Things to do when it's 79 degrees out in January

Play at the park

Go to lunch at In-N-Out with friends

Blow bubbles in the front yard

Pick flowers

Watch a garbage truck empty the trash

Ride bikes

Hug (or choke) your sister

Take pictures with mom's camera
(Sammy actually did pretty well!)

Yep, we're spoiled! It's been in the mid to high 70s all week and was 79 degrees yesterday. So nice!!

Update

Things are still going really well. Sammy's been up and walking for the past 2 days with pretty much no problem. I even caught him jumping on my bed this morning...no joke. I am going to send him to school tomorrow and see how he does. He hasn't needed any pain medication yet today--YAY!

You can see that his knees are still really swollen, but his only complaint is when pulling pants on and off they rub against the bandages. He also looks a little "knock-kneed", but I think that is mostly from all the swelling--although the surgeon did say that his knees were a little over-corrected, but that it would straighten out as he healed.

Here is his progress over the past year and a half

My only other update is that I went to the OB this morning for my weekly appointment (I am 37 weeks). Baby is head down (YAY!), I am totally effaced and at 1 cm. As those who have had children know, that pretty much means nothing, but just though I would share. :) Just to compare, at my 37 week appointment with Hannah I was dilated 2 cm...and she was 4 days late.

Trader Joe's Tuesday: Vegetable Samosas

I have featured Trader Joe's Indian food before and here is another Indian favorite: Vegetable Samosas. These are a yummy appetizer or snack--or I guess you could eat them all and make a meal of it. Samosas are a stuffed pastry filled with vegetables and in this case potatoes, carrots, peas, lentils and onions. The shell reminds me more of a egg roll than a pastry puff. This one has a little bit of a spicy kick to it which I really like. It's not too spicy, but I wanted to mention it for those who can't handle any spicyness at all.

surgery day

So, we've been home from CHLA for about an hour now and everything is going so much better than the last time we did surgery. I guess that is obvious since I actually have a moment to get on the computer!

His surgery was scheduled for 9am this morning, but we had to be there at 6:30am (so I've been up since 5:30am...yawn!). My parents were sweet enough to come into town last night and spend the night so they could watch Hannah for the day for us.

He was in good spirits for all the pre-op stuff (getting a new toy from the nurses helped)

and his only complaint was how thirsty he was since he hadn't had anything to drink since 8:30pm last night. I felt bad that I had to keep telling him he couldn't have any water.

He didn't even get taken to the OR until almost 9:45am, so that was a bit of a drag because he was starting to get really restless and toys weren't helping at that point. After he went in, Samuel and I had breakfast at the hospital and then headed back to the waiting room. Surgery was supposed to take about an hour, so after another 30 minutes our surgeon came out and told us that all went well and the nurse would come get us soon to see him. We also talked with her about what the next steps would be in his treatment, and it looks like we will be doing another surgery this summer.

Last time, no one took us to recovery until after he had woken from the anesthesia and he was absolutely hysterical and screaming in pain. It was heartbreaking and I wanted to be sure that didn't happen again, so I made sure that the nurses knew to come get us before he woke up this time. I was so relieved that when we went back there, he was still asleep. We had a great nurse who was so attentive and sweet--it really made a huge difference.

When he finally awoke he was really upset about the IV in his hand and then I think it all hit him because he starting screaming about the pain and kicking his legs. I was really surprised that he was even able to move them at all. Last time any movement at all you could tell was excruciating for him, so I knew this was a good sign--despite the screaming.

We got him some apple juice which he really needed--poor guy. He was quite upset for about another hour, but after some pain medicine we got him calm enough to convince him to go home. He started to get upset again, but apparently it was because he wanted to get some hashbrowns from McDonalds to eat before going home. Another good sign, since last time, he didn't eat for at least 3 days.

I was apprehensive about the food since he had only been "awake" for about 2 hours. He must have been starving because he decided he also wanted a quesadilla from Taco Bell. He ate the quesadilla with no problem and said he felt fine, so we went to Jack in the Box for hashbrowns since it was already 1:30 and McDonlads doesn't serve them that late. He ate those as well with no nausea. Yeah, these aren't the best choices for food and I normally don't let him have all that junk, but I felt like he was entitled after all he had been through.

Since we've been home he's had about 3 glasses of water, one juice box and some cereal...I guess he was starving because any one who knows Sammy, knows that he is NOT a big eater at all.

