Author: Patricia Culley

I'm the ringmaster of my own circus. Just trying to stay one step ahead of the monkeys.

Photo Tribute to Jon

Well, here are some pictures of Jon through the years.

You can click on any of the photos to take you to the full set.  This is only some of the glory, but if you click over too soon, you’ll miss all my witty remarks, and you wouldn’t want that, would you?

He was such a cute little guy. 

3 years old

I think he’s about 3 years old here!

 

Around Kindergarten here!  Still so cute!

Kindergarten

 

This is about grade 3.  I keep saying that it’s around or about or I think, ’cause really I don’t know and together, we just guessed at which pictures are which years.

Grade 3

 This is Grade 4, and we are entering an awkward stage.  We kinda move in and out of this awkward phase over the next few years.

Grade 4

This is Grade 6, and see – not too bad, eh?  Still kinda cute, although I think he looks like he’s about 6 years old, and not IN grade 6.

Grade 6

 This is grade 7, but I think that Geli looks so much like Jon is this picture.  Something about the little bit of chubbiness, mixed with the starting to grow up look…….I think that Geli looks a lot like Jon, though some don’t agree with me.

 Grade 7

By Grade 8, we were back in the awkward phase, and had perfected the permed mullet look.  Sweeeeeeet!

Grade 8 

 Grade 9, and we are ROCKIN’ those pants, and that cowlick….

Grade 9

We think this is about Grade 10.  Those are fake glasses, no prescription – just for the sheer sexiness of it……and baby, you are one sexy beast.

Grade 10

Graduation Picture.  It was about 3 years after this that I fell in love with Jon.  I’ll have to dig out some of those pictures from back then.

Grade 12 Graduation 

You’ve come a long way babe, and even though I mock you gently and with love (is that possible) – I still think you’re the best friend, man, husband, father EVER!

27 Weeks…….and a bit

27 weeksHere is the 27 week photo.  I am actually 27 weeks and 4 days, so really – I’m closer to 28 weeks, but it’s going down for the 27 week picture.  Maybe if I get my act together I’ll actuaoly start taking the pictures a little closer to Saturday each week, but it usually works out that I get the pictures taken on the Tuesday or Wednesday, and so they are all roughly a week apart.

I compared last weeks with this week, and even if I couldn’t already tell – just ’cause this belly is hanging off of the front of me - my belly is more rounded than last week.  It’s kinda cool………at least to me it is, and really – that’s what matters most.

I am definately feeling like I’m pregnant, and I’m pretty sure that I look pregnant as well.  Mind you, when Jon and I stopped at Starbucks on Monday, we ran into someone we hadn’t seen in a while, and I was sitting down, and after we finished talking I asked Jon if I really looked pregnant when I was sitting, or could I just be looking fat.  What a depressing thought, to think that someone might think that had just packed on a ton of weight.  Not like I hadn’t done it before, but still – when I had worked so hard to lose it, and then to think that I still might just look heavier than I should.  It was depressing for all of 2 seconds, until I felt the baby move, and then I really could care less about what anyone thought, ’cause my baby was still alive, and to feel him moving is the best feeling on earth.

I’ve been SOOOOOOOO busy these past couple of days, and I’m not seeing an end in sight for the next couple after this.

I have a busy day tomorrow that I have to try and cram too amny things into, and then I am planning on going into VGH to see Chris on Friday.  Really, I should say that I’m going in to “hang around the hospital”, ’cause then I won’t be disappointed when I leave to go home, and I’ve only spent a grand total of 45 minutes with Chris, but hung out at the hospital for 6 hours.  I don’t know what kind of shape he’ll be in anyway, ’cause he was going to have surgery today, but I think that he is actually having it tomorrow.

That’s okay!  It’s nice to just be there, and to see Nina and the other family that shows up.  That’s just as much a boost as actually seeing him, “being family” together.

Well, next week is going to be brutal, ’cause Jon is doing sound for a conference ALL NEXT WEEK.  So, I’m doing the single mom thing for a week.  SUCKS!  Not that single mom’s suck, but they have to do SO MUCH WORK, and I hate haveing to do all the work, and I’m fortunate enough that I don’t HAVE to do all the work.

