Christmas

Click the pictures to enlarge :)



What a perfect day! It was Christian's one day off work. We were able to spend the day together as a family which doesn't happen too often these days. The kids bombed us out of bed, we opened gifts, played with the toys together, ate the most delicious barbecued turkey and just had fun!


Highlights:
Keely organizing her piles over and over again and her gorgeous dress!

Colin's big boy legos, his transformer movie and his "dinosaurus rex".

A Funfilled Weekend with a Friend

Click on the pictures to enlarge

Friday night, my crafty friend Martha, flew out from Indiana to meet me. SO much fun!

Saturday Christian, Martha, Colin and I went down to McKinney and wandered some antique shops. It was bloody cold with ice cold super winds. After, we ate, picked up Keely from my Mum's (she had been sick all night) and went north of Sherman to see a drive-through Christmas light display. I was impressed!

Sunday we started out at Trade Days and were surprised to see Santa there.

We then headed over to the Heard Wildlife Sanctuary to see life-sized animatronic DINOSAURS!
After, we took her out to the country to see water buffalo, American buffalo, llamas, long-horns, alpacas and over to the Christmas Tree farm. Apparently is was the last day to cut down a tree, so our Martha did the honors (since I couldn't squat or bend). Colin picked the tree for us.


Monday I took the kids to school and Martha and I went down to Dallas, after eating a delicious breakfast at Waffle House. We went to Fair Park to the aquarium
Museum of Nature & Science which also was featuring a large display of DINOSAURS! After, we went to the grassy knoll. I was a lot more moved than I thought. In the picture, I'm standing on the sidewalk where the first bullet hit (it was in the center lane of the street marked with an X). The window is behind the tree... building behind me, 2nd window from the top all the way to the right.


Tuesday we just enjoyed our time before we dropped her off at the airport. It was an amazing time. Although we went places and saw things I have never seen before (like the narwhal horn/tooth at the Natural Museum)... the BEST part was learning to knit on double point needles!!! Now I can finally knit hats!!! I can't wait to plan my trip up to Indiana in the spring!!!!!!!

Andy's Halloween Costume

We blindfolded him and had him put it on. For some reason, he couldn't guess what it was :)

My Babies Are Getting Old

So the kids had their birthdays. Keely turned 6 and Colin turned 5 at the end of November. We have been extremely sick over the month of November, so their party was canceled. My dad made them a cake since I couldn't. Keely acted like a brat during their "party" but what else is new?!?!

My First Quilt

One morning I woke up and decided I wanted to learn to quilt. I went to Joann's and bought some beautiful Autumnal fabric. I sat down and did it. I made Christian's Grandpa a tablecloth. I forgot to take pictures once it was completed, so excuse the loose threads and whatnot :)

My Thanksgiving Swap

Sorry for the cut-off pictures. I tried putting my pictures in through photobucket... looks like I don't know what I'm doing, after all.


My superlative crafting friend, Martha, has done it again. For our Thanksgiving themed swap, she send me oodles of fun!





Keely has spent HOURS looking through the book!!



Sadly, the flowerpot didn't make it... :( The good news is that I have a few lying around!!


I sent her...

It's a table runner

Potholders with matching fabric from the table runner



I also sent her a cabled scarf with cabled wrist warmers. I forgot to take pictures, though.

4 Days Post-Op

Tuesday it was 84'. The record high since 1932. Today it snowed throughout DFW. Hhhmmmm....

Well, this surgery went MUCH better. I'm up and walking. I start physical therapy again on Monday. I'll post pictures soon.

Going Back Under the Knife

It's been a crazy crazy crazy few months. I keep meaning to update everyone, but there's not enough hours in the day.

I FINALLY graduated physical therapy!!!

On Monday Nov 19th, I'm going back under for another look at the knee. It is still clicking and popping and there is still a bit of pain. Dr. Berry will be taking out my screw, using the scope around the knee to see what's going on, and using some sort of squishy stuff under the knee cap to help where the cartilage is worn. I'll be back on crutches for a few days. Not looking forward to that.

As for the kids... we get to take them to the psychiatrist. Since the ADHD meds didn't work on either (they worked but Colin's side effects of ABSOLUTE VIOLENCE and Keely's side effect of depression) of them, and we switched meds a few times, the pediatrician is pretty sure that they are bi-polar. After we get the knee figured out, we will focus on that.

I am still watching Johnny & London 12 hours a day 5 days a week. They are SUCH good kids!! I have grown to love them. Their dad said that the mom is in anger management and they are going to couple's therapy. He said that they have to work things out because he can't afford to pay me $15/day and be a single dad. It's pure BS. He and the kids are SO better off without the mom involved... but it's not my decision. It will be CPS because I AM getting them involved since she has proven time and time again she is a negligent mother and she punishes Johnny rather severely (that's the nice way of saying that she's abusive).

