Rocking Max's world!

This last week or two I have been noting all these cool things that Max can do. Like for the last month he has gotten really good at feeding himself applesauce and yogurt. That is crazy! Basically over night he was good at it. I still make him wear a bib but it is so fun when he can wear it multiple times. Instead of having a whole load of laundry of just bibs!

We are up north in Brainerd today. We spent the weekend in Pequot lakes for Robb's sister Lisa's graduation ( as opposed to my sister Lisa, poor Max with the two auntie Lisa's to keep straight.) it was a fun weekend and now my parents and aunt and uncle are at Breezy Point for the week of the fourth. I thought as long as I don't have to work until this weekend and there was nothing going on, I should stay up. Who knows with all the strike business if I will get another vacation otherwise. So here we are up north waiting for mom to come back after her one day of work. I noticed we don't have a life jacket that fits Max so off to fleet farm we went before we could go on a boat ride. Whoa! Did I just rock Max's world! All i had to do was take him down the ceiling fan isle. He is so funny! He just sat staring up for five minutes, enamored.

He is talking so much and so well! He tries to repeat evereything, even said his first naughty word! Ha ha daddy, busted! I love when he says big words like bulldozer, he pronounces each syllable. He can count to three. And just learned to hold up two fingers ( which can be cute to watch him try to remember how to do it again) and say two. He just learned from papa Craig to say peace while holding up two fingers, too! So now he says two...peace!

Last week on Friday Max and I got to meet baby Evie and Lizzy for a walk and then lunch. The whole ride down to meet them he said baby Evie...cars.. Meaning he was going to show baby Evie his cars. But, in usual Maxwell fashion he saw her and was very quiet. Then at lunch he decided to climb up the highchair right to the top to sit down. I guess I now have a monkey on my hands. man how do they grow and learn so fast?


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My first ER visit

Last night I noticed my fever start to creep up. Trying to be a good patient I called and the talked to the on call MD. Her decision was to get checked out at the ER. So, at 9 pm the three of us packed up and drove to Southdale. In my almost 31 years, I've never gone to the ER for myself. At first, I just felt silly going in and hoped they'd find something to justify my experience.
Once we got going with test I realized I was in for the full meal deal. The ER doc wanted an ultrasound, an exam and labs. Then the on call doc came And I got to repeat the exams. Once the D&C was decided on I had Robb and Max go home. That was 1230 am. I got into surgery at 0130 and moved to a room for observation by 0330. The reason for all of this is that I passed most of the tissue but some was lingering that was infected. I was made aware that if left much longer I might have gotten really sick. I got put on some "big gun" antibiotics and left to not sleep in the hospital bed. By 0530 I took a shower and was dressed ready for a hopeful early discharge. But I could feel my fever going back up and got worried that I just might not be going home today. My doctor found out I was inpatient and came in to see me by 0830. We discussed the infection and my still tender tummy, but I begged to go home. I used the nurse card...I promised that I would administer my own meds, take my temperature, get rest and see him in clinic tomorrow. After 45 minutes ( and a bunch of why didn't you have me paged) It was decided that I would get one more dose of IV antibiotics and could go home! By 1330 we were out the door and made a quick stop at my favorites: Jamba Juice and Punch Pizza. Now we are nestled at home watching the Sex and the City movie. Grandma Mary came over to help our sleep deprived household with our lil energizer bunny. She also brought DQ Blzzards! Yum- o! We would be grateful for prayers that the infection gets taken care of with the antibiotics, that the infection won't spread to my Fallopian tubes ( causing infertility) and that I won't get scar tissue ( that would not allow implantation). That would be ever so kind.

Now this was all very surreal to go through but couldn't have have happened on a more difficult day. The strike day. At 0700 the night shift nurses were escorted out and the "scabs" took over. I can vouch for the Rn's being qualified and nice. But everything took three times longer and the little detail got missed. It was hard to know my colleagues were out picketing and I was spying on the inside.
Also, depressing to know that this one day strike did not make an impact on the hospitals. From my experience the only ones this hurts is the patients no matter what the hospitals say. But enough of me on my soap box.
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Single parenting

This week has been pretty good with a few hiccups.

