I feel like I’ve got a head full of cotton this week or something.  I’m starting to think I’m not getting enough caffeine.  This is something I may have to remedy this next month.  Because I need to function.  And when I catch myself staring at the wall during downtime (ha!  what’s that??), a trail of drool on my chin and my eyes stuck in a vacant expression… well, I have to assume it’s because I need SOMETHING, right?

(Of course, it could be the current lack of thyroid medication.  I do plan to work on that.  Soon.  Ish.  Don’t pester me!)

So anyhow, I’m going to take the opportunity to catch ya’ll up on some of the mundane details of our lives this last week.  What we have all been up to and that sort of jazz.  You’re welcome.

***

Liam is cute, as always.  He’s been very adorable this week, perhaps wanting to make up for earlier in the month when I wanted to throttle him.  He has been attentive to his baby sister (a little on the rough side, perhaps, but attentive nonetheless), sharing his Hot Wheels with her.  He and Harry have been playing together an awful lot, which is great for getting the energy out of both of them.  Sometimes I do have to remind Harry to be careful with him, he’s still just a baby.  But Liam loves to rough-house and laughs his fool head off the whole time they’re playing.

Right now, they’re both watching “Cars” and every now and then, Liam will take a break from playing with his toys to gaze at the screen.  This is definitely a big hit with him.  Of course, it has CARS in it.

He’s been better about eating.  I feel I should knock on wood when I say that.  But I also haven’t been forcing the issue too much.  I do wish there was more variety in what he would eat and that he would consent to more fresh foods, especially meats, vegetables and fruit.  BUT… I’ll take what I can get.  Anyone have any spiffy ideas along these lines?

***

Evie has been a lot more predictable this week.  She’s been a lot more interested in taking actual naps so I’ve been trying to take advantage of that.  In the morning, it’s not so easy, but in the afternoons we’ve taken to going upstairs together.  I’ll often nurse her in our bed and then leave her there while I take a shower, go through my closet (more on that in a minute), do laundry, etc and so forth.  Liam is napping so I’m free to do whatever I need to do with her.  And so far, she’s been great about sleeping.  Okay, admitedly, a time or two I napped with her.  I’m not made of steel here, people.

Yesterday, I laid her down and nursed and then left her be.  She snoozed and started to wake after a good while.  I nursed her again, thinking she would be ready to get up but that I would get a nursing in before she did.  But she fell back asleep for about another hour.  If I recall, I did something similar with Liam (minus the nursing) and had him nap in our bed until I finally moved him to his crib.  I’m not going to rush this, just go at her speed.  But being able to nap in a bed setting is an awesome thing.

I just wish we had a monitor, then I could feel comfortable to go downstairs while she slept.  Right now, we have a monitor set up in Liam’s room (often the only way I can tell he has woken up without going up to check on him!).  We have another cheapo monitor but it’s so cheap that it picks up the other monitor and won’t work on it’s own.  Anyone know a good solution for this?  Do I need to get a seperate (digital, perhaps?) monitor for Evie?

***

Harry is keeping busy and not driving me too nuts.  I’ve had some funny conversations with him this last week (one involving mustaches and his intention to grow one when he can… GAH!).  Like I said, he’s been playing a lot with Liam.  He’s also been playing a lot of Wii.  Mario Kart is still the big hit around here and Harry is actually pretty danged good at it.  He’s unlocked a lot of the special content and takes a certain thrill in knocking Baby Peach off of ledges.

He still frustrates me, though, when it comes to shoes.  He’s completely worn through the new shoes we got him a couple months ago.  Turns out, he was using the one foot to break when riding his Razor scooter and it completely wore the shoe down so that his FOOT shows through the side.  OY.  The only other pair of closed shoes he has at the moment are lace-up boot-style shoes and he just cannot get the hang of tying shoes.  Yes, he is almost 9.  He keeps telling me he forgot how.  (insert image of me slapping my forehead)  Obviously, we’re going to have to buy some shoes this month.

And part of the reason for needing new shoes is… THIRD GRADE!  I swear, my heart skipped a beat as I typed that.  He starts on July 7 (Liam’s 2nd birthday!  GAAH!).  New backpack, new clothes, new shoes… I cannot believe he’s in THIRD GRADE.  What the heck happened to KINDERGARTEN?  He was in preschool when I started this blog, ya’ll.  This ain’t right.

