Friday, December 26, 2008

Everywhere I looked this year...

we were surrounded by references to our favorite Christmas movies. Here's a sampling:
1. A Christmas Story: of course any reference to this reminds us of Cleveland. Jeff is still mad I would not let him have a leg lamp. We let the girls watch it this year for the first time. Peanut's favorite part was "the smiling duck" at the end. So guess where we ended up for dinner last night? The ONLY restaurant open on I 80 last night was the Grand Chinese Buffet--they closed at 8, we arrived at 8:30. We ate the leftovers and were happy.
2. Elf: One of my favorite lines, "Does it have sugar in it? Then YES!" was Peanut's motto this year.
3. Christmas Vacation: Another fave quote "Ackgh, he's just yakking on a bone." This describes our youngest, now known as Bottomfeeder. That kid can find the tiniest piece of tape on the floor to eat I have ever seen.
4. Nutcracker: Princess Sparkle fluttering about in a flurry of pink sweetness, looking for cookies and candy.
5. A Christmas Carol: I was Ebenezer as usual complete with no sleep (thanks to Bottomfeeder, not ghosts), but came around this year and actually was in a semi good mood. Although everyone might get cash from now on.
6. Christmas Vacation: Another fave part, "Merry Christmas Clark! *****'s full!" would be Jeff purchasing the largest trash can I have ever seen for his mom after the critters got a hold of hers again. (Another reason I was sleepless.)
7. And Charlie Brown Christmas: My brother chose a tree that rivaled the cartoon.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Ice Ice Baby

We got a lot of ice and snow last night. Enough that they called school. Jeff just left for work and is afraid it will take a good hour to go ten miles.
It is treacherous outside. But at the same time it is so incredibly peaceful. The house is silent this morning. There are very few people outside. The kids all slept in (even Tank). We are in our robes--for most of the day I hope. Why is the saying "the calm before the storm?" I think it is the other way. Or maybe it is not the weather related storm, but right now is the calm and peace before my children go wild with being inside and Santa arriving tomorrow.


Hmmm. I better go enjoy my coffee and maybe a little scrapping quick.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Sugar Frenzy

We have been a bakin' and a makin' in the Nelson household. There is sugar everywhere and my kids are full of it. The white kind, the brown kind, the powdered kind and the little lovey sweet kid kind. We made the traditional Nelson caramels. Oh my they are good. Peanut and Princess Sparkle are obsessed with them. They helped Daddy make them and then they wrapped almost every one. They ate a couple.

Jeff is making the butterscotch, pecan, oatmeal GMAC favorite tonight. Glad I got that recipe out in Utah. He had better make enough to leave a few for Sparkle and myself so we don't have to fight over them. 'Cause he won't be bringing home leftovers.
We made these little cutie patooties for Sparkle's kindergarten class party (the girls did all of the decorating). Thanks go out to the Family Fun website (recipe) and my mom (you were right... green vanilla frosting will turn brown with enough food coloring paste). So you know if you try these...the website needs to tell you that the pretzels are supposed to be the big ones, the twizzlers the rope kind, and the black on the m&m eyes must be gel. We used cherries instead of the lollipops. I think we made some pretty cute Rudolph's even with our substitutions. Sparkle loved them and that is what matters.
Sparkle is OBSESSED with The Nutcracker. She listens to the soundtrack every night before bed. She has watched her Barbie version, The San Francisco PBS version, and dances her own version constantly. I wish I had a photo, but they are all blurry. She has a nutcracker she dances around with even. Peanut likes it too, but not to quite the same degree. You should see her try to do that Russian bounce on the floor and kicking out a leg thing.

Wigglebuns. Smoking a crayon. Actually he just likes to suck/chew on anything tubular.


Santa hits our house tomorrow night/Saturday morning and then we will be traveling for the week. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!



Sunday, December 14, 2008

He's Done!!!!!!

