Stages in Life

Some of you may have heard, but I have decided to step-down from being a Stroller Strides instructor at the end of August.  It is not because I do not enjoy it.  Stroller Strides has been one of the most worthwhile organizations I have been a part of, but once Tommy starts going to school M-W-F in September, I want to have Tuesdays and Thursdays to do fun mom/kids activities in the mornings.  I am looking forward to using our memberships at the Zoo, the Childrens' Museum and OMSI! 

With this decision I find myself once again trying to figure out who I am.  For the last little bit (since April of 2007) I have been a Stroller Strides attendee and then late in 2008, I became an instructor.  I LOVE Stroller Strides and truly credit it and Rachel Heyer for saving my sanity when I first became a mommy.  I have met some of my best friends through Stroller Strides and I would not hesitate to ask any of the amazing women that are a part of this organization for help or advice on life or something one of my kids is doing.  But I just feel like it is time. 

When I first became a mom, I had the self-imposed problem of losing my job identity to "just become a mom."  It is so funny to me now, but that is how I felt.  I was depressed and lost.  All I had ever done, post-college, was work.  I was proud of my job and proud of what I had accomplished in those 9 years; similar to today, I am proud of what I have done and accomplished as "just a stay-at-home mom and Stroller Strides participant."  But I find myself again questioning, "Who am I without Stroller Strides?"  I am still not sure if I am giving up attending classes or not, I am just going to see how September goes, but the question still looms, "Who am I?"

I have thought about the following pathways:

• Nurse (but I would have needed better grades in college to get into nursing school)
• Lab technician (i.e the person who draws blood)
• High School Guidance Counselor
• Williams Sonoma employee
• Opening a bakery (which would require me to get a part-time job in a bakery first so I knew what I was doing)
• Opening a Mom Spa (which takes way too much capital that I do not have access to)
• Opening an outdoor neighborhood swimming pool with a summer league swim team (again takes too much capital that I do not have access to)

But in the end I do not know what I want to be when I grow up.  If anyone has input on any of this or can think of other things that I should be doing with my life, let me know. 

For now, I have decided for the next year, I am going to be satisfied to be a stay-at-home mom - that is if my mind will let me.  I am trying to be patient and know that a path will develop, but for right now I am back to feeling a bit lost.

I am also getting excited for Tommy to start public school.  We went and visited my mother-in-law in her 1st grade classroom.  She hatched baby chickens from eggs and so we went to visit the 13 baby chicks (she ended up with 14 chicks - one hatched after we left).  I think Tommy is going to have a great time in public school and I can't wait to be involved in both the classroom and making our school a better place.  So I do have that to look forward to.

I guess what I am saying is I know there are different stages in life and I think as I am moving out of the baby stage, I am struggling to find my place.  But I am sure it will happen and I just have to have faith in that. 

Cheers to different stages in life and being a bit lost.

Girls' Weekend in Seattle

We had a girls' weekend in Seattle this past weekend.  It was so much fun!  My mom, sister and me - three girls on the town.  We stayed at Diana and Tobais' house in Shoreline. 

Mom drove up to Tigard, picked me up and we headed north on Friday night.  We arrived around 9:00PM and had a glass of wine and chatted.  It was then time for bed.  I must have been tired and happy because I woke both my mom and me up laughing at 4AM.  We both went back to sleep but it was pretty funny.

We woke up, got dressed and headed out to downtown Seattle.  We were headed to Matt's in the Market.  I had heard about this place from my friend Jennifer.  She loves it, so Diana made a reservation.  We ate lunch there and it was phenomenal!  Here is what we had:

This was homemade salt and pepper potato chips with a warm bacon and caramelized onion dip.

This is Diana's catfish sandwich and simple green salad.

This is Mom's chicken sandwich with simple green salad.

This is my shrimp salad sandwich with potato leek soup.
And of course as you see in all the pictures, we had bloody mary's that also came along with a small glass of beer.

Our lunch was outstanding...and yes we did have 2 bloody mary's a piece, but seriously this is a great place! 

