Tiny Treasures

Free DIY Christmas Art Print

2010-11-30T22:09:00.001-08:00

I saw this adorable Christmas mantle decor today and wanted to share. Head on over to eighteen25.blogspot.com to download the files for the 16x20-inch art print AND the banner for FREE! They suggest having the poster printed at Costco and if you don't want to use up all the ink in your printer for the banner, you can send the file to an office supply store / Kinkos / FedEx and have them print it for you. So darling!

They also have a link to their tutorial for how to make those awesome glitter trees with supplies from the Dollar Store. {Shhh...nobody has to know how cheap it is!} :-)

Flashback: October photos

2010-11-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

Talk about flashbacks: this photo of James is from today...one of the new cabinets he's discovered houses Keith's Diet Coke stash.

Apparently the fascination runs in the family, because here's Maddie in November 2007...

{Big Cheek grins run in the family...favorite photo of Maddie from Thanksgiving 2007}

And speaking of getting into cabinets, he's getting into ALL of them now! Oh, such treasures to behold! Mommy just loves this game. {Why not just get cabinet locks, you ask? All the normal ones that you have to screw in...they split the wood on our cabinet doors, so they're out of the running. I'm now looking for either adhesive ones or special magnetized ones! Anyone have a brand they like?}

. . . . . . .

Lately Maddie's favorite thing to do is play on our king size bed. Within an hour of me making it in the morning, it's a mess. It becomes a pillow fort, she "rests" under piles of covers, she brings a stash of Polly Pocket dolls or bouncy balls or whatever else and hides them in all the nookes and crannies. Or she sneaks under the covers and watches Disney movies on the iPod Touch. She and James both love to wrestle and be tickled and be silly. {I finally captured some cute pictures of her! She's been in a stinker mood when it comes to photo-ops lately.}

. . . . . .

Getting back to October, we had our friends the Newells over for a playdate and pumpkin painting. We've been going to The Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island for the past few years together, but the weather was cruddy on the day we'd planned, so this was Plan B.

{it's always more fun when you can get your own snacks from the fridge!}

The kids always have a great time playing together and its' fun to see all the new things they're able to do independently. James and Henry had the same due date, but as you can see, Henry has a bit of a leg up on James in the growth department! :-)

. . . . . .

Most of the time Maddie just wants to do her own thing when she's playing, but sometimes she'll invite James to join in on whatever she's doing. Seeing them play together just warms my heart, especially since James lights up whenever he's around his big sister.

{this is his "old-man-who-forgot-his-dentures" look...handsome, eh?}
. . . . . . .

A highlight of October was watching Maddie hit a milestone--riding a bike! Her bike had been out at Nana and Papa's house for a long time, so she hardly ever practiced, even though we'd had the bike for probably a year. She'd tried when she was younger, but couldn't get the hang of peddling and would always high-center in the middle of her peddling stroke. So Nana and Papa brought the bike back home for her and, on a whim, she jumped on and tried it again--perfectly! She was able to peddle and look up and steer all at the same time! She was so thrilled. When the weather was nice, I swear we went on 3 bike rides a day. Too bad we'll have to wait until Spring now. It was the perfect activity to get out some of her pent-up energy.

. . . . . .

Our next step with James will be a Feeding Clinic at Emanuel Hospital with a speech therapist an a nutritionist, probably sometime in December. He was doing okay with baby food purees, but then he got a cold for about 10 days and refused all solids and even some of his bottles. Since then his interest in food has gone downhill and I'm worried he's developing aversions to food. His doc said it's common for kids who have had a very delayed introduction to solids to develop a strong gag reflex and food aversions. James used to eat 1-2 Tbsp. of food a couple times a day, but now if you even touch it to his tongue he starts gagging or actually throws up. I'm worried that food is going to be a long, uphill battle with him. Please pray that he'd be able to get back on track and re-learn to tolerate textures and tastes. The one food he does still like is green apples, especially when they're shared with Daddy.

On a HUGELY GREAT note, James' doctor said that if his labs continue to look good and if he keeps similar pace with his TPN and formula rates, he could be completely off his TPN IV's within 6 months to a year! That would be AMAZING progress! We'll keep praying for that, as it would be a big benefit to his whole system, especially in terms of minimizing long-term liver damage that's common with TPN.

. . . . . .

I'll wrap up this October flashback post with one of my new favorite recipes. Ever had the pumpkin cream cheese muffins at Starbucks? I wait for them to arrive every year and love every bite. But you know what? These blow them out of the water! They are absolutely delicious! I've been stockpiling canned pumpkin so that I can make them whenever the mood strikes...like how about tomorrow?! Truly, they are heavenly.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins with Streusel from Annie's Eats.
{click here for the recipe...
and check out the rest of her recipes, too--they're all delicious!}

Warning: Mass Update Ahead

2010-11-23T20:33:00.000-08:00

Oh, you poor, poor neglected blog! I can't believe it's already been a month since my last post. How lame is that?! Having a very active 1 year old and (now) 4 year old + loooooong hours of basement construction makes for very hectic days around here, so when 9:00pm rolls around and the kids are finally in bed, I finish the dishes and put away some laundry and tidy up the house, if I have an ounce of energy left it's usually a choice: upload photos and think of something clever to put on my blog OR lay on the heating pad and watch TV for 20 minutes / work on something crafty? Guess which choice has been winning out for the last month! :-) Add to that the fact that I've been pretty pathetic about taking photos and, well, there you go. I'll try to do a series of posts over the next week or so to "catch up"...since I have Halloween, my birthday, Maddie's birthday, then Thanksgiving and Keith's birthday this week! Whew! For Keith's birthday, he gets to travel down to Eugene with my dad and go to the Ducks game, relax, have a beer, go out to dinner, stay overnight, and then watch the never-to-be-missed Ohio State vs Michigan game on Saturday before heading back home. I bet the part he's looking forward to most is a full nights sleep! He deserves this break BIG TIME.

After dinner tonight, Keith realized something we need to celebrate...today marks the 1-year-anniversary of bringing James home from the hospital! ONE YEAR! Can you believe it?! Last year on this day I was about 30% thrilled and excited + 70% panic-stricken and totally overwhelmed. I remember it took us a couple extra hours to get out of the NICU, then literally about 10 minutes after we walked in our front door at home, our home health nurse showed up with an IV pole and about 6 big boxes of medical supplies for our training session! I can't remember if it was an hour or two hours long, all I know is it felt like we were cramming days worth of training into a speed-crash-course. I felt like someone had just read me "How to Become a Doctor in One Afternoon" Cliff Notes and then shoved me into the middle of an Emergency Room. Looking back, I'm actually quite proud of Keith and I and how far we have come. Injecting meds into IV bags, hooking up machines, performing sterile bandage changes, drawing blood, administering IV antibiotics...these have all become second nature by now. We have now become "that family" who is the exception to the rule when we head to the hospital--we push hard to get out as early as we can, assuring them that we can do the needed medical procedures at home. And our docs have enough confidence in us that now they listen when we "push" and they argue with our home health services on our behalf to change the usual protocol. Lord knows I've never wanted to be a nurse {I've always hated going to the doctor!}, but somehow when it's for the good of your child, nothing else matters and you do whatever it takes.

{Coming home from NICU: November 23, 2009...look how tiny!}

{Thanksgiving Day 2009}

And look at our little buddy now! 19+ pounds and getting bigger every week. Happy as always.

{One year later: November 23, 2010}

My mom has called him the Human Tornado because he never stops moving! He literally never sits and plays. He's getting so confident with cruising walls and furniture that now he's doing it 1-handed and practically running at the same time. He's taken some steps and walked a few feet between objects, so now it's just a matter of time. He'll probably go straight from cruising to jogging! :-) Oh, another bit of good news...James' lab results continue to look great and his doctors just approved him to be off his IV nutrition for 8 hours a day instead of just 6...two extra free hours! Yahoo! That makes life sooooo much easier!

Maddie is doing great as well and I can't believe she turned FOUR at the beginning of this month. She's even beginning to act older most of the time. I do have to say, though, I feel really guilty for the lack of attention that gets paid to her on most days. When James is hooked up, you have no choice but to literally follow him around, since he has about 2 feet of slack on his lines. {It's funny, he now knows when his lines are pulling tight and he'll turn around and yank on them and then whine at you like, "Ahem, you are slacking on your job, here! I want to MOVE!"} Even when he's unhooked, he's a typical 1-year-old, getting into trouble at breakneck speed, and can't be trusted on his own for more than a few minutes. So Maddie definitely gets the short end of the stick. You know how verbal she is, so it breaks my heart when she comes to me teary-eyed and says, "Mom, I'm feeling really left out. Nobody is paying any attention to me!" Oh, if I could just clone myself, I could be such a better mother! Thank goodness for Nana, who comes over to help me once a week and also takes Maddie on dates every week and sleepovers at her house at least twice a month--she's our saving grace!

Now on to some random photos, the only kind I seem to take lately: One gift Maddie got for her birthday was cute socks with designs on the top. And apparently she is bringing the 80's back as a trend-setter...

{"...because Mom, if I didn't tuck my pants in, then you couldn't see how cute my socks are!"}

{also notice the super-cool glitter shoes from Aunt Dana!}

Today we had an exciting delivery...Maddie's new "big girl" carseat/booster! TWO cupholders and armrests and everything! {Actually, this was WAY more thrilling for Mommy, since it means that James can upgrade to Maddie's smaller forward-facing carseat! He hates his infant carseat and can literally make it about 5 minutes in the car content...then it's screaming for the whole rest of the drive. Fun for all, I tell ya!}

But you know how it is with kids...the actual gift is never what ends up being exciting. It's all about the BOX! Here's how Maddie spent most of her day...

The basement remodeling job is speeding along and an end is in sight! Sooo exciting. Keith has worked tirelessly down there and has done all the plumbing and electrical himself {with a few bonus Saturdays with help from my dad--Thanks Dad!}. The heating/cooling system is done--with an AC unit! Awesome!} The furnace / hot water tank /washer & dryer have been moved into one central room. Insulation has been started. Drywall is scheduled to begin on Friday. When that is done, the concrete floors will be smoothed and stained chocolate brown with a glossy sealer on top. Hopefully within the next 3 weeks I'll have a paintbrush in my hand! It's going to be amazing to have that whole lower floor of our house finished--definitely a dream we've had for a long time. The space will include a media room, storage room, playroom/craft studio, Keith's office, laundry room and full bathroom. So awesome. We'll probably live down there. :-)

Whew, okay, I think I'm out of steam for now. Sorry for my long absence...hopefully look forward to more regular posts! :-)

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Getting back to normal

2010-10-16T11:26:00.000-07:00

Sheesh, things sure have gotten away from me lately! Sorry for my absence...apparently getting back in the swing of things after a week in the hospital and my recurring back pain have taken a toll. :-)

James got to come home last Saturday afternoon and, other than crankiness from breaking in two top teeth, he's back to his happy, active little self. Walking around the house with his car walker, climbing everything, crawling like a speed racer, cracking up at his funny sister. He's still on antibiotics and will continue to be for another week or two, until he can get his new central line placed in his chest. For now he has a PICC line in his arm, which seems to be working fine and doesn't bother him much. He's such a brave little guy. Probably the worst part of being hospitalized for him was that he couldn't get down and crawl and play like he usually does 24/7.

Other than that, we're getting back to normal...starting to cook some favorite fall foods with apples and pumpkin, making decorations and plans for Maddie's birthday party in November, planning the next steps of remodeling the basement. So far we've put in a new front door, two new huge picture windows in the living room, and have framed in all the walls in the basement! We now have the shell of an open media room, laundry room, craft studio/playroom, Keith's office, full bathroom and storage room down there. The space is the full footprint of our house, so gaining all that living space will be HUGE! {I'd post pictures, but there's not much light down there aside from a glaring construction light.}

My back is, well, let's just say it's "sensitive". About 2 weeks ago it was feeling great...no pain at all, I was cleared to lift James again, and I was feeling really good! But I think I overdid it and it was too much too soon. Especially after spending a week in the hospital with too much sitting and rocking, my pain came back and I relapsed. So now my therapist said no lifting again {we'll try a week like that and then slowly ease back into it}. When I felt the pain again, I was so deeply disappointed. Eight weeks of constant therapy and progress, gone in a week. Dang it! I'm still better than I was back in July, so I'm not back at square one, but it's still defeating. I know that I'll have lots of relapses, since that's just the way this injury works, but I was hoping to go longer than just a week! :-(

Hospital Time Again

2010-10-08T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well, we lasted about 3 months...we haven't had a long hospital visit since June, until this week. Around 4:30am Wednesday morning James started throwing up and had a fever. We waited until about 8:30am, called his doctor when his fever hit over 101.5, and then went to the ER. They got him hooked up to IV fluids and started him on antibiotics after they got some blood samples. His central line has been having problems not drawing out blood, so they actually had to poke him this time. :-( His central line has been showing some wear-and-tear damage and the plastic was starting to peel off, so when the lab results came back that he had another line infection, the decision was made to remove it. I got to the ER with Maddie in the afternoon and about 10 minutes later the call came in that he was being taken down to surgery right then. Spent a few hours entertaining Maddie in the waiting room until James was out of surgery and we were taken up to a room. He did great, but now has a PICC line {long IV} in his arm, which gets in his way a bit. He'll have that for a couple weeks until we can clear his infection with antibiotics and then go back in to surgery to have a new central line placed. Aside from infection, part of the problem with his old line was that it was put in when he was only 3 months old and about 8-9 pounds. Fast forward to 13 months old and now 18 pounds and the line was no longer in the right place...it had moved from a large vein in the heart into a smaller jugular vein.

For the last few days he's been on antibiotics and we've been playing a waiting game with his labs. After surgery, his platelet levels dropped and so did his white blood cell count. His white blood cells have now stabilized, but his platelets are still low. We may get to go home tomorrow, but only if his labs show that the antibiotics have killed off the line infection. The docs were concerned today that there might have been a blood clot left over from where his line had been, but the ultrasound looked clear, which is a blessing.

We'd love your prayers for James' health, but I also want to ask for prayer for my amazing husband, Keith. He is Superman...and super-tired man! Since my back is still sore and I just got cleared last week to do a *little* lifting of James {yep, it's been over 2 loooong months!}, Keith has been stuck doing hospital duty overnight and mornings + getting up with James during the night at home for months. The poor guy never gets a full night sleep! Sleep deprivation is literally a form of torture and he's holding up really well considering it all, but still. I need to regain my health soon so that I can be a better helper!

We'll try to keep you posted. Hopefully James will come home this weekend and we can start getting back to normal again! For now he's content roaming the halls in his little red wagon with the IV pole tied on the back, waving to strangers and making them all crank their necks as they walk by, checking out all his cuteness and adorable curly hair! :-)

Look Ma, No Hands!

2010-09-25T18:09:00.001-07:00

Yep, another milestone today for our Little Man. He's now comfortable enough to let go and stand alone while playing for up to 20 seconds at a time. Woo hoo! He's not stable enough yet to start taking steps, but just give him a couple weeks and I'm sure that'll be next! He's a super-fast crawler now, pulls himself up on everything and loves to climb the stairs. We're so proud of him! He lets nothing slow him down. :-)

{oh, and he claps for himself--how cute is that?!}

{Are you checking me out?}

{Hello, all my fans!}

{James also loves to play sword fight with Daddy and Maddie!}

Randomness...these pictures crack me up. Our beagle Lucy is just the best dog. She's so patient with the kids and {sometimes} lets them do funny stuff to her...like the other day when Maddie wanted to "make Lucy more comfortable" by piling about 5 layers of blankets on top of her AND giving her a doggie stuffed animal to sleep with. Lucy just rolled her eyes and put up with it all. What a good dog! :-)

Gearing Up

2010-09-21T11:19:00.000-07:00

This morning marked another turning point...Grandma Darlene had to get on a plane back to Ohio. Back to her normal life and husband who missed her so much. Back to her daughter and other grandkids. Back to *free time* during her day and being able to go to the bathroom and eat whenever she wants! Now that's freedom! :-) We were BLESSED beyond belief to have her with us for 7 whole weeks. She tended to all the kids' needs. She cleaned the house. She was my right-hand lady and now we have to gear up for a new transition. I STILL have not been cleared to be able to lift James. {Can you imagine not being able to lift/hold your own baby for 2 months?!} My back is slooooowly getting better with physical therapy 2x week and exercises I do multiple times every day, but it's definitely not responding as quickly as I'd like. I feel okay if I'm standing up, but can only sit for very short periods of time {5-10 minutes} and any movements related to lifting or bending over hurt, which impacts everything...diaper changes, cooking, doing dishes, cleaning, etc. So now we're on the hunt for a daytime babysitter. NOT the way I'd choose to spend money, but we don't really have any other options. I seriously think there should be some sort of insurance / worker's comp for MOMS who get injured!

