Out of Commission

Hi Folks...

Both of my computers have been usurped for various reasons, meaning that I am without the ability to communicate digitally (ie - email, blog, iChat, IM, etc).

So if you're looking for an update from me or wondering why I don't answer my emails, now you know! I'm hoping for a return of at least one machine later this week.

I'm alive, I'm mostly well (I only consider myself, "Well," if I'm sitting on a beach with a trashy novel in one hand and a pina colada in the other) and I'll be back as soon as I can!

Peace,
Me

The Bathroom

Yes -- the story continues. I mean, seriously... When did I start this whole process? Mid-August. And is it done yet? Of course not.

On Tuesday, my contractor finally showed up to start the tiling. Of course, since there was carpeting in the bath, we had to put down cement board first. That was laid on Tuesday and had to set over night.

Wednesday arrived and the tiling began. It went pretty well until the very end, when we were short three tiles. Three. Seriously.

Of course, I can't just buy normal tile. I had to buy the small, mosaic octogonal tiles that often have to be special ordered. Luckily, Home Depot had them in stock, but I was totally prepared to wait six weeks for my three final tiles to come in.

So the remaining tiles were set today and now the guys are up there grouting. The grout will set over night and, hopefully tomorrow will bring my baseboards and my toilet back.

What a luxury -- a working toilet in your master bathroom. SHEESH.

We haven't even begun the painting the master bedroom and suddenly the current paint job doesn't look too bad. I can't imagine doing any more home improvement. I'd rather put an ice pick in my ear.

Moving on...

Last week I took the Doodlebug to have his stiches taken out. I knew it was not going to go well, but I was totally unprepared for what transpired.

I took the girls to the drop-off childcare place near our home (this place is a lifesaver!) so I could focus my attention on Devin.

We got into the room and talked about what was going to happen and how it was going to be done. He was a little anxious about it and I warned the nurse. She said, "Oh -- they're all like that," and didn't heed my advice to sedate him. :)

So Dr. T. came in and asked to see Dev's hand. No can do. He wouldn't even show it to her.

We finally got his arm stretched out and the screaming commenced. Dr. T. had to go get her nurse so that the nurse, along with me, could restrain my 40-lb. child.

And so it began, as I held his right arm down by his side and wrapped my legs around him. The nurse held D's left hand still while Cheryl pulled the stiches.

And what did Devin do? He screamed. And screamed. And screamed. And screamed.

And screamed.

We heard a lot of good phrases come from my kid's mouth:

"Get me out of here!" "Let go of me!" "Stop it right now!"

It just about broke my heart and I think I would have cried if I hadn't been laughing so hard. I mean, the whole thing was just so ridiculous.

Afterwards, we hit Krispy Kreme for a Get Well doughnut. That perked the kiddo up pretty easily.

And Finally...

This weekend is Todd and my 6th anniversary. It's hard to believe that it's been six years since we married in Dallas. It's been a great six years and we are looking forward to going out on a date alone on Saturday night. Oh the bliss.

And, for no good reason other than the fact that my kids (and dog) are adorable, here are some picture. Enjoy!

First day of Pre-K, September 4, 2007.


So much for clean laundry. That's Gracie in the basket and Faith trying to make her way in.


Zoe. I love that dog and couldn't resist a photo.

A Trip to Sea World

The great thing about living in a touristy town like San Antonio is that there is never a lack of things to do. And, if you wait until tourist season is over, places like the Riverwalk, Sea World, Fiesta Texas and the Alamo can be pretty fun when you don't have to dodge old men in sandals and black knee socks.

With that in mind, this weekend was our family trip to Sea World. We've been once before, when Devin was just about two years old. While the kid can remember seeing bee outside the doors of our church when he was 18 months old, he has zero recollection of petting a dolphin or coming face-to-face with a shark six months later. Go figure.

So we got to the park and headed straight to the dolphins exhibit. Unfortunately, they did not have the feeding booth open (where you can purchase four small fish for the bargin price of $5.00), so the dolphins were a little less likely to come right up to you and let you pet them (they're in a big, open-topped tank, obviously). But they did come up close and Devin was amazed.

Next we went to the coral reef exhibit and what we missed at the dolphin exhibit was made up here. We walked into the big, theatre-style room with a huge coral reef tank that must have measured 25 feet tall by 35 feet wide. Hundreds of people were crowded in there and Dev and I found a good viewing spot pretty quickly. My fabulous husband stood at the back with the girls.

