post-op update.

man i have a lot to catch up on.  as usual.  first and foremost, i just want to update on emme's surgery on monday.  she did amazingly well.  while mom and emme and i were in minneapolis, i got several calls and got everything scheduled, so we headed to the surgery center with her at 6:30 on monday morning.  yikes, that is early to be dressed, functional, and operating outside of your home, at least for our family. 

there were a few other kiddos in the waiting room with us, so emme investigated them while we waited to be called.  when we went back, there were 8 or so little hospital beds lined up on either side of a room.  we got situated in our little area and had several nurses and orderlies come by to verify information, check on e, etc.  the anesthesiologist came by and let us know that he'd be able to knock her out with just the gas, no iv or anything, so i was super relieved.  emme kept asking for milk - that was probably the hardest part, since they can't eat or drink from midnight until surgery time. 

anyway...while we were waiting for our doctor to show up, they took a few other kids back, all of whom screamed and cried when they were taken from their parents, which flipped me out completely.  finally, dr. w arrived and he answered the couple of random questions i had.  the anesthesiologist came back to our area and picked emme up himself to take her back.  she did not cry a bit - i was so proud.  she seemed a little curious as to why she was heading somewhere without us, but not panicked at all. 

a nurse walked justin and me to the consulting area and we had just enough time to grab a cup of coffee before the doc was back with the report.  so fast!  he said she'd done great, explained the drops he was prescribing, and answered a couple more questions from me, and that was that.  we had to hang out in the main waiting room until she woke up, which was about 5 minutes later.  she didn't cry waking up, either!  we hurried back there and i crawled in to bed with her.  she gulped water and then got the ok to eat something.  i had brought her some strawberries and she proceeded to shovel them all into her mouth as fast as possible, to no ill effect.  they made us wait just 10 or so more minutes to make sure everything was peachy, then we headed home. 

once home, emme ate a bagel thin with strawberry cream cheese (a special treat) then hit the hay for a FOUR HOUR nap.  awesome for me, since i got to do a little work catch-up after being out a few days for our minneapolis trip.  when she woke up, she and i had a lunch date, picked up her ear drops, and had a leisurely costco adventure.  haha. 

since the surgery, she is repeating every word we say like a little parrot.  i don't know if i'm just projecting, but she seems to be hearing and feeling a LOT better.  she also is trotting and scampering about much more steadily than before, it seems, but again, i may be projecting. 

anyway.  as everyone told me, it was way easier and way better than i could have ever imagined, and i'm so relieved that we got it done and that my little bug doesn't have to have these hurty ears all the time anymore.  cheers to good health. {pics of ek cuddling with dad pre-surgery, and a couple of post-nap shots.  will add the other non-phone shots later.}

today.

