Time Scales

My dad went in for his bloodwork last week.  The creatinine was still too high for the CT scan so he has an appointment to go back this week and check again.  This waiting is driving me crazy!  But the doctor seems comfortable with the time scale we're working on right now.  He said its not a particularly fast moving form, so we don't need to worry about anything drastic happening between now and when they can get a good picture of the whole thing.  Plus, if he gets it now, the iodine might kill him.  So, you know.  Worth the wait.

Came across this video about a girl who wanted to learn to dance in a year.  It's impressive. 

Dad's Home!

They unplugged everything except for the kidney tubes, made him stay for 24 hours to make sure nothing failed then sent him home Thursday evening!  Ariel has been staying with him to make sure he's okay and to help him around the house.  His swelling was entirely gone, so he looks much better.  He was most excited about being able to roll over in bed because he's not plugged in everywhere.

He's expecting to go back to the hospital this week to get blood drawn.  If the renal values are low enough they'll schedule his CT scan.  I'm hoping everything goes smoothly!

Hospital Stay Overview

The first couple days in the hospital were the worst.  The doctors said because my dad's kidneys are not working properly, the waste that normally leaves in the urine was staying in his blood.  Those toxins in the blood were causing some confusion for him.  He was really out of it, so he didn't really understand what we told him.  When he thinks back on those first few days he's says it's really fuzzy.  Those toxins also cause muscle tremors and itchy skin (when the urea escapes the blood through the skin, it causes dry skin).  He also had trouble accepting the fact that he was seriously ill and needed to be in the hospital.  I think it was day 3 or 4 when he said, "I feel like I should be here."

The first week he had a catheter and was on IV fluids.  They gave him lots of pills to help with his high heart rate and malnutrition, occasionally for his high blood pressure.  They were hoping after his bladder was relieved, his kidneys would improve on their own.  Sadly, that was not the case and he started going in for dialysis every other day.  The doctors said there was still hope that his kidneys could recover, but the dialysis would speed up that process for him.  

On Tuesday, a week after he was admitted, he went in for the bladder scope.  The urologist was hoping to cauterize the bleeds and take a look around.  Unfortunately, when he was in there he found it wasn't a bunch of little bleeds in the bladder wall, so much as a large bleeding tumor.  He removed as much as he could, but after giving him 4 bags of blood decided to cauterize everything and back out. 

The plan is to do the CT scan and see how extensive the cancer is.  Hopefully it's only in his bladder and they can just take the dang thing out.  If they do that, they will most likely perform a bladder reconstruction out of his intestine.  

The doctor also found that the tumor was blocking his kidneys from emptying properly which explains why his kidney values weren't improving like they hoped.  A day or two after the cystoscopy he had a bilateral ureterostomy (tubes from his kidney through his skin).  So many tubes.  Getting out of the bed takes five minutes because of all the things that need to be unplugged or rearranged.

At the moment his is mostly unplugged.  The ureteral bypass tubes have to stay until the tumor is addressed.  Crossing my fingers that he can remain unplugged.

My Dad has Cancer

Somewhere back in January of this year (when we were visiting for Christmas), my dad started having some urinary tract symptoms.  I don't want to go into too much detail for his privacy, but I want to point out that this didn't exactly happen over night.  My dad was planning to come visit in Texas immediately after we left and bring back Callaway.  His symptoms prevented him from coming.  He said he was going to get better, then come down later.  

Weeks go by and I start urging him to go to the doctor.  He's always been healthy (as far as we can tell), so he has managed to avoid seeing a doctor for decades.  I'd bet he hasn't seen one since he and my mom were married (prior to 1996).  My dad's a "don't worry about it" kind of guy so I don't know the details on his health.  He lives alone, so I've kind of always worried something would happen to him at home and no one would know about it.  I always figured it would be a heart problem since those seem to run in his family.

About a month ago, his texting dwindled down to nothing.  He used to message me at least five times a day so when he stopped, I got suspicious.  The week of my wedding anniversary I called him to see how he was doing and he sounded horrible.  His voice was weak and he complained about being so tired that he had to sleep every afternoon.  There were several new symptoms, all of them worth a visit to the doctor.  He'd told me he'd been to the doctor a month prior.  Obviously, the medication wasn't working so I urged him to go again.  He seemed really out of it.  The next day, my sister called after having a similar phone conversation with him.  

In fear, I decided to go behind his back and call his good friends to see if they would go check on him.  When I talked with the wife, she admitted that he hadn't been out for Whiskey Wednesday with her husband in over a month.  They used to meet every Wednesday to try out fancy whiskeys at one of the bars in town.  My dad is the poster child for 'social butterfly', so this news scared me even more.  That night (Friday), she called me back to give me the update.

I was on the road to Austin to visit friends for the weekend.  She recounted her husband's visit and it was horrible.  She said my dad was pale and had no energy to stand.  He had told me he hasn't been eating much lately so I asked if he looked like he'd lost weight.  She said he was so swollen, she couldn't tell if he'd lost weight.  I called Ariel and that's when we decided to drive to Illinois (I looked into plane tickets, but the last-minute cost was outrageous.)  Unfortunately, I was almost to Austin by this point.  We opted to use the weekend to make arrangements for our jobs and my family, then leave first thing Monday morning.

