she had a bad day

We had some sad news here at our house. Jeff's grandma Leslie is sick with cancer, which makes our hearts a little heavy this week. I took the day off so we could go visit her in the hospital down in Gig Harbor. The hospital there is pretty swanky (At least, compared to where I work. I swear they got our flooring for the L&D unit from the leftovers when they redid the morgue or something in the newer, prettier campus. But I digress).
I tried to get some nice pictures of the girls in the hospital, unfortunately none with grandma Leslie since she had to leave the room a few times for various testing. Hopefully she will like these, though.

I had a craving for sushi...random. Shrimp, pineapple, cucumber, wasabi, and goat cheese. So gonna make these. Yummy yum

.....And then things really started to really head downhill. Andie slid off a chair in the cancer care center, her feet got stuck and she pitched forward and broke her fall with her forehead on the corner of a coffee table. As Aili so eloquently put it, "She cracked her head open."
Not one of my finer moments. Usually very cool-headed in an emergency, I didn't handle my bloody screaming mess of a daughter well once I saw just how deep that laceration was. I grabbed her, blood getting everywhere, and managed just two words, stitches, and ER. Jeff and I argued over who got to carry her to the ER (He won. I am fat, slow, pregnant, and was making a bloody mess). The ER staff was great, they had a therapy doggie come by and were very nice. And got us in right away and didn't make us wait in the waiting room (thankfully a slow day, and Andie was screaming). I'm glad she was screaming and clearly neurologically fine, but it was hard to see her in pain. That unfortunately continued with the 4 IV attempts, and they didn't use lido. Poor baby.

Aili was great, she tried hard to distract her with my phone while they were trying to get the IV in (She said, "I didn't cry when I had mine in! LOL)

They gave her conscious sedation (versed + ketamine) to suture her up. This means, she doesn't remember the worst parts, which is nice. It took a few minutes to kick in before she was limp and her eyes started doing the weird ketamine thing, but she was with it enough to blame it on Aili. Watching her come out of it was pretty funny, she had a good lil drug trip and was laughing and acting really goofy. She wanted to go for a walk and kept insisting, while slurring her words, to put her cowgirl boots on for her walk. She was also very entertained by her juice cup.

 

I'll have to post the video of her afterwards, its pretty funny (Well I'm pretty biased, she is my daughter, but Jeff and I were entertained)

Now how about something positive???

SPRING is coming!! Yeah, yeah, I know it snowed this week.

Buuuuuttt the daffodils are up, and they don't lie....right??

 

 

So we played outside.

I asked Aili what she was doing and she told me she was putting this out so Andie didn't get run over on her trike. Such a good big sister.

 

Me + girls, at 29 weeks. Soon there will be three little girls to take pictures of...

 

 

Love the look on Andie's face above, and the Band-Aid.

 

Little blurry...I didn't take 'em  ;-)

Even Andie has been more into belly-kissing now. I wonder how much she understands...Not sure that she will be pleased to no longer be the baby!

 

It's beginning to feel a lot like....OCTOBER

 

What the fall?!  Can't believe it is fall already; we never had a summer! Oh well I'm over it. Bring on the pumpkin patches, boots, warm soup, and changing leaves. Speaking of changing leaves, after we took this photo we went to Lake Padden, one of our favorite places to walk/jog- isn't it just delightful in the fall? You know Miss L, if you were to come back here to live you could go with us ;-)

Oh and another thing my sassy girl said to me? When we got there she looks in the back and says, "Mom, you forgot my bike"

I said: "Well you're just gonna run with me and then you can get in the jogging stroller with baby if you want."

Aili: (pause) "Mom I can't even believe this" 

Hmmm.... kinda funny (made me laugh anyway) but boy oh boy I hope I don't have a little diva/sass-pot on my hands. Can you imagine the teenage years?! I'm shuddering already.

Out of the Mouth of Babes...

Aili was complaining about her tummy hurting tonight (probably because she ate too much!)and I offer to rub it for her. Her response: "No you'd better take me to the doctor so I can get a shot."
Funny child.

She's Got This Down

She sure did love the boogie-boarding (or "buggy boarding" I believe she said). I didn't think she would "get it," but clearly I was wrong! Another first of the trip: My first time eating sushi and enjoying it! That has been one of my goals, to try sushi and like it, because so far, no dice. We had success at the Hanalei Dolphin, where the fish was superfresh (as in, caught that day) and I quite enjoyed my spicy ahi rolls and Tahitian cerviche. Yum!

