit late. We dropped off our lovely jug of sample on the way to Mike's test and now he's back and I'm killing time. He's back getting sensory testing done. I'm assuming on his legs. Oh! Dr. Singer also gave him a script for some cream for his feet. It's pain killers and numbing meds mixed together that he rubs on his feet twice a day. If it works, he can get off the morphine. It also has no side effects! It's just silly to be on pain killers when it's such a small part of his body he's trying to help with them. Plus, they can make stomach issues worse with nausea and such. He was also talking about a drug we haven't tried. (Remron I think. Just for you, Mother) It's technically an antidepressand, but really helps with nausea and has a side effect of weight gain, which wouldn't be bad. (P.S. Mike's gained about 15 lbs in the not quite 2 months since he got out of the hospital.)

So after this test he's in, I think we'll try to wait and get into the Oct. 2 test early again. Then later this afternoon he has a colon test. Won't go into detail on that one. After that he meets with Dr. Szarka (GI) again. Tomorrow he has another leg test in the morning, then an appointment with Dr. Kudva in the late afternoon. If we don't get in early for that test today, we'll probably hang out most of tomorrow trying to get in.

In other news, the couple we're staying with is having a neighborhood party at their house tonight. Also, there's a new CSI on. That's about all I have. My Mike is in a better mood today, after realizing if he doesn't get the transplant, it's in God's hands and we need to pray for his will. I like the better mood and the right heart. And the Mike. And now I'm going to post this (internet magically appeared) and mess around online.

One more thing. My son makes me sad. He's having too much fun to talk to me on the phone for more than 30 seconds. I suppose it's a good thing he likes being with his Nana and Grandma, but it makes me sad! Day before yesterday our conversation went a bit like this:

C: Did you go to the library?
K: No! I not at the library.

And that's about all. Apparently the had just left the library and he was with Grandma watching them make pizzas at Papa Murphy's. More entertaining than Mom.

The day before?

C: Hi Ki!
K: This Mommy?
C: Yeah, this is Mommy.
K: I playing. Bye!

Little skunk. Oh well. I don't have to worry about him at all. That's nice. We have awesome moms!

Mayo Update

2009-09-23T09:35:00.002-05:00

It’s been a couple days since I updated. We don’t have internet where we’re staying, so we have to get by while we’re at Mayo. And that waiting time has mostly been spent watching shows.

Monday we began at the lab, which you know if you read the last post. After that we headed up to Dr. Kudva, an Endocrinologist (diabetic doctor) in the transplant unit. He talked with us a while about Mike’s medical stuff and said, “Oh, I see,” waaaay too many times. He was concerned with Mike’s feeding tube and possible infection after a transplant because of the immuno-suppressants he’d be on. He said he’d talk to a surgeon about it. Other than that, he seemed pretty on board with the transplant. Yay!

After that we talked with the transplant coordinator nurse. (My computer is irritating me. It keeps jumping me up a paragraph so I’m ping in the middle of old stuff I wrote, then I have to move it. Over and over.) She went through a power point of the transplant process, risks and benefits, post transplant medicines, etc. It was very helpful, but Mike and I both almost fell asleep! The waiting time for a pancreas is only 6 months to 2 years, which I thought was not bad! And it's not a numbered list. It's more like the lottery. When a pancreas becomes available, they do a national search for a perfect match. If there is none, it goes to the person in the region that's the closest match.

After the transplant he'll have to be in the hospital for a week, then near the hospital 4-6 weeks. With most people, the first week out of the hospital he'd go in every morning for labs, then again later in the day to see the doctor. The second week he'd start going M, W, F if he was going ok.

There's a transplant house that sounds pretty nice 4 blocks from the clinic. It has community kitchens and entertainment rooms with pool tables, tv's, etc. Their brochure says they charge a small fee. The only stinky thing is no visitors under 17 years are allowed because everyone there is on immuno-suppressants. So Ki couldn't visit. Also, he'd have to have someone there with him all the time (as part of the house rules). We're going to tour it this afternoon. It's required before you can stay there.

