Going To The Potty Can Be A Cute Thing.

At about 2:30am this morning I was woken up by Jadon. I heard him go to the bathroom, put the toilet seat up, took a piss, put the seat back down, flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and then closed his door. Normally waking up in the middle of night would fluster me but the fact that the kid is independantly able to go to the bathroom is like a breath of fresh air (and it's cute too). Lately when he takes a piss, he goes for a long long time. This kid pisses like a grown up (even longer then me!). Kind of reminds me of the scene in the Naked Gun when Leslie Nielsen takes a super long piss (with the microphone still on) after giving a speech down at city hall.

Pride In Good Mannerisms.

I have to say that so far I am pleased with the way the kids have grown up utilizing good manners. One of our goals (at least for me) is to have the kids grow up to be respectful, courteous, politeful, helpful, and loving. I'm still in the training mode but I have noticed that all the kids have initiated characteristics of good manners on their own.

With Jadon I have noticed him saying thanks without me having to tell him. We were at California Pizza Kitchen the other day and the waiter had just served bread and he said to the waiter "Thank you for the bread." Then when were leaving the restaurant, there was a person who opened the door for us and he said "Thank you." I gushed with pride at that moment.

Yesterday, I was cleaning up some cars that Jadon had left on the dining table. Well, with me hoping on one leg and trying to cradle several cars in my hand, there would be an occasional car that would drop. Natalie saw what I was trying to do and do you know what she did next? She found a bucket that Jadon had been using to transport his cars and she brought it over to me. What a little smarty. I thanked her and praised her. More gushing.

When it's time to go out, or go to bed (or nap), Vanessa is the best one as far as cleaning up. Without being told what to do, she just starts cleaning up sorting out that the toys go in the toy box and the books go on their little play table. I'll just sit back and just observe her go. It is so cute to see her little focused mind at work.

The work is never over but so far so good.

Not A Good Way To Start Off My Day.

So my sister-in-law's hubby, Elliot, had just dropped me off at work this morning. He took off and I crutched myself up to the building and reached into my pocket. I ended up leaving my keys at home! What a stupid doof I am! I thought about calling him back but I didn't want to burden him more than I already am. Plus if I went home, that would mean opening the garage, setting the alarm off (because Fiona sets the alarm after I leave), which would then wake the kids up. So I decided to stick it out. I called our office manager to see if he can stop by. I got into the building about an hour later (by a building employee) but I didn't get into our office until about 30 minutes later. Hopefully this isn't a sign of the way my day will go.....

Casting Colors.

Can you guess what professional sports team I am representing?

Fiona (and the girls; Jadon was at his grandparents' house) picked me up from work and took me to the doctor's. I was there a total of 35 minutes. The orthopedist took off the wrap, took out my stitches (which hurt), washed my leg off with peroxide (which hurt from the burning but also felt good because he was rubbing my leg which soothed the itching sensation), and then his assistant casted me and I requested the yellow and purple. So now I have to endure this for another three more weeks.

Casting.

Today I have my orthopedic appointment to get my current wrap and stitches taken off and then my leg will be hard casted for 3 weeks (I believe). Woohoo (sarcastically)! This soft wrap has been bugging me all of the past week and I can't imagine what it will be like to be in a hard one for triple the time. Ugh.

Sprinkles Cupcakes.

On Friday, Fiona (and the kids) came to pick me up. Was it because they wanted to see me? Did they miss me? Nope. It was because Fiona wanted to stop by at a new place called Sprinkles Cupcakes. They just opened one up a few months ago really close to where I work and we've been hearing about it a lot in the news (i.e. Oprah, newspaper). Their main store is up in Beverly Hills and they just branched out down south. They're pretty pricey at $3.25/cupcake. When we arrived there was a line already formed going outside! Wow! I believe that it will be a fad and eventually wear out. We ended up getting about a half dozen: a couple of different chocolate assortments, a latte one, and one of their signatures the red velvet. They tasted all right, but I don't think they are worth the $3.25. Maybe if was priced at about $2 each I would go back.

First "Official" Official Word?

