For the Love of Yarn! (and books, too!)

Moving on...

2011-11-20T10:51:00.003-05:00

For many reasons, the least of which is that Blogger is a blocked website at work, I am moving my blog to another location.

The site is: http://srapalmateer.wordpress.com/

I've posted once there so far...things have been a bit BUSY in the land of me lately. There may be more there by the time you have seen this!

So long from Blogger...hello Word Press!

Latest on Mom

2011-10-09T19:44:00.002-05:00

She is resting (as much as one can in the hospital) and working on getting better. He finally got the test results from the fluid that they drained on Wednesday. Negative for cancer cells!!!!!!! That was a HUGE relief for all of us. Mom still has a lot of fluid in her legs and it's not coming off quite as fast as the doctors want. They have increased one medication in hopes that it will help with that. If not, Mom might be doing dialysis on a temporary basis to help out her kidneys. That is not definite, but something the doctors are discussing.

Catch up

2011-10-02T08:51:00.004-05:00

So this is my first post since JULY and a lot has happened!

-We drove to FL. While there, DJP became very brave and actually put his head in the water at the pool! He also thought drinking the pool water was funny... We were also able to visit with friends on the drive home that we haven't seen in a few years which was nice.

-Our trivia team won the finals of Season 29! It was a huge surprise because we didn't think we had done well enough. However a big shout out to Jason's dad because he kept telling us that The Green Lantern is somehow related to The Lone Ranger and that was one of the four final questions. We were the only team who knew that!!!!

-School started again for both Jason and myself. Jason is working on a proposal to teach a seminar class on Baseball. I am getting used to having a new principal and going to a few new meetings. I will also be doing some curriculum writing this Fall for the Common Core Standards(adopted here in MD last year). DJP has also been to class with Jason due to an occasional babysitting issue. He likes to wonder around and even got himself up on a chair and sat at a desk!

-DJP is now 18 months old! He's weighing a hefty 27ish pounds and 33ish inches tall. He is picking up new words and sounds all the time. The newest from this week is "Gobble Gobble" because he likes to carry around the turkey from his FP farm set. DJP has learned to run from place to place and the number of bumps and bruises has increased as well! His latest stunt is climbing up the sliding board and sliding down on his tummy-no fear anymore!

-Mom was working on her follow up chemo treatments until this past Monday when she went back into the hospital. She is retaining fluid again (like she did 2 years ago) and the doctor is running every test possible. She's doing okay, just very tired because of all the monitoring and testing. She was moved to the oncology floor yesterday evening. Hopefully she will get more rest there. If you're reading this and didn't know sorry...I cannot call everyone! However if you would like to see/call Mom, let me know and I will give you contact information.

NO!

2011-07-08T08:41:00.005-05:00

DJP has added to his vocabulary as of this week the word that most parents dread hearing...

NO!

However, DJP has given the word 'no' some added enthusiasm: he says it with a smile and vivacious shakes of his head. Due to this motion, there is no picture (unfortunately)!

Just for good measure

2011-07-08T08:33:00.005-05:00

Mom went to see the medical oncologist yesterday to find out what the next plan was to be.

What she found out was that she will be having chemo treatments once a week for two weeks and one week off for nine sessions, hopefully starting on Friday, July 15th. The doctor did warn her that she may experience more side effects this time (like hair loss). If all goes as planned, she will finish up in January 2012. This plan is just for good measure. What the doctors have found with pancreatic cancer is that once the chemo/radiation/surgery have been completed to rid the body of the cancer, another treatment plan of chemo diminishes the chances that the cancer will return.

Mom is upbeat about this and happy that she will not have to go to UMMC to receive her treatments. She can see one of her normal doctors (she has a list longer than Santa's) for her treatments. This means that she will be able to take herself.

When Delilah cut Sampson's hair

2011-07-06T17:38:00.010-05:00

DJP's hair was getting a bit long...that even he was pushing it out of his face!

BEFORE

DURING

AFTER
(Well...DJP was not very happy afterward and did NOT want his picture taken.)

And a big thank you to Ms. Clare (aka Delilah) for cutting DJP's hair!

15 months

2011-06-27T19:49:00.008-05:00

DJP is just a bit over 15 months old now. WOW! Time sure has flown! (And yes, he does know how to use the iPad and the iPhone!)

We had a well visit to the doctor today in which DJP did another first: he has been able to reach our door handles and pull them down (they are of the lever variety) but has not been able to pull the handle and open the door at the same time. DJP apparently wanted out of the exam room, reached up for the handle, pulled it down, opened the door and dashed out. Jason went to follow him. The receptionists got a big chuckle out of the spectacle. Of course, DJP went straight for the toy box and picked out a truck to push around.

DJP's current stats:
Height: approximately 32 inches (he becomes Mr. Squirmy Wormy when you try to lay him flat when he doesn't want to be flat)
Weight: 23 lbs 14 ozs (which doesn't seem to be a lot until you hold Mr. Squirmy Wormy)

DJP is also acquiring quite a vocabulary: Hi, woof, Ma-ma, Da-da, no (said with smiles), more (without the "r" and signing), Grandma (sounds like Ma-ma but different because he's not saying it to me!) and various other sounds that we have yet to decipher.

DJP is eating pretty well except for the fact that meat gets pushed away as do noodles and bread. Some new favorites are pretzels and Craisins as well as any freeze-dried fruit (justtomatoes.com has a wonderful variety) including cherries (which I think are the tartest things ever).

DJP enjoys having Ophelia around again (she has returned from Spa Grandma) and likes to lean in and attempt to give her kisses. Ophelia is not so sure about that and tends to shrink away as fast as she can. He also enjoys that the cat's water bowl is on the floor and becomes his own personal water table when Jason and I are not quick enough to stop him. I've never seen a bowl of water emptied so fast!

Speaking of kisses, the cat is not the only recipient of kisses from DJP. He will occasionally give Jason and me kisses at bedtime when asked but the cutest thing happened over the weekend. My mom was visiting and we told DJP to give Grandma kisses before going to bed. He not only went over to her and gave kisses but also walked over to me and to Jason and gave us each kisses before we took him upstairs.

DJP also went to his first Orioles v. Rays game. He spent most of it walking around with me or wandering around the open areas on the club level. We did take him out into the stands for about an inning and a half, but he was not fond of the music nor the cheers/jeers from the surrounding crowd. We did happen to bribe him a bit with some ice cream...

...and then once we left the game, it didn't take more than five minutes before he was asleep.

Time has flown

2011-05-28T20:31:00.003-05:00

...and so much has happened!

At the end of April, Mom had her scans done to see what was going on with the tumor in her pancreas. At the beginning of May, she met with her team of doctors and they determined that she was strong enough to go through surgery and recovery. However they did not know when the surgery would be done and only had about a 2 week window in which to do said surgery (due to when she finished her radiation and chemo treatments). The surgeon asked if he called one day would Mom be ready the next for surgery. She said she'd like to have this done by her birthday (May 18th). He said that he could do that for her.

We found out the Friday before Mother's Day that Mom's surgery would be scheduled for the Monday after Mother's Day. So we switched our plans around for Mother's day (because Mom couldn't eat anything solid after breakfast). We went to Bonefish Grill and had about an hour wait. Entertaining DJP was exhausting because all he wanted to do was walk up and down the sidewalk in front of all the stores and restaurants. He also made quite a few friends with his quick smile and wave. (Yes, DJP is walking...he started the week of his birthday with a few tentative steps here and there-much faster if you had a cellphone in your hand though and is now extremely confident and doesn't need to hold on to anything or anyone.)

On the day of the surgery, Chris, Tom and I went to be with her. We waited a long time for them to even take her back to get ready for the surgery but once they did things went quickly. We got to walk with her and the anesthesiologists until the elevators to the waiting area. The surgery was supposed to take about 6 hours however the surgeon was out talking to us in less than 5 because there were no complications and there wasn't a need for any blood transfusions (which the surgeon thought he would definitely have to do). While the doctor was talking with us, he was bouncy/giddy because of how well the surgery went and how well Mom did. Chris and I got to see her about an hour later. Her first question to us (still coming out of the anesthesia) was "Is is snowing?" Chris and I busted out laughing and the nurse just looked at us like we were crazy. We explained to her that Mom had been in the hospital in December and she was remembering that.

The day after surgery, I went to see Mom after work and found her sitting up in a chair with color in her face! Not what I was expecting after the gallbladder surgery! Each day she got better and surprised everyone, even the physical therapist because he thought he was going to have to help her out of bed and she did it all by herself! Jason and I took DJP to visit his Grandma on Friday for an hour or so. He did really well-definitely enjoyed pushing the buttons on the hospital bed that make it go up and down! By Saturday of that week, Mom had one of the drains removed, was off of some of her medicine and walking circles around the hospital floor that she was on (at her speed, not mine!). Before I left to see her that Sunday, she called to ask for me to bring a few items to her and that the team was still thinking about letting her go home on Monday. An hour later, I got to the hospital found Mom getting ready to go for a walk and she says, "I can go home today." Let's get everything together and make that happen. After all the paperwork was taken care of and Mom's stuff was all together, the nurse said she could wait for a wheelchair or walk out of her own accord. Mom said she could walk, so she did. She came home with me.

She's now at home and has seen the doctor again. She had the staples removed and was given the report on her surgery and the pathology of the cancer. I have not seen the reports yet myself, but Mom said that the tumor was 4.3cm and still had a few live cells. Some of the lymph nodes tested positive and the pathologist recommended more chemo and radiation. However the surgeon doesn't know what to radiate since there is no more tumor and is not concerned about the lymph nodes. Mom will meet again with the team later in June to see what happens next. She will be able to drive again in about a week and is supposed to resume her normal activities at once! All is good at this point! Many, many, many thanks to the team at UMMC and thank God for Dr. Alexander's steady hands during surgery! The team made life a bit easier during this difficult time for my family as did so many others who I will never be able to thank enough for their love, support and time.

The Bell Rang

2011-04-07T19:16:00.002-05:00

Mom finished her radiation treatment yesterday and was able to ring the bell in the lobby of the radiation oncology center at UMMC! (I mentioned this in previous post.)

Now the waiting begins until Mom can get her scan at the end of the month. During the waiting time, Mom has to gain 5 pounds (she lost 7 in one week during treatment) and be able to walk 1/2 mile easily. This homework assignment is so that if the team thinks surgery in an option that Mom will be strong enough to go through with the procedure. The team will meet to discuss Mom's case in early May.

Mom is in good spirits and anxious (as are all of us) for the next month to pass to know if the radiation and chemo shrunk the stinkin' tumor!

More to come in May!

In the single digits

2011-03-28T18:20:00.002-05:00

Mom's treatments are now in the single digits. She has 7 more to go and then she will be able to ring the bell in the radiation oncology department's waiting area. (The bell is to symbolize the end of treatment, or on occasion a round of treatment, and gives those still in treatment hope. The day that I took Mom to UMMC, two patients rang the bell and everyone in the waiting room clapped. It's pretty emotional because of what each patient and their family goes through.)

At Mom's appointment with the medical oncologist today, she learned that her white blood cell count had increased (good thing) and therefore is to increase her nightly chemo dose from two pills to three until the end of treatment. She also lost 7 pounds (bad thing) so she has to increase her meals from 3 to 5 per day. If the surgical oncologist decides that she is not strong enough to go through surgery then he will not perform the Whipple procedure. Mom is okay with the number of meals-she even said tonight that she has a bit of an appetite (good thing) and wants to eat rather than what she has been doing which is eating because she knows it's good for her.

After all the treatments are finished, Mom will have another CT scan in about 6 weeks. Once the doctors have the results, her team will meet and decide what to do next. Hopefully, the decision will be to do the surgery, which has a recovery time of 5-12 weeks. Please keep Mom in your thoughts and prayers while she finishes her treatments and that the doctors have the power to heal her.

Messy

2011-03-07T08:58:00.003-05:00

Our house is a mess. It's in a mess because we're getting new bamboo floors. The wood was delivered on Friday. The moisture test was done on Friday and we passed so that means work starts this morning. AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Jason and I have been trying to get the majority of stuff put away so that the workmen can move the furniture more easily. We've been doing this since before we knew the work would start today. It's definitely more difficult to move things around with an 11 1/2 month old wanting you to play with him and not wanting to take his naps.

We made sure the recycling went out (so that was one less thing to worry about), made sure DJP's bag was ready to go so that Jason would not have to worry about that in the morning, and Ophelia is having a mini vacation at Spa Grandma (Thanks Mom!!!). You would think there wasn't much more to be done. HA! There were still the throw rugs to be picked up as well as the toys. The dishwasher to be emptied (since they're moving that). The pictures and calendar and magnets from the fridge (since they're moving that too). Of course, I forgot that there was stuff ON TOP of the fridge that needed to be moved too...Thank you dear husband for taking care of that!!!

We shall see how the progress goes...the company said that they would be finished in 2 days...updates later on that!

Plan 2.5

2011-03-01T09:10:00.002-05:00

Mom had her doctor's appointment and radiation treatment yesterday. She did not have her chemo treatment because both her white and red cell counts were low. So the newest plan is to have Mom take chemo pills (since they are a lower dose of chemo) two times a day each day she has radiation (Monday thru Friday). Hopefully the chemo pills will be delivered by Wednesday afternoon so that Mom can start taking them and see if there are any side effects that she can discuss at her next appointment on Monday with the doctor. If she doesn't get them by Thursday, she will have to reschedule her doctor's appointment for the next Monday. If the chemo pills cause Mom's red and white cells to remain low she will not do chemo at all and just stick with the radiation.