James is doing awesome and continues to amaze us and his physical therapist with how quickly he is picking up on things! He is super active and always on the go, climbing over things, cruising all the furniture, using his toys or boxes as "walkers" to push through the house, climbing the stairs. He finally figured out real crawling this week, but sometimes still resorts to his default "slap/drag" method on his stomach. :-) Last week his doctor gave the OK for him to start SOLID FOODS...hooray! So far he likes applesauce, baby oatmeal and bananas. The first bite is always a blech face, but then he warms right up to it.

{hooray for food!}

On a fun note, Maddie and I are gearing up for her 4th birthday, coming up November 2nd. {Now, if I could only pick a party day that works with everyone's schedules! I swear, football season and soccer season are huge buzz-kills when it comes to trying to plan a party with kids and adults!} Against all of my best Mommy persuasion, Maddie has picked a PIRATE theme for her birthday this year. Why, you ask? Because they have cool telescopes. {But couldn't we just get you a toy telescope without planning a whole party around it, Maddie? Apparently not.} I guess Maddie is ahead of the curve because I've found quite a bit of pink girlie pirate stuff on the internet...who knew?! Of course, when you take skulls and crossbones and swords out of the equation {because that just crosses the line for 4 year olds in my opinion}, you aren't left with much. Pirate ships. Treasure chests. Treasure hunt. Palm trees. Oh, and telescopes for spying all those approaching pirates on the high seas, for sure. We'll go with that. So here's something I made last night for the party out of an old shoe box, foam paper and some embellishments...

She loved it...mission accomplished.

James' Birthday Scrapbook

2010-09-03T19:24:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my post yesterday {scroll down for all the b-day pictures!} that I was hard at work last month making scrapbook pages for James' baby book...one layout for each month of his first year. Want to take a peek? {Click on each photo to view it full-size.}

{pregnancy}

{one month old}

{two months old}

{three months old}

{four months old}

{five months old}

{six months old}

{seven months old}

{eight months old}

{nine months old}

{ten months old}

{eleven months old}

{twelve months old}

"First Year" journaling reads:

Dear James,

You are now one year old. What an amazing milestone for you, little buddy. I am proud of all of us that we have made it through the last 12 months...or more appropriately, the last 12 months + 34 weeks. The dream to grow our family has had a lot of ups and downs over the last five years. We had your sister Madeline, miscarried twice, lost your brother Nicholas and had a very high-risk pregnancy with you. Too many doctor visits to count. Numerous ultrasounds. The doctors gave us little hope to hang on to. Every week they speculated at a new catastrophe brewing inside your little body growing in my womb. But your daddy and I had hope and faith in God that He would bring new life to our family, to make it complete...a little life that would be strong and whole and unblemished. You had to arrive in this world earlier than we'd have liked. our first few months were spent in the NICU, battling for your life and the health of your fragile body. I knew deep in my heart, even when you were still inside my womb, that you were a fighter! I'd chant to you, "You prove 'em wrong, buddy!" Daddy and I and countless others have been by your side, cheering you on every step of the way. No doubt it's been a bumpy ride this past year, but we never wavered from our goal--to watch you fight and overcome the odds. You have been blessed by the prayers of hundreds, if not thousands of people, to bring you to this point. You are a trooper. You are my hero. You are my cherished son.

Love, Mama

Happy Birthday, James!

2010-09-02T19:47:00.000-07:00

{James' actual birthday was August 31, so forgive me for being a few days late, little buddy!}

We celebrated James' first birthday with dear friends a couple of weeks ago. I had grand hopes and dreams for this party, with visions of Amy Atlas/Martha Stewart perfection dancing in my head. In my mind, every detail was beautiful, every handmade little touch was placed just right. The photography would look wonderful and the event would be such a hit that I'd submit the ideas and pictures to party blogs on the internet and be "published" for the first time! {Mind you, I was in the midst of constant back pain and on super painkillers at the time, so perhaps that fueled my delusions of grandure!} The reality was much different than my grand dreams. For one, it was 98 degrees that day AND we had winds of THIRTY-FIVE mph. This was a total shock, since we never, ever have wind around here more than a light breeze. {Of course, by the next day the crazy-hot winds were gone and all was back to normal. Ugh.}

If I had a video of my mom, dad, Darlene and I trying to set up at the park for the party it would probably be pretty hilarious. How many grown-ups does it take to secure a tablecloth in 35 mph winds? That would be 3 people draping themselves across the table + one person frantically trying to tie the flailing cloth with yarn and Duck tape...and failing. One tablecloth blowing on top of the fresh birthday cake and getting covered with frosting. Tissue paper pom-poms rolling like tumbleweed across the park. Handmade birthday banners that didn't even get hung. Scrapbook pages slaved over, hoping to be hung in long garlands to honor every month of James' first year...instead Duck taped to a picnic table...and then tied over with twine when that started blowing off. Decorations mangled. Plates of food flipping up in the air. A birthday cake that was a puddle of cream cheese frosting on the outside and still frozen on the inside. Um, yeah. Pretty much a disaster. Sorry, James--Mommy tried her hardest! I really wanted this to be a great party, since we never got to celebrate Maddie's first birthday {she came down with a double ear infection!}...but I guess there's always next year...and many INDOOR party settings from now on! All that really matters is that our boy is happy and healthy and we get to love on him every day.

What's on the menu, you ask?
mini piggies-in-a-blanket
cheese & pepperoni pizza bites + pizza sauce {annies-eats.com}
chicken enchilada dip roll-ups {annies-eats.com}
veggies and ranch dip
rainbow fruit sticks {strawberry, orange, pineapple, green grape, blueberry, purple grape}
popcorn with white cheddar or kettle corn seasonings
berry lemonade
apple juice boxes
bottled water

{LOVE this old-fashioned popcorn maker...we borrowed it from my dad's office!}

Dessert Bar
rainbow layer cake with vanilla bean cream cheese frosting

pretzel rods coated with white chocolate & rainbow sprinkles

rainbow swirl "playdough lollipop" cookies {theidearoom.net}

{a close-up of the "Happy 1st Birthday James" mini flag banner on the cake...hanging on for dear life in the party photo above!}

{melting rainbow cake...not the prettiest picture, but very yummy!}

{Homemade party favors for each child: party hat, box of playdough and jar of bubbles}

{rainbow tissue paper pom-pom decorations--aka: tumbleweed}

{Bonnie with Maddie + Alli's girls, Ava and Macy}

{my aunt Lee Ann + James}

Happy first year, buddy! You are such a joy to us. :-)

P.S.--More tomorrow...close-ups of all those scrapbook pages in honor of his first year!

Menu Monday

2010-08-23T20:31:00.000-07:00

Last week my new Cooking Light magazine arrived in the mail and, let me tell you, there are soooo many good lookin' recipes this month! CL has long been one of my favorite go-to places for recipes and I always look up the recipes online to see the ratings and comments other cooks have left about them...a good tip to save you from many mishaps! Shortly after the magazine hits newsstands each month, cookinglight.com puts up a webpage with links to a LOT of the recipes from the magazine {so even if you don't buy a copy, you can still make the recipes!}...here is the list for September.

I've already made five of the recipes from this month and they all turned out fantastic {and kid-friendly too}!

Meal #1: lemon-splashed shrimp salad {next time I'd add chunks of cheddar cheese too}
veggies & dip
cherries, oranges & grapes

Meal #2: spicy honey-brushed chicken thighs {we all loved this meal...very quick, too!}
green salad
Quinoa Salad with Peaches
Bring 1.5 cups water or chicken broth to a boil in medium saucepan; add 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa {I used my favorite blend from Trader Joe's: Israeli couscous, red quinoa and orzo pasta}. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes {or follow package directions if using a different grain}. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Stir in 1/2 cup minced red bell pepper, 1/4 cup chopped green onion, and 1 sliced ripe peach or nectarine. Make dressing: 3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice, 1.5 Tbsp. olive oil, 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, 1.5 tsp. honey, 1/4 tsp. black pepper. Pour dressing over salad and toss to coat. Serve at room temperature.

Meal #3: crispy ravioli with cherry tomato sauce {mmm...I'd make this again in a heartbeat}
roasted pepper & asparagus salad {I saute the pepper, onion and tomatoes until tender...I like it better that way instead of raw}

Meal #4: {Slow Cooker} Cuban braised beef with peppers
cilantro rice
{and for Darlene & me} roasted cauliflower & roasted fennel-spiced carrots

Meal #5: Seoul-ful chicken thighs {I cut down on the spices since I'm a wimp}
marinated cucumber salad
morning glory muffins {think my husband will notice I'm trying to sneak in zucchini?}

Meal #6: chicken schwarma wraps
Greek salad
hummus with pita bread

Ooohhh....and last week I needed dinner on the table PRONTO, so I made this black bean-corn tortilla pie that I saw on annies-eats.com, which is my FAVORITE food blog. I've made at least a dozen of her recipes so far and all of them have been scrumptious!

On Saturday morning I made these oatmeal pancakes {added blueberries} for Maddie and she LOVED them...as in, she'd already eaten a bowl of cereal + stood at the stove with me and ate FOUR big pancakes as I cooked them. I call that a hit! :-)

On Sunday my brother-in-law Travis is going to be visiting from London, so I'm bringing this corn, tomato & potato salad to the dinner party. Looks delish!

Now I want to hear from you...what's on YOUR dinner menu this week? :-)

Great News!

2010-08-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

Just in time to cap off our first year with James, he got GREAT NEWS at the doctor today!

1. His bilirubin levels {which show how the TPN is impacting/damaging his liver & what gives him a yellow tint like jaundiced babies} are excellent and...his doc was amazed...are almost at the level of a NORMAL child! Praise God! This is wonderful news.

2. His blood sugar levels are holding steady, so now he can be off of TPN and his G-tube formula for 6 hours {instead of 4} every day!

3. He can go up to 3 bottles a day instead of two & in a couple weeks we can try one of the bottles with breastmilk! {We thought this wouldn't happen for many more months.}

4. We are going to try increasing his formula rate in his G-tube by two milliliters each week instead of just one.

5. He's almost up to 16 pounds. Still below the 3rd percentile on all the charts, but growing well.

Yay James! :-)

Learning to Stand

2010-08-16T12:11:00.001-07:00

I tell ya, Mr. James is literally learning new things every day! I am just amazed by him. He's not letting any obstacles get in his way of being independent. Yesterday Keith set out a waist-high box and lured James to it with his new birthday toys...apparently a cell phone is just the ticket for getting him to learn new tricks! {Must be in the DNA...Maddie took her first walking steps while holding a cell phone that Keith and I were taunting her with!} James' physical therapist will be very happy with his progress when she visits next week. Now if we can just get him to bend his legs and sit down! :-)

Oh man, we're in trouble now! :-)

Speaking of standing, in the evening after his birthday party, Keith was standing James up on the changing table to put on a new outfit, James stepped on his stomach tube and ripped it out of his stomach {again}. He wailed, of course, but was smiling again within a few minutes. What would a birthday celebration day be without a trip to the ER {again}? The docs got it back in fine and you'd never know anything had happened. Our boy sure is a trooper.

* * * * * *

A couple weeks ago we got two new couches for the living room {on super sale at Macy's!}. Our dream couches were at Rejuvination here in Portland, but the price tag of $5000 for a couch/loveseat/chair was just too hard a pill to swallow. So I found these at Macy's instead and saved us thousands! Much better, considering they'll have to withstand the wear-and-tear of two kids and a dog for many years to come.

Nice rich brown leather with exposed stitching. Clean, simple lines and not overstuffed. Just the way we wanted it. It has the potential of making for a very classy living room set-up...until you pan back and realize that we apparently live in a daycare center...

THIS is why we're biting the bullet and have started construction on our basement this week! The first wall went up this weekend {we're starting with the laundry/kitchenette/storage room area on one far wall} and now there will be many months of banging and heavy machinery sounds in our future. When it's all done, the basement will include: laundry area, kitchenette with full freezer/full fridge/slide-in range, a storage room with floor-to-ceiling storage, a bathroom, Keith's office, a family room/media room and an open-concept office/studio for me. AND ALL THE KID TOYS WILL BE BANISHED TO THE BASEMENT OR THEIR OWN ROOMS! Hooray! That means we can finally reclaim our living room as a grown-up space that looks organized and presentable. Can't wait. :-)

Learning to Walk...It's the New Crawling

2010-08-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

{It's official...the Cutest Boy Ever!}

James loves to be upright...standing, jumping, walking or climbing. Tummy time and crawling are okay, but standing up is so much better and you can get to what you want so much faster! If he wants it, he goes after it, with no sense of boundaries. Edge of the bed? I'll crawl to it and just keep on going. Cruising furniture? Sure, and then let me lurch forward or fling myself backwards at a moment's notice when something new catches my eye. Yesterday at his party, James was standing in Keith's arms and then two seconds later was doing a face plant into the ground! This boy is going to be a crazy go-getter when he's able to move independently! Mom and Dad are in for it!

A couple days ago, Keith decided to teach James how to practice walking using a car toy we have. We've been putting it next to James when he's in his Johnny Jump-Up toy and he "walks" while holding on to it and pushing it around. He's been enjoying walking with an adult holding his hands, so Keith decided to put the two together. James was thrilled and not at all timid. He took to it right away and only lost his balance a few times, usually catching himself. Let me tell you, when he's hooked up to his IV's this is a 2-person job! James holds the car and we hold James, his tubes and the IV pole! As if teaching a one-year-old to walk isn't tricky enough!

{like the Sumo Wrestler get-up for holding up his tubes?!}

We've also been enjoying the company of Grandma Darlene from Ohio. She was just out here for 3 weeks in May when James had his surgery and now she's out here for gimpy-old-me! Since I'm not allowed to lift much yet, including James, caring for him was not an option and neither was Keith taking off tons of work, so she generously offered to fly out and help us. What an angel! Maddie and James love having her here to play, take them on daily walks to the park, read books, play games, and put them to bed at night. She's already taught James how to say YAY and just today he learned how to clap! We wouldn't be making it without her. Thank you, Grandma!

{Check out Mr. Natural Curls! We just discovered them!}

{James' favorite game with Grandma is Patty Cake. If she sings it to him, he calms right down and gets happy, even if he was just crying. That's how she taught him to clap this week!}

{Maddie, apparently feeling left out of the photo session, decides to insert herself in the frame!}

{headed to the park...first time in the big stroller, which he's discovered is even better than the umbrella one because of its built-in "entertainment tray"!}

{Awww...the sibling love melts my heart!}

P.S...
Yesterday was James' 1st birthday party! Stories and photos to come.}

My Back & Party Prep

2010-08-08T21:04:00.000-07:00

First, an update on my back...and then it's time to show you sneak peaks of James' birthday party preparations! :-)

My ambulance ride to the ER was about 10 days ago and the first few days of recovery were rough. The only position that felt half-way decent was to keep my spine straight...so either standing up or laying flat on my back. I spent a lot-- A LOT -- of time on the heating pad on the couch, only getting up to eat or use the bathroom. A few nights I couldn't even walk across the room to get to my bed, so I just slept on the couch. It was just too painful to move or put pressure on my right side, all of this while taking a lot of heavy-duty pain meds throughout the day/night. We're talking Ibuprophen, Valium AND Oxycodone. Boy, the meth heads wish they could have been in my house! Score! {Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is at all. It only dulled the pain, didn't take it away and didn't give me any "cool" feelings whatsoever!}

A couple days ago I started feeling a tad better, so I'd alternate between periods of standing and walking {like a gimp} around the house and then laying down. Sitting usually still hurts, so it's limited. {Maddie has informed me that "eating dinner at the table while standing up is bad manners, Mama!" but when you're hurt you get a free pass.} :-) I'm feeling better each day, weaning myself off medication {today I've only needed one dose of Ibuprophen} and waiting until Tuesday to get the results of the new MRI that I had done last Friday. Then this Friday I'll go in for another nerve root block steriod injection in my back. Hopefully that'll help me get back on track. My mother-in-law Darlene is here and helps with everything, since I'm not yet allowed to lift anything over 15 pounds {which means James}. I sooo miss cuddling with my little guy! Keith has been SUPER DAD through this whole mess...today he even scrubbed the kitchen and living room and dining room floors BY HAND. When he cleans, he means business.

