Lunch at the Zoo

I drive by the zoo every morning and every evening, and I'm always thinking, it would be nice to go with the kids for a few hours on a Monday (Free admission for county residents).  Of course, Mondays are usually my packed with court appearances, phone calls, and just getting cases ready for the week ahead.  

So when I had an afternoon appointment cancel and realized I was finished with court at 10:30, I called home to see if anyone could go.  Renae was getting ready to go to the "Y", so I had her pack a lunch for Zach and I came home to pick him up. 

When I got there, he had a brown bag full of goodies, and he kept saying "Daddy, lets go feed the animals."  Something tells me the lions would want a little more that just a PBJ and drink box.  Anyway, the weather was perfect.  It was cool out and the misting rain had stopped.  All of the animals were outside and moving around.  We saw the gorillas out playing, the lions were chasing each other, the monkeys were eating carrots and broccoli and swinging all over.  

I asked Zach what his favorite animal was, and without hesitation, he piped in "the fish."  When we got home Renae was asking which fish, and he was telling her about the purple fish.  He loves the aquarium.  It was the first and last place he wanted to go.  Truth be told, thats my favorite exhibit. 

You may be asking yourself, why is a lizard next to a scuba diver in this picture.  I thought the same thing as I was taking it, and then realized it is a newt, not a lizard, and they can swim.  My parents probably have bad memories of my pet newts and how putrid their tanks would get.

Anyway, we had a nice lunch at the zoo.  The relator called while I was there and said that the estimate for the repairs came in today and the seller's agent is meeting with them today to discuss the cost and explain why it is important for them to get it done now.  I hope we can keep this deal together.

More Kid Tag - Mia

I have here the answers to Mia Thomas's tag (thanks to her mom, Kim). Mia is 4 and adorable.


1. What is something mom always says to you? Don't go outside.
2. What makes mom happy? Having a baby.
3. What makes mom sad? That you don't love being fired.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Make funny faces
5. What was your mom like as a child? You just couldn't turn your head, like a baby.
6. How old is your mom? 4
7. How tall is your mom? That tall.
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Help the baby.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Cry and look around.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? You will cry.
11. What is your mom really good at? Walking.
12. What is your mom not very good at? Not having milk.
13. What does your mom do for her job? Call Daddy.
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Pineapple.
15. What makes you proud of your mom? Riding bikes.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? A sunbeam.
17. What do you and your mom do together? Play with books.
18. How are you and your mom the same? We write.
19. How are you and your mom different? We are different people.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Be friends together.

Kid Tag

Somer, my older brother Evan's wife, tagged Zachery to do this quiz. I love it. I remind you that Zach is 3.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
2. What makes mom happy? "No, you're sad, mommy!"
3. What makes mom sad? "You're happy, mommy." (I don't know if this works if I'm asking)
4. How does your mom make you laugh?
5. What was your mom like as a child? "
6. How old is your mom?
7. How tall is your mom? small
8. What is her favorite thing to do? "Mommy liked to clean the room"
9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
11. What is your mom really good at? "clean the room"
12. What is your mom not very good at?
13. What does your mom do for her job? "Take Zachery to the store"
14. What is your mom's favorite food? "fish, berries"
15. What makes you proud of your mom?
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
17. What do you and your mom do together?
18. How are you and your mom the same?
19. How are you and your mom different?
20. How do you know your mom loves you?

That was all the answers I could get out of him. I think the job was funny.

I tag Naomi Wells, Hailey Ericksen and Ella Wahlquist (and Mia Thomas if her mom will email it ;) I tag anyone whose kid is young enough to give cute answers.

A Place To Call Home

This is the house Renae was writing about.  We are under contract right now, and it just needs to pass inspection, ... be appraised by our lender, we need to negotiate having the seller's pay for some repair work to the basement walls, set a final closing date, get the keys, clean it up, paint some rooms, ... pack our junk, move our junk, settle in and start really working like every other home owner.

