Julia Draws a Face
May 28, 2009 – 11:05 amJulia has figured out how to draw a face on her magnetic board. She has always drawn random stuff, but yesterday was the first time she has actually started to draw faces.
Un-Broke: The Seth Green Cribs Edition
May 22, 2009 – 10:32 pmUn-Broke: The Seth Green Cribs Edition.
Silly video.
Julia “Driving”
May 3, 2009 – 4:32 pmJulia and Kaitlyn have a habit of taking stuff out of the cabinet next to the dishwasher and climbing in. Julia calls it her “car”, and frequently tells me or Sharon that she’s “going to the store” to get groceries like milk, waffles, or bagels.
Today, Julia was doing her thing, getting ready to go somewhere. She got in, announced she was leaving, and closed the cabinet door. Suddenly, Kaitlyn opens the door.
Julia is inside, with her hands up as if there was really a steering wheel in the cabinet, and she was actually driving. She was a bit startled by Kaitlyn opening the cabinet suddenly, so immediately went to close the door. I got a good laugh from the whole bit.
Sharon on TV
April 22, 2009 – 5:50 amOur home builder, THP, laid off all their employees on Monday, leaving us with a half finished community. The local NBC affiliate was in the area yesterday afternoon, looking for people who had placed deposits on houses, only to be left with nothing. (Note to NBC10: they don’t live here yet because their house isn’t finished.)
Sharon went out there to talk with some other homeowners, and ended up getting pushed into an interview. She ended up in the clip below. It’s toward the end of the clip, and I think what they used really makes it look like Sharon is losing a deposit.
Conversations With Julia - Part 4
April 10, 2009 – 10:56 amMore gold from Julia…
A few days ago, I had given Julia and Kaitlyn their vitamins. They love it; Sharon or I can just say “Who wants vitamins?” and they jump up and down and run to the kitchen.
Anyway, I give them their vitamins, and remind them to say “Thank You.” Most of the time, they are good about it, but they had forgotten that night.
Julia and Kaitlyn: Thank You.
Me: You’re welcome. I want my girls to be kind.
Julia: Kind?
Me: Yes, kind is to be nice to other people.
Julia, thinking for a few seconds: I’m not kind… I’m pretty.
At that point, it struck me that we’re raising a diva…
Conversations With Julia - Part 3
April 2, 2009 – 7:04 pmJulia is on the potty, and Kaitlyn is playing in the sink with a soap container. Kaitlyn drops the container in the sink and says, “Oh no!”
Julia, Kaitlyn, and me: “Oh no!”
We go round and round a couple times, saying “Oh no!”
Then, out of nowhere, Julia says, “Mr. Bill!”
I haven’t seen those Mr. Bill commercials in several months, so either Julia has either seen it recently, or has a really good memory.
Conversations With Julia
March 18, 2009 – 9:29 pmThis took place last night. Julia was having a tea party, and Sharon and I were sitting at the (play) table in her kitchen (in the living room).
Julia: The A and the T and H all broke!
Me: They all broke? Oh, no!
Julia: Yeah… it was an awful scene.
At this point Sharon is laughing uncontrollably on the floor. I’m laughing. And Julia is looking at us, wondering what in the world is going on.
I came to find out later that Julia was referencing a WorldWord episode, where a hat broke.
Debit Card Fees on Unemployment Benefits
March 14, 2009 – 4:20 pmHow low is this?
There are many states, including PA, that have an option to give unemployment benefits in the form of a debit card. This is fine and good, except that you incur fees on every little thing, like checking a balance ($0.40), accessing your account by phone ($0.35), or, get this, the privilege of getting your card declined ($0.50).
Why in the world would states go for this? Someone must be getting a nice kickback for these deals, because something here sure stinks.
The Three Branches of Government
March 8, 2009 – 9:52 pmCan you name them?
If so, you’re in the minority. Only 1/3 can name all three branches. (Link)
How can 2/3 of the people not know? It’s basic civics knowledge!
Look after the jump if you really need to check out what the branches are.
Kaitlyn’s Little Adventure
March 7, 2009 – 4:21 pmKaitlyn had a bit of an adventure this last week.
We’ve all been a bit sick lately, and it had looked like Kaitlyn was going to steer clear of it all… until last weekend. Then she started developing a nasty sounding cough. That cough got worse, and then was coupled with pretty severe chest congestion. By Tuesday, she was very lethargic. It was quite pathetic to see her on Tuesday afternoon, she was breathing okay, but whenever she was upset or excited, the breathing was much more labored. So Sharon called the doctor.
The conversation with the doctor was not encouraging. Here’s a brief overview of how the conversation went:
Sharon: Kaitlyn is coughing a lot, has pretty bad chest congestion, and struggles to breathe from time to time.
Doc: Give her a nasal saline spray.
Sharon: Umm, but she has chest congestion, not nasal.
Doc: Go ahead and give her a nasal saline spray.
Sharon: What? Umm, okay.
At that point, Sharon gets off the phone and we keep an eye on Kaitlyn to see how she’s doing. Of course, it’s getting worse, and Kaitlyn vomits on the Sharon as soon as she gets picked up. So they go upstairs, clean up, and Sharon calls the doctor again before going to the ER.
Sharon explains that there are the same symptoms, and throw vomiting in.
Doc: Yeah, maybe you should take her in. It sounds like some respiratory distress.
Ya think, Doc? Maybe if you listened before, instead of hearing “congestion” and going straight to saline spray, you could have recommended something better.
So Kaitlyn spent two nights in the hospital. She had managed to get both the flu and croup at the same time. They gave her plenty of medicine too, which, while kind of slow to take effect (at least for us), really helped Kaitlyn feel better. Her breathing was still pretty labored the first full day in the hospital, but was getting better that night, and by the second day, she was well on her way to recovery. It was very strange to see everyone come into Kaitlyn’s room wearing masks, while we’re all there just doing our thing. I totally understand it - they don’t want to pick up the flu. And yes, Kaitlyn had a flu shot. Just goes to show that they picked the wrong ones to protect against.
She’s still a bit sick, with coughing and some shortness of breath. But it’s much better than what it was just a couple days ago. We’re all quite happy to have this incident behind us, especially Kaitlyn.
