Another thing

One more thing I didn't realize about this surgery, is how much time I would spend focused on food even though I can't eat. I spend all day thinking about food and eating and drinking. Is it time to eat yet? How many minutes is it until I can drink again? (Food and drinks cannot be taken in at the same time.) Which medicine or vitamin should I be taking at this time of day? Did I measure my "meal" properly (I have 1/4 of a cup of soft foods up to 4 times a day)? How many more ounces of protein shake do I need to choke down? How many weeks is it until I can add in some fruit or veggies? Am I getting enough protein in today? Am I going to vomit? Will this stuffed feeling ever go away? I start out at a meal feeling full and before I eat 1/4 cup of food, I'm starting to feel like I'm going to be sick.

What's for lunch Wednesday

I'm new to posting lunches and doing bento style lunches, so just bear with me as I figure this out.

Here's a quick pic of Amelia's lunch today.

Peanut Butter and Jelly on whole wheat, with moon and stars cut out of cheese. I wasn't trying to make a face, it just turned out that way. In the same section are gold fish and grapes. The bottom right is plain yogurt with frozen* strawberries and strawberry stars on top. She also has a sliced up plum, and out of the picture is a container of baby carrots and milk in her thermos.

What are your kids having for lunch this week?


*She says the frozen strawberries taste better in her yogurt because they're all mushy by lunchtime. :-)

Oh, and check back later this week, I have a scrapbook giveaway to post. Should be up by Friday. I'm really excited to share it with you guys.

It's 1 AM

and I can't sleep. I went out this morning to home depot and sears. I then came home and took a 4 hour nap. Now of course I can't sleep. I'm apologizing now for the odd random blog posts, or absences, that will probably be around for a while.

I have a bunch of blog post ideas in my head, school lunch ideas, how to deal with an 80lb dog when you can't lift more than 10lbs, how to get the house nice and clean for company a week after major surgery etc etc. I'm also on pain meds right now, which should make my blog posts either crazy or more interesting. We'll see. lol.

One thing I didn't realize

One thing I didn't realize about this surgery was how tired I would be. Not from the surgery itself really, but from the small amounts of food I'm taking in. I think I told you all that one of the things being done was removing my gallbladder. The other involved operating on my stomach. So, I have an incision in my stomach. I can't have solid food yet, and there are quite a few things that I can't have because they'd irritate. For now I can have sips of water and protein shakes. Yesteday I got about 400 calories total for the day. That's normal. I'm under a surgeons supervision have had numerous tests and will have frequents tests of vitamin levels and other things to make sure I'm ok. (in other words, please don't try to live on 400 calories a day cause it sounds fun ok?)

So the point of this post is to say I'm tired. So very tired.

For later...

Saving these links for later, blogs I want to check out...

How to be a stylish mom. *Snort* I know I know. If you know me, this is kind of funny. I'm the mom in yoga pants and a tshirt, or flipflops jeans and a hoodie. But since I started losing weight (almost 40 lbs gone yay me.) I'm going to have to do more shopping. And there will be no more babies, and there better be no more weight gain, and there's no more nursing, no more infants spitting up, no more, well you get the idea, so I thought I'd try and step outside my usual momwear and get some cute clothes. And honestly, I need all the help I can get. lmao.

Bibliomomia. Haven't read it yet, but it looks cute.

A mom style blog. I'm enjoying her entertaining posts about covering the afterbaby pooch and finding clothes that are cute and suitable for chasing toddlers in.

One week to go

I'm having surgery in one week. It's amazing to me how quickly time is going all of the sudden. At first it seemed like the longest process ever. I got the referral from my doctor back in November of 2010. And here it is, more than nine months later. But time is going quickly now. I'm on a mostly liquid diet. It sucks. I don't like it. But, I'll be on a liquid diet and then a pureed diet for a month after surgery so I guess it's time to suck it up and get used to it huh?

