Disney Day Five & Six: Princess Lunch and Traveling Home

This morning Jordan went to the "Bibbity Bobbity Boutique" for her makeup, costume, and hairdo. All the J's went while the rest of us stayed back at the Hilton. Jeff, Micah, and I went swimming for a little bit. Then we all met up at Magic Kingdom at the castle for Jordan's princess lunch and saw her all dressed up for the first time. She looked amazing!

We walked in the castle and Cinderella was to our right taking pictures with families and signing autographs. When it was our turn, it was such a special moment to see Jordan meet her all dressed up like her. It was so precious. I couldn't believe that this was THE moment we'd been waiting for.

We went upstairs to the "banquet hall" and to our surprise, other princesses were going around to the tables to meet the kids. Jordan had a special time with Belle, Aurora, Jasmine, and Snow White. Micah left with kisses all over his face from the princesses. The food was very gourmet. The princes all received swords and the princesses all received star wands, and they all raised them high in the air to make their wishes. We ended with chocolate cheesecake covered in Mickey sprinkles, of course.

After lunch, we went back to our hotels to put the kids down for a nap before returning at 8 for the fireworks. It was well worth the trip back to see the fireworks over the castle, the castle lit up in different, brilliant colors, and even Tinkerbell flying from the castle. It was quite impressive. It was a great ending to a terrific and memorable trip. We said goodbye to the J's in the parking lot before going back and putting Micah to bed at about 11 pm!

The next morning we left the hotel at 7:30 am because our flight boarded at 9. (We had a layover in Dallas) The captain announced that there were thunderstorms in Dallas and that we would be leaving when we could. After spending an hour and a half on a nonmoving plane, we deplaned to go get some lunch. An hour later, we got back on the plane in Orlando and headed to Dallas. Of course, by this time we had missed our Seattle connection in Dallas, so we got on standby for the next flight. Jeff tried to book a flight for the next day on the phone, (thinking that we could spend the night with Jeff's parents) but they were all booked as well. They transferred all standby passengers to another flight leaving at 8:55 pm, only 7 hours later! Thankfully, there was a Chili's and a kid's play area close by. We had a great lunch at a place that we don't have in Washington and Micah played so well in the play area. Our flight was delayed to 10, then 10:15, then 10:25. That means that Micah played in the play area for five hours! He was a trouper the whole day. We couldn't have asked for a better kid.

We finally boarded the Seattle-bound plane at 11 pm. Even if we had wanted to spend the night in Plano, we still would have had to wait for all of the rest of the family to land in Dallas, which they did at about 10:45! So, even if we had waited for them to land, we wouldn't have saved any time since they landed so late. Jeff and Micah slept the whole flight, but I had to hold Micah since he kept waking up and kicking the seat of the gal in front of him, who was obviously displeased about that. We finally landed at 1-something in Seattle and were met by our angels, Angie & Katie. Thankfully, our luggage was waiting for us from a previous flight. The girls took us back to their place to pick up our car and we left Seattle around 2 am. Jeff was brave enough to drive, but needed me to talk to him the last 30 minutes of the drive. We figured that when we pulled into our house at 4 am, which was 7 am Florida time, it had been 25 hours since our alarm first went off at 6 am in Orlando!

We slept from 4 to 8, when Micah woke up right on schedule, saying over the monitor, "hi, Mommy! Hi Mommy!" We put a video on for him to get another hour of sleep, but then the guys came over who are working on our laundry and siding. We didn't even care, and slept through the banging. Jeff went to the church and Micah and I went grocery shopping. We've been downloading and uploading pictures and video and it's been so fun to look back through them all and remember our fun trip.

Disney Day Four: Animal Kingdom

When we woke up the kids all seemed fine, so we met up at Animal Kingdom at 9:30. We have these awesome cheetah print Mickey shirts that again, amazing Daniela made. We actually got quite a few compliments on them from people around the park! I never would have imagined what a difference it makes to all be wearing the same shirt. Other people don't try to come between our group in line and it's easy to spot everyone as we make our way through the crowds. That and our kids are stinkin' adorable in matching white with green and pink leopard Mickey logos. Today Jordan got some fuzzy pink leopard Mickey ears to go with her shirt. Don't worry, there's pictures.

We started the day off on a safari seeing elephants, giraffes, lions, hippos, crocodiles, antelopes, flamingos and more. Then we met Safari Mickey, Safari Minney, Safari Goofy, Safari Donald, Chip & Dale, Pooh, Tigger, & Eeyore. Next was a nice, cool, dark, air-conditioned place that happened to have the Lion King show. Did I mention it had air conditioning? Of course, we were there for the show, why would you think otherwise?? Really, the show was pretty amazing with elaborate costumes, music, huge animated Lion King characters (Simba, Pumba, Timon, and an elephant), fire throwing & breathing, ballet, and high-flying acrobatics. Kids from the audience came out and shook shakers for the final number, Circle of Life, of course. It was very nice because the whole thing was air conditioned. :)

We then had a great lunch (despite Micah's mild tantrum) complete with ducks running around scavenging. After some more penny machines, Jadyn fell asleep in a store and Micah grew more restless. Then, we found a playground made to look like an excavation site in progress and a dinosaur dig, where kids could dig in sand to uncover a mammoth. Micah wasn't into it and was just too hot. Jordan was a trouper and totally into the playground.