i am tired and our house is slowly almost back to a semi-normal state after today.  today was a crazy day - the kind of day that makes me wonder how other moms do it and if i'm just completely inept.  anyway.  let me back up.
two weeks ago, when we went camping, emme woke up with super crusty eyes.  i was able to get her in to see her pediatrician that day, even though it was sunday, and she was diagnosed with yet another ear infection.  this was her fourth/maybe fifth.  since thanksgiving.  not lookin good.  our doctor is, mercifully, right in line with my own philosophies about such things - she is conservative about jumping right to surgical intervention.  she acknowledged that emme's ears looked bad, but said we would do one more round of antibiotics and just hope.
so.  yesterday was a little over two weeks since that appointment.  she did a 10-day round of omnicef that she finished on thursday.  over the weekend, her eyes started getting a little crusty again and she was tugging on her ears a bit, so i pretty much knew what the doc was going to say.  sure enough, when she looked, emme's ears still look "horrible", despite the full round of antibiotics.  ugh.  they gave her an antibiotic shot in the thigh that was the roughest shot she's ever had to take, and then referred me to a group of ENTs.
this morning, we scrambled to get out of the house for emme's 8:15 appointment with the pediatrician for a second antibiotic shot.  this one was even more painful, in the other thigh, for some reason.  it makes me so sad to see those big tears roll down her cheeks.  we got back home for a few minutes - long enough for a snack and a wardrobe change - and then headed over to the ENT.  i immediately felt very comfortable at that doctors' office - it was efficient but friendly.  a tech came and grabbed us for e's hearing evaluation.  we sat in a little sound booth and she played sounds and jiggled little animals that would light up after the sound played.  as expected, emme's hearing is definitely compromised - they explained it like listening to the world with wads of cotton in your ear or being underwater.  then, we met the doctor.  he showed me some pictures of what her ears look like compared to healthy ears and basically said we could get her back to good with a five minute surgery.  so, tubes will happen this coming monday.  i'm not thrilled about the anesthesia (is anyone?), but i will be super happy for my little bug to not have to deal with these ear infections anymore.  they said she will annunciate better and that her gait may change because her equilibrium will improve.  they said she may even sleep better, which is hilarious since she's such a great sleeper already.
around 11:30 we headed back to the house.  i had called e's school in the morning and they requested that i not bring her in if it was going to be past 11.  they really like to avoid disruption around meal/nap time, which i completely understand, but it's really really hard to try to balance a toddler running around your house with getting actual work done (i can't just take full days off unless i really need them or plan them in advance), and it's kind of annoying on days like today, considering what we pay in tuition.  anyway - sorry for the vent.  she went down for her nap right when we got home - she was totally worn out from the morning.  i scrambled to catch up from everything i'd missed that morning - like a bazillion emails and requests from all over the place.  i was hoping for a three hour nap so i could get through one of my afternoon conference calls before she woke up, but no such luck.  up by 1:30, i got lunch ready for her between replying to emails and analyzing spreadsheets.  lame.  then came time for my 2:00 conference call.  i did the only thing i could think of - turned on the tv.  i had snacks, milk, and her pillow there for her with loony tunes on, but for the next hour i tried to listen to everyone banter on speaker phone while trying to placate a super fussy, needy emme.  i think her injection site was hurting her, plus her ears, plus her two new teeth, plus the disruption in her routine and her too-short nap.  it was pure chaos.  so much so that i had to IM justin and ask him to come relieve me because i knew there was no way i could handle my 4:00 conference call in the same manner.
by the time he got home, our house had turned in to a den of meltdown.  justin walked in and was like WHAT happened here?  you know it's bad if he notices the insanity.  the living rooms looked like twin cyclones had passed through them - sharpies scattered everywhere, paper, mail, random items emme picks up and drops off on a whim, and every toy in our home splayed throughout the floor.  at one point i looked at emme and she had found the lid to a jar of cat treats and was gnawing on it.  seriously.
there is nothing that makes me more uncomfortable and frustrated than not being able to devote my energy or attention to whatever it is i'm supposed to be doing.  it reminds me of grad school, when i felt like i was always sacrificing one thing to accommodate another and i was never 100% anywhere or at anything.  i often feel like this is the hallmark of the working mother...is that just me?  i love working, but sometimes it's really inconvenient to have people other than your family depending on you for stuff.  ha.  and it absolutely breaks my heart to not be able to drop everything and attend to my baby when she is sad or distressed about something.
anyway.  i got through my calls, got dinner ready for ek, got her bathed, and then we put her in the stroller for an evening walk and some fresh air.  that helped a lot.  once she was down, we straightened up and got our own dinner together.  it wasn't so bad, really.  it's just that feeling of being torn that i really hate.  it makes me feel so incompetent.

kombucha.