The past few days, Vanessa has picked up a word and she's using it in context. Aside from the typical 'momma' and 'dadda,' she is starting to say "no." But it is the way she says it that is super cute. It's so cute that Fiona and I are starting to imitate her. In her girlish little voice she'll say 'noooooooooo!' with a slight intonation of whininess. She'll say it when Natalie tries to take it away or she doesn't want something. Cute now, annoying later.

Early Riser.

Ever since Jadon figured out how to open his door, which was supposed to be child proof, he has been getting out of bed earlier. Initially he would come over to our room and tell us something like "The sun's out." or "The sky is white." One time my alarm went off and I had just turned it off and he came over and asked "Momma, did you say something?" He's just looking for excuses to come out of his room. We tell him that we are still asleep and not to come to our room until we wake up. So he ended up just waking up, going to the bathroom, and dressing himself. That's pretty cool that he can do that on his own now. The bad thing is he'll go into his sisters' room and wake them up or he'll ended up slamming his door and waking them up. That was a no-no. So we told him to try to be quiet when he goes to the bathroom and closes his bedroom door. We use to be able to sleep in until 8:00am-8:30am (once in a blue moon at 9:00am) but now it's more like 7:00am-7:30am. I guess our mornings are even more shot.

My Wife...The User.

Ever since I found out that my ankle was messed up my wife has had me inquire about getting a temporary handicap placard. She asked me to ask when I went to the orthopedist (I forgot to ask), then she reminded me to ask when I went to go for surgery (I forgot again), then she took it into her own hands and asked the nurse when she went to pick me up after surgery (they said to ask the doctor). So then she told me to ask the doctor's office when I schedule my next appointment. She even went online and printed out the necessary forms. And then when I had to go to see the doctor this past Saturday, she brought the forms with her to have the doctor sign them. She was even more ecstatic when the doctor told her that she could take it down to Triple A (instead of just the DMV). So she went this morning (took all three kiddies with her) and then gave me a call to tell me that she got the placard. Now she is planning all the places we can go that have hard to find parking spots. Of course she won't use it unless I am there, I can't help but feel a little used. She's cute when she gets into her scheming mode.

Surgery Recovery.

So far it is going all right I guess. I have pleasantly been visited by my good bud, Steve and his little girl Danica. Boy did the girls get a little jealous at one point. Steve was kind enough to buy me Star Wars Episodes IV, V, and VI on dvd (surprisingly I don't have). That was pretty sweet. Now I have something to kill time with. Thanks Steve! I was also visited by my boss. She brought over a fall-wreath, and some breakfast muffins on behalf of the company. That was very nice of her to drop by. As to the recovery, all I can say is "Vicatin....goooood." Although today I did have to call in to doctor's office, even though they're closed, to report that my bandages were starting to soak with blood. This was something that was not suppose to occur. Luckily the oncall doctor was the same one who had performed the surgery on me. The doctor arranged to meet me down at his office so he can look at it and rewrap my ankle with a fresh set of cotton. Fiona dropped the girls off at the grandparents, and took Jadon and I to the office. It was a sight to see my ankle all bloodied and full of stitches. It was also nice to have some fresh air hit my ankle and that I was able to stretch it a little. Everything appeared to be intact except there was a little gap in my ankle that seemed to spurt out some blood. Something that a little bandaging can't help fix (I hope). So now I have to think about getting a ride on work come Monday. I think I have exhausted enough sick time.

Surgery Completed

Yesterday was a nervous day for me. Fiona and the kids dropped me off at the Irvine Regional Hospital right before 10:00am. It was almost a sad sight. I was crutching myself towards the main entrance and looking back at my family. At that moment a sense of missing them came upon me. Then I went ahead and didn't look back. I went to admitting and twenty minutes later the receptionist checked me and took some information. From there I had to go across away to the elevators. With papers in hand and crutching myself, it was quite a trek. I went to the second floor where surgery check in was. Twenty minutes in there and I was being escorted into my room. There I changed into a gown, and was prepped (shaved ankle and sterilization). That was about 11:00am and I was not scheduled for surgery until 12:35 pm. Apparently my appointment was pushed back. During that time I talked my doctor, my anesthesiologist, and a few nurses. The recovery time from this whole process is about 6 months. The first ten days, I will be wearing a heavily cushioned boot (it looks like I have elephantitas). Following that, the doctor will remove the boot and stitches and put me in a cast. I will be wearing the cast for 2.5 months and then after that I will be put into a heel-inclined boot (looks like a ski boot) for a month of two. Then I believe the remaining time will be spent with a physical therapist. Anyways so as I was being wheeled out to the operating room was when I loss all conciousness. I guess the anesthesiologist had put the anesthesia in my IV. I had thought I would inhale it. So I woke up shortly after 3:00pm. Boy was I really hung over. The first question that I asked was "Was the surgery already performed?" I just wanted to go back to sleep except my heart monitor kept on beeping and the nurse kept reminding me to take deep breaths to get my heart rate back up. About an hour later they transfered me to a waiting area where I was put into a wheelchair. Fiona ended up coming early (she had waited a few hours at that point). She drove us home where I napped some more. I really couldn't take in much as far as food because I was a little nauseated. I took in some fluids, a little mac n' cheese (left over from the kids), and some watermelon. The rest of the night was history.

