Saturday, October 4, 2008
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Friday, September 19, 2008
A-Whole-Nother Blog about Kate...
SO everyone knows that my name is Katherine. Kathy for short. Blah. I don't think I've ever really preferred Kathy as a nickname but it was what my parents decided to call me. Too bad I wasn't able to have an input on that one :)
So anyhow I thought...I'm 27 years old and I really have always loved the name Kate... So I'm going to try it on for a bit. lol Can you do that? oh well...I am...
You can call me Kate!
**Update**
Kate didn't work out so great...it confused people... oh well... So...yeah...Kathy it remains
So anyhow I thought...I'm 27 years old and I really have always loved the name Kate... So I'm going to try it on for a bit. lol Can you do that? oh well...I am...
You can call me Kate!
**Update**
Kate didn't work out so great...it confused people... oh well... So...yeah...Kathy it remains
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Inspiration...
it comes from many places...even from my computer. :) Duh...where else would it come from. j/k Anyhow, so I was cruising through some blogs and I came accross one that touched my heart in so many ways. It was written by this lady named Stephanie, about her life as a adoring wife and loving mother of 4. She has such a romantic view of life, from teaching her children to enjoy the simple things and being happy to being very much in love with her "Mr. Nielson".
When I first came accross the blog I was immediately sucked in...This woman, my age, was living her life as a mother and wife and totally enjoying it. And no, not that generic happiness that many try to put off because they don't want to show the world how unhappy they really are...but genuine happiness. It oozes from the screen.
Recently, Stephanie and her husband were in an airplane crash and they are both severly injured. Their 4 children are in the care of their aunts...It hit me, and hard... This woman who was so entirely happy had it swiped away in minutes *insert blow to gut here* It made me realize that I don't have time to be unhappy. I might not be here tomorrow. I really thought about my life and the things that mattered most. Here are some thoughts that crossed my mind...
Some self reflection:
I get so caught up in the day to day and the selfishness that I am often overcome with that and I forget to be happy. Sometimes I forget my kids are just kids, my husband just a man and I am just a woman...human.
I realized I really dont want to care about the brands of our clothes, the make of our cars and the fact that we have to rent because the cost of homes here is out of whack with the rest of the universe. I just want my kids to look back at this time in thier lives and think "Man I had a great childhood!"
I want to look at my husband and get butterflies...its been a little bit since that has happened. I think we've let work ,kids and daily crap get in the way.
I realized that I love COLOR! But yet we live in a nuetral color scheme. Why? who the hell knows. Maybe some underlying issue I have with being judged or different.
I've realized that I love love love the 40's. I love the romance of the time...the clothes...the cars...the time period in general...the way our country was so patriotic and everyone did their share. I should show my love for vintage more often.
I remembered how much I love being a mother and relishing in the joys of my kids. Seeing things through the eyes of a 5 yr old can be very interesting. Pure. Everything is passionate and infused with love.
So down to the basis of this self re-eval...I love me...I love my family...I love my life.
~Kate <~(lol this is a-whole-nother blog)
ps if you would like to read Stephanies blog here is the link...
When I first came accross the blog I was immediately sucked in...This woman, my age, was living her life as a mother and wife and totally enjoying it. And no, not that generic happiness that many try to put off because they don't want to show the world how unhappy they really are...but genuine happiness. It oozes from the screen.
Recently, Stephanie and her husband were in an airplane crash and they are both severly injured. Their 4 children are in the care of their aunts...It hit me, and hard... This woman who was so entirely happy had it swiped away in minutes *insert blow to gut here* It made me realize that I don't have time to be unhappy. I might not be here tomorrow. I really thought about my life and the things that mattered most. Here are some thoughts that crossed my mind...
Some self reflection:
I get so caught up in the day to day and the selfishness that I am often overcome with that and I forget to be happy. Sometimes I forget my kids are just kids, my husband just a man and I am just a woman...human.
I realized I really dont want to care about the brands of our clothes, the make of our cars and the fact that we have to rent because the cost of homes here is out of whack with the rest of the universe. I just want my kids to look back at this time in thier lives and think "Man I had a great childhood!"