I told him he's a better wife than me. He's putting me to shame!

I'm such a lucky woman {like, times-a-hundred!} :-)

Today my parents picked Darlene and Maddie up for church and then came over afterwards for lunch. James got to sit at the table with Papa and "eat" like a big boy...a teriyaki stick! One of the few foods he is allowed to have, since he just gets flavor from it and can't bite off any chunks.

Anyhoo...lots of time on "bedrest" = time to catch up on TV shows {I've just discovered Mad Men and watched the first 2 seasons over the past week!} and a few movies. It's also allowed me tons of time to keep my hands busy...very busy...doing crafty things and preparing for James' first birthday party next weekend! {His birthday is August 31, but with the holiday weekend and craziness of school starting up again, I figured earlier was better.} I'm good at some party things...decorations and food...and bad at others, especially games. So what's a mother to do? Have the party at a park & playground--built in entertainment! I'll post lots of pictures after the actual party, but here's some sneak peaks at my paper obsession and party decor so far. All the bright colors make me happy! :-)

{Project #1: Rainbow layer birthday cake. Make batter using 2 white cake mixes. Divide into 6 bowls, approx. 1 cup each. Color with gel/paste food coloring. Pour each color into it's own greased cake pan. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Layer, frost, done! Imagine the kids' surprise when we cut into a white frosted cake and they get all the colors of the rainbow!
P.S.--like all the drug bottles in the background?}

{Madeline is always a super-enthusiastic baking helper.}

{Project #2: Just a few days ago I saw this idea pop up on a couple party blogs...mini cake flag bunting. I've already made two other large flag banners for the party, so this fit in perfectly. It'll be the decoration on top of the cake. Isn't it just so dang cute? It says "happy 1st birthday james". Love love love it.}

{Project #3: Apple juice boxes. Why serve regular juice boxes when they can look THIS cute?! Some red wrapping paper, one sheet of scrapbook paper and a few labels printed on my computer. That's it.}

{Project #4: One of the party favors...the other one is rainbow playdough...shhh! Yet another idea I saw on a party blog, but they used cute metal tins...which I did not have. But I did have these plastic jam jars! Want an inexpensive favor idea? Bubbles! {and come on, having your own jar of bubbles to blow at the park...how fun is that!} 6 jars: $3.50, 1 package pipe cleaners: 99 cents. Labels printed on computer, scrap paper, super-size refill bottle of bubbles & cut-down green plastic straws we already had: free}

Now I'm so excited for the party! Maddie never got to have her first birthday party because she came down with a double ear infection, so James' party will seem double fun!

Watch Out World, Here Comes James!

2010-08-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Mr. James has become a little daredevil lately. He's discovering new ways to move his body, to get from here to there, to explore his world and he's LOVING it! The last two days his new thing has been cruising furniture {with some assistance...especially when he gets distracted by some new cool thing and dramatically flings himself backwards to get at it! We're still working on the whole "where your body is in space" concept}. Now when we put him in his Johnny Jump-Up, we set either a walker or his Exersaucer next to him and he "walks" around them, pulls them to different locations, or spins them to get at what he wants. He is super excited when you stand him up and he races his little feet to walk the length of the couch...or from one end of his crib railing to the other...or across the footboard of our bed. He'd crawl over head-first if we'd let him! {Good thing he's not actually able to pull himself up onto things yet.}

Throw caution to the wind. {Apparently caution is for GIRLS!} Just go, go, go!

Today was also his first ride to the park in the "big kid" stroller, instead of in the front pack or the infant car seat/big stroller. He loved it, but he did find the red clip on the side and held onto it the whole entire ride...just in case of turbulence, ya know!

He's starting to look so much more like a big boy than a little baby lately. OH, AND HE'S GETTING TWO TEETH! Had to be an over-achiever and get his first two at the same time. He's over 15 pounds now {still under the 3rd percentile for height and weight} and is so curious about the world around him. It just blows my mind to think that on August 31st he'll turn ONE YEAR OLD! Didn't we just bring him home from the NICU? :-)

{Just had to include this "little old man who forgot his dentures" shot!}

First Ambulance Ride

2010-07-31T21:18:00.000-07:00

Normally when I'm talking about doctors and the ER and ambulance rides, I'm talking about James. But unfortunately this week it was MY turn to have my first ride in an ambulance! I've talked before about my ongoing back problems. Since May I've had a bulging disc in my back and a pinched nerve that have caused me much pain. I've been in physical therapy for about 6 weeks and over the past few weeks things were starting to feel better. My pain was almost gone, except for a few twinges here and there throughout the day. I'd scheduled a spinal injection at the request of my doctor, which was supposed to block the nerve that was sending the pain signals. I had that on Monday, July 19 and things felt really good for about 4 days. Then my pain level went up to about a 3 on a scale of 0-10. The next day it was up to a 5 and nothing was helping...Ibuprophen, my therapy exercises, heat, ice packs. Then three days ago was when it all went downhill.

I was home alone with the kids at about 11am and had James up on the changing table. He's a mover and a shaker now, so he can't be left alone. All of a sudden as I stood there, my back exploded in pain and I immediately crumpled to the ground and cried out in pain. I was pretty sure that my bulged disc had just ruptured. Maddie was next to me, confused about what was wrong. {But not *too* concerned, since she saw me writhing in pain and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry your back hurts...now could you put on a TV show for me?"} :-) I was curled up in a fetal position, but knew I had to get James somewhere safe, so I clawed my way up the changing table, somehow got a diaper on him and his tubes contained, picked him up and laid him on the living room floor. By now, just a few minutes in, I knew I was in trouble. I had Maddie get me the phone and managed to dial Keith and tell him to come home immediately. I couldn't walk or move. It was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life, even worse than being in labor. I felt like I was going to pass out, my whole body was shaking uncontrollably, and my arms and hands were tingling and going numb. It was all I could do to try and stay calm and do my "hee-hee-hoo" labor breathing/panting.

The 20 minutes it took Keith to get home seemed like an eternity. The minute he walked in, I told him to call an ambulance. Poor Keith...he was trying to see what I needed, calling 911, trying to get Maddie dressed and James' bag packed {he was still hooked up to his IV's and feeding tube}. When the paramedics got here they had a bit of trouble getting an IV started because my veins were starting to clamp down. Thank goodness they got one in and they gave me Fentanyl, so within a few minutes that kicked in and I was able to calm down a little as they wheeled me out of the house on a gurney. The whole thing was a bit surreal.

Once we got to Emanuel, the real frustration set in. Every other experience we've had with them regarding James has been pretty good. Apparently adults in the ER don't get the same treatment. A nurse took my vitals and then left while I waited...and waited...probably 45 minutes until I saw a doctor. Nobody checked on me or gave me pain meds or anything. Keith was in the waiting room with the kids and my mom was on her way, so it was jut me in the ER room. Long story short...the fentanyl wore off within about the first 30 minutes and, even after buzzing for a nurse multiple times without much response, I was left in the room crying in pain for over 2 hours. Nice customer service!! After Keith took the kids home, my mom came in to stay with me and bullied the doctors into getting me some morphine after about another hour. The doctor pretty much said that since I still had control of my bowels and I wasn't paralyzed, that even if the disc had ruptured there wasn't anything they were going to do {not even a new x-ray or MRI to confirm a diagnosis!}. Just get me some pain meds and send me home. How LAME is that?!

So now I'm pretty much on bedrest at home, except for a few times a day when I can manage to hobble to the bathroom or kitchen. I'm taking heavy-duty pain killers {Valium, Oxycodone & Ibuprophen} but even that doesn't take away the pain...just dulls it a bit. All I can manage to do is lay flat on the couch and use a heating pad or ice packs to get semi-comfortable. Actually, tonight I've been off the couch for about an hour, which is a record. On Tuesday I have another appointment with the doctor who did my spinal injection, so I'm hoping they'll do a new MRI and have some treatment options {besides surgery}.

I'd appreciate prayers for me and especially my dear husband who has been SUPER DAD the past few days, taking care of the kids and the cooking and laundry and cleaning and everything! He's my hero! :-)

James Update

2010-07-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

{How could you not be happy when you see this face?!
You bring such joy to our lives, buddy boy!}

It seems that Summer has finally decided to arrive in Oregon. These warm days bring with them all the fun that summer has to offer...camp-outs at Nana & Papa's {or at least the s'mores part!}, playing in the wading pool, daily trips to the park, cooking on the grill, picking fresh berries, and lots of hanging out with family. Our routine for the last couple of days has been that Keith will take Maddie and James to the park after he gets home so that I can have a break and do stuff like vacuum, make dinner, check email {or blog!}, etc. James loves to be outside just like his big sister and just this week has discovered the joy of the swings! Maddie was always a bit cautious about the swings as a baby, but James is "all boy" about them--he flings himself forwards and back, tries to chew the seat, grabs on the chains and grunts.

{heading out to the park today}

{flashback: Maddie at 3 months}

James has become quite a mobile, active little guy over just the past few weeks. He's a pro at rolling and will roll multiple times when he's determined to get somewhere {which tangles him up in his tubes, so if he's on the floor we pretty much have to be there all the time}, he can get his knees under him and rock back and forth, and can crawl for a few paces. I'm guessing in a few more weeks he'll be full-on crawling!

Right now he does an improvised crawl: he claws with his hands while pushing off one leg and dragging the other, like a half-army-crawl / half-swimming motion. Pretty amazing, considering all the tummy trauma he's been through. But he's determined to not let anything get in his way! Go James! We're so proud of you, little buddy! :-)

{He loves this Johnny Jump-Up, which gives him great practice "walking", but we have to get creative with his tubes. He can get completely tangled in about 1 minute flat.}

{Maddie is a great big sister and loves to play with James, teach him how to use new toys, sing him songs and give him loves. James gets the biggest grin on his face whenever she's around.}

* * * * * * * * * *

We had an appointment with the GI doctor about two weeks ago and I was asking about next steps in terms of James' feeding plan: when could we start him on breastmilk, tasting different flavors, cutting back on his TPN time, etc. Unfortunately, it will continue to be a very long road. Right now he gets 8 ml/hour of formula in his G-tube into his stomach and he gets to go up 1 ml per week. So far he's been tolerating this without a problem. I was hoping he could start having breastmilk for one of his two daily bottles, but his doctor wants him to be getting at least half of his daily calories from formula {approx. 25-30 ml/hour} before she'd consider that--so that means, at best, we'd have to wait another 3.5 months before trying breastmilk. Sheesh, the boy will be 14 months old by then! That means he could easily be 2+ years old before he's allowed to try even pureed baby foods. Can you imagine that? Even now, at almost 11 months, he's very aware of what we do and what we put in our mouths. I'm going to feel like the Meanest Parent Ever withholding food from my child. James' physical/occupational therapist encouraged us to ask the GI doctor for permission for James to at least be introduced to flavors, even though he can't really have food yet. So now he's allowed to try out new tastes and is so excited about it! Most babies start out with really bland things like rice cereal and oatmeal...not James! So far he's had teriyaki pepperoni sticks, teething biscuits, banana, fruit leather sticks and mango! The other day I gave him a mango pit to try sucking on and I think he was in shock. :-)

{first try...whew, that doesn't taste like formula!}

{Hey, that wasn't half bad! Let's try that again!}

* * * * * * *

The other night I came downstairs to this sight: James and Maddie curled up together on the couch, watching Mickey Mouse, which Maddie had picked for her before-bed show. James hardly ever notices when the TV is on, but for some reason he is mesmerized by Mickey Mouse. It's been Maddie's long-time favorite too!

{The classic zoned-out TV look! Totally cracks me up.}

{Snugging with Sister on the couch is the best!}

* * * * * * * *

I also have to give a huge THANK YOU to my parents for keeping Maddie overnight on Saturday AND watching both kids Sunday night so that Keith and I could go see a movie. Earlier in the week I'd mentioned my dire need for a date with my husband and my parents came through with flying colors! I know it was fun for them to see James for a more extended period of time and to watch all the new things he's learning.

{When I told Keith I wanted to go on a date last week he got this blank look on his face and said, "A what?" I said, "You know, it's this thing where adults go out of the house without their children and they can go to grown-up places and have an actual conversation without being interrupted every 2 seconds." He said, "Really? I'm not familiar with that concept." HA! :-) }

Homemade Goodies

2010-07-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

We've been sticking close to home lately, taking it easy on the long, hot afternoons and doing lots of fun projects...mostly in the kitchen! A couple of days ago I saw a blog post with a recipe for Sidewalk Chalk Paint {which I'd never heard of before} and decided to make some right then and there with Maddie!

For each color of paint you will need: 1/4 cup cornstarch 1/4 cup cold water 4+ drops of food coloring {darker would show up better on concrete, but I was worried about staining, so I kept it pastel} Stir everything together and repeat for as many colors as you desire! Easy peasy!

It took about 5 minutes flat and then we had a picnic breakfast out on the front porch, lugged James' IV pole and exersaucer outside, and let Maddie paint away! Both my kids love to be outside, so I've been trying to get more intentional about being outdoors even when James is all hooked up.

Since last week was so stinkin' hot around here, Maddie and I decided to cool off with homemade popsicles! Another easy recipe...pureed strawberries, plain yogurt and pureed blueberries. The hardest part was waiting for it to freeze so that we could eat it!

One of my favorite parts of summertime is the abundance of berries! Over the years I've watched my mom make delicious homemade jam of all kids...peach-blueberry, blackberry, marionberry, strawberry, etc. She does the cooked jam, which for some reason intimidates me {the equipment, the time commitment, not getting the seal just right...I just couldn't bother with it}. But at the store I saw a pectin packet for making freezer jam and thought, "I could do that!" So this week I made my first two batches of jam...strawberry-blueberry. With just a few cheap baskets of berries and the no-cook recipe on the packet, I made a TON of jam that will last me all year! {Freezer jam is good for 3 weeks in the fridge or 1 year in the freezer.} This is a great project to do with kids. All you do is mash and stir and you're done!

Now, what to do with all that jam? I decided to make this Doctor Appreciation Week and spread the love! James' surgeon, GI doc and the pediatric nurses do so much for us {and they know us very well by now!} that I figured they deserved a little homemade treat for all their dedication and care. As a former teacher, I know what a thankless job taking care of {often cranky} kids can be, so anything to boost their spirits is always welcome! I just discovered a great new FREE online photo editing site called picnik.com, so I uploaded a recent photo of James, typed my comments directly on the photo and then had it printed at Walgreens...instant thank you card! Love it!

I made these muffins to go along with the homemade jam {click on link for recipe}...

Lemon Ricotta Muffins with Toasted Almonds

Blueberry Cream Cheese Muffins with Sweet Berry Drizzle

Strawberry-Banana-Coconut Muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour {I didn't have pastry flour, so I used 1/2 c. whole wheat flour + 1/2 c. cake flour}
½ cup coconut flour {Bob’s Red Mill brand...in the health food section}
¾ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
1 large egg
2/3 cup canola or grapeseed oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sugar
2 ripe bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine flours, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and strawberries. In a separate bowl, light beat the egg. Mix in oil, vanilla, sugar and mashed bananas. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and lightly mix until all the flour is moist.

Divide mixture among 10 greased, paper lined or silicon muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden on top and a tester comes out clean.

I've also been trying out lots of new dinner recipes lately and I'd love to share them with you. I have TONS of recipes in my "to try" file, so I'm pretty picky in terms of determining whether or not a recipe is "repeat worthy". Here are a few that made the cut in our house:

Roasted Corn & Poblano Polenta with Shrimp {or chicken or steak}
Rosemary Grilled Steak with Tomato Jam
Grilled Pork Kebabs with Chimichurri Sauce
Asparagus with Tomatoes and Feta {I roasted the asparagus for 7-8 minutes at 400 degrees & added 1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar to the tomato mixture as it cooked}
Israeli Couscous with Asparagus, Peas and Sugar Snap Peas

Tandoori Chicken Burger Wraps

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken breast
4 green onions
3 Tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 Tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
Naan flatbread
cucumber
cilantro
red onion sliced thinly

To make the Yogurt Sauce:

1 small container fat free plain Greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon fresh mint chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper

Put the chicken and all of the spices in a bowl and mix well. Form into 4 patties.

Cook the Tandoori Chicken Burgers on a preheated grill over medium-medium high grill. About 3 minutes per side. Throw the Naan bread on the grill during the last few minutes.

Mix the yogurt sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.

Slice some cucumbers, red onions, and cilantro for toppings.

