We did it!

Yes, we did. We left the children and took a little solo trip to celebrate our tenth anniversary which was last month. I AGONIZED for months trying to decide if we would and what we would do. Hubby usually puts me in charge of such things, which has its ups and downs. We both aren't very keen at making decisions, i.e. should we go on a date? where do you want to go? what are you going to order? I dunno? - it's ridiculous, really. I kind of wanted to go to Europe - after all, Travelzoo advertises such hot deals; Dean kind of wanted to take a cruise. Neither sounded very exciting if a baby was to tag along, and we weren't sure if we could get anyone (namely a grandma) to watch the children. So back and forth we went for months. "I have to give notice to take leave", said Dean many times.

We finally secured (suckered?) my mom to come out here and stay with the kids. The plan was for her and my dad to come to DC and meet up with us so they could visit the capitol while we were somewhat able to show them around (as if we know our way around - but certainly better than they do). Then, they would drive back here with us and stay around a few days with the kiddos while we went somewhere (anywhere) on our own. I still wasn't convinced about leaving Baby with Grandma - he is in the frisky stage and I just didn't know if she would want to keep up with him.

Then, at nearly the last minute, an angel offered to take my little man! She LOVES babies and so do her girls, and he was happy as a clam with them. I was beyond relieved! (Thank you, thank you! You know who you are!) I probably would have just taken him with us otherwise, which would have been OK, but it was indeed magical to have a few precious days to ourselves. The only concern at that point was that he still nurses - I go at least a year with the babies (he's 9 1/2 months now). He had only rarely had a bottle. But he had a ball with all the angels who cared for him, and as soon as I walked in he wanted to nurse - never missed a beat. I had dutifully taken my fancy pump along and came home with about four pounds of the good stuff, which we managed to keep cold the whole time. The freezer is now restocked. I had been pumping up a supply for him to have while we were gone, and there was just barely enough. My mom stayed with the older boys at the house and hopefully had a good time with them :)

So, I'll work backwards with our little vacations. We decided that it would be nice to just see what there is to see more locally. I can't imagine that we would ever again have occasion to live in North Carolina. Asheville seems like a happening place, and the thing to do there is see the Biltmore House, the largest "house" in America. We came close to passing it up since it cost so darn much to see it, but fortunately we gave in and indeed it was worth it. Asheville is about six hours away. I learned that it is the house used in the movie The Private Eyes, that I watched many times as a child. We had it on "disc", if you remember those (before VCRs). Dean hasn't seen the movie, so it should be coming in the mail today via netflix.

There are four stories and more than 250 rooms. It was the house of George VanderBilt, whose family was to the oil and railroad industry of the day what Bill Gates is to computers today. It took six years to build, and still seems to employ a large portion of the local population.

I love gargoyles, and was not disappointed. I believe the one above was in the Private Eyes movie - I still remember that.


I am in this picture below. Inside of this part is a four-story, wrought-iron chandelier. It was amazing, as was everything else in the house. Pictures were not allowed inside, which was kind of a relief, because people would probably move too slowly through the house, and a person could never take a picture of everything she'd want... I loved the furniture, of course, the architecture, everything, and the house is a showcase for many works of art. Entire rooms were designed to hold certain pieces of art, including a painting that was taken from a ceiling in Europe.

This is just a portion of the house. I don't begrudge people spending their own money on what they see fit. Apparently it took up much of his inheritance to do this, but that was his money. He didn't go into debt to do it, nor did he die a pauper, and it is a gem for all the world to see now.

There was much to see outside on the grounds, such as this fellow below.

This is one end of the house. I love turrets. Dean says I like any house with a turret on it (I always point them out, after all).

I didn't see the title of this piece anywhere.

I would call it "Swat the bum."
This was the view from one balcony - simply beautiful. The property was just as planned as the house itself. He hired a landscape architect who planned for the placement of millions (yes, millions) of plants and trees. It was to make it seem natural, but in fact was totally planned out.

A lovely waterfall. The house is on several square miles of land - not as much as he originally purchased, but the drive was a few miles on the property.

I had this same purple plant in my entry way in Albuquerque, as well as lamb's ears, like the ones below the purple plant. These were in a green house with many other beautiful plants, succulents, flowers, orchids (in bloom), etc.


We happened to go during the "festival of flowers". The spring bulbs were glorious, and there were fresh flowers galore arranged and placed inside the house. Some are grown on site, and others are purchased from a local grower. There was an entire "floral staff".


On the way to Asheville, we took the slow and windy mountain route to see Chimney Rock. Once we got near it, Dean looked it up on his trusty iPhone and found that it was $14 a person to see it. It was late in the day, and I hate feeling like I'm being ripped off, so we passed, and "saw" it from a distance.

We ate at the Bavarian Dining Restaurant one evening while in Asheville. Dean had never experienced German food. I had some while visiting my sister there several years ago. He had a roulade with noodles. I had a schnitzel topped with melted Muenster Cheese and Black Forest Ham, and hot potato salad. The salad before hand was tomato, onion and a dressing. Having the tomato-dislike gene, I normally can't stand them (except on a good burger), but this was good stuff. We had some of their homemade bratwurst for an appetizer, and for dessert I had cream puffs and Dean had a Black Forest dessert. It was all yummy!