Jeff emailed his FINAL paper and homework for his FINAL master's degree class tonight. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So proud, so happy, so ready. And that's just me. Can only imagine what is going on inside him.
Off to enjoy a glass of wine with him. Oh yeah, and internet C'mas shopping. almost done there too.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Getting in the Spirit

The girls are the best ever for helping spark that holiday spirit. Even with all of the pressures to get stuff done, one more person/gift added to the list, or just being tired they help me remember what it is all about. Letting family and friends know how much we care and recognizing the magic in all the traditions we do, religious and secular. We've been talking about Christ's birth and how special it was. How we should show love as much as we can. Singing carols. Their belief in Santa is so strong. I have come across them conversing several times about Santa, his "seeing" abilities, what they want, how the sleigh works, etc. We decorated the tree. All plastic icicles and snowflakes and lights. Nothing Mr. WB can destroy. And I actually like it better than my regular tree. We made this gingerbread house. Yes, it is a kit. But it sure is cute, especially the walls that would not pass Cliff's engineering inspection. They loved making it. Peanut told her librarian at story time that, "We'll make cookies. Mom has a tube in the fridge." I had been planning to make some from scratch, Tank just makes it difficult. So that afternoon I let him be Mr. Wigglebuns and let him empty all of the safe cabinets and we made four different kinds of cookies. HA!
Or did she know what she was saying and doing with that little challenge/comment?

Sparkle took this photo of Peanut with the snowdude they made. Isn't it adorably funny?

And here they are eating the snow. Two inches and they were in heaven. They keep asking when more will come.



And then the big reason for the season (besides Christ of course)...family. This is mine at Mom and Dad's 35th wedding anniversary dinner. And this is Jeff's mom with the kids. Love, love, love these two pictures.







Sunday, December 7, 2008

Keepin' Up?

Are you keeping up with us? Because I know I'm sure not. Well, just barely. So here's a recap just so I can remember what's up. I'll post pics another night.
1. Peanut is now 4. The Diego birthday was a smash hit--especially the Baby Jaguar scavenger hunt and freeze dancing (thank you Amanda!).
2. The gates are up to contain Tank, and he can bulldoze through if he wants to. And he's cruising and standing up constantly. And he is cutting his top two front teeth. And he is cranky.
3. Princess Sparkle has her C-mas program Tuesday. Fancy (dress-up) Friday at school was a big hit. Anytime she has an excuse to wear a crown, heels, and a ring on every finger she loves it. Conferences went as expected. Sparkle was quite annoyed that her teacher let out the secret that she is reading and writing way more that she wanted us to know about.
4. We got a couple inches of snow so the girls built a two foot tall snow dude in the front yard. And they figured out how to boogie board down our yard on their sleds. They definitely have Daddy's Scandinavian heritage in their blood.
5. Our new cabinet came for the kitchen--so I finished painting and took the scaffolding down finally. Just short of a month later. Tank can no longer empty my macaroni.
6. Thanksgiving went well in both states.
7. The Christmas tree is up sans anything glass and with nothing on the bottom foot of it.
8. I remember nothing from the lithotrypsy on the stones--I was just tired the next day and not even sore at all. X-rays in January at my check-up will reveal more.
9. Jeff got moved to a new department, but that is going well so far. Glad he has a job.
10. Jeff and I went on a real date while Grandma watched the kiddies. Dinner and a movie. We ended up at Role Models (which was actually choice #3), but I would recommend it. Definitely R rated, but we laughed a lot. And we both really needed those laughs. Felt good to actually talk and laugh with my honey, and not about diaper or preschool humor.
So there you have it.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Kickin' it Up a Notch

Mr. Wigglebuns has kicked it up a notch into high gear...he is in full throttle move mode. It is a strange hybrid of army tummy crawling and up on his knees. Depends on how long it has been since he lost balance and face planted. But it doesn't matter which way, he is getting FAST! And he is into EVERYTHING. Here is the very reason I ordered a real pantry. He is headed for the macaroni box--his favorite thing to dump.
Trying to get to Mommy and the camera as quickly as possible so he can try to grab the camera from me. Or settle for grabbing and pulling my hair.
He pulls himself up now. He really likes textures and will pet/rub/smooth upholstry for long periods of time. What do you think of that physique? He is even losing weight and getting longer with the exercise.
Did I mention he thinks he should be able to climb stairs? We haven't put the giant fence in place yet. He just stands there, for now. Feeling up the carpet.
And this is how the girls keep me busy. As I follow Mr. WB around I am living in a constant spelling bee. These are actually by Peanut. Phebers doesn't ask as many questions because they are learning invented spelling in K, so she writes me sentences and books and then reads them to me.
Tomorrow is the big Diego party for Peanut's 4th. Thursday I go in to have my kidney stones obliterated. Friday we are traveling for a short trip to Iowa. Parent teacher conferences and family photos next Tuesday. Thanksgiving. Scrapbooking with the sisters. And I work every other night this week and next. Might be a while before the next post. But I will be back.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Nelson photopalooza

