No Crying At SeaWorld!

October 23, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Kaili hasn’t been to speech since July, school has taken it’s place. Her teacher and I decided to just check in every few months. Yesterday I got a reminder call that we had an appointment Tuesday morning, “what time is it?” I asked, “8:30.” 8:30 in the morning? What the hell was I thinking?

Her speech is at the hospital, literally right down the street but somehow I always think we are going to be late so we rush around just to get there early. Nothing more fun than sitting in a waiting room with a 2year old.

In the car, ironically on the way to speech, Kaili was hollering “go people! “Move people” at every red light. Wonder where she got that from?

All said and done, her speech has drastically improved, I was given a few tricks of the trade to help work on her “sh” and “f” sounds. We scheduled another follow up appointment for January and that will most likely be the last of it. Hopefully we wont need to return to Children’s hospital again.

I promised her a trip to SeaWorld on Tuesday so after lunch we headed out. 75 degrees out in the middle of October, who’s complaining? Oh wait I am, 3 hours later, I was exhausted. Defiance and tears were proof that she was too.

The highlight for me, besides the fact that the park was empty were the dolphins…always is. Today we were tossing the ball around with them, petting them, I was in heaven. No offense to Kaili but it would have been more enjoyable if I was by myself {or with help}. Holding her as she whined in my ear really came in between my play time with flipper.

We fed the SeaLions and watched the sharks, you know, the norm.

But the highlight for Kaili came at the end as we were leaving. Low and behold her favorite cartoon character…at SeaWorld.

Good ol’ Franklin. She was stoked and I basically had to drag her away so the other kids could get a chance to say hi. “Bye Franklin, bye Franklin, bye Franklin!

Ready, Set….

October 21, 2013October 21, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ 3 Comments

Well friends, operation “get pregnant, stay pregnant, make it to the end without bed rest, pre-term labor and no NICU stay” is underway.

Cycle day 1. I start estrogen patches aka birth control. I didn’t know that birth control patches existed but then again why would I? They look like this.

$100 damn dollars for these things, with insurance. BLAH! However, applying these lil babies sure as hell beats sticking needles into my stomach twice a a day. HOLLA!!

I put 2 of them on and change them every 84 hours. My next appointment is Wednesday when they do whatever they do to see if they are working too well or not well enough.

Shane and I both have to take a 5 day antibiotic to make sure we are healthy as a whistle come transfer day. Probably should go get the flu-shot too, although I have been saying that for 5 years now.

Vacation and Actuality

October 20, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Our getaway to Arizona was perfection but man oh man ( woman oh woman?) reality really does smack you in the face as soon as you walk in your own front door. I missed K terribly but to be completely honest, it’s hard to jump right back into the whole parenting obligations. Now don’t take this the wrong way, I was eager to see her, more than you can imagine but she was just getting a cold so her attiTUDE wasn’t the best. Welcome home mommy now go away! Ah, if she only knew what I went through to get her here.

Vacationing…..once you have kids, even if you leave them behind, will never be the same. PERIOD.

Ok, enough whining, or wining? Did I mention how tan I am, how many hours I spent in the sun not doing a god damn thing? That is what a quick vacation is all about! <—actually that is not true, we spent about 10 hours playing basketball in the pool.

I actually did leave the house more than once. Since the guys had their Thursday football plans, Kristi took me out to the lake for a bloody mary. Chick didn’t tell me it’s a death walk to get down there.

These stairs were no joke, stable and steady they were not.

Once on the dock, we hit Dillon’s for some marginal food, a decent bloody mary but a great view and amazing company!

And no, the walk back up up those damn stairs wasn’t fun either but I am pretty sure I burnt off two sips of this bad boy!

I think it’s safe to say we all enjoyed ourselves on our getaway. We only had a few hang-ups.

The house we rented through VRBO stated it was wheelchair friendly, I took that as a chair should be able to get into and all throughout the house, including the outside. This was not the case. I haven’t done my research on what the rules are. Should it say wheelchair compliant? Anyone? But now I know I need to be more thorough.

Long story short, a little tweek here, a door off the hinge there and we were all good with that situation.

We also had a itty bitty problemo (go away auto correct) with the alarm system. All of the sudden Wednedesay night the damn alarm decided to screw with us. After a few calls from the alarm company the cops showed up. Shane explained to the nice police officers that we were renting the house and we didn’t have the code to disarm the alarm . The good cop, ~~not the bad cop~~ asked if he was in town for the game ( Did the Seahawks shirt give it away?) Shane nodded and the the good cop said he was going to the game as well, that is when Shane offered him a Seahawk jersey to wear. That is how the story ends.

