Geez...

I have been so busy.... and it seems like I haven't done anything at all.
The babies are doing well. We went to the Dells this past weekend and all four of us slept in the same room. Captain slept in the closet where it was dark in the pack-and-play and Burbles slept in the Boppy on a chair. We called Captain "Harry Potter" for the weekend, but he didn't seem to mind sleeping in the closet. It was dark and quiet and that is all he really requires for sleeping arrangements. Burbles enjoyed her sleeping accommodations as well. So much so, in fact, that she slept through the night all weekend. However, since we have been home, not so much. What I wouldn't give...
More exciting news... after researching flying and going by train to California, we have booked our flights to visit my grandparents and my uncle and a good friend from college this July.... Finally a real vacation. ( What a contradiction... we are taking the kids which means that there really is no such thing as a "real" vacation. There will still be diapers to change and bottles to make and kids to feed... in the middle of the night... but it is a start.)
My right eye isn't doing that much better, as a matter of fact, this morning, it seems more blurry than when I first had it done... what gives? Maybe it is the lack of sleep... should ask the doctor... he may be able to write me a note that gets me out of late night feedings (big problem... Fundi sometimes works nights). I'm sure Burbles would understand.
Fundi screwed down the registers yesterday, so Captain is no longer able to try to climb down them or throw his toys down there. Just a hint: if this does happen, use a plastic spatula to coerce the toys from the depths. This is terribly exciting as I have spent most of my time this week trying to keep Captain away from those stupid registers. They may not be pretty, but now I don't have such a headache :). Captain is in denial that he is unable to lift the registers up anymore, and he cursed us out in his own baby language for five minutes while he tried to get them off. Fundi said that he was looking at us like "Hey, what gives?"
The Dells trip was fun. We ate hibachi Japanese food two nights (which I absolutely love). Fundi got to play in the water park. He really had a good time doing that. We did a little shopping. We also went and toured a cheese factory and then stopped at an Amish roadside stand and bought the best pie I have ever eaten and a loaf of fresh baked bread which was wonderful too. Really though, baby proofing is so important when you are on vacation. It really is not much fun having to chase Captain around telling him that he can't do something (we don't like it and neither does he). I would like to see units (we stayed at our time-share) that are fully child proofed. Captain took a few big diggers this weekend and we feel terrible about it, but it was mostly due to the particular unit we were staying in. He is a trooper though, and he always got back up and kept on going.
In a fit of cleaning rage last night, I managed to clean the entire upstairs, fold the four loads of laundry that I have been putting off and put it all away, bathe Captain and feed him supper, vacuum, dust, do the dishes, cook supper, and watch most of the TV that I have recorded over the last week and a half, put both of the kids to bed at their bedtime, and I was still in bed at 10:15! Fundi was at work last night, so I did this all and kept both of the kids occupied... you would be amazed that singing while vacuuming is very entertaining to very young children.
I also was able to talk to both of my Grandmas yesterday. My Grandma in California... we call her Gummie and my Grandpa Guppy. (HI GUMMIE!) She sounds like she is doing really well. She was going to get her haircut (she needs it cut quite frequently, apparently) and she said that she has been reading my Blog! This is a great improvement because that means that she is able to sit up at her computer. This is all very important because she had a major back surgery a while back and she was in pain for quite some time. I was happy to hear that she is doing well.
My Grandma that lives nearby also sounds like she is doing well. She does dialysis three times a week and I sometimes pick her up after she gets done. She said that things are going well and that she really enjoyed having her oldest son around this past weekend. He planted a rose bush with her and they went to the County Dairy Breakfast. (The farm where it was held is the farm where my sister's husband and his two brother and his dad are the owners. We were regretfully unable to attend because we were in the Dells, but we heard that it was a good turn-out.)

This is us at the Carr Valley Cheese Factory.

This is our niece and Burbles.

This is me and Fundi.

Here is Fundi and Burbles.

This is at the waterpark. Fundi and Captain.

Here is Burbles at the waterpark.

Captain riding one of those machines they put in malls and arcades for little kids to ride on.

Rarely seen footage of Captain sleeping. He was so tired out because he had boycotted sleeping all day.

Ginza of Tokyo Restaurant in the Dells. They cook your food right in front of you.

Captain and Fundi at Ginza of Tokyo.