There was a random chimney after Chimney Rock. I'm guessing the rest of the house burned down around it some time ago, and vandals haven't demolished it yet.

The first night of our trip we decided to take it easy and only made it as far as High Point, NC. I looked at furniture at a few stores. I was good and only 'looked' - like I buy much furniture anyway, I mostly just lust after it. We ate at a yummy Thai restaurant - Dean always looks on Yelp via his iPhone to see the reviews. I occasionally will make a Thai curry for dinner, but need to branch out a bit and learn to make more stuff. It sure is good! We saw Avatar that night. It made me motion sick. Fortunately I didn't vomit, but still didn't feel good for most of it. Neither of us cared much for it. It was certainly a leftist propaganda show.

I'll post about our DC trip and the rest of the month later...

We're Going!

Woohoo! Dean got an email overnight from the head of pediatrics at the hospital on Yongsan base in Seoul, South Korea stating that they will allow "command sponsorship" for our family to accompany Dean. Yay! It took his soon-to-be colonel getting involved and pulling some strings, or rather prodding them a bit to locate a pediatric hematology department at a local hospital in Seoul that is willing to see to the boys' care and that can come up with factor for them. That's all it took. I think that Dean and I will see about getting training to administer the factor ourselves (learn to start an I.V., which obviously Dean can do, but the boys aren't cats after all
- ha ha) so we can be more self sufficient. So, now it's time to get passports for the boys and all that jazz...

Blogging Fool

Really and truly, a lot more goes on in our lives than I manage to blog about. Let's see, I missed blogging anything about Christmas, the boys' birthdays... yeah the big ones.

So, Dean finally bought me a hole thingy that I can put the card from the digital camera into, to get the pictures on the computer, since whatever dork who designed this computer didn't include one! I'm totally technologically challenged, yet Dean is a natural. He doesn't care for computers, though, but he can seem to do anything with them. Before he left today for Texas for the week for training he uploaded the current pictures from the camera via his laptop to our (home) public network (whatever that means, really) because the (my) computer wants to format the disk with the hole thingy, which even I know enough to know that that would likely erase the pictures on the disk... so, here goes some recent memories...

And, by the way, he got an email today from his soon-to-be commander in Korea offering to help pull some strings to try to get our family to all go together to Korea! That is by no means a guarantee, but we'll take any offer of assistance!

The decision to not let us go was completely unwarranted. Most people we know would never know that we're currently raising two hemophiliacs, because it's hardly been an issue since they have it mildly! Granted, when you hear "hemophilia" images come to mind of bleeding to death from a paper cut, but that's not us! My dad has lived with it for 71 years now, and is really doing pretty darn well with respect to it. Medicine has come a looooong way since he was diagnosed after circumcision about 70 years ago, so it hasn't been any issue whatsoever yet for Tristan (we don't circumcise our boys), and Hunter's only needed treatment for planned surgeries such as ear tubes, tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy, and once when he got a cut on his head as a toddler. We had clotting factor on hand for each of those times, and we have more of a clue about what is going on and how to treat than any doctors we've run across (except of course for the hematologists who run the hemophilia treatment centers where the boys are followed once a year). Anyway, we're crossing our fingers and continuing our prayers.

It breaks my heart to think of Dean missing out on Tristan's entire second year, and baptizing Hunter when he turns 8, and Kyler's wild and crazy ways. The last time Dean was gone for a week (just a few weeks ago) Kyler was climbing the walls - I can't imagine a year of that! Anyway, I'll stop now and just narrate the pictures.

Got your taxes done? Here's Hunter to remind you.

Kyler still has that shoe and hat fetish (that hat goes to an outfit that fits Tristan right now, that was Dean's when he was a baby).
And here would be Master Kyler cleaning up a mess that was due to his negligence. I had asked him the previous day to take a sack of trash out - of which he is perfectly capable. He took it out and threw it on the snow. Some neighborhood dog came along and tore up the bag, scattering the trash all around the yard, and the snow melted.
So, I gave Kyler the trash can and sent him out to do it the hard way, since he wouldn't do it the easy way (and just put the trash bag in the trash barrel in the first place). It took him a while, tears were shed, and we had to lock the door to keep him out there, but eventually he finished (with a smidge of help from Mom at the end). Hopefully a lesson was learned, but I'm not holding my breath.
Here I am with the love of my life enjoying a date for Valentine's Day. We ate at a fabulous restaurant in Swansboro - the White Oak River Bistro. We had delicious seafood. Our window had a river view. Yes, I'm still nursing Baby if you can't tell by the Holsteins in the picture. It was chilly so Dean wore an obligatory sweater - that only happens about once a year, and only after my suggestion (or prodding - I love man sweaters, but my man is perpetually hot and avoids hot clothing). Dates are always so magical - time out without the children. We don't do it often enough, so when we do it is so nice. We recently celebrated our 10th anniversary, by the way. I didn't get a picture of that, but we went next door to Riverside Steak and Seafood and again had a wonderful meal.

