Well, the time while Laura was gone ended up being all right. Bedtime were pretty easy as Connor didn't want to nurse incessantly. And now, even after Laura's back, he seems to doesn't want to nurse. Maybe once every few days, but we're getting there. Lately, though, it's all about the weird fits and screams for no reason or some random reason. I guess it's that time of age?
My Mom's visit went fine. Connor loved having her here. The weekend she was here, she and Laura cooked up a Japanese New Year feast along with a sushi platter we got at Tokyo. It was all very good. We even had the Lemons over.
The last few days have been a little rough at times, mostly due to Connor's fits, but also the weather became super cold again for a few days. The weather's supposed to go up again the next two days, and then I just saw that it's supposed to get cold/snow on Mon/Tue...sigh. I know it's Winter, and it's better than the 100-degree heat, but, oh well. I guess I wouldn't be as irritated if it wasn't for Connor. Without kids, this would be okay weather for me. With kids, it sucks because we can't do anything.
We got some curtains for the living room and it does make the room look better and slightly brighter during the afternoon, letting the sun in. It was expensive, though, but because of a sale, we were able to get another, random curtain rod for $1 from Kohl's.
What else...nothing else to report. Oh, my Bell's Palsy. I'd say I'm close to 80-85% recovered. I can't tell if it's getting better still. I guess it is. You can't really tell that I have/had it now if you see me talk, smile, etc. I still feel a little weird in certain parts of my cheek, so I know I'm not completely recovered. We'll just need to keep watching it. I know it can take up to months and months, so coming this far in less than 2 months is good. I'd even be fine if it stopped getting better at this point, since I look normal. Of course, I hope it keeps going.
Anyway, gonna play some Starcraft while Connor is asleep.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Another easy bedtime for Connor tonight. We opted to skip bath because I was busy writing an e-mail regarding the church website while he was watching a couple of Thomas' and I ran out of time. Wiped him down and fussed a little bit trying to put the diaper on him, but afterwards, he did fine. Tomorrow is a full day with him because Laura's Mom was here today until his lunch, so I had some help. I don't really know what time she's coming home tomorrow (hopefully no weather delays), but I think it's late.
I always hate it when Laura is out of town for work or something, even though it doesn't happen often at all. I miss her and it is times like these that I think I take her help and presence for granted sometimes. When she comes home after work, she immediately helps Connor and frees me from my sometimes stressful day. When that doesn't happen, I can really tell the difference in stress level. Maybe not stress, per se, but responsibility levels, I guess, if that even makes sense. It's just nice to have a break from Connor a little bit each day. I know that she doesn't get a break during the weekends at all and I need to be better about trying to take Connor so she can. It's just hard because Connor really likes to stay with Laura during the weekends. I know that Connor's 2-ish hour naps are a good time to wind down for the second part of the day, but I guess it's different, somehow. I should nap to get re-energized, but I don't want to waste that time, either. I guess I'd rather be refreshed than tired? I took a nap during his nap today and I think I feel better on those days, obviously. It's either that or going to sleep earlier!
Anyway, I think tomorrow, if it's not too cold out in the morning, which it may be as it says around mid-40s around 9am, I might take him to the zoo since we haven't gone in a long time. If the morning doesn't happen, I'll try and take him after his nap, although that cuts it close his dinner. Well, maybe not, but we'll surely hit rush hour traffic and that's something I don't want to do.
I have leftovers for lunch, but I dunno what we're eating tomorrow for dinner. Laura had some quinoa thing planned, but I have no idea how to make it, so I'll let her make it for Wednesday. Thursday my Mom is coming to visit for a few days, so I'll have to check her in on Wednesday morning.
Well, it's 10pm and I wanted to watch one survival show and take a shower, so I better go.
I love you and miss you, Laura!
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Oops, almost missed my goal by a day...or, maybe I think I missed it by a day. I'll make that up.
Laura left for her business trip to St. Louis a couple of hours ago. Laura's Mom took Connor to Kelly's for a couple of hours to give me a break. They're just about to come home, I think. At least, that's the plan. I have dinner ready, though. Pork chops, sweet potatoes, and asparagus. It feels like it's missing something, though.
Anyway, I'll probably write later. I just had thought about the blog and wanted to write a quick something. I'm hoping Connor does okay during bedtime tonight. He didn't seem to mind it too much when Laura left, but we'll see about that tomorrow or even the next day when she isn't back like normal.
