Catching Up

I have been very busy lately, and I just realized that I haven't blogged in like two weeks! So I've added a few posts about what's been going on; tomorrow I'm hoping to post about Christmas.

Snow Days

As you are all aware, we were recently doused in about a foot of snow, all over the Portland area. It was on the ground for over a week, making travel risky and difficult. We are lucky that we were able to chain up the car and go out a couple of the days, so we could get some groceries and the Christmas presents that we still needed.

Roobin's first snow.

He loved playing in it and zooming around the yard, until it got a layer of ice over it. After that happened he wouldn't go out anywhere on his own. Don had to trample and dig a path for him to his favorite potty spot before he would go pee.

This is the mini snowman Don made in the early days of the storm.

Tony checking out the snow and watching Papa put the chains on the car

Pictures in the front yard.

This is funny because Tony was sitting up just fine on the ground, but right before the camera clicked Roobin came over and sniffed him, and he lost his concentration and toppled over.

Random Pictures

A selection of photos from the past few weeks.

Family Pictures

We get Tony's pictures taken every month, but this time we had some with Don and I included since it seemed like a good time for official family photos. I didn't post them sooner because they were also a surprise present for my mom. So here they are:

We had a couple more, but I'm sure you've seen enough :)

Fibber

A few years ago, when Don and I were dating, I was at his apartment making a milkshake. I had the ice cream, milk, and oreos all set out on the counter. My first mistake was thinking I needed to use the entire sleeve of cookies in order to make this treat extra special. After the blender was going for awhile I noticed that the mixture was too thick (because of the 15 oreos I crammed in there) so I figured I'd better help things along. Here is where my second mistake was made: for some reason, unbeknownst to me, I decided to break up the clumps with a knife. While the blender was on. Yep- I, a girl of 20 and with much experience in milkshake-making and blending in general, stuck a metal knife in an operating kitchen appliance.

When Don came in, it was to this scene: me with globs of milkshake in my hair and on my glasses, standing next to a blender oozing brown goo from a hole in its side. He asked what happened, and when I didn't answer right away (because I was trying to decide how to not show what a dope I can be to this boy whom I was hoping would someday be my eternal companion), he went on to say, "Oh, did that just break?" At that instant I had an epiphany: just go along with this story. He'll believe it because the blender was a cheapo Wal Mart one, and that makes me come across as the innocent victim of Sunbeam Appliance's faulty manufacturing practices. So I replied in the affirmative, and proceeded to give a flimsy account of rouge blades and weak materials, all the while hoping he wouldn't notice the slightly bent knife and corresponding hole shape.

After much sympathy and reassuring words, I was comforted and we went on to joke about why the heck I used so many cookies, when probably four or five would have been plenty. In my shame I kept the truth of this incident locked within my heart, until sufficient time had passed (i.e. after the wedding).

He Tries...

Roobin's attempt at giving us a White Christmas

Tony's New Look

This is the face that Tony has been making a lot lately. It looks like he's sad, but he isn't. It cracks me up.

Elf Dance (Watch Above)

Hehe. I was sent this link by a friend, and it's pretty funny

Bear Suit

Winter Stroll

We went on a family walk yesterday to enjoy the sunshine. Tony got to wear his bearsuit. He was so warm and comfy that he conked out after about 30 minutes.

11 Days

A record has been set; I think I'll call the Guinness Book, for you see, I have not yawned in eleven days.

I have tried many times over the years to suppress a yawn, but it has never really worked, as the yawn always returns moments later, and trying to stop it results in soreness of jaw. Well, it turns out that said jaw ache is nothing in comparison to the agony of stretching and flexing the back of one's throat after a tonsillectomy. So I have used up every ounce of strength that I can channel into my lower face in order to halt 11 days-worth of yawns. I didn't think it could be done, but much like the mother lifting a car off her child, when the need is dire, we humans will find a way.

Christmas Tree!!

Yay- It's Christmas time! I *love* this time of year- the lights, the presents (I'm not ashamed to admit it-hehe), the food, the joy...ahhh. Hooray. So we got our tree this weekend, and I love decorating it and beginning the present pile. I'm extra excited for this year sine Tony is here, even though he won't really know what's going on. We got him a special Christmas Bear, who I named Davis. I had to post some pictures of Tony and his first Christmas tree:

(Tony insisted that Floyd be included, though he is neither an ornament, nor a Christmas Penguin)

Tony with his pals, Davis and Floyd

Six Months Old Already!

Testing out his new winter hat

I just can't quite believe it-where oh where did the time go? We took Tony to his checkup today, and he's now 27.5 inches tall, and 17 lbs 2 oz! I never would have guessed he weighed that much...so he's in the 85th percentile for height, and the 45th for weight.

Practicing sitting up

Funny face

New Fun

Tony has a new favorite activity: coughing. He has discovered how to make this fun noise whenever he wants, so now he does it constantly. It's actually pretty funny, because I picture him making the same phony sounds in a few years when he wants to stay home from school. He tests out different mouth and tongue positions to hear the variations, which results in some pretty humorous faces. The down side to this new pastime is that occasionally he will cough himself into a small barf. If I can ever get a video to upload, I will let you see it. (The coughing, not the barfing!)