I want to look at my husband and get butterflies...its been a little bit since that has happened. I think we've let work ,kids and daily crap get in the way.
I realized that I love COLOR! But yet we live in a nuetral color scheme. Why? who the hell knows. Maybe some underlying issue I have with being judged or different.
I've realized that I love love love the 40's. I love the romance of the time...the clothes...the cars...the time period in general...the way our country was so patriotic and everyone did their share. I should show my love for vintage more often.
I remembered how much I love being a mother and relishing in the joys of my kids. Seeing things through the eyes of a 5 yr old can be very interesting. Pure. Everything is passionate and infused with love.
So down to the basis of this self re-eval...I love me...I love my family...I love my life.
~Kate <~(lol this is a-whole-nother blog)
ps if you would like to read Stephanies blog here is the link...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Daily dose of Moose!
I have realized that I have been a completely unfair in the amount of attention I give my moose( or don't give rather). For those who don't know and wonder who the heck Moose is let me explain...When Jake was born, the nurse was so stunned by his size (10 lbs 4 oz) that she immediately blurted out "We Have A moose!!!" At first I was insulted but then I saw Jake and realized he truly was a moose.
So...
It kind of stuck :)
I think that I will officially declare September 16Th Moose Day! And of course I will share some wonderful things he's up to these days.
~ Jake loves when Jared comes home from work...there is always a lot of laughing and jumping and excitement as soon as he hears that engine round the corner.
~He is out of his Stuart Little phase...much to my dismay (I loved that phase) and now I am sad to say that His new favorite cartoon is ...ugh...Spongebob!
~He is obsessed with keys... every time we get in the car he insists..." I unlock door momma" and he screams if we perhaps have to take those same keys to start the car
~ Ahhh the Screaming...Jake is a screamer...he screams when he's happy...he screams when he's mad or sad or excited or bad...you get the picture
~Jake drinks 8 million gallons of milk a week
~He sleeps in his bed like a big boy now...sometimes we still wake up with feet in our face though... sneaky little kid
~newest phrase "whats up dude?!"
~He wears 4T shirts and 3T pants
~He uses a Binky still and shoves his hand down my shirt no matter how much we try to deter it
~He gives out kisses randomly (I absolutely love this and it can make a hectic moment slow down)
~He has no interest whatsoever in the potty (remind me to delete previous bloating post about being lucky)
~He loves loves loves Ashley and will give her random hug and then deck her. He runs to her when he gets in trouble so that she can comfort him.
~Jake likes to layer clothes...he will put on shorts, then pants, then a tank top, then a collared shirt and of course then his Elmo sweater vest. He also insists on wearing 18 month old winter socks we had for Ashley when she was little and combine them with his Monkey Slippers.
~ He cannot understand why we don't let him poor his own glass of milk...he seems to forget when he pours it to stop when it hits the top.
~He loves to ride the motorcycle with daddy and read books with mommy.
~ He hits his head more than any human should. (BTW I hope this stops soon, otherwise he's in for a helmet fitting)
~ Speaking of helmets...when we tell him to get his on for riding his tricycle, he put Ashley's baseball helmet on back words (mind you its pink). Yeah its pretty funny
~He loves to play in the sink and of course overflow it. :) What could be better.
~ He loves to make huge messes and to get into mischief anywhere he can find it.
~Daddy taught him how to wax up his board.Which is of course very important. ;)
My little boy is amazingly loving and fun. He drives me nuts but mostly makes my heart melt. I still love to smell his head and inhale the little bits of baby that are still lingering...this time passes so fast. I love to kiss his cheeks almost to a point where its annoying. I love my Moose!
So...
It kind of stuck :)
I think that I will officially declare September 16Th Moose Day! And of course I will share some wonderful things he's up to these days.
~ Jake loves when Jared comes home from work...there is always a lot of laughing and jumping and excitement as soon as he hears that engine round the corner.
~He is out of his Stuart Little phase...much to my dismay (I loved that phase) and now I am sad to say that His new favorite cartoon is ...ugh...Spongebob!