He's been going 4 hours between pain meds and is content to just lie on the floor or couch and play with his cars. He has even attempted to walk even though he crumpled to the floor trying. I am so shocked because he didn't walk for about 2 weeks last time and needed pain medicine every two hours for the first 3 days after surgery. I am so relieved that everything is going so much better.

As for the next surgery, since his legs still have about a 9 degree curve left and he has such a severe turn-in, our doctor is going to have to cut the bones on each leg and actually move them to the correct position and then hold the bone in place with pins until they heal. He will be in casts for 6-10 weeks while the bones heal and will have to be in a wheelchair since he won't be able to walk. Yeah, I am NOT looking forward to that one at all. I am thinking that the double stroller will be our best friend this summer.

I am so grateful to everyone for their prayers, well wishes, emails, phone calls, and offers to watch Hannah for me. They have helped to make this a much better recovery than last time. Our family appreciates all the love!

Return to Chuck E Cheese

We celebrated Sammy's 5th birthday today. Even though his birthday isn't until February 15th, you can read here why we are having it so early.

He had his party at Chuck E Cheese last year and couldn't wait to go back. He's been talking about having his party there again for the past three months.

So here we are back at Chuck E Cheese and he had such a great time--hopefully everyone else did too! It was a great day to have it since it rained for most of the day here.

There was a lot of air hockey to be played by all

And some Daddy/Daughter time

Lots of pizza to eat

YUM!

Hannah loved playing the games.
I didn't even need to use tokens with her most of the time.

He wanted a basketball cake like last year, but I think
last year's looked better. The frosting ran a lot on this one...

Mmmmmmm cake!

Yeah, he is a bit scary, but at least no one ran away this time!

Time for presents!

He LOVED all the all Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars he received!

On the way home he told me "Mom, that was the best birthday party EVER!" It was so sweet!

I'm glad we had it before his surgery because now he has lots of new toys to play with and to help keep his mind off the pain. His surgery is scheduled for 9am Monday morning (we have to be there at 6:30am), so we should be back home sometime in the afternoon. I will do a post as soon as I can about how it all went.

Trader Joe's Tuesday: Banana Waffles

Oh, how I love these!! I am not a fan of Eggo waffles---or really any frozen waffles for that matter, but I think these are so good. Maybe it's because they are banana flavor and I pretty much will eat anything banana-y.

I just introduced them to Hannah a few weeks ago and now I have her hooked as well. It's a nice change from my morning bowl of cereal and the hint of banana really makes all the difference.

surgery date

So I heard back from CHLA this afternoon and we are all set for Monday, January 26th. They can't give us a time until Friday or Saturday (!!), but at least we have a date. I am hoping we are the first surgery of the day like we were last time, but since they had to "squeeze" us in, I'm not going to get my hopes up.

I was able to move his party date to the Saturday before with no problem (YAY!) and sent an email out to most of the parents of the kids invited and called the rest.

It's nice to have some peace of mind in knowing when things are happening and what to expect (for the most part). Here's hoping it all goes smoothly.

Thanks for the emails and comments--I appreciate the love. :)

In limbo...

I am so not a Type A personality. But even I like to have some bit of control over when things are going to happen and what the plan is.

Sammy had his 6 month surgery follow-up appointment on Thursday. Everything went well and he is now at 10 degrees which means he's improved another 5 degrees in 6 months!

The doctor was saying how pleased she was with his progress--and then dropped the bombshell on me. She wants to do surgery next week, if possible, to remove the plates. Huh?? I was pretty much in shock since I've been planning on July to have them removed.

Apparently, his knees are where they should be and so the curving won't be corrected any further at this point. Also, leaving the plates in will over-correct his knees while continuing to stunt his growth, so she doesn't want to wait any longer than necessary to have them removed.

Her only concern about timing was did I want to do this before or after the baby arrived. What a loaded question. I was still in shock at the time--and Samuel was in a meeting so there was no way for me to call and ask him, so I booked it for March 2. Then I thought about it.

How am I going to leave a 2 or 3 week old baby, who is breastfeeding, and who may or may not take a bottle, to be at the hospital with Sammy for at least 6-8 hours. Then have Sammy need my attention 100% of the time. I remember how hard it was last time. He didn't walk for two weeks, he couldn't sleep through the night because of the pain, he wouldn't eat, he cried so much. I can't do that again with a newborn baby (and Hannah) as well. Even with Samuel's help. It literally took two of us trading off who got to sleep and who took care of Sammy because it was a 24 hour job at the time. I've been told the recovery will be much better this time since they are taking the plates OUT and not drilling through the bone and putting them IN like before, but I still know it's not going to be an easy recovery for him.

