Family Rule #128

#128 We are REALLY not ever ever ever using the bathroom at the video store again.

There's a video store near our house. But, we don't go there often. A.) We don't watch many movies, we're too dang tired all the time. B.) It's kinda skeevy. C.) Some kind of drama always goes down when we go there. Examples would be: someone's dog is running wild in the store or Isabel falls off one of the toys in the play area and screams bloody murder the rest of the time or someone goes nutso on the worker who won't let them rent a movie because they have $89 in unpaid fines.

This weekend, I risked it. 4 minutes into the adventure--I'm only to the "Cs" in the new releases--Isabel announces in her most panicked voice that she HAS TO GO POTTY RIGHT NOW.

I don't know why I fall for this. I mean, honestly, what are the odds of her having TO GO POTTY RIGHT NOW every time we go to that particular store? Perhaps I'm still traumatized by the time she peed her pants (and all over the floor) in that very store 2 years ago (and Milo started wailing with her to express in sympathy). So, we get the grimy key to the bathroom and head back.

Their bathroom is creepy. That's all there is to it. It's hot in there. It's small. It's crammed full of stuff that doesn't belong in there. Random shelving units, old movies, boxes of DVD cases. But, there's nothing one would ACTUALLY need. Say...soap...or paper towels.

So, both kids use the potty (because it's contagious). As I'm helping Isabel balance on the rickety toilet seat I hear SFFFFTTTT and am suddenly overwhelmed by the aroma of Lavender Fields. One look at Milo's face tells me all I need to know. He, somehow, assumed that the little high powered aerosol can on the sink was SOAP. You guessed it. He assaulted his own hand with a-nearly-crippling-and-definitely-nauseating-high-powered spray of Lavender Fields air freshener. Because, of course you would have air freshener in the creepy bathroom. Where there's no soap. Or paper towels.

Blech.

Back by popular demand...a recipe

Creamy Lowfat Pesto

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled

3 cups fresh basil leaves, stems and buds discarded

1 oz parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup), grated

1/4 c part-skim ricotta cheese

1 shallot, minced (about 3 tablespoons)

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

-Toast the garlic cloves in a small skillet over medium heat. Shake the pan occasionally until the color of the cloves deepens slightly--about 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate, cool, peel, and mince.

-Place the basil leaves in a big ziplock bag. Pound the bag with a meat pounder or a rolling pin until all of the leaves are bruised. (This step helps to release even more of the basil's flavor.)

-Process the garlic, basil, cheeses, shallot, oil, and 1/2 tsp salt in a food processor (or 3 cup food chopper) until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste.

-This is enough to coat about 1 pound of pasta.

-We LOVE this on whole wheat pasta with grilled chicken breasts that have been marinated in balsamic vinaigrette (any brand will do but we love Newman's Own), grilled, cooled slightly, and cut into strips.

A glimpse into the future and mobility aids...

Milo prefers to eat his carrots "like a rabbit" (a.k.a. with the tops on).

Today, at church, we had the chance to hear a talk from a young man (Nathan Woodbury) who is getting ready to leave to serve a 2 year mission for our church. He did such a great job speaking. He was so emotional and everything he said was so heartfelt. He struggled many times to control his emotions while he spoke. I was so impressed with him and kept thinking that I hoped that someday (at 19 nonetheless!) Milo could be that true and sincere in his love of the Lord and have such a strong desire to serve others.

Last year, during one of Milo's hospital admissions, I was really struggling. I was exhausted and hurting so much for my poor baby. Milo was sick, sick, sick (all of his usual stuff PLUS he had RSV on top of that). He was on oxygen, had a running I.V. and was just generally miserable. The Woodbury family (including ALL of their teenage children), came to visit us at the hospital. They brought us some homemade bread and asked if they could do anything for us. I was near tears already and said that I just didn't know. Of all things, they offered to sing to Milo. Their family is incredibly talented and musical--all of them. Little did they know that Milo LOVES music. He loves singing, he loves instruments, he loves to sing at church--he loves all of it. So, this wonderful family sang to him. I think they sang maybe 5 songs in total. Some were children's songs and others were spiritual songs. I can't even describe how overwhelmed I was with emotion. Milo smiled for the first time in days while he listened to them and I was so impressed with their service to us--such a simple act meant so much to Milo and to me--and with their unity as a family. To get all of your kids out on a weeknight to do something like that is, and was, so impressive.

