So today I visited to ultrasound guy. They took lots of measurements and it made me think all the data that's been captured of my kids before they've even been born. For both pregnancies we have data on femur lengths, head circumferences, kidney size, heart beats, and more. It's just kind of mind-boggling and weird.
With all the measurements taken of the little one, the doctor discovered that the kidneys appeared to be a bit inflamed, a slight indicator that the baby may have downs syndrome. Our genetic tests have been fine but this is pretty much our last chance to do an amnio (which, based on the odds, we had opted not to do last month) to provide more definite results. So I went for the procedure -- a needle inserted in my stomach to retrieve some amniotic fluid. By next Monday, we'll have the results so keep your fingers crossed.
Other than the kidneys, the baby looks fine. But with all the drama, we were not able to get any good 3D pics. But I think this ultrasound profile came out pretty good.
I went home early today because the doctor recommended bed rest for 24 hours -- ''bed rest as in sitting down or lying down,'' I asked. ''Lying down, preferable on your side,'' he responded. Pretty clear that sitting at work for the rest of the day wasn't going to cut it.
However, when I got home I did run one ''errand''. Dean hasn't been feeling well for the last week -- lots of puking and very little food going in the pie hole. Chris and I initially thought that it could be a result of a massive dog hair ball in the system (he loves to groom Frankie) or the jalapenos that he like to steal from the kitchen and bat around like a mouse toy. The vet, however, didn't seem to be too concerned about those activities. Instead, he felt it was more likely that Dean ate something that he wasn't suppose to -- like a small toy -- and it's blocking his system.
With that in mind, blood was drawn, x-rays taken, and fluids given. The x-rays showed nothing. Now, I have another set of tests results to wait on. In the meantime, Dean is on several antibiotics. So, another reason to keep your fingers crossed.
Saw my new OB-GYN today. He's very nice. Very high tech. All records were scanned and I guess I can check out my charts online...COOL!
He also has an ultrasound in his office so I got another pic of the little one. Actually, it's pretty funny because she looks like she's laughing and throwing a peace sign.
Aimee headed over to north county to go apple picking with me and Parker. Surprisingly, there are a lot of fruit farms near us. The big crop out here apprears to be cherries, which is now unfortunately out of season. However, peaches and apples are also plentify.
So we took a little drive over to Little Rock and started picking. Most of the low hanging fruit was gone but he had our arm extender...aka "Parker...to help us get the jewels that were out of reach. We just needed to make sure he picked the ripe fruit...not the cute little ones.
All in all, the trip was successful and I made a yummy pie out of all the fruit we picked. BONUS!
BTW, I found this recipe on Food Network's site. It was easy and delicious! The only tweak I did was use a mix of apples and pears.
Prep Time: 1 hr 45 min Cook Tim 35 min Level: Easy Serves: 1 (9-inch) pie
CHEDDAR DOUGH: 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cubed 4 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening 4 ounces sharp Cheddar, grated fine and chilled well 2 egg yolks beaten lightly with 1/3 cup cold water Milk
FILLING: 3 pounds (about 8) McIntosh apples 3/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
Make the dough: In a food processor combine the flour and salt. Add the butter and shortening and pulse until it resembles very coarse meal. Add the Cheddar and pulse until it again resembles coarse meal. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Add the yolk mixture, tossing with a fork until it forms a dough. Add more cold water 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary. Form the dough into a ball, flatten it into a disc, and dust with flour. Wrap the dough in waxed paper and chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Roll out half the dough 1/8-inch thick on a lightly floured surface. Fit it into a 9-inch (1-quart) glass pie plate and trim the edge, leaving a 3/4-inch overhang. Chill the shell and the remaining dough while making the filling. Make the filling: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel, core, and cut the apples into eighths. In a large bowl toss together the apples, 3/4 cup of the sugar, the flour, the cinnamon, the nutmeg, the salt, and the lemon juice until the mixture is combined well. Transfer the filling to the shell and dot it with the butter.
Roll out the remaining dough into a 13- by 14-inch round on a lightly floured surface, drape it over the filling, and trim it, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under the bottom crust, pressing the edge to seal it, and crimp the edge decoratively. Brush the crust lightly with the milk and cut slits in it with a sharp knife to form steam vents. Bake the pie on a large baking sheet in the middle of the oven for 10 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake the pie for 20 to 25 minutes more, or until the crust is golden and the apples are tender.
Chris, Parker, and Dean ventured into the garden today. Chris and Parker picked a bunch of tomatoes (which Geof will be turning into a delicious tomato pie later today) while Dean explored this foreign thing called ''outside.'' Good thing the great orange hunter was on the loose because he found a mole! Chris soon dispatched the intruder and the Trillo men continued with their gardening. The harvest now done, they focused on cutting away any dead stuff.