Then we went shopping at Nordstrom.  Nordstrom was busy and fun!  We walked around the shoe department and did not find anything fun, so then we went to the makeup department and found our dear old friend Laura Mercier.  Our new friend J.R. helped us at the Laura Mercier counter and we had so much fun.  Diana and Mom made me get blush because they said I needed the color not to look dead...I felt a bit like a clown.  But I was happy with all that we bought.  Then we went to the Accessories Department.  We tried on funky fun headbands, Diana bought a hat and I bought a scarf.  So all-in-all it was a very fun shopping excursion. 

We then headed back to Pike's Place Market.  There was a cheese festival going on so there were gobs and gobs of people.  I had seen a Henna Tattoo shop on the way up to Nordstrom and of course I wanted one.  So I headed into the shop and found a sun that looked good to me.  So here is my new Henna Tattoo:

 
Then we headed back to Diana's house to apply new makeup and get ready for dinner.  We wanted to meet our Aunts (Sarah and Suz) for drinks and dinner.  So we went to Kirkland and went to Brix Cafe.  We got there early and drinks/appetizers - even though we had been drinking and eating all day long.  Here is a pic of the three of us at that restaurant:

Then Sarah and Suz showed up and we had the best time!  We ate dinner, drank and had a blast!  Both Sarah and Diana said their cheeks hurt from smiling so much.  We decided we needed to do that more often and hopefully we will!

Suz and I were the designated drivers, so we all made it home safe. 

Sunday morning we slept in a bit and stayed in our sweats and headed to breakfast at the Honey Bear Bakery.  This was a fun bakery next/inside of a bookstore.  We had a great breakfast and then headed to the bookstore to find some letter tracing books for Tommy who is into writing his letters. 

Then back to Diana's house to change for a bridal shower for our cousin/nephew's fiance (Laura).  So not only did we get to see Sarah and Suz and dinner, we saw them at the shower too since it was for Sarah's future daughter-in-law.  It was very fun and cute to see all the fun presents that she received.  We are very excited for Nick and Laura's wedding in August. 

Then it was time for Mom and I to hit the road.  Sadly the weekend was over and while it went by very quickly, we had such a great time and can't wait to do it again.

Cheers to weekends with family!

Update on Jesse

As my Aunt Sarah pointed out this weekend, I have left you all hanging on Jesse's status. Jesse survived the surgery although there was worry there would not be enough skin to close the incision.  They made two incisions - one large and one smaller.  He spent the night at an animal hospital down in Tualatin the night after his surgery.  We took him down there, but our vet picked him up from the hospital and took him back to the vet office.  We picked him up that Saturday.  He was very drugged up and I rode in the back of the car with him.

We visited the vet about every other day to get the bandages changed and she let me know they had the results back on the type of cancer that the tumor was and while it is an aggressive cancer in that area, it will not metastasize (which means spread to any of the other organs in his body).  So he does have cancer and we do not know when it will come back or really any type of timeframe.  We are very happy he is home with us now!  I did ask the vet what I should be looking for as far as reoccurence/Jesse not doing well and she said he will just stop doing what he normally does, he will stop eating, etc.

With that being said, Jesse is recovering very well!  He had some major swelling the days after his surgery but the doctors were not worried about it and they were right it was just swelling from the surgery.  He had part of his stitches out two weeks ago and the other set out last week. 

Here is the healing area:

Jesse was not being a very good model, but here is a snapshot of him with his donut on and his side:

So our puppy is home.  He looks a bit like Frankenstein, but he actually likes the donut - he snores when he sleeps.

I want the incisions to heal a bit more before taking off the donut, but we are getting very close! 

So cheers to having our dog home and healing!

Jesse Puppy

I know Jesse our 12 year old dog is not a puppy, but we still consider him one.  He truly was our first child and as much as Mike fought getting him, he has been the best dog I have ever had.  And Mike came around within the first month and they have been best buds ever since. 