When Nathan spoke today, I kept reflecting on all that he had become and all that he would be and how much of that was due to the family that loves him and supports him and has taught him by example. I hope that someday, someone can look at my son in the same way. In the meantime, I'll be making that much more of an effort to instill those values of service, family, and loving one another in my kids. :) (As for the music part--I'll be continuing to rely on others for that piece of it. Sadly, I am so not musical.)

Isabel on her "wheelchair".

On a completely different note, Isabel is obsessed with mobility aids. Wheelchairs, canes, walkers, and crutches. They are all equally as fascinating for her. She has taken to disassembling her toys to fashion mobility aids for herself. She's taken the basket off her shopping cart (wheelchair), the legs off her doll highchair (canes and/or crutches), and she tips another stroller upside down (a walker). She's not being malicious or mean...she just finds them fascinating and wants to incorporate them into her make-believe. (As anyone who knows them knows, they ask SO MANY questions and we've had many a talk about why a person would have a wheelchair or crutches or a walker.) Last night she was giving Milo a very serious talk about how, since she has a wheelchair she "has to park closer to the store in a special parking space" so she can "get to the store a li'l easier" and how she has to get in and out of her wheelchair to get in the tub and "it's kinda tricky you know?". :)

Schmupdates

I've been a little (okay a lot) remiss in updating regarding our two big goings on...Milo and the adoption.

First, Milo. After much discussion, there was much more discussion. (When a kid has this many physicians, there is much to be discussed.) Our plan for now is to NOT do the surgery. We're going to try to medically manage his reflux and hope that, by doing so, we can minimize the insult to his airway and buy him some time to outgrow some of the narrowing of his airway. We also have to make sure he's eating smaller more frequent meals and limit the liquids that he drinks at any one time...all in an effort to keep his stomach from getting too full and to minimize the potential for reflux. We also get to do fun things like carry around epi-pens and two different kinds of steroids--just in case he has an airway event. Sadly, we are also not allowed to go camping anywhere that is less than 10ish minutes from a hospital with a 24 hour emergency room. Needless to say, that sort of limits our options. We're all relieved that we're not doing the surgery now, but these new rules and restrictions will take a little getting used to. :)

Second, the adoption. I think I freaked quite a few people out with my crushin' on Craig and his list and buying baby supplies. There is no imminent baby. I'm just a serious sucker for a good bargain.

We are still just waiting. We had two birthmoms express interest in us but the first decided she wanted a family without any children of their own and the second, ultimately, ended up picking another family she'd been talking with as well. Those experiences were disappointing, of course, but at the same time, we really believe that this will happen when it's meant to happen. We believe that adopted children end up in the families that they are meant to be in. So, those babies were not meant for us, they had other families waiting for them that were--I'm sure--just as excited and just as anxious.

So, for now, we just wait. And pray. :) ..that somebody knows somebody who is choosing adoption and that they pass our name along. Or, that a birthmom sees our profile or our website and chooses us. :)

That's all folks!

Take me out...

On Friday, we had a Families Supporting Adoption conference in Denver. (To call it a conference might be a teeny exaggeration. There were about 6 couples there. ;) ) After the conference (which was great btw...good info, good discussion, and just nice to be around people who are going through this same waiting process), we went to a Rockies game! It was so fun and so hilarious. The kids individual personalities were, um, shining through!

At one point, after Spencer took them to pick out a treat (popcorn for Issy and jelly beans for Milo), Isabel was dancing around on the slippery bench in front of us and being a little less than generous with her bag of popcorn. When I asked her to "please get down" because I was afraid she was going to fall, she said "Um, Mom? I think you mean you're afraid I'm going to spill the family treat!". She was totally onto me and my ultimate motive: popcorn.

The view from the Rock Pile (a.k.a the cheap seats) at Coors Field is amazing! The Denver skyline is so pretty.
We couldn't seem to get a picture of everyone smiling AT THE SAME TIME.
After she asked Spencer to take her to "check out this place", Isabel surveyed the game for 0.5 seconds, asked when she could get a treat and then settled down for a good hour of coloring.
Milo, on the other hand, thought this was the funnest night EVER. He wanted Spencer to explain every rule and every detail and loved yelling "YOU'RE OUT!!!" and sticking his thumb out anytime someone got out.

I have crush. On Craig.

Dear Craig,

I heart you. Most especially, I heart your list. Your list has helped me. In oh so many ways. It helped me find this almost-perfect-condition $340 stroller for $40. Not kidding.


