The little kids playing in the ball pit. It was a huge hit!
Cohen is growing faster than I thought...notice the too small hat...
Dave showering Kason and Carter with ballsSunday, August 30, 2009
August 30, 2009: Pool Party!
We ventured south for the afternoon to attend a Jungle Pool Party in Julietta for Mr. Kason. He is the son of our friends Stefanie and Dave, and it was his first birthday! Stefanie and I grew close while I lived in Spokane, so we were not about to miss a big day in her little man’s life. It was such an adorable party, complete with perfect decorations and an alligator cupcake cake that Stef made! I had to remind John that Stefanie is superwoman and not all mom’s have time to bust out a party like that, let alone make it look easy. Stef, Dave and Kason were decked out in jungle attire and looked so adorable. I couldn’t help but think how perfect a baby girl would look in Stefanie’s arms this time next year J Carter was the oldest child there and he got a little rough in the ball pit…tackling a one year old girl and bonking her in the head….talk about embarrassing, especially because we didn’t know her parents. That’s the life of a toddler mom I suppose. Overall it was a very fun party and a beautiful day.
The little kids playing in the ball pit. It was a huge hit!
Cohen is growing faster than I thought...notice the too small hat...
Dave showering Kason and Carter with balls
The little kids playing in the ball pit. It was a huge hit! Cohen is growing faster than I thought...notice the too small hat... Dave showering Kason and Carter with balls
Monday, August 24, 2009
August 24, 2009: First Day of School!
Today marks the first day of fall semester. It is almost like summer never happened, and the work load for both John and I is intense. Carter is in a new classroom at school and Cohen has started full time. We have them at the best child care center in our area, and it totally shows. Cohen’s days are filled with age appropriate activities and developmental learning, his teacher works with him more than John and I ever could and we are so thankful to have such wonderful person caring for our baby. Both Carter and his parents had to adjust to new teachers, but it is working out well. He is such a resilient child, we are very lucky. Now that we are back to the grind, my ability to post won’t be as great as it was in the past. My goal is to have weekly updates, but if I miss a week please know I will get to it eventually.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
August 20, 2009: They Know Us By Name...
...at the Emergency Room! We got home from our vacation yesterday, and it was good to be home. We have a lot to accomplish before school starts. I was talking to my mom on the phone as we were getting the boys ready for bed. At one point Cohen was in the middle of our bed, propped up on a pillow and Carter was playing on the floor of our room. I went into Coey’s room to get his jammies, and as I was in there I heard Cohen let out his “in pain” cry. I rushed into the room in time to see John pick Cohen up and clam him down. He was doing the “cry so hard that his face turns red and doesn’t breathe” cry. We had no clue what happened. Carter couldn’t reach him, we didn’t think, and there weren’t any marks on Cohen. We asked Carter if he hurt baby Cohen and he said “yep”. Then we asked, did you poke him in the eye and Carter said “yep.” Testing this a little further, we asked him if he hit Cohen and he said “yep” We were obviously getting nowhere with regards to finding out what actually happened. After about an hour of screaming we got Cohen calmed down and asleep, and then went to bed ourselves. A
At 12:00am I woke up to Cohen screaming bloody murder. I went in and turned off his apnea monitor for fear it would go off with how erratic Cohen was acting. I brought him in to our room to try and calm him down. 2 hours later and still screaming bloody murder, we decided I should taken Cohen into the ER. Our fear was that his bowel had perforated. The symptom we were to look for was sudden onset of uncontrollable crying or discomfort. Bingo! I raced him to the ER in a panic and certain that he would be airlifted to Sacred Heart that night for emergency surgery. I was about in tears, mostly because I couldn’t calm Cohen down and 2 hours of straight screaming can do a number on a mom’s emotions, I could barely choke out what I think was going on with Cohen. I did manage to explain his belly issues to the nurse, and she got us back to a room very quickly. The doctor came in equally as quick and ruled out bowel perforation. Phew! However, Cohen was still screaming. The doc examined his belly and groin for a hernia and made sure none of his arms or legs were dislocated. Then he checked his ear. One ear was clearly infected. (and this being Cohen’s 7th ear infection, and first time he has ever been this upset about it , I was stunned) And in the other ear, his ear drum burst. Bingo. No wonder he was so upset! He was given some pain medicine and a shot of antibiotic for the infection. As soon as we got home , the meds kicked in and he got a good sleep. I am so happy it wasn’t his bowels, but I can’t imagine how painful it is to have ones ear drum burst. Poor little guy!