A Princess Starbuckista

She picked out the outfit obviously. And who was I to argue? Naturally a princess needs a coffee and cake pop too. More funny things my child says: Stephanie took her to meet up with me after she had watched her the night before and Aili requested a 'coffee' Aka kids steamed drink from Starbucks. Steph obliged (is my child spoiled??)
The lady at the counter asked how she was doing that morning and this was Aili's response:
"(yawn) I'm tired I need my coffee!"
Funny child. Clearly, she is my daughter.

The Lioness

Sometimes, I think my little human baby is really a lion cub. Her newest thing is to growl like a lion. Doesn't she just look so scary? We growl at her, and she growls back. It's a fun game. Next week: ABC's and other human utterances.

We All Have Those Days...

Where all we want to do is THIS:

This weather is really getting me down. I'm ready for the outdoors for sure. We have all sorts of projects over here at Chez Sluys that just don't get done if there is rain. Tomorrow, we're supposed to tractor the back yard to remove all the sod and weeds in preparation for sowing the grass. That's just not happening if it is raining (There would be a good chance of the tractor getting stuck in the mud). The other day we got so desperate we painted the chicken coop under a tarp nailed to the roof. Classy. The birds did get to free-range for the first time the other day though. The verdict: Bugs: way yummy. Slugs: so-so. My decorative plant by the front porch: gourmet. They're getting a little bit better about being picked up too. I guess they've realized that we're not as scary as the great outdoors. They don't like to separated either, if one gets away from the flock, a lot of distressed clucking is likely to ensue. We put the Araucanas in with the big girls today, and unfortunately, the mean girls picked at them. So, they're in a cage within the coop now. Hopefully they'll all play nice soon.
In kid news, the little ladies are doing well, and Aili continues to make me laugh just about every day with the things that she says. We were at the grocery store the other day and were walking by a few policeman outside of their car and she stops dead in her tracks, right next to them, points, and asks, "Mom, are they bad?" I tugged at her arm and tried to get her to keep going but she was quite insistent and would not budge, and asked her question again (loudly). I told her, "No, they CATCH the bad guys." Clearly, we need to be playing more cops and robbers here at our house so she can differentiate. Andie's doing well too, I think she is just starting to get a little seperation anxiety. She knows her mama for sure. She can be a little clingy at times (I call her my kangaroo kid) but she's just so sweet. We love her for sure....we'll keep 'er.

April Showers Bring May...Showers.

Did you ever see the movie "birds?" I think the bird with the starring role is living in my yard. Now that Woody the Woodpecker finally took a hike I am dealing with this fellow: He seems to like to run into the window. Repeatedly. And of course this had to happen during nap time. (Nobody wants me to actually be well-rested, including the birds!)

The weather here in the Pacific Northwest is a bit of a bummer. It's supposed to be nice again tomorrow but of course I'll be sleeping- it's back to work tomorrow night for me. Maybe husband will get some of the concreting done- the fence for the garden is coming along, he's put in 14 of the 28 poles for it. I'm pretty excited to get that thing up, especially after I found deer prints in my garden bed and nibbles off my lettuce and cabbages.

Labor's having a potato potluck tonight which was pretty yummy, and then someone patted my tummy and asked how baby was doing. Huh. Maybe I should lay off the carbs...? Right after that she followed with how small I looked for having a young baby (laughing here- she claimed she knew I wasn't pregnant but STILL!). Oh well.

The picture above is kind of an old one of my lovies, taken in California during our last trip. I just love how proud Aili is to be a big sister. She loves miss Andie Lucie so much. Today Andie fell over and hit her head on a toy and started crying and Aili was so upset. Andie was fine, but Aili was bawling and had big fat tears rolling down her face. When I asked her what was wrong she just kept saying "She's hurt! She fell on her toy!" What a sweetheart. Another funny thing Miss Aili does is to bring her to me when she is crying and tell me "She's crying, she wants to nurse." Apparently mama nursing the baby will fix everything. More funny Aili-isms? I told her today she didn't need to put on her jammies to take a nap, she could just wear her tinkerbell undies and call it good, it would be like a panty party (really, I just was trying to get her in bed as fast as possible, I had a very limited amount of time left to lay down before I had to leave for work). She throws her hands up and says, "But there is no cake! No balloons!" She was NOT pleased that this "party" did not include any of these fun things. One of my top mama lessons, which I always seem to forget, is to always THINK about things before you say them out loud to your three and a half year old! Many a regret here...