Dr. Kudva was very surprised Mike had never had an EMG to test his neuropathy. He set up an appointment for us to meet with a neurologist about the neuropathy. At that point, we were done for the day (a bit before noon), had an afternoon appointment Tues., and a morning appt Weds. We decided to see if we could get in to the Weds. appt that afternoon, so we went over and waited (much to Mike's chagrin) for 4 hours. And left cold, tired, and hungry with the exact same appointment time.

Tuesday, we slept in. We had a 1:30 appointment with Dr. Szarka, a gastrointestinal doctor. Mike was very impressed with him. He knew a lot and mentioned procedures and treatments no one in Ames had. He said they can place the J tube endoscopically, which Ames can't. They have to do full out surgery. Also, he talked about a treatment that can help the stomach and colon muscles work together better to get stuff moving through, if that's an issue. We waited a long time for an appointment time for a small bowel follow through including the colon, which he hadn't had before. When we got the time, they told him to go off all meds, including his pain meds. We questioned going off morphine cold turkey, so she went to ask. At that point our schedule was a new 4pm appointment, neurologist Wednesday, nothing Thursday, first part of the small bowel test Friday, and second part Saturday. She came back and said Dr. Szarka had canceled the test and looked like he was thinking over what he wanted to do. We were supposed to go back Wednesday after the neuro appt.

We weren't really sure what the 4pm appointment was for. Something GI related Dr. Szarka had set up, so we went over and waited half an hour. It turned out to be the PEG (his tube site) nurse. He's been having pain for about a week and lots of bleeding for a few days, and Dr. Szarka had talked about getting it cauterized. So she looked at it and cauterized it. Ouch! I've had my nose done before (nose bleeds) and it kills. She gave us a couple extra silver nitrate sticks to use in 7 days, and a script for a cream he can use twice a day for two weeks instead if he wants. He's also supposed to keep it dry. Apparently if it stays moist, skin can grow rapidly and cause the problem he was having. Good to know, since I don't think anyone had mentioned that before. She said he was taking very good care of it though, so that was good!

We finally headed back "home" to relax. We've been watching some live tv, which is really weird after 3 years of not having it. (We usually just watch stuff online.) We got to watch he 2 hour House season premier on Monday and CSI: Miami (no my favorite...we really don't like Horatio!). Then last night we watched a brand new Hell's Kitchen and a couple new shows we hadn't seen before. It wasn't really as exciting as waiting for your show to pop up online, though. We just happened to find them, since we don't really know when stuff is played live.

Anyway, today we have a neurologist appointment at 7:45, then we're supposed to go back Dr. Szarka to see what he's decided to do. As of now, we're done after that, but I'm sure tere will be more tests added. When we're done with everything, we have to go back to Dr. Kudva so he can see whatall the other dudes figured out. It's nice to have doctors who don't seem puzzled by Mike. They actually have ideas of what to do.

So. Now that it's officially time for me to wake up, I guess I'll go shower. I wrote this this morning at 5 something because I couldn't sleep (in general, and because of the insanely loud snoring in the next room). Also, we don't have internet here, so I'm pre-writing, then I'll post it while we wait. That way Mike's not dead from boredom by the time I'm done.

In general, you can see mini updates on my facebook while we're at Mayo. It's not a ton of info, but it tells when we're waiting and when I'm bored...

Mayo

2009-09-21T07:40:00.002-05:00

I have a new laptop cord! The laptop has been out of commission for a while now, due to a broken power cord. It's really limited my blogging. (The desktop is generally occupied.)

A lot has happened since I last posted. We are currently at Mayo in Rochester for a pancreas transplant consult and GI visit. FINALLY! Mike's back getting blood drawn, our first stop of the day. Then we meet with the transplant dr and are done for the day. Tomorrow we meet with the GI dr at 1:30 and, as of now, that's all we have. It's kind of disappointing to me to come so far and not have all the tests.

Mike's back, more later.

more.

2009-07-25T11:07:00.003-05:00

I'm working on changing everything in Mike's life while he's in the hospital. I picked out an apartment and signed the lease. He has never seen it. I found out I'm pregnant. Our car crapped out, so I may be picking another without him... (That last one is fun for me! He really doesn't give a rip right now and I want to surprise him.)

