Bread Crumbs In The Butter

We'll know in a month.

We're home. We're tired. Kristyn is zonked out on codeine in our bed. She's got stitches in her earglobe (as Meg calls it) and pain in her eardrum, but she's not complaining at all.  Codeine is good stuff.

The surgery took a bit longer than he thought and at the two hour mark, I was starting to get a wee bit worried. He wanted to make sure her ear was nice and clean so that we can hope for the best result.  At this point, he sees no reason for the surgery not to work and the fat plug to take. We see him again next week and then a month after that. From there we should know for sure if this saga is finally over with.  All of this started at just ten days old with her first ear infection and about 20 after that. Then the tubes. Then the perforated ear drum.

Here's to the end! The poor kid has been through enough.

Chips. Candy. Chocolate. Bring it on.

A well meaning neighbour gave Meghan two quarters yesterday and she's currently very pissed at me because I wouldn't let her buy candy at the grocery store. I tried to explain that tomorrow she will have more candy than a 4 year old really needs and that if she's reasonably good, she can have it for breakfast all week.  She's still not happy.

The kids are ready to go for The Big Day.  Each have their school costume and treak or treating costume. The school costume is basically old ones from years past as I don't want them ruining the new ones I worked so hard to make bought at the store.

Kristyn and I are leaving bright and early at 7am for the hospital. I have written instructions for John telling him who needs to be where at what time. If I come home and he has three reasonably healthy kids with him, it was a success.  I'm just kidding, he can totally handle it , but you know, he's a Dad.  A well meaning Dad all of the time, but a Dad who doesn't necessarily know the name of his kids' schools nontheless.

I think it was Laura who had the idea to throw Kristyn a little party before the surgery to make up for having surgery on Halloween? We're doing that today.  She's having some friends over for pizza, cupcakes, pumpkin carving and Beetlejuice. She's excited and I'm glad that we've done something.

Good thoughts for my girl tomorrow morning are much appreciated. I'll try to post an update when we get home, hopefully saying we have a successfully closed perforation and a kid who can hear me when I yell her name!

Let's talk scary movies while I wait patiently...

My oldest and dearest friend, someone who (whom?) I have known longer than I haven't known, is having a baby like right now and the birth junkie in me is dying here waiting for details.  I've pounced on the phone three times only to mutter "Oh, it's you." to our mortgage broker, my Mom and my father in law.  I have given John strict instructions should she or her husband call while I am out.  Left to his own devices, he would only get "baby born today".  So I told him I want weight, length, sex, time and last, but not least, because she kept it a SECRET for SO LONG, the name.

So... while I wait, I wanted to post a Halloween theme diddy. About scary movies. Are you a fan? I am so not. I know I come off all tough (heh!), but I am a serious baby about scary movies. 

I saw a poll online today asking who I thought was the scarier villain. Freddy, Jason or Micheal Myers. I voted for Freddy, but wanted to write in to voice my discontent.  Cause dude, if you grew up anywhere remotely near the Catholic Church you know which villains were scarier in movies. That's right. You Catholics know what I'm talking about.  The Exorcist. Damien, The Omen. Rosemary's Baby.  The stuff that messes with your mind. Cause we believe that shit can totally happen to you! 

A severely burned man with knives for fingers?  Pshaw. A guy with a freaky white mask and construction boots? Eat my shorts.  A girl barfing out her spirit trying to rid her body of the devil? SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON FOR MONTHS.  A woman carrying the spawn of Satan? MAKES ME SWEAT.

That's my take on that. What movie villains scare you?

Revenge of the Slush Puppie

My poor Alex.  Some nasty intestinal virus got Kristyn and then John over the weekend. No serious symptoms, just alot of cramping and power toilet hugging.  Now Alex has it. He was up every 45 minutes screaming in pain and running to the toilet (rather, I was carrying him FAST).

The first bout hit at about 7:30pm with John saying "Chantal, come here and see this!?"  I looked down into the toilet and his poop was green. Not just green though. Poster paint green. Crayon green. I asked him if he had eaten any crayons and he said no. A look into the box showed in tact green crayons. I racked my brain trying to figure it out when Kristyn had a look and said "Hey, that looks like the Slush Puppie he had today!" 

Ohhhh! See, I had bought Kristyn and Alex slushies at the hospital for Kristyn's appointment with the anesthesiologist.  He had the whole thing, which was about 12 ounces of pure green dye really. So that solved the mystery.

Still, that didn't make the power pooping at 3am seem any less like an alien exiting his poor 2 year old arse. Ouch.

