We had a Halloween party to go to at our friend’s house, and decided to take Owen with us for a little bit! He wasn’t thrilled about putting his costume on…until we told him we couldn’t go on a car ride (his favorite!) until he had it on. Then he was very interested in putting it on! When I was drawing on his nose and whiskers with a makeup brush, he kept saying “Tickles! Tickles!” 🙂
And then at the party…
You may want to turn DOWN your volume…the little boy gets loud!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1c4TdVfc7U
Just down the street at the golf course is a pond where ducks and geese hang out. We finally made it down there with some bread…
Since the weather was gorgeous and Owen hadn’t played outside yet, we surprised Tom by meeting him down at the entrance to the subdivision (which meant a half-mile walk to get there). Which then meant Owen could do something he loves…
Well, actually it was softball… Tom called to tell me he was in a pickup softball game if we wanted to come. It was a gorgeous day and Owen was up from his nap, so off we went. And Owen was REALLY excited about the whole thing—he just kept hopping around saying BASEBALL! BASEBALL! BASEBALL! and was ever MORE excited when someone handed him an actual softball to carry around! Of course I didn’t capture the best parts, but I did get some to give you an idea.
And then running the bases with daddy after the game!
We hadn’t gotten one in awhile (hard to do when I’m the one taking most of the photos) so since my mom was here, I had her do it!
I was innocently reaching for something in the garage Wednesday when my back seized and the pain almost brought me to the ground. Thankfully I could still walk—I just couldn’t lean forward. I had some drugs left over from the last time it happened—and Tom had some pain pills from when he had that kidney stone—so I popped some of those, took it easy the rest of the afternoon, and thought I’d be fine. Except the pills didn’t do THAT much. But I went to bed thinking I’d just sleep it off.
Except I woke up in pain in the middle of the night—so I took another pill that I thought took the edge off a little—but I still only got about four hours of sleep.
And then I tried to get up in the morning and could barely move. As in seriously, I could barely stand upright, let alone walk. Every movement was unbelievably painful, and I immediately wondered how I was going to get dressed, change Owen’s diaper, walk down the stairs, etc. I popped more pills and moved slowly, and things seemed to loosen up a little bit, though it was still agonizing.
I was trying to think how I could go to the ER without Owen, since I knew that can take anywhere from 2-7 hours depending how busy they are, and I didn’t want to have to deal with a nap-less toddler at the hospital (if I could even figure out how to lift him into his car seat!). Then the pain would subside a little and I figured I wouldn’t have to go. Then the pain would come screaming back, so I decided I had to go—I’d just go when Tom got home (or when a neighbor’s kid got out of school and could come down and watch him).
But then Tom was able to move his schedule around (!) and was able to come home—so I was off to the ER around 11:30. It actually went more quickly than I thought it would and I was out of there in 2.5 hours (though most of that time was just sitting and waiting).
I had thought it might be a pinched nerve since the drugs weren’t touching it, but the doc said it was just seized up and the reason the drugs weren’t touching it was because I needed an anti-inflammatory, not just a pain reliever. So I got a shot of Torodol and prescriptions for Oxycodone (for pain), Diazepam (for calming/relaxing/sleeping), and Naproxen (for anti-inflammatory).
Once the shot took effect and the drugs started working their magic, I was almost in heaven—I could actually move, though it was still painful. And then I took a double dose of Diazepam so I’d sleep…and sleep I did. I slept hard from 10p-3a—not ever moving!—turned over once, then slept again from 3a-7a. That’s the best and most sleep I’ve gotten in a loooooong time (too bad it took major drugs to get it to happen).
I felt quite good laying down, but getting up was a big challenge again, since I obviously hadn’t had any meds throughout the night, so I was basically starting from scratch. And it took a good 2-3 hours before the drugs kicked in again…but I just crashed on the bed while Owen was a good little kid.
By this time of the day, I can move around pretty good, though lying in bed still feels the best. But I think tonight I’ll have pills on my nightstand to take when I wake up/roll over so I can hopefully start the morning with a bit less pain.
He saw these sunglasses sitting on the counter and has co-opted them as his own. He was super excited to wear them and wore them around the house for quite some time. He just LOVES them.
Tonight was the first night we gave him mini slices of pizza instead of cut up pieces—and he seemed to do just fine!
The glasses make another appearance during a Skype call with Grandma Marsha and Uncle Rob!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnr5vVyTQiU
Owen loves car rides, so when Tom came home from work today, he coerced Owen into the passenger seat for a mini car ride! Then off they went at a whopping 2mph down the street. When they came back into sight, Owen was in Tom’s lap driving—and was having a ball! The rest of the night he kept saying “More drive! More drive!” 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otFdgzxs804
Tom decided to take his birthday dinner to teach Owen the fist bump. And Owen loved it. 🙂
And smiling with dad:
Owen’s version of Happy Birthday!
