RENO!

We're back. We had a wonderful 6 days in Reno and we are so sad to be back in the real world. It was a wonderful break from our daily routines and the boys loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa "Reno" (as Henry says) and Aunt Patty and Uncle Ted and cousins.

I am so disappointed in my photo album from our trip. I think there were several reasons I didn't click pics like I typically do: it was so hot and a camera is just another thing to carry around and stick to you, we spent a lot of time in the swimming pool, which we all know cameras + swimming pools = bad, and we were just too busy have fun!

Here are a few that I did take:

Charlie (pre haircut) at Henry's 4th Birthday Party:

Opening birthday presents!

A wonderful time in Lake Tahoe!

Our waiting spot before we boarded the M.S. Dixie (T - I can't even say M.S. Dixie without rounding it out with your "Dixie" song! Damn you.)

Before the M.S. Dixie meltdown:

When you are four, watching water from a pier is a good time:

The most beautiful place on earth:

I know he wouldn't actually "slip" through, but for some reason, my reflexes had me jumping every time Charlie tried to climb the M.S. Dixie side rails. Sigh...I hope to be normal again someday.

"cheese"

Henry & Grandpa

Grandma:

Yep...There it is....The Meltdown.

The boys made what they called "soup" with pieces from the Arbor Vitae trees.

Charlie studying gravity:

While in Reno, Henry made huge steps in his swimming; by the end of the trip, Henry was jumping into the pool by himself (no floaties) and could swim about 5 feet underwater.

Charlie started using all kinds of new words including cook (for cookie), duice (juice), buh-bye, boon (balloon), up, eye, can give hugs and kisses and can wink on command and his newest parlor trick (thanks to my parents) is his Home Alone impression - which is always a hit!

Now its back to work, back to readying the house for a listing agent and potential buyers, sorting out childcare and enjoying what is left of summer. Oh yea, and not stressing out too much.

Love, B

Mr. Mom

Today, Daddy is playing Mr. Mom (I am at work today). After speaking with him a couple of times, I had the sudden itch to describe Mr. Mom’s day….because, as you will read, how could I not?

He answers the phone, in control and extra chipper….which always makes me curious because I know he has two dogs and two kids running amuck and it is 107 degrees out and likely 108 degrees in the house. A recipe for disaster. Or at least a good story.

“So…” he says, “I went to go wake Charlie up from his morning nap and found that he had pooped in his diaper and then took it off and then fell asleep, so there was poop all over him and the blankets.” I am shaking trying not to laugh.

“So, I put Charlie in the bathtub. While he was napping he pulled a bunch of books down off of Henry’s bookcase (he is sleeping in 1 of 2 air-conditioned rooms that we have during this hell-like weather), but he mostly only got poop on himself and the blankets.”
And I’m not at all concerned with the word “mostly”.

“So, then…” and I’m thinking “there’s more??”

“So, then I was doing the dishes and sweating like a pig and Henry is playing with the dogs downstairs (the only thing Henry has wanted to do today is be like the dogs….as in like drinking from their water and walking on all fours) and Charlie is playing in Henry’s room. But he walks out of the room and has all of this “stuff” covering his tummy. I wiped it off – because I was pretty sure I got all of the poop, (again, I’m not at all concerned about the words “pretty sure”) but then found that Charlie opened up the fish food flakes and dumped them all on the floor and that is what was stuck to his tummy.”
And I’m not at all concerned about what a few tropical fish flakes will do to a 17-month olds digestive system. Actually, everything after "I was doing the dishes..." sounded like "wah, wa, wa, wah, waa wa wa". Because I was like "you did the dishes????"!

And that was only the FIRST phone call of the day.

The remaining calls were either Mr. Mom multi-tasking with a pooping toddler on the toilet or breaking up a squabble involving boy and dog, boy and boy or boy and boy and dog and dog or dog and dog. And each call ended with Mr. Mom frantically declaring “oh, oh boy, I gotta go.” Click.

I’m not sure I’ve ever loved you more Mr. Mom! And I’m actually happy to know that when I finally get home tonight, I’ll have one bathed kiddo and no dishes in the sink.

Love, B

Atopic Dermatitis

Drool + sensitive skin = Atopic Dermatitis

according to wise Dr. Siegal at OHSU.

