So I guess I didn't post about my Sweetheart's birthday. It was relatively uneventful...I mean, how does a 29-year-old's birthday compete with a 1-year-old's? :) We both packed on the pounds with ice cream cake and chocolate cheesecake bars. (I intended to give S the chocolate chip cheesecake bars to share with his coworkers, but I accidentally doubled the butter, so I had to make TWO pans instead of one. That meant, of course, that we kept one and home for ourselves!) I got him everything he needs to change the oil himself on both cars, assuming that he already had the ramps. Well, now we can't find the ramps, so I guess we will have to buy new ones. :( If anyone has them or knows anything of their whereabouts, if you would be so kind... We also took a little drive on Antelope Island. It is BEAUTIFUL, though it has its own beauty. We saw lots of bison and, of course, an antelope. We are excited to go there again sometime, as it is soooo big and we only had an hour.
We took our first family vacation with Boo this past weekend - Idaho Falls! It was fun to be with family again and it was really fun to take a road trip. Boo is an exceptional car seat baby. He sat in his little seat and talked to himself and made calls on his cell phone and slept the entire time. He didn't cry even once during the trip (3 hours each way), not even when he had a major blowout! Changing him in the front seat of the car was a new experience. :) He enjoyed the family quite a bit, and we were especially glad that he got to meet Great Grandma and Grandpa T, his namesake. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures on the trip. What can I say, I am just not a camera person. It does make for somewhat of a boring post however...sorry.
Speaking of Boo, he has made a TON of progress this past week. The Early Intervention nurse is about to come over and I can't wait for her to see! He started sitting independently, bearing a lot more weight on his legs, grabbing things out of containers (surprisingly difficult for little ones), bending over to reach for things, and I even saw him roll from back to tum once! This is a lot to have accomplished in one week! I am hopeful that things will go smoothly during and after his surgery (June 1st) so that we can get right back on track developmentally. Who knows what will happen, but I am hopeful we will not regress too far for too long.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Saturday's Protege Passengers and Mother's Day
Here is a list of Saturday's passengers in our Mazda Protege:1. S - He wasn't sleeping in the car, just in the picture! :) He and Boo were great male cheerleaders for me at the race. Seriously, I got a second wind after I passed them cheering. :)2. A - I raced for a cure (breast cancer) on Saturday! Yeah! It was a 5k and I did it in 33:55, including the time that it took to get to the starting line, since there were so many people and so many people walking. My goal was 35 minutes, so I was really happy about this. I am hoping to do a couple more 5k's and possibly a 10k this summer.3. Boo (in his car seat of course) - We have started to take him to uncrowded public places, especially those that are big and/or not enclosed.
4. Old, broken toilet - S and H replaced our middle bathroom toilet a few weeks ago. Our new toilet is very nice. It got Home Depot's highest ratings. Apparently it is not too difficult to replace a toilet, at least not for these two! We were going to have the plumber come out and fix the problem or replace the toilet if need be, but it ended up that that would cost around 500-600 dollars at the very least! S told me that if I could wait a few days with a broken toilet, I could pick out whatever toilet I wanted and he would replace it. I couldn't resist the offer, so I picked out a somewhat higher end toilet from Home Depot with an elongated bowl (much better, by the way) and it is supposed to be able to flush 30 golf balls in one flush! (Not that we need to test out that feature!) Anyway, all this means is that our old toilet was sitting in the garage for all this time (since the beginning of April) and we have finally gotten rid of it. It fit into the Protege and was taken to the dump.
5. 2 destroyed studded tires - These were also in the Protege at the same time as the toilet. We had tried to put these tires back on for the winter, but the car place said they were worthless. We made it fine through the winter without any semblance of snow tires, so thank goodness for flat driveways! 6. A 10 ft tree - We purchased an Ash Patmore tree after some research. It is a really nice tree, and hopefully it will grow to be about 45 ft tall and 35 ft wide. We stuck it right in the middle of our front yard. We did manage to fit it in the Protege, through the sun roof. We got all kinds of funny looks and pointing fingers as we drove through the city, but we made it home in one piece, and now it is planted. Admitedly, it did look pretty funny and I laughed the whole time we were driving around with it (excluding the time I spend telling S to drive slower so the leaves wouldn't get wind-whipped). I think our transport was successful, but time will tell for sure.
