What to get Daddy for Christmas

I was shopping with Katelyn today picking up a few last minute gifts for family. I hadn't even though of having Katelyn pick out something for her Daddy - I figured if she didn't think of it, why should I force her to? - and have him shop with her for something for me, but my sister asked me about that, so the idea was in my head. So I asked her what she thought Daddy might like for Christmas as a present. We were wandering down an aisle of knick-knacks and there was a cute one of a daddy/daughter, the pedestal reading "I'll always be Daddy's little girl". I told her maybe Daddy would like that. She firmly said, "No, he wouldn't like that. He wants... a piggy bank! This one!" And she proceeded to pick up a ceramic pink piggy. The people walking the aisle with us chuckled as I explained that Daddy would probably like something else. She asked, "Why? Doesn't he like my piggy bank?" "Well, sure, honey, Daddy loves your piggy bank, but maybe he'd like something different." She puzzled over that for a few minutes, then left the topic with "Okay, but I still think he'd like the pink one."

A couple of pictures

"Hide" and Seek

So I'm sitting here at the computer, checking my facebook and myspace, returning emails, etc. David's playing with the kiddos in the back of the house. I mostly tuned out what they're doing, but some loud shouting caught my attention. David's counting to ten and saying "Ready or not, here I come! Hmmm... where could Katelyn be?" I start to smile at their game, then start laughing as I hear Katelyn shout "Here I am, Daddy!" He says, "Is she in the bathroom?" "NO! Daddy, I'm in Jonathan's room!" she shouts. "Hmm... not in the bathroom. Is she maybe in laundry room." "NO! I'm in Jonathan's room, Daddy! Come get me!"

Maybe she's not really hiding, but the game seems like a lot of fun.

Introducing....

While David and I were at choir practice tonight, my parents were babysitting for us. My dad (whom our kids call Papa) was playing with both of them in Katelyn's room when she came up with a new game for them - "Let's have a show!" She wanted Papa to introduce her to the "stage" in front of her mirror, and then he made music for her to dance to. I guess she did this with him for 15 minutes or so, adding little bits to the game as they went. My dad started to add to the introduction until it was something like this: "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome to the Disneyland stage, Miss Katelyn Rose Marley!" Then he'd cheer, she'd run in, say "Tada!" and then start dancing. Then she decided that she wanted to do the talking and introduce Papa. She began, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'd like to welcome Papa Rose Marley!" She later (to save time I guess) shortened the intro title to "Papa Rose".

Obviously, we need to work on what full names are, but I think Papa Rose is pretty catchy, don't you?

Halloween Conversations

Katelyn has been enthralled with dressing up for Halloween, even though it's over. She keeps asking me, "Mommy, what did you be for Halloween?" And I'll remind her that I dressed up as a fairy, just like her (no, you don't get to see pictures of that). So I asked her what Jonathan was and she said, "He's a little skunker." Ahh... so cute. Here's a pic of the skunker himself and his big sister, the pink fairy:

More Katelyn-isms

We went out to dinner with my parents tonight to celebrate my mom's birthday. Katelyn ate her beans and rice, and then wanted to make "strawberry soup" in her cup. Papa convinced her that adding various ingredients to her soda would not be tasty, and gave her the mostly empty salsa bowl to make soup in instead. She gleefully added rice, beans, cheese, chip pieces, etc. and stirred away. When she was satisfied that it was done, she actually took a bite of her "yummy soup" - I wish I had a picture here to show you her face, but she stuck her tongue out and said "Yucky!" Followed promptly by, "Here, Papa, you eat some!" What a sharer! (P.S. for those of you who are curious, Papa did actually take a bite of her soup and then laughed with her about how yucky it was!)

My daughter is Don Quixote

Keri, Katelyn and I were driving out to 29 Palms last weekend for our cousin Matthew's 2nd birthday. On the way, we passed hundreds of windmills and every time she saw one, Katelyn would shout "Windmill!" She spent lots of time talking about them and she even tried to count them (1-26, then 27, 28, 29, 26, 27, 28, 29, 26, 27, 28, 29, 40!). Finally, she told me, "Mommy, we got to drive right up there and bump into that windmill!" Why? Because it's there! No other reason needed.

