The whirlwind tour

Mich made it bad from Vegas. Her plan to go to the office straight from the red eye was too hard on her so she decided to come home for a shower and a change of clothes. She actually had a change of clothes in her bag but their was a UPS place next to the bag check at the convention center so she shipped her bag home, one less thing to worry about. Well, she didn't think about not having her stuff one she got back home. So, she's at home for a few more minutes and then it's back on the train to go into the city. She has to go because she has an interview with a new accountant.

We had dinner with my parents at the half price pasta place. It's really amazing how good it was and the whole bill for my parent, me and the boys was $20. Sam was being a little bratty but I he stayed in check when I reminded him that we couldn't go to Barnes and Noble afterward if he wasn't a good boy. Isaac ate like a pig, what else is new. That boy is a little vacuum, it's lucky that he never stops moving or we wouldn't be able to lift him. The only reason I suggested Barnes and Noble was because it's not too far from Bernie's house. He was supposed to bring the postcards home so that I could figure out how much the bulk mailing will cost. Well, turns out he forgot to bring them so there was no reason to go that way at all and there was a Borders next to the restaurant. I didn't call Bernie until I was in the car with the boys all loaded in so we went there anyway. Sam loves it there. They have a train table and unlike other places they have tons of trains to play with. He got to pick out a book and of course picked another Thomas one. We got home last night and I started toward getting Isaac in bed. He didn't seem all that tired but I had a fairly easy time of it. Changed him into his pjs and let him play with Sam for a little bit. I tried to stay on top of the mess they were creating but that is no easy task. After a few minutes Sam and I kissed Isaac goodnight and I plopped him in his crib. He fussed a very tiny bit (probably only 20 seconds, I think he doesn't want to miss out on any fun) but then went right to sleep. Sam wanted me to read him the new Thomas book which I had already read to him once in the store. He wanted me to read him 10 books but I bargained him down to only 5. I told him that only 2 of them could be Thomas books. So, I read Oswald, Mr. Putter and Tabby feed the Fish, a Grover book and the two Thomas books. All of them had many words so when he lost interest in the middle of book number 5 I was so glad. Then I turned on the tv and we watched a show about underground cities that Sam referred to as the fish show. He crashed a few minutes later and so did I.

This morning Isaac woke on the early side. I hadn't gotten into the shower yet, I was trying to tidy up the house before Michy's return. My anti-clutter girl. Sam woke up at about 7:15 which is early for him too. Then the phone rang at 7:35, it was Sue saying that she overslept. So when she arrived at a couple minutes to 8 I ran for the shower. Amazingly I was only 5 minutes late for work.

Viva Las Vegas

We dropped Michy off at that airport, she's going to MAGIC. It's the largest trade show for the fashion industry in the world. It's actually surprising that she's never been before. Hopefully her flight took off on time and she's about 20 minutes into her flight. You wonder why I'm here at the computer, well both the boys fell asleep on the way home from the airport. I knew that Isaac would, he didn't nap today, well maybe 45 minutes but he's a three hour napper. Sam had a busy day, we went to a birthday party at a karate place and he never stopped running around. So I tucked both boys in their beds fixed a glass of iced tea and headed for the computer. I am actually a bit tired so maybe I'll take this opportunity to get some sleep except I know that I won't sleep all that well in our big bed all alone. I told Michy not to call, she get in the Vegas at 11:07 which is 2 am here. Hopefully I'll be sleeping then. Mich is taking the red eye home tomorrow, she leaves at 10:15 p.m. and will go straight to work when the plane lands at 5:56 a.m. That doesn't sound fun. She is expecting to have a busy day in the office on Tuesday and doesn't even think she'll be able to come home early. So tomorrow night I'll be single momma again. I hope that both the boys decide to to behave and nap during the day so we can spend a night on the town or at least make it to the park.