Top the burgers with a few sliced cucumbers, red onion, a generous handful of cilantro, and yogurt sauce.

and on my to-make-list for these hot summer evenings...

Thai Chicken Pizza {California Pizza Kitchen style}
Cellophane Noodle Salad with Roast Pork
Cobb Salad
Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream
Mango Sorbet

Enjoy, everybody! More posts to come! :-)

{belated} 4th of July

2010-07-10T22:36:00.000-07:00

I grew up in a family that loves traditions, which I hope to pass on to my kids as well. I'm not opposed to trying out new things, of course, but I also love the comfort and anticipation of knowing what events are to come. 4th of July is one of these times! I grew up in Springdale, Oregon...never heard of it? Gee, why not? Since it's all of about 5 blocks long? :-) You know, it's that 1/2 mile gap in between Troutdale and Corbett. Growing up, I wasn't a big fan of living in Hickville USA, but now that I'm older I can appreciate it a little more...it's a little piece of the peaceful country life but just 20 minutes from downtown Portland. Every year Corbett hosts the quintessential small-town parade, complete with cool vintage cars, kids on decorated bicycles, tractors, horses leaving their treats all over the road, etc. Last year Maddie rode with Papa on the tractor in the parade. This year Papa drove the Yurf Dog {a crazy name for an oversized wanna-be-dump-truck golf cart} and pulled a wagon for us to ride in.

{getting ready at my parents' house; our ride is all decked out with decorations,
candy, comfy cushions, blankets, and lots of kid snacks for the long ride}

{Maddie's buddy Lucy Newell, who wanted to ride with us...until the engine started and she freaked out and began crying and screaming to get out. Maybe we'll try again next year!}

It was supposed to be filled with about 6-7 of our friends' kids, but lots of them chickened out at the last minute, so it ended up being me, Maddie, my cousin Thane from Seattle and his two boys Ethan and Avery. The parade is known for one thing...CANDY! I swear, the kids get more than at Halloween. {In fact, Alli's girls didn't want to ride in the parade because they'd miss out on the candy collection!}. Maddie and the boys were so gung-ho about the candy throwing that we pretty much ran out of the TEN POUNDS of hard candy I'd bought after, oh, the first 3-4 blocks of the parade! Note to self: next year buy *double* the candy! :-)

{James' first 4th of July and my just-go-with-it husband sporting a very patriotic hat}

{Alli's daughter Ava, who is always the Fashionista! Check out those shoes!}

{Foreground: Alli's toothless daughter Macy :-)
Background: My cousin-in-law Amy (married to Thane) and daughter Hadley}

{The parade has started--bring on the candy chucking!}

Bye Bye Baby

2010-06-25T21:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, so technically she's 3 1/2 years old, but today I got misty-eyed when I had to say goodbye to my "baby" girl at the airport. She was headed to Utah on an airplane ride with Papa, her first trip without Mom and Dad, and she'll be gone over a week! Oh, how my baby is growing up. Both of us have been in a state of half-excited/half-sad about this little adventure. This morning illustrated that perfectly. Upon waking up, she usually calls down the stairs, "Mommy! I'm awaaaake. Come and geeeet me!" but with the excitement of her trip on her mind, this morning I simply heard a joyful, "I'M READY!" {I fully expected her to open her door and see her fully dressed, packed bag in hand!} But about 30 seconds after I got up there she said, "But Mommy, I'll MISS you!" Awww...I know, sweet girl. I'll miss you too! I'm sure the rest of her week will be like this too...about 80% having an absolute blast and 20% missing Mom and Dad at the same time.

{Her bags are packed with the essentials...Tina Ballerina & Curious George, books,
snacks, sippy cup, 2 presents for the plane ride,
and Keith's iPod Touch that he loaded up with about 15 Disney movies!}

In good news, James looks like he's on the mend, at least a little. He's been fever-free all day today and if he makes it through the night it'll be 24 hours without a fever. So it seems the antibiotics are kicking in. If he keeps this up, we'll stay through the weekend and then get to head home on Monday. He's certainly feeling better {as you'll see in the pics}, but today what he mostly wanted to do was be *out* of the room, seeing the sights and charming the people...he would actually cry when I tried to go back in our room! :-) I don't blame him. This time we're back in the same room we had post-surgery, so we've now logged close to 3 weeks in that room. {You know you're getting to be a regular when all the nurses know the names of everyone in your immediate family, plus your list of medicines, routines, etc!}

{The hospital has a supply of toys that they let parents borrow, which is so nice...makes James feel a little more at home, with the addition of his favorite Exersaucer!}

{Our usual hospital stash: toys, books, and carb-laden snacks.}

On another note, I think I blogged awhile ago about my sciatica/back pain. I've been in constant pain for the last 7-8 weeks, from my lower back all the way down to my foot. I started physical therapy and last week I got an MRI of my spine and lower back. {This was my first MRI and can I just say that I really had to talk myself through it to keep calm! You lay down flat and are slid waaaaaay back into a plastic tube with about 8 inches of space all around you, so you feel like you're in a coffin--I had to *force* myself to keep my eyes shut!--for 30 minutes while the machine takes images, which sound like a hybrid of a bad 80's electric keyboard band and a jackhammer in your ear. If you ever need to get one, I say splurge for the OPEN MRI!} The results weren't great...I have a bulging disc in my lumbar spine region and a nerve root that is either being pinched or pushed out of place, thus causing my pain. So next week I get to see a specialist and have an injection in my back/spine and then I have to see a neurosurgeon to talk about treatment options. Apparently physical therapy helps with pain management, but does not cure a bulging disc in the location where mine is at. Please pray that I don't have to go through surgery for this!! :-(

Deja Vu

2010-06-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to update my blog for awhile now...but apparently I'm only motivated to do it when it involves deja vu. Remember my last post about heading to the hospital {just 2 weeks ago} because James had a fever and we had to stay there for a week? Yep, it's happened again! Last night our home nurse came out to do a dressing change on James' central line, happened to take his temperature and shocked us when she said it was 101.8-102! I just thought he felt a bit warm since our house was hot and he'd been sleeping in my arms. Guess not. The poor kid was burning up. :-(

We got to the ER around 8:30pm, had to do a blood draw/catheter urine sample/chest x-ray/start antibiotics, etc. and finally got checked into a room by midnight. James was wide awake and miserable and finally fell asleep around 2:00am. {Mommy was exhausted!} Today he's been really fussy and his fever actually got worse and was 103 this morning and he threw up once. His docs were hoping it was just a virus, like last time, but around noon we got word that his blood culture from last night had shown bacterial growth, so it's official: he has his first central line infection. Not the news we were hoping for. So far they're going to target the infection with specific antibiotics and see how that goes. If that works, we still have to wait for him to be fever-less for 24-48 hours before we can go home, so it looks like another long haul. Maddie leaves for Utah on Friday afternoon and oh, I had such projects in mind for my "free time" when James would be taking naps this week & my evenings after he went to bed. Dang. {It's no wonder I haven't updated my scrapbook or even printed out any photos since Easter!}

Last week we took advantage of the weather {we did have like ONE sunny day, right?!} and went to the park as a family. James loved getting to be outside and you know what an outdoor lover Maddie is!

{Oh Mom, this is so embarassing!}

Another day when it was "standard June weather in Oregon" {long sleeves, tights, boots and a hat}, Maddie tried out her new 99 cent Minnie Mouse bubble wand, which happened to work better than any of the other ones we've bought over the years--go figure!

Yesterday {before we realized James was sick, since he was a fairly happy camper all day} we got our Johnny Jump-Up toy out of storage and James gave it a try...oh, the sweet freedom of "walking" and bouncing and spinning himself in circles! Just like his favorite Exersaucer, only better! He was lovin' it, especially with his camera-hog sister dancing up a storm to entertain him. Out of all of us, James will probably miss Maddie the most this week. He's her #1 fan.

The many faces of James...

{What the heck kind of face is that?!...click to see it bigger :-) }

Our 2nd Home

2010-06-09T00:24:00.001-07:00

Oh, how I wish that title meant "we just bought a vacation home"...how I'd love a little cottage on Lake Cour de'Alene one day...but instead it means "we spend so much time at Emanuel Hospital, it might as well be our second home!" Yep, you guessed it--we're baaaaaack!

James had been running a fever of 99-101 and was just plain miserable {pretty much crying all day Monday, except when he was asleep}, so his doctors told us to admit him to the hospital last night...and now they'll probably be keeping him thru Friday, perhaps over the weekend too. Keith is taking the night shift {and all week off work, again!} and I'm taking the days. So far his labs haven't shown any infection, but they started him on antibiotics and he is still running a fever. We have to wait 72 hours for the cultures to be done growing and he has to be fever-free for 24-48 hours before they'll let us go home. It could be a central line infection {the one in his chest that delivers his nutrition}, which would be bad--they'd have to remove his chest IV and put a regular IV line into his arm or leg and another IV port somewhere else for access to blood-draws, then wait to replace the chest one for 6-8 weeks {that would be such a huge pain for James!}. I really hope that doesn't happen. It could also be as simple as a virus {I had a cold last week, so I'll feel really guilty if it's that!}, which hits him harder because of his sensitive system and shows up differently than it would manifest itself in you or me. Even if they don't figure out what the infection is from, we're still required to be there for up to 72 hours. The hard part about this is that if it were a normal baby, it could be something easy...like a cold, ear infection, urinary tract infection, even teething. You'd give him Tylenol and let it run its course for a few days. But since they always suspect a central line infection, which can get serious quickly, we always have to take these kinds of precautions with James.

All this time at the hospital takes its toll on everyone. Keith and I take shifts, but whoever goes at night never gets much sleep and whoever goes during the day gets really tired of holding a {often cranky} baby and sitting in an uncomfortable chair all day. It's also hard to leave James alone, so you feel guilty even leaving for 20 minutes to go down to the cafe to grab some food. Needless to say, everyone's schedule is off {including Maddie}, my house is a mess and I'm pulling out meals from the freezer if I'm lucky...or else it's cereal for dinner. :-) Tonight I got home at 8pm, spent a little time on the computer, did some laundry, sorted through/paid lots of medical bills, started filling out paperwork for Maddie's preschool application, and then realized "oh, it's now 12:30 and I never even ate dinner!" Now off to bed so that I can bounce up in the morning and head back to the hospital. I know this will likely be our life {in and out of the hospital} for perhaps the next year, and it's a necessary evil, but I've gotta say--for a girl who's never really liked doctors but does love being at home and having a routine, I'm NOT a fan! :-)

On a happier note

2010-06-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all the drama {see post below on ER visit}, we've managed to have some fun around here during the last week of having Grandma Darlene with us. Today my friend Cheryl brought her cute kiddos Lucy and Henry over for a playdate, which was fun for all! Lucy is about a year younger than Maddie and Henry and James had the same original due date, so Henry is now 7.5 months and James just turned 9 months old...but you'd never guess it by looking at them! Henry is a BRUISER!! He has 2 or 3 teeth, is in the 90th+ percentile size wise, sits up, and can crawl like a maniac. Oh, and he's about a whole head taller than James. You'd swear he was a 1-year-old! :-)

{This is James' "Hey, lay off of my toys, buddy!" look.}

{OK, so James' legs are a little bit bent here, but not much...
and check out how much bigger Henry is!}

Lucy came in the door and made a mad-dash for Maddie's play kitchen and toys. I guess she'd already been planning out all the treats she was going to make once she got here! They played kitchen and Little People and "Jesus toys" {Playmobil figurines} and blocks and had foam sword fights. The only thing better would be NO RAIN so that we could go to the park! I think the next time they come over, we'll plan a "project" for the girls to do.

{This pathetic picture is the best we could do for a group shot today. HA!}

Today Maddie and I went to Fred Meyer to pick up a few things and found Crayola finger paints & the glossy paper that goes with it {I swear, I've been looking for MONTHS for that paper and no stores have had it!}. Maddie was totally into the finger painting and actually did a nice picture...until she discovered "blending" the paints with her whole hand, which basically turned the whole page into a sheet of mud.

We have LOVED having Grandma here for the past 3 weeks. She's incredibly helpful and is always willing to help with laundry, tub time, cooking, playing with Maddie and holding James all the time. We are so lucky to have her help! I'm going to be in withdrawls when she leaves, so I'm trying to get lots of things done this week!

Back in the ER :-(

2010-06-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

So we came home from the hospital last Friday night and we made it about 72 hours before we had to go back again, this time rushing to the ER. I was setting the last things on the table for dinner when James, who was sitting with Darlene, let out a huge scream and started crying in pain. I thought perhaps he'd had a BM {those are still painful for him, since his system is so fresh} or gas, but when I went over to comfort him I had a shock...his stomach tube had been *ripped* completely out of his body! Oh my goodness. Get him to the changing table, search around for gauze and tape since he was leaking out of the hole, get him some Tylenol and drops of sugar water {works as a soothing agent on babies}, and wipe the tube with alcohol & seal it in a plastic bag. Keith, who is for some reason ultra-calm in the kitchen, says "Oh, I think you can just pop that one right back in." Um, NO! The end of the tube has some kind of anchor-looking-doo-hickey on the end of it and there's no way I'm shoving it blind into a surgical opening that's only 2 weeks old! I call the doctor, he confirms not to touch it--just go straight to the ER and tell them it's a time-sensitive injury. I run around, gathering the car seat and diaper bag and anything else we might need, then hop in the car with Darlene {who was kind enough to offer to come with me!}

Once in the ER {which was probably a 30 minute wait and we were only the 2nd family in the waiting room...what do you have to do to speed up the "emergency" part of Emergency Room? Lots of blood??}, we had to wait another 40 minutes for the pediatric surgeon to arrive {one of the guys James had in the NICU}. He got supplies ready and then said, "I have to be honest with you. If I can't get a new tube in, we'll be headed for surgery tonight and there's a risk he could lose function of the stomach tube." NOT what a mother wants to hear! Luckily, he did manage to get it in, but within few minutes of him placing the tube {and James screaming bloody murder the whole time}, James started throwing up. Pretty much for 30 minutes straight. They needed to get an x-ray to make sure the tube was placed right, but he couldn't even lay down for a 1-minute picture without vomiting, especially when they were injecting dye into his stomach. So we had to take him down to do a live X-ray {like a live-action video/movie}and we discovered the problem right away. The doctor had been over-zealous placing the tube in James' stomach and had actually pushed the tube all the way into his esophagus and inflated the mini-balloon on the end of the tube up near his diaphram!! Holy cow, that could have been a disaster. No wonder he was throwing up and choking on his own spit. Once they put it in the correct place, James calmed down right away and pretty much fell asleep within 5 minutes. Now that it was 10:30pm and we were all exhausted, it was time to head home.

The next day we had a post-op visit with James' surgeon, who had heard about the drama the night before. Although he wasn't pleased with what had happened, since the hole/track into his stomach had already been compromised, he decided to replace the tube with the final device called a Mickey button. Normally they wait for the hole to heal around the original tube for 6-8 weeks {just like it would in your ear after you get them pierced} so that the track was stable, but they decided to do it early and just let the hole heal around the button. My poor little guy *screamed* for probably a good 20 minutes after they put that in {I'm sure that skin is so raw now!} and I felt so bad that he'd had two days of such pain. On a better note, It's sooo much easier to manage than the 1-foot tube he had before. It's just a little round disk about the size of a penny that has a 1-1.5 inch tube that's inserted into the stomach with a balloon inflated on the inside to hold it tight to the skin. When we need to feed him, we take out the plug and hook up a short tube that hooks onto his feeding bag.

Speaking of feeding, we are "testing the system" from now thru Friday and if he doesn't have any gagging/vomiting episodes, then we're going to try to start feeding him formula through the stomach tube again--yay! He hasn't had anything in his stomach for over a week now. He's now consistently peeing and pooing, so we know that things are now moving all the way through, which is a reassuring sign. Please keep praying for him as we start the feeding process and his stomach/intestines have to adapt to the presence of food again. His large intestines have never digested anything, so it will likely be touch-and-go.

I must say, with all the treatments and pain our precious boy has to go through, he is my HERO. He endures it all with such a calm and happy attitude, which is just amazing to me. He's teaching me a lot about how much all of us can endure in life and still come out happy on the other side! :-)

Our Boy is Home

2010-05-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

What a huge relief to be home from the hospital! We were supposed to be discharged in the "early afternoon", which in hospital-speak actually means 6:00pm. Traffic from the holiday weekend was horrible, so the home care nurse who was bringing our supplies to the hospital and teaching me how to do the new stuff said it took her 2 hours to get to Emanuel from Beaverton. Ugh! Then they had forgotten some key supplies {hello, the pump for James' TPN!} so we had to wait another hour for someone else to bring them. Annoyances aside, we made it home and James was one happy camper! I was worried that being in the hospital so long would throw off his sleeping schedule at home, but apparently he's just as exhausted as the rest of us...I put him down at 8:30 last night and it's now almost 11:00am and he's STILL SLEEPING! Poor little guy.

