Kiersten’s Blog

It’s 7:42 and everybody in my house is asleep (except me, obviously) and have been for at least 10 minutes!  After a big fight getting the kids in bed, I’m glad they both fell asleep really fast.  If they hadn’t, I don’t know what I would have done.  I think it’s time for me to hit Target.  Alone.

Oh, and while I was putting London to bed, she wanted to say something to me, but I could tell that she wasn’t sure what to say.  She just wanted me to stay in her room longer so she said, “Mom, your tummy looks like it’s getting bigger.  Maybe there’s a baby growing in there.”  I assured her that in fact there is NOT a baby growing inside my tummy so she proceeded to ask me when a baby will grow inside my tummy.  I told her that obviously I can’t deal with the two kids I have right now, so a baby growing in my tummy is out of the question for a long, long time.  Unless my kids start being more obedient, I’m pretty sure I can’t handle another one.  I think she she might be a little better behaved tomorrow.  Apparently she wants another sibling.

I didn’t go to church today.  Instead I stayed home with a sick baby.  I knew he wasn’t feeling well yesterday.  He has kind of lost his voice and I think it’s kind of cute.  It’s also nice because when he screams, it’s not so bad.  Maybe I shouldn’t be saying these things about my poor, sick son.  I didn’t know how he would feel when we got up this morning and unbeknownst to me, he didn’t sleep very well last night.  I got up once with London (who never has to pee in the middle of the night but did last night) and I never heard Ashton at all.  I guess Taylor did.  More than once.  Anyway, Taylor and London went to church this morning and I stayed home to take care of Ashton.  We watched the train go around and around and around and around, like we do every day.  We read books.  We watched Mormon Messages (mostly the ones about the temple because he wouldn’t let me watch any others).  Then I went to the bathroom.  When I came out, he had his pacifier in his mouth and was asking for his bear.  We walked to his crib and he wanted to get in.  And he went to sleep.  Is it bad to say that sometimes I like my kids better when they’re sick?

Sometimes I think Heavenly Father is telling me that I’m too judgmental.  There are so many times that I see other children and/or other parents and think, “Wow, I’m glad I’m a better mom than that because my child doesn’t have {insert problem here}.”  I try not to judge.  I think it’s just human nature.  And I don’t really think that I’m a better parent.  But sometimes I do I guess.  Know what I mean?  Remember my whole nursing fiasco with Ashton? I learned a lesson about judging people then.  That doesn’t mean I’ve completely cured my ways, though.  For example, I have seen a lot of kids with silver teeth.  It’s shocking to me how many kids I see who need all of this major dental work done.  I would judge the parent, thinking, “Don’t you take care of your child’s teeth?  Don’t you know that they’re not supposed to go to bed with a bottle?  Don’t you brush at regularly?”  Then last year, I was talking with another mother of a girl in London’s preschool class.  Her daughter had just had a lot of dental work done and ended up with some silver caps on her teeth.  I know this mother is a good mother.  She takes care of her children and she has good  hygiene.  I realized that dental work isn’t only for those who don’t take care of their teeth.  And then it happened to us: the dreaded dental appointment.  I mentioned in a previous post about all of the dental work that London needs done.  We went in for her first appointment on Wednesday.  They sedated her (which was the funniest thing ever) and took her back to be worked on.  She came out with 2 silver caps (one on the top and one on the bottom), 2 fillings, and a root canal.  And that’s only one side.  We have to go back in a couple of weeks to get the other side worked on.  Now I have my fair share of cavities, but I’ve never had crowns or root canals.  How does it happen that my 5-year-old daughter needs all of this major dental work done?  I promise I’m not a bad mother!  Or maybe I am.

Oh, and for the record, she loves her silver teeth.  I’m so embarrassed that she has them.  She tells people about them.  And she tells me if she smiles “like this” that you can see her silver teeth.  Oh dear.

I recently bought two new cookbooks.  One is Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld.  The other is The Sneaky Chef Returns by Missy Chase Lapine.  I thought these would bring some great ideas into my normal cooking.  You see, the problem is, London doesn’t like vegetables.  At least she says she doesn’t like vegetables.  I try everything I can to trick her and make her eat them, but the fact of the matter is, if she thinks it might be a vegetable, she won’t eat it.  When I found these books, I thought it was the perfect solution.  And it would have been, except that it doesn’t work.  Somehow, that girl can identify vegetables in ANYTHING!  She doesn’t even know it’s vegetables.  She just knows that she doesn’t like it.  I thought it would be a no-fail with stuffed shells.  London loves cheese.  The vegetable (cauliflower) was hidden in the cheese, so even if she didn’t eat the rest, at least she would eat the cheese.  Wouldn’t you know, she announced after one bite, that she didn’t like that kind of cheese.  Okay, maybe I was a little too overzealous with that one.  I tried mozzarella sticks How could one go wrong with mozzarella sticks?  That cheese was no good either.  I have tried a number of concoctions with ideas from those two books.  Not one has worked.  Today was sweet potatoes in grilled cheese sandwiches.  I didn’t even like them.  For the record, Ashton loved it.  I just told London to cover it with ketchup and she wouldn’t taste it.  That’s what I did.  At least she ate it that way (and she got nutrition from tomatoes in the ketchup, which was probably more than she got from the sweet potatoes in the sandwich).

