Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Where's there's Britt, there's Drama

Our adventure begins at 6 am, Tuesday morning.  Both boys are up with the excitement of our trek to Norway only hours away...well, nearly 12 hours away.  The flight to Copenhagen, Denmark leaves Newark at 5:40.  We have many hours to kill and they are slain with caring for chickens and prepping the house for our house sitters.

Uneventfully, we make our way down to Newark.  At the airport, I take Finn out of his carseat to find that he has peed through his entire out fit.  Not a catastrophe, we mamas are prepared for these things.  Ensemble change and we proceed to check in.  Bill and I were prepared for major hold ups at security as we were traveling with a small pharmacy of syringes and major meds should Finn eat someone's hunk of cheese on the plane.  Not to mention I had a whole bunch of soy milk, apple sauce, and other Finn friendly foods.  Nope.  Breezed right through and before we knew it we had three whole hours to kill in Terminal B.

Finn - approx. 10 min pre-puke
On board the plane things were going great.  The kids were excited, the four of us were seated in our own row across the center of the plane.  All was good.  They EVEN brought out the kids' meals early, which I thought was so smart.  They don't do that on all flights and it's a whole lot easier to get the kids settled in first.   I brought spaghetti from home and Finn started eating his dinner.

Well...as luck would have it, not an hour into the flight and a few minutes into his meal, Finn gives that tell tale gag/cough and I KNOW he is about to puke.  I fumble to unbuckle our seat belts and grab him, facing away from me, and dash to towards the bathrooms.  We don't make it.  He projectile vomits spaghetti and banana and god know what all over the aisle.  yeah.  THAT happened.   In the bathroom he's hurling into the toilet and occasionally on me because, in his misery, he turns to hug his mama.  Bill is standing behind me, freaking out because neither of us is sure what prompted this, neither of us knows if we are in for a nightmare.  

Finn - Approx 30 min. post puke

6 hours into the 7.5 hour flight
In the end, poor little Finn stopped puking and there weren't any tell tale signs of a food allergy reaction (swelling, etc.)  He apparently just gagged on spaghetti...or was a little motion sick.  Bill held him as I scooped the vomit off the floor. (Thank goodness he projectiles straight and he didn't douse any poor passengers.)  

Not long after the ordeal Finn fell asleep in my lap.  Soon after the dinner service the cabin lights are turned off so people can sleep.  Bill is asleep with head phones on and this is, of course, when Liam starts crying ...whimpering...that he misses home and Austin and wants to go back.  Yeah...that was awesome.  I just wanted to hug and hold him while I told him that he was just exhausted, but my arms were full of sweaty 2 year old.  So I had to just pat his sad little head while he tried to fall asleep.  It took an hours and a half, but sleep came.  (It made me realize how I have completely taken for granted the fact that nearly every summer of my life flying to Norway to visit grandparents was completely normal.  I started at 3 months old, so the enormity of the trip for Liam didn't hit me until it hit him - 3 hours mid-flight.  He of course recovered and has been happy since we landed...but...before we landed there was...)

Landing in Copenhagen...about 20 min. late.  It was about 2 am our time, 7am in Denmark.  None of us had really slept.  We had to run, literally RUN, at top speed, me holding Finn, Bill juggling duty-free cognac for my mom and backpacks, across one or the longest airports.  They had already closed the gate, but luckily managed to hold the plane for us.  We sit down on the plane, all of us soaked with sweat, we begin to taxi, and then the pilot informs us that one of the air monitoring systems isn't working and we have to switch planes - which required a 45 minute wait AND a ride on a shuttle bus.  Awesome.

Finn at the window of my mom's apartment
However, WE FINALLY ARRIVE IN BERGEN!!!  My mother and great uncle Erling were waiting for us with hugs.  My mother's apartment is cozy and airy at the same time, but most of all welcoming.  It is located right in the heart of this old, old beautiful city.  We have a lovely lunch, nap for a few hours, and wake up to a delicious dinner of fish cakes and boiled potatoes.  

Before a walk around town for some fresh air, my mother gets a load of laundry started while I do the dinner dishes.  I suppose in my fatigue...or complete inability to handle knives, I dropped a very sharp and heavy knife on my left index finger.   It cut right through the rubber glove and all I saw was blood.  Bill immediately assessed that I'd need stitches or, at the very least Derma-bond and steri-strips (which he has in his work bag and left at home!)  Needless to say, our tour of the city included a stop at the ER (conveniently located around the corner from my mom's).  They were kind, efficient, and clean.  What more can you ask for?  We were in and out in an hour...maybe less.  I am SO tired I have absolutely no idea what time it is.  They patched me up with said Derma-bond and strips.

Pre-ER visit
 And now the drama is over...I HOPE.  It's been perhaps the longest 24 hours of my life.  Between the hours biting back tears hoping Finn was not having an allergic reaction on a 7.5 hour plane ride to making myself NOT faint while holding paper towels to my bloody finger has pretty much left me spent.

I am greatly looking forward for days spent with family and showing the boys the city I spent so many summers enjoying.

Over and out.
Post ER visit and walk in the rain
                         

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Beach time!

I basically lived in my bathing suit this weekend...which is kind of gross, but at the same time, pretty awesome.  And with all the sunblock applications of the boys and managed to forget to put any on my legs.  My face, arms, and back seem to be okay, but boy do I have me some lobster legs!

What a wonderful way to ring in the summer...

(photos by my sister, Lauren)

My little stomper.

My little fish.



Saturday, June 23, 2012

Hello Summer!!