I don’t think I mentioned recently that I have the best husband EVER.  I know that I’ve mentioned it before, but not recently.  Really he is!  He has been working hard, AND taking care of the kids when I go in to town, AND cooking dinners, AND helping out with the cleaning, AND helping out with the laundry, AND making sure the kids do their homework (*cough* most of the time * cough*).  Really, I have to give him some extra credit, and HUGE amounts of appreciation, ’cause he has been so supportive and enableing me to be with Chris and the family at this stresfull time, and I really, really, really, REALLY appreciate him.

 I really appreciate you, babe!  

……..and just to show you all how much I appreciate him, I think that in the next day or two, I’m going to scan some of the amazing photos that his Mum gave me of him, and do a bit of a photo tribute to him.  Believe me, their are some “BEAUTIES” that you will NOT want to miss……..seriously!  Maybe tomorrow, if I have a “teeny-tiny” bit of time!

Little but of this, and a little bit of that…….and way too many pictures

So, yesterday was Mother’s Day, and you should all be so lucky as me!

No, I didn’t get any jewelery or trips to fabulous warm tropical places (I could only wish), but I did get served breakfast in the dining room.  We have “fancy” oatmeal and tea.  Basically we had porridge in fancy dishes, and used my fancy teas cups.  It was really fancy. *snort*

I opened all the kids crap lovingly made treasures and oohd and aaahhhd appropriately, then we went to church, where I’ve discovered that I’m getting a little too round for my guitar to be hanging off the front end of my belly.  I have to play once more in 2 weeks, and then I think that might be it.

After church, we came home and Jon had made a pork roast, with potatoes and veggies and gravy.  It was delicious!  Apparently, Jeremy likes potatoes – Can you tell?

Poatoe Man
No, we didn’t let him eat that many, but he was more than a little put out that we’d dare to take some of them away.  Silly boy!

It was a nice day, and probably the nicest part of it didn’t even happen to me.  We told Chris that it was Mother’s Day today, and just left it at that.  We didn’t tell him that he should do or say anything to Momma, but the next time that she came into his room, he motioned her over and gave her a kiss, and told her that he liked the shirt she was wearing.  See, like I said, it didn’t even happen to me, but it was pretty special to be there to see it happen.

This morning we had another wonderful, amazing, mind blowing thing happen.  We’ve been rotating through 3 breakfasts at our house – Oatmeal, Eggs & Hashbrowns, and Pancakes.  We have had milk alternatives available, and even had a bag of Kamut puffs in the cupboard, but the kids weren’t far enough removed from regular milk and regular cereal to really “buy into” eating this new crap (as they thought of it).

Well, apparently, two months of the same 3 things for breakfast and no cow’s milk or cereal has broken them down.  We got up a bit late this morning, and I suggested that Jon offer them cereal with Rice milk, Kamut puffs and Maple syrup drizzled on top.

Rice Milk, Cereal and Maple Syrup
Under the guise of making himself a bowl of cereal, he offered them each a bite, and you’d have thought that we were offering them the nectar of the gods.  Their eyes rolled back up in their heads, and we had to shake them to come out of their self induced hypnotic state.

They scarfed down a bowl each, and them came back asking for a second.  It was the easiest breakfast that we’ve made in 2 months, and while the cereal is a bit more expensive, we will add it into our rotation maybe once or twice a week.

Kids eating HEALTY cereal and LOVIN’ IT!
It is getting easier to convince them to try new stuff.  I guess it just sometimes takes a bit to get the old taste out of your memory, to allow the space to be able to try new stuff.  That’s just me waxing all philosophical…..how does it sound……personally, I think it just sounds like crap, but almost like intelligent crap, eh?

Jon took me to Starbucks this morning, because we were having an Administrative meeting.  He brought his Administrative stuff, and I brought my administrative stuff, and we had a coffee while working on our respective “stuffs.”  It was quite nice, and I even cheated and had a big ol’ piece of carrot cake. 

Jon’s coffee and my Carrot Cake….MMMmmmm!
Don’t even start to lecture me about all the bad stuff in it that I’m not supposed to eat.  This is my last week, and then I HAVE to be freaky careful about eating any wheat and dairy.  From 28 weeks on, I’m supposed to stick to the diet without wavering.  The hopes are that if I do have any actual “allergies” to either wheat or dairy that if I stay away from them from 28 weeks on, then I shouldn’t pass the allergy onto our little boy!  That would be nice.  So, I’m not trying to go overboard this week, but don’t shoot me if I cheat a little.

Well, I’ve got to go and do some work for Jon, and then get busy cleaning the house!  Hate Housecleaning!  It never ends!

Our Fun For The Day….

We really didn’t have anything planned for today, and just needed to pick a few things up here and there.

We decided to head out to Anita’s Organic Grain & Flour Mill to see what their store was like, and to get a feel for what they had, and what we could get.

We have been buying our Kamut and Spelt flour at the Ladybug Organic store, and I knew that they got it from this Anita’s Place, and I even knew that it was out in Chilliwack.  I hadn’t found their website, but Jon took a look, and found it for me.  YAH!  We e-mailed them for a price list, and discovered that we really liked their prices, and as far as distance, it works out to about the same to head in to Langley or out to Chilliwack, and so we decided to check them out one day.

Today just happened to be that day.

20 KGs of Kamut and Spelt Flour
It is just a tiny, little, almost a shack, but I was very excited.  Their prices were amazing, as far as healthy, organic weird flours go, and they even had  rolled kamut and spelt flakes.  Jeremy’s VEGA test showed that he was okay with Oatmeal, and so we do make it.  I am still  intolerant to oatmeal,  and so shouldn’t really have it all that often.  To see that I could make a pot of porridge out of Kamut Flakes or even Spelt flakes was awesome.  They look almost exactly the same as old fashioned rolled oats, and just enable us to add a little more variety into our lives.  YAH! We didn’t pick any of the rolled grains up today, but will go back in the near future to pick some up.  I did make some Kamut tortillas today, and the kids were thrilled.  I didn’t make any last week, and it made lunches more difficult.

I have also tried a loaf of Spelt/Kamut breaf made with oil, flour, salt, and baking powder.  We’ll try it out tomorow morning, and see how it tastes.  It’s the quick and lazy way to make bread.  I still haven’t tried out the long and difficult way.  I’m a bit scared that after all the effort I have to go through, that it would still taste lousy, and then I’d be annoyed.  Well, I will probably just go for it this week.  It’s basically a sourdough starter bread, so it takes a week to just get the starter ready, but again the only ingredients are water, flour and sea salt.  If I can make it for cheaper than $6.00 a loaf, then I’m doing fabulous.

A friend is lending me her baby bath, and a swing, and so that’s very exciting.  Jon and I were talking today, and we want to get all the “Big” stuff done before July 1st.  The kids are done school at the end of June, and I really don’t want them involved in all the painting and set up of the baby’s room.  The little finishing things, sure – no problem, but not the painting and puttying and sanding and crib set up and other stuff.

That means, that not only do we have to do the walls in the baby’s room, but we also have to get a crib and a change table and a dresser.  We are hoping ot be able to get stuff that matches.  Knowing that this might be our last baby, and that it’s kind of a special event, we just want to do it extra special.  I might have found the bedding that I want.  I like this pattern.  I’m just struggling over the price.  It’s a much better price than what I saw it for in the store today, but still………GULP!

Oh well!  It’ll all come together eventually, and I don’t need to worry!  I know that! 

I’m off to bed now, but I just wanted to say one more thing. 

To all the Mother’s with living children, and especially those who have children that are not living…..I hope you have a peaceful day tomorrow and that it would be filled with hope and love and very special thoughts and memories.

And to everyone else, may you be thankful that you had a mother who brought you into this world, and that you are alive and well, regardless of your life’s circumstances.

May tomorrow be a special day for you all!

Didn’t Happen………….

So, as the title suggests, it didn’t happen.  There was absoultely no way that I could have done the 44 hours or whatever it was going to be.  I mean, I probably could have, but when we got home from picking up the kids, I sat down in front of the computer, and that wsa my first big mistake.

As soon as I sat down, I started to nod off – mid sentence with Jon.  I just could not keep my eyes awake.  He told me to go and lay daown for a few hours.  I was going to get up around dinner time, as I had a practise in the evening that I had to go to.

I laid down just before 4pm, and…………………got up at 7am this morning.

Yup!  Take THAT tiredness.  I just slept 15 hours, and I could have probably done another hour more.

Here’s what 34 hours of tiredness did to my feet.

swollen feet

And here is what 14 hours of sleep did to them……

Not So Swollen

I’m not a huge foot person, and so I apologize for the grossness that is my feet, but “Can you see the difference?”

I can see the difference, and most importantly I can feel the difference.  I feel amazing this morning.

I’ll talk a bit more about my night with Chris on the other side of things.  Check in over there if you haven’t already done so.

I have SOOOOOO much to do today, so as soon as I can get my “remember-ies” down from the other night – I have to get busy!

Have an awesome day!

Sooooooo Tired!

I don’t know how some of you do this on a regular basis.  I know that there are those out there who regularly pull all nighter’s.  I am not one of “those” people.

Chris has not been sleeping well for a couple of nights, and so we decided that someone should stay with him over night and see if that might help him get a better sleep.

Well, He did sleep better last night, but I volunteered to stay overnight.  That meant that I didn’t sleep.  I’m okay, but was planning on coming home and sleeping, and it just hasn’t worked out that way.  I’ve been up since Wednesday morning at 4:30am.  How many hours is that……….34 hours as of right now, by my calculations, and I will not be getting to bed before 10pm tonight.  So, unless I fall asleep standing on my feet I will be up for a total of 42+ hours.  Nice, eh?

Well, We are going to pick up the kids, and then I have to figure out something for dinner, and then I really need to put my feet up.  They are so swollen.  Oooops!  Not good, but the naturopath said that feet swelling was not a big deal.  It was a big deal if my hands and face were swelling, and so far so good!

Jon will be home with some liquid gold* in about 2 minutes, and then we are off to collect our children.

* Liquid Gold – Grande, Half-sweet, sugar free, hazelnut, soy latte from Starbucks! Mmmmmmm, and I’m not supposed to have coffee!  Ha!  Like that is happening right now!

26 Week Picture and other stuff…………

26 weeksFINALLY, I got Jon to take the picture.  Not that it’s Jon’s fault, but you know….I have to have my hair done, and decent clothes on, and make up, and well…….the stars all have to align, and when they do……..then we can take a picture.

So, finally we did it.  I don’t think it’s magazine worthy, but then again, I mostly just want to keep a record of everything, and that’s what I’m doing, and so I’m doing good!

The little bugger has been breech for a while, and he turned the right way up for one whole day, and by the next day, he was back in the breech position, and hasn’t truned again since.  I’m really hoping he’s not getting to comfy – I don’t want a C-section, and will do whatever it takes to avoid that if possible.  I’m not against it, if it’s totally necessary, but don’t want to have to deal with that.

I finally got the book keeping done.  I do books for my Grandfather’s Misions Society.  I was going to finish the books a month ago, and then the accident happened.  Well, as of last night I finished them, and then……….then the angels sang, and harp music played, and I rejoiced!  And it was good!

Today I was going to go in and see Chris, but I figured that I’d just  stay home for one more day, and get caught up on a bunch of stuff that has been getting shoved further and further down the list of “things to get done”.  I feel like I’m almost caught up, abd even though I know that I’m pretty much caught up, I still feel kind of pressured by the thoughts that I have stuff to do.  Not sure what is up with that.  I might just need to make a list of  everything that I’m still thinking about, and  cross off all the stuff that I’ve finished.  Sometimes I need a visual.  I can see the list inside my head long after it’s been taken away.  No, I don’t have a photographic memory…well I have a slighty inaccurate photographic memory.  I can actually see the things that I’ve looked at, but I don’t usually pay enough attention so that I can recall every  single detail.  What I would have given to have had that ability in High school….Can you even imagine how cool that would be?

 Like I said, I can do that to a certain extent, but it’s a hit and a miss as to the percentage of perfection that I attain on a regualr basis.

 The kids are doing okay.  Nothing really exciting to report on that end.  Geli has been complaing, and I finally found some sort of okay multi-vitamins that I’ve been giving her and Xan just in case we’re not covering ALL the bases with the food we eat.  Hopefully she will stop complaining about how sick she feels all the time.

