The Art of Racing in the Rain

It's been easy to let Gina handle the girl's birthday blogs the last couple of years, especially considering she does such an incredible job with them.  I figured it was my turn to chip in on some level and so here I am blogging about our pooch.

Today, Casey turns ten years old.  It's hard to believe that.

Earlier this week I finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain (suggested to us by Jeff and Martha) and it felt to coincidental not to take advantage of the timing and say something about Casey and about reaching this milestone.  For those of you who have not heard of the book, if you are a dog lover it's definitely worth checking out.  The entire story is told from a dog's point of view.

We got Casey in August of 2003, four weeks after we were married.  He was 14 months old.  By all accounts, he shouldn't be ours.  The shelter that he was at had a policy in place that would not allow them to hold dogs for anyone.  I had called about him on a Thursday after seeing his profile on petfinder.com but we were unable to get up to see him until that Sunday.  On Fridays and Saturdays, the shelter he was at had open adoption days and if someone wanted him during that time we would be out of luck.  But, something happened in the Thursday phone call.  What was supposed to be a five minute chat about the high level details for coming up to see him on Sunday (if no one claimed him yet) turned into a half hour conversation with the lady who answered the phone.  They had interested families in him that weekend but without telling me they had decided to unofficially hold him for us because she was convinced we were going to be the right fit.  

I fell in love with him right away.  Gina took a little more convincing, but mainly because he pretty much looked like a train wreck with long dreadlock / matted hair (the picture above is from our first day home with him), not to mention his smell.  To Gina's credit, she saw how I responded when he was brought out to see us and she never questioned whether we should take him or not.  She let me make the decision.  She also let me name him Casey (and reference my love for baseball).  

It's only fair that dog number 2's name will be up to her. :)

We had a lot of fun with him the first couple of years.  In this picture we are up at a cabin with Matt and Ann before any of us had kids.

This picture is at Matt and Morgan's place in Chicago.  He stayed with them for a couple of days while Gina, two month old Natalie, and I continued on to the St. Louis area for Andrea's wedding (Gina's cousin).

Casey's been there for pretty much every big event in our life since our wedding and in the process he's gone from being our baby #1 to our baby #4.  At times it's been hard on him but he's transitioned well all and all.  

He's been an amazing dog with our children.  Some of the abuse he's endured from them as toddlers would drive anyone nuts but he's been incredibly patient and tolerant with them.

Here he's enjoying being outside, nothing like a little wind in the face to make his day.

At the park (Spring 2012)

With his girls (June 2012)

In the Art of Racing in the Rain, you're basically forced to think about life from your pet's perspective.  It's a good thing to do.  

I'd be so curious to hear what he has thought of the last nine years being an eye witness to so much of our lives.  More than anything though, I'd just hope that he'd tell us that we'd done right by him and that he's thankful to us for giving him a good life.  We probably should have taken him on more walks or maybe slowed down a bit and made a little more time for him but overall I feel like we've made sure he has been an integral part of our family.

He's been a great dog.  We were so fortunate to have ended up with him.

As of today (his 10th birthday), I am going to try to do something going forward I haven't done very well with over the years.  For so long I have dreaded the day that we will lose him.  I've recognized that even though he's been here with us for so many incredible memories, he won't be here for even more.  The times that I think about it (which is more often than I probably should), I get really really sad.

But, he's only ten.  I need to keep telling myself that.  Initially that seems like such a landmark number for a dog to hit but with some luck (because he is small) he could live another five years pretty easily, maybe even more.  

Going forward, I am going to be very intentional about enjoying my time with him instead of dwelling on what he is going to miss out on with us down the road.  

At a minimum, I owe him that.

The Baby Name Game

Now that we are hypothetically finished having children I thought it'd be fun to share with everyone the names that we considered for each of the kids.  The order that the names are listed is the order that we had them ranked heading to the hospital but we were open to either name depending on appearance, delivery, etc.

Had Natalie been a boy, she would've been Logan Matthew.  If he was born on May 31st (the birthday of Gina's grandpa) then he would have been Logan Matthew William.  For years, I wanted to name my first son Logan.  Had we gone with Ava we would've gone with Jo for the middle name.

Had Macie been a boy, she'd have probably been Owen Michael.  For a girl, whether it would have been Macie or Greta the middle name was going to be Jo.



Had Evie been a boy, based on her dark hair she'd have been Crosby William.  Had she had light colored hair she would have been Oliver William or Anna Marie.

A bittersweet symphony

Here are 40 random observations from the last week or so:

• When Evie was born, her right hand was next to her face. So, Gina unfortunately had to do a little extra work to get her out. Thank you epidural.

• Evie is pronounced ee-vee (just like saying the letters e and v together) and not ev-ee. We weren't expecting to need to clarify that when we chose it but in retrospect I can completely understand why it's been a bit confusing for everyone. We panicked a bit when everyone was mispronouncing it but we both still love it.

• Gina has said she is still in a fair amount of pain but looking at her you can't tell. She looks great! She's also been pretty sassy since just after Evie's birth which is definitely a good sign.

• Gina's labor was pretty interesting. I don't know when it officially started but on June 19th we spent the night at St. Joe's because she was contracting and things never really stopped from there. There were breaks where nothing was happening but then it would pick up again shortly thereafter. I think Gina plans to post about the days leading up to Evie's birth so I'll leave that story for her.