So you ask, where have you been the last week and a half? Oh, my loyal followers, I have much to fill you in on. I will use photos to illustrate the high points for the kiddie-os. Jeff and I have basically been working our tushies off. Jeff: the usual GM sob story --is it going to exist tomorrow--and for him it does. I almost wish they'd severance him out so the poor man could move on already. He's been studyin' up a storm. Me: they have me helping menopausal women who can't match colors and don't know how to glue paper to paper without guidance over twenty hours a week and Tiger got sick--which means neither of us sleeps. And just trying to keep up with the other two.
We ordered a pantry cabinet for the kitchen. Tiger is now CRAWLING and has figured out how to empty the makeshift table I have. He really likes to empty the macaroni box. No pics of him, because he just sits back when I try to take his photo. Soon I will be successful. He can pull himself up now also and loves to stand.
Thought the cabinet would take a while, but will be here possibly next week, so had to paint the kitchen today. And have been planning Peanut's 4th birthday party next week. Oowhee.


Sooo, here was Halloween. Sparkle Princess broke tradition and was a fancy witch. yes those are birds on her hat. Peanut was Elmo. This is not just a costume to her, it is now pajamas, and everyday wear if allowed. It is, "Toasty wawm in hewe" according to her.
This is them waiting for trick or treaters. They were out yelling for people to come and get our candy an hour before it started. Tiger was supposed to be a farmer, but the hat didn't fit. It was gorgeous (70's) and the kids loved it all as usual.
Except Tiger was slightly bored by the process and annoyed by the attention he got.


We enjoyed our first Build a Bear excursion. Princess chose a pink and white bear named Twinkle with a pink and white leopard print shirt. Peanut wanted a dog (named Supah Dawg) and a Harley Davidson tshirt (it was orange, c'mon). Definitely no pink chromosome in her. That place stressed me out, but the girls can't wait to go back.


The colors last week were fabulous. We have this gumball tree in our front yard and it was 20-69 different colors. Sadly most of them have blown away now. But I laid under it and gazed into its beauty and felt peaceful.

Peanut made a painting of it and her raking --that is the rake at the bottom with her pile of leaves.





Here they are in action making the biggest pile of leaves we could to jump in. I think I raked (while prego) this pile last fall in Ohio about 100 times. And we didn't own a tree. LP has this big vacuum truck, like most cities, that the girls think is absolutely horrible.






This is Princess Sparkles version of the tree in our backyard and the wind blowing.



We have discovered that Tiger's favorite food is potatoes. Any preparation is acceptable. But he really likes when Jeff makes homemade fries. He will yell and scream for them. and then hums with the delight the entire time he is eating. MMMMM MMMMMm MMMMMM











Chili cheese fries and a good beer. YUM. Jeff went all out and cooked for me from scratch (chili and fries) last week. Actually one of my throwback faves from the Michigan days. I craved these from Skip's my first pregnancy (minus the alcohol).





And the Strega Nona fest. The girls are obsessed with these stories by Tomie DePaola. We made three trips to the library last week to get more of the series. I try to read them with the Italian accent I have been hearing here (and on tv). I'm sure it sounds to them like some whacko mutt accent--part Midwest, MN, MI, southern, italian, whatever. But they get a kick out of it.

Check her cute pigtails. Cutie patootie.
And Peanut spent a good hour screwing a towel rack to our kitchen island/pantry last night. She said, I quote,"It takes a lot of practice to be a good screwer. And I'm a good screwer." Seriously. I can't make up stuff that funny.

















Monday, October 27, 2008

That new car smell & to Be Legal

So he did it. Jeff finally bought a car. A 2004 Saab 9-3 Turbo Sedan. EZ Turbo bought a turbo. Way cool. It was used (of course), but he feels he," got the best deal going in a fifty mile radius." He should have! I can't even count the hours he spent searching Craig's List at home all night long into the wee hours. And I know he was looking at work also. So here it is... A very nice car. We are all quite excited. Not as big as his Avalanche he wanted. Not as much history as the Volvo he drove Saturday. The guy, we were to call him Andre, actually came out and told him that he, "had a relationship with the Russian Mafia. Jeff never saw him actually light a cigarette, but he smoked one for the their entire thirty-five minute encounter. Jeff was not to call after 5, Andre would be working "you know". He would not tell Jeff who actually owned the car, but swore the title was clear. And Jeff was not allowed to test drive out of a specific area because the plates did not actually belong to that Volvo. I had decided if we bought the Volvo I would call it Boris. But Jeff decided it may need too much work.

