We’re making god progress toward potty training, I think (knock wood!). Dry day at preschool yesterday, and if anything he is a little too eager to use the potty– as in, “I have to go pee pees!” and then nothing but a tiny dribble. And lots of false poop alarms. It’s better than the alternative, so I’ll take it!
We have promised him a ride on a real, honest to goodness train if he keeps using the potty and staying dry. Cross your fingers that a rail trip to gorgeous, seaside San Clemente is in our very near future!
What’s in your near future? Chat away!
We’re back from DH’s consult. I wish I was more reassured. The surgery itself will be 5-6 hours involving a team of surgeons and despite all of his scans, they really won’t know what they are facing until they open him up. Some of the possible outcomes are terrifying. We’re looking at a month’s recovery in Baltimore at least so I will be traveling back and forth between him and the kids.
Sending hugs. I guess the only thing I can say is that although they must tell you the worst case scenario there is also the possibility that what they find may be better than expected.
Good luck to all of you
Hugs, C. it sounds like he is in the beat possible hands. How are you feeling?
*best
I thought beat was a new slang term I wasn’t familiar with : )
Glad you’re home safe and sound. I’m sorry there was no simply and clear possitive message; surely it is best to know what could happen but I can see how that is difficult to face. Thinking of all of you and sending lots of hugs and good vibes your way.
Oh my. Best wishes and hugs to you and your family. When will it be?
First, that surgery is possible is good news. So I’m going to say “Yippee!” to that at least. Keeping you guys in prayer for now. Hopefully it will be a very positive outcome (dare I hope for a shorter recovery time?).
Hugs, mama.
I’m so sorry you and DH have to go through this. Sending many hugs and hope that while the big picture may be scary and overwhelming, that you have as many bright spots as possible day-to-day.
What a nice way to put it. What CG said! Prayers to your whole family right now.
What everyone else has said plus 1,000 more hugs. I’ll keep lighting a candle for you guys.
WIll he be at Hopkins?
Yes, it’s Hopkins.
Sending healing thoughts to you and your family! Is the recovery in the hospital or is that he needs to be nearby for the first month?
He’ll be in the hospital for 1-2 weeks and then at his parents for another 2 weeks to a month.
oh lordy lou… what can we do to help you…. seriously..
Yes, what can we do?
I third this. Please tell us what we can do to help.
big hugs, C. Big, big hugs.
Much love and hugs and good thoughts to you and your family. I’m sorry things weren’t more reassuring… I hope you get all of the best outcomes.
Hugs, my dear. Now I wish I was closer to Baltimore so you could crash at my house.
Hugs to you, C. If I still lived near MD, I’d keep you company and bring you warm chocolate muffins and wine. I’ll send every prayer and positive thought I have instead. How is your MIL holding up? (I hope her stress and worries aren’t adding to yours)
Joining in with hugs and well wishes. What a hard road you’ve been down, but I’m hoping the end is in sight and by the time the warmth of spring hit Syracuse, AK will be back to health to enjoy it!
Augh. Really. Just Augh. They do need to give you all of the possibilities which is so tough when all you’d like to hear is that everything will be okay. I know that it will but they have to give you all the information. It’s overwhelming. I’m thinking of you all.
I so wish I was visiting my folks right now. I could totally help you out. Let me know if there’s anything at all that I can do otherwise….
Seriously guys WHY aren’t I writign for Jezebel? one of their latest articles say “Kim Kardashian – stop trying to make “Babymoon” Happen.. just. no. ”
I know a bunch y’all are big on the whoel “babymoon’ concept but FINALLY someone speaks what I’ve thought for years “WTF with the Babymoon?”
That term must have been invented since my DS1 and your kiddo were born. We went to Hawaii for the first time when I was pregnant with him, but we didn’t call it a babymoon, we called it a vacation.
Also, weren’t Kimye only together for like 10 minutes before announcing she was pregnant? So maybe they need to get their fun in now…
Maybe I don’t understand the Kardashian context. But DH and I loved our trip to NYC as a couple while I was 6 months pregnant with our first baby. It was wonderful to wander around, be grown up tourists, eat when we wanted (when I wanted, actually, which was a lot), do leisurely people watching, etc. We kind of thought that life was going to be different and it might be harder to travel after she was born. Little did we know what a ridiculous understatement that was! That’s what WE called our babymoon. Am I missing something?
I dunno.. it just seems indulgent to make this big made up thing out of taking a trip before you have a baby but that’ s just me being all cold and yankee again
and I didn’t really have that kind of environment in my first marriage so I probably have no ground to stand on here LOL
I’m with you there!
I’m right with you there. Plus, the LAST thing I wanted to do when I was knocked up was travel. I was fat, my feet were swollen, everything hurt and I was puking every 3 minutes. Why in God’s name would I want to go out in the world like that? I wanted my sweat pants, Ben and Jerry’s and a Buffy marathon.
plus as I’ve written about before.. there are certain types of women who are expected and even encouraged to ‘rest rejuventate and relax’ at difficult times in life.. I was pretty much encouraged to work until I dropped and to lay off the thin mints…
Yes! And I always had people who took a stressful situation and made it even more stressful. What am I saying had for? That should be have. Stressful situation, still have to deal with people like that.
