Quiz answers

So the correct answer to the quiz is E. Dad is So tired he fell asleep mid day in the car during his lunch break. It was a quick nap, but he is lucky he woke up! To some extent I guess C is also the correct answer...Dad is ready to start a dad only fraternity since hell week can't be much worse than 6 months of sleep deprivation. Dad really likes this idea...the problem is most of his friends don't have kids. He will still let them pledge Lambda Krappa Diaper but he would have to alter the pledging process for them.

Sure hell week would consist of the same sleep deprivation for the dads and non-dads, but he would also throw in things like making the non-dad pledges wipe the exploding diaper poop off the babies using nothing but one quarter of a wet wipe...knowing fair well that they will end up with more poop on their hands then on the wipe. Then things like making them hold a 10lb bag of potatoes with one hand and making a bottle with the other hand in under 1 minute while blindfolded to simulate the dark. Of course all during hell week the pledges would have to listen to nothing but crying babies playing on the stereo all while memorizing The Very Hungry Catepillar and Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See. Once they complete this they are in. At that point they get the Lamda Krappa Diaper T-shirt and are officially brothers.

Chow Hound

Charlotte hit a milestone this weekend. She is now eating solid foods...and liking it! Dad was able to feed her some Oatmeal on Sunday. At first she was having nothing to do with the food...aside from spitting it out and making a mess. Dad was persistent. Eventually that giraffe tongue of hers started coming out and she was slopping up all the oatmeal she could eat! Dad even filled it up again (remember at first she made a mess so half of it was now on her). She then ate helping number two. Mom yelled...GET THE PEARS! Dad made a b-line to the freezer and microwave to heat up the pears. Of course he over cooked them until scalding hot, so he added some formula and more oatmeal. She then ate that!! Amazing.

Now if we could only get her to sleep through the night.

Dad is:
A. Loving getting only 4 hours of sleep a night
B. Starting night time hobbies like stargazing and hunting for worms
C. Ready to start a dad only fraternity since hell week can't be any worse than 6 months of sleep deprivation
D. Able to see in the dark like a cat
E. So tired he fell asleep mid day in the car during his lunch break.

The answer to the quiz above will be given tomorrow. If you know dad any of them could be the right answer.

PS. Dad left Mom and Charlotte and Abigail and Oliver in Vermont for the week. What time is dad going to sleep on Monday night????

One Less Organ

Mom now has one less organ in her body. At about 8:45am today the doc took out her gallbladder. She is still in the hospital and will be spending the night. Dad and Nanny are watching Charlotte. So far so good (dad leans over and knocks on wood).

Charlotte was great at the hospital today. She took almost a two hour nap. Dad and Nanny walked the hall back and forth pushing Charlotte in her stroller as she slept. There are 170 steps from one end of the hallway to the other end. It takes about 2 minutes to walk from one end to the other. According to dad each step is approximately 2.25 feet. If his math is right (yes feel free to confirm for us) he walked 4.4 miles today with Nanny. Yes, these are the things dad thinks about instead of thinking about his wife in surgery.

After mom got out of surgery she was really feeling sick and was not looking so good. Dad took Nanny and Charlotte home and then came back to spend time with mom making sure she was ok. As the day went on she started feeling better. He had dinner with her (not much of a dinner for mom)....and made sure she could get up and around. Then he came home and mowed the lawn. Guess how many steps that was? Dad doesnt know...he didnt need to think about it because mom's surgery was already over.

Hopefully mom will get a nice nights sleep at the Hotel de Eliot Hospital. She needs one. Dad doesn't think she had a full night of uninterrupted sleep for over 8 months. Hopefully she will be released tomorrow (dad reaches over and knocks on wood again).

Mom almost made dad cry tonight. As he was saying goodnight to her and rubbing her head, she asked...."am I done now?" A finger, c-section, broken foot, now gallbladder. Dad certainly hopes so.

ps. the good news. Mom got her cast off. She has a lovely walking cast (it looks like a ski boot). She still has to use crutches but should be walking soon!

Back from VT

Mom, Charlote, Abigail, Oliver, and Nanny all arrived back from Vermont today. As promised here are some pictures from the weekend!

Fathers Day Weekend

Dad celebrated his first Fathers Day in Vermont. He opened his presents from mom and charlotte (a very nice cookbook and a Polo shirt) and then took little Charlotte for a walk around the neighborhood in the 90 degree heat. Shortly after they hit the pool for Charlottes first swim (pictures to follow when mom gets back from VT). Nanny bought Charlotte a little raft to float in and she loved it! It was like having her own boat. Dad made boat noises behind her while he pushed her in the raft. It was so hot outside but nice and cool in the pool.

Saturday dad, Ian, and Michael went riding on the dirtbikes in the Green Mountain National Forest. They rode for hours finding new roads and exploring. Of course, they only got lost a couple of times and eventually made it back to the house.

Mom is coming home today (tuesday). Tomorrow she gets her cast off her foot and replaced with a walking cast!! Charlotte hopes that she is able to carry her around and be a little more mobile. Mom hopes so too. Thursday morning mom is having her gallbladder out and will probably be staying in the hospital for a night. Dad thinks its a good idea so she can get some rest. Lets hope it all goes well and mom is back on her feet for the weekend!