Life is crazy and silly. That's about all I have to say to that.

In other news, I haven't gotten a chance to update on my Mike in a while. You might be kind of out of the loop! Sorry about that. Yesterday they took him to radiology and put a smaller, weighted tube down through his existing tube. (Remember, he just had the G tube - going into his stomach - and we wanted/needed to J tube going just below his stomach so he wouldn't get nauseous and not absorb the tube feedings.) They were trying to get the smaller tube to follow the path food would go out of the stomach and down into the jejunum, but it didn't work. They couldn't get it down the hole.

Today they took an x-ray of his stomach to see if the tube had worked its way down just from the natural stomach movements, but no such luck. They took him back down to GI (where he got his surgery in the first place). They put a scope down his throat (again) and moved the tube. Fortunately it worked! Otherwise they were going to try switching out the tube. There was also the possibility of too much air getting into his abdomen, which would be very painful, but the doctor didn't mention any of that business going on, so that's good!

Mike is now resting with his J tube. Finally. (Thank you Dr. Fleming!) I'm still irritated with the 2 other doctors who didn't do the right thing in the first place, then strung us along for way longer than they should've trying to make the G tube work. But it's done now. Nothing more I can do (except complain on the survey!).

In other news, I'm planning on moving on Wednesday the 29th about 6pm. I figured people would be able to grab some dinner after work if they were the working type... So if you're about drop me a line!

Ok, I'm going to head out now. I'm tired of thinking.

frustration

2009-07-21T13:00:00.003-05:00

I am so irritated with things! Some of the nurses here...

Mike got low twice this morning. The first time (about 4 or 5am) he fell and called the nurse from the floor. She took so long to get here he was back in bed by the time she made it. (And it's not easy for him to do stuff when he's low! Often he can't even go get his own juice.) When she got here he told her he felt low ans she refilled his ice water and cleaned up before calling someone to check his blood sugar....who also took a while to get in here. It was 50 (not good). He finally got a little OJ and was back up in the 70's (the bottom of where he should be).

Then at 7:45 he called me and said he was low. He was 53 and was waiting for something to bring his blood sugar up. The nurse said she had to call the Dr. On a side note, their protocol is to give a small container of OJ and check blood in 15 minutes, then repeat if it's still low while calling the Dr. in the meantime. So he called me and we talked for a couple minutes. Then I called the nurses station and talked to his nurse who STILL hadn't even called the dr! She claimed she was about to... He finally got OJ with sugar mixed in (which they aren't supposed to be doing, it's an old thing).

I am so frustrated with this I feel like taking him to another hospital. Seriously. He's diabetic. When he's low you give him sugar! You don't him and haw for 45 minutes while he goes into a diabetic coma.

It's to the point now where I feel like someone needs to be with him all the time. I don't trust them to take adequate care of him. Someone needs to be here to catch him and to speak up for him. Unfortunately I'm still trying to find people to fill my shifts over the next few days. I'm so thankful for our moms and other family/friends who have helped out with Ki.

He's finally asleep (after being up since 2am) and I'm off to take a nap with Ki so my Mom can head to work. He's been turning off his ringer when he sleeps, so feel free to call. If he's out you won't wake him up. He could use some encouragement though. It's been a looong trip this time!

A Mike Update

2009-07-16T10:12:00.002-05:00

Mike is still in the hospital and will be for at least a few more days. He had his G Tube put in on Monday. At first it was pretty slick. He was being tube fed and absorbing it very well. Then he started feeling sick and they checked it and there was a lot of residual. His stomach wasn't absorbing it anymore. So they sucked everything out through the tube and he began to feel better. For the past couple days he hasn't been able to absorb much and they've had to repeat the emptying.

This morning the GI dr said he thinks this is because of the pain meds he is on. They can slow the stomach and bowels. This really stinks because the drugs are helping his feet too! They're the first thing that has touched his foot pain. (However, they only help for a little bit then he has to wait a couple hours to get more.) There was a possibility of going home with a patch of the pain killer, but now we aren't sure.