Since I was tired of dealing with Micah, Gramma, Grampa, Jeff, Micah & I came back to the hotel while the J's are still at the park, I presume. They wanted to stay for a parade, so we'll just see pictures of it. Micah fell asleep in the stroller on the way to the tram and slept through the tram, the walk to the car, the car ride to the hotel, then woke up when we got here. After we got back to the hotel, a Florida thunderstorm rolled in and we watched it rain while trying to coax him back to sleep. He's finally sleeping again, hopefully for a while.

It was a crazy day with him, but I actually think this park was my favorite. It's more shaded and treesy, and made to look more natural. And when is it ever not amazing to see all those animals?

Several weeks before we came, my excitement about this trip grew and grew until I didn't think I could wait much longer. I couldn't wait to see Jordan experience so many of her favorite things, spend time with the whole family, and watch the cousins play together. About a week before the trip, the reality of traveling with Micah (and two other preschoolers for that matter) began to set in and I started becoming nervous about how Micah would be in hotter weather, taking no naps, spending so much time on a plane, staying up and out late, sleeping in an unfamiliar place, eating out for every meal, and totally overstimulated from the parks. I knew this would not be a relaxing, restful vacation. Our first day, Micah exceeded my expectations and was a gem. On our second day, his temperament (and mine) was completely worse than what I expected, but he was great through dinner and in the evening. Yesterday, he actually slept 2.5 hours in a different place and was great for Gramma, so I was pleasantly surprised. Today, however, was completely opposite and he was bordering on ridiculous. Toddler traveling at its finest. I hope he is at least decent tomorrow. Tomorrow is Jordan's big day. She gets her hair done at the "Bibbity Bobbity Boutique" before dressing up like Cinderella to have lunch with her in her castle! We're so blessed to be along for the ride!

Disney Days Two & Three: Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney

Phew! What a day! We made the trek to Magic Kingdom today and got our money’s worth. Being Mother’s day, cast members were handing out carnations and paper flowers. That was very nice and it was great to spend Mother’s day all together.

It was so fun to see Jordan love the characters. She is so excited to meet them. Some characters we saw today were Ariel, Belle, Aurora (Sleeping Beauty), Cinderella, Jasmine, Tinkerbell, Iridessa, Rosetta (Tinkerbell’s fairy friends), Tigger, and Pooh. Jodie made these great autograph books, complete with Sharpie, for our character meetings, so they are getting autographs from every character. We were able to ride the carousel, Dumbo, Aladdin’s carpet, and the teacups (twice!), as well as see the 3 o’clock parade. Jordan and Micah are also very excited about the penny-pressing machines everywhere. Thanks to our awesome friend, Daniela, who put together little canisters with quarters and pennies so we can have them at the ready whenever we come upon a machine!

The Disney cast members are very accommodating to Jordan. In addition to ushering us to the front of every line, the characters spend extra time with Jordan and go out of their way to make her feel special. For instance, when we went to one shop, the cast member asked her which fairy she would like to see most. When she chose Tinkerbell, he brought her over to a screen, watched lights twinkle over to the screen (as she was flying over, of course), and Tinkerbell appeared to Jordan. Then he sprinkled her with fairy dust so she sparkled all day long. That’s just one example of how so many cast members went the extra mile for her.

The day was very long and hot. We ended the day down under at Outback steakhouse. The kids did well for eating dinner past their bedtime, but toward the end of dinner, Jordan wasn’t feeling well and was warm but complained of feeling cold. Jodie and Joel watched her temperature through the night but it reached 103, so they went to the hospital at midnight. Julie stayed behind with Jadyn. Jordan’s fever broke, though, and they left the hospital around 4.

This morning, we stayed at our hotel and took Micah swimming while the J’s rested. We went over there around one and left all three cousins with Gramma and Grampa! It was their first time to have all three together by themselves and they all had a great time together resting, watching the rain, and splashing in puddles. Meanwhile, Joel, Jodie, Julie, Jeff, and I shopped for souvenirs at Downtown Disney, which is a collection of Disney shops and stores. Gramma called around 6 to say that now Jadyn and Micah now had fevers as well. So, thank God that Jordan is ok, but we’re hoping that it passes quickly. We’d like to take Jadyn and Micah to go on a safari at Animal Kingdom tomorrow morning if possible. Micah was very clingy, cranky, and warm tonight and went to sleep quickly. It’s supposed to be cooler tomorrow and we now know how to better stay hydrated. Gramma has graciously offered to remain behind in the air conditioning with sick kiddos, but we’ll see what happens.

Disney Day One

Last Thursday was a busy day. Micah and I went to playgroup, I got ready for class, taught Biology (we did coin-flip kids since we're in genetics right now-- it was fun!), and packed. Jeff came home from his conference in Vancouver and ran some last minute errands while I cleaned the house up, and then we were off! We left around 6 to our good friends' Katie, Angie, & Bre and spent the night at their place. Katie was nice enough to take us to the airport the next morning. (We're keeping our eyes out for a cool souvenir for you gals to thank you!)