A week ago we visited Fort Macon, about an hour from us. It has a lot of history, including being held by the Union and Confederate armies, and was even used through WWII. It was beautiful weather, and perfect for the boys to run around and check out weapons like cannons.
The boys never forgo an opportunity to climb a wall.
Tristan is very much mobile now, and pulls himself to stand. The only problem with that is that he doesn't know how to get back down from standing yet. So much to learn. He is the sweetest little angel, and hardly fusses at all, except when Kyler picked him up and then tripped and dropped him and fell on him the other day - which did leave a large bruise on his forehead.

Tristan crawls in style with one of Kyler's favorite hats.

And, that would be Kyler in the tree. I am a mother of boys. I accept this. I let them be boys. Other people often shudder when they see my boys in action, for instance up in a tree. Somehow, knock on wood, we haven't had any broken limbs yet, and I have learned to trust my instincts. In this instance, they said to grab the camera. He got down the same way he got up - by himself.

Old memory

Imagine my surprise when I'm reading the blog of a lovely lady from my hometown and run across this picture from high school when I was the freshmen football homecoming attendant. I'm not sure if it's obvious which person I am in the picture or not. Thanks for the laugh and memory Stacy!

The Results

I took the boys in for their well-child exams - all three of them. Hunter has always been on the smallish side, especially since he started off at 4 lbs 8 oz. He is now in the 50th percentile for his height (it took about a year for him to even get on the chart) and the 60th for his weight. Kyler was in the 75-90th percentile for his height and 60th for his weight, and Baby Tristan was the same as Kyler, with 90th percentile for his head circumference. And, at eight months, Tristan has eight teeth. He's had those for a while now, and I have the bite marks to prove it!

In other news, we've learned once again that we can absolutely not accompany Dean to Korea when he goes this summer. So, he'll go for a year, and hopefully we'll be able to go to my home town of Ramah, NM for the year. We're waiting to hear about that.

Random Tidbits

I really can't say that I never won anything. At Bro's wedding this summer, there was a quiz about the bride and groom with all sorts of questions such as "what is his favorite snack", "on what street do they live", etc. I got the most answers right of all the guests, so I won - this lovely mug, with pictures of the bride, groom, and their dogs - both of whom were in the wedding.

Here is Dean's beloved bird, Pancho. During Dean's convalescence recently, Pancho got to spend most of his days with him. Normally he spends the day in his cage in another room while his "Lover" is gone to work. All this togetherness was enough to get Pancho's adolescent hormones racing, since he's long since decided that Dean is his one true love. So, here he is in the towel cupboard nesting, preparing a place for their offspring.

Winter Fun

Several weeks ago, while Dean was still convalescing from his knee surgery, we decided to take a short family vacation down to Myrtle Beach, SC. It's only 2.5 hours from here, and a hotel with an indoor water park was recommended by friends, and in the winter season it was a bargain to go. We had a lovely time. The boys played their hearts out in the two water parks - one in each of the two buildings that make up the hotel. Even Tristan had a little fun. I couldn't get many good pictures because it was too steamy; the water was nice and warm.

We have never paid for TV our entire 10 years of marriage. I just can't bring myself to do it. So, it is always a huge treat for me to get to watch the History Channel, and the Discovery Channel, and the Learning Channel..., so I was content to stay in the room with Tristan and watch the two TVs, but did go with the boys a few times to play.


This restaurant was recommended to us as well, and it's always a treat to have Brazilian food. Of course they bring the meats by so fast, and I want to try them all, but feel like such a glutton. It was delicious, and Dean always loves to surprise the staff with his Portuguese.




Here's a picture of the little man. He has been the most wonderful baby and we all love him so. He does this face when he's eating baby food. He has 8 razor-sharp teeth now, which is hazardous for Mother who is still nursing! He army crawls, and gets up on his knees to crawl, and ultimately gets around pretty well now. I'm slowly starting to baby proof... He is 7.5 months old. He says "la la la" and "ma ma ma" and "na na na". It melts my heart!





Here is my new 'do. I love having long hair. Those who knew me as a child might not recognize me for the last 10+ years, as my mom always gave me a boy-looking haircut. It's thick, and I remember getting "rats" in it at times, so off it went. After leaving the nest, I found that without perms, it would actually grow - imagine that! So, it's all been down as far as my waist, but alas, it is too heavy, so I've had lots of layers cut into it, while still keeping some length in the back. Every couple of years I get layers, then a couple of years later tire of them and cut them off...





Snow! On the North Carolina coast! By morning we had seven inches. It typically snows here maybe once in 8 years or so, although we did get a slight dusting of snow once last year. Hunter was out playing in it before 7:00. We were woken by Kyler at 7:00, as he came in demanding snow attire. Dean and I both recall staying out in the snow playing until we could barely move our lips or fingers; these guys don't last nearly as long! Last night Dean and I racked our brains trying to think of where there might be enough of a slope to take the boys sledding, as we have a couple of disc sleds, but it's pretty flat here. Kyler tried the drainage ditch in the front yard, but it didn't much work.

Oh, and we did find a van. We got just what we wanted, and Dean talked the dealer into just the right price. With a shockingly nice tax refund, and the money from selling Dean's car, we don't have any debt, either. Dave Ramsey would be pleased. It is a 2004 Chevy Venture with eight seats. We're still getting used to all the controls. We haven't had a Chevy yet. It's especially nice to be able to separate the boys so they don't fight like banshees where ever we go.