At 12:00am I woke up to Cohen screaming bloody murder. I went in and turned off his apnea monitor for fear it would go off with how erratic Cohen was acting. I brought him in to our room to try and calm him down. 2 hours later and still screaming bloody murder, we decided I should taken Cohen into the ER. Our fear was that his bowel had perforated. The symptom we were to look for was sudden onset of uncontrollable crying or discomfort. Bingo! I raced him to the ER in a panic and certain that he would be airlifted to Sacred Heart that night for emergency surgery. I was about in tears, mostly because I couldn’t calm Cohen down and 2 hours of straight screaming can do a number on a mom’s emotions, I could barely choke out what I think was going on with Cohen. I did manage to explain his belly issues to the nurse, and she got us back to a room very quickly. The doctor came in equally as quick and ruled out bowel perforation. Phew! However, Cohen was still screaming. The doc examined his belly and groin for a hernia and made sure none of his arms or legs were dislocated. Then he checked his ear. One ear was clearly infected. (and this being Cohen’s 7th ear infection, and first time he has ever been this upset about it , I was stunned) And in the other ear, his ear drum burst. Bingo. No wonder he was so upset! He was given some pain medicine and a shot of antibiotic for the infection. As soon as we got home , the meds kicked in and he got a good sleep. I am so happy it wasn’t his bowels, but I can’t imagine how painful it is to have ones ear drum burst. Poor little guy!
Friday, August 14, 2009
August 10-14, 2009: Southern California!
For the second half of our family vacation we headed to SoCal, specifically San Diego. As most of you know, we lived in San Diego for 2 years before returning to the Northwest for some more schooling. It has been a little over a year since we left, and it was so great to catch up with old friends and see some of San Diego that we never visited while we lived there. Here are some highlights:
Sea World: We arrived early in the morning and after checking into our Hotel room in old town, we headed to Sea World. This is one of the only things we didn’t do while we lived in San Diego. I drove past it every single day on my way to and from work, and even spent 2 hours driving through the parking lot when a water main broke on Ingraham, but we never went. In true Sunny D fashion, it was blazing hot. Cohen would have loved to sleep all day, but most of the attractions did not have stroller access so there was a lot of parking strollers and toting the baby around. Carter LOVED all of the show and animals. He is a huge animal fan, and learned lots of new animals. He came home with a souvenir penguin. We let him choose which animal he wanted and he said penguin. From the 10 different penguin options we let him choose which one he wanted…and it was probably the ugliest one there. He loves it and that is all that matters, but my gosh the thing is hideous.
Co-Workers: We took a break from the blazing heat at Sea World and headed to Birdrock in La Jolla to visit with my old co-workers. From the moment I walked through the doors and realized I couldn’t just walk back into the office bypassing the front desk girl, I was a little sad I had left. I had fun chatting with the attorneys and filling them in on how my first year of law school went…well the ones who I have on speed dial get almost monthly updates J The last time Carter was in the office he was 8 months old, and at 21 months old he had changed quite a bit. Cohen was a big hit too, garnering some laughs at the fact he was named after one of our old cases, and at the fact that the partner in charge of the case didn’t remember it. It was so great to see my co-workers and friends, and I was thisclose to insisting that we move back (especially when my boss gave his new assistant something to do), but I quickly remembered that if I do go back, I want to be an associate and not an assistant.
San Diego Zoo: We spent our second day in San Diego at the Zoo. This is one place that we visited very often while we lived there, even becoming season pass holders. John would drag me there when I was pregnant with Carter, and I really wasn’t a fan of the hills in August being almost 7 months pregnant. This time it was fun. We met up with one of my friends and her son. She and I got to catch up, and the little boys got to see lots of fun animals. Carter was in animal heaven. The new exhibit was open, and that was awesome!
