November

I can't believe that November is nearly over!! I'm going to try to catch up before I tear another page off the calendar!

House Guest

We'll start with our house guest! Mus (aka Mooseman) came to visit a few weeks ago. He and Mark met ages ago on a project in Detroit, I think. (Or some other place that's cold.) Anyway, Mus is now living back in Australia after a stint in Turkey. He had a conference to go to in Las Vegas--he made a stop through California to visit us first.


All I can say is.. what a super nice guy. Makena agrees. She misses him a bunch and still brings up his name often. He's such a genuinely nice guy. Mark bullied him into cooking dinner for us one night. We were left speechless. He spent hours in the kitchen and produced a three course meal the rivaled any restaurant I've been too. I tried to hire him to be our butler--he refused. Dammit.

Mus, we miss you!

Karma has a Long Memory

You might recall that I gloated once, just once, about my new Blackberry phone. Two weeks later Mark found it in the washing machine. Having to pay full price for the next phone, I didn't get the top-of-the-line model. I got the one just beneath it. I loved it, until I was getting out of the car the other day. I forgot I had it plugged into the car charger so when I closed the door the phone jerked out of my hand and flew under the car. I crawled under the car and retrieved the phone.. and its pieces--dammit! It's not so loveable anymore.


(It's missing the toggle button in the middle.)

Thank goodness I learned my lesson from the first phone and purchased the insurance. I received my third phone in less than eight months a few days later.

Kessler's Talking

This a story that has been developing for a while. We were told that he should be talking at his 15 month check up. We said that he wasn't, but--there have been several times that Mark and I have looked at each other and said something like, "Did he just say 'I want ketchup on my french fries'"? One that he seems to say all the time is, "I want some." He doesn't say, "some", or "want", he says the complete sentence. Over the last several weeks we have decided that he is actually saying, "I want some." He's added, "More" and "Sit" to his vocabulary. It's funny, he commands Merlin to sit. Merlin doesn't listen, but Kessie means it! He even points at Merlin. He only stops when Merlin gets bored with it and walks away.

Here's video of some other "talking".

Hi-ho-da-dere-ya-go

Mark and Makena put their listening ears on for another rendition of Hi-Ho the Dario.

Thanksgiving Facial

I tend to enjoy my facials more than Kessler appears to.

Lazy Morning in Bed

Get on the Floor

Kelly: Get on the floor.
Mark: What?
Kelly: Get on the floor.
Mark: What?
Kelly: Get on the floor.
Mark: Kelly, are you awake?
Kelly: Get on the floor.
Mark: I guess not.

I haven't been able to sleep very well recently so my doctor prescribed Ambien. That's some crazy stuff. It works--I mean it makes me sleepy. But, I find that if I don't go to sleep right away I do things I can't remember. For example, I made some comments on a friend's blog. A few days later when I saw the original post, it was as though it was my first time reading it. When I saw a comment from my username, I thought I had been hijacked!! It was a weird comment--I didn't recognize it as something I had written. Then I vaguely started to recall the blog entry--but only vaguely. I did the same thing on Facebook. I wonder if I'll find anything else? I was thinking hopefully I fell asleep before I did anything else. Now, Mark tells me I'm talking in my sleep with no recollection. It seems I'm not safe from the affects whether awake or asleep!!!

Reformer

I've been stressed lately--that's probably part of the reason I can't sleep. I'm not sure why as my life has become less complicated recently. But I was finding that my neck and shoulders were so tense, they ached. I've had massages before and while I love them, I knew they wouldn't help me with the tension. I'm not good at yoga. I'm just not limber enough to get anything out of it. I'm sure if I kept at it I'd notice a difference, but I don't have that kind of time to invest.

As I pondered what to do, all I could remember is how good I felt after taking a Pilates Reformer class in Las Vegas. I left feeling so damn relaxed! Every muscle was stretched--I almost couldn't drive home. Getting to a pilates gym isn't going to happen, so I bought a home reformer. I received it on Monday. I've used it every day since, sometimes twice a day. What a relief!!

That's it for now! I hope everyone is doing well!

Now, the world is a better place.

Femme and Husband have taken the best of both and made one little wonder! What a combination! (No pressure Little Husband!)

Congratulations!!!!!!! I'm soooo happy for you!!!