Another change, but still moving forward.

The Count Down to a Year

2011-02-24T08:38:00.004-05:00

DJP is well on his way to being a year old! One month to go... This year has flown by with all his milestones, which keep on coming.

The newest editions are that DJP can:
-stand on his own (tentatively but still on his own);
-plays well by himself and with others;
-can move cars, trucks and trains around without "throwing" them;
-can climb on various objects (like the IKEA container to get into a chair; the ottoman; on his parents to get onto the sofa);
-feeds himself apple, peaches, pears, puffs/O's, and bananas (these are his favorites);
-has tried strawberries, blueberries, kiwi and mandarin oranges (likes these);
-likes spoons-to chew on not to eat off of;
-enjoys pulling all his books off the shelf and then picking a couple to sit and 'read;'
-will sit and push a toy back and forth with Mommy and Daddy;
-loves to listen to '70s and '80s music and apparently his favorite genre is disco because he definitely 'dances' to it! He will even tap his knee (while sitting) to the beats;
-can turn on his 'seahorse' while in his crib to listen to lullabies (Thank you Counsins K & A) and also throws it out of the crib (the boy likes to throw);
-likes to cuddle with a few of his stuffed animals-a teddy bear with a rattle (Thanks, Aunt Rosalie), his 'Tub of Cubs' (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa) and his Rays panda, Asta, which also plays lullabies (Thanks, Nina and Papa);
and
-has started to repeat some of the things that we say...one day I was playing with his toy camera (Thanks, Aunt Megan and Uncle Stan and Cousins G, J & L) and I started saying "Say Cheese!" What DJP repeated was something like "ay, chee!" We also think we've heard him say "nigh, nigh" for "night, night." However, these are not said on a consistent basis and could just be DJP getting the right sounds together at the right time. He has definitely become more vocal with different sounds including an ear piercing scream (Mommy's eardrums will never be the same again!) and using his hands to make all kinds of sounds.

Dry Run

2011-02-24T08:31:00.003-05:00

Mom goes for her dry run of radiation tomorrow afternoon. This is where they walk her through exactly what will happen and to make sure that all the radiation markers are in the right place.

Mom is doing well both mentally and physically. She's been out and about-to the grocery store, to the eye doctor (for check ups after the cataract surgery which went very well), to the library and even cleaned off her own car after Monday's snow. (A neighbor plowed the driveway for her-Thank you, Mr. Gary!)

On Monday, Mom is scheduled to have both chemo and her first radiation treatment. Hopefully this will go smoothly and not be too long of a day for her. The last couple of times the doctor's office and phlebotomy lab have been super duper busy and Mom has had to wait and wait.

New Plan

2011-02-15T09:17:00.002-05:00

After a nice weekend spent playing with DJP, Mom went to see the medical oncologist yesterday. He and the team have devised a new plan for Mom's treatment. Here's how the new plan works:

Mom will go to the radiation oncology department to have her radiation markers reapplied (they had to be removed from the first time due to the gallbladder surgery). Then, on Monday the 21st, Mom will have her second chemo treatment. Hopefully the chemo will not cause any problems with the red or white blood cells this time and Mom will have a chemo treatment every Monday for about 5 weeks. On the 28th, Mom will have her first radiation treatment. She will have radiation treatments every day (except for Saturdays and Sundays) for 5 weeks.

Once these treatments are completed, the team will take another look at Mom's case and determine if she is ready for surgery or needs more chemo and radiation treatments.

Let's hope that this plan is the right one for Mom.

Gone Cataracts Gone

2011-02-10T09:55:00.002-05:00

Since Mom has had a hiatus from chemo while she waits for her white cell count to react (and hopefully improve) to the shot that she got a week and a half ago, she was able to have her cataract surgery.

She went in yesterday at 7:45am and was finished about 9:30am. Mom said that she could see better than she could before the surgery, but had a bit of the "halo effect," where objects have halos. That should disappear as her eyes heal.

Mom goes this morning for her surgery follow up and on Monday she meets again with the oncology team. More updates to follow when I know more!

Low on the Whites

2011-02-01T10:08:00.002-05:00

During Mom's visit to the medical oncologist on Monday, she learned that her white blood cell count was low. This is nothing new to Mom since both red and white cell counts have been on the low side for a few years now. However this does pose a problem. Due to the low white cell count, Mom was given a shot, Procrit, to help increase her white cell count. The doctor wants the shot to work so she will not see him again until the 14th. His main concern is that if Mom has a chemo treatment and then the next week her counts are low she cannot keep getting the shots because this will confuse the white blood cells (speeding up with the chemo and slowing down with the shot). So he said he was going to need to rethink her treatment.

The doctor is also concerned about the lymph nodes around the sternum. He think they have increased in size (from 3mm to 5mm) and wants to investigate more. There is some cause for concern with this development however Mom's cancer markers have not changed and there is no sign of spreading to the liver or the lungs (which are the first places pancreatic cancer spreads).

On a more positive note, the doctor does think Mom is strong enough to proceed with the radiation treatment. The oncology group of doctors will meet again, review Mom's case and come up with a new plan of treatment which she will find out more about that on the 14th.

Update on Mom

2011-01-26T09:30:00.000-05:00

Mom went to see the surgeon and the medical oncologist on Monday. The surgeon said she has improved and has regained most of her strength since the gallbladder surgery. She is also healed. YEAH!

The oncologist is pleased with her recovery from the surgery and actually set up her first chemo appointment for yesterday afternoon. Mom was a bit surprised by that, but also happy to have started with her treatment. She will currently be getting treatment once a week for two to three weeks and then a week off. The oncology team will determine if she can go for a third week depending on her white blood cell count since she occasionally runs on the low side anyway. They do not want her immune system to get too weak. The chemo drug is GEMZAR and is a higher dosage than originally planned since Mom is not doing the radiation at the same time.

Another plus with Mom's recovery is that the oncologist thinks that she is strong enough to start radiation. He is going to speak with the radiation oncologist to see what the new plan will be.

For now, all is well and back on track.

Sick Boy

2011-01-25T09:06:00.005-05:00

We're currently experiencing what it is like to have a sick baby. I'd give anything for it to be me and not DJP!

This all started on Sunday morning. DJP slept until almost 10am. That should have been my first clue. He was a bit fussy while I was changing his diaper and just seemed to want to lay down again. I thought he might be hungry (since he slept in) and took him downstairs to eat. He ate his yogurt and mixed berries and still was fussy. He just wanted to be held. (That should have been my second clue.) Then the eruption occurred. I was covered in baby vomit. UGH! Somehow I got DJP and myself back upstairs and with assistance from Jason got DJP undressed and into the tub. He was perfectly fine-not being fussy and enjoyed his morning bath (a treat since we bathe him at night). After the bath, DJP wanted to be held. He eventually fell asleep on me and I put him in his crib. Poor thing.

When he woke up, we decided to get him some pedialyte and he decided that he liked it and drank half a sippycup of it. DJP was still not himself and just kind of sat around with one toy and wanted to be near us.

At dinner time, Jason and I decided to give DJP bananas and rice cereal-easy on the tummy-just in case he was going to be sick again. Dinner stayed down and DJP played a bit more than he had all day. Whew...

Then Jason and I decided to give DJP his bottle of formula before bed. Let's just say that Jason got to understand how I felt earlier in the day... We did another wardrobe change for Jason and DJP and a bit more Pedialyte before the kiddo went to bed.

So far, we've had no more vomiting however there's another problem to deal with-diarrhea. Poor little boy... Our pediatrician is not overly concerned, gave us some warning signs and said the virus just has to work its way out. I hope it works its way out soon because Jason and I have had a hard time watching DJP go through this.

10 Months

2011-01-21T08:05:00.007-05:00

Our little boy is now 10 months old! How time flies!

Current observations of DJP:
*He loves all fruits (especially bananas, blueberries and apples), vegetables and meats;
*greatly dislikes rice pilaf and one other thing that I cannot seem to remember at this moment;
*still has 6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom) and is currently teething with more bumps present on the bottom on both sides;
*is being more and more vocal each day with more complex sounds rather than just repeating "da da da" and "ma ma ma;"
*will occasionally vocalize "orders" to the cat whenever she is nearby;
*is walking along furniture and with his walking toys;
*has occasionally let go of said furniture and toys to stand on his own for a few seconds;
*has had his first "bloody" accident in which he fell and split his lip. He is fine and the swelling has gone down thanks to the teething rings;
*has been sleeping through the night (except for last night-he woke up around 4am probably because he was hungry-he didn't eat much dinner and then threw some of it up for no apparent reason);
*is super duper curious about everything (especially the remotes and phones);
*is definitely a people watcher (going out to eat and trying to feed DJP is its own Olympic event with head twisting, food on spoon balancing, etc.);
*has started to throw all of his toys-out of the crib, into his FP Speedway and just because he can;
*has learned to climb up on boxes (that are used to blockade an area for DJP in the basement; and
*has been enjoying his time with his daddy taking care of him during the week (Jason has done a FABULOUS job!!!!).

Paying It Forward

2011-01-12T08:34:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you've all seen the commercial were little acts of kindness are done while someone else is witness to the act and then they continue to pay it forward. After the start of the New Year on FB, a friend from high school posted about Paying it Forward of the handmade variety.

The deal is that if you responded to the post, they are to "pay it forward" with something handmade to you and then you are to continue in that vein. I decided that this was something that I wanted to do since I am a bit crafty and have two of those XL Ziploc bags (plus some) full of yarn. I have my five respondents to send handmade to already (check out status on FB) and have decided that once I have those finished (which will be a challenge with an almost 10 month old) I will post again, one project at a time.

Currently, I am about 1/2 way finished my first project. It's a pattern that I've wanted to complete, helps me de-stash some of my yarn and I love how it's turning out! I have two recipients in mind that the colors will fit perfectly...decisions! The decision might not be too difficult since I have enough of this particular yarn to complete two of this pattern...we shall see!

Once projects are finished and presented to their intended recipient, I will post pictures here as well as information on the patterns. (Finally, a knitting post!)

Some Good News

2011-01-11T08:25:00.003-05:00

Mom had another CT Scan done on Friday and got the results yesterday. There was some good news from that. The tumor is still encapsulated in her pancreas AND has moved slightly away from the blood vessel that the doctors were concerned about.

The medical oncologist wants Mom to start with chemo (probably at the earliest in two weeks) because he doesn't think she is strong enough as of yet to go through radiation. He will be conferring with another doctor Mom sees closer to home to see if he will be able to monitor the chemo and her blood levels (due to her being chronically anemic).

I went to visit Mom over the weekend and I took her on a small outing to the bank. She did very well walking and even got herself up on the curb (with a little assistance from the cane). Mom will be seeing a physical therapist starting today to help strengthen her legs as well as overall so that she will be able to do the radiation.

Every day that I speak to Mom on the phone, she sounds better and more like herself. She misses her grandson and will get to see him this weekend as we celebrate Christmas (since she was in the hospital for the official date).

Latest on Mom

2011-01-04T09:47:00.003-05:00

Mom had a follow up with the Oncology Team at UMMC yesterday. Here's what she learned:

*Throw out the low-fat diet from the gallbladder surgery; she needs to eat many small meals during the day filled with calories. The doctor said, "If you want ice cream, eat it!" He wants Mom to gain some more weight and he also said that eating more will help with losing some of the fluid that she retained after the surgery.

*Mom needs to move around and do stuff during the day. She is not allowed to just sit around and be waited on. The doctor said that she needs to build up her strength.

*She is scheduled to meet again with the oncology team next Monday and Tuesday to have a follow up appointment and possible get her scans done in radiation oncology. (The ones for this week were canceled.)

*She needed to have another blood transfusion yesterday because her red blood cell count was low due to being anemic. This is in place of the shots she was getting at the hematologist's office every two weeks.

*The doctors still are not 100% sure what type of chemo Mom will have but they are leaning more towards giving her IV chemo. This will probably start before the radiation since Mom is still recovering from the surgery.

That's all I know for now...

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T09:31:00.003-05:00

Jason and I (as well as DJP, if he knew) want to wish all of you a happy and healthy New Year! We spent a very quiet New Year by putting DJP to bed (a bit later than his usual time), having a wonderful dinner of steak (yum!), potatoes and green beans & almonds (my fav!) and watching two movies from pay per view on DirecTV-Easy A (about a high school girl who learns the effects of rumors and perpetuating them-very good!!!) and The A-Team (which wasn't quite the same but good for what it was).

New Year's Day was spent running some errands (must have more formula for DJP) and visiting with Mom/Grandma. DJP loved crawling around Grandma's living room and hallway but was intrigued with the door between the kitchen and living room (a pocket one) and that all the doors in the hallway were closed. You would think he wouldn't have much to get into. HA! DJP found the wires to the TV, etc. underneath an end table (he was not stopped by putting his diaper bag over top of the wires) and he also found that he could reach into Grandma's potted plants and find the dirt (so much fun to clean his fingers!)

Grandma gave DJP two Christmas presents-a stacker that has stars and plays music (he really loves to chew on the star at the top) and a stuffed puppy dog that plays music and talks about different body parts if you press on them (like the heart, foot, tummy, etc.). It even giggles when you press the tummy! We'll finish celebrating Christmas in about 1 1/2 weeks when Jason's dad and step mom come to visit. Hopefully, Mom will be feeling better and more like herself than she did in December.

Finally

2010-12-28T12:54:00.003-05:00

Mom is finally home...with some comedy of errors in between.

First, get back from taking the in-laws to the airport and notice that DJP is extremely warm. We take his temperature and it's 100.7. We give him so medicine, a bottle and put him down for a nap. He wakes up 30 minutes later with the same temperature. Jason calls the pediatrician and the reception asks where we live. We can be there in 5 minutes. So, Jason takes DJP to the doctor and I get my car loaded with stuff that I'm taking to stay with Mom overnight.

Second, I was about 3/4 of the way to the hospital and forgot Mom's coat and shoes. So I turned around (thank God I know my exits on 95!) and went back home. Somehow, I missed Jason coming back from the doctor...

Then, I get to the parking garage and the ticket machine makes a weird sound. One of the attendants comes over and says "don't worry, you didn't break the machine. it's just out of tickets." She opens the other machine and I get the first ticket out (this will be important later...).

I get to Mom's room and help her get ready to leave. We hurry up to wait for the nurse to give Mom her prescriptions, new diet and sign the discharge papers. I gather all Mom's stuff and head off to get the car. I get into line to pay. And wait. And wait. About 10 minutes go by and we haven't moved. The man in line behind me finds out that there's some ticket issue. Great. The line moves and finally it's my turn. There's NOTHING printed on my ticket so the attendant has to find some code to type in so that the gate will lift and I can leave. This takes 10 minutes. People come up to the booth and are complaining. I explain what's going on and they just keep yelling at the attendant to lift the gate. Finally, I get out of the garage and get Mom.

We get to Mom's house and I think the easiest way to get her in the house is by the front door. We get to the step and she cannot lift her leg(due to fluid retention). I try lifting her leg which doesn't work. I try pushing her up which also doesn't work. I think for a minute and run in the house and get a chair. Mom was able to get into the chair and turn herself so that she could get in the house without having to actually get up the step. WHEW!

Mom is feeling okay, just tired. She goes next Tuesday for a follow up appointment with the oncology team at UMMC. Hopefully, they will have a new schedule for treatments set up for her then.

ETA: DJP no longer has a fever but is a bit lethargic which the doctor said could happen.

Surgery went well

2010-12-23T20:03:00.002-05:00

After waiting all day yesterday with no one saying the surgery would be delayed until today, Mom was taken to surgery about 8am. One of the nurses called me around 9am to say that she had actually been taken to surgery. I arrived at the surgical floor at 11am and was told that Mom was still in surgery and doing well. About 12:30pm one of the staff came to get me and take me to see Mom in recovery.

Mom was awake and talking when I got to recovery. She was even cracking jokes with one of the anesthesiologists who came to see how she was doing before he left. Mom was in recovery until about 2pm mainly because the nurse and another anesthesiologist were debating whether or not to have Mom on a heart monitor since she hadn't been on a monitor in her room. The reason being is because during surgery she had what everyone was calling a "blip" in her heart rhythm. They almost missed it happening and didn't get a record of it. The recovery nurse explained that it could have happened for a variety of reasons but it could have been that Mom's potassium level was low before going into surgery and that can cause the heart to have an irregular rhythm. So Mom ended up with a monitor-she was thrilled to have the extra cords attached to her, which makes getting up to use the restroom a trial.

Mom got back to her room around 2:15pm and the doctors came around 3:30pm to talk about what they had done. The one doctor said that Mom's gallbladder was basically dead. There was a lot of pus and that's why they left the drain in just in case there was any pus left and it could drain out.

Mom was resting when I left the hospital tonight and hopefully will either be released tomorrow or Saturday depending on how she is overnight.

9 Months Old

2010-12-20T09:02:00.006-05:00

DJP is now 9 months old! He now weighs 20lbs. 8oz. and is 28 inches tall (we think he was measured incorrectly last dr's visit because this measurement means that he's only grown 1/4 of an inch in three months!). He has 6 teeth (4 top and 2 bottom). He crawls faster than we can walk. He stands. He walks along the furniture (has gotten quicker!) and will walk holding onto our fingers. He no longer falls trying to get down from standing but lowers himself.

DJP claps (with noise) and smiles all the time. He plays well by himself but by late afternoon wants someone to be with him constantly (there's a bit of separation anxiety too!). He enjoys all of his toys especially his very own TV remote. He likes to be chased-thinks it's the most hysterical game in the World.

We still have to say that Kitty (aka Ophelia) is his favorite play toy. Even with the gate up now, he will talk to her (more like giving her orders since his voice gets a very demanding tone to it) when she ventures to her food and water bowls.

He's also discovered that he can bounce when he's in his exersaucer. I love watching him do this-one of these days he's going to bounce himself right out of the exersaucer with his very powerful legs!

Updates are all over the place

2010-12-20T08:52:00.003-05:00

It seems like there's another update every few hours...information changes from hour to hour, so once I know what's really going to happen, I'll post.

So here goes-

Saturday afternoon, Mom was transferred from Upper Chesapeake to UMMC. UMMC is not the best marked hospital that I've ever been in. I asked for help (and I don't do that often!). The ambulance transport guys were great and so was the admitting RN. Mom did see one of the residents who didn't think she needed surgery right away, but probably on Monday or Tuesday. It took him forever to put his orders in for the nurses so Mom went quite awhile without having any liquids. When I left around 9:30pm, she had just gotten a tray of "clear" liquids-chicken broth, lime jello, apple juice and water. Yum.

Yesterday, the team who is treating the cancer came to visit her and said that they thought it was the stints causing all the trouble and they'd send a GI guy to see her. He came about 7pm and said that Dr. Darwin (doctor who put in the stints) would be seeing Mom today. Well, a half hour later, Chris calls me and says that plans have changed and that Mom would be having another endoscopy done to see what is going on with the stints and her gallbladder. She will be having that done at noon today. Once I know more, I'll post again!

Another Mom update

2010-12-16T09:44:00.003-05:00

Mom is currently in the hospital at Upper Chesapeake. She was extremely dizzy and was vomiting on Tuesday morning, called the doctor and he sent her to the emergency room. Aunt Felicia has been with her (she had planned to spend the week with Mom anyway) and giving us updates as information comes in.

Mom did have a fever yesterday-blood culture results to come sometime today-and they gave her some Tylenol and low-dose antibiotics to reduce the fever. The doctor was telling her that if she has no fever she can go home today. When I talked to her last night, her temperature was 99 (better than the 102 is was earlier in the day!).

Mom sounds good and positive, although a bit frustrated at her roommate who is a bit loud...so loud that it was hard to hear Mom on the phone last night. I did put the speakerphone on so that Mom and DJP could "talk" to each other. DJP recognized his grandma's voice and smiled at the phone. Of course, he wanted to "hold" the phone so he could chew on it with his four new top teeth! (Mommy said no-what a surprise!)

Latest on Mom

2010-12-09T12:28:00.002-05:00

Since my last post, Mom has had two doctor's appointments-one to meet the surgical oncologist and the other to meet the entire team that will be working with her at UMMC.

The plan is to start with radiation and chemotherapy for about 5-6 weeks. Mom will go to UMMC Monday through Friday for radiation and the team is undecided about whether she will have IV or pill form of chemo. If they decide on IV, she will go once a week to the Cancer Center at UMMC for chemo. If they decide on pills, she will take those twice a day. The pills would be easier for her, since she wouldn't have to spend extra time at the hospital.

Once the radiation and chemo treatments are finished, Mom will have a month break, during which time she will have another CT scan to see if the tumor has responded to the radiation and chemotherapy. If it has, the team will schedule her surgery. After surgery, she will be in the hospital for up to 2 weeks since this is MAJOR surgery. Then have about 6 more weeks of recovery at home.

The final step will be to continue chemotherapy for 6 months after the surgery to make sure that there is no recurrence of the cancer.

The doctors are all optimistic and the plan is for this to be finished by this time next year.

News

2010-11-30T21:36:00.004-05:00

Before we left on the cruise, Mom went to the doctor and he said that she was jaundiced. He sent her to see a gastroenterologist. After some additional tests, he sent her to have an endoscopy done at UMMC. I went with Mom for the procedure. We got the results right there at the hospital-Mom has a walnut sized mass in her pancreas that is cancer. The doctor said that he thought we caught it early and that Mom is probably a candidate for the Whipple procedure.

Mom goes back to UMMC to have a CT Scan tomorrow and then we have an appointment to talk with the surgical oncologist on Friday. I will continue to update Mom's condition and progress here as soon as we have new information.

Eight month birthday

2010-11-30T20:55:00.009-05:00

For DJP's eight month (plus) birthday he got a special present-he got to go on a cruise! Actually, we had planned this cruise before DJP was even a thought in our minds and now that we cannot imagine life without him, OF COURSE we took him along.

He enjoyed being on the ship, people watching and meeting so many new people, especially his two "girlfriends" from the main dining room, Monika and Precious:

DJP made friends young and old, so many that he has learned how to wave within a week and as we were waiting for Aunt Niki to pick us up, people that Jason and I had not met were saying "Bye DJP!"

While on board ship, DJP continued his teething and two new teeth broke through-a top incisor and a top front tooth! We could also feel the other front tooth and incisor which have started to poke through as well. Two of DJP's favorite "toys" in our cabin were the door stop and the metallic trashcan. (Yes, we wiped them down before he started chewing on them!)

Another "skill" that DJP worked on while we were away was his fearlessness. When DJP was on the bed, he would crawl around then look at us and then crawl to the edge and even attempt to crawl right off without seeing there was no where to go!

We're definitely going to have to watch out for our little daredevil!

DJP has also gotten brave enough to start hanging onto various pieces of furniture (and fingers too!) and walk! We are amazed at DJP's progress every day. He learns so quickly!

Seven Plus Months

2010-11-01T22:06:00.010-05:00

I'm a bit behind...as usual!

DJP is seven months plus a week or two and has changed so much in the last month.

DJP now has TWO (yes, they came in together!)bottom teeth which we avoid since they are super sharp and he likes to gnaw on various items. He has chewed on his Halloween book from Nina & Papa so much that he has put a hole in it (he liked it that much!) and we now look at that book from a distance. DJP is still teething-top gums are super swollen and have widened even more than the bottom gums did. Still no obvious signs of teeth yet, however the ear tugging and chewing on everything in sight (including Grandma's arm and thumb) has commenced once again. With the teething in full swing, there's been little sleep the last few days. We were very lucky last week that we had five FULL nights of sleep (well, DJP did!).

DJP is also not just rolling everywhere but he is crawling! He took the first few tentative crawls on his 7 month birthday then nothing for a couple of days. He moves around like a pro now! He's even been able to catch up with Ophelia lately-she'll learn to move faster when he grabs her tail and won't let go!

Our little boy is growing up so quickly!

Six months ago...

2010-09-19T17:09:00.006-05:00

Six months ago today, Jason and I went to the hospital very early to have a baby. DJP arrived at 9:58pm weighing 8 lbs, 3 ozs. We haven't had our official weigh in at the pediatrician's office, but we're guessing he weighs at least 17lbs. and has grown an inch or two more since our last visit.

DJP can sit up (once we put him there)and stay that way for quite some time (probably about 10 minutes) before he decides that he's had enough and falls over to be either on his back or his belly. He also rolls from belly to back and back to belly-today he did both while watching football with Jason. Apparently he wanted to go somewhere!

He's still teething-not so much drool but pulling on his ears. There's no sign of teeth other than his gums have widened a bit more and are definitely bumpy. DJP has become more vocal with lots of sounds and has different facial expressions to go with them. My favorite is when he gets this serious look and he raises one eyebrow! (Neither Jason nor I can do this...) He also can form his mouth into an "ooh" which is fun when we do it first and then he mimics us. Whenever we do something new, DJP is observant and taking it all in so that he can do it later!

DJP's favorite thing to do is watching Ophelia (aka "Kitty") whenever she's brave enough to come into the living room. He will squeal and his little legs go (this is while in the exersaucer) and Kitty avoids the little hands as much as possible. She came a bit close on Friday and DJP was able to grab her tail and didn't really want to let go! I had to pry his fingers off-he had a hand full of cat hair...

The biggest change has been that DJP has been pushing himself up with his hands-lifting his belly off the floor. If he can get his legs coordinated, he'll be mobile shortly!

ETA: DJP is 27 3/4 inches long and weighs 17 3/4 lbs. WOW!

First Pool Party

2010-09-08T20:02:00.006-05:00

DJP attended his first pool party a few weeks ago (only blogging about it now due to the "bday flu" which will be discussed in a few sentences). The pool party was in celebration of DJP's cousin's 2nd birthday. (Happy Birthday, KJP!) The little guy got into his bathing suit and Del Sol t-shirt along with his hat and went in the water with his daddy.

There was also a visit in the pool by Harley, my aunt and uncle's puppy! (who did get on the raft all by himself!)

DJP also got to try his own raft. He enjoyed lounging quite a bit!

Fun was had by all until the next day...when the "bday flu" hit about half the people who attended the party. A family who parties together also gets sick together...talk about family love! (It will definitely be something we all talk about for YEARS to come...)

Making Ciabatta

2010-08-22T22:02:00.010-05:00

Jason and I are very much into watching America's Test Kitchen and reading Cook's Illustrated. They have great recipes and take the time to get the right flavor, etc. with what they make. We were looking through some of their "best" issues last night and I came across a recipe for Ciabatta. Jason remarked that he had watched that episode and said that would be a good recipe to try. I looked at the ingredient list and checked the cabinets and said,"want me to make this tomorrow?" Of course he said yes!

I looked at the directions and noticed that the first part, making a "sponge," needed to rise for 8-24 hours. So I started making that last night:

This morning, after DJP and I woke up (guess who woke who up first?!), I continued with the recipe. I was excited that not only could I use my mixer, but that I could use the dough hook (a first)! After the mixer kneaded the dough and I got it into a bowl, I let the dough rise. And rise. And rise again. Then the dough needed to be shaped into loaves and left to rest and rise once more.
Finally, the loaves went into the oven to bake. Once they were nice and golden brown, they had to cool for about an hour (someone whose name shall not be mentioned was antsy about the length of time he had to wait...) The time passed and the bread was sliced and was decided by Jason to be excellent: (which means that I can make that particular recipe again...and again...and again...)

Visiting Grandma and Grandpa P

2010-08-22T21:56:00.005-05:00

Once we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa P's house, DJP decided that he wanted to watch some TV. So he lounged on the comfy couch and took it all in. That was a good idea on his part since he didn't realize what a whirlwind time it would be visiting with Grandma and Grandpa!

First, we had dinner with the local aunts and uncles (there are no pictures because none of us thought to take any...next time!) which resulted in a later than normal bedtime. DJP took it all in stride that night...

Then we went to visit two family friends-one in a nursing home and the other at home recovering from hip surgery. Elyce, pictured here with Grandpa and DJP, wanted to know when he was going to come and stay with her and paint the town. DJP just took it all in-smiling and giggling! While we were there, he did sit all on his own-granted he was doing the tripod thing-leaning over with his hands between his feet. He's not really done that again-keeps tipping over!

Of course with all the excitement nap time was a bit disrupted and short but fun comes first, right?! In all the excitement DJP got dinner on his outfit, so Grandpa decided to change him into this:
which if you've been paying careful attention to photos is the same tie-dyed t-shirts the boys in SC had on (because SGW is the one who made them)! Of course, I had to send this picture (by text of course) to my SIL to share with the boys.

Then Jason and I got a date night in-we went to see The Girl Who Played With Fire at the Tampa Theatre. I love going there-the Wurlitzer organ still comes up onto the stage from below and the ladies' room is the ladies' "parlor." The ceiling even has little lights in it to make it look like there are stars. We also had dinner at one of my favorite places, Too Jays, a deli-like sit-down restaurant. It was yummy (as usual)!

We also got to see a Rays game-they were playing the Orioles as luck would have it! This was the first time we left DJP with someone other than ourselves or grandparents. He was in capable hands with Kim, a former student/protegee of Grandma P's. There were no problems and we had...ugh...I mean, I had a great time...everyone else suffered through it since the Orioles won and the Rays lost. (Go O's! Does Buck Showalter have fairydust in his pockets that he sprinkles over the players or what?!?!?)

The last part of our visit with Grandma and Grandpa P was to head north to Crystal River to visit with Great Grandma and the aunts and uncles that live there. Great Grandma had a wonderful time with DJP:

as did Aunt Janet and Uncle Dan. We also got to visit with Aunt Kay and Uncle Greg since Aunt Kay finished her special project for DJP-a quilt. In the family, Aunt Kay is THE quilt maker and makes them for the little ones. DJP is on his baseball themed quilt-even with O's and Ray's embroidered players!

It was great to see everyone and after all the fun and excitement and a great breakfast (Thanks, Great Grandma!) we headed home to MD.

Visiting Nina and Papa

2010-08-21T09:30:00.002-05:00

After saying one last goodbye to the cousins, we got DJP back into the car and headed to Florida. On our way, we stopped at Zaxby's, a fast-food chicken restaurant that would give Chik-fil-a a run for its money. As was typical of this trip, DJP got lots of attention from everyone. It amazes me how total strangers will strike up conversations when there's a baby around-especially the bright eyed and curious DJP!

We finally arrived at Nina and Papa's house, where some rooms were empty because they had packed most of the house and moved it to SC for the new house and were getting ready to settle on the FL house a few days after we would leave. It was bittersweet for Jason since he has a lot of memories there from college and lots of his favorite places are nearby.

We had dinner at Gigi's, Jason's favorite pizza place. They have the best thin crust pizza and little pepperoni. YUM!

We watched the Rays play on TV since they wouldn't be at the Trop until later in our trip.

We visited Jason's alma mater, Eckerd College, which also happens to be where his mom and his dad went to college. It's a bit ironic that I also wanted to go there (and recently found out that another college friend of mine had looked there as well!) and could have met Jason 10 years earlier!

We also had a chance to visit with some extended family. It was fun to watch M & M interact with DJP.

As well as DJP taking to Aunt Moon so well. We thought we'd have to bring her home with us-she didn't want to let him go!

DJP had a few firsts while we were at Nina and Papa's house too. He had his first meal in a high chair. He didn't seem to mind it at all, which was nice and easier for us to clean up!
And DJP had his first bathroom sink bath:
We also visited Selmon's (Leroy Selmon's restaurant, former TB Buccaneer) and the P. Buckley Moss art gallery, where Nina purchased a print, College Baseball Dreams, for DJP to celebrate his birth. Jason actually got to meet P. Buckley Moss, since we had to take a detour back to the gallery the next day. She will sign the glass of the frame for DJP.

We had a great visit with Nina and Papa and can't wait to see them when they come here at Christmas time.

Next stop: Grandma & Grandpa P's

Our Visit to SC

2010-08-20T21:56:00.006-05:00

Our first stop was to visit DJP's cousins in Clinton, SC. (Yes, this tiny town has it's own website!) We arrived later in the day then we had originally expected since we bypassed Interstate 95 (to avoid the DC/Northern VA traffic) to take a more scenic route and we had to stop more to let DJP out of his car seat, etc.

Once we arrived at Megan and Stan's (Jason's sister and BIL) house, the boys were excited to see us and LKW was just taking it all in. We also were able to have dinner with Jason and Megan's cousin, Joel and his wife, Mariah who happen to be in Spartanburg, SC for Mariah's job. It was nice to see everyone and spend time catching up and just relaxing.

Jason's mom and step dad are moving to Clinton and have already purchased a home, moved some things from FL and have the house set up to live in so we stayed there instead of a hotel. The house is a few blocks away from Megan and close to the elementary school where the boys and eventually LKW will go to school.

We also got to visit the center of town which includes a McDonald's, train tracks (that divide the town) and some other businesses. We ate lunch at Steamers, a restaurant that is mainly open for lunch but has branched out to be open for dinner one or two nights a week. We also passed by Presbyterian College and Thornwell Home for Children.

It's definitely a small town where everyone knows your business (someone walking their dog one night stopped to chat with my SIL and asked how she was feeling after her mouth surgey) and there aren't the creature comforts like Target, Walmart and malls close by.

Next post: Arriving at Nina & Papa's

5 Months Old

2010-08-18T21:58:00.006-05:00

From this:

To this:
DJP is 5 months old today! I cannot believe it's been that long and how much he has changed.

He is still teething with possible signs of teeth starting. Stuck my finger in his mouth to apply some orajel and there were bumps instead of smoothness on his gums. An the amount of drool has increased yet again, if that's even possible. (Still looking for a viable use for all this drool...)

DJP has rolled over from his back to his tummy however neither Jason nor I have seen this actually happen (he's done this at some point during the night/morning before we've gotten him and also on Grandpa P's bed but we think he cheated...)

He loves butternut squash-finishes the entire jar in one sitting! Definitely did not like peas (me either kiddo!) and is okay with green beans. Jason and I were wondering if DJP remembers the taste of butternut squash from last Christmas when Grandma P made butternut squash soup and mommy tried some?!?! Next up is either carrots or sweet potatoes.

DJP continues to smile easily (even when extremely tired like he was today since he'd only taken a total of an hour's nap all day), still not always sleeping through the night (dr. says 8 hours at a time...Jason and I laugh...it's about 5 if we're lucky! Kiddo wakes up with a hefty diaper and starving!) and is loving his exersaucer. He definitely likes the part where he throws toys on the floor and mommy picks them up (ha ha...that doesn't last long!)

We're back!

2010-08-17T20:28:00.002-05:00

We have returned home from our looooooooooooooooong vacation (2 weeks) to SC and FL. I think DJP's way of expressing the last hour was perfect-he cried/screamed and was just inconsolable. I told him, "Kiddo, Mommy feels the same way but she's not crying!" That's what happens when we've been stuck in the car for 10 hours...

We're happy to be home and able to sleep in our own beds since we had the opportunity to use 5 (yes, five) different beds on this trip. Last night, Jason said, "Just sit here a minute and enjoy the fact that this is our bed." I just laid down and sighed. Yes, it is our bed and went to sleep.

Cook-Out

2010-08-04T08:11:00.005-05:00

When Jason lived in Raleigh, one of the places he would stop at on his trip home from Elon was Cook-Out which has burgers, hotdogs, fries, onion rings, hush puppies, and milkshakes. We were looking for somewhere to stop for awhile to get DJP out of his carseat when Jason saw a sign for Cook-out. Off the interstate we went. We found Cook-Out but there was a surprise. All the Cook-Outs that we had seen were only drive thrus-this one was a sit-down place. So we went in, had some burgers, fries and hush puppies along with some Cajun seasoning. Yum!

What we saw on our trip south

2010-08-03T13:07:00.006-05:00

Unfortunately there is no photographic evidence of what we saw due to the fact that pictures taken at high speeds in a car with an iPhone would just be a blur.

First, traffic came to a standstill on 81 due to 'blasting.' The construction crews were out in force and needed to use some old fashioned methods to clear dirt and rock. We did not see nor feel anything except dirt and trees being moved. This was okay by us since DJP was sleeping.

Once traffic got rolling again and a half hour later we pass the Extreme Makeover Home Edition tour bus. A bit ironic since they were filming a few weeks ago in Baltimore while working on a girls' home (one of my cousins went to help out).

Another vehicular sighting was a semi-truck decorated as a Tootsie Roll! I haven't seen that in a long time. Makes me want to go buy a Tootsie Roll...don't think my teeth can handle that now with all the dental work.
All in all, the ride so far has been uneventful.

4 Months Old

2010-07-31T19:35:00.012-05:00

DJP is now 4 months old (yes, it's been more than a month since I last posted...sorry DJP has been getting most of my attention lately because he's a tad bit cuter than the computer!).

DJP went to see the pediatrician on Monday and he currently weighs 15lbs and is 25 3/4 inches long. He also got the second round of shots for Rotavirus (one more round at 6 months), which was not much fun for him. It was interesting to see his reactions-the first needle he didn't know how to react and the second we saw him turn as red as our furniture and forget to breathe. He did seem to be a bit more irritated after this round of shots, but was fine again once we were home.

Currently, DJP smiles all the time, giggles, rolls over from his belly to his back (close to rolling from back to belly), likes to "stand" with assistance of course, enjoys watching lights and ceiling fans as well as cars and trucks go by if he's near a window, grabs small toys and attempts to stick them in his mouth (if they don't fit, he throws them down), and eats a bit of cereal (oatmeal is his favorite with rice a close second and barley is just nasty) two times a day in addition to his yummy formula. [Does this sound like a singles ad for babies?] Every 5 to 7 days DJP will be trying a new food-this week we'll probably try peas or green beans. So far, he's not disliked any of the cereals and enjoys making messes!

DJP has also been teething for a month. It started slowly, mainly in the evening when the drool factory would start and he'd want to put fingers (didn't matter whose they were) in his mouth. Occasionally, he will have his fist in his mouth and start to scream-this is when the baby Orajel comes in handy. He makes the best faces when he tastes this stuff, but it works especially in conjunction with teething tablets.

Another first for DJP was a mini-vacation! We packed the car and went to Ocean City, MD with Grandma Cass over the July 4th holiday. We took DJP out to the beach late one afternoon and let him feel the sand and the water on his feet. He neither cried nor giggled, but seemed to take in the experience especially how his feet "disappeared" in the sand when the waves receded.

DJP also had his first sleep over this past weekend when his Eckerd "cousins" M & J came to visit. He was in awe of M's walking skills (took copious notes for future reference) and J's napping abilities (3 hours! Mommy wishes for that every day...just once!). At one point, Aunt Niki came over, expecting mass chaos and the house was quiet-all boys were napping and so was Aunt Melanie! All in all having three children under a year and a half in one house went smoothly-helps when they are outnumbered by adults! It was sad to see M, J and their parents go home, but hopefully we will see them soon!

DJP's next adventure is a longer car ride to South Carolina to visit his cousins and then on to Florida to see Grandma & Grandpa P and Nina & Papa.

School's Out for Summer

2010-06-23T07:38:00.003-05:00

It's over. No more. Time to refresh and rejuvenate. More time to spend with the little one (who is 3 months old now)!

DJP has changed so much in the last couple of weeks. He now smiles and giggles all the time. He rubs his eyes when he's tired. He likes to "stand" more than sit (with assistance of course!) He is getting ready to start eating cereal because he's consistently taking 40 ozs. of formula at feeding time. The time he is spending on his activity mat is increasing and so is his tummy time, which he still is not fond of. I don't think he'll be fond of it until he can move himself around...I'm NOT ready for that! He is also starting to teethe. The drool factory started this past weekend and he decided that he likes his fingers as well as anything else that gets near his mouth. Jason and I broke out the teething rings that we had gotten as presents and they are within arm's reach and in the diaper bag along with a ton of bibs (Nina, there aren't enough now!) and burp cloths.

It will be nice to see all the changes that happen in the next couple of months.

Pomp & Circumstance

2010-06-02T08:13:00.003-05:00

Today is graduation day at WLHS. Due to the fact that graduation is held at Merriweather Post Pavilion and is at noon, we only have a half day of school. Yipppeeee! I am extremely lucky that I do not have to attend the actual ceremony since my graduation duty was to cover another teacher's class during graduation rehearsal. I thank my lucky stars that I do not have to be outside in the heat and humidity collecting tickets. However, I do miss getting to see the happy graduates anticipate the ceremony and to wish them well. During senior exams, I did give each of my 8 seniors cards and wished them much success in the future.

Good Luck WLHS graduates in whatever the future holds for you!

Growing like a weed

2010-05-26T07:43:00.003-05:00

Monster, aka DJP, went to his two month (can you believe it?!) check up on Monday. He was measured-23 inches long (has grown over 3 inches since birth) and weighed-11 pounds, 11 ounces (gained over 2 pounds in a month) and is right where he needs to be according to Dr. Otto, his pediatrician.

We asked local friends who they used for a pediatrician and they told us all about Dr. Otto. He is less than 5 minutes away and has been in practice since the early '80s. Jason went to interview Dr. Otto (since I could not take any days off at the time) and really liked the philosophy of the practice. It is also beneficial that there are adult doctors in the practice as well. I will be switching doctors so that I do not have to travel to Crofton (about 45 minutes from home) and wait for 2 hours to see my current doctor. That's a lot of wasted time, especially having an infant!

Dr. Otto spends time asking questions-even asked us how much sleep we were getting (good way to find out how the kiddo is sleeping too!) and how we are enjoying Monster. He went over developmental milestones for the next two months and started talking about solid foods since we won't see him again until the end of July. It was nice to have some guidelines as to when to start Monster on solids-he's currently taking 5 ounces of formula at feeding time!

Then the painful part came. Monster got his two month vaccinations-2 needles and a yummy (he enjoyed it!) oral vaccine. The first shot went okay-he wasn't quite sure how to react to it. The second one was administered and he turned beet red and held his breathe for what seemed like forever! Monster finally calmed down and was just a bit fussier than usual that evening. He hasn't seemed to have any reactions to the vaccinations as of yet other than being super hungry and tired more often. WHEW!

Hi Ho Hi Ho...

2010-05-19T10:06:00.002-05:00

...it's back to work I've been this week.

It was not as difficult to leave the little Monster as I thought it would be (even though I reallllllllllllllly did not want to return to work and begged Jason to let me stay home-his reply was much nicer than this, however he said, "NO!")

My first day back was Monday which started our state testing. About half of my students are taking the four tests (Algebra, Biology, English and Government)so teaching is definitely a challenge with some students present on one day but not another. So we've been reviewing.

Everything was going along nicely until my fifth period class (the hellions). I told one student three times to put away his water bottle within the first 5 minutes of class. Then the principal escorts one of my students to class (the student likes to be late ALL the time) and promptly tells the student with the water bottle to hand it over. Said student says, "NO!" and walks away from the principal saying that he's just going to the office. This student is now suspended. I probably won't see him for the rest of the school year. The rest of the day went well. It was nice to go home and see Monster.

Day 2 was pretty much the same...things were going well until 5th period. I had warned the students that if they misbehaved that there would be consequences of detention and/or an office referral. Well, the aforementioned student who likes to saunter to class late did so again and refused to sit in his seat. I gave him a choice-sit in the seat or go to the office. Guess which he chose? Yup-going to the office. So on my second day back I wrote a referral. UGH!

Day 3 has been going well so far. I had an interview for a media position at another high school in the county. It went well even though the manner in which the interview was conducted was a bit strange-they gave me a list of questions to answer before they interviewed me and then asked me about my written responses. There were other questions asked as well, but I've never participated in an interview like that before (and I've been involved with some real winners!). I've also yet to have 5th period...so we shall see!

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival 2010

2010-05-06T07:55:00.004-05:00

This past weekend was the annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. It is held at the Howard County Fairgrounds and is a mix of animals, fiber and fun. This was the third year that I went and I found it to be a bit different than in the past.

First, it was HOT! So hot that most people tried to walk to each booth in the shade or stay in the exhibition halls where the sun was not beating down on you. The past couple of years, the weather has been nice, but chilly or raining. I wonder what next year will be like?

Second, the festival organizers moved some booths around to another area (which at first made me think that several vendors were not in attendance) and made the festival seem a bit bigger even though from past experience there were fewer vendors.

Third, it was HOT! It was at least 90 degrees.

Fourth, the products available for sale at various vendors were not new or overly exciting. I did visit some of my favorites (Brooks Farm and Creatively Dyed) and found a new favorite (Miss Babs) whose semi-solid colorways are amazing! Some of my former favorites (no names mentioned...) had the same products for three years running. It was just a bit disappointing.

And finally, here is what I purchased:

Long Awaited Gift

2010-05-06T07:31:00.008-05:00

Back in January, during the first round of snowstorms here in MD, my family had a baby shower for me. Amazingly, most of the guests came during the 4-6 inches of snow braving the elements as well as the people who do not know how to drive in snow. (Yes, I apparently know some CrAzY people...and you know who you are!!!)

One of the gifts that I received was one that I would not see until Jason and I had decided on a name for our little Monster because the gift would be personalized just for the little guy. Once Jason and I decided on a name, Niki, great friend and maker of said gift, got to work. Here are the results of her hard work:

The note cards are absolutely fabulous! Some of the ribbons used were from the gifts that I received at the shower (Niki and I both like to recycle!). As Niki pointed out to Jason and myself, half of the cards are blue and half are brown as well as half of each color being horizontal in nature and the other half being vertical (and I still need to learn how to change the layout of the pictures once I upload them...). Each card is a work of art and I would love to just frame them however, they were made to be used and I will do so. Thank you, Niki, for such a thoughtful gift!

Latest projects

2010-04-30T17:08:00.001-05:00

Here are some of the projects that I have been working on:

Oriole Picky Pants

Ribbed Socks

Rocketry Cardigan

There are more projects in the works...well in my mind more than reality since there isn't a lot of time to knit at the moment!

From the White House

2010-04-29T16:57:00.004-05:00

While I was in the hospital, there were many papers to look through,study and sign that had to do with DJP. One of those papers was to get a card from the White House. I thought that was pretty cool, so I filled out the paper and mailed it. A few weeks later this is what came in the mail:

The card has a lovely sentiment on it and will be something I include in DJP's scrapbook so that when he gets older he has a memento of his birth from President Obama and his wife.

Way too Cool

2010-04-15T08:57:00.003-05:00

I never thought in a million years that my two favorite pastimes would come together. I guess it's been a million years because Baseball and Knitting have joined forces in the most amazing place of all...Cooperstown!

A few years ago, a knit designer came up with a sock pattern for all the major league baseball teams. (No, I have not yet knit the pattern...maybe one day!) She knit these for her favorite team, the Colorado Rockies, and won a contest sponsored by Craft, a magazine for all types of crafting.

Present day: The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown now has those very socks on display with current Colorado Rockies memorabilia. The HOF is promoting Stitch 'n Pitch later this month and will have volunteer knitters and crocheters to promote the needle arts! There is an article about this on the HOF's blog (click on "article" for the link!)

YEAH KNITTING & BASEBALL!!!

Welcome

2010-03-24T16:19:00.004-05:00

Jason and I welcomed our son, DJP (aka Monster), to our family on Friday, March 19th at 9:58pm. He was 8lbs. 3 oz. and 19.3 inches long with lots of brownish/blonde/reddish hair. He was delivered by c-section after induction did not work (that made for a long, painful day for me).

Just after delivery:

Our little Italian Opera Singer (future career choice???):

We are now home and D is spending most of the day sleeping, which means we are up most of the night feeding! Sleep has become a rare commodity, but all for a most wonderful reason.

I missed that memo...

2010-03-15T06:57:00.003-05:00

I have mentioned to people that at school, there were many pregnant woman (five to be exact) and one expectant father. We are/were due pretty close together. The first was due in January with a little girl. The next four (me included) are/were due mid-March to the end of March. Apparently, this past weekend there was a memo issued about March babies needing to be born. Three of the four delivered this past weekend! When I showed up for work this morning, everyone was like "you're here!" Yup, I sure am! When they told me that there were three babies born over the weekend (two boys and a girl), I just responded with "I missed the memo!"

We do have an update about Monster's arrival (if he does not choose to arrive on his own in the very near future)...we will be going to the hospital around 5:30am on Friday. Yes, THIS coming Friday...March 19th. Jason has been saying this week would be the week for quite some time since it is his Spring Break and the start of the NCAA Basketball Tournament (which he has seemed to miss quite a bit since he's known me...I like watching it too!!!). While we were watching the selection show last evening, Jason was wondering if some of the doctors would be a bit distracted since many have gone to the University of Maryland. Thankfully, U of MD does not play until 9:30pm and hopefully, Monster will have arrived by then!

So, the count down has begun... T minus 3 days and 21 hours...

The Latest

2010-03-09T08:38:00.003-05:00

The latest from yesterday's doctor's appointment is that I will NOT be going to see 40 weeks as a pregnant woman. Basically, the "plan" from last week's doctor received a different perspective from this week's doctor. (I love seeing different doctors, but could they all be on the same page???) Yesterday's doctor told me that I could pick a day any day from now until the 23rd. WHAT?!?!?!?! Did Mother Nature let every mother pick her child's birthday???? I think not. This is so bizarre to me especially since nothing is particularly wrong or that Monster nor I are in distress.

I left the doctor's office with an appointment for next week and some serious pondering to do. Jason was a bit surprised to hear that we can choose Monster's birthday and then got down to business putting in the bases for the car seat in each of our cars. We went from thinking we had about 2 1/2 weeks to go to having maybe a week to a week and a half. YIKES!

We are physically prepared for Monster's arrival...furniture is all in place, clothes are washed and put away, hospital bags for me and Monster are packed and ready to go and the house is getting cleaned a bit each day as my tiredness allows. I think that mentally we are in shock that being parents is in the quite near future! We'll get there...

Putting things together

2010-02-19T22:27:00.008-05:00

Jason and I have been working on putting things together. Last week, we got the pack n' play together with little to no troubles (we even found the instruction booklet...it was hiding in a pocket that I didn't notice when unpacking the beast.)

This week, we (mostly Jason) put the crib together. It was not as difficult as it looked, but sometimes it felt like you needed 6 hands to put it all together.

On my last "snow" day, I worked on putting together a project that my cousin, Jen, gave to me as a shower gift. She presented me with wall words ("Heaven's gift"). It is a lovely sentiment however I did not want to put it directly on the wall (what if I messed it up??? no gift and I'd have to repaint!). So, I purchased a poster frame and set to work following the instructions on how to apply the art to the glass in the frame. Once that was complete, I looked through my stash of scrapbooking paper (I need to get some of that finished too...like our wedding and honeymoon albums from 5 1/2 years ago!) and found paper in a pale blue with the word "baby" randomly written over the paper. I had enough to fill the frame (whew!) and I think I did a pretty good job of lining the pages up nicely. Thanks, Jen!

The changing table/dresser was SUPPOSED to be delivered today between 1-5pm. Around 5:30 we get a phone call saying that they should be able to arrive by 7pm. Not a problem, but that's pretty late on a Friday evening. Not 10 minutes later, we get another phone call asking if they can come by 7:30. Sure, but that is the latest you can deliver the furniture to us. Why? Because we have plans. Oh... Needless to say, the furniture did NOT get delivered this evening. It should be here on Sunday... if not, the hormonal, pregnant woman will be having some choice things to say to the delivery company and to Babies 'R Us for using said delivery company.
ETA: Changing table/Dresser was delivered on Sunday afternoon! We still have to put the feet on it, but it's here!

Non-stress Test

2010-02-02T04:11:00.002-05:00

I went for my first of many days of fetal monitoring today. First, the nurse hooks two round discs to my belly-one to hear Monster's heartbeat and the other to see about contractions. I sit in a comfy recliner and read a book and wait for Monster's heart rate to increase twice in 20 minutes. He was a good boy and did that...otherwise I would have to sit for 40 minutes! Then I have a sonogram to see how all is going-what position Monster is in, saw that he was practicing his breathing (too cool to see everything moving!), check the amniotic fluid and check Monster's movements. WELL.... needless to say this was the longest part of my stay because Monster decided after the initial test, that he was going to take a nap. He was not going to move a muscle AT ALL! None of the normal tricks worked-me moving from side to side or poking my belly to see if he would move. The nurse had to give me a snack and a beverage for the little one to move. I was a bit worried because she said I couldn't leave UNTIL he moved! Oh boy... I guess in the future I'll be doing more of this...Come on Thursday! (Yes, I go twice a week until I deliver for monitoring...can I work in the doctor's office now???)

Monster Update

2010-01-28T07:48:00.003-05:00

Monster is doing well. He has moved around so that he is now sideways (head on the right, feet on the left). This explains his attempts at performing the hula...does he not realize that we're NOT Hawaiian?

He weighs a whopping 4 pounds 9 ounces! He's gained almost 2 pounds since my visit to the specialist last month (shy by 1 ounce). I was surprised, but it makes sense since my own belly has grown quite a bit in the last month.

Everything looks good and I now get to visit the specialist's office TWICE a week until I deliver for fetal monitoring. This is where I get to sit in the nice leather recliners (which I have used for getting blood pressure checks) and have a monitor hooked up to my belly to make sure that Monster is staying a happy little boy. I've been jealous of the women who have been doing this because they look so relaxed and comfortable while doing this. This week has been difficult at best because I have been SO UNCOMFORTABLE! I know that I have been lucky that my level of comfort has lasted until week 31 because my colleagues (there are 4 of us who are currently pregnant and due before the end of May) have been complaining of discomfort for MONTHS. Sleep is dependent on whether or not I can find a comfortable spot in which to be-most of the time that means that I am sleeping sitting up. This position is NOT one in which a lot of rest occurs (I know this from previous experiences).

Monster's Room

2010-01-26T08:46:00.005-05:00

Monster's room is slowly coming together. I finished painting it on Sunday. It is a bluish color called "Blue Thistle." It is one of the many colors in the crib set that we purchased-Vintage Mickey.

The color is like Mickey's baseball pants in the middle panel. That color is just a tad bit darker than the paint color.

There's nothing on the walls just yet, but one of the gifts that we received in FL has a frame and is waiting for a name for Monster before it will be hung on the wall. We're also saving some wall space because Jason's Aunt Kay is making a quilt that we will display.

The crib is not put together yet either, but we hope to start working on that soon. We also need to order the dresser/changing table, but that will take a week or two to arrive. We will take care of that this weekend.

Mom gave me a bookshelf that belonged to my grandfather since she was clearing some things out this past weekend. The bookshelf is one that I have always wanted and it is the same color as the crib and dresser/changing table. It will make a nice addition to Monster's room for all his books and toys.

Randomness about Monster

2010-01-22T08:13:00.002-05:00

...he has a ton of clothes already and he's still in utero (but can always use more!) Some of those clothes even have monsters on them (we only bought one outfit like that...I think grandparents purchased the others...the nickname has gotten to them!)

...his room is getting ready slowly but surely. We got a paint sample last week; painted and liked the color, so we purchased a gallon of the color last night. Hopefully we'll get to paint the rest of the room before the end of the month.

...the crib is still in the box. We don't have enough room in Monster's room currently to put it together since we still have the twin beds in there. One of those is still needed until the end of the month when we have in laws visiting.

...at the last doctor's appointment (almost a month ago), Monster weighed 2lbs, 10 ounces. I go to the doctor again on Wednesday. Hopefully, he's grown a bit more.

...Monster has continued to be quite active. On occasion, it feels like he's swimming because I feel a rippling effect. Then sometimes it feels like he will be the next Ravens' kicker or a soccer player. Not that he has to be any of those things...he can be whatever he wishes!

...the blanket that I'm knitting for Monster is slow going because you knit a row and then you cut the yarn so that it can be braided fringe. I try to get through 14 rows at a time (that would use all 7 colors in the blanket), but it feels like forever. I'm also working on another blanket (not for Monster, but for his buddy who is due 2 days before Monster) which has also been slow going since I broke one of the needles I was using. I fixed it and have begun again. Hopefully I can get that one finished soon too!

...speaking of knitted items for Monster, I've made a BSJ (Baby Surprise Jacket)sweater (newborn size), some burp cloths (one in Iowa colors, one in old Buccs colors and one multicolored), a diaper cover (in Orioles colors)and have the pattern and yarn to make another sweater for when Monster is a bit older.

I think that's all the randomness for now.

Anxious

2010-01-05T21:05:00.003-05:00

I am not one who likes to wait. Not one bit. If there is mail to be opened, I open it. If a birthday present arrives early, I don't wait until my actual birthday to open it. I HAVE to know what the gift is right away.

I have been very good about keeping items for Monster in their respective boxes until we have time and room to put them together. Until last night... I just HAD to open one box and put one item together. I was good and talked to my dear husband about it and he conceded (poor thing). I moved the box into the living room, where we were watching one of the many bowl games still going on this week. I let Jason open the box and take out all the pieces. We removed all the plastic wrapping and made sure all the pieces were there.

Jason did the putting together while I guided him with the directions. Every once in awhile he needed to see the pictorial directions, but we ending up using all the pieces and putting the item together correctly the first time.

Here it is:

Another Checkup

2009-12-31T08:53:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, Jason and I went to the specialist OB in Annapolis. It was just a routine monthly checkup. We were able to see Monster's face, leg, hands and fingers in 3D ! At first the tech had trouble because Monster is so like his mom and doesn't like to be photographed! He had not only his hands in front of his face, but also was in a pike position with his legs there too! That also makes sense of late because Monster has been quite active and when he kicks-watch out! He's got some powerful little legs.

(traditional view)

(3D view)

Monster now weighs a whopping 2 pounds and 10 ounces! At times, he feels like he's ready to pop out Alien style, especially when I'm ready to go to bed. I can feel his entire little body right at the surface of mine. Very strange feeling!

According to the doctor, all is looking good and I don't have to go back until the end of January! (I'm sure I'll be seeing them every 2 weeks after that though...just like the regular OB.)

Back from the Land of Citrus

2009-12-11T08:48:00.003-05:00

Jason, Mom and I got back from Florida on Monday evening to see the remnants of the snowfall from Saturday. It was nice to see some of the white stuff! Since Jason moved here to Maryland, it has snowed on December 5th every year but one.

Our trip was nice, but it was good to be home again. Our flight to Florida was one of the bumpiest that I have ever experienced. Every once in awhile it would feel like we were on a roller coaster ride. Mom and I laughed about how everyone jostled in the same direction at the same time-it looked like a well choreographed dance! It was also the first time that I have heard a pilot come over the intercom and tell the flight attendants to take their seats. Even though it was bumpy, we landed safely. Thank God for great pilots!

The first shower was in Crystal River (two hours North from St. Pete/Clearwater). We had a great time seeing all the aunts and cousins that we haven't seen in quite some time. Victoria, a budding cake decorator/creator/pastry chef, made the cake. It was a baseball theme with a bear. The baseballs were Rice Krispy treats formed into balls and iced-yum!

The second shower was in St. Pete. It was nice to see some more relatives and friends that we had not seen in a long time...probably since either our wedding or our wedding shower five and a half years ago! We received lots of clothes in all different sizes, a few photo frames, bibs, rattles, and more. We didn't even get any duplicates except for one of the photo frames, however it's such a cute frame I plan on keeping both!

Thank you to everyone who came to the showers and those of you who worked hard to plan and put into motion the two days of fun (those games were difficult, but humorous!) for Jason and me (and of course for Monster!).

Another visit...

2009-12-03T07:55:00.003-05:00

I went to the doctor again yesterday for my monthly checkup with the specialist OB (due to age and health). We got some cool 3D pictures of Monster, who at first had his hands in front of his face-just like his mommy would do! We also got confirmation (because you know...mistakes can happen) that Monster is indeed a boy. He weighs approximately 1 1/2 pounds and is doing fine.

Over the weekend, Monster really got active. He's been kicking/punching/moving quite a bit all the time. He started out just shoving his foot out on my left side at 2:30am. I usually woke up feeling like I had a rock sticking out of my belly! He definitely was moving around during yesterday's sonogram session, but he did cooperate enough so that they could see his nose and upper lip to rule out a cleft palate.

Jason and I are off to Florida for the first two of three baby showers this weekend. When we first made the plans to go to Florida, it felt like it was sooooo far away and it's here already. Where did the time go? Before we know it, the next 16 weeks will fly by too and Monster will no longer be inside of me growing and kicking but a little baby that we get to hold in our arms and love to pieces. I shall be enjoying every minute of the next 16 weeks especially the lack of sleep, the lower back aches, and figuring out how to teach and get to the restroom every five minutes!

And the results...

2009-11-05T13:08:00.001-05:00

we're having a BOY!!!! He is growing at the correct rate and weighs about 12 ounces (like a Coke can, said the technician who was taking the measurements!)

Now comes the fun part...trying to find a name.

Boy or Girl???

2009-11-03T08:03:00.003-05:00

Okay folks...tomorrow, Jason and I go to the doctor for our 20 week appointment (the doctor changed my due date to March 23rd)! (I cannot believe we're at the halfway point already!)

Measurements will be taken to make sure the little one is growing in the correct proportions in accordance with the number of weeks (s)he is. And of course, if the little one cooperates, we will be able to find out if (s)he is a boy or girl.

Jason and I have been teasing each other relentlessly about the gender of this baby. He says "she" all the time and of course, I HAVE to say "he" just because. I think that Jason says "she" because we've had a girl's name picked out for YEARS and really do not have any boy's names narrowed down to any particular one that we truly like (at the moment). It does not matter to us which we are blessed with as long as the little one is healthy!

So, what do you think???

Lifesaver!

2009-10-21T14:13:00.005-05:00

No, I haven't had any cravings for the candies...but I did find the BEST pillow ever! I was using three different pillows to sleep with and none were comfortable nor making me comfortable. Right now, I'm all about being comfortable!

I had heard about some pillows and did some research. I decided on this one:

The Snoogle!

This is the best thing since sliced bread!!! There are about 10 different ways to twist and turn this creative wonder so that the pregnant one (me!) can be comfortable. It's amazing what the right product can do...

What I've Been Doing Lately...

2009-10-04T09:34:00.005-05:00

...of course, going to work and enriching the minds of teenagers (ha);
...putting my feet up once I get home;
...catching up on shows recorded on the DVR since I cannot watch them all at once;
...knitting and knitting some more and here's the evidence:

...plus two projects in the works!

and I've been getting some more yarn in the mail...

Updates

2009-09-06T20:19:00.004-05:00

People (and you know who you are!) have been asking about Mom. She is doing 100% better! She doesn't really need to walk with the cane unless she's walking a long distance, her feet have gone back to their normal size and she's lost ALL of the fluid plus a couple extra pounds. The doctor does think that her thyroid has been acting up (hence the extra weight loss) and has adjusted her medication for that. When we saw her yesterday, she had finished cutting the grass, had washed the car and was just moving around like I haven't seen her do in quite some time. Today she was off to the beach for the week.

School started on Monday. My schedule changed a bit-I was supposed to have 2 Spanish 1 classes, 2 Spanish 2 classes and 1 Spanish 3 class. We had enough students for an extra section of Spanish 1, so I picked that up and gave up the Spanish 3 class. It's nice having that extra Spanish 1 class because the classes aren't packed with 34 students!!! One class has 16, another 27 and the other 28. My Spanish 2 classes are small as well-19 and 24. The real test will start on Tuesday-Can I remember all their names???? Especially since Back to School night is on Wednesday!

I'm still feeling fine. Changed when I take my vitamins and that seems to have done the trick-no more nausea! I absolutely hate that feeling. I would rather throw up than have that gross feeling hang around all day. I'm still tired at the end of the day, which makes driving the 12 miles home interesting! Hopefully, that will change in another week or two.

And finally, I did receive another package from my SP and have taken pictures, but have not uploaded them onto my computer (so sorry, Bees!). I received a skein of yarn (blue and orange in color-Go Gators!) and a package of Pomegranate Cashews from Harry & David's (my favs!).

Potpourrii

2009-08-28T20:21:00.003-05:00

A bunch of randomness:

-this week was loaded with meetings (have I mentioned how much I dislike meetings???)
-one of the presentations was a hoot because the presenter actually could have been a comedienne! (Wonder if she ever thought of doing that instead of being in education???)
-my four year old wish of new Spanish 1 textbooks (that everyone else in county had already) came to fruition; now I just have to stamp and number them.
-the deck is finished (pictures to follow as soon as the rain stops)
-Jason finally joined FB...he was worried that I hadn't friended him yet...how could I when (a)laptops were being reimaged at work (b)FB is not allowed at school and (c)once I got my laptop back my password didn't work
-pricking my finger 4 times a day is oh so much fun (extreme sarcasm here please) especially now that school is starting
-I wish everyone just got along and didn't shoot the messenger
-there's a missing package...or the mail is extremely SLOW this week [Bees, no package as of today :-(]
-I still need to get my posts ready about our trip...before I forget where we even went!
and
-I'm sooooooo tired!
G'night!

New Addition(s)

2009-08-20T08:26:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, is was construction central around here. Before we left for our vacation, we had set up for a deck to be put on the house. The crew came yesterday morning to dig the footers. They will be back today after the inspector comes to start constructing the deck. They hope to be finished by Monday or Tuesday!

We also had a crew from Baltimore City come out yesterday (after 5 days of calling) because we noticed that the road was wet every day starting about where our water meter was. They dug a hole in the street and fixed the problem (hopefully). The process was a hoot to watch because there were at least 5 trucks and 7 or 8 workers. One was in the back hoe, one was in the hole, one was watching the digging, 2 were in the dump truck eating their lunches and at least 2 others just sitting in their trucks! Oh my...

AND...

Jason and I will be adding to our family around the end of March.

We're Back!

2009-08-13T07:15:00.002-05:00

We've returned from our Scandinavian/European Adventure. We had a great time, took lots of pictures, met a celebrity, had Madonna follow us around, ate, slept and played tourist. Hopefully I will be posting pictures and short commentaries soon...as soon as my internal clock is back to EST and not 6-8 hours ahead. Waking up at 3:30am for the start of the day is NOT fun!

Newest info on Mom

2009-07-27T23:37:00.000-05:00

She's still in Upper Chesapeake. The test results came back inconclusive because there's too much fluid to see anything. Mom's iron levels were low, so they gave her an infusion around lunch. She also had some lasix. She'll be seeing a hematologist tomorrow...maybe. We think the hematologist is the one who ordered the iron infusion. We shall see...

