steph's stuff

Growth & Change

This past week has been full of stuff - busy stuff - a weekend getaway, lots of picture taking, lots of laundry, house guests, house cleaning, photo shoots, a wedding, re-doing a bathroom - hard to believe what you can fit into one week, isn't it?

And in the middle of it all, I'm in a funk. I find myself wanting change - a new house or new goals or something. Tom and I have never lived in one house for this long. And I don't mean together. I mean ever - in our entire lives, we've never lived in one house for 6 years. I really want our kids to grow up in a house that they remember as "the house they grew up in." Tom and I never had that. And we both want that for our kids. We knew when we bought this house that this would not be THAT house. Yet, here we are 6 years later. And Emily is 9. If we don't get into THAT house soon, well, the whole point will be lost.

So, I think it's time for a change. The first step is fixing up this house. Whether it helps us handle staying here for a bit longer or makes it easier to sell, there is work that needs to be done. Now, if only money could start growing on the trees outside to make it a bit easier to accomplish this goal. :p  Either way, we're going to do it. I'm not sure how, but I'm going to find a way. I don't like ruts AT ALL. And when I find myself in one, it's a sign that there needs to be change.

And then my little guy - my baby - my Hurricane Andrew - is going to be 4 in a month. 4?!?! Holy cow!!!! And I can see the growth and maturity coming. For example, he'll actually sit still at the breakfast and dinner table and have good manners. And he has started going straight to the coat closet when he gets home from school and putting his things away. And the cutest thing - in the bathtub, he has picked up on the relaxing part of a bath - it's not all about the toys and water fights - he'll lay back and relax. Totally cute!!!

Just a little bit of panic

On my schedule for this weekend:

• re-enrollment at the kids' school this morning
• Elizabeth's Daisy scout meeting this afternoon
• Emily has a birthday party tonight
• both girls have Thinking Day all morning tomorrow
• Tom and I have a wedding most of the afternoon/evening on Saturday that is a must attend event
• shopping for clothes to wear to the wedding
• grocery shopping
• website updates to do
• photos due for 2 clients on MONDAY! :O
• 3 meetings that have to get scheduled by the end of the day today

And, in the midst of making this list and feeling totally overwhelmed by how busy and stressful this weekend is going to be, the phone rings. My sister-in-law, whom I totally adore, called to say "Hey! We're coming up tomorrow for a spur of the moment trip and want to spend the weekend with you guys!" After the celebrating was over, the panic set in. I still have to do all of the items on the above list, now add to that that I have to get bed linens laundered and changed, bathrooms cleaned, girls' bedrooms cleaned (which is usually a two day long event :p) and entertain family for the entire weekend. Um...........I'm feeling just a little bit of panic over here. :p

Snowed in and under

My kids have had 4 1/2 days of school in the past 2 weeks. We've been snowed in.

I've had 3 photo shoots and lots of web editing work. I'm snowed under.

Brilliant post, huh?

We did a mini-weekend getaway this weekend and it was so wonderful.

But, back to reality today.

Here's what it looks like in my back yard.

I lied

I didn't get a Dell.

Dh did.

I tried the whole-sit-in-the-old-uncomfortable-hard-as-a-rock-office-chair-use-a-PC-thing. I really did. 'Cause I want this computer soooooo badly! It's beautiful and has an enormous hard drive. And, even better, it has the fastest processor I have ever seen. Oh, and oh my god, it has Vista. Vista is unbelievably amazing!!!!!! I love, love, love it. So, I tried last night. And then I tried even harder this morning. And I just couldn't do it. And it really wasn't the old-uncomfortable-hard-as-a-rock-office-chair that made me give up. It was having to use a mouse. I haven't used a mouse in over 8 years. Having to take my hand off the keyboard to use the mouse? Could. not. do. it. And if I have to give up Vista to have a touch pad <sniff, sniff> then I just have to.

So, Dude!

Dh got a Dell.

I got his laptop. Which I am currently emptying out as fast as I can in hopes that it will make it just a bit faster.

Oh well. Really, in the scheme of things, having to give dh the new computer is fine. Really, it is. I spent all day yesterday photographing breast cancer survivors (a whole 'nother post to follow on that), so I have perspective.

But, forgive me if I take just a tiny, little moment to be a total techno geek and cry over the loss of that 'puter and Vista.

Dude

I bought a Dell!

Yep, just like that old commercial.

Dh and I have been going around and around on the decision to buy a second computer because we fight over his laptop constantly. Basically, he just sighs loudly every time I'm using his laptop. My old, old, old laptop still works for surfing the net but the hard drive is full, the external hard drive is full and it won't even run Photoshop Elements or even Word for more than a few minutes without closing down. And I think dh is tired of hearing so many cuss words come out of my mouth about it. So, we finally bit the bullet.

The hard part about this decision was that it simply was not wise financially to buy another laptop. So, I'm getting a PC. The first PC I've owned in over 10 years, I think. Yes, I'm totally spoiled and edit all my photos, surf the net, and digi scrap from the comfort of the couch with dh's laptop and my favorite ottoman. So, starting tomorrow, I'm gonna have to suck it up and actually sit at my desk. LOL! Although dh swears that every minute that he's not using his laptop, I'm still gonna use it.