Pool Party: After the zoo, we headed out to La Mesa for a pool party in our honor! One of our neighbors while we lived in Mission Valley threw us a party and our other neighbor friends came. It was so much fun. We all first met due to our dogs: Virginia and Keith had a rat terrier, just like Dolce, named Mojo, Tawny and Josh had Charlie, and Bri had Evie…at the apartments there became what was known as “Doggie Happy Hour” It was never a set thing, but it just seemed that everyone gathered in one spot to take the dogs out for a potty break after work. After meeting through the dogs, we became close with babies. Tawny and Josh had a baby boy almost exactly 2 months prior to us. They have one of the most amazing birth stories ever and it gives me goosebumps every time I think about it. Josh was on a “cruise” with the Navy (also known as deployment) for most of Tawny’s pregnancy. I learned in early August that she was due in September and that Josh was coming home at the end of August. Well, not only did their baby not wait until September, he was also excited his daddy was coming home that he decided to come in to the world on that exact day! Tawny went into labor early that morning, before Josh had arrived home, and the Navy flew a helicopter out to the boat to pick up Josh and fly him to the hospital so he could make it in time for the birth. He totally made it on time, and all of the pictures from that first day are of Josh in his uniform. What a great story with a very happy ending. Okay, back on track. Carter was born 2 months later, so Tawny and I hung out while I was on maternity leave. Through us, Josh and John got to know each other well, and before we knew it we were spending almost every night each others apartments. Virginia and Keith and Bri would join us for Idol nights and it was a riot…babies, dogs and idol! Tawny and I joked that Josh and John were dating. Five months after Carter was born, Virginia and Keith welcomed their own baby boy in to the world. Hanging out with our neighbors was so much fun, and it was so hard to move away from them.
The pool party was so much fun. It was crazy to see what a year does. The boys took to each other like they remembered being friends. And us adults didn’t skip a beat, it was like we never left. We had so much fun and are so thankful to Virginia for coordinating everything and thankful our friends took time out of their week to see us. We miss you guys!!
Josh reading to Carter
The boys practicing their "knuckles" and "pound its"
Hugs! Two of the sweetest boys ever!
Disneyland: We drove up to Disneyland for the second half of our SoCal trip. Uncle Doug joined us for 3 days of Disney fun. Carter loved the rides and such, but at 21 months old there were some hiccups: standing in line and waiting our turn was tiring for his little brain, and not being able to do the ride again as soon as it ended was beyond his comprehension. Needless to say there were a fair amount of tears, but all in all I think he enjoyed himself. My favorite part of the trip was the looks from other people. I’m sure some wild things went through their heads. You see, there were two babies, awfully close in age, 2 men pushing identical strollers, and one woman. We got a lot of puzzled looks. And, if someone were to have followed us throughout the park, they would have been even more confused: Some times, John and Doug took Carter on a ride, some times it was John and I, and some times it was Doug and I. Cohen didn’t get to fully experience Disneyland, but he was a huge fan of It’s a Small World…would you believe it if I said his eyes got big??
Cohen and his totally cool mouse ears beenie!
Sea World: We arrived early in the morning and after checking into our Hotel room in old town, we headed to Sea World. This is one of the only things we didn’t do while we lived in San Diego. I drove past it every single day on my way to and from work, and even spent 2 hours driving through the parking lot when a water main broke on Ingraham, but we never went. In true Sunny D fashion, it was blazing hot. Cohen would have loved to sleep all day, but most of the attractions did not have stroller access so there was a lot of parking strollers and toting the baby around. Carter LOVED all of the show and animals. He is a huge animal fan, and learned lots of new animals. He came home with a souvenir penguin. We let him choose which animal he wanted and he said penguin. From the 10 different penguin options we let him choose which one he wanted…and it was probably the ugliest one there. He loves it and that is all that matters, but my gosh the thing is hideous.