To keep my sanity, I have been rather involved with my crafting. It's my zen-place. However, since I'm running myself silly and am sleep deprived, I can't see what I'm doing when I craft :)

SSSOOOO... that's everything in a nutshell. I'll post some pictures in the next few days from Halloween and random whatnot.

Fun Times, I tell you!

I've been watching Johnny & London and loving every moment of it. Keely & Colin have taken a great interest in helping with the babies. Colin will tell Johnny "lessons" like "Little Johnny, buckle your sandal! It's a safety hazard! You will fall and get hurt!" Keely likes to sit down with London and teach her lessons such as, "London, your name starts with the letter L and my names is Keely and you need to learn to say it." It's been really wonderful having someone around for Colin. For the first time, he feels like he can be a teacher. He is also starting to figure out how to play WITH someone... not just beside someone.

Things around the homefront have been pretty much stable. I'm walking. I'm doing some cleaning. I'm going to therapy. The pain can still be pretty intense. The doctor wants to take my screw out on Friday at my next apointment. I'm thinking of keeping it. I feel I have earned it.

In the crafting world, I have joined another craft swap. It's a smaller Halloween swap. My partner seems like a very nice gal. I received my goodies from my Harry Potter Swap with Martha. Oh So Happy!! One day I'll get around to posting a picture or three... One day...

My First Day of Work

Christian's supervisor lives in the same neighborhood as we do. Something errupted between him and his wife 2 days ago. He has found himself a single-dad to Johnny (3) and London (turns 1 next week).

As you have guessed.... This is their first day here! They have been here an hour and so far so good. I've forgotten everything about 1-year olds. I had to call my girlfriend for a quick "1-Year Olds for Dummies" training.

I can't wait for the kids to get home from school. Colin likes little Johnny a lot, so he should play well with him.... at least for 10 minutes :)

EDIT:
As a post script to the story: Colin came home and played perfectly with Johnny & London. Keely came home and helped me with everything. Johnny and London are such well behaved kids!! If everything continues going this way, there won't be a problem at all!!! The highlight of the day for Johnny was going to pick Keely up from the bus stop (She's riding the bus right now while I have the babies).

Just thought I would put in an update :)

Colin is Engaged; Keely was Student of the Week Last Week

There is a little girl in Colin's class that he frequently talks about. Her name is Katie. They play a little "stop, go" game together and always talk while waiting in the cafeteria for the teacher. Today Christian took the kids to school. He came back and informed me that Colin is now engaged.

Colin and Katie sat next to each other. Colin pulled out a picture that he drew of himself and the letter "C" and "X" he wrote on the backside of the paper. Katie asked if he drew her a picture. Colin said, "No. Not yet. Maybe later." He then noticed that she had a scrape on her temple. He asked, "Oh, you have an ouchie? Are you okay?" She replied that her dog jumped up and scratched her. He quickly replied, "I will not hurt you. I will be nice to you everyday. I will marry you. In one year I will marry you." She got up from her seat, walked over to where Christian was sitting at the end of the table and said to him, "I will wear a dress at the park when I get married!" and she did a ballerina twirl to show them how she can spin.

Today when Christian picked him up from school, they started to walk away and Colin stopped abruptly and said, "I didn't say bye to my friends." He ran back to the class, waved to them, gave Katie a hug and walked back to Chris. My little guy is all grown up!!!

On another rather exciting note, Keely was awarded STUDENT OF THE WEEK on the third week!!!!!! I was so so so proud of her!!! The teacher emailed me this, "Keely has shown great progress since I’ve started in her class. She is very particular about her work and the process she goes about getting it done! But no out bursts or defiant behaviors." SO proud of her!!!

Hank Williams

Yesterday we had to put our beloved Hank Williams to sleep. We have been watching him slowly die of cancer over the past year. He purred until the very end. He was thanking us for taking away his pain and suffering. He really was an amazing cat. Although he knew Christian for 13 years and knew me only half as long, he really was my big baby. He will be missed more than he could ever know...

It's been a while..

Things have been so busy! Let's see...

* I go to physical therapy 3 times a week anywhere between 1 1/2 - 2 hours/session. This is the first week I have started to walk without any crutches (except first thing in the morning when I'm incredibly stiff). I ONLY have 4-6 weeks left! My strength has returned much faster than the ability to bend my knee. The greatest news is I can FINALLY climb over the bathtub edge!!! Now I can shower whenever I want and don't have to rely on Christian or my Mum! It's the greatest feeling. I can't WAIT until I can drive again!!! I'm hoping about 2 more weeks...

* Keely has started kindergarten. She started out with a brand new teacher who didn't know her head from her foot. Suddenly, without warning, we got a note home saying, "Mrs. Ochoa has left her position as teacher... blah blah blah." We now have a wonderful 8 year veteran teacher. Keely likes her a lot and she has been doing MUCH better in school with the new teacher.

