Surgery

Monday morning, bright and early, I went in for my throat surgery.  Brendan's dad came over to watch the kids and we left for the hospital.  I am a funny one, but I like hospitals.  I have spent a bit of time in them, and contrary to making me loathe them, I find them to be like a second home.  Something about the beds, the soft noises all around, the beeping, the nurses gentle voices.  I don't know, I feel calm there.  Probably because I have absolutely no responsibilities when I'm there.  No one is demanding anything from me.  They are, in fact, offering me a warm blanket or a glass of ice water.  They say things like "would you like more pain medicine?" and "there, there, take a little rest!" 

 

When I was handed my gown I found they have gone hi-tech.  The gowns are paper, purple, and have little vents in them to which a hose attaches.  It blows in hot air to keep you warm.  It also puffs up from the air so they kind of look like those Sumo suits.  I felt pretty sexy.

 

Things went smoothly this time, my IV only took one time!  Usually I have to be poked and prodded a few times before an IV takes, but this time only one.  I think it was because my nurse had purple hair, which Ingrid would tell you obviously means good luck.  Last time I got pretty sick from the anesthesia, so this time they made sure to give me the good stuff that wouldn't make me sick.  Thank you, anesthesiologist!  That was the one thing I was dreading, waking up to feeling pukey. 

 

I woke up in the recovery room and felt fine.  Drugged up but overall pretty okay.  They brought me to my room, Brendan came up to meet me, I dozed in and out and then when I fully woke up it was time to go home!  Check out this view from my room!  It was gorgeous!

I got home to find Otis sleeping in my room, so I went and crashed by him.  I pretty much slept all day and night, popped some pain pills, drank some water, and that was it.  I am SO hoping this is the end of my throat woes.  I don't mind hospitals, but I sure do mind the ridiculous bills that come with them!!

The rest of the week has been great.  Sunny weather, friends helping out with the kids, and now my mom is coming today to help with the purple unicorn party!  Woohoo!   

House stuff, Sewing stuff, Surgery stuff.

Doesn't our house look nice?  We painted the door red, which only looks good from far away, so don't come too close, lol!  And with the new numbers, some daffodils and tulips popping up, it looks so charming.  We planted some more things in the flower beds this week and are looking at getting a new light and perhaps painting the house.  Obviously that is not a high priority but we're looking at it...

 In the backyard we are planning a little deck.  Finally!  Of course, I had gotten a concrete guy to come give us an estimate and was all ready to pay him to get it done in a couple weeks, but then Brendan changed his mind and didn't want a poured concrete patio after all.  How frustrating, I just want it done!  Alas, I do think the deck will look nicer.  So I'll give him that.

 

Last weekend I had a craft show at Ingrid's school.  It was fun!  I sold a fair bit of things, and was able to stock up at the Waxwing afterwards, which means I don't have to do any more sewing for awhile, I'll be good until the end of June.

 Which is a good thing, as I go in for surgery on Monday...again.  Last summer I had a cyst removed on my throat and I was all excited to have it taken care of once and for all.  Then I got sick and guess what got infected again??  My throat.  Again.  BLARGH!  So I've been in and out of the ENT doctor for months trying to figure out what's going on, as this usually doesn't happen.  Cat scans and antibiotics, lots of bills.  And another surgery.  See how happy I am about it?

 Next week will be a blur of drugs and pain, but then hopefully it will really truly be done.  Done I say!

 

In other news, it's really spring here, and we've been enjoying as much time outside as possible.  I even hung laundry on the clothesline!  So excited for warm weather and summer.

Ingrid's birthday party is next weekend.  We are having 8 four and five year olds coming for a purple unicorn party.  We are making glitter fairy wands as a craft.  There is going to be glitter all over our house for the next seventeen years, I can already tell.  But look how happy she is.  I can't say no to that.

 

Spring Weekend

It's so funny how a little sun and warm weather makes everyone so happy.  Especially when you have shitty weather for most of your year, like we do in the midwest.  This weekend was like all smiles and sunshine and fun, because it was nice out.  We got a lot accomplished!