While the surgery allowed us to get rid of some medical stuff {no more nose tube or ostomy}, it produced new tasks for us to do every day. He's still on an IV antibiotic every 6 hours around the clock until next week. He's now on TPN {IV nutrition} for 24 hours a day instead of 20, since he's not yet able to tolerate formula. He's putting out a lot of fluid from his stomach into his G-tube, so we have to measure and record that, add it up over 12 hour periods, and then give him doses of IV replacement fluids twice a day for 4 hours at a time. This wouldn't be so bad if we could do it like they do in the hospital...just hang an IV bag and let it drip...but since the volume we need to give him every 12 hours fluctuates, we can't use a normal pump. We have to calculate the volume he needs, use a syringe and needle to draw the fluid up from IV bags, and then change it out *every hour* in the pump...from 5am to 9am and again 5pm to 9pm. TOTAL PAIN IN THE REAR if you ask me! But you know what, we're doing it AT HOME! I'll take the inconveniences over being stuck in a hospital room any day!! Our docs said if this was any other family there's no way they'd send us home with all this to do, but we are a persistent bunch and have proved ourselves capable! :-)

As I laid in bed last night, my brain would just not shut off, swirling around all the new tasks and schedule and not wanting to miss anything. So I typed up a schedule. I've included it here so that one day I can look back and remember what these crazy days were like...

James’ Medical Schedule

5:00 am tasks

diaper change & temperature

measure G-tube output
add up 5:00pm to 5:00am total volume
determine 4+ hour amounts for IV replacement fluids
prep 4 syringes with fluids/red caps/prime tubing
record on chart
start 1^st syringe in IV pump

give antibiotic: 5 ml saline flush, push antibiotic for 5 minutes, 5 ml saline flush

6:00 am

7:00 am

8:00 am

start new IV syringe in pump every hour

11:00 am task

give antibiotic: 5 ml saline flush, push antibiotic for 5 minutes, 5 ml saline flush
give Actigall meds

3:00 pm task

set out TPN and supplies

4:00 pm task

prep TPN

5:00 pm task

start TPN
give antibiotic: 5 ml saline flush, push antibiotic for 5 minutes, 5 ml saline flush
give Actigall meds

measure G-tube output
add up 5:00am to 5:00pm total volume
determine 4+ hour amounts for IV replacement fluids
prep 4 syringes with fluids/red caps/prime tubing
record on chart
start 1^st syringe in IV pump

6:00 pm

7:00 pm

8:00 pm

start new IV syringe in pump every hour

11:00 pm tasks

give antibiotic: 5 ml saline flush, push antibiotic for 5 minutes, 5 ml saline flush

{Check out my new tummy! Those scars are healing nicely. Wondering what that thing is on the right side? Our surgeon's high-tech device for keeping the stomach tube from bending/pulling out...a bottle nipple! The tube is about 1 foot long coming out of that, with a "urine sample" cup on the end, then a diaper wrapped around it to catch the leaks. Glad this set-up is only for 6-8 weeks, when they'll switch it out for a flat little button on his tummy!}

All the nurses who cared for James commented on what an adorable, happy little guy he is and we couldn't agree more! We love you, buddy!

Coming Home & Mommy-Daughter Date

2010-05-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

Finally some good news...James gets to come home tomorrow! Keith put the docs in a headlock today until they cried Uncle and gave in. :-)

It's now been almost 10 days since surgery and his bowels are still not really "awake". This is on the longer side of the recovery timeline, but they aren't overly concerned about it yet. Since things aren't moving through much, he's still not getting any formula--just the nutrition thru his IV line. {The reason he was throwing up so much was because a huge volume of fluid/formula was just sitting stagnant in his stomach, making him nauseated.} He'll come home with extra IV fluids that we'll have to hook up for 4 hour periods, depending on the volume of output from his stomach tube. Even though he's not getting food directly into his stomach, he's been producing a large amount of fluid/mucous/bile from his stomach tube, so that is something we'll have to track to make sure he's not getting dehydrated. Eventually once his system calms down and things seem to be moving all the way through the intestines, we'll probably be able to start formula on a very slow drip. He hasn't had any fevers over the past few days, so he may or may not come home with IV antibiotics. His incisions are looking great and are already healing up very nicely. I made sure to take pictures of his tummy before surgery, so once he heals more I'll post the before/after pics!

I know we have a lot of "medical tinkering" ahead of us, but for now we're just so excited to get him home and to get re-settled into a somewhat normal routine around here.

**************************************

In more "normal life" news, Keith took the hospital day shift today, so I got to take Madeline on a special girls date to OMSI. The sand pit! Playdough! Dinosaurs! Puppet shows! The water toys! Face painting! By the end of the day she was a big, tired mess...mission accomplished! :-)

{These were really cool magnetic blocks called Magna Tiles. All sides are magnetic, so you could build really cool stuff. I bet Keith would have just as much fun with these as Maddie!}

{Hopefully this photo sums up Maddie's feelings about our date!}

Monday Update

2010-05-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

I was with James all day and he was better than yesterday. He had periods of smiling and laughing and playing with his toys in between taking a few naps. He only threw up one time {on my shirt, darn!}, just after they gave him some medicine, so it was probably too much-too fast for his system. They increased his stomach tube feedings to 2 mL/hour and hopefully tomorrow he'll go up to 3/hr, which is what he was up to before the surgery. He's been mostly happy, except when he has to be changed. Kids with short gut syndrome often have really horrible diaper rash, since the output is very diarrhea-like and acidic, it really eats away at their poor baby skin. He hasn't had a fever since last night, so the docs said that once he's fever-free for 24-48 hours he can go home...so possibly tomorrow or Wednesday! We had two nights by ourselves in the room, but today we got another roommate...a 3-year old girl with cerebral palsey and seizures who'd just had her tonsils out. Very painful and confusing for her. Please pray for everyone's comfort and sleep tonight! Keith said last night he only got about 2 hours of rest {and that was when it was just him and James!}. Keith heads back to work tomorrow and Darlene is fighting a cold, so it's a good thing we'll only have another day or two of this hospital schedule!

Sunday: James Update

2010-05-23T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today IS Sunday, right?? The days have just blended into one another around here, so I'm never quite sure...I think I lost Friday altogether. :-) Keith, Darlene and I have been taking turns staying at the hospital, which usually means that one person will get there in the morning to relieve the night-shift (like I got there at 9:30am today and stayed until 6:30pm) and then someone will come at dinner time to relieve the day-shift (when you're in the room with James, pretty much the only break you get is the 5 minutes every 4 hours when the nurses come in to take his vitals...so then you can go to the bathroom! Yay!) and then stay all night. You'd think that just sitting in a chair and holding a baby for 9 hours wouldn't be that bad, but it's exhausting! You know, like when you've been traveling all day and you can't figure out why you're so tired. And then add a fussy baby and lots of alarms into the mix and you can imagine the fun!

James has been doing pretty well, but he's still far from his happy-go-lucky little self. The past few days he's been throwing up pretty often, which is scary because it makes his heart rate spike from the normal range in the 150-160's to 190-200's and all the alarms go off like crazy. The gagging/dry heaving is actually good when his heart rate spikes, because that sends a message to the brain to reset and calm down. I remember in the NICU we had a big scare the night before we discovered his NEC infection when his heart rate suddenly spiked to over 300 and they had to do a procedure to gag him, which brought his rate back down. Super scary! He gets very upset whenever you move him to a new position or to/from the crib {he just wants to be held all the time and I don't blame him}. One good thing from today: I got to enjoy snuggling my little boy while watching a 2-hour marathon of Barefoot Contessa shows on Food Network! That would never happen at home! :-)

James has been running a fever off and on and the lab found some Ecoli bacteria in his urine sample {not a dangerous level}, so he's being treated with strong antibiotics to combat any infection that might be going on. He's been getting a very slow drip of 1 mL per hour of formula into his stomach tube {just mere drops}, but he hasn't been tolerating that very well. Yesterday he was spitting up pretty much everything and the docs were starting and stopping the feeds throughout the day. His last spit up was around 8:00 am this morning, so he's had some success today keeping things down. His belly is tight and a bit distended and they're not hearing many bowel sounds, which means things aren't moving as well as they'd like yet. We'd originally been told that he could come home on Monday {tomorrow}, but now they want to keep him a few more days to get over the fever, get feeds more regulated, hear more bowel sounds, and have his BM's be more consistent. Right now it mostly looks like he's just getting out stomach bile. {Hey, I don't usually write about poo on my blog, but this is the kid's first poo of his whole life, so it's a big deal around here!} :-)

We'd appreciate prayer for all those factors so that he can start getting back to "normal" and so that we can bring him home in as healthy a state as possible. Also, we thank you for your prayers for Keith and me! It takes a lot of energy to care for a sick baby and then when we get home it's hard to find the energy & patience just to do the everyday household stuff. I'd also like prayer for my back. I've had sciatica-type pains ever since I was pregnant with Maddie, which flare up about once a month but are taken care of with ibuprophen, a heating pad and taking it easy for a day or so. Two weeks ago an episode of it was so bad that I could barely walk or bend over for 3-4 days. Then this week the pain started to be constant, plus shooting pains down the back of my leg and numbness in my foot {not a good sign, in my mind!}. So I went to the doctor and had some X-rays taken and now I'm waiting for results. It could be a pinched nerve, a slipped disc, or something else. I'll be doing a few sessions of physical therapy to help manage the pain and decrease the episodes, but if it gets to the point where I have any muscle weakness in my leg or foot, I'll need an immediate MRI to check for nerve damage. Let me tell you, I now have new empathy for anyone with chronic back issues! It takes a real toll on daily life! {Sleeping on a hospital cot [aka: pile of metal springs covered by a thin layer of plastic!] is not exactly the best remedy, so it's a good thing we're taking turns.} I'd love to figure out how to fix this so I can feel 100% again. Anyway, enough whining by me! Let's focus on getting our little sweetie pie healthy and home again! Thank you to everyone who is supporting us--we feel your prayers!

Wednesday: James Update

2010-05-19T19:46:00.001-07:00

Hi Everybody,

Thank you sooo much for your prayers! We've definitely needed them over the last few anxiety-filled days with James. They took him into surgery on Tuesday at 10:00am, they were done around 2:00pm and then we had to wait until 4:00pm while they put in an epidural for pain management, a urine catheter, and monitored him in the recovery room. I think I was actually more anxious during the wait from 2-4pm, just wanting to see him! The day seemed to take forever. My mom, our friend Bonnie and our friends Jason & Cheryl held vigil with us in the waiting room for most of the time, so it was nice to have physical support during that time! We are holding up pretty well emotionally, now that the dreaded surgery is over. Now we're just taking it day by day, trying to get through this hospital stay and get our little guy back home.

Our surgeon was very happy with how James did during the surgery, but once we got back to our room, he started having some reaction to the anesthesia and began foaming at the mouth / vomiting a bit. This is upsetting for most kids, but especially for him since he's never spit up anything in his life {nothing stays in his stomach long enough}. He calmed down after awhile and slept for most of the afternoon until about 10pm, when I had to convince the nurses to up his epidural because he was jerking his arms and legs around and causing himself pain. He literally has about 10 tubes coming out of him: nose tube that fills one whole nostril {for draining the blood, etc. in his stomach, since his bowels are still asleep}, central IV line for his TPN, urine catheter, monitors for his heart rate / oxygen / respiration, G-tube directly into his stomach. He has these long cuffs around each arm so that they are somewhat immobilized {to keep him from pulling out his tubes}, which he's of course already found a way around. That's my stinker boy! :-) His pain seems to be pretty well controlled, but it's hard to tell why he's fussy sometimes...pain, hunger {he hasn't had anything to directly eat/drink since midnight on Monday}, discomfort from being immobilized in his bed, frustrated about why we aren't picking him up and holding him, not being able to get restful sleep, etc. I'm actually anticipating that each day will get a little bit worse, since he'll become more alert and aware of what's going on.

We saw Dr. Moyer, James' GI doctor, and she gave us some hope in terms of James coming off TPN one day. She said she's had kids that only have 15 cm of short bowel {James now has 35cm} go on to regulate themselves and be able to come off TPN within a year or so...so there's hope! She was glad there wasn't any damage to the valve between the short/large intestines, since the health of that valve and the length of the short intestine are big indicators of future success in terms of nutrition, absorbtion, etc. Not to say that James might not need a bowel transplant in the future {Seattle would be the closest place}, but that would be years down the line, most likely. And with the power of prayer, there's no telling what wonderful things could happen! One of our home nurses told us about a 2 year old boy who's been on TPN since birth and was on a double-transplant list, in need of new bowels and a new liver. But suddenly his labs improved drastically and now he's been taken off both lists and is doing great! Those are the stories we like to hear! :-)

On Monday night we unfortunately got a roommate. The rooms are pretty small, so in order to fit two fold-out cots in the room for the parents to sleep on you have to shove everything else up against the walls and then the two cots are in the middle, touching with just a curtain in between. A lovely arrangement! Luckily, the family was very nice and their 3-week old baby girl was very well behaved, but each night our two babies have taken turns crying and having alarms going off and the mother of the baby snores like a trucker {she later told me she has sleep apnea}, so there's not much sleep to be had. The little baby girl is very sweet, but they are running tests on her because she randomly quits breathing...so then everyone panics and there's lots of commotion. I hope they can figure out what's wrong with her soon. How scary to never be able to leave your child's side, even for a minute, because they might stop breathing and turn blue!

Keith and I are taking turns staying the day/night with James, so tonight is my night to sleep at home in my own bed--yay for peace and quiet! {And hopefully more sleep than the 2am-5am I got last night!} When I saw my boys at 7:00 tonight, the other family had been moved to a new room so he had space all to himself. Please pray that this can continue for the next couple of nights...I know it's selfish, but it would be a big boost to James' recovery if he can have some uninterrupted sleep {well, as much as can be had in a hospital setting!} James was uncomfortable and in some pain when I left, so I'm hoping the nurses can get it under control and that both my boys can have a peaceful night.

We'll try to either send out an email update or put up a blog update each day so that people can follow along and know how to pray for us. Thanks for everybody's support!

P.S.--I'm not sure how well it's going to work having visitors at the hospital. We try to keep the room very quiet and there's not much space, so we'd have to leave the room to be able to do much more than stand and whisper. Perhaps by Friday or the weekend things will be better...we'll just play it by ear. Also, my cell doesn't get any coverage in the hospital, but feel free to leave me a phone message or email and I'll check those daily.

Off to the hospital

2010-05-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

We'll be leaving in about an hour for the hospital, doing surgery preparations today and the James will be going into surgery tomorrow morning around 10:00am. We'd appreciate your prayers!

Thanks! :-)

Dinner Tonight

2010-05-13T13:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a difference a week makes! Last week it was cold, raining & hailing. Now it's going to be 75+ degrees all week! Time to dust off the GRILL. :-)

I don't know what it is, but something about grilling just makes food taste better. My menu this week has grilled meats and a ton of veggies and salads. Something about warm weather just inspires me to eat more fresh and healthy ingredients. In case you need some inspiration, how about whipping up some of these delicious recipes? They've been road-tested at the Frank household and passed with flying colors! {Next on my list to try: grilled pizzas!}

Garlic Lemon Chicken Kabobs
{annies-eats.com}

Ingredients:
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Zest of 1 lemon
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley
1 tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. ground black pepper
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into ¾-inch pieces

{I also added chunks of red bell pepper and red onion to my skewers. Served with tzatziki cucumber-yogurt sauce from Trader Joe's.}

Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lemon zest, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours.

Prepare a medium fire in a grill. If using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 minutes before use.

Thread the chicken pieces onto skewers and discard the excess marinade. Lightly oil the grill grates. Place the kabobs on the grill, cover, and cook until the chicken is opaque throughout, about 8-12 minutes, turning once or twice during cooking. Transfer to a warmed platter and serve immediately.