We watched Duma last night and at the very end, when the little boy had to say good-bye to his pet cheetah as he freed him into the wild, tears started to well in Parker's eyes. Yes, an emotional connection to the movie...even though, in true male form, he denied it, even as he wiped his eyes with the tissue that Chris had handed him.
Ahoy mate-ys! Pirate Parker's here and ready to get this ship a-moving. Just don't drive too fast, Mommy. Or make too many turns. I've got food to eat.
And now the question of the day...do pirates like bananas?
You've gotta love it that Sarah Silverman won an Emmy for this. I know that some people like Jimmy Kimmel's response better, but I have to agree with the Emmy's people...the original is far better.
On the way home we stopped in Santa Barbara for lunch. We hit a casual eatery on the pier and Parker got an introduction to peanuts still in the shell. The first one probably wasn't that great because he didn't know he was suppose to shell it. But after extricating the initial peanut remain from his mouth, he had a shelled nut...and loved it. He then proceeded to hoard the nuts, making sure the pigeons didn't get any of his treasure.
After lunch, we continued down the pier to the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Ty Warner Sea Center. It's small but still pretty cool. Parker got to see a lot of marine creatures up close...and if he chose to (which he didn't), he could touch many of them. I think his favorite were the decorator crabs which pull elements from their surrounding environment to camouflage themselves. To demonstrate this, they had one crab in an aquarium with a ball of red yarn. Unlike the other crabs, that were covered in seaweed and other ocean debris, this one was covered in red fuzz. Totally adorable!
All in all, I would say that three out of three Trillos would agree...this was a great get-away weekend.
So the next day we had breakfast and then hit the road...but not before we stopped at the pier for last chance sweets. I had to get salt water taffy. Chris got his favorite fudge, penuche. And Parker got a lollipop that was calling to him.
Brilliant! Looks like Tina Fey now has a night job. "I can see Russia from my house!"
You know what? I also hate it when people Photoshop my head onto sexy bikini pictures, too!
In case the clip goes away, here's a transcript...
FEY AS PALIN: "Good evening, my fellow Americans. I was so excited when I was told Senator Clinton and I would be addressing you tonight."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "And I was told I would be addressing you alone."
FEY AS PALIN: "Now I know it must be a little bit strange for all of you to see the two of us together. What with me being John McCain's running mate."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "And me being a fervent supporter of Senator Barack Obama -- as evidenced by this button."
FEY AS PALIN: "But tonight we are crossing party lines to address the now very ugly role that sexism is playing in the campaign."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "An issue which I am frankly surprised to hear people suddenly care about."
FEY AS PALIN: "You know, Hillary and I don't agree on everything..."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: (OVERLAPPING) "Anything. I believe that diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy."
FEY AS PALIN: "And I can see Russia from my house."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "I believe global warming is caused by man."
FEY AS PALIN: "And I believe it's just God hugging us closer."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "I don't agree with the Bush Doctrine."
FEY AS PALIN: "I don't know what that is."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "But Sarah, one thing we can agree on is that sexism can never be allowed to permeate an American election."
FEY AS PALIN: "So please, stop photoshopping my head on sexy bikini pictures."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "And stop saying I have cankles."
FEY AS PALIN: "Don't refer to me as a 'MILF.'"
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "And don't refer to me as a 'FLURJ.' I Googled what it stands for and I do not like it."
FEY AS PALIN: "So we ask reporters and commentators, stop using words that diminish us, like 'pretty,' 'attractive,' 'beautiful.'"
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "'Harpy,' 'shrew' and 'boner shrinker.'"
FEY AS PALIN: "While our politics may differ, my friend and I are both very tough ladies. You know it reminds me of a joke we tell in Alaska..."What's the difference...
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "Lipstick."
FEY AS PALIN: "...between a hockey mom..."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "Lipstick."
FEY AS PALIN: "...and a pitbull?"
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "Lipstick."
FEY AS PALIN(AFTER A BEAT): "Lipstick. Just look at how far we've come. Hillary Clinton, who came so close to the White House. And me, Sarah Palin, who is even closer. Can you believe it, Hillary?"
POEHLER AS CLINTON: (AFTER A PAUSE)"I can not."
FEY AS PALIN: "It's truly amazing and I think women everywhere can agree, that no matter your politics, it's time for a woman to make it to the White House."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "No. Mine! It's supposed to be mine! I need to say something. I didn't want a woman to be President. I wanted to be President and I just happen to be a woman. And I don't want to hear you compare your road to the White House to my road to the White House. I scratched and clawed through mud and barbed wire and you just glided in on a dog sled wearing your pageant sash and your Tina Fey glasses."