And now this morning I am spending at home and blogging away. I'm taking tomorrow off as well and then I'll have the weekend to recuperate some more before I head back to work. Hopefully the hard part is over.

Surgery Has Been Scheduled.

I had an orthopedic appointment to day. The doctor knew exactly how the injury occured. I had written on my questionairre that I had hurt my ankle playing basketball and he guessed the rest. That makes me feel more comfortable with his experience and expertise. So I have surgery scheduled at noon tomorrow. I have to arrive two hours early, the procedure takes an hour, then an hour to wake up, and then another hour to go over the recovery process. This will be my first of this type (besides a vasectomy). And it will be the first time going under anesthesia. I can't say that I am not a little scared. It's something that I have a slight dread over. So until after the procedure......

ADDENDUM: I have to fast for the procedure so no food or drink after midnight. My surgery time is 12:00pm. I probably won't get home until 3:00pm or so. That's 15 hours at the very least! Doh!

Natalie The Constipated.

Over the weekend, we got to witness a constipated Natalie. She hadn't pooped in well over 48 hours. I will tell you, she is not fun to be around with. Talk about a case of Jekyll and Hyde. She'll be fine one moment and the next she'll just break out into a cry. She'll be standing and all of a sudden she'll squat or get on all fours and cry. It was going on likes this on Friday and Saturday.
Finally she was able to poop (which made her cry) and soon after she was happy as can be. She's almost like an entirely different baby when she's not full of crap.

Achilles Rupture Sucks

So far I am able to bare the pain in my right ankle but it doesn't mean that I am ok with it. I know that I should be keeping my weight off but at times it feels excruciatingly painful. Sometimes it stops hurting when I actually do put some weight on it. I am trying to figure out what pressures and non pressures I can apply to reduce the pain but I am having a difficult time figuring it out. There is no making sense to this, which makes it for a frustrating time. I have to crawl a lot of times, especially when I am going up and down the stairs. Then there's taking a shower (probably the most painful time of the day). Luckily I am able to sleep through the pain at night. I hope to get an appointment shortly and figure this all out.

Achilles....Torn.

I got in an MRI this afternoon and I got the worse of news. My Achilles is torn. From the sounds of things it's pretty bad too. My friend/ex-coworker was able to get me in, insurance only, on short notice. There was a Radiologist who happened to be present and he looked at the results and gave me an initial overview. He said it most likely will require surgery! Oiy! I am not only in shock but I am bummed. So now I have to find an Orthopedist and schedule an appointment. I am definitely not looking forward to the surgery and the rehabilitation. I have never had an injury of this magnitude. The only surgery that I have ever had was a vasectomy. I asked the doctor if I can still drive and he said "Sure! Do you know how to drive with your left foot?" I thought he was kidding but he was dead serious. I guess I will have to practice this weekend. Plus I am bummed because I will miss out on Sunny & Marilyn's wedding day. Jadon will be bummed as well. -Sigh-