• We thought that Evie was constantly awake in Gina's stomach but it turns out that the girl is moving her hands and feet all the time, even when she is sleeping.

• The title of the blog simply refers to Evie being our last child. It's relieving yet very sad all at the same time. I hold her sometimes and think about how I'll never hold my two day old / three day old / etc. son or daughter ever again.

• Leaving St. Joe's was very difficult for both Gina and I to do. We have felt so loved there with the birth of all three girls. It's an amazing place to deliver a child. We were able to see many of the nurses that were involved in Natalie and Macie's first few days and were also able to make a couple of new connections, especially with Jessica. She was with us all day on Thursday (the 24th) and was absolutely wonderful.

• Evie will always be considered a preemie. It seems weird to say because she is doing fantastic. But, she was born at 36 weeks and six days (one day short of being considered full term).

• Preemie's need to have a number of extra tests done on them before leaving the hospital. All of the results came back very positive. The only thing they noticed was that she has extra red blood cells because her liver is premature. It is just something to note and not uncommon in preemies. It isn't anything to worry about.

• Evie was given the full ballard test because she was a preemie. Full term babies only have a partial test done. With the test, they do things like count the creases in the newborn’s foot to confirm that the due date of the child was correct. Sure enough, Evie's score came back placing Gina between 36 and 37 weeks along.

• Most of you who will read this post already know about how interesting this pregnancy was for Gina. It began with a subchorionic hemorrhage on December 21st and the discussion of potentially doing a DNC. But, as we all know now, Evie and Gina are both fighters and with a lot of love, prayers and support everything turned out just fine. We are grateful in so many ways.

• Because of everything Evie went through, our pastor has dubbed her "el milagro." It means the miracle.

• Furthering that point, Evie means life. While we already loved the name that definitely added to why we decided on it for her.

• In 2009, Evie was the 723rd most popular name for girls in the U.S. One in approximately every 5,000 girls were given that name last year. I don't expect for her to ever need to go by Evie S. because there are too many Evie's in her class. However, it surprisingly was the 10th most common girls name in the U.K. in 2008.

• We definitely considered the name Rory (both for a boy or girl) as a first name but in the end decided that it just didn't feel quite right. We also looked at possibly using it for a middle name instead.

• Where did the name Evie come from? Gina liked it more than I did originally. Most directly, it is Natalie Portman's character in V for Vendetta. In the movie she spells it Evey. I wasn't convinced it could stand on it's own as a first name until I saw the movie. After seeing it, I knew it was a strong enough name and began falling in love with it.

• For the first time, I had the final decision on the name. It was far more stressful than I thought it would be. I should have probably held my tongue with Gina and let her deal with that pressure (I joked about never having the final say even though I would have picked Natalie and Macie as well). You live and learn I guess.

• Evie's announcement was finished on Wednesday.

• Congratulations to Susan (a co-worker of Gina's) for winning the expectnet.com guessing game that 60 people participated in.

• Evie decided to buck a number of trends. All of the milestone dates in our life fall on another date of significance (generally tied to the Gina's side of the family). But, there is nothing on June 24th that we are aware of. Had she waited one more day she would have been born on my Grandpa S's birthday and my Grandma and Grandpa K's wedding anniversary.

• Evie was born on a Thursday. Both of the other girls were born on Tuesday.

• Evie was born in room 2528 (what use to be room 205). Both of the other girls were born in room 201.

• Sleeping or awake, Evie is constantly making sounds with her mouth. It is so funny to listen to.

• I think people at church were surprised to see us at the musical on June 27th (with Evie). We didn't want to miss it. Not only was it well written, but Natalie and Macie were absolutely adorable in it.

• The middle name of Marie is in honor of Gina (it is her middle name as well). It is also her mom and grandma's middle name too.

• Even though she was a preemie, Evie was born with a higher birth weight than Macie was. Evie was 6lbs 7ozs and Macie was 6lbs 3ozs (Natalie was 7lbs 12ozs). For those who are wondering, Natalie was three days late and Macie was one week early.

• Evie is on a very positive weigh path so far. She left the hospital at 6lbs 2ozs on Saturday, was 6lbs 1oz at her in home visit on Monday and 6lbs 4ozs at her doctor's appointment on Wednesday. Seeing her weight begin to increase already is a very good thing.

• If you want to see a crazy picture, click on the one below and check it out. It's pretty hard to dispute whether or not these three are sisters.

• We call Evie a treefrog because of how she curls up on your body when you hold her upright.

• Years later, JoAnn's prophecy that Gina would have three girls has been fulfilled.  Gina and I were laughing (and crying) when we figured out that we had yet another girl. We would have definitely enjoyed having a boy but we are pretty excited to be a family of girls.

• Thanks again to my mom (Wednesday and Thursday) and Molly (Friday) for taking care of the girls for us while we were at the hospital.

• Thank you to everyone who has visited us at the hospital (and at home). It's been great seeing all of you.

• Both Natalie and Macie have been so great with Evie. They are going to be amazing big sisters. Right now, they want to hold her and spend as much time around her as they can.

• It was pretty cute on Thursday night (the 24th), when Natalie was around Evie she couldn't stop giggling.

• At first, Macie kept asking "where's my baby?" after we got home from the hospital because she couldn't remember Evie's name. Natalie took a little while to remember it as well.

• Both girls love to push on Gina's belly and tell her that it is squishy now.

• We've had great doctors with all three of our children (and have been blessed that each of them have been there to deliver our babies). I must say though, Dr. Kelly was absolutely the perfect doctor for us this time. Since December, she has been exactly what Gina has needed. We are both so thankful for everything she (and the clinic) has done for us the last six months.

• We love Target. Well, we sort of do. We have been there almost every day since leaving the hospital. If it's not one thing it's another. It's great to have a one stop shop for things but we feel a little to dependent on the place right now.

• Speaking of Target, three and a half years is a bit longer than we thought between kids. We are going to be replacing a few more baby items (bottles for example) than we were planning on.

• The summer of the babies is underway...we are already looking forward to Carrie and Nick (due July 29), Matt and Morgan (August 22), and Becky and Eric (September 5) having babies in the near future as well!

A river runs through it

Here is a picture of the route we took and some other pics from an enjoyable trip on the Cannon River (from Cannon Falls to Welch) we took with Amy and Joe a couple of weekends ago.

I wanted to see how far we canoed (11.37 mi) so I ended up using mapmyrun.com because we couldn't figure out another way to do it.

Come on baby, lets see what we're made of

Before I start this post, I just want to say that I recognize that this topic is a bigger deal to some then it is to others and there is, by no means, a right or wrong opinion on it. 

It just so happens that it was/is very important to me...

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Picking a song that represents you and your soon to be spouse for the first dance of your wedding is a very difficult decision.  Not only do you want it to represent your current relationship but it also needs to be flexible enough to also do so in the future as well.

Since the night of Gina and I's wedding when we danced to "Sorry Signs on Cash Machines" by Mason Jennings over five years ago, it has been my favorite song. 

(Side note: Other songs we considered for our first dance were Ben Folds' "The Luckiest" and Ben Lee's "Birthday Song.")

We both love Mason and I've always associated him to us for a number of reasons (going to his concerts together, the night I proposed, his MN connections, etc.).  In regards to "Sorry Signs" itself, I love the story and I have always felt that it has represented the two of us so well.  In fact, I think it's become even more fitting as time has gone on. 

To me, the song is so much bigger then just saying love conquers all. 

It's about re-committing to each other every day and appreciating the fact that there is no one else you would rather make your way through the ups and downs of life with.  It's about recognizing that it is hard to maintain a successful marriage without constant vigilance and sacrafice.  It's about understanding that it is impossible to keep from getting complacent with each other without continuously challenging one another to be a better people.

Seven years ago today Gina and I went out on our first date.  It's hard to believe it's been that long.  The events of that night are worth a post of its own so I will spare the details here other then to just say that when the date ended we both felt an uncharacteristic calmness, sensing that it just might be the last first date we'd ever be on.  How it can take a lifetime to get to know someone yet in a matter of hours two people can independently come to that conclusion is truly amazing.

It's been an interesting ride filled with just about everything.  Nearly every day, on some level, we experience the joys of life, the sadness of death, and much of what lies in between.

What I do know is that I'm fortunate enough to be with the person that I most what to spend my life with and any time that I hear "Sorry Signs" it helps to ground me, it helps me appreciate what I have and helps remind me that life is what you make of it.

It's pretty cool that a song is capable of that.

"Sorry Signs On Cash Machines"

Oh, my heart is a thoroughbred
I can't sleep in my bed
Everything is burning up inside me

I need something I can feel
Cigarettes and a driving wheel and
Oh, my god, when you cross your legs beside me

I know true love don't love like anybody else
I know your heart don't beat like anybody else

When it all comes down to kerosene
And sorry signs on cash machines
And it don't look like anything you've dreamed of

I won't let you give it up
With sorry sighs and forced bad luck
Come on baby, let's see what we're made of

I know true love don't love like anybody else
I know your heart don't beat like anybody else

And all these burning battlefields are now behind us
Life has brought us here together to remind us
That love will rise above it all and just keep growing
Life keeps flowing, and every moment starts right here with us

I know true love don't love like anybody else
I know your heart don't beat like anybody else

Some finality (on a handful of fronts)

Mixed Bag

Welcome to another episode of one of my mixed bag blog entries.  Seeing as I am so hot/cold when it comes to blogging I've accepted this method as a way to catch up instead of thinking about all the entries I haven't done and in turn digging a deeper hole to get out of then I can recover from. 

I also went back through my past entries and tagged all blogs like this one with "mixed bag" so that they are easily accessible (mainly for my sake). 

As usual, there's been a decent amount of updates to get everyone caught up on.

Daycare

After much deliberation, we have decided on our daycare provider for the fall.  We are very excited to have Amber taking the kids and it's a relief for the decision to finally be made.

Nattie/Macie

Seeing our girls play together is quite a site.  One minute, they can't get enough of each other.  Just moments later, one is screaming (generally Macie) for the other one to leave them alone. 

Looks like it's going to be a classic love/hate sibling relationship. 

In all seriousness though, they get along pretty well.  They have their own secret communication system and can still make eachother smile and laugh in ways that no one else can.  There's definitely moments, but we've been blessed with kids that like eachother (for the most part) so far.

Nattie

Celiac update
It's been six months since Natalie was diagnosed with Celiac.  It's hard to believe. 