Besides trying to get everything in the house ready, (dinner plans for Jeff and easy stuff in the freezer, daycare arranged for the day of surgery so Jeff can go with me, day care for Amelia after school, ) and on top of it we'll have family staying with us a week after my surgery. I'm just nervous about all of it, and I'd like to just curl up in a ball somewhere with a book or something and forget about all of this. But, I can't. So I'll just vent here, and carry on. My goal for today is to get the dining room floor scrubbed. Because of course, I can't have dirty grout when I go to the hospital right? lmao. Okay, back to my neurotic cleaning now. :-D

Random Ramblings.. (ie brain dump w/random pictures)

School has begun. And if I thought our summer was busy, wow. Amelia started school last week. So every morning we all get up, get dressed, make lunches and drop Mia off at school. The other local school district is still on summer vacation, so Anthony and I still go to the park every day for lunch. (Gotta love free lunch in the park. Not because it's free, but because I don't have to make the boy lunch! lol) So we play for an hour or so, then come back home. We usually have an hour and a half till it's time to pick Amelia up. Being in first grade means she gets picked up with the rest of the school, not at noon with just the kindergarten. This means, we have to get there 20 minutes early if I want to park closer to the school than just being at our house would be. If there weren't so many free roaming dogs in that neighborhood I'd just walk to the school every day. Id rather avoid the packs of wild chihuahuas though so we drive the mile and a half most of the time. So after we pick Amelia up we come home, and she whines and cries the whole way that she's hungry and she's tired. Then somewhere between school and our garage, it's revealed that lunch was just too short and all she ate was a carrot, or some cherries, or one day she managed to eat her Trader joe's gogurt. So we get in the house, and she eats her whole lunch. At 3:30.



Anthony is usually wound up by now too. So two days a week we get everyone changed and head out to drop Amelia off at one of her after school activities. It's an hour long. Of course they changed her other class time and day so it now follows the first class. If it's not a karate/cheerleading night then we come and do homework. Then it's dinner time, clean up from dinner, walk the dog, take care of the yard, bathe the kids, get them in bed, fold a load of laundry and I fall into bed somewhere in there too. I thought when Amelia started school, things would be less hectic with her at school 6.5 hours a day. I think I was wrong! lol. And it will only get more hectic when Anthony starts preschool in September. I'll drop one kid off, run across town to drop the other off, have two hours of free time to frantically clean my house, then go pick one kid up, have a few more hours, and pick up the other one. I'm thinking things will calm down in a few years when Anthony is in first grade. lol. Have you all noticed that I keep saying things will calm down when... I don't think we're ever going to get there. Of course J can't wait for me to go back to work, or at least that's how it seems. So the plan is once Anthony is in school I'll go back to school. Then things will be really hectic! lol. I think I'm going to have to get the kids and hubby trained to do chores before I do school for me though. I can't see them all coming home each night making a healthy dinner, doing homework, cleaning up and doing the night time routine, while I'm at class. I can't even get any of them to put their dishes in the dishwasher or their laundry in the hamper. lol.





So my surgery date got pushed back. It's now the week before Jeff's family comes for a visit. Eep. I'm nervous about how that's going to go over. I don't necessarily recover well, and I generally don't want people in my space when I'm sick. Hopefully it will all go well and J and the kids can keep them all entertained and I can hide in my room and be in pain alone. lol This surgery involved a lot of messing with digestion and stuff, so it's pretty common for a lot of vomiting. I'll also basically be on a baby food diet for a month or so after surgery. I'm not looking forward to trying out new foods and my bodies reaction to them all with company. Oh well, it will be nice to see everyone even if I can't participate in the trips to the beach and such.



We got Anthony a new bed. Not sure if I posted about that or not. It's a big tall loft bed and so far he's doing great with it. It gives him a ton more room in his bedroom so that's cool. And he's more cautious than Amelia, so i think I trust him more with a tall bed, even if he is way younger. I'm afraid I'd find Amelia jumping off the top if it was in her room.





Hmm what else has been going on. OH! Amelia and I visited my friend's church. It was lovely. It's this huge old church right in the middle of LA. Loved it. Totally random to look up in the middle of church and see someone that you've watched on TV the week before, but that's LA I guess. I really enjoyed the service. It's been a long time since I went to church and felt comfortable. I've never not believed in God, but I've had bad experiences with people being judgmental and hateful and using God as an excuse to be that way. I won't teach my kids that it's okay to hate. So anyway Amelia has been asking about God a lot, so I thought this would be good for her. She had fun and I did too. I think we'll definitely be back. I think it's a little far to go to have this church become our home church but it's nice to visit. And of course it was fun to hang out with my friend too.



So as part of my presurgery diet, I have had to cut most starch out of my diet. Um, it's not fun. Goodbye bread, chips, tortillas, pasta and rice. Its actually not as bad as I thought it would be, the hardest part is making stuff for the kids and smelling it and not being able to eat it. I made Anthony some whole wheat toast the other day and after I cooked it and buttered it, it smelled so yummy! Funny how that works. Other than that day though it's been okay. And my energy levels are much better too, less up and down.