There is another reason these books don’t work for us.  I think the recipes are good ideas, but really, how much vegetable puree can one hide in any one thing?  Not much.  London would be better off to just eat two bites of sweet potatoes.  It would probably go down a little easier (at least faster) and it wouldn’t have to ruin her otherwise moderately healthy meal.

Verdict: it’s probably time to post the books back on Amazon and give up trying to get my 4-year-old to eat her veggies.

I have never given blood in my life.  I am 31 years old and I am starting to feel a bit selfish.  You see, my brother-in-law, Denver, always gives blood.  Whenever he gets the chance, he’s there.  Even if that means fainting every time.  And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even have a really cool blood type.  It’s probably something wimpy like A- or A+.  But here I sit, a universal type O blood donor, and never give.  I think it’s time for me to think of others.  So many people die because they need blood.  I can help them.  Why don’t I?  This morning our stake (church organization) had a blood drive.  I thought about going.  In fact, I almost planned on going.  Then I forgot until it was too late.  And, once again, I didn’t give.  Selfish?  Probably.  Chicken?  Definitely.  But I’ve given birth.  Twice.  I’m pretty sure I can spare some of my blood.  Next time.

Yesterday was my dad’s 60th birthday.  We decided to go up and surprise him for his big day.  Tuesday night we drove to Taylor’s aunt and uncle’s house where we slept that night and last night, since they are much closer to where my dad was that day.  He and my uncle Dee were planning on making it to Carpinteria last night.  Once we got up into Ventura county, we called to find out where my dad was.  Then I dropped Taylor off near where they were and he rode his bike toward them.  He passed them about a mile or two later.  They, of course, didn’t recognize him.  Taylor saw them then crossed the street and caught up to them.  He pulled up beside my dad and asked him what he was doing way down here.  Needless to say, he was happy and surprised.  Taylor then rode with them for the next 40 or so miles to Carpinteria.

While they were all riding, I took the kids to Solvang and met up with my mom.  Solvang is this cute little Danish town.  It was fun to walk around a bit.  Then we headed back toward Santa Barbara, stopping to pick blueberries along the way.  I had seen a sign advertising blueberry picking on our way to meet my mom and thought it might be something the kids would enjoy doing.  Boy was I right.  London had a great time picking, but wouldn’t eat them.

Ashton wasn’t too interested in picking at first.  Mostly he just wanted to push the stroller around.  Then I made him try a blueberry.  There was no going back.  He found a bush and started stuffing blueberries in his mouth.  I couldn’t stop the boy!  At one point his started walking down the row toward my mom and I asked him, “Do you want to go pick some more with Grandma?”  He realized he could have more.  He stopped walking, signed and said, “more,” (or, “ma, ma, ma”) and kept picking right where he was.  He would have been content to stay there forever.

Once we had our fill of blueberries, we decided to go to Santa Barbara and see if we could find the men.  We had no such luck and headed to Carpinteria where we checked into the hotel room where they were all going to stay.  Not long after we got there, Taylor called to let me know they were close by and to be ready when they rode in.  We screamed and hollered at them and I was hoping to get a little video, but I pushed the wrong button and got a still shot instead.  According to my dad and uncle Dee, yesterday was the hardest day.  They were glad to be where they could rest.  It was fun to see them and I’m excited to see them again on Saturday when they’re all finished.  I’m so proud of my dad!  But I still think he’s crazy.

Yes, that's my dad. And yes, he's wearing shorts.

I think my dad is insane.  Somehow he came up with a crazy idea that he wanted to do something big and adventurous for his 60th birthday, so he decided that it would be a good idea to take a week and bike down the southern coast of California.  You may think this is a crazy thing for any 60 year old to do, but I think it’s crazier for my dad.  You see, he’s never really been the exercising type.  A couple of years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes.  That was his wake-up call to get up and get moving.  Since then he has taken up biking.  It’s his preferred mode of exercise.  He also gets up really early and goes to the gym every morning.  He lost a bunch of weight and is doing really well.  In fact, his numbers are way down and he doesn’t have to be on diabetic medication anymore!  Anyway, I don’t really know what was going through his mind besides the fact that he thought that it might be a great adventure, but he decided to take this trip and even convinced his brother to ride with him.

About a month ago I was putting together some things to send my dad for his birthday.  I wanted to get him some exercise clothing and asked him how many outfits he planned on taking on this trip.  His answer, “well, I only have one pair of sweats.”  Oh boy.  I headed to Kohl’s and picked up some things, boxed them up, and sent them to him.  I even bought him shorts!  I’m pretty sure I’ve never seen my dad wear shorts unless he’s swimming.  And that doesn’t happen very often either.