7. 2 bottles of Germ-X - We never leave home without it!
8. A bunch of papers - For some reason, we can never get rid of all the papers that invade every area of our existence.
9. Diaper Bag
10. Water Bottles - I have still not given up on bottled water. You can get after me for not being "green", but I still cannot stand the taste of tap water. One of these days I will actually buy a water filter, but I have to taste that water first too. I still only like Kroger bottled water. I guess I am picky...
11. Stroller - Massive.
12. Infant Front-to-Back Carrier - Which Boo has not yet liked.
13. 5 disposable pillows - From the hospital. They should work nicely for guests, I hope.
14. First Aid Kit
15. 3 Stakes and a bag of rope - For the tree, which we have not ended up using, even though S expended a lot of strength cutting the wood with a saw at Home Depot.
16. 40 pound bag of red mulch - I really wanted the colored kind. It looks pretty bright in front of our house. Hopefully as we get some more things planted out there it will all look nice.
17. 2 oxygen tanks and a portable tank - I am so paranoid about always having enough oxygen with us. We have run out in the car more than once!
18. Feeding pump backpack - This is new, and fairly convenient, although it is much less accurate in volume delivery than when it is on an IV pole, as it is at home.
19. Oximeter - aka. Beeper
20. Chewy Chips Ahoy and grape juice
On a side note, Mother's Day was good for me this year. Looking back, last year I wasn't sure I would have another Mother's Day with little Boo. He was still less than 2 pounds then. I couldn't even imagine having him at home with us! This year was so much better. S said it was "my day", so I did not have to worry about feeding Boo. This is always the big stress in our house, as it involves thawing milk, making sure the pump has enough battery, and carrying the IV pole all around with us, wherever we take Boo in the house (up and down stairs many times, since his room is upstairs, but not any of his fun toys, which are too big for his room). I also got to sleep in.
We went to church all together, but Boo and I left after the sacrament because all I could hear was COUGHING! I am sure that mostly everyone was just clearing their throat, but coughing is not what you want to hear when you have a child who needs desperately to stay healthy. (We just got the bill from our influenza hospital stay which was 6 days long - $19,400!) Really, the money has nothing to do with why he has to stay healthy. If he gets sick, surgery will be pushed back another 4-6 weeks and he could very well need to be hospitalized again. I don't know if I could deal with that. Plus, who wants to be sick?!We also went to Temple Square for Mother's Day to see all the flowers and the temple. Boo doesn't get out much, as I have already mentioned, so this was a fun trip for us. Unfortunately, when we took him out of his stroller in the Visitor's Center, he had VERY poopy pants (boopy bants), so we had to cut our visit just a little short. We walked around once and then we skedaddled. He was a very good sport.
Anyway, today S brought some beautiful roses home for me. That was very sweet. He knows I love flowers, yet he views them as so impractical as they are short-lived. So I am glad to have them. They have completely changed the feel in the kitchen!
I just love being a mother! I am so glad to have Boo and to be able to experience life with him. And I am so grateful for my good mother who raised me and is so kind and loving and caring. And I am glad that my husband has a good mother as well who cares about us very much. Hope everyone else had a good mother's day!
P.S. Boo learned how to give "High 5" on Sunday, so we have been having a lot of fun with this. I think this is the very first thing he has learned to do, in terms of on command and knowing what he is doing. So if anyone ever needs a "High 5", you know where to go!