Co-Workers: We took a break from the blazing heat at Sea World and headed to Birdrock in La Jolla to visit with my old co-workers. From the moment I walked through the doors and realized I couldn’t just walk back into the office bypassing the front desk girl, I was a little sad I had left. I had fun chatting with the attorneys and filling them in on how my first year of law school went…well the ones who I have on speed dial get almost monthly updates J The last time Carter was in the office he was 8 months old, and at 21 months old he had changed quite a bit. Cohen was a big hit too, garnering some laughs at the fact he was named after one of our old cases, and at the fact that the partner in charge of the case didn’t remember it. It was so great to see my co-workers and friends, and I was thisclose to insisting that we move back (especially when my boss gave his new assistant something to do), but I quickly remembered that if I do go back, I want to be an associate and not an assistant.
San Diego Zoo: We spent our second day in San Diego at the Zoo. This is one place that we visited very often while we lived there, even becoming season pass holders. John would drag me there when I was pregnant with Carter, and I really wasn’t a fan of the hills in August being almost 7 months pregnant. This time it was fun. We met up with one of my friends and her son. She and I got to catch up, and the little boys got to see lots of fun animals. Carter was in animal heaven. The new exhibit was open, and that was awesome!
Pool Party: After the zoo, we headed out to La Mesa for a pool party in our honor! One of our neighbors while we lived in Mission Valley threw us a party and our other neighbor friends came. It was so much fun. We all first met due to our dogs: Virginia and Keith had a rat terrier, just like Dolce, named Mojo, Tawny and Josh had Charlie, and Bri had Evie…at the apartments there became what was known as “Doggie Happy Hour” It was never a set thing, but it just seemed that everyone gathered in one spot to take the dogs out for a potty break after work. After meeting through the dogs, we became close with babies. Tawny and Josh had a baby boy almost exactly 2 months prior to us. They have one of the most amazing birth stories ever and it gives me goosebumps every time I think about it. Josh was on a “cruise” with the Navy (also known as deployment) for most of Tawny’s pregnancy. I learned in early August that she was due in September and that Josh was coming home at the end of August. Well, not only did their baby not wait until September, he was also excited his daddy was coming home that he decided to come in to the world on that exact day! Tawny went into labor early that morning, before Josh had arrived home, and the Navy flew a helicopter out to the boat to pick up Josh and fly him to the hospital so he could make it in time for the birth. He totally made it on time, and all of the pictures from that first day are of Josh in his uniform. What a great story with a very happy ending. Okay, back on track. Carter was born 2 months later, so Tawny and I hung out while I was on maternity leave. Through us, Josh and John got to know each other well, and before we knew it we were spending almost every night each others apartments. Virginia and Keith and Bri would join us for Idol nights and it was a riot…babies, dogs and idol! Tawny and I joked that Josh and John were dating. Five months after Carter was born, Virginia and Keith welcomed their own baby boy in to the world. Hanging out with our neighbors was so much fun, and it was so hard to move away from them.
The pool party was so much fun. It was crazy to see what a year does. The boys took to each other like they remembered being friends. And us adults didn’t skip a beat, it was like we never left. We had so much fun and are so thankful to Virginia for coordinating everything and thankful our friends took time out of their week to see us. We miss you guys!!
Josh reading to CarterThe boys practicing their "knuckles" and "pound its"
Hugs! Two of the sweetest boys ever!
Disneyland: We drove up to Disneyland for the second half of our SoCal trip. Uncle Doug joined us for 3 days of Disney fun. Carter loved the rides and such, but at 21 months old there were some hiccups: standing in line and waiting our turn was tiring for his little brain, and not being able to do the ride again as soon as it ended was beyond his comprehension. Needless to say there were a fair amount of tears, but all in all I think he enjoyed himself. My favorite part of the trip was the looks from other people. I’m sure some wild things went through their heads. You see, there were two babies, awfully close in age, 2 men pushing identical strollers, and one woman. We got a lot of puzzled looks. And, if someone were to have followed us throughout the park, they would have been even more confused: Some times, John and Doug took Carter on a ride, some times it was John and I, and some times it was Doug and I. Cohen didn’t get to fully experience Disneyland, but he was a huge fan of It’s a Small World…would you believe it if I said his eyes got big??
Cohen and his totally cool mouse ears beenie!
Carter and Uncle Doug did the spinning rides
Monday, August 10, 2009
August 10, 2009: 6 Months!