I was happy to hear her eliminate Psoriasis (a lifetime skin disease requiring meds if it is on your face). We will manage this with a variety of topical goops which will be applied on a rigorous schedule. It should clear in a couple of weeks with the new meds they gave us and then we will manage the flare-ups. He'll revisit Dr. in October and see where we go from there.

The real story, however, is how the kids managed to both slip a "batshit crazy pill" (I say this with love in my voice) before they put us in the 4 x 4 room, which we shared with several doctors and a medical student. Charlie was in full rock-your-ear-drum-scream-every-10-seconds-when-I-don't-get-my-way mode. Which I suppose was fine since we wanted out of there as quickly as possible anyway. And believe me, no one was going to hang out and chit-chat with that sound going on. The only time Charlie was quiet was when he was methodically ripping up a Sports Illustrated magazine, page by page by page. And guess what? I let him because it was hella better than the screeching. And Henry, while mostly cooperative, became really really upset and concerned when the Drs. pulled out a sample medication for me to take home. He immediately ran over to me as I was trying to absorb instruction from the panel of drs and kept asking over and over "is Charlie going to get a shot...is Charlie going to get a shot? Is Charlie going to cry...is charlie going to cry?" until the Drs started laughing and let me explain to Henry that it was just lotion, no shots or crying today.

For Charlie that is.

At that point, I wouldn't have minded a shot of something and a good cry. At one point, I got "the look" from the sympathic Drs - you know the one where they feel sorry for you a little bit because you've got your hands too full at the moment? And you are dripping with sweat from the stress and from trying to keep your 4 year old from typing on the Drs computer and from rolling the baby stroller over the Drs toes? And trying to keep the screeching at bay so that we all leave the room without hearing loss? And while your 17 month old only after trashing a commemorative SI then thinks its fun to repeatedly try to fall off of the chair while you save him at the last minute by the hospital gown that is barely hanging on his tiny body? That look. I hate that look.

But that is all ok because it isn't psoriasis, and I'm thankful for that and for my two crazy boys who hopefully love their sweaty hobo-smelling mom.

Pizza Party!

Ya think Henry had fun celebrating his 4th birthday with his cousins and Grandparents????

Um. Yea.

The party: !!!!

Bro-hams:
We started the night with some pizza, raspberry lemonade and watermelon

(no, Henry did not eat the watermelon....cuz that is fruit and fruit = yucky!)

And then we moved on to presents of which Henry was showered with Star Wars EVERYTHING!

We also got him something Star Wars (see post below), but since the "Walker" does not fly, it doesn't get near the PT as his new wing fighter (which you will often find buzzing by your head when you are not paying attention.)

The best ice cream cake we have ever had (from Dairy Queen):

Charlie, just hanging out, waiting for the kids, making sure his buns are still in his pants:

And Grandpa. Where do I start. What looked like a pile of PVC piping, soon turned into an enormous kid car wash. Very clever Grandpa! Clever indeed!

Nathan said we should just make one of these, leave it in our backyard and call it an "above ground sprinkler system". See what I have to live with?

Kid car wash in action. Ax on the hose. Kysa at his mercy.

In heaven: I think it is safe to say Henry had a great time!
As did Ax:

And Charlie - but he has a good time wherever he is. Maybe we should just call him "good time charlie" A very excited Henry who cannot wait to blow out those candles!

Forever Friends....and cousins:

We are finally in the home stretch of our much anticipated vacation to Reno!

Henry is very excited for his plane ride and has all 45 minutes of flight time planned out, which includes: Putting his seatbelt on, take off, watching Nemo, drinking a sprite and eating peanuts!

See you soon Reno!

Love, B

Wordless Wednesday

Love, B

Boy + Walker = Utopia

A Birthday Treat, which we never even got to because Henry couldn't pull himself away from his "Walker" long enough to enjoy a cupcake. Yes. The "walker" is just that good.

The walker....waiting for its new proud owner:

Proud owner. Sees the wrapped box and dives right in. But before he dove in, we played the "what do you think it is, Henry" to which one of Henry's guesses was "A BBQ?"

"It's just like Axey's!!!"

The "Happy Dance":

Don't know what a "walker" is? Its actually an AT TE from Star Wars, which I think stands for All Terrain something...but Henry calls it a walker. So "walker" it is. It is large and loud, but has Henry so wrapped up with excitement, you too, can't help but love it.

