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Category Archives: Tom

Chromosome test results

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I just technically got Owen’s chromosome test results. I say technically because the pediatrician read them to me over the phone—and of course it’s all Greek—he wasn’t even familiar with the exact result so he said he has to read up on it. I can’t even tell you what the exact findings were until I go pick up a copy of the report (it was too complex to write down over the phone).

That said, apparently it was recommended that Tom and I get tested, too. I’m assuming it’s so we know if we need to 1) watch Katie for signs and/or 2) get her tested early. If we’re clear, the mutation starts with Owen; if one of us (or both) have the anomaly, she’ll need to be checked because we will likely pass it down again.

For some reason, this is more disturbing to me than the initial autism diagnosis, even though it technically doesn’t change anything and there’s nothing we can do about it either way…it’s just knowledge.

First couch nap!

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Well, kinda.

Today was the first time ever he’s fallen asleep on the couch before his nap! He was watching Cars and I was in the office. I kept looking out every 5-10 minutes…but this still happened.

My first thought? OH CRAP.

My second thought? OH MY GOD HE’S SO CUTE.

My third thought? I HAVE TO GET A PICTURE!

Then I made the mistake of going out to show Tom (who was working on the shed) how cute he was…and Tom wanted to move him to his bed. I really didn’t want to because Owen does NOT transfer well (and never has—I think twice in his lifetime he actually went back to sleep after we moved him) but against my better judgment I let Tom move him.

And at first it seemed okay. For the first two minutes anyway. Until we were watching on the monitor and he was chattering. Then sitting up. Then playing. Then reading his books.

Yeah…no nap today.

But at least I got a super cute few pictures. :**:

Showers!

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Owen now likes to take showers with mom and dad. 😐

It started a few weeks ago when he became intrigued by me taking a shower—I usually grab my five-minute shower while he’s watching TV and playing in the morning, and at first he asked what I was doing and then it turned into him telling me “Taking a shower!” Cute, right? I thought he might want to get in, but I was saved by the fact that he didn’t really want anything to do with getting in while it was running (though he’d gladly go in afterwards).

So this weekend when Tom was home, Owen desperately wanted to get in the shower with Tom. He actually let us get him undressed and walked into the shower…but wasn’t crazy about the water coming from above—and kept opening the door trying to get out. But he did like spraying the handheld part at Tom and the doors…just not on himself. That was Saturday morning.

Fast forward to this morning, when Owen desperately wanted to take a shower when I did. I told him if he could get undressed all by himself, he could take a shower with me—guessing that it wouldn’t happen because he really doesn’t know how to get undressed by himself yet.

Ha.

I was obviously completely wrong. He had his pants off in about 10 seconds (though that’s one thing we have been working on so that wasn’t a big stretch)…but then he was seriously taking his T-shirt off, which he always has given up on before! I did have to give him a small clue about bending his arm to pull it out of the short sleeve, but otherwise he got it all by himself! Okay then, I guess he earned a shower!

By this time, Tom had wandered back into the bathroom and saw what was going on and took Owen’s diaper off. And this time he LOVED getting his head wet with the handheld shower, let me wash his hair, and soaped himself! He didn’t want to get out! And loves saying he took a shower!

So now if I want to shower alone, I have to do it before he wakes up or during his nap!

Snow, turtles, and seahorses, oh my!

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http://www.ncaquariums.com/fort-fisher

Tom had today off, so we all went to The North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. Owen didn’t have the longest attention span (so we spent longer driving there and back than we did at the aquarium) but we still had fun.

The first exhibit area was freshwater fish, turtles, frogs, crocodiles (or alligators or both—I will never remember the difference), and snakes…nothing really noticable in and of itself…except they had misters that went off every five minutes or so and Owen thought it was snow and just loved it and kept asking for/saying “Snow! Snow! Snow!” 🙂

Between exhibition areas, you pass through a little room where you get your pictures taken on a green screen (and will, of course, later have the chance to purchase them) and amazingly, Owen did well with the instruction to hold his arms out so it would look like he was surfing:

Then we got instructions to look scared by putting our hands up to our faces…which we all have done…except Owen, who looked scared by hiding his face! 🙂

Then, a normal group photo.

It was a fairly speedy trip through the rest of the aquarium, but Owen did like the sting rays, seahorses, and playing in the crab:

Looking at fish with Gram:

Then Owen got a treat from the gift store…which he played with on the final walk outside.

We stopped to look at turtles on a log…

And birds in a field…

A great food day!

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Tom and I decided to go to Wilmington for an overnight trip…with plans to go out to eat, of course. Well, on the way there, we decided to stop at Jebby’s on 17 (that I spotted on Yelp)—a bar that was really REALLY good. I had She Crab soup, a fried oyster po’boy, and breaded fries (yes, breaded fries—they’re as decadent as they sound); Tom had the oyster stew, a fried egg/bacon/cheeseburger, and onion rings. All fresh and hand made (even the dressings and dips). We will definitely be back.