For the past month we have been fighting with a cyst on Jesse's chest.  They drained it about a month ago and it filled back up pretty fast.  I noticed on Tuesday that Jesse was licking at it and when he stood his right leg was distorted because it was so large.  So I thought to myself, "I am a big girl, I can take him in by myself."  Dr. R (at Banfield - possibly the best Vet I have ever dealt with) was surprised with how big it had gotten and said we should drain it and then talk about what we needed to do about it.  She came back from draining it and said we needed to think about surgery to remove it.  We decided we would do a surgical consult scheduled for today to discuss whether or not Jesse was a healthy enough candidate for surgery to remove the cyst.

Then on Tuesday afternoon/evening Jesse would not stop licking the cyst which had filled pretty much back up by then.  On Wednesday morning it was an oozing mess, so back into the vet we went.  They put him on antibiotics and then sent me to PetSmart - right next door - to get a cone/donut to keep him from licking it.  That was easier said than done because I had both Tommy and Morgan with me and of course this was during Morgan's nap time so she was a mess.  She was running up and down the aisles and I had to have Tommy chase her while I tried to talk to a salesman about which thing to buy.  When I couldn't decide I bought them all and figured I would figure it out at home.

We got home and I put the donut on Jesse.  He seemed so sad, but I knew it was better for him and it was helping the cyst to crust over (sorry to be so graphic).  Warning here is a picture of the cyst and Jesse in a donut, so breeze past these if you don't want to see yucky stuff:

So today I dropped Jesse off for his surgical consult and Dr. R called within an hour and said they took x-rays and the cyst seemed to not have gone past the body wall, which was a good thing because it looked like it had not grown into the muscle tissue.  Dr. R said pretty much our decision at this point would be surgery or euthanize him because he can’t live with this cyst on him.  She couldn’t guarantee me that this is not cancer, but he can’t live with this cyst because it bothers him so much. 

She said the surgeon is there and they can do the surgery today so that is what we elected to do.  She said she would call me if anything changed once they got in there and it was a “mess” -then we would need to make a decision to proceed or put him to sleep.  

Then Dr. R called in the middle of surgery to let me know there was a tumor causing the cyst.  They are pretty sure it is cancer, but they were going to remove as much of the tumor as they could as well as the cyst.  So now I sit here waiting to hear whether or not our puppy gets to come home tonight or if we have to make a harder decision and put him to sleep. 

I am so thankful for the wonderful years we have had with Jesse - he is truly a member of our family.  But Mike and I are also very realistic and know we do not want Jesse to be in pain.  And we do not want his quality of life to suffer.  So currently I sit here and wait in tears wondering how our puppy is.

So cheers to the years we have had with this amazing dog and here is to hoping that we have a few more.

Fun Easter Project

Here is a fun Easter project that Tommy did with Grandma Jan last year and I am attempting again this year.  I am sure Grandma Jan's eggs will surpass mine, but here goes nothing...

First these are pictures of Grandma Jan and Tommy's eggs from last year:

We added the egg feet, but they were a fun to have around the house.

Egg with glasses

They were fantastic centerpieces to our Easter Brunch last year.

So I forgot that last years' eggs were brown and I bought white.  But then I decided that was okay, I would color the eggs.  So then of course I had to talk with Grandma Jan to figure out what to do next.  She said last year she hard boiled the eggs and then took off the top and scooped the eggs out.  So that is what I did. 

Of course I googled how to hard boil the perfect egg...because every year, I tend to forget.  I put the eggs in the pot and filled with cold water.  I added one tsp. of salt and 1Tbsp of vinegar and then brought it to a boil.  Once at a boil, I removed from heat and covered the pot and timed it for 15minutes.  Then I transferred the eggs into an ice bath with a slotted spoon.  The resulting eggs were perfect...I know because one of them broke in the transfer process...so I had a lovely afternoon snack. 

Then we colored the eggs.  Tommy had a hard time understanding (as any 4 year old would) why we needed to leave them in the dye so long, but I LOVED the color they became.

Once those colors had dried, I used a sharp large knife and somewhat sawed a circle at the top of each egg and then slightly tapped the circle until it broke off.  Then I used a small spoon (we have multiple types of baby spoons) to scoop out the middles...I tried to be careful not to get shell fragments in there because then I could use the insides to make egg salad.  YUMMMMM! - which happened to be my lunch today.