It helped me find this brand-new-still-in-the-box-top-of-the-line-highest-rated-super-awesome single jogging stroller for less than 1/3 what I would have paid anywhere else. Sure I had to drive to south Boulder but it was sooo worth it. Or at least it will be.
It helped me buy this supercute-and-not-bright-colors-swing (from my friend at work, Erin) AND I even got a playdate for the kids out of the purchase.
Craig, your fabulous list helped us sell our crappy-beater-car in less than 3 minutes (again, not kidding) and it helped us sell our GPS and our old crib-that-we-never-really-liked-because-the-wood-was-way-too-yellow (profits to benefit our own personal "adopt a baby" fund ;) ).

Sure, sure. Your list sometimes has too much stuff. Sometimes it's hard to weed through the totally trashed carseats that are circa 1994 or the "gently used" but really looks like it's been through a flood or some sort of other natural disaster stuff, but still. Mostly, I love it. I love you. You're helping us get ready for a baby. Muchas gracias. But, Craig do you paint? Could you? Could you also replace a fence? Because really, between your list and reading all these blogs how will I ever have time for any other projects?

XOXO
E~

G-MA and G-PA

As a kid, I absolutely adored my grandparents—still do. My grandparents are not, I would say, the most typical of grandparents. My grandpa is Mexican-America, the oldest child (of the oldest child), a very proud man who values family above all else. He is not a man who has ever had a need to have material possessions or a need to gain vast amounts of money. My grandma is from western Germany, the oldest of two girls. She has lived through some really difficult times and is a strong woman through it all. She should have been a sportscaster (she can talk NBA with the best of 'em) and she worries endlessly about all of her children and grandchildren. When my grandpa was 17 (or 16?) he found his way out of the small mining town of East Carbon, Utah, joined the Armed Forces and was shipped off to Germany. There, he met my grandma. How, in his limited German and her nonexistent English, they managed to fall in love, I don’t know. But, here they are 50-some-odd years later! They just recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. Amazing!

We had such a nice visit with my grandparents on our last visit to Utah. I could sit and talk with them for hours I think. The highlight of the visit though, was taking the kids out to the pasture to visit the animals. My grandparents have lived on the same property, with a variety of animals, for 40+ years. I have such fond memories of helping grandpa feed the chickens, visiting the chicks under the heating lamps in the garage, picking out and naming a chicken that would be "mine" (but would live at their place--until I could talk my mom into letting me take it on the long and winding trip back to our tiny home in middle-of-nowhere eastern Utah), and helping my grandma weed her flowers or hang laundry out to dry.

I feel so lucky to have such great childhood memories of my grandparents and to, now, have such a great relationship with them. They are so vocal in their support of us and tell us that they are proud of us so often. :) They are both amazing people with complex and incredible stories. I'm so happy that my kids will have such great memories of them too.

Milo and Isabel following a mama duck and her ducklings through the field. They kept yelling (in falsetto voices), "Don't be scared of us baby duckies! We just want to hold you!"
This is written in the cement at the bottom of one of the clothesline poles. I remember twirling around this pole, watching my shadow while grandma was hanging laundry on the line.
Checking out the tomato plants with Grandpa. It was cute to hear the kids say "Oh we grow tomatoes on our farm too! We LOOOOVE tomatoes!".
Giving Grandma Rosa a big hug. She always has fresh tortillas and a treat for the kids. It was so cute watch Milo play with her--she kept tickling him and tickling his foot. He was a big fan.
Checking out the lawn ornaments. My grandma is a big fan of lawn decor. It seems like she has something new and different everytime we go for a visit. Right now, they have a collection of lawn gnomes that my grandpa painted. Big hit, needless to say.
Just before I snapped this picture, Milo was holding onto his wallet chain while they walked!! So cute and funny.
Feeding the goats.
Grandpa said that he was glad that Milo likes animals so much. He loves animals too and says that they are the reason he has stayed on his property for so long.
Isabel was a big fan of feeding the goats unless the goats actually tried to come near here--and heaven forbid they touch her.
Checking out a duckling with Daddy. Grandpa used to amaze us with his bare-handed baby fowl catching skills when we were little. He still does amaze, but sometimes he uses a fishing net to get the job done these days.

Dead Deer and Poopy Pools

Trips to Utah are always funny. This one, extra funny.

First, we spent the afternoon at Jordanelle with Melissa and Justin (and Justin's super nice and generous family). As usual, within 5 minutes of our arrival, it clouded over and started raining. Funny numero uno. Also, the fireworks that we'd been going on and on about to our kids (supposed to be launching from the middle of the lake)...not happening until July 12th. (What?! Why the 12th?! What?!) Funny numero dos.