The oldest and the youngest

Kristyn had her last pre-op appointment today. This one with the anesthesiologist at CHEO who announced her healthy and ready for surgery. We saw the ENT on Monday and he said that her ear is alot messier than it was just a month ago, but he still thinks trying the fat plug is worth a shot.  He said he's going to have to cut a bit more of the perforation than he thought because the edges are crusty and oozing. So, that means a bit more fat from her earlobe and a couple of stitches. Still day surgery and still pretty simple he said.  Friday morning we are getting impressions of her ear canal done for a custom ear plug and to have them on hand should she need a hearing aid. We won't know that until a few weeks (up to 6) after the surgery.

So that's Kristyn.

Alex had his final assessment appointment with the speech pathologist on Monday. She came to our house three times and visited Alex's preschool once as well. The final report and recommendation will be handed down one week from Friday. So far, she seems to categorize Alex in the "delay of unknown reason" category. You know, I know the word for a physiological delay that does not have a clear cause, but I can't remember it. He is not autistic, nor is he on the spectrum. He has a clear understanding of everything said to him and follows complex commands clearly.  She thinks he just has a bit of an issue with sounds and pronunciation and working on that is easy. This is good news.

At our last assessment, she had Alex and I play with play dough so she could do an inventory of words and how much I understand. Talk about daunting and a bit intimidating!  I think she was also watching how I communicate with him. Not only do I not handle pressure or being watched very well, but I find that I don't know how to talk directly with kids. Yes, even my own!  I wonder if she noticed it and if she can give me some advice on HOW to talk to him to get him to talk back. Make sense?

And that's Alex (and my Mom guilt).

And last, for Jess, I want to share the family photo that will be in our Christmas Cards.  She wants to see what I look like. I hope I'm what she thought? (If you thought 6 foot tall, needs a colour and a bit clumsy, you thought right!)

The Paintshop Fairy

Howya like me now!?

Okay, I know the banner is not centred, but that's a fling flonging Typepad issue, not Paintshop.

I got my grubby little hands on the program and I think I rank it up there with the PVR, the doohickey that sucks up broom dirt in my kitchen and the DVD player in the truck. All four are things that make me yell out "MAN ALIVE THIS THING IS FANTASTIC."  Cheap minds, Cheap Trills, eh?

I've got a big post brewing about Kristyn's surgery and how the ENT said he's not as optimistic as he was a month ago. Also about Alex's long speech assessment and the final recommendation, which is, so far, just a tongue and mouth issue.  All sorts of things to say, but greek marinated pork tenderloin is calling me name. And rice. RICE!

Regarding the photo in the banner. It was tempting, given that Alex has his head in his hands despairedly, to use that photo for our cards, but we chose a nicer one insted. One where we bribed him with pudding and he is sitting straight as a pin saying "PUDDING!".

I'm sorry. You can't go trick or treating. You get to have surgery instead!

Poor Kristyn. Telling an (almost) 9 year old that her surgery has been moved up to October 31 is never easy. She cried. It took some bribery. She's a logical kid, so she understood it needs to be done sooner than we thought. She also understands that you can really take advantage when your parents feel guilty!

Her ENT just doesn't want to wait any longer than he has to. When the cancellation for that day came along, he wanted to get it done.

Good thoughts on October 31 would be appreciated!

Excuse me if my stomach gurgling is disturbing your workout

One of the biggest reasons I run, play soccer and try to hurt myself with freeweights is so that I can eat pretty much what I want. I'm not usually overly concerned with what I put in my mouth. I try to keep it healthy, balanced and recognize that, from time to time, my body just needs to eat chocolate, chips and anything that fits into the deep fryer.

However, now that I've added swimming and lifting more weights (grumble, grumble) so that I can try a triathlon next spring, I am famished.  Actually, not just famished. What it comes down to is if you're standing in front of me holding anything that even looks like food, I'll want it. And I'll take you down to get it.  At Alex's preschool the rubber play kitchen food made my mouth water!

Let's call the following reason # 654 why my husband is a perfect match for me in many ways. At 9pm he said "You work so hard. You know, Beer has alot of calories. It will fill you up in more refreshing ways than that bag of pretzels ever would."

Now that's love.

I hate it when they do it on Days Of Our Lives too

Alex was watching Max and Ruby just now.

A few minutes in he realized they changed Ruby's voice (to another voice actor).

He said  "No, Rumy. Yuck."

He turned off the TV. Looked around the room wondering what to do with himself and said "Shit."

Enh...

I fiddled with the design today. I'm not crazy about this one. I need to get Paintshop Pro or something like that.  What I have now is not jiving with my creative juices.

John just came upstairs to tell me his shoes are making a funny noise. "Help me. What is it? What can I do to fix it? "

"Stop buying shoes at Loblaws, Cheapass." was the only thing I could come up with.