This is the third time I have used VRBO and I would most definitely do it again. Although my next vacation might not be until 2016 in Rio, but I can start planning right?

Carefree

October 16, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

As much as I miss my K bear, leaving her in good hands was the best decision. I’m taking full advantage of having a childless vaca. Showering with the music blaring, floating in the pool with the music blaring, getting ready for a night out with the music blaring.

We spent most of the day in the pool and then cleaned ourselves up and met our friends at Salty Senoritas.

Arizona

October 14, 2013October 14, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ 2 Comments

The drive from San Diego to Phoenix, Arizona is almost as boring as the drive from OC to the Bay Area… Almost.

Alas, we made it! Our rental is as nice as I had hoped but…this is a big but, it’s not exactly wheelchair accessible. I mean, yes a chair can enter the house and maybe it’s my fault for not being thorough enough in my search but we had an issue I wasn’t happy about. I’ll tell you more about it later, I’m too busy snuggled up on the couch with a glass of wine.
Here are some pictures of our abode.

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Go Away Mommy

October 14, 2013October 14, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

“Go away mommy!” Kaili says that quite often these days and now I am giving the girl what she wants, I’m outta here.

We rented a house in Arizona through VRBO for a week getaway. The guys will be going to the Hawk vs. Cardinal game on Thursday and I will be lounging in the pool with a glass of wine. A little mind cleanse before my FET.

Shane and Wags left a few days ago for Seattle where they played downtown, went to the Seahawk game and ate amazing looking food, I have to say I was a tad jealous, oh who am I kidding, really jealous!

Meanwhile, I was introducing a few new tray tasks to Kaili.

Kaili and I picked up Grandpa G from the airport Saturday afternoon, he is my wing man for the drive to Arizona. Before we left he wanted to represent the Walla Walla #12 at the Hawk game, so we made him this.

Wave it proud G!

I am more hesitant about leaving Kaili this time around than ever before. Maybe it’s because she is more aware, always clinging to me, or constantly asking “where mommy go?” Whatever the reason, it sucks. But, I need some time away so I have been preparing her for my absence. I made her this, aren’t I clever? In my defense I did most of this upside down. Nt like I was standing on my head but…well you get what I’m saying, I hope.

I will share pics of our Arizona rental once we arrive. Unless it’s a shithole then I won’t show you anything but I will tell you how fabulous it is.

iPad blog post

October 12, 2013October 12, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

I wanted to see how easy blogging from my iPad would be. I would like to leave my computer at home next week so this is a test.

Catching Up

October 11, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday after dropping K off at school and catching up with my Tuesday night shows I found myself rummaging through the refrigerator. We just recieved our Farm fresh to you delivery and since I somehow screwed up our delivery dates this weeks box was the same as last. Soooo I found myself with a lot of extra shit I needed to do something with before we leave for AZ next week.

I don’t love squash and now that Fall is here they are in abundance. I decided I would pawn the two Delicata squash I had on to Kaili. I cut them in half, scooped out their guts, drizzled with Olive oil and roasted them for an hour at 350. While they were cooking I found two lonely chicken breasts in the freezer, along with the handful of lemons hanging around I decided I would make chicken piccata for lunch, you know, surprise Shane with a gourmet lunch once he got home. Isn’t that what good wives are supposed to do? Ha, well once a year aint bad right?

When the squash was cool enough to handle I scraped the meat out and pureed it with a tad of butter and cinnamon. Kaili seemed to enjoy it, a little too sweet for my taste.

Then I went on and made a plan for dinner and spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. All said and done I made 5 dishes, I think that will hold me off until Thanksgiving.

Yesterday my dad and I took Kaili to the Olympic training center to have lunch with David aka “uncle Wags”. Here are some shots of our visit.

Watching the Seals falling from the sky — Watching the Seals fall out of the sky

Picture of David in the Visitors center.

Dark Chocolate, Coconut and Macadamia Nut Tart

October 9, 2013 ~ Girlmom ~ Leave a comment

When I first saw this recipe I knew there was NO WAY this would be bad. Really easy to make, really easy to eat. Paleo and vegan friendly, gluten and dairy free..low fat? No, but all you need is a little slice, oh and it goes good with wine.

*See here for recipe*