Here’s Mud in Your Eye!

First off, thank you Katie for removing me from my Blogger misery. Windows Live Writer rocks! 

I’m still not finding the picture uploading as easy so maybe someone can give me some tips.  I want to upload like Facebook where you can click on the pictures and they all upload at one time.  I don’t see that you can do that here unless I’m missing it?  Still have to upload one at a time?

Anyway…here’s what I found when I came home from work yesterday.

  

   

The Cutest Kid in the Region!

This is of course aside from Kaela,Knoah,Ellie,Emma and Andrea of course! Oh, well, then there's the non blogging kids of course... Emily & Matthew. AND let's not forget the Average Height siblings.....Hannah, Jacob, Will, Rayme....Oh SHOOT! Let's just call it even! They are all stinking cute! Anyways, cuteness isn't the point! The point is what a blast we had in GR last weekend!

We attended our first regional LPA conference in Grand Rapids last Friday. It was different than we expected. We thought it to be a little more like National as far as organized LPA activites. You know, meetings, groups, seminars. There was more free time and it seemed more social in nature.

That was just fine by Dan and I! In fact, it was a very welcome surprise. We were able to relax and enjoy the company of our fellow LPA members. I was also able to figure out who was who within our chaper and region. As the Chapter Newsletter editor, I see a lot of names on paper and I was finally able to put faces to names. Nice!

Owen was extrordinarily good with the exception of a couple kids room meltdowns. For some reason he was just not interested in being left in the kids room while we attended the Parent's Meeting or the banquet. He's been pretty clingy lately. Even at daycare, which he's been attending since he was 3 months old and LOVES, he's been crying when we've been dropping him off.

My aunt and grandma live 10 minutes from the hotel the conference was held in so we stayed with them, not so much to avoid paying for a hotel room but just to visit with them. It was really nice to get to spend the weekend with them! Plus the homecooked meals were a great perk. I'm 30 years old. Will I ever grow out of sponging off my family?

Ok, so listen to this story...
I was walking by one of the banquet rooms and it was decked out with prom decorations. There were signs up that said "Kevhead High Prom 2009" and "Go Beavers!" I was kinda excited to see the kids dressed in their prom gear. Well, I walked by about an hour later and saw a Durex banner hanging over a table full of condums and lube. I was horrified! I'm thinking "OK, I went to Catholic school. It this what they are doing in the public schools now?" I mean I can appreciate trying to prevent teens from getting pregnant on prom night, but really?! Advertising condoms with a big banner and lube? Inappropriate!

Well, later on, I start noticing all these adults dressed in leisure suites and bad 80's dresses. It turns out that it was a radio station event with a prom theme! Duh! Go beavers? How'd I miss that? I sure felt a lot better. Anyway, after our Karoke party, our party crashed the prom and everyone had a great time!

Here's some pictures from the weekend

Isn't this kinda trippy? Owen was a karaoke master 7 year old Emma took this picture of my handsome husband Dan was a hit with the ladies! (Emily, Ellie and Emma)

Owen danced the night away. This is his happy fun face. Emma took this picture too. And this one....

And this one. I think we have a budding photographer in our midst.

Owen and his daddy

My favorite species of butterfly. Do you know what lies in the shadow of the statue? Tuckered out after a weekend of fun!

My little Easter Bunny

Whew! Ok! Got a lotta catching up to do!
Let's start with Easter

Owen and his dad

Trying out Owen's Easter present from 'Ama and Papa. A remote control car!

My mother's delicious Easter ham

My delicious Caesar Salad from a bag

Carrots and Onions with fennel

Ready for a nap after the big meal OK! Ready for the leftovers!

I know, I know...Right now you're thinking "What the hell? You haven't blogged in a month and you post pictures of your easter ham and bag o' salad? What's wrong with you?"
As we speak, I'm working on a post about regional! Stay tuned....

Counseling the Counselers

I'm starting to get a little annoyed with blogger.com. Does anyone else find it tedious to use? Maybe I'm just saying that because Facebook is so easy. Anyways, that's not the point....

