Where the hell have I been?

A funny thing happens when you fall off the blog-o-sphere, so I thought I'd give a quick update.

On Tuesday, I had a big time surgery to fix a Giant Paraesophageal Hernia.  Impressed?  Well, you should be.  :-)  A giant paraesophageal hernia is where at least 1/3 of your stomach has herniated up next to your esophagus through the diaphragm and ends up in your lungs.  It looks kinda like this:

It is a pretty abnormal condition.  I've been living with it for several years but just recently was told it was time to get it repaired.  Surgery was apparently a success but I am now trying to mend.  Imagine this:  No lifting anything more than 10 pounds for at least 8 weeks (Oliver weighs about 25 pounds), for the first two weeks, it is a liquid diet, then if x-rays show everything is a-okay I can move on to a "soft foods" diet which consists of soups and pureed foods (if you think this sounds like baby food, you would be right!) for another 6 weeks.  And the pain!  I am trying not to whine too much as that would just make the pain worse.  Here's been my companions the past couple of days:

Did you see Children's Ibuprofen?  Yes, well, they don't make liquid Ibuprofen any other way.

The hardest part has been not being able to snuggle with Oliver but I know that it is temporary.  Today for example, he spent the day at Papa's and Grandma Jana's house and got to play in a little wading pool!  So Oliver is still getting all that attention that he craves.   

Thank you to modern medicine and Dr. Alex Farivar for making me feel better.  Well, in a few weeks.  :-)

This weather SUCKS

Sadly no photos were taken this weekend (or last week, for that matter).  Who knew that end of July would be kinda cold, and rainy, and super yucky?? 

I'll share one from this morning I snapped with my phone.  Oliver's new hangout is in the bathroom.  He loves looking in the shower, and opening the cabinets, and shutting the door... really... he could stay in there for hours and be happy.  It's always supervised though, because he sometimes will get a finger pinched in the cabinets.  Silly guy.

Yesterday we went to Fred Meyer where they were having a sidewalk sale.  I am a sucker for the Carter's clothes, so when they are marked down to $5 for a two piece set... well... you can imagine how that went.  Oliver picked up some new clothes.  I bought 18 month clothes which look HUGE.  I was like, there's no way Oliver will fit in that for a few months!  But he will grow and fit into them in no time, I'm sure.

I also wanted to share a rare pic that Tim's sister Amy sent to Tim on her phone - it's a bit grainy because it was forwarded to my phone, and then sent to flickr.  So lots of hands to exchange.

Baby Lexi is about 4 1/2 months old in this photo.  Yes, that is correct.  She looks so sweet - I feel a bit sad to meet her when Tim and Oliver go back to PA next month.  Love you, little chunk a monk!

As a comparison, here is one from Oliver about 4 1/2 months old.

Only a coincidence that both Tim and his sister are wearing orange.  This is when we took Oliver ot the pumpkin patch.  That seems like so long ago!  Love this little dude!!  

The sandbox incident

Little O and I went to Magnuson park on Friday, and it was his first time playing in the sand. 



These two kids let Oliver borrow this front loader (which matched his outfit, BTW).  Oliver loves to get dirty, and loves getting his toes in the sand.  Luckily, he still doesn't mind wearing a hat, too!

Shortly after these photos, a devil spawn toddler came up to Oliver and took a shovel out of his hand.  To make matters worse, this demon baby then threw sand in Oliver's face!  The nerve!  Would you believe that the babysitter just looked up from her magazine after seeing me trying to wipe sand out of O's eyes to ask if he (devil-baby) threw sand at him.  I replied, yes, in his face.  She said in the snottiest tone, "Sorry," and continued to read her magazine.

Boy was I fired up!  Some people really have no skills at all at being human.  Luckily I had some water in the car, so I was able to flush it all out (Oliver was not a fan of that).

Seward Park & his favorite bear

The 4th of July was such a beautiful day, and I was trapped inside at work (why do I keep volunteering for these things??), so after Oliver spent the morning hanging with Tim, my mom came and swooped Oliver up and went to Seward Park with G'Gpa. 

Oliver loves picnic time!

With his favorite bear, then getting a hand walking to the water.

                    

Look at this cute feet!  They said he didn't mind walking on the rocks at all!



Also got more of Oliver with his bear.  I think we finally found a lovey for him!  Oliver is so picky with these things!  :-)

Since I worked on the 4th, I will be off tomorrow with the little man.  And the weather report shows to be cloudy with a high of 66!  Gah!  Why I can't get some good weather in the middle of July is beyond me...