Favorites at 3

So (stealing the idea from a friend's blog), I sat down with Katelyn today and asked her about her favorite things now that she's 3 years old. Here are her answers:

Color - white
Toy - Tambourine (she doesn't even own one... though there's one at Mooma's house)
Thing to eat - bananas (what she was eating when I asked her)
Place to go - Disneyland (though she first said "Carls' Jr for chicken stars" and "Old MacDonald's for chicken nuggets, before I narrowed it down to NOT a restaurant)
Book - Elmo Brushes His Teeth
Ice cream - vanilla
Song - I may never march in the infantry
Bible Story - Cinderella (it's in Leviticus... you know...) and Noah's Big Boat
Dinner that Mommy makes - Chicken and rice

She also wanted me to write down another of her favorites: tools and fixing things!

Happy Birthday to YOU!

My baby girl turned three years old today! We had her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed birthday party on Sunday with a small group of family and friends - she wasn't overwhelmed and had a great time. We started out forcing our guests to watch all her birthday montages (just three of them, but they're probably 15 minutes each!), which I could watch over and over again. I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. She's not a baby anymore! Anyway, after the DVDs, we had hotdogs and hamburgers for dinner, followed by present opening, swimming (for the kiddos) and then cake (a fantastic Mickey Mouse creation made by my friend Mandy). It was a great evening and Katelyn was thrilled. Of course, she knew it wasn't really her birthday yet - that was today, with a trip to Disneyland!

We picked up TeeTee on our way to the park this morning and got there and in the park in record time, though I did lose my pass briefly and ended up paying for parking even though I didn't have to! We met Aunt Amanda, Alysse and Jaden near the parking structure and rode in together. Katelyn got her first Disneyland pass with her own picture on it - quite exciting. Now that she's three, apparently she'll be doing SO much more in the park that she should have to pay the same as the adults do (I really can't believe that the kids annual passes are the same cost as the adults!). We went straight back to the Princess Fantasy Faire where Katelyn had planned to get her hair done with Alysse, but at the last minute, she freaked out and decided she'd rather have a new princess nightgown than get her hair done. Fair enough! Alysse's hair turned out adorably and Jaden got a blue dragon painted on his face - super cool! The kids went to the stage for the Royal Coronation Ceremony where they learned to bow and curtsy, dance and sing like princes & princesses. It was precious. Then we met with three Disney princesses and got pictures with them.

Katelyn had been talking about going on the carousel for the past few weeks, so we headed there next. As we waited in line, she enthused about "going up then down, up then down" and she eagerly looked for a horse to ride... however, once we got her on a horse, she freaked out and wanted me to ride with her. She held her hands over her ears the whole time. *Sigh* My sensitive little princess.

We then went to California Adventure to have lunch at Ariel's Grotto with the princesses (sensing a theme here, aren't you!?), but were turned away. Apparently they only seat at specific times, though this isn't mentioned anywhere online or in the brochures you can pick up at the park entrance. Very frustrating, especially as the day was REALLY hot and we were definitely ready to sit in some air conditioning and eat! To keep the kids from getting upset, we went to the Bug's Life land where there are some water fountains to play in. The kids all loved this, and we stayed there almost an hour. We moved on to have lunch at the Storyteller's Cafe at the Grand Californian hotel. This was a GREAT idea, as the place was quiet and cool, and we were seated immediately. The waiter brought ice water pretty much as soon as we sat down, including cool collectible cups for the kids. The menu was kid friendly, but great for us grownups too, and the breadbasket was kept full. What a blessing! At the end of the meal, Katelyn got a cute little chocolate mousse cake with a Mickey Mouse head in chocolate on top, plus two chocolate chip cookies for the other kids - all for FREE! I was amazed! This place really knew how to make you feel special!