I love the yard, but it has been a few years since I had to cut any grass, and this is no small lawn.  We are excited though, me more so than Renae, about the little projects that can turn this house into a home all our own.

There is a nice screened in porch, and a large garage in the back.  (The perfect place to park a mustang...)  

Its late, but more pictures will come.  We hope to close and take possession on 7/18.  We'll see how things go.  We have not had the best of luck with homes these past few months.

A bit of Heaven

Last week I asked a talented lady, Jenny Snow, to come and take a picture of myself and the kids to give to Eric for Father's Day. We are not photogenic, boy are we not, but Jenny has a knack and out of many, many pictures, we did get a few keepers.
Zachery was wanting to be anywhere, but still, getting his picture taken. Jenny was so nice to do this for us, and what a great job! thank you.

I got deathly sick this week, today my voice is just hoarse and I chose a book tonight that was a bit too lengthy to read to Zach tonight, it about did me in (not that you can croak from talking too much). ;)

We have been looking for a house for awhile, and even put offers on a "short sale" home back in January. After months and everything taking way too long, we, of late, have been looking again. We did put an offer in on a home here in Toledo, and....it was countered and.............we accepted it! All in 24 hours (it's mind-boggling). It is a home with character and a lovely, lovely yard. It's the one Eric loved. It's 3024 Oxbridge. I thought I'd be overjoyed, but I've just been, sick really, no voice, felt like cutting my throat out, but deep down, I am excited!

Today, I also got a call from Avery's surgeon's nurse :) and they offered us August 7th for her next surgery! Yeowza. It kind of threw me, because I wasn't expecting it to be this soon. Since then, I've been thinking about my experience when Avery was born and her time at the hospital. I love being home with my family, and having my own bit of heaven right around me. Just a little fear and trepidation, but I knew it was coming, and as Dr. Hirsch said, "let get her heart fixed". I'm determined to enjoy this summertime (if I can get feeling better, how does one get a cold in the summer?). :)

As sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.

Happy Father's Day

We have one great dad here at our house. Eric loves to play with Zachery (especially set up the train tracks)with his train set. Eric loves his kids and they love him. Heavenly Father knew we needed a great boy like Zach first, and a sweetie pie like Avery second. Being a dad, and being a great dad are two different things. Spending time doing things with your kids, that they enjoy, is key. I love that Eric and Zach are buddies.

Eric and I have two great father's ourselves! They watch over our welfare, fix our cars, are generous with what they have. I know my dad loves me, (as I know he loves all his kids, even though I'm the favorite ;) ).

One time I had just left work in Colorado Springs and I turned my head to look at something and when I turned back the car in front of me had stopped. I slammed on my brakes, but you had to hit the brakes twice before they'd work, and I didn't have time, so I bumped into the firebird. His car had a scratch and the muffler fell down. On the other hand, the hood of my car folded like tin foil. I held it together, until I saw my dad walking down the sidewalk (he worked close by) and when he arrived, I lost it and sobbed. The miracle is, my dad never takes walks at work, but that day he thought he'd get out and take a quick walk. Boy am I glad he did. The other miracle is that the night before, my mom had told my dad that they needed to get the brakes fixed or someone would have an accident. That's how I got out of being in trouble for wrecking my parent's car. I guess the fact that no one was hurt is also a blessing. :) The point is, that when I really needed him, he's been there. That's what a great dad does.

Eric's dad was in town and had a bit of time and went out of his way to fix the rattling noise on Eric's car. He is always willing to help others. Thank you, dad.

Third Option

There is always a third option (well, usually). We don't have to get either of the homes that we each like. We are now opting to wait, or do nothing. yip yippee. Actually we don't feel like we should jump on the homes. So, something will have to happen. In Star Wars terms, "the answer will present itself". Who doesn't love those Star Wars movies?

As a little girl, Han Solo was the bomb. I remember arguing with my cousin on who got who, Luke Skywalker or Han Solo. Then the second movie came out and of course (poor Luke) then we all wanted Han.

We're setting an appointment on July 17th for Avery's heart catheterization. It isn't that big a deal, but it still makes me uneasy.

