August 2010

August was a rollercoaster. First... the highs...We went to wyoming something like three times in the last month. It was so much fun to be camping with my family, hanging out at the cabin with Kev's family, and just enjoying the fresh air. Isaac had a few firsts, like his first run down the snake river (we took out at wolf creek, but still impressive), first spaghetti dinner, and his first trip to Jackson. In true Kevin style, he and my dad managed to track down (on KSL of course) some guy that was willing to sell bladders for some pontoon boats his family had long since given up on for dead. I'm not sure they were worth the price, but they sure are fun to take down the river and in Kevin's mind, anything that makes fishing even more fun, is priceless. (Kevin actutally floated down in an innertube before upgrading to the pontoon boats). Also, it was Kev's birthday and he turned 29 again! Yay! He and his dad celebrated in style with the family and although I was bummed I couldn't be there I was glad they had such a great time.

Now the lows...We keep trucking along with work, but to be completely honest, with neither of us having so much as a day off together that we didn't spend out of town, our house was pretty much in ruins by the end of the month. There were laundry piles the size of Mt. Killamanjaro. Plus my week long, every other night, spend the night in the hospital, call shift didn't help stabilize matters either. Eventually our immune systems wore down and we were pretty much dead. Kev had felt ill for a couple of nights before and so I had slept on the couch to take care of Isaac without waking Kev or spreading germs.... to no avail. Meanwhile Kevin keeps complaining that he thinks he has and ingrown finger nail that hurts... this of course is secondary in priority to his intermittent fever, cough etc. It all comes full circle when Tuesday I felt pretty feverish on and off all day, but it was a long day at work and as any adult knows, you don't get to call in sick to real jobs unless you're dead.... I send Kevin text emails all day about how I'm pretty sure I'm dying... and to have Gregg Fisher taxadermy me and put me in the living room and stuff like that. 16 hours later I finally get to crawl into bed and steal all the covers at which point Kevin sticks a thermometer under my arm and declares I'm burning up and cannot keep roasting in the covers, a few wimpers and some tylenol later I sleep my blissful 5 hours and go back to work feeling pretty good.... except over the next couple of days my voice slowly but surely disappears. This was pretty comical at work as I would have to lean down and whisper into my patients ears explaining that I lost my voice but I'm going to be their doctor that day. Inevidably they would whisper their replies because when one preson whispers you just automatically whisper back. The people at work found this hillarious and I'm pretty sure Kevin wasn't lamenting the loss of my voice for those few days. That same five hours of feverish sleep night for me was far worse for Kevin. Kevin's finger turned out not to be an ingrown nail but some random raging infection that needed drained and antibiotics started. This however could not be done until Wednesday so Kevin spent Tuesday night on the couch with his throbbing finger elevated so it would hurt less, waking up and feeding Isaac (who of course also has a cold). Then, just when things were starting to look up... Kevin completely lost his sense of smell for three days and I landed some pink eye. I don't know what it is, I must have defective eyes or the world's worst hand-eye hygeine because I am a pink eye magnet. When I was little I would get it so often I could put in my own eye drops.. luckily this dissappeared with some treatment too... but for a couple of days we were quite the site of a family. Dad with bandaged finger, cough, runny nose. Mom with pinkeye, no voice. Baby with pinkeye and runny nose. Luckily this all subsided and we recovered just in the nick of time for vacation. But since the vacation technically happened in September... that's the next post.

The local park

Part of the reason we chose our house was the number of nearby parks. We hoped our future kiddos would like 'em. If Isaac's face is any indication, we're on the right track.

July flew by and now I'm sitting in the operating room, trying to catch up. This month started off with a bang... mainly us moving back to Utah and trying to unpack enough during my first week of anesthesia to have everyone over for Isaac's blessing on the 4th. It was a great success and I feel so fortunate to have such a wonderful husband to give our amazing baby a great blessing. It was so fun to have everyone over and get to see family. Everyone was so helpful; it felt like the whole family was putting on the party. We even managed to get some family pictures at the Clubhouse after the blessing.

The next week we started our new family schedule. On Kevin's workweek we all wake up at 4:45, all hop in the shower, wash, pass the baby, wash, pass the baby, wash the baby, get ready and rush out the door to be in the hospital by 6 and to ARUP for work and school shortly thereafter. Isaac seems to really be enjoying his time at preschool and all the ladies there love him (rightfully so). He comes home with a new hairstyle everyday. He has also taken to solid foods like a fish to water. Consequently he eats two to three solid meals everyday, plus all the breastmilk I can manage, plus formula. Needless to say he's gaining weight like a champ - Finally!