FEY AS PALIN: "What an amazing time we live in. To think that just two years ago, I was a small town mayor of Alaska's crystal meth capitol. And now I am just one heartbeat away from being President of the United States. It just goes to show that anyone can be President."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "Anyone."
FEY AS PALIN: "All you have to do is want it."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: (LAUGHS) "Yeah, you know, Sarah, looking back, if I could change one thing, I should have wanted it more." (RIPS OFF PIECE OF PODIUM)
FEY AS PALIN: "So in the next six weeks, I invite the media to be vigilant for sexist behavior."
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "Although it is never sexist to question female politicians credentials. Please ask this one about dinosaurs. So I invite the media to grow a pair. And if you can't, I will lend you mine."
FEY AS PALIN: And as we say in Alaska...
POEHLER AS CLINTON: "We say it everywhere..."
FEY/POEHLER: "Live from New York, It's Saturday Night!!!
Yesterday, we arrived in Morro Bay. After getting settled in our motel room, we headed out to dinner. Chris found a Parker friendly restaurant called The Flying Dutchman,which was sort of pirate themed. Nice!
The next day we hit the beach. First we went to explore around Morro Rock. Parker made ''mud castles'' and sand angels. Later, he and Chris explored the tide pools and found a hermit crab, which they brought back to Mommy, who was relaxing on the beach, reading a book. After Parker and Chris returned the crab to the water, we headed over to the other side of the Rock to check out the Strand.
On the Strand, Chris and Parker fly a kite. They did pretty well and were able to get all the string out. But after a while, the ocean called to them so they reeled in the kite without crashing it into the beach or into me. Then we took a walk on the beach.
On the beach we chased the waves, avoided slimy seaweed, and looked for shells. Chris found a live clam and we watched it bury itself back into the wet sand. Heading back in for the day, Chris also found beached jellyfish, to which Parker exclaimed, "Gross!" (Smart Boy!)
We decided to take a long weekend and head up north to Morro Bay. But before that, we HAD to stop in Solvang.
When I was a kid, my mom took my sister and me there and I remember it being kitchy and fun. A little bit of Denmark. No passport required!
That said, we had lunch under a windmill. I had a Danish meatball sandwich and came to the conclusion that the Danes aren't know for their food for a reason. On second thought, I guess we should have hit a smorgasbord...but that would mean a buffet and Chris HATES buffets.
I bought Parker a Viking helmet. Plus, we had to get a tub of Danish butter cookies.
I really wanted to reproduce a picture my sister and I took with a statue of a Viking who was chilling on a bench. But, after asking around, I discovered that when the town got a facelift a while ago they removed the statue since it was kind of falling apart and they didn't want to fix it. BUMMER!
Oh well, we did find a big clog for Parker to sit in...I guess that will have to do.
This made me laugh...even more so because I heard this speech while driving into work this morning. I guess McCain is saying that this comment that Obama made was sexist...
''John McCain says he’s about change, too — except for economic policy, health care policy, tax policy, education policy, foreign policy and Karl Rove-style politics,'' Mr. Obama told his supporters in Virginia. ''That’s just calling the same thing something different. You can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig. You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change; it’s still going to stink after eight years.''
Now was Obama referring to Palin's pitbull/hockey mom/lipstick joke? Hell yeah. Was he being sexist? Not at all. Sexist would need to be a bit more objectifying...like the be the bumper stickers promoting Palin in Alaska (and proudly displayed at the GOP convention) -- ''Coldest State, Hottest Governor.''
I think this was just a clear use of a commonly used phrase. How common is it? Well, let's see...
''I think they put some lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.''
McCain said that last year in October when criticizing Hillary Clinton's health care plan.
You have to admit...of the two who used the imagery...Obama delivered it best.
Click the headline if you want to read more about this in The New York Times article.
UPDATED 9/12/2008 Not sure if you saw this but I have to share it and give props to Papa Bear.
...could that be considered playing the race card?
But I digress. I like how the AP article opens with, ''John McCain and Sarah Palin criticized Democrat Barack Obama over the amount of money he has requested for his home state of Illinois, even though Alaska under Palin's leadership has asked Washington for 10 times more money per citizen for pet projects. ''
It goes on to say, ''Obama hasn't asked for any earmarks this year. Last year, he asked for $311 million worth, about $25 for every Illinois resident. Alaska asked this year for earmarks totaling $198 million, about $295 for every Alaska citizen.
Palin has cut back on pork project requests, but under her administration, Alaska is still and by far the largest per-capita consumer of federal pet-project spending.''