So the Saab. We haven't named it yet. We drove to Hammond, IN for it, which is basically the South Side of Chicago. One of the other customers wanted to know what we were doing car shopping in that area. He actually asked, "You buyin' a cawww?" Jeff replied, "They do have them for sale here, you know." The Latino salesman, Paco, thought Jeff's comment quite quick and witty. They all enjoyed a good laugh. I guess the customer was right, we didn't quite fit in. But the car fits. Jeff of course got out of paying all and any fees. He is very excited to drive something with less than 125,000 miles, that looks good, has four matching tires, no AARP stickers, and all of the doors open. I like driving it and will be quite happy to pass off Stan the Tan Van anytime. OOOO--it has a moon roof and goes really fast. :)

AND we are almost vehicular legal. Well, not really, but kind of. Jeff called Fairview Park today and talked them down on his parking ticket. He only has to pay half, they forgive the other $200, and they won't prosecute my grandma or send her to jail. YAY! All because of that Iowa plate he never took off Forrest (just keeps runnin' and runnin') the Grand Prix. Thank goodness IF he buys the Lockport sticker he can park in the street legally. IF. The Saab also has a valid dealer plate for the next week. 1 out of 4's not bad. The van has IN, Forest has IA and IN, and Rosie the truck has MI. If only one of them was in my name maybe I would have gotten them titled. But then again, I still have my IN license. :) I forced Jeff to get his IL so we could register Phoebe for school. We're getting closer. Kind of.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Talkin' smack

Jeff was telling us how his office is having their annual chili cook off next week and was bragging, "I am going to put out my trophies with my entry."
Nicole: "I thought you only had one trophy."
Jeff: "I have a whole bunch of certificates."
Nicole:""Oh, at work?"
Jeff: "Yes."
PEANUT: "Well, I've never seen 'em."

Just like her father.

Oh yeah, her new favorite number? 2069 --spoken twenty sixty nine.
Nicole: How many apple slices do you want?
Peanut: twenty sixty nine
Nicole: How many times did you do that?
Peanut: twenty sixty nine
You get the idea. Sometimes she strays to some other large number, but mostly, it's twenty sixty nine.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Nots are good news

1. So I am NOT knocked up. Can't beat a good pregnancy scare. Wouldn't mind a fourth, but I don't want to have to give birth to it. :)
1o pounds of breech love and 3 c-sections were plenty thank you.
But the good news is I can go through with procedures to blow up my kidney stones. WOO HOO. And even better I found a good urologist. Can you believe it? I have actually liked two doctors in a row now! (him and the pediatrician) I know, crazy. And he recommended a D.O. to check all my levels before they blast me with sound, because apparently you have to have good blood for that, and I just may not. So I am going to give more blood. They took more pics of my kidneys today. Seems like I have more pics of them than my other kids recently.
2. Jeff is NOT getting a Chevy Avalanche. Turns out those are #3 on the stolen list around here and the insurance was THROUGH the roof. Oh well. The one he test drove was all dinged up from being a construction company vehicle anyway.
But the good news is that he is thinking Volvo now. OOOOO, I love a cute little European with a moon roof! Much better than an oversized American I think. Just kidding hon. So Moe, his dealer buddy, is searching Indiana for one. We'll see. Definitely better than an Old Alero or a Grand Prix with a monster parking ticket attached to it. (Especially since said car's license plate is linked to my grandma instead of my husband and they sent her a letter of intent to prosecute. But that is a whole 'nother story.)
3. Kung Fu Panda, aka Ahnka, is not going to do any organized martial arts. Too expensive.
But the good news is I did get her signed up for gymnastics and Sparkle Princess for dance through the park district. Not too outrageous. So hopefully the classes are decent.
4. Tan the Man is NOT crawling.
But the good news is he is trying to cruise around furniture and seems to get hurt doing this a lot less.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Some will be happy, some not

I changed the playlist, as you can hear. I know Cymule (love ya bro) is happily no longer doing the macarena as he sits at his desk all day. But Phebers wants to know why she has to use the arrows to find her songs. Heeheehee. Actually I was ready for the change as well.

Busy day in the N household...mopping, laundry, shoved everything in the garage onto Jeff's side so I can park in the garage (first time in 3 houses!). The kids played duplos including Tan--so cute to see him excited that he was playing with the big kids, hit golf balls at the neighbor's house, tore around on the Jeep singing Macarena and other songs at the top of their lungs into the pretend phone on the Jeep, ate some goldfish, wrote lots and lots of words. Attempted to find out about gymnastics/dance/taekwando opportunities for the girlie-os. Having trouble convincing myself I need to pay a hundred bucks a month or drive a half hour away to do this. What have I gotten myself into?