Our sweet baby Cohen is 6 months old today!! I cannot believe our little miracle is half a year old. He has been through so much in his short little life, but every day with him brings a smile to our faces and is so cherished. He is so much fun and we love him to pieces.
He is weighing in at 13lbs and is 25 inches long. He is babbling up a storm and on occasion we can get him to do a belly laugh. He has a smile that will light up the room and his little baby noises are so fun to listen to. Carter was not a babbler, he went from silent to signing to talking, so the whole goo ga thing is really new for us and we just love listening to all Cohen has to say. My mom bought a book about a big brother talking baby talk to the little brother and Carter had it read to him about 30 times last week, and now Carter baby talks with Cohen. It is fun to see them interact like that.
One funny thing about Cohen at this stage is he loves to suck on things…mainly his fists or a finger, but on occasion he’ll get a hold of his forearm or wrist and give himself a little hickey.
He is weighing in at 13lbs and is 25 inches long. He is babbling up a storm and on occasion we can get him to do a belly laugh. He has a smile that will light up the room and his little baby noises are so fun to listen to. Carter was not a babbler, he went from silent to signing to talking, so the whole goo ga thing is really new for us and we just love listening to all Cohen has to say. My mom bought a book about a big brother talking baby talk to the little brother and Carter had it read to him about 30 times last week, and now Carter baby talks with Cohen. It is fun to see them interact like that.
One funny thing about Cohen at this stage is he loves to suck on things…mainly his fists or a finger, but on occasion he’ll get a hold of his forearm or wrist and give himself a little hickey.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
August 3-9, 2009: Northern California
For the beginning of our California vacation, we were in San Francisco with Nama Lynn (though, we swore Carter called my mom “Debbie”, but it turned out to vary between Nama and Dammie…). In a very rare experience we had my mom for the entire week! She took a week out of her very busy schedule to hang out with us and be tourists. John has been to San Fran tons of times over the last 6.5 years, and the only time we did anything touristy was on his very first visit. He has been wanting to do the tourist thing for quite some time so my mom planned all sorts of activities for us. Here are the highlights of our week:
California Academy of Sciences: We took the boys to see the newly remodeled CAS in Golden Gate Park. My grandparents used to take me there when I was a child and even arranged for behind the scenes visit with the penguins (I even got to feed them!). The penguin experience, and vaguely the alligator, are what I remember most about my visits there and it was neat to be able to take the boys there and have them have a similar experience. Lucky for the boys their Nama lives awfully close to the Academy of Sciences so I see a trip there as a yearly occurrence.
King Tut: We went to see the King Tut Exhibit at the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Nama was having Carter practice saying “King Tut” and stomping his foot whenever they saw a poster for the exhibit in the neighborhood. So, by the time we actually got to the exhibit Carter knew exactly who we were going to see: TING TUT! John walked with Carter, and Nama, Cohen and I walked a little slower behind them…but we were still able to hear the following phrases throughout the entire exhibit: BIG Ting Tut, Little one Ting Tut, Yellow Ting Tut, Orange Ting Tut, Other one Ting Tut, TING TUT. Needless to say, Carter loved the exhibit. John was a little disappointed that King Tut’s sarcophagus was not actually part of the exhibit, but he still really enjoyed it. We all did!
T-Mobile Commercial: Well, actually it was a visit to Fisherman’s Warf that turned into a T-Mobile commercial. As we were waiting for my mom to meet us at Pier 39, John and I took the boys and walked around the pier and stopped at the farmer’s market that was set up. All of a sudden this obnoxious 40 year old woman, dressed in a cheerleading uniform, talking loud and yelling T-Mobile every now and then walked past the boys and I. I literally stopped what I was doing (putting something underneath the stroller) and stood up to get a better look at this lady and I’m sure an infamous “Katie expression” was shot her way. John and I laughed at her and continued on with our killing time. As we went to the street side of the pier to meet my mom, I noticed a little sign that said “ Notice: A T-Mobile Commercial is being filmed. By continuing past this point you consent to the use of your image and likeness for the commercial, blah, blah, blah.” Suddenly the whole obnoxious lady thing made sense…and then the T-Mobile banners we suddenly noticed for the first time J
T-Mobile Commercial Part 2: As the boys slept, the three adults walked around the old boats down by Fisherman’s Warf. All of a sudden these Blue Angel like jets came racing by with red, white, and blue smoke trailing them. John was in heaven as we sat there and watched this air show. After about 10-15 minutes of air show, everyone around us started looking in the air and pointing: There were hundreds of sky divers descending upon the city! We found out later this was all part of the T-Mobile commercial, and the sky divers actually formed “T”s in the air.