Green Lake wading pool!

Saturday was the first day in a long time when it was A.) A weekend and B.) warm enough to go to the wading pool!

We first went over to my Dad and Jana's in the late morning, where Oliver had a lot of fun playing in the grass and throwing rocks out from underneath the Cedars.  Papa got some good photos of Oliver having his lunch picnic style.  Here's one of the two of them.  My dad is in mid-sentence, so I kinda caught him off-guard. :-)

Later in the afternoon, it was nice and warm (80 degree warm) so Tim and I broke out the swimmer diapers and went to the wading pool! 

Oliver found a big ball and crawled over to get it.  Joy!

Oliver also met this little lady - she was almost 2 months younger than Oliver but was WAY bigger.  Her dad said she is in the 95% for weight!

Would you believe I also got a little video of this cuteness!?  I was so on my game. 

Well, maybe not on my game fully, as what did Tim and I forget when we went to the wading pool?  A towel for little O!  What rookies we are! 

Oliver had a wonderful time - this will be a regular summer activity as long as we get some more hot days!

Oliver toys & more cousin time

So I know it has been far too long since my last blog update.  This past weekend, we had more play time with Chelsea as Nona, G'Gpa, Ali, Jim, and Chelsea came over for dinner.  These babes are so cute!  Chelsea is getting to be a big girl and can almost sit up on her own! 

Oliver is always ready for a photo op:

I even got to spend some time holding my niece.  She has the bluest eyes! 

Oliver also is showing how gentle he is with Spike!  We have been amazed that Spike has yet to swipe at the little O.  I know it will happen at some point (a learning lesson for Oliver, I'm sure), but still amazed that Spike and Bailey have either taken Oliver's beatings or have ran away from him.

Oliver and I also went to the park over the weekend where he got to spend some time crawling around in the grass (he loves it).

Lastly, a video of Oliver playing with his toys.  Nothing too groundbreaking but still cute, nonetheless.  :-)

Father's Day weekend!

How is everyone's week going?  I am going to get some flack from my mom about this, but I had a video I was going to post and I accidentally DELETED it.  Ugh!  I actually deleted all of them from the Flip Camera - not sure what happened, but there you go.  Sorry.  :-(

To recap the weekend quickly, it was pretty great, to be honest.  Saturday evening, I got to watch Chelsea while my brother and SIL went out to dinner.  And if you are an avid reader, you will probably guess that Nona was here with both of the grandbabies.  :-)

Chelsea is getting super sweet.  She is cutting her two bottom teeth, so she was a bit cranky.  We went for a walk and watched the cars go by (one of Chelsea's favorite activities).

                      

We had a great time with both.  On Sunday, we celebrated Father's Day!  The Counter, a local burger place, was offering a free BFD - that is burger for dad, people!  Tim loves their burgers.  They actually cook them to leave pink in the middle. 

Yes, that is burger on Oliver's plate.  Oliver loves burgers, too!  Well, he loves EVERYTHING.  After later in the afternoon, we went up to one of my uncle's house for a BBQ.  You can always count on Uncle Dick to have tons of food!  Oliver made sure to let him know that it was delicious.  Items Oliver ate include:
Salmon
Cookie
Apple pie
Fruit salad - strawberries, pineapple, grapes, blueberries, two types of melon
Pasta salad- pasta, olives, green peppers, red peppers, onions, etc.
Cheese

I'm sure there's more that I am forgetting.  He got to see Papa and Grandma Jana, along with Grandma Buss, and Uncle Jim, Aunt Ali, and Chelsea again.  I also got to see some of my cousins and their kids.  It was a pretty packed house!  Oliver was such a good boy - just visiting and playing nicely, while the older kids were running around like banshees.

I'll take a quick Oliver break and show you these delicious LOCAL strawberries. 

Today was a beautiful day, and lucky Tim was off to enjoy it with the little guy!  He took him to the Ballard spray park.  I cannot wait for Oliver to start walking - he is going to LOVE this even more!

Lastly, I came home, and we all walked up to a park up the road.  This park is pretty awesome - swings, spinny thing, bouncy things, slides, and, A ZIP LINE.  Cannot wait for Oliver to get bigger for that.  I am just so excited for all the things he gets to experience once he gets older!  I love that little guy!

Tim had a wonderful day with him; it was a wonderful way to wrap up a great Father's Day weekend.  Thank you Tim for being an amazing Daddy to Oliver!