Rice and Black Bean Pilaf

{from Ellie Krieger on foodnetwork.com}

Ingredients

1 cup brown rice, uncooked
2 1/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced (1 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh chopped oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
1 stalk celery, finely diced
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 tsp. taco seasoning
1 (15.5 ounce) can low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley leaves

Directions

Place rice and chicken broth in a saucepot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook rice, covered, until tender and all the liquid is absorbed, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from heat, uncover, and fluff with a fork.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, celery, carrot, cumin and chili flakes and cook, stirring occasionally, until carrots are tender but not mushy, about 6 minutes. Stir in black beans and cook until just warmed through, about 1-2 minutes.

Combine onion-black bean mixture and hot rice in a serving bowl and toss to combine. Garnish with parsley.

Mexican Corn with Queso Fresco & Cilantro

{pinkparsleycatering.blogspot.com}

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups chopped scallions (about 6 large)
12 ears of corn, kernels cut from cobs
2/3 cup half and half or heavy cream
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 large garlic clove
6 oz queso fresco, crumbled
1 cup cilantro sprigs, coarsely chopped

Heat butter in a deep 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until foam subsides. Cook scallions, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes.

Add the corn and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

Stir together the cream and cornstarch until thoroughly combined. Add to the corn and simmer, stirring until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.

Transfer 2 cups of the corn mixture to a blender with garlic and puree until smooth. Return to the skillet and cook, stirring constantly, until heated through. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer corn to a large serving bowl and mix in most of the cheese and cilantro. Sprinkle additional cheese and cilantro on top to serve.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day, everybody! My hubby has already been treating me to good things today...my favorite Starbucks nonfat white chocolate mocha {which are few and far between these days}

and fabulous waffle sandwiches from one of our favorite street carts, Flavour Spot. Keith and I got the waffle with sausage and maple spread and Maddie got the Nutella with raspberries. Check out the photos...do you think she liked it???

{the licking of the lips...for the 1000th time}

{"Hey Mommy, I think I have just a little bit of chocolate right here."}

I also have to say, it feels a bit empty around here without Nana and Papa. We usually talk to them and see them all the time, but they are both halfway around the world for a couple weeks. Nana is in London visiting Dana and Travis, having fun sightseeing at castles and grand gardens and going to musicals and traveling to Holland to see the tulip fields. Papa is traveling between Dubai, Beirut {May 9-15} and Syria {May 16-20}...you know, all totally safe leisure spots. :-) He is there with our pastor, John Johnson from Village Baptist in Beaverton, and together they are leading workshops on business, leadership and marriage. My dad is pretty wise in the ways of the Arab world {since we lived over there for 3 years}, but please pray for their safety. Crazy things can happen over there. We love you and miss you, Nana and Papa!!

Prayer for James' Surgery: May 18

2010-05-06T21:35:00.000-07:00

Behind this adorable face is the heart of a fighter. I could tell he was going to be a fighter even when he was in my womb. On hospital bedrest, I was hooked up to monitors on my stomach twice a day to track any contractions and James' heart rate and movements. Ideally it should have only taken 20 minutes, but it often took an hour or more because Little Stinker knew exactly where those monitors were, would kick me directly under it and then scamper off to a new hiding place. He was a clever boy and knew exactly what he did/didn't want! :-) To this day, he's pretty much happy all the time...unless you're messing with him or doing something medical. {Forget this, let's get back to the snuggling and playing!}

James will be going to Emanuel Children's Hospital on Monday, May 17 for a bowel-clean-out procedure and to get extra blood products, etc. We'll stay overnight and then he'll go in to surgery on Tuesday, May 18. Regardless of the surgery outcome, James will continue to be on TPN through his chest IV for a long time {perhaps a year or more} as his main source of nutrition. If the surgery works, we'll start the balancing act of increasing the volume of formula he receives through tube feedings/by mouth to see what he can tolerate. {Currently he's on a slow drip for 20 hours per day of both TPN and formula.} Eventually we hope to start mixing in small amounts of the breastmilk I have stored in the freezer, and then someday add in solid food like baby cereal and pureed baby food by mouth. We are lucky that James loves the one bottle {approx. 1 tablespoon of formula} he gets each day--he'd love to have more! Some kids with digestive issues develop a total aversion to anything being in their mouth, so I'm happy that he's a willing eater! The ultimate goal is for his body to be able to sustain its nutritional needs by oral feeding only, allowing him to go off the TPN completely, which is very damaging to his liver long-term.

We have an awesome pediatric surgeon, Sanjay (Jay) Krishnaswami {he also teaches at OHSU} who's been with James since the very beginning and we trust him completely. He said there are three likely scenarios for the surgery:

Best Case Scenario:
The doctors would discover minimal scarring internally {scar tissue is a big risk, since they had to leave his stomach incision open to heal from the inside out when he was in the NICU, which took a couple months}, the two cut ends of the small and large intestine would be easy to find and healthy, and James would come out of this surgery with re-connected small and large intestines that function normally {or as normal as possible, given his trauma}. He will most likely have a G-tube placed directly into his stomach {for feeding through a tube/syringe} and would no longer need his nose tube. This long G-tube would later be replaced with a Mic-Key button on top of the skin {looks similar to the little tube you use to blow up a beach ball, then collapses down flat}. If the intestines reconnect well, he'll no longer have the ostomy or catheter tube in his abdomen {this tube was a "place marker" that the surgeon put in the first time--he said when you go in to reconnect intestines, it often looks like wet mangled toilet paper inside, making it nearly impossible to find one end of tissue unless you have something to guide you}.

Middle-of-the-Road Scenario:
There may be a lot of scar tissue, which sometimes adheres to the stomach wall or other organs, which can make separating and reconnecting tissue a challenge. If the cut ends of the small/large intestine do not look healthy or look like they would not form a tight seal, he may not be able to reconnect them. At that point, he'd have to create a new ostomy {bring one end of bowel outside the skin, like James has now for the small intestine} with the longer piece of intestine that includes small bowel-connection piece-large intestine. This would allow James to have more length of intestine with which to absorb nutrients from his food. We'd likely then have to schedule another surgery for 6 months-1 year from now to try again. {I REALLY hope he doesn't have to have another ostomy! His bag leaks every single day and it's just a huge pain all around. I can't imagine how that would work once he starts crawling.}

Worst Case Scenario:
He'd open James up, the scar tissue would be too deep and intrusive to even find the cut ends of bowel or what bowel he did find would be damaged enough that it couldn't be reconnected, and he'd have to just sew James back up without really doing anything. We'd have to wait 6 months-1 year to try again, if he even deemed it possible.

Aside from the bowel issues, James could have complications from the surgery itself, like he did last time. Here's a list of complications we want to pray against:

1. Blood loss or problems with his blood work/labs; erratic heart rate.
2. Infection in the bowels, at the incision site, in his IV line or anywhere else.
3. Trouble breathing, causing him to need to be intubated and kept on a respirator after surgery {would need to go to ICU}.
4. Severe swelling and/or scar tissue, so that the skin would not be elastic enough to allow them to close the wound; needing the wound left open.

I generally have a good feeling about this surgery, but you just never know what may happen. We'd appreciate your prayers for strength, peace, good sleep at the hospital, and patience with the nurses. Keith's mom Darlene has been gracious enough to fly out here to be with us, starting May 12th through June 5th, so we'll have some extra hands to help with Maddie and giving us a break at the hospital.

We'll likely have to be at the hospital for a whole week {ugh!}. Probably after the first couple days go by, we'd love to have visitors {those who show up with Starbucks and/or Diet Coke and chocolate get double brownie points!}...but we'll update the blog or email as things get closer and we know more.

Thank you all for your faithful prayers and continuing to ride with us on this journey! Here's to a big next step! :-)

Family Update

2010-05-04T19:49:00.001-07:00

Well, HELLO THERE!
Big loves to Nana in London & Papa in Dubai--
we miss you, you crazy world travelers!
Hurry home safe!
:-)

Apparently I've been "gone" for a long time, since just in the last week I've had multiple people call/email me and say, "Where have you been? Is everything alright? We need an update!" Strange, since it didn't seem to me like I was out of the loop...just going about our days as usual. :-) So for everyone who's been wondering, here's a bit of what we've been up to:

Guys Weekend
Keith had a fantastic time here with his buddies from Ohio. Scott, Troy and Brent were here for 5 days full of specialty beer & wine, cookouts on the grill, cigars out on the deck, movies and many hours of board/card games. I only got a couple pictures of the group, but I'm pretty sure it looked just like this...repeated many times over...throughout their whole stay. :-)

Keith & Scott

Troy & Brent

This past Saturday night I got to spend a wonderful couple of hours with my "Bible Study Girls", as I call them. Allison, Katy, Anna, Heather, Heidi, Kari and I were in a Bible study together for 8+ years and became great friends. Although we don't meet often anymore, it's always such a blessing when we can come together and share about our lives and tons of laughter. We've all been through so much...lots of babies (me-2, Alli-2, Katy-4, Anna-5, Heather-2, Heidi-4, Kari-3...whew!), deaths of loved ones, financial woes, health troubles, you name it. Over the years our questions have blossomed from "How do you know if he's The One?" and "How in the heck do you break your baby's Nursing Strike?" to now "What's your best discipline trick for such-and-such?" and "What age should a kid start wearing deodorant/training bras/shaving, etc." Our kids now range in age from 15 down to 3 months, so we have quite the range of conversation! It's so wonderful to be around friends who know your heart, who see you as you really are and never judge you for it!

Maddie has been her usual energetic self, although all of us are feeling the effects of being cooped up in the house with all the rain (and hail!) around here. We need a sunny day so we can get to the park! I feel badly because I lose my cool with her at least a couple times a day...the non-stop questions and WHY??? {especially when the questions are so ridiculous or she already knows the answer, but she asks anyway just to hear herself talk} drives me INSANE and I become one short-fused Mama. Just had to admit that I have my moments {Maddie will probably cut-and-paste this part of the blog for her I Hate Mommy journal when she turns 13.}
Anyway, she often comes up with really creative ways to entertain herself...

{today she came up with these "ice skating cups"
and skated all over the house with great balance!}

and we've done a few projects together...

and practiced some math and reading...
{I'm so proud of her--she now knows most letter sounds
and can phonetically read and spell some short words!}

{some new learning games I've been coloring/cutting out/laminating for Maddie}

But mostly it seems I've been on a cooking-baking-finding new recipes marathon.
In addition to my regular weeknight cooking,

over the past week I've been stocking the freezer {in preparation for our week in the hospital for James' surgery and the 3 weeks Grandma Frank will be staying with us--yay!} with:
(click on the linked recipes if you're interested!)

roasted {whole} chicken, cooked meat shredded & cubed before freezing

Barefoot Contessa's outrageous brownies {these freeze well for many months}

Martha Stewart's crepes and lemon curd {seriously, the best crepes ever!}

Greek burgers/meatballs

my friend Christine's chicken enchiladas {a family favorite}

quick omega-3 granola {in the fridge}
*my new go-to breakfast: Yoplait Greek yogurt, ground flaxseed, this granola & fresh berries*
Note: If you make this granola, the baking time is way off--bake for 7 min, then 7 min, then check after 6 min...or else you'll end up with charcoal!

chocolate cookie dough truffles {Keith eats these straight from the freezer}

Barefoot Contessa's lentil soup with sausage

garbanzo bean-corn patties

Oh, and tonight I made chicken burgers and the.best.steak.fries.EVER. Yes, I think they even top Red Robin's! I usually just roast them, but they never get crispy on the outside. This recipe from Annie's Eats is perfect! Crispy outside, tender inside. All-around goodness. They take a bit more time, but TRY THEM--they'll be on your menu for all those summer BBQ's! I bet they'd be great with sweet potatoes, too--that's my next round {all for me, since Keith won't touch 'em!}

I also have a few new favorite food blogs, which I've been shamelessly stalking,
digging through their archives, and printing like a mad-woman:
annies-eats.com
ellysaysopa.com
smittenkitchen.com

And last, but not least, our resident Cutie Pie James, who is doing great.
{I'll do another post all about his health/surgery tomorrow
so that people can put him on their prayer list!}

FYI: James' surgery will be Tuesday, May 18th...coming up soon!

{Doesn't it look like he's beginning to turn a bit blonde?}

{Flashback: Maddie @ 5 months}

{Maddie @ 5 months. Apparently it's in the genes that this elephant
is destined to be the favorite toy!}

{Maddie}

It's a New Day

2010-04-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

I was just reading Ali Edwards' blog {she's my favorite scrapbooker} and this week she is leading a project on documenting your everyday life called A Week in the Life. I did this last year and now it's one of my favorite albums to look back on. I journaled every day about just the ordinary details of life: chores around the house, my routine with Maddie, places we went, people we saw, funny things she said, crafty projects I was working on, etc. There were lots of pictures to document everything: from a special date with Nana to October decorations on our doorstep to a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. {Hey, it's reality!} Back then I thought, "Oh, we do the same things every day. How ordinary." But you know what...big changes can happen in a year! Now we have James and our daily life has a much different flow! I really want to do this project again and capture this time in our lives because hopefully by next year James' medical needs will have greatly diminished and what now seems so ordinary and routine will someday seem extra-ordinary! But this is not the week for this project...Keith is having a much deserved Guy's Weekend here at the house. Three of his college buddies are flying in today from Ohio and Alabama for a little vacation, so the kids and I are shipping out to my parents' house {um, good thing we have a new car with a BIG trunk...we're gonna need it for the billion things I need to take with me!} I'm so excited for Keith, though--he definitely needs a break and time to just relax and laugh and have fun!

Hopefully the guys will take some photos to document their time together, but I'm guessing it will be somewhat like this: fire up the brand-new BBQ grill he bought last night {yay! Can't wait for this!! We've been without one for a year or two}, eat {our kitchen is now stocked with just the essentials: Oregon beer, Diet Coke, kettle chips, steaks & brauts}, perhaps go on some kind of outing, come home, play cards/board games, drink, watch movies {we literally have about 1000 movies on our XBox Media Center system now}. Repeat. {Sounds good to me!} :-)

And now I leave you with my new favorite quote, which applies to everyone, but especially anyone in the trenches of parenthood:

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
--Emerson

This and That...and a SURPRISE!

2010-04-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

Tonight I am tired (um, yeah, I just spaced out and was staring at a blank Post-It Note on my desk for about the last 30 seconds)...and scatterbrained...so to go along with the randomness in my mind, I'll give you a little bit of this and a little bit of that. :-)

1) I just read this on a blog and laughed out loud because they really are the truth!
I can SO relate!

UNIVERSAL TRUTHS

1. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

2. Was learning cursive really necessary?

3. Bad decisions make good stories.

4. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

5. "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this - e.v.e.r.

6. I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste. (TOTALLY!)

7. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

8. I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.

9. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

10. Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

2) Have I ever told you that having a dad in construction comes in SUPER HANDY when you're doing house projects? Nothing like somebody who can say, "Yeah, sure, I'll just whip over to your place with my Bobcat and dump truck!" Maddie was pretty fascinated with the whole thing...well, until she could stand the waiting no longer and just HAD to get started on the serious business of blowing bubbles outside with Papa! He's always willing to indulge her every whim :-)

When I first saw this picture, I had complete deja vu! It was like looking back in time 30 years ago. My parents have almost the exact same shot of me and my dad on the Bobcat when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I remember how cool it was that my dad was always teaching me how to drive the Bobcat or the tractor or help him with projects. Maddie and James will be so blessed to grow up with the same memories!

3) Some days all your hard work just catches up with you and it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. So all you can do is lay down wherever you are and take a little breather...

4) And now for the SURPRISE!!! I make sure to tell my hubby this, but it always bears repeating: I married the most wonderful guy in the world who is so perfect for me! He does such a good job taking care of me, he always puts our family first, and he works really hard to support us and give us a comfortable life. He works all day, comes home and works around the house and plays with the kids {who both adore him}, and even helps me clean! He knows how hard it is to be a stay-at-home parent and is always supportive of me, even on the days I lose my cool. I'm a very lucky girl. :-)

Today when he got home from work he walked over and dropped something into my hand and said, "Take a look outside." Guess what was waiting there for me?!? THIS...

A new 2009 Kia Optima!

Okay, so granted, this wasn't a total surprise...we'd been talking about getting a new car for months {maybe a year?} and I just test-drove it last night and gave it my seal of approval, but how awesome is that?! Our Jeep has been in the shop {again} for the past week and a half {they keep finding new things wrong with it} and both of us are totally sick of the whole deal, never knowing when it may be working or not. And considering our other car is a small pickup truck that we can't take the kids in, if the Jeep isn't working then I'm pretty much stranded. So Keith found this Kia online {a year-end close-out deal} and got a great deal on it...$4000+ off the asking price. {Keith's haggling skills have come in handy many times during our marriage!} I'd looked at photos of it online and wasn't impressed at all, but once I drove it I really liked it! Reminds me a lot of the Honda Accord in terms of how smooth it handles and how quiet it is inside. But most of all I'm just so relieved to have a car that I know will start every time I need it to and won't leave me or the kids stranded somewhere! Way to go, Hubby! :-)

Diggin' in the Dirt

2010-04-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

{Note: See previous post below for a family update and kid pictures!}

For the past few weekends and multiple weeknights, Keith has been hard at work in the backyard. In case you've never seen it, it's the Ugly Stepsister to our front yard.

