Today is our 9th wedding anniversary. All this time and 2 kids later, Jens can still crack me up better than anyone. He’s a terrific husband, father, and life partner. He has a heart of gold and it still amazes me that after all this time he continues to love me the way he did when we were newlyweds. (Obviously I managed to hoodwink him somehow.)
I love you Babe, and I look forward to the next 9 years and beyond!
I know it’s been a little quiet around here lately. I don’t like that. Because as much as I love and adore you beautiful people and it warms my heart to read your caring and funny comments, the truth is that I do this blogging thing for me.
For my own ridiculously deficient memory so that later I can look back and relive all those moments I would otherwise have forgotten.
For all those nostalgic moments when I see my kids growing up entirely too fast and wish I could hold onto those pieces of their youth just a little tighter, for just a little longer.
And for my children, so that when they’re older they can look back and see what it was like to be their mother - the milestones, the incredible highs, and yes, even the lows.
So when I don’t get around to posting frequently, it amounts to lost time. A wider gap that will probably never be filled in.
It’s not that every moment needs to be chronicled - I’m not under the illusion that our lives are that important or interesting. But I find that a lot of the moments I treasure in retrospect are not necessarily things I think are that momentous at the time.
[insert subject change]
I took Koren to the ENT today, and it looks as though our dear little boy will be getting tubes. This has been a long time coming and can’t happen soon enough, IMHO. He’s been on a steady stream of antibiotics since January, which bothers me on a couple of levels - not the least of which being that they haven’t actually helped. He STILL has ear infections. Because antibiotics just keep bacteria at bay, but they don’t help the root of the problem, which is the mass of fluid buildup that he just can’t get rid of.
He has made some improvement over the last week after a particularly strong dose of antibiotics (the shots, I don’t recall what they’re called), and he is no longer doing the incessant Nazgul shriek that had me clawing at my own ears. And despite the still-infected ears, he’s a generally happy little guy, which tells you that they must have been REALLY painful before (“puss” is not a term you want to hear when the doctor is describing your child’s inner ear).
So on that front, it looks like we’re heading toward the light at the end of the tunnel. And not a moment too soon.
All in all, the timing of the ear infections was pretty rotten because we had JUST gotten him to start sleeping through the night. But with ear infections and illness, teething, crawling and the general 8-Month Sleep Regression upon us, it pretty much created the perfect storm of CRAP NIGHTS. As in, Child Can’t Sleep AT ALL Unless Mom is Holding Him in the Rocking Chair nights.
There is nothing that throws my own frailty in my face like losing sleep. I mean seriously, I know people who are dealing with cancer, ailing parents, financial horrors, and children diagnosed with debilitating diseases. And here I am, crippled into a sobbing nervous wreck because ONE of my otherwise healthy children has an ear infection and I’ve lost some sleep.
Thankfully, I have a pretty stellar husband who, when I finally asked for some help because I could not handle another night of it without throwing myself down the stairs, took over and let me get a full night in peace. I woke up a new person, with a clear head and a greater appreciation for this partnership called marriage.
The sleeping thing? It’s still not great, but it’s getting better. As I type this, Koren has been asleep in his own bed without assistance for almost 3 hours. And now I’m going to shut up about it before I jinx it and mess up a possible night’s sleep. Ciao!
Oh look! A Blog!
Yeah, it’s been a bit quiet around here lately. I’ve been rather busy, a little from travel, but mostly busy with sick kids. They’re going to have to give me a “frequent customer discount” at the pediatrician’s office.
Koren has been battling the same ear infections for 3+ weeks. It started directly after a weekend of sick, feverish baby (and subsequently, sick, feverish 3-year-old), and led to grumpy recovering baby until the antibiotic took effect. We thought the antibiotic took care of the problem, but then we spilled it half way through and didn’t refill or finish the full 10-day run (I know, Mother of the Year Award, here I come). So a week later we found ourselves back at the doctor and starting a second round of medication.
With Koren on the mend once again, we left the kids with my parents and went out of town for Jens’ cousin’s wedding in Denver, Colorado. It was some much needed time away and a very enjoyable trip.
More pictures of that are below if you log in.