A sticker for the car

I've been thinking that a we need a sticker for the car. I'm not sure what it should be exactly but I want it to say two mom family when you see it. Not necessarily the words but an image that says it would be fine. So, I was delivering some stuff into the city for Mich's new showroom that she had bought in Target and on the way home I stopped on Christopher Street. I amazingly got a parking spot on the street and there was already 30 minutes left in the meter. Right across the street there was a shop called something like rainbow cards. I went in and looked at the stickers none of them appealed to me. There was one that seemed okay, it said family car with a rainbow flag underneath. So I left there and went to another store and they had the same selection. So I didn't get a sticker. There was another reason though, neither of the shopkeepers seems gay. Somehow I feel like I should be supporting the community. I discussed this with Michy and she said that's the beauty of America. So I'm trying to thing of other instances like this where I feel like I should support people because of the community. I like to buy at the greenmarket but I will get produce elsewhere if I have to. I'm hard pressed for other examples but maybe I should have bought a sticker from the straight guy. Maybe if he had the perfect one?

The sky are falling and other Weekend events

Friday I took the day off and went with the boys to the Somerset County Fair. It's an old fashion fair, no rides, games or midway just mostly animals, food and some handiwork. Upon arrival we went in to the first tent to see the beef cows, Sam really wanted nothing to do with the cows he wanted to see the horses. Please mommy please lets go see the horses. So we left the cows passed by nearly everything else and went to see the horses. Well, they have them so you see the back on the stall, the front side is off limits to visitors. So, mostly we saw horse's butts. There were a few that were facing the inside but there was fencing that you could only get a finger or two through to touch them. It made petting them hard. After that Sam was happy to visit the other animals, we got to meet a cow that was only 18 days old, he was bigger then Sally but not by much. He was SO cute. We saw pigs, sheep, goats, alpaca, chickens, roosters, snakes, lizards and many more. At some point Sam said he was hungry so we got curly fries which both boys loved and an ear of corn on the cob for Isaac the four toothed corn eating fool. He loves it and can manage to get every kernel off. Then Sam saw someone with a cotton candy and wouldn't take no for an answer, so off we went to buy a cotton candy that was bigger then his head. He tried to eat it apple style, by just going at it with his mouth. It was very messy! We went through the tent with the information about 4-H and the county where Sam got to play little games to win prizes. He left with two frisbees, a couple pencils, a short ruler and a certificate for the goldfish that he won! On the way our he decided that he wanted to "work the digger" after refusing on the way in. The kids got to walk up a set of steps into the cab of a very large excavator and use the controls to make the digger go up then down. They were given cute yellow hard hats too. A big thank you to Aunt Marsha for letting me know the fair was on. It was too bad that that couldn't meet us since I know that Sam would have been very happy to see them. It's also unfortunate that it only happens during the week and Michy is in no position to take off with everything that is going on with the move at work. Poor Mich is hardly home, even working on Saturdays. I will be so glad when things settle there.

In our bedroom we had a curtain hanging over our bed. A little decorative curtain that hung near the ceiling attached to a board that was attached the ceiling. The board is about 1 inch by 4 inches and slightly wider then our king sized bed. We are sleeping, Mich, Sam, and I and it came out of the ceiling and fell on us. We awoke to Sam's blood curdling screams, he was totally inconsolable. He couldn't tell us what was wrong, he was crying and gasping for breath. It was horrible. After about 10 minutes of trying to calm him down we called my mom to come stay with Isaac so that we could take him to the emergency room. She arrived speedy quick, took her about 15 minutes to dress and drive to us. By the time she arrived he was slightly calm, He told us that his nose hurt him and asked for a bandaid. We put a bandaid and that made him more calm. He asked for a drink, took one sip, said the bandaid fixed his nose and asked to go back to bed. So we brought he upstairs and put him in bed, he asked to watch a mommy show so I put on a national geographic show about coral reefs. Fish are calming right. Meanwhile Michy had called the emergency number at the peds office. The nurse said that she'd have a doctor get back to us. By the time the doctor called back Sam was sleeping soundly. You could see the lines on the bridge of his nose where the board hit him. The doctor said that it doesn't sound like head trauma and that we could wait until the next day if his nose was broken. The next morning he woke up looking terribly swollen and bruised. I pressed on it to see how he'd react, trying to assess if it was broken. He said ouch mommy please don't touch it, it hurts but didn't make much fuss. He also said it was fine when asked. So I decided that he was okay.