I really should get back to work. It's 0240 am and I have done no charting. Zilch, nada, none. Not in the mood. It really feels like we spend just as much time charting as we do doing actual patient care. It's so depressing, how litigious the medical field has become. My job would be so much easier if there was no charting involved and all I had to do was take care of people. Wouldn't that be nice!

things which make me smile today

1. I got new cute shoes on sale in North Bend. They have a little heel but are still comfy! Fabulous.

2. Andie Lucie's "ma ma ma maaaa" whine

3. Aili knowing the meaning of the word "dribble," and telling me about soccer and how we only pass to our friends (I assume she's talking about her teammates!)

4. The poultry, with the exception of the Araucanas who are still itty-bitty, are OUTSIDE

5. Honeycrisp apples in the 'Burg on the way home from Spokane were on sale for $7.99 for a 10lb bag, normally they're 3.99/lb! Sa-weeeettt

6. I cleaned out my car and found like 10 stethoscopes. Now I can stop "borrowing" them from the pyxis at work

7. Work is actually slow tonight-I might not even have to admit anyone! Gasp. Oh, and no breastfeeding problems! Yee-haw

8. Woody the (sadistic) woodpecker did NOT visit me this morning- he has been showing up every morning, pecking on the side of my house and waking me and the girls up- seriosuly, it's driving me out.of.my.mind. I'm even considering lethal removal. Her must have caught wind of that, because he didn't try to wake the dead this morning! Yay, now I don't have to sit outside early in the morning with a shotgun, sling-shot, or try other methods like aluminum foil or motion-detector sprinklers. Seriously, considered 'em all.

9. I had naan + cucumbers + garlic hummus for dinner at 12:00am. Yumm.

10. It's 2 AM, I'm at work, and I'm not out-of-my-mind tired. I actually napped pretty well today

11. Babies with pink bow hats (when I'm feeling nostalgic, I make them for my girl babies at work)

12. Flowers in bloom- we have a few types at our house

13. My "nurses give intensive care" undies. No I don't always wear nurse undies to work, but I have a few. My favorites have a big syringe on them

14. Aili telling me that she wanted to hold me

15. Andie's baby noises- she sounds like a parakeet sometimes

16. My hubby is off work until Saturday

17. We got our Hawaii tickets booked

18. Life in general. It is just good.

Anything I missed? I think so. And that's a good thing!

Baby BURRITO of mine (and other random summer fun bloggings)