Don't mind the baby on the table...I promise I was watching her!

The color somewhat crackled (don't even know if that is a word), but I kind of think it is pretty and will hopefully act like hair for my faces when I draw them on with Sharpie color.

Then today I inserted cotton balls and grass seed (thanks Mikey for picking that up for me) and put a bit of water in there...so hopefully next week I will send everyone pictures of lush green haired egg heads. 

Cheers to fun projects!  (Thanks Grandma Jan!!!)

It has been a while...

It has been a while since I have had time to sit and blog.  I know it does not take that much time, but it seems lately we have been busy.  I signed both Tommy and Morgan up for swimming class - and then I signed Tommy up for Karate Class.  While I like to have them active and having fun...it has been pretty busy over the last few weeks.  The swimming lessons will last until June and then I think it will just be Karate Class for Tommy. 

Currently this is what our schedule looks like:

Mondays - Usually Grandma Sue Mondays - we do SS in the morning and then hang out with Grandma
Tuesdays - Preschool day, run/walk with Sara and Megan while Tommy is in school
Wednesday - Do SS, Tommy swimming lessons and Tommy Karate Class (every other week the cleaning lady comes)
Thursday - Preschool day, run/walk with Sara and Megan while Tommy is in school
Friday - Do SS and Morgan swimming lessons
Saturday - Tommy Karate Class
Sunday - Church

So not a ton of free time, which is nice in a way, but it also seems to make the days go by quicker than normal.  And I am sure as the kids get older, the activities get to be more.

The other thing that has kept me away from blogging is Mike has started to travel like he used to travel prior to kids - and I think a bit more. :)  He usually had some rather large international travels, but he has those going on this year as well as some quick 3-4 day domestic travels pretty much every other week throughout the rest of the year.  One nice benefit is that he is taking me to France with him when he goes in August. 

I am very thankful he has a job and likes what he does, but it is definitely harder to be a single parent.  I give major credit to single parents.  Plus I like it when he is home and can spend time with us.  It is much more fun! 

So until school is out, I am pretty much sticking to the schedule above and trying not to lose my mind.  Here are a few pictures from what we have been up to:

We went to the Childrens Museum with Grandma Sue -

Both kids playing in the dirt

Tommy building his project!

Morgan playing with a watering can :)

Tommy on stage as a dino!

And spring is trying to come out...we played in the backyard last week:

So cheers to being busy!

Community

I love my neighborhood.  Today one of my lovely neighbors Lindsey Smith called and asked if Tommy wanted to come down to her house and play with Conner and Riley.  Of course he jumped at the chance!  Conner and Riley are twin boys who are 6 months older than Tommy.  Tommy had a blast and I was able to have some quiet time and bake (which is my go-to stress reliever).  The other nice thing about today is we did not have the television on the entire day.  Tommy played, Morgan napped and I was able to listen to my music and do tasks that I wanted to do.  It was a great day.

Two weeks ago, my friend and neighbor Heather Wolf had Tommy down to play with her sons - Owen (8) and Sawyer (6).  He had a blast that day too.  He looked at me the day after that  and said "Can I go play at Owen and Sawyer's house?"  I then had to explain that he would need to be invited again - it is hard to understand that when you are four.  But I cherish that he has those relationships with older boys who can teach him right and wrong and whose parents I trust immensely. 

I also love the fact that the kids are playing together instead of just sitting in their own houses being bored or needing their mothers to entertain them.  It is so much fun to see their imaginations run wild and even when Tommy gets home from playing with other kids, he seems to be much more willing to create play for himself. 

I grew up in a neighborhood similar to the one I live in now.  People were/are friendly and there were/are a ton of kids.  I had a girl friend who lived about 5 houses down on the street and then there were the older girls who lived 3 houses down.  I cherish all my memories of playing with my friends on my street, so I just hope I am creating the same memories for my children.

Cheers to community!

AND

Big Cheers to Heather and Lindsey for letting Tommy come play with their kiddos!