Speaking of energy, I decided to paint our dining room table this weekend. So far it's going ok. Chairs are done minus the seat covers, and they look good. The table top not so much. It was not in good shape when I started and I just didn't sand it enough. I really need to buy a belt sander I think. But we always have a table cloth on the table anyway, so it will just get covered back up anyway. I'll post a picture when it's all done. After surgery, when I have more time, I'll get a belt sander, sand the heck out of it, then reprime and paint and just redo the table top.

Okay, I think I'm done rambling now. Brain dump over. :-) Happy Saturday everyone.

Where did the summer go?

I found this poem online somewhere this morning and it totally sums up how I feel about the end of summer. My babies aren't really babies any more. With both kids home all summer, my house feels like it's in a constant state of messiness. I could have spent more time mopping and less time taking them to story times at the library. I could have spent more time knocking down cobwebs and less time taking them to the beach. I could have spent more time doing laundry and less time at the park. But, I didn't. And as summer vacation draws to a close, I'm okay with that.

Song For a Fith Child, by Ruth Hamilton. 1958

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
and out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
but I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Wordless Wednesday {At The Beach}

The kids dug up this sign while building sandcastles. Hopefully it's old, and Huntington Harbor isn't totally dangerous...

Things I love

I keep finding posts I like I share or remember for later. I love this post from La Dolce Vita about road trip activities! I always need stuff for the kids to do on the long car ride to Grandma's house in Oregon. We are also always in need of things for Anthony to do during Amelia's karate class, when it's 100+ it's too hot for this Mama on the playground. And it's not very realistic to expect him to sit quietly in the karate class for an hour. My favorite is this

"I Spy" bottles.
These are bottles filled with rice and
lots of fun animals and objects to find.
I used buttons that were on clearance at the craft store.
We just ask, "Can you find the turtle?"
Some people take a picture of all the objects
before putting them in and then tie the pic on with a string.

Although I'm not sure how she keeps the rice in the bottle, super glue the lid on maybe?

The magic jars over at Erica's Bloggity Blog.

This post from Spunky Junky might be my favorite ever. (And she's got a lot of great posts.) Mostly because Amelia was that super energetic toddler, and because those sorts of things happened to me all the time. And I love that's she's showing a real side of motherhood, that we often miss giving an accurate portrayal of. I think it helps to see someone else have a bad day. So thanks for sharing!

Saving this for later...

When J is out of town, I'm going to repaint the dining room table. So, I'm saving this for later.

Summer time...

Where did summer vacation go? Our school year is a little different than many others, the kids get out of school in May and go back at the beginning of August. We've got less than a month until school starts up again.The time has flown by. I haven't checked on this blog, or read any other blogs in weeks. We've been busy doing things like story time at the library, play dates at the park, bowling in OC with our friends, visiting water parks, doing art projects,and playing many many rounds of Duck Duck Bruce, Blokus 3D and The Ladybug game. We've gone on lots of walks with Dusty. We've visited half the parks in this city, and some in other cities. Amelia has started Karate. We've had barbecues, visited friends around LA and I've done a lot of spring cleaning. The kids rooms, toys and clothes have all been sorted, organized and purged. I'm working on my closet now. Next up is the kitchen. Jeff has been super busy at work, and has done some traveling, the next trip will be 8 days long. Eep.

We've also spent a lot of time at various doctor's offices. I'm having surgery in the next couple of months and I have had to do a ton of stuff to get through the approval and preop process. Physicals, labs, classes, support groups, ultrasounds, EKG's consultations, seminars, hospital visits etc. Thank goodness this isn't a time sensitive surgery, cause I'd have died by now. Seriously, I started the process last November. I've spent more time visiting doctors' offices in the last year, than I have in my whole life before. That includes when I was pregnant. On the plus side I'm mostly in good health. Cholesterol, BP, etc are all good. We did discover my gallbladder has to come out, but that can happen at the same time as the other procedure and shouldn't add much to the surgery or recovery times. I'm a little nervous as this procedure will require general anesthesia but I've heard and read nothing but good things about this surgeon and once it's all said and done, life will be better and that's what matters.

So I'm still around. I'm enjoying this summer with the kids. Next year, things will be so different. I think this surgery will have a huge positive impact on my life. Anthony will be in preschool five mornings a week. Amelia will go from half days of kindergarten to the full days of 1st grade. I'll have time alone on a regular basis for the first time in six years. Things are changing. And I think it's gonna all gonna turn out pretty well.

Crafts!