Tonsillectomy Update (WARNING:PHOTOS)

Hello all. I thought I'd let you know that my surgery went fine, and I'm recovering pretty well. There is a considerable amount of pain, which I guess should get worse in the next couple days :(

I've been able to eat soup, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, pudding and applesauce. Oh, and a Frosty. And today I ate a donut. It was sooooo good, but kinda scratchy. It's probably for the best that the donut hurt and the Frosty made me sick, otherwise my scheme of losing some weight during this ordeal will be foiled.

Now, because some of you may be morbidly curious, I will post some before and after pics of my throat, so if you don't like that sort of thing,

DON'T SCROLL DOWN!

This first photo shows my gigantic tonsil on the left

Here is the view right after the surgery (the black spots are where they cauterized blood vessels)

This is what it looked like yesterday- the whitish/yellow is the scab I guess.

Pretty gross huh?

Highchair!

You Can Do That?

The joy, the excitement! Being unable to wait a minute longer to experience it for yourself... it was a wonderful day when I first heard the news: you can record the radio. I was a lowly fourth grader, riding the same old bus on the same old route, when a wise-to-the-ways-of-the-world fifth grader first told me. Her name was Krissy, and she opened my eyes to the magic of the record button on my Sony tape player. Apparently, if you have the radio on, and a tape is in the cassette drawer, by simultaneously pressing the record and play buttons you can capture the music and have it forever.

Needless to say, that afternoon I scoured the house for blank (and some not so blank) tapes for my stockpile, and then got down to business. I'd listen with my hand poised over the buttons, and as soon as the best songs started I'd press them with glee. The drawback was I kept missing the beginning of the songs. I realized it was better to just let it record straight through, and then I'd fast-forward the commercials and DJ jabber. If I didn't catch any good songs I'd record over it.

I was forever changed; in the past my musical enjoyment was at the mercy of 104.7 Kduk, but now I could have Waterfalls and Gangster's Paradise booming on my Walkman all the time. Thanks Krissy.

Under the Knife

In case you've been thinking, "Hmm, I wonder what Mieka will be doing this weekend?" I'll tell you: I'm having surgery. That sounds all dramatic, but it really isn't anything cool- I'm getting my tonsils taken out. I've had chronic tonsillitis for years, and I finally found a doctor who diagnosed it and will do the -ectomy. I guess they don't like to do them for adults very often, but thankfully I qualify.

The procedure is on Friday, and Don will be taking 2 weeks off work to take care of Tony while I'm on the drugs. Yay for Don being home, but boo for me having only liquid and mush for meals. To make up for the upcoming dinner-deprivation, this week we are having my favorite meals, so I am pretty excited.

If any of you feel like praying, it would be great if you could include something about me losing like 20 pounds during the recovery. Hehe. Thanks :)

Car Wash

One day in the summer of 1998 I was broke. Actually, pretty much every day that summer and all the days before and after it... anyways, I was short on cash but I wanted to go to the mall with a couple of friends. Since neither of them had any money either, it became imperative that we come up with some funds or the whole trip would be a bust. "Hmmm," we thought, "what can three 14 year old girls do for some quick cash?" After wracking our brains for awhile, we struck gold with that ever popular fundraising event almost everyone participates in for one reason or another: Car Wash! Now, being children of goodly parents, we didn't want to lie, but when the inevitable question, "What is this car wash for?" came up, we had to have a worthy cause. We reasoned that since we were all on the same basketball team the previous winter, and we would most likely be on the same team in the upcoming season, it would be an acceptable stretching of the truth if we told customers that the funds were in support of our team.

We called up WalMart and asked if we could use their parking lot. They agreed, and even offered to match the amount of money we received! I knew that would be crossing the line, so I politely declined (which I'm sure was curious to the lady on the phone, but she didn't press the issue). We made posters and collected buckets, soap, and sponges. We were there for a few hours, and it went pretty well. We made 36 dollars, so 12 bucks each. Boo-Yah! Gateway Mall, here we come!

If there were any customers who thought it a bit odd that there were only three kids participating in the event, and not a supervising adult in the vicinity, they didn't mention it.

Bedtime Fun

First a bath with Ferguson

Then a bedtime story

And snuggles with Lamby

Sweet Snuggler

Next Stop: Loony Bin

My anxiety has risen to new heights.

Background Info: This weekend we were driving around looking at houses for sale as a way to pass the time. When we came across a development of homes ranging from 395K-450K we decided to play "Let's Pretend" where Don was an engineer, and I think I was a neurosurgeon. We mosey into the model home --which can I just say, was probably the most beautiful house I've ever set foot in-- and started talking to the guy. He asked us if the price range was about what we were looking for, and Don, cool as a cucumber, says, "Well, it's a little high," haha- a little! Anyhow, we look around a few of the houses (all of them with names from 1990s sitcoms, like, The Banks, The Tanner...) and secretly plan to stop at the nearest gas station to buy some lottery tickets. Anyway... one feature that caught my eye was the staircase and upper landing area. Fancy railing, big windows and so forth. Very nice.

Fast forward to about 1 am: I'm lying awake in bed thinking about how great it would be to live in The Winslow, when I realize that if we lived there, Tony would probably climb over the armchair I'd have in the reading nook at the top of the stairs, lean over the railing, and he'd lose his balance and plummet headfirst onto the hardwood floors below. So then I start thinking about how dangerous staircases can be, and I come to the conclusion that not only will we never live in a house with more than one story, but also that Tony will never even step foot in any place that does.

Crazy, much?

5th Month Pictures

These are the photos from Tony's most recent trip to JC Penny. In the spirit of the season we did most of them in his penguin suit.

With Floyd, his best penguin pal.