Us
Wife, Parent, Nurse; my life raw and real, as I see it.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
Random Thoughts
I picked up some extra hours at work this week, and this morning I was getting up to take my break when I looked over at my partner and said, "I am going to the potty, then I should be good." It wasn't until I was sitting there, on the potty, that I started thinking about when I actually started using the word "potty". Of the plethora of other terms I could have used, why potty?
Then it occured to me that I have not one, but two nearly two year old children at home. Duh, this might also explain my use of the terms bye bye, night night, and sleepy time. I wonder how many other baby terms I have subconsciously belittled my poor co-workers with in the past few months? Do my kids give me an excuse for this behavior, sort of a "get out of babytalk free" card? Do they even notice, or have I subconsciously demonstrated my that level of intelligence beams just over that of my two year olds?
Last night I was sitting there at the desk when the father of one of our patients came up and said, "I don't know if this applies, but if you are thinking about having kids... get a GOLDFISH!" He went on to describe how easily one could rid themselves of a Goldfish if it were to suddenly break it's ankle, or arm, sass, or just keel over dead. He supplemented this conversation by stating that he had three boys. My first instinct was to talk about Jon having three other brothers, instead I simply informed him that he was about 18 months too late! The rest of the night I had visions of my husband and his brothers swishing down the toilet with little unwanted Gold fish!
These are the conversations that occur in my head when I am forced (by employment) to sit at a desk for eight hours having relatively little to do.
Then it occured to me that I have not one, but two nearly two year old children at home. Duh, this might also explain my use of the terms bye bye, night night, and sleepy time. I wonder how many other baby terms I have subconsciously belittled my poor co-workers with in the past few months? Do my kids give me an excuse for this behavior, sort of a "get out of babytalk free" card? Do they even notice, or have I subconsciously demonstrated my that level of intelligence beams just over that of my two year olds?
Last night I was sitting there at the desk when the father of one of our patients came up and said, "I don't know if this applies, but if you are thinking about having kids... get a GOLDFISH!" He went on to describe how easily one could rid themselves of a Goldfish if it were to suddenly break it's ankle, or arm, sass, or just keel over dead. He supplemented this conversation by stating that he had three boys. My first instinct was to talk about Jon having three other brothers, instead I simply informed him that he was about 18 months too late! The rest of the night I had visions of my husband and his brothers swishing down the toilet with little unwanted Gold fish!
These are the conversations that occur in my head when I am forced (by employment) to sit at a desk for eight hours having relatively little to do.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Unfinished business
Tonight, I finally decided to post some photos that I have been neglecting for a while...
First, June 30th, my Maid of Honor and friend for ages, married her college sweetheart. Jon and I were very lucky to have found some sitters for the kids, and enjoyed a whole evening kid free in celebration of this event! We would like to offer Jen and Peter the biggest CONGRATULATIONS on their big day.
We leave them to begin enjoying the sweet rewards of nuptial bliss by reminding them that WE WANT COUSINS :) (This goes for the many other couples whose weddings we have attended in the past year... you know who you are!)
We celebrated our country's Independence by trapping our poor children in their car seats for a long two hour trek to the great North Woods. We spent the evening at the cottage that now belongs to Jon's sister-in-law's family. The kids went to bed after a long day of scooting, crawling (not walking, sorry George), playing, boating, entertaining, and avoiding the black one (my brother-in-law's black lab, Casey). We watched fireworks and relaxed.
Oh so difficult to choose which ones to post! Click on the link below the next picture to see all the photos!
Jon and I decided to purchase some new equipment for our camera, so we've been spending a lot of time getting to know it. These are mostly Jon's photos, but are some of my favorites:
Sorry George, again... I think she looks like you in this one!
We also attended the wedding of Jon's cousin Amy in Chicago on July 14th. Unfortunately the kids didn't fare so well with the four hour plus car ride, the noise, heat, and excitement, so we had to leave early. Also Daddy made a crucial operating error on the camera, so I don't have any photos of the blushing brides, but we would like to CONGRATULATE Amy and Linda!
These are a couple of shots that did turn out, and a couple that we got from Greg and Sonja!
Last week I spent an evening giving tours of the Grignon Mansion... which I have not done in many years... but Jon and the kids met me afterwards. Here are a few different photos than what Jon posted on our other blog:
Yes, that is Taylor eating grass...
I wonder who dug it up for him???!!!
