owie eyes

On Thursday afternoon my eye started feeling like I had something in it. So I itched it. And itched some more. The next morning I woke up with both eyes crusted over and so swollen I couldn't keep them open. Jeff managed to get me into a doctor that morning and the doc thought I was having allergy-induced pink eye. We told him it was 3 days before Jeff's brother's wedding and we needed it taken care of ASAP. He said to take Claritin and some over the counter eye drops and it would clear up in a few days. That afternoon the swelling went down quite a bit. My eyes just looked like I'd been crying a bit. I'd been told I wasn't contagious so I went off with the gals for a pre-wedding mani/pedi outting and dinner. My eyes were getting really achey by the end of the night but I didn't have any swelling. On Saturday I woke up to a swollen mess again and started getting really tender spots on my jawline and Jeff started feeling like one of his eyes was going bad. So we went to an urgent care clinic together. We asked to be seen together. I wore dark glasses because my eyes were bright red and swollen. I think most people probably thought we were there for some STD checkup or something. The nurses and doctor were pretty grossed out when I took my glasses off. The doctor pretty much kept her distance from both Jeff and me and just wrote out a prescription for bacterial pinkeye treatment. She said I also had some cellulitis causing the swelling. So that was 3pm and we were on 24 hour countdown to the wedding now. We missed out on the rehearsal dinner and all the pre-wedding fun (some of which I'd even planned!). Needless to say we were sooo bummed. We put in our eyedrops even more often than we were supposed to for several hours in the hopes we'd be okay by today, wedding day, and went to bed. I woke up this morning looking like this:


That's as far as my eyes open cause it's all swollen above and below them. You can kind of see weird puckering next to my eyes where it goes back down to where everything is supposed to live. My face is kinda puffy and swollen too. It was actually pretty uncomfortable going to sleep cause I have weird lumps (lymph nodes?) swelling up in my face. I've been trying to lay with my eyes closed most of the morning and the swelling is going down a little bit. But my eyes are very red and watery. So I'm not sure if I'm going to make it to the wedding or not. Jeff's one eye is still red but doesn't look too horrible. He'll be through 24 hours of antibiotic so will be through the contagious period in another couple of hours just as he's supposed to meet the rest of the groomsmen for lunch. I'm still not even convinced that this weird mutant thing going on with me is pink eye. I haven't had any goopiness in my eyes. They're just red and swollen. I dunno. So far nothing is helping them.

Christmas pics

We had a great time on Christmas, having all the Washington family over to our house for gifts and food (so much food!). It even surprised us all and snowed!

Click the photo to see more...

mama's little miracle

I referred to something as a miracle today. Clara said, "Mama, that's not a miracle." So I asked her what a miracle was to which she replied, "A miracle is when it snows on Christmas." Yep, we had just such a "miracle" yesterday.

Family Photos

We heart Della Chen (dellachen.blogspot.com). We had a blast during our "Day in the Life" photoshoot. Here's an excerpt she put together for us: http://www.dellachen.com/client_access/West/

Warmfuzzy commercial - The Aviator

This was posted by BoingBoing as one of the Top 10 Tech Ads (Not Necessarily) Seen in 2007:



I sure hope Clara turns out to be a 'Maker' too!

(I'm loving that Lennon tune, too!)

I got hit by a Christmas Tree - Clara Belle West

more clara quotes...

A coupla days ago while I was changing Emmett's diaper Clara made a reference to "that wiggly thing on Emmett's bottom." After I explained to her what it was called and what it did she made up a little song that went something like "penis, penis, penis..." and then told me that Finn (her friend at school) had a penis. I think she likes to watch him go potty at school. In fact, one time when I picked her up, I arrived to find her pantsless, in the bathroom squatting down watching Finn sit on the potty. That school is all about the learnin'. :-)

This morning in the car, Clara was explaining to Emmett that when he gets bigger like her he will get to sit in her chair. And that the chair he was sitting in was her chair when she was little. Then she said to me, "Mama, when Emmett's head gets big, he'll talk." I can't wait.

80s Mixtape

I recently recorded & made into MP3 files an old mixtape of my brother Noel's (from an old loover, perhaps?).

It's got a great late-80s/new waveish set list...check it out!

Claritude

This morning in the midst of the chaos of trying to get us all out the door, Clara wanted me to cheer for her puppy. I said "Hooray, okay Clara now go put your shoes on. Please!" Clara said, "O. kay. Mama, you're making me grumpy." And walked away and put her shoes on. She's the best.

Sober Sailor

Emmett is officially walking!

"L'il Buddy" has been taking steps here and there for a few weeks; even last weekend walking back & forth to me across a store foyer. But it's always been that sterotypical drunken sailor/Frankenstein walk to get to point B before he falls. But last night and today he's been caught wandering from room to room on his own, no provocation, no hands. Before dinner tonight, he even walked out of the office, turning through the hallway, and then strutting proudly into the kitchen.

It's about time, too. That kid is way too heavy to keep carrying.

Santa's little snacker

We've been talking to Clara about Santa. And for some reason she thinks she doesn't want to sit on his lap. She wants to see him...but she wants to sit in a chair next to him. But it's okay for Emmett to sit on his lap. And what does she want to ask Santa to bring her for Christmas? "Cheerios."

Clarademic 2007

So the week before Thanksgiving both kids were home from school sick. The whole. week. Then we got to Ohio to see my family and Clara's croup took a turn for the worse and we ended up going to an urgent care clinic twice in that week. Three medications and a chest x-ray later, we headed home and she was doing better. But that week was rough. Poor Clara had croup with _horrible_ coughing spells, fevers, diarrhea with horrible diaper rash, double ear infections, and a canker sore. All that combined with a 3 hour time change and all 4 of us sleeping in the same room. Oof. And then there was Jacob who was recovering from pink eye and an ear infection. And before we left, Katie started vomiting and running a fever. Ben started running a fever. The week after we got home we heard that Ben & Sarah both had double ear infections. Then we found out my dad had been off work with fevers and horrible coughing, couldn't sleep, etc. and after a week ended up having to go to the doctor. Emmett's spiked a couple of mysterious fevers and had to leave school early. And now tonight I got a call from my Aunt. She didn't sound so good. She started off the voicemail saying how she'd heard about Seattle's bad weather but then quickly transitioned to saying how great it was to see Clara but her croup had definitely been attacking nearly every person she had come in contact with.

Oops.

Sorry everybody!

Damian (1994-2007)

Goodbye, little friend.

e=1

emmett had his first real haircut this weekend. he did a great job sitting for it. and didn't fuss at all. he did wiggle a bit though and when we got home i found big chunks of hair the hairstylist missed. but he has officially entered into boy-hood now.












all of his baby-ness seems to be gone. he just had his 1 year checkup and is in the 25th percentile for weight and 90th percentile for height. and he's doing well...except that he still isn't using real words. he's been mimicking us more though and pointing to things and saying "that" as if to say "what is that?" and just this weekend started signing "more" and "all done" so i guess we're making progress. but he doesn't say mama or dada with any real purpose. they're just part of his endless babble.
oh well, clara talks enough for all of us combined.

flying time

holy cow. where did the last 2 years go?!