Sunday, September 21, 2008

homemade, shmo-made.

Last night we went to my sister's house for dinner -- she had a frozen turkey that had defrosted in her fridge and needed to be cooked, and so she called in the reserves since her three boys were with their dad for the weekend. Mike really likes turkey -- and he can eat a lot (though not as much as Joe, my sister Jo's fiance... but that man can eat more than is realistically possible or healthy...).

Anyway, the invitation was very nice and totally appreciated since we were fresh out of groceries last night. ("What do you want for a snack, Aidan? How about some dry spaghetii? No? Hmm... do you want a tortilla with ketchup on it?") We drank some wine, the boys played Wii Mario Kart, and everybody ate too much.

It was like Thanksgiving in September -- really quite delicious but totally overwhelming. Remember my pickles that didn't seal and how I lost my June Cleaver merit badge? Well, Johannah has like a bajillion merit badges for various homey domestic crap -- she probably knits the damn things in her spare time.

Picture it, Johannah's kitchen, last night:

Mike: Wow, look at all this food... you really went all out, Jo. Thanks again for having us over.

Jo: Oh, it's nothing -- I had to cook this turkey, and I didn't even make all the other stuff today. Some of it I made yesterday. So we have the turkey, and homemade gravy, the mashed potatoes Anna made, then homemade rolls, the stuffing I made with wild rice and currants, broccoli salad, frog eye salad, and don't forget this wine I pressed myself that's been aging in oak barrels in the basement.

(Okay, so maybe I exaggerated and Jo didn't really make her own wine -- the point is she probably could have if she wanted (and now I'm sure I've planted a seed and next year it will be on the menu for sure). And the best part? Those mashed potatoes that I made? FROM A BOX, people. Anyway, it gets better...)

Mike: After this, we should run out and buy some dessert or something.

Jo: Oh no need, I made these pies (she literally lifted a towel off the pies to unveil them at that point) -- homemade pumpkin and blueberry pie. So dessert is covered.

Mike: Wow!

Anna: Yeah, Jo... wow. (glares)

Monday, September 15, 2008

food for thought

what is it about putting a piece of food (hot dog, candy bar, apple...) on a stick that makes it so much better... and so much more expensive?

discuss.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

happy birthday mr. silver

It's Mike's birthday, and it's a big one... he turns 30 today. He's handling it pretty well (better than he handled turning 25 -- explain that one to me, please?) and most definitely better than I will handle joining the ranks of the 30-somethings; I break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it.

Anyway, in honor of my dear one's special day, I thought I would take a short walk down memory lane and reminisce about some of our special moments together, like...

...when we were decorating your family's Christmas tree together that first year and I kept unpacking "Mike and Mindy" ornaments. Imagine my confusion, since MY name is not, nor has it ever been Mindy! :)

...when we were on a date at the mini-golf course (did I ever tell you how much I hate miniature golf?) and I accidentally spilled your obscenely giant Dr. Pepper all over the "course" much to the chagrin of everyone behind us, and you so suavely saved the day by passing it off as a water hazard feature.

...when I stepped out of bed the first morning we spent together and slipped on the sheet that had fallen off the bed and onto the floor, flying 4 feet in the air and landing ungracefully on my behind.

...when I was pregnant with Wesley and got stuck on the floor, wedged between the couch and the end table for over 20 minutes until you came home and rescued me while keeping the laughter at a respectable level.

...when my midwife Julie informed us that they were going to induce me with Aidan, and you immediately started hyperventilating and pacing back and forth before leaving to get my hospital bag from home, getting pulled over a block away from the hospital for turning left out of a straight lane (you were still hyperventilating, I'm guessing) and then calling me from the road to see if I wanted McDonald's.

...when we had our first conversation like this:

Me: Let's snuggle some more, honey.

Mike: No, I want to go [insert something totally dumb and not as fun as snuggling]

Me: But wait, wait! I need to talk to you about something important....

Mike: What? Is this going to be something dumb just to keep me here?

Me: No! This is serious, I promise...

Mike: Well?

Me: ...umm...

Mike: What is it, Anna?

Me: ...

Mike: I'm getting out of bed.

Me: No!! Wait, wait... umm... do you love me??

Mike: (laughs) You are so annoying.


All I gotta say is... works every time.

I love you Mike! Happy birthday honey :)

all downhill from here

I've had such a fabulous response (fabulous for my readership numbers, at least!) to my misadventures in sausage making post, that I really just need to get something off my chest so I can stop crying myself to sleep at night.

I peaked already. Oh god, it was a horrible mistake -- how could I be so stupid??

Phew. That feels so much better. Now we can all stop feeling the pressure to match the funny factor of ground meat gone awry while we lay awake at night sweating and panicking while our eyes dart around the room and our blood pressure soars, just trying to think of how we could possibly top our last post, and we can get back to enjoying the inevitable downhill slide of this blog together.

Monday, September 08, 2008

developmental milestones


Wesley is learning how to do so many more things! Yeah, yeah, yeah he can do all that boring stuff that other babies his age can do like pull himself up to standing or say dada and mama (mama not nearly enough, dada ad nausem). Those are boring, normal baby things though; Wesley is way ahead of the curve with his new tricks.

