Oh, hey - May 31, 2006 -
Remember the oldest children we have? The 11, 8 and 5 year old?
They stayed behind for A WEEK….OR MORE!
Bill and I are on our own with Mia.
The silence is deafening, but much welcome. We sooooo needed some quiet time.
Now come closer and I will tell you a secret………………….that’s it……………just a bit more…………………
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I don’t miss them.
That’s right, you heard me. As much as I love them and enjoy being with them, I don’t miss them….just yet.
I know I will.
The point will come when my arms will ache for them, and I won’t be able to take another day away from them.
But…..not…..just…..yet.
I want to allow myself some time to let my ears stop ringing and a chance to get my eyeballs back in their sockets after that first day of summer break when they popped right out of my head and rolled across the floor from all the pressure building up in my head. Bill came home and said “Hey, where are your eyes?” and I replied, “I don’t know……they got sucked out of my head by the kids and now I can’t see to find them”.
It was then we knew that the previous events from the beginning of May had taken their toll on Mom and it was time to hand the kids over to more capable hands……the hands that together had raised an only child, Bills step sister. The concept of multi-tasking is something foreign to them.
Yes, we dumped 3 fresh out of school, young, wild boys on Bill’s 72yo father and step mother.
And they are armed…..
and wild
They may never speak to us again.
A new beginning - May 31, 2006 -
Some call it weaning……I call it having my heart ripped out.
It is happening here, and I am swinging like a pendulum, back and forth, between being ready for it, and not wanting to let go of that phase of our life together.
I will remember, even when I am 90, the times when she lay beside me asleep…..little puffs of air with the sweet smell of breastmilk floating next to my face. The way she reaches up and touches my face gently while nursing, tracing my nose, eyes and lips. Tiny fingers twirling my hair. As a baby, she would put her little feet on my mouth for me to kiss.
Nursing a toddler has been a pure joy. From her exclaiming outloud at a late evening BBQ with Bill’s boss, that she is tired and wants “utter Boobie”, to how she mumbles quietly while nursing to sleep.
We are down to 2-3 nursings a day…..sometimes only one. I know the time will come when I realize that she hasn’t nursed in days.
I will cry. She is the last baby I will ever nurse. I have no doubt in my mind about this. Bill’s stroke was the deciding factor.
That’s right. I am not willing to have another baby, knowing that I might possibly have to raise it by myself. I am selfish like that.
The fact of the matter is, this is okay with me. I have always been totally in love with Bill, but lately, we seem to have retrieved that thing called infatuation. Complete and crazy desire to be touching each other all the time (hand holding and such…sheesh you guys have dirty minds). I think about him even while he is in the room.
After the last 4 weeks, I am nurturing my marriage like never before, and for the first time in my life, I can honestly say that I am ready to move on to a different stage of my life….one that does not include being pregnant and giving birth.
Mia is weaning, my husband survived a stroke. Damn, I am satisfied with what we have! Our life here is wonderful, fulfilling and I couldn’t ask for anything more.
I am sandwiched in between Bill and Mia. My bookends. The one that started it all, and the one that put the exclamation point on our family.
This, without the that - May 30, 2006 -
This is a photo story on how we spent Memorial weekend.
This was where we enjoyed our morning coffee
This was our view
And this
And this
This is the new house on the hill that is so amazing, words can not do it justice. Ceiling beams that are 150 years old, stained cement floors, and all of the rock that was used, each and every piece, was hauled from the property by my FIL and MIL. The exterior is covered in this rock, as well as the interior walls and both fireplaces.
This is the guest house
This was where we swam, in the middle of several thousand acres of undeveloped land
This was what watched us swim
This is what sets my heart on fire
And THIS, is why I say that I have 5 kids (and why I can’t get a new, descent pic of the 2 of us together)
A late night, somelots of rum and coke, several Dos Equis, kids snuggled asleep in their beds, and Bill and I with nothing but deer and cows listening to us talk.
And that is that.
**more pics of our trip are up at Flickr. Just click on any of the above photos.
No, Bill did not get me, too, with the clippers - May 26, 2006 -
I had to submit a picture to a larger-families group blog/resource site that I will be participating in. This was a tough one for me, as I am always the one behind the camera. I tried to get Quinn to snap one, but it didn’t come out just right.
So I tried the old self portrait trick in the mirror, and it, well…just see for yourself.
So in the end, I went with a picture that is my very favorite. It is totally me….at the beach, windblown, with my child. It was taken in Galveston, which holds my best memories evah!