* Colin has started Pre-Kindergarten. His teacher has worked in special education for a few years. She REALLY knows what she's talking about! Colin tells me every night at bedtime, "Miss Gibson is beaudiful." He is doing VERY GOOD in school. The first two weeks were rough, but he's settled into his routine. On Friday, he was the only kid in the class to earn the smiley face stamp!!! He's very quiet and reserved. He spends most of his time observing what's happening around him. He also has started colouring and drawing for the first time in his life!!! He draws us the same picture every single day. It's great. I'll scan in one later it's that good :)

* Today Keely went out on Andy's boat for the first time. I got a report a few hours ago that she was inter tubing with Andy. I'm hoping in two weeks I'll be able to go with everyone. Right now, the knee isn't doing well enough.

* Our dearest kitty, Hank Williams, is dieing of cancer. We have to take him to get steroid shots every other week to prolong his life. He has gone from 21 lbs to 10. He's nothing but skin and bone. It's really sad. It's Christian's first born and I don't know how he will handle it when he finally passes.

That's about all I have at the moment.

My Scariest Moment in Texas

While living here, we have come across some pretty intense storms. One storm was so crazy, it struck a 2 story home within a mile from us and set it on fire. We have seen lightening strike the cornfields nearby. We have had tornadoes come near our home and seen the devastation in nearby towns. We have had major flooding... but nothing comes close to what happened last night.

We have Terminex come out to take care of the bugs in the home and yard. Haven't had a bug problem since. A few stray ants or an occasional spider. No big deal. Last night, after the kids were in bed, Christian and I were watching TV in the living room. Bailey (the dog) got up and started to play with a bug (throwing it around with her mouth). I figured it was just a fly that got into the house since flies are her favourite to play with. I looked at the bug and realized it was a freaking SCORPION!!! It was about 1 1/2" long and had it's tail in the attack position. I don't know how she didn't get stung by it since she was playing with it for a good 30 seconds!!! I freaked out, Christian squished it into the carpet. Now I'm terrified to let the animals go outside. Where there is one, there usually is two.

I had nightmares last night about it. Terminex is getting a call and they better get their butts out here and respray everything! Especially since I know it didn't just walk in through the closed door!!!

My Towel

I don't have a towel next to the kitchen sink. I can't crutch to the towel with wet hands. SO, I made myself a fun towel in Tunisian Crochet. I like how it turned out :)

The stitch close up

And then there was silence...

Two weeks ago, Dominic, my brother's best friend from middle school and high school, came to Dallas to help out. I haven't seen him in 4 years and I didn't realize how much I missed the kid!! It was SO much fun having him around! The kids fell in love with him at first sight! The first thing Colin said to him was, "Can I touch your hair. You look like a Teddy Bear." After that, he kept forgetting his name. "What's your name Teddy Bear guy?" It was great. We took Dom to Costco, Target, Joann Fabrics, to dinner at The Texas Roadhouse where it was "his birthday" and he got to ride a saddle.


We also had my Dad's brother visit from Wisconsin. The last time I saw Uncle David was in 1993!! It was really great seeing him again. We have a lot in common and it's been really wonderful getting to know him again. Keely really enjoyed his company. They played restaurant together. She talked and talked and talked to him. It's also great seeing my Dad developing a relationship with his big brother again after SO SO SO many years!

Both Dom and David said their goodbye's yesterday. Colin took it VERY hard. He wouldn't let go of my Mum or my hand all night. He kept crying and telling us, "Don't leave me like Donimic (notice the name) and David!" As if the kid wasn't confused enough over where he lives, this made it worse. My poor little guy!!

Gorillas: Another Keelyism

This morning, Christian was talking to Keely over breakfast. She asked when he worked today.

He said:
I am off today and tomorrow. We will take you somewhere on my day off tomorrow. Do you know where we will take you? You are going to Gorillaland.

Keely pondered this statement for a few seconds, had a HUGE smile on her face and quickly replied:
I don't think that exists. It's not real. I don't remember ever seeing a parking lot full of gorillas anywhere.

Christian couldn't stop laughing. The look of accomplishment on her face was priceless!!!

A Hat for Keely

I was playing with Front Post Double Crochet and this hat was born. I made it while Keely was in bed. What does she say when she sees it, "Oh, I would really like that hat but you made it with white and now it looks like a boy's hat." *sigh*

A Towel for Martha

Upon looking around in my craft forum, I ran across a wonderful gal who had made Hedwig (that's Harry Potter's owl, for those who don't know). She had made it for another person... and that person was not fond of owls. So, we set up a swap. This is the towel I made for her new kitchen :)

It was Christmas this week at my house! My yarn shipment came it. I love my yarn!!! There are 52 skeins in there!!!!

KeelyMonster & ColinUly

A wonderful gal in my online Mum's Support Group made this for me. Since pictures of the kids together are few and far between, I thought I would post it for everyone.

6 1/2 Weeks Post-Op... A lot of ground to make up... And a screw

Went to see the Dr today. Due to the re-injury, I have a lot of ground to make up. The good news is that my tibia has healed. I can now put some weight on my leg, but still won't be able to walk for another bunch of weeks. Also, some of the swelling has gone down.

The bad news is the screw must come out, but, not until I'm back on my feet. It's sticking out this far...

Since the delay in my recovery, the doctor basically wants me to double time my recovery. Instead of being on the CPM (the bending machine) for 1 month and then going to physical therapy after, he wants to to knock them out at the same time.

So, that's the update on Frankenknee.
Colin will start his meds tomorrow morning.

Colin's Trip to the Doctor

Since my surgery, the kids have been living at my parents house and only coming to visit; they are finally staying the night only on Christian's days off. This has led their need for order and structure to have been blown to hell. This has resulted in regression and an increase in behaviours in both kids.

My parents took Colin to the pediatrician today for a behaviour appointment. The Dr's passion is Autism, ADHD and behaviourally challenged and he gives appointments out side of office hours for the parents who need behaviour help. He had told me at their last appointment that he wanted to see them, Colin in particular, based off what he was observing during the appointment. SSSOOOO...

Colin's symptoms/behaviours are a perfect example of what ADHD is. And to clear the questions... YES, HE IS STILL AUTISTIC. ADHD and Autism run hand in hand with the majority of cases. Normally he would set up multiple visits to have parent interview and child observation. Within walking into the office, Colin displayed every behaviour that we wanted to talk about. Unfortunately, that meant that Colin didn't need multiple visits; he prescribed the medications straight away.

The Dr. picked a medication that has been used for 30 years. He feels very safe in prescribing it. As glasses help people focus their eyes to see, these medications help children with ADHD focus their thoughts better. The medication is Adderall XR. It is a stimulant which does have appetite loss and trouble falling asleep as the side effects. We may need to change medications multiple times to find the "right one" but once found, we should see a dramatic change in him within 3 days.

During the appointment, the Dr asked about Keely. Apparently, she also shows many symptoms of ADHD (including the going potty in her pants right in front of you). He asked us to make an appointment for her next week. Hopefully the medicationss will center her and she won't have to go back to special ed classes (since there is NO WAY she would be able to last the kindergarten year without some kind of help).

SSSOOOO, check back for updates over the next few days...

Mourning the Loss...

To some, this post will be somewhere between silly and absurd. To the others, you know EXACTLY how I feel. Sorry to the first batch...

I finished reading the final Harry Potter book last night. I'm a little sad, a little in shock... I started reading the books early in 2001. I mourn the characters fallen in the books as much as I mourn the end; there will be no more books. I guess I've always known it has to end, but it has been such a huge part of escaping reality (I have read them over and over... I wanted to name my son Harry, for Pete's sake). Today I am wearing a black shirt for my beloved Harry Potter books.

I enjoyed the wild roller coaster of emotions Rowling put me through (the final book as much as the others). It ended bittersweet for me. This final book had me in tears more than once. At one point, Christian came into the bedroom and sat holding me as I went through a very upsetting chapter. I wanted to stop so many times for fear of what the end would hold.

I guess there is only one thing left to do. Start reading book1 page 1 tonight. Knowing the end will make the re-read more emotional than in the past.... but it's something I feel compelled to do.

Thank you Joanne Rowling. You created a magical world that will live on forever.

4 Weeks Post-Op... And I re-injured Frankenknee

For the past week, Christian's Mum has been here helping me out. I'm SO glad that she was able to come out here (it was her first trip to the lovely Tejas). Keely stayed the whole week here, so my Mum was given a bit of a break (one kid is 100 times easier to deal with than two).

On Thursday last week, I was adjusting myself on the couch and re-injured my knee. The good news is that I don't need immediate surgery. The bad news is the screw shifted (you can see the head of it bumped up under the skin) and the past 4 weeks of recovery was wasted. I am back with the immobilizer locked straight and in quite as much pain as week 2. As soon as Frankenknee is 110% healed, the Doctor will have to take the screw out.

SO.... that's the past week in a nut-shell. I'm just thrilled that I didn't have to have everything reopened right then and there!!!

My poor Mum is stuck with the kids living with her much longer now.... AND since school will start in a month.... she's going to be having to take them to and from school (and I will miss Keely's first day of kindergarten). Oh that poor woman.

3 Weeks Post-Op

I'm off the drugs during the day.... mostly. I have the privilege of strapping my leg into the Continuous Passive Motion Machine for 6-8 hours a day. That involves laying on my back staring at the ceiling fan complaining that my body hurts. I'll have Andy take a picture and post it later this week. The movement hurts. It feels like my knee is going to tear open. I started on Thursday only being able to bend it 10'. I'm up to 27'. I have to be up to 45' in 2 1/2 more weeks. *sigh* Then I have another appointment where I will be given the task of getting up to 95'. Then starts the physical therapy for weight and muscle rebuilding. Fun times ahead!!!

Christian's Mum is here from San Luis Obispo to help take care of me. It sure is a blessing that she was able to get the time off of work to come!!! It's going to help on the stress to my parents and Andy a lot. The kids were really happy to see her. She will be here until the 10th, so it should be a decent holiday for her.

Yep Yep. That's the update as of now.

I would like to introduce... FRANKENKNEE!!!!

16 days post-op. I had Andy take some pictures. I think "Frankenknee" sounds more humorous than "Frankenleg" but my whole leg has been effected by the surgery. Starting at the toes... all the way up to the hip joint is swollen. I have cankles (sp?) now.Note the burn on my foot/ankle area. I woke from surgery all drugged and complaining of a burn. Once they unwrapped my full leg/foot wrappings 5 days later... yep, the doctor burned me. It looks MUCH better now.

My knee is still pretty purple. NOWHERE as bad as it had been. I was too disgusted to look at it before or I would have posted pictures earlier. I was only given internal stitches; he just taped the incision area and told me to wait until it crumbles off.

Well, I hope you enjoyed meeting Frankenknee. He will be with me a long time and I'm sure that this will all have been worth it in the end. I have pictures of the insides and the razor scraping my cartilage, but I can't scan them in at the moment. I am REALLY hoping to get a picture of the screw just because it was a bit larger than I had expected. We will see.....

2 Weeks Post-Op

It's REALLY hard to type on the laptop.

I'm still alive. My leg is pretty dang swollen. It looks like frankenknee. I still can't look at it without becoming faint.

My parents have been bringing the kids over to see me every other day. Colin has been an angel at home. Keely pretty much plays in her room when she's over. My parents have taken me on two wheelchair walks. It's amazing how much I miss being outside. Heck, I miss laying on my side/tummy, walking, sitting comfortably on the couch...

More to come after I see the doctor on Thursday...

1 Week Post-Op

It's been a week since surgery. I feel pretty bad still. It was much worse than the doctor thought before. The pain pills have been very helpful. For the next two weeks, my therapy is to "wiggle my toes." I won't be able to put weight on it for 8 weeks. The meds make it very hard for me to think/type straight. I feel like a wreck. At least I got to have a shower!! After one week, I was pretty disgusting. The kids will be at my Mum's for who knows how long. They are both pretty upset with me; they won't talk to me on the phone. I saw Keely the day before yesterday and she was herself and had to leave right away for hurting me intentionally. She didn't even say hi to me or sit with me. Colin came over yesterday and he was glued to my side and cried when he had to leave. He kept saying, "Daddy, I promise I be good and not hurt Mommy so I can sleep at home. I promise Daddy!" When Christian carried him out of the house, I sobbed my little heart out. My parents are bringing them over today, we are going to load me into the wheelchair, and go to the playground all together. I sure hope that this doesn't backfire!!!

That's all for now. Time to nap again.

My Wandering Husband

10:00 pm. Christian and I go to bed.
1:23 am. Colin calls from his bed, "I have a bloody nose." I look and Christian isn't in bed. I think to myself, "I missed Colin's first call. Chris got up and is on his way to take care of it." 15 seconds later, Colin calls again.
I got up, sprinted to Colin's room, and start to apply pressure to his nose. Suddenly I hear it. It sounds like a bear sleeping in Keely's room. She is prone to deep breathing, snoring, talking & sleepwalking, but this sound was far too severe to come from her little body.
Colin's nose stops, I tuck him back in. I go into Keely's room and see her sleeping at the foot of the bed and Christian at the head (mind you, this IS a full sized bed). I shake him awake and he looks panicked. I walk with him to the kitchen and ask why he was in bed with Keely. Not only did he have no idea why he was in Keely's bed, he had no idea what he was talking about!! He was completely out of it and rambling about the oddest things!! It was glorious.

My Knee... and the upcoming surgery

Went to see the Orthopedic Surgeon today. Not really surprised that I need surgery. It is scheduled for Monday, June 11 at 730am.

I have moderately severe Patellar Tracking Disorder. My kneecaps do not slide up and down as they should, they pull outwards. Due to my previous knee injuries, the ligaments & tendons surrounding the kneecap are stretched out. Each time my knee has popped out of joint, the underside of my kneecap has been scraping the other bones and causing premature arthritis.

The surgery will consist of this:
A 3" incision under my knee. They will be cutting off my tendon and reattaching it with a screw (that I will have forever) in the center. They will be tightening my ligaments at the top of my knee. And, they will be grinding down the underside of my kneecap. I will have a catheter installed in my knee.

Post-surgery:
I will be on crutches for about 6-8 weeks. For two weeks, 6 hours a day, I will be on a CPM (Continuous Passive Motion Machine) which is a machine with a foot brace that gently and slowly move my knee. The catheter they are putting in will be connected to a pain pump. It will dispense meds directly into the knee for pain. We will be having to fork out $320 for a Polar Care Unit which is a new version of an ice pack. You strap the large pad onto the knee (like a brace but thick like an ice pack), a hose connects between the pad and an ice chest. Inside the ice chest is a pump and ice water. Once plugged in, the ice water circulates around the injury without the "ice burn" you get from a pack. It also weighs less and keeps less pressure on the injury. I would be wearing it non-stop for the first few days, during all CPM sessions, after all therapy sessions, and anytime there is swelling or pain. Oh, and I also get a fancy robotic knee brace. All these fancy contraptions and whositwhat's will cost a mere $800!!! And that doesn't include paying for the surgery or anesthesiologist!!! WooHoo!!!

So... that's what's going down. Just thought I would let everyone know (and this is by far easier than calling everyone)

Does anyone want a free trip to Texas to help take care of me &/or the kids???? We are desperate... especially since it is short notice and I'm going to be out of commission for a while. PLEASE!

My Knee... Part 2

I went to my regular doctor. He wiggled my knee around. He thinks I either stretched my ligaments or tore them the first time I dislocated my knee... which is why it keeps happening. SO... he had me call a surgeon. I have an appointment with him next Thursday. More to come...

My Knee...

So, for the third time in my life, I dislocated my knee. I was REALLY hoping that I could band aid it and not have to go to the doctor. Well... it looks like that isn't going to happen. It's killing me and still swollen after 2 weeks. I guess I have to make an appointment tomorrow... :(

Beck's Blog

There is a blog that I like to frequent. She's an avid craftster and she loves Harry Potter. She made some flag-bags and I commented that she should make a Polish Flag because of Christian being so proud of his heritage. AND SHE DID! She's dubbed it the "Fied-Bag" :)

http://peskypixie.blogspot.com/2007/05/polish-flag-man-bag-or-fied-bag.html

Wonky Pictures

The pictures in my new hair blog seemed to have gone a bit wonky. Click on the picture to see them better. Sorry about that.

My Hair

My hair felt like cotton candy. It was breaking off and I had fly-aways everywhere. My hair had seen better days. SO... I chopped it. It's short & girly. SO UNLIKE MARCI!

Bahbingos

Colin came in the living room from his bedroom where he was playing Thomas ChooChoo contently for about 10 minutes. He walked up to me and asked, "Are bahbingos good or bad?"
I replied, "I don't know what a bahbingo is."
Getting angry he replies, "I say are a bahbingos good or bad?"
"Colin, what is a bahbingo? I don't know that word."
"BAHBINGO!"
"What colour is a bahbingo?"
"AN ANIMAL! IS IT GOOD OR BAD?"

This conversation went on for about 15 minutes... the more I questioned the more upset he became and the more slurred his speech was. FINALLY, I asked if he was saying FLAMINGO. Well, it was. I said, that a flamingo is good and he turned around and went on his merry way.
*sigh* Speech delays suck.

BLAH

I've been sick. Massive tummy issues. It's been a week now and every time I eat, I feel like it all wants to come back out. I'm not enjoying this. I got scared that I might be preggers again. I made Christian buy a test. Came out negative (which I was 99.9999999999999% certain it would). At least I know it's just some poopy Texas bug. :(

Another Keely-ism

We went to a restaurant for dinner last night. Colin really enjoys this place because he can eat "a hamburger and french fries and ketchup." Plus, there always seems to be someone having a birthday when we go. They clap and sing while the birthday person rides a saddle waving a napkin over their heads (which we did for his birthday last November). Well, this time nobody had a birthday so Colin decided that it should be his birthday. We had the greatest server of all time on this visit, so when she came to clear the table, Colin asked if it could be his birthday with the clappers. She went in the back and out they came singing and clapping for Colin while he rode the saddle. After all the commotion and singing, we realized that Keely was crying. When we asked what was wrong, she informed us, "YOU LIED TO THEM! IT'S NOT COLIN'S BIRTHDAY AND HE SAID IT WAS AND THAT IS A LIE AND THAT'S VERY NAUGHTY!!!" We tried to explain that they knew it wasn't his birthday but they did it anyway because he behaved really well during dinner and they said they could do it as a reward. Well, she wasn't convinced and told everyone who passed that we were liars and naughty because it wasn't Colin's real birthday. *sigh* Who would have ever thought that she would come up with something so obscure as that!!!