My uncle Joey came to visit this month and we had a great time shooting skeet. Kevin was by far the best shot, but I wasn't bad either. Even the little dude got in on the action.

My parents saved us numerous times while we went to many required, no children invited, fancy schmancy anesthesia dinners. Isaac loves hanging out with his grandparents and Kev and I loved having a chance to just be us again.

Last, but certaintly not least... we finally made it back to Wyoming. I couldn't believe it had been 2 years since I had been there. It was so much fun to be up with my family camping, raft the snake river, and then fish of course. The rafting was great and Kevin even managed to convice part of our crew to hike the raft back up so that we could hit Kahuna again, better. Needless to say, they tipped over, but everyone had a great time. The little dude was taught the fine art of fishing by a very kind daddy who wore Isaac on his chest most of the morning.

An amazing Dad

A few months ago, at about 3 in the morning I was half awake, exhausted, sitting in our bedroom feeding Isaac, when Kevin stumbled over to to help.
Kevin mumbles, "sorry".
"Sorry for what?"
"I kinda thought I was going to be an amazing Dad, but I'm just not."
Flash forward to the present date- It's father's day and everyone should know he's an amazing Dad. Not just an amazing Dad, but a spectacularly amazing Dad. Kevin took paternity leave to spend time with Isaac and I, in Idaho, for the last three months. Everyday I go to work and at home "my men" get to work. Kevin takes Isaac for walks by the river, plays with him, sings to him, reads to him, soothes him, feeds him, cleans him, and even balances him on one hand. Isaac lights up whenever Kevin is near. I don't know how he does it, but Kevin is calm, patient, and extremely hard working when it comes to our little man. I love him so much and am so lucky to be married to such a great guy, and such an amazing Dad. Happy Fathers day to all the great dads out there that are almost as amazing as Kevin!

Where does the time go?

I can't believe May is already over! It's been such a fun and busy month for us. It started out with Kevin's parents visiting us for the weekend. We had such a good time doing our regular old Boise sort of stuff (taking walks, feeding geese, and eating amazing meals prepared by Kevin the Chef). They were so nice to have as guests because not only were they fun, but they also loved holding Isaac, which was a huge help to us. Kevin and his folks even managed to train the geese and goslings to come below our balcony in the mornings to get bread. To be perfectly honest, I selfishly wanted to have my first Mother's Day all to myself and Kev and Isaac, but it was so much fun having Kevin's mom with us on Mother's Day! I really was so glad they came, I wouldn't have wanted it any other way.
Speaking of Mother's Day.... It was my FIRST real Mother's day! I was really excited and I have to admit it feels kinda weird to be old enough to be a Mother. It is such an honor to be a mother to such an amazing and wonderful little man! He's changed my life in ways I can't explain and it is unfathomable how much I love him. As always, Kev was on top of things, and made it an amazing Mother's day. He gave me jewelry in Isaac's birthstone, a new wallet (my last one was lost/stollen), a great photo frame and candy. My favorite part of all was the card he gave me from Isaac, even signed by Isaac, with photographic evidence that Isaac was doing the signing.

The next weekend we spent in Salt Lake, mostly just hanging out with family. Saturday we had dinner with my family and "The Men" (aka Kevin, my dad, my brother, and Isaac) all admired the latest in a long line of duck boats.

Then Sunday was dinner with Kev's family, then back to Boise with more long walks and a couple of Isaac accomplishments; rolling over and blowing bubbles. Then it was back to Salt Lake for some finishing touches on the house before we come back in July. We finished painting the upstairs (with the exception of some touch ups) and we worked in Kev's parents yard. Isaac had his first babysitting experience at my parents house.

Last but not least, this weekend my parents and Rosie came to visit. It was so much fun just hanging out with them. We went shopping, and my dad and Kevin went and hung out at Cabela's. One evening we all walked down the river to a local restaurant for dinner. Saturday morning we went to the farmers market and tried all sorts of delicious treats. In the end we left with some farm fresh eggs, grilling cheese, angus beef, and of course cinnamon almonds. We floated the Boise River and Isaac got to try out his new life jacket. He and his dad had matching hats to keep the sun off their faces. Later that day we went and jumped into the river on the rope swing by our apartment. It was a great weekend and we are so glad they came to visit.