In all of our spare time, we are just finishing up the process of digitally archiving my family's photos. I also painted the formal living room, and we are sanding and staining the trim and base boards to match the new wood floor that we will be installing next weekend. See... nothing going on!!! ;)
First, June 30th, my Maid of Honor and friend for ages, married her college sweetheart. Jon and I were very lucky to have found some sitters for the kids, and enjoyed a whole evening kid free in celebration of this event! We would like to offer Jen and Peter the biggest CONGRATULATIONS on their big day.
We leave them to begin enjoying the sweet rewards of nuptial bliss by reminding them that WE WANT COUSINS :) (This goes for the many other couples whose weddings we have attended in the past year... you know who you are!)
We celebrated our country's Independence by trapping our poor children in their car seats for a long two hour trek to the great North Woods. We spent the evening at the cottage that now belongs to Jon's sister-in-law's family. The kids went to bed after a long day of scooting, crawling (not walking, sorry George), playing, boating, entertaining, and avoiding the black one (my brother-in-law's black lab, Casey). We watched fireworks and relaxed.
Oh so difficult to choose which ones to post! Click on the link below the next picture to see all the photos!
Jon and I decided to purchase some new equipment for our camera, so we've been spending a lot of time getting to know it. These are mostly Jon's photos, but are some of my favorites:
 |
| From 2007 Twins |
Sorry George, again... I think she looks like you in this one!
We also attended the wedding of Jon's cousin Amy in Chicago on July 14th. Unfortunately the kids didn't fare so well with the four hour plus car ride, the noise, heat, and excitement, so we had to leave early. Also Daddy made a crucial operating error on the camera, so I don't have any photos of the blushing brides, but we would like to CONGRATULATE Amy and Linda!
These are a couple of shots that did turn out, and a couple that we got from Greg and Sonja!
Last week I spent an evening giving tours of the Grignon Mansion... which I have not done in many years... but Jon and the kids met me afterwards. Here are a few different photos than what Jon posted on our other blog:
Yes, that is Taylor eating grass...
I wonder who dug it up for him???!!!
In all of our spare time, we are just finishing up the process of digitally archiving my family's photos. I also painted the formal living room, and we are sanding and staining the trim and base boards to match the new wood floor that we will be installing next weekend. See... nothing going on!!! ;)
Monday, July 23, 2007
Cliffs again
This morning Taylor had a visit with his physical therapist and his early education interventionist... or that is the best title I have come up with to describe her. Anyway, we got to talking about our up coming bid to re certify Taylor for the Katie Becket program. This program is designed to help families like ours deal with the financial and physical burdens of having a child with significant disabilities. Every year the child needs to go through the process of re certification in which they must prove a significant enough disability to satisfy the requirements of the program. They look at everything pertaining to his medical status. I have just about completed over eight pages of "Describe how your child x" type of questions. I have filled out medical release forms for all of Taylor's specialists... his pulmonologist, Ear-Nose-Throat, Gastroenterologist, Pediatric Ophthalmologist, Pediatrician, Physical therapist, Occupational therapies, Speech Therapist, Dietitian, Early interventionist, and Physiatrist... yes this whole team is really just for Taylor.
Anyway, I have been talking with his therapists about their summaries for the recert. process. Basically, I have asked them to help us with this process by placing a particular emphasis on what Taylor really needs to work on yet. Why? Well after seeing how many specialists Taylor has, it may be hard to believe, but on paper, he looks super healthy... compared to last year anyway. Our conversation eventually (naturally) lead to a description about what age are Taylor's abilities falling into. I have not received this type of info since I decided not to bring him back for NICU follow ups in January. I estimated that he was at least six months delayed... based on my vast knowledge of the subject...sarcasm... So his PT offered up a suggestion this morning that she could argue for 10 months. She also pointed out several ways in which he remains significantly delayed for speech and language, and well eating... For the purposes of Katie Becket, this is very good news. Hopefully they can all write summaries of Taylor that are as convincing of his need as I was today. Personally though, I had never put Taylor eight months delayed. She also pointed out that preemies are generally expected during this stage of the game to be somewhere ahead of their adjusted age, yet behind their real age, which gets closer and closer as they approach the age of two... doesn't give Taylor much time to catch up. (Although, at the rate he has been going, I still have hope!)