We got a late start on Monday, so we didn't get in until 4 am Tuesday.  We didn't tell our dad we were coming and went straight to our mom's.  In the morning, we went to the store and bought some easy to prepare foods and drinks, then headed over to his job site.  We didn't know where he was, so we were discussing which way to go in when we heard a weak, "You're not supposed to be here..."  It took me a moment to find where my dad was sitting.  He was slumped on a bench between two trees not moving at all.  He looked horrible.  Exactly as his friend has described.

He asked what we were doing there and we told him it was a Father's Day surprise.  We know how much he has fought going to the doctor so we didn't want to scare him away immediately.  But then he said he felt bad because he didn't have the energy to do the fun stuff we probably wanted to do.  I told him we just wanted to go to his house and make him lunch.  He immediately refused and said he'd rather go out for pizza.  At this point, I knew he was avoiding us going to his house.  Our college-aged brother had gone by to bring him food a couple weeks prior and said our dad had apologized constantly about the smell and mess.  He hadn't had the energy to clean the house and Callaway was having accidents inside.  

It took some coaxing, but we convinced him to let us come over.  Ariel drove his car and I played chauffeur.  The house was dusty, but I didn't notice any odor.  Alex had come over the weekend before to take Callaway for him.  He must have cleaned up that mess.  The one thing I did notice is how hot it was.  He complained about being so cold all the time.  

Dad obviously did not want us in the house, so he announced we were going to the pool.  He was in no state to walk anywhere.  To appease him I said, "Sure, go get changed."  It took him HALF AN HOUR to change clothes.  He was wiped out so I told him to go take a nap.  While he was sleeping we cleaned his house and did some laundry.  When he woke up I listed off all his symptoms together and explained he was going to the doctor and we weren't leaving until he did.  Hoping he would take the bait, I gave him three options: his previous doctor, urgent care or the ER.  He said he didn't like his doctor, "so I guess take me to urgent care."  It was weak annoyance on his part.  He honestly didn't have the energy to fight us.

The urgent care doctor took a blood and urine sample and said he had a mass in his abdomen.  Go to the ER immediately.

We hobbled back to the car and headed to the ER (where I wanted to go from the start).  They brought him in back immediately.  I am seriously impressed with the efficiency, cleanliness and friendliness of that hospital and all it's employees when compared to ours in Texas.  No wonder it's a Magnet hospital.

The doctors announced the mass was his entirely-too-full bladder.  Something was blocking the proper flow of things and it caused renal failure.  His kidney values were through the roof.  They worked their magic to relieve his immediate discomfort and admitted him that night.  We were back at my mom's by midnight.  

A week after he was admitted, the doctor was finally able to do a cystoscopy and found a large tumor in his bladder.  He removed two thirds of what he could see.  The pathology report stated it was malignant bladder cancer.  The next step is to do a CT scan to determine the extent of the tumor.  They use iodine (a dye) in that procedure, but it is renal toxic.  After his kidneys recover, they will do the scan.

Ariel and I spent as much of our time as possible in the hospital with him for two weeks.  I needed to come home to attend to my family and get back to work, but Ariel chose to put her job on hold and stay with our dad.  I'm going to try to get back on here and give some more details about what happened during those two weeks soon.

Whirlwind Week in Illinois

This past week we drove to Illinois to celebrate Christmas with our family.  It was easier than previous years because we were able to split up the celebrations so there was one day per family (both our parents are divorced which equates to FOUR Christmases).  In the past, everyone wanted to celebrate ON Christmas Eve or ON Christmas Day.  That meant splitting up the visits into 4 hours in the morning and 4 hours in the evening on both days.  Crazy.  

It's been three years since we were in our hometown.  It was Alex' high school graduation.  Aiden wasn't even a year old yet.  It was strange to see the area.  It has changed so much since we were there last.  Tons of new construction.  It was sort of like playing an old video game.  I had some muscle memory about how to get around, but I couldn't lay out a map of the area in my head.

I spent a couple days with my friend Chrissie, who I miss dearly.  We have been best friends since I was in 3rd grade (she was in 1st).  We both live busy lives filled with work, family and a social life, so we don't spend a lot of time talking on the phone.  What I love about her is we can go months without talking, but when we do find a moment when we are both free to chat it's like no time has past.  Neither of us holds a grudge against the other for being out of touch because we are in the same chaotic boat of life.  It's the same way when we see each other.  We can immediately talk to each other about anything.  No limitations, no judgement.  It's liberating, really.  I hate that we don't get to do that every weekend. 

Thursday night Travis and I left the kids with my dad and went out for dinner and drinks with Alex, his girlfriend Laura, Chrissie and her husband Jordan.  We had SO much fun.  We went to a Mongolian barbeque place called 301 Mongolia in downtown Champaign.  Its a stir fry buffet where you physically pick out what you want (rice vs noodles, veggies, meat, sauce) then hand it to the cook.  The server brings it out to you when you're done.  After dinner we walked down the block to a bar where we drank more wine and played pool.  We skipped over to a pub at some point and tried a few fancy beers.  We finished the night at some greasy diner.  Despite both of us having a terrible cold, we were able to really enjoy ourselves.  It was fabulous.

I will have to post separately about our drive there and back.  For now, here's the rest of the week in photos:

Aiden, Travis, Alex and Callaway played in what little snow they could find.