My Cell Phone Holder

I sat and designed myself a cell phone cozy. I like how it turned out. It makes me giggle when I look at it. I'm making one for someone I know, also. She and I are united together against the evil forces of food. This, I think, will become our bond to one another :)

Ode to My Grandpa

I wasn't going to post this. For some reason, I feel compelled to, though. I wrote this within 30 minutes of my Grandpa dieing. I haven't read it since I wrote it. It's stream of conscious and I haven't corrected any typos... the punctuation is all off... it was everything I felt and thought at the exact moment I typed it... well, as quickly as my hands could keep up to my brain (and I do boast myself to be a quick typer). To anyone who becomes offended by the contents... sorry. I guess everyone "loved Mr.D" he was so thoughtful and friendly and always blah blah blah... yes, he did help me on a few occasions, but it always came with some backhanded remark or some strings attached. This was the Phil Damiano that I knew...

So, it happened. My grandpa died. All these years I thought that he was a vampire who would live forever. Apparently I was wrong. The man has escaped death more times than I can remember. I guess I knew it would happen one day... I just didn't realize that it would happen now. Last weekend was my weekend to call him. I got busy with mowing Nana & Papa's lawn... doing this and that... and I thought I would just call him the next weekend. Then on Tuesday I received a call from my Uncle saying that he took Grandpa to the emergency room due to kidney failure. This wasn't a surprise since he has been on a diaphoretic for almost 2 years to drain his body of obsessive water retention. I called him that day. He sounded horrible. I was only able to talk to him for 2 minutes before he asked if we could hang up. My Dad left today to drive to Milwaukee to see him and help his brother. He got the call around 9pm as he was pulling into a hotel for the night. He told Mom. Mom told me. I sat quiet once I hung up the phone with thoughts and emotions swirling inside of me. I always thought that the day he died I would feel happy... however that wasn't the feeling I had.... it was confusing... it wasn't sadness or happiness... it was pity. Pity for the man. He had a really rough start to life. He lived through the depression. His brother died in the war. He lost his eye quite young. He was considered a cripple. Maybe it was because he was considered a cripple that he drew up such a cold exterior.... maybe it was the person he always was... I don't know... I wasn't there. Great Grandma D sure as heck didn't raise him that way! He held the Italian Community Center on such a pedestal... he donated thousands of dollars to them because they were so important to him... not on plane tickets to fly to California to see his grandkids. He boasted about the church people and how they all loved him so much more than his own son and grandkids... As he became older, he became much more cantankerous. Much more bitter. Much more insulting. And yet, I called him at least once a month.... not because I was obligated to... not because I was guilted into it... because I wanted to. There were times in our conversations that I really enjoyed our talks. He seemed to really want to know and understand my kids and the Autism that would be with them for the rest of their lives. He wanted to learn as much as he could about Autism... that meant a lot to me. There are some in my family that still have it ass-backwards because they believe all the crap that they see on TV. When he talked about my Grandma... when they were newlyweds... when they were young... he wasn't the same man I had grown to know. He was... nice. And now he's gone. And I feel pitty for the man he had become and the life that he had made for himself. It was all along, his choice not to visit us when we were kids. It was his choice not to call me... and always wait for me to call him. It was his choice to always be angry and talk negatively about my parents, myself, my brothers. It was his choice to always tell me that my cousin was more a grandddaughter than I was because she was so wonderful and so smart and so perfect... Whether or not he knew it, it was his choice to have me distance myself from him. And now he's gone. He lived the last of his life as a lonely old man with nobody to talk to except my uncle who lives with him, his sister who recently lost her husband... and wait for my phonecalls. The Italian Community Center forgot all about Phil. A few of the church people still called upon him... but it was just token visits and conversations. I feel pity that a man who could have been my grandpa ended up dieing today. I wonder if on his deathbed he actually realized what he missed out on.

Colin's Request

I made this a while back... Colin lost it right away. Well, we found it again and he's been wearing it for about an hour now. So... I figured I would post a picture of Colin's Nose Warmer!!!!

My Newest Creation

I whipped up a little hat for my new friend, Wendy. She's pregnant with a girl and her theme will be cherries. I thought it came out awfully adorable with the little ruffle brim.
It is modeled by my Cabbage Patch Kid, Desmond, with Colin giggling.

My Dad's Birthday Party

Keely decided she wanted to throw Gramps a birthday party. So, it was up to me to do the cake. I started out with a 2-layer chocolate cake that had a banana filling with rings of banana in it. I was going to frost the top, but decided to go potty first. Colin wanted to help with the cake, so while I was out of the room, he dumped the cake on the floor. Oooppppssssss.
Quickly, I grabbed another box of cake mix and whipped up cake #2. Simple devil's food cake with chocolate frosting. In an effort to jazz it up, I grabbed a bag of mini marshmallows (meant for a batch of colourful Marshmallow Fluff for this week) and improvised. This was the result :)I made Dad a beanie (during the winter he complained his ears were cold) in hopes of the kids carrying on the tradition of stealing his beanie and wearing it every time he tried to move :) Colin asked for a matching one to Gramps. (This is the Birthday boy with his gift. He rolled it up due to it being a rather warm evening). I'm pretty sure that the highlight of the party was the fact that a super scary Thunderstorm was in the Dallas area. Luckily, we got a weak strand of it, but other areas had some pretty nasty weather. There was ping pong sized hail, massive lightening strikes, tornadoes, massive winds that devastated areas... We watched it all on the news.