It's standard practice to have blood drawn at this point to compare the results to what they were initially.  A couple of weeks ago, Morgan came over to stay with Macie so Gina could bring Nattie to Children's for the bloodwork to be done.  You'd be amazed at how much blood is actually needed to do all the tests they needed to do.

As a whole, the results were good.  Her three celiac panel numbers moved as expected (the tTG numbers went up and the Gliadin IgA and IgG numbers both came down quite a bit).

Her iron was low still though so we will need to supplement with a multivitamin to see if that helps.
The only real concern the doctor had was with her thyroid levels, which were in the inactive range.  We will be talking to our primary doctor soon to determine if we should go see an endocrinologist.  The good news is that since January, Natalie has grown a little over two inches so it may just be that her body is still adjusting to things and everything is alright.

We were also told that we could start introducing regular milk back into her diet.  She had been on soy since all this happened because dairy is hard to break down so it was just going to be one less thing for her stomach to deal with.  As long as she doesn't begin bloating again or have loose stools, we can make the switch permanent.

Pre-school in the fall
Natalie starts pre-school in the fall.  Two days a week for a couple of hours each day.  She's definitely ready and I think she is going to love it.

Pushing our buttons
As a three year old should, Nattie is very good at pushing our buttons.  Most of the time she is a sweetheart, but she also is trying to figure out how far she can push us with increased freqency these days.  Unfortunately for her, it's usually not as far as she'd like.  It's different now a days (i.e. on a whole different level).  She's doing things like saying no to us, getting out of bed when she is suppose to be falling asleep, etc.

The lifetime of cat and mouse games are definitely underway.

Question and answer
If you plan to hang out with Natalie for any length of time, be ready for a barrage of questions.  It's incredible how many things she can ask about in a day.  Most of the time it's great because she's learning by asking, but after the eighteenth time she has asked the same question over the course of a week it can get old too.  It can also get hard when she is asking about things you know she already knows the answer to. 

We've even had to implement "it's not question time" on occasion.

Macie

Walking
It's nothing new, but Macie took her sweet little time to start walking.  And as usual, she's gotten real good real fast when she decided to start doing it.  Since the video on Gina's blog, she has improved significantly. 
Some nights, her sole purpose in life is just to make circle after circle around our living room couch.  She rarely crawls now and never scoots.  She's a walking machine these days.

Talking
Macie also talks your ear off.  It's just that only a small percentage of what she says is decipherable.  Words we can definitely understand are mama, dada, dog, all done, thank you and natalie (sort of).  Most of what she says is still jibberish.  There are times though that she can use her sounds in a certain ways (and by pointing) where we can basically understand what she is trying to say.

She still is a very moody child and I think part of that is because she can't tell us what she wants to very easily.  Hopefully (cross your fingers) this will change when she's able to use her words more effectively.  I know it's a slippery slope but I'm personally up for that challenge if the change evens out her mood a bit.

Stair master
Last week Gina spent a day working with Macie on the stairs.  That's all it took.  She completely gets needing to slide down on her tummy when she is on them and wants to be climbing up and down them all day long. 

We are a ways from removing our gate yet, but we are definitely making progress towards that.

Gina

Next time you see Gina, ask about her current Deadliest Catch / Flipping Out addiction.

A handful, literally

It's hard to believe that Gina and I have been married five years already (as of the 26th).  It's been five wonderful years but it sure has gone quick.

Molly

Molly recently decided to make Gina an inspirational scrapbook to help her get through the days where she is struggling with motivation.  It turned out incredible.  It has a bunch of quotes in it and pictures of G with the four of us.  Mo kept it fairly simple, which in this case really adds to the impact of what she was trying to do.  Here is a sample page so you can see what I mean.

Casey

Casey got his teeth cleaned and some bloodwork done last week.  The total bill was a lot, but it included many different things.  He's six now and while some dogs never need it, it was definitely time for him.  His teeth look great and his breath is so much better.  They did a number of other things as well, including testing his poo, some bloodwork, etc.  All the labwork for those items came back looking great.
The one issue they found was a mass inside of his mouth.  They aren't all that worried about it but a portion of the bill was to send it off to a different lab to make sure that it's not anything serious.  We decided we'd rather pay the expense to know for sure.  The results of the biopsy will be back in another week or two.  Hopefully everything is alright with our little guy.

26

A mess of books
I never picked Prince Caspian back up.  Hopefully I will be motivated again sometime in the future.  Nor did I finish No Country for Old Men.  It was intense (which I liked) but was a little off topic of what I want to be reading at this time.  I also started The Golden Compass but it was too slow for me right now so I returned it to the library.

What I have read recently is Clive Cussler's Mediterranean Caper.  It's by no means a classic but I was definitely entertained with Dirk Pitt and his adventures.  I will likely us the series as fill in books when I need a break from what else I am reading. 

Next it's on to Digital Fortress (by Dan Brown), which I have checked out from the library already.  When I finish that I will read The Watchmen.  Carrie was kind enough to lend it to me.  Just based on her giddiness alone, I am excited to start reading it.  As a former comic book collecter, I can defintely see myself liking it.
From there, we'll see.  I haven't made any firm decisions yet.