I'm kinda lazy about baby books. My mom keeps telling me I need to record the stuff that Aili says which is funny to, well, people related to her, but I'm not so hot at it. My hope though is that I'll throw a few of those tidbits in here and then-someday- maybe I'll scroll through my old blog posts and jot some things down in her book. A current favorite: We were camping at denny creek (more on that in a bit) and I was trying to get her to sit in my lap and relax, stay away from the fire, and calm down for bed while Jeff was setting up her sleeping bag in the tent. As a way to get her to stay on me and quit running around I told her to stay put because there were snakes on the ground, but if she stayed on mama's lap they wouldn't get her. So she stayed. She said, "We don't like snakes. Daddy get them." Me: "Really. What does daddy get them with?" Her: "A shovel. Daddy squish them. I have a shovel." Me: "Oh, are you going to help?" Her, looking at me like I am an idiot: "Nooo. Daddy get them with the shovel. Go daddy, go!" (Jeff was in the tent stomping around and I guess she though he might have been wacking snakes or something). Just to be clear, I am not a violent person. While I don't like snakes, I just leave them alone, I certainly don't squish them- I don't know where she came up with the idea of the shovel! She's a funny kiddo. She did really well with camping too- slept all night in her sleeping bag and had a lot of fun. Before bed we took her for a run around the campground to wear her out- man that kid can run! I was suprised how long, far, and fast she ran. Maybe she'll play soccer like her mama did?
In other news, my scale and I have had a little discussion. It basically entailed me begging the gods, the scale, and everything else but Buddah to not let me gain too much more weight. I can't possibly get any larger without having problems keeping up at work (Not to mention fitting into my scrub pants- apparently I should be able to continue to work full-time 12 and a half hour night shifts right up until my due date?? That's very funny. What the heck am I supposed to WEAR?! Nothing will fit by that point). I've gained, at about 32 weeks, 22lbs. Please, not too much more! Only all I want to do is eat. I'm trying to be careful though. It almost makes me miss the first twenty weeks, when I was so sick I had to force myself to eat, and even then didn't do it very often (But not quite miss it enough Ugh, vomit. I can't believe I didn't lose more weight in the first trimester- My body just really loooovees to pile on the pounds when pregnant). Hopefully, I don't go the full 40 weeks. I'm going for 37-39 weeks, assuming the baby is healthy and ready. Because I have so much control over this of course :-) I think she'll be smaller than Aili was too, although everyone and their mother, including OBs I work with, acts shocked when they hear how far along I am and my due date. Apparently my stomach is huge. Tell me something I didn't know. Why do I have to carry my babies like torpedos, all out in front? Ugh. I guess it looks a little nicer than just getting a wider belly, but man, it makes it hard to breathe or do anything. Pretty soon I'm gonna have to move my work-outs to the pool, and honestly, I haven't done much this week at the gym- it's a busy week at work and I'm pretty tired. We did find time to take Aili and Ari to the pool the other day though which was so fun- she just loves the water, and is pretty brave! She was nonstop energy and smiles the whole time we were there. Lastly, I am working on trying to perfect my homemade flour tortilla recipe. Any tips? I want them really stretchy/slightly doughy and I'm having a hard time getting them just perfect. Perhaps a tortilla press and steamer would help. Only most of the ones I have found press into no larger than 6.5 inch rounds and that won't do- I want 8-10 inches baby! I need to be able to fit a lot of yummies into my burritos. It's probably a lost cause for now- you know what the Mexicans say, you don't learn to make good tortillas until after you're married (I may not be a newlywed, but I didn't grow up with a Mexican mama making them every day, either). So if anyone has any tips or tricks, I'm all ears! Same thing for quilts too, because that is another project I'm working on- I need some advice on getting a good decorative stitch as opposed to just stitching the whole thing together in the ditch. Anyone? :-)

Things My Child Says Which Are Funny

The other evening, Jeff told Aili that after dinner he would make her popcorn (I was at work and they were having a little father-daughter bonding time). While he was cleaning up the dishes, Aili came up to him, and their conversation went something like this:

Aili: Daddy, I need to talk to you (looks serious)
Jeff: Um, ok, what's going on?
Aili: There's no popcorn

Haha. What a little foodie. Toddler's aren't exactly known for their patience, but the little lady did get her popcorn, after the dishes were done. In case you were curious.
The past week I have ballooned. It's a little concerning, how quickly my belly has grown just in a little over a week. My appetite's also skyrocked. I'm praying to the pregnancy gods (again!) that I don't start piling on the pounds too quickly, and I vow to east sensibly, but then I see a cute little itty-bitty cupcake with pink sparkly frosting that is, like, sooo adorable, and so delectably delightful, and it's over. Who am I kidding? I have no willpower, nor am I seeming to find enough free time to go to the gym ('cuz who wants to do THAT when they finally have downtime?!) But when I did go to the gym the other day, something weird happened. My blood pressure's been pretty low this pregnancy (lower than normal, which is already a little low), and I have to be careful not to jump up too quickly. During my first trimester I got rehydrated at the hospital one time, because of that and because of hyperemesis (fancy medical term= puke too much), but stopped going and waited it out for the yucks to get better. Anyway, I felt ine during my workout and afterwards while doing my stretches, but when I got up to find Jeff, I started feeling super-yucky- my vision was blurry and had black spots, and I wasn't sure if I was going to pass out, throw up, or have the runs. I *barely* made it to the locker room, where I had to lie down. How embarassing. Needless to say I am nervous about that happening again. Gym=No Bueno. I'm probably just anemic again, with Aili I had pretty severe anemia. And I have been looking at ice again recently, with just a hint of lust. Yummm ice. Uh-oh. So, the plan: Start taking some iron. Drink more fluids. Attempt to work out and eat semi-reasonably (oh, the horror). And enjoy some lovely, hospital-style crunchy ice here at 4AM ('cause mother-baby has the best ice, did ya know?) Feel free to join me here, and could you bring an extra ice bucket? Thanks.