June 2006 Archives

We have been doing some last minute things around the house before leaving, and Andy and I were talking about the website's traffic.  We're able to tell the location of visitors, but not who they are.  We got a visit from France the other day!  Oh la la!  

So this has struck our curiosity.  We have a frequent Ames visitor, and other various visitors that we can't place.  Some are easy: the early morning daily checks are Mom and Dad, the .uihc.stuff.something is Kelsey or Carrie from the University.  But some of the others leave us pondering.  So, here is our request: at the bottom of this post is a comment area.  We'd like to know who you are!  We'd like to see who are visitors are, and who our Ames friend is (we can guess and match the other people to places, but Ames is killing us!).  Pretty easy, just name and place.  And we'll see what we've got!

 Mahalo and aloha!

 Maui's Haleakala Volcano, our biking experience!  I can't wait!!!

That's right, Chalupas.net will be on vacation for a bit.  We're packing up and heading to beautiful Maui and Oahu, on the Hawaiian islands.  We are pretty excited!  We'll be biking down an active volcano, attending a true Hawaiian luau, visiting Pearl Harbor, exploring the Honolulu Zoo, feasting like true Hawaiians, and hanging out on the beach like lazy bums.  It will be great!  The only draw back is that Carter isn't going.  A long, long flight + 10 months old = not good.  She will be staying with her rad godfather, Andy Haning, and her wonderful grandparents.  It'll be tough to be without her, but we're very excited to go.  

I'm sure she'll be okay without us.  This afternoon, she was being held by her godfather.  He was getting ready to leave and passed her off to me.  As soon as she was with me and he proceeded to leave, she started to cry and reach out for him.  Oh yeah ... she can't wait for us to leave!  She's ready for a vacation of her own!

 Please visit www.andyhaning.com for Carter's vacation updates.  You can also witness the decline of Andy's sanity through his first parental experience!  It should be fun!  Check back later for some fun Hawaii updates!  See you soon!  Aloha!

 

Packing sucks!  And this is just Carter's stuff!  Ooo-eee-vay!

 Andy is a child, and could not wait for his birthday present!  So, he got to open it early.  What do you get for the Daddy who has everything?  Carter and I got him a leaf blower, and he was pretty excited!  He had some help opening his gift ... shocking, I know!

The Great Daddy, trying to predict what it is.  He had it narrowed down to "something round, that's used outside."  He's good!

 

Carter helped with the card and paper

 

After presents, it was nap time.  What better way to get ready for a nap:

 

Blue's Clues!  It's hypnotic to Carter.  She's attentive, quiet and engrossed in this cartoon!  It's 30 minutes of a little peace!  We love Joe and Blue!

Today, at 10 months, we had our first emergency room visit.  I guess that it's a small blessing that we've made it to this point without having had a prior visit.  It did not make it less scary, though.

 On a "typical" Saturday morning, Carter will begin to chat to herself and her toys around 6:30am, and will eventually give us a holler around 7:15am.  Andy and I will go and get her, and she'll smile at us, sit up, crawl to the bars of the crib and climb up to see us.  We change her while she hoots, jibber-jabbers, and chatters, and squirms, and then we eat breakfast.

Today, Andy went to get her, and she didn't make any attempt to move towards him.  He squatted next the crib to get to eye level with her, and she just laid there.  Her breathing was odd: like she was holding her breath, letting out a pant, then holding again.  And when she did breath normally, it was very loud and very fast.  Her eyes were gunky and her nose was runny and crusty, and she was on fire.  We took her temperature and it registered 100.5, 101.2, 101.1, all high for her.  She cuddled and held on to which ever one of us held her, and this is her "high activity time," and we knew she wasn't right.

She continued to have odd breathing patterns and was burning up, so we packed up and headed to Blank's Children's Hospital emergeny room in Des Moines.  She cried on the way there, but would try and smile for me.  It was heartbreaking.

 They checked her in, checked her weight and normal body things.  The doctor dug two huge, disgusting balls of wax out of both ears (PU-KE!), and checked her ears and throat, which were both okay.  During all of this, she did great.  She nearly fell asleep during her wax excavation, and cried just because she was uncomfortable.  The nurse gave her some motrine (orange, yum!) and then we took a couple x-rays of her chest.  She wasn't happy about it, but did okay.