4. Old, broken toilet - S and H replaced our middle bathroom toilet a few weeks ago. Our new toilet is very nice. It got Home Depot's highest ratings. Apparently it is not too difficult to replace a toilet, at least not for these two! We were going to have the plumber come out and fix the problem or replace the toilet if need be, but it ended up that that would cost around 500-600 dollars at the very least! S told me that if I could wait a few days with a broken toilet, I could pick out whatever toilet I wanted and he would replace it. I couldn't resist the offer, so I picked out a somewhat higher end toilet from Home Depot with an elongated bowl (much better, by the way) and it is supposed to be able to flush 30 golf balls in one flush! (Not that we need to test out that feature!) Anyway, all this means is that our old toilet was sitting in the garage for all this time (since the beginning of April) and we have finally gotten rid of it. It fit into the Protege and was taken to the dump.
5. 2 destroyed studded tires - These were also in the Protege at the same time as the toilet. We had tried to put these tires back on for the winter, but the car place said they were worthless. We made it fine through the winter without any semblance of snow tires, so thank goodness for flat driveways! 6. A 10 ft tree - We purchased an Ash Patmore tree after some research. It is a really nice tree, and hopefully it will grow to be about 45 ft tall and 35 ft wide. We stuck it right in the middle of our front yard. We did manage to fit it in the Protege, through the sun roof. We got all kinds of funny looks and pointing fingers as we drove through the city, but we made it home in one piece, and now it is planted. Admitedly, it did look pretty funny and I laughed the whole time we were driving around with it (excluding the time I spend telling S to drive slower so the leaves wouldn't get wind-whipped). I think our transport was successful, but time will tell for sure.
7. 2 bottles of Germ-X - We never leave home without it!
8. A bunch of papers - For some reason, we can never get rid of all the papers that invade every area of our existence.
9. Diaper Bag
10. Water Bottles - I have still not given up on bottled water. You can get after me for not being "green", but I still cannot stand the taste of tap water. One of these days I will actually buy a water filter, but I have to taste that water first too. I still only like Kroger bottled water. I guess I am picky...
11. Stroller - Massive.
12. Infant Front-to-Back Carrier - Which Boo has not yet liked.
13. 5 disposable pillows - From the hospital. They should work nicely for guests, I hope.
14. First Aid Kit
15. 3 Stakes and a bag of rope - For the tree, which we have not ended up using, even though S expended a lot of strength cutting the wood with a saw at Home Depot.
16. 40 pound bag of red mulch - I really wanted the colored kind. It looks pretty bright in front of our house. Hopefully as we get some more things planted out there it will all look nice.
17. 2 oxygen tanks and a portable tank - I am so paranoid about always having enough oxygen with us. We have run out in the car more than once!
18. Feeding pump backpack - This is new, and fairly convenient, although it is much less accurate in volume delivery than when it is on an IV pole, as it is at home.
19. Oximeter - aka. Beeper
20. Chewy Chips Ahoy and grape juice
On a side note, Mother's Day was good for me this year. Looking back, last year I wasn't sure I would have another Mother's Day with little Boo. He was still less than 2 pounds then. I couldn't even imagine having him at home with us! This year was so much better. S said it was "my day", so I did not have to worry about feeding Boo. This is always the big stress in our house, as it involves thawing milk, making sure the pump has enough battery, and carrying the IV pole all around with us, wherever we take Boo in the house (up and down stairs many times, since his room is upstairs, but not any of his fun toys, which are too big for his room). I also got to sleep in.
We went to church all together, but Boo and I left after the sacrament because all I could hear was COUGHING! I am sure that mostly everyone was just clearing their throat, but coughing is not what you want to hear when you have a child who needs desperately to stay healthy. (We just got the bill from our influenza hospital stay which was 6 days long - $19,400!) Really, the money has nothing to do with why he has to stay healthy. If he gets sick, surgery will be pushed back another 4-6 weeks and he could very well need to be hospitalized again. I don't know if I could deal with that. Plus, who wants to be sick?!We also went to Temple Square for Mother's Day to see all the flowers and the temple. Boo doesn't get out much, as I have already mentioned, so this was a fun trip for us. Unfortunately, when we took him out of his stroller in the Visitor's Center, he had VERY poopy pants (boopy bants), so we had to cut our visit just a little short. We walked around once and then we skedaddled. He was a very good sport.