several weeks ago, justin's stomach started giving him grief.  he isn't sick, per se, but he just feels not super great in the tummy rather frequently.  we are pretty sure this is related to our lack of any form of exercise and our inability to eat a consistently healthy diet (i swear, it's like we can do SO well for a few days and then we get suckered in to eating mexican food AGAIN.  stupid texas and your delicious chips and queso.).  anyway, since we've been so unhealthy, we've been on a quest to re-balance our systems.  enter kombucha.  kombucha is a weird probiotic tea drink that you can buy for $5 a pint or make for yourself for pennies.  so, that's what i decided to do.  it tastes kind of like a vinegar-y ginger-y tea...but i really like it.  it also has an organism in it sometimes (that's the scoby - more about this later).  kombucha is a raw food and it's kind of an acquired taste, but it does help replenish the good bacteria in your digestive tract and it also has health benefits for your skin, etc.  so, if you are like me and you want to make your own kombucha, here is how you do it.
supplies you need:
- 1 gallon glass jar (i got mine at wal-mart for like $5 - it should have a pretty wide mouth.  you do not need a lid).
- black tea (any plain black, non-flavored tea will do.  i think i use twinings english breakfast.).
- filtered water.
- 1 cup of sugar.
- 5-6 empty, clean kombucha bottles (or other glass 16.9 oz. bottles).
- ginger, fresh berries, or other mix-ins.
- a scoby with some starter tea.  a scoby is the organism that ferments the tea to turn it in to kombucha.  you pretty much have to get this from someone who already makes kombucha (each new batch of kombucha produces a new scoby).  my friend alison gave me mine and taught me all the ins and outs of the process.  if you live in austin and want to do this, i will hook you up with a scoby...if not, you should consult with your local health food store or hippie friends...
- a piece of cheesecloth.
the process:
first, fill a kettle with filtered water and bring to a boil.  next, fill your gallon jar not quite halfway with filtered water.  pour boiling water into a container and steep four bags of tea and cup of sugar for a minimum of 20 minutes, making sure the sugar dissolves completely.  do this while the filtered water is coming to room temperature (you want the tea to be at room temp when you add your scoby, as too-hot water will kill it).  after at least 20 minutes (i have waited as long as an hour when i get distracted by other things), add your tea to the filtered water in your glass jar.  this should leave the jar near full but with some room at the top.  place your scoby into the tea.  pour starter tea on top.  place cheesecloth over the lid of the jar, securing with a rubber band.  place in an out-of-the-way area for about 10 days, but up to 30 (the longer you let it ferment, the stronger and less sweet the kombucha).
after the fermentation process, pull out your clean kombucha jars.  add grated ginger, blended berries, citrus zest, or whatever other tasty treat you want to the jar.  remove your scoby and then decant the tea into your jars, making sure to fill them.  close them tightly and leave them out overnight for the final fermentation.  put them in the fridge, then drink whenever you're ready for some awesomeness!
you should always save a small amount of tea from every batch for your next round of starter tea.  it also keeps your scoby happy.  if you don't start your next batch while decanting the previous batch (this is the easiest, quickest, and least messy way to deal with all of it), store your scoby and starter tea in a jar in the fridge (mine is in a clean pickle jar) covered with cheesecloth (scoby needs to breathe) until you're ready to make the next batch.
enjoy!

camping in the cold.

vincent and familia let us in on a camping opportunity for texas independence weekend.  the first weekend every march, tons of people head to outside liberty hill to a huge farm for camping, barbecuing, music-playing, and general awesomeness.  we decided it was high time to take our little human and our dogs to the great outdoors, and this was a perfect opportunity.  

let me just state, for the record, that justin is not really an outdoorsman.  he is a man who likes his creature comforts - a soft bed, readily accessible snacks, central heating, a pillow....that being said, he was a total trooper for this tent camping experience.  i would not call myself an outdoor aficionado, but i do really love to be outside in a place where there is no cell service.  i think that's because it's the only way i will ever just settle in to forced relaxation.  

anyway, we got to the campground mid-day on saturday.  the dogs were in heaven - ollie immediately rolled in about 10 pounds of cow patties.  justin was furious; i was endlessly amused.  emme was fired up about the wide open spaces, the tent construction process, and the other kids and dogs milling about.  we nestled our tent into an area with a good amount of trees to try to block the wind we knew would be coming - a cold front was heading in, and they were expecting temps in the 30s overnight (yep, we knew this in advance and opted to camp out anyway.  genius.).  adventures ensued after we got the tent ready to roll - our tent is a 6-person dome tent, so there was plenty of room for ekes pack n play, our pallet of blankets and sleeping bags, and the dogs.  we moseyed back and forth between our tent and the marks' camper, visiting with people and pointing out all the things to see.  we had brought some "bad snacks" with us (because junk food is an essential part of camping), so emme got to eat her first cheeto and it was a HUGE hit.  she also enjoyed some sea salt and freshly ground pepper kettle chips.  i had also brought her lots of fruit, cheese, and some carrots, so there were some halfway decent options, but she was way in to the cheetos....big surprise.  i had also marinated some chicken in garlic, lemon, and rosemary, so we threw those on to a grate over an open fire pit for dinner.  