We spent lots of quality time with Nama, Auntie Libby, GGma and GGpop-pop. We love going to San Fran, but this was probably our most favorite visit thus far….aside from our Wedding :)
On a side note for Cohen, the Gastro doctor my mom talked to said as long as he wasn’t in acute distress, he should be okay to wait until November to be seen in Spokane. I guess this just means if they do have to operate Cohen will be a good size and his lungs will have more time to get strong. So now we wait, looking for signs of distress and praying our little man doesn’t perforate before November.
California Academy of Sciences: We took the boys to see the newly remodeled CAS in Golden Gate Park. My grandparents used to take me there when I was a child and even arranged for behind the scenes visit with the penguins (I even got to feed them!). The penguin experience, and vaguely the alligator, are what I remember most about my visits there and it was neat to be able to take the boys there and have them have a similar experience. Lucky for the boys their Nama lives awfully close to the Academy of Sciences so I see a trip there as a yearly occurrence.
King Tut: We went to see the King Tut Exhibit at the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. Nama was having Carter practice saying “King Tut” and stomping his foot whenever they saw a poster for the exhibit in the neighborhood. So, by the time we actually got to the exhibit Carter knew exactly who we were going to see: TING TUT! John walked with Carter, and Nama, Cohen and I walked a little slower behind them…but we were still able to hear the following phrases throughout the entire exhibit: BIG Ting Tut, Little one Ting Tut, Yellow Ting Tut, Orange Ting Tut, Other one Ting Tut, TING TUT. Needless to say, Carter loved the exhibit. John was a little disappointed that King Tut’s sarcophagus was not actually part of the exhibit, but he still really enjoyed it. We all did!
T-Mobile Commercial: Well, actually it was a visit to Fisherman’s Warf that turned into a T-Mobile commercial. As we were waiting for my mom to meet us at Pier 39, John and I took the boys and walked around the pier and stopped at the farmer’s market that was set up. All of a sudden this obnoxious 40 year old woman, dressed in a cheerleading uniform, talking loud and yelling T-Mobile every now and then walked past the boys and I. I literally stopped what I was doing (putting something underneath the stroller) and stood up to get a better look at this lady and I’m sure an infamous “Katie expression” was shot her way. John and I laughed at her and continued on with our killing time. As we went to the street side of the pier to meet my mom, I noticed a little sign that said “ Notice: A T-Mobile Commercial is being filmed. By continuing past this point you consent to the use of your image and likeness for the commercial, blah, blah, blah.” Suddenly the whole obnoxious lady thing made sense…and then the T-Mobile banners we suddenly noticed for the first time J
T-Mobile Commercial Part 2: As the boys slept, the three adults walked around the old boats down by Fisherman’s Warf. All of a sudden these Blue Angel like jets came racing by with red, white, and blue smoke trailing them. John was in heaven as we sat there and watched this air show. After about 10-15 minutes of air show, everyone around us started looking in the air and pointing: There were hundreds of sky divers descending upon the city! We found out later this was all part of the T-Mobile commercial, and the sky divers actually formed “T”s in the air.
We spent lots of quality time with Nama, Auntie Libby, GGma and GGpop-pop. We love going to San Fran, but this was probably our most favorite visit thus far….aside from our Wedding :)
On a side note for Cohen, the Gastro doctor my mom talked to said as long as he wasn’t in acute distress, he should be okay to wait until November to be seen in Spokane. I guess this just means if they do have to operate Cohen will be a good size and his lungs will have more time to get strong. So now we wait, looking for signs of distress and praying our little man doesn’t perforate before November.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
August 1, 2009: Vacation!
The four of us will be on vacation for the next few weeks. I don't think I will be updating the blog until we get back. Check back around August 20th for some updates and pictures of Cohen and our vacation.
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