Wisdom teeth decision
After much debate (internally mostly) and some good advice, I've decided to have all four wisdom teeth pulled.  I've got the referral from my dentist to have it done and all I need to do now is call the dentist office that will be doing it.  I hope to make the call to setup the appointment early next week sometime.  I'm not excited about this at all.

Rory

July 18
For Molly and I's birthday, we made the decision to go to see The Dark Knight on opening night at the MN Zoo IMAX theatre.  Some of the group (Amy, Joe, Lucas, Carrie, Jon, Heather) attended with us which was really nice.  The movie was significant on a number of fronts, especially because of Rory of course.  He was the one person I knew for certain I would have seen the movie with.  Having him not be there with me (physically at least) was hard to accept.

Fortunately, I was able to enjoy the movie still.  It would have been hard not to as it was one of the best movies I've ever seen.  Heath Ledger was even better then advertised (which is saying a lot) and all the rest of the main characters all did an admirable job as well.  To say the least, the movie was wildly entertaining and Rory would have loved it.

Afterwords, most of the attendees were able to come over to our place (as well as Matt & Morgan).  Molly, being the goof she is, bought me a baseball cup-cake (see pic to understand).

The humor in it all is that my birthday is not a big deal to me (which I've documented before) and Molly loves hers (as most people do).

I have enjoyed my birthday more in the recent past though, mainly because I'm able to watch Molly enjoy hers so much.  I want the day to be all about Mo.  Going forward though, Molly has stated that her mission is to make mine a big deal for me. 

Sounds like one of those "when an irresistible force meets an immovable object" situations for future birthdays.  Molly's cake won this year (in my defense she caught me off guard with it) but I now have over 300 days to scheme for July 18, 2009.  Stay tuned for round two next year.

On a side note, I went to IMDB.com to look at quotes/trivia/etc. about The Dark Knight this week to see if there was anything else worth mentioning here about the show.  I wasn't looking for anything in particular but what I found absolutely blew me away.  As we all know, films have working titles for a while before they are officially named to help out with filming locations, etc.  What do you think The Dark Knight's working title was?  I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Top Five Records

I had always planned to change my fantasy football team name this year but I was having a hard time coming up with a name.  All I knew is that I wanted it to reference music (partially for Rory).  I love the movie High Fidelity and in the past I have used Championship Vinyl (the name of Rob's store in the film) for various online games.  I liked the idea of referencing the movie still but I wanted to use something different.  I decided on Top Five Records (Rob's record label).  I even decided to design my own logo for it.

From ashes to ashes
Last week, we spread Rory's ashes in Paul and Karen's back yard (as Rory has asked them to do).  They chose to do it on the trail in between the trees and weeds that Rory and I had worn down between our yards over the years.  I love that trail and I was honored that they chose that spot to do it.  Paul said that it made sense to do it there because many of his happiest moments were spent going back and forth between our houses. 

The gathering was small and there was no formal ceremony of any sort, but it did feel significant at the same time.  It was something that needed to be done and I can personally say that I feel better now that we have released him, in a sense.  Paul and Karen kept some ashes as did Gina and I.  Everything else was left on the trail that night.

Matt and Morgan

Matt and Morgan moved back on the 11th of July.  It was bittersweet for them as they are definitely going to miss Chicago. 

I can already tell you though that it's been so nice seeing them more often now that they are here. 

Matt's transferring his job in Chicago to MN and is starting law school in a couple of weeks.  Morgan recently got a teaching job for the fall.  Things have fallen into place for the most part from that perspective.

Finding a home has not been as simple.  They are looking primarily in Edina (near 50th and France) and SW Minneapolis without much luck. 

Hopefully, they will be able to find something soon.

Mo vs Mo

Two people I interact with very frequently in my life are nicknamed Mo. But, Molly was Mo to me before Morgan was. Now that Morgan is in MN too, this is going to get interesting.

Kate M / Scott

Gina and I were able to get together with Kate M. recently, which was so nice considering it had been far to long since we had seen her. She's just as wonderful as she has always been.

I was also able to hang out with my buddy (and roommate for two years in Fargo) Scott. He is back in MN for the summer and will be returning in a couple of weeks to Kuwait (for the third year now) for the school year to teach.

Fane / Noah / Baby Pops / Baby Gully

A rash of babies have invaded our lives recently (which is always a good thing). 

Our friends Haylee (one of Gina's roommates in college and our friend Taylor's younger sister) and Jerry had a son named Fane in June.  He was unfortunately born a couple of months premature. He's doing great though and Haylee has done a nice job of keeping us all up to date on how things are going through Fane's caring bridge site.

Our good friends Matt and Leah also had their first child (Noah) on the 16th.  He came a couple of weeks early but hasn't had any issues.  Things are going well and they couldn't be happier.

We are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of Jeff and Megan's baby boy any day now.  That's right, you heard me say boy.  Earlier in the week Jeff had said it was OK to share the news.  I'm sure some of you have heard this already too.  We are so excited for them.

And a new baby for Bob and Elena next year..talk about cool!

Snork's Dinner

On July 12, my grandpa held his annual dinner for the family at Cherokee Sirloin Room that him and my grandma always had for us each year in June.  This year, we did it on grandma's birthday and most of us attended a mass together (which mentioned her) before we went to dinner.  It was a nice night and as part of it the family gave my grandpa a scrapbook in which everyone made their own page with grandma (pictures, stories about her, etc.).  My aunt Mary did all the coordinating and helped anyone who needed it.  It turned out really well.  It was hard for him to look at initially but you could tell that he very much appreciated it.