We walked in just in time to see a diver jump into the tank and while the woman in the theatre was explaining what was going on, the diver started to talk! How cool! She had a microphone in her scuba equipment and could hear everything we were saying, despite the 11-inch-thick glass. Ahh, modern technology.

They did a little bit of background on the fish and then began feeding. You should have seen them all swarm! It was amazing!

We decided to leave before the 200 people in the room with us all headed for the door at the same time. We went into the next room, which was dimly lit and completely taken up by another huge tank filled with sharks of all shapes and sizes. We stood there for a long time and watched as they would come right up to the glass, teeth bared and looking mean. It freaked me out and I kept saying, "Please don't eat my children..."

We grabbed a bite to eat and right around that time, Devin spotted the ride, "Journey to Atlantis." It's one of those big water rides that takes you up a big hill, turns you around and drops you, getting you and everyone standing nearby soaking wet.

I was fully expecting Devin to say, "I'm never doing that!" which is his patented saying when he is adamant about not doing something.

But, instead, he said, "Can we ride that, Mom?"

I've never been so proud and I know my mom, the ultimate daredevil, was smiling down. I quickly grabbed the Doodlebug's hand and marched over to the "You have to be this tall to ride Journey to Atlantis" sign. I stuck his little head under there and, wouldn't you know it, he missed the height requirement by about a half-an-inch. Seriously. I tried to reason with the girl standing there, but she wouldn't allow it.

I see a trip to Sea World again in our future, just for the sake of riding that ride. Devin was so disappointed.

To cure his disappointment, we ran into a gift shop and grabbed a small, stuffed Shamu for Dev. He promptly named it "Fluffy." Whatever you say...

Then we went to see the newest Shamu show, "Believe."

I was really expecting some chee-zee show with some sort of stupid plot, but I was mercifully wrong.

This show was amazing. They first started with a salute to the military and invited all US military as well as military personnel of the United States' allies to stand while the rest of the audience gave an ovation.

After that, the music began (I may buy the soundtrack -- it was that good) and out of the water came Shamu. And Shamu II. And Shamu III. I've never seen a killer whale show that included three whales at once. It was fabulous and the whole thing just brought tears to my eyes -- it was simply incredible and beautiful.

The best part of the show, though, was Faith. I was holding her and Todd had Grace. Grace was her usual fiesty, squirming self. But Faith was mesmerized. Every time Shamu came out of the water, she would point and squeal. Then she would patiently wait for the big creature to emerge again. She even caught on that Devin's toy looked like the show she was watching and would point and squeal at it, too. It was fantastic to watch her enjoy that show so much.

We were pretty tired by this point, but we trudged on to see the penguins and the sea lions. We finally said, "We're outta here!" and took a very begruding Devin home.

All-in-all it was a fantastic day and we are so looking forward to returning.

Moving On...

All week long, now, Faith has been practicing her walking skills. Every day she walks a little more and a little more, getting more comfortable with going distances, letting go and even changing direction.

Well, Grace would hear nothing of it. Last night, as all five of us were playing upstairs and cheering Faitharoo on, Gracie just popped up and started walking. Before last night, she'd only taken one unaided step. Suddenly, though, she's matching Faith step-for-step, despite being a week behind in practice.

So now, I have two walkers whereas only two weeks ago, I had two crawlers. Holy cow it happened fast.

More news to come, as it happens or as I have time. :)

Ciao...

What I Heard From Upstairs A Few Minutes Ago...

Babble, babble, talk, laugh, cry, talk, babble, laugh...

Thud.

Silence.

Screams.

Grace has decided that when she's done with her nap, she will remove herself from her crib rather than wait for me to do so.

No injuries, luckily.

Not To Be Outdone...

Grace took her first step yesterday. It was only one step, but I don't think she can stand the idea of her sister doing anything that she's not doing, too.

Life as we know it is over.

And, just for a laugh, here is an image I got from my high school friend, Karen. As a devout Catholic, I found this particularly hysterical.

How Catholics Know When They Are Driving Too Fast

When Is This Rollercoaster Going To Stop?

Ugh! Our lives have been so crazy lately! I don't know where the lazy, dog days of summer went, but suddenly we are in the throes of a very busy fall.