First, he can take off his own pants. I have no idea how he accomplishes this feat, because it's usually done in his crib. (Although he apparently did it on Mike's lap once without Mike even noticing, which suggests some Houdini-esque talent) This is remarkable to me mostly because his three year old brother can't even take off his own pants -- or rather, he refuses. I wonder how I could train him to change the rest of his clothes... Gerber puff treats and a whistle, maybe?

Secondly, Wesley has learned the oh-so-important skill of craftiness -- call it being sneaky, crafty, wily, mischievious... the answer is always yes. He has always had a habit of putting everything (yes, everything) in his mouth, and I have stopped him many times from tasting all manner of fun things like beetles, cat hair and other assorted grossness. The difference is that now Wesley doesn't just try to put stuff into his mouth; he turns his head away from me before slowly and skillfully placing it in his mouth. Then he proceeds to crawl like hell away from me while I chase him down and try to extract said object.

Why, just this afternoon in one 30-second span (with me standing right next to him, mind you) I pulled a rock, pinecone, and crabapple out of his mouth -- yes, he is that quick. My little rock-eating trouser-droppin' magic man... makes a mom so proud. Sniff.

Saturday, September 06, 2008

hear ye, hear ye

Aidan has started using a new phrase: "I cried!"

As in: "NO, not pears! Peaches, I cried!" or "It's seven o'clock! Get up, I cried!"

I have no idea where my little town crier picked this up but it sure does make for good television.

Friday, September 05, 2008

yes

I never really intended to post about politics, but I didn't write this so no worries, right?

yes, yes, yes. what she said.

yes.

I paid for that?

I don't even want to go into the drama that we've been dealing with over the past couple days with Aidan and his digestive system -- suffice it to say that he's got poop issues now that he's finally recovering from last weekend's ordeal (of course he does). I wrote a long detailed purge of a post and then promptly deleted it after I re-read it and simultaneously thought "ew" and "huh?"

I will say that I'm beyond irritated that I will be paying for a trip to the ER and an x-ray to check for a serious bowel obstruction or problem (which, thank goodness, there isn't) with an ER doctor who seemed totally unconcerned and just sent us home with an enema... which is terrifying for a 3 year old if it even works (which it didn't).

I was totally unimpressed with this doctor, completely nauseated at the thought of the bill I'm going to get for his lackluster work, and (on a somewhat related note) totally sick about the cost of health insurance.

I'm also grateful for doctors like our pediatrician in Salt Lake, who took the time to talk to me this afternoon even though we're no longer his patients, and work out a plan to take care of this long-term.

So that's all I really need to say about that.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

just making sure

(Picture it: a car, mid-afternoon. A mom is driving her two young children around, probably running errands.)

Anna: How are you feeling, hon?

Aidan: Oh, Good!

Anna: Really? You're feeling good, that's great!

Aidan: Plo-bably yes, I guess.

Anna: Can you breathe okay?

Aidan: Yes, I just said.

Anna: So it's not hard to breathe?

Aidan: Nope.

Anna: So you can breathe easier?

Aidan: I am tine, I just said!

Anna: Fine, fine. I was just making sure. Sorry.

hamster pox

I have always wanted to call in sick with Hamster Pox, and now that I stay at home I encourage all my friends and family to do the same... no one has taken me up on it yet, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time. It sounds so dangerous, so nasty & contagious... so jet-setter's exotic vacation parasite-like.

But really, I'm sick. Everyone's sick, OH how we're sick. *cough cough*

Besides my four weeks of unrelenting congestion (but who's counting? Thank you allergies... and thank YOU Claritin, the drug that doesn't work) we have had a stomach bug and now a cold make the rounds at our household. Kids are so germy, blech.

And to top it all off, this Sunday after Aidan had a night with allergies (oh yeah, he's got them too) or a cold, he woke up wheezing -- not a good thing, people. Something similar happened last November when Wesley was 2 weeks old, and Aidan woke up with a fever and wheezing after 2 nights of Croup and ended up with an oxygen saturation somewhere in the 70%-range. After two hideous nebulizer treatments where I had to hold my screaming 2 year old for half-an-hour-plus, we were sent home with an inhaler, steroids, and an antibiotic, just in case it was pneumonia or something.

Long story short, it happened again on Sunday. This time, though, he hid it better, so I felt awful when we got to the doctor's and his oxygen saturation was at 77% -- he was talking in sentences, and didn't seem to be working very hard to breathe at all. Same in-office treatment with the nebulizer, same set of prescriptions, and here we are 2 days later. His saturation is still only about 91-92% though, so we've been going in every day while we finish the course of meds he got so we can make sure he doesn't get any worse.

He's doing a ton better than he was Sunday, I just wish he was getting better, faster. It's hard to watch and I can't help but worry that I might miss the signs if it happened again because I still have mommy-guilt over Sunday.

The doctors aren't going to say asthma right now, since it's only happened twice -- obviously if this becomes a recurring thing in our house we'll have to start doing some tests. I've spoken with several people who have said their young kids had wheezing episodes with some viruses and outgrew it as they got older... so I'm crossing my fingers.

So anyway, that's why I haven't been around. Nothing as exciting or exotic as hampster pox, I'm afraid. Unfortunately it's not as fictitious, either.

Now will someone come take my sick kids tonight so I can get some sleep????

(I'm serious by the way)