The beautiful front yard looks like this...

While the back yard hides it's ugly head in shame...

So it's finally getting a much-needed spruce-up. We've wanted to do this project for a few years, but somehow any extra money gets eaten up elsewhere (hello, medical bills). But we really wanted to have an outdoor space for Maddie to play and Lucy to run free, before we hit Summertime...so we're starting with the cheap stuff! A while back, my dad was remodeling his office/warehouse and was getting rid of old decking lumber--hey, we'll take it! Free!

Many hours with the planer and sander + a few trips to Lowe's for hardware
+ my husband's handiwork =

Beauty! This deck is just off the French doors in our master bedroom, so we'll have easy access from there, or through our back door which leads into a screened-in "porch" {aka-current recycling bin area & future BBQ grill area} and then out to the rest of the back yard.

Step 2: Railing and stairs. Can't wait! I can already a little bistro table and chairs, ready and waiting for my morning cup of coffee or summer evening glass of wine!

This morning the rest of the back yard looked like this...

{that wall with the window is the side of our garage
&
the little sliver of wall in the foreground is the screened-in porch}

Then Keith spent all day doing this...

{our driveway-turned-construction-zone}

And by this evening, we had this lovely blank canvas...

Tomorrow = Leveling the dirt in preparation for framing the hardscape...a four-quadrant grid that will have brick borders and poured concrete insets, then a border of plants all along the fence. Next year we hope to build a short stucco wall along the perimeter of the fence for raised planter beds, but for now it will probably just be dirt.

We're off to a great start! :-)

Catching Up

2010-04-17T19:23:00.000-07:00

So it feels like I've been away from the blog forever! Mostly we've just been doing the regular day-to-day stuff, with a few spurts of excitement in between. :-) Last weekend we had our good friends the Newell's over for dinner. I'd made a Barefoot Contessa's Frozen Key Lime Pie about a month ago and stuck it in the freezer...gotta love having dessert already made! What a time-saver! And boy was it delicious. Great ending to a Mexican meal!

Maddie and Lucy are so funny together...just like sisters. Their brothers, James and Henry, are the same age and the girls are about 1 year apart. Watching them play so well together made me think, "Boy, it's going to be so nice when James and Maddie are old enough to keep each other entertained!" :-)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

James continues to do great and is growing stronger. Last week we had an evaluation from Early Intervention (like pre-Special Ed. for kids birth to age 5) and James qualified for services, so soon he'll start getting physical therapy at home a couple times a month.
He's getting better control over his muscles and can now sit up for up to 10 seconds at a time
(and then promptly does a face plant), but he still really hates Tummy Time.
I'm sure that won't get any better until quite awhile after abdominal surgery!

Speaking of surgery, on April 27th James will have a dye contrast study done in Radiology at Emanuel to determine if there are any blockages in his intestines and hopefully get a picture of how viable everything looks, then in the afternoon we'll meet with his surgeon. We're hoping to schedule surgery for mid-late May.

Please pray that his intestines look strong and healthy with no blockages or complications!
Also pray that his large intestine will begin functioning again quickly after surgery (we'll be in the hospital for up to a week) and that he can tolerate more tube feedings and formula by mouth so that eventually we can cut down on the amount of time he's connected to IV's and tubes (currently 20 hours a day, which makes it hard to have a life...for all of us!)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Speaking of entertaining herself, Maddie took this idea WAY too far last week. We have a little (luckily old and junky) side table next to our couch that is sandwiched between the wall and the couch, so the only visible part is the top. When I was cleaning the house, I happened to move our rocking chair in order to vacuum. You know what I discovered underneath? EMPTY sticker sheets. Never a good sign. Then I moved the couch and went to vacuum under the table. Can you already guess? Stickers *covered* the entire underside AND legs of the side table! Lovely.

I give Maddie "The Talk", start her peeling them all off, and continue cleaning.

{Mistake #1: Leaving her alone for more than 2 minutes.}
{Mistake #2: Forgetting that I'd left art supplies on our kitchen table.}

I come back from vacuuming the bedroom. I look around for Maddie. She's under that table, hiding. [Do you hear the ominous music starting?] Guess what I saw this time.
Stickers + crayon AND purple glue stick all over the wall/baseboards/floor/side table!
Yes, an entire new glue stick.
{And don't let those manufacturers fool you.
The fact that it is purple "but dries clear!" is not a comfort at this point!}
AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!

{The meltdown is beginning. Mine, not hers!}

She gets a swat (apparently meaningless), a talking-to,
then upstairs for a Time Out in her bedroom.

I spend 15 minutes scrubbing said wall/baseboards/floor/side table.
Have you ever tried to get 1/4 inch thick glue stick off anything? Gross.

I take a deep breath & go upstairs, prepared to debrief with Madeline. I open her door and she's nowhere to be found. Not a good sign. I call out her name and she sheepishly peeks out of her closet, looking like this...

L: What in the world do you have on your face?
M: Nuuuuh-thing!
L: Then why does that look like ink? What IS that?
M: I dunno.
L: Did you have markers in your room?
M: No...just some stampers...

Then I see it. Behind her easel in the corner...

OKAY, SERIOUSLY, CHILD!?!
Did we not just have this conversation 15 MINUTES AGO downstairs?
So while you're in Time Out for this very crime,
you decide it's a swell idea to re-create it?!!

This Mommy was done. D.O.N.E.!!!
Complete meltdown right then and there. Crying, the whole works.
You know those days when you just wish you could fast forward to the end and be done with it?
Give me that dang fast forward button!
:-)

Easter Fun

2010-04-05T21:15:00.001-07:00

One thing I look forward to as my kids grow older is being able to involve them in fun projects and start family traditions with them. One of my very favorite traditions for the holidays is the Easter Basket treasure hunt. My parents started this with Dana and me when we were little kids and I begged my dad to keep it going for me all the way through COLLEGE! {In fact, one year I brought my college boyfriend home for Easter and my dad even let him join in.} My dad is a great writer and has a very clever mind, so the night before Easter each year, he'd sit at the kitchen counter in the half-dark and write out complex clues for us to follow in order to find our Easter baskets in the morning. When we woke up, there was always a folded Post-It Note by our bed marked CLUE #1. We had to solve the clue/riddle, which directed us to another spot in the house {or even outside, on occasion} and the next clue. We had a lot of clues and I remember one year, probably in middle school, when the clue was so hard that I was on the verge of tears because dang it, I couldn't figure it out and I just wanted that stinkin' Easter basket already! But mostly I just remember all the fun. I decided Maddie was old enough to start this year, so I created her clues and glued them onto egg-shaped scrapbook paper and hid them around the house.

Her first clue {on her bedroom door} said: "What do you love to have very first thing in the morning? {hot cocoa} What do we pour it into? {sippy cup} Look there for your next clue!"

She got all 6 clues right and found her Easter basket hiding in her play kitchen.

We just started a chore chart with her, so we've been talking about getting her a piggy bank to store her pennies she earns doing chores. She loves Mickey Mouse, so when I saw this bank I knew it'd be perfect! She was thrilled! {Note: It's the most random product combination...piggy bank on one side, bottle of bubble bath on the other. Naturally!}

Check out that craaaazy bedhead! :-)

Nana got Maddie this Easter dress with the matching doll dress. So cute! The best part is that when Dana and I were growing up in Saudi Arabia, we went on vacation to London and got matching dresses just like this one at the Laura Ashley store! Like mother, like daughter.

We packed up our car and trekked over to Nana and Papa's house around 9:00am. My dad and Maddie and I went to church while my mom and Keith stayed home with James {they'd gone to the Good Friday service instead}. Baby James looked so adorable for Easter! Mr. Preppy.

This is my mom's exercise ball...flat on one half. Maddie thinks it's the greatest thing ever and could bounce on it for hours.

I was so excited to see James all dressed up in REAL clothes, like a normal boy! This only happens on holidays because with the catheter and ostomy bag {which hit right at the waistband} and the need for button-down clothing to accommodate the tubes, it's all just too much hassle during the day. He's usually stuck in his button-down pajamas. :-)

How stinkin' cute are those shoes?! His whole outfit was from friends. Tiffany Tom gave him the pants and sweater vest, Alli gave him the hat and Christine let us borrow the shoes. Love that!

This one is getting the 8x10 treatment! :-)

Happy Easter from our home to yours! :-)

Spring days

2010-04-03T09:27:00.001-07:00

Over the past few weeks we've had a smattering of nice, sunny days {and now we're back to gross rain...actually, HAIL yesterday!}, so Keith has been hard at work on the deck in the backyard. Last weekend my parents graciously offered to help out, so my dad and Keith tackled the base of the deck and my mom helped me with the kiddos and then I even got to have a quick DATE with my sweet husband! Talk about a great day! Without a chatterbox in one ear and a whiny baby in the other, we hardly knew what to do with ourselves! :-)

Here are some cute pictures with Nana:

{Allison got this newsboy cap for James as a shower gift. Oh my gosh, the cuteness just KILLS me! He'll be wearing it with his preppy-boy Easter outfit, so more pictures to come!}
....................................................................
Anyone who knows me knows that I inherited the OPPOSITE of my parents' green thumbs. I have a Black Thumb, through and through. I can barely keep cactus alive, for goodness sake. That isn't to say I don't try...I love the look of fresh plants and flowers, but they always wither under my care. So imagine my surprise this week when signs of life were showing with my amarylis bulb, which looked dead to the world.
Usually they bloom around Christmas time, if I remember correctly. Amazingly, in just SEVEN DAYS, my amarylis went from bare bulb to this...

Christmas in March?

2010-03-25T09:11:00.001-07:00

So this may seem totally random, but are you ready for Christmas in March? I was downloading this template for free printable Easter cupcake toppers and noticed that the Skip to my Lou website has a big section of free downloads...so I started browsing!

I came upon this huge post of free printable super-cute Christmas gift tags. Print them onto cardstock or an 8.5x11 sheet of sticker paper, cut out and you're done! No more expensive gift tags from the store or some flimsy square of wrapping paper taped onto your gift. Some of them are neutral, so they could be used any time of the year! The pdf's are now downloaded into my Christmas file and will be ready to go for next year. Oh, and here's some free printable Thank You cards, too!

Now, if I could just transfer that same excitement and motivation towards cleaning my house today...

:-) Lisa

De.li.cious

2010-03-22T15:49:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I was bouncing around different blogs and somehow got to a food blog called picky-palate.com. She has some good looking breakfast and dinner items but, lets' face it, I'm all about the DESSERTS! Oh.my.goodness. I had some serious drool going on. I suddenly wanted to make everything! Right now! Well, I've had a little bit of restraint, but not much. Over the weekend I made a super simple recipe...you know, one of those "duh, why did I never think of that before?" moments. Candy-centered brownie cups! The blog recipe used peppermint Hershey Kisses at Christmas time, but Keith had just brought home mini Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, so those went in the middles instead! YUMMERS!! My new favorite way to make brownies.

Then today Maddie and I made some Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip "Muffins" (aka: cupcakes). So moist and puffy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious!! You must try them.

James is doing great and his labs have been so stable since November that his GI doctor is now only drawing labs on him every other week. This is good news, since they had been drawing so much blood every week on him that he was in danger of needing a blood transfusion. Also, his surgeon is very happy with his progress and has pushed the re-connection surgery to May (he'd originally said March or April), or perhaps later. The longer they wait (within reason), the bigger and stronger James gets and the more his current intestines are allowed to grow and lengthen.

Miss Madeline continues to be her happy, active, non-stop self. She is a talking machine! The other day I took her on a shopping date and we ended up spending about 2+ hours round-trip in the car. She loves to talk and sing continuously in the car. Think I'm kidding? Out of curiosity, I tried counting one-one thousand, two-one thousand, etc. during the brief pauses when she wasn't talking/singing/humming/asking questions. You know how far I got? 3. THREE SECONDS, PEOPLE! No wonder Mommy needs some serious quiet time! :-)

Often when I try to get a sweet photo of her, this is what I get. Thank goodness for digital cameras and taking lots and lots of pictures!

Keith started clearing out the backyard this weekend so that we can finally upgrade the dirt pit! He'll be building a low deck and then we'll be hardscaping the rest with brick and pavers. Maddie can't wait to have a place to ride her bike and play...Lucy can't wait too, since it's all fenced in and she'll be able to run free! :-)

Random Bits from Around Here

2010-03-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a random thought right off the bat...

Ever wonder what I'd look like with bangs??

Look, it's Mini Me! :-)

Or maybe you prefer the pigtails look...

{Note: Maddie having her hair styled is a BIG deal around here. Usually if it's a major holiday like Christmas or something, she'll leave barrettes in her hair long enough to take a picture. That's the max. I've tried for three years now with no luck. Until a week or two ago when she visited Ava's house and let Alli put pigtails in her hair. Now they're suddenly SO COOL. Like, Mom, did you know about these things called pigtails? And why did we never try them before?}

Chef's hats are also a great accessory, especially when you're planning to whip up a big batch of mini cupcakes, or whatever you're pretending your colored beads are at the moment.

Speaking of whipping up a batch, today I stumbled upon a blog I'd never seen before called The Idea Room (theidearoom.blogspot.com). This mom has so many super cute ideas for baking and crafts! The original reason I found the blog was through a link for a homemade felt roll-up crayon & notepad holder that I want to try my hand at making. Then I noticed some other posts...homemade CHOCOLATE and PUMPKIN SPICE play dough (simply can't resist those!), homemade tempera paint & finger paint recipes, and the most awesome rainbow layer cake you've ever seen! Oh, the plans I have now!!

So this morning Maddie and I made a batch of chocolate play dough...and yes, it does have real chocolate in it! Mmmm. It made the house smell delicious all day! If you want to make some with your kids (or heck, for someone else's kids!), here are the recipes: homemade play dough, chocolate play dough, pumpkin spice play dough.

Now, with the fun of play dough comes the inevitable mess of dough crumbs and pieces everywhere (including ground-into whatever clothing she happens to be wearing). So while you're vacuuming up the evidence, if you live with a dog who sheds like a maniac year round, might as well totally humiliate her and give her a good vacuum-rub-down too! :-)

{If you'll look closely at poor Lucy, you'll see the eyes of shame!}

One fun bit from around here this week...Keith managed to get the first true giggle out of James! He gives us big smiles all the time and will do a single "heh" {aka-courtesy laugh!}, but never a true chuckle. Keith made it his mission this week and we finally got James to do it, but boy did it ever take a lot of work! :-)

Preparing for Easter

2010-03-15T19:46:00.000-07:00

Today I started thinking about preparing for our Easter celebration. I made a few decorative journaling cards to slip into my ongoing photo album that will include a big spread of photos...coloring/decorating the eggs, picking out our Easter outfits, an egg hunt at our local community park and then everything that goes on during The Big Day.

(photo from createstudio.blogspot.com)

Last year I bought extra plastic Easter eggs on clearance and they've been taunting me in my craft closet ever since. Today I decided to start tackling the project of making my own Resurrection Eggs. There are lots of tutorials online, but I found mine here. Tonight I'll print out the scriptures and tomorrow Maddie and I will do a little hunt inside/outside the house for the items that need to go inside the eggs. She's a bit young for this idea now, but perhaps next year we'll try this Resurrection Egg Scavenger Hunt idea. They even give you a print-out of all the clues! Easy!

Parents need forgiveness, too

2010-03-09T21:11:00.000-08:00

I was just reading this post on one of my favorite blogs, Fly Through Our Window. It's by a mother of 3 children under the age of 5. She's a wonderful Christian woman, full of humor and wisdom and creativity and love for her family.

If you've ever snapped at your kids and then felt that burden on your heart, read this post.

Here's a snippet from the end of the post...