Since Michy went into the city on Saturday she took the gold car. The boys and I went to Ikea to help mommy out with shopping for showroom furniture we went in the blue car. Thank goodness Grandma came because it was so crazy there. When I got home I parked the car in the road since Grandma's car was in the driveway. I never got to pull the blue car into the driveway before Mich came home so I left it on the street. We were in took much of a rush Sunday morning to put it back in the driveway.

Sunday morning we met Robin, Andrew, Jacob and Sara at the Bronx Zoo. We all had a great time! We spent the greater portion of the day looking at all the animals and using our membership to it's fullest by riding the carousel, going in the children's museum (home to Sam's favorite the donkeys) and riding the monorail. What a fun day!!

So we got home and pulled into the driveway. The blue car needed to be on the inside because it's the one that I take to work. Sue drives the blue car. We go into the backyard and fill up the kiddie pools. It was a hot day at the zoo and we are hoping that the boys will be happy to play while we try to relax a little bit. So we are happy in the yard and we hear this popping sound like fireworks. We look towards the street, the direction that we hear the noise coming from and see the wires bouncing up and down. I run through the house on to the front porch to see that a tree has fallen on our car. You can hardly see the car, the tree is blocking our half of the road. Within minutes the police were detouring people and directing traffic. Now we are hoping that either nothing happened to the car or the car is severely damaged. It took at least two hours for the emergency road crew to come to remove the tree. Turns out the car is dinged and scratched but not all that bad. The nice police officer dropped off the report and told us not to contact our insurance company that the county will pay for it. So Monday morning they came and took the rest of the tree down. It's very sad that it's gone. Maybe our garden will be happier. We still do not have phone service restored.

The boy's really growing up

That's what Uncle Nadav said after returning from a trip to the bathroom with Sam. They left the table saying they were going to wash their hands. When they got back Nadav says Sam knows exactly what to do in the bathroom the only thing he can't do is pull his pants up all the way. He then goes on to say, he walked right up to the urinal, pulled down his pants and peed. A urinal? Has he ever even seen a urinal before? So Nadav says, doesn't he usually go in a urinal? Well, there are never urinals in the woman's room so I never get to see them. I actually assumed they were too high for him to use, since I haven't seen that many in my life. The rest of our 1/2 price sushi dinner was fairly uneventful. We had our favorite waiter Jeremy, who dotes on the boys endlessly. (I actually think he's gay and has caught on to the fact that we're a two mom family)Sam had his favorite, chicken and noodles, which as usual Isaac ate most of. Isaac also ate two pieces of eel and alvacado roll. Oh, and Sam had the required Exotic Sensation drink. It's mango and pineapple juice in a fancy glass with a cherry and a piece of pineapple pierced with a tiny sword and an umbrella.