Anyway, today S brought some beautiful roses home for me. That was very sweet. He knows I love flowers, yet he views them as so impractical as they are short-lived. So I am glad to have them. They have completely changed the feel in the kitchen!
I just love being a mother! I am so glad to have Boo and to be able to experience life with him. And I am so grateful for my good mother who raised me and is so kind and loving and caring. And I am glad that my husband has a good mother as well who cares about us very much. Hope everyone else had a good mother's day!
P.S. Boo learned how to give "High 5" on Sunday, so we have been having a lot of fun with this. I think this is the very first thing he has learned to do, in terms of on command and knowing what he is doing. So if anyone ever needs a "High 5", you know where to go!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
ONE YEAR OLD!!!!
Boo is ONE as of May 1st! This is a big milestone for our whole family - one that we hardly foresaw a year ago. Here is a quick run-down of the happenings of this weekend.Opening Presents - Boo had almost zero interest in opening presents. It was really too hard for him. I bought Cars wrapping paper, since he is a "Car Baby" (a story for another day). I took about 45 minutes wrapping everything (I am NO good at this!) and then we peeled it off in about 5 minutes. I now know what it is like to be a parent, with respect to the present wrapping part. Kind of a bummer. As expected, Boo did enjoy the paper. Then we took all his presents out of the packaging and he liked them too. He acquired: baby keys, a baby cell phone, some outfits, a Bumbo (we are almost sitting independently, just not quite...), a baby laptop, and some sanitizing products. He is set to be grown-up, just like his parents! :) Sometimes we still feel like we are pretending to be grown-up.
Balloons bouncing off head - As I was wrapping his birthday presents, I blew up five blue balloons. He doesn't care about them at all. However, I tried handing him a balloon a couple of times. Of course, the balloons are too big for his hands, but they did hit his head, which was really funny. It seemed like they were really heavy and they pushed his head backwards. So cute.Eating Frosting off cupcake - In lieu of buying a big birthday cake (since it is only the three of us and S doesn't like cake and Boo doesn't eat, I thought this wise), I bought six cupcakes. I love cake, so I ate 3. I put one on Boo's tray and he sort of dove right in! I was SHOCKED! He ordinarily will not touch anything resembling food. Anyway, he didn't willingly eat any, but since he is a "Sucky Thumby"...
Bath - We gave him a bath right after the cupcake scenario. It was all really very fun. We didn't care about getting anything messy. In fact, I saved another cupcake to do the whole thing again tomorrow! :) Unfortunately, the frosting was dark blue...probably NOT the best choice for a baby with a heart defect...Turning Blue - We wouldn't have known if he had, because he was significantly blued with frosting! It was great to see food all over him and his high seat and especially on his face. He didn't seem to notice that there was frosting on his fingers when he sucked them, but he didn't care either, so that was encouraging.
Barbecue with family the next day - Boo's first extended family outing was to D and A's house for a barbecue. Since it was nice out, he got to stay outside in his stroller and see everyone, including the kids from a distance! Otherwise, we were going to go somewhere while S visited with the family. It was so nice to be there all together and to see most of S's siblings.
Blessing - Today was Boo's baby blessing at church! I thought this day would never come, especially since his surgery got postponed, thus lengthening the amount of time we have to seclude ourselves. (Surgery for G-tube and Nissen will be June 1st now, so we will have to keep him in until mid-June). S was nervous but he did a great job at his first baby blessing! Yeah, S!! It was a very emotional day. It didn't help that the bishopric changed in the same day. :)Tuxedo - Instead of the traditional baby boy blessing rompers that go over baby's head, we got him a baby tux. (With all his tubeys etc, it is difficult to get things over his head). The tux was SOOOO cute! I had to buy a large (12 month), which I knew would be too big, but how else should I buy clothes for a guy that is 12 months wide and 9 months long? :) It was big, but not too big. It was still somewhat of a pain to get on him, mostly because we were in a hurry and trying to rush him through it.