For now we're hanging out. His diabetic dr has been on vacation all week and his stomach dr will be on vacation for 2 weeks starting tomorrow. Cool, huh?

In the meantime, I found a place for us to live in 2 weeks! We're just waiting to hear back on the application. I haven't even started packing. It's sad. Ki is doing pretty well. He has 3 injuries, all of which ended up right by/on his left eye. It's odd. He's been loving hanging out with the family (who have all been awesome with helping me so I can work and visit Mike). He's a bit whinier than usual, probably because he has no routine of schedule left and doesn't even know where he'll be sleeping at night. (I opened at work 2 days so he got to sleep over at Nana's.)

Anyhoo, I should get going and pay attention to my guys while I have them. I took a few pictures yesterday so I could post what the tube looks like and all, but left the camera at home. You could always come visit and see it for yourself though...

surgery

2009-07-13T10:35:00.003-05:00

Mike just went back for his surgery. Supposedly it'll take about 20 minutes, so I have to update fast! (If I have spare time I have to look for a place for us to live in, oh, 2 weeks.) Dr. Graveline, said he's only getting the G tube today, no J tube. So he will be able to use a big syringe type thing to suck stuff out of his stomach if he has nausea. He can also feed himself through the tube into his stomach.

I asked Dr. Graveline about a J tube and he said that's not for today. We're trying the G tube first. If he does end up getting the J tube it will be another procedure like this, but not the full surgery. He would still just have one port on the outside. The J tube would go down below his stomach so he could feed himself and bipass his stomach. (I'm kind of irritated he's not just getting it now!)

Mike is thinking up all kinds of fun uses for the G tube. I think it sounds gross and wouldn't want to suck barf out of my stomach unless I had to. He, however, is talking about going to expensive beffets and eating tons, then emptying the food and eating more. He used to eat TONS before all this stuff started. He likes his food. He was also talking about how he could probably win drinking games by sucking out the alcohol below the table (even though he doesn't drink...). He's nuts.

Ki is over at Nana's (Mike's mom) and is happy to be there. He loves his family so much! I'm so thankful it's not too hard on him when Mike's in the hospital because we have such great family around to help out.

Ok, better get browsing for apartments some more!

hospital bound

2009-07-11T15:45:00.004-05:00

Hello friends!

Mike has been in the hospital since last Monday. He hadn't been doing well for a couple weeks. He was throwing up more, getting very dizzy, falling, etc. He has been getting some antibiotics, magnesium, and fluids. He almost came home a few days ago, but fell in the hospital and started throwing up again.

The doctors finally suggested placing a Peg Tube in his stomach, as well as a J Tube just below it. This way he can empty his stomach through the peg tube if he's not feeling well, instead of throwing up. Also, he can give himself nutrients through the J tube, bipassing his stomach. He's scheduled to have it done on Monday and if all goes well will be coming home Tuesday.

Please feel free to visit him in room 381, but call first -(450-8724) in case he's sleeping. (Don't want you to go through all that trouble if he's going to be passed out!)

Now I must tend to the ridiculous child lying on the floor in front of me bawling. More later!

what to do...

2009-06-03T11:38:00.005-05:00

Ki: Where's the keyboard?
Me: You don't need the keyboard.
Ki: I need write it!

I added a shortcut to "p-b-s kids dot org" and Ki can now open the internet and go there on his own. Maybe this will cut down on the number of calculators we have open when he gets the computer. He's kind of obsessed with the site.

I haven't written about Ki in a long time!