After our worrying and all the checking, she appears to be just running a fever.  She gets baby motrine and liquids until she's back to normal.  Andy and I discussed our thoughs on the emergency room: I would rather them roll their eyes at me, send me with some motrine, and think that I'm overprotective than to sit at home and let her get over it on her own.  I have 0 medical knowledge, except what I've gleaned from ER which is very little, and I would rather be "safe than sorry."  Having to live with myself after we'd sat at home, letting her be sick and upset, would kill us.  I will go into the ER a hundred times over if that's what I think is necessary for Carter to be healthy.  I can safely say that I don't feel we're "overprotective" because I can balance this with the "freedom" she has: she goes with us everywhere, restaurants, friends, shopping, the only rules of the house are ones to proect her: no knives and don't eat the ants.  Carter has the freedom to do nearly anything her creative mind and think of, and as parents, it's our job to make sure her "creative mind" stays healthy and happy.  So, by the time she's 18, there'll probably be a worn and beaten path between us and the hospital.  And we're okay with that. 

 

 

We celebrated Andy's birthday this evening in true style: we we're "T'ed" off!  We went mini golfing at Putt Masters, between Ankeny and Johnston.  This was the hardest, most God-awful mini golf course in the history of the game!  The edges just dropped off into the grass, some holes were raised so the balls would circle out and away, and there were these disgusting, loud frogs in the pond.  Eww!  But it was a beautiful evening with our awesome friends, so it was fun.  We kept two score cards, and I tallied our half: Andy = 42, Tim = 52, Haning = 62, and Kelly = 72.  I totally won with high score!   We also had dinner at Chili's, where else?!  And we capped it off with Tim's favorite: TETRIS!  It was a blast, and Andy is almost one year older ... but not as old as Jon and Tim! 

 

I know it's mini golf, but come on!  Look at my form and swing!  I'm just too awesome for this course!

Tim, Andy, Stacy, Dave and Jon prepare to tee off at hole #1

 

Now, now, Andy ... just because Andy is better than you is no reason to severe his limbs ... that's not nice ... 

 

This is hole #3: 7 tiny balls aiming for a small hole, being swung at by a monsterous 4x4 ... like I've got a chance ...

 

Kelly & Andy: the Jack Nichelson & Tiger Woods of mini golf!

Carter is 10 months old now, and she is the leader of the baby pack.  She is old, wise, and mature.  She talks with her turtle, for heavens sakes!  Because she is so big, and well behaved, and good (and someone from Daddy's work screwed up and Daddy had to stay and help fix it!), Carter got to go to the "big girl" party at Stacy's tonight.  Carter and I went to the Tastefully Simple party Stacy was hosting.  If you are unfamiliar with Tastefully Simple, it's a company that sells soup bases, cookie and bread mixes, and spices that are magically transformed into happiness and deliciousness!  Even I can cook with this stuff - amazing, I know!  There were about a dozen people there, and Carter knew Haning, Amy, Stacy, and Dave and Jon (who "geeked out" in the basement), and enjoyed meeting the other guests.  Carter also got to sample some yummy things: bread, pretzels, and some fabulous desserts!  Being a "big girl" has its privileges!

Carter and I played outside in our backyard retreat this evening.  It is honestly the best place on Earth!  She is getting better about moving around in the grass.  She seems to have gotten used to the dying, prickly grass.  She has a routine now: we situation ourselves in a shady area, she surveys the grass, and goes in search of the leave of choice.  She finds the leaf, and she tries to sneak it into her mouth.  Of course, she always gets caught, but she will always try again!  She is addicted to leaves, seeds, and grass!  I enjoy chocolate, chips, and pop - I guess we all have our own vices! 

 

"What a delicious tree leaf"

 

"Here Mom, try it, you'll like it!  Maybe if you try it, and do like it, you'll let me eat them ..."

 

Carter's addiction: leaves, seeds, and grass.  Is there a 12 step program for this?

 

On the prowl for more goodies!  How could you not love this sweet, little herbivore?!?

Carter helped with dinner tonight!  She played "dinner music" on the pots with a wooden spoon and magnet while I cooked.  Who knew dinner could be so educational?  She is the next Mozart.

  

"Daddy!  I don't wanna swim!  It's cold!"

 

"If I cry and look like I'm in pain, can I get out?"

 

"NO DADDY!  It does not help if you hug me!  I'm cold!  And you aren't making me warmer!"

 

"I just wanna go inside and play with A-Duh!  I hate the pool!"