Devin started Pre-K at a local church and preschool last Tuesday, the 4th. It was a proud day for mommy as he walked in, put his bucket (instead of backpack) and lunchbox down, found his name at the table and started working on his morning worksheet. I didn't cry, although I did get a little teary-eyed when I was taking photos of him looking so cute in his denim shorts and new polo shirt. He's just so grown up.

We've also had a few crazy weekends lately, with family in town, birthday parties, etc. It's like I just can't seem to catch up!

And, of course, life has not been without excitement.

This past Sunday, I went to a bridal shower and was enjoying some girl time. My stupid cell phone won't hold a change, but I didn't think much of it, as I wasn't going to be gone more than a couple of hours, I was close to home and Todd had the number of the house where the shower was being held.

Big mistake.

I got home around 4:30 and as I got out of my car, I saw my neighbor coming across his lawn and mine, toward me. Now Billy is the life of the party, always laughing and telling jokes, so when I saw his face without a smile or silly comment, I knew something was wrong.

"Don't panic. Everything is fine. Lisa (his wife) and Elena (our neighbor) are inside with the girls. Devin cut his finger on a knife and Todd took him to the Emergency Room. I saw them before they left and Devin was doing fine. He got into the car himself and had even stopped crying. Lisa and Elena are happy to stay with the babies if you want to go to the hospital."

Okay. Okay. I can handle this. D is in good hands, Todd is with him and the babies are happy. Okay. What do I need to do?

Put the milk that I purchased on the way home in the fridge.

So I went inside, met Lisa and Elena and asked them if they'd mind staying while I went to meet my husband and son. They were totally supportive and encouraged me to please go and not worry about the babies.

So I did.

I was at the ER in record time and found Devin and Todd immediately. There was my poor son, sitting on the exam table, his left hand wrapped in a towel. I asked if I could see the wound and Devin bravely showed it to me. OUCH! It was a pretty deep cut!

As we were waiting for the doctor to come in, I got the full story.

Todd was working on our bathroom and was on a ladder. His Leatherman pocket knife was out and Devin was reaching for it. Todd told Devin not to pick it up, but the munchkin did not listen and grabbed it anyway. He had a slice in his thumb before Todd could get down the ladder.

The doctor came in, decided on stiches and we discussed how to make the Doodle comfortable during the little "procedure."

First was Tylenol for Codeine for the pain (which, by the way, had the opposite effect on my kid), then a topical anesthesia. After that was a local anesthesia via a shot (Devin was not happy about this, but luckily they had him wrapped up in a blanket like a burrito, so he couldn't swat them away). Then the stiches. The local anesthesia worked well, because he never felt a thing. While the doctor worked on D's left hand, Todd stood on the right side of the room and did tricks with the latex gloves. He had Devin (and the nurses, in fact) in stiches (pardon the pun!) and kept his mind off of procedure at hand (pardon that pun, too!).

After the procedure, we were out of there pretty quickly and D's done very well ever since. We've kept his hand wrapped in an Ace bandage to keep him from using it too much, but it's barely slowed him down. We'll have to skip Gymnastics class this week, but he'll be able to return next week.

The girls are doing well, also. Thank you to all of you who posted comments or sent me emails on how to boost their calories and get them to gain weight faster. We've adopted a number of your suggestions and they seem to be very happy with their new, more fattening diet. Who wouldn't be?

A few weeks ago (actually, it was August 6!), Faith took her first steps. It was those tentative, coaxed steps that stopped as soon as they started. She walked, but she wasn't interested in doing so. Over the next month, she did it a few more times, but again, it was only when I sat across the room with the remote control in my hand, begging her to come toward me.

This past Thursday, though, as I was sitting in the living room, Faith popped up onto her feet by herself (she didn't even pull up on an object!) and walked over to me. I was so surprised, but I'm not sure she knew was she was doing. I think instinct had taken over her conscious, because she wouldn't do it again. It was like she didn't even know she'd done it.

Until yesterday.

Last night, around 5:00, the three kids and I were playing in the front room, and Faith did it again: poppped up by herself, and walked to me. This time, though, she laughed and smiled, so I know she knew was she was going.

And that was it. She started walking everywhere: From the living room to the dining room, through the kitchen and breakfast room and into the family room. Rest. Then off to the entry hall and back into the living room.

Houston, we have a walker

Gracie, not to be outdone, has now started to spend more time standing on her own. I doubt it will be long before she's walking as well.

So there you have it -- the latest in the life and times of the Pruetz family. Stiches, first steps and general craziness. It's just another day in paradise. :)