Ki...

knows all his letters (even "fancy a").
can write a few letters including "big A" a couple days ago.
likes to watch Word World, Meerkat Manor, Sesame Street Clips, Thomas (or "train show").
weighs 33 lbs.
is super tall.
LOVES babies and puppies. He gets very calm around them.
asks for "hoo-eh mease"(food please) in a whiny voice to get us out of bed in the morning.
adores being around people and playing outside. He's very social, but that's nothing new.
uses "also, similar, and too" in sentences.
is mostly potty trained. He still wears diapers when sleeping and holds out for #2 until he's in one.
uses, "Gah wait!" as one of his most frequent phrases.
treats his stuffed animals like we treat him. He does things like tucking them in on the couch and telling them to hold still, rocking them, and feeding them like babies.
enjoys bike rides and has been mastering the trike lately.
helps himself to candy...no matter how high it is hidden. The high cupboards are no deterrent.
would rather "way down fwoor" right in front of his door than lay down in his bed.
now refers to his grandpas as "Grandpa" and "Other Grandpa."
argues with us.
has strong opinions.
thinks we're going to watch basketball anytime we go to the high school or towards the gym at church.
has a higher, clearer voice than before he got his tonsils ans adenoids out a couple weeks ago. He also sleeps better and obeys better. (We're wondering if he can hear us better.)
is always asking to listen to "VeggieTales music." It's his fav.
"shoops" his basketalls.
can't get enough chocolate.
repeats everything I read off a book page before we can turn it.
loves to get mail. He also loves sending it.
is mega cute.

I know there's lot more, but there's my random list for now. He's getting so big and smart!

Adenoids & Tonsils!

2009-05-20T22:28:00.000-05:00

Ki got his tonsils and adenoids out yesterday morning. He has been stuffy since he was born and has had sleep apnea for 6 months to a year. Here's a video from a couple days ago to demonstrate.

He did very well! Dr. Ford said he took out very large adenoids and his tonsils came out very easily, so hopefully he'll heal well. If last evening is any preview...we should be back to normal very soon!

Here he is yesterday afternoon. Super mellow. If you know our son at all, you know this is SO not him!

However, after a little rough patch in the evening, he was back to his normal self! Now he's pacing around the house, picking stuff up, moving toys...

I think his voice is a bit higher. Or maybe just crisper? The hard "k" is definitely a new sound for him. He also says "yeah" instead of "tsheah". He can say marshmallow and pineapple better as well...which makes us very sad! They were our favorites.

Today I'm attempting to keep him calm. Not an easy task. He's all over the place! I'm glad he's doing a bit better though.

Typical

2009-05-13T06:26:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my life. I live with a couple goofballs.

Smile

Frown

Funny Face (Ki's norm)

"Put your finger in your nose" (Which was followed by, "Put your finger in your other nose" but I didn't figure you needed to see both.)

"Put your finger in Yaddy's nose."

Please say I'm not the only one who lives with crazies!

Smarty Pants

2009-05-12T15:22:00.002-05:00

Sunday we went shopping and got a cheap little magna doodle on clearance. (Isn't Target grand?) Mike was showing Ki how to put it on the fridge and Ki said, "Look! It's a one." And, sure enough, it was! We were very impressed, especially because it was a "fancy" one. Our boy genius!

Proof I should not go to work:

2009-05-08T23:51:00.003-05:00

I got home today and my son was asleep in bed with the Man. He looked like this.

Mike said sorry for the mess...then I found this.

I'd say that's about $30+ on the floor. At least it's pretty. (More than the boy can say. He's not very good at applying make-up. Wrong color, too.)

The red parts are marker. I don't own any make-up that color.

(Crayon is from another escapade...)

Then I noticed something else. Out on the kitchen floor, I found an empty box of fruit snacks (from the cupboard above the sink), empty wrappers, and "big sharp" i.e. scissors.

"I take picture big sharp!!"

I later found red marker on our new couch. However, being the genius couple that we are, it wiped right off because we got it scotch guarded. What can I say, we know our son. (And it's so worth it! So far we've wiped puke, marker, pop, juice, grease, and more off with just a wet rag. Maybe we should be stricter on the food locations.)

See? I should just stay home. At least the kid's cute. He knows how to milk it. Punk.

life

2009-04-29T15:39:00.002-05:00

Mike and I have been talking a lot lately. That's not new, we've always been like that. We've been talking about living radically for God. So far it's been pretty cool.

We bought a couch and projector...so it's easier to have people over. (Actually this was super hard for me. I hate spending large chunks of money!) We're also hanging out with family more, specifically his older little siblings. It's fun. Oh, and helping others even when we're busy.