I was getting calls from school from her EVERY FREAKING DAY.  I kinda subscribe to the , “Are you barfing or do you have a fever?” school of thought.  Either of those will win you a trip home and confined to your bed for the rest of the day, but anything less than that will earn you a prayer and an over-the-phone kiss and hug from Mom!

The kids have been doing fabulously as far as the food stuff goes.  I still need to post some of our meals that we make.  Will get to that one of these days.  Jeremy did get in to see the Naturopath while I was up in Kamloops.  Jon took him, and he’s doing really well.  I’ll have to do an update on that, as well.  Our next appt for him is on Monday May the 28th.  He gets retested for his food intolerances, and gets a hemoglobin test, and another appointment with the Naturopath.  It will be so exciting (I hope) to hear how much better he is doing.  I’m really hoping that his yest levels have dropped, and that he is well on his way to a healthier life. 

When I went in for my appointment last Friday ,we talked briefly about Jeremy especially seeing as we had made a visit ot the ER the night previously.  She said that waht we are doing right now is only the tip of the ice berg as far as what she CAN actually do to help him.  That is SO EXCITING.  To know that the sucess that we’ve experienced with him is only the beginning.  It’s so encouraging.

Well, I’m off to see Chris tomorrow, and have to pick up my mom just before 8am- AAAAAAWWWWWWCCCCCCKKK!  That’s WAY TOO EARLY!  Oh well!  I’m excited.  Chris has been moved out of the ICU and into the Trauma Unit.  This is a step in the right direction, and so exciting to hear.  I can’t wait to see him tomorrow.

97 days to go!

Yup!  I’m in count down mode.  I know I’ve got a long ways to go, but seriously…..I only dreamed of making it this far.  Soon I’ll be holding my son!  Okay, I kee saying that, but it’s true.

Well, I thought I had something really exciting to say, and then I came on here, and promptly forgot what I was going to say.  SUCKS!  I figured that if I just started typing, that it’d come back to me.  Well, guess what?  Not so much!  Now I’m just blathering on, and hoping that whatever it was that was all so witty and amazing would miraculously pop back into my mind.

It ain’t happening, and I’m freaking tired. I guess that’s what happens when you only get 5 hours of sleep the night before, and then run hard ALL DAY.  I still have so much to do, and so little time to acomplish it all in.

Gotta write more lists, but not tonight!  Right now – I’m going to bed.  Ta Ta, see ya on the flip side!

It’s All About Poop!

So, here I am in Vancouver earlier tonight.  I went in with my dad to visit Chris.  We drove in around 3pm, and around 7pm Dad comes into the ICU to tell me that Jon has left a message on his phone wanting me to call back right away, and, “Oh! It sounds kind of important!”

Hmmmmmm, this can’t possibly be good news.  Jon never calls, and not with something important. 

I call him back only to hear that he is on route to the Abbotsford Hospital with Jeremy and he thinks that it might be his appendix.  Jeremy has a low grade fever, and was crying and freaking out about the lower right side of his abdomen.  They were just sitting down to eat dinner.  Jeremy took about 2 bites, and said that he had to use the bathroom.  He was there for a few minutes, and then called Jon crying and crying and crying and saying that his tummy hurt really bad.  He wouldn’t stand up straight, and wouldn’t walk.  He was in too much pain.

Fabulous, I’m so thrilled!  Nothing like family in two different hospitals at the same time about 5 cities away from each other.  Anyway, my mom said that she would take me out to pick up my car from their house right then, so off we went.

I got to the hosptial, and expected to find Jon and J still sitting in the waiting room.  Nope, they had been moved inside to a room with 3 or 4 other kids and their parents.  The doctor showed up about 5-10 minutes after I sat down in the chair with Jeremy.

They did blood tests and took a urine sample, and then did an X-ray!

About 10 minutes after we got back to our chairs from the X-ray, the doctor called us and asked if Jeremy would like to see his picture.  The doctor brought us over to the computer and showed us the X-rays.  He showed us the  ribs and his spine, and his pelvic bones, and the tops of his leg bones.  Then he showed us where the appendix would show up if there was a problem.