After opening his present, Henry told us "This is the best birthday EVER!"

Love, B

Happy 4th Birthday Henry!

On July 12, 2005 I laid on the couch watching after dinner T.V. – “Rock Star” to be exact. You had been abnormally still in my tummy all evening. I wasn’t worried, but pulled out all of the books to make sure I didn’t need to worry. I drank juice, I moved around, I laid still and could not get you to do your normal flips and flutters. Just to be safe, we called the doctor, who asked us to come into the hospital for some monitoring. They temporarily put us in a room on the labor & delivery floor to monitor your movements. It was past 10 o’clock on the 12th and I remember Daddy saying “wouldn’t it be nice if we could just stay here and have the baby?” Little did he actually know. Everything looked fine and they said you were just “sleepy”, so they sent us home.

We got home and spent the next couple of late night hours calming down after the excitement of what might have been. I got up to go to bed, and I knew it right as it happened….my water leaked. Daddy and I talked about how funny that timing would be – I mean, we were JUST at the hospital! The next morning, July 13th, it happened again and again, so back to the doctor we went where they confirmed “go pack your bags and come straight back to the hospital – you are having a baby today!”

Since we were 2.5 weeks away from your true due date, I wasn’t quite ready, nor was the house, for any guests. Thankfully, you have wonderful Grandparents who came over, tools and cleaning supplies in hand, and worked on our ½ way remodeled kitchen and cleaned the house top to bottom.

Back at the hospital (in the same room we were in only 15 hours earlier!), they started pitocin and we waited…and then it started to hurt, so they made me feel better with an epidural. We waited and napped and waited and napped for the next 18 or so hours. Finally, at 7:30 am on 7/14/05, you were ready, and so were we. We were so excited to meet you! As we worked and worked to meet you, the mood in the room went from happy and chatty, to quiet and concerned. My heart started racing and I started getting scared. Dr. Foster, the greatest doctor ever, told us that your heart rate was doing some concerning things and we no longer had “time”. We needed to get you out now. Nurses started to get me ready for surgery. In the process, they wanted me to take my bra off so that they could hook heart leads up to me. I was so “wired” with IVs and monitors that there was no where for my bra to go, except to the very top of the IV pole, where it remained as we wheeled through the waiting room to the surgical suite. It was my honor flag, I suppose.

Only minutes later, at 10:30am, we heard you cry, which as a parent is the strangest, most beautiful thing to hear! In the previous 9 or 10 months, you expect a baby: little toes, little fingers, wrinkly skin, tiny lips and eyes, but I had never imagined your “voice”. It was amazing. You had a ‘cough cry’ – and it was so precious. You were so quiet, mellow and the most beautiful thing I could ever have imagined. You had the umbilical cord wrapped around your neck…two times. What could have been a scary ending, was actually a beautiful beginning and a moment that has completely changed my life forever.

Your sweet, quiet, easy-going demeanor, many, many dimples, long black eyelashes and beautiful smile melt everyone’s heart around you. While you love to challenge your brother sometimes, I see how caring and loving you are with him when I am not in the room and I was amazed how you included him in the family from the moment he was born. You are talented story-teller, remember the most oddball songs, could entertain yourself quietly for hours and a lover of all things “boy” like dinosaurs, trains, trucks, dirt, bad guys, snakes and Star Wars. Though, you know exactly what a mommy needs and when, like “help” in the kitchen, a snuggle, finger “mails” to paint, a big hug or a fill of your infectious giggle or hysterical belly laugh.

You made parenting a baby so easy. Daddy and I truly didn’t understand what all of the other whining parents were talking about. From the minute you were born, you fit right in our lives and we didn’t want to spend even a second away from you. It has been so fun to watch you grow and learn over the past 4 years. If I could bottle you up and keep you this age forever, I probably would. But since I can’t, I will gladly walk this adventure with you, show you right from wrong, remind you to brush your teeth, go to the bathroom and to be nice to your brother and will love every single minute of it.

Happy Birthday sweet Henry…..I love you.

Your Birthday:

Your first bath: 1st Birthday:
3rd Birthday (Your 2nd birthday pictures were eaten either by the computer, or the camera!)
4 years old!!!!