Ummm…okay. I guess I just don’t get the objection. We don’t travel much for pleasure at all as a family, only for family obligation. Even then, it’s usually by car. Since having children 6.5 years ago, we’ve had exactly 1 fun family vacation and 1 weekend away together in 6 years. We can’t afford it, and we have limited support for babysitting. In order for us to go on that one weekend, my parents very generously took 2 days off of work and flew down here at their own expense so that we could go.
Frankly, hearing about the concept of “babymoon” was helpful to me when I was pregnant the first time, because it forecasted that future reality and lit a fire under our butts to go do something fun as a couple while we still could. I’m so grateful that we got a chance to take that little trip together. I guess I just don’t see how there’s anything wrong with that.
We didn’t take a babymoon the second time, we took an uncomfortable roadtrip when I was 35 weeks pregnant to see our goddaughter get baptized. Family obligation travel strikes again. But whatevs. Pregnancy is hard enough. I guess everyone has to do what feels right to them.
I’m not defending Kim Kardashian. I don’t give a crap what she and her baby daddy do or don’t do. I do, however, think Katie should write for Jezebel.
I’m with you, big time. We spent a weekend in Sonoma just before DD was born, and a weekend in Santa Barbara just before DS was born. It was a lovely opportunity to spend time alone as a couple, just before going into the trenches of giving birth. Then caring for a newborn. Etc.
I’m lucky because I thoroughly enjoyed my pregnancies and felt up to some travel. I guess I’m also lucky that DH tends to pamper me while pregnant (and not) but I remember those weekends fondly and would do it again in a heartbeat. Call it a babymoon or a simple weekend away, it was lovely.
There’s nothing wrong with what you describe–a nice, fun trip that it’ll be a while before you can take again–; it’s the way it’s been turned into a whole industry!
And a requirement. Even the best of us start thinking “Maybe that’s what I’m supposed to do…” Weddings do it to you as well.
Meh. I didn’t get a wedding, so I took the babymoons!
I am not big on babymoon or push present or smash cake or any of that. and my first thought when I read that those two were having a kids was “god help that poor child”
but apparently I am an honorary Yankee
My DH is an Irish Yankee which as far as I can tell is a double dose of “suck it up” about eveything.
OOOH me TOO! Irish/Italian Yankees FTW!
the concept of “push presents’ make me stabby
As an Irish Yankee, may I point out that push presents have been around for decades, whether called that or not? The traditional gift is called “beer”, though there is an alternative called “wine”. My friend’s husband got her a case of Bass Ale to celebrate the delivery, though that was back in the 80s when a small amount of alcohol in the breast milk wouldn’t kill anyone.
i love you
My bil gave my sil a push present (well before I had kids). My mother in law said to my husband “I hope you do something as nice when the time comes.” To my husband’s credit, he laughed and said “Only if I want my eyes clawed out.”
hah!
OTOH, DH brought me flowers when he came back to the hospital after going home post-delivery. I still have the cards he wrote with each bouquet and they’re very, very sweet.
My push present after DS was a HUGE chocolate milkshake from In-N-Out. Genius.
Oh yes. DH brought me brie, cocktail prawns (shrimp), and other forbidden treats. And continued to feed me during the week that I was in the hospital. But that was really self preservation.
word.
I’m not big on any of those things either. “Push present” – ick. Call me crunchy but the present I got for pushing out my baby was, well, my baby.
The whole Kardashian thing makes me tired and kind of cranky. One thing that makes me want to scream is that she’s still married to her husband, whom she wed in mid-2011. I try very hard not to be scold about stuff (because life happens, and all that), but if you’re already separated, there are really good reasons to make the divorce final before you have a baby with another man. Here’s one: If, for some reason, she gave birth in Iowa while still married, her husband would automatically be named as the father on the birth certificate. NO EXCEPTIONS – even if all parties acknowledge he’s not the bio-dad. He would be the legal father, and Kanye would have no legal claim on the relationship unless Kim’s STBX-H relinquished/terminated his parental rights. Knowing the Kardashian family tendency towards drama, I could see this becoming a hugely-drawn-out affair. STBX could ask for visitation, pay child support, etc.
NIGHTMARE.
Also, I vote for Katie writing for Jezebel. Where do we sign that petition?
Welp, I couldn’t imagine a Kardashian deigning to set foot in Iowa so at least we don’t have to worry about that law. (Don’t know if anything like that happens in other states, granted.)
True enough.
I’ll sign that one!
Push present? Never heard of this.
you know some kind of sparkly bangle for giving birth… I just…yeah… I got nothin
Sometimes I get the feeling we are voluntarily going back to the age where marriage and family were a purely economic decision, thanks to the wedding / diamond industrial complex.
Ha! wedding/diamond industrial complex. Love it.