Basketball Night: Game 2

Tonight was our second game of our basketball game and it wasn't pretty. I think I have inherited the curse of Sunny. I replaced him on the roster because he had torn his ACL. Well in tonight's game it didn't take me long to go down. If you recall the pain that I felt after the first game? Well apparently it got worse. I let it rest throughout the week and it was a tinge bit sore but I figure that I could play right through it. Within the first minute of the game it suddenly went bad. I had just taken the first shot (missed). I didn't land on it awkwardly or anything. I heard and felt a pop. At first I thought that a rogue ball had hit my right ankle so I looked down for it and I didn't see anything in the vicinity. Then I thought maybe someone ran into my leg. No body was even near me. Then I started to jog it off and that was when I thought that the pop was from my ankle. My feet felt like it was on uneven ground. I took myself out of the game with my teammates looking befuddled. I could barely put pressure on my ankle. It just got worse and worse as time went on. Luckily Fiona (and the kids) came with me because she ended up driving home. I was able to call some people, one of them was my ex-coworker who is managing a Medical Imaging place. So he's going to try to get me in for either an x-ray or MRI. The good thing is that it will be all insurance and nothing out of pocket. Fiona thinks that it's a grade 2 sprain ankle. Hopefully it's nothing too bad and would just require rest. This sucks. I'll keep you all posted.

(Hey Sunny, if you read this, there is a small possiblity that I might not be able to make it to your wedding. I'll try really hard though)

It's Good To Have Vanessa Back...

The old Vanessa has returned and all is well again. This last bout of sickness has really turned Vanessa into a completely different baby. She, in a sense, was opposite to what she usually is. She was super needy, unhappy looking, overly attached, unmoving. Now she is all over the place, swinging her arms, screaming, talking, big smile on her face. Overall she is now a happy and energetic little girl.

On a side note, a cute thing that Vanessa does: When we leave to go out, Fiona or I will start to lock up the windows and make sure that the front door is locked. Vanessa will see these cues and start to pick up her toys and put them in the toy box and pick up books and put them on the table.
She doesn't have to be told or asked. She does it by herself! She is such a cute and thoughtful child. She also does this when we're at the grandparents house too. She sets and example for her sister because Natalie loves to copy her as well. She'll start to clean up when we ask her too. Jadon seems to only clean up when we ask him.

Jadon Loves School!

Yesterday, Fiona, the girls, and I picked Jadon up from school and from the look and sound of things he enjoyed himself. When we got him, he wasn't in his classroom. He was out in the enclosed playground for the younger grades. Apparently he was off playing with some trains and on his hands were covered in some type of marker. We asked him all sorts of questions:

Q: So did you have fun at school?
A: Yeah.

Q: Do you like your teachers?
A: Yeah.

Q: What are there names?
A: Mrs. Hamilton and Mrs. French.

Q: What did you learn today?
A: How to draw a smiley face.

Q: Did you take a nap?
A: No.

Q: Did you rest?
A: Yeah. I make sounds.

Q: Did you eat your lunch?
A: Yeah.

The teachers gave us a daily progress sheet of the things he did. He ate most of his lunch, he went to the potty unassisted, and he made some friends (although he doesn't know their names).

This morning, as mentioned through Fiona, Jadon told her that he needs a sandwich so he can take it to school. Fiona told him that he is not going to school today. He insisted that he wanted to go now. She told him that tomorrow he will be going. I'm glad that he loves school. We were anticipating a taxing transition.

Jadon's 1st Day Update

Fiona just called me to give me an update on how things went. No tears...from either mother or son. Fiona told me that he was very enthused about school and more importantly really enthused about his new lunch bag. It's an orange lunch bag with a lion design. Fiona and the girls walked Jadon to class and as soon as they got in, he apparently just went straight into playing with some of the toys. When it was time for Fiona to leave, she said goodbye but apparently he never looked up at her. I guess that makes it easier on both parties. Later on I will go with Fiona to pick him up.

Where Do I Start?

So many things to mention, where do I begin?

LOCKED OUT

No, Fiona did not lock me out of the house. I came in to work this morning and I found out that my keys weren't working to get into the office. I checked all entrances and no luck. I recalled a locksmith coming out on Friday and my coworker and I just looked puzzled. But I just put the thought in the back of my mind. I called our office manager and he didn't know anything. I called my boss and apparently she knew that the locks were changed. That's nice! So I waited for the property manager to come in (which was almost an hour and half later). She let me in but I still do not have a key. As you can tell, communication is not our strong suit at my company.