The Zoo and Uncle Visit

Last week, after one of my LASIK appointments, my sister-in-law and I took our kids to the Como Zoo in the Twin Cities. We had a great time and Captain got so excited when he got to see all the animals. He has a thing right now about animals, trucks, trains, and basically anything that moves. (Last night he kept saying "birl, birl" and I didn't quite understand. I thought that he may have been saying ball, but then he pointed straight outside at one of my hanging baskets of flowers and there were a couple of birds sitting there! What a smart kid.) It has to be the age, or maybe it is a boy thing, I guess we'll see. Anyhow, we all really enjoyed the zoo and the gardens that are around it. Even Burbles had a pretty good day. She was quite content riding around outside in the stroller.
Then we went to my Uncle P's house. My other uncle, C., from North Carolina was there. It was so great to see everyone. It was especially nice to see the kids interacting so well with their great-uncles and their second cousin. My uncle P took an interest in my sister-in-law's little girl, or maybe it was the other way around, but she really checked him out and you could tell that she developed a "little girl crush" on him while we were there (she is only 3). My Uncle C really has a way with babies (he is a new Grandpa himself) and when Burbles was having her evening melt-down, Uncle C was really great with her: talking to her soothingly, rocking her in the air in fluid motions, and just being so comforting to her. I'm sure that he is a wonderful Grandpa to his little granddaughter.
Then there was my cousin. We'll call him A. When we were younger, Uncle C's boys (he has 2) were always spending a lot of their time when they visited with my Uncle P's boys (he has 2). They would play video games and chase around. I was always a little jealous, but now I realize that it is just a boy thing... I got to see my cousin A interact with Captain the same way that my other cousins interacted with him. It was so cool. My cousin A has sure grown up lately (he is taller than his dad) and he is more mature and it was so neat that he was willing to spend time with my son.
All-in-all, it was a pretty good day.

This is me and the kids at the zoo. The cool shades are because of my surgery.

This is Captain at his finest.

This is Burbles. Isn't she cute?

Captain loves the balls. He didn't care at all about the sea lion.

This is my niece and Burbles. (I need to think of a name for my niece sometime soon...)

This is Captain riding a tortoise.

This is my niece and nephew and Captain on some giraffes.

This is my niece and nephew on the rocks near the pond in the Japanese Gardens.

This is my sister-in-law and Captain walking in the Japanese gardens.

Uncle C and Burbles

The Picnic

Thursday night Fundi and the kids and I and my sister-in-law and her kids went to this picnic. This wasn't just a regular picnic, but a picnic at an organic farm that is owned by a woman (and her husband) that I went to high school and college with. (She was there at the same time I was, but we were never close friends as she was a senior when I was a freshman in both places.) Their farm is amazing. They have a 2 acre garden where they raise more than 80 items. They sell shares of their crop to locals who want to buy locally raised produce that is organic as well. They also raise goats and chickens. Of course Captain enjoyed the animals immensely, but he also enjoyed the pizza as well (He ate the asparagus and tomatoes but refused to eat the cheese and the crust). They have a wood fired stone oven that they cook pizzas in. The pizzas are made from locally grown items and they are very good.
More than that, there was an atmosphere that you just do not find anywhere else. The location is a valley near where I grew up. The valley is green and lush and there are many trees. Down a short gravel road is an old barn and a new house. Behind the house is a swing set and the stone oven and a small barn. In the barn is a kitchen where the pizzas are prepared. The yard is beautifully landscaped and it is a comfortable ambiance. There was a bonfire started and torches that lit the path to the back yard. The yard was well groomed and there were other picnic goers that had brought their own chairs. We had a blanket that we sat on. It was peaceful and the pizza was great. We visited with people we knew and people we didn't know. It wasn't like at a restaurant where people don't talk to anyone that isn't sitting at their own table. People were mingling and kids were running all over, playing on the swingset. My nephew even helped take some pizzas to people that were waiting for them in the yard. They were happy to let a 10 year old with lots of energy call out the customer's names and give them their pizza. We didn't have to worry about picking up crumbs that spilled from our kids' mouths and we didn't have to worry about the soda that my niece spilled in the yard. It was such a peaceful experience and the setting was serene. We will go back for sure.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.smithgardensfarm.com/

Ok, so Captain doesn't like pizza (the crust and the cheese anyway...), he likes the boxes, he loves shoes, and he loves balls. I think he may have been in heaven at this moment.

Did I mention that he loves balls?

Our Beautiful little girl relaxing on the picnic blanket.

Here she is with her cousin.

Captain and Fundi.

Our family.

This is where a person orders the pizza and drinks (only root beer, ginger ale, water, and cream soda). And a chalkboard for the kids to draw on.

Our niece on the slide.

My niece and sister-in-law.

I Can See

I can see...well almost. I had my surgery. It ended up being a LASIK/PRK procedure. My vision was so bad that they were unable to use LASIK at all in my right eye. I ended up doing the PRK which is a procedure where they use a razor blade to cut the cornea and then peel away the top layer. After it heals, it should have the same results as the LASIK eye. Today I had my 5 day checkup and my vision is 20/20 in the left eye (it has been 20/20 since less than 24 hours after the surgery) and 20/30 in the right eye. I am absolutely amazed. I can finally see without assistance of any kind.
Now, I'm not going to lie to you. The procedure was not exactly painless. They do not put you to sleep for it and you are not sedated. They numb your eyes with some numbing drops and give you a Valium for relaxation (if you want it) and then they put a device in your eye to keep it from going shut. They ask you to stare at a red light that is above you. While you are staring at that light, they either make an incision and peel back your cornea (as in LASIK) or they cut the cornea and peel off the top layer (as in PRK) after this there is a burning sensation as the laser burns the correct amount of cornea for your vision correction needs. The most disturbing part about the whole thing is the smell of flesh burning (when the laser is burning the cornea). Noone told me about this and it was enough to make me nauseous while I was laying on the table.
After the procedure, they asked me to sit up. I COULD SEE! I was amazed that I could tell what time it was on the clock 5 feet away from me with no problems. I was escorted to a small relaxation room with a comfortable reclining chair and I waited there for about 15 minutes. Then I was led out to the waiting room where my husband and children waited patiently for me.
The ride home was uncomfortable. It was very bright out and my eyes were so sensitive to the light that they were crying uncontrollable. I put my sweatshirt over my head and tried to sleep, but I was too uncomfortable and my eyes were burning. When we got home (a two hour drive) I went to sleep immediately. I slept for a couple of hours and then woke up and I could see. I did wear my sunglasses in the house to help with the light sensitivity, but my eyes had great vision. Fundi and I even watched a movie that night (or part of one). But the next morning when I woke up, I was very uncomfortable again. I took some pain medication, but mostly my eyes just watered uncontrollably for about a half an hour. After that they started to behave, but I noticed that my PRK eye was now cloudy. It was as though if my eye were a car window covered with bugs and then I washed the window smearing the bugs and making it worse.
Over the next couple of days my vision got better. But today they took my bandage lens off of the PRK eyeand now my vision is blurred again. I suppose my eye just has to adjust again... we'll SEE.