Saturday morning we went to the zoo.  We saw the baby jaguars, they were playing with their mama, it was pretty cute to watch.  We had a picnic and then the kids crashed in the car on the way home. 

Brendan took off the front door so we could paint it.  By "we" I really mean "HE" since he ended up doing all the work.  I chose the color. 

Our door had a funny panel nailed on the front.  Brendan said hey, I think this is really a six panel door, they just covered it for some reason.  So he took off the panel and found that they had filled in the panels and then nailed a piece of cardboard over it, painted the whole thing an ugly navy blue color or black that faded in the sun, and called it a day.  So...hours later he'd managed to yank all the junk out of the panels and today he sanded and primed and painted.  It's still drying, but we will have a nice six panel, classic red front door soon!

We also got new house numbers.  It's amazing how something so small makes such a big difference!  Our neighbors were like wow, we never even noticed our numbers before but yours look so great!  And the best thing is, they were $6 a piece from Home Depot.  Next up is a new light fixture for outside. 

The kids got their fair share of play, too.  Chalk, tricycles, playing catch with the dads, going to the park, and popsicles.  Not bad for a weekend!

Catch Us if You Can.

Greetings fromTeam Liddle!!  It has been so blah around here, I really just haven't been up to doing anything.  But now I'm not sick, the weather is going to only get better (RIGHT??) and we're at the end of April.  Things are looking up.

 

We  have been enjoying our crazy weather.  It snowed the other day, but not as bad as in Minneapolis.  Sorry, Alisha, I really do feel for you!! Piles of snow in April is not what we like.  I got a jogging stroller, a Bob Revolution, and I can't believe I had two kids and never had one!  It is amazing, we have enjoyed taking long walks along the lake and even have jogged a bit, which Otis finds hilarious.  Definitely worth the money, that one.

 I finally got the kids all set for the rain, thanks to LL Bean.  Ingrid's dog coat is uh-MAZE-ing!  If Otis will wear pink dogs, he's totally getting a hand me down.

 

Let's see, what else?  I have my first show of the year coming up, at Ingrid's school!  Very excited about this one, I got everything ready right away and have been able to take some time off sewing for a bit.  Which is good, because then a very crafty friend announced a summer Maker Market in the neighborhood, first Sunday of every month during the summer, and I will be doing that!  Which makes four shows this summer!  I can't wait, it feels good to have a lot going on!

 

And then of course, we have a PURPLE UNICORN birthday coming up for a certain almost-five year old.  I never ever thought I'd be scouring the internet for sparkly purple unicorn things, but here I am...She is over the moon I found a unicorn pinata, dear god.

 

Oh, and I thought I'd share this find:  it's a Hoho!  There is a woman on Instagram that makes these and I have fallen head over heels for them!  They are just so cute, and one of a kind, she just makes them out of whatever fabric she has and each one is so charming and adorable!  She has a wait list you can get on, or if you're lucky enough she has flash sales during the week, but they go fast, like in 5 seconds!  I was lucky enough to get another one last week, I just happened to go on IG when she had just posted one.  It has cameras on it, it's so cute.  Otis has to have his Hohos to go to bed now, they are his best buds!

 And one last thing, sadly these banana seat bike pants no longer fit Otis, so they are going up in the shop!  If you know anyone younger than two, they may need these!  They are adorable and I am so sad they only fit him for a short time.  They look decievingly big, as they are high waisted.  I thought for sure they would be huge on him, but they were high waters on him and no longer fit over his skinny butt.  Bummer.  But good news for anyone looking for some cute vintage pants!

 Whew, there you have it, another mishmash, catch up post!  Enjoy!



Spring is Finally HERE!

We still have snow on the ground, but it's slowly melting and will hopefully be gone for good in a few days.   Today it's supposed to be 54.  I almost can't believe it, I was figuring we'd be covered in snow until July.  And then I think back to last year's Easter weekend and I am amazed at how late spring is coming.

LAST YEAR:

THIS YEAR:

 Our bulbs are just coming through the ground, and we still need winter coats and hats when we go outside.  BUT!  It's around the corner.  Warm weather is almost here.  ALMOST!