Flashback May, 1996.
Yes, I am aware that it is 10 years old, so shut your yap. I would photo shop in some wrinkles and long hair, but I decided to spend the $400 or so bucks that PhotoShop CS was going to cost and get my husband a new fish surfboard he has been drooling over. We are all about pleasing the stroke survivor at the Chez Jody2ms house these days. ;*)
In other news, school has been out for approximately 6 hours now, and my kids are already bored. After listening to a chorus of “I’m bored” I graciously allowed them to sweep and mop all of the floors, and vacuum the area rugs. Now my floors are all clean and noone is whining anymore. How cool is summer!!!
Oh, and if you were wondering about the kiss……….I’ll never tell.
Butterflies - May 25, 2006 -
I look forward to Thursdays. My husband gets off work at 4pm.
I feel like I am in high school, waiting for the bell to ring, anticipating seeing and brushing past him in the halls between classes.
Or watching the clock, eager for him to come pick me up for our first date.
I wonder if he’ll kiss me?
Shoes, shoes, shoes! - May 23, 2006 -
Because I am a baby shoe whore, I ordered Mia some more Pedoodles
They shipped out and were in my mailbox in 2 days….free shipping.
I bought her Frank the Fish in First Steps, Flower Power, Pink Runners, and Ruby Janes in the Next Step Collection (The Ruby Janes are to die for. So soft and adorable.) . She should be good to go through Fall now, as these shoes last forever. The last batch I bought, Mia wore for a year.
If you have a daughter, go buy some Ruby Janes. The cuteness is blinding.
Jody, marine animal behaviorist gone housewife - May 23, 2006 -
Because Oshee asked, here is my life before kids. I trained Dolphins, Sea Lions and exotic birds. Photos curtosy of my Dad and fellow trainers.
Dolphins playing basketball
Fish jump….yes, that is me with a herring in my mouth.
Swimming with Connie.
Ring toss with Sammy the sea lion
Playing detective with Sam
Waving goodbye at the end of the show
With Sally during the bird show at Ocean World, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.
With Brandi, Ocean World
Newborn sea lion pup, Ocean World
This photo was taken at Ocean World by a photograper for National Geographic magazine. I understand that it was published in one of the issues, but I am not sure which one as I never saw it.
I can’t say that life has been boring, that’s for sure.
Google brings it all back - May 22, 2006 -
Crack me up! I did a Google search on Sea Arama and found this web site. I am in several of the pictures. LOL!! The faces were blurred to protect the innocent????
Go to Photos, and click on “Dolphins” (page 2, Dolphin Trainers pose with Hastings-I am the first one on the left) and “Sea Lions” (Sea Lion Trainers with Sammy) and a couple of others.
Talk about blast from the past!! The park no longer exists. It closed down sometime in 1990.
I still have my whistle……the kids enjoy blasting it when I show it to them. It still smells like fish.
From there to here, it has been an interesting life!
Fish Tacos - May 22, 2006 -
Okay, recipe time. In an effort to help Bill’s Crestor be all that it can be, we are all about fish, chicken and pork (the other white meat) at our house these days.
Last night I made fish tacos, and they were incredible! I substituted Mahi Mahi for the fish and baby spinach for the cabbage. In addition, I used more lime, and poured the sauce over the fish as it cooked instead of dipping it. All but one of the kids devoured them and it was sooo easy to make.
Enjoy!
Fish Tacos
(makes 8 servings)
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed orange juice
1 pound halibut
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup green cabbage, shredded
1 cup red cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup green onions, chopped
3/4 cup nonfat sour cream
3/4 cup salsa
8 whole wheat flour tortillas
lime wedges
Directions:
1. In a medium-sized bowl, combine taco seasoning, lime juice and orange juice and mix well. Add fish and toss to coat.
2. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet to medium high heat. Add fish and sauté for about 5 minutes or until done.
3. In a medium-sized bowl, combine green and red cabbage, and green onions. In a separate bowl, stir together sour cream and salsa and mix well.
4. Heat tortillas according to package instructions. Spoon 1/4 cup of cabbage mixture in center of tortilla then equally divide fish and place on top of cabbage vegetables. Top with up to 3 tablespoons salsa blend and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Fold or roll up tortillas and enjoy.
Precious - May 22, 2006 -
This is how my boys used to sleep.
In my mind, I will always remember them little like this, all curled up together.
The weight of air - May 19, 2006 -
I am beat. Do you mind some bullet points?
