Liam’s Grand Adventure and Time with Brianna

So my parents decided to take Liam on a road trip for the second week of his spring break. It’s been five days now. They left on Saturday and will be back this coming Saturday or Sunday. They call every night to tell us what the adventure was that day. Sometimes Liam talks and talks and other times he just says Hi.

Before he left Greg and I had mixed feelings; excited for him, sad because we’d miss him, excited to have one on one time with Brianna, sad because we couldn’t be on vacation too, etc. So far it’s turning out well for all of us.

My dad sounds like he’s holding up very well. He had his last radiation treatment the Monday before they left. Liam has only had a few minor fits mostly due to being tired (as usual). The highlights, both from my mom and Liam, in no particular order:

Eating at a McDonalds that was in an old train car
Getting binoculars at Hoover Dam
Going from wearing shorts in the morning to climbing to an elevation where it was snowing Taking an old time train ride to a ‘cowboy town’ where robbers ran through the train and the Sheriff had to chase them. Evidently Liam talked up the Sheriff quite a bit afterwards.
Liam’s been getting a lot of treasure for his treasure chest. You know those bins of rocks/stones – he’s basically getting something every time they are in a place with one of those.
Finally getting to Sedona, Arizona (the destination) and not wanting to take a Jeep tour around because all the tour Jeeps were pink and Liam was not about to get in a pink Jeep. I guess Brianna’s future Barbie car is safe from him.
Today they are meeting up with Lanny, my maternal uncle, and going to the wild animal park. I can’t wait to get the call tonight and find out how that went.

While the three of them have been having fun on their road trip, Greg, Brianna, and I have been having fun too. We almost forgot how much easier it is to just have one child. Saturday, I had a hair appointment, so Greg took Brianna to Dennis the Menace Park. Then they went to Black Bear Diner for lunch. I actually got home before them and when they did get home Brianna went right down for her nap. The next day, Brianna and I had our day. First we went to Target to pick up a few things, then we went to lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. We finished our day out at My Museum, a kids interactive museum. She fell asleep on the way home, but when I put her in her crib to continue her nap, she must have woken up and climbed out of her crib and came out to get us. The climbing out of the crib happened again when we put her down that night. She finally has hit that point – she is no longer afraid of climbing out of the crib, so we’re going to have to turn it into a toddler bed this weekend. My baby will be officially gone – well maybe not entirely because she’s still not fully potty trained yet.

Oh and we had the most fun play date after work yesterday. Amanda and I picked up Des and Brianna from day care and went to this nice, new playground just a few blocks away. There is a big kid area and an under 5 yr old kid area. Brianna had absolutely no fear going up this arched ladder thing to the top of the big kid structure. At the highest point, with my hands up as high as they would go, I would only touch the bottom of her shoes. Once up at the top, she took the biggest corkscrew slide all the way back down and did it again and again and again. Des only went down that slide twice - the first time with fear on her face until it was over and then a big grin, the second time she flipped a little half way down and finished sidewise, kind of head down. I think it scared Amanda more than Des. Anyway, after playing for about an hour (it was windy and a little cold) we all headed over to Del Monte Shopping Center and had dinner at PF Chang’s. Brianna had three bowls of egg drop soup and three helpings of brown rice. I was completely shocked she ate so much because for the last few days she hasn’t been all that hungry. I don’t know if she’s getting ready to grow again or if she was just keeping up with Des. Des is a very good, adventurous eater. Brianna and I got home around 7:50, 20 minutes past her bedtime. She was so tired that after stories she wanted to lay right down and didn’t get out of her crib (as she had the previous three nights).

So Greg and I are really enjoying our time with Brianna. She’s really enjoying the undivided attention she’s getting from us. It’s made me realize that I’m going to have to work harder at giving her more attention when Liam comes home. I feel so sorry for all the second and third and beyond children out there. You really do get screwed on the parental attention scale.

Oh and one more thing, Brianna asks me every day on the way home, “Where Liam, Mommy?” She misses him and they have talked on the phone with each other a few times, which is just so cute.

Just a few more days left until we’re a family of four again.

Blogging in General

So as you can tell from my last post below, I wrote it in word and then cut and pasted it into the blog box. So there is some crazy carriage returns. Sorry I didn't check it before I posted it. I'm still having a heck of a time with getting the pictures where I want them and in the order I want them. Like below the first photo should really be the last one.