Grandpa Ken and Mila really hit it off.

Aiden showed everyone his new LeapPad from Gpa.

Gaga and Mila meet.

"Christmas" dinner at Dad's

All bundled up with places to go.

Aiden and his Uncle Sean were best buds.

Damn smokers (Travis is just faking)

Christmas at Gpa's - his place is tiny, but it's homey.

Chistmas at Grandma Carol's - great food and tons of grandchild spoiling.

Here Comes Halloween

Aiden is LOVING Halloween this year.  He is going to be Captain America for trick or treating and he has his Spiderman bag from last year.  I remember when I was little this was probably my favorite holiday.  The older I got, the more it moved towards Christmas.  Ariel is still obsessed with Halloween.  It's pretty much HER holiday.  She goes all out with the decorations every year.  When I went to her house Tuesday, I decided I need to beef up my decor a little.  Mostly for Aiden.  Last night I made a new wreath while Aiden started working on a Halloween painting.  I think the wreath turned out pretty good.  I'm not sure how well it will hold up over time though (lots of glitter and feathers).

After we were done with our crafts, we set up some decorations around the house.  Aiden is so into it that I let him put a spiderweb up and some other spooky items in his room.  I didn't do much when compared to Ariel, but I took a few photos that I sent to the family:

Every time we go to Target (which is at least once a week), Aiden wants to walk through the Halloween section.  I couldn't believe it when he wanted to push the buttons for the spooky animatronics. 

When I was little, I grew up in an old Victorian home.  Our house was the place to go for Halloween.  My dad put up a giant spiderweb and spider on the side of the house.  Our front porch was decked out in spiderwebs and the candy bowl sat between a papier-mache clown and my dad.   My dad took some of my brother's old baby clothes and stuffed them so it looked real.  Then he stuck his head and hands through styrofoam so his face and hands completed the stuffed clothes.  I hope that makes sense.  It was creepy.  I don't think I'll ever go that far for Halloween.  I absolutely despise scaring people (let alone small children) because I know how much I hate to be scared.

I went to Google maps to get a photo of our old house.  The yard looks totally different and the house has been painted a peachy-pink color, but you get the gist of what we had going for us on Halloween.

I need to buy Nightmare Before Christmas.  That's a good Halloween movie that I could watch with Aiden.

Delivery Day

Wow.  So this birthing experience was a complete 180 from the last.  A week ago on Thursday, I went in for my 40-week OB check up.  When I got in there, the doctor said I was dilated 1 centimeter so she would be able to strip my membranes.  It wasn't even really uncomfortable, which was weird since all the previous visits it actually hurt for her to check me for dilation.  After she finished, she told me she had accidentally torn the outer sac of the placenta.  I did not know this, but apparently there are two layers to the placenta.  I suppose the good news is she didn't break both!  

After my appointment I drove back to Galveston to pick up Aiden and we went to Kemah to meet the Ramby's for an outdoor concert and so the boys could run in the water play area.  My contractions were a little stronger that night, but the doctor told me to expect that whether I went into labor or not.  

That night, I went to bed and slept through the night without a hiccup.  When my alarm went off the next morning, I decided to time my contractions all day.  They were stronger than they had been before and I wanted to be sure to keep an eye on it.  I got ready for work, Travis got Aiden ready for daycare and we all left the house.  By the time I got to Aiden's daycare, the contractions had started to get strong enough that I had to breath and focus my way through them.  But they were irregular and far enough apart that I wasn't too concerned.  I decided I would take the day off.  It was supposed to be my last day of work before my maternity leave started.  I knew even if I went in and never went into labor, I would not be able to concentrate with those contractions.

I dropped Aiden off at daycare and drove over to work.  I was responsible for letting a guy into work that morning and I didn't want to leave him hanging.  I took care of that and drove straight over to Ariel and Robert's house.  At this point, my contractions were anywhere between 4 and 10 minutes apart.  Ariel was still asleep, so Robert agreed to drive me home.  I didn't think it was smart to drive any more with that level of contractions.  Robert drove me back in my car so he could drive it back to Galveston.  My dad was on the road to Texas, but wasn't supposed to arrive until around 2pm.  Ariel and Robert said they would pick up Aiden for me, so I had to leave a car with a car seat.

My plan was to go home and wait for the contractions to become regularly spaced.  By the time I got home, the contractions were 2-4 minutes apart.  I decided it would be best to have Travis come home from work since thing seemed to be moving right along.

Travis got home about 30 minutes later and packed his hospital bag.  I tried to get some of the basics done before he got home.  I couldn't stop moving.  I had to keep walking.  Sitting on the birthing ball actually seemed to relieve some of the pressure during the contractions, so I used that a lot.  I was at 2 minutes apart when we got in the truck to go to the hospital.  I was starting to get nervous that I would not make it to the hospital in time to get an epidural.  I know what it's like to push out a kid without an epidural and I really did not want to relive that if at all possible.  

Our hospital has valet parking.  VERY handy when a woman is in labor.  We walked to the elevators inside and sure enough, they weren't working properly.  I was walking in circles trying to focus on my breathing while five other people stood around holding various items that showed they were visiting others (flowers, balloons, teddy bears, fast food bags, etc).  I think they were all a little skeptical about getting on the elevator with me when it finally started working again.  I had flashes of giving birth to my daughter while locked in that tiny compartment with five strangers.  At least Travis would be there.