My Dad on Father's Day

My Dad was never really one to be too affectionate. He worked a lot. We grew up on a 360 acre farm and he held a full time job at a cheese factory on top of that. (He has worked there now for over 30 years.) He is still a busy guy. We sold the farm when I was in high school and moved to town. He continued working at the cheese factory, but he also picked up some other tasks. He became the community representative for the National Mutual Benefit (an insurance agency) where he plans activities and runs meetings with members. He is on our city council and has been involved in many committees but is currently the Vice President and is head of the Finance committee. He is President of one snowmobile club and involved in another. He drives school bus as a substitue bus driver and for activities and loves interacting with the kids. And, he is involved in our Knights of Columbus at our church.
But mostly, he is finally my Dad. Since my Mom passed away, Dad has become more involved in our lives. At first it seemed like it was more of a chore, but now he has become so much more comfortable in his role as Dad. He calls me up sometimes just to visit. He stops by to see if he can help with the kids. He took time off from work while I was sick to haul me to the doctor and to stay home with Captain when Captain was very ill with a fever and the flu. He took Fundi under his wing in the Knights of Columbus. When there was snowstorms this past winter and my Dad knew that Fundi was not going to be home from work until after dark, Dad handshoveled or loaded up his lawnmower/snowblower and came over and took care of the shoveling. Dad is able to see me as an adult now. He knows that we have our own family and our own obligations, but at the same time that we will not forget about him when it comes to our daily lives. He and my sister drove to the Dells this weekend for a day trip and spent the afternoon and evening with us. And when he leaves, he gives me a hug and says he'll see me later.
What is even cooler is how comfortable he is in his role as Grandpa. Captain absolutely adores his Gumpa. He often asks about him at breakfast. He is quick to recognize him in any photo. He goes on and on about "Gumpa Gumpa." And let me tell you, when he finally does get to see him, he gets so excited. He kisses his gotee and hugs him and kisses him some more. He has stayed over at Gumpa's house quite a few times (while I was sick or when we needed a break) and Gumpa and him always play and spend lots of time together. Gumpa takes Captain out for walks or just spends time with him on our deck looking at the birds, trees, flowers, sky, and whatever else interests the two of them. Gumpa holds Captain in church and Captain doesn't mind (he would rather be down and playing if anyone else tries to hold him). The day Captain was sick, Gumpa came over and layed with him on the couch. They slept on and off, but it was 2pm before they got off the couch to change a diaper and get a drink. (Captain was really sick.) Gumpa respects the fact that we don't let Captain watch TV, so he entertains him in other ways. Gumpa has totally baby proofed his house and lets Captain run about as he wishes. All of this amazes me because it is stuff that I know my Mom would have done, but I would never had imagined that Dad would be doing all these things now.
He is my Dad and his is Captain and Burbles's Gumpa and he is doing a great job at both.

LASIK Surgery...update

I am back from a full day of running around. I had my stent removed today and my kidney stone is gone. As of right now I am stone free. That took a little longer than expected, so I called the LASIK place and asked if we could come to a later appointment. They had a 3:00, so that is the one that we agreed to go to. We ate at McDonalds (we=me, Burbles and Captain, and my sister-in-law and her daughter). From there we left to go to LASIK Plus in Maple Grove. It was a long way. We got there and after some brief measuring of my eyes, the doctor pulled me in the exam room and told me that because of the extensive correction that I need, they would be unable to perform the surgery at this particular facility and that I could come back tomorrow to a different facility (one in Edina) to have surgery with the particular laser that will work best for me. We agreed to do this. This procedure is supposed to cost $400 more per eye than the procedure that I was going to have, but since I have already paid, I will not have to pay this extra amount. In addition to that, for my time and trouble, they gave me a $100 refund.
My vision is really poor. I asked the doctor yesterday what my vision is. He said that they do not have charts to measure my vision because it is so poor, but he would estimate that my vision is at least 20/1600. He explained that if I were to stand 20 feet away from something without my glasses or contacts on, what I saw would be equivalent to what a person with 20/20 vision sees at 1600 feet (almost 1/3 of a mile). It is really hard to have such poor vision. For example, when I wear my glasses, my vision stops where my lenses stop. I can read a large print book about two inches from my eyes. I would not be able to get to and from town without either my contacts or my glasses. I am dependant on them--I couldn't survive without them.
I was really excited for this opportunity and I still feel fortunate that I should be able to get good results with LASIK even with my vision being so poor. I'll continue to keep you updated, but like I said earlier, I will be away from the computer for a few days after the surgery because using the computer is hard on a person's eyes.