Friday morning, way too early, we got ready and our flight left around 8:45 pacific time. Micah did great on the first flight and made buds with the kid in front. We had a layover in Chicago (convenient that Micah had his Cubs shirt on that Grampa brought him back from baseball trip) and Micah was really good again. We had to convince him to go to sleep, but thankfully he did for a little bit. Jeff was such a great dad on the trip. He sat by him for most of the trip, playing games with Micah, convincing him to sleep, watching his videos with him. We arrived in Orlando at 7:30 east coast time to be met by Grampa. After a quick bite and quick hello to the J's (Joel, Jodie, Jordan, Jadyn, Julie) we hit the hay at our place. Thankfully, Micah slept through the night.

We hit it hard early this morning and met everyone at Disney Hollywood Studios. We started it off with a Toy Story ride, and wandered around. The pace is a tad slower with the kiddos! We did run into a lot of characters and Jodie had made these awesome autograph books for all the characters to sign for Jordan, Micah, and Jadyn. One special moment was at lunch, Jordan saw a lion named Goliath from a show she loves and gave him a really long hug! (See Flickr to the right for all the pics.) Then, we saw two little einstein characters named June and Quincy and June noticed Jordan's Make-a-Wish button and gave her extra hugs and kisses, a special note and autograph and even kissed Jodie! When you consider that these characters can't talk, it's amazing how well they communicate. Another neat but humbling thing was that Jordan's pass allowed her to the front of any line. It was cool to see how every cast member noticed her and ushered her past all the people.

One of our favorite moments of the day then happened when we saw the Handy Manny character. Micah was so excited, but he was very afraid of all the characters. Usually he waved from a distance but became upset when they got too close. When Handy Manny came out and stood at his post, Jordan went up to him first. Micah was proud to show him his "tools" that he always carries around with him and then Micah stood by him to take a picture! We tried to get him to smile for the camera but he wouldn't take his eyes off Handy Manny-- he was mesmerized! We then saw a Playhouse Disney show that included Handy Manny and Little Einsteins and others, and Micah hardly sat down, he was dancing so much to the music.

We then went to Give Kids the World (where the J's were staying) which is like a small theme park in itself! We had ice cream at the ice cream bar, rode the carousel, rode the train around the campus, and just had a great time exploring there. Jordan made her pillow and her special star (that every child who stays there makes and it goes on the ceiling in the castle). It was just amazing to see how they made kids feel special and amazed in every way. It is a very special place. We were also humbled to see families with kids all with their own challenges and realize how fortunate Jordan really is. This trip is truly special for so many reasons.

Happy Mothers' Day tomorrow to Mom, Becky, Gramer, and and all my mom friends!

Here we come, Mickey!

This week we have been getting ready to go to Disneyworld (in Florida) to join our adorable niece, Jordan, on her Make-a-Wish trip! We are honored to get to join the family on this momentous trip, to celebrate all that she's made it through. If you want to read more about her journey, go to http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jordanflint. Jordan's wish was to have tea with Cinderella at Cinderella's castle, so by golly, that's what we will do!

Jeff was officially on vacation on Tuesday, and has been commuting to a pastor's conference at Regent in Vancouver. He's really gotten a lot out of this conference. The conference was Tuesday through Thursday, which means that tomorrow (today in five minutes :) ) Jeff will drive back from Canada, pick up Micah, me, and a suitcase, and we will drive down to Seattle to spend the night with our good friends Katie, Angie, and Bre because we leave so early in the morning. We'll arrive in Florida around 7:30 on Friday. We will have our Cinderella lunch on Wednesday, May 13, then fly back the next day.

I don't think I've ever gone to bed before midnight any night before we leave for a trip, and tonight is no exception. It will be strange, tomorrow, though, to live the day before actually leaving the house. Stranger still, is that to get ready to pack, I will have done three different loads of laundry at three different friends' homes in 2 days. That's right, our washer and dryer is still not in. We've lived without them since April 6, but who's keeping track? God's showing me my true human depravity in my lack of patience for what should be a simple convenience. Either that, or He's showing me how many true friends I have for how many different homes we've done laundry in! (16 loads in 6 homes, plus a day at the laundromat!) Thank you, Lord for my friends, their washers, and for the imminent return of ours.

See you in Orlando next time.

Crazy April

Well, we haven't updated in a long time because we've had a lot going on. Things have slowed down, so I'm excited to fill in the gaps a little bit.

April 5-13: Micah and I (B) went to Texas and had a great time.

We left after church on Palm Sunday, then saw the McCurdy's and Hipps on Monday. Kristen and I actually surprised Jenny because they had their new son, Taylor the week before, and so I just went with Kristen to take a meal to her. He was so adorable! Micah never met him, though, because he fell asleep through the whole thing, girls screaming and all.

Tuesday night we got to eat dinner with all the Flints plus some. It was so fun to get the three cousins together.

Wednesday we headed to Abilene to visit my parents and had a great time with Nana Weezie and Granddad Benno, ending with Easter. It was cool to see so many people. I wish I had time to write about it all.

Sunday after church Micah & I drove back to Flower Mound to see Joel & Jodie's new house and we had Easter dinner and egg hunts. Jordan, Micah, and Jadyn are so funny together, it made us all really excited for our trip to Disneyworld next month all together.

The next week after we got back to Washington I was sick all week with sinus/allergy/knives-rolling-around-in-my-head kind of stuff. Then Micah got sick (not as badly) towards the end of the week. He has been getting these really funny-looking puffy eyes from allergies lately. Sometimes he looks like a pirate who forgot to say "arrrrgh!" So that week I think I cancelled everything but my biology classes. That week was definitely lived in survival mode.

Since Micah and I left for Texas, we've been having our laundry room shored up and redone. It was a shoddy add-on who knows how many years ago, so we're simply making it a legitimate room. While we're at it, we got a new roof, and will get two new windows and all new siding on the house. It's been interesting to have work being done every day on something and it feels so great to finally make it happen. In my opinion, the laundry room is shaping up so nicely, it just might be the nicest r

oom in the house when it's finished! In the meantime, I've been doing laundry wherever or whenever I can at friends' or at the laundromat.

Yesterday was our seventh wedding anniversary! We celebrated by going to the symphony on Saturday! We heard Mahler's Symphony No. 2 ("The Resurrection") by the local Whatcom Symphony Orchestra at the Mount Baker Theater. Jeff got us those tickets weeks ago. He actually played it at Baylor so he knew all the ins and outs and it was fun to hear him reminisce about what it was like to be a part of it. Saturday morning we downloaded it and listened to it back and forth from Seattle (science equipment return trip) to be ready for Saturday night. We went to buddy Bjorn's Birthday #2 party that afternoon, then dinner, then the symphony. Yesterday morning (our actual anniversary), Jeff acted like he was just taking Micah to my car, then he sat in the passenger seat! He said, "as part of our anniversary, I'm going to spend the morning with you running your errands." What a guy. A haircut and groceries have never been more romantic. Not to be outdone, I fixed our dinner that night, but made it a candlelight/china/wine dinner. But somehow, Micah dropping food from his plastic plates, the drywallers sanding on the other side of the door, and the fact that we were having frozen ravioli made the candlelight dinner less than elegant. Oh well, at least I tried, but Jeff still won in the thoughtfulness department. I hope we never stop trying to outdo each other. Seven years.

I was thinking about what it would look like if we rewrote our vows to substitute actual events in our relationship for "for better or worse, sickness and health, richer or poorer..." Maybe for us it would be "....in celebrating our son's birth, and in losing your wedding ring.....in buying new homes and finishing a Masters'..... in fun vacations and family members' cancer..... 'til death do us part." Here's to growing old together, Jeff, and whatever our future may hold.

A quick update-- Micah's doing better and his tonsils are even smaller and he's acting much more normally. He just has some white residue on his throat. Also, Mike called this morning and asked if it was ok if he used today to organize and started work on the room tomorrow. I said yes, that would be alright. I didn't tell them that I was grateful that we didn't have to incubate the bacteria in the house!

Crazy week

This past week has been just weird. Micah woke up at 2 am Saturday morning with a fever. I didn't take his temp but I could just tell, so started him on acetaminophen. When he woke back up again at 6 (yay) he was acting cold and a little shaky and clingy. It was my day to go down to Seattle to get lab equipment, so we plugged in the DVD player for him and hit the road. He fell asleep at 10:40, about halfway into the drive, which is weird for him to fall asleep before about 1. On the way down, our realtor called and asked if a gal could look at our house (to buy). This was their second viewing, so we were encouraged. We made it down to Seattle, picked up the equipment, made a pit stop and headed home.

The whole way home Micah just looked sad and watery-eyed, just not moving in his car seat at all. We got home, threw down some lunch, put Micah to sleep, and started cleaning our house like mad. Our plan was to go to Outback Steakhouse down in Burlington with the Terrys while their trusty babysitter watched Hannah, Zac, and Micah at their house.

We woke Micah up to get out of the house by the time the people came to look at it (B & J: "Ok, I'll pick up Micah and you vacuum his room real quick. Ok, open his curtains and hide those cords. Don't forget to put those toys away. Those diapers stink. Spray something in here. "). As we headed over to the Terry's, I was feeling super guilty for leaving a sick kiddo with a sitter, but also didn't want to be an overprotective mom. When we got there, Micah wouldn't let go of me and Kimberlee took his temp with a handy ear thermometer. It read 104.3!!! No wonder he was acting so lethargic and burning up! So we waited long enough to make sure no one would be at our house anymore and swung by Arby's on the way home. It was about 5 and we were starving because we had been saving up for Outback. Then we started on an ibuprophen/acetaminophen alterating regimen and watched Wall-e as a family. Micah was in and out of sleep the whole time and wouldn't let go of me. "I want Mommy" he kept saying. He hardly ate or drank anything all day.