No More Doctors Please

That was running through Charlottes head. She had her 6 month checkup today. She is doing great! Almost 15 lbs and she is growing like crazy. She has caught up to the median curve for weight & height. Then came the shots. Lots and lots of shots. We tried to spread them out the last time but with everything going on right now the last thing we want are additional doctors appointments. So at this point we just said give them to her, let em rip doc. So it was two in one leg, and one in the other. Of course Charlotte SCREAMED for dear life...but seemed to get over it pretty quick. She loved sitting on the doctors table playing with the paper. She loves to touch everything, especially things that make noise.

After her appointment dad met mom and Jaci at the other doctors appointment. As we suspected mom's gallbladder needs to come out. So she will be going in for surgery next Thursday. Hopefully it will go well and she won't have to spend the night. Regardless it's going to be a tough week. Mom has another doctors appointment on Wednesday with her foot surgeon. So as you can see next week is going to be fun, hence the title....No More Doctors Please!

On a lighter note Mom is leaving dad tomorrow for a little vacation in Vermont. We aren't sure who is really getting the vacation...mom being away from dad for a night or dad not waiting on mom for a night. I think mom is going to enjoy being away from dad more.

Who Wants Food?

Charlotte certainly doesn't. So we started with potatoes. She didn't like those. We then tried carrots. She didn't like those. Then sweet potatoes. Still no luck. Mom finally tried a frozen banana and she liked it. Notice how I said liked and not loved. For now she doesn't seem to like breast milk, or formula, or cereal, or anything else for that matter. She eats for a minute or two and then stops. For one, her teeth are coming in. Her gums are bulging, she has been really fussy. She seems to really like frozen washcloths.

So take her picky eating habits out of it and she is doing great! She loves sitting up and loves to roll over. She also loves to ride around the house on dads shoulders, smiling from ear to ear at how high she is. Dad wishes he was that tall too! Poor kid...Genetically she has short families on both sides.

Dad had planned on updating this blog every day. Funny how one day turns into the next as life spins by at it's hectic pace. We have had a few rough months and time continues to fly by at lightning speed. The one good thing about any of this is dad really appreciates the family he has created. He has realized while he tries to update this blog on a regular basis...he rarely takes the time to sit back, tell his wife how much he loves her and just enjoy the time while he can. We all know that life is too short but we rarely do anything about it. He hopes that everyone reading this, if only for one day or one night...goes home...gives their spouse a big hug and kiss and spends a few extra minutes with their kids.

The results are in.....

So the results came back for Shelby's gallbladder ultrasound and we found out she has polyps on her gallbladder. Not really the news we wanted to hear. It would have been nice if they found chunks of gold or diamonds on her gallbladder....but instead they found polyps. So next week we get to meet yet another surgeon who will probably take her gallbadder out. As for the surgery itself, it looks like it is rather quick and easy. They will have to test the polyps but it sounds like the majority of gallbladder polyps are benign. I think we have both had enough with doctors for a while.

Thankfully Nanny will be in Vermont soon so Shelby can get out of the house and get away to relax. She has not had a very fun fall, winter, or spring. Summer actually begins on the 21st of this month. Let's hope and pray we have an enjoyable summer.

Bouncy Bouncy Baby

This weekend was pretty uneventfull. Based on our prior weekends we are A OK with that. The less that happens the better at this point. :) It was a rainy weekend so aside from a little grocery shopping and a run to the dump, mom and dad and Charlotte stayed in. Saturday we watched movies. Sunday we watched tv. In between the television and movie watching we did hook up Charlottes bungee jumper that Hayley and Mike and Piper gave us. That provided some entertainment as you can see by the pictures. Dad also tried his hand at cooking some food for Ms. Charlotte. He made some potatoes and some carrots. The potatoes were not a hit at all. Charlotte quickly clammed up and refused any more. The carrots went over much better but still not great. Dad has a feeling she is going to love sweet potatoes. Maybe he should also try asparagus and brussell sprouts?

Sunday morning Jon, Tracey, Paul, & Jena came over so we could all go to the Fireman's Breakfast down the street at the firestation. Hard to believe has already been a month! Mom finally ate something other than yogurt and macaroni & cheese and ice pops. She had some home fries and english muffins without any problem, as well as shephards pie. She has her ultrasound on Tuesday to check out her innerds. Lets hope it goes well and she doesn't need a new gallbladder. (they wont give her a new one, just take the old broken one out).

Charlottes eating but mom can't

Charlotte started eating Cereal. She had some last night and slept like a rock. Let's see if it works tonight. She doesn't seem to mind it too much although dad has to make funny noises to get her to open her mouth up so he can feed her. As you can tell by the picture most of it ends up on her face and not in her mouth...but hey...she is getting used to it.

As for mom her stomach is still bothering her. She went to the doctor on Wednesday and found out she did have mastitis again. Ontop of that the doctor wants to check her gallbladder because of her stomach pain. Since her dad had his out and her cousin had hers out...who knows what will happen. Mom and dad should be hitting their medical insurance deductible very soon.

One legged, c-section, chopped finger, breast infected, stomach pain Mom. We love her.