So after considering all this. I called Children's Hospital to see if we could reschedule for January 26th. Unfortunately, his surgeon is booked, but they are working on fitting us in. I am just waiting to hear back.

Which leads to my next uncertainty. Sammy's birthday party. His birthday is Febraury 15th and he's been wanting to have a party at Chuck E. Cheese (again). I knew we couldn't have it close to his actual birthday because who knows when the baby will arrive, so I set it for January 30th--thinking that was a pretty safe date.

Now with a possible January 26th surgery date looming over our heads, there is no way he will be able to have his party on the 30th, as he most likely won't be able to walk yet. So, yet another thing I have no idea when it's going to happen. And of course, invitations have already been sent, so I will have to let everyone know last minute that we are changing it. And there is no way I can cancel it, he's been looking forward to this for 5 months now.

Then there is question of when will the baby arrive. I'm not due until February 18th and I don't have a history of going into labor early, so I am just praying at this point that the baby stays put until then. As long as the stress of all this doesn't put me into labor, right?

I hope to hear back from CHLA sometime this afternoon, so we'll see what happens.

No Trader Joe's Tuesday today...

Poor Sammy has been sick all day with a fever and throwing up. Poor guy. I can't decide if it's what Hannah had on Friday or if her vomiting incident was just random. She didn't have a fever and she seemed fine afterwards.

Sammy has had a fever pretty much all day and has complained of stomach pain all day as well. Plus, the vomiting. Fun times.

So, no, there is no Trader Joe's Tuesday for today because I totally forgot with everything else going on. Although I did make it to the mall for a brief outing today and had a Cinnabon cinnamon roll for the first time in ages.

SO. GOOD.

So, my suggestion is to have one of those for Trader Joe's Tuesday. I seriously want to go back tomorrow for another. Mmmmmmmmmm.

just one of those days...

You know how it is when you have your ENTIRE day planned? Lots of errands and to do lists? Yep, that was my plan for today.

Target, CVS Pharmacy (you can get some amazing deals there if you know how to work their "club card" or whatever they call it. I got $40 worth of makeup for $15 today, but more on that another time), Trader Joe's, Costco, and the ELS outlet. Oh and lunch somewhere in there.

Everything was on track--Target (check) CVS (check), until we got to Trader Joe's. I had stopped by the house to get a quick snack for the kids (bananas and ritz crackers) before we went to CVS since it was a little after 12. That seemed to make everyone happy and so off we went to CVS and then Trader Joe's since it's on the same block.

Trader Joe's was great, not crowded at all--I filled up my cart and headed to the check out. As we were walking, Hannah coughs and then gags a minute, spitting up some banana. I assumed she just drank some of her juice a little too fast and tell her I will get a papertowel when we get up front.

Next thing I know...vomit EVERYWHERE.

It just keeps coming and coming. I do the typical mom thing without even thinking (instinct, I guess) and just hold my hands cupped in front of her mouth to catch it. I am looking frantically around for anyone I know who works there (and I know about 12 of them), but I don't see anyone I know by name who I can call out and ask for a plastic bag. So I just kind of yell out toward the registers "can someone get me plastic bag, please?" Finally this older woman who works there (she's got to be in her 50s) comes down the aisle and looks at me like I am crazy and continues walking toward the register and I see her getting a bag.

When I say walk...it was more of a Sunday stroll type pace. I so wanted to yell, can you walk ANY FASTER?? I am holding vomit in my hands! Luckily, one of the customers reacted faster than her and grabbed a bag and gave it to me, so I emptied my hands into it. Unfortunately, she was still getting sick, so a ton more went into my cart, all over her, and on the floor.

The only bright spot was at that moment two of the girls I know who work there came over and offered to help. My hands were so gross there was no way I was going to touch anything, so one of them pushed my cart and the other held Sammy's hand and we all went to the bathroom. They helped me clean up Hannah (who was so upset at this point) and even went and got one of the Trader Joe's shirts for me to dress her in because her shirt and pants were absolutely soaked with vomit.

