Sunday, December 21, 2008
Santa
Santa came early and brought lots of presents (including Kaelen's favorite piano... we'll have more on that later). Santa also brought grandpa. Santa nearly got stuck... they closed the freeway several hours after Santa arrived (and it's still closed). Apparently those darn Canadians don't like Santa (they're the ones who sent us Arctic Blast 2008... silly kanuks). As usual, Santa won't let us open any presents early... Santa is a stickler for the rules.
Arctic Blast 2008
The name is courtesy of the local Fox TV station. They are the best in class when it comes to cheesy titles for weather - last year it was "Wicked Wind 2007". Anyway, we have been having 7+ days of winter wonderland, all before the first day of winter even hit! While snow and cold temperatures may be old hat to most people, you have to remember we live on the West Coast. Portland sees snow maybe once a year; although we did have snow in April for approximately 1 minute. It almost melted before we could get out the camera! The last major snow storm I remember dumped about 2-3 inches (yes, I meant inches), and school was cancelled for 3 days (yes, 3 days). Why, you ask? Because we don't have snow plows. Any more questions? I didn't think so.
We had to thoroughly document this phenomenon because a) we live in Portland, and b) Kennedy wanted people back home to see snow (without actually having to deal with it up close and personal).
This was the beginning...
Sunday Morning 12/14
Later Sunday Morning (after church was cancelled... yes, church cancelled for 2 inches)
Monday Morning - Schools cancelled (work wasn't cancelled...)
The finished product (only took 45 minutes... not bad)
Kaelen the waelen all bundled up (he hardly fit in the car seat with the coat on)
Wednesday Morning - schools cancelled again (work not cancelled, but closed at noon)
Where's the street?
Another thermometer shot
(or two)
Kennedy shoveled the little old lady (to the right)'s driveway and sidewalk (she gave him cookies)
Kennedy shoveled the little old lady (to the left)'s driveway and sidewalk
Kennedy shoveled our driveway and porch... but not our sidewalk... he was tired
We had to thoroughly document this phenomenon because a) we live in Portland, and b) Kennedy wanted people back home to see snow (without actually having to deal with it up close and personal).
This was the beginning...
Sunday Morning 12/14
(Kennedy loves to take pictures of the thermometer...)
Later Sunday Morning (after church was cancelled... yes, church cancelled for 2 inches)
Monday Morning - Schools cancelled (work wasn't cancelled...)
Michellin Man put chains on the tires for the very first time
The finished product (only took 45 minutes... not bad)
Kaelen the waelen all bundled up (he hardly fit in the car seat with the coat on)
Wednesday Morning - schools cancelled again (work not cancelled, but closed at noon)
Sunday Morning -church cancelled (2nd week in a row)
HOLY CRAP!!!
Where's the street?
Another thermometer shot
(or two)
Kennedy shoveled the little old lady (to the right)'s driveway and sidewalk (she gave him cookies)
Kennedy shoveled the little old lady (to the left)'s driveway and sidewalk
He also shoveled the single mom (three doors down)'s driveway and sidewalk, since she only had a little pitchfork shovel
Kennedy shoveled our driveway and porch... but not our sidewalk... he was tired
So, we got somewhere near 6-8 inches in this latest dump Saturday night. All total we've probably gotten like 12-16 inches (maybe). Schools in our area closed 3 days last week (Monday, Wednesday and Friday), but the areas with steeper hills had school closed for all 5 days (crazy!!). We're expecting some more snow tonight/Monday morning, and another storm is supposed to roll in Wednesday just in time to ensure we have a white Christmas. Aaaaahhhhhhh!
We're hoping that our bosses have some sense and close our offices tomorrow, but I guess we'll just have to see. We'll keep you updated on Arctic Blast 2008 as information (and pictures) become available! In the meantime, anybody want to come and make a really good snow angel?!
Thanksgiving
We only got a few pictures at Thanksgiving since our camera battery died... swine battery. This is one of the few moments when everyone was behaving...