We put Micah down for bed at 8:30 and at 10:30 he started waking up every half hour until 1:30 am. I moved on to the couch so we wouldn't wake up Jeff (if it was any other night but Saturday, I wouldn't have cared, but he needs to rest before Sunday mornings. In fact, I would have shoved him out of bed to help with Micah.) Up again at 6:30 (yay) but Micah was acting totally normal. No way we were going to church though; I was exhausted. We started our "sing to Jesus" videos at 10:30 so we could sing at the same time as our church :) A few minutes later he had a slight fever again and, I was tired of his nasty sick breath so I suggested to him that we brush our teeth. When he opened his mouth, I saw the hugest, most disgusting tonsils I've ever seen. I felt like I had failed him on the whole fever thing, I wasn't going to fail him now! So we rushed to the first walk-in-clinic I found by the hospital and saw a PA.

She diagnosed him with a virus and prescribed a steroid to reduce the swelling and an antibiotic to combat secondary infection. Micah was a little charmer. I think he was proud of his tonsils because he said "Aaahhhh" every time she asked. His fever had gone down by then too, but she recommended that he see his doctor Monday.

So we went to the pharmacy, picked up the prescriptions, went home for lunch, gave him his first doses, and put him down for a nap. By this time Jeff was home from church. Then the pharmacist called and said that she had given Micah the wrong strength of steroid meds: three times the amount the PA had prescribed! She was asking if he was agitated, but he ended up sleeping for 3 hours. She was so apologetic and explained that it was not out of the range of what can be prescribed for his age and weight, but he ended up getting three days' worth in one. I went back to the pharm, they gave me the correct last two doses, a refund, and a gift card. I went back home and woke Micah up (at 5pm!) just to see if he was ok. He was fussy when I woke him up (who wouldn't be?) but otherwise acted normal. Praise the Lord that this mistake wasn't harmful. It may have simply decreased his tonsils and symptoms sooner than expected!

He did some funny things yesterday. He was playing happily in his playroom, so I left him to take a shower. Apparently, he did not approve, because he then came into the bathroom, stood at the end of the tub, and with a scowl, said, "Get out." I said, "You want Mommy to get out of the shower?" He nodded his head vigorously, still scowling, then stormed out of the bathroom! I gave him a bath after I had gotten dressed, then put him in his snowman towel that he wears after every bath. I put his clothes on him, but he still wanted to wear snowman over his clothes. I guess he missed him after not seeing him for a few days!

We stayed away from other kids today, but I certainly saw the effects of the steroids. Everything was intense for him. He was both more easily frustrated and he seemed extremely happy at other times--much less frequently, of course! We went to see his doc and she was impressed with how well his tonsils looked now and said that we may have the extra steriod to thank!

Meanwhile, we've been planning on having our utility room shored up and repaired. It's no small task and requires some rebuilding. At the end of October we talked to our friend's dad about doing it. I have been waiting since September to do a bacteria (harmless) lab with my homeschooling students tomorrow. I signed up in September and that's the experiment we drove to Seattle to get. Our house is some tight quarters, but I figured that I could put the crates, hot water bath, and incubator on top of the washer & dryer and just hold off from laundry for a while. Mike came by today to do some preliminary drawings of the repairs, and wouldn't you know, they want to start tomorrow? That means that we (Jeff) cleared out the laundry room completely, did all our remaining laundry tonight, they are removing the washer & dryer tomorrow, and the crates, water bath, and incubator are all in our kitchen, a dandy place to hold a bacteria lab. Awesome. I am not complaining one bit because we need a new laundry room before it falls down, but I just find it hilariously ironic that out of every Tuesday and Thursday between September and June, they decided to start tomorrow, the day of my lab. Ironically, last week, I had even thought, "Well, at least we still have an intact laundry room to hold all the lab supplies so I don't have to incubate E. coli in my kitchen!" So much for that. Don't worry, it's a harmless laboratory strain and I have bleach solution on hand and at the ready. So whoever reads this won't be apprehensive about coming to dinner. Maybe we'll come to your house instead. Can't be any worse than dissecting pigs on the kitchen table. Oops, I wasn't going to tell anyone we did that...

This week can only get less crazy. At least Micah's better. His fever made me appreciate how active he really is.

New Dishwasher!

Last night, Jeff and our friend, Joe (the electrician--not the plumber) put the finishing touches on installing our dishwasher!  I am so proud of Jeff because this was not a typical installation.  This entailed creating a whole new circuit breaker, cutting out a cabinet, rebuilding a cabinet, drilling holes in the cabinet to install the new incoming and outgoing plumbing works for the dishwasher.  I'm impressed with how he went from zero experience in dishwashers, to reading and researching, making 8 trips to Lowe's in 3 days, and making it happen.  Replacing a dishwasher is going to seem like cake to him after retrofitting the house to put one in.  Way to go, Jeff!

I was so excited to use it today that I forgot to put soap in when I ran it for the first time.  

Thanks to Kimberlee and Dan for selling us their former (and very nice!) dishwasher and to Joe for sharing your electrical expertise!  From the pictures, you can see plainly that Micah helped too:

M: What are doing, Daddy, what are doing?

J: I'm cutting boards, buddy.

M: What are doing, Daddy, what are doing?

J: I'm measuring, Micah.

M:  Daddy Stretch.  Micah's Stretch (Stretch is the character on Handy Manny that is a tape measure.  He was referring to Jeff's actual tape measure and his little tape measure figurine)

M: What are doing, Daddy, what are doing?

J: I'm drilling, buddy.

M What are doing, Daddy? what are doing?