Bumpersnicker

So some time ago I purchased some pro-life bumper stickers and put one on each of our cars. One was more inflammatory than the other: "It's easy to be pro choice when you're not the one being killed", and it had a picture of a baby with it. I put that on Dean's car, which was mildly concerning to him, because of his being in the army. You can't make waves in the military, so he was worried what people might think/say/do. The one that went on my car says "I have noticed everyone who is for abortion has been born"-Ronald Reagan. They both have gotten rave reviews from many people. So, we recently sold Dean's car in anticipation of buying a larger vehicle for our growing family. It sold in about a day on Craigslist, by the way. So, we had to scrape that one off when we listed it. So he's been taking my car to work this week. So, a new obnoxious person at work, who happens to be the EO person (equal opportunity) informed Dean that the bumper sticker on MY car (the Ronald Reagan one) was offensive to someone and that it "needed to be covered up" when he was at work. (He is the boss man at the facility here, by the way). He's only been back at work for about a week, now, and she informed him of this about his second day back - probably after she first noticed it.

He was awfully upset by this, which makes him want to not be in the military any more "I'm not allowed to have an opinion!" he says. I told him that was ridiculous, that someone should take such offense to the sticker, since it's really not an inflammatory one - except perhaps for people who've had abortions. The EO person is most likely the one who is offended by the sticker, since she's new and apparently hadn't seen the one on his car. Anyway, I was fuming and wasn't about to just let it go. I suggested that he let the offended one file a complaint and go from there. Although, his NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) was nervous about it, as was the other captain. So, Dean finally brought it up to his commander, a Lt. Col in Virginia. She told him in no uncertain terms NOT to dare remove it. She is my kind of person! She says what she thinks and doesn't take crap from anyone. So, we feel empowered, and for the time being at least, the sticker remains. We are looking forward to putting a (pro life) Mother Theresa bumper sticker on our next vehicle, which we hope to get soon. I'd like to see someone get offended by Mother Theresa.

A Taste of Home

A few weeks ago at church we noticed a couple visiting their son, a young marine. They looked like they were from "back home", the southwest. So I chatted with them, and sure enough they are from Paige, AZ and were visiting Josh before he shipped off for a deployment. We invited them to have Sunday dinner with us (hoping we had something respectable on hand to serve). He is the president of an LDS branch there. They were wonderful company, and we shared many laughs. Navajos exude humor, and they've raised a bunch of sons and had some hair-raising stories to tell, including about Josh. As soon as he brought them in from the airport, he had all the fixings for his mom, Marilyn, to make Navajo Tacos for him and his buddies. I don't blame him! What I wouldn't give for an authentic Navajo Taco! President and Sister Bryant are well traveled and knowledgeable. Thomas is a contractor and keeps busy with that and his duties in the gospel. It was a treat to get to know them and feel a bit of kinship from the part of the country that we call home and miss. Hunter likes to jump around during picture taking, so he is blurred.

Where to begin

Dean had his surgery, then developed a clot. Great. He had a near-constant fever that would go up and down along with some nausea and generally unwellness until he finally called the surgeon on Sunday, four days after the surgery. The surgeon was concerned and had him come in. The surgical site looked good, no signs of infection. He said the only other reason for a fever that long after the operation would be a clot. So he was to take a full-strength aspirin and we were to call again the next morning if the fever hadn't resolved. So, sure enough, we went in again to Wilmington - an hour away. The surgeon sent Dean to a vascular surgery clinic to have an ultrasound, where they quickly found the clot in his calf. He's on coumadin to prevent any new clots, and self-administered shots to help break up this one. And he's finally now not really having the fevers, and doesn't need to take the percocet around the clock any more, but it is still uncomfortable and when he walks much it hurts, as it did going to church today, and to a wedding reception last night.

In other news, the boys and I won't be able to go to Korea with Dean. What a bummer. He's been given a few more options, but none are desirable. He could go to Riyadh, the capitol of Saudi Arabia, to do public health stuff (such as checking the swimming pool water and microwaves for proper-ness - I don't recall any such classes in vet school, hmmmm), take care of whatever working dogs need care, and food safety. Yeah, not so appealing for him, not to mention that apparently the climate is much like that of Phoenix, AZ, which is most unappealing to him. He's been emailing with the guy currently there (it has to be a man, which makes the position harder to fill, as most new vets these days are women), and that guy says the position is a "diamond in the rough". It would be tax-free pay, but that still doesn't take the sting out of the rest of it. Another possibility would be to go to a unit in Georgia. That is even more unappealing because he would spend the whole time training (in the "swamp" of Georgia - miserably hot and humid) for a deployment. That one is certainly crossed off the list. So, that leaves going to Korea by himself, or Riyadh, either one for a year. The commander in Korea is expecting him anyway, and it would be a nice job with lots of learning experience for him, namely to be the CO's assistant in planning and operational stuff, with some occasional veterinary work.

