My New Garden! :)

So, both of my sisters think that I'm crazy to want a big garden in the back, but Sammy, Thad and I love fruits & veggies, and I am excited to say that we finally got 4 of our raised planters in. We got two in before Nathan's surgery but then got waylaid until this week! So, I researched it a bit as soon as Thad gave me the thumbs-up, and I decided to do raised-beds and he offered to build them as long as I helped fill them up. I will say that I was a little discouraged after the first one (it took forever to dig out, put chicken wire in to keep the gophers out, fill up with dirt/potting soil, and then plant) but they did get easier (especially when we took the kids to a friend's house to finish the third and fourth planters). Here are my pictures--I am very proud of them and can't wait to enjoy the fruits/veggies! We hope to add 4 more planters...

First...a before picture...

Planter # 1 - TOMATOES :) 1/2 Cherry 1/2 Beefsteak and Better Boy
Planter # 2 - Cantaloupes (2) and a Watermelon

Planter # 3 - Cucumbers (3), Green Bell Peppers, Jalapenos (to make salsa!), and Sweet Yellow Banana Peppers
Planter # 4 - STRAWBERRIES! :) Yummy... and one is almost ready for Sammy boy to eat!

What Angel Food Cake ISN'T supposed to look like

So, for my mother-in-law's bday we were in charge of the angel food cake to go with the strawberries and cream. I had never made one so I went out and bought a pan (I thought that it would be more tasty than a store bought one) and ingredients to make it. I got home from school and realized I had gotten bread flour instead of cake flour and so decided I make the Betty Crocker cake mix I'd gotten instead of making it from scratch. It was all going well until I got to the "taking it out of the pan" part. The box said to flip it over immediately and get it out. Well, I did. And, this is what happened. I guess it stuck to the sides of the "nonstick" pan and then it collapsed. Nice eh? At least it tastes good.You can find tips on making Angel Food Cake here so that yours doesn't end up looking like mine. Too bad I didn't look those up before. And here are some fun recipes and a bunch of variations on trifle if you have to make something yummy for a party that almost everyone will like (see photo to the right).

Video Update-Nathan after Surgery!

Here is a short video from yesterday so that you can see how well Nathan is doing!

Our little shrimp!

Nathan had his 6 month checkup and post-op checkup with his pediatrician Dr. Cheng today. Everything looked good, but we giggled out loud when he told us that Nathan was only 27.5 inches long and only in the 83rd percentile for height! We said, "wow! He's tiny!" The pediatrician looked at us a little funny and then said, "well, I guess compared to Sammy he's small! Sammy looks about as tall as my 5 year old!" LOL. What a shrimp!

Another silly Sammy story!

This was our conversation after I had starved him for too long ;)

Sammy- "I hungry. I sad," he said walking slowly and looking really sad.
Mommy - "Would you like a piece of bread?"
Sammy - "Yeah! I happy now," he said immediately and ran off happily!

We're home! The surgery was a success!

So just a quick update! The surgery happened early Monday morning and he was done and in the post-op room by 11:00 am. He was moved about 1 or 2 pm into the Pediatric ICU. The first day he was in a lot of pain and would fall asleep only to wake up a few minutes later screaming. It was so hard to see him like that but we quickly figured out if we caressed his head/cheek and sang softly to him that he'd calm down (with a little help also from some morphine!) Later on that day they let us give him Pedialyte and we saw instant results! He was much happier once he had food in his tummy and took leaps and bounds the rest of that day in his condition. His head was a bit swollen, but he could see and open his eyes! He started sleeping more and was much happier! Tuesday he got even better (no more morphine needed) and in the evening he began to eat baby food, sat up on his own, started smiling and giggling, playing with anything and everything that he could get his hands on and able to be up a little longer each time. He stayed in the PICU until his release this morning! When Dr. Cahan (the neurosurgeon) came in and saw him sitting up unassisted and smiling he said, "this kid's too healthy to be here. Let's send him home!" We were okay with that! :) We feel very blessed. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

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(These pics (L-R) are 1. his favorite nurses, Pearl, Cynthia, & Jing, 2. The incision, 3. Sitting up and smiling)

If you want to see more pics click here to go to SmugMug!

Family Pics :)

Here are some pics that my bro-in-law snapped today with his ultra-fancy camera. We wanted to get some of Nathan before the surgery...Enjoy! :)
Sammy wouldn't smile much, but we did get him once or twice (just not really in the family pics). Nathan is always smiling! :) More pics (too many to count) at SmugMug

Tomorrow's the big day...

So we went to the pre-op appointment for Nathan's surgery to fix his sagittal synostosis (premature closing of the sagittal suture) in West LA (Kaiser at Sunset/Edgemont) this weekend and signed a gazillion (wow-it didn't mark that as a typo-is it a real word?) papers, had blood drawn (the worst part by far because they took it, drop-by-drop, out of his heel and he screamed for 10 minutes since we had to literally pin him down). But it looks like as long as he kicks the cold/cough that he kind of has it's a go for tomorrow.

We can't give him any milk after midnight, but he can have apple juice/water until 5 am. We have to be in West LA by 5:30 am (hey, at least there won't be any traffic) and the surgery is set for 7:30 with Dr. Wexler (plastic surgeon) and Dr. Cahan (neurosurgeon). They both seem super nice and have worked together a many types of surgeries, including cases of craniosynostosis.

Sammy will be staying with my parents at night and bouncing around during the day while we're at the hospital Monday/Tuesday and maybe Wednesday. Thad and I will have to see what we'll do about staying with Nathan and visiting Sammy! Sigh. It is going to be a long week.

I, for the most part, have my lesson plans done but I need to drop them off at school today before 2. I still need to write up a video WS for one of the SpIII videos. Fun stuff. I better get to work. I already packed for Sammy (woo hoo) and Nathan won't need much for his time there (they'll provide everything!) I better get back to finishing the ward newsletter (I finally got the last few articles emailed to me) so that my parents can print it up, put it together, and send it off while I'm at the hospital!

Keep us in your prayers. The surgery (you can read about another surgery here to get an idea of what it is like) is supposed to last about 3 hours....

Fun at the Repetti's

We went down to the Repetti's so that Thad could finish up the grout in Carrie's new bathroom and we got to go and play with the kids. It was a fun weekend. Here is one of the fun pics we took on Saturday! :) P.S. I finished all of my grades (lost a bit of sleep, but) woo hoo!!!

To do... Spring Break 2008

Well..it finally arrived! It is a few weeks later than everyone else's spring break but I am happy now. The third quarter is officially over which means I have one quarter left of teaching/grading/working then I get a summer "off". Woo hoo!

My to do list for Spring Break...too bad it's not two weeks off!
-Get grades done/inputted (almost done with the grading... woo hoo!)
-Get stuff ready for the surgery/bloodwork done/preop appt etc
-Plan a week's worth of lesson plans for after Nathan's surgery
-Get a garden going in the backyard
-Take out weeds in the back
-Build raised planters (Thad)
-Fill with dirt/mix
-Buy veggies and plant away!!
-Clean house
-Relax?

My attempt at Haikus

Exhausted
Sometimes I wonder;
what would it be like to not
be so exhausted?

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Still Asleep

Crying in the night
Run quickly to get his milk-
Don't wake up brother

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Alarm
My alarm goes off
It isn't a normal ring-
It's a little boy

----

School
Back to work I go
Waiting for spring break to come
Grades still to finish
----
Over?
The day is over the
Sun's gone down and kids to bed
There's still much to do