Fall in Photos

So if you've been wondering where the photos have been, let me remind you about the computer crash of '07 that took with it my photo-sharing software. I'm not one to name names, but Tim lost the original disc, so I've had tons of photos stuck on my camera. Well no more! I hauled my butt to CVS and made a photo CD. So without further ado, here is our Fall in Photos.

2 1/2 is a precocious age...

Evidence that Oliver does sleep.

Family Parties

Pumpkin Picking

Happy Halloween! Note the difference between last year's princess and this year's super hero...

At Christine & Jeffery's wedding -- Mac was the flower girl.

Look at the size difference between August and November!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Kind of Town

So here I am in Chicago. I'm at a communication conference for school. Before I left, my heart was breaking. I couldn't imagine being away from the family for even 2 days. Especially since I'm still breastfeeding Oliver -- we really do have a special physical bond. I really do like this conference, though, so I knew that once I got here it would be okay. I love to fly, especially alone. Isn't that weird? I guess it makes me feel like a grown up. And it gives me a chance to veg out and do whatever I want. I love hotels, too. We are staying in the Hilton, which is sooo nice. Although I hate giving even a dime to the Hilton empire, because in my mind, it all ends up being funneled to Paris and her dog Tinkerbell. Really, for all of the money that family has, they should just let us all stay here for free. But if we have to pay, it is kind of worth it. The bed is so soft -- even the carpets are ridiculously plush. And in what is the coolest thing ever (especially given my recent and growing obsession) the downstairs bar turns into a Starbucks in the morning!!

The conference itself is also pretty good. There are tons and tons of "sessions" to go to in which 3-4 people present papers that they have written. Each session is, of course, centered around a theme. You can just go through the program and put together a schedule of pretty interesting stuff. You can also make sure that you go to sessions of people whose work you have read for research or in class. Really cool in a geeky kind of way. The conference is also a really good time to catch up with friends that I don't get to see very often. It has been really great seeing everyone that I miss for the other 51 weeks of the year. And I'm getting used to presenting papers, too. I co-presented yesterday and it went pretty well. I'm even having drinks -- woo hoo! And there are parties to go to. And a job fair for those of us desperately in need of a job -- I even have an interview set up for this morning. All in all, it's a combination of fun and work packed into a very short window of time.

However, all of my mom instincts are not gone. I'm pumping breastmilk like crazy -- I am truly a woman obsessed. So even though I am drinking, I weigh each drink carefully, just so that I don't have to dump too much milk. And I'm locking myself in the hotel room for a while this afternoon just so that I can get work done on my dissertation. No use wasting time having fun -- if I have 3 hours without distraction, I need to use it for work!

My Daughter the Comedianne

It turns out that kids really do say the funniest thing. And Mackensie has been on a role.

I may have mentioned in the past that dealing with a 2 year old brings out more lying, cajoling, and bargaining than any self-respecting adult should really deal in. I'm not proud to say it, but when Mac is being completely intractable, we take away toys. The other day, Tim came up with a new threat: calling Santa to tell him to take a toy off of Mac's list. So we actually get out the cell phone and have a full conversation with Santa while she stands there. I'm not crazy about this because I've wanted to minimize any mention of Santa. I don't really like Santa for 2 reasons: 1 -- Santa is not what the holiday is about at all and 2 -- it's a lie that really has no purpose. Why can't she just know that we bring the gifts? Of course, nobody else agrees with me, so she thinks there is a Santa Claus.

So after an especially difficult trip to the library in which Mac ran around the entire perimeter while I chased her with Oliver's car seat in tow, I decided to pull the Santa card. I called Santa and told him to take 2 toys off of her list (I was really pissed). This was in the library parking lot. We got into the car, drove to the mall, and came home about 2 hours later. While we were in the kitchen getting ready for dinner, I saw her on one of her "phones." I didn't pay attention until I heard her say Santa. She was calling Santa. I thought she was telling on herself (she's at that age where she will still tell you that she did something bad), but then I heard her say "mommy" and "she hit me." It was then I realized that she called Santa on me. And she was lying. I didn't hit her! She continued to stand there and have a conversation with Santa, full with pauses for him to respond, in which she told on me. Even though it was frustrating, I thought it was pretty funny and clever. And, of course, picture her doing all of this with a summer dress over her sweatsuit, because even though it is 50 degrees, she won't go anywhere without a "pretty dress."