Bill finally allowed me to get him to a specialist for a second opinion. He had no choice. It was either go to the doctor, or die from the brain trauma that I was inflicting on him with my constant crying and pleading. That and having to shovel me off the floor every time he complained of what we are now affectionately calling “bobble head” (disequalibrium and uncoordination).
*We went to the neurologist yesterday. Not just any neurologist, but one who did his residency at mayo clinic.
*Bill had a stroke in the white matter of his mid brain.
*It is not visible on the MRI from 2 weeks ago
*The one that is visible is not of worry….could have been an infection from 20 years ago, so he doesn’t even think that area is a stroke for sure.
*It could have been a migraine that caused the new stroke
*More likely it was his mild plaque build up in the carotid arteries and his aortic arch
*He needs to get his LDL down to below 70.
The great news is that because he started his meds so quickly, he probably (but no guarantee) will not experience any future problems. The Crestor he is on will kick the LDL’s rear.
The symptoms should disappear in 3 to 6 months, and they will come and go. That is normal for this type of stroke. He may have some mild residual deficit.
The doctor was decisive, had a calm voice, was super friendly, and spent an hour with us. He was not vague, and answered each and every one of our questions with knowledgable answers……he just knows his sheite! He reassured me that this is not a death sentence, and if Bill follows the treatment plan, he should be fine! No guarantees that it won’t happen again, but we have reduced the risk to almost nothing by having him on the Crestor, aspirin and Altace.
I wanted to jump up and kiss him full on the mouth!
But I didn’t, in case you were wondering.
I kissed Bill full on the mouth once we got to the car.
Later that night, Bill scooted across the bed to me, after I had already dozed off, and said “Thank you”.
I roused and said “What for?”
And he replied “For making me do that today……I feel so much better”.
Up until that point, I felt like I was moving through water. The weight of everything was exhausting. It was as if air was so heavy, it was an effort just to inhale it into my lungs.
It feels weightless now.
And I can breath again.
Playing doctor - May 17, 2006 -
I mentioned last week that my kids have a unique doctors kit. It is a combo of Bob the Builder tools and play doctors instruments.
Being from medical parents, my kids also have actual medical instruments to enhance their play. Included in this wide array of tools is a tenaculum, real reflex hammers, suture kits, and “tuning forks” to check for hearing disorders and such. In addition to this, they have a real blood pressure cuff , stethoscope and an actual otoscope.
Here is part of their kit. The rest is stuff that has to be supervised.
Playing doctor with them is hardcore. They fight over who is Dad, Dr. Tim and Dr. Ralph. They have real bandages and such to finish off their “surgical cases”, and I frequently come out of “anesthesia” with bruises and sometimes missing locks of hair during “suture removal”.
Such was the case last week while I was down with mastitis. As I mentioned, Quinn got out the childs doctors kit from hell, and while they worked on me, I dozed off in my feverish state, waking abruptly when they used a saw to “fix” my owie boobie or a reflex hammer on my ocular bone. Not……kidding.
So, let me just say that when most kids break out the doctors kit, it is play. When my kids do it, it is war, and seems to be practice for M.A.S.H. deployment. Quinn in particular seems to be on his way to wanting to be a doctor, as he talks about it quite frequently.
It would not surprise me in the least, given his experiences so far with the doctors and physical therapists. He adores his dad as well, and I completely see him following in Bill’s footsteps.
Like father, like son.
When a Home is not really a House - May 16, 2006 -
Driving home in the van after picking up Quinn from school:
Quinn: “Is Daddy home?”
Me: “He will be in a few minutes.”
Quinn: “I miss him when he is at work.”
Me: “I know. You really love him, huh?”
Quinn: “Yeah, I love him the most.”
Me: “Me too, honey.”
Quinn: “More than I love anyone else.”
Me: “Okay, honey.”
Quinn: “Even way more than I love you.”
Me: “Alrighty then.”
Quinn: “I mean like a kazillion times more than I love you.”
I stopped the car at a stop sign, and turned around to face him in the back seat and sneered: “Well, good for you. I love CORY more than I love you. A kazillion, MILLION times more”. (How’s that for a shirt, Chris?)
Okay, I really didn’t say that. But I thought it.* Sheesh.
In other news at the American Stroke Association Department of Research and Development Jody2ms house, every day when Bill comes home from work, I yell “Daddy’s home” and all the kids run to the back door. Mia especially likes this time and screams with excitement.