It was getting close to rush hour traffic time, so we had to decide to either leave or stay another couple hours. Katelyn wanted to "run around", so we stopped in a grassy area at the hotel for a while, then headed to the car. She fell asleep 5 minutes into the trip and slept almost all the way home.

We met Mooma, Uncle Josh, Daddy and Jonathan at home and went to John's Incredible Pizza for dinner (at Katelyn's request). She barely ate, then dragged Daddy to the arcade/game area. We got home around 8pm - late for her, but it's only her birthday one day a year! - and she went down like a dream.

I just have to say:

• I love that Katelyn thinks that "Happy Birthday" is some sort of greeting. Every time a Disney castperson said it to her, she said "Happy birthday to YOU!"
• I love that, though Katelyn is very sensitive, she thinks nothing of stripping off all her clothes in the middle of the Bug's Life water play place (don't worry, I didn't let her, she just started to!)
• I love that Katelyn is talking about today like it was the best day of her life, even though she cried at just about everything we'd planned to do.
• I love that after John's Pizza tonight, I drove the car up to the door to pick up my family and Katelyn said "I missed you, Mommy!" and "I love you so much, Mommy" even though I'd only been gone for a minute.
• I love that Katelyn is a snuggle bug and that, even though she's three now, she still wants "to hold me" (her words).
• I love Katelyn Rose Marley!!!

Tag! You're It!

I've been tagged by my aunt to answer the following questions with pictures, so here goes!

• Where was I born?
  

Desert Hospital in Palm Springs - though it's called something else now. I called my dad and asked him where I was born and he couldn't remember... but when I listed hospitals in Palm Springs, he figured it out. Good ol' dad!

• A guilty pleasure

Okay, okay, so I know there shouldn't be anything guilty about reading, but the guilt part comes from all the money I spend on books!

• Favorite movies
  

I have to agree with Aunt Annette - my favorite movie currently is The Dark Knight. Just fantastic.

• Favorite restaurants
  

So I really like to eat at Macaroni Grill, but if we're talking about frequency of visits...

• Favorite color
  

• Favorite place to shop
  

I can spend entirely too much money here - clothes for the kiddos, scrapbook stuff, cleaning supplies...

• Favorite vacation
  

Hawaii with my parents, Josh and Keri in 2003

• Favorite car

I really don't have one, but I can show you one I don't like

• Favorite flower

• Dream career

I'd absolutely love to be a professionally trained chef. You'll notice I didn't say I want to be a chef, just want the training. I'd love to be able to cook that good at home for entertaining and sharing with my family and friends. Other than that, I love my current career: Wife and Mom!

• Favorite hobby

If I could, I'd tag my best friend, Amanda, to do the same. She has no blog, but maybe she'll figure out something on her website. :o)

I'm too little to get in the TV - and other wisdom from the mouths of children

I was sitting and watching TV with Katelyn one morning when Mickey Mouse came on the screen. Knowing we'd be visiting Disneyland soon, I asked her if she wanted to give Mickey a hug (meaning when we went to Dland). She replied with the title phrase - "Mommy, I'm too little to get in the TV!"

~~~

Katelyn has had a slight fear of elevators for the past few months - not exactly sure why! She's also been potty training. You may not think those two things have anything in common, but wait for it... One day I took her to go potty at a restaurant bathroom. As I sat her down on the potty, she looked around the stall and asked "Mommy, is this an elevator? Are we going up, or down?"

~~~

My best friend and I are discussing taking a road trip up to Oregon to visit her family there. We'll have to take our kids with us, but I was trying to figure a way to see if Jonathan could stay home - would make the long drive much easier! - and I was concerned about finding child care for him. My friend's daughter, who just turned 6, logically asked why David couldn't take care of Jonathan. When I explained that David would have to be working while we were gone, she thought about it for a minute, then said, "That's easy. Uncle David could just take him to work. He could work, work, work, until Jonathan got hungry. Then he could feed him, then work. Feed, work, feed, work. See! It's easy!"