I've also noticed I say "So" a lot in my posts. What's up with that? I actually use to be a good writer. I'm just way out of practice I guess. Maybe if I blogged more, it would take care of it's self. But I'm sitting here almost falling asleep and I still want to upload my Jan & Feb pictures to Snapfish. But I think that's going to have to wait until another day. Not that there are that many pictures - Brianna being silly, the kids on the carousel at the mall on a rainy day, and the Sharks game.


Here are the pictures I promised of Greg's ankle. I didn't get any good ones of his stiches. But you get to see his book and the two small scars he now has on his ankle. His physical therapy is going great and he can now walk around the house without the boot, but still has to wear it anytime he's away from home.

OK, I'm going to sleep now. Talk at you later.

Liam's First Sharks Game

I finally did it. After years of debating when the right time would be,
I took Liam to a hockey game. I had gotten Greg three tickets to the
Sharks vs. the Thrashers for his birthday. I know, I know. It was as
much a gift for me as for him. But he's really hard to buy for and
likes events more than stuff.

Anyway, the game started at 1:00, so I wanted to be there no later than
12:30. We got up and got ready - All three of us in our Sharks jerseys
(Greg and Liam had gotten new jerseys for Christmas). We dropped
Brianna off with Grandma and Poppi and then headed to the game. It's an
hours drive and Liam did the typical are we there yet, when are we going
to be there, why is this taking so long. I decided to spend more and
park near the arena just in case Liam fell asleep and we'd have to carry
him. Greg is still in a 'boot' from his ankle surgery and while he can
get around, I didn't want him to have to carry Liam a long distance in a
crush of humanity. Turns out Liam was wide awake and didn't fall asleep
until we were half way to Marina.

We get inside, do a potty run, and find our seats. Liam is still
pinging with excitement. I actually felt sick to my stomach on the ride
up because I was so excited for him. Would he like the game? Would he
get bored one period in? Would I be able to enjoy the game?

He LOVED it. He's head was on a constant swivel taking everything in.
He couldn't wait to get the cotton candy we promised him. He loved the
lights. He was mesmerized by the shark head coming down onto the ice
(they keep it covered in a huge black cloth until right before the
players skate through it onto the ice). He just kept saying, "Look at
that. What's that?"

And then SJ Sharkie (the mascot, in case you couldn't figure it out)
came rappelling down from the rafters and Liam was hooked. He was
hooked before the game even started. It was one of those moments where
you're just so proud and your heart is screaming, "Yeah, that's my son!"
He loved when the players skated through the shark head with the glowing
red eyes. "See that? See that?"

So the game started. Liam enjoyed clapping along to the music and the
folks around us enjoyed him. No goals were scored during the first and
second periods, but there was a good fight. Which after I cheered it on
and felt kind of bad about it, I explained to Liam that fighting is only
ok in hockey and boxing. Greg just gave me one of his looks, like "Yeah
right, he's going to buy that after you just cheered on the guys
pummeling each other."

I can't remember what period it was but the cotton candy man was walking
up the stairs near us (we were in the middle of a row, down in the lower
bowl - section 109 for those of you in the know). Liam saw him and we
explained that he needed to raise his hand to get the guys attention.
He totally reminded me of that character from Welcome Back Kotter. He
was practically jumping out of his seat. The folks around us smiled. I
smiled. The cotton candy guy threw the bag at Liam. Greg passed his
money down the line. Liam was happy. We all were happy. The Sharks
hadn't scored yet.

We also had to keep telling Liam that he could be as loud as he wanted.
I had to keep screaming during the make some noise parts of the game
just to show him that it was okay to be loud inside. The Sharks went on
a power play. We showed Liam how to chomp. He did small little chomps
(not the big chomps he does at home), but I believe the first power play
he was still eating cotton candy. The Sharks scored the first goal. We
jumped up and cheered. Liam was looking up at us. We got him up out of
his seat. He couldn't see over all the adults around him. I offered to
pick him up. Greg offered to pick him up. He was happy to sit there
and watch all these adults acting crazy.

About half way through the third period I saw where the camera man was
and I started to get Liam to dance in his seat during stoppages in play
whenever the camera man was pointed our way. Then two rows in front of
us a man put his small child (1 yr?) standing on his lap and dancing
around. The camera man caught it. I looked up at the jumbotron. There
was Liam over the right shoulder of the kid dancing away and not knowing
why Mommy and Daddy were so excited. By the time we got him to look at
the jumbotron the image was gone and replaced by the players in the face
off circle. I was super excited. Greg made some crazy comment about me
painting our faces for the next game.