Jeff finished another class. ONE MORE and he graduates!!!! Yay for him, yay for me-- that I can rope him into some projects. :) Seriously though, I am way proud of him.

And then it will be my turn to finish my masters. hmmm

I love autumn. I am making soup and cornbread. The leaves are turning. We went for a crunching good walk so the girls could collect the colors and paste them in a book. I got out all of my favorite wool cardigans. The air smells deliciously different.

Project Runway is over. Not sure if I wanted Leeann to win or not. Liked her stuff, but not in awe as I was over Christian's fierceness last season. Anxiously awaiting Top Chef to start. I need Tivo so I can watch more than one show.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Tiger/MJ/Tank/Mr. WB

I am maybe a little bad about how many nicknames I give my kids. His new ones are Tiger (for the growling noise he constantly makes) and MJ (mini Jeff). But they all seem to fit. And he will respond to all of them so far. He prefers Mr. Wigglebuns and Tiger, he makes a face at MJ.

Whoever he is, he is such a boy. He loves this tractor, that both girls completely ignored. He rolls it back and forth on the floor and even makes noises. He adores wheels and anything that makes loud noise. His other favorite is a wooden spoon. He'll chew on it and wave it around for a good half hour. He really likes balls too. And is already figuring out the joy in annoying his sisters. He is all about feeding himself. Once he figured out this was an option, it became the only option. Our floor is a wasteland of dried up, tiny pieces of who knows what kind of food. I am not picky, I give him whatever I can think up to calm the growls. Here he is slamming back some Veggie Booty.
He is thinking about crawling. But keeps falling on his face and this makes him quite mad. So we'll see. He might skip the whole thing. But he REALLY wants that toy...especially the one a sister has. So maybe...
And here is my cutie nephew and niece, and their parents. More on that trip later. The tiger is growling.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

3 for 3

So here are the long awaited haircut shots. All three of us (them on Sunday, me on Thursday) received excellent haircuts. Peanut's is an adorable, curly little bob. Jeff's is short all over--he finally believed someone that it was time for this. How long have I been encouraging this? And it looks extremely nice. And mine has never looked like this since (see the new blog pic). She spent more time drying, flat-ironing, and then teasing my hair than I spend showering, dressing, and doing my hair each morning. But it still looks quite nice. Quite pleased with ourselves. And here is Peanut with one of her new favorite hobbies. She makes tiny pictures and words and tapes them all over the house. She loves tape. We are planning to get her a case, maybe a pallet, for Christmas she goes through so much. We have started relegating her taping to certain areas of the house only though. It was out of control. And then she decided to be a bag lady and drug Phebers in on it. Yes, those are from Wal-mart. Yes, they made leg holes and made them into leotards and then danced around the yard. Did I tell you how much the new neighbors like us? JK

Macarena

Here she is doing the Month Macarena. She wanders around the house doing the dance muttering, "January, February, March, April..." I was humming the song along, but apparently they don't use the music at school. So I downloaded it to our playlist and we were all dancing to it. Tanner is especially adept at it. And then the writing and spelling. I gave both girls a bunch of old empty notebooks for drawing. But they are now writing chapter books they informed me. So they are either constantly copying words from anything in the house they can find or asking me to spell it for them. Names, foods, whatever. Frosted flakes was Annika's most recent request, Phoebe's word was everlast ( I think for batteries). What the heck? But it is awesome to see Phoebe, and Annika copying, learning so much and enjoying it!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Ups and downs for Jeffrey

So my wonderful husband has had a roller coaster week of sorts.
1. Up/down--it was his birthday on Monday, 34. Not sure how he feels, but he seems okay with it.
2. Down--I had to work. So he was stuck with Tanner, who has been sick, all by himself.
3. Up--he didn't. Vacaaaation!
4. Down--he had to work on his paper and presentation. Seems to be going okay, as long as we can keep him in the office/art room working on it.
5. Up--because I had to work we celebrated on Sunday and we grilled ribs and asparagus (yummy) and I made his favorite apple crisp. And then on Monday I made chicken soup with homemade noodles. And last night we had super nachos for the game. His tummy is very happy.
6. UP--then down--speaking of the game. He was quite pleased that the Twins forced a play-off game, but then quite sullen that they couldn't pull it off. He had wanted to get tickets, but couldn't bring himself to blow that much money on a ticket.
7. But then a major UP--GMAC bought tickets to the Cubbies play-off game tomorrow night. So he is going to Wrigley for the first time with car dealer buddies and out to eat at Pizzeria Uno (the real thing) all on The General's (General Motors that is) buck. That pleased him very much. To say he is excited is an understatement.
***As of Wednesday night***
8. DOWN DOWN DOWN---the idiots at the dealership sold the tickets. No more game, unless the Cubbies go to a game 5. He went to buy a grill--in Cook county it was $300 bucks with 10.5% sales tax. In Will county the sales tax is only 7%, but the SAME grill was $375. WHAAAAT? So now he is cranky again.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Joys