In addition to all this good news, I learned that Mary, the interventionist, has been thinking about re-evaluating Alivya... not because she thinks Livi is ready to be off the program (which they gave me the option of doing about six months ago) but because essentially, they think that her skills are slipping. Lisa, Taylor's PT, has been watching her gross skills since she started thinking about crawling. She is just now starting to think that she might need some extra help. (Although in all fairness, she has been doing a little work with her at each of Taylor's sessions for a long time). Mary also thinks that she not progressing as well with speech as she should be. Having only two solid words, three at a stretch, they think she may benefit from some therapy there too. Lastly, I have been asking about her defensiveness to touch for some time. I actually had her re-evaled in the spring, but it was determined that her delay was not significant enough for actual services. So I guess I am supposed to sit by here while her skills dwindle until she absolutely needs service, then I can fight for two battles with Katie Becket.
I guess today was a hidden rocky cliff on the path that I thought looked pretty grassy and down hill.
Anyway, I have been talking with his therapists about their summaries for the recert. process. Basically, I have asked them to help us with this process by placing a particular emphasis on what Taylor really needs to work on yet. Why? Well after seeing how many specialists Taylor has, it may be hard to believe, but on paper, he looks super healthy... compared to last year anyway. Our conversation eventually (naturally) lead to a description about what age are Taylor's abilities falling into. I have not received this type of info since I decided not to bring him back for NICU follow ups in January. I estimated that he was at least six months delayed... based on my vast knowledge of the subject...sarcasm... So his PT offered up a suggestion this morning that she could argue for 10 months. She also pointed out several ways in which he remains significantly delayed for speech and language, and well eating... For the purposes of Katie Becket, this is very good news. Hopefully they can all write summaries of Taylor that are as convincing of his need as I was today. Personally though, I had never put Taylor eight months delayed. She also pointed out that preemies are generally expected during this stage of the game to be somewhere ahead of their adjusted age, yet behind their real age, which gets closer and closer as they approach the age of two... doesn't give Taylor much time to catch up. (Although, at the rate he has been going, I still have hope!)
In addition to all this good news, I learned that Mary, the interventionist, has been thinking about re-evaluating Alivya... not because she thinks Livi is ready to be off the program (which they gave me the option of doing about six months ago) but because essentially, they think that her skills are slipping. Lisa, Taylor's PT, has been watching her gross skills since she started thinking about crawling. She is just now starting to think that she might need some extra help. (Although in all fairness, she has been doing a little work with her at each of Taylor's sessions for a long time). Mary also thinks that she not progressing as well with speech as she should be. Having only two solid words, three at a stretch, they think she may benefit from some therapy there too. Lastly, I have been asking about her defensiveness to touch for some time. I actually had her re-evaled in the spring, but it was determined that her delay was not significant enough for actual services. So I guess I am supposed to sit by here while her skills dwindle until she absolutely needs service, then I can fight for two battles with Katie Becket.
I guess today was a hidden rocky cliff on the path that I thought looked pretty grassy and down hill.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
What's in a name...
So I have decided to change my user name from Zaphod to Jonathan. The more that my online life connects to other aspects of my physical life (career, family) the more I find it sort of silly to use a screen name for everything. Especially J&J Studios starting up I find it more important to merge the two identities together.
The name Zaphod first came from a radio series that my family listened to on a trip to Chicago. It was the BBC's The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Zaphod Beeblebrox was a character with two heads, three arms, and president of the galaxy. The series, which was then written into a book, then produced as a TV series, has just recently been made into a movie, and a good one at that. They changed some of the plot, as they always do, but the soul of the original is still there. The author, Douglas Adams, passed away in 2001.
I picked the name to use as a screen name when me and my friends started playing computer games on LAN networks. It sounded cool and I have stuck with since. I will probably still use it while gaming, and as user names for websites where it is just used to log on.
Don't Panic.
The name Zaphod first came from a radio series that my family listened to on a trip to Chicago. It was the BBC's The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Zaphod Beeblebrox was a character with two heads, three arms, and president of the galaxy. The series, which was then written into a book, then produced as a TV series, has just recently been made into a movie, and a good one at that. They changed some of the plot, as they always do, but the soul of the original is still there. The author, Douglas Adams, passed away in 2001.
I picked the name to use as a screen name when me and my friends started playing computer games on LAN networks. It sounded cool and I have stuck with since. I will probably still use it while gaming, and as user names for websites where it is just used to log on.
