At 9 Months

At nine months my little guy is growing way to fast. I find myself wanting to hog all of his attention just because it's going all too fast. I just want to freeze him and savor each moment. His cheeks are way too squishing and warm and his jac-o-lantern toothy grin just melts me heart.

A few little tidbits about the "other" man in my life:

*18 lbs 1 oz. and 18 1/4 inches. I'm still wondering how he can only be in the 20% when he weighs two pounds more than his sister did at this age. That darn boy vs girl scale!

*He eats more than I have seen any kid his size eat. Even my father in law will vouch for this. I don't know where the kids hides it.
* Favorite foods include anything not tied down that can be put in the mouth. He loves guacamole, bananas, squash and cheerios.
* Still takes three naps a day and sleeps through the night

*I love how he is trying to be brave my doing his sweet little toe taps and full body bouncing while trying to muster up the courage to make it from one piece of furniture to the other. Then when he has, giggling out of pure joy and self satisfaction.

*I love how he lights up in the morning when his big sister comes in to snuggle with me in bed and we play and play in bed before finally giving in to the fact that we need to get out.

* I love that his concentration can be so intense that he removes himself from his support system and stands all on his own for about 1 minute. Then he realizes he is standing by himself, freaks out and sits down.

* I love how thrilled he is that he can walk behind his "toot-toot" all by himself. (I don't love that he will be walking in a short while.)

* I love how he will cuddle into me and his blanket, but it just isn't quite enough if he doesn't have his thumb in his mouth.

* I love the crazing ways the kid can sleep and truth be told I love that right now I am his favorite and safest person!

So, so grateful to have my skinnier, but squishy babe to love for the rest of my life.

Random Ramblings..not for a weak stomach

Todd is currently on the ortho spine service. He has been on call the last 6 days in a row. It's been a bittersweet 6 days. Although he is allowed to stay home during the call time, he may still have to go into the hospital a few times a night. Most of the time he is able to handle the situations from home over the phone. Lucky for me I get to hear most of the phone conversation.

It generally goes somethings like this:

"So and so was injured in a ATV/auto accident and has an incomplete spinal cord injury from C or T or L spine on. There is or is not nerve damage or there is, they have weakness from here to here and then blah, blah, blah."

By this point my stomach is in knots and I'm wondering if spending the night with a garbage can next to the bed is my safest bet. Generally, I can handle most medical jargon and descriptions even if it is over the dinner table. However, there are a few things I just can not stomach! One of them is a discussion about spinal cord injuries and the other is dealing with a patient who has staples in his or her head. (Oh, and of course, my famous post about practically passing out on mother's day into a surgeon's sterile field.)

You can give me a patient with all kinds of nasty drains and tubes or intestines hanging out and I'm totally fine. There is just something about the spinal cord that makes me feel unbelievably nauseous. Perhaps it is because it is such a vital part of the body. You screw it up and your life is forever altered. Now the hole staples in the head I think is quite self explanitory.

When I get a patient at work with staples in their head I really have to focus to keep it together. I have even gone as far as to ask the neighboring nurse to tell me if there was any reason for concern with my patient with staples in his head when I was pregnant. I knew that if I had had to look at it there would have been dier consequences.

So, you can only imagine the waves of nausea I have experienced over the last month and a half and more specifically the last 6 days!

Fun Pics~9 months

It was a serious group effort to get these pictures of Joey. I was laying on my stomach trying to get the best shot before he would crawl away and Katie was doing all sorts of acrobatics to get him to smile, laugh, drool etc..

I think they turned out pretty well. Now I just have to decide which I like the best.

A Very Good Week

Just wanted to document the financial crisis for posterity's sake.

So, despite the fact that my 401K, Katie & Joey's college funds look like this~

It's been a great week!

Lots to be grateful for:

Love, love, love my husband and babes!!

Certainly enjoyed the uplifting and inspiring talks at conference.

Beautiful fall colors.

An awesome/flexible job.

A husband who works soo hard.

(I don't think he left for work later than 4 am or went to bed before 11pm everyday and was on call three nights this week. One night I don't think he slept at all!)

A supercool mom who tends to my babes while I go tend to other peoples' children's wounds.

I could go on, but I think that'll do for today!