all the running and talking completely wore the baby out, so she was ready to bundle up in to her bed by 6:30 or so (even earlier than her normal super-early bedtime).  i layered her in two pairs of footie pajamas (one fleece, one regular), a fleece hoodie, and four blankets.  she was SNUG.  i had her in mittens too, but the thumb-sucking had to happen, so the gloves were off.  she went down rather easily, all things considered, and justin and i headed to the big campfire for some music.  there was a guy there that apparently plays in willie nelson's daughter's band, and he was ridiculously good at the guitar.  lots of other dudes chimed in and sang country songs and we just watched and listened.  it was really mellow and nice.  the temp kept dropping, so i headed to bed around 10:30 or so.  justin joined me a little while later and it was COLD.  i had ollie on my feet and i kept waking up to make sure emme was warm enough.  i think she was, but she did wake up sometime in the wee hours, probably just from being in such a weird place, so i just brought her on to our pallet with us and she passed back out.  

when we woke up at the crack of dawn, all the other campers were still asleep and emme had some not-so-nice looking green gunk in her eyes (this turned out to be part of yet another ear infection, but that's another story).  we decided it was time to haul it out of there, so we packed all our gear up SUPER fast and hit the road.  it was a really fun experience, but i think we learned a few lessons from this camping adventure:

- no more camping in the 30s.  i think 50 degrees is my limit.  

- a foam or blow-up mattress is essential (especially for justin).  

- don't forget water.  

- wet wipes, wet wipes, wet wipes.  

i wish we would have taken more pictures, but here are a few that we did capture - mostly from before we left that morning.  woops...

farmer's market.

with austin's weather getting nicer every week (this week we are crossing over in to summer and i'm NOT happy about it...hoping for a few more weeks of moderate, springy-ness), we've made a few trips to the austin farmer's market at the triangle.  the triangle is only a few blocks away from our old house, and the fm there is lovely.  in the winter there's only a row or so of vendors - lots of smaller farms represented, grass-fed meats, locally baked bread, hummus, a goat cheese lady, etc. - but in the spring and summer, the area explodes into tons of booths with all sorts of eats and treats.
the first time we were there, emme tried spinach pakora from this really sweet indian woman.  it's vegan, gluten free, and tastes kind of like cardboard (i thought), but she loved it.  she ate half the bag while we were there.  another time, we met up with vincent and his fam for a little picnic.  there is always music and eleventy billion kids run around tasting and dancing and having a great time.  i have to fight my internal helicopter mom (seriously, WHY am i so crazy?) while emme wanders all over the place.  she is such a roamer these days - i have to remind myself to just sit and watch unless she is headed for the street.
anyway, i love that we have these great outdoor places where my kid can kick off her shoes and run through soft grass and hug random other children.  someone's cute little boy stole my keys out of my diaper bag at one point and was dancing around with them.  so funny.  it's nice to know that my hyper-functional, corporate-jobbed life has not completely squelched all my hippie sensibilities.

fun at the park.

i have embarked on another project.  project life, to be specific.  a friend that i've never actually met in real life (ah, the internet) introduced me to the idea, and it's really fun.  it's kind of like scrapbooking for lazy people (or for people like me who will never have the time to complete an entire scrapbook, let alone multiple for multiple years/kids/events).  anyway.  i've been trying to take a lot more pictures for this project life thing.  pictures of our ordinary, day-to-day existence.  justin has always been pretty good about taking pictures, but i am now requesting that the camera be included in all activities.
so, with all these pictures, i'm behind as usual, and i keep discovering random stuff, which is always a fun surprise.  i was digging through some pictures today and came across this collection from a couple of weeks ago.  we met wendy, david, and parker at the park for a bit on a sunday afternoon.  it was windy and one of those days between winter and spring (for texas), and ek was in an adventurous mood.  she is just SO curious these days.  and SO brave.  it scares me a little bit, but i'm trying to keep the helicopter mom situation in check....anyway - she cannot get enough of the slide.  she goes down by herself now and lays on her back as she careens down.  she hasn't figured out how to get herself up the stairs and back to the top of the slide fast enough for her taste yet, so immediately upon landing at the bottom, she asks for more, which means one of us picks her up and plops her back down at the top.

once bitten, eat some mango.