After the game was over, we headed down to the Sharks store. There was
a huge line. Liam waited patiently. He just had to get something for
himself and his sister (he's so thoughtful). He got her a little plush
SJ Sharkie. He got himself a small goalie stick and a rubber bracelet
(a boy's bracelet). He hasn't taken off the bracelet as of 6:30 this
morning. I remained strong and didn't buy anything for myself.

The Sharks won the game easily, but more importantly they won over
another fan. I can't wait for our next game in March. And maybe next
year we'll introduce Brianna to the Shark Tank.

Valentine's Day

So Greg and I sat down a few weeks ago and planned out our year, sort of. We decided that this was the year we'll turn the garage into a playroom/exercise room. The first step of this project was to empty the garage and take everything we didn't want/need to Goodwill. It took three or four trips with Greg's truck full to get rid of the stuff we realized we just weren't going to use anymore. Then everything we wanted to keep got put into a POD. If you don't know PODs, it's a 12 ft. storage container that they drop off in your driveway. You can either keep it or have them haul it to a storage facility. We're keeping it in the driveway, which means we can only fit one car in the driveway right now - not that you really care about that part.

Then the next step is to have cabinets installed to hold all the stuff we're keeping. I thought ahead and actually measured everything that wasn't of a standard size to fit on a regular shelf. We're going to put rubberized (and green - meaning recycled) flooring in the garage - like what they have on the floor of the Biggest Loser gym (Is it bad that I love to watch that show with a big glass of milk and M&Ms?).

For those of you in the Mid-West, most Californians don't use their garages for cars - at least not in this part of the state. We don't really get weather and we don't have basements, so the garage turns into the storage center of the house.

I'm very excited about having a cabinet to store all our purchases from Costco.

So all this info is just background for the point of this story. I was reading Cousin Ginny's post on Valentine's Day and it made me happy. I too have never been a fan of this holiday. So when I set up the POD delivery for a holiday weekend to give us enough time to get the garage cleaned out, I had no idea it was Valentine's Day. So Greg and I had the most romantic time going through all our junk and then being sore and achy that night, not to mention covered in dirt and cobwebs. I did, however, get to take a really nice bath which is a rare treat (of course my back was spasming, so I didn't really have a choice).

I hope you all had a productive Valentine's Day.

Out of the mouths of babes

Another real conversation with Liam in the car on the way home.

Liam, “Did you know who made this city?”
Me, “Who?”
Liam, “Heaven made our city and he made you and me and everyone.”
Me, “wow”
Liam, “Yeah and it was really hard and when he was done he was tired, so he took a little rest. And did you know that his best friend is Santa?”
Me, “That’s cool. I really like Santa.”
Liam, “Yeah. Mommy did you know Heaven’s short name?”
Me, “No, what’s Heaven nickname?”
Liam, “I like to call him Heav for short.”

At this point it takes all my concentration to make the left hand turn I’m in the process of while trying to stifle a laugh.

When I gain my composure, “Cool, dude.”
Liam, “yeah, Heav lives in the sky.”
Me, “uh huh.”

And that was the end of that conversation.

Oh and his new favorite saying that he got from Mrs. Hord is “Easy Peasy”. As in “That page was easy peasy mommy. Do I have to do another page of homework or can I take a chocolate milk break?” We have been lucky this week because the alpha friend is Leo the Lion – L. Since his name starts with L he already knows it, so all the English homework was easy peasy this week. He’s always really good with the math homework, so I finally got a week where I didn’t have to struggle with him to do his homework. I still think it’s crazy that Kindergarteners have homework though.

Oh and Brianna is going to be ahead of the game because she loves to watch Liam do his homework and is already really good at the letter sounds. More on her antics later.

Greg's Ankle Surgery

So some of you may know, Greg had ankle surgery today. He sprained his ankle last year and seems to continue to sprain it at least one a month (OK, so maybe not that often). He stopped ref'ing soccer and playing basketball at lunch because of it. We finally convinced him to see a specialist. After one delay because of the holidays and other family stuff, he finally had the surgery. They just basically went in and cleaned out the area and tightened the ligament. He's currently laying in bed snoring while I type this.

