Saturday, August 11, 2012

Soooo......

So it turns out I'm a terrible blogger.

Not exactly shocked.
I always swear I'll try harder, and I always have so much I want to talk/write about....
But then I'm tired, or lazy, or just forget....

Such is life I guess. I can't even remember when I last blogged to be honest.

I think in early May sometime? Maybe? I could just check, but again, to re-iterate....I'm lazy. Haha.


Let's see...

Meredith had her eye muscle surgery on May 21st. It was the worst, most heartwrenching thing I have ever had to endure in my life. They have 2 different PACU units after the surgery, and as we were walking back into the first to see her for the first time after she came out of anesthesia....we're walking through, and all these poor sad kids are everywhere, and I can hear this kid SCREAMING, and I'm thinking oh wow, I feel so bad for that poor child and his parents...and suddenly we get closed, and it's MY kid screaming like that!! Her cry was unrecognizable, even to me, her own mother. Heartbreaking. She was literally inconsolable. I'm panicking, upset, looking to Matt like he's got advice or some magic answer, but he himself will admittedly tell you he's not really a baby person....and he by far has a lot less experience than I do. Sitting with her, standing with her, rocking, trying a bottle, trying a pacifier, nothing is working. So then the nurses consult with an anesthesiologist and decide to give her another dose of pain medication. They said they don't normally give anything additional, the child is usually just fussy and has to re-adjust, but with a baby that small, they have no way to let you know if it's painful, so with the way she wouldn't stop crying they went ahead and administered more medication.
She finally settled down shortly after, then all this bells and alarms start going off behind us, and the boy in the next curtain has stopped breathing or something. People are running everywhere, rushing around, I'm sitting there still panicked, absolutely freaking out..... They finally close the curtain so no one can see in.
Then another alarm goes off, and a big digital board starts blinking "OR 2" or whatever number it was..... People start running back into the surgery rooms.
A volunteer leans over and whispers to another volunteer "well this isn't a very good way to start the day...."
Definitely did not set me at ease at all!!!
Luckily Meredith seemed to get a lot better fast and we were able to get out of there and into the PACU 2, which was far less stressful. It was still hard seeing her looking the way she did, and her crying, and everything. But she did well there, and all in all, we got released a lot sooner than I thought we would.
We had to return to the Ophthalmologist the very next day and he said things looked great.
We have our second follow up appointment in early/mid September.

 Before surgery, snuggling with our sweet girl:


















 Afterward, in PACU 2:










And our poor, sweet, miserable girl at home afterward:









And I forget, but I think this is a day or two later:










 She's doing wonderfully now, and for the most part if you didn't know about it, you would never know she had surgery!






June went by in a flash, and before I knew it, it was July and we were having Logan's 3rd birthday party. Yes 3rd. Don't get me started-I might cry!!! How it's possible that I have a 3 year old, I don't even know. This kid is something else. He is a challenging little smartbutt, but he is also the most amazing, sweetest little boy ever. Instead of just getting angry at him for something, we try to talk about our feelings and things, and I always let him know when I am getting angry about something, and explain things to him first. He says in the sweetest little voice, something like "I sowwy mommy, for makin you a more mad." You would die if you heard it. It's too much. I love him.
Sometimes when we are out shopping and running errands, he will also insist I go get "mommy juice." Which apparently means coffee/starbucks! Where he got that name for it, I have no clue. But it is BEYOND adorable. So funny.

So back to the party, we did it backyard BBQ style, and it was Super Why themed (PBS show), he picked it out.

Cute little popcorn favors:


 Adorable scratch-off "lottery" tickets:

The cake!!


His happy birthday banner:

 The unveiling and eating of the cake!



Pinata:



Birthday presents:






party snacks:





 It turned out to be a great party and we were lucky to dodge the rain! We are SO thankful to all our family and friends who were able to make it out to our special event. It means the world to us, and Logan truly is so thankful and happy for each and every gift! Yes, clothes included!! He's such a silly, happy guy.










Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Yeah, I know. I lied.
Instead of blogging more, I blogged less.
Oh well. It happens.

Been VERY busy (as always).

Kids just keep seeming to get sick over and over and passing things back and forth constantly.
We had Meredith's first birthday party on March 31st.



We also have consulted with her ophthalmologist and she will be going in for eye muscle surgery on May 21st. Not looking forward to that at all :-(



I've been working on getting back on track with meal planning as well.
We were doing really good there for a while, but then I got lazy, and busy, and just totally fell off track.
I'm working on not only getting a home-cooked dinner on the table most of the time, but also trying new recipes I've pinned on Pinterest, pulled out of magazines, and printed off the internet. We've got a lot of picky eaters here, so it can be quite a challenge. I basically told everyone though, we are going to be trying new recipes. TRY THEM. If you don't like them, that's fine. I'll guarantee nobody is going to like every single new recipe we try. There's always grilled cheese, a pb&j, or something out of the freezer if you don't like dinner that night! You'll live!