My Mom

Even though today is a terribly exciting day for me, it is also a sad day for me. Today is the four year anniversary of my mom's passing. This is sad for so many reasons. My mom never got to see any of her four daughters get married. She never got to spend time with her grand kids. She never got to enjoy retirement. We don't get to ask her for advice on raising our kids. We don't get to call her up just to say hi. We get to visit her at the cemetery. We get to tell our kids stories and wonder if they will remember them. We get to remember who she was but not who she could have been (as a grandmother and as a mother and friend when we became adults).
My mom passed away from lung cancer. Yes she smoked cigarettes. That was her choice. We found out that she had cancer only a month to the day that we buried her.
My mom was a special woman. She was compassionate and helpful. She worked with people. Some of those people had done bad things. She always treated them with respect. She said that they were being sentenced and doing their time and that was how they were to pay for their wrongdoings. She said that it wasn't her job to make their time any worse. As a matter of fact, she made their time better most of the time. She gave them someone to talk to. She treated them fairly. She respected that they were another human being. She respected that it was not her place to judge. At her funeral, some of her former inmates came to pay their respects. One girl (I say girl because she is my age and has made a few mistakes, but by no means was she a woman at the time) even buried a necklace pendant with my mom. She said that while she had been in jail, my mom had helped her get through the lonely times and the times when she just didn't know if she could make it through. Not only was she respected by inmates, she was respected by her co-workers as well. At her funeral, there were squad cars lined up for miles. There were so many officers there and they all wore their uniforms. Her pall bearers (which she bravely selected only a few days before she passed away) were her co-workers that she was closest to. Some of them called her "Ma" because she was older than them and she often offered unsolicited advice. The current Sheriff of our county used one of her recipes on his campaign (she saved his life one night shortly before she passed away). She would make full meals for her co-workers. A lot of times, they were fed better than we were.
My mother and Fundi's brother worked together. They set us up. We have them to thank for what we have now. We never would have met had it not been for them. Before she passed away, Fundi let her know that he would take care of me. When I went into the room after he talked to her, her face was lit up and her eyes were glowing. I asked her what she was so happy about and she said that she couldn't tell me.
It makes me terribly sad that I was never able to have my mom help plan my wedding or meet my kids. I wish they were able to call her "Gramma" and give great big slobbery kisses to her. I wish they were able to eat her famous baked beans (my Dad has since learned to make them and can do them almost as well... he even makes vegetarian ones for me).
My mom was the glue for our family. When there were hard times she would try her best to keep us stuck together. When us girls would fight, she would say that she hoped that one day we could learn to love each other and get along (you try and put 4 girls under one roof and see what happens... there are bound to be some fights).
We all miss my mom terribly. It feels like it was just yesterday that we were sitting in her hospital room saying our goodbyes. At the same time, it feels like forever ago. She missed our wedding the year after she passed away. She missed our two kids being born and their growing up.
As she was in the hospital and was sick, she was so brave. I don't know how anyone could possibly face the inevitable with such confidence. I'm sure she was scared inside, but she couldn't let us see that. She was the strong one. She was my hero.

Here are some photos from her funeral. They may be depressing, but that is how I feel about this topic. I'll see sometime if I have a photo of my mom that is scanned into the computer.

Isn't this eerie?

A butterfly landed on the flowers in front of her casket during a prayer.



A photo of some of my mom's co-workers that dressed in uniform for the funeral. They filled almost half of one side of the church.



A photo of our family.

LASIK Surgery

I will be having LASIK Surgery today. Yipee! Just so everyone knows, they recommend not staring at the computer screen after the surgery, so I may not be posting for a couple of days, but then I have a lot to catch up on.

The Kiddie Concert

It may not be as hot as it could be, but it is hot enough. Today our family and our niece attempted to sit through a kiddie concert in a nearby city. The concert is part of the city festival. There was a man there performing a "concert" for the kids. Really, all we could make out is a few words here and there because of poor accoustics in the outdoor bandshell. On top of the not being able to hear a thing, we were hotter than all get out. It was pushing 95 degrees. We were in the shade of some trees, but our walk to and from the bandshell was 100% sun. The antibiotics that I am taking for the kidney stone procedure come with the warning that a person who is taking this medication should try to avoid extended exposure to the sun. Even though we were in the sun for a total of only about 10 minutes and even though I had on SPF 30 sunscreen, I managed to get red. Ahhh! I am so over the days when being super tan is cool. I understand the dangers of the sun and cancer and it makes me nervous to know all of the bad things that I have done to my skin up to this point. I was ignorant and I'm sorry.

Sleeping

On a side note... Burbles did not sleep last night either... I don't know what is going on, but I am not liking it.

Sleeping

It may have been the excessive napping yesterday or maybe just wanting to be held, but Burbles was up at least every two hours last night. I don't know what I did to deserve that, but let me tell you, I would like to have had more sleep than that.

Random Acts of Kindness

Aren't random acts of kindness wonderful?
My sister-in-law brought me two hanging baskets filled with flowers yesterday. Just because she thought my deck and my shepard's hooks needed to have flowers on them. They are beautiful.

My sister-in-law's mom also gave me a gift certificate for a get-well gift from the local flower shop. I had two bouquets of flowers made up for me and they are beautiful as well.

Random acts of kindness. I am not so good at them myself. I wish I were better. They make a person feel so good. They bring light to a person's life when there is something going on. They also make a person feel like there is good in the world and that people are good.
I have this theory that children are born to be inherently good people. If you ever watch a young child, he or she is born to trust. They say hi to one another. They love other people. But as a child gets older, they learn to hurt and hate. They learn that they can have power over someone else by treating them poorly. They learn that it is acceptable behavior to treat others with meanness. My wish for my children and my children's children is that they never learn to hate. I wish that this could be true, but I myself know that if they don't protect themselves someone else's children will walk all over them because the other children have been taught how to hate. My children can't live in a bubble. I understand that, but I hope that if they do learn to hurt and hate that they can also learn to love and be loved.

(This is the view from our deck.)

My Ideal Career

Your Career Personality: Detail-Oriented, Observant, and Hard-Working

Your Ideal Careers: Designer Family counselor Independent store owner Interior decorator Museum curator Nurse Preschool teachers Social worker Stay at home parent Teacher

http://www.blogthings.com/quickanddirtycareertest
The Quick and Dirty Career Test

How I Am and How They Are

In short--- I am fine.
I went in for surgery as planned on Monday. They got me in an hour later than planned, but everything went well and they believe they zapped the offending stone. Thank goodness.
Burbles went in for shots yesterday. It was her two month appointment. She weighs 10 lbs 13 oz and is 22 1/2 inches long. I had them weigh and measure Captain as well. He weighs 19 lbs 8 oz and is 29 inches long. We laid them side by side on the table and looked at them. It is absolutely amazing all the changes that a child can go through in one short year. Even though he is not much bigger than she is, he has such an awareness of things and he is so smart. He is able to communicate with words and motions where she cries and sucks her hand if she is hungry. All of these things that happen in a year. He can walk and move around and climb and go down the stairs. She sits there in your arms and looks at you and smiles. He takes a nap on command and she takes a nap only when it suits her. He sleeps for 11 and a half hours at night in his crib. We check on him rarely, but can hear him moving around and grunting while he sleeps as we listen to the monitor. We check on her often and as every new parent does, we get up and make sure that she is still breathing. Sometimes we even have to put a flashlight by her chest to make sure that it goes up and down. She sleeps in our room in the Pack and Play so that we have quick access to her if she starts to cry. She suprised me last night by sleeping a whopping 7 1/2 hours in a row. This is amazing because she has only been sleeping maybe 4 1/2 hours at a crack up until now.

I remember the first time Captain slept a long stretch. Both Fundi and I woke up to his cries about 7 hours after we had put him to sleep. We looked at each other figuring that the other had woken up to feed him at some point during the night, but neither of us had. In our sleep induced haze, we questioned if we had slept through a feeding or if perhaps we hadn't heard him when he cried, but we really didn't believe that the baby who had only been sleeping for 3 hours at a time had gone a whole seven without needing to be fed. Fundi was working last night, so I know that he didn't feed Burbles. I woke up at 2 something to go to the bathroom, and Burbles was still sleeping soundly then. So I know that those 7 1/2 hours are true to life sleeping time.
Burbles is almost 9 weeks old. Captain slept through the night at 10 weeks, so we only have a week to go. Right?? Every kid is different and I guess we'll have to see.

Fundi, the wonderful and thoughtful man that he is, parked his truck outside the garage this morning (if he opens the garage door, Captain tends to wake up too early) and slept on the couch (if you walk down the hall after daylight, it is a sure thing that Captain will wake up) until Captain woke up. He then took Captain and changed his diaper and while I fed Captain breakfast, he fed Burbles her morning bottle and smiled at her and cooed and gurgled with her. He stayed up until 8:30 when he announced with exhaustion that he must go to bed. I am absolutely amazed at the man. He is great to all of us.