Again, we didn’t want to waste the full tub of water left over after Irene…so we let Owen take a bath in it…with jets and bubbles! And of course, he LOVED it!!
Before our date night—Chinese (of course!) and the last Harry Potter movie!
Tom checked into work this morning. Well, I should say he’s there checking in now. He took a month off after leaving the recruiting station in Michigan…and man, did that month just fly by. Owen and I got REALLY used to him being around 24/7, and it’s going to be a big (BIG!) adjustment going back to “normal” with just us two here.
In order to try and tempt him into going up to the sprinkler, we tell him to tickle it or tell him to say “Wake up!” Tom is off screen stepping on the hose. 🙂
So, if your spouse said to you while grabbing the clean sheets from the dryer: I’m going to go upstairs and put these on the beds. — Would you assume he/she actually made the beds? Or just threw the sheets in a crumpled mess on the beds?
|-|
(I still love you, babe.)
We wanted to have a picnic like last year…perfect weather, fun for Owen in the pool, a bunch of friends over, some good food, and a new family photo. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate…and neither did Owen. We got a decent photo out of the 25 attempts…
But it doesn’t even come close to the apparently once-in-a-lifetime shot we got last year (one of two attempts).
But he was super cute the morning of the picnic when he discovered he could climb up onto the bay window ledge in the living room. What fun!
And he loved Gramma Jean’s mower…when it was turned off. She turned it on to give him a ride and it was “NOISY!”
Then Tom helped him pick a flower for me—my first flower! Sigh. :heart:
And last but not least…Gramma Jean got Owen a pop-up tube/tent contraption…which he LOVED. I’m not sure where it’s going to fit in either house, but we’ll have to find a place.
Today was the first nice day of the year—55 and sunny—so Owen and I went outside to play! The first time we went out, Owen was excited to see THREE trucks come by—the garbage truck, the mail truck, and the FedEx truck! When the FedEx truck went by, he said “X! F!” 🙂 He also enjoyed splashing in the puddles.
After lunch, when it was about time for Tom to come home, we went out again. This time there was much more splashing!
He did not want to go inside—he apparently now remembers how fun it is to be outside—so we went out to the porch while the grill heated up for dinner. He wanted to play with Maggie’s toy…but she wanted the toy more, so she knocked him down trying to get it. He had a fit until I went downstairs and brought up this toy from last summer. You should have seen his face when he saw it—so happy!
Ugh. Unbelievable.
So we’ve really been thinking we’ll be sent to California, because we’ve already spent five years in NC and it was HIGHLY unlikely we’d be sent back there. Also, Tom really needs to work for “the wing” (vs. the ground, as he has done already) which also means California. So we’ve been waiting on the word since December.
In the meantime, we have been trying to rent or sell our NC house. Desperately trying. We joked that the minute we rented or sold it, we’d find out we were moving back there. Ha ha. Right. Funny.
Yesterday we find out we have renters for six months.
Today we find out we’re going back to NC, effective July 31.
REALLY?
It’s not really a horrible terrible no-good situation because we couldn’t afford to keep it empty for the four months (until Tom has to be there) but it’s just the type of luck we have. We are hoping since they only wanted a six-month lease that a five-month lease will sound even better. Then, Tom would go live as a bachelor for a month (likely on base) and Owen and I would come down when the house was empty. Unless, of course, we sell it in the meantime.
It’s just so…sucky.
Ugh.
Just, ugh.
I’m trying to concentrate on the positives: we will be moving back to a place we have good friends, good neighbors (well, unless we sell the house), are already familiar with the area, and that isn’t a mandatory plane flight from home.
But, still. When are we going to catch a break?
Since Tom had the day off, we took Owen to the community center pool. At first he didn’t really want anything to do with it—not even when we gave him a ball. But after about 30 minutes he started loving it, and we ended up staying for almost two hours. Here he is shooting hoops with Tom’s help…
He loooooooves this bucket now. I keep all his balls in it, and he’ll come down from his nap, toss out every single ball, then hop in and just sit there, or watch TV from there. Thanks, Grandma Marsha!
He also likes getting pulled around the floor in it…and then Tom picked him up and carried him around, then gave him a bumpy ride!
My 2001 Toyota Highlander rolled over 100,000 miles on the last leg of our 2700+ mile road trip today! We knew it would happen on this trip, so were keeping an eye on it—to get a picture, of course! I had my iPhone camera at the ready when Tom made the 5-mile announcement…and right as it turned 99,999 (which I also wanted a picture of), my phone rebooted! 88| Thankfully there was a turnpike convenience center a half mile down the road, so we pulled in! (We also needed gas!) So I got my picture!
Since we were obviously only a half mile from 100,000, I wanted Tom to drive around the convenience center, but he said no. 😐 So the picture for 100,000 is a bit blurry since I was taking it while he was driving.