I have about 4 post that I want to write. Hmm..where to start....

I'll start with this week and work my way back. It'll be like a crazy time- traveling blog. Where's Michael J. Fox when you need him? Hello? McFly?

This week I had the opportunity to participate in something exciting. Sarah L, Kaela's mom (and one of my favorite people) and I were asked to speak to a small group of grad students in genetic counseling at U of M Ann Arbor. We were there to offer our persepective as parents of little people (POLP). We were also joined by Stacie, LPA member and little person who relayed her experience as a LP and a POLP. LOL! That's a lot of acronyms I should remove ASAP! J/K! Whoa! Outta control!

This was a very theraputic experience for me. If you are familiar with our story, you know that Owen was given no chance to live after his birth. No alternative scenarios were offered, no hope was given, we were told point blank that Owen would die.

As time passes and Owen progresses into a healthy happy boy, the anger as to how we were handled builds. The more I think about the fact that I was offered no hope that Owen would live, the more I want gather my doctors in a room and really let them have it!

So when I was give the chance to speak to people who may potentially have the same impact on other couples - I jumped at the chance. Despite what you are probably thinking, no - I did not unleash my pent up anger on a poor group of genetic counseling grad students!

Sarah and I were able to tell our stories and offer our opinions on what to do and not to do. We both felt that it was important to be sympathetic & honest. We also wanted them to keep in mind that though patients will pass in and out of their office, this is our life. Don't numb yourself to our plight because you have seen it all. To me it's very important that they always allow for the possibility that anything can happen.

These students were very bright and eager to learn. I'm sure they will be the type of counselers that will make a positive impact. I very much appreciated being able to relay my story. It was touching that they were interested in having our perspective. It made me think (which I hate to do but I went with it)...do med school students ever get patient perspective before they are unleashed into the wild? If the answer is no then - why not? All doctors should be required to attend a class where patients are able to give their sides of the story. I've been lucky enough to generally have great doctors, but I know that there are plenty of horror stories out there. Hmmm...just a thought.
Ok - well I'll leave you with some Owen pictures for your viewing pleasure!

What's up? You wanna go?
George always has my back
George and Owen in a staring contest. Guess who wins?
I'm just messing around!
I love kitty!
Like son, like father

The Freight Train

Last Wednesday, Owen came down with the flu. It had been a virtual epidemic at his daycare, even causing them to shut down to stop it from spreading. Despite that, Owen got it.

So Owen was the Exorcist baby for a few days but seemed on the mend by the time his birthday came around on Friday. No big deal. His birthday was very low key - only 'Ama and Papa, Mom, Dad and Owen. We had pizza and cupcakes. We sang "Happy Birthday". Owen got a playdough kit and a train table from us and a shiny new Radio Flyer from his grandparents. We played with his new toys for a little and then my parents went home.

Then all hell broke loose.

DISCLAIMER: Read no further if stories of puking, dirty toilet deeds (done dirt cheap) and general bodily disgusting-ness is not your bag. You can just skip to the pictures. For those with a stronger stomach....

I started vomiting at around 9:00pm. Now, let's be honest here. I think most people have at some point overindulged in the good drink. We can all relate to the morning- after revenge your body takes on you. But you puke, you have a plate of Moons Over Mihammy and a gallon of coffee at Denny's and - Viola! All better. This was not the same scenario.

I wanted someone to put me out of my misery. Throwing up gave me no relief. I spent a good 6 to 12 hours wondering if I would ever feel good again. To make matters worse...my husband started his own vomit regimine about 3 hours after mine. Oh yeah - we have one bathroom!

We both somehow make it through the night. Owen wakes up the next morning - earlier than usual of course - and comes into bed with us. We stupidly give him the milk he asks for and whaddya know? H promptly throws it up in our bed. So now Dan and I, already nauseaded, have to clean up Owen's mess.

I go out into the kitchen to get towels and almost step in a big congealed pile of something on our floor. Our cat had thrown up. WHAT?! You've got to be kidding me?!