My dad and my uncle started their trip on Monday in Big Sur.  They plan on making it to the Mexico border by Saturday night and they’re still on track to do that.  I know my dad is stubborn and has a lot of motivation.  He’s come far and I’m sure he’ll make it.

I have needed new running shoes for quite some time.  On Tuesday, I was finally able to hit up the running store in San Diego.  I have been wanting to check it out for months.  I went in and they assessed my feet.  I stood on some sort of computerized thing that tells how you distribute your weight between your feet.  It tells information about your arches and other things.  I already knew that I had high arches, but I didn’t realize how freakishly high they really are.  After that assessment, I jogged on the treadmill, barefoot, while their little camera recorded me.  We watched the playback, and I could see exactly how I run.  This information would help in choosing the best pair of shoes for me.  I tried on a number of pairs and finally settled on some that I really liked.  The problem was the $90 price tag.  I opted to walk next door to the clearance store to see if they had anything comparable for a lesser price.  I was excited to find a similar pair for only $30.  I was pretty excited about it and I think they’ll turn out to be great shoes for me, although I wonder if I should have bought a half a size bigger.  I’ll just be sure to keep my toenails short.  I’m excited to get running again and hopefully not have a sore ankle anymore.

In my search for running shoes, I took my kids along.  London wanted her feet measured and tested as well.  She did throw a fit when she was told that she couldn’t try the treadmill because she was too young.  I told her I would bring her back when she’s 8.  She was pretty excited, though, to get her feet measured.  Then she really wanted a pair of running shoes of her own.  The store we went to doesn’t carry running shoes in a small enough size for her.  She was quite disappointed.  I told her we would keep looking, knowing that we probably wouldn’t find anything any time soon.  She knows that the 10K that I ran last month had a mother-daughter option and she decided that she should really run a race.  I told her that she would have to stop complaining about her knees hurting if she really wanted to run a race.  Today, after looking through her shoe drawer, she came out wearing a pair of shoes that I forgot she had.  They were given to us a couple of years ago and I forgot all about them.  Now, her feet are the right size for them and they happen to be . . . running shoes.  She came in my room wearing them and said, “Mom, are these running shoes?”  Of course, we had to go running.  Running with a 4-year-old isn’t the best way to get one’s heart rate up, but it is exciting.  She ran about a half a block (since she doesn’t know how to pace herself) and then started noticing flowers and other things.  Eventually, I got her to run most of the way around the block.  I can only imagine that she’ll be bugging me to take her running every day now.  I suppose it could be worse.  At least she’s getting exercise!  We’ll see if she’s ready for a 5K next year.

Remember when I told you about the couch to 10K program I was doing?  Well, I finished it with a bang today.  I ran the Aflac Iron Girl 10K.  The program promised that I would be able to run a 10K in 13 weeks and that I would be able to run the whole thing.  I was a little skeptical, but I did it!  And it wasn’t bad at all!

My goal was to run it in less than an hour and to not have to stop and walk.  I didn’t have to stop and walk (even on the hills) and I even sprinted the last 0.4 miles.  I clocked in at just over an hour.  My final time was 1:02:37.  I’m definitely happy with that result.  I’m more happy, though, that I got off my couch and got running.  Now I need motivation to keep going!

Taylor and the kids came along to cheer me on.  It was an early morning for all, but it was nice to have a support team.  London was excited to see me as I was crossing the finish line.  She has asked me many times since then if I won.  I just tell her, “yes.”  Of course I won!  I finished and I ran the whole thing!  That’s winning to me!

Every year we have a cleft palate team meeting with London’s doctors and every year they tell me how great she’s doing.  Today’s visit was no exception.  They told me that she doesn’t have to go back for 2 more years.  With her team visits, she sees a number of doctors: audiologist, ENT, pediatrician, dentist, speech pathologist, social worker, geneticist (which we didn’t see today), plastic surgeon, and probably more.

At audiology

They always tell me the same thing, that she’s doing great and that she’s just adorable.  Everybody loves her little voice, her big blue eyes, and her curly hair.  Of course, she still has a tube hanging out in her right ear (for almost 4 years now) which may or may not fall out any time soon.  She also still has a bit of nasality in her speech, but it’s hard to detect without the special “listening tube.”  It was amazing how much air I could hear escaping out her nose with the tube.  But she knows what to do to stop it and she does when she remembers.  So I just have to keep reminding her.  We’ll follow up with the speech pathologist in six months.  London does well with the small amounts of therapy she has had and we always get comments on how well she speaks.  According to the doctors today, it looks like she should be okay to never have a surgery again!  Yay!  One surgery at 10 months old was definitely enough for me!  We walked out the door of the hospital with smiles on our faces and covered in stickers, so tired that both kids promptly fell asleep in the car.

Ashton wanted in on the action while visiting with the ENT doctor