They offered to take my cart and clean everything up inside and hold it for me in their refrigerated back room (since I had mostly cold items), so I could go home and get Hananh cleaned up and then go back for the stuff later. I felt so bad that they had to clean up my cart, so I offered to just do it right then, but they insisted that they didn't mind. It was sweet--I mean these girls were probably 19 or 20 and I'm sure didn't have kids (which I think makes you more apt to being able to deal with the vomit, snot, poop, urine of little kids) and they were so nice about it.

So off we went back home. Luckily, Sam was home sleeping since he worked the graveyard shift last night, so I woke him up, quickly told him what happened and started a bath for Hannah. He bathed her while I went back and got my groceries. Again, they were so nice about the whole thing and had my groceries all set to go--I just had to pay.

So, now I am at home. Trying to decide if I dare brave Costco. I wanted Samuel to go with because I have a bunch of heavy things to buy (40lbs cat litter, about 5 boxes of Arrowhead 5 gallon water, etc.) and there is rarely a Costco employee around to help put it in my cart. I can't tell you how many times during the last 3 pregnancies I have just lifted these into my cart because there is NEVER anyone around to help. And no one else ever offers.

When I was pregnant with Hannah, I remember putting boxes of water (5 gallons) in my cart and some guy who was probably late 20s/early 30s tells me "you shouldn't be doing that" and yet kept walking down the aisle. I so wanted to say to him "yeah, I know, so why don't you help me?". grrrrrr.

Anyway, Sam is ready to go and it looks we are going to brave Costco. I keep asking Hannah if her tummy hurts or if she feels sick, but she says she is fine.

Wish me luck!

Trains and sunny weather

Sammy came home from school today and wanted to go to Travel Town. It's such a beautiful day (72 degrees) that I couldn't say no.

We've been to Travel Town so many times and it's been documented here enough times that I won't do it again, so just enjoy the pics. Hannah had a great hair day! She is looking so much older to me lately. I can't believe she will be 3 in July--or that Sammy will be 5 in about a month!

It's crazy how HUGE those wheels are--the kids looks so tiny next to them.

I just love the long line of trains

Hannah looked down just as I took this picture, but I
love how long her lashes look!

Nothing too exciting, but I wanted to get the pictures up since I'm so bad about printing them out and they end up just sitting in the pictures folder on my computer.

Trader Joe's Tuesday: Pure Butter Shortbread

I picked these up a few days ago while waiting in the checkout line at Trader Joe's . They had them displayed right next to me and I just couldn't resist! They certainly didn't disappoint.

The shape reminded me of a teething biscuit, but it's the perfect texture for a shortbread cookie--and I love how thick it is. I discovered that they are even more yummy when you eat it with some Dove Chocolate. The perfect mix--kind of like a LU Biscuit, but waaaaaay better.

random thoughts for today

Thanks to all for their get well wishes and sympathy. I am happy to report that I am pretty much over my sickness and, except for the rib, am feeling so much better. The rib is still bothering me at night and that (plus the baby) makes it difficult to turn over in bed--and most especially painful to get OUT of bed. It doesn't help that I am at the stage now where I get up to pee 2-3 times a night now. But, once I am up and about for the day, it doesn't bother me too much.

Speaking of nighttime. They say when you are pregnant you have some crazy or bizarre dreams. So what does it mean when you dream about doing your daily routine? The past few dreams that I remember, I was getting up and dressed, getting the kids breakfast and dressed, eating breakfast, doing laundry, running errands...it was really odd. So when I woke up and actually started my daily routine, I was a little annoyed thinking "didn't I JUST do all this?" I thought sleep was supposed to be relaxing...

And why are there people from high school, whom I wasn't even really friends with, adding me as a "friend"on Facebook? Weird. Do you really want to catch up and get in touch or are you just trying to get your friend count up? I mean, how high school-ish is that? I don't get it. I guess I should just ignore their friend request, but then I think that makes me a bit of a ummm....witch. Right?

On that same note, I am annoyed with people who ignore messages you have sent them on Facebook. These are people whom I actually WAS friends with at one time and sent them a message to catch up with them and they totally don't respond. I'd rather you just ignore my friend request, than add me and THEN totally ignore me. Whatever.

What do they put in soda that makes me so happy? As you can tell by my posting name, I used to have a serious diet coke addiction.

About 132 oz a day problem. And that was on a good day.

And it could only be from a fountain (preferably In-N-Out since their soda is consistantly good...as opposed to say, AM/PM or 7-11 where their fountains are always off on their water/syrup/carbonation mix ) and the cup must be halfway full of ice. Picky, yes I know.