Isabel was super-excited about the life jacket until I got her all strapped into it. The crotch strap was the final straw.

Then, there was swimming in Josh's community pool. Nevermind that we are the only people who are anything less than "I just got back from the Bahamas/my daily tanning salon trip" tan. No, no. The humor comes when Random Maintenance Guy bursts through the clubhouse doors nearly foaming at the mouth with panic and does his best to yell, "Folks, I'm gonna need you to get outta the pool right NOW." After we (being the 5 of the 7 people in the pool who were also about 2 feet away from him), stared at him in shock for 2.3 seconds, he followed up with "FOLKS WE HAVE FOUND HUMAN FECES IN THE POOL". Say no more Random Maintenance Guy, we are out of the pool. This one is made extra funny by the fact that when he made his big announcement, Milo was mid-timeout for putting his mouth on a pool noodle that didn't belong to us (for the umpteenth time after having been asked to STOP). Barf.

Next funny, is pretty much just Melissa and I going anywhere with two sets of twins. We get stares. Comments. Disbelief. Confusion. You name it. One set is enough to make people say the darndest things. Combine two sets and two talking-nonstop moms and you have total disbelief from most bystanders.

Spencer, Milo and Royan getting ready to roast some marshmallows.

Then there's the deer death. Rarely do I believe any ridiculous story that comes from the combo of Josh and Spencer. Most times, they're just trying to see who they can con. This one was true. Or so I finally believed when I saw the damaged car. They hit a deer on their way to go rock climbing. Not funny...I know. But so funny because they get into the most ridiculous predicaments. Oh, and Josh felt some sort of moral obligation to go put it out of its misery (if it wasn't already--which Spencer was not willing to go back and confirm). Only he didn't have a weapon. Only rocks and sticks. And there's no way they could follow through on that. They've been out of the rural small town for far too long. They've gone soft. ;)

Grami Tami hooked Issy up with that big-as-Texas bow. She loves it.

Then there was the family barbeque. It really deserves a post of its own. (You can go here or here for dedicated posts.) SO FUN. Tami, Terry, Erika, Melissa and their significant others all came up for some awesome food and some s'mores roasting in Melissa and Justin's firepit. We had so much fun just talking and goofing around. Then, the real fun started.

Isabel has been going through a shy (for her) phase lately. She hadn't said more than 2 words to anyone other than Grami Tami that night and suddenly, the sun goes down and she gets brave! She used the back deck as a stage and treated us all to some seriously groovin' dance moves and a solo or two. Cracked us up.

She introduced herself as "ISABEL MONTANA!!", which is her actual name but totally sounds like a play on Hannah Montana.

The funniest moment was definitely when she yelled out (after Olivia or Lyla let out a cute little baby coo noise), "Please, if there are any babies in the audience, please don't let them be so noisy!". She also asked us (in her best announcer voice) to "please stop all the cameras". We didn't.

The grand finale. Isabel looks like she's giving a shout out to her fans.

While we were there, Spencer also slaved away (ha!) making all of us whole wheat blueberry pancakes for us at his mom's house. Nothing funny about that. Just yummy. Muy bueno. Oh and I was somehow tricked into watching a UFC match with the whole fam. Ugh.

pH and impedence numero tres

This picture breaks my heart. He was so sad when we first got to his room...
Watching his very own flat screen t.v. and looking at the Space Chimp cards that came in his National Geographic for Kids magazine.
Isabel thought the whole thing was pretty sweet really. A giant playroom? Our own HUGE t.v.? Her own "desk" for doing her "studying"? She was sold.

Well, it's over.(!) This pH and impedence study was, by far, the most traumatic. The placement was not fun--although they'd given Milo some medication to sedate him it either a. wasn't enough or b. they didn't wait long enough. Either way, he screamed and gagged and wretched and fought through the whole thing. :( When Spencer brought him out afterwards, Milo was still crying so hard...it sent this momma straight into ugly cry. Thankfully, they were able to confirm the placement (by xray) pretty quickly and we went straight up to our room. Things slowly got better after that. It's amazing how distracting a giant t.v., an XBox, a sweet playroom and a few wagon rides can be!

The new Children's Hospital facility is absolutely amazing. We've been there multiple times for consults etc. since they moved but this was the first time we'd stayed overnight since they moved. It was MILES above the last facility. It was so nice to have my own bed, our own room, our own bathroom, and a t.v. that you could see without squinting.