Here's my one annoyance. He was originally scheduled to have the surgery at 10:45 today. I moved all my meetings to the morning, so I could just take off work and take care of him in the afternoon. I had arranged for my mom to pick up the kids and bring them home and everything was planned and set. Then after I leave work yesterday, the surgery center calls him to tell him they need to move up the time to 6:30 am. What the heck? (that's a Liam saying he got from Dante) Now all my plans are foiled. What am I going to do? How are all four of us going to be able to be up and out of the house by 5:45? And what am I going to do with Liam until 8:00 when school starts? Can Greg just drive himself and then we'll get his truck later? I was freaking out, as I tend to do when plans don't go off as planned. Then I called my mom and as always (it's either her or Greg that figure something out to calm me down), she came up with the answer. Greg would drive himself over to my parent's house arriving at 6:10, then my Dad would drive him to the surgery center. I would take the kids to school at the regular time and go to work. I did have to take two extra hours of leave, but was able to attend all meetings I had set up. I actually had just finished my last meeting 15 minutes before they called me to come pick him up. Then after work, my mom picks up the kids and my dad drives Greg's truck to our house. My mom and dad leave in her car. The plan has worked so far. Still waiting for the kids and truck to arrive, but that won't be for another hour or so.

So after I get Greg home and situated. I run to Safeway to pick up his prescriptions and ice and twizzlers (a man recovering needs his twizzlers). I forget to put gas in the car. Come back home, get pills in Greg, get him more water, put ice in cooler. Head back out to pick up lunch. On the way stop for gas. Get food come home, we both eat. Set Greg up with a movie and an ice pack. Sit down at the computer. Go check on Greg and he's semi-conscious. Get him to bed. Download Christmas photos, update facebook & blog. OK now I'm done. I'm going to go sit in front of the TV and veg for a little bit before the kids get home.

Greg is fine by the way. He'll be on crutches for about three weeks. He'll be home alone tomorrow, so I hope I got enough movies and twizzlers to keep him occupied. (I'd take a picture of him sleeping right now or his wrapped up foot, but he'd not be happy with me, so use your imaginations. Instead I'll put a cute picture of he and Brianna blowing out his birthday candles)

Blah

So I'm in that after the holidays and have to work funk. I was doing so well not putting on any more weight during Christmas (OK I weighed myself on Christmas night, so technically the weight didn't have time to settle on), then I weighed myself again after New Year's (and after finishing all the chocolate that was in the stockings) and the results weren't so good. I only gained 4 pounds, but my goal was to not gain any. So at this point I've gained all the weight I lost before having Brianna (36 pounds - I still can't believe I ever lost 36 pounds, much less that I've gained it all back). The desire to have another baby was a huge motivator for me to lose weight. Now I don't want to have any more babies and I'm having a very hard time finding a motivator. So I've been a little depressed - coupled with the fact that we didn't get our annual Christmas vacation with Greg's family (I really look forward to recharging my batteries then).

But I keep getting really great news from friends and family, so things are looking up. And today I did it! I keep saying I'm going to, but today I did. I worked out at lunch. I was just going to do 20 minutes on the eliptical (yes, I'm very lucky that we have a gym in the building). But my dear friend, Ashley (and my second wife), used her power of persuasion to get me to do 30 minutes. Yes, I sweated. Then in her torturous way, she had me do 20 push-ups, 20 crunces on the ball, and I did two sets of planks counting to 30 each time (yes, I counted really, really fast).

So what was it that motivated me FINALLY to go down to the gym? Well, my back went out on Saturday and then again on Monday. I missed worked. I was actually lying in bed Monday morning debating whether to have Greg bring me one of Brianna's pull-ups before he left with the kids. That thought and the subsequent holding it for two hours before I could get out of bed finally made me realize I've gotten to the point where I have to start working out again - if only to be able to function like a normal human being.

I really wish I could become addicted to exercise like I am to chocolate. Ah good German/Swiss chocolate that melts in your mouth - I will not see you again . . . at least until Easter.

So my current goal is to do some sort of ab and/or back exercises, so I can avoid these back issues.

Oh and just so you know, both Liam and Brianna were very helpful and wanted to know if I needed Mr. Bump (a little frozen goo man) or a bandaid. Such sweet children when they aren't beating on each other.