So I started a little bit at the beginning of this month, and then on Monday/Tuesday I went ahead and finished writing up a meal plan for the rest of this month and the month of June.
I threw in some "Free" days here and there, or "Grill" days. We can use the free days to shift meals forward or backward if needed, just get takeout, or grill out if weather permits. Same idea with the grill days, if the weather works, we can always grill something. Kind of hard to figure that out too far in advance though, due to weather.

Thursday, May 3- Creamy Parmesan & Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Penne- Very Good, everyone liked, even my dad, and he's a tough critic- for this reason I have put this recipe on the menu a few times.
Friday, May 4-Kraft FreshTake Cheddar Bacon Chicken- Always an easy meal and everyone seems to like it.
Saturday, May 5- Grilled Balsamic Flank Steak- Pretty Good, not QUITE as flavorful as I had imagined.
Sunday, May 6- Pulled Pork and french fries
Monday, May 7- Frozen lasagna
Tuesday, May 8- Crispy Cheddar Chicken, Cheddar Broccoli Rice, Stuffing, Broccoli with cheese sauce- Very Good, fairly easy, everyone seemed to like the chicken and the sauce that goes with it.
Wednesday, May 9- Sweet Basil & Oregano Bruschetta Chicken with Angel Hair- Just okay, Everyone said they'd eat it again, but again, not quite as flavorful as I had hoped.
Thursday, May 10- Italian Sausage meat sauce & pasta
Friday, May 11- Breaded pan fried pork chops
Saturday, May 12-Chicken Piccata with Linguine
Sunday, May 13-
Monday, May 14-Stew Beef and Egg Noodles
Tuesday, May 15- Herbs De Provence Roasted Chicken & Potatoes
Wednesday, May 16- Garlic Pork Roast
Thursday, May 17- Eggplant Parmesan & pasta
Friday, May 18- FREE DAY/GRILL DAY
Saturday, May 19-Braised Beef Ragu with Pappardelle
Sunday, May 20-Creamy Parmesan & Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Penne
Monday, May 21- FREE DAY- Maybe fast food or takeout. This is Meredith's surgery day and don't know how long we will be at Akron Children's
Tuesday, May 22- Not sure. Finding something easy in case Meredith isn't doing so great.
Wednesday, May 23- Drunken Pork Chops
Thursday, May 24- Chicken Kiev
Friday, May 25- Pasta with Meatballs
Saturday, May 26- Baked Ziti (use leftover pasta sauce)
Sunday, May 27- FREE DAY/GRILL DAY
Monday, May 28- Memorial Day-possible Grill day
Tuesday, May 29- Parmesan Pork Roast
Wednesday, May 30- Ham
Thursday, May 31- Ham and Potato Casserole
Friday, June 1-Crispy Chicken with Creamy Italian Sauce and Bowtie Pasta
Saturday, June 2- Ravioli with sauce
Sunday, June 3- Pork and Green Pepper Stew
Monday, June 4- Meatloaf with Roasted Onion Carrots and Potatoes
Tuesday, June 5- Brinner
Wednesday, June 6- Chicken Broccoli Supreme
Thursday, June 7- McCormick Slow Cooker Hearty Beef Stew
Friday, June 8- Chicken Piccata
Saturday, June 9- McCormick Thyme Crusted Pork Chops with Sauteed Onions
Sunday, June 10- FREE DAY/GRILL DAY
Monday, June11- Ravioli with Sauce
Tuesday, June 12-(Kraft) Hearty Tuscan Herb Chicken
Wednesday, June 13- Brinner
Thursday, June 14- Pot Roast or Roast Beef-TBD
Friday, June 15- Cuban Pork Tenderloin
Saturday, June 16-Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken with Fried Rice
Sunday, June 17-
Monday, June18- Eggplant Parmesan and pasta
Tuesday, June 19- Chciken White Wine Scallopine with Orzos
Wednesday, June 20- Ham
Thursday, June 21- Chicken Piccata
Friday, June 22- Brinner
Saturday, June 23- Double Crunch Honey Garlic Chicken
Sunday, June 24- FREE DAY/GRILL DAY
Monday, June 25- Basil Pork Chops
Tuesday, June 26- Italian Sausage meat sauce and pasta
Wednesday, June 27- Creamy Parmesan & Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Penne
Thursday, June 28- Beef Burgundy over Egg Noodles
Friday, June 29- Asian Pork Linguine
Saturday, June 30-

 I've got a couple blanks. Mother's Day, because I think someone mentioned possibly going out to eat. Meredith's surgery day and the day after. I'm a little worried about how she will recover or how fussy she may be, so I don't want to tie myself down to any intricate or new recipes.
Father's Day is blank because I suppose I should ask the dads what they want. And June 30th is my birthday, and maybe if I get lucky my husband and I can go out to dinner and movie? We'll see.
 Hopefully I can pretty much keep to this schedule.
For our family, the hardest part seems to be just DECIDING what to actually have!! No one can ever pick, or decide what they are in the mood for.
So wish us luck!!
And hopefully these new recipes turn out worthwhile!




OH! and we also had a TINY family only celebration on Meredith's actual birthday, 2/24: