Sunday, December 30, 2007
"Ry, I have a feeling I'm about to get pulled over..."
Officer: "Good Evening. Do you know why I pulled you over?"
Stormy: "No sir, not really."
Officer: "Well you swerved back there into the bike lane, and well, it's the holidays, I want to make sure that you're not driving under the influence or talking on your cell phone."
Stormy: "No officer, it was neither, I sneezed." (I refrained from mentioning that I was holding my legs together to avoid pee-ing my pants. Considering I had to pee like a Russian race horse and the baby feels like it's literally sitting on my bladder!)
Officer: "Oh, okay. That makes perfect sense. How about you give me your driver's license, registration, and insurance information."
Stormy: "Sure, no problem. Sweetheart can you help me find the insurance card and registration?"
Officer: "I'll be back and you can keep looking."
(about 5 minutes later)
Officer: "Were you able to find that information?"
Stormy: "Well, we found an expired insurance card and registration from Utah, we're still working on it."
Officer: "Okay, then. I can check to see if your insurance was renewed. Be right back."
(another 5 minutes later)
Stormy: "We found the Oregon registration!"
Officer: "Thank you ma'm. Well everything checks out just fine. I'm not going to give you a warning or ticket, I simply wanted to make sure you weren't driving under the influence."
Stormy: "Officer, rest assured we weren't driving under the influence, in fact, my husband and I have never drank an ounce of alcohol in our lives."
Officer: "WHAT?!??!?!?!"
Stormy: "Nope."
Officer: "Wow. That's amazing."
Stormy: "You know what else, officer? This past July marked the 10th anniversary since I received a traffic ticket...AND I was only 5 months from my 10th anniversary of not being pulled over!"
Officer: "Well, that's wonderful. I'm glad you're driving safely. All I have to suggest is that you go home and prepare a "traffic stop packet" in the chance you get pulled over, this way, you'll be more prepared."
Stormy: "Absolutely, Officer, will do!"
(about 4 minutes later)
We finally finished cleaning off the dash which was covered with the glove compartment contents.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch
We went to the Flower Farmer Pumpkin Patch in Canby, Oregon. Canby is SE of Portland. It was a beautiful morning and it didn't rain—even though we were fully prepared as Oregonians are—it was nice to enjoy it without the rain!
Papi, the Rock Star, ready for the train ride as well!
First a visit to feed the animals, las chivas y los burros (goats and donkeys)
Next a stop at the gigantic hay pyramid. This was a fun one—Sofia couldn't stop running through with her flashlight. The crazy thing was that Papi is allergic to hay so he couldn't go in there and I'm claustrophobic so it was quite the experience. We had a blast and Sofia pretended to be one of the Backyardigans "on a secret mission."
Alas, I found my pumpkin! Sofia had to pick a pumpkin, which she could carry for 10 steps all by herself. She was so proud of this little pumpkin as you can see in the picture. Good times!
Papi and Sofi, so precious. This picture makes me melt!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Coming up for air....
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving 2007!
Mommy, Let's See If There's A Box!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Not Your Ordinary Morning Sickness...
As most of you know, during the first trimester most women experience the ever so common morning sickness, which consists of nausea and vomiting. Most pregnant women feel as though they’re going to vomit everything they ingest, or feel as though most odors nauseate them to the point of vomiting. Yet, there is a small percentage of pregnant women (about 0.3% to 2%) who become afflicted with a condition called “Hyperemesis Gravidarum,” which differs from ordinary morning sickness in that those afflicted become extremely dehydrated and continue to loose weight. Three symptoms confirm extensive vomiting: ketosis, weight loss, and dehydration. “Hyperemesis gravidarum is uncontrollable vomiting during pregnancy that results in dehydration and ketosis.”
A women must receive IV infusion of water, glucose, and electrolytes to correct the dehydration. As far as the nausea and vomiting go, well, medication is the best bet. Stormy’s drug of choice is “ ondansetron (Zofran).” The major downside to this medication is the cost — I’ll spare you the price as some of you may feel sick to your stomach, and since this post is about vomiting and all, we don’t want any of that, now do we. Zofran is often administered to cancer patients for similar symptoms of nausea and vomiting.
Stormy’s mom, Carolyn, has always said that Stormy was “special.” Given that only 0.3% to 2% of pregnant women develop this extreme condition, I’d say that’s pretty special —although the experience in of itself isn’t special by any means. Still, it’s a fifty-fifty chance that a pregnant women will develop this condition if she developed during a previous pregnancy. As many of you know, Stormy experienced what some would call a horrific pregnancy the first go around. All the same, and as special as she is, hyperemesis gravidarum is back. Still, Stormy and I were discussing on the way home from the infusion clinic yesterday about the differences in this pregnancy to that of Sofía’s, and Stormy made the comment that the one major difference is that, even though she’s vomiting and dehydrated, she can look at Sofía and smile and feel a little bit better. Sofía has adopted a practice that is quite endearing; she sings “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” whenever mommy isn’t feeling well.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
It's Been One Year...
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Sofia is going to be a Big Sis!
Sofia couldn't wait to tell her Papi that Mami had a baby in her tummy. 4 weeks ago--we rehearsed it all the way to Papi's work. We planned to tell him over lunch but the minute Papi got in the car that day, Sofia told him she had a secret. It was a precious moment, one I'll never forget. We're so excited to give Sofia a little brother or sister and bring another precious baby into this world.
