Time Suckage: Links

Links I visit on a regular basis (like daily).

• CNN - because there must be something interesting going on somewhere....


• Boston Globe Online - see above


• TMZ - because if there is no really news happening then I'm sure someone made a fool out of themselves somewhere....


• Google Reader - where I lurk and peer into others lives.

Links I found enjoyable today:

• Television Without Pity


• A Story She’ll Probably Make Me Delete When She Turns 12. by Zoot - People were probably wondering why I was laughing out loud at my desk.

Finished A Book: "Book of the Dead"

I finished a book yesterday.

Patricia Cornwell is an author I usually read. I love the Kay Scarpetta books. This one was good but probably not my favorite.

I'm not sure if it is because I was not fully concentrating when I read this, but, I had a hard time remembering people and places. I could be because some of the references were Italian names and I have the tendency to read really fast and may be skipping key elements. Plus, I had the feeling I should be remembering some of the back story from previous books which has since fallen out of my head.

I did think I had the ending figured out early only to find I was wrong.

It kept me interested and was a pretty quick read (it's not easy to finish books these days). I'm looking forward to another book in this series.

Look what I just ordered!

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It's a Shoe Wheel!

I saw a post about it here and just had to get one for myself.
Unfortunately, it is not sold at a store near me so I must wait for it to be shipped.

Can't wait for this to arrive. Perhaps I will once again find the bottom of my closet.

Much better today.

I took my $10 a pill migraine medication last night and now I feel as though I may actually survive the day.

Just thought I'd share.

Carry on.

What is worse than a pounding headache?

What is worse than a pounding headache?

A pounding headache during your appointment at the dentist.

I would like to go home and spend the day wrapped in my comforter. But, the cleaning people will be there sometime today. I prefer to not be there while they are cleaning up our mess. I feel like they are making comments about how slovenly we are. But, I could be way off base. They may be commenting on the weather. (I took high school French. So unless Meghan can translate with her Dora-level Spanish I guess I'll never know.)

Why I am at work even though I still feel sick..

I had a fever so I stayed home from work yesterday. I still feel sick but, cannot be trusted to stay home again. When I am at home, I set my laptop up on the dinning room table. I don't have a picture of the setup but I threw together this quick image if why I cannot stay home again.

Notice the marshmallow-y candies I highlighted. There were much fewer of those by the end of the day. And I was left with both a headache and a tummy ache. And so, today I am in the office.

Easter - The Holiday in Pictures

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Sean's First Haircut

Sean got his hair cut for the first time on Saturday. I took him to Snip-Its. This was a first for both if us since Meghan has not yet had a haircut.

He did great. No tears. We got there right after it opened to avoid any wait. He sat there like a big boy. He did not sit still (of course) and was very interested in the other kids (many of which were crying). It's amazing the hairdresser was able to cut any hair considering his head was constantly on the move.

Here are some pictures of our big boy.

Is Basketball STILL On?

I very much dislike this time of year. I had my fill of basketball a week ago. BEFORE the "real" tournament started. Ryan watches it NONSTOP. He loves it just as much as I hate it. Thankfully we have more than one tv. Otherwise, I would absolutely go insane.

*Edited to say that he has added some sort of cop/police video type show to this weekend's channel surfing....

The bunny is a comin'

Easter is Sunday.

What?

I have never been this far behind in holiday prep. Easter snuck up on me. All of our decorations and baskets are still in the attic. The kids have not gone to the mall to see the Easter bunny. I still have to shop for...stuff. I have not purchased our food for Easter dinner. Eggs need to be dyed.

I could go on.

But I won't.

Time Suckage - A New Feature!

I am going to try something new here. My plan is to document those things that sucked some time out of my day, thereby leaving less time to do what I should/want to be doing. What you'll find here will be pretty scattered (not unlike me at times). Things that have been known to inhale big chunks of my time have been food shopping, Jon & Kate Plus 8 marathons, or trying to fix something that mysteriously broke.

Today, I'll present to you the following*:

http://filler.fizzlebot.com/

This game is a bit addictive and I've been known to play when I should not (like during a conference call when I should be paying attention).