a couple of weeks ago, i went to pick emme up from school and there was an incident report on the parents' table.  upon reading it, i learned that my little mosquito had bitten two kids that day.  to her credit, the kids had put their fingers in her mouth, but she was the one that did the biting.
have i mentioned lately that i love emme's school?  because i really love it.  i was, obviously, rather dismayed by the development of this new situation, but her teachers were super calm and patient and explained to me that they didn't think she was biting out of aggression; rather, she seemed to be teething (again), and reacting to people invading her personal space.  they recommended having conversations with her about the biting, reminding her that other people appreciate gentle touches, and offering her teething gear frequently.  they also suggested getting her some dried mango and dried apples, as the texture is reminiscent of flesh (gross to think about) and is very soothing for sore gums.
anyway, when justin and i were talking about the incident that evening, he said: "so, what was their suggestion?  just flick her on the head when she bites?".  hahaha.  fortunately, parenting techniques have come a long way, even though i have been astounded by the number of people who have told me to just bite her back (seriously?  she is one, people).  i think if we were dealing with a kid who was maliciously biting, it would be a different situation, but i firmly believe her biting so far has been related to teeth.  i'm going to keep a really close eye on this, but it's been a couple weeks with no incidents, so i am hoping we are in the clear for at least a little while.
on a side note, the teeth that are coming in appear to be two more on the bottom.  so, she will have 8 on the bottom and 4 on the top (just her bunny teeth and the molars).  it's really funny.  the other night, we were grabbing a quick bite to eat and emme was drinking out of one of those horizon's milk cartons.  on the back was some cow trivia, so i read it out loud.  apparently, cows have 32 teeth (just like humans), but only 6 on the top and 26 on the bottom.  in response, justin said "so, just like emme?".

mardi gras.

so, obviously, i am REALLY far behind on blogging.  and, since our lives keep getting busier and busier with emme doing more and more stuff these days, even 2-3 weeks off is like an eternity in the blogosphere.  blogosphere?  yep, i just said that.
ok.  i'm going to plow through with a mardi gras post and then follow up with a few other posts about what's been happening lately.
mardi gras this year was february 21, so we headed to lafayette the weekend before for emme's first parade experience.  it was a great trip.  we hadn't seen my parents in seven weeks - which is basically forever in hesterly time.  so we were chomping at the bit to hang out with them, and they were obviously giddy with the anticipation of seeing ek.  there was ridiculous traffic on i-10 getting through lake charles, so it took us over 8 hours to get there.  rough.  we had a random experience with an insane woman in the traffic who laid on her horn for a full five minutes in protest of us getting in to a lane we had to be in anyway - i am not exaggerating.  five minutes is a really long time to listen to a horn.
we made it late afternoon and my mom was waiting for us with judice inn cheeseburgers (heaven in cheeseburger form, seriously).  my dad got home from work and we hit the streets for emme's first parade.  the friday night parade is not one of the major events, but we were all over it.  we got a super nice policeman to let us park a few feet away from our spot on the parade route, and we commenced the wait for the floats.  emme took to the streets immediately.  jj and kk got her a glowing wand from one of the street vendors, and she started marching up and down the street waving it and waving at the other parade goers.  it was hilarious.  it was already at least an hour past her bedtime by the time the floats showed up, but she was a total trooper.  we danced to the marching bands, waved for beads, and were amazed at the spectacle that is mardi gras.
saturday, we were supposed to go to the children's parade in the afternoon, but it ended up raining hard all day.  that was a blessing in disguise, as it gave us a chance to rest and lay low.  we saw gram, lolo and g-dad, aunt elizabeth and uncle pit, and aunt kakie and aunt jessie, and emme got to take some good naps.  justin had been feeling pretty bad the week before, and unfortunately, he was not his usual self during the trip.  he said afterwards that he knew he was sick since he didn't have a single beer for all of mardi gras season.  haha.  saturday evening, justin stayed home to rest and jj, kk, emme, and i headed over to some friends of my parents for some barbecue.  the beyts home was just delightful - janice had decorations everywhere and emme had a blast venturing from room to room investigating all the shiny objects.  after the yummy food and visit, we swung back by our house to pick up jb and hit the bonaparte parade on saturday night. we parked super close once again, and we also arrived only minutes before the parade did, which is really ideal when you've got a sleepy toddler on your hands.  more beads and bands and clapping and fun, and then it was time to head home.  emme made it up past 9:00 two nights in a row - i don't think she had ever been up that late in her entire life, let alone all in one weekend.  she loved every second of it.
sunday was a quick breakfast with jj, kk, and gram.  then we packed up and headed over to mrs. jeanette's house.  she is a traiteur and a wonderful woman who invited us in to our home and treated emme's ears.  we parted ways after that and had a quick trip home.  we stopped in katy for freebirds on the drive back - ekb loves a burrito.