Outside Outside Outside!

It's been SOOOOO nice out lately, we have spent most of our time outside.  Today is the first cold and rainy day we've had in forever.  I actually don't mind it, as I had a chance to clean my house...Ingrid kept complaining all morning "why can't we go to the park???"  She got used to nice weather rather quickly!

We had our home inspection last night--all is well with our little colonial!  Sturdy little house, nothing major wrong.  I am so excited to get moved in!  Brendan spent THREE hours last night with the inspector, he said the house just kept growing on him the more he was there.  Ahhhh!  Home!

Our Weekend

This past weekend we went to the cottage for the first time of the season!!  That is one of my favorite things, it really means summer is coming.  I can imagine it being so hot and sticky you need the ten fans that are now sitting dormant.  I can imagine the kids screeching at the park that now sits still.  I can imagine the waves lapping up against the old metal slide that now sits on the beach instead of in the water. 

It was Otis' first time going, which meant that we needed to add him to the door.  We did a lot of going to the park, playing with toys, trying to relax.  It was fun.

We got home Sunday morning, Brendan made me French toast, I got to sit and sew for awhile, and then after lunch was cake!  Of course!  I would love a mani/pedi for Mother's Day, but cake is a close runner up. 

Another treat on Mother's Day was that Brendan finally wore the Moby and found out how nice it is to be hands free while Otis sleeps.  I love a man in a baby carrier.

Our Spring Days

Oh the lovely weather puts me in such a good mood!  Yesterday we got out bright and early and went to the lake.  We threw rocks in the water and enjoyed the sunshine.  I love that no one else is around on these chilly days, we get the park all to ourselves.

Today we played out in the backyard.  We got our slide and trike out, and busted out new chalk that was supposed to go in someone's Easter basket...All the crocuses are up, the daffodils are almost here, and the tulips are making their way as well.  After a snack and coffee outside, we came in and enjoyed our sunshiney living room.  Otis was wearing an Ingrid hand-me-down, the tattoo shirt our friend Michelle made!  It has my tattoos printed on the tshirt, it's so cute.

We also did some painting.  I found a paint with water book at the thrifts, completely untouched!  It's so much less messy than any other painting.

While Otis was sleeping, Ingrid and I had quality time together, building block towers just like old times.  She was very happy about having mama all to herself!

Tomorrow is another lovely day of having no plans.  It's supposed to be nice again, so I'm sure we'll find something to do outside.  And most likely coffee will be involved.  I love spring.

Babies!

Today we went to a little mama get together.  Ingrid was the oldest there and had to be reminded more than once to be gentle with all the little ones.  I am so used to her rambunctious personality I forget how crazy she really is!!  Orson didn't seem to have a problem with her, though!

Here are Milo and Otis (just like the movie!)  Milo is one month older than Otis, look how huge he is!  He was two weeks late and like 11lbs when he was born, so pretty much the opposite of our six week early 4lb baby.

Hopefully we can get together with these moms and kids often.  Especially when it gets to be nice out and we can play outside!!  Spring is right around the corner, right??

Easter Party

Our friends had a little Easter party in their backyard yesterday.  Luckily the weather cooperated and it was sunny and in the 70s.  The kids wore their cutest new spring wear, including Ben's amazing hat:

The girlies were all wearing skirts and pigtails, it was just that kind of day!  The kids got to pick up Easter eggs (which were thankfully NOT hidden, just thrown around the lawn.  Trying to give hints to Ingrid where to find something is so frustrating:  right there, no, by your hand, no right in front of you!!)

Allie has a great selection of toys, but the best one by far was this motorized Barbie VW Bug.  How ridiculous is this thing??  The kids loved taking turns driving around and no one knew how to steer so it was constant screaming, NO!  You're gonna crash!  Turn! 

Before we left, I had to get some pictures of Ingrid in the bathroom.  She was dancing on the counter and the mirror was playing tricks.  I suddenly had this glimpse of what it would be like to have not one but two of my little monster!!  Ahhhh!