I had lost my creadit card, more like forgetten where I left it. I remembered on MOnday morning that I must have left it at Wildfire after a wonderful dinner and conversation in a quick attempt to get to see SATC2 without missing many previews. So Max and I headed to Eden Prairie Tuesday morning. Because it was almost lunch time by the time we rounded it up we scooped up some Panera for lunch and we checked out a park in St. Louis Park that I used to go to as a kid. It's now a super nice park with a splash pad. Let me tell you, Max loved it! It was cautious at first started just by touching the water, then tried to touch it with his foot, then his belly and finally his face. He wasn't brave enough to run under the water but that is okay. There is always next time. It was fun to see how things there had changed and what I could still remember from 20+ years ago. It was still recognizeable.

Then, Thursday early Robb, his dad, brothers, cousins, uncle and friends headed to Babbit for a weekend of debauchery and I started my 4 days of single parenting Max and the two dogs. Thursday we were pretty low key.. mostly I just thought about all the fun things we should have done. We did go to a new garage sale that had plant for super cheap that were in really great shape. So I bought a bunch to plant in the tulip bed since they have died off and look so drab. Then we grabbed some dinner and watched some of my lil brothers softball game. After the game we headed up to my mom's to potential swim but the weather was still omnious and I got caught up in find her a new house since their house might actually sell this year. Bummer, Max is just getting to an age to be able to enjoy the pool. It's an amazing house, but much too big for what they need as almost empty nesters. I found a few good ones, all close to us. Hey, when you have a great Nana like that you want to keep her close! max let me know he was turning into a pumpkin so we headed out.

Friday morning we landed at McDonalds for breakfast.. I'm not normally a Mickey D's kinda girl but for breakfast.. okay, I'll splurge. Then we found a few more plants for the gargen and mulch and the hardware store next door to McD's. Following that we headed to my mom's neighborhood to garage sale. I found a couple fun things and got a good walk in. I think I wore out Max because he finally took a good nap for me, almost 3 hours! That is nice quality mommy time! Especially with Robb gone. I planted all my plants and even mulched. It looks so much better now. Oncve Maxers woke up we took the doggers for a walk and made some dinner. It would have been a great night for a bonfire. But I got Max in the bath and attempted to get him down early. No such luck. I guess a great nap = not sleeping until the crack of 11.

Today is Saturday, I am starting to miss Robb. Hope he is getting all his fun in and having great weather. Max and I took the dog for a morning walk, then got a call from our friends Andrea and Andrew. We met up with them for some Original Pancake House Pancakes then headed to the wet and dreary Como Zoo. We were troopers there for about an hour then the rain got to us. We did get to see the new Polar Bear Exhibit and max's new favorite Buf-lo ( Buffalo). It was fun to see them and glad they braved the rain to see some animals. Now my lil non-sleeper is napping and I am finally getting the chance to update.

It has been so much fun having this time to spend with Max. I know its totally cliche but they grow so fast. last night we were swinging at our playset and Max decided he wanted to swing on the big kid swing all by himself. And he did just fine! We are so blessed with this little man. Before I know it, he won't need me anymore. Well lets hope that he will still "need" his momma, just for supprt and advice. I am taking full advantage of being "needed" now. It's fun being someone's mom.

The little things

This blog is two fold: to remember our family vacations ( which I am managing to complete 2/3 of each trip) and to remember the little day to day things that Max does and pregnancy-wise what happens when. I thought I would remember those things but I don't. Like last week I went in to have labs drawn and of course my little buddy came with. He played with his cars and ate snacks but when it came time to draw labs his focus was on me.. Max noticed the needle go into my arm and he repeated "doing?" I had never heard him say that before. He hears and sees everything. I knew that but it never ceases to amaze me.

This week I was in the bathroom hand washing some things and went out to hang them up.. usually Max follows me out but he stayed behind so I went to look for him and he found the toliet cleaning brush and opened the toliet up and was "cleaning". It was so cute I had to take a picture.

Just today he found my flipflops on the floor and decided to try them on and see if he could walk. It was hilarious watching those wheels spin trying to make it work. When he managed to take a few steps, he beamed. I love it. What a great kid.

Max's recongition is really starting to show, too. When I say we are going to nana's house he says "swimmin". He has only been in their pool once, but he remembered it.

I feel so blessed that I get so much time to spend with him. I am in awe of the human body and the learning process' of a infant/toddler. It is phenomenal. When do they think of these things to try. When did he learn that word. I tried teaching him a few signs when he was a baby to help us communicate. "more" was one he knows well. With spring upon us we have been out cutting the grass and our neighbors, too. if you know Max you know that he loves wheels. Tires, fans, anything that is a circle, really. So, the lawn mower is a new favorite. He kept trying to tell me "more" in sign language and pointing to outside, so I thought he just wanted to be outside to play.. but he was interchanging "more" and 'mower'. Guess I need to enuciate. Now he says lawn mower, which is a pretty big word or phrase. But he will still sign "more" when he says lawn mower. I love learning. It's so cool.

As, for me. I am still waiting. I hadn't been to work in four days until yesterday. Coming back was hard. I'm not sure if its working with pregnant women and babies or just working with such caring women but I get emotional being here. I have decided that if I don't "do" anything natually by next Friday I will most likely have a D&C then. I just want to get on with it. I hope that doesn't sound terrible. Waiting it out while knowing that its not a fruitful pregnancy is hard, emotionally. I saw my doctor at work yesterday and was able to discuss more with him. The phrase "next time" got me a wee bit emotional. It's hard to think about next time but I know life goes on. I do have to say that this time isn't as hard as the losses before Max. My hypothesis is if no one else, I have Max. Before it was hard to have that innate drive to motherhood and not know if it was in His plan. We definitely want more babies and I loved being pregnant with Max. I will mourn not having that extra special Christmas present this year and Tuesday's will be a reminder but it just wasn't meant to be. I love the baby and am glad to know that God will be the "parent" the baby will know.

My type A plan (yes a plan, but I am understanding that plans change) is to have a great summer not nursing or being pregnant (its been 4 years since I have had a summer like that). I can rollerblade, bike, have an adult beverage, most importantly get this body back in shape.. then I think I might be ready to try again.

Catching up

So today is May 23rd. Max was born a year and a half ago already! Most days go by and I spend time thinking what I would write if I did a blog entry, so today I thought I should do it instead of just thinking about it. This has been a big and unusual week for the inhabitants of the Akerson Book nook. Monday was Max and my last day of ECFE, he was really changed quite a bit since we started the class. He talks 100 times more and he loves to watch what the other kids and teachers are doing. I think it was a good thing to do and will probably do another class in the fall, much to the chagrin of the teachers from the spring class, who would like to see Max take summer classes!

Then Wednesday was the day of the big MNA vote to strike or not down in St Paul. Luckily, I found a spot in a meter ran in, cast my vote and was outta there in 10 minutes. But that night we found out 9000 nurses voted and 90% voted to strike. That is overwhelming.

Thursday, Max and I had a fun day out for a walk with a few stops for park visits then we went to watch Robb play softball. His team won both games.. While there I started to bleed a bit. Being 9.5 weeks pregnant that is not a good thing. But, that is a norm for my pregnancies. I bled at least four times during my pregnancy with Max. So we went home and took it easy and it seemed to slow down. Friday morning I was scheduled to work my first twelve hour shift. It was going pretty well until about 1pm. I noticed the bleeding was picking up a bit. Luckily I work with people who have connections and in the same relative area as my doctor. He was nice enough to encourage me to rest that night and said he would have me come in the next morning for an ultrasound. So, I went home went straight to bed and took in plenty of fluids. Just as the MD ordered...

Saturday AM I wrestled with the idea of going in for the ultrasound but the advice that "knowing what is happening" is peace of mind won out. There was a wonderful thunderstorm as we drove down to Eden Prairie. Foreshadowing??? The results of the ultrasound were not favorable and our hopes for an extra special Christmas present were dashed ( our due date was 12-21-10). It was so nice of my doctor to take time to meet us on a Saturday to help give us some answers. And it was wonderful that Robb could express that to him, since I was unable at that point. After that we had to proceed on with our day... That was a difficult feat, but we had a wedding to attend. We had already made the tough decision to forego the wedding to have the ultrasound so we had to book it up to Brainerd to make the wedding reception. We are so glad we did it was so great to see old friends and catch up a bit with them. And beside to see Spence and Jen all gussied up on their big day was priceless. It's fun to know both the bride and groom individually before they get together. They make an awesome couple. We were lucky enough to have Robb's parents near by to watch Max for a few hours so we could talk with out interruptions. We had to head out to exchange cars with them and head home about 930 pm so we were party poopers. It was nice to have the time to drive and talk about our day. It will take some time to digest the day's events. And we will now play the waiting game for things to happen physically. I am hoping to not need a D&C.
Today is Sunday and we are taking it easy today. Max is watching Cars for the thousandth time and I got a nap in already. It think it's time for Max's nap now. But that's the scoop from here.

Curling day, day 5

February 25th, 2010...Thursday

After much debate about what to do we decided to sleep in today. That means sleep to the crack of 8am! We decided to catch the Today show tomorrow morning since it is broadcasted locally between 4-7am. We were very lazy today. After being up for only two hours with the TV on, of course tuned to the Olympics, Max took a nap and Robb and I took a walk. It is great to for us to have my mom here to help out with the boy. She volunteered to get him down for a much needed nap and said within minutes of us leaving he was out! yeah nana!! We just took a walk up to the local coffee shop and then aimlessly around the block until Robb had the complusion to get home to pack up and head to our days event: Curling. Much of what we have watch thus far has been curling so we feel like we know a little about curling as a sport. Or as much as to clap when the other spectators do. Again the house was packed with Canadian as the CAN team was playing versus Sweden. They played simulatenously as the Swiss played Norway. Both Norway and Canada won which puts them both in the medal round. Curling is pretty interesting. They play what is like 10 innings. there are 4 people to a team and each player ( if that is what they are called) has two stones. One person sends the stone down the ice and two others sweep the ice trying to get it to "curl" the direction they want it. The team with the most stones near the center circle is awarded points. So basically, if I understand it right the team uses the stones for positioning to get points and to knock the other team out of point contention. Max again worked the crowd and did very well for having to sit in one spot for 3 hours. We had to walk a fair amount to and from the event center due to the no public parking so by the time we got to the car we were all hungry! We stopped in Gastown, a fun little area of downtown, for some shopping and to grab a bite to eat. When Robb and I were on our honeymoon here we ate at a local brewery called Steamworks. We went back today and the experience was just as good. Great food, great service. Home reasonably early tonight and everyone but me is in bed for the early morning tomorrow. better catch some ZZZzzzz's!

Olympic Experience day, day 4

February 24th, 2010...Wednesday

Today is our day off. No events planned and that's good. We are all a little tired and the the weather is much like yesterday.. cloudy and a good chance of rain. We woke up to pancakes and circle saugages with real maple syrup straight from Canadian maple trees!

We found a book that tells us the must see things before we leave Vancouver.. one thing on the list is to visit the Inukshuk on the west coast. So that is what we are doing today. The Inukshuk is supposed to be a friendly face to the people coming in to the port of Vancouver and just happens to have the red mittens that are all the rage right now. They are sold out of adult gloves and have been for over a week now. They are the "it" item of this Olympics. After we captured a few pics with the friendly figure we decided to drive a block or two into Stanley park. It is a beautiful forest area on the northwestern coast of Vancouver. They have an aquarium with beluga whales, my favorite ( but we didn't go), a collection of totem poles that we did see and Robb got his picture with a real live Russian. There were a few tour buses that were following us or maybe we just happened to be heading the same direction just ahead of them. But the Russians are the next host for the Olympics (Sochi, Russia) in 2014 and they are pretty prominent here. I guess because we are so close to Alaska and you can see Russia from Alaska?? Then we found a couple more statues with the infamous red mittens on and found the Olympic rings in the harbour. It was a pretty fun morning. Max then fell soundly asleep once back in the car so we journeyed home but found the Olympic villages along the way. That was pretty neat. Each apartment building had flags from a different country that is participating in the Olympics. Pretty neat to see them all together like that.

We got home and did what else, watched some more Olympics! Robb is starting to get frustrated that we are only getting the Canadian channels and would like to see Bob Costas and some NBC intrepretations. Or at least hear about someone else other than the Canadians. Geez you would think that in the Olympic host country you would hear more about the other countries.. kidding but it is a lot of curling and hockey... canadian curling and hockey. We all took nice naps and woke up to nana mary making tacos! and a few minutes later my baby boy bolted around the corner from his nap in nana's room and right to his post on my lap! We decided, I forget for what reason to go back downtown to check out something. oh, yeah another thing on the must do before you leave list.. Robson street. We got there just in time to see all the crazy Canadians wooting and hollering after there quarter final win in mens hockey. They literally kept it up for over 3 hours. We looked for souvenior shops, found GE plaza that had a sipline up above the trees in the plaza, an ice skating rink down below the plaza, fun make shift bobsleds and medal podiums. It was a neat place and it was packed with people. Robson was blocked off for at least 4-5 blocks and there were people everywhere. Another big thing has been the cowbell. Canadian were running up and down the street with Canadian flags on there back and cowbells in hand. We found the superstore again and the line was only about 10 minutes so we went back for round two of shopping. We bought a lot less this time. Came back out and people were still relishing the win. Quite impressive.. imagine if they win the Gold. Whew.

So off to bed we go. well after a little more Olympics on TV.