Thank you to everyone who commented last week when I was feeling bad about my relationship with Liam while we were away. I’m pleased to report that things are much more back to normal now.  I’ve found the joy in interacting with Liam once again and I am so happy for that.  From the day he was born, he’s been my special guy.  Perhaps it’s because of all the struggle we went through in order to bring him into our lives, but I’ve always been able to tolerate quite a bit of shenanigans from that child.  The little stuff doesn’t bother me so much anymore and I’ve always been happy that I can sit back and enjoy the mischevious glint in his eyes without worrying so much about what he’s going to DO with that mischevious glint.

I guess if we’re going to be honest, it wasn’t JUST our trip to Elko that caused a strain.  Surely, the birth of Evie has contributed.  I have less time for him.  Less opportunities for snuggles on my lap.  My days are more packed and more tiresome.

In the last week, however, I’ve mellowed out again and yesterday (and for the last several days) I was downright charmed by my middle child.  He was being especially sweet.  Or rather, I was noticing his intentions better.  What I was seeing as him pestering Evie was him trying to help out with her.  He wasn’t just throwing toy cars at her, he was giving her the cars to play with when she was being fussy.  He wasn’t trying to hassle her by rocking her carseat violently in the shopping cart, he was trying to soothe her as he has seen us do (though a bit more on the rough side, to be honest).

He’s still a sweet boy, with a wide, open face, twinkling eyes and engaging grin.  He wants love and cuddles as much as he ever did.  And I’ve been a lot more happy to indulge him in that desire.  I guess, in a way, being the only one around here who can lug him around these days has “forced” me to spend more time with him without Evie between us.  I’m directly involved in all of his activities once again.  It used to be that after Kile was home at night, he would take over with Liam and they would play together while I fed and cared for Evie.  Kile would put him to bed himself.  I never questioned it.

Now, I take a part in that.  I carry him up to bed.  I still leave so that they can have their time alone together, but on nights like last night where Liam needed extra assurance before bed, I was on hand to pick him up, rub his back and give him lots of loves.

This time is SO fleeting.  He’s already growing up so much.  I can’t believe his birthday is in just a couple weeks (two, I think.  Or less.  GAH).  Yesterday, he ran towards me, chattering “Ma-ma-ma-ma!  Mama!”  He isn’t what I would call a talkative sort, but he is saying more and more words every day.  And even if he isn’t saying it, he’s understanding it.  On “Blue’s Clues” yesterday (a personal favorite of his that I can’t help but indulge), there was talk of jumping.  Liam got excited by this and I asked him if he was going to jump.  And jump he did, a big grin on his face.  He loves to jump.

I guess this post is rather ramble-y and has no real point.  But I wanted to let you all know that your advice and shoulder-pats did help.  And I wanted to let you know that things are getting better around here.  And I had to chuckle at everyone who suggested our trip to visit my parents here in a couple weeks will SURELY be less stressful.  Only Michelle got it right.  She knows my parents and nailed it on the head.  It WILL be worse at my parents’ house.  MUST BRING BABY GATE.  And BOOZE.  (For me, not Liam, though I can’t promise anything.)

Tags: Liam, milestones, vacation
Filed under L'il Liam |

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 |

I have so much to say that I almost don’t want to say anything. Have you ever felt like that? There have been so many thoughts and reflections and realizations this last week that I kept thinking, “I need to remember to blog about that. When I get ten minutes.” And now? I’m just not sure where I would begin. So I… won’t? I’m sure snippets will emerge here and there over the days and weeks to come. In the meantime, I’m just going to post some pictures and hope you all don’t unsubscribe at the same time, causing Google Reader to crash. Sound like a plan?

My niece’s wedding was gorgeous.  She looked awesome.  I can’t believe she’s old enough to get married.

I’m a little jealous.  I would like a carriage ride courtesy of beautiful Clydesdale horses!

I spent a lot of time here.  So did Kile.

Snuggle buddies.  She really enjoyed sleeping in with Kile while we were there.

The afternoons were prime opportunities to find a sunbeam and nap.  The dogs couldn’t resist.