Now that we're fully into summer vacation, I'm finding myself scrambling each day with art activities for the kids to do. They've been doing a lot of coloring and begging to get all their art supplies out. So I'm going to try planning activities out a week at a time. I'm not sure we'll do them all this week, but at least I'll know I have the supplies and a plan.

Bees

Fish Sun catcher

Octopus

School of Fish

Lady Bug

A lot can change in a year...

First day of school, Fall 2010


Last day of school, 10 months later...

What did you do today?

I woke up at 1:30 to let the dog out.

I got up at 5:30 when hubby was heading out the door.

I watched the news for 15 minutes before the littles started waking up.

I did some dishes, made some breakfast, fed the dog and started laundry.

I got the kids dressed, helped them with their morning stuff, and we took the dog for a walk.

I cleaned up the dog's business and tried to keep her from eating other animals' business. (Why don't people clean up their dog's messes? If I can carry around a bright yellow bag and clean up an 80lb lab's poo, why can't you clean up after your dog?)

I got home from the walk at 8 or so. I played games with Amelia, watered the back yard, and all the plants on the side of the house, and deadheaded some flowers.

I did some dishes, tidied up the living room, and swept the kitchen.

I read stories to Anthony, and helped both kids make a craft.

I made lunch for the kids, and had a late breakfast myself.

I refereed the almost food fight at the lunch table, and cleaned up from lunch.

I read my book for 10 minutes until...

I cleaned up poop, as Anthony pooped in his pants and had taken off his underwear the last time he went potty. Poop was everywhere.

I put the dog outside fast, she eats poop.

I gave the boy a bath, then scrubbed all the tile floor that had poop on it. Is bleach bad for travertine? Don't really care, I wasn't not using bleach. Just ignore the trail of bleached tile that runs towards the bathroom.

I did some more laundry.

I cleaned the cat box. (Is it just me or does my day involve a lot of poop?)

I took the kids out to the park to ride their bikes.

I ran to the library to return the book I gave up reading after the poop incident. I checked it out 4 weeks ago. If I haven't finished it yet, it's not going to happen.

I paid the fines for my book.

I came back home and folded some laundry.

I watered the flowers in front of the house.

I started cooking dinner.

I unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. (How does one family use sooo many dishes. Maybe I should give up on being green and use paper plates.)

I yelled at my children to stop jumping off the loft bed. This was after I'd asked them 2 or 3 times to Please. Knock. It. Off.

I put one kid on my bed with PBS on and told the other she could play her DS in her room.


I managed to read some emails while dinner was cooking, and electronics were entertaining my children.


I checked on an entirely too quiet Anthony to find him asleep on my bed.

I finished dinner, we all ate, and I did the dishes while J entertained the kids.

We all took the dog for a walk. I made J clean up the poo. :-)

I got the kids in the bath tub at 730 or so.

I read stories, helped put jammies on, helped with tooth brushing and kissed my babies good night at 8:30.

I sat on my ass for an hour and watched dancing with the stars while I ate ice cream.

Anthony came out of his room at least 3 times and had to be put back to bed. Jeff hid in the bedroom reading, he can't be in the same room as dancing shows. :-)

I took the dog out one last time at 10:30. I filled her outside water and emptied her inside water. (We cut her off at bed time or she'll want to drink and then go out to pee and be let back in all night long.)

I folded some towels, checked on the kids, made sure the doors and windows were all locked.

I looked at the 2 other baskets of clean unfolded laundry and decided they'd keep each other company until I got around to folding them. Or they'd make a nice place for the cat to sleep.

I let the dog back in at 11:15 and we (the dog and I) went to bed. J had already been there for an hour or more.

I laid in bed at 11: 30 thinking I was awfully tired, but I couldn't quite remember what I accomplished that day.

And last but not least...

I got up at 1:30 to let the dog out.

Our newest addition

No, I'm not pregnant, and I didn't have a baby. (The baby factory is closed!!)

But, our family did grow a bit in the last few weeks. We got a dog. Her name is Dusty. She's an older lab, older than we were originally told in fact, but so far she's a great dog. She's well trained, great with the kids and she completely ignores other animals. She wasn't living in the best circumstances, the previous owners couldn't keep her anymore, and she was living in a back yard of an empty house. So, because I can't seem to let any critter or small child suffer, we talked to the owners, Jeff took a day off work and went and got her. (Did I mention she lived 500 miles away? Luckily the owners met Jeff halfway.)

Homework time...

More Easter recipes...

Yummy carrot cake

Yummy spinach salad

Saving this

for later. I think I'm going to try making these rolls for Easter dinner...