Select the link at your own risk. I cannot be responsible.

* I would link to the ste that introduced me to this game if I could only remember where I saw it.....

Please, not on my TV.

Okay, so maybe these are playing on my TV (which is on. always on.) but that does not mean I am going to sit and watch it.

Children's shows I find creepy or annoying:

Barney - Terribly irritating. Can. Not. Watch.

Doodlebops - Strange colored skin. They are a bit scary.

Oobie - Hands. The entire show you are watching hands.

LazyTown - Some of the characters are beyond creepy. The kind of creepy that would make me walk on the other side of the street if I saw one coming.

I'm sure there are more. Perhaps I will keep updating this entry.

Little Daredevil

Sean likes to hang upside down, squeeze through impossibly small spaces, get thrown in the air and climb. Oh, how he loves to climb. He will climb on anything. I think we need to buy taller safety gates.



Untitled from Dorene on Vimeo.

Oh, and he likes to wiggle.

Sean's Allergy Update.

For those of you who have been following, we had an appointment with the allergist last Monday. Sean's milk allergy was confirmed by a scratch test. He is allergic to both the proteins in milk. So, now we just avoid milk for a year and have him tested again. Seems simple enough (humph).



We also had an appointment with the Growth and Nutrition clinic last week. This was a 90 minute visit which involved lots of talking about his history and eating issues. We talked about the gagging (Oh, the gagging. Will it ever end?) and other problems he has had in the past. The the team goes into another room and watches me feed him through a two-way mirror. And they saw the gagging (at least no puke this time). So they discussed what to do. Their thought is that he has trouble if food is not all one consistency. So he gets surprised if a chunk appears in otherwise smooth food. So we need to stick with one consistency at a time. Cheerios and other crunchy finger foods seem to be fine. But, we need to puree others to the same overall consistency before feeding him.





Plus, he is a bit under weight so there was much discussion on how to fatten him up a bit. Most of their recommendations involve some sort of dairy. In fact, I have a handout of how to introduce more fat into his diet and I think I can use maybe a tenth of it (and that is being generous). That means for the next month Sean gets to eat as much dairy-free ice cream as he wants. Lucky guy.

Sean's (Delayed) Birthday Recap

We had a small party for Sean's 1st Birthday a few weeks ago. (I know, I know. It took me this long to upload the pictures.)

He was generally in a great mood all day. It snowed that morning so we did not go to Gymboree but he still took a good nap before the party started. My original plan was to make all sorts of dairy-free food he could eat. But, since he still gags on solid food. I gave up on that plan and just made my normal party food (except for some special non-dairy cupcakes). Sean also got a special give of vegan cupcakes which looked much better that mine so we used that as his birthday cake.

What's going on?

Yummy.

He still threw up. But just a little bit.

Then it was time to open gifts.

He started off good.

Then decided that the paper was tasty.

Then Meghan reluctantly took over the job of opening the gifts while Sean continued his afternoon snack.

The End.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

You think the hat is too big?

Yup, too big.

She is not a morning person.

They look thrilled, don't they?

Hernia Watch

We took Meghan to see the pediatric surgeon on Tuesday. She did great there. No crying at all. He took a look at her and said she probably does have a hernia but it was very subtle so he was not 100% sure. He wanted an ultrasound to be certain before going into surgery. Made sense to me.

So they just called with our ultrasound appointment. April 9th (whaaat?). And so we wait....

Sean: One Year Stats

Sean had his one year checkup today in what seems like an endless stream of doctors appointments. Here are his numbers:

Weight: 18lbs
Height: 30.5 inches

For those of you following along, yes, he has only gained about half a pound since his 9 month checkup. This may have something to do with the following facts: (1) everyone has been sick this winter and (2) Sean likes to gag and puke up all of his food (especially chunky stuff).

So, I left that appointment with a referral to yet another doctor. Now, in addition to the allergist we will be seeing on Monday, we will be speaking with a growth and nutrition expert. We need to figure out how to get this child to eat more and what he will eat without giving it right back to us. He always seems pretty happy so I don't think we are starving him. But, he also was always happy before we realized he was starving for about 2 months (before doctors realized he had pyloric stenosis).