So, what about me and the kids? I've always thought we'd just stay here if we had to be separated, like when he was supposed to deploy a few months ago. But, since he would be leaving in the summer, it seems like a good opportunity to just go back to Ramah, NM for a year (my home town, of about 400 people). There, the kids could spend a lot of time with all their grandparents and cousins (some of whom are in Albuquerque) and experience all the stuff I did as a kid, like real snow, going on the ranch to find a Christmas tree, and care-free summers. But, in such a small town, there's not much of a rental market. As an autonomous adult for more years than I care to admit, I don't wish to live with anyone, namely the folks. That is not to mention that they are settled in their house full of stuff and wouldn't really have room for four extra people anyway. So, they are asking around, as there are a couple of old vacant houses just being used as storage and such. It would really be nice to sock away and save during that time, living the simple life. If nothing else perhaps we could move to Albuquerque, or just stay here. If I did that, though, I'd probably want to put Kyler in private school for kindergarten, as his birthday is Sept. 2, so he just misses the cutoff. There wouldn't be any socking away if I did that, but at least he'd start school on time instead of having to wait a year, which torments my soul. There wouldn't be any such options in Ramah. I'd probably be better off putting such money away for college for him, but it really bothers me that he'll be a year behind in school. That's a sore subject for me. Dean and I were both August babies and excelled in school. Hunter was a premature Sept 9 baby and started the year he turned 5, and was a "role model", said his teacher, not to mention at the top of the class academically.

We have tried out my Christmas presents, including a new popcorn popper from Dean, which was what I had asked for. It's an air popper, which I wanted. I always lusted after one as a kid, and my mom always said "no". Although my younger brother Curtis says they had one for years - must have been after I left. We all love it, and it's fun to watch it pop - just ask the boys. I also purchased a new digital camera online from Staples right before Christmas. Then I opened the present from my mom, which was a similar camera. What a dilemma! I had actually thought that I should hold off a bit to buy one. Then Staples solved my dilemma by sending an email saying I didn't qualify for the rebate that had been advertised with the camera. What? You suck Staples, so I'm sending it back and keeping the one from my mom.

I finally found a perfect bed for Hunter. I've been looking for years it seems, to find just what I wanted at the right price, namely solid wood, with drawers beneath, on a platform, with a bookshelf headboard. It was on lejeuneyardsales.com, where I've looked numerous times - and finally got lucky. He loves it, and it's perfect, especially for $150. I even got the guy to deliver for $20. It has a cubby, which they've already been in apparently, as there's a pillow in there. I used to like to crawl in small spaces as a kid for fun. Hunter likes to read before bed, so he can put his books on the shelf. I just need to get a clamp lamp or something for light. A regular lamp wouldn't survive in their room. There was a matching dresser as well, so I got it and soon we'll get rid of the behemoth dresser that I hate. I found a race car bed for Kyler at a yard sale several months ago. I hate when people say to "make an offer" on an item. I have no idea what they're looking for. $10? $100? So I offered $10. The guy was taken back, but talked me up to $15. I would have paid more, but the sign said... He even delivered for free. I swear someday we're going to own a truck again. I hate not having one. Of course Kyler crawls in bed with Hunter nearly every night, so the race car doesn't get much use.

Notice that there are two bumps in Hunter's bed, and no one in Kyler's.

So, I took a break to run around and take a couple of pictures of the beds and my new haircut :) I had put away the new camera we bought to get it ready to ship back to Staplessucks, and haven't gotten into the new one from my mom yet. So, I started looking for the "old" one that we've used thus far. Yesterday I took it away from Kyler as he was messing with it, which he has done much in the past. Santa even brought him his own little digital camera so that he would have one to mess with. Santa brought one for Hunter as well. Naturally, Kyler doesn't know where his is, so he still messes with everyone else's. So I looked on top of the tall bookcase where I had put the camera yesterday, but it wasn't there. I asked Dean, and he did the exact same thing with Kyler yesterday, even putting the camera in the same place. This kid is making me crazy. He defied us both. So I looked around and found the camera under the desk in the guest room, with the battery cover broken off. So it's no good now. I called up my bff the other day and told her I would mail it to her, as she didn't have one, and it still worked just fine. Now, with that door broken off, the sensor won't be activated to power it up and it's worthless. I am so upset. I'll say that it is a good thing for Kyler that he's in bed right now. I am so tired of him being so destructive. I wish we didn't have so many appointments for Dean tomorrow, because I would keep the boy in his room for the day. So, perhaps the rest of the week, when we are home, he will get to spend all his time in his room, thinking about not being so destructive. I've had it. He needed a new bed because he d-e-s-t-r-o-y-e-d his last one. To smithereens. It was one of those tubular metal toddler beds. It went out in the trash, and he had a crib mattress on the floor for a long time until I got the car bed. Anyway, hopefully by this time next week he'll be a new boy. I know most people's blogs are about how wonderful their supposedly-perfect children are. Yeah, I'm happy for you, but you won't find that here. I will say that most people's kids that I'm around act much like mine, so I'm pretty sure they are all normal, but being so destructive is not acceptable.

Home Again

Dean finally had his knee operated on on 12/30. It was injured in the summer compliments of Army combatives, and all this time they've had him going to useless physical therapy that clearly wasn't doing him any good. There were broken chunks of bone and cartilage floating around in the joint which were causing further damage all this time. One of the tendons that holds the patella in place was torn, so when Dean was anesthetized the surgeon moved the patella around, and could see how it had clearly been dislocated upon injury. He replaced the torn tendon with a "new" one from a cadaver to help keep the patella in place. He also fixed up the cartilage and bone and took out the floaters. It took about 2.5 hours. Some generous and kind hearted friends took Hunter and Kyler for the day (starting at 4:30 am) so that I could take Dean to Wilmington and be there with him. He was released on the 31st mid afternoon. Around 10pm it started hurting more and more and his low grade fever started rising again. We called the nurse advice line at the naval hospital and didn't get any good info (the surgereon must have been revelling in the new year, as he didn't answer our page). So I called the ER and a useful guy named Tony answered and gave some good advice, namely to double the percocet, so Dean proceeded to sleep pretty well overnight. Dean will be convalescing for a month at home. He wears a gigantic brace on the leg. So that's how we rang in the New Year. I actually went to the neighbors' party with Hunter and Kyler for a little while, and was taught some dance moves by an older black guy, ha ha.

the Daily Grind

Ahhh. Another day. It seems like so many things happen in a day, yet they aren't significant enough to write about... Tristan is growing and developing just as he should, and it is so fun to watch. One day he wasn't really grabbing for things with his hands, and the next day he started. Now he has those "powerful urges" to grab everything remotely within his reach. He slaps at it, whatever it is, or grabs it, or scratches it. I have to keep his nails clipped to not be clawed daily. I took him to the doctor for his four-month appointment, although he was more like five and a half months. He finally got his first set of vaccinations. Before we knew if he had hemophilia or not, while he was still in the hospital just after birth, they were of course poking and prodding him with the usual battery of tests, including taking blood to test for hemophilia. Finally, Dean said enough, and wouldn't let them stab or stick him any more, hence no vaccinations in the hospital (hemophiliacs should have pressure held on needle sticks for five minutes afterward, but of course no one at the hospital knows that). His doctor never mentioned anything at his next couple of appointments, so he still didn't get any vaccines. Anyway, this guy (a Navy captain, no less, an O-6) who just saw him was enthralled with him, and kissed him more than once. It was so sweet. He is indeed a sweet little guy and we all love him to pieces. He has been rolling over I think since just before he turned four months. He doesn't roll around, just over once. He is finally taking infant cereal. He didn't think much of it for some time, but tolerates it now. He has been hungrier lately it seems, or at least draining me thoroughly. He loves to smile and wins people over all the time by smiling at them, and even laughing when Kyler plays with him. He also has his two bottom teeth, and uses them to let me know when he is done nursing. I need to put a stop to that before it becomes a habit.

That Kyler. He is something. This morning I gave him a kiss on the mouth. He slipped me the tongue. I was so shocked that I hooted and hollered and made a lot of noise. He thought it was great and laughed hysterically. I won't be kissing his little mouth any more. He is a doll, though, and full of fun and mischief. He is noticeably taller and thinner to me by the day almost. His pants are loose on him and his cheeks are losing the baby fat. He likes to help with things around the house, like a little cooking (stirring on the stove), vacuuming with the hose, wrapping presents, etc. I worry about his teeth. He gets into so much candy and whatnot, and is not obedient about brushing his teeth. When I go after them they sometimes bleed.

Hunter is thoroughly enjoying his time off from school right now. He is getting addicted to one of Dean's computer games, Age of the Empires or something like that. It is an involved strategy game. Dean's hard work of grooming Hunter since he was small to enjoy games is paying off. Hunter can actually play those games with Dean, and board games of the same strategy and complication. I have no interest whatsoever in such games. I'm more of a Scrabble or Apples to Apples kind of girl. Hunter had tubes placed in his ears today, for the third time in his life. A lot of thick fluid came out, so once again it was warranted.

Dean is up to his usual tricks, ha ha. Actually he had today, Tuesday the 22nd, off of work. He is on tomorrow, then off the next few days. We certainly enjoy the time off he gets in the army. He said the other day that he is much less stressed than he was in private practice - at any of his jobs, and he works fewer hours as well. Of course he makes far less money, but it has been well worth the change to the military for so many reasons. We don't know how long he will stay in the military. He could be done after his three-year commitment, or he could make a career of it.

I have hesitated to say that we may go to Korea in the summer for his next assignment, as nothing in the military is definite until you are traveling to your new assignment with your orders. He has been penciled in for an assignment in Korea for a few months now, and we were all hoping/expecting to go. We are not sure if we will be able to accompany him, though, only because Hunter and Tristan have hemophilia. The medical facilities there would have to be comfortable taking us. All that we really need is available "factor viii", which is what they are deficient in (which means that their blood doesn't clot well when they have a bleed, or a procedure such as placing tubes, or surgery). It will likely be months before we know anything for sure. If we can't go with him, he'll go unaccompanied for a year, or possibly get assigned somewhere (undesirable) here in the states. Dean is scheduled to have his knee operated on in the near future to fix the meniscus or ligaments or whatever is damaged (from the army combatives course in the summer). The recovery time will be three to six months.

I am always busy, yet hardly seem to get much done. I bought a new digital camera recently, and have taken a few pictures with it. I still need to read the manual to figure out all it's capabilities and to learn how to get the pictures on the computer. I spent a lot of time researching cameras on Consumer Reports and from online reviews, so hopefully I got a good one, at least for the price, which was fairly inexpensive.

Last night we decided to use one of the gift cards we've received in the last year and go to dinner, to probably my favorite restuarant the Olive Garden. I guess it's been a while since we've eaten there, as there were a lot of new things on the menu, and the prices were noticeably higher. It was delicious as always. Dean had the ziti, and actually said that mine is better. I tried it, and agreed. It didn't have meat in it, though, so my sausage of course would make it better. I had the braised beef and tortelloni. It melted in my mouth - oh, sooo delicious! Hunter enjoyed his ravioli and Kyler had fettuccini alfredo.

After seven years of PTSD, I have started trying to make Christmas candy again. When we lived in Colorado, I worked with the Young Women at church, and some of the other ladies had "no fail" recipes for making different kinds of candy, and for an activity one week, we made them at the church. Well. We went to my parents' home for Christmas that year and I attempted on my own to make one of those no fail recipes. About three batches of it went in the trash, and I've never tried since. So this year I decided to find recipes that don't need to boil or need any specific temperature. Dean's brother Dusty has said before that he makes microwave fudge. I figured if he could do it, maybe so could I. He's given me a recipe book before (1001 Fast Easy Recipes) that has several easy candy recipes. So, I've made several batches of different types of fudge, and even some toffee that only had to boil for 7 minutes (no thermometer or ice water needed). It all worked out well. The toffee actually must have gone just over seven minutes, as it went from just right to starting to caramelize/burn in a few seconds, but it wasn't ruined, and still had a wonderful flavor, so I call it a success! I'm so excited! We'll see if I'm still so excited in a couple of weeks when I step on the scale!

We had a Christmas party last weekend. It was a lot of fun. I went the easy route and had the guests each bring a food item, so that made it pretty easy on me. I threw some frozen meatballs in a crock pot with salsa and grape jelly as I learned from Aunt Linda, and they were a hit. I also put together grape juice and ginger ale, which she recommends, and it was also well received. I made some crescent rolls, rolled up with cranberry sauce and ham, which were ok. There were lots of yummy things to eat, and we did a white elephant gift exchange. Those are always entertaining.

We are enjoying this wondrous time of year, and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Side tracked

I got side tracked with the old guy in the swimming pool in the last post. So here's more of the trip, mostly from pictures. I didn't think to take a picture in Havre de Grace, Maryland of my college freshman roommate Emily and her hubby and baby - who was born a few weeks before our Tristan. We hadn't seen each other since 2000, when we both graduated from the University of New Mexico. It was fun to see them. Our boys very much enjoyed their baby's toys. We saw them on the second day of the trip. We did a drive by of Edgar Allen Poe's grave in Baltimore, MD. It was rainy and we didn't feel like dragging the kids out of the car.

I did manage to get a picture of Dean's cousin on his mom's side of the family. Nora is in red. She and Dave (the camera man) have a lovely home that they have remodeled beautifully, and a fun little guy named Jack. We saw them on the other side of Connecticut on the way back down.
They are trying to live a vegetarian and even vegan lifestyle, which I admire. They served us some delicious holiday-type breads and vegies with a fantastic hummus that was reddish with fire roasted red peppers. Yum. Satisfying and tasty.
Here is one of many lovely churches that we saw.

We drove a few miles past Uncle Jerry's home in CT so I could say that I had been to Rhode Island.

We spotted this on the way to R.I.

It was like home sweet home for the boys in the hotel room - snuggled up together, and worn out from all the adventures...

On Saturday night, we stayed with my cousin Clint and his wife and their sweet little boy in Lorton, VA. Kyler must have been carsick by the time we got there at 10pm. Neither of the boys has ever been carsick to my knowledge. He had said one time in the car that his tummy hurt. So as we were getting ready for bed and had the air mattress all set up and sheets and blankets on it, he said something about Baby and throwing up. Dean and I went to investigate, and Baby was indeed covered in mass quantities of gray vomit, with chunks, as were the bed linens. Dean and I were trying to wrap our minds around how this could have come from Baby, who has only ever spit up breast milk. Finally it dawned on me that this couldn't have possibly come from Tristan - something would have been very wrong with him if it had. I asked Kyler, and sure enough he was the source. Mystery solved, but then we had to bother my poor cousin, who had just returned himself from New York with the family, for more sheets. I didn't manage to get a picture of them either. We went to church with them on Sunday, which was nice. Then we headed for home! It was a lovey trip, but it is always so nice to get back home!