The great part about this decision was that because I'm getting a PC, I'm getting a massive hard drive, a 19 inch screen had to do this because in dh's quest to save the world from global warming, he discovered that LCD screens use less energy, and a dual core processor with tons of speed and a rockin' video card. So, it's gonna make photo editing and digi scrapping much, much faster! Although I'm need lessons on how to use a mouse. :p

In other news, we got to go see little Lincoln agan yesterday. When Andrew saw him, he said, "He's too little to play with me." Um......yep, good observation, dude! But, Emily's totally in love with him and Elizabeth is totally in love with all of his accessories. Auntie Lisa gave her 2 of his newborn size diapers to bring home and she carries them everywhere with her because "they're so cute, Momma!" And tee hee - she won't use them on her dolls because she's saving them for when "I grow up and have my own babies." So cute!!

A few rushed snapshots from yesterday.

 

Thursday already?

Gosh, the week goes by quickly when Monday and Tuesday are snow days! Today is catch up day - catch up on laundry, bill paying, schedules, etc.....  Some of the craziness of last week has been relieved and some is still ongoing.

• My mammogram results were normal. Big phew on that one! Thanks for all the comments on that issue! Next time I go in for one of those, I'm going to tell the cute, perky tech that if she doesn't stay cute and perky, I'm gonna have to hurt her. LOL!
• Emily still has a small amount of protein in her urine. We're taking in more samples today for more testing. If there's no protein, we'll just check her again in a month or two. If there is still protein, then we do some blood tests and a trip to the childrens' hospital might be in order.
• Elizabeth's med switch is going very, very well! Her energy level is definitely improving and she seems to be more animated.
• A new medical issue - 'cause apparently we don't have enough of those to deal with. A couple of days ago, Elizabeth was very, very thirsty and couldn't stop running to the bathroom. Bells started going off in my head (diabetes moms have these things built in, I think) and so, on a total whim, I used Em's test kit and checked her out. She had large ketones in her urine and her glucose level was 210. Yep - this was Elizabeth, not Emily. Sigh. Everything was nearly normal the next morning, but we're still supposed to check her randomly. Lovely, huh?
• And, finally, besides the birth of our sweet little Lincoln, we had another exciting event over the weekend! Elizabeth lost her first tooth!!!! Daddy wasn't home (staying at his brother's house for the impending birth of Lincoln) so Libby had to call him and tell him. So cute! My favorite picture, though, is the look of surprise on her face when she realized that her tooth had really come out.

awwwwww......

I'm an auntie again!

Can't you just smell his little baby powder sweetness right through the computer monitor? :)

Lincoln Mattheus - 3.5 hours old

Never %$#%^&^ mind

And so now I jinxed myself with the happy post.

Emily is having issues with her kidneys. At her physical on Monday, the pediatrician found protein in her urine. She was hopeful that it was a fluke and I didn't give it much thought. We took in more urine this morning to "verify the fluke" and yep, you guessed it. No fluke. She has protein in her urine. Not good. The pediatrician is out of the office until Monday, but will schedule more tests first thing next week and I have an email in to Em's endocrinologist as well to see if he's also going to require more testing.

I think I'm gonna have to put just a wee bit of alcohol in my hot cocoa at the sledding party tomorrow.:p  Oh, and do NOT google protein in urine - I should have called Wendy before I did that. Oy - there's too much information on the net.

It feels like the %$#^%$ rug keeps getting pulled out from underneath us. I need to find some good adhesive for the rug. :p

Finally!

Some good news!!!

Elizabeth had a height-weight check with the pediatrician yesterday and she has gained back all of the weight she has lost! The anti-convulsant she's been on for her seizure disorder was really affecting her appetite and she got scary thin. But, we've been giving her PediaSure for weeks now and I was so glad to hear that she's now back in a healthy range! Whew - one less thing to worry about. We still have 5 weeks of the med titration schedule before she's completely off that med, but at least we know that we're on the right track.

Emily had her annual checkup this week, as well, and the word puberty was brought up. She just turned 9 last week and, while a couple of girls in her class are wearing bras, they are both a bit overweight and both could have been in 4th grade if they hadn't started school late, so I never, ever expected puberty to come up from the pediatrician. So, the ped is looking her over and looks over at me and says to me with a smile, "So, I see some hormonal changes in her skin. Any other changes you've seen start yet?" It took me about 30 seconds to pick my jaw up off the floor and realize she was talking about puberty and my daughter in the same sentence. I stammered out a "No!" and then she went on to say that Emily had some blackheads on her nose and a small pimple starting and that this was the beginning. Um, what???????????????? So, I bought Em some Noxema and she just thinks she is the coolest thing ever that she has a pimple and has to wash her face with "teenager" stuff. Ugh, ugh, ugh.

And no, I haven't heard back from the doctor about my mammogram, but I have to think that he would have called by now if there was any reason to worry. So, I'm operating on the theory that no news is good news and that the tech got some bad news about someone or something else while she was out of the room.

We have snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's been snowing almost every day for a week now and we are just loving it! The kids have been out sledding after school every afternoon and we're going to a sledding party on Saturday. So much fun to finally be able to enjoy winter!

Here's Libby making the first official snow angel of the season.