Been working on the quilt guild website, teaching Laura's Mom most of what she needs to know to update the site. We should be wrapped up by tonight, if not already. I've taught most of what's needed to know. Next is just practice. Lots of it!
It feels weird in the house right now. Just me and the dogs. No Connor. No Laura.
Miss you already!
Laura left for her business trip to St. Louis a couple of hours ago. Laura's Mom took Connor to Kelly's for a couple of hours to give me a break. They're just about to come home, I think. At least, that's the plan. I have dinner ready, though. Pork chops, sweet potatoes, and asparagus. It feels like it's missing something, though.
Anyway, I'll probably write later. I just had thought about the blog and wanted to write a quick something. I'm hoping Connor does okay during bedtime tonight. He didn't seem to mind it too much when Laura left, but we'll see about that tomorrow or even the next day when she isn't back like normal.
Been working on the quilt guild website, teaching Laura's Mom most of what she needs to know to update the site. We should be wrapped up by tonight, if not already. I've taught most of what's needed to know. Next is just practice. Lots of it!
It feels weird in the house right now. Just me and the dogs. No Connor. No Laura.
Miss you already!
Saturday, January 04, 2014
2013 Year in Review
What another roller coaster of a ride it's been this year. Connor turned one and grew up faster and faster. He learned so many new words each week, it's crazy to see how much of what we say and do he picks up without us even knowing. I can't tell you how many times we've been like, "Whoa, how do you know that, Connor?".
So, for this year, I thought I could switch it up a bit and even though I would do a very short summary of the year, I would spend the majority of my writing on what we MISS about being non-parents. I think it would be an interesting thing to do because once you become parents, everything sort of blurs together and you don't really think about what you used to do in your spare time and the like. Yeah, every now and then we think to ourselves if we could just go see a movie or go out to eat without any hassles, but I figured I could go a little more in detail than that...hopefully it doesn't turn out to be boring, ha. Come to think of it, I hope it's not just dinner and a movie that we miss doing without Connor!
This year was a big year, relatively speaking, in terms of traveling. We went to Colorado twice with Connor, once before he was walking and once after he was. Both times went fine, considering traveling with a baby. Overall, I think the enjoyment weighed out the stress...maybe. Connor kept us busy by walking very early, around 11 months or so. It's weird to think because Joseph is still crawling and he's already reaching 15-ish months! It would be a completely different perspective, I think, if Connor wasn't able to walk until that old. Connor and I played at the park a lot this year. That basically became the thing to do each day because we still hadn't figured out Gymboree or Mother's Day Out. We're hoping to get that started next year, though. Connor hopefully can handle being left alone without us.
This past Summer wasn't as hot as the last years, so that was great. Still hot at times, but very much manageable. The Winter has been feeling colder than normal, which is hard because we can't get out as much.
We had visits to Tulsa here and there for different occasions, but Connor had issues with something each time. Mostly napping, some having to do with boredom (?), etc. Him being bored is a bit weird when we're over there because he certainly has more to do than here, but I dunno. It must be a little different. The house is much too large for him and while we're there, he's all about Mommy and it's hard for him to keep close to Laura because she's always trying to help out around the house. It would be nice if for once we could just go there as guests, but, I doubt that will happen. Christmas will be very interesting, for sure. So many people and so many things going on. I think it will be a very difficult time. Sometimes, I think if the difficulty and stress is even worth it. Sometimes it's nice to just relax and not have to worry about every little thing that is coming up next. I keep telling Laura that we should just do catering for every meal, but oh well.
The other big thing, which came out of nowhere was my Bell's Palsy after a horrible (perhaps the worst I've ever had) cold that started on Thanksgiving day with a severe sore throat. It even hurt just to swallow saliva. Anyway, that continued for a few days, then it turned into a bad runny nose and coughing. A week later, I wasn't getting any better. Then on Friday, Dec. 6th, I believe, I woke up and half my tongue was "numb." Coming back from the dentist and you tongue still feeling numb is the best way I can describe the feeling. I didn't think much of it that day. I had taken Nyquil for the first time ever the night before, so I thought it might have been that. The next day, lo and behold, my face, the same side as my tongue, was paralyzed. I started to freak out, not at first, but as I realized that this wasn't normal. I mentioned it to Laura several times that morning and after a while, we both decided that I should go to the ER. So, I did. After a super quick trip, they diagnosed the Bell's Palsy. It didn't really hit me what was going on, I guess. I was just having difficult talking, as one might expect when the muscles on one side of your face doesn't work. I read up on it after I got home and it looked like it was going to be a slow, slow recovery process. I got some medication and that was that.