How it went

I woke up and looked at the clock, it was 5:30! We needed to leave for the hospital at 5:40. I ran downstairs and saw Sue standing at the door, I opened it for her and she said, I've been here since 5:15 but everything looked so dark I didn't want to wake anyone. Hello, you knew we needed to be at the hospital at 6! Well, at least we weren't up at 3 worrying. We dressed and threw down a cup of coffee as fast as we could. When we were all ready to go, I took Isaac from his crib, he slept through the transfer into his car seat. Whew. There was no traffic on the way to the hospital except for the stray deer that was behind in keeping up with her family. Michy screamed as I was slamming on the brakes. A near miss but the boy was still asleep. We decide it's best that we transfer Isaac to the stroller and hope that he will transfer yet again. Slick hands Lo gets him into the stroller without a problem! We get into the hospital, register and go to the waiting room to be called. I meet a woman who is there with her son, they call the kid in but the woman was at the registration desk. She says to the kid honey will you let Aunt so and so take you in I'm registering your brother. She come to sit down and I say two in one day? She says actually three, her 6 year old triplets were all having their tonsils removed. She goes in shortly after and Michy and I debate whether all in one day is better or not. We are finally called in at about 7. The first nurse asks us a million questions. Of course the which one is the mom questions came up and although she was lovely to us, I could tell she was processing and processing. The anesthesiologist came to meet with us and asked us the same million questions, he was better with the two mom thing. He explained that they would be putting him under using a mask and that as long as he didn't need to be under for more then five minutes he wouldn't need an IV. AN IV, THAT WAS NEVER IN THE CARDS! Well we hoped that wouldn't happen! Then the doctor came, she didn't ask about the two mom thing, had I told her? Mich had never met her before, I had been the one to go to all three of the prior appointments. She explained that there was a 10% chance that this wouldn't be effective and that he'd need another procedure where they'd actually leave tubes coming out. Out of where, his eyes? His face? Don't ask we won't be in the 10%. She also goes on to say that he should be back to himself about an hour or two after but that he may bleed from the nose. Mich and I discuss how they tell you the bad stuff when it's too late. I change into the white suit that covers me from my neck to my feet in preparation for accompanying Isaac in to the operation room. The nurse come back to take the vital, temp in the ear, blood pressure, pulse and a listen to his chest. WOW, he didn't even wake up through that! Yet another nurse come, she is the one that will be with him from the time the surgery starts through recovery. She looks at me and says, I guess you're mom, well actually we both are. She asks those Sam questions and says that she'll be back in a few minutes. Now it's about 7:25 and she and the anesthesiologist come and tell me that I should carry Isaac to the operation room sleeping. I pick him up, we walk down a long hall, through two sets of doors and there we are. They try to put the mask on him while he is still sleeping on my shoulder but no go. I think that the pressure on them holding the mask on his face caused him to wake. So I had to put him onto the table. The nurse was holding his body while the anesthesiologist was holding the mask on his face. I stroked his face and told him that everything was going to be okay and that I loved him. I sang a bit of the wheels on the bus, which always makes him smile. He looked into my eyes, with a look that said why are they doing this to me but he quickly went limp. I'm crying about this now but I was strong for him then. I went back to where Mich was waiting, took out my white suit. We were told that we should wait in the waiting room and that the doctor would come out and let us know how everything went. So we nervously flipped through magazines for what felt like eternity, looking at the door every time it opened until finally 15 minutes later they called. Only one of us could go in so I went. He was crying inconsolable. So miserable. I held him, I rocked, I sang and he cried. He needed to drink glucose water and hold it down before they would let him have milk. They had been trying to give him a tiny bottle with a newborn nipple on it like the ones they give you went you first have a baby. Finally he calmed down and decided to drink some on the water. Once he finished about 4 ounces they let him have milk. They seems to make him happier. They took they monitor off his toe and let us peel off the 3 monitor pads that were left on his chest. We got him dressed and as soon as a let him walk a little he was SO much better. We got in the car and were home by 9:30. He was a little cranky but all in all there were no visible signs except for the three circles on his chest. It's been 4 days now and he still seems fine. I better schedule the follow up!

Isaac's new toy

I went to sign the papers today for accompanying Isaac into the surgical room. The woman was extremely nice and I could tell that she has to deal with so many parents who's kids are having very major procedures done. She explained everything to me and showed me photos of what the room looks like and how I'd be dressed. I had to fill out a questionnaire so that they could see if I am fit to do this, just to make sure that I won't make him nervous, probably more of a concern with older kids. As I was leaving I was given the new toy, a mini mask that will be used to administer the anesthesia. I am supposed to give it to him to chew on, I mean play with.

In other news, Michy had signed a lease on her new space. She will be moving the factory to a bigger space down the block. This is really big news! I am so excited for her. She of course is a big stress ball and her mind is churning a mile a minute. With the additional space she will be able to offer her customers different products and be able to do great production of the types of work she is currently doing.

The Forms

Friday is Isaac's surgery. I am so not worried about it. We went through this with Sam, it was a much bigger deal for him, he was under for 35 minutes. With this procedure it's only going to be 3 minutes, that is so short, right? Well, I just talked to the hospital about going in to the room while he is put under. We didn't do this for Sam. They just took him away, he was little, 4 months, I don't even think he cared. I know that Isaac will care so I want to go in with him. I think he will be so much calmer if I get to go in then if they take him from me. I have to go sign some forms at the Child Life office at the hospital. So, when this woman said, so your will be the last face he sees, I nearly lost it. Will I even get out of the room before they start the procedure. I will go to the hospital on my way into the office tomorrow. I wasn't upset till now. I was hardly worried. Everyone says this is the most minor childhood surgery. Ah, the worry of being a mom.