You get the idea.....

Paper signing!

We signed papers on our Elizabeth St. House today!  Our realtor called us this morning for a 3 pm meeting with the title co. rep, our realtor, and our loan officer.   We were there from 3 to 5:15 signing papers for two closings: Elizabeth St. home purchase and Illinois St. home refinance.  Our realtor said he'd never seen a stack of signing papers so big.  Micah was a trooper, hanging out behind us, watching Handy Manny, playing with his Cars cars (pictured previously in the last post).  We won't move in until probably July, since there is a renter there.  But, it's official!  

Mr. Line-er Upper

Every day we are amazed at how Micah lines things up in an orderly, precise fashion.  Today I decided to take a picture of all the times he lined something up.  Keep in mind that all ordering is done by Micah himself. (Who knows where he got these tendencies.  I blame Jeff, a.k.a "Mr. organize-the-shirts-in-your-closet-by-color.")  See if you can find all Micah's patterns.  

A day in the life

This past fall I realized that I need lots of structure in my life.  Some people are go-with-the-flow people and some need routine, and I knew I was a structured person before, but I didn't realize that I was so structured that I just didn't do well without a routine.  The other Saturday Jeff was gone to a workshop and I didn't have anything on the calendar.  I went crazy because I didn't have anything planned for the day.  Not that I don't have things I could be doing--I do, but some of them are hard to do with Micah.  It took me a while before I realized that my job for the day was to be mom, buddy, train friend, park pal with Micah.  Duh.  

Also, I've noticed when I meet new people recently and we talk about "what we do," i.e. "work"  and people ask me if I work, I have a hard time answering that question.  I can't say I babysit kids, because  I only do it 2 afternoons a week.  I can't really say I'm a teacher, although I am, because I only have 4 students, 2 afternoons a week.  I can't really say I'm a "stay-at-home" mom, because Micah and I are rarely home.  

September began our schedule that we have going on right now.  Not that you're interested, but maybe you are curious as to what a day in the life looks like.  This is what Micah and I do every day.

Mondays:  

9 am: Micah plays with Caleb and is watched by his dad, our friend Thad.  I go to Trader Joe's, Haggen's, and either run other errands or go back home and prepare for my biology class.  

noon:  I pick up Micah and we have lunch at home.  He does not take a nap on Mondays.

3-5:30pm: We watch and play with Bjorn.

6 pm: dinner

7 -9 pm:  I go to BSF.  Jeff either goes to Band or stays home (every other week).  Every other week, Melina comes to watch Micah and put him to bed.

Tuesdays: 

10-11 am:  Micah and I meet with Kim, Madeline, and Lydia and go to Library Story Time

12:30-2:30: Biology class for my 4 awesome students.  Lori (another Micah crush) puts Micah down for his nap.

5-7 pm:  We help serve the "Loaves and Fishes" meal for homeless at our church.  Micah either greets everyone with Jeff or rides in my backpack and helps me in the kitchen.

Wednesday: 

10-12 am:  Mom's group through FBC at Adriele's house.  Kids are watched in another room by some terrific ladies and the moms pray for each other and go through a parenting book.  

noon: lunch, but another no nap day.

3-5:30 pm: play with/ watch buddy Bjorn

6 pm: dinner

7 pm:  Jeff has a meeting every other Wednesday at church.

Thursday: 

10-11:30 am:  Playgroup with some friends who all have kids the same age.

12:30-2:30:  Biology class

4:45: dinner

5:30-7: choir practice at church (then we take Micah to get Gelato!)

Friday:

 9-noon:  we play with/watch Caleb to swap for Monday mornings

noon-3ish: lunch and Micah's nap

afternoons:  we get together with the Terrys: Kimberlee and "ZacHannah"

Saturday:

4-ish:  Birth class playgroup

Sunday:

9:30: Worship team practice

10:30:  Church

I think I've backed myself into a corner in that because we do all these regular things, it's difficult to process or handle other things that come up, like birthday parties, packing to move, signing closing papers, fixing toilets, decorating for brunches, having dinner with friends, laundry, dishes, or getting sick.  I think it will let up for the summer.  

It does make me appreciate the special little spontaneous moments with Micah, when they happen, like pressing out pizza dough or skyping in the cabinet!  

Truck rescue!

*Read the previous blog entry below before reading this one.*  

Jeff came home with the wax toilet ring, a magnet, roto-rooter, and duct tape.  He was such a manly man and removed the toilet so we could retrieve the truck.  (We had put Micah down for a nap but he was still happily babbling and singing in his room)  Before digging down the pipe in the floor, we thought we should try inspecting the inner workings of the toilet first.  We tilted the toilet over and lo and behold, there was the little white truck staring back at me from the bottom of the toilet.  It went straight to the trash.  Yay for not having to call a plumber!  We have learned our lesson--no toys on the toilet!