Jadon's First Day

Jadon has finally recuperated from his illness and he looks ready to go and attend his first day of school. Fiona and I have been hyping it up and so far he sounds really excited to go. I hope he doesn't cry and I hope that he has a blast learning and making friends. I told him that it's going to be like his Sunday school except that he'll eat lunch there and he'll be at school for a lot longer. Even though Fiona says she doesn't think that she'll shed any tears, I think that she will.

Close Call

Yesterday afternoon we headed to Downtown Disney for a nice stroll and a snack/dessert at Rainforest Cafe. Fiona is a Safari Member and she had received a $5 coupon off plus she gets free appetizer (or 10% off the bill). Jadon was actually okay with going there. He didn't cry one bit. Luckily they had outdoor patio seating so all the kiddies didn't freak out or anything.

Anyways it was getting to be past the kiddies' nap time and we headed on home at around 4:00p.m. On the freeway, we witnessed a pretty scary situation. A car accident occured right before our eyes. It must have been about 50 yards right in front of us. We saw a older model Honda Accord (3-4 young males in that car) over compensate a lane change and did a 270 degree twirl, go backwards towards the center divider, all the while the SUV right in front of us veered to it's left to avoid the car and unfortunately hit the Accord. I applied the brakes but I didn't have to push it all the way down. I felt sorry for the SUV because they, like us, were just driving, and wham, they're involved in this accident. Hopefully no one was injured. I just counted my blessings that we escaped. I drove right by the scene. I decided to not stop, but I did have Fiona call 911 and report the accident. Should I have stopped? I have three kids who need to take a nap. I always feel undecisive and a little guilty when situations like this happen.

House Hunting

This past Saturday, we did some more house hunting. We looked at some houses in the Riverside area (about a 30 minute drive inland from where we live, taking the toll roads). There was some new cluster homes that we checked out. It seemed to fit our parameters for what we wanted in a house. As for the area around it, it's tough to not compare neighborhoods to Irvine, but I think we have to move past that otherwise we will never move. So we'll have to sleep on it and do more research into that community as well as others.

The Last To Recover

Vanessa is the last one to be recovering from her bout of sickness. I thought that she would be the best as far as handling it but so far she acts real nasty. She is super needy which can be nice at times, but otherwise it just translates her into being really sensitive. When she's needy, she'll let us hold her and she'll lie her head on our chest which is so precious. That is the only positive that I can find in her being needy. Most of the time she'll just stand there and give us a pissed off look. Then Natalie, in her chipper mood, will come around and touch her on her back and Vanessa will just cry. The worse part about Vanessa being sick was Fiona limited her and by what she can eat and drink and that just made Vanessa really pissed off. Vanessa would just pout by walking behind a chair or go into the kitchen and cry. It was really sad to see her like that. Hopefully she is on the road to recovering. She takes 3 hour naps, her appetite seems to returning, and her poop is becoming more solid.

1st Basketball League Game

Lastnight was the 1st of 10 league games. I was invited by my friend Swit and the team's captain, Kelcey. Even though we didn't win, I was somewhat satisfied with my performance. I made only a single point and went 0-4 from the field. I initally got winded in the beginning but after I got over that hump, I was starting to get use to the game play. At least I didn't make a fool of myself.

-The last time I played a game was probably 4 years ago and that was in a half court setting against my coworkers.
-The last time that I played in a full court setting was probably about 7-8 years ago.
-The last time I played in a organized (refereed), competitive game was back in college.

The team that we played against had a few players pretty close to the height limit of 6'2". We had one player on our team that was about 6'0". In the first half, we got off to a slow start. We were down 26-6 at the half. Then in the second half, it looked like we played more aggressive (mixed in with the fact that the other team seemed to be getting a little tired; they were fouling a lot which is an indication of that). The end result was we lost by 10 points, 42-32. Next week we should do better.

Right after the game, my right ankle just really tightened up all of a sudden. Even though I stretched out right after and when I got home, it still remains quite sore. I should be all right for the next game. I am just going to concentrate my game on playing on the inside, playing better defense, boxing out, rebounding. and just driving to the basket and either shooting it or dishing it out to my other teammates. We have plenty of shooters on the team so I don't need to be trying to go for the outside shots. When I used to play back in the days, I use to play shooting guard or point guard. Nowadays, I can't shoot worth a lick, and my body isn't as quick enough to bring the ball up the court and initiate play. It's different style of play but one that I am looking forward to trying to figure out.