Old videos

I downloaded these to my laptop, but don't have the software to edit them! So, some might be a little longer than necessary.

These are from July.

Clapping is fun!!!




Kess perfecting his Miss America wave!



This was before he could really walk. He'd climb up something and fuss when he couldn't get down.


This was taken while Makena was doing her gymnastic's class. This little girl is one month older than Kess. Check out the size difference!



This is the same little girl taking Kessie out! :)



The Olympic march!!



This was at an art festival in Fremont.





The Dentist! Makena went to an awful dentist last year. He held her down to brush her teeth! Jerk! When I found a new dentist for myself I made an appointment for her as well. He was so wonderful with her. This is her second appointment--the first real exam, etc.

Get soap.

The conversation over breakfast yesterday:

Makena: We are out of soap. Are you gonna go to the supermarket?
Mommy: Ah, yes.
Makena: After you drop me off (at school)?
Mommy: Maybe.
Makena: Can you get some soap?
Mommy: Sure.
Makena: That's it, just soap.
Mommy: Okay.
Makena: Oh.. and you have to pay for it.
Mommy: Will do.

Arock Obama

Yesterday, the kids and I were waiting for Mark to get home. I was watching CNN. I started to explain that the election was happening today and that we were going to vote for the next president of the United States. I told her that our choices were John McCain and Barack Obama. That was it.

When Mark was home and we were eating dinner. I asked Makena to tell Mark what we were going to do tomorrow. She said, "I don't know." I said, "Remember, tomorrow is election day. Who are we voting for?" I was expecting that she might say president as that's kind of easy to remember. Instead she said, "Arock Obama and John McCain." Mark decided to get my goat and tell her we were voting for John McCain. While I'm completely against imposing my views on my kids--I really want them to figure this out on their own--I just couldn't sit back and say nothing. So, I told her that we were voting for Barack Obama.

I already broke my rule and she's only 3 1/2! It was cute though.

A crib is for babies

While the kids were napping today I decided to look over the ballot measures for the election tomorrow. A little while into it I heard Kessler crying. It was about time for him to get up. I finished what I was doing and headed his way. Just as I was ascending the stairs I heard a loud "Ka-Thump" then silence, then hysterics!

Now, we often hear "thumps" coming from Kessler's room. We had to move him from our room when he was a baby because he kept kicking during the night and waking us up. Even when we moved him, we could here is "thumps" throughout the night; his room borders ours. Anyway, this "Ka-thump" seemed a bit different. I raced up the rest of the stairs. His room is pitch black, so I could hear him before I could see him. I could tell his cries weren't coming from their usual location. I turned on the light--there he was on the floor, face down, bum in the air, crying. I quickly picked him up and started consoling him.

Once he was settled he posed for this picture:

Small victories

Makena and Kessler have each taken turns being sick the last two weeks. Most recently it has been Kessler. He’s been throwing up the last few days—once or twice a day, so not too much. Friday night at about 10:30, after everyone was in bed, Makena started crying. She woke Kessler. While I was trying to get her settled Mark was trying to get Kess settled. I could hear Kessler wheezing in between each of his cries. He wasn’t hysterical. He wouldn’t settle until I put him in his crib—then he immediately fell asleep. I called the after-hours number for our pediatrician (for the third time in 10 days). The nurse asked me several questions. I asked and she confirmed that one of the questions was intended to rule out Meningitis. Kessler was able to touch his chin to his chest. She was very thorough and finally decided that it was nothing serious. Before I let her go I told her that I would probably wake him up just to see how he’s breathing. She told me to do it with her on the phone. I did—he took a deep breath and she heard the wheezing. She told me that I should probably take him in for an evaluation.

So, Kess and I headed to the ER, but not before realizing that I must have left my purse at Target earlier in the day. At the ER, we were left in triage for an hour or more. From there I was forced to listen to this mother yell and berate her two young daughters. “Don’t do that! Get over here! NO, NO, NO, NO! I’m tired! I told you NO!” It was excruciating.

When the doctor finally came, she said Kessler was fine. She said that he probably just had some irritation in his throat and to just put him in his room with a humidifier, but come back to the ER if his symptoms worsen.

We came home and Kess fell asleep right away. He’s been fine since. We went to Target to get my first and found that everything was there—including the cash. Hooray for small victories.