***

Kile is recovering.  Slowly.  He’s back at work this week, but comes home in the evening exhausted.  Believe it or not, summer is an insanely busy time at a university.  That’s when all the work gets done, apparently.  It’s sort of their “crunch time”.  So there hasn’t been a lot of opportunity for him to sit down and rest at work, I think.

Of course, he’s been going in rather early.  Early for HIM, I guess.  Normally he was leaving the house at 8 or later.  This week, it’s been common for him to be out of the house by 7:30.  Now, one would think that then maybe he’d leave a little early, even if that is at 4:30.  That’s what he SHOULD be doing.  But no, he’s leaving at 5:30, or later.  Which is better than 6 or 6:30 like he might normally.  But then, he normally would leave that late because he was going in late.

But try explaining to him that he should either go in late and come home late or go in early and come home early.  DEAF EARS, I tell you.  It’s like talking to a wall.

When he does get home, he’s pretty much toast.  He even fell asleep during the first hour of “I Love the New Millenium” last night.  That’s got to tell you something right there.

***

As for me?  I’m getting my haircut tomorrow!  It’s at a “cool, hip” new salon downtown.  I’m actually a little nervous about it, to be honest.  I fear I’m not cool enough for this place.  I’ve read reviews online and several of the (glowing) reviews mentioned how this is a great place for everyone!  Even SOCCER MOMS.  As if that is so incredible to believe.  I fear they will think I’m an enormous nerd.  And will they think I’m an even more enormous nerd when I ask for an a-line graduated bob?  I find myself trying to figure out what to wear, hoping I’ll look somewhat normal.

I’m also worried about how much it will cost.  I hope it’s not too expensive.  What do haircuts cost you all, so I can I get a good idea?  I haven’t paid over $40, not including tip, so I’m just not sure what to expect.

As I mentioned up above, I’ve been cleaning out my closet.  I already have about two metric tons of old clothes to donate and I think I could probably get about two tons more.  There are a LOT of clothes I have that I never wear anymore (and some I never have worn at all, but were hand-me-downs).  Plus, there’s a bunch of maternity clothes that I will not be wearing.  Some of those I will be selling becuase they are really nice and in nice condition, but the rest are getting donated.

I even have quite the pile of shoes to donate.  My closet is actually starting to look (gasp) organized.  Perhaps now I’ll actually hang things up instead of throwing them in a pile on top of my dresser.  It’s all part of a greater plan to simplify and toss stuff that we don’t need or use.  LESS STUFF.  It’s a big goal, people.  Because we?  Have a lot of stuff.  A LOT.  Don’t get me started on the garage.

***

So that’s the story from around these parts.  WHEW.  That ended up being longer than I expected.  Apparently, I had quite a bit to say.  At any rate, I’m SO glad it’s a Friday and that the weekend (and payday!) stretches before us.  Anyone here have any big plans?  My biggest plan is my haircut (photos to follow, hopefully!).  And maybe some sleep?  Definitely some coffee or something.  We’ll see!

Tags: Evelyn, Harry, Kile, Liam, Mario Kart, naps, Wii
Filed under Family Circus, It's All About Me |

I’m dealing pretty well, all things considered, with the extra responsibilities I have to shoulder in the wake of Kile’s hernia surgery.  It’s a huge adjustment around here.  I guess I never really realized how much I depend on Kile to do a lot of the heavy lifting around here.  And now that it’s all on me?  Well… I can only hope that all this lifting will result in some finely toned upper arms for me.  I think that would be only fair, wouldn’t it?

Liam is a huge part of this.  Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with this.  Still, I am responsible for getting him up in the morning, changing just about all of his diapers (since that involves lifting him onto the changing table), putting him in his high chair for meals, carrying him up to bed and putting him into the crib for naps and bedtime, putting him in his carseat, putting him in the pack n’ play and taking him out again, lifting him into shopping carts, etc and so forth.  It’s not a lot more than I normally do anyhow, but I think it’s the knowledge that I’m the only one who can do this is what is freaking me out a little bit.  I’d never stopped to think about how nice it is to have a “back up”.  I will say this, I breathe a sigh of relief at bedtime because I know there is a large chunk of time in front of me that I will not have to worry about being “on duty” for picking up Liam.

Dealing with the garbage has long been my responsibility anyhow, so that’s no big deal.  But yesterday I filled a garbage bag with old clothes from my closet, ready to donate when the truck visits our street next week and had to drag it downstairs all by myself.  That thing was HEAVY.  Normally, I would have had Kile carry it down for me.  (And we wonder why he had a hernia?)

Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with this.  And I don’t now.  But it’s just… ALL AT ONCE.  And it feels awful to say it like that.  Last night, we did leftovers for dinner, so that was different.  But Monday night, Kile was exhausted from his first day back at work and asked if I could fix dinner.  Sure I could and I did.  I made plenty of spaghetti (hence the leftovers) and it all turned out fine.  But on top of that I was dealing with Liam and his dinner and getting him in the high chair, dealing with Evie (who was having a particularly clingy day on Monday) and trying to deal with about five other things at the same time.

There are 3 1/2 more weeks of this.  Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with that.  But…

I want to schedule a hair appointment for this weekend.  How is this going to work out?  I have to try to make sure it will be during Liam’s naptime, so I won’t have to worry about Kile needing to lift him anywhere.  Plus, I’ll need to make sure Harry is on hand just in case he does.  As for Evie, I’ll need to make sure that she’s well fed and perhaps snoozing away herself.  Even then, I know I’ll feel guilty pretty much the whole time and will be rushing home after, just in case I’m needed.

I guess this is what it’s like, huh?  This is a little bit of what it’s like to be responsible for an entire family.  Perhaps, just maybe, this is what Kile feels like day in and day out.  Like he has to shoulder the burden for all of us.

If there’s anything I can get out of this little “experience”, I’m thinking that it’s a new appreciation for everything Kile does.  I don’t think I’ll be taking him for granted anytime soon.  Certainly, I don’t have a problem with that.

Tags: hernia, Kile, responsibility, surgery
Filed under Family Circus |

So remember a week and a half ago, when my husband was sliced open during an emergency surgery to fix a hernia-gone-bad?  (Good times.)  Well, that was during some vacation time that he was already taking off from work, which is handy, I think.  I mean, if only all people could plan to have their operations during time they were already taking off from work.  Talk about efficient.

Last week was a given.  He had the week off.  Considering that by Friday the poor guy could barely sit up and driving was about a joke, it was a good thing.  We had to put off coming home (which we’d originally planned to do last Wednesday or so).  I drove him to the doctor’s office in Elko to pick up the FMLA leave form they’d filled out for him so he could fax it to his work that afternoon.  The idea being that he would take this week off as well.

Would you believe me if I told you they gave him a hard time about wanting this week off?

I think it had something to do with how the doctor had worded his FMLA leave form, basically encompassing the entire six weeks of his recovery (oh yes, SIX WEEKS), but neglecting to be specific about the short term.  On Monday, his boss emailed him that they’d be seeing him at work on Wednesday.  Which is TODAY.

And, I’m sorry, but even though he’s getting better every day, he’s still taking narcotic medication for pain as needed, taking naps during the day, has a hard time sitting up for periods at a time and finds driving uncomfortable.  How is he supposed to be able to work like that?

ARE YOU FRICKING KIDDING ME?

Thankfully, though annoyed, Kile was able to get in contact with the doctor’s office yesterday and have them fax an updated FMLA leave form to his boss and he was able to secure the rest of this week off.  Thank GOODNESS, becuase I didn’t want to have to go down there and kick someone’s ass.

I tell you, sometimes…  You add in that they’re thinking of chucking this year’s 4% cost of living increase (supposed to take effect in July) because the state’s budget is for crap and I’m thinking fleeing the state might not be such a bad idea.  Buncha terds.

Tags: Kile, recovery, vacation
Filed under Peevish |

It’s Father’s Day!  Did you know that?  Apparently, it’s true.  My initial plans for this day are pretty much kaput.  Seeing as how we are still in Elko, and all.  All the presents I had purchased were shipped to our house.  So… no presents.  I do have some cards.  Breakfast plans?  Yeah, I got none.  Lunch?  What?  Church?  Naw.  Dinner?  Are you kidding me?

Part of it is I don’t know if we’re going to leave today or tomorrow.  So making plans is sort of not happening at this point.  Here it is 10:30 and I’m in my pajamas still.  I was up at 7:30 (far better than the 5:30 from yesterday) and it only feels like maybe an hour or two has gone by.  (Of course, now it is even LATER because time slips away like that these days.)

Kile has had a rough week.  I’m not sure how I can make today special for him.  He deserves a special day, that’s for sure.  This last week might not be a good representation, but he always gives 110% for this family.  He really takes care of us and is having a hard time right now NOT being able to take care of us like he usually does.

He deserves the time off.  Even if I am tearing my hair out, strand by strand.

Tags: Father's Day, Kile
Filed under Family Circus |