Lots and lots of joy yesterday!!!!!
1. I am an aunt again! Sarah had a HEALTHY baby boy, Joseph Alexander. He tipped the scales at 8 pounds (even though he was early and Sarah was worried he would be little). I am so excited that Tan man has a playmate. But I am more excited that they are both healthy and no problems. Praises to God! I can't wait to hold this little miracle.
2. Dad and I finished painting another side of his house yesterday and Dad did not fall off the scaffolding. It looks awesome.
3. Jeff finished his midterm test. Three more weeks of this class, then one more!!! I am so proud of him. And I can't wait until he is no longer grumpy about doing homework. :)
4. I started work this week and it is going well so far. I bought a little new paper. OOOO, so many fun things. I am itching to scrap beeeg time!


Speaking of itching...Those welts are bug bites on her face and they are all over. Poor Princess Sparkle reminds me why I don't like the great outdoors. I think it is beautiful. I think it would be fun. Just bug free, because I look the same way. We even put on OFF yesterday. I was swarmed by biting gnats the entire time I was painting. Dad didn't even see them.

She had fun collecting flowers, pine cones, and dead bugs though. She is way into bug carcasses lately. Seriously. She thinks they are pretty, cool, and interesting. We have a box of them. And actually she is right on all three points. She especially likes the cicadas (we have 10 in the collection). She also collects leaves. Dead or alive. We have bags and bags of leaves.

So I asked Ahnka to smile for the camera this morning. She said, " This is my handsome smile." She was making all sorts of finger motions at me. Maybe she would make a great gangster or she will be really good at sign language.

Two funny quotes from my little peanut...

Just now...she and Jeff left to get haircuts. I asked Jeff if he felt comfortable telling the stylist what to do for A. He jokingly said a mullet. I said noooo. He asked A what she wanted and she said, " I just want it really short on the sides and handsome on top." A mullet. Too funny. What are ya gonna do? We'll see what she comes back with. I'll post her pic tomorrow.

Yesterday...she pulled weeds and little trees for Grandma (with Sparkle), so Grandma told them she would pay them. Grandma brought out the money and was going to let them choose between a $1 bill and 4 quarters. Sparkle went for the shiny quarters. Peanut said, " I only like the cash with 5 on it. I don't want it." Whaaaat? We laughed so hard! I knew I should reprimand her for being greedy (and we did have a little talk later about being thankful and taking what is being given). But it was so hilarious, she said it without a thought. The other side of me was proud of her that she knew 5 meant more, and that she thought her time was worth more. HA! If only we all had the courage to ask for more pay sometimes! Good thing she is not acquainted with $20 bills yet.



And Mr. Wigglebuns. He got on his knees yesterday and went backwards a few spaces. Not long now. He is figuring out how to pull stuff off of tables. He loves to dive at Peanut if she is on the floor and pretends to tickle her and drools all over her (which she actually likes because she has someone to wrestle with now). His current fave toy is a wooden spoon. Keeps him busy for 20 minutes easy. Not the fancy plastic stuff. Nanything that makes noise or lights up. A SPOON. Hope his taste is always that cheap and easy!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

the doctor

Okay. I was totally rambling the other night. Maybe that isn't anything new though. But I will explain the whole doctor thing because there seems to be confusion...

I am hypothyroid. If I don't have the right amount of medication coursing through my little veins I get insanely tired (can sleep 14 or more hours a day), my skin looks like an alligator, I start gaining weight (or can't get it off no matter what), depression, monthly female issues, among a whole bunch of other symptoms. Before Utah it was pretty much under control. Then some quack lowered my dose right before we moved. I had all sorts of problems while we lived in Indiana, but no one seemed to put two and two together that it might have something to do with the thyroid. I read a book that mentioned that just because my blood levels test inside the range, it might not be the best level for me. I wasn't sure that it was thryoid related either, and just chalked it up to being a really tired new mommy that wasn't taking care of herself.

So that brings us to Ohio. And my quack of a OB/GYN. The one who made me go three weeks overdue that resulted in a ten pound baby so I would be scheduled for her on call week. She told the surgeon this when she thought I couldn't hear (he was giving her the third degree while they put me back together). She was supposed to be monitoring my thyroid as well (She lost the labs once, and after I got my records for our move, I am not sure she ever actually checked it.) I complained the whole pregnancy of all sorts of little stuff and lots of pain. She just told me out right I was whiny and needed to go home and put my feet up. If I had had the energy, I would have switched doctors...even in the eighth month.

So that brings us to this summer. Turns out all of the pain I was having was from kidney stones I've been passing for the past year. Because I was taking too much calcium and prenatal vitamins. And lo and behold ALL of it circles back to my dear old thyroid. I got a little information out of my urologist in Ohio. But I have been doing A LOT of research myself, and everything keeps pointing back to the fact that I need a higher dose of thyroid meds.

And that brings me to dear Margo. Little wench that she is. So for my first appointment with her here in IL, she comes in and says, "So just what do you think is wrong with you?" Excellent bedside, huh? So I explained it was time to test my blood and I thought I needed a little more dose. I told her some other symptoms. I showed her my lab results on the kidney stones. She told me what I already knew about the stones and then she told me I had gout, I needed to become a vegetarian, and I was stupid to be breastfeeding still, or even in the first place. And then would not explain any of those opinions.

I stuck with her so I could at least get my blood work started and get at least some meds to get me through (my prescription ran out during the move). She scheduled an ultrasound. I went and did that. The guy looked at my kidneys. I went back to Margo to find out the results of everything. (I'm skipping the run in I had with her office staff over attempting to set up an appointment about my labs). She told me 1. I should feel fine, 2. I have kidney stones, 3. she won't do anything for me including recommending a decent urologist. She said, "You're on your own, you'll find somebody."

1. I don't feel fine. I haven't really felt fine for three years now. I have a bunch of other health problems that have been related to this freaking thyroid all along. I finally argued her into upping my dose a little just so I would leave her alone. By the way my levels during pregnancy were below the range, and are now just barely over normal--according to all of the labs I have collected from everyone now that I am taking things into my own hands.
2. I already knew I had kidney stones. No new information there. So she wasted my time with the ultrasound and that extra appointment.
3. She won't even give me ONE freaking name of a doctor. But then again I hate Margo, so I should not go with anyone she likes, huh?

So I am on my own again. I am starting to notice some differences already with the new dose, but it takes awhile. One of these days I will get around to having my other kidney stones taken care of. But I am again so frustrated with the medical community that I don't want to mess with it.
There you have it. Most of the story. Should make more sense now.

I hope ya'll are super healthy and don't have to visit doctors! (Sorry to any doctors who may read this...I am sure you are very reputable and don't fall in the category of idiots I've been choosing lately.)

Monday, September 15, 2008

Curtains, water/messes, Ahnka witiicisms, the hottie of kindergarten

Long title, Huh? Mostly to keep me on track of what I want to write about. :)

1. Got curtains up (shout out to my mom and dad for their help hanging rods, sewing, and giving me their cast offs that match my house better than theirs:) ) Love having privacy, love that it is making the house seem more homey, love the curtains. looking awesome. some pics/artwork up. Just want to paint. I decided the house is going to look as good now as I want it to look if we had to sell, not just the last month.

2. Had water in the basement. Just enough to soak the carpet and all of the moving boxes. Didn't lose too much except the sump pump full of mice and a few things I should have gotten rid of a long time ago. Again shout out to my parents for watching the kids and the use of fans and such.

3. Ahnka. Oh sweet funny one. Just a sampling of what I can remember from the past couple days...
"Mom, I'm going to marry a girl. Somebody is gonna have to like the pretty stuff."
"What? It matches. Orange (horizontal) striped shirt, orange (vertical) striped pants. I like them. But somebody made my button (one on the pants) shrink."
As she is stuffing donut gems in her mouth and has one in each hand, on the stool, pulled up to the counter..."How many have you had?" "Just one or two, but I'm done now."

4. So Phebers has a boyfriend, or two, or more it seems. One sits at her table at K and is teaching her to snap, three in our neighborhood yell if they drive by and she is outside and want playdates. Oh to be the cutie with the pigtails.

5. Tan man is cutting two more teeth, attempting to clap, and his hair is growing. It is curly. The mini-me of Jeff is very, very strong. he is reaching for me and attempting to say mama. Love his leetle self. Wish he would sleep better. Leetle shee...

6. By the way I really like mojitos. They make me feel very nice. Sorry if there were any typos tonight. :) HA! I made kind of nice with my doctor, only because she was willing to give me the correct prescription and I feel better. thank you idiot dr.-- I know how I feel all of the other minutes of my life besides the five you give me. Anyway. STill ditching her. STill don't like her. she impressed me with her knowledge. After two appointments and an ultrasound she informed me in a haughty know it all way that I had kidney stones and needed to see an urologist, but would/not could/would not give me any recommendations. Didn't I know that before I saw her?????????????
I start work Wednesday at Archiver's. Will miss my children and early bedtime. Glad to see women and be in a scrapping atmosphere again. Soon, after I finish sewing and decorating, I WILL scrap!

7. Jeff is plugging away on classes and GMAC. The drama is high at work. We had a pep talk and he is going to start playing hard ball. Good thing I am not babysitting that woman's child (a pre-move idea/plan) because the poo is hitting the fan between those two.

8. So we don't really live in Chicago. We are on the very very very outskirts and are in a rural town pretending to be a suburb of Chi, maybe Joliet. I miss Target in a very real way. But I am liking the little town.

9. Okay, I added a followers button. Please sign in so that I know that I am not only writing this for myself to read. Although that is cool, because this is keeping me in touch with my inner fam workings for scrapping when I get there. But I still have that need to know You like me. You really like me. HA
Dude

Okay that is enough. My new issues of Country Living (I do like the decorating and recipes...I fit in out here maybe) and Creating Keepsakes (OOOOH eye candy and gets my juices wanting to create) are in. And maybe I could have one more mojito. Just one.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

levelin'

So my brother Cliff was wondering what the new digs look like. I took a couple pics of the main level of 4 and the front. We are still settling in and finding homes for everything. I haven't hung a single thing on the walls. YET. It is starting to drive me crazy. So I may go at our walls with a hammer this weekend. Jeff and I are at odds about purchasing window coverings, so still none of those. But many plans in the works. And for paint. Void of color and filled with clutter days are getting difficult.
The kitchen is nice. I am actually liking the layout better than I thought. Stainless steel is okay. Miss having a pantry...as you can tell by the horrid amount of clutter about. We are already talking about adding extra cabinets where the rolling cart is, but I want a swingset more. I can barely stand waiting for the rest of the move money. This is the really crappy part of moving all the freaking time. Starting over with all of this stuff each time, and part of the great thing about the house on Crom. It was done-ish, or at least super easy to move into: coverings on each window, had our swingset, partially fenced, lots of storage spaces. Maybe not pretty or up to date or exactly what I would have chose, but very workable. Unlike nanything as Ahnka would say. AAARRRGGHH. Okay, got it out, no more complaining. Thank you for listening.
It'll be a great house, I just have to practice patience. Not one of my personal traits as we all know.

kids aplenty

Here is the Phoebinator on the first day of kindergarten!!!! What a proud, excited, adorable little, no big, girl.






















Tank enjoying sitting up and chewing on Ahnka's rock star guitar. Don't tell her. Just one of the first of many things he will slobber up for us. But why stop him? He's so darn cute even doing this!















We met Mom to go shopping in Schaumburg for fall stuff and then went out for lunch...Thai. One of my new favorites to get when Jeff (Mister Steak and Potatoes) is not along. They chopsticks were rigged, but the girls did a great job and loved them. They also enjoyed the pad thai. I hope to expand their palates beyond plain macaroni with butter and salt. This was a step in the right direction.





And the Jeep...got this little number at a garage sale for 15 BUCKS! Whoo hoo! Ahnka especially loves it and tears all over the yard. She could be Danica Patrick. Heck if she crashes it, it was worth all 1500 pennies.



There now I am caught up! Ta dah! Hopefully no more marathon posts.

Croms in the Park

Crom Moms and our cutie kiddies in the tie dye we did for Mess day. Aren't they cool...the people and the shirts. Each unique and fabulous in their very own way. Missin' 'em hard core. This was taken at the goodbye pizza party at Bain Park at the end of our street. It was a lot of fun. Good way to end the summer for the Nelsons.
And the Black Knot. Because the men refused to enjoy the Crom word fun and came up with their own name for their poker/drinking/tool borrowing/emailing club complete with nicknames and I am quite positive they have a secret handshake as well. Boys.