Otters everywhere

We went to the zoo last Friday with the Otters (the van came in very handy for that).  No, not those otters (though we did see three different otter exhibits as we made our way around the zoo).  The Sarah, Chris and Hailey variety.  They stayed with us Thursday - Saturday and we very much enjoyed having them around.  

Here's family pictures of each of us that we got during the zoo trip.

Russia's Grizzly Coast

If you get a chance, get to the zoo and check out their new exhibit that opened up last month.  It's fantastic.  The whole area (though a little short) is very well done. 

My favorite are the grizzly's.  There are three of them and they are very playful.  Every time I have been there they have been in the water wrestling just a couple of feet away from you.  Last week, I watched one of the bears go right up to the glass (no more then a foot away) and casually look at one of the kids sitting there watching him squarely in the eye for a couple of seconds.  It was pretty neat.  Here's a picture of one of the bears that Gina took one of the times she was there with the girls this summer.

2008 MLB Trade Deadline

As weird as it is to say, I'm happy that the Twins have not made any moves this week just because they are knee deep in the race for the AL Central crown.  I've loved watching them this year but they are not true contenders in '08.  I just don't want them to give up something now that would be useful in the future when they can be a bigger factor in the next couple of years.  The only way I'd be for a move is if they traded Livan Hernandez to open up a starting spot for Liriano or if they made a trade to acquire a power hitting third basemen (more for the future then for this year) who is fairly young with a reasonable track record.  Unfortunately, a third basemen like that does not exist (unless Garrett Atkins were to become available again) so there is nothing for them to do this year. 

There is a lot to be excited about with them though.  You can see how this team should be good next year and how they could be really good in 2010.  All they really need to do is shore up the left side of the infield.
I'm very excited for the future of this team.

As for the Red Sox, boy did they give up a lot for Jason Bay but I think it was the right move on their part considering the health of their clubhouse, etc.  I am a big fan of Bay and had hoped they would let Manny walk at the end of the year and make a play for him instead.  As for Manny, he deserves a lot of thanks for what he did for the team over the years but it was definitely time for everyone to move on.

#4
I personally would welcome Mr. Favre to the Vikes.  Much of my dislike for him in the past has been because of the team he played for, not because of him. 

A chip off the old block

"In your eye"

When I got up this morning (at about 4:30) to deal with Nattie, I noticed that my head was not happy.  Not only did I have a migraine, but I had the kind that shoots across your forehead and simultaneously throbs in your eye even if you aren't moving your head.  At about 4:45 I took some Excedrin (which usually does the trick for me). 

Not today.  At 5:45 my head was still pounding / eye still throbbing. 

Thankfully, by 6:15 it was subsiding and by the time I got to work I was feeling alright.  The verdict is still out, however, if it is going to try and attack again today.  Pieces of it are definitely still lingering.

Walking the line

Macie continues to show her "everything is going to be on my time" attitude.  Last night, Gina and I watched her hold her balance standing up, crouch down part way, stand back up (without touching anything with her hands) and then take about six steps to me with ease. 

Yet, she still has no intentions of walking anywhere right now.  We can't even get her to walk back and forth between us very often anymore, even though she absolutely loves it when we clap for her afterwords.

Like mother / like daughter

Yesterday morning:
Natalie ends up in bed with up at some point and when I wake up to my alarm clock she is laying perpendicular to us (i.e. Gina and I are both on my side of the bed and Gina's knee is her pillow). 
Just before I leave I decide to pick Nattie up and put her head on Gina's pillow in a nomal sleeping position. 
After I do that (without outright waking either Gina or Nattie up), both of them simultaneously did the following:

~ turn their heads slightly to the left

~ pull up on the covers

~ try to snuggle into the pillow and get comfortable

~ realize that they aren’t comfortable

~ roll over onto their right side

~ snuggle in

~ fall back asleep

         

You'd have thought it was choreographed.  It was impossible not to laugh.

Prince Caspian / No Country for Old Men

I'm half way through Prince Caspian and if the book doesn't get going here soon, I can understand why it didn't do that well at the box office.  It's easily the most boring book of the four I've read in the Cronicles so far.  These books aren't action packed either so that's saying something.

Seeing as I needed a pick me up, I began reading No Country for Old Men this morning.  It caught my attention by the end of the first page and when it was time to get off the bus something happened to me for the first time in quite a while...I didn't want to put the book down.

Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping Guide

After no longer wanting to deal with referring to 29 different homemade lists and 44 different websites...along with always scrambling to figure out what is and is not gluten-free at grocery stores / in kitchen cabinets / at gas stations / etc., we finally broke down and bought a gluten-free grocery guide last night.  I have high expectations for it since Gluten Free Mall had sixteen reviews for it, all sixteen of which are five stars.

Let me see you shake your tailfeather

On Thursday, Nattie had an upper endoscopy (i.e. minor outpatient surgery) which confirmed that she has celiac disease.  In regards to that, either Gina or I will go into more details in the near future.  For now I'll just say that we made the switch to a gluten free diet on 1/21 and over time our girl has definitely returned.