Friday, December 19, 2008
Quite possibly the worst week ever
Again, no pictures. Sunday we had a major storm (at least for Portland). Church was cancelled after 30 minutes, and we basically sat around watching the news trying to figure out whether work would be cancelled the next day. Every school within 30 miles cancelled classes on Monday, yet neither of us had work cancelled... I was a bit ticked. But, we braved the elements and went downtown. After an hour of being at work I got a call from Kaelen's day care saying he had a fever of 103 degrees... We had to take the long way home due to the snow everywhere, and by the time we got home I knew something was wrong. Kaelen looked completely out of it. I took his car seat out of the car and walked to the door, and when I looked down, my heart stopped. Kaelen was having a seizure. I screamed at Kennedy to open the door, we got him inside, got him out of the car seat and his coat, and Kennedy called 911. Kaelen had stopped shaking, but he still didn't look right. I talked to the 911 operator, who assured me that as long as he was breathing he was okay for the moment. The paramedics would be there soon, and they would take care of everything. The fire truck pulled up to our house, and the paramedics came in and made sure Kaelen was stabilized. We moved Kaelen into the ambulance, and I got to take my first ambulance ride. I hope I never get a second ride.
Kaelen was breathing, but he was still completely out of it. He didn't start to come around until we got to the emergency room; only then did he start to cry. The nurse came in and hooked him up to the machines and took his temperature - 104. We learned that he'd had a febrile seizure - basically the seizure occurred due to his fever. We were assured this was fairly common, although only 3-5% of kids in the US ever have these. We also learned that it's likely he'll have another one or two seizures between now and when he's 5. Great. Kaelen was diagnosed with early stages of pneumonia, and five hours after the whole trauma began, we left for home.
We got home to outside christmas lights that were quite dim compared to the neighbors christmas lights. We figured it was just the cheap lights that we purchased. Once we got inside, we realized that our power was partially out; the lights were dim, the tv worked, but the cable (and thus the internet and phone), stove/oven/microwave/refrigerator/freezer and most importantly furnace were not working. Since it was 22 degrees outside that night, we were not thrilled. We found out that we weren't the only ones without power and that the electric company was working on it. So, we decided to hunker down in the basement bedroom. We brought extra blankets and the tv in there, and we had a sleepover. About 9:30 pm the power went out altogether, but 30 minutes later it came back on. We turned on the furnace and celebrated.
We awoke at 1 to find the house at 57 degrees (it was 59 degrees at 10). The furnace was blowing cold air. Kaelen had another fever at this point and I was ready to cry. We gave him some medicine and went back to sleep. By 7:30 it was 50 degrees. Kennedy started calling repair people to fix the furnace, but nobody had any openings. They didn't seem to care that we had a baby who was very sick. Several hours later, he finally found somebody with an opening... they were at our house within 15 minutes, and the furnace was fixed 20 minutes later.
Unfortunately, the story does not end there. Kaelen's fever kept coming back, and he wouldn't eat. I was worried we'd have to go back to the hospital and have him put on an iv. I had no desire for this. I called the advice nurse several times and prayed quite a lot. Luckily my mom flew in that night. We just kept offering him fluid and giving him medicine, and slowly he was more willing to eat. The next day he ate more and was more like himself, but his cough wasn't getting better, his fever kept coming back every 4 hours, and his eye was swollen and goopy. We scheduled a followup appointment with his doctor for Thursday morning. Wouldn't you know it, the car wouldn't start. I called to let the office know our situation, and I was told to get in as soon as possible. Kennedy rushed home and took us to the doctor. Kaelen had developed a fairly bad ear infection and an eye infection, but luckily he didn't really have pneumonia. Kaelen got a big shot and another prescription.