I hear Zachery talking to himself, "what a mess". Gotta go.

What to Do?

Thursday evening we went to see some homes. At the end of it all, Eric likes one and I like another. We're trying to decide what to do. Which home, or neither, 0r wait for the one who had accepted our offer before, but haven't heard back on. There's no easy answer (I hate that).

One home is beautiful outside, lovely yard, plants, trees, screened in porch. The other house has just been totally redone and would only need half a fence in the backyard, and a window cooler for the upstairs room. It's basement is perfectly clean and bright and finished! The first house has old windows, old electric sockets/wiring, needs some carpet taken out and possible basement wall reinforced. They're the same price and pretty much the same square footage. I don't want a project, but Eric is fine with projects. Ahhh, what to do? What's the answer? I don't want a money pit, but the outside is pretty awesome.

After we came home, things got hairy between both kids needing baths and cleaning up spit-ups, throwing away bath toys, new ng tube, and ending with drawing up meds at 11 pm. What a day, but a good day overall!

Finally, Photos!

I finally uploaded photos! From dial-up even. Just a few of Avery smiling.
We love her smile, of course, but want to share how well she is doing!








































Zachery:

I am amazed at what Zach remembers. For example, I usually let him choose 3 books to read before bed and then if he wants more, he can take it to bed with him. Tonight, Zach took 3 Dr. Seuss books to bed, including "Green Eggs and Ham". We've read it often enough and he started "reading" it, using his finger to follow the words. He had it pretty well memorized, using the pictures. It was so cute I had to give him a big kiss and tell him so.

Uncle Bud

Happy June, welcome summer!

I just wanted to clarify a little bit about Avery. (If you can't take another word, scroll down.) It's not really about her, because what she is, is a cute little girl who gets tickled pink when you say her name and talk pretty to her. A little bit about what is going on with her right now. Avery was diagnosed before she was born, with a heart defect double inlet left ventricle. That means in her heart, one of the lower chambers of her heart is very small (useless really) and mainly one large ventricle. The valves that normally would open from the upper two chambers into the lower two chambers, in her, empty both into the one ventricle, hence the double inlet (two valves) emptying into the left ventricle.

blah, blah, blah. Pretty much, overall the blood in her body isn't as oxygenated as it should be causing her to have less energy. Eating is a chore for her, that and crying wear her out (she's getting stronger so not as tired out after these things). She has a feeding tube inserted down her nose to her stomach. It is taped to her cheek to keep it in place. Avery is taking most of her bottles by mouth now, which is great. Although, when she's tired and doesn't finish, we are to put the rest of the milk down her tube. The tube is also great for her medications, which she still will gag on and they'll get tossed up. Yay for the tube for this reason. She is gaggy and often spits up her food and the tube come out with the rest of it. Then we get to put it back in ourselves, down the other nostril (to give her each half of her nose a break).

That's a lot of info. For those of you who have asked some questions. If you weren't wondering about any of it, too bad, you just read it.

Avery will have 2 more surgeries to re-route the flow of blood in her heart. She is doing okay right now, so that is WONDERFUL. Her next one will happen around 6 months of age, or when she is outgrowing the shunt in her heart. Basically when she shows signs of congestive heart failure (sounds worse than it is).

Any questions, please ask, I am happy to attempt to explain, but I hate to always talk about it. I know it gets old. :)

On a different note:
The weather is beautiful and we've been able to enjoy some of it this weekend. I love, love the warmer weather and envision the eternities is a balmy 75 degree temp all the time!

When I was young, one of my uncles, named Bud, was always full of jokes and funny things to say. I was riveted to his every word. Bud would tell these fantastic stories about when his eye popped out of it's socket and other amazing tales. After that, I wanted to also have a joke handy to share, too. It wasn't until college that I selected my handy joke. Here it is (brace yourselves): What do you get when you cross a dyslexic, an insomniac and an atheist? A person who stays awake at night, wondering if there's a dog. ;)