Thankfully, the elevator got us to the third floor without any further problems.  We walked up to the nurses station at 11 am and they took me to a birthing room right away.  The nurse started checking me in and I told her right off the bat I wanted an epidural.  She checked me first to make sure I was "actually in labor".  Ha.  I was 90% effaced and dilated 4.5 cm.

I was wishing I had come in earlier because the process of getting an epidural is an excruciatingly loooonnnnggg process.  First, I had to be admitted.  This proved to be a trying situation since the second nurse that came in to do that for me was from Africa.  Her accent was so strong that I had trouble understanding her and she had trouble understanding me.  Oh and she had the same problem with all the other nurses that came in periodically.

Second, I had to receive a liter of IV fluids.  An epidural can cause low blood pressure.  To counteract that, they pump you full of fluids.  Third, I had to drink some really nasty antacid crap.  BLECH.  Fourth, I had to sign consent forms for the analgesia.  Fifth, I had to wait for the anesthesiologist to have time for me.  

After I got the epidural, it took about 10 minutes for it to start working.  The nurse checked me again while we waited for the epidural to work it's magic.  I was 7 cm dilated.  As soon as the anesthesiologist left, the nurse realized the baby's heart monitor had lost it's signal.  Instead of readjusting the band, she started having me flip from side to side.  It was really difficult to move quickly during the contractions.  I was still feeling the pain, not to mention it was just difficult to move with that giant belly.  Travis had to leave while I got the epidural.  A nurse came in at that point to see if Travis could come back in the room.  My nurse (who I had lost any confidence in) said "no not yet" and asked that nurse for help.  She walked up to me, readjusted the heart monitor and it was fine.  

I am pretty sure that Idiot Nurse had no idea what she was doing.  She had me flipping all over the place just because she couldn't find Mila's heartbeat.  I was really annoyed when she made me stay lying on my right side.  She thought that was why the nurse was able to find her heart beat again.  So that meant my right leg was completely non-functional.  The epidural pools with gravity.  Weirdest feeling ever.

They let Travis back into the room and I sent him back out to get me more ice chips.  I was SO THIRSTY. At 1:45, while he and the nurse were out of the room, my water broke.  I couldn't reach the nurse's call button because it was on the left side of the bed.  I just waited for Travis to get back and he pressed the button for me.  

At 2:20, the doctor came in to check me.  I was a little bummed my doctor was not working that weekend, but this doctor turned out to be just as great.  After he checked me, he asked if I was having the urge to push at all.  I told him I didn't think so.  He said I was complete (10 cm) and the head had started to come down into the birth canal, but he wanted me to feel that urge before we got the show on the road.  He had the nurses hook me up to Pitocin.

By 2:45 I was having a severe urge to push.  It was so intense that I actually had Travis check me to see if the head was already coming out.  The Idiot Nurse came over to check me at that point.  She had me push as she checked and said I was ready.  I was hungry and worried about hours of pushing on an empty stomach, so she ran to grab me a Popsicle.  

She gave it to me and then asked me to push again.  While I was holding the Popsicle.  Soooo I grabbed my left leg with one hand, held onto the Popsicle with the other hand and pushed.  

The nurse yells, "Stop, stop, stop!"  So I stopped.  She was doing something so I went back to eating the Popsicle.  

Then the nurse mumbles something in her hard-to-understand accent that sounded like push again.  But then she seemed to stop paying attention to me.  

I said, "Push?  Right now?"  When she didn't respond, I just said, "Eh," and went back to eating the Popsicle.  

Travis started laughing so hard.  So then I started laughing.  This whole thing was totally different than our last experience.  

I finally finished the Popsicle and the nurse asked me to push one more time.  "Stop, stop, stop!" she said again.  "I don't want you to have this baby before the doctor comes in here.  Better safe than sorry!"  Ugh, she was the worst.

The doctor came in and all the nurses set up their stations (one for me, one for Mila).  The doctor gave me some tips on pushing and then we gave it a go.  I pushed three times in a row, then I rested until the next contraction.  I pushed again and then on the fifth push, out came Mila's head!  No pain.  Just pressure.  It was perfect.  The doctor suctioned then asked me to push again, out came the rest of Mila!  The doctor held her up, pronounced her a girl and laid her on my belly.  Travis and I were both crying.  Then Travis got to cut the cord.  I was so excited he got to do that since he didn't get to with Aiden (umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck twice).  

Travis went over to the warmer with Mila while I took care of the afterbirth.  I had instant relief once the placenta was out.  I felt like I could breathe again.  The doctor held it up for me to see as he inspected it. So funny.  Then he goes, "Hey Dad!  Get over here and take a picture of this."  Oh man the look on Travis's face.  "Really?" he asked.  He so did not want to get near that thing.  I told Travis to just come over and take a picture of it really quick.  That way I could look at it afterward.  I think it's interesting.

When I had Aiden I had to get a local anesthetic to numb the area for stitching afterward.  The epidural was still in full force this time around so I didn't need anything for the stitching.

After I was finished and cleaned up I got to hold Mila.  I attempted nursing her for the first time and it went really well.  She was wide awake.

Mila's first photo

When they brought in my dinner, Travis took her.  Soon after that my family arrived with Aiden (Dad, Ariel and Robert).

