Mmmmmmmmm
Before I describe what's cooking right now, let's back up a couple of days for a few updates:
Jason's surgery
Jason is recovering well and doing quite a bit considering. Rachel thinks looking at his tummy with concern is really interesting, which has meant that Rachel has become very interested in belly buttons. If you see her in the next week beware - she may lift up your shirt to have a look!
Rachel's weight
We went to Children's Hospital on Dec 20th for her follow up weight appointment, where Rachel was measured at 18 lbs, 6.9oz. This wasn't too bad considering she had been sick and not eating very much in the last few days. It was actually a little bit more than her expected weight gain over the last month, and she was discharged with no further intervention needed. Yay!
Flying to VA
We left Denver before the snow hit Colorado and, thanks to our friend Sarah D for visiting/driving us/helping us carry our bags, we left safely. Rachel slept for the first hour of the flight, and did quite well for the remaining 2 hours. No concerns at all with the trip.
Cooking up a feast
Our first task while visiting Grandmother Oliver is to help take down as much food as possible from the house. We're starting with a Christmas feast. The Montana family is coming over for dinner, and I (Meggan) wanted to be 'in charge' of the whole deal. So the turkey is cooking. The green bean casserole is done, the sweet potatoes are topped with half marshmellows and half pecans, the mashed potatoes are done, the stuffing is done. Jason is working on making his grandmother's famous rolls. The ham, brussels sprouts, and gravy are coming. Karen and Susan are sous-chefs and in charge of Rachel for the day. The Montanas are bringing dessert! Sounds and smells fantastic to us.
Happy harvesting to everyone!
December 22, 2011
December 19, 2011
Christmas Card
As the holiday season approaches...
... and we all get ready to PARTY...
We even ran...
Happy Holidays from the Oliver family
We hope this finds you well. All the best for a wonderful 2012.
With love,
Meggan, Jason, and Rachel
December 18, 2011
A heck of a Saturday
Friday was the last day of school and the start of Christmas break! Jason finished his last final Friday morning, got all his grades in, and then went out for Vietnamese lunch with some other staff to celebrate. Rachel and I picked him up after school and went for a walk on the snow-packed trails. An intense game of snowball soccer ensued, with Rachel in the backpack giggling every time we kicked the snowball down the path.
Jason went to bed with a sore tummy, wondering if the Vietnamese wasn't sitting well. Saturday Jason woke up with pain in his upper central abdomen. We were able to get in to the doctor at 10am, but by then Jason was in bad shape. The doctor sent us over to the ER after seeing Jason in the fetal position on the examination table. After a physical exam, Dilaudid for the pain, and an abdominal CT scan, it was confirmed that he had appendicitis. He had a laproscopic appendectomy and then recovered in the hospital for another 4 hours before coming home.
Rachel came to the hospital with us initially, and then I took her over to a friend's house at lunch time. She played there for a couple hours and then, while Jason was in surgery, I brought her home for a nap. I then took her to a different friend's house where she stayed for a few hours over dinner, and then Jason and I were able to pick her up before returning home for bed. She did really well with these different environments, and we are so thankful to our friends (Ben & Ellie and Sarah & Dustin) who were able to help us out at the last minute. The only strange thing all day for her was that she didn't eat much throughout the day.
Jason has 3 small incisions that will cause some abdominal discomfort for a few days, but overall should have a successful recovery. There is no problem with us flying on Wednesday to Virginia and the surgeon gave Jason permission to commence running as soon as he feels up to it! (We think this might be a little while.)
At 8:30pm Rachel woke up throwing up. We're not quite sure what set her off, but we now understood the poor appetite. She settled down again and slept well, but could not keep her breakfast down in the morning. Poor thing!
In any case, everyone is feeling better now.
Thanks for the good wishes.
December 15, 2011
Palm Springs
Dec 12-Dec 15 Palm Springs
Rachel and I visited Nana for 3 nights in Palm Springs this week. I'd never been to that area before... and, while the visit with Nana was nice, there is no need to go back. I'm not a desert person. I will say it was nice not to wear hat, gloves, and puffy for a few days!
Monday and Thursday travel went well. No problems with the bus, the airports, the flights. Rachel slept in my lap on both flights, actually. Rachel did really well with everything and enjoyed the whole process of the trip. She makes friends every where we go and random strangers helped us with our extra bags, doors, etc quite often. The security people were mostly helpful and friendly.
Funny security note - leaving Palm Springs the average traveler age is probably 65years. Instead of hearing 'please take out your laptops' you could hear 'do you have a hip or knee replacement?' to detect metal body parts for special screening. Cracked me up.
Tuesday it was grey and rainy and we toured Joshua Tree National Park. What a weird place. Tues afternoon we went to the Living Desert Zoo and checked out camels, zebras, giraffes, rode on a carousel, and went to the Children's discovery center. Rachel spent 30 min here opening drawers over and over until the place closed.
Wed it was warm and sunny and we went for a lovely hike up Murray Canyon at Indian Canyon. Nana's knees did very well to hike this 4 mile round trip and my back is still complaining after that much time with the Bjorn carrier. But it was gorgeous. Lots of fun creek crossings and palm trees.
We were only gone a few days but Rachel learned new words even in this short time. She can echo most words now. They may not be understandable to other people, but now we can understand a 'ya', 'teeth', 'turtle', 'melon', and she can sort of do the sign for giraffe.
This trip we also tested out our new travel high chair: the Phil&Ted's Me Too. It folds up small and fairly light and then can clip on most table or counter surfaces to be a portable chair. I really love it and enjoyed having it on this trip for meal time. I'd recommend it to any friend looking for a travel high chair depending on your table.
Glad to be home and get settled and rested before we fly to Virginia next week. Jason has his last day of school tomorrow and then it's Christmas holiday time!!!
 |
| R gives Nana shoe while wearing her new coat that Nana made |
Rachel and I visited Nana for 3 nights in Palm Springs this week. I'd never been to that area before... and, while the visit with Nana was nice, there is no need to go back. I'm not a desert person. I will say it was nice not to wear hat, gloves, and puffy for a few days!
Monday and Thursday travel went well. No problems with the bus, the airports, the flights. Rachel slept in my lap on both flights, actually. Rachel did really well with everything and enjoyed the whole process of the trip. She makes friends every where we go and random strangers helped us with our extra bags, doors, etc quite often. The security people were mostly helpful and friendly.
Funny security note - leaving Palm Springs the average traveler age is probably 65years. Instead of hearing 'please take out your laptops' you could hear 'do you have a hip or knee replacement?' to detect metal body parts for special screening. Cracked me up.
Tuesday it was grey and rainy and we toured Joshua Tree National Park. What a weird place. Tues afternoon we went to the Living Desert Zoo and checked out camels, zebras, giraffes, rode on a carousel, and went to the Children's discovery center. Rachel spent 30 min here opening drawers over and over until the place closed.
Wed it was warm and sunny and we went for a lovely hike up Murray Canyon at Indian Canyon. Nana's knees did very well to hike this 4 mile round trip and my back is still complaining after that much time with the Bjorn carrier. But it was gorgeous. Lots of fun creek crossings and palm trees.
We were only gone a few days but Rachel learned new words even in this short time. She can echo most words now. They may not be understandable to other people, but now we can understand a 'ya', 'teeth', 'turtle', 'melon', and she can sort of do the sign for giraffe.
This trip we also tested out our new travel high chair: the Phil&Ted's Me Too. It folds up small and fairly light and then can clip on most table or counter surfaces to be a portable chair. I really love it and enjoyed having it on this trip for meal time. I'd recommend it to any friend looking for a travel high chair depending on your table.
Glad to be home and get settled and rested before we fly to Virginia next week. Jason has his last day of school tomorrow and then it's Christmas holiday time!!!
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