Other than that, she's doing okay. Just a bit frustrated that the doctors cannot find the source of the fluid.

Keep good thoughts and prayers coming her way!

Secret Pal 14- Package #1

2009-07-27T10:39:00.005-05:00

In amongst going to visit Mom and packing for Europe, I received a package from my pal. In the package was a set of batting (to test my skills on a spinning wheel-when I get around to ordering one!) and a pin from one of my all time favorite shows-Battlestar Galactica (granted it took me awhile to watch the first season, but after some arm twisting from Jason, I was hooked)!

Thank you very very very much Bees Knees!!!!

Update on Mom

2009-07-26T23:55:00.002-05:00

Still no results from the tests done yesterday. The doctor did say that Mom would begin Lasix therapy tomorrow and hopefully the test results would come back by then. Mom still has a bloated belly, but she is not in any pain and looks well. She is getting bored of being in the hospital. It's not easy for her to read since the "reading" light is way above the bed and the regular light is too strong for the middle of the night (when Mom cannot sleep). If she doesn't come home tomorrow, I will be taking her a reading light so that she can at least read a bit.

Keep good thoughts and prayers coming her way...maybe the doctors will figure out how this happened!

Busy busy busy

2009-07-23T09:07:00.003-05:00

Jason and I have been busy lately. We're still getting a few things finished up in the basement-like the bar and the steps as well as "finding" things that we haven't seen since we moved (the things were still in boxes). We've also completed (FINALLY) the refinancing of our home-we started in April and just signed the papers on Monday, July 20th! Plus there's all the packing we need to do for our upcoming trip to Wonderful Copenhagen and Northern Europe. I'm excited about seeing new places where I do NOT know the languages but we shouldn't have any problems since the Scandinavian countries use English quite a bit too.

As if that weren't enough, we also purchased a new vehicle. We replaced the Rav-4 with a CRV. It's really nice...we got leather seats so come Winter, the butt warmers will come in handy (especially since La Nina is back again-more snow than usual????). For a treat the other night, Jason and I went to Chik-Fil-A for milkshakes. The guy in the drive thru window asked what year the car was because he could SMELL the newness from inside Chik-Fil-A! Oh my...

Lastly, Mom called yesterday afternoon to say that her doctor called and that she needed to go to the emergency room because her potassium levels were extremely high and her kidney functions were low. So off we went to the emergency room (Thank you Aunt Sharon and Uncle Tony for taking her!!!!) to wait for the test results. The doctor came in around 8pm to say that they think the only problem is some of the medication Mom was taking was causing the fluid build up in her abdomen (making her look pregnant-I don't need another sibling at this point in my life!!!). So, they admitted her and gave her a fluid drip (we think so she stays hydrated) and a brownish liquid to drink to help lower the potassium levels, which had gone down since the original blood work was done. There did not seem to be anything else wrong (THANK GOD!) and I will be heading back to the hospital this afternoon to see what else is happening and keep everyone posted.

Trying New Things

2009-07-10T08:50:00.004-05:00

I've officially been out of school for three weeks now. I have slept in, read, knitted, been lazy, caught up on watching stuff from the DVR and now am ready to try new things. Well, cook new things!

Jason and I decided that we would go through the Cook's Illustrated magazines that we have (a great magazine if you want to know the WHY behind what is being done and how long it takes them to perfect it!) and pick a few recipes to try each week. Some had no recipes that we wanted to try and others had a few. One in particular had quite a few pages marked...just about ALL of them! We tried two of the recipes from this magazine-Almost No Knead Bread and The French Onion Soup. This was my first time making bread by myself as well as a fancy soup. Both turned out well, even though the soup takes FOREVER to make.

YUM!

Secret Pal 14 Questionnaire

2009-07-03T18:16:00.005-05:00

Once again, it's time for another round of Secret Pal. Here's my questionnaire...

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
Lately, I've been using a lot of sock yarns (mainly BFL, merino, bamboo). I cannot stand novelty yarns!!!!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
I have three cases to store my needles in (one for straights and two for interchangeables)

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I've been knitting for about 5 1/2 years and I taught myself. I would consider myself to be of intermediate skill level

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
Yes, on Amazon and Loopy Ewe...links are on the left (<---)

5. What's your favorite scent?
Coconut Lime Verbena (from Bath & Body Works)

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Yes, dark chocolate peanut m & m's and I LOVE cashews!!!

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
I am learning how to spin and hope to purchase my first wheel soon!

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
All kinds...but lately I've been listening to the 70s channel on the TV
Yes, I can play MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I love all kinds of blues...there really isn't a color that I do not like!

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
Married to Jason with a cat, Ophelia

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes, yes, yes, no

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
SOCKS! And right now baby blankets since everyone I know is having babies (a couple two at a time!)

13. What are you knitting right now?
2 baby blankets, 2 pairs of socks

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
Yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
Circs, bamboo or metal

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
Yes and yes

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
about three years...a sweater that I just have never gotten back to...but will soon!

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe?
Christmas (for both). I love the colors, the weather, getting together with family and friends

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Elephants and sock yarn

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
The Eclectic Sole
I have Creative Knitting and Interweave Knits subscriptions currently.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
I'd love to do some entrelac...I'm always behind in trends!

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
YES! I wear a 9/12US

23. When is your birthday?
September 6th

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?
Yes, srapalmateer

Spinning

2009-06-29T21:17:00.003-05:00

No, not the biking class! (I cannot even imagine doing that!)

But the old fashioned way with a spinning wheel...this past Saturday, I spent 5 hours at Cloverhill Yarn Shop learning how to spin. I tried out five different spinning wheels-The Ladybug (which I did not like-too difficult to treadle), the Kiwi (which was pretty good-although just a beginner wheel), the Traveler (also did not like too much), the Joy (definitely did not like-too low to the ground) and the Traditional (which is the wheel that I am thinking about purchasing). I want to go back to the shop and try out all the wheels again just to make sure since spinning wheels can be quite pricey!

I also learned how to comb and card wool fibers as well as plying spun singles into what everyone knows as yarn. It was a great class and Jen, the teacher, was fabulous!

In July I will be taking another class, but this time learning a different technique for knitting socks with one long circular needle from the toe up called magic loop.

RIP

2009-06-29T21:02:00.004-05:00

It seems to me that my family is diminishing just a bit more quickly than I would like it to! Since February, there have been 7 (yes, I said seven) deaths in my family.

Aunt Ellen (mom's side)
Dad
Kas (Aunt Ellen's daughter, a cousin of mom's)
Ed (cousin of mom's)
Harry (Dad's cousin's husband)
Mary G. (Grandpop's last surviving cousin)
Pop Hovel (father of mom's oldest friend's husband)

Today was Harry's funeral. It took place at Garrison Forrest Veteran's Cemetery where my maternal grandparents, some cousins and even a classmate of mine (HS) are buried. Mom, Chris and I went and stopped by the graves to pay our respects. It was sort of like playing hide and seek since there is a system to how the graves are laid out, but even when you know the system it is like finding a needle in a haystack!

My grandmother always used to fear January because that seemed to be when all the folks in our family passed on and usually only three. Now I'm beginning to think it just needs to be in the first six months of the year and who knows how many...

And then there were three...

2009-06-16T07:30:00.000-05:00

On Monday, Megan and Stan (Jason's sister and brother-in-law) became the proud parents of Lilian Kaye Walsh. Lily weighed in at 6 lbs. 15 oz. on June 15th! All are doing well, except maybe Jack, who still thinks he's got a little brother!

1,000,000th Word

2009-06-10T08:51:00.002-05:00

Apparently, today is the day that the 1,000,000th word was added to the English language. The Global Language Monitor is responsible for the formula that is used to calculate how many words are added per day (that would be 14.7, if you were curious). The word was added at about 5:22am our time (10:22am Stratford-on-Avon time).

The 1,000,000th word is....(drum roll, please!)

WEB 2.0

This is a word that those of us in education and especially me (having just finished my masters in Library Media) have known for quite some time. If you do not know what Web 2.0 is, it is a technical term that refers to the next generation of the World Wide Web (basically blogs, wikis, etc. that we "normal" people create).

Other words that were possibles: Jai Ho (from Slumdog Millionaire), Noob, Slumdog, cloud computing and carbon neutral.

Interesting...

Safety Follow Up

2009-06-10T07:14:00.002-05:00

Yesterday afternoon, we had some wild storms here in Maryland. We were supposed to go to the Orioles game but decided to turn around and come home. We stopped at a local BBQ/Pit Beef place to pick up dinner. It's still raining and starting to get heavy again. We were waiting to turn out of the parking lot...tons of traffic since it was rush hour. Cars were coming just far enough apart that we could not get into the turn lane. Finally traffic lessened so that we could cross, but to our surprise a minivan pulled around us to do that same thing. Apparently we were taking too long. Of course, Jason honked and the driver of the minivan got out of the car at the traffic light and gave us an "oh well" shrug. Of course one of the passengers then gave us the finger.

(**And this is why teaching is so difficult...people think this type of behavior is OKAY!!!)

Safety

2009-06-05T09:53:00.004-05:00

Those of you who have ever driven with me know that I like to go fast. Not too fast, but typically faster than the speed limit. However, I do not drive aggressively nor dangerously. I follow traffic signals and signs, merge when it is my turn, change lanes when there are dotted lines, make appropriate turns (not too wide and not too sharp), use my turn signals and of course turn on my lights when my windshield wipers are on.

This week the weather has been a bit rainy (downpours at times). Drivers have been absolutely RIDICULOUS! First, the number of people who are driving in the rain WITHOUT lights on is incredible. How am I supposed to know there is a car coming and I'm trying to make a turn??? I thought Maryland instituted a law that if a driver was using the windshield wipers in the rain, the headlights needed to be on. Am I just making up my own laws????

Secondly, one of the big safety promotions of the Spring & probably Summer here in MD is motorcycle safety, for those of us who are not motorcycle enthusiasts. I am always aware of motorcycles. Most of the time it is because they are the ones acting in a DANGEROUS manner. Just in the past 6 days, I have been witness to two very dangerous incidents involving motorcycles. The first, Jason and I were coming home Sunday evening from Mom's. We were merging onto 695 and a guy on a Honda or Suzuki bike was riding in our blind spot. Then passed us at a high speed and changed lanes rapidly, cutting others off. The second was on my way home from work Tuesday. I was on Winters Lane and out of the blue, a guy on a Harley is right on my bumper. He began swerving to see if he could pass me OVER THE DOUBLE YELLOW LINES. I was coming up to my turn (a left), put on my blinker and he passed me! I could not believe it. I think the MVA and the State of Maryland need to remind the motorcyclists of how to ride properly. [FYI, I'm all for those who enjoy riding motorcycles to be able to do so, but I wish they would do so SAFELY!]

Lastly, Jason and I were out shopping and were coming home to our little hamlet of Catonsville. We were approaching the light (green!) at Fredrick and Bloomsbury (on Bloomsbury) and a white car turns from Fredrick Road at full speed, never stopping at the red light and almost hit us head on. WHOA! Sometimes I wonder why I go out of the house when people have no concerns about their own safety or anyone else's.

Just needed to rant and get this off my chest.

Catch Up

2009-06-03T06:29:00.002-05:00

So for the past month, things have been crazy. For sake of making a long post short here is the recap in bullets:

We spent Mother's Day with Mom; took her to BoneFish and made her cry with our gift (Mother/Daughter trip to FL once school is out for me)
I helped Mom figure out how to find text messages on her new cellphone since I texted the "Happy Birthday" Song to her on her bday...learning how to use technology is a GOOD thing!
I graduated with my Masters (in Science...still not sure why all the undergrads at McDaniel received BAs-even those who majored in Science and all the Masters candidates received MSs-bizarre...unless of course any of the academics who read this can share their knowledge on the subject.) It feels good to be finished. I have warned everyone that if I mention going back to school within the next couple of years to beat me over the head with a baseball bat-I need some low stress times for awhile!
Friends (Melanie and Mike) have become the proud parents of twin boys...born 13 weeks early! Matthew and James are doing well (they have had some troubles, but nothing out of the ordinary for preemies). Their progress is being followed at Raising The Barrs.
I mentioned in a much earlier post that my department chair was also having twin boys. They also were born early, about 5 weeks. Matteo and Giacomo are doing well and even visited WLHS at lunch with their mom last week. We think I was holding Matteo (even their momma can't tell them apart...and they're FRATERNAL!) They are adorable!
Jason and I have worked hard to finish the basement. We are almost there! There are two things left for me to do-finish staining and polyurethaning the bar and the stairs. This is one of my summer projects. We are also waiting for our sofa and love seat to be delivered (hopefully very soon!)
We found out that my cousin, Jaime, is pregnant with child #2. Congratulations!!!
Chris, my bro, and I have both been to see the dermatologist. I had one mole removed last week and will have the stitches and the results on the 10th. Chris will have two moles removed on the same day. I know that a few other family members have gone to either be checked and/or have moles removed. PLEASE go see a dermatologist!!!! You never know...it could save your life!!!
Jason and I are planning a cruise for Thanksgiving 2010. If anyone is interested in going, the boat leaves from Baltimore, is 7 days long and VERY affordable! You can contact us for more details.
Jason finished the Spring semester and has already started teaching the first session of summer school at Towson.
Jason's dad was having double vision. Kind of scary...he had all sorts of tests done (MRI, CTscan, etc.), went to the emergency room, saw his regular doctor, saw specialists including a neurologist. Come to find out, he had a stroke. NOT a stroke of the brain, but of a blood vessel in a muscle surrounding the eye. Apparently, this is very common and most of the time we do not even know these little "strokes" are happening. The doctors all confirmed that Rod is no where near having a stroke in the normal sense of the word. WHEW!
and finally, we are getting excited about our anniversary cruise! We are off to Copenhagen and the cruise leaves from there to go to Germany, Estonia, Russia, Sweden and Finland. We've waited a long long long time for this...probably since our Honeymoon cruise (I think we started talking about the upcoming cruise then!). I'm a bit anxious about it because this will be the first time that I've traveled to any place where I do NOT speak the language! I attempted to start learning German on the website LiveMocha (like Rosetta Stone, but FREE) but just have not had the time to keep up with it.