Aiden meets Mila for the first time

Mila gave her big brother a gift when he arrived.  He LOVES his Hulk action figure.  Aiden did so good with her.  He was really sweet and gentle.  He was also REALLY excited to have all his favorite people together.

As soon as my epidural had begun to wear off, they took Mila to the transitional nursery, my family went out for dinner and they wheeled me to the room I would be staying in for the weekend.  

I was super stoked when they brought in another tray of food for me.  I was insanely hungry.  My family came back after dinner to visit a little more.  

I will try to blog more soon.  I'm working on figuring out how to take care of two kids right now, so I am not sure when the blogging will happen.  Travis was off all week and he goes back to work Tuesday.  My dad has been here all week and he will be for another week.  So I've had lots of help.  It's still been a learning process!

Once

Homemade Pies

One night while my dad was here we baked homemade pizzas.  Ariel and I used to do that all the time as a kid, so it brought back some fantastic memories.  Aiden and my dad shared a pizza.  I think it worked out good because Aiden wanted every topping my dad wanted, so they had lots of goodies on top. 

I think Aiden enjoyed himself.

I used dough that came in a pouch for the first time - I just had to add water.  It wasn't too bad!

He watched his pizza bake in the oven and then scarfed down his slices like we hadn't fed him days.  Gpa was impressed. 

A Couple Firsts

Several weeks ago we had a family crawfish boil at our house.  My dad has never been to a crawfish boil and we've never had one at our house.  Two first in one night!  I thought we did really well considering we didn't have any Cajuns around to show us how it's done.

My pops and I

Callaway the cowboy

Callaway used to have a horrible rash when he lived with  us.  We took him to the doctor a bunch of times to find that it was just allergies.  We treated with steroids and antibiotics until it went away.  Then of course, it would come back in a month.  Within a month of living with my dad in Illinois, his rash was gone.  Apparently Callaway is allergic to something, or several somethings, here in Texas because a couple weeks after being here it came back.  My dad has been back in Illinois for a week and the rash is already gone.  I think that just goes to show Callaway was meant to be with my dad!

The guys let Aiden help out by cleaning the crawfish.

Load 'em up!

Dinner is served

We kept the crawfish in the cooler after they were finished cooking.  It was a brilliant idea that kept the crawfish hot for hours.  

Gpa liked the crawfish.  Aiden thought it was too spicy.

Getting lessons on how to peel a crawfish.

Auntie Ariel helped Aiden get ready for bed.

Well fed and Aiden was heading to bed.

Daddio

My dad likes to take us out to eat, but sometimes I dread what he might do.  Partly because he is sensitive about the server bothering us - occasionally when they come around he is short with them for interrupting our conversation.  But also because of his sick sense of humor.  He likes to mess with the server at times.  Unfortunately, where we live, a lot of servers do not speak English as a first language.  That means where an American might chuckle at the crazy old man, the immigrants stares back blankly trying to understand what he means.  I can just hear their internal dialog: 'Surely he didn't just ask that.  I must have heard him wrong.  But then, what else could he mean?'

A couple weeks ago we went to a Mexican restaurant.  They have a lot of strange stuff on the menu like fish with the head still on and quail.  When the Mexican server came up to see if we were ready to order, my dad asks, "What is quail?"  The man knows what quail is.  He just like to watch people squirm.  Problem is, I'm on the other side of the booth, squirming just as much as the server.  Good lord, man.  Leave her alone!  Her English was very sketchy, so she was unable to describe what it was at all.  She just said, "It's like chicken."

Then this past weekend we went to a local donut shop for kolaches and donuts.  As soon as we walk into the shop, in front of a very large glass display of donuts, my dad asks the Vietnamese woman behind the counter if they have any donuts here.  Her brows furrow and she frowns a bit at him.  Thankfully, she was a younger woman, so she was able to bounce back pretty quickly.  She laughs and says, "donuts?" as she peers down at the 100 baked pastries sitting in front of her.  I force out a stoccato laugh, hoping to let her know he was indeed joking.

My dad left for Illinois this morning.  He may be whacky, but I will miss him dearly.

Croton, Begonias and 4 o'clock

Last Wednesday I ended up being sick.  I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for that day.  I was going to drop Aiden off and go into work in the morning, then leave for my appointment before lunch.  Instead, I laid on the couch feeling like I was going to die while my dad took care of everything for me.  I am SO lucky he was around this past week.  He brought Aiden down to daycare for me.  Then he came back, picked me up and drove me to my appointment.  I was feeling really achy, so the thought of having to wield a steering wheel was highly unappealing. 

After my appointment (weight is good, nothing important to speak up), my dad bought me lunch and then I passed out on the couch for the afternoon.  I had set my alarm so I could wake up in time to get Aiden.  But a few minutes before it went off, my dad walked through the living room saying he was going to pick up Aiden.  He had spent the entire day working in my yard, taken care of Aiden and then came home to make me dinner.  The dinner part is even more fortunate because Travis ended up not getting home from work until 11:30.  I would have had to take care of everything by myself that evening had my dad not been around.  THANK YOU DAD.