Meanwhile, Oliver is doing well! He had an appointment with neurosurgery and they confirmed that he still doesn't need a shunt. And for the first time, they actually said "Maybe he will be one of the few who doesn't need one." This is huge, because the last two times they warned me that even though he didn't need one yet, he would probably need one in the long run. And he only has one more casting session before his surgery in December. I'm not really looking forward to that, but I guess it is better to get it out of the way when he won't remember it. He also started his in-home physical therapy this week. It was pretty cool -- he had some tummy time and was able to boost himself up on his little arms. It was really great to see him making such good progress. And he is just such a pleasure -- he smiles and coos all the time! Poor guy has some gas issues, but I'll just say he gets that from daddy.

My Favorites Are Gone!

In a catastrophic turn of events, my computer crashed. I tried to start it up and it just stared back at me blankly. While my computer is not as important as, say, my kids, it is pretty darn important. Even though I knew I had my two most important sets of documents (dissertation and class lectures) backed up, I was pretty upset to potentially lose the rest of the work I've done over the past two and a half years. So I started to shop around and wound up taking it to the Geek Squad. Begrudgingly, I might add, since I am sure that they are a huge rip off. Their stupid user friendly logo and set-up just screams "we are ripping you off because you are computer illiterate and have no other choice, but we are putting it in a pretty package so you don't mind paying the money."But, it seems as if they have recovered my hard drive and reinstalled my operating system in a days time, so I can't really complain. Too much. I just started my computer for the first time and the first time and saw the username is "Tim." Now I know some couples share an e-mail address, but Tim and I don't even share a computer. My computer is like my personal space. So the computer's name is supposed to be "Mommy." Okay, I can deal. I'll figure out how to change it back. But then I went to the Internet, and saw that all of my favorites are gone. I know I should have expected it, just like I should have realized that my background picture would be wiped, but I didn't. I feel blindsided -- a little violated. I had no idea how important having my computer set up my way is. And I don't know enough about computers to get them back! How do I get the Internet Explorer Icon in my bottom left corner? How do I replace my desktop shortcuts? Really, this sucks.

And in what is a continuing obsession that I am really trying to curb, I had to get a latte from Starbucks since they are in the same strip mall. Another rip-off -- $4.00 for a cup of coffee. $4.23 really. But I can't stop. I swear they must put crack or something in there (of course, for me, caffeine is like crack, so maybe that's it). Honestly, I just bleated like a little sheep all the way out of my cozy suburban strip mall paying way too much for stuff I "need".

Bbaaahh.

Oh, and Mackensie is still wearing her halloween costume. She slept in it and hasn't taken it off yet. I'll upload pictures when I find the F%^$#^g disk that goes with my photo softwear and reinstall it.

The $64,000 question...

How much is a 10 day stay in the NICU at CHOP? Literally, $64,038.23. I'm not sure that even includes Oliver's surgery or any of the diagnostics (ultrasounds, MRI, etc.). I've been waiting for this Explanation of Benefits from my insurance company and it finally came. And in what is a true praise to God, they paid for it. I knew it was going to be high, but I really had no idea.

Ironically, I spent a good deal of time today trying to sort through charges that the insurance company did not pay. It turns out bills just need to be resubmitted and they will take care of it. But just when I was low on liking my insurance company, they really pulled through.

I just had to share.

Just an update from yesterday: Oliver has bronchitis like Mac. Poor little guy. We had to get chest x-rays to rule out pneumonia, which we did. So now he's just layin low and getting lots of love from mommy (not to mention the nebulizer treatments).

Really, my insurance company must hate me.