So, the short story ended up being long anyway...that's just life. It happens!

Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival

2009-05-12T07:04:00.009-05:00

The first weekend of May is always the weekend of Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival. I have gone the past three years and have enjoyed every minute of it! The first year, it was sunny, windy and a bit cold. Last year it was sunny and hot. This year, it rained and rained and rained some more. The good part about that was that the festival was less crowded. Don't get me wrong, there were still loads of people there! (Who knew people LIKE to be out in the rain???)

Since there were not many people there, we (Angela, Pat and I) decided that we would stand in the t-shirt line (which is usually a mile long and not worth standing in), but this year's artwork was amazing-a ewe with a beehive hairdo (Hey, Hon!) knitting! I bought a t-shirt and some note cards. Once we finished with our purchases there, we went to the main barn to get out of the rain. We saw lots of spinning wheels (I really, really, really want one, but need to learn how to spin first!), spindles, fiber, yarn and a variety of other crafty things. I even got to try my hand at hooking...a rug! It's not the latch hook of the '70s and '80s with the yarny fringe, but pulling bits of fiber through a canvas to create one of those rugs with tight loops that cost $$$$$$$. I did not purchase a hooking kit...even though I was tempted. I wanted to save my money to purchase yarn!

I purchased two skeins of Blue Moon Fibers' Socks That Rock Lightweight mill ends,
(one is more of a Christmasy colorway and the other reminds me of seaweed-dark greens and blues to almost black),

a skein of Lucky sock yarn from the Serendipitous Ewe in colorway Waterlily,

a skein of one of my new favorite indie dyers, Creatively Dyed, in her Calypso base, Mabalo-from white to green to almost black (there seems to be a theme here). I have two other skeins in the Tradewinds base and am attempting to get through some other projects so that I can start in on all my new sock yarn!

I also purchased a skein of yarn that goes well with the Creatively Dyed skein-I do not remember which stand it came from, but it is a blend of bamboo and merino (sooooo soft!). Part of me wants to make a pair of crazy socks where I use two different skeins of yarn, knit the heel and toe in the opposite colorway. We shall see...

I also bought some fiber. I hope to get my spindle out and spin a bit now that grad school is finished and graduation is coming up Memorial Day weekend. The fiber is merino (easiest to spin for a beginner) in the colorway Forest (main color is brown with some red, blue and yellow).

Now, I hope I have enough yarn to make it to next Maryland Sheep and Wool!!!

It's been awhile...

2009-04-27T20:39:00.003-05:00

...so I thought I'd write a bit tonight.

First, I turned in my portfolio last night. It is finished. WHEW! This has been a crazy 2 1/2 years of coursework, internship and finally the portfolio. I've learned a lot and look forward to walking across the stage at graduation to receive my Masters!!!!

Second, with this heat wave that really is meant for July and August, I treated myself to a pedicure and manicure this afternoon. A girl has to have her piggies in tip top shape to wear the sandals and flip flops!

Finally, with so much else to do, I failed to check my email recently. I went through it this evening and came across one that said, "You're a Winner!" Well, it was not from Publisher's Clearing House, but from Knit Picks, a mail order yarn company! I won a copy of Handknit Heroes, a graphic novel about knitting of course (quite appropriate for the librarian to be) and 7 skeins of Wool of the Andes in a color of my choosing. I chose blackberry, a deep purpley color. Not a color I would normally pick, but since it's free (YIPPPPEEEEE!!!!), why not? Now, you're probably wondering what I did to win the contest. Good question. Handknit Heroes is a graphic novel about teens who have powers and knit (of course), so the contest was asking if we could have a superpower, what would it be? I always tease my students that they wish theirs was invisibility when it comes to using their cellphones to text during class, but that was not mine. "If I had a superpower, I would be super fast like the bionic woman! I would be able to multitask and get things accomplished in the blink of an eye. That way I would have more time to knit and actually get projects finished!!!!" Now, if only I were super fast...

And of course, speaking of knitting...I have a few projects on the needles...two pairs of socks (cannot finish one pair because I broke the needles and need to purchase a new set!), a scarf/stole (cannot finish because I need to decide if I want it to be a scarf or a stole...if a stole, I need to purchase more yarn), and three gifts that need to get finished before the end of summer! (Do you see why I chose my superpower????)

So sorry, oh so sorry!

2009-03-30T15:41:00.003-05:00

With my dad's illness and subsequent passing, I have been away from the regular posts of yarn, knitting and the like.

I would like to sincerely apologize to my SP13, Danielle, that it has taken me soooooooo long to post about the wonderful last SP13 package that I received. Here's a pic:
The sock yarn is Lana Grossa's Meilenweit Marmi. It's the perfect mix of blues and grays for me! I also received a bar of Ballard Organics soap-Peppermint Rosemary. It smells delicious-ok, so I won't eat it, but it does smell oh so good! And finally, a hand knit washcloth (which I have been using!!!) in a pretty silvery blue. It's so soft!! THANKS Danielle!!!!

Dad's Obituary

2009-03-17T16:07:00.001-05:00

You can view Dad's obituary on McComas' website. (Click on McComas and it will take you there.) You can also leave a message there.

Donation addresses

2009-03-16T15:40:00.000-05:00

The donation addresses have been updated for those who desire to make a donation in Dad's name.

Passed on

2009-03-15T23:12:00.004-05:00

Dad passed peacefully this afternoon around 1:30pm with Mom by his bedside. He had a restful night last night so Mom and Aunt Felicia got to sleep all night as well.

We have made arrangements for the viewing and funeral. The viewing will be held at McComas Funeral Home. The address is: 1317 Cokesbury Road, Abingdon, MD 21009. Viewing will be held on Wednesday, March 18th, from 2-4pm and 7-9pm. The funeral mass will be held at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, 1450 Abingdon Road, Abingdon, MD 21009, at 11am on Thursday, March 19th.

Dad was active with both the Boy Scouts and The Knights of Columbus. If anyone wishes to make a donation to either of these organizations in lieu of flowers, that would please please him and the entire family.

Boy Scout Troop 234
c/o Mrs. Cindy Hutchins
2511 Cullum Road
Bel Air, MD 21015

Or

Knights of Columbus, Fr. Maurice Wolfe Council #11372
c/o St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church
1450 Abingdon Road
Abingdon, MD 21009

Thank you to everyone who prayed with us and sent good thoughts our way during Dad's battle with cancer. Many of you have sent such kind words to us already that show us that we were not the only ones who loved and had the utmost respect for Dad.

Resting Comfortably

2009-03-12T21:49:00.002-05:00

Dad is resting comfortably. He was able to get into the hospital bed (with assistance) that was delivered last night. He is also using oxygen. The oncologist said that it was okay as long as it was helping him. Dad didn't eat a whole lot today-a bit of a TastyKake (his favorite) and a ThinMint Cookie. He told Mom that the TastyKake wasn't cold enough-he likes them from the freezer. (They taste better in my opinion and they don't melt as quickly.) Dad was also a big fan of ice chips today. He crunched away.

We all talked to the oncologist this morning and asked the big question of "how long?" We got an answer that was not a surprise to any of us. He told us because everyone is different that it could be anywhere from a week to a month. We are okay with that and know that Dad will no longer be in any pain and that he will be in a better place. We know there are many who await his arrival with open, loving arms.

"...Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." ICor4:16-18
(Lynette, thank you so much for sending this passage to me. It has gotten me through some rough days. I love you!)

It was the White ones

2009-03-10T06:42:00.002-05:00

Dad went to have more blood drawn yesterday and his white cell count is up therefore he can eat anything he wants to eat. When we talked last night, he was eating grapes. I asked Mom if he really wanted them but they needed to be pealed, would she have done it? She says no. Ever tried to peal a grape? I have and it's really not pretty.

Dad continues to be extremely weak. Mom said that she fed him last night because he couldn't even lift the fork. He was only able to talk on the phone for about a minute before he was out of breath and coughing. The coughing has increased since Dad's last round of chemo. It will probably continue to worsen as the mass in his right lung continues to grow. Also, his speech has started to slur again so the oncologist upped the steroid dose.

Mom also said that Hospice was going to be set up sometime today. Hopefully, they can come to the house on Thursday when we'll all be there so that Mom won't have to relay messages/questions for us.

Love to all!

Not well

2009-03-06T21:43:00.002-05:00

The latest news with Dad is that the mass in his lung has gotten larger. The oncologist canceled the PET scan on Monday because the CT scan told him what he needed to know. Dad has had a stressful last two days due to having blood drawn for typing so that the blood transfusion could happen today. It went well, but Dad is extremely tired. Mom said that he napped off and on since they arrived home. Dad was able to sit outside for awhile-he said it felt good in the warm air.

Because of Dad's low (we think red, but it could be the white) blood cell count, he cannot eat anything raw-not even veggies! If he has fruit, Mom has to wash and peel it. Dad's appetite has been good so that is a plus. He goes in Monday for more blood work and on Thursday he will see the oncologist again.

Chris, Jason and I will be visiting tomorrow, so I will be able to post another update later this weekend.

Love to all and keep praying!

Yarn Party!

2009-03-06T21:34:00.002-05:00

I love a good party! The only thing that could make it better is yarn (IMHO). March 15th at Historic Savage Mill from 12-4pm there will be all kinds of indie dyers, yarn and knitting related goodness. Come join in the fun! See ya there!

Mardi Gras...just a bit delayed

2009-02-28T18:49:00.005-05:00

This week apparently everyone forgot that it was Mardi Gras on Tuesday...even the French teachers at school. Unfortunately, celebrations were a bit tame around these parts-a few students brought King Cakes to school and some beads and doubloons were shown. Dad received his own King Cake yesterday from his cousin, Deanna, and her husband, Richard, who live in Louisiana. It was sitting on the front porch when Dad and Mom came home from the oncologist's office (more about that in a bit). The King Cake was one with blueberry and cheesecake filling and came (as the box claimed) with a party-enough yellow, green and purple sugar and sliced almonds to decorate the cake, icing so the sugar sticks, a glove to apply icing, beads, doubloons and even a cup from which to drink.
I had the honor of decorating the King Cake. It smelled really good while I was decorating it...yum! Then I went to show Dad what I had done and took this:Then we cut the cake and everyone had a piece. It was sooo good! Mom was warning Dad that his blood sugar would be high because of the sugar, but when she finally did the finger stick, it was only one point higher than before he ate dinner! Who knows? Thank you to Deanna and Richard for the wonderful and yummy surprise!

Now for the oncologist visit...Dr. Bahrain thinks that Dad has an infection somewhere but cannot seem to figure out where due to Dad's shortness of breathe. He prescribed Cipro (an antibiotic) and sent Dad to have a CT scan because the one near his office was not working. When Mom and Dad got to the lab, they were told that the appointment had been canceled by someone at the oncologist's office. It was frustrating for Dad since he'd been wanting answers and he had been out longer than he usually is. Needless to say he was extremely tired when he and Mom finally arrived back home. Dad has another appointment on Monday (weather permitting) as well as one on Wednesday. Hopefully we'll know more then.

We'd also like to send big birthday wishes and hugs to SC for Jack's 3rd birthday!!!!

2009-02-25T14:51:00.003-05:00

Sorry that I have been slow in posting here this past week or so...grad school has taken over!

Dad started his second round of chemo Saturday night and has been doing well with it. It has made him cough a bit and of course not sleep as much as he needs. He has finished radiation for now and even went out for a bit on Saturday with Chris and Aunt Felicia. They took him to Lowe's and Home Depot to look for material for a job that Aunt Felicia is helping out with. Mom has been having Dad sit out in the sun room for while each day so that he gets a different view. On Saturday, we let him walk up the 6 steps from the sun room to the house instead of walking around the house to the front door where there is only one step. Jason walked in front of him and Chris behind him in case he had trouble or stumbled. No problems! He surprised us all by going up the steps rather quickly.

For now, all is well, but keep praying!

Quick Chemo Update

2009-02-18T20:41:00.002-05:00

Dad went to have the bone and nausea drips today (bone-to strengthen his bones; nausea-to alleviate the nausea from the chemo pills). He won't start the chemo until Saturday. The oncologist wants Dad to be finished with the radiation before he starts the second round of chemo. He will be finished with the radiation on Friday.

Fewer Meds

2009-02-17T20:17:00.003-05:00

Dad went to see the oncologist today. He was taken off most of his medications except for the steroid (which is down to once a day), the stomach medicine (Prevacid), insulin (which he will continue to take as long as he is taking the steroid) and oxycodone as needed for the pain in his side (due to taking a little fall on Sunday). Dad will finish this round of radiation on Friday (yeah!) and will start his second round of chemo tomorrow evening.

The oncologist said that there probably won't be anything new until they do CT scans and all in three months. This is just one long wait which is why we've just got to take it one day at a time.

Keep praying...