Then we got to Wilmington and decided to see if our friends were up for dinner—which they were, so we told them to pick the place. And we ended up at manna which was absolutely AMAZING. It was one of those menus that you didn’t know what half the items were but you knew they’d be delicious. And they soooooo were. I’d go back in a minute. Here’s what we ordered (don’t you love the names?):

  • Bread & Butter—house-made bread with home churned manna butter
  • (Me) Beet Box Salad—roasted beet & goat cheese terrine, field greens, orange supremes, pistachios, red wine, and ginger vinaigrette
  • (Me) Iron Chef: Bobby Filet—seared filet of beef, housemade chorizo, confit of root vegetables, shaved brussels sprouts, sauce of porcini
  • (Tom) Duck, Duck, Roots—confit of root vegetables, candied duck, olive oil, balsamic cardamom reduction, truffled cream, preserved lemon, spiced walnuts
  • (Tom) The Porkshank Redemption—braised & smoked pork shank with chilies, cocoa, ras al hanout, almond & cilantro barlotto

Plus we all got to try each other’s dishes, so I got to try two other apps/salads (including a cheese & local charcuterie course) and three main courses (including lamb and grouper). Plus we all split a chocolate cake dessert.

Total food coma. But soooo worth it. SO WORTH IT.

The bonus? Our friends surprised us and picked up the check…so when we do it next (when both husbands are home from their months away), it will be our treat.

Magazine Overload

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I didn’t think I got that many magazines, but I’m really behind on them at the moment (with how crappy I’ve been feeling, I couldn’t even bring myself to read) so I actually sorted and counted them. I get 10. TEN. Eleven if you count the one Tom gets that I do look through.

Holy crap.

I would have guessed three or four—though looking at all of them I obviously know I get them all. I think it’s just when you get one here and one there (repeat eight more times) over the course of a month, you don’t consciously think about the fact that YOU ARE GETTING TEN MAGAZINES.

Luckily most of them don’t require a lot of time—which is why I haven’t unsubbed any of them yet. I also don’t pay near full price for any of them (I only buy when it’s a steal of a deal) so it’s not an expensive habit.

So what’s stacked on my coffee table right now? And how many of each?

Entertainment Weekly (6)
Real Simple (3)
Food Network (2)
Everyday Food (2)
Cooks Illustrated (2)
Consumer Reports (gift) (2)
Readers Digest (gift) (2)
Parents (3)
Parenting (2)
Family Fun (2)
Family Handyman (Tom’s) (2)

I know: 88|

2011 USMC Birthday Ball

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It was back to the basics this year after three years of deluxe birthday balls during recruiting duty—no included open bar or hotel suite—but no $200+ for tickets, either. 😀 And, as usual, I didn’t know anyone (the Detroit years were the only time I’ve ever known anyone at a ball).

The official pictures didn’t go particularly well. The guy seemed somewhat knowledgeable, but he was too perfectionist and was all “Okay, lady tilt head left, lift chin up, move your arm to the left a bit, bend your elbow more, lean into him. Sir, chin towards me, no back a bit, look up, tilt your head sideways, take a tiny sidestep back.” But 10x worse. Oh my god it was tiring and distracting. Then he showed you the photos (digital, of course) and if you didn’t like it, he’d take more. Well, I hated all three he took of us, so I said “Can you just take a quick casual picture without all the direction?” Sure, and it ended up to be the best one but I still hated it (damn double chin—yeah, it’s me in all my glory but I hate to see it in a photo). So, it’s a $20 memory.

For whatever reason, the ceremony seemed to move more slowly than we’d remembered it, and we weren’t even starting dinner until 8:30—and we didn’t get cake until 9:45!! There was still no music or dancing by that point, and we honestly didn’t feel like staying and waiting for that to start…so we left at 10. Yeah, we’re apparently old fogies now. 😮

A day of fails…with fun.

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The local farmer’s market was having a big shindig today—reptiles, animals, hay rides, tractors, etc…so we were excited to take Owen. Yeah, he wasn’t thrilled. He wouldn’t even get close to the alpaca, let alone feed it (or even lean over and touch it when Tom was holding him). He liked the small snakes and geckos for about 30 seconds…until he got to the BIG snakes and was “done” (I was done way before that—I HATE SNAKES). He liked seeing the tractor, but didn’t want to sit on it. He had the most fun with the sidewalk chalk—and even that didn’t last more than a few minutes. So that was that. FAIL. But he was still a really good kid the whole time so overall it was still fun.

Then we went to Walmart and offered to buy him a pint-sized football…and he didn’t want it. I tried to get him a Cars-themed bath scrubbie, but he didn’t want that because he wanted the plastic Lightning McQueen Bath Bubbles next to it. FAIL. But he was still a really good kid the whole time so overall it was still fun.

Then we decided to go to Chick-Fil-A to let him try out the play area (one of those enclosed things) since we’ve been meaning to do it since we got here—and he wanted no part of that, either. He sat on the bench and played with his cars on the window ledge. FAIL. But he was still a really good kid the whole time so overall it was still fun. (And on a sidenote, he liked dipping his fries in the Polynesian sauce! SCORE!)