With all the (bleep) we've been through the last couple of months, I can't put into words how happy filming these two videos made me tonight...

Nattie and G

Nattie Dancing

Impressions (for a lifetime)

How do you honor someone you never want to forget? 

There's a million answers to that question.  One of the ways Gina and I decided to honor Rory last week (on Gina's birthday) was with tattoos.  For years I've said I'd get one if anything ever happened to him.  I even told Rory about it during one of his healthier times.

Rory, Gina and I had a handful of conversations about tattoos over for years.  We all wanted to get one someday.  Our last conversation together on the topic was the deciding factor for Gina's tattoo.  Rory told us that if he got one he'd have the word "winter" tattooed across his back.  The main reference was to the Tori Amos' song (with the same title).  Gina decided to do the same tattoo on the front right side of her waistline.  While being fairly simple, it says so much at the same time.  

 

As I had assumed for years, my tattoo was of the batman symbol.  After much debate, I had it done on the top of my left foot.  It's the very first thing I think of when Rory comes to mind.  It was always how I had envisioned paying tribute to him if this day ever came.

In a way it almost seems morbid to me to have planned this out, in part, before his death.  The truth is that I think it was a coping mechanism for us and in the end I'm glad Rory knew about it.

I'm sharing this now basically so it's out there.  I don't want it feeling like it's something we are hiding.  Some people are going to think it is a really great thing and others will not.  Simply put, it's something we did for ourselves and we are both happy with the decision regardless.

I will admit though, having one takes a little getting use to. 

We're starting a revolution!

Before I start, I'd like to say that for more background on the situation, see Gina's last two posts: Puke-O-Rama! and Three Days and Counting.

A couple of tests are still pending, but it looks overwhelming like Natalie has celiac disease (pronounced sē′ lē ak′).

Never heard of it before? Me either. Though, I have read that up to 1% of the U.S. population has it (3 million) and that approximately 97% of those cases are undiagnosed.

What does this mean? Nattie has a gluten intolerance (which is found in all wheats, ryes, barleys and usually oats).

Her doctor has asked us to start her on a gluten free diet immediately.

After looking into things, I'd compare having a gluten intolerance to having a peanut allergy (but thankfully without the epi pen or 911 on speed dial). The attention to detail and investment in time to read labels and understand the background of companies making the products is critical.

Is celiac life altering? Absolutely. Is it life threatening? Not likely.

The main organ at risk is the small intestine. Over time, considerable damage can be done to it if the proper changes aren't made. The good news is that the small intestine does heal completely if a gluten free lifestyle is attained (and then continued).

The list of foods that she is no longer allowed the have is quite extensive. Around 75%+ of the food in our house is unavailable to her. Here's the list of ingredients she needs to avoid, etc.

Which of these items do you think contains (or may contain) gluten:

*most milks, aged cheeses, seafood, poultry, peanut butter, eggs, fruits, vegetables, butter, jello, tea, wines, black coffee, ketchup, salt, pepper, cinnamon, etc.

*yogurt, chocolate milk, hot dog, bologna, hamburger, salad dressings, mayonnaise, baked beans, pickles, chocolate, chewing gum, tomato sauce, maple syrup, flavored coffee, canned soups, any type of medicine, etc.

*beer, meatloaf, pizza, ravioli, bread, buns, most cereals, licorice, pasta, waffles/pancakes, mac 'n cheese, speghetti o's, pretzels, gravy, ice cream cones, etc.

The answer is that the first list does not contain gluten, the second may contain gluten (see label reading statement above) and the last list definitely contains gluten.

After doing some research, a gluten free diet is spendy but is much easier to deal with today then it was even a couple of years ago. Not only are there places like Trader Joe's which make gluten free food reasonably priced (though terribly inaccessible to a south metro resident), but it's even being put on labels of food now (though not FDA approved yet). We will be buying a breadmaker and will be making much of the food we eat from scratch. I am looking into what books we will be adding to our library as well. I've already decided that Shelley Case's Gluten Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide will be for sure.

Another interesting factor in this all is that either Gina or I passed the gene to her and it's possible Macie has the same condition.

Let's see, Gina has a good stomach and I definitely don't. Neither does my dad. His dad, bad stomach too. Who do you think is carrying the gene? Gina's family has some of the traits associated to this disease but they're not resigned specially to one side of her family making me think that it's not her.

Based on the list of symptoms, I'm fully expecting to be diagnosed with it as well and will need to follow the same guidelines as Nattie does.

If this holds true, I can't tell you how much it will break me heart to look at Nattie and know that I caused this.

Once we confirm who the carrier is we will need to go back through their family tree and suggest that those who may be at risk be tested.

We will also be seeing a nutritionist in early February to help us make the conversion as smooth as possible.
While all this is very unfortunate, it could be a lot worse. The first couple of months are going to be quite an adjustment but after that it will just be a way of life.

And...

I am glad that we potentially have answers to many of Nattie's recent issues.

Bambi's a what?

I'm so far behind again that I am just going to stick to some observations I've had the last week, again from more of a high level perspective.


Bambi's a what?

I just found out this week that Bambi (the Walt Disney version) is a boy.  I was floored.  I've always been a Disney fan so it's not like I'm one of those "guys" who shouldn't have known this.
The things you learn later in life.