I went cold turkey off Diet Coke in 2003 when I found out I was pregnant with Sammy. It was a sad, sad day. Diet Coke was the one thing that always made me happy and tasted oh-so-good, but I just didn't want to have the caffeine or nutrasweet chemicals while I was pregnant. I never got back "on the wagon" (is it on the wagon or off??) after having him because we nursed for so long.

When I was pregnant with Hannah, I started craving root beer. Specifically, Barq's root beer (any other kind is disgusting!). I have hated root beer my entire life, so I'm not sure where all this was coming from, but it was so nice to have a soda every once in a while. I kind of stopped after having Hannah because I just couldn't justify all the empty calories...and I tried to get back on the Diet Coke wagon, but it tasted so gross to me. (!!!) Again, a sad, sad day.

I guess it's the stress of having two kids, but I seriously have to have a root beer from In-N-Out almost every day now. Yes, I know it has caffeine in it and I feel guily about that, but it's so nice to be back in the soda routine again. Yes, I know how pathetic that sounds. I am back to having a serious addiction problem and am going to have to do something drastic after this baby is born because I will never lose the baby weight by ingesting an extra 500 calories a day. I guess I'll have to go back to Diet Coke.

And don't tell me to just give up the soda...it makes me happy. Really.

If you've stuck with my rambling this long--thanks. I very rarely post anything besides family stuff on here, so I'm not sure why I am posting all this except I was having these random thoughts and why not share them, right?

Happy New Year!

Hannah and I got up early and braved the crowds to meet up with Lyndsey and Brandon to watch the Rose Parade this morning. Samuel had to work until midnight on New Year's Eve and Sammy refused to stay in bed last night and didn't fall asleep until almost 11pm, so they weren't ready to get up with us. I woke Samuel (briefly) before Hannah and I left and told him to call me when the two of them got up, so they could meet us later.

I have been spoiled in the past when for several years we used to be able to stand/sit on the roof of the United Artists theatre in Old Town (Delacey and Colorado, where Tiffany & Co. is now) because my brother used to work there. We never had to worry about getting a seat or fighting the crowds--or having to find a bathroom. It was so nice.

It was a bit of a struggle maneuvering the stroller once I got to Colorado Blvd. with all the people, but Lyndsey came by and saved me at that point and we got to where L&B were sitting with no problem. We had a great view and the weather was absolutely perfect!!

Hannah did surprisingly well and seemed to enjoy most of it...until the very end when all the tow trucks were blasting their horns and it freaked her out. Poor thing.

Here are some pictures...okay a LOT of pictures! Like I said, we had a great spot!

This awesomely tall robot started it all!

I had to take a picture of this for Samuel since he loves 3D movies!

I just loved the colors on this one and Hannah liked the pumpkins

This float was my favorite of the day!
Rain bird always has the most beautiful floats!!

Aren't the animals amazing?

One more pic...like I said, it was my fave!

This was the Vera Bradley float.
I loved the cute purses at the back.Cynthia Nixon was on the front of the Vera Bradley float.
Her hair is blond and I didn't recognize her until Lyndsey pointed it out! (nice call Lyndsey!)
She was looking the other way when I was trying to get a good picture. I always feel sorry for these little burros having to pull a bunch of people.
Poor things.

WELCOME TO MEDIEVAL TIMES!
(heehee--I just had to take a pic)

This band was from England and I just loved
the fabulous leopard print on some of the uniforms!
Awesome!

This float was totally amazing too!

And so was this one!
Sammy would have loved to have seen this "train"

A close-up view of the front

A close-up view of the back.
I loved the back with the huge tree!The Clydesdale Horses are always a favorite of mine as well!And was my second fave float of the day.
Jack in the Box himself.
TOTALLY AWESOME!

I was pretty tired from walking and standing so much (and holding Hannah for most of the time because she was picky about who held her), but it's always worth it. The parade was great!

The saddest thing was when I got home, Sammy and Sam had just gotten up about 20 minutes earlier and Sammy was in tears about missing the parade. I couldn't believe he slept in until 10am!! He NEVER does that. Even when he has gone to bed past 11pm, he is always up by 8 or 8:30am, so I thought for sure that they would meet us. Poor guy. I tried to tell him that he needed to go to bed (and stay in bed) when it's bedtime so he can get up early for things like the parade, but it was hard to reprimand him when he was already so sad about it.

There is always next year. Just one more reason I love living in Pasadena and so don't want to leave despite the impossibly high-priced housing market.