It Feels Like Home

Sunday's activities require a blog of their own.
Sunday morning the kids and I woke up and got ready for church. We picked up my mother-in-law on the way (she helps us with the kids during church). When we got to church, we sat in our normal pew. A short while later, my dad and his girlfriend came and sat with us. We took up a whole pew, but both the kids were passed from one member of the family to the next. This reminds me of when my family would go to church when we were younger. The four of us girls and Mom and Dad. We would take up a whole pew too, but it feels good to worship with family and friends. It feels like home.
After church, we talked with other church-goers. Then my dad and his girlfriend asked if we would like to go to breakfast at a hometown cafe.
I took my mother-in-law home as she had to tend to her husband before going with us to the parade that afternoon.
The cafe was full, but as I pulled up and parked, I could hear my name being called. My dad's girlfriend's boy (12, the younger of two boys, high energy) called out to us and I took the kids and sat at the table they were all sitting at. I say all, but really I mean one of my aunts (visiting for a class reunion) and a bus-boy (from the restaurant) and two people that I didn't know (found out later that they had been at our church and were from a nearby town and they had just needed a place to sit--told you the restaurant was crowded). We pulled up another table to make room for my dad and his girlfriend and me and the kids. We sat and visited--all of us, even the people we didn't know. (It is amazing what having babies does for conversation. People who normally wouldn't talk to you now are opening up and telling all of their raising kids stories.) It feels like home.

After breakfast, I took the kids home to take their naps. My mother-in-law came out a little later and I got ready to go to the parade--no easy task when you are packing for two kids on a 90 degree day. We proceeded to the parade, parked only half a block away from where we would sit and then parked the stroller and the chairs in the shade. We were really fortunate that we found a place to park and a place to sit and both were in the shade and we were by no means early for the parade.
Burbles slept through the whole thing--I mean the whole thing. She napped in the car, then at the parade in the stroller, then in the car on the way home. She didn't even stir when I moved her from the stroller to the carseat either time.
Captain, on the other hand, we absolutely enthralled at the parade. He watched with amazement as the band marched past, then the firetrucks, tractors, princesses, a puppy, and finally horses. He ate the cheese stick that was thrown from a float (we DO live in Wisconsin) and I ate the popcicle (we don't let him eat such stuff). The excitement in his eyes was awesome to me. Rarely do you ever see such excitement in a person's eyes--and all this for a little home-town parade!
People ask how I like living back in my hometown. When I was growing up, I insisted that I would never live here after I moved away, but after meeting Fundi (who grew up here too) and then buying a house and starting my family here, I realize how blessed our family is to be situated in a small town in rural Wiscosnin where the closest McDonalds is over a half an hour away and the first get-well card you get in the mail is from the people at the local bank and the people are friendly and you can call on your neighbors for help. It feels like home.

$13,451.50

This is the amount of a hospital bill that I received today for having my gall bladder out---thank goodness for health insurance!
It is amazing to me how quickly costs accumulate when a person stays in the hospital. It all started 3 weeks and 4 days ago. It was a Tuesday night. The flu had been circulating around the house. Captain had had diareha for 5 days and was finally getting better when Fundi came down with it. We hoped that our 5 week old Burbles and myself would not get sick, but that Tuesday afternoon it wasn't looking good for me. I was playing with the kids on the floor and stood up to go to the bathroom before Fundi left for work. At that point, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. My stomach hurt terribly. Fundi let me know that he had felt like this as well and that I should take it easy, but if I needed to I could call him at work and he would come home and help with the kids. Fundi left at 5 for work and it wasn't 5:25 when I called him to let him know that I would need him to come home. I also called my dad who lives only a mile away and asked him to come help with the kids. At that point, I started feeling like I was having a heart attack. The pain was under my ribs and through my chest and all around my back. I was also having a hard time breathing. It was a horrible pain and I was nauseous and thought that I may be sick, but I had both of the kids to take care of. I took the phone and lay down on the couch while both kids cried. I couldn't do anything for them and thought that I may end up calling 911. My dad arrived about ten minutes later and then Fundi arrived shortly after that. Lying on the couch was helping and slowly but surely I was able to relax and catch my breath and just as quickly as the pain came, it left. It was only about 6:30, but I felt so much better. I didn't know what the pain had been, but it was gone and I planned to ask my doctor about it at my 6 week checkup (about a week later).
The next day I was a little queasy to my tummy, but I never got the flu like Captain and Fundi had. I still blamed the pain on the flu...
Thursday I felt completely better. I went about my tasks that day without problem. I went and got groceries and got some potato wedges from the deli and a Blizzard from the Dairy Queen. ( I know.... not so healthy) That afternoon before Fundi left for work I was feeling totally capable. I fed Captain supper and then bathed both of the kids before putting them to bed. At 10:00 (as is normal) I went to sleep. I woke up at about 10:20 with the same excruciating pain. I called Fundi and let him know that I was sick. I asked that he come home, but he was in the middle of something at work and wasn't able to leave right that second. He told me that it would be about 11:30 or 12 before he could get home. At 10:30 I began vomiting. I also started thinking about the worst again. I kept the phone near me, but I kept thinking about what would happen if the kids had to be alone overnight because something had happened to me. I was very worried. Finally after an hour and a half of bonding with the toilet, Fundi got home. I had nothing left in my stomach, but was dry heaving and felt terrible. Fundi asked how long I had been like this and then said that I should probably go to the doctor.
At 1:00am on Friday I left for the local hospital. (The local hospital is my last choice of places to go when I am sick, we typically doctor about an hour away at a much better hospital that is affiliated with Mayo Hospital. However, Fundi needed to stay with the kids--we weren't packing them up in the van at this hour of the night. That meant that I needed to drive myself to wherever I was going to go to the Hospital. With the pain I was having, I knew I would be unable to drive an hour by myself to my hospital of choice, so my only option was to go to the local hospital, which is about 20 minutes away. I got about a mile away from home when instantaneously, my pain went away. I continued driving up the road a ways, but eventually decided that the pain was not returning and so I turned around and went back home. Fundi was surprised to see me, but we both went to bed. At this point it was about 2am and we were both tired. Burbles was finally asleep in her basinett and Captain continued to sleep undisturbed.
At 4am, Burbles woke us both up with a cry... time for a feeding. Fundi and I started on our assigned tasks. He was to get the bottle and then feed her and I changed her diaper. After he was feeding her, I went to the bathroom and took an Aleve. I was now having pain, but this was a different pain--it was in my right side. The pain wrapped around from my front to my back and stretched from my rib cage to my waist. Immediately I vomited the Aleve and what little water I had taken it with. I went into the bedroom, got my sweatshirt and told Fundi that I was going to the hospital.
I got to the hospital at 4:30am or 4:45am. I picked up the phone at the entry as instructed by the sign on the wall. A nurse spoke to me and asked me what I needed to be seen for. I told her briefly about my symptoms and she let me enter the emergency room. The emergency room at this hospital is pretty small. There are three beds and a rounded desk and curtains between the beds. All of the curtains were open and I was the only one in the ER. I waited a while on one of the chairs, but then I got nauseous again, so I went behind the desk to get myself the garbage can just in case I needed to vomit. I waited and waited. (Just like I said, this wasn't my first choice of places to go when I am in pain.) Finally, at 5:30am, a nurse came in and ushered me to a bed. She asked me about my symptoms (by now the pain had subsided and I was comfortable but tired) and took my vitals. At 6am I was finally seen by a doctor. The doctor asked me questions like: Could this be something you ate? and Have you had heartburn or gas? I asked if I could go to the bathroom. I was allowed to pee, but they needed a urine sample. Fine. I gave them what they wanted. At 6:30, they tested my urine and found blood in it. That is when they began to take me seriously. They then took some blood and ordered a bunch of labwork. The doctor told me that as of right now, blood in urine was an indication of kidney stone; however, the pain that I had experienced indicated a gall bladder problem. She said it would be highly unlikely that I was having both problems. At 8am I was taken in for an ultrasound of my gall bladder. That took about a half an hour. At that time they also checked for a kidney stone, but ultrasounds aren't great at detecting kidney stones, for that I would need a CAT scan. On the way back to the ER from getting my ultrasound, my sister, who works as in the X-ray department of this hospital (she also goes elsewhere for her medical treatment) ran into us in the hallway. With a dumbfounded look she said to me "What are you doing here?" I said that I was dying and she said she would come talk to me in a little while and that she had to do a CAT scan on a woman who was having blurred vision.
As I am sitting in the ER snoozing on and off, waiting for the news as to what is wrong with me, an elderly woman and her husband walk into the ER and say that they are there to have a dressing changed on the woman. The nurses who have been working on me go into a small room off the ER and start changing the dressing. I can hear them talking about the woman just having had a CAT scan of her head because of blurred vision (remember what I said... only curtains for privacy... and my curtain was not closed). As I lay there, I hear commotion in the small room. Then a nurse runs out and grabs some equipment. Then some more commotion. Then a few doctors come in and I start hearing talk of a stroke. The poor woman was apparently having stroke after stroke in front of the nurses and doctors (of course this takes precedence over my situation--I am also very concerned for this woman's well-being. Just minutes before I had watched her walk across the ER into this small room under her own power). Later a helicopter from Mayo came to get the woman to take her to Mayo to get care. Her husband who was very shaken and did not really understand the circumstances or the urgency of her condition asked the doctor quesitons like "Couldn't I drive her there?" and "How expensive is it going to be?" The doctor asked him questions like "Does she have a living will?" and "What extent would you like us to go to to save your wife?" Heart-wrenching stuff, really.
At 9am, my sister came to get me to do a CAT scan to see if I had a kidney stone. At about 9:45am, the doctor came back and said to me that she had good news and bad news. The good news was that they knew what was wrong with me. (I had both a kidney stone--measuring in at 7mm--and needed to have my gall bladder removed.) The bad news was that they were not able to operate or do anything for me there. (I believe that she had the good and the bad news switched around... I would rather not have anything more than a headache when going to this hospital... much less surgery.) I asked if I could get medical treatment where I wished and she agreed. I asked if I could drive myself home from the hospital (of course I had taken the van and the car seats with me and my husband was at home with both of the kids... and no car seats). They agreed that under the circumstances that I would be allowed to drive myself home and then go immediately to the ER at the hospital of my choice. I called Fundi and let him know what was going on and then got some Toradol for my pain (it was coming back again) and then I was released from the ER.
Fundi and I proceeded to my normal hospital. (Fundi's mom had agreed to come home from work to watch the kids during the day. My sister, the one from the hospital, would pick up Burbles after work, and my dad would pick up Captain after he got done with work. They would keep each child until we returned home from the hospital.)
Basically, after that, everything went as planned. I had gall bladder surgery and was in the hospial for two nights and three days. I was released on Sunday. Monday was fine but sore. Tuesday I woke up and was experiencing pain, so my dad took the day off of work and took me to the ER again. That afternoon they decided to put a stent to my kidney to help urine pass my kidney stone. The only problem was that they couldn't put the stent in until the next day. They decided to keep me in the hospital overnight for pain management. The next day, they couldn't do surgery until late, so they kept me that night too. I was released on Thursday. That following Sunday I started having more pain. I got really nauseous and had the chills. I called the doctor and he said that I had a blood clot on my stent and that it would have to break up and pass. I ended up in the ER once again, this time for pain relief. That following Wednesday I had appointments for follow up. The urologist, the doctor I am seeing for my kidney stone, suggested lithotripsy to get rid of the stone as it is too big to pass naturally. I will be having that surgery to Monday, June 11th at 1:30pm. Wish me luck.