I really like it. I feel like I have less time for myself, but I'm more fulfilled. And I'm excited to see how God uses us in the future. And how the people around us change. Oh, also how it impacts Ki's life.

You should try it.

P.S. If this post sounds weird and disjointed...it was written while listening to a biology lecture online! Multi-tasking, baby,

What plans?

2009-04-21T17:59:00.003-05:00

I really have no clue what I'm doing in 2.5 weeks. This is not cool. Do I stay in school and get a minor? If so, this summer, or in the fall? Do I just call it quits with classes, do my internship, and be done? If I decide against a minor, do I try to get an internship and then a job in a few months, or just a job right away and count the beginning as my internship? See...I really am clueless.

I don't feel ready to go back to the real world. Back to working full time, possibly even tacking on 1.5 hours of driving each day. If I weren't a mom I'd be super excited. Some of the jobs I could possibly get are so exciting. It'd be fun! But I'm not looking forward to being away from Ki that much.

Such is life. And I'm ok with it all. I just don't know what to do.

I realized today that I only have 1.5 weeks of school and finals left. Weird. Kind of scary. I have a LOT to get done between now and then! I should probably get to it then, huh?

sleeeeeeeep.

2009-04-08T10:28:00.003-05:00

Mike goes home today. Sometime. Eventually.

His pod (part of his insulin pump) expired in the middle of the night, about 24 hours before it should have. It was his last one. I just found out today that his new insurance doesn't cover the kind of pump he has yet. (They're negotiating. It's a mega new kind of pump.) I want to pay it out of pocket. Mike doesn't. I'm tempted to just go behind his back and do it...for a good cause. I think it has helped a ton.

Ki was up in the middle of the night. Threw up in my bed (which I still need to clean). Woke up with a very croupy cough. We did the shower/outside bit 3 times, then headed into the ER. We couldn't get rid of the bad sounding breathing. So we chilled. Got a steroid shot which was like raising the dead. And my crazy son was back. Trying to escape and get into everything (but adorable while doing so, of course). Also a breathing treatment. Then we went up to see Mike because he was still awake.

I've had 4 hours of sleep since 4am yesterday. I don't function well on lack of sleep. (But apparently I can still write just fine. Cool.) I'm tired.

Oh, my hardcore journalism law prof gave me a hug and told me not to even try to get my paper (due Friday) in on Monday. To just talk to her next week. I figured she'd chew me out. So that is HUGE. And now I'm going to go. Might pester some nurses to see about getting Mike out of here. (They tend to take FOREVER from past experience.)

Mike Update

2009-04-07T11:35:00.003-05:00

I've tried to visit Mike twice today and call once...and each time he's asleep! He must be on some good drugs. I just got off work a bit ago (worked downstairs 5-11am), so I'm not fully in the know.

I talked to his nurse in the middle of my shift and she said he's staying another night. He has to get another enema, poor guy. (Sorry if that's TMI!) His last one didn't do too much. That's one of the main things keeping him here, I'm guessing. Nothing in at least 1.5 weeks now. Ouch!

His endocrinologist (diabetic dr) left a message on my phone to call back while I was working. We're now playing phone tag. He saw him this morning. The other day when he was in he mentioned a new study that just came across his desk last week...that I was researching online back in August (my mom found it because she's an all-star)! How does he not know this? Maybe we should swap jobs. Check out the link above to see more about it. I don't feel like re-typing that post! Anyhoo, I'm guessing the doc was calling me about that. I was supposed to call him the week because he wants to try to put Mike in the study and he couldn't remember the parameters.

So. I'm about to head out of Mike's temporary abode and see my little man for the first time today. (I miss him!) I'm picking him up at Grandma's from his sleepover and dropping him at Nana's for the afternoon. I have class from 2-4:30 (skipping the 1st one!), then I need to work on this annoying research paper that makes me want to cry every time I think of it... So not cool.