Maybe No Surgery

So, after talking over my surgery situation with my physical therapist (a family friend), he recommended one more orthopedic surgeon to get an opinion from before I made any decisions. Since he’s pretty familiar with most of the ortho’s in this area, I figured it made sense to follow his advice. So, I made an appointment with yet another doctor for this coming Monday, the 28th. However, since my surgery was scheduled for the 25th, that wouldn’t do much good! I cancelled the surgery for this Friday and didn’t reschedule at this time, so I could wait and see what the other two orthopedics say after reviewing my situation.

I met with Dr. Haider today, the doctor who did my uncle’s fusion surgery 6 months ago. My P.T. said this doctor tends to lean towards fusions more than alternate methods, so I was all prepared for him to give me a quick “Yes, you need surgery.” Thank goodness I was wrong! Though it does make things more confusing, it’s still nice to hear someone who is as knowledgeable as him tell me I don’t need surgery right now! Basically he said that my L4 disc is in really bad shape (as we knew already), but that there is no need to worry about paralysis. He said a fusion wouldn’t be needed at this point, but if I get really bad sciatica pain again sometime, a diskectomy might be appropriate, fusion if the low back pain is intolerable. He gave me a booklet of things to do to help keep my back in shape, plus encouraged my doing physical therapy exercises to strengthen my core and back muscles.

I see the other doctor on Monday morning, and now I’m not sure at all what to expect, but I’m thrilled to not be getting cut open this Friday!

Anything But Surgery

Had my orthopedic appointment and after seeing the newest MRI and X-rays, the doctor is recommending fusion surgery on three levels. (1) the level (L4) that has degenerated the most and shows major protrusion, (2) the level below that one (L5), not because the disc has any issues, but because my vertebrae are not aligned and the bones aren't giving much stability, and (3) the level right above the worst one (L3), because it's showing degeneration already and fusion below it will put more pressure on it. After much prayer and consideration, we went ahead and scheduled the surgery for Friday, July 25th. However, we wanted to get as much information in the meantime that we could.

I'm going to call my physical therapist from the last time I hurt my back (he's also a family friend) and see what he thinks. He knows all the orthopedic surgeons in the area, so his opinion about them is valuable. He also might think that I don't need to pursue surgery at this point, and might suggest more P.T. instead. I see my chiropractor on Thursday afternoon and plan on getting his input on the situation as well.

In the meantime, my uncle (who recently had fusion surgery on his L5 disc) was visiting us this evening and I wanted to pick his brain about the pain he had pre-surgery and how the recovery has gone since surgery. Basically, he was having some similar symptoms prior to surgery that I was experiencing this Feb-June: sciatica pain down the right leg, pain in the low back, etc. He said when he came to after the surgery, he was in so much pain he wanted to kill the doctor for not telling him how much pain he'd be in. He said the pain continued to be excruciating for a good while afterwards, though he was able to go home in 3 days. The part that got me was that he said today, six months after the surgery, though he doesn't have the sciatica or low back pain, he is stiff and sore and still can't/won't bend over. I can't imagine not being able to bend down for 6+ months! It's a zillion times a day position for a stay-at-home mom of an almost 3 year old and a 7 month old baby! As my uncle was leaving the house this evening, my mom (his sister) wanted to take a look at his scar from the surgery. We saw it and mom said, "You'll have one just like it!" to me. My uncle said - "Maybe. I had a friend who had to have fusion on several levels and they had to do a 14+ inch incision from his stomach to his side, plus the 6-7 inch one on his back in order to get at the spine the way they needed to. Maybe you'll have scars like that."