We returned to a rather grumpy baby and the realization that the second round of ear medication hadn’t done a blessed thing. The next day, our little guy declined further and developed a bad case of croup that made both him and me miserable throughout the night and next day, as he was unable to sleep. Steamy showers only seemed to help mildly, but since croup is viral that was the only solution available.
Another trip to the doctor netted us a new round of medication for the double ear infection (that’s #3, for those of you keeping track at home), some steroids for the croup, and the news that it would probably get worse before it got better.
It is now a week later, and a rough week it has been. He’s still messing with his ears, so if that continues past Friday I’ll have to take him in again to assess the ear infection situation. But his mood has improved dramatically and it’s actually possible to make him smile again. I’m so glad to have my happy little guy back to his normal self. Though I will say, I’d forgotten how difficult this kid is to hold on to when he’s well.
Unfortunately, now Kaelin is sick again. She’s had a cough on and off for the past week and today had to stay home with a low-grade fever. Probably my fault for rejoicing yesterday that I would actually get to spend my Mother’s Day Out time NOT taking care of sick kids today… obviously that didn’t work out. At least taking care of a sick 3-year-old is easier than taking care of a sick 8-month-old.
So that’s what’s been keeping me busy. Fun times. One of these days I’ll actually get some time to myself during the day and then maybe I’ll get a load of laundry done or something.
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Because I know you guys can’t get enough about me and Jens. Or maybe you’re just dying for a break from all the political blogging. Got this one from Erin. Though I’m going to cheat and copy/paste some of our About section…
1. Where did you first meet your husband?
Though growing up in what seems like opposite ends of the world (Jens is from Alaska, while I’m a native Texan) we met at Seattle Pacific University in the Theatre department during my freshman and Jens’ sophomore year. During the first quarter we were cast in a fellow student’s directing project, “Words, Words, Words”...as monkeys. I dragged Jens all over Seattle looking for costumes (He had a car. I didn’t.) and now I have blackmail pictures of him in a beanie.
2. What was the first thing you said to your husband?
Ok honestly, I have no idea. Probably something totally boring like, “hi.”
3. Where was your first date?
Um… depends on what you would qualify as a date. We went on a couple of outings, like bowling, that were SUPPOSED to be group events, but somehow nobody else ever showed up. There was a long period of time during which I was in denial that we were actually dating.
4. Where was your first kiss?
In the common room of our dorm. I had recently come out of a relationship that left me rather anti-physical-affection (I wouldn’t even let Jens hold my hand) and one day he decided that he had had enough and just kissed me. And left me standing there in utter shock. And I suddenly realized that maybe kissing wasn’t so bad ...
5. Did you have a long or short engagement/courtship?
It was kinda long. We had to wait until Jens was out of school, so we dated for about 15 months, then were engaged for another 15 months.
6. Where did you get engaged?
Jens flew down to Houston to surprise me and sent me on a wild goose hunt which ended with a huge bouquet of gorgeous roses and him showing up at my door. Of course, he was bent down on one knee so I couldn’t see him and thought there was nobody at the door when I looked out the window. When I finally came back and opened the door, I was so happy to see him that I kept trying to pull him up off the ground for a hug, completely clueless as to what he was doing. Sometimes I don’t pick up on things too quickly.
7. Where did you get married?
Leavenworth, a Bavarian village in the mountains of Washington. It was perfect.
8. How did the reception go?
Great. We had a great turnout, despite the fact that the wedding wasn’t local for ANYBODY. The weather was beautiful. Apparently the food was spectacular, though we didn’t get the chance to eat any of it. But people were still talking about the food at our wedding several years later at other weddings we attended.
9. How was the honeymoon?
Lots of fun. We went to the Bahamas and relaxed at an all-inclusive resort. There were giant thunderstorms every night that would circle the island and move inward, so we would watch the lightening from the beach for an hour and then race back to the room before it started to pour. We tried to get drunk off the free alcohol just for fun, but it was SO BAD that we just couldn’t do it. By the end of the trip, we were ordering virgin daiquiris. The only downsides were when we discovered that Jens is allergic to the sun, and a minor case of food poisoning from one of the restaurants.