Well, she now calls Bill, not Daddy, but “Daddy’s Home”. As in, “I want my Daddys Home to watch Dora with me” and “Pick me up, Daddy’s Home”.
It must be a hereditary thing from his side of the family, because his niece and nephews call his mother “Nana’s House”. My SIL used to say “let’s go to Nana’s house for a visit” so the kids thought her name was Nana’s House. When they wanted to go to her house for a visit, they would say “Can we go to Nana’s House’s house?” .
Daddy’s Home and Nana’s House spent time together last weekend at Daddy’s Home’s house. This summer Daddy’s Home will take us all to Nana’s House’s house to visit the beach.
Any questions?
*for clarification and in a need to keep hate mail to a minimum, I would never ever say anything like this to my child. Nor would I love one more than the other, yada yada. I love them all the Purplest
When worlds collide - May 13, 2006 -
Here is what happens when 3 5yo all try and catch the same ball.
He’s bad
Now he just needs an “I Love Mom” tatoo.
Hair! - May 13, 2006 -
Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair
Shining, gleaming, steaming, flaxen, waxen
Give me down to there, hair!
Shoulder length, longer (hair!)
Here baby, there mama, Everywhere daddy daddy
Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaair!
Flow it,
Show it,
Looooong as God can grow it,
My Hair!
My boys had a run in with a father armed with electric clippers. They lost.
Bloglines rule - May 10, 2006 -
Okay, I FINALLY jumped on the Bloglines bandwagon. Peeps, if you haven’t yet, you must subscribe. It makes blog reading so durn easy. I mean, my computer time has been cut in half!
So, I am reading each and everyone of your blogs daily, but via bloglines. You should totally try it!
On Friday, God created the angelic, strange children - May 5, 2006 -
“Yum, can I have some more spinach? This is really good!”
“Please pass the squash.”
“Mom, will you get me some tomatoes?”
“You didn’t make enough chicken.”
“Can I put some more basalmic vinegar on my spinach?”
Then the heavens opened wide, and a chorus of angels sang a never ending hymn of gladness. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh haaaaallelujah… haaaaallelujah…hallelujah, hallelujah, hallleeeeelu-jah”
And the mother saw that it was good.
More random “stuff” - May 5, 2006 -
I think I am officially depressed.
Yesterday was franitc and crazy. Today I just feel blah.
This morning I asked Bill if he was having any other symptoms, other than the tingling, and he replied “Just a very, very slight headache above my right eye”. I look at him and see a walking time bomb.
I need to mow the lawn, which is basically half of a city block. That should be fun with a 2 year old.
He told the 2 oldest boys what happened. He said that at one point he told them that “there is just a tiny area where the brain didn’t get any oxygen and that little spot died” and Cody piped in “Good thing it wasn’t a large area or you would be dead”.
My stomach dropped and stayed there.
I sit, right now, looking out to our driveway at the trailer, and where I once saw excitement and adventure, I now see a burdon and anxiety. You know, we talked about the “what-if’s” the other night, and the truck and trailer will be the first to go if, God forbid, he has another stroke of greater magnitude.
It is like someone put out a light in me.
If you walked up to me and told me “I am taking everything from you today. Your house, your furniture, you clothes, cars and personal possessions….but I am leaving you your husband, and children” I would gladly hand it all over to you. What I am imagining now is that someone is walking up to me and saying the same thing, but the only thing I may leave with is my children.
I think I need to rename my blog “Poor, poor pitiful me”.
And the winner is…… - May 1, 2006 -
It appears there will not have to be a drawing in the “Digging for Dollars in Poop” contest.
Jana is the only one who guessed correctly!!!
As much as I hate to disappoint Jodi, yes, I dug the money out of the poop, cleaned it and placed it in Bill’s change tray. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, kwim?
Jana, if you will e-mail me your size and a mailing addy, I will get your cool t-shirt out to you asap!
Do something for me - May 1, 2006 -
I would like to ask each of you to do something for me. It is simple and only good can come from it.
Tell your husband you love him, right now.
Call him on the phone, drive up to his office and have lunch with him, seek him out and specifically tell him how much he means to you. Be creative……even if you are flaming mad at him.
That is your assignment for today. Please leave a note below and tell us what you did……….
Why, Jody2ms, are you waxing philosophical on us?
All I can say is…..Houston, ah, we(might) have a problem.
Details, if any, to follow sometime tomorrow.
In the meanwhile, go, git……give some lovin’ to your other half. Life can change on a dime.