Okay, so I share all this because, before tonight, I was pretty scared about surgery. Now, I'm terrified. I'm willing to do anything to avoid surgery. I plan on checking in with my physical therapist and starting that up again. I need to find a nutritionist/accountability person to help me eat better, and someone (personal trainer, etc.) to help me exercise, since my weight is a serious problem for my back issues. Somehow we'll have to find the money to do this because I just can't face the idea of surgery if that's what I have to look forward to. At least not at this point while I'm still feeling pretty good. I covet the prayers of my family and friends - this is the toughest thing I've had to deal with in my life so far, which I'm grateful for! Some people have it much worse! But it's still hard for me and I'll take all the help and support I can get!

Grain of Rice Principle

Okay, so I'm sure you've all heard of this already - the grain of rice thing. If someone gives just one grain of rice, it's not enough to feed anyone, but if large numbers of people each give a grain, then we can make some dinner (or at least a side dish). Now obviously there's a deeper meaning to this principle than just rice... we're talking about money, of course! I remember thinking through this one day, how if all the students at CBU (my alma mater) would give just $1 each month, they could sponsor 100 kids through Compassion or a similar program. If all the churches in the U.S. would do the same, - heck, even just the churches in Riverside - we could start to seriously address the issues of poverty and hunger in the world!

This is all on my mind because a good friend of mine, who is getting married this Saturday, asked that in lieu of a gift for the wedding, for people to sponsor a child through Compassion. David and I have been sponsoring a little boy in Ethiopia since 2004 (Nahom), and decided to pick a little girl from Ethiopia as our gift for Rose & Aaron's wedding. I'm very excited about it - have a whole wall and shelf at my house set up to display "our kids'" pictures and to remind us to pray for Africa, Ethiopia in particular. We picked a little girl, 7 years old, named Kalkidan who loves music (plays an instrument and loves to sing), since music is such a big part of our lives. I think sponsoring a child in this way is great thing to do, not only for David and I, but for our kids to be a part of as they grow up.

Now, to bring this principle down to home, I'm thinking it'd be a great thing if everyone I knew would give me just a couple bucks a month...

Incredibly smart, or incredibly stupid

One + Two = See Above Title

One: I'm very tired. Jonathan has gotten in the habit of dropping his pacifier 2-5 times a night and crying loudly for us to replace it for him. In addition to these wakings, my back still doesn't let me sleep in one position for very long, so I constantly rotate back and forth like a rotisserie chicken throughout the night (*ding!* That side is done! Now roll!). At least the late pregnancy bathroom breaks throughout the night have ceased! It's amazing how I can go 8+ hours without peeing now... (I'm still close enough to the experience to be astounded by this).

Two: I love to read. My parents instilled in me a great love of reading from my early childhood. Apparently my sister taught me to read when I was 3 years old. She came home from kindergarten every day and spent the afternoon teaching me what she'd learned (I have to take my parents word on this evidence of my early genius since said genius does not extend to my ability to remember things.). Since then I have spent countless hours reading - historical fiction, devotionals, non-fiction, foodie books, romances, mysteries, law novels, fantasies, etc.

One of the side effects of all this reading is that I have come down with CPD syndrome. For those of you unfamiliar with this term, let me break it down for you. Half the world's readers have Can't Put it Down syndrome*. This terrible disease compels the reader to complete an entire book without putting it down regardless of circumstances around him or her. None of the prissy "I'll just read til the end of the chapter" stuff - this is hard core, can't stop reading until the final page. It's incredibly difficult to live with.

Here's the dilemma: "they" say it's important to instill a lifelong love of reading into your children by reading to them at least 20 minutes a day. My parents did this for me - in fact, they probably exceeded this amount 99% of the time. As a result, I have CPD, and though I'm ridiculously tired, I spent 3 hours last night finishing a book when I should have been sleeping. So, tell me, am I incredibly smart (i.e. "lifelong love of reading" wins out) or am I incredibly stupid!?

*This statement does not have any valid research to support it... I made it up... so sue me.

New Blog

I've found that I don't blog much on MySpace, so I figured I'd take up more space online with... no blogs... well, we'll see. I'll try to write here and keep you up to date on the workings of my mind. This is also a nice change from my short writings on my family website. So, enjoy!