Grandma K

For whatever reason, maybe because it's approaching the holiday season, I've really been missing my grandma lately.  I'm assuming that Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to be awfully hard for many of us this year.

On the up and up

Both girls lungs have been deemed healthy and neither need to use the nebulizer at the moment.  However, it's ready and waiting for the next attack on either of them.  If it happens to Natalie again, it's pretty much been determined that she will be put on some sort of preventative medication for the winter.
The girls recieved their flu shots yesterday as well.  We are all vaccinated now.

MJ's rash

Macie's rash is still pretty bad and we are now onto the next stages of diagnosis because she has had a fairly severe case for a couple of weeks now.  I will be setting up a dermatologist appointment this week for December and Gina will be taking her in for some bloodwork at Children's tonight so that she can be tested for a wide array of food allergies.

The following allergies will be tested for:

Eggs (white/yolk), fish (cod), cow's milk, two types of mold, dust mites, wheat, cockroach, soybean, peanut, cat and dog dander, apple, banana, carrot, cheese, grape, orange, pea, pear, tomato and cacao (chocolate).
My money is on tomato (as it's the only thing that's new for sure in the last couple of weeks) and I pray it's not a peanut allergy.

Say it ain't so

Sickness finally struck the last healthy member of the house.  Gina's been fighting something the last week.  Nothing too serious, but she's been bedridden from headaches (regular/sinus) and tiredness a couple of nights from it.  Hopefully the worst has past.

Curse you GE!

If it's not one thing, it's another.  Monday night, Gina and I noticed a small puddle of water in ther corner of the new bedroom downstairs.  It turns out the metal portion of the cold water connector between the washer and the faucet has corroded to the point that it was slowly dripping water from the small hole to the floor in the laundry room. 

The washer and dryer appear to be a perfect match for one another it seems.

The good news is that we pushed the carpeting date back to this upcoming Saturday instead of last weekend.  Had we stuck to the original plan, it would have been a nightmarish first couple of days of carpet for us.

Mono be gone

Without a blood test even being needed, I've been deemed monoless.  All and all, outside of a miserable 14 day stretch I got off pretty easy.

Guitar Hero III

I'm still enjoying the game when I get a chance to play. I am onto medium now and I did record a 100% completion percentage on the easy version of Slow Ride which was fun (and stressful) to do.

I unfortunately need to send the guitar back though, for exchange, as it has a rattling issue. I should be without it for about a month.

Money be gone

My buddy Matt at work has spent $4,000 in the last week on a 50" Sony LCD HDTV, a 8GB iPod Nano and brand new Dell computer.  Not a bad week's haul, especially considering he's pretty stingy.  But, they have been saving for the TV for about four years and their last computer was purchased around the Y2K days so it was time. 

I'm definitely happy for them (and hope to take advantage of the TV here and there in the future).

PRK me ASAP

Gina had the PRK laser vision correction procedure done on her eyes this morning.  I had put a significent amount of money in my HSA account for Macie's birth and we ended up only needed a small portion of it.  It's something she's always wanted and if it didn't happen this year it wasn't going to happen for many years based on our expenses, etc.

She just called me and let me know that everything went well.  She could read signs across the street already.  The eyes will take a few months to heal completely, but she was definitely pleased with the initial improvement.

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On a side note, my grandma was also suppose to have open heart surgery this morning.  She needs two heart valves replaced.  The surgeon said that if things were successful, the procedure should extend her life by years (lately her life expectancy has been discussed in months).  There is obviously risk whenever an 82 year old woman has her chest opened up, but the family decided that the risk was worth the potential reward.  It also helps that my grandma has a very conservative surgeon.

Unfortunately, they were unable to secure enough pints of blood (she has special antigens in her blood which makes it more difficult to match) and the procedure has been tenatively moved to Monday.

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My stress levels can now subside (at least until Monday).

216!

Just to let everyone know, Gina bowled her career high game (216) and series (517) on Saturday night. Her previous high game was 185. Her only open in the 216 game was in the first frame.

As of Saturday, my average was 61 points higher then hers (183 to 122), but she beat me in the three-game series by 36 pins (i.e. she carried my dead weight and then some). We ended up winning all seven points.

Boys beat the Gils

The boys (Rory and Brian) beat the gils (Amy and Gina) once again in Euchre on Friday night. While the gils (those who can breathe underwater) talk a good game, they don't necessarily play one.

Their "winter hot streak" has long ended and the boys are now completely in control of the lifetime W-L record against one another.

The boys have even accomplished this while an investigation continues into whether or not the gils cheat while they are playing.

O Captain! My Captain! (on hold)

 

As of March 18, the woman you know as "G" will offically have a new title...Captain Gina.

 

We recieved the offical word today. From March 13-18, Gina will be at River Boating School in Memphis, TN.

Over the last four years, Gina has completed the nearly 3,000 hours on the river required to become a captain and only a test remains for her to complete her requirements.

Please congratulate her on her huge accomplishment. If I understand correctly, she will become only the second female captain in the history of the Padelford Packet Boat Company.

3/19/05 Update: Gina was a trooper and made the trip to Memphis this week, but unfortunately only passed three of the four tests. She was within two questions of passing the fourth. So, her dreams of becoming a captain have temporarily be put on hold until later in the year when she will go back down to retake the tests.

But, she should still be very proud of what she accomplished, trying to do this 30 weeks pregnant.