While the nausea and vomiting are back with a vengeance, there is something different about this pregnancy. I have physical evidence of the perfect little one that awaits at the end. Sofia is a daily reminder of what all the sacrifice will bring in the end. Each time I vomit or simply feel sick to my stomach, Sofia immediately starts singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." She's positive it's the cure to feeling crummy--and quite honestly, it's up there next to the killer nausea medication (most often prescribed to chemo patients). :D
As soon as we get an ultrasound picture, we'll post it. We're so excited for our family to grow!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Blogging Hiatus is now over!
1. | a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc. |
Sorry you guys....stay tuned in the days to come for more!
Monday, October 15, 2007
I'm inspired to go crazy with Halloween decorations....
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Because I'm the MoM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Regina Spektor, my new favorite artist
Being that I have the best husband in the whole wide world, he walked to a record store one day last week in Downtown Portland to buy me her album: "Begin to Hope." It's freakin' sweet and I highly recommend you try it out. My fav songs on this album are Samson, Edit, and Fidelity.
Willow--if you're reading this, I think she may just be your new favorite too...her music reminds me of your style of music. Perhaps it's the whole Tori Amos thing?
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Continuing on with the "Is Sofia going to be a Rockstar?" theme....
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Long John Silver's...Can I get an AmEn?!?!
These are "them crunch-ees" I mentioned earlier...!
While these two only go for the chicken planks (anti-fish), they're still part of the club! (I happen to fall in the same category as they do!!!!)
Bub and the girls, so precious. :D
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Is Sofia going to be a Rockstar?
...and based on the photo below...she just looks like a star. (Don't get me wrong...I'm not one of these parents looking to make their kid famous and live vicariously through them...ha ha ha)...the picture just speaks for itself!
Baking Season Has Begun
Risa’s Pumpkin Bread
1/2 cup oil
1/3 cup water
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
Mix together the above ingredients. In another bowl, mix together:
1 2/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup nuts (optional)
Add the dry mixture to the pumpkin mixture. Pour evenly into greased and floured pans (1 large or 2 medium). Bake at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
--I'm thinking of trying to use creamed honey (instead of white sugar) to sweeten it the next time I make this. I'm not sure; however, what that will do to the texture...but that's what baking is all about--experimenting!
We knew it would happen someday...
I was cleaning up the kitchen when I turned around as Sofia had just kindly placed her lock 'o hair in the garbage (thank you, Sofia for not leaving it on the floor--good girl!). I literally screeched. Not screamed, screeched...more like the sound one makes when hearing nails go down a chalkboard.
In the end, I have to admit that I think she got the idea from me. This morning I trimmed her bangs before she went to school....I've done that before, but I guess the idea to do it herself hadn't occurred to her until today. Silly Sofia. I love these moments...they make me happy to be a MoM.
Last Minute Trip to Utah and Wyoming
p.s. I'm sorry about the My Chemical Romance song attached to the slide show...I couldn't figure out how to get it off! It's a cool song, though....just doesn't really go with the slide show.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Sofia's 1st Day of School
I've arrived a little early to pick her up each day because I love watching the closing circle time. They sing a song called, "Adios, adios" and make little hand motions outlining the parts of the body. It's SO CUTE!!! Sofia naturally picks right up on the hand motions as she has done so much of that in Music Together classes.
Sofia's teachers are Claudia and America. They are really sweet and have a strong educational background in early childhood education. Sofia loves saying good-bye to them and giving them "besos." We're so excited that Sofia can attend this wonderful school! Next month, she'll get to go on a field trip to the pumpkin patch and attend the Halloween party at school. Fun, fun stuff.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Sofia starts school on Wednesday...
...and we have our first "parent" meeting tonight. So, I'm a little nervous but so dang excited. Sofia is going to LOVE school and I can't wait to see how excited she gets when she realizes "la escuela" will be a regular thing and she'll get to play with the "niños."
Tonight, as we were putting Sofia to bed I thought perhaps I should take her to get her hair cut tomorrow before her first day. I totally remember getting my hair cut AND PERMED right before the first day of school. Yeah, I was quite the looker back then. Maybe I'll find a killer picture of me with my hair all permed and my favorite bugs bunny shirt to post on the blog...SIKE! Oh, the memories of back to school time! Can we say, "Nerd-o?!?!"
Monday, September 3, 2007
Aunt Patty, my twin, comes to town!
Aunt Patty came to visit us the first week of August all the way from China. En route to Texas to spend a few weeks with her daughter's, Tara and Meredith, and their families, she made a pitstop in Oregon/Washington. It was a lot of fun to spend time with her. When it was all said in done, I was left scratching my head, thinking, there really is something to genetics! After all, I've not seen my Aunt Patty very much in my life--due to distance--yet we talk, look, and and alike. Ryan even said, well, Storm, now I know what you'll look like at age 61! And, he is right.
My mom loved having her middle sis for a visit and I loved seeing my mom SO happy. It made me feel so good and it was fun to watch her relate with her sister. We spent a day in Tillamook Oregon (home of the ever-so-famous Tillamook Cheese Factory) We spent time playing on the beach and enjoyed some killer Tillamook IceCream. Lots of laughs, gabbing, sampling cheese, and enjoying each other filled the entire day. Here are some of the highlights:
Two sissy's, Aunt Patty and Mom
Sofia and her Great Aunt Patty
We missed you, Papi, we were thinking of you!
Josh--he thinks he's so cool! Can't imagine where he got that from...hmmm lemme-think--Grandpa??? Ding ding ding!!!!
The three amigos, on the ride home--Josh, Careese, Allison
Sofia about to throw a rock in the water and then runaway as the waves crashed the shore...her favorite part. :)
Missy moo couldn't stop hugging the cows and saying, MOOOOOOO
Me and my Aunt Patty
Two very happy sissy's