A few days ago I said good-bye to a job I really liked.  Being laid off is a depressing kind of thing, even if I hated the long commute and the child care situation I had for Finn.  It just feels sad.   I do not have any idea what the future holds for me at the moment. Should a wonderful job pop up, I might take it.  Should I have the opportunity to stay home with Finn, I will take it.  Should people want to eat my bread, I'll bake it.  I just really don't know where my path is heading at the moment.  So, this summer I'll be taking each day as it comes.  I'm pretty good at that.

This weekend the boys and I are welcoming the summer with a visit to my mom's.  Her pool and proximity to the beach make visiting her a mini vacation.  And in a short time we'll be meeting her in Norway.  Which I expect will be amazing.

For now, here are some pics of the boys in the pool.




Wednesday, June 6, 2012

sigh

Financially speaking, I should be applying for the few full time positions I've seen popping up on the job boards....sigh.

Time with Finn.  Time with Liam.  Time to be mommy.

I don't know what else to say.  Why does it have to be so hard to do the thing I want to do most? (Mommy, in case it isn't clear.)   Ug.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

My Boy Turns Seven


Seven years - when did that happen???  My handsome little man...and his new bike.  A 20 incher!  It's a wee bit big, but in under an hour he figured out how to get on with a running start AND use the hand brakes.

Last weekend we had his party - a "monster truck" party.  The bounce house was a real treat.  Unlike Texas, where the choices are limitless, it was Sponge Bob or a castle.  Liam chose Sponge Bob. The ended up leaving it at our house for two whole days - it was great!!











One of the activities was to guess how many hot wheels cars were in the jar.  Riveting entertainment.





Next came "Pin the Plate on the Monster Truck."  Bill printed out a poster sized image of a monster truck.  We laminated personalized NYS license plates.  It was pretty cool.






 Even Finny had a go!










Grandma (in TX) sent some VERY funny stick on mustaches.  As you'll see, we've been having a lot of fun with them!






Finn doesn't quite get the mustache thing...but the uni-brow was funny.  Unfortunately, that little boy moves so fast it's nearly impossible for me to capture the actual image I want.  His mustache brow is pretty funny, though...


And onto other things...this dinosaur-esque snapping turtle made a nest and laid her eggs right in the middle of our front lawn!  Unfortunately, by the next day some predator found her nest and and all we found were open, but empty, turtle eggs.







This week we have had the pleasure of Aunt Alie visiting.  The boys are in love with her...in fact, when I picked Finn up from preschool the other day, he ran right past me and into Alie's arms!  



 Yeah...it was NOT my idea to give the TWO year old a stick for the fire.  That was Daddy.






Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The thing about gift bags...

They just don't belong at birthdays for kids.*  What kid wants to flick away fluffy tissue paper and see their present at the bottom of a bag?  Ripping and shredding the paper is by far more than half the fun.  Seriously.  What happened to good old paper? I was at a birthday party this past weekend and more than half the presents were in gift bags. I'd even go so far as to say 90% were in gift bags.  Hell, our presents may have been the only one in wrapping paper!  I don't know why this bothers me so much...

And don't get me wrong, I know some people who can put together a beautiful gift bag.  Their gift bags belong at MY birthday party, YOUR birthday party.  But four, five, six, ten, twelve year olds???  LET THEM RIP!!!

Okay.  It's out.

*Just so you are assured that I am not a complete tyrant, I see how a gift bag comes in handy for an oddly shaped present.

Friday, May 18, 2012

My First Garden

Sounds like the title of a book in the easy reader section of my school library.  :)  And yet, it is mostly the truth.  When Bill and I bought our first house, I did have a tiny little garden...but this...this is a whole new world.  First of all, this is my dream house AND my dream garden.  I am giving this my all.  And the best part is that Finn and Liam are totally 'in' it with me.  Well...Finn on a limited level - he will bring a bucket and fill it with rocks and dump them outside the garden (our soil is super rocky).  Liam weeds, fills up the water cans from the rain barrel and waters...he's totally psyched that we are growing "FOOD." (He always says it real loud and with enthusiasm, hence the caps.)  Anyway, here are some pics of what we got done yesterday and today.

Today we painted rocks to label all the things we planted...interestingly, we have not planted carrots yet and we forgot to make markers for broccoli, snow peas, and green beans.  It's kinda hard to paint with Finn around...you should see my deck...it's...er...very colorful now. (Bill is going to power wash and stain it this summer, so I'm not concerned.)
This is my favorite one, the pumpkin patch.  It's a totally separate little side garden.  We literally hope to have a pumpkin patch for the pumpkin carving party in October.  We are SO cool.


 I am pretty proud of this watermelon marker.  Got luck finding a rock in just the right shape.
 Yeah...the watermelon 'patch' doesn't look so impressive just yet.
We found a few strawberry plants growing on the edge of the garden...at least, I sure hope that's what they are.  We also added a few more plants.  So, we'll see what the summer and sunshine bring.



To the right of my two tomato rows is a great big patch of weeds.  I just have not made it that far over yet. I think, when I get to it, it will be lettuce and more herbs.

Here's a view of the whole garden.  There's the watermelon 'patch' to the left.  The green veggies are in rows in the upper right.  And I'm taking the picture from the tomato section.  There was no real plan here...just sort of winging it this year. It's kind of fun and exciting.  In the back you can see the chicken run Bill made.  It's nearly finished and then we can get our chickens!


 This is my "kitchen garden." On our deck outside the kitchen I have our favorite herbs growing.  It's been a busy couple of days...and I am sure I'll be weeding like a crazy woman all summer long.  Hopefully the salads and fresh melons will make it all worth while!

By the way, pointers, tips, shared gardening secrets are ALL welcome!  I can't promise I'll follow - I was recently told that any planting done before Memorial Day is a crap shoot....but...I just couldn't wait any longer.  This weather is too good to pass up.
 Hope to have you over for some fresh greens...or herb rubbed something or other...served, of course, with fresh bread on the side.  :)