Adventures in parenting

Last night we were taking Micah to the potty before bathtime.  He is playing with a little truck (naked & sitting on the toilet) when he accidentally dropped the truck into the toilet.  It instantly disappeared.  Jeff and I looked at each other wide-eyed, wondering why this possibility had never occurred to us.  So we stood Micah up (he hadn't gone yet) and Jeff reached in to retrieve the truck with a gloved hand.  He couldn't even feel it.  So we wondered if  we plunged down gently, then up forcefully, if the truck would be drawn up.  After a try, it didn't, but we tried it again and the truck made a brief appearance before it slipped back into oblivion.  Micah was upset at the force and thinks he's being bad when he gets upset, so he was standing, naked, crying, "time out, time out!"  We tried to comfort him.  So we tried the plunging again, and I stood ready to reach in and catch the truck while Jeff armed himself again with the plunger.  This time, when he yanked out the plunger, he also yanked out toilet water all over me and the floor.  We started laughing (thankfully, rather than cursing) but Micah was still crying.  We gave up for then and put Micah in the bath, but the toilet still flushes a little sluggishly.  Jeff's gone to get a magnet and another wax ring for the toilet so we can take it off the floor and go looking for the truck.  We'll see what happens.

Happy Birthday Jeff! (and Joel too!)

Happy #33 to Jeff and his bro Joel!  We celebrated this morning with pancakes and presents.  This time last year Jeff was in Israel.  Here's to "and many more" together!  

Micah celebrated Daddy's birthday by wearing big boy underpants for the first time today.

So it snowed three tim

es today for a few minutes each, with sunshine in between.  Weird day.  It was also weird because we hit some roadblocks on our house situations.  Our closing was pushed back again because of some rental requirements from the bank and we found out that we can't sell the lot behind our

 house (our backyard) because of some substantial legal issues that require even the mayor's ok.  Bummer.  

Today Micah and I made pizza together and he "helped me" roll out the dough.  (We get the ready-made dough from Trader Joe's--I'm not that Martha Stewart) I sat him on the counter next to the dough and separated a little ball to poke and he kept dumping more flour on it.  He liked to pick at it with the fork and pressed my rings into it (that I had removed to work the dough)  It was a fun little moment.  

We cleared a cabinet out to install a dishwasher and Micah thinks we did it just for him.  Tuesday we 

were skyping with my parents and Micah wanted Nana Weezie and Grampa Benno and Mommy in the cabinet with him.  So in went Micah, then the computer, then mommy's head and he thought it was hilarious.  He kept repeating, "and Nana Weezie and Grampa Benno and mommy too!)

Another funny thing that happened was that this week my

 students and I concluded our anatomy study with a fetal pig dissection.  Months ago whe

n I went to SEP to sign up for my science kits, I found what I thought were disposable lab co

ats in the surplus supply.  I thought that it would be fun to grab these for my students so they w

ould feel really scientific when 

they did the dissection.  So tuesday I passed the "lab coats" out to them but when they unfolded them, they were actually full-on jumpsuits!  I offered to them to cut them off at the waist but they wanted to wear them!  They were protected from their ankles to their fingertips against any stray pig parts.  It was pretty funny.

Crazy snow!

Not even the weather forecasters saw this one coming!  It snowed from about 1pm to sometime early morning, with a "blizzard" from 4-5:30 pm.  This is what we woke up to.  The schools had delays and cancellations, so so did my biology class.  Good thing, because my students had already gone up the mountain to go skiing.  

Fun times & Happy Valentines

This week we heard good news on our home appraisal.  We needed a high appraisal on our current home so we could refinance it towards our new home.  The higher our appraisal on the  Illinois St. house, the better for the financing on the Elizabeth St. House.  This was an answer to prayer because homes have been appraising lower the past several weeks.  And because it needs some big projects done that we had put off because we were going to add on.  (Six big projects, to be exact.)  So, the day before, we were running around like headless chickens cleaning, decluttering, and doing anything we could inside or out to increase value.  Even moving the temporary fence to the outside of the mud pit to make the backyard look bigger.  Micah was delighted the next day to find the mud pit freely accessible.  

Friday mornings are Caleb mornings so I took Micah and Caleb to the park.  I grabbed my camera last minute and wasn't disappointed.  You can browse through the flickr photos to see the rest.    Friday afternoons are "ZacHannah" days and we played at JumpAround.  Then we went back to their house to JumpAround on the mattress/slide they put at the bottom of their stairs.  Hilarious.

Saturday morning Jeff made his awesome breakfast and we exchanged Valentine's gifts.  Jeff gave me a cool white fleece vest and a very sweet card.  I gave Jeff a Starbucks card so he could drink the other love of his life (coffee) and we gave Micah the book Green Eggs and Ham.  We read it twice before breakfast and he asked to read it again.  Then we went for a fun walk in the woods to try out our new Micahpak.  It was a great day for a little hike--not too cold, not too warm: a 2-fleece-layer day.  When you have 30+ pounds strapped to your back you have to stick to the moderate hikes.  Then we came home so Micah could nap and Jeff gave me another cool gift: he vacuumed out my car.  (I actually don't think it was a gift, but that he was just grossed out by it, but I'm going to appreciate it as a gift :)  )  I worked on a table that I'm going to turn into a train table for Micah.  Then we "ran down" to Burlington to get Jeff an accessory for his trombone that he needs for his gig tomorrow.  He is playing in a jazz band for a charity event tomorrow evening.  I get to go too and Micah is going to hang out with his older-woman-crush, Melina.  It's a black tie affair themed after Moulin Rouge and I'm excited to see Jeff play.  