I go to call my mother to tell her about our awful night and she had already texted me "Uh oh. Papa's been puking all night." Now, I'm really starting to feel like I'm in a damn Stephen King novel. It's like the Superflu has hit and the end of the world is coming. I try desperately to figure out if I dreamt about a cornfields in Nebraska.

Luckily, the worst of the flu passed quickly for Dan and I. It lingered with Owen a bit but he's almost back to his cheerful self. I won't even go into the diapers that 1 week of the flu has given him. Unfortuately for Owen, his big day was overshadowed by the drama. Had we all been well, he would have had himself a nice little birthday.

The calm before the storm.

Owen's new thing - Playdough

A new bike!!! I can even touch!

Uuhhh...I'm 2. All I get is a measly cupcake?

Train table!!! Just what I wanted!

Hell yeah!

Papa knows what he's doing.

ChooChoo!

This is sweet.

Uuhh...guys? How the heck am I supposed to reach the middle of this table?

Holy S#*@!! My son's a genius!

****BRAGGING ALERT*****
Serious boasting about my childs extrordinary skills will follow!

Sooo....
Owen is my first child. I've never really been overly concerned with figuring out what milestones he's supposed to hit at what age. I'm not sure if it's because of the dwarfism or if it's something I would have been relaxed about anyway. However, it has been brought to my attention that Owen may be super-duper-mega-genius!!! His Physical Therapists, Day Care provider and well...grandma(she doesn't count though because she's way biased!), have all noted that he is advanced in some skill. You be the judge.

Owen will be 2 in one week. Here's a short list of his skills(no pun intended!):
1. He can identify almost all of the letters of the alphabet and can make the sound for them. He will randomly pick out letters on grocery bags, the back of people's jackets & advertisements and make the sound.
2. Owen can identify red, blue, green and yellow.
3. He will hold up the appropriate # of fingers for 1, 2 and 5.
4. He knows hot and cold. He will blow on hot food and give a "brrrr!" in the cold Michigan weather.
5. He has about 30 signs and uses them!
6. He knows how to work my digital camera. He likes to watch the video clips and knows how to switch to the mode that only shows videos. I don't even know how to do that.
7. Owen can follow two step commands like "Put that away and give mommy a kiss."
8. He wants to and knows how to take his clothes off. I say "wants to and knows how" because he can't actually take them all off because of physical limitations!
9. Owen can fully operate a DVD player. Can load it, press play and even scroll the menu to get to the selection he wants.
10. Had extrodinary problem solving skills. He will stack toys on top of each other to climb on to a sofa. If he wants to turn something he has in his hand around, Owen puts it in his mouth to hold it and then grabs it so that it's in the position he wants. Example: He'll grabbing a drumstick by the wrong end (an actual drumstick, not the ice cream cone!) and put it in his mouth to turn it around.
11. He can identify head, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, nose, tummy.
12. He can identify simple objects in pictures: animals, cars, sun, moon, etc.
13. He can do the motions for a ton of action songs like, The Wheels on the Bus, Hot Potato, 5 Little Monkeys.
14. His diapers alway smell like a fresh summer rain.....

Errr...OK, I'm heading into a little ridiculousness and #14 is DEFINITELY NOT TRUE!. Help! Mom! Am I forgetting anything? Grandma's have a knack for identifying brilliant behavior in their grandchildren.
He can do all the stuff that a 2 year old is supposed to do. The language is a little behind. He has nowhere near 200 words. Closer to 20 if that (not counting signs)! He can't jump yet but bends and pops up. He'll get some air one of these days.

OK, had enough bragging about Owen. Too bad! One more point to make. He is spectacularly cute!!!
I'm trying to figure out which picture to send into Regis and Kelly's Beautiful Baby Contest. Help a sister out. Which is the cutest? Or maybe none of them? Have I failed to capture Owen's true adorableness? Ahhhh! Help!

In the spririt of bragging shamelessly about your children - I want to know how brilliant your kids are. Blog about it or comment on what they can do!