Whew, I can finally stop lying!

Mom's 60th surprise party was a great success. After weeks of on telling a twisted deceitful plot I can finally stop lying to my mom. It was so hard keeping the secret. We had to keep the secret from Sam too since we knew that he'd blow it. All of her friends were there, the food was great and she really enjoyed her party. The rest of the weekend news was uneventful. Well actually I had a great day Saturday, Vicki and the girls came over. The kids played and played. Mich and Vic went to get their nails done while I stayed home with the kids. Asides from the girls falling down the playroom stairs, minimal crying, it was easy to be with the four of them. When they got home, Vic and I left Mich with the kids and we went shopping at Lord and Taylor. I got a cute new outfit for Mom's party. Dad felt bad that my hair was so awful that he called me and did my hair on Saturday afternoon. I got highlights and it looks great! Saturday night we say Lana and Colleen for dinner at their new house. We hadn't seen them in the longest time. It was so good to see them. We are all thinking the best and biggest implantation thoughts as we found out they had an embryo implanted earlier that day.

The Poop Doctor

We saw Steven the poop doctor with Sam yesterday. You know he won't poop on the potty, he is perfect with pee, wears undies with no accidents. When he has to go number two he will get a pull up and ask that you put in on him. We would suggest that he try to go on the potty but at this point he won't even sit. So, Vicki took Julia to see this guy and we decided, what could it hurt. Basically he said that we have to lower the anxiety of going poop. That we have to stop talking about except for in a playful way. Wait Thomas has to take a potty break, he is going to poop. (Do trains poop?) He also said that we should get pooping toys, are their dolls that actually poop. He gave Sam a pig that poops when you squeeze it. We have to get him to sit on the potty three times a day, just sit without asking him to try. We are supposed to get 10-15 small poop prizes to wrap and keep in a basket in the bathroom. If there is any success he gets to pick one. When he does want to poop in a pull up we are supposed to just put it on him and change him after without any fuss. We are supposed to encourage him to only poop in the bathroom. So, day one of mission poop in the potty begins. I'll let you know.

Weekend Fun

Friday night we went to my parents house for dinner. That was fairly uneventful and always a reliable source of nutrition. Saturday my cousin Vicki called, she was not going into the city as planned and was available for the trip to the Bronx Zoo. So, we all piled into her car, gotta love a mini van. It was Michy and I the boys and Vicki and her two girls, Julia who's 4.5 and Alyssa who is 3. What a great day!!! We joined the zoo since after 3 trips it pays for itself. We were planning on getting the regular family membership but then discovered that if we got the premium family membership we would all get in and get unlimited attractions. Woohoo! Vicki paid the $30 difference between the two prices so it cost us the same amount, she was happy because it cost her less then it would have if she just paid to get in. We were very happy because now we can get a guest in for free every time we go. It's good at all the zoos in the city, including the aquarium which we have plans to go to on the 13th. We had a great time seeing all of the animals and enjoyed all the special exhibits like the butterflies and the bug carousel. Also, it was great to spend so much time with Vicki and the girls. They live a couple blocks away but since we are both so busy we rarely sadly ever see them. Sunday we went to the beach. I really don't like the beach but I had a great time since the rest of my little Feinberg family loved it. Isaac is a total nut, he will let the sea envelope him. Just stands and waits for the water to come, that's when he's not running away from us on the beach. Sam is a bit more cautious with the water only goes in up to his tush. He loves the sand, he builds and builts and digs and digs. Michy tries her best to soak up every ray that she can while I stay under the umbrella. After we left the beach we went to Red Bank. They were having their sidewalk sales. I got a great pair of Diesel shoes for $10 and we got my mom a birthday present. Sam had falled asleep on the way there and slept in the stroller for the first two hours of us being there. Once he woke up he asked for ice cream, we asked someone where we could get some and were directed to a place with an ice cream topping bar. Sam loved it, basically he ate a bowl full of sprinkles. On the way home from Red Bank Isaac fell asleep, that was about 6:00 p.m. Once we got home I transferred him to his crib where he slept until the next morning at 8:40 a.m. Holy sleeping Zack-man!