It's now almost been a months since the diagnosis and I'm doing much better. Every day, little by little, I'm getting my movement back. My smile isn't normal yet, but it's getting there. I just hope that all of a sudden, the recovery stops. It can happen, I guess. Recovery can be as quick as a couple of weeks to several months, up to a year, even. I think I'm somewhere in between, from the looks of it. I'm about 70% recovered, I would say. At this rate, another 2 weeks or so should do it. I'm hoping so! Anyway, the first week was the hardest to get used to it. It was hard to eat, talk, drink, brush my teeth. I didn't realize how so much of my daily routine would be affected. The biggest was my eye, as I couldn't shut it voluntarily. I had to get drops to keep it moist and at night I had to tape it down. I still occasionally do, as if I don't, it seems like my vision is blurry afterwards. I didn't go out as much during this as well because, 1) I didn't want to hurt my eye/get it dried out and 2) I didn't want any human interaction during this time. This was difficult as I usually take Connor out every day somewhere, like to the park, etc. I felt bad during this, but he got through it okay.
Then came Christmas. Overall, it was a good time, though a bit stress-filled for everyone, it seemed like. It felt like there was more prep work having to be done or something. Anyway, we were there for a week and it was a good break, for the most part. Connor was all about Mommy during it, probably because of the fact that she was there all the time and not at work, lots of new faces, and etc., etc. He did really well at the Christmas mass and he and Wesley were funny sharing snacks and stuff. There were some sharing meltdowns at times, but nothing big. It was nice to have Matt and Ellen there this year, too. It felt super fast though for the week to go by. Weird how perception always works! Gifts that I got were good, too. Laura and I did our Christmas as always before we left. We both liked our gifts. I've been practicing with the fountain pen a lot the last week. She also got me Ni No Kuni, a PS3 game that was made with the help of Studio Ghibli. It looked really fun when I saw it sometime ago. Laura's Dad was given the PS3, so we're going to borrow it sometime to play the game. When I got the game at first, I was like, what?! We don't have a PS3! But then she told me the details.
Anywho, I'm actually really tired and it's almost midnight, so I don't want to stay up longer, but I think I'll just decide to not do the special write-up mentioned up top. Basically, sometimes I missed just being "free", I suppose. It is good to see Connor grow up and see the funny things that he does. I think those little things, despite the stressful times that I have during the day, are the things that keep me going. He just does a lot of funny things I really need to learn to be in the moment and remember then when they happen. I've already forgotten so much since he was born. Yeah, I've taken photos and videos, but it's just not the same as vividly remembering, I guess. I'll try and do better this year.
Oh, and Chris and Alicia had called us before our Christmas to tell us that they are having a baby in July. It's going to be very funny to watch them handle it. We both don't think they are ready, but we'll see in 7 months! They are going to find out the gender, but I'm not sure when. I'm sure we'll visit them sometime.
Here's to a good 2013 and an even better 2014!
So, for this year, I thought I could switch it up a bit and even though I would do a very short summary of the year, I would spend the majority of my writing on what we MISS about being non-parents. I think it would be an interesting thing to do because once you become parents, everything sort of blurs together and you don't really think about what you used to do in your spare time and the like. Yeah, every now and then we think to ourselves if we could just go see a movie or go out to eat without any hassles, but I figured I could go a little more in detail than that...hopefully it doesn't turn out to be boring, ha. Come to think of it, I hope it's not just dinner and a movie that we miss doing without Connor!
This year was a big year, relatively speaking, in terms of traveling. We went to Colorado twice with Connor, once before he was walking and once after he was. Both times went fine, considering traveling with a baby. Overall, I think the enjoyment weighed out the stress...maybe. Connor kept us busy by walking very early, around 11 months or so. It's weird to think because Joseph is still crawling and he's already reaching 15-ish months! It would be a completely different perspective, I think, if Connor wasn't able to walk until that old. Connor and I played at the park a lot this year. That basically became the thing to do each day because we still hadn't figured out Gymboree or Mother's Day Out. We're hoping to get that started next year, though. Connor hopefully can handle being left alone without us.
This past Summer wasn't as hot as the last years, so that was great. Still hot at times, but very much manageable. The Winter has been feeling colder than normal, which is hard because we can't get out as much.