Thanksgiving

Two years ago when we lived in Astoria, OR, we had Thanksgiving together as a family, just our family, which was ok. Just ok. Dean and the boys spent the morning trying to catch tasty creatures from the sea, and I spent the morning slaving away in the kitchen. Then we sat down for the big meal, and thirty minutes later it was all over. I decided I didn't want to do that again. It is hard living so far from family that we can't get together very often for the holidays. Last year we drove to Florida and met up with Dean's family near Disney World, and even went to the magic kingdom on Thanksgiving day. This year we decided to drive to Connecticut and visit Dean's uncle that he hadn't seen for probably 15 years. I had not ever been to New England, so there was lots to see. It was surprisingly much like Astoria, with many older Victorian homes. There were old, beautiful, stone churches galore, which I love to see. We spent two days driving each direction, for a total of about 700 miles each way. We stayed the first night in Washington, DC in a hotel close to the capitol. We toured the Mall in the evening. It was dark, so it was pretty cool to see the monuments and memorials in the light of the street lamps.

The next three nights we stayed at a hotel in New London. Dean took the boys swimming in the pool once, and I took just Hunter one time. While I was in the pool with him, an old man was in the water. He wouldn't leave Hunter alone. I just didn't know what to make of it, and my mother bear sensors were on high alert. He kept asking Hunter questions - must have been hundreds of questions. They seemed more or less friendly and innocuous, but with all those questions, he got out of Hunter his first and last name, what Dean does (military, etc.), our family makeup, our religion and more. I would tell Hunter to swim, to do a down-and-back, that there wasn't any point in being in the pool if he wasn't going to swim - so he would when I told him to. But this guy just wouldn't stop asking him questions when he'd swim back. I didn't know if he was just a lonely old man, or if he was hoping to molest/kidnap Hunter if he could get him away from me, or what the heck he was up to. He asked him so many questions that Hunter couldn't get away to swim in the pool, except when I stepped in and told him to go swim. That was what bothered me so much. Hunter didn't go to the pool to answer questions from a stranger, to the exclusion of swimming. But while that guy was there he couldn't do anything. Hunter is pretty trusting of people and would get pretty close to him in the water in order to hear and answer. That made me nervous, too. I do NOT teach my kids stranger danger because it makes no sense (read the book Protecting the Gift to learn much better things to teach children). I also don't force them to be polite or affectionate to anyone they aren't comfortable with (that book says that doing so shuts off their danger instincts).

I asked the guy a few questions to slow his torment of Hunter. He's Catholic, but no longer practicing because he decided the church just wanted money. He's Polish (as was Dean's Grandmother whose home we visited that Uncle Jerry now lives in), and a retired engineer. He never said a word about his family; he wasn't in the pool with anyone, so I don't know if he was in the hotel with anyone, or visiting family or what he was doing there, or if he is a child molester. He was from another part of Connecticut. Finally another family came to the pool and this old guy got out, got dressed in the bathroom, then put on his hat and floor length fur coat, (which also weirded me out) and left. I kept a close handle on the boys the rest of the stay in the hotel, not that I wouldn't have anyway.

So, in discussing it with Dean, he pointed out a few things. He says Polish people are very friendly - and he would know. (On a side note, the first time I took Dean home to meet my parents my dad told Pollack jokes). He also explained that New Englanders are very talkative, just like Dean's late father Norm. So, maybe that was just it. Maybe he was just a friendly, talkative old gentleman. I guess we'll never know. I didn't necessarily get any bad vibes from him, but it weirded me out that he wouldn't let the boy swim! He totally monopolized Hunter's pool time.


Grandpa Norm's old stomping grounds, where we visited Uncle Jerry.

Becky and the boys in front of the submarine in New London, CT.

Hunter and Kyler at the controls on the submarine.

Dean, Hunter and Uncle Jerry in Preston, Ct.

I'll post more pictures when blogger will cooperate and let me :)

Never a dull moment

I thought I'd take Tristan to get some pictures today since it's been a while. I didn't have an appointment, but thought I'd "walk in". Kyler brought a pen along for entertainment, and even asked for paper to write on. I thought it was nice that he was going to keep busy in the car. It wasn't long before he said that he didn't draw on Tristan's face. He often tells us that he "didn't" do something, invariably something awful that he knows he really shouldn't have done. That is our cue that he just did whatever it was. So, I asked him if he drew on Tristan's face. He said "no". I asked if I should stop the car and look at Tristan's face - much like I ask to smell his mouth when I don't believe that he has brushed his teeth, even if he says that he did. I was surprised that he said it was ok if I stopped the car to see. So for some reason I didn't worry about it, until we got to the picture place and indeed, he had done it. So much for pictures today. I made an appointment for tomorrow, and even got to spin the wheel of excitement to win a freebie. Naturally it was a 16x20, which I have no use for whatsoever. So I asked if I could spin for something else. Surprisingly, the lady just asked what I wanted, so I said the 8x10 collage - much more useful. She gave it to me. Hopefully we can make it tomorrow unscathed. Oh, and Kyler is spending some time in his room to think about not drawing on Baby anymore. He did also do quite a job on his own legs as well, as he has done many times in the past.

Regarding matters of parenting, I absolutely love John Rosemond. I've read a few of his books, which guide me tremendously in raising my children. I am further astounded on a weekly basis with his insight and common sense in his newspaper column. The current column discusses the common error that modern parents make when they tell their children that they can do or be anything they want. Sound outrageous? http://www.rosemond.com/Weekly-Column---92109.html Last week's column was just as interesting, though a different topic.