~He is obsessed with keys... every time we get in the car he insists..." I unlock door momma" and he screams if we perhaps have to take those same keys to start the car
~ Ahhh the Screaming...Jake is a screamer...he screams when he's happy...he screams when he's mad or sad or excited or bad...you get the picture
~Jake drinks 8 million gallons of milk a week
~He sleeps in his bed like a big boy now...sometimes we still wake up with feet in our face though... sneaky little kid
~newest phrase "whats up dude?!"
~He wears 4T shirts and 3T pants
~He uses a Binky still and shoves his hand down my shirt no matter how much we try to deter it
~He gives out kisses randomly (I absolutely love this and it can make a hectic moment slow down)
~He has no interest whatsoever in the potty (remind me to delete previous bloating post about being lucky)
~He loves loves loves Ashley and will give her random hug and then deck her. He runs to her when he gets in trouble so that she can comfort him.
~Jake likes to layer clothes...he will put on shorts, then pants, then a tank top, then a collared shirt and of course then his Elmo sweater vest. He also insists on wearing 18 month old winter socks we had for Ashley when she was little and combine them with his Monkey Slippers.
~ He cannot understand why we don't let him poor his own glass of milk...he seems to forget when he pours it to stop when it hits the top.
~He loves to ride the motorcycle with daddy and read books with mommy.
~ He hits his head more than any human should. (BTW I hope this stops soon, otherwise he's in for a helmet fitting)
~ Speaking of helmets...when we tell him to get his on for riding his tricycle, he put Ashley's baseball helmet on back words (mind you its pink). Yeah its pretty funny
~He loves to play in the sink and of course overflow it. :) What could be better.
~ He loves to make huge messes and to get into mischief anywhere he can find it.
~Daddy taught him how to wax up his board.Which is of course very important. ;)
My little boy is amazingly loving and fun. He drives me nuts but mostly makes my heart melt. I still love to smell his head and inhale the little bits of baby that are still lingering...this time passes so fast. I love to kiss his cheeks almost to a point where its annoying. I love my Moose!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
My little friend...
is 5 years old and loves converse Tennis shoes. She loves raviolies and skateboarding. She hates ponytails and having her nails cut. She is amazing at coloring and loves to give hugs. To date she is one of the most amazing creatures I have come in contact with. My little friend also started Kindergarten yesterday.
She was such a big girl...she gave us a hug and a smile and left us at the door. Of course mommy had to make the goodbye a quick one because she was about to fall apart. Mommy didn't feel whole again until her little friend was in her arms again.
In preparation for Kindergarten we got our nails and hair done.
The finished product...
That will be our pre-school tradition. :) We picked out "the outfit" and we did some important reading.
Then we packed her lunch box with her snack...and a little something from mommy (my mom used to do do this too...cute to see it carry on...funny a lot of my friends do this too)
In the morning we had breakfast and went grocery shopping :) then we came home...Ash took a shower and got dressed. I did her hair and after some pictures we were off...
When we got to school Ash showed us her cubby...
Gave us both loves...
And was off to learn...
She is such an amazing little girl and I am beyond blessed to be her mother.
So we made it through the first day of Kindergarten...now let's see if I make it through the first PTA meeting lol
She was such a big girl...she gave us a hug and a smile and left us at the door. Of course mommy had to make the goodbye a quick one because she was about to fall apart. Mommy didn't feel whole again until her little friend was in her arms again.
In preparation for Kindergarten we got our nails and hair done.
The finished product...
That will be our pre-school tradition. :) We picked out "the outfit" and we did some important reading.
Then we packed her lunch box with her snack...and a little something from mommy (my mom used to do do this too...cute to see it carry on...funny a lot of my friends do this too)
In the morning we had breakfast and went grocery shopping :) then we came home...Ash took a shower and got dressed. I did her hair and after some pictures we were off...
When we got to school Ash showed us her cubby...
Gave us both loves...
And was off to learn...
She is such an amazing little girl and I am beyond blessed to be her mother.
So we made it through the first day of Kindergarten...now let's see if I make it through the first PTA meeting lol
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Stanford we'll miss you...
Today was Jacob's followup appointment at Stanford Children's Hospital.