If you're in the area this afternoon you should stop by and see Mike. Maybe call first, just in case he's sleeping. Wouldn't want you to waste your time! His cell's dead, but his room # is 239-2394, room # 394. And don't worry. It won't wake him up if he's sleeping. (At least it didn't when I caled this morning.) It does help his attitude to talk to/see people, though.

Ok. I guess I'm going to go! Thanks again for all who have stopped by, taken my munckin, and prayed for us!

2009-04-06T11:39:00.003-05:00

You know the verse about how faith as small as a mustard seed can move a mountain? Mike and I have learned the past few years that sometimes God purposefully puts mountains in the way. They make you grow. It's like strength training to get up and over them. We've grown so much since all of this medical stuff began. We've grown closer to each other and closer to God. Church this weekend was a good reminder of all of that. You can listen to it online. It's good.

We think Mike will probably get out of the hospital tomorrow. He's feeling a bit better and had passed a little bit, but is still not feeling too hot. Still not back to his "crappy normal" as I like to call it. Because his normal and my normal are way different. (I would have no friends if I felt like he does all the time. I'm sure I'd be too grouchy and terrible!)

He got a very good night sleep (9 hours!) from the nausea meds they gave him. He's sleeping again now. Ki is at my buddy Jess' (thank you dear!) and I am going to keep watch and attempt to write a research paper. Gross. I think I have it the worst, right?

Thanks again for all your prayers!

P.S. As much as I know this is God's plan and He takes care of us and we've grown so much...I wouldn't mind it being over!

Hey you with the questions!

2009-04-05T16:53:00.000-05:00

My husband's pretty awesome. I admire him a lot. He is in constant pain and most people never even know it. He's so humble about it. Here's a post for those who don't get what's wrong with him. And the bagillion people who see him in his wheel chair and ask what happened. Hopefully this helps you understand... (It gets kind of old explaining it over and over, so maybe this will cut down on that.)

Diabetes is the original issue. He's had it since he was 3, so 22 years. His numbers are hard to control. His blood sugar tends to run high, but he can drop down low really fast. If he gets low, he can pass out. Sometimes he gets low and can't get the message from his head to his legs to get some sort of sugar. (He also says funny things when he's low because his brain and mouth aren't working together too well...like suggesting we get an orange juice cow when we were out of OJ.)

Neuropathy is next. This is his main pain. Neuropathy is nerve damage, usually in extremities. It can either result in numbness or pain. He has pain in his feet, so much so that he has dreams of things biting his lower legs and gnawing on his feet. This is why he uses a wheel chair when we go out. By the time we'd get into a store he'd be ready to leave. Sometimes he crawls around at home due to the pain.

Gastroparesis is probably the hardest to "get". It's nerve damage in the stomach. I think it causes the most problems for him. Essentially, his stomach doesn't empty. Food just sits in there. He rarely has bowel movements and used to throw us a TON. (He is super good at controlling that now though, so he doesn't throw up as much lately.) This also makes his blood sugar harder to control. His stomach may now process stuff for a while, so he'll get low from doing the correct amount of insulin for the food he ate. Then later, when his body decides to process the food, he'll get high blood sugars. So he'll go a day or two not eating, then a day or two where he's pretty hungry. Lately he's only been up to eating lighter foods.

He also has a crazy sleeping schedule and insomnia. He often can't sleep because of pain, or will be up all night in the bathroom. Sometimes he sleeps better in the day, so we have periods of nocturnal-ness.

So. He's currently in the hospital. Why, everyone and their brother asks? (And don't get me wrong, I appreciate the concern! It's just a looong explanation.)

He hasn't had a bowel movement in at least a week (can't remember the last time).
Stomach pain (due to above and gastroparesis in general)
dizziness and lightheadedness
Severe foot pain (although there's not really anything they can do for it. We've easily tried 20+ meds over the past 3 years, but nothing helps.)
He hasn't been able to sleep the past week. He's tried...

I think I got it all... It's generally the gastroparesis that gets us into trouble. We have to get things moving and get him eating again. So that's the deal. Thanks for any prayers for us! We appreciate it.

Caitlin, the hospital hanging wife who should be doing homework.