Snickers looked awesome with the “Vintage” action.

It feels like Evie grew up a lot while we were there.

She really dug when I would set her on the floor to look around and explore.

There aren’t a whole lot of Liam pictures.  Liam and I weren’t the best of friends on this trip.

This is “Thor”.  I wish I’d gotten more pictures of him.  He was really something.  He’d been shaved but they left him a furry head, feet and poof on his tail.  HEE!

Harry would like to remind us that he wants “Rock Band”.  We get it, Harry.

Tags: Elko, Evie, Harry, vacation, wedding
Filed under Family Circus, General Snark |

Who has time for a coherent post these days? Not me, that’s for sure. Who knew all these kids needed so much ATTENTION?

• Harry, my 8 year old (!!) child, can sing. Specifically, he can sing Bon Jovi’s “Dead or Alive”. Really well. I almost wish I’d gotten a picture of the expressions on everyone’s faces at Kile’s birthday dinner party last night. Instead, my mother in law got a picture of Harry, which is almost just as good.
• I’m almost perpetually hungry now. The first couple of days, I wasn’t. Then Kile’s emergency cropped up and hunger was far from my mind. Now? Lunchtime hits and I’m suddenly RAVENOUS. My in laws are going to kick me to the curb for eating them out of house and home any minute now.
• Liam is a turd. He doesn’t really mean to be (yes, he does), but he is. He is into EVERYTHING. I’ve begun to live for naptimes. He is consistently good for a laugh though, such as last night when he picked up salad tongs and tried to use them as a stethoscope. (I guess you had to be there.)
• The weather is definitely schizophrenic. We’ve seen cool/cold/wind/rain/hot and pleasant. What will we see next? NO ONE KNOWS.
• Elko’s hospital is actually kind of adorable. Is that wrong? To think a hospital is adorable? It’s like a mini hospital. But it has (nearly) everything that a big one would have. And the food is actually a LOT better. We consider ourselves experts on hospital food and when Kile says that the food at the hospital here in Elko is better? Then it’s better. He was hungry Sunday night after having had a liquid diet dinner. Since he kept his meal down easily, the nurse rewarded him by going down to the cafeteria and bringing him back a fabulous turkey sandwich, homemade chicken and rice soup and other fabulous little extras. The sandwich? Was on an onion roll. I think Kile died and went to heaven. I don’t know about YOUR local hospital, but such service is unheard of in Reno. You’re hungry at 9pm at night? Tough. Sucks for you. GAH. (Of course, I never really ASKED, so maybe I’m wrong.)
• There are a lot of dogs here. My in laws have a min pin named Spike and my niece who was living here prior to her wedding on Saturday has a rat terrier named Snickers. Add in Beetoe and Pup and it’s a zoo. Then, you go to my sister in laws house and they have about a bazillion more dogs over there. And cats. And fish.
• I’m kind of not sure what day it is. Wednesday? Tuesday? HUH? Who said that? What? HELP.
• Kile had a very nice birthday last night. Surgery or not, I think he was just happy to spend it with his family for a change.
• Still do not know how long we’re staying here. He has his post-op appointment tomorrow afternoon so we’ll know more then. I hope.
• I’m scared to pack up the van myself. Despite the fact that our luggage is heavy, Kile has a knack for fitting everything in there just so. GULP. Shoot, I can barely pack my bag, much less pack a whole van. I’m sure to leave behind a lot, perhaps even an entire child.
• I need more alcohol. If only I wasn’t too tired in the evenings to drink it!
• Harry is having a great time playing Xbox, drawing on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk and riding his scooter. He can actually PLAY OUTDOORS here. Imagine that!
• He also has an enormous hole in the bottom of his right shoe. I just noticed it yesterday. Why is this? It’s the foot he uses to BREAK while on his scooter. GAH. So now he needs new shoes. I think I’ll eat him instead.

Okay, I’m getting a little tired of all these bullets. I’m sure you are too. Soooo… I’m off.

Tags: Elko, vacation
Filed under Family Circus |