Easter

Well, Easter is over. It's scary to realize that the year is already 1/3 over. It seems like only last month we were back in California playing with our friends and family... going to Disneyland... trying to get Colin to stop having a meltdown on the airplane... *sigh*

This year we hid plastic eggs and inside there was either one piece of candy or a folded piece of paper with the picture of a game on it. They got

• Whack-A-Mole
• Hullabaloo
• Cooties
• Cookin' Cookies Card Game
• Peanut Butter & Jelly Card Game
• a kids version of Uno
• Hi Ho Cherry-O!
• Chutes & Ladders
  
• a Disney plug into the TV video game

I really wanted to start incorporating taking turns with games into our routine, so this was the opportune time to buy all of them. So, that was our Easter. We played games most of the day. (I did sneak out and go up to visit Nana in the hospital for a few hours when the kids were busy playing with Christian)

Our Playdate

I met someone online (Wendy) recently in a Mommy's Group. She lives in Plano (about 30 minute drive from here) and has a 2 year old son named Xander. I've been talking to her for a few weeks and today she came to our house for a playdate. Colin did SO well. She was here over 5 hours which is a record for Colin playing with someone. Colin cried when they left calling, "McXander, come back to Colin!" as they drove away. Keely also liked them, but she was in one of her moods so she played by herself with her big girl activities that she can only do when Colin isn't around.

Wendy is a very nice person who I got along with very well. We are quite similar in parenting style and personality. In the future, I foresee us getting together often. Hopefully I will finally have a friend in Texas!!!!

The Start of Something New...

Alright, I started a Blog. It's going to be random. There is no telling what you will end up reading on this. I have no idea who will actually read this. Why am I doing this, you ask? Because I have been REALLY HORRIBLE about updating people back in CA. I started out sending pictures and updates to everyone... then I dropped off the face of the earth. If I have a blog, maybe I will be more driven to use it.
Without further ado...

So the kids went to the doctor two weeks ago. Here is the update on my offspring:

KeelyMonster - Now 41" tall and in the 8 %tile. She now weighs 39 LBS and is in the 32 %tile. With her little round watermelon shelf belly (you know what I'm talking about), her body mass is in the 77 %tile. The Doctor feels that she has some behavior issues (like that should surprise any of us) and would like to make an appointment to have her screened for ADHD. He also wants her to see a Urologist based on her potty issues. Again, no surprise on that one. All in all, she's healthy and growing!

ColinUly - A whopping 43 1/2" tall and in the 88 %tile. He weighs 38 LBS and is in the 54 %tile. His body mass is a mere 10 %tile. The Doctor also feels that he has behavior issues and feels that he should also be screened for ADHD. He has fallen behind on his development and they want us to get him involved in Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Physical Therapy again. They told us to go back after the county to see if we can get him reinstated in special ed. If we get turned away again, they want us to get through our insurance. He also has a referral to the EarNoseThroat Doctor due to his constant nose bleeds.

Lots of fun for the coming month or two. I can't wait to have all these apointments and see what they find!!!

Things in Texas are starting to come back to life. Spring is in the air; it's a warm welcome from the dormant winter months. The weather is warming up, so the kids and I are spending as much time as possible outside before the summer heats things up. I do miss the cold, though. I really enjoyed the winter weather a lot more than I thought I would. I guess I enjoyed the brisk air. The two times it snowed (okay, it was a dusting more than a snow) was rather wonderful. I took TONS of pictures. Now that life is coming back to the area, I will be making a DVD entitled, "A Day in the Life of The Fied's." I will travel around and film our area, Keely's school, our overly exciting city, our home (everyone has been asking for pictures now that the furniture is in, yet I have none), the community playground.... I'll keep everyone posted on my new blog of the status.

I have been pretty dang busy lately with my gardening. I have gone crazy for the new and exciting things that I can plant here. I'm going to post pictures as soon as I get everything in the ground. When I'm not gardening, I am sitting in the backyard on the swing watching the kids play or reading to them outside. It's been really enjoyable. At nights, I have taken to my knitting/crochet. I have actually sold one of these hats!! Well, that's all for now. I will try my best to keep this updated... even if it is with random stories, thoughts or useless information!!!

You can post comments to my blogs if you wish. Under the blog is a link. Click the identity of Anonymous. Just make sure to sign your name, so I know who you are :)