Selective Memory

Well, I guess men aren't the only ones with selective memories today...

It only took me 6 days to forget ear plugs for Caitlin in the bath. Holy cow! It was only her 2nd bath since surgery and I completely forgot ear plugs. Now that's something my friends, Julie & Sean Buckley, would have NEVER done!

Caitlin seemed to survive, but I'll try to be more diligent. The ear plugs are still on my bathroom counter, for crying in the soup! No excuse.

Today it's a little chilly in Vegas. It was only about 50 degrees, and so we changed play group to be at my house, rather than at the park. We had a record turnout and the house was very full! We had a great time, though, and no major damage was done, so it's all good. Steve came home toward the end of it ( a few ladies had already left, but it was still a madhouse ) and he just grabbed what he needed and took off...never even saw the other 15 people in the entertainment room! :)

The big news for me today is that I used my new bosch for the first time. I got a new bosch and I love it! It's got twice the capacity of my old one (which is still running, but dying a slow death). I made 3 loaves of bread in one batch - WOO HOO! I also made strawberry daquiris with the blender part. It's totally cool! The only bummer is that the dough hook is not dishwasher safe, but I guess I can handle that.

Angela was in charge of the blue and gold banquet tonight at church for the cub scouts, so Zachary came to play. Another little boy, Jordan, also came to play while his mom and 4 siblings attended the event. The kids all played together fantastically well, and I was able to get some reading done even! It was a low key evening with Steve at a church activity as well. Catilin is finally getting old enough to play with her brothers and give me a break. It's very nice. She comes over periodically for lovings, but then she goes off and plays again. That's a very welcome change from her constantly being attached.

I'm going crazy with my computer lately. It's all of a sudden EXTREMELY SLOW! It's just about driving me to drink, so I'm spending tonight dumping programs, and trying to get to the bottom of the issue. This is when I wish I didn't live so far away from my IT guy...well, if I can't figure it out I'll give him a call, because I know if I've got IT, he can fix IT! :)

I guess that's just about it for now.

Ear Tubes....done

Well, after sending Kenneth and Daniel to a friend's house last night, and waking up with Caitlin at 5:30am to get her to the hospital, I'm relieved to say we're home and everything is OK. Caitlin's surgery was quick and there appear to be no complications, etc. Her ears were infected, so we'll probably have to extend the ear drops, but that's small potatoes. I guess they're making an ear goo or something now to use in the bath and in the lake, so we'll have to pick up some of that. We got Daniel, and shared the breakfast leftovers at my friend's house, then came home and rode bikes out front adn Daniel wanted to go to the park so we loaded up his bike and both kids and went to the park to wear them out. Caitlin is now sleeping and I hope it's a long nap for her sake.

I have a cute story to share because I don't want to forget it. Last night Steve brought his church kids over (9 boys ages 14-15). I prepared by baking cinnamon rolls, brownies and bread. I spread everything out on the table and was upstairs with Caitlin before they came. I was laying on my bed reading when it was time for them to leave and I heard Steve saying "Let's go". One of the boys said "Where are we going?" and another boy replied "We have to go back to reality now." My heart was touched; I'm glad they feel happy and safe and well-fed in our home. I hope they know they are welcome here any time. :)

Another Update

Well, we're getting back in our groove after Elise & Emily left. We were very sad to see them go, but we're excited that the next time we see them there will be 3 of them! :) Emily taught Caitlin 2 things while she was here (well, Caitlin learned from Emily...I know Emily wasn't trying to teach her)...Caitlin now kisses you on the lips (melt my heart!) and Caitlin says "Mmmmmm" after she eats or drinks something....then she waits for you to say "Mmmmmm" back to her. It's very cute. Emily couldn't have taught more adorable things.

Caitlin is scheduled to get tubes put in her ears on Thursday morning. I am very disappointed that the surgery precludes me from going up to visit Missy again, but I'm very ready for my happy girl back. Caitlin has been pulling on her ear - putting her finger in her ear - and putting warm things next to her ear all weekend and so far this week. I don't think her ears are clear, and I'm sure that contributes to her chronic crabbiness.

Steve is spending a LOT of time on his class this semester, and it's pushing him. It's a lot of heavy duty math and he's having to brush up on a lot of old learning. We got him another book and it seems to be helping a bit, but he's spent a lot of time and is not encouraged. I don't want him to drop it, but I know that thought has crossed his mind.

Daniel hasn't exactly been 100% lately. He's not running a fever, he's not got a runny nose or cough, but he seems to have less energy than usual and is sleeping more than usual. I'm hoping he'll feel better soon.

We got to see my cousin Britta play volleyball over the weekend. I got to watch 2 matches (best 2 of 3 - both sets went to 3). She's amazing. She's a sophomore in High School and plays on a club team with mostly juniors and she's really good....they all are. It was a pleasure to watch her and to see my cousin Brooke and my Aunt Diane and Uncle David. I'm so glad they invited us to come watch.

Well, I guess that's about it for now....

ANOTHER ear infection! Actually, 2!

Well, Caitlin had an ear infection that was diagnosed 2 weeks ago today. She finished her antibiotics last Wednesday. On Thursday she started acting sick & crabby. We struggled through the weekend...she looked miserable. I started using some homeopathic remedies, but I think it was too little too late. She was too far gone. She had 2 raging ear infections today and her cough is something awful. She's got drainage like she's sprung a leak. The doctor gave her a shot of Roceffin (sp?) and sent us home with prescriptions for Zithromax, a numbing ear drop, and a cough medicine. She's sleeping well tonight (so far) for the first night in several. We have an appointment with the ENT on Thursday at 6:30pm....this after they originally told me their first available appointment was on March 7th. That wasn't soon enough. In other news, we're having a great time visiting with Elise & Emily. It's a pleasure to have them both around...I wish I weren't doing so much running around, but tomorrow we're piecing 3 quilts, so we'll get lots of quality time. Here are a couple of photos from last Friday.

She really did feel lousy - as evidenced by our doctor visit today, but I still think this picture is funny.
You can really tell the difference in the girls' phisique in this photo...Emily is lovingly the "Tank" and Caitlin is more petite. Emily has so many entertaining facial expressions...I think Caitlin was taken aback by this one where Emily was "smelling" the rose petal.
This is a classic and made the whole shoot worthwhile! Isn't she a doll? Too bad Caitlin wasn't more cooperative.

Is it Spring?

I know this will surprise you Northerners...but I planted my garden this weekend. 6 strawberries, 6 broccoli and 3 tomatoes. We'll see how it goes. I pulled out our dead lemon tree (didn't make it through the freeze). We are thoroughly enjoying our back yard. I got this really cool bubble machine that makes THOUSANDS of bubbles and the kids love it. Angela gave us this really cool little cube with a slide that is perfect for Caitlin and she loves it. It was 72 degrees here on Sunday - it's supposed to be 64/65 through the rest of the week and this weekend. Elise comes tomorrow (HOORAY!!) with Emily. I've got 3 matching dresses to get the girls' photos in...and my local client is a photographer and said I could borrow a back drop! So, hopefully I'll have some photos to post before too long. Steve & Angela made a bet over whether or not the port-a-crib would fit in our laundry room and Steve lost, so he's making Chicken Enchiladas Verdes for dinner tonight (Yummy!). Well, Steve & I are both fighting colds, Caitlin is still on an antibiotic from her ear infection last week, but the boys are healthy as can be.