We had visits to Tulsa here and there for different occasions, but Connor had issues with something each time. Mostly napping, some having to do with boredom (?), etc. Him being bored is a bit weird when we're over there because he certainly has more to do than here, but I dunno. It must be a little different. The house is much too large for him and while we're there, he's all about Mommy and it's hard for him to keep close to Laura because she's always trying to help out around the house. It would be nice if for once we could just go there as guests, but, I doubt that will happen. Christmas will be very interesting, for sure. So many people and so many things going on. I think it will be a very difficult time. Sometimes, I think if the difficulty and stress is even worth it. Sometimes it's nice to just relax and not have to worry about every little thing that is coming up next. I keep telling Laura that we should just do catering for every meal, but oh well.
The other big thing, which came out of nowhere was my Bell's Palsy after a horrible (perhaps the worst I've ever had) cold that started on Thanksgiving day with a severe sore throat. It even hurt just to swallow saliva. Anyway, that continued for a few days, then it turned into a bad runny nose and coughing. A week later, I wasn't getting any better. Then on Friday, Dec. 6th, I believe, I woke up and half my tongue was "numb." Coming back from the dentist and you tongue still feeling numb is the best way I can describe the feeling. I didn't think much of it that day. I had taken Nyquil for the first time ever the night before, so I thought it might have been that. The next day, lo and behold, my face, the same side as my tongue, was paralyzed. I started to freak out, not at first, but as I realized that this wasn't normal. I mentioned it to Laura several times that morning and after a while, we both decided that I should go to the ER. So, I did. After a super quick trip, they diagnosed the Bell's Palsy. It didn't really hit me what was going on, I guess. I was just having difficult talking, as one might expect when the muscles on one side of your face doesn't work. I read up on it after I got home and it looked like it was going to be a slow, slow recovery process. I got some medication and that was that.
It's now almost been a months since the diagnosis and I'm doing much better. Every day, little by little, I'm getting my movement back. My smile isn't normal yet, but it's getting there. I just hope that all of a sudden, the recovery stops. It can happen, I guess. Recovery can be as quick as a couple of weeks to several months, up to a year, even. I think I'm somewhere in between, from the looks of it. I'm about 70% recovered, I would say. At this rate, another 2 weeks or so should do it. I'm hoping so! Anyway, the first week was the hardest to get used to it. It was hard to eat, talk, drink, brush my teeth. I didn't realize how so much of my daily routine would be affected. The biggest was my eye, as I couldn't shut it voluntarily. I had to get drops to keep it moist and at night I had to tape it down. I still occasionally do, as if I don't, it seems like my vision is blurry afterwards. I didn't go out as much during this as well because, 1) I didn't want to hurt my eye/get it dried out and 2) I didn't want any human interaction during this time. This was difficult as I usually take Connor out every day somewhere, like to the park, etc. I felt bad during this, but he got through it okay.
Then came Christmas. Overall, it was a good time, though a bit stress-filled for everyone, it seemed like. It felt like there was more prep work having to be done or something. Anyway, we were there for a week and it was a good break, for the most part. Connor was all about Mommy during it, probably because of the fact that she was there all the time and not at work, lots of new faces, and etc., etc. He did really well at the Christmas mass and he and Wesley were funny sharing snacks and stuff. There were some sharing meltdowns at times, but nothing big. It was nice to have Matt and Ellen there this year, too. It felt super fast though for the week to go by. Weird how perception always works! Gifts that I got were good, too. Laura and I did our Christmas as always before we left. We both liked our gifts. I've been practicing with the fountain pen a lot the last week. She also got me Ni No Kuni, a PS3 game that was made with the help of Studio Ghibli. It looked really fun when I saw it sometime ago. Laura's Dad was given the PS3, so we're going to borrow it sometime to play the game. When I got the game at first, I was like, what?! We don't have a PS3! But then she told me the details.
Anywho, I'm actually really tired and it's almost midnight, so I don't want to stay up longer, but I think I'll just decide to not do the special write-up mentioned up top. Basically, sometimes I missed just being "free", I suppose. It is good to see Connor grow up and see the funny things that he does. I think those little things, despite the stressful times that I have during the day, are the things that keep me going. He just does a lot of funny things I really need to learn to be in the moment and remember then when they happen. I've already forgotten so much since he was born. Yeah, I've taken photos and videos, but it's just not the same as vividly remembering, I guess. I'll try and do better this year.
Oh, and Chris and Alicia had called us before our Christmas to tell us that they are having a baby in July. It's going to be very funny to watch them handle it. We both don't think they are ready, but we'll see in 7 months! They are going to find out the gender, but I'm not sure when. I'm sure we'll visit them sometime.
Here's to a good 2013 and an even better 2014!