I was super busy Thursday and Friday.  I actually can't even remember what we did.  I need to pull out the camera and see if it gives me any clues.  I do know that my dad built a new plant bed between the patio and the chain link fence next to the driveway.  He and Travis are looking for soil they can remove from around the yard to build up the area around the raised walkway that now leads to our front door. 

Having that plant bed already makes the area seem more finished.  I'm planning to move some bamboo out from under the awning of our house and planting it there.  I found out in the past few weeks that it is a full sun plant, which explains why it hasn't grown very much back in that dark corner of the house.  The bamboo will double as a barricade between our play area and the busy concrete driveway. 

My dad bought four croton plants to plant in front of the wall in that new plant bed.  I bought some red wax begonias to plant in there as well.  My dad planted a bunch of seeds for me a week or so ago.  They're all sprouting and we were able to plant the 4 o'clock seedlings already.  I still need to plant the poppies and hopefully we'll be able to afford purchasing a plant here and there so we can fill in the rest of the bed.  My dad sat down with me and we prepared a landscaping blueprint so I know exactly what I need and how much of each.  I'm so excited I can't stand it!

It's been raining a bunch here, which was a huge bummer because we had planned on working in the yard a lot this weekend.  There was a break in the rain Saturday morning, during which time my dad and Travis put together a new gate for the wall that we never got up.  I think they did a really good job!  It's not a heavy duty gate, but it will be better than the two chairs I had setting there to deter Aiden from leaving through there.

I took this photo while under protection of an umbrella. The lakes were forming.



Dad's Chili

Yes, it's dark and blurry, but it is a rare photo of the three of us together.  (Plus Toby - can you spot him?)

Saturday, Aiden and I went over to Ariel's so I could hang out with my dad while Aiden napped.  Travis had to work that morning, so we made plans for him to meet us down there for dinner.  Aiden refused to go to sleep on time, so he only got half a nap in before I had to rouse him.  The first day my dad got here he announced that he would be taking us to see The Lorax when it came out. (Side note: Did you hear Zac Efron dropped a condom on the red carpet premiere for The Lorax???  AWKWARD.)

It was the perfect movie to see in theaters with Aiden.  We took him to see Puss in Boots (his first movie in theaters) because we really wanted to take him to a movie and that was in theaters that weekend.  This movie was more his style.  He was held captive for the majority of the film.  Only a couple times did he unfreeze to laugh or point at the screen.  My dad loved it.  Auntie Ariel bought him popcorn, but he was more interested in her peanut M&M's.  Kid loves M&M's - all kinds. 

After the movie, we went back to Ariel's house for dinner.  My dad made chili.  I miss his chili.  I need to write down the recipe before he leaves.  Chili from the north is more soup-like than the thick beanless stuff they make down here (okay, there might be a bean or two, but it is mostly ground beef).  I like them both, but I miss the northern version.  My dad settled my sweet tooth with brownies for dessert (that's why I'm so smiley in the photo above).  Aiden was being horrific by this point.  An hour-nap was not sufficient for a late night, so we headed home.

It was an ideal weekend.  Aiden didn't come wake me up until after 7 each morning.  I've been trying to teach him not to come in until there is a 7 in the first spot on the clock.  It worked this weekend.  I'm hoping it continues to work.  At first I thought he just happened to sleep in until the appropriate time for me.  But Sunday morning, I got up to go get him some milk and a cup of cereal while he watched cartoons in our bed, I noticed he had turned on the lamp above the clock in his room.  There were a bunch of books spread out on the nightstand like he'd been reading there by the light of the lamp awaiting 7 o'clock.  Again, I'm not sure if this is blind luck or if he really is beginning to understand time. 

The other reason the weekend was so great is I did not plan anything in the mornings.  That meant I didn't have to rush to get us ready immediately after waking up.  It was GREAT.  I need to make more of an effort to do this.  I'm just too tired to be running around all the time.  It was also nice to be around the house in the so I could catch up on simple things like dishes and laundry.  Note to self.

Museum and a Nursery

SO BEHIND.  Last weekend we went to the Houston Children's Museum with my dad.  I had a Groupon that was about to expire, so we needed to get that out of the way.  My dad was only availabe in the morning since he had plans with Ariel that afternoon.  We got up Saturday morning and got on the road right away. 

Aiden really seemed to enjoy the museum.  We've been there with him three times before.  Twice while he when he was younger and we went to the Tot Spot, a section geared more towards babies and toddling toddlers.  Aiden has quickly outgrown this section.  Last time we went, we hung out outside in the water play area.  This time, we hit up the make-believe section.  They have all these different rooms that are set up as some sort of a business and your child can go through and act like an employee. 

First, we hit up the bike repair shop:

Soooo, should I keep posting these sideways photos? Or are they not worth it?

Second, we went through the emergency area - ambulance (complete with an injured dummy for shocking with paddles), police car and police station.

Oh look.  This one is normal.  WTF.

Third, was the grocery store.

Aiden really got into each place.  At the grocery store, they had baskets for the kids and a grocery list so they could walk through and pick out the items from their list.  Aiden pulled a 'Travis' and picked up a few extra items.  Travis is known for randomly needing Oreos on his rare trips to the store.

Fourth, was the diner.

Oh this one is completely upside-down. Awesome.

Travis sat at the bar while Aiden made him lasagna and got him a milk.