From The Valley of Vision {a collection of Puritan prayers} on The Family {pg 113– if you, or in my case, your husband has it on your bookshelf}…

O God, I cannot endure to see the destruction of my kindred.
Let those that are united to me in tender ties be precious in thy sight and devoted to thy glory.
Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion, instruction, discipline, example, that my house may be a nursery for heaven,
my church the garden of the Lord,
enriched with trees of righteousness of thy planting for thy glory;
Let not those of my family who are amiable, moral, attractive, fall short of heaven at last;
Grant that the promising appearances of a tender conscience, soft heart, the alarms and delights of they Word,
be not finally blotted out,
but bring forth judgment unto victory in all whom I love.

Front Porch Cookout

2010-03-07T19:31:00.000-08:00

My cousin Kevin was in town this weekend for a college sports seminar (the group got to stay at the Benson Hotel...pretty swanky for college kids, I must say!) I haven't seen him in a couple years, so we had Nana and Papa over for dinner and all had a great time together. I spent the day cleaning the house, Keith spent the day taking apart the Jeep for the second weekend in a row (some part of the cooling system is leaking fluid, flooding the floor of the car--nice!), and my mom made dinner and brought it over. If any of you have tasted my Mom's cooking, you know what a treat that is! She made marinated pork chops, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes, sweet and sour cabbage and a creamy hot mustard sauce to go over it all. For dessert she made a caramel apple streusel pie...to die for!

Maddie is in heaven whenever Nana and Papa are around, so she jumped on the chance to "help" Papa grill the pork chops out on the porch. Which turned into a mini-camping adventure, complete with pillows, blankets and hot cocoa. They love making fun memories together. :-)

And, because a post wouldn't be complete without it, some random cutie-pie pictures from this week.

Nothing says Spring like flowers.
Daffodils = Happy.

Everyday Life

2010-03-03T10:48:00.000-08:00

We've mostly been busy around here with little house projects and lots of doctor visits. The home nurse comes out every Friday, plus for the next couple weeks we have 2 more doctor visits each week! James had shots at Steve Davis' office yesterday (poor little guy had a miserable time falling asleep = miserable parents too!), today he sees the surgeon (they're thinking of doing his reconnection surgery in April), next week he goes for a physical therapy evaluation and Maddie goes back to OHSU for a kidney follow-up. It's pretty pathetic that the only time I get out of the house is to go to a doctor or the grocery store! Ugh. I'll be so glad when flu season is over and we can take James out more. I get such cabin fever!

Having a big sister like Maddie is built-in entertainment! James adores watching her do everything. Here she was running laps around the dining table ("Mom, count down from 100, okay?") and then stopping for "drink breaks".

Maddie gets cabin fever too, so Nana and Papa take her on dates once a week and also, for the last two weekends, have come over to take her on long bike rides! They're so awesome.

As far as house projects go, you know how one task tends to snowball into lots more? Well, we wanted to finally set up James' nursery so he could stop sleeping in the living room. (Seems like a theme with us...Maddie didn't get into her nursery until about 6 months old either!) Well, Keith's home office was set up in James' room and my office was set up in our guest room. We'd thought about building a Murphy bed (folds up into the wall) to make more space in the guest room, since it only functions for guests about 1 week out of the whole year. So Keith dismantled the bed and took out all the furniture. Then we changed our minds about the Murphy bed, so the furniture was set up again. We moved my desk down into our bedroom (which fit, with literally about 1 inch to spare) and, while it's not ideal, I love it! Now I can be on the computer even while James is hooked up during the day and Maddie can play learning games on the computer without needing to be upstairs by herself.

Once my desk was moved, Keith moved his office into the guest room and then we could actually set up James' room! Whew! That whole process only took about a week! I still have some tweaking to do in James' room (hanging mobiles and art on the walls), but I love how it's turning out. LOVE LOVE LOVE the Expedit bookshelf from Ikea (I've been wanting one for years) and seeing all the handcrafted stuff I made for his room...ABC wall hanging, paper sunflowers, mobile, letters for his name, lampshade. So colorful and fun!

Miss Madeline is just such a crack-up. Sometimes I just don't know where she comes up with stuff. Like just now, she called to me from the living room, "Mom, next time it's Christmas Eve, I want you to get me a REAL MONKEY, okay?" Um, what?! The other day in the car she said, "I sure miss my friend Pete." (Pete who?) "My friend from Mickey Mouse shows." (But he's a character on TV. He's not real, Maddie.) "Yeah, but I have an idea! Daddy could take the TV down off the wall and we could drill a hole in it and then I could get small like a baby and crawl inside and see my friends!" Wowzers, she's quite imaginative! :-) Also, you know your kid needs to get out more when you take her for a check-up and the doctor asks who her friends are and she says, "Hmmm...let me see. I know! Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Minnie and Pluto!" (As I simultaneously roll my eyes and hang my head in shame.) She's just dying to get to go to preschool, so we'll definitely be starting that up in the Fall! :-)

Nightly wrestling match on the bed...James can't wait to join in!

Good Excuse for a Party

2010-03-01T07:47:00.000-08:00

For Valentine's Day, Maddie and I tried making chocolate-covered cake ball lollipops from a recipe we found at bakerella.com. They were somewhat of a flop.

But these I know I could pull off and I think they're way cuter! Brownies shaped like movie popcorn bags!! Man, now I need an excuse to have a party just so I can make these. Wouldn't they be adorable for a kids' movie-themed birthday party? Or horray-for-the-end-of-the-school-year party? Or the Oscars? Or a grown-ups movie marathon? Or, you know, a Tuesday? :-) Maddie would totally love to make these!

Ooh, you know what I just thought of? At the stores right now they have all the Easter stuff out, including flower and bunny-shaped marshmallows. Cut the brownie into more of an angled basket shape, do the marshmallows at the top (or one big Peep and mini marshmallows nestled around it) and then use a ribbon or a piece of skinny rope licorice to fashion a handle! How adorable would that be?! There ya go...Easter dessert inspiration!

Strong Will

2010-02-25T22:27:00.000-08:00

You know how before you have children, you imagine and dream of what they will be like? Well, I must say we've really lucked out with both of our kiddos. Madeline has the best personality! She's a kick-and-a-half to be around! She's really good at entertaining herself during the day and I love being in the kitchen and eaves-dropping on whatever she's doing...acting out a scene with her toys, negotiating resolutions to the problems between her dolls (apparently they need time out in their rooms every once in awhile!), running and dancing around the house, singing one of the tons of songs she knows, or getting out her spiral bound notebook and pen to "write" (and, of course, narrate aloud) letters to her friends and relatives.

James is usually Mr. Even Steven. {He must have gotten those dominant genes from both me and Keith!} A calm, happy boy almost all the time, which is pretty amazing given all he has to go through physically every day. He loves to play with his toys, watch his sister do just about anything, grab at whatever is in reach {too often his tubes}, have his legs and feet massaged, and be carried around in the front pack {this is the only way I get anything accomplished around here!}. Normally he only cries when he needs a diaper change, needs to be in a new position, or wants to be in a new environment.

Tuesday was NOT a good day around here. James often sleeps until 8 or 8:30am. Tuesday he started crying at 5:30am and DIDN'T STOP FOR SEVEN HOURS!!! {He took a few 5 minute breaks, but that's about it.} I had no idea what the heck was wrong with him. He was fed, he was dry, he wouldn't burp. He didn't like being held, being in the pack, going in the swing/bouncy seat/exersaucer/playmat/crib. Dancing? No. Cold pacifier from the fridge? No. Being rocked to sleep? No. When Maddie was a baby she definitely had her days {actually, nights usually} of crying...but never that long! I was totally going crazy. I do NOT do well with crying babies. I can't tune it out or ignore it. It just grates on me until I lose every shred of patience and I get ticked off at everything. Let's be honest...I was pissy. It was not my proudest day as a mother. I was ready to give him away to the Gypsies.

So...naturally, Maddie picks THAT day to put in her own two-cents worth of rebellion. She has quite the strong will and knows how to push all my buttons. First she wears me down with the CONSTANT talking and question-asking. Then she waits until the moments when I'm in the middle of some medical task with James and suddenly starts yelling about some URGENT need...you know, like she's out of graham crackers. {Repeated 50 times, with more urgency and louder volume and hand gestures and pauses so.I.know.she's.serious!} Then, when her need is not immediately met, she dissolves into tears and dramatically throws herself onto the ground with the most Oscar-worthy sighs and breath-catching sobs you've ever heard. {Followed by MY massive eye-rolling, "Oh.My.Goodness. Are you serious?!" sarcasm, and then I launch into The Boy Who Cried Wolf story, which she's now heard 100 times.} Oh, and of course James is still screaming bloody murder.

I just have to say here, James FINALLY calmed down {also for no apparent reason} around 1:30pm and took an exhaustion-induced nap, so by the time Keith got home from work he was a happy-go-lucky guy again. I told Keith about the-horror-that-was-my-morning and he said something to the effect of, "Wow, that's weird. [shoulder shrug] He seems perfectly happy now with me!"

Quick, somebody get a fire extinguisher because I think I just saw flames shooting out the top of my head!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

P.S.--Today Maddie came to me, out of the blue, and said, "Mommy, I'm sorry I was so bad the other day. I guess my brain was just not working that day, so it made me a bad listener. But don't worry Momma. My brain is working good today, so I'll be a good girl!" Awww...my sweet girl is back again! Keith told me that she said to him last night, "The other day I was being bad in my heart. I don't know why, but sometimes I'm just that way." :-) Aren't we all, sweetheart. That's what grace & forgiveness are for.

Valentine's Treats

2010-02-13T22:26:00.000-08:00

In our house, Valentine's Day isn't as much about flowers and stuffed animals and such...it is just a big excuse to get in the kitchen and indulge in something CHOCOLATE! (Of course, for my choco-holic hubby, that's every day! We each have our drug of choice...coffee & just about any baked goods for me, chocolate & Diet Coke for him.)

A while back, I'd been snooping over at bakerella.com and saw some of these adorable creations called Cake Pops. She does them a ton of different ways and for different holidays, but I figured I'd keep it simple for my first go at it. Basically you bake a cake, then crumble it and mix it with cream cheese frosting, roll the mixture into little balls, freeze them on lollipop sticks, and then dip them in melted chocolate and decorate with sprinkles. Today I had everything ready to go when Maddie and Keith got home from the store.

It sounded simple enough, but I was quickly proven wrong. Chocolate too thick? Cake mixture too wet? Too heavy? I'm not sure, but after my first few successful attempts they started doing this sad, sad thing...

Ummm. Well then. This just won't do! How to save this from utter disaster? Make cake bon bons! Crisis averted. :-)

Maddie was my official "sprinkler" and what can you say about a 3-year-old helper in the kitchen? You'd better be ready to go with the flow. The flow of sprinkles all over the counter and rolling onto the floor. Sleeves dunked in chocolate frosting. Lollipop sticks being pulled out of cake balls, licked repeatedly and then tapped all over unfinished treats. (And "the talk" about how these are gifts, food for other people, and how they probably don't want your slobbery germs patted ever-so-lightly into their cake balls!)

All in all, I think we ended up with about 6 actual "cake pops" and another 40 "cake bon bons" to share with family and friends. Not bad for an afternoon filled with chocolate, sprinkles and an oh-so-thrilling 3 year old on a sugar high!

Good thing Nana and Papa came over today to exchange valentines and wrestle on the bed with Maddie and James! All that sugar-high energy needs to be used up somehow!

I saw this idea on the Family Fun magazine website and thought it could be a fun start to a new little tradition. A curtain of hearts to wake up to on Valentine's Day morning. As Maddie gets older, we could clip on little notes and affirmations of things we love about her to make it more personalized. On a scrapbooking website I also saw paper with hearts & robots / hearts & frogs, so perhaps I'll make one for James in a year or two.

The cool, unexpected thing about these that I discovered when I hung them tonight is that they twirl! Looking at that just makes me happy.

Happy Valentine's Day everybody! :-)

P.S.--I didn't want to leave out one special family member, whose birthday happens to be on February 14th. Happy 5th Birthday, Lucy!

My Cutie Pies

2010-02-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Lately I've been more deliberate about grabbing my camera and documenting the lives of my kids...James learning new things, Maddie in all her dramatically-silly glory. (I swear, she's going to be an actress when she grows up...or a musician. She's already asked us to buy her a piano, trumpet, flute, and drum set...and the toy ones won't do! I'm sure she'll do something performance-oriented. Something that involves LOTS of talking. The girl never stops!)

Here's a peek from this week:

Did I mention she's picking out her own accessories now?
Nothing says "going on a date with Nana" like a pink pumpkin filled with crayons (obviously!) and rose-colored flower sunglasses!

A brisk winter evening playdate at the park with Mommy.

Our handsome little man, happy as usual.

The other day I was rocking baby James and realized that the house had gotten very quiet. Not good. I called out for Maddie multiple times. No answer. So I went searching and all her usual hiding places were empty. I finally walked into our bedroom, peeked around the corner and saw this. Lounging in James' vibrating chair. Daddy's headphones on, playing games on the iPod Touch (which she's pretty much claimed for her own now). :-)

Push, push! Practicing standing up with Daddy.
James is getting much stronger...now he's only "Jello Legs" about 50% of the time.

On Monday he has an appointment with Emanuel's Child Development & Rehab Center. They do a work-up on all the kids who have been in their NICU. I'm curious to see how he's measuring up.

P.S.--He'll be hitting 11 pounds this week! Scrawny for a 5.5 month old, but a far cry from 3 lbs 3 oz.

Maddie's favorite activity: jumping on our king size bed.

Bits & Pieces

2010-02-03T23:29:00.000-08:00

This last week I was so excited to get a package from Amazon: Becky Higgins' Project Life scrapbook kit. I love all the fun materials for scrapbooking in general, but let's face it...time is precious and lately it seems I have less free time than ever. I'd love to spend hours each week pouring over my stash of goodies and coming up with creative and artistic layouts (hmm...perhaps when the kids are older and in school!). Heck, I'd even love to get photos into a basic album! But the reality is that I still have photos in a box from Maddie's FIRST birthday party. Part of my issue is a lack of time. The other part is feeling a bit paralized about it...feeling so "behind" on documenting our lives, feeling like I want my layouts to be perfect, taking forever to pick out "just the right" accessories, not knowing where to start. So what am I left with? Two-year-old photos in a box. What good is that?

My new scrapbook kit comes with a TON of materials, but here's the thing...everything is ready to go! It's all measured and cut out. It all coordinates. There's no right or wrong way to do it. You just write on the little journaling cards, print out your photos and slip everything into the pocket protectors and you're done! Now THAT I can do, even with James in the front carrier! I've realized that I'm better at completing projects when they're in small, do-able chunks. When it comes to scrapbooking, I'm drawn to mini-albums for documenting single events and I love page protectors for gathering the bits and pieces of our ordinary, everyday life. Last year I made a binder documenting "a week in the life" of our family and it was one of my favorite projects to date! This new scrapbook kit is along those same lines...just over the course of a whole year. I'm just taking it month by month, hoping to capture James' first year milestones, Maddie's growth and funny quirks, and our reality for now. I've been keeping the album laying out on the buffet so that I can take 5 minutes and jot something down whenever it hits me during the day.

Getting a start on it...photos, Blazer game ticket stub, quotes by Maddie, samples of her watercolor paintings, favorite new recipes, James' 5 month milestones.

Here are a few photos I've taken over the last few weeks that may or may not make it into the album:

James is pretty much in awe of his sister Maddie. Let's face it, she's darn entertaining! He's always straining to see what she's doing and Maddie is really good at engaging him and calming him down...although the other day she said as James was being fussy, "It's okay, Mommy. Sometimes babies just cry."

When we remodeled the kitchen, this area was designed to be a breakfast nook with a table in the middle. Well, the table hasn't happened yet...and to be honest, I'm quite fine with that! It's become a perfect little play area for Maddie (it is usually not this much of a disaster, but who can be bothered to tidy up when there's so much playing to do!).

The past couple of nights James has been pretty fussy (usually he's very calm and relaxed). The only thing that seems to soothe him is having his legs free and getting a massage (hey, can you blame him? Sounds good to me!)

This is the way James and I spend large chunks of our day together--in the front pack. He loves to be snuggled in tight with his hands in prayer. I just had to try to capture that sweet little face I get to gaze at all day.

Lovin' on my sweet boy. His soft little head is showered with snuggles and kisses all day long. How could I resist? :-)

Valentine's Day treats

2010-02-03T22:56:00.000-08:00

There are so many cute ideas for Valentine's Day kid treats out there right now, but I saw this one today from one of my favorite blogs, Blonde Designs, and I thought it was so clever and funny! If you have kids and need to whip up these treats quickly, she's even included printable/downloadable label stickers for you!

Can't wait until Maddie is school-age and we can make bunches of valentines together! :-)