For all who may not know, like, 10 months ago Jacob's pediatrician recommended we get him to a urologist to be evaluated for an undecended testicle. She recommended this "wonderful" doctor for us to go to, so of course trusting her completely, I made the appointment that day. I knew right when we walked in ,that this office was definitely NOT kid friendly. I paid our co-pay and sat down, seriously like 30 min later we were called back...that may not seem like a long time to wait but when you have a 2yr old and Ash in a less than thrilling atmosphere, it was not fun....so the nurse takes us back in the room and told me to de-dress my son and lay him down on the table and wait for the doctor to come in. OK RIGHT! I'm going to take my kids clothes off in a cold room and make him lay down on a scary table and keep him there for 20 more min?!? It didn't play out like that at all. I don't like to be trouble, but when it comes to my children their best interest always comes first especially to anyone else's convenience.
I wasn't much off in my time estimation...The doc comes in...introduces himself...is obviously annoyed that I am taking so long getting Jacob undressed and on the table (we can wait an hour for him but he has trouble waiting 3 min for me to undress Jacob)...he looks at Jake...tells me yes he needs surgery...If he doesn't get this surgery he might be sterile...this is what he's going to do...the only scary part is anesthesia...he'll have his nurse set it up...have a nice day...WHOA WHOA WHOA...Hold Up!! I was like stunned...he didn't answer any of my questions...I was seriously disturbed...then to top it off, his "nurse" wasn't available to talk too, so I would have to call her later. Here I'm supposed to just accept from this nightmare of an office that this doctor with no bedside manner wants to perform a $20,000 surgery on my son...IN 2 weeks?????
Yeah, not in Kathyland!
I got home and immediately called Jacob's pediatrician and told her of our less than thrilling urology visit and also that I really wanted a 2nd opinion...she was horrified and completely agreed. So she then recommended us to the head of pediatric urology at Standford. If you're going to go big right lol So I called to make an appointment and the only one they had was in Feb...it was December...oh well ...so I took it. In the meantime, the nightmare-ologist's nurse called me to setup Jacob's surgery...Are you joking Lady?...so I politely told her that at this time I was not ready to proceed and that I was getting a second opinion...clearly this irked her so she practically hung up on me...hmmm.I'm thinking I made the right choice already.
Fast forward to February... Jared and I load up the babes and make the drive up to Stanford...it really isn't that far, but the thought of my baby having any chance of having anesthesia makes me nervous and super thankful Jared could take the day off. We get there and the first thing when you get through the doors are these amazing play toys for the kids to play with...I knew right there, this feels so much different and better than the other place. We sign in, pay the co-pay and the kids lay in bean bags and watch Toy Story lol...they call us back and even give the kids glove balloons. lol. Way cool in my book already. So the Doctor comes in (with an intern, it's a teaching hospital) and has the intern do an initial assessment on Jake, then does an intense evaluation explaining what he's seeing to us and showing us what his findings are...oh yeah...In his opinion Jake DOES NOT need surgery and even if he did, he wouldn't be sterile because he would have one good testicle... insert relieved surprised face here. He seriously examined and re-examined to make sure and he said he was 100% sure Jake was fine. He said that he does alot of these surgeries on children and Jacob is not one that he would accept. He also said that if it would make me feel better he would re-examine in 6 months to confirm his diagnosis. I took him up on that.
SIDE NOTE*Who knew that followup would bite me in the rear when it came to switching insurance policies...I found a better plan with more competitive rates for Jare and the kids...turns out we've been paying for maternity for my husband, son and 5 yr old daughter.... LOL... anyway because the first doctor said that Jacob did need surgery and the second said he didn't and there was a followup appointment scheduled, apparently that's considered a pre-existing condition that might require an expensive surgery. Great!
Anyways fast forward to today... Today was the big day...we drove down...in out and we have offically been cast out of the urologists office :) and he said he would put in his evaluation, that none of this should be a reason in the future for any pre-existing conditions and that no surgery has ever been needed. YAY!
My heart feels a little free-er and less stressed. I highly reccommend the hospital and doctor to anyone who would ever need anything. Stanford is Amazing!