Soon after that was the meltdown.  It was lunch time, but he through a fit when I said we had to leave the play area for a bit to get something to eat.  I knew he was hungry and we were approaching nap time.  I hoped that we could just get him to the snack bar and then he'd get better after he ate.  Sadly, this did not happen.  He kept crying so we never got into the food area.  We decided it was probably best to just leave.

Aiden passed out in the car, THANK GOD.  After we'd been on the road for a bit, I asked my dad if he wanted to stop at a nursery on the way home.  He'd mentioned he wanted to ask for advice and ideas on filling in the new plant beds that we created next to the sidewalk.  I was hoping Aiden would stay asleep, so Travis could nap as well. 

Unfortunately, Aiden woke up with an intense need to poo a few minutes after my dad and I got out of the car.  Of course he didn't actually poop during the first visit to the bathroom.  He started complaining about his tummy hurting so we rushed back to the bathroom.  Of course, by this point a line had started.  Thankfully Aiden was wearing a Pull up because he had diarrhea before we were able to get on the toilet.  He was so distraught about not making it to the potty.  Plus, he was uncomfortable from his tummy ache.  Poor guy.

My dad and I tried to get some advice while Aiden played in the car with Travis.  We got stuck talking to a woman who was all too ready to talk plants.  After 45 minutes I had to just cut her off and say thanks.  She kept talking for a few more minutes, which made my neck itch with irritation.  Aiden slept for the ride home, but it was not nearly a long enough nap for him.  I felt good about the good parts of the day.  I guess it was all worth it.  Ha.

Phone Photo Catch Up

We've been busy with my dad here.  Lots to do!  One of the things he surprised us with is a new sidewalk to lead from our driveway to the front door.  When we put in the new wall this past summer, it blocked the view of the front door.  So people who have never been to my house before may have trouble deciding which way to walk.  This sidewalk solves that.  It also created a flower bed for me to add some landscaping.  I can't wait to spruce up the wall.  I've got some plans in my head.  Hopefully they turn out as good in reality.  Some of the plants I'd like to use are not availabe yet.  I'll purchase those when it gets warmer.

The sidewalk is not quite finished.  The project was supposed to be two-day deal, but turned into a week.  We still need more pavers, pea gravel and soil to level the ground around the new raised portion of the sidewalk.  No walking in puddles to get to my house dangit! 

I love how a project starts as laying a few pavers and turns into leveling the land in my front yard.

Stupid sideways photos.  I don't know how to fix them at all now.  This happened on my home computer as well.  AHHHHH.

The first weekend my dad was here, he made us pancakes for breakfast.  He made his infamous Mickey Mouse pancake with raisins for the eyes, nose and mouth.  Aiden got to watch him make the cake.  He LOVED it.  He ate the entire thing.  He refused to let me cut it though, so it was quite a mess. 

We had a mini-Valentine's Day party after my dad got here.  He bought us lots of candy and cards.  Ariel came over with alcohol gear from the bar.  Not the most ideal thing for a child to be wearing, but Aiden really enjoyed the wrist bands from Jagermeister.  They turned into arm bands when he got a hold of them. 

Showing off his muscles.  He had to concentrate to "flex".

Aiden has also found a friend in Phage recently . He's our male cat that has always been really easy going.  I think we're going to have to get male cats from here on out.  The females are all too spastic for me.  Anyway, Aiden loves to give the cats each a treat in the morning when he wakes up.  It's so cute.  I told him they only get one each, so he gives them each one and then the cats beg for more.  Aiden throws his hands up in the air, gets this high-pitched voice and says, "There's no more.  That's all." and he puts the bottle back in the cabinet.  Love him.

He also likes covering Phage up for nap time.  He finds every one of his blankets he can get his hands on and tucks the cat in.  Phage just lays there and takes it.  Even if Aiden accidentally lays on him too hard.  He just yelps and waits for Aiden to get off. 

On Saturday and Sunday mornings Aiden lays in bed with us and watches cartoons.  Phage has started plopping down right in Aiden's lap and basking in the attention.  Such a needy cat.  Thank goodness Aiden is here to help.

PS - We're trying to grow Aiden's hair out (in case you didn't notice the shag).  We haven't quite decided how to cut it since his hair is still baby fine.  His hair IS a little wavy, but I was sort of thinking something like this or this.  It's a work-in-progress, I guess.

A Day at the Zoo

This past weekend was a three-day weekend for me because of President's Day.  It worked out perfectly with my dad being in town and staying at our house for the week.  (He's staying the next two weeks at Ariel's.)

We had beautiful sunny skies on Sunday so we headed to the Houston Zoo.  It was so much fun with Aiden this year.  He loved it!

Daddy went for a swim with piranhas.

Green iguana

Gpa is so helpful

Aiden saw these guys and wanted to go pet them.  Travis said he did too, but that they weren't allowed to.  Aiden then said he wanted to ride them.  Travis said he did too, but again, they weren't allowed to.  They don't get to do anything fun.

Giraffes in the African section



Cheese!



Aiden passed out on the ride home.  It was 2 pm by this point, so we decided to stop at a nursery on the way back.  Travis stayed in the car with Aiden while my dad and I went in to pick the brains of a few plant buffs.  Unfortunately, Aiden proceeded to wake up with an intense need to go potty.  He ended up having diarrhea in his Pull-up because the line was too long for the public restroom.  Poor guy was pretty upset about his accident, not to mention feeling crappy because of the diarrhea.  I think we kept him up too long and he ate too much crap (hot dog and popcorn) at the zoo.  I think we've raised Aiden to have an uppity colon.  Anything less than organic yogurt or hummus is not good enough for The Uppity Colon.