While we were there, one of my forever friends, Summer (Loosli) Voorhies, came to visit us with her super adorable and still new baby Sophie. She was in town house hunting (they're moving here at the end of the summer!!! YAY!). It was so fun to see her and such a nice distraction (for Mommy). We are so excited to have her and her family move here. Now, we just have to work on convincing them to stay here after school is finished...

We should (cross our fingers) hear something from the docs today or tomorrow. (They have to download the data from the probe and interpret it.) I honestly don't know which way I'm hoping it will go. Do you hope that the Nissen has slipped and they have to repair it (but at least we'd know what was wrong) or do you hope that the Nissen is fine (but then what caused that big airway event and holy cow am I ready to start all over again with more specialists???) ?

We'll keep ya posted. ;)

Stuff, stuff, and more...funny!

First, a thank you for prayers, thoughts, emails, phone calls etc. for Milo. Just knowing that people are thinking about us and praying with us makes this that much less overwhelming. THANK YOU!!! We go down to The Children's Hospital tomorrow for our overnighter. (The G.I. nurses and I are getting be so tight that we now have personal conversations when they call us. Serious.) We probably won't know anything until next week sometime. Hurry up and wait right?

I took my NCC exam today and PASSED!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!! I am so glad to have that behind me. It's sort of hard to explain to someone who is outside of the nursing field, but it's an additional letter behind my name (R.N.C. now instead of R.N.) and it's a certification that says that I specializes in neonatal intensive care nursing (and that I studied for months for that dang exam). The best part was that the lady who checked me in at the testing center was wearing a rabbit foot keychain. IN HER HAIR. Serious. Made all that studying worthwhile. ;)

Mya is adorable, has excellent hair, and liked the park.

Kiana, Isabel (and her shifty eyes again), and Milo all also have pretty good hair and they love the park too.

My nieces are still cute. All of them. We went to Viestenz-Smith Park (up Big Thompson Canyon) with my family this weekend and had such a nice time. It was good to see my parents and my sister and my Colorado nieces are still adorable.

Lyla and Olivia-a.k.a. the girl twins. Can't wait to see them!

We're going to see our Utah nieces on Friday. Since our big family vacation for the year (Zion National Park for 5 days--sniffle) was cancelled after the whole emergency-room-Milo-can't-breath thing (can you even imagine if that had happened while camping?!!!), we're going to Utah for a long weekend. It's near enough to come home if something happens and also near enough to a major children's hospital that I won't be freaking out the entire time. :) Just most of the time. Ha ha. Sort of.

Audrie peeking over Abbie's shoulder.

In one month, Erika gets married AND we get to meet our Texas niece and see her brother (who is obviously a genius and has a French attitude to boot!). Oh yes, all of their parents (and grandparents) are cute too and we can't wait to see them!

Porter and Sage in the sweetest picture ever.

FUNNIEST.STORY.OF.THE.WEEK. Could also be known as Most Embarassing Story of the Week--but it didn't happen to us so instead it's funny. :) While at Whole Foods, children (namely my children and Sage's child) running wild, moms trying to shop, and upper-middle-class-adults-without-children also trying to shop, Sage was busy trying to give Porter what is known as a "talkin to". You know, the kind where you bust our your "business voice" (as my friend Miss Cindy calls it) and do your best not to laugh at their most recent hilarious/naughty antic...well, as she's doing this, Porter pipes up with "Mommy, where are my Crocs?". This is said with such sweetness, such innocence, such...a hilariously mischievious twinkle in his eye. Sure enough. GONE. Kicked off somewhere between produce and bulk food. Just as Sage strides off (exasperated and trying not to laugh) to look for the Crocs that are "lost", the most enthusiastic Whole Foods worker EVER comes over the P.A. (at a decible never before heard in the always-zen-store with, "ATTENTION WHOLE FOODS SHOPPERS! PLEASE! LOOK DOWN AT YOUR CHILD'S FEET! IF YOU ARE THINKING, 'WHERE ARE MY CHILD'S CROCS? WHEN I CAME INTO WHOLE FOODS, MY CHILD HAD CROCS ON THEIR FEET' THEN PLEASE, VISIT US AT THE CUSTOMER SERVICE BOOTH!!!!!!" Priceless. Hilarious. I couldn't help myself. I cracked up. We're talking belly laugh. Pretty much until we left the store. Sorry Sage. I was no help. No help at all.