Seriously, so tired of this~

Seriously, is anyone else as sick of this as I am? I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I'm simply a woman who votes for whomever I deem most qualified. I am baffled as to how out of all the people in America we ended up with these two as potentional leaders of our great nation. (Of course, I am baffled as to how we ended up with George Bush as well~and I voted for him.)

After watching the debate the other night and leaving the room out of pure frustration I am at a loss as to what sort of vote to cast. Todd has even said he took some online questionaire that was supposed to help you decide which candidate fits you. Neither candidate works for him. Shocking, right. Wrong. I think there are many Americans who are feeling at loss about who to vote for. It seems as though all these two would like to do is argue. They couldn't even answer the questions asked of them the other night. No, they just talked about things the other had or had not voted about. And lets be honest here, none of us really knows what information was even contained in half of those bills they referred to, so really what are we supossed to believe? Lets talk about things that the general public can understand.

I'm probably most annoyed with both their thoughts on healthcare and taxes. Mccain's plan is an absolute nightmare, while Obama's is leading us closer to socialism. And, being someone surrounded by the healthcare field I feel I have a bit of knowledge on this subject. I absolutely agree with Obama that healthcare needs to be manditory, but not just for children, for everyone. But, I don't think we all should be responsible to pay for it. Yes, there are those people out there who truly can't afford healthcare and really need the help. By all means, lets help them. But more often that not, I see people come into Primary's for surgery and their parent's have electively chosen to not purchase health insurance. They have great jobs are dressed well and have just decided it's not important. Come on people, you are required to have car insurance before you can drive!! If you don't there is a hefty fine and potential license suppension. Of course people don't let this lapse or they couldn't drive. Why will they not insure their children??! It should be a part of your regular bills. Something you pay for before you are able to buy the newer bigger car, boat, clothes etc.

I think Mitt Romney had a great idea for healthcare. He has already implemented it in Mass. Everyone is required by law to purchase healthcare insurance. If you REALLY can't afford it then you are given some help from the government to still purchase your own. You are not handed your insurance plan on a silver platter from the government. (I believe this is the plan in a nutshell-correct me if I'm wrong, please.)

It would just be nice if we had a politician who really cared about the betterment of the American people. So something wasn't your idea. Someone has a better idea than you, adopt it. No one would think lesser of you, infact, they would probably think better of you.

Oh, and how about a flat tax across the board. Then everyone would be paying an equal amount into the system. No more of this complicated deduction crap. Anyone else hate figuring their taxes as much as I do. We can all figure out 10% of our income. End of story, I will get off my political soapbox.

Seriously, mourning the fact that this man is not a choice.

Words to think about...

Ok, it is entirely too late for me to be awake! But, my favorite show of all time, Meet Joe Black, was on. I have loved it since I first saw it almost 10 years ago! It doesn't matter how many times I see it, it still makes me cry. Admist it's crazy ideas and awkward moments with Brad Pitt as death, it has some of the best advice for life. I often wonder what I would do with my life, if I knew I only had a few days left. The same holds true for a family member.

The following quotes are from Bill Parrish:

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived. "

"Trust, responsibility, taking the weight for your choices and feelings, and spending the rest of your life living up to them. And above all, not hurting the object of your love. "

" I loved Susan from the moment she was born, and I love her now and every minute in between. And what I dream of is a man who will discover her, and that she will discover a man who will love her, who is worthy of her, who is of this world, this time and has the grace, compassion, and fortitude to walk beside her as she makes her way through this beautiful thing called life."

"I thought I was going to sneak away tonight. What a glorious night. Every face I see is a memory. It may not be a perfectly perfect memory. Sometimes we had our ups and downs. But we're all together, and you're mine for a night. And I'm going to break precedent and tell you my one candle wish: that you would have a life as lucky as mine, where you can wake up one morning and say, "I don't want anything more." Sixty-five years. Don't they go by in a blink? "

Beautiful Fall Colors!

Wow! Aren't we lucky to live in such a beautiful world....

I must admit that fall is my favorite time of the year. There is a crispness in the air that is so refreshing. I think it even smells different. The sky seems to be a different and capitivating color of blue. Granted these pictures were taken on the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, but the leaves around the Wasatch Front aren't too bad. It truly was an aspiring photographers paradise!