It’s funny, because it’s true. My 14 year old watches that GD “say yes to the dress”…holy man. It’s an industry alright.
My SIL will be on an upcoming episode of SYTTD. Seriously! They got married last August, filmed it last spring but it won’t air until later this month. Should be interesting!
Do you know when? Dd1 started watching, so I’ve watched with her. I would make a point to tune in to see your sil.
Serious guilty pleasure, that one. My girls like to watch me shriek at the tv “don’t take everyone you know to pick out the dress!” And “don’t they make wedding dresses with shoulders?!?”
Don’t know the air date yet, but will post here when I know it!
It’s just a marketing scheme.
You’re not the only one–I never heard that term until now. And I just sort of shook my head when I found out what it was. Good god y’all.
Please write for Jezebel. Please, please, please. Your Oscars post alone would be Legen…(wait for it)…dary.
yes I’m sure that “go write for Jezebel” is so easily accomplished
well, while I’m convincing Lindy West to be the new best friend to my sister and me, I’ll have her tell them to hire you, ‘mkay?
I’m joining in on the “Katie should write for Jezebel” bandwagon!
Actually, reading through this thread reminded me of a funny story. A few weeks after we told everyone in the family that I was pregnant with Lily, I was having my regular webcam chat with my parents. My dad really gleefully asked me “So, are you guys taking a babymoon?!?” IIRC, the New York Times Styles section had just discovered the concept, and dad was sooooo proud of himself for having learned a new word… It was absolutely hilarious.
That is so cute!
it was hilarious, because my dad is not a pop-culture kind of guy.
What I don’t get…. When I had my kids, “babymoon” referred to the few weeks of bonding directly after the birth. If you were taking a babymoon, you discouraged visitors and just cuddled and bonded as a family. Kind of a different concept…
yeah – that’s what I thought it was. Still too precious for me but I thought the idea was that you took the time to figure out this new relationship – kind of like the honeymoon but with less sex.
Yeah, that’s the way it’s been used in the adoption community as well – mom and dad go on vacation from the world to spend time with the newcomer.
I didn’t actually push mine out and I got a present (a healthy boy) anyway, both times.
I had to ask my far-more-hip SIL about a year ago who these Kardashian people are and if they do anything or are they just famous and wear clothes well.
Do Italian-American B&T New Yorkers count as Yankees?
honey we don’t even let people from Connecticut count as real Yankees
Hey, no one less than Mark Twain dubbed us Yankees (‘course, he was a midwestern transplant like me).
up here we’re not even really sure you’re New Englanders… mostly a bunch of New Yorkers who think they’re livign in New England
That’s western Connecticut. Whole nother ball of wax.
I’ve been thinking of you Aussies with the insane heat you are having. I hope things are holding up where you are. I see there are a lot of wildfires but it looks like that is more central, but I’m not sure if we get all the news over here. I hope it cools down soon!
Oddly enough, we’ve been alright so far in Melbourne; we’re in a weird trough where it hasn’t been too hot. It’ll go well over 100 today, and there’s a huge risk of bushfire because it’s been so dry. Then the temps will drop back down to the low 80s. But elsewhere, it’s an inferno and very, very scary indeed. Aussiegeek has copped a worse whack of heat than me, though.
It’s nice here now, but it was certainly miserable for a little while there. I just can’t believe that they’ve had to alter the temp scale from the Bureau of Meteorology to accommodate the 54 degree plus temps in the centre!!!
I wonder what temps they’ll add next. Because you know it’s not stopping with 54 degrees.
How do you even breathe in 54 degrees? Seriously…I’ve been in 47 degrees before and it hurt my lungs. The tar on the road was bubbling and popping like lava. It was impossible to even consider surviving outside for longer than a few minutes. I can’t imagine what 54 feels like. Or how anyone survives it.
I think 43 is probably the hottest I’ve ever felt because I’ve never been to the interior of the country like you have. But yeah, I think we have to deal with this question because it’s coming. OK, the heart of Australia isn’t populated, but the rural fringe of most of the mainland states will feel this.
Sleep training report: we’re now putting her in her toddler bed after a time of nursing and almost-fully-asleep, with me laying my head near hers on Big Turtle (her pillow, which is, unsurprisingly, a giant plush turtle), and staying until she is calm and quiet, or asleep, if it happens quickly (I have been staying for 15-25 minutes, but I think even that length of time will shrink). When and if she cries out very loudly and persistently in the night, we go and lay our heads down on Big Turtle until she’s calm and quiet, or asleep, again for about 10-20 minutes. This has actually worked for the past 4 nights.
I think we have both a strategy we can follow consistently (which we know is most important, but we’ve been terrible about) AND which actually WORKS. It does not hurt that DH is fully on board and we’re both able to do this (well, except for the nursing thing). We do feel better that we’ve been liberated from feeling we have to rock or hold her until she’s really deeply asleep and then hope she doesn’t wake up when we transfer her to her bed. It feels great. And I know I’m sleeping better, which is 1,000% awesome.
Yay! This is great news!
yay! that all sounds really great. I hope it lasts!