AKA……. The Constipation Blues. The little guy has been so stopped up ever since I have been giving him milk instead of formula. Although the little clenched fists, grunting and bright red face always make me crack up, I was on the search of getting him regular without overdosing him on prune juice — GROSS! After a few weeks, I finally had my idea…..I was going to get the newest juicer on the market by Breville, and add a little fresh veggie or fruit juice to his milk. At first, I just added a little apple, and it worked like a dream. Now I am getting more creative to get the max amount of nutrients and good stuff in his diet. Hence, this morning he had his milk with a splash of pear, a squeeze of carrot and a wet pinch of parsley. How’s that for healthy!
How stinking cute is the little Scout Master?
So basically, I am all for exercise if it is fun. None of the mundane, same run every day at the same time for me. Instead, I like to try out new things to keep the excitement alive while I try and shed the unwanted pounds. While we spent V Day in Utah, I set up an afternoon of Cross Country Skiing. We had a nice afternoon in Park City with Scout in a sled that was strapped to Micah’s waist. Scout loved it, and even fell asleep during the ride - as was predicted by the lady we rented our stuff from. I checked on him twice, and his cheeks and nose were warm. He was covered/stuffed everywhere else like the boy in A Christmas Story, so I figure I was covered! But I guess the cold air he breathed in the whole time backfired on us and gave our little guy the heaviest and deepest breathing. His nights are the worst, and every time he sneezes he gets tears in his eyes from the pain and about starts crying. I used to get Bronchitis when I was little — I actually almost died from it (even though my mom doesn’t remember, I have a crystal clear memory of the entire saga!) — so I feel for him. I guess I’m off to the doctor tomorrow…
The Schmickster and I are in Utah celebrating V Day. We are also off on our own little family vacation with Scout. At the beginning of February, I put my homemade Valentine’s decorations up. It spiced up the month, and Scout loves to stare at the sparkle.
With a LOT of haters out there (Mr. Hemeon “I’ll pay Tristen 50 bucks”, Tacky “I’ll give you 60 miles at most”, Kirk Lindahl “good luck” to name a few…) I am proud to announce the world’s two newest centurians…..Tristen and Lindsey AKA Team Red! All I have to say is:
#1 - we weren’t the prettiest on the course! That is probably the most true when Tristen tried to do the whole “surfer change” in front of thousands of bikers. The problem was that she didn’t have a good size towel. Instead she used her tank top and put it around her rear end…tried to be stealth and pull down her shorts underneath, but accidentally pulled it all down at once. At least we were on top of an overpass, so the drivers underneath had some funny entertainment. the other time Tristen wasn’t so pretty was when a pack of riders enveloped her and she got wobbly and almost fell. She didn’t, but the whole pack freaked out because it would have been a disaster. I was laughing so hard I had to pull over!
#2 - we weren’t the most stereotypical on the course. Tristen and I both wanted the same playlist of tunes, so we rigged a ghetto blaster to the front of her bike and had music blaring the whole time! Everyone commented that they wanted to ride around us because we were making it so fun, but then we informed them that it was going to be a long day - probably 10 hours long - they politely declined and pedaled faster. For fear of our bodies not taking the 10 hours easily, we got some poor volunteers to rub our shoulders for a little loosening up at the aid stations. We also had mini Evian water misters on hand so we could spritz ourselves whenever we were too salty or hot. (BEST TIP EVER) everyone loved the mistings, and I will never ride a long ride without one.
#3 - our motto was slowly but surely! That proved itself over and over again as we closed down every aid station. It was pretty cool because we were personally catered to at each stop. The last aid station even held our bikes for us for 20 minutes as we went to see the offerings.
#4 - My favorite part of the day was when I rode in and heard that my very own husband….the ex collegiate athlete, the 1/2 Ironman, the triathlete, the etc. etc. etc……….didn’t finish the very same race!!!!! It was like the stinking cherry on top! It was like the whole tortoise and hare story. Actually in all fairness, I think he was trying to wait for me?!? and his dad, who had already finished, swung by and picked him up. Regardless….stinks for him when I tell the kids about this one!
It was a very fun weekend. Weather was great - 70’s and sunny. Tim and Diane made a perfect dinner after the ride. My little boy was the perfect houseguest. And most importantly I rode/exercised from the time it was light in the morning, until it the sun was going down! How impressive.
Check this off the list, and Tristen and I decided that we are going to make a sister’s list of adventures (we were going to originally call them goals, but then decided that neither of us are very good goal girls) to accomplish. Century ride is over, and I know somewhere on our list is going to be a Harley Ride. All we need are some do-rags, and we will SO fit in! Anyway, I will post that list once it is made! What a blast!
I think the fact that Scout hasn’t learned to crawl until now is a blessing in disguise. With all of the moving and trips we have been taking lately, it is nice to know he is going to stay where I put him. But the blessing has gone away, because at 9 and a half months….he crawls! It is the cute little army crawl, and technically Trilby got him going on it. It is very exciting, but sad to see him growing SO fast!
We are headed off to Palm Springs for the annual bike race. They have a variety of different lengths, with the century ride (actually 107 miles) being the longest. I am the type of girl who likes to check things off of my list, and I have chosen this weekend to check off my century ride. I figure that the second time I was ever on a bike was to ride 50 miles -from Rosarito to Ensanada-, so after taking two rides down to Oceanside in the last month….I am ready for the big daddy! Some people might think I am crazy, but the second they do, I quickly divert the attention over to the really crazy one…the one and only……the girl who has only ridden a bike once in her life…..the girl who has even less coordination than I do….the girl who has her inhaler the second the word exercise exits her lips…..the girl who is also a “check it off your list” type……the girl who has been known to quote “I hate to exercise”……TRISTEN URE! Don’t worry that we have an entire playlist ready to go, and she is taping it to her bike so we can both be riding to the same music! Can anyone even imagine the classic scene we will be. Originally Micah was going to “take it easy” and ride with me. Interestingly enough, when Tristen joined the race, I have overheard him talking with his Dad and planning out their “race strategy”. It’s all about making memories….right! Stay tuned to read Tristen’s blog in about 4 days….it might be the funniest yet!
Scout is 9 months old, and has never sat in front of the television. Talk to me at kid 3 or 4, but I don’t die over the idea of letting my kid veg out in front of the TV when we could be playing together, singing together or taking a walk. I was talking to my mom the other day, and she told me that she thought it was a fine idea to have him watch Sesame Street every once in a while because they teach him things like colors and shapes etc. I still don’t love the idea, but she makes a good point.
This morning I had him up after his morning nap. He usually sits in his highchair while I sing songs with him and make his oatmeal. For whatever reason, he was screaming like nuts. He is usually so happy in the morning, that I did everything I could think of….all to no avail. I remembered what my mom had said about S. Street, so I told Scout that we were going to see if we could find Big Bird and Elmo. I finally found PBS, and Telletubbies was the program running. YEAH RIGHT - I am NOT letting my little guy watch those things. I just remember the time when my brother Nathan told me that it is slightly embarassing that his little boy Samuel couldn’t leave the house without his stuffed Tinky Winky. He called my mom- completely serious- and asked her how to ween a child off of a stuffed animal. My mom told him to just laugh about it, and not to worry about Samuel. Nathan told her it wasn’t Samuel he was worried about….it was his own good reputation he wanted to keep!
All the time Scout was screaming came to a halt as soon as Tinky Winky and Po were dancing around like little fruitcakes on the small screen. You have got to be kidding! So I went over and made the oatmeal, as Scout was glued to the four animals/martians dancing around the screen. He especially liked the little baby’s face that is surrounded by a sun that came on. He started clapping he was so excited! Slightly frightening! For fear of having to have a little stuffed whatever with me at all times, I think from now on the Denisons will be saying NO to Telletubbies!
I have had the never-ending last few months! It started off at the end of November when I was the fill in realtor for the sale of my parent’s house. For whatever reason, I was in on all of the negotiations and was the liason between the buyer and my family. It actually makes sense on why I was the go-to girl….but I will forego the boring details.
Soon after….I was helping with Christmas. I know every single person finds themselves a little busier at Christmas time than the rest of the year…..BUT I was ridiculously busy! On top of actually selling the house, I was trying to arrange movers, timing, dates, my own little family’s Christmas….and on top of that craziness….I was helping my mom do Christmas for over 30 people! She usually does it with a little help from some of us, but this year was not feeling good, so I was pitching in. Hence, I spent many days and nights wrapping away, and many afternoons shopping. It was fabulous as usual, and was a nice 24 hour break amidst the chaos.
The day after Christmas, I was on to packing up the house. Our original intentions were to get movers, but after we thought about it, we weren’t very interested in having people pack everything and anything, just so we could move 18 years worth of crap into the new house. So instead, we sifted, organized, moved, and threw away stuff for two weeks solid. I must say that anyone who wanted to score BIG TIME should have been there. We gave away EVERYTHING! A very commen comment lately has been, “Whoops…I gave it away”, or “Whoops, that was in the trash pile” when my mom asks where things are. When we moved from our last home, we had a biggest garage sale EVER, to the tune of almost $20,000 dollars….and that was in 1989! This garage sale would have been for the record books. But because we lived in Bear Brand Ranch, and there are no garage sales allowed…every charity scored! (Sidenote…..shout out to D.I. and Salvation Army. Both got semi’s full, and did all of the work for it! They were lifesavers!) On top of the charitable donations, we took 8 huge loads to the dump. One load had 12 matresses plus more boxsprings. It was literally a comedy act. Shout out to my dad who could run circles around anyone half his age. He is 67 yrs. old, and was lifting the heaviest stuff, packing massive loads by himself, going to bed at midnight and being up and ready to go again at 6 am. They just don’t make them like him anymore. He never complains, never gets overwhelmed, and just gets the job done. I am convinced it is because he grew up on a farm that he has the ultimate ability to work hard. And his added bonus is that he is super smart. On the other hand, my mom -who is also a very hard worker- was still feeling sick. It started out where she was just exhausted all of the time, but turned into nausea and dizziness. We thought it was the flu, until we realized that she was turning bright yellow. Holy Cow?!
The move was EXHAUSTING! But I woke up the next morning with a HUGE burden lifted from my shoulders. My mom (even though she was totally sick) and I drove the U-Haul for the final drop off, and I thought I was going to cry I was so excited it was over! We were thrilled it was over. On the way home, I suggested that we should go to a walk-in clinic just to see hwat exactly was going on. She is and has always been so healthy, that she doesn’t even have a doctor to go and see. We headed over, got right in, and within an hour of dropping off the U-Haul started a new exhausting chapter.
My mom was getting sicker and sicker, and more and more yellow. She was literally as yellow as a highlighter pen by the end. We were in and out of doctor’s appts. for a week, until she finally got admitted to the hospital. In the meantime, Scout was teething and had fever on and off. Micah had the flu for two solid weeks, and was flat on his back for about a week of it. When my mom was in the hospital, I tried to be there most of the day. I would get there and stay a while, drive home to make food for Micah, go back to try and catch the doctor, talk with fmily members and keep them in the loop, etc. After a week, an ERCP, a liver biopsy, and a whole lot of blood drawn, my mom was able to leave the hospital…..unfortunately without any concrete answers. She has been home for a week, and they have been giving her medicine to make her feel better. The medicine itself has bummer side effects, but at least she isn’t constantly nauseous and dizzy. We are waiting for more results…..but until then, she is doing much better. In fact, the first day she felt better (probably on a scale from 1 - 10….she was a 6 as versus a 2 she had been the previous week), one of her Bloomingdales sales people called to tell her about a sale they were having. So after her doctor’s appt., we headed off to South Coast to see what two girls could buy! We did some pretty good damage (remember that I threw everything away), and spent about 4 hours shopping away. From flat on her back the day before to 4 hours of shopping….she told me the next day that she thought she overdid it. Whoops!
Like I said…..it has been a VERY exhausting few months. I didn’t even mention that during that time, I also helped my mom buy a house, I am training (2 rides to Oceanside and the train back) for a century ride this Saturday (100 miles), I am trying to cook Sunday thru Thursdays and I have been trying to practice the piano again. Stinks for me that I am coming down with the flu.
My one calm in all of this is my nice little boy who never complains about going nap free. He never turns his nose up at whatever food I can round up for him. He is fine with sleeping on a makeshift bed at night, my bed for naps, and my mom’s closet floor when I am helping her. Talk about good natured!
My little guy finally got his front left tooth at 9 months and a week….no more vampire motif! Plus - I finally got a picture of his two bottom teeth!
My big boy is nine months old today! About two days ago, he got his second top tooth. It matches the other one…the one right to the right of his front tooth. So in honor of Jack-O-Lanterns everywhere…he now has his two bottom teeth, and the two on either side of his fronts on the top. Congrats little guy! Not crawling yet, but he has mastered patty cake, bye bye, clicking his tongue, smacking his lips, singing with me everytime I sing, and bopping to music. Basically he is perfect, and my very best friend…right behind the Shmickster!!!
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