Mid-Night Arrival

Gpa is here!  He got in at 1:15 this morning.  Travis went out to greet him and Callaway and to help him carry in bags.  We sat and talked until 2 so he could take it down a few notches before heading to bed.  As tired as I always am after a long drive like that, it's amazing how difficult it is to immediately fall asleep.  I usually feel buzzed and a little like a zombie.  I have to relearn how to talk and walk.  Plus I'm usually visiting family so I get excited to see them. 

While we were chatting, I ate a chocolate chip pumpkin cookie.  I woke up hungry.  Insanity.  I guess I was so excited to see my dad that I had trouble falling asleep at 2.  Needless to say, I'm a little tired today.  I would have liked to meet him for lunch, but I was too busy around lunch time today.  Instead, he is going to meet us at Aiden's daycare so we can pick him up together.  Then we'll go home for dinner.  I bought the ingredients to make grouper, rice and corn on the cob.  I think that might be a strange combination, but I can't really tell.  I was just excited about the corn on the cob.  I'm also interested to see if Aiden likes it.

Seeing Callaway was so funny.  He has lost a lot of weight since we had him last.  I think it's because he gets way more exercise with my dad.  When we had Callaway, he sat at home alone for the majority of the day, then laid at our feet for the evening.  With that lack of exercise, he was still at normal weight.  Once my dad got him, he started bringing him to job sites every day AND taking him for a walk every night.  Callaway has lots of energy, so he has easily kept up.  We are making an appointment for him to see our vet here again.  Hopefully the vet is not concerned.

I had a small reminder of what life with Callaway was like.  The moment my alarm went off this morning, he was in the bedroom pacing next to the bed.  I suppose that's a good thing, because then I don't fall back asleep after I hit snooze.  Then he followed me everywhere.  I almost forgot he would need to be let out first thing, but he sat by the door and made me remember.  I had to stand outside with him because we still have not put the gate up we bought last September and I don't know what Callaway would do now that he has become accustomed to spending a good portion of the day on a leash.  He did fine.  The only reason Callaway ever ran away in the past was because he was being harassed by a pellet gun two doors down.  Of course we haven't seen from the Creeper with a Pellet Gun since Callaway left, which leads me to wonder if he was purposely harassing our dog.

Anyhoo, I can't wait to get home and hang out!  Longest Day Ever.

A Few Changes

My dad left Wednesday night after we had all gotten home from work. He wanted to drive through the night (less traffic, means better time) so he took a couple naps throughout the day to prepare himself. Ariel, Travis, Aiden and I all waved goodbye as he and Callaway drove off that evening. Aiden started screaming crying as soon as Callaway and Gpa climbed into the car. Callaway sat in the back seat and just stared at us with his tongue lolling out to the side. Travis was upset to see him go, so of course Ariel and I started crying as well. It was all very horrible. ON my birthday. Ugh.

We ordered pizza for dinner and tried to forget about it. In the long run, I know it will be good for us. Hell, it's good for me in the short run. Most of the times when I think about Callaway are the times I had to take care of him: feeding him, him waking me up first thing in the morning to be let out, him knocking Aiden over trying to get in the back door when we get home at night. I also think of him when I see his race tracks in the yard and the dog bombs he's left behind, or when I see the trellis he tore out from under the house, or when I see the crappy flower pots I'm using because he broke our nice ones.

I'm sure this all makes me sound like a complete asshat, but that's the relationship I had with Callaway. Travis is the one who had anything more than that and it makes me sad to think he won't have that. I do get a little sad when Aiden opens the door to the garage when we get home and yells for Callaway. Or when we drive away from the house, Aiden still says, "Bye, Callaway!" Oh that one breaks my heart the most.

I think Callaway will be better off with my dad. As much as Travis loved Callaway, he didn't have much time to spend with him. My dad works from home most days and when he has to go to a job site, he just takes Callaway with him. My brother his home from college for the summer, but when he goes back to school, my dad won't be alone now. He'll have Callaway to take care of, and that makes me feel so much better for the both of them.

The other big thing going on in my life at the moment is my job. My future changes every other day. One day I'm moving to another lab, the next day I'm going to take an administrative position. As of today, I'm staying with my current boss, but getting paid from a different group, meaning my work might change a little. The reason things have been changing so frequently is because everyone has to arrange for funding me, and sometimes it doesn't work out. With less than two weeks until my pay ceases, I am getting more and more anxious about my status. I have confidence that I will have a position here at UTMB come August 1. I just don't know where I'll be.

Travis has spent every other day working on the wall. Most days he doesn't need my help because he can do the stuff himself faster than he can tell me how to do it. I plan to help tonight though, since we'll be putting the plywood up on the other side of the wall. I can always hold up a board without being told how. Travis ran electrical through the wall so we can eventually put up lighting and outlets.

The wall looks great so far. I think our biggest test will be with the finishing touches. If we do a bad job putting on the stucco, then we'll have to stare at it for as long as we live in this house. I really hope this looks as amazing in real life as it does in my head!