Yeeah, Haircut

I made it to the OC on my later flight and I still was able to catch
my 11 o'clock hair appointment with the fabled Kai (Candace) of Vogue
Salon in Newport. Hooray for a much needed haircut, children that are
konked out in the backseat, luggage that showed up, and Fifth Street
tacos (Sarinana's)!

On my mind: Thursday

I missed my flight! I can't believe it! I overslept and woke up at 5
AM which is when I should have arrived at the airport for my flight at
6:35. Disgruntled, ragged, and $80 later, the kids and I are now
waiting at OAK airport for a 8:58 AM flight. We got through security
at 6:45 and Elliott has been bugging me ever since we got here about
why it is taking so long. How do you explain to a 3 year old that you
are an irresponsible adult who overslept because you are lazy and
missed the flight you were supposed to take? Maybe just like that,
but I don't think he gets it.

And so begins my epic journey, day one. Miss my flight to Orange
County? Check.

Tune in next week to see how my red eye flight to CT goes...

Sweet Fashion

Here's a look at Elliott and my sweet outfits we got to wear at the hospital today for Elliott's x-ray.  Did you see my awesome thyroid cover?  NICE.  And that little golden thing on my sleeve is Elliott's leopard sticker that attached itself to my shirt.

So, we arrived at the hospital at 7:50 for our 8:00 appointment.  After we waited in admitting, we were sent down to radiology.  After we waited in the radiology lobby, we were ushered down a long meandering hallway to our x-ray room where we met up with our technicians (one actual technician and--surprise, surprise--one student technician.  I ALWAYS get the learners).  Once we were in the room, Caiden started crying and fussing and Elliott started to get kind of scared.  And then I found out that this was no simple little picture taking.  No, no.  This would require Elliott to drink some nasty concoction and then do an x-ray and then wait and then do another one and then wait.  This was going to take a while.  So, it was then that I realized that having Caiden with me was not going to work.  I was ushered back out to the waiting room where I frantically started calling people I knew to see if they could come get Caiden.  Finally, I got a friend to come get her and while we waited for our friend, I did double duty by feeding Caiden her cereal and reading Elliott "Peter Rabbit". 

Once we got rid of Caiden we went back in for the x-rays and Elliott started freaking out about the big machine, the big, huge, lead apron I had to wear and all the people.  He ended up calming down when he realized that I wasn't going to leave him and he did so good.  What a trooper!  He had to drink a lot of this white fluid that was really chalky and while he didn't like it, he did drink it.  One of the people there kept bringing him stickers and he did really well.  I was so proud of him.    It was kind of fun, because we got to watch the liquid travel from his stomach all the way through his intestines.  You could watch the x-ray like a video and then they would freeze frame it every once in a while.  The whole time I kept thinking about all of those young children who fight cancer and other illnesses and how hard it must be on them.  You don't really realize how scary it is for them to be in the hospital and get "worked on."  

A few hours and it was all over.  I took Elliott to the gift shop and he picked out some red vines as his treat for being so brave.

At 3:45 we got the call from the pediatrician who gave us the all clear and let us know that everything looked good.  No surgery required, so that's a relief.  Now we just wait for him to get sick again and play pin the needle on the boy and see what we come up with...

Elliott Visits the Hospital

Just like Curious George!  Tomorrow morning is Elliott's big day.  We have an appointment at 8:00 AM at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.  Elliott will be getting some x-rays of his intestines done regarding that throwing up problem I mentioned a few posts ago.  He's pretty excited, but I'm still not sure how excited I am to wake up my little ones and put them in the car without breakfast and drag them over to the hospital first thing in the morning.  The doctor doesn't think we will find anything, but he suggested we do this as a first step to rule out the more serious possibilities...

"Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My

righteous right hand."

Isaiah 41:10

Surprise!

Surprise visit from grandma and grandpa!

Verse of the Day

Isaiah 40: 28-31

Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the LORD,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might he increases strength.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

Sick Day

We're taking a sick day today.  Elliott is watching Finding Nemo.  Strangely, we have one of these sick days just about every month or two.  Every so often, Elliott will wake up in the middle of the night because his stomach hurts and then by morning he will have thrown up.  But its so mysterious, because its not like when you are normally sick.   His stomach makes these really grumbly sounds and he doesn't really throw up anything--just some foam--and then he'll be fine for the rest of the day...  Poor little guy.  I have no idea what's wrong with him!

Verse of the Day

Isaiah 35:3,4

Strengthen the weak hands,

And make firm the feeble

knees.

Say to those who are fearful-hearted,

"Be strong, do not fear!

Behold, your God will come

with vengeance,

With the recompense of God;

He will come and save you."

They're Just Babes

Today was quite a day...  

On Monday, David and I consulted and decided that it would be okay for Elliott to start watching "Finding Nemo", again.  He wasn't allowed to for a while.  We were thinking he was a bit young.  (I still have my doubts.)  About half of the movie we end up having to skip to the next scene.  Elliott will get this worried expression on his face and put his hands over his ears. He was so excited to be able to watch "Nemo" again, though, so we've been watching it yesterday and today and probably tomorrow and the next day, too.  (Oddly enough, we went to an orthodonist today who sounded australian and had an animal themed office.)

Tonight, when we were putting him to bed, he kept stalling.  He kept having things he needed me to do or say before he could go to sleep.  After we did what was supposed to be the last thing and then I would leave, he said, "Mom!  Mom, talk to me.  Just talk to me."  (heart- wrencher)

"Talk to you about what, Elliott?"

"Just talk to me, Mom."  "Talk to me about Jesus."

Now, how are you supposed to say no to that?  After we talked about Jesus for a little while, he called David in to the room and got very serious.  

"Dad.  Dad. On Nemo, Nemo's Dad picked him up when he was a little egg.  (insert lots of stuttering and trying to get to the point)  And he picked him up in his, like his, feather (fin) and then he like moved him to his other one and he went like this (insert stroking motions) and he said, like.  he said, (dramatic pause)  'I love you.'"

The other milestone for today is that Caiden's first tooth cut through a tiny bit on her bottom gums.  She has been so emotional and cute.  She will be totally fine and then all of a sudden, she'll just break down and cry.  Its like she wants to be happy, but she just can't quite hold it together.  Its adorable.

Its finally here!

So, a year ago, April 1st, we packed up all of our belongings and made the long trek from Orange County to Santa Rosa.  That is, we packed up everything except for my piano.  It was just an ordinary piano, not anything special.  Actually it was pretty clunky and out of tune.  But being able to play the piano has always been important to me, so it was so hard to leave it behind.

Even though my family moved a lot while I was growing up, we always had a piano.  I could sit and play for hours.  In highschool if I was at home I would spend most of my time in front of the baby grand piano that I was lucky enough to have in my bedroom.  (That is another whole story of its own that consists of a homemade ramp, a pulley, and some really strong people to get it to the second story and into my bedroom, where it probably still resides today as there is no way to get it out!)  

Anyway, when David and I moved to Santa Rosa, we left our little upright piano behind, with the intention of getting another one soon after we arrived here.  But a nice piano can be pretty expensive and it just never seemed to work out.  So, I kept looking and waiting.  I can't tell you how many times I have scoured Craigslist in desperation.  I really longed to play.  (If you are a musician, I am sure you can understand that desire for musical expression, yes?)  

After much waiting--impatiently or not--I found the sweetest couple who were giving away their piano to make room for the piano of her childhood that her parents were finally willing to part with.   

This piano that I was given is beautiful!  It has a very nice sound and is actually like 200% better than my old piano and we haven't even tuned it yet...  Not only is it gorgeous and lovely to listen to, but... it was free!  I am so amazed and thankful and blessed.  I so missed being able to make music in my home.  And I really wanted my kids to grow up watching me play.  I want to instill in them the love for making music that their mom and dad both have.  And now that is possible...  Hooray!  We have all been taking turns playing around with our new box of music.  All is right with the world--or at least in our little world at home.

(I'm getting tired of posting all of my awful iPhone photos, so maybe I'll have Dave take some professional photos of our new piano and post them later...) Happy Sunday everyone!

Milestone

It was over coffee and dessert that we witnessed Elliott's first
crush... Apparently, our super sweet waitress caught his eye, because
after she walked away (after talking sweetly with Elliott), Elliott
looked at me and smiled and asked with a laugh, "why's she just...
cute?"

Look! Just like the book...

"Go Dog Go!"

Morning serenade

This is fun...

Aaannd heading back...

Are you tired of our liitle monologue, yet?

Should we head home?

Nah... Prolly still hot. Let's go see the boats!

Trolley car ride back to our car...

This place is awesome!

One down. One to go...

Caiden's out. Now I'm trying to pack Elliott full of protein so he'll
calm down! Its still 100 degrees in Santa Rosa, so we're still taking
refuge in SF.

New sandals, a balloon, and fish...

What more could an over-tired, cranky, hyper, sweaty boy want? Thank
you, Nordstrom. You're the only place selling boys flip flops with a
backstrap. Did I mention its hot?

Riding the trolley car

Aquarium adventure continued...

Its HOT in Santa Rosa!!!

So we came to the city... First stop-- Aquarium of the Bay.

Verse of the Day

"You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You.
Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the
LORD, is everlasting strength." Isaiah 26:3,4

Sent from my iPhone

A Jumble of Things

There are quite a few things I feel compelled to share with you all, but I wish to spare you from reading a jillion half coherent posts full of rambling.  Consequently, I decided to compile them all into a list of things that I am thankful for this week (not including the given ones like God, salvation, the Bible, etc.)...

I am thankful for:

1.  Coconut Lemon Curd Scrolls!  Which I just made and David and I are enjoying right now...

2.  The fact that my lemon curd finally came to a boil/thickened...  It took forever!

3.  The fact that I am not always as sore as I am this week.  I did a ten minute leg workout on monday and I am still so sore.  My legs are stiff and tend to buckle a little bit sometimes when I walk.

4.  The fact that I still have all ten digits.  When I was younger, I used to imagine what could be the worst thing that could happen to me, physically.  Not having any fingers was like my number one worst scenario.  I would never be able to play the piano without my fingers.  Well, just yesterday, my worst fears were realized on someone very dear to me who lost three of their fingers to a table saw while at work...

5.  The fact that I was finally able to muster up enough courage to clean out my kitchen cabinets way way back into the depths where spiders could most likely be hiding!

6.  My amazing husband who always loves me with Christ's love and points me in the right direction when my mind starts to think on things that are not true or plays mind games on me...

7.  For all of you who read my blog, encourage me, and are my friends!

8.  That the weekend is almost here!  

So, my friends, if you are not in Hong Kong on business or are not too scared, please tell me some of the things that you are thankful for this week...  hhhmmm?

"The Best Things In Life Are Free..."

I've always been a big fan of wild flowers.  (I prefer them, by far, to an extravagant bouquet of the extremely expensive store bought variety.)  And this is as wild as it gets.  Elliott loves picking me little dandelions or any other little flower that he happens across.  The best is when he picks me one that has little tiny bugs crawling all around on it...  (eeeewww...)

As a side note:  who decided which flowers are called weeds and which are called flowers?  I have a small bone to pick with whoever did, because there are numerous varieties of "weed" flowers that I quite adore!

Here's a little tidbit from David and my conversation with Elliott over coffee cake and "coffee" this evening.  We were asking Elliott some questions and here are the results:

1.  Favorite color = blue

2.  Favorite song = "The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round"

3.  Favorite Bible story = "Jesus (i.e. Jonah) and the big fish" (He gets his characters mixed up.)

4.  Best Fixer = Daddy

5.  Smartest person = Mommy

6.  Happiest person = Daddy, Mommy, and Elliott

7.  Who loves you the most = Grandma and Grandpa

And apparently, while David was brushing Elliott's teeth and getting him ready for bed, David asked him which was his favorite house (expecting to hear something like Grandma and Grandpa's or Sue's).  But what he said was, "The house that Jesus is building for me."

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."  Proverbs 22:6