Next he pointed out all this black and shaded area that basically ran from where his stomach would be all the way down to the end of the line.  He said that normally they see little pockets of black, but he just had to show us the X-ray because our son had an IMPRESSIVE amount of poop in his intestines.  From the top all the way to the bottom he was completely full.  I don’t think he’s actually Constipated, as he poops EVERY FREAKIN’ DAY, and it’s never very hard!  In fact, it’s……ummm……….soft enough that he doesn’t ever want to wipe his ouwn butt ’cause he doesn’t want to make a mess of it all.

Poop!  It all boils down to POOP!

The doctor said that at this point our chances of this having anything to do with his appendix were ZERO!  He said that J needs to get lots of water, and eat a lot of veggies, and stay close to a toilet for a few days.

I have an appointment with the naturopath tomorrow, and I think I will ask her about it.  I think that this could have something to do with the diet he’s on as well as the different medicines.  He’s had these pains before, and had I been home, we might not have actually gone to the ER, but then again, if we hadn’t gone in we never would have found out that our son was full of **it.

“Cause I’m Lame Like That……..

Well, I not really, but I still haven’t gotten Jon to  take a picture of me at 25 weeks pregnant, and now I’m 25 weeks and 4 days…..alomst 26 weeks.

Silly me!  I will try to get him to take one tonight.  I had my OB appointment yesterday, and was the most calm that I’ve been at any of my appointments with him since I found out I was pregnant this time.  It’s helps to be feeling the baby moving on a regular basis, also.

He tried to find our little boy’s heartbeat with his doppler, and seemed to have a hard time, eventually he said that it was trucking along at 150 beats per minute, and then said that he wanted to have little look on the ultrasound machine.  I was, of course, all up for that.  It’s amazing how big the baby looked on the screen.  From seeing almost nothing but a flicker at my 7-8 week appointment, to seeing a little tiny blob like looking baby, to now when we couldn’t see the whole baby on the screen, but had to move all around to see everything from head to toe and finger to finger.

I mentioned that  I wondered about the fact that I really only felt movement in the extreme lower portion of my torso.  I would get the odd poke higer up, but not a whole lot of movement on either the sides or the top.  He figured that the little one must be breech, and the ultrasound revealed that Yes, in fact, this little stinker is breech, and by jugding from how long I’ve been feeling the movements down low – he’s been that way for a while.

He still has his stomach, facing towards my spine.  He’s basically cuddling my innards, and kicking the crap out of my bladder.  It’s so much fun!  I really don’t mind.  I know that I’ve said that I want to be holding this little one more than anything, but I’m really trying to just take each moment as it comes, and to enjoy EVERY last minute that he is inside of me, as this one is most likely my last. 

I’ve not ever planned on having 5 kids, not that there is anything wrong with that, but I am struggling (not terribly, it’s just a niggling thought) with the fact that I never wanted to have this large an age span between any of my kids.  Jeremy will be almost 7 when this one is born.  I know it’s not the end of the world, but I think that it’s fun to have someone to grow up with, and well…..I really don’t have to make any decisions now…..this is just something that is floating around in my brain.

I said to my mom today that I only have 3 more months to get everything ready beofre this little guy shows up.  I still need to get a crib, and a dreser and a change table, as well as to clear out his room (it’s loaded with crap right now), and paint.  I still need some other stuff, but when we were clearing out the garage this past weekend we looked through the baby stuff we had, and while most of it is girls stuff (I’ve passed on and given away a lot of the boy clothes), I did manage to find a ton of little baby undershirts, so as far as those go – I’m good to go!

I also need to get some fabric and figure out a crib set for this little one.  AAAAARRGH!

It kind of feels like there is a lot to do, and time keeps speeding up.  Not that I’m complaining – I can’t wait to hold our little boy, but I just want to get everything done.

I only have 101 days to go until my due date.  That is just so exciting!  I can hardly believe it. 

I have to go for the Gestational Diabetes Test any time now.  The OB gave me the requesition for it yesterday, as well as a requesition for another big ultrasound to check to make sure that everything is going perfectly like it should be.  So, I’ll get to see our little guy again.  That is always so fun. 

Alright, I have babbled on enough already.  Going to go and put the kids to bed……..talk to you soon………..