It's now Friday. Over the past week we've had a dead computer, a dead furnace, and a dead car. We've had a cold, a seizure, high fevers, pneumonia, an ear infection and an eye infection. We had to pay for a new computer, an ambulance ride, a trip to the emergency room, several prescriptions, a technician to repair the furnace, and we'll soon have to pay to have the car fixed. I've experienced the lowest low thinking that my child may stop breathing and the highest high listening to my child laugh and realizing he was feeling better. I've felt completely helpless and horribly vulnerable, and I've felt amazingly blessed and unconditionally loved. It's amazing how one week can really change your life, or at least your perspective. And while this was definitely one of the worst weeks of my life, it has helped me to remember what is truly important to me. I can't imagine life without my son, and I hope I never have to face a reality without him. I have an amazing husband who was able to help me stay calm even though all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sob. I have supportive parents who immediately found a way to get here quickly to help. I have wonderful friends and co-workers. And I was blessed this week with kindness from strangers: from paramedics who gently let me know it would be okay, from doctors and nurses who didn't judge me, from repairmen who were willing to squeeze in an extra house call, and from a concerned passerby who wanted to make sure that my child would be okay when they saw him in the ambulance. I guess we don't learn as much from the high times as we do from the low times. Right now I selfishly hope that I'm done learning for a while.
Kaelen was breathing, but he was still completely out of it. He didn't start to come around until we got to the emergency room; only then did he start to cry. The nurse came in and hooked him up to the machines and took his temperature - 104. We learned that he'd had a febrile seizure - basically the seizure occurred due to his fever. We were assured this was fairly common, although only 3-5% of kids in the US ever have these. We also learned that it's likely he'll have another one or two seizures between now and when he's 5. Great. Kaelen was diagnosed with early stages of pneumonia, and five hours after the whole trauma began, we left for home.
We got home to outside christmas lights that were quite dim compared to the neighbors christmas lights. We figured it was just the cheap lights that we purchased. Once we got inside, we realized that our power was partially out; the lights were dim, the tv worked, but the cable (and thus the internet and phone), stove/oven/microwave/refrigerator/freezer and most importantly furnace were not working. Since it was 22 degrees outside that night, we were not thrilled. We found out that we weren't the only ones without power and that the electric company was working on it. So, we decided to hunker down in the basement bedroom. We brought extra blankets and the tv in there, and we had a sleepover. About 9:30 pm the power went out altogether, but 30 minutes later it came back on. We turned on the furnace and celebrated.
We awoke at 1 to find the house at 57 degrees (it was 59 degrees at 10). The furnace was blowing cold air. Kaelen had another fever at this point and I was ready to cry. We gave him some medicine and went back to sleep. By 7:30 it was 50 degrees. Kennedy started calling repair people to fix the furnace, but nobody had any openings. They didn't seem to care that we had a baby who was very sick. Several hours later, he finally found somebody with an opening... they were at our house within 15 minutes, and the furnace was fixed 20 minutes later.
Unfortunately, the story does not end there. Kaelen's fever kept coming back, and he wouldn't eat. I was worried we'd have to go back to the hospital and have him put on an iv. I had no desire for this. I called the advice nurse several times and prayed quite a lot. Luckily my mom flew in that night. We just kept offering him fluid and giving him medicine, and slowly he was more willing to eat. The next day he ate more and was more like himself, but his cough wasn't getting better, his fever kept coming back every 4 hours, and his eye was swollen and goopy. We scheduled a followup appointment with his doctor for Thursday morning. Wouldn't you know it, the car wouldn't start. I called to let the office know our situation, and I was told to get in as soon as possible. Kennedy rushed home and took us to the doctor. Kaelen had developed a fairly bad ear infection and an eye infection, but luckily he didn't really have pneumonia. Kaelen got a big shot and another prescription.
It's now Friday. Over the past week we've had a dead computer, a dead furnace, and a dead car. We've had a cold, a seizure, high fevers, pneumonia, an ear infection and an eye infection. We had to pay for a new computer, an ambulance ride, a trip to the emergency room, several prescriptions, a technician to repair the furnace, and we'll soon have to pay to have the car fixed. I've experienced the lowest low thinking that my child may stop breathing and the highest high listening to my child laugh and realizing he was feeling better. I've felt completely helpless and horribly vulnerable, and I've felt amazingly blessed and unconditionally loved. It's amazing how one week can really change your life, or at least your perspective. And while this was definitely one of the worst weeks of my life, it has helped me to remember what is truly important to me. I can't imagine life without my son, and I hope I never have to face a reality without him. I have an amazing husband who was able to help me stay calm even though all I wanted to do was curl up in a ball and sob. I have supportive parents who immediately found a way to get here quickly to help. I have wonderful friends and co-workers. And I was blessed this week with kindness from strangers: from paramedics who gently let me know it would be okay, from doctors and nurses who didn't judge me, from repairmen who were willing to squeeze in an extra house call, and from a concerned passerby who wanted to make sure that my child would be okay when they saw him in the ambulance. I guess we don't learn as much from the high times as we do from the low times. Right now I selfishly hope that I'm done learning for a while.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
What every 9 month old needs
Teeth! As in plural. Sometime last week we discovered that Kaelen's first tooth was (finally) coming in. I was overjoyed! Now I don't have to say "well at least he has hair..." Anyway, last night I was rubbing Kaelen's gums to get an idea when the tooth would actually be visible (his silly tongue gets in the way so easily) when I discovered... another tooth! So his two front teeth on the bottom are coming in for Christmas! Sweet! I guess all those times I sung "All I want for christmas is my two front teeth" to him finally sunk in. Hopefully we don't have a similar reaction with "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas"...
So now when someone else's (much smaller) child can walk or crawl I can say "well at least he has hair and teeth..."
Sorry, no pictures. Mommy's sick, daddy's working crazy hours again, and Kaelen falls asleep about an hour after we get home (yes, we realize how spoiled we are... this is why there may never be another child... we're too accustomed to sleep). On the bright side of things I may be able to get out of Kennedy's work party tomorrow night since I'm **cough cough** sick. So there is a silver lining to feeling like my head has exploded with the resulting fluid on a continuous slow leak out of my red, irritated beyond repair nose.
*side note: to add insult to injury, Kennedy called me Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer this morning when he made me get out of bed at 6:30 after only 3 hours of, oh let's call it sleep. I gave him the patented head bent down, cold stare over the glasses glare (Kaelen is practicing - minus the glasses). Kennedy tried to crack another joke to ease the tension; apparently two and a half years of marriage haven't helped him realize that I can be a stubbornly cranky person! Apparently my dad failed to disclose this to Kennedy before we got married... oops!
**second side note: late night TV is horrible. While I was tossing and turning on the couch, wishing someone could just knock me out, I mindlessly flipped through channels, praying for some glimmer of hope, like Bridezillas or Boston Legal. Unfortunately I was out of luck. Fresh Prince of Bel Air even started to look good, even though I've seen them all like 50 times. At least I didn't sink so low as to watch anything on the Hallmark channel with Tori Spelling in it... something like A Carol Christmas!! (yes dad, you're never going to live that one down.... especially since you watched it twice!!) Okay, I really am done now. Peace out, word, ciao.
So now when someone else's (much smaller) child can walk or crawl I can say "well at least he has hair and teeth..."
Sorry, no pictures. Mommy's sick, daddy's working crazy hours again, and Kaelen falls asleep about an hour after we get home (yes, we realize how spoiled we are... this is why there may never be another child... we're too accustomed to sleep). On the bright side of things I may be able to get out of Kennedy's work party tomorrow night since I'm **cough cough** sick. So there is a silver lining to feeling like my head has exploded with the resulting fluid on a continuous slow leak out of my red, irritated beyond repair nose.
*side note: to add insult to injury, Kennedy called me Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer this morning when he made me get out of bed at 6:30 after only 3 hours of, oh let's call it sleep. I gave him the patented head bent down, cold stare over the glasses glare (Kaelen is practicing - minus the glasses). Kennedy tried to crack another joke to ease the tension; apparently two and a half years of marriage haven't helped him realize that I can be a stubbornly cranky person! Apparently my dad failed to disclose this to Kennedy before we got married... oops!
**second side note: late night TV is horrible. While I was tossing and turning on the couch, wishing someone could just knock me out, I mindlessly flipped through channels, praying for some glimmer of hope, like Bridezillas or Boston Legal. Unfortunately I was out of luck. Fresh Prince of Bel Air even started to look good, even though I've seen them all like 50 times. At least I didn't sink so low as to watch anything on the Hallmark channel with Tori Spelling in it... something like A Carol Christmas!! (yes dad, you're never going to live that one down.... especially since you watched it twice!!) Okay, I really am done now. Peace out, word, ciao.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Just because I have nothing better to do ... like sleep
I guess I offended him somehow...
Candy cane
The day after thanksgiving
"Sharing" toys with Ella
She's friendly... I promise...
Nyani anakula ndizi
That is swahili for "the monkey eats the banana." This is a very useful phrase in my house, since my child is a monkey and he loves to eat bananas. I am slowly learning (or attempting to learn) kiswahili (the swahili word for swahili... do you follow?!). My goal is to be the favorite daughter-in-law. So far I am the only one to have gone to Kenya; but the other one has 3 kids... it's going to be tricky...
I have learned similar useful phrases/words over the years. You may have heard some of them.
Hakuna matata - it really does mean "no worries"
Asante sana (squashed banana does not go with it) - thank you very much
Jambo - hello
Kwa heri - goodbye
Habari gani - what's up/how's it going
Mzuri - fine/good
Rafiki - friend
Simba - lion
Tembo - elephant
Hatari - danger (very useful)
Wangu - MINE
Yangu - MINE (one is for objects, and the other is for people/animals... I always forget which is which, but I figure I'll understand when it's yelled at me)
And last but not least, nakupenda sana - I love you very much
Now, back to the banana eating monkeys.... it's only recently that I was informed that Nyani (pronounced nyahnee) means monkey. My son's middle name is Nandi (pronounced nahndee). When my 15 month old niece says Nandi, it sounds very much like Nyani. So, to the point, I think it's a cruel trick to convince your wife that "all the first born males in the family are named Nandi" only to let her find out when it's too late to change the name that the name is suspiciously similar to that of a monkey!!! Oh well... at least he's not the only monkey in the family.
I have learned similar useful phrases/words over the years. You may have heard some of them.
Hakuna matata - it really does mean "no worries"
Asante sana (squashed banana does not go with it) - thank you very much
Jambo - hello
Kwa heri - goodbye
Habari gani - what's up/how's it going
Mzuri - fine/good
Rafiki - friend
Simba - lion
Tembo - elephant
Hatari - danger (very useful)
Wangu - MINE
Yangu - MINE (one is for objects, and the other is for people/animals... I always forget which is which, but I figure I'll understand when it's yelled at me)
And last but not least, nakupenda sana - I love you very much
Now, back to the banana eating monkeys.... it's only recently that I was informed that Nyani (pronounced nyahnee) means monkey. My son's middle name is Nandi (pronounced nahndee). When my 15 month old niece says Nandi, it sounds very much like Nyani. So, to the point, I think it's a cruel trick to convince your wife that "all the first born males in the family are named Nandi" only to let her find out when it's too late to change the name that the name is suspiciously similar to that of a monkey!!! Oh well... at least he's not the only monkey in the family.
Looking back
My cousin just emailed me some pictures from our trip to Utah in July. It's funny that Kaelen has changed so much in so short a time, yet it didn't really hit me until I saw these!!
He kind of looks like Mr Clean with a curly faux hawk (or not so faux... we didn't shave his hair, I promise!)
Sitting with my aunt, my cousin-in-law, and his second cousin (2 months older, many pounds lighter)
He kind of looks like Mr Clean with a curly faux hawk (or not so faux... we didn't shave his hair, I promise!)
Sitting with my aunt, my cousin-in-law, and his second cousin (2 months older, many pounds lighter)
That is a huge bib...
Grandpa and grass... what more could a boy want
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Cute as a bug in a rug
but not so happy about it. We debuted his new hair cut, and everyone loved it. Grandma was a bit concerned about the serious lack of curls, but I have no doubt they will grow back... and we will cut them.... and they will grow back... and we will cut them...
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