Fun with trampolenes

Mum and Dad have been here for a few days now and I'm just loving every moment. We've shopped, they've walked the neighbourhood with Trent, we've hung out and watched telly, made delicious dinners, and spent quality time together. Brian went to Houston a few days ahead of us so that he could spend some time with Kev and also help with some things around the house. On Friday, mum, dad and I all went and played on the trampoline. It's just so funny to think how much fun I had jumping around with my 60+ year old parents. I imagine the neighbours thought we were nut jobs. I got some pretty cute pictures, which I will post on picasa after xmas.
Today we finished up our xmas shopping, got to see Scott and Barbie for a short visit, dropped of some gifts for Ethan, and had a stop and chat with Mike and Tara. We have just finished loading up the car ready to take off early tomorrow for a very merry xmas with the whole family! how very exciting.

It's finally here!

December 20th! This date is even more important than Christmas. Why? Because my parents are arriving today! Trent will get to see his Nana and Grandad for the first time! I can barely stand to wait for their flight to land.
Brian and I have been on vacation for the past week (well, since December 10th for me) and we've been busy doing projects around the house, including cleaning out all the junk mail that has accrued in our office, cleaning out the closet under the stairs, fixing the ceiling that's been stained and crumbling from that leak we had a few months ago, painting a mural of sorts on Trent's ceiling, and Brian has taken on the 30k service on the Subaru, rather than paying $400 in labour for the Subaru dealership to do it. It's been a very busy week. Add to that the fact that our little munchkin is very sick. He has RSV, which is a virus that affects the respiratory system and is rather serious in infants. He's hanging in there with some breathing treatments and cough meds and a lot of TLC. In addition to the breathing problems, he's also got some projectile vomiting and diarrhea.

I'm so excited to see my parents! I can only imagine how they're feeling, waiting to meet their grand child.

Misadventures in tree trimming, etc.

Trent got sent home from daycare on Thursday because he threw up and with all the bugs that are going around that place they didn't want to take a chance. Of course, that meant that he couldn't go on Friday, either. So we've had a LOT of family time over the weekend.
This is the first year in many that I've actually mustered up enough holiday spirit to deck the halls... well, not really the halls, but the front yard. I wrapped both the trees in lights and also the bay window. It looks decent. Of course, nothing compared to the other houses in the land of Stepford. But it's an honorable mention at least. This isn't the tree trimming I alluded to in the title of this blog, though. The misadventure I'm referring to involves Brian's good intentions in being a good proactive and responsible home owner. The big tree in our back yard has been touching the roof since we moved in, and on a windy day you can hear it scraping if you stand in the closet.
Brian diligently set about it with the tree saw and cut away some of the branches, but managed to get the trimmer stuck in the tree about 25 feet up. Not a big deal, right? But the ladder is too short to get on the roof so we couldn't climb up there to free the trimmer, and besides, both of us are a little intimidated by heights. So Brian, problem solver that he is, decides that throwing a rope, weighted on one end, over the branch so he can pull it down, thereby releasing the trimmer, would be the next course of action. Only we don't have a rope. But we do have a 100 foot extension cord. So he enlists my help in tying a small log to one end of the cord, and he throws it into the tree. And it never came down. At this point he's getting a bit pissed off and I'm having a hard time controlling myself from laughing my arse off. He yanks on the cord and it doesn't budge. I have to go indoors so he can't hear me cracking up. When I compose myself, I assist him in getting the extension cord out of the tree, thankfully it did eventually come free. Then I watched, all the while trying to hide my amusement as he tried using numerous household items to free the trimmer. A broom that was too short, a fishing rod case, throwing logs at the branch imprisoning the trimmer. Eventually my amusement gave way to annoyance because he was becoming obsessive about it. I eventually convinced him to leave it for the evening, go out with his friends, and fuhgeddaboutit. I kind of wish I had taken a picture of the extension cord and the trimmer stuck in the tree. It was funnier to see it than I can do justice in this story.
The next day, Brian borrowed Scott's trimmer and was able to free ours from the tree. A happy ending. And a big thank you to Brian for taking such great care of our home. When I met Brian he was pretty useless around the house. He could barely do the dishes and forget about any kind of maintenance. But over the years he's become very handy, thanks in part to our great friend Mike, who is the handiest person I know.

In other news I'm off work for the rest of the year. Well, when I say off work, what I really mean is that I'll be checking in daily to ensure there are no critical issues for me deal with, and after handling any necessary crises I'll be spending my days leisurely. Today, for example, Trent is at daycare and I plan to work out, have lunch with Mike, get a pedicure, and finish up my xmas shopping. Doesn't that sound like the best relaxing day? Last night, Brian helped kick off my official vacation with a delicious trip to my favourite sushi bar while Aunt Tara spent some quality time with Trent. We're so lucky to have such great friends.

I could spend some time today sending out xmas cards... but I'm just not inclined this year. So please, nobody be offended when you don't get a card from us. It's not that I'm not thinking about you. It's just that my time has become very precious and I'd rather spend it elsewhere.

And finally, an update on Prince William. On Sunday he looked like he might not make it again, but I repeated the steps previously taken, and today he's right as rain. Prince William just keeps on ticking.

Only 9 days until mum and dad arrive... and counting. There's so much I'm looking forward to this holiday season.

Get the lysol!

Trent's been rather ill this past weekend. On Saturday night he threw up all over himself in his crib, all over me the next morning, and pretty much all over everything as Sunday progressed. When you see that much stuff gushing, your first inclination is to shove something over the hole to stop it. But you can't do that with a baby. I found myself in the line of fire a few times, as did Brian, and each time, we tried to just "aim him" at something washable. We ended up with a rather large pile of laundry on the living room floor.
The doctor told us it's a virus that's going around. It's funny that whenever a person is sick, no matter what the symptoms, it's always "that bug that's going 'round". We kept him hydrated with Pedia Sure and fed him only breast milk. He seemed to be very lethargic on Sunday and slept a lot. If it didn't break our hearts to see him like that it might have been quite pleasant. On Monday he was still vomiting and had a massive throw up while we were running an errand, completely soaking himself and his car seat. Luckily nobody but Brian and me saw it, so we escaped the accusatory stares of the know it all, more experienced parents who think I'm a bad mother for bringing my fountain of puke to the store.
Today he seems fine, though, and it turns out it was "that bug that's going 'round" because all the babies in daycare are out sick today, too. Of course, he wouldn't be sick if he didn't insist on shoving everything in his mouth! I suspect it will be many years before he learns that lesson ;-)

Long live Prince william!

It's been four days since reports came in of local Austin woman, Amanda Bauman, saved Prince William from a near fatal brush with Swim Bladder disease. William was reported to be resting comfortably at the palace over the weekend and sightings of the prince from outside the palace have been few and far between. Prince William declined to comment on his condition. His brother, Harry II, however, did grant us an audience for a few moments and explained that William was feeling much better and has resumed his normal eating and working out activities as of yesterday. William's daily activities include a well balanced morning meal, followed by a vigorous swim in the palace aquarium, and a relaxing on the rocks and in the garden his brother.
Now hailed a hero by the royal family, Amanda declined the reward offered and simply said "Anybody would have done the same. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time".