I forgot to add one very important Micahese interpretation the other day.  

Myrt = Bjorn, his buddy.  Who knows how he pulled "Myrt" from "Bjorn."  He is fully capable of saying "Bjorn" and can repeat it after me, but still chooses to call Bjorn "Myrt" nonetheless.  

Happy Valentine's day, everyone!  The Flints send you our love.

Short Stuff

So through Jordan's and my mom's experience with cancer, two very real needs have come to the surface to me.  One is donations of blood.  Now all those pints I donated through the years had a face.  Jordan needed several since her diagnosis.  The other was donations of hair.  When my mom started treatments and needed a wig, it was a big ordeal.  Now, her wig looks so natural people ask her how she managed not to lose her hair in her treatments!  Her wig was difficult to find, the style took a lot of tweaking, and I think it is a much bigger issue than it was to be expected.  

A couple of weeks ago I tossed around in my head the idea of donating my hair but thought it wasn't long enough.  When I did measure it, though, and it was enough, I felt like I really should, like it was a gift that could help others like Weezie and Jordan who might need a wig someday. My hair was donated to Locks of Love, who makes wigs for children.  Jordan didn't get a wig because she's four and would just think it was itchy, but there are other children in her situation who will need one.  I was going to donate to another organization that makes wigs for women with breast cancer, but their requirements were more strict and they wouldn't have accepted my hair. (too gray!)

My dear friend Kristen's mom, Anita, is also now a member of the breast cancer club, and it's been bittersweet but special to have this in common and go through it together.  Kristen and I have loved hearing how our moms have been calling each other and sharing experiences.  

At least Jeff likes it, or says he does.  His is the only opinion that matters.  He's assured me that I do not look like a lesbian, but more like a middle aged mom--which I realized today that I am.  

I now have a small idea of how an amputee feels.  I am experiencing phantom feelings from "what used to be there."  The muscle memory in my hands still tries to grab the ponytail back there.  My towel turban falls off.  The hairclip I won't need anymore is still on my nightstand and the rubber band I won't need is still on my wrist.  For the record, I am a long-hair person. I've had short hair before, but at least some part of my hair was to or below my chin.  This is actually shorter than I expected it would be.  Tomorrow, I'll be going to get some Mane 'n' Tail shampoo and prenatal vitamins to make my hair grow faster.  But was it worth it?  Absolutely.  I feel a commercial coming on.  

Haircut: $13.99 + tip

Product for short hair: $16.75

Helping a kid feel better about themselves after chemo: priceless

At the salon, Micah kept pointing to the floor and saying, "Mommy's hair!"  Then as we were getting ready for bed, he informed me, "Mommy's hair all gone."

So, Mom, Jordan, and Anita, here's to good hair days no matter how much hair you have!  

Visit our Flickr page (click on the pictures at the right of this page) to see more pics and video.  

Family date & Micahese

Last Friday, we had a fun "Family Date."  We started off with visiting the Railroad Museum, at which Micah had tons of fun.  After we left, he kept asking to go back and see the trains.  Then we wandered around The Greenhouse, a cool kitchen/dining/furniture store and ended the evening at Bob's Burger & Brew.  Micah was such a trouper.  He was so good (and hungry!) at Bob's that he was actually really fun to hang out with at a restaurant!  It's not every day that I actually want to eat with a 2-year-old at a restaurant, but he was awesome.  Would you believe that he wouldn't have anything to do with his grilled cheese (a.k.a "girled cheese") but couldn't get enough of the cucumbers off my salad?  Crazy kid.  

Some Micahese interpretations:

college cheese = cottage cheese.  Let's hope it actually makes you smarter.

moo nax = his favorite fruit snacks that come in a blue package.  Can't tell if moo is "blue" or "fruit"

robok = the robot book we HAVE to read first thing every morning

roo bar = granola bar

stoioioioiol = stool

Thomaseseses = Thomases

The other day we were skyping with my parents in Micah's little play area when the room started to smell a little pungent.  

B:  Micah, do you have poops?

M:  No.  Thomas have poops.

B:  Really?  Thomas has poops?

M: Steamroller has poops.

B:  Really?

M:  Steamroller has poops.  And Micah too.

B: That's what I thought.

Last week Micah and I were having our nightly snuggle before putting him in his crib for bed.  The pj's were on, the teeth were brushed, the stories were read, the prayers were said, the lights were off.  

B:  Micah, Mommy Daddy love you so much, Gramma Grampa love you so much, NanaWeezie Grandad Benno love you so much.  Good snuggles, Buddy.  Lots of love in those snuggles.  

M:  Lotsa lotsa luuuuuuv.

A Trip to Mt. Baker

IMG_6522
Originally uploaded by jeffflint

We had a great day with our family yesterday morning with a fun trip to go sledding at Mt. Baker. We got up and daddy made cinnamon pecan pancakes, bacon, eggs over easy. Then we packed up our car and headed up. Mommy made sure we had a whole bunch of snacks and lunch for the day as well. Micah didn't have as much fun as we had hoped/thought he would, but it was a beautiful day!

Here is a link to some more pics of the day.