Letters from Iwo Jima

Last night Fundi and I watched Letters from Iwo Jima. Actually, we watched it one hour at a time for two nights in a row, but that is only because we needed to get to bed so that we could tend to the kids thru the night and in the morning without being too tired. Letters is a sad movie and a happy movie. It actually is quite upsetting seeing all of those people lose their lives and take their lives. This movie is shot from the Japanese perspective (Flags of Our Fathers is the corresponding movie shot from the American perspective). Focusing on a young man who is married to a beautiful woman and they are expecting their first child. As the story goes on, you become attached to this young man and hope for his sake that he makes it thru the battle alive. I will not tell you the ending, but I do feel the need to discuss war and the loss of life in general.
I have always disagreed with war in general. I feel that in today's society we should be able to discuss what we need to sort out in a civilized manner. Obviously not all of the people we have conflicts with are as civilized as us and therefore, we must stoop to their level in order to get the job done... or something like that. Life to me is so precious and to see so many lives taken in such a short time really is disturbing. Every one of those people is connected to another human being who will end up having to stay here on this earth after that person is gone. Every one of those men and women is someones mother, father, son, daughter, cousin, niece, nephew, grandson, granddaughter, etc. and seeing such bravery in those people who are fighting in a war is so amazing. I know that I could never have that bravery. I was wanting to surrender for the guy through the whole movie. I also think about this now as a mother. Any mother (or father) who can allow her son or daughter to go to war is an amazing and brave woman. I couldn't imagine... and I hope that I never have to.
Furthermore, in Japanese culture, it is more honorable to commit suicide than to surrender. You watch these men pull the pins on grenades and hold it to their chest as it explodes and kills them. How could anyone believe that it is better to end one's life than to admit that you are wrong and surrender? Are people that afraid to admit that they are wrong?
All in all, I guess I am just a big coward and as much as I love the country that I live in, I don't think that I would ever be able to die for it or let my children die for it voluntarily.
On that note I would like to thank all of those people who are willing to do just that. You are a stronger person than I.

Captain Destructo and Burbles and Fundi

Right now both of the kids are sleeping. The boy, Captain Destructo--Captain for short (not his real name of course, but a nickname that we have given him over his first year), and the girl, Burbles--Captain's faithful sidekick, rarely nap at the same time, but they have managed to both get tired at the same time today and yesterday which leaves me with a little time to do what I need to do (like take a shower) and get some things done that I really don't have time to do... like post a blog. I don't have time to write in a diary. I used to keep one faithfully, but having a family really puts a damper on writing in a notebook. I have a hard enough time getting the bills paid or reading the recommended reading that the pediatrician gives us at well-baby visits. I don't really know how long the naps will last. I am hoping that noon will be when they wake up, but I can't really count on either of them to sleep that long as they have been sleeping since 10!
My husband--we'll call him Fundi-- is working today. He works 12 hour days, which means that he is involved in getting to and from work and getting ready for work approximately 14 hours a day. He sleeps for 6-8 more hours per day and then spends time with us with whatever is left of the 24 short hours of a day. He is a super-supportive and totally wonderful husband and father. I couldn't imagine a better match for me or our children.
So, that is our immediate family. The four of us get along pretty well. Our house may not be as clean as I would like it, and I can rarely keep both the washer and the dryer empty at the same time, but this is what we wanted. We wanted a family that would keep us busy and happy for years and years to come... and we have started that project.

Irish Twins

I'm new to blogging here. That being said, I think that I have plenty to say. The question really is if I have the time to say it.
I am a new mom... again. This time last year, I was a new mom too. My two kids were born 361 days apart, which means that they are "Irish Twins". The term is used to describe two babies born within one year of each other. You may ask... well why would anyone want to do that to themselves? Truth be told, we had a hard time conceiving our first baby. We used Clomid, a fertility drug, and were able to get pregnant with our first baby. The pregnancy was blissful and I enjoy (almost) every moment of it. Our son was born four days early and we were so excited to be new parents. We went to our six week appointment after the baby was born and the doctor asked what we planned on doing for birth control. We discussed our options and agreed that our best option was not to use anything and take our chances. Ten weeks later we were pregnant again. The second pregnancy was not so blissful and lasted longer than my husband and I anticipated. I delivered a healthy baby girl one day past my due date and four days before my son's first birthday. The babies are both happy (relatively) and healthy (as of right now).