For all who may not know, like, 10 months ago Jacob's pediatrician recommended we get him to a urologist to be evaluated for an undecended testicle. She recommended this "wonderful" doctor for us to go to, so of course trusting her completely, I made the appointment that day. I knew right when we walked in ,that this office was definitely NOT kid friendly. I paid our co-pay and sat down, seriously like 30 min later we were called back...that may not seem like a long time to wait but when you have a 2yr old and Ash in a less than thrilling atmosphere, it was not fun....so the nurse takes us back in the room and told me to de-dress my son and lay him down on the table and wait for the doctor to come in. OK RIGHT! I'm going to take my kids clothes off in a cold room and make him lay down on a scary table and keep him there for 20 more min?!? It didn't play out like that at all. I don't like to be trouble, but when it comes to my children their best interest always comes first especially to anyone else's convenience.
I wasn't much off in my time estimation...The doc comes in...introduces himself...is obviously annoyed that I am taking so long getting Jacob undressed and on the table (we can wait an hour for him but he has trouble waiting 3 min for me to undress Jacob)...he looks at Jake...tells me yes he needs surgery...If he doesn't get this surgery he might be sterile...this is what he's going to do...the only scary part is anesthesia...he'll have his nurse set it up...have a nice day...WHOA WHOA WHOA...Hold Up!! I was like stunned...he didn't answer any of my questions...I was seriously disturbed...then to top it off, his "nurse" wasn't available to talk too, so I would have to call her later. Here I'm supposed to just accept from this nightmare of an office that this doctor with no bedside manner wants to perform a $20,000 surgery on my son...IN 2 weeks?????
Yeah, not in Kathyland!
I got home and immediately called Jacob's pediatrician and told her of our less than thrilling urology visit and also that I really wanted a 2nd opinion...she was horrified and completely agreed. So she then recommended us to the head of pediatric urology at Standford. If you're going to go big right lol So I called to make an appointment and the only one they had was in Feb...it was December...oh well ...so I took it. In the meantime, the nightmare-ologist's nurse called me to setup Jacob's surgery...Are you joking Lady?...so I politely told her that at this time I was not ready to proceed and that I was getting a second opinion...clearly this irked her so she practically hung up on me...hmmm.I'm thinking I made the right choice already.
Fast forward to February... Jared and I load up the babes and make the drive up to Stanford...it really isn't that far, but the thought of my baby having any chance of having anesthesia makes me nervous and super thankful Jared could take the day off. We get there and the first thing when you get through the doors are these amazing play toys for the kids to play with...I knew right there, this feels so much different and better than the other place. We sign in, pay the co-pay and the kids lay in bean bags and watch Toy Story lol...they call us back and even give the kids glove balloons. lol. Way cool in my book already. So the Doctor comes in (with an intern, it's a teaching hospital) and has the intern do an initial assessment on Jake, then does an intense evaluation explaining what he's seeing to us and showing us what his findings are...oh yeah...In his opinion Jake DOES NOT need surgery and even if he did, he wouldn't be sterile because he would have one good testicle... insert relieved surprised face here. He seriously examined and re-examined to make sure and he said he was 100% sure Jake was fine. He said that he does alot of these surgeries on children and Jacob is not one that he would accept. He also said that if it would make me feel better he would re-examine in 6 months to confirm his diagnosis. I took him up on that.
SIDE NOTE*Who knew that followup would bite me in the rear when it came to switching insurance policies...I found a better plan with more competitive rates for Jare and the kids...turns out we've been paying for maternity for my husband, son and 5 yr old daughter.... LOL... anyway because the first doctor said that Jacob did need surgery and the second said he didn't and there was a followup appointment scheduled, apparently that's considered a pre-existing condition that might require an expensive surgery. Great!
Anyways fast forward to today... Today was the big day...we drove down...in out and we have offically been cast out of the urologists office :) and he said he would put in his evaluation, that none of this should be a reason in the future for any pre-existing conditions and that no surgery has ever been needed. YAY!
My heart feels a little free-er and less stressed. I highly reccommend the hospital and doctor to anyone who would ever need anything. Stanford is Amazing!
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