Don't Panic.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Mr Fix-it
So we attended yet another wedding this past weekend, where I was informed that my brother-in-law "fixed my baby"... hehehe... So I thought this might be a fun way to get all of you lurkers involved... Several posts ago, there is one entitled "Organic Carrots" Read the post, and then decide if my brother-in-law "fixed" the baby, or if it was Organic Carrots that "fixed" by baby! Post your vote in the comments! I am going to be really sad if no one votes... cause I know you are all out there... Jen... it only takes 5 seconds, well 10 if you can't get that stupid letter thing right (which I always seem to mess up the first try)... Tanya... See, we know that you are there! VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!! :) Thank you!
Friday, July 13, 2007
Fancy...
I don't know how many of you follow our other site, J&J Studios, but we have some news. Our first projects have been going well. Our photo DVDs have been well received by family and friends, and our first two photo shoots/ graphic design projects are both finished. It is amazing how much you learn from one session. Our second Hot Shot product is way better than our first, and it appears to be going over really well at the race tracks according to our clients. Hopefully that will mean business.
We needed new business cards as our fist ones have run out and I decided that jnjstudios.blogspot.com just seemed a little to amateur. So, I can now announce that the official location of our online site is
www.jandj-studios.com.
If you use the old address it should still work as Google still hosts it.
It feels so... proper to have a .com name. Kind of like the first time I saw our logo on the race car. It's all very exciting and surreal at the same time. Now if we could only make some money!
We needed new business cards as our fist ones have run out and I decided that jnjstudios.blogspot.com just seemed a little to amateur. So, I can now announce that the official location of our online site is
www.jandj-studios.com.
If you use the old address it should still work as Google still hosts it.
It feels so... proper to have a .com name. Kind of like the first time I saw our logo on the race car. It's all very exciting and surreal at the same time. Now if we could only make some money!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Well here is one of them...
I finally got Taylor eating up. Having some problems with his scooting video. Damn complicated camera.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Organic Carrots
Over this past weekend (edited: June 30/July1st), Taylor stayed home with his care taker while Livi spent a night with her aunt, and Jon and I went to a wedding in Illinois. By the time we got home, he had learned some interesting new tricks!!!
Before we left for sunny California last May, we asked Jon's brother to pick up a few things that we would need for the kids while we were there. One of the things we asked him to pick up was baby food for Livi and Taylor. I am not sure if he was overwhelmed by the baby food isle, or if he just believes that babies (or maybe just our babies) need to eat organic... but one of the things he bought was organic carrots. He bought way more than we needed for the trip, so we just got to trying them with Taylor. Tanya started giving him these carrots while we were gone, and on Monday morning while she was feeding him, I got it on video....
[insert video clip that I asked Daddy to upload over a week ago]
Yup, that is my Taylor opening his mouth for... FOOD!!!! We don't know if it was organic carrots, but something has changed!
Here is another little trick he learned by the time we got back....
[Insert second video clip that I asked Daddy to upload about a week ago of Taylor scooting forward to his therapist....]
He has been scooting around in a circle for about a month, but over night he suddenly realized how useful it might be to scoot forward!!! Now he cruises all over the living room chasing his sister.... oh how the game has changed!!! Livi is quickly learning that its not really fun when somebody takes the toy she was playing with.
We are just so stoked that he has started doing all of these things.
Edited: I really wanted to share the video, my words do not do these accomplishments justice, however, I have given up on Jon... and I have not learned yet how to get video up by myself... Sorry! :(
Before we left for sunny California last May, we asked Jon's brother to pick up a few things that we would need for the kids while we were there. One of the things we asked him to pick up was baby food for Livi and Taylor. I am not sure if he was overwhelmed by the baby food isle, or if he just believes that babies (or maybe just our babies) need to eat organic... but one of the things he bought was organic carrots. He bought way more than we needed for the trip, so we just got to trying them with Taylor. Tanya started giving him these carrots while we were gone, and on Monday morning while she was feeding him, I got it on video....
[insert video clip that I asked Daddy to upload over a week ago]
Yup, that is my Taylor opening his mouth for... FOOD!!!! We don't know if it was organic carrots, but something has changed!
Here is another little trick he learned by the time we got back....
[Insert second video clip that I asked Daddy to upload about a week ago of Taylor scooting forward to his therapist....]
He has been scooting around in a circle for about a month, but over night he suddenly realized how useful it might be to scoot forward!!! Now he cruises all over the living room chasing his sister.... oh how the game has changed!!! Livi is quickly learning that its not really fun when somebody takes the toy she was playing with.
We are just so stoked that he has started doing all of these things.
Edited: I really wanted to share the video, my words do not do these accomplishments justice, however, I have given up on Jon... and I have not learned yet how to get video up by myself... Sorry! :(
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