Blessing Blank - My mom made a blanket for his blessing that she gave to us quite awhile ago (back when we thought we might bless him as a little guy...). Anyway, it is BEAUTIFUL! I got it out yesterday, and in an effort to get him excited, I squealed "It's your BLESSING BLANK!" and I threw it on top of him. He thought this was great fun, so we played the game over and over again yesterday and today. I am sure the humor of it all will wear off soon and I will have to think of some other crazy thing to do to make him laugh, as is usually the case.
Laughing - Speaking of laughing, he just started actually giggling just within the last couple of weeks. We LOVE it! He especially laughs when he gets his neck touched (or scrubbed) softly and today he laughed as I was putting his pants on. Come to find out, he is ticklish on his side. Oh man, it is fun to see him so happy.
Balloons bouncing off head - As I was wrapping his birthday presents, I blew up five blue balloons. He doesn't care about them at all. However, I tried handing him a balloon a couple of times. Of course, the balloons are too big for his hands, but they did hit his head, which was really funny. It seemed like they were really heavy and they pushed his head backwards. So cute.Eating Frosting off cupcake - In lieu of buying a big birthday cake (since it is only the three of us and S doesn't like cake and Boo doesn't eat, I thought this wise), I bought six cupcakes. I love cake, so I ate 3. I put one on Boo's tray and he sort of dove right in! I was SHOCKED! He ordinarily will not touch anything resembling food. Anyway, he didn't willingly eat any, but since he is a "Sucky Thumby"...
Bath - We gave him a bath right after the cupcake scenario. It was all really very fun. We didn't care about getting anything messy. In fact, I saved another cupcake to do the whole thing again tomorrow! :) Unfortunately, the frosting was dark blue...probably NOT the best choice for a baby with a heart defect...Turning Blue - We wouldn't have known if he had, because he was significantly blued with frosting! It was great to see food all over him and his high seat and especially on his face. He didn't seem to notice that there was frosting on his fingers when he sucked them, but he didn't care either, so that was encouraging.
Barbecue with family the next day - Boo's first extended family outing was to D and A's house for a barbecue. Since it was nice out, he got to stay outside in his stroller and see everyone, including the kids from a distance! Otherwise, we were going to go somewhere while S visited with the family. It was so nice to be there all together and to see most of S's siblings.
Blessing - Today was Boo's baby blessing at church! I thought this day would never come, especially since his surgery got postponed, thus lengthening the amount of time we have to seclude ourselves. (Surgery for G-tube and Nissen will be June 1st now, so we will have to keep him in until mid-June). S was nervous but he did a great job at his first baby blessing! Yeah, S!! It was a very emotional day. It didn't help that the bishopric changed in the same day. :)Tuxedo - Instead of the traditional baby boy blessing rompers that go over baby's head, we got him a baby tux. (With all his tubeys etc, it is difficult to get things over his head). The tux was SOOOO cute! I had to buy a large (12 month), which I knew would be too big, but how else should I buy clothes for a guy that is 12 months wide and 9 months long? :) It was big, but not too big. It was still somewhat of a pain to get on him, mostly because we were in a hurry and trying to rush him through it.
Blessing Blank - My mom made a blanket for his blessing that she gave to us quite awhile ago (back when we thought we might bless him as a little guy...). Anyway, it is BEAUTIFUL! I got it out yesterday, and in an effort to get him excited, I squealed "It's your BLESSING BLANK!" and I threw it on top of him. He thought this was great fun, so we played the game over and over again yesterday and today. I am sure the humor of it all will wear off soon and I will have to think of some other crazy thing to do to make him laugh, as is usually the case.
Laughing - Speaking of laughing, he just started actually giggling just within the last couple of weeks. We LOVE it! He especially laughs when he gets his neck touched (or scrubbed) softly and today he laughed as I was putting his pants on. Come to find out, he is ticklish on his side. Oh man, it is fun to see him so happy.
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