The Republicans really have stop relying on their standard crutches (McCain's service and Palin's ''executive'' experience -- no mention of whether or not the city and state are in any better position) and start focusing in issues. The Dem's need to stop worrying about hurting the feelings of a girl and attack the Rep's fair and square.
Parker's been in a karate class at daycare and today he graduates to a new belt. All he had to do was break a board in half...WHAT? Yes, you read that correctly, my little guy broke a board in half with his foot. AWESOME! Granted, the board is something like balsa and I wouldn't be surprised if the teacher was flexing it a bit to help it break. But it broke nonetheless, which allowed Parker to earn his new black & white belt.
Parker was feeling under the weather yesterday so we took the day off today. Nothing that a Scooby-Doo marathon and a pillow fort can't cure.
Actually, I worked from home on my computer and dialing into conference calls. Not to bad but it hard to explain to Parker to be quiet because Mommy's working. Especially when Scooby-Doo is doing something particularly hilarious. Evidently there was one instance that Parker yelled ''No!'' at the appropriate time in the conversation. Unfortunatley, I couldn't hear the conversation too clearly via the other person's speaker phone so I didn't get the entire joke.
Oh well. Based on Parker's temp this evening, we should be good to jump back into our normal schedule tomorrow.
Things have been going well. I guess when the teachers said he was ready, they knew what they were talking about. Case in point, I knew Parker was up this morning because I heard the toilet lid slam shut. That's right, he woke up and went to the bathroom all by himself. AWESOME!
So we met with the genetic counselor at Dr. Samadi's today. Looks like the baby's passed his tests. While it's no guarantee that the baby doesn't have any genetic disorders (like Downs Syndrome), we seem to be in a pretty good place. For my age group, the odds of having a child with down is 1 in 700 but the tests came back with the odds something like 1 in 1500, which is good.
While at Dr. Samadi's we had another ultrasound. The baby is progress well but we did get one new piece of news. Looks like we won't be needing that boy's name since we now appear to be having a girl! Go figure. Kind of reminds me of my sister, who was suppose to be a boy named John. Of course, coming out a girl, her name was quickly changed to Joan.
Even though, now I feel we should wait another month to get a 2 our of 3 verdict on the matter, looks like, come January, we'll be welcoming Piper Mary Trillo to this world.
Yeah, I'm talking about Parker's potty training progress. He's doing fine. He doesn't seem to get the chart thing, though. He likes to put stars on the chart but he doesn't seem to get the big picture (the prize at the end of the tunnel). He's more of an immediate gratification guy.
Well, with that in mind, I've come up with a different motivation for pooping in the potty. (Because really, of the things you least want to clean up...poop tops the list.) My solution...temp tattoos. One for every time he drops "the kids" directly in the water when he's home. So far he's got on on each arm.
So next time you see him, complement him on his body art. The more tats on baby mean the less clean up for Mommy and Daddy.
So we got word from daycare this week. Parker's ready to ditch the diapers. WOO HOO! So far so good. Yes, we've had a few accidents. But he's been steadily improving -- starting the week off with 3 bags of dirty laundry (each bag containing one soiled change of clothes) to just one. Not bad.
This month the feature was Journey to the Center of the Earth, which we were able to catch in 3D over at Universal Citiwalk.
I though Parker would be able to sit through it but the man-eating Venus flytraps were just too much for the little guy so we had to leave the theater. But about 15 minutes later he was brave enough to venture back into the theater so we could finish the rest of the movie.
So I have to admit...I didn't make it through the original novel. There's definitely a different sense of timing. It takes them about a third of the book just to get to the volcano where they journey into the center of the earth. I couldn't help but get a bit impatient.
I did catch the 1959 movie with the boys (Chris, Parker, Thommy, and Geoffrey). It had Pat Boone so you know it would be a ''classic''. Plus, with that cast you know there would be a couple of songs to be sung by the crooner. The best part was either the rear projection ''giant lizards'' (which scared Parker) or the dolls that represented our heroes as they escaped. Then again, it could have been Pat Boone's Scottish accent. Like I said...''classic!''
So, as I mentioned earlier, we have a girl's name left over from our first go around at this...''Piper''.
Did I mention how we came up with ''Parker'' and ''Piper''? You know that games...what's your drag name or what's your stripper name? Then you take the name of your first pet and the street you grew up on. Well, that's it. Chris grew up on Parker Street and I grew up on Piper Place. (Actually, the first place I lived at was Houser but I'm not naming my kid Houser...so I went with my second home.) I like to think of it as passing on a bit of one's childhood. Chris likes to stick to the originally stripper name origins.
Okay, so we have a girl's name but we now need a new boy's name. Surprisingly, we decided on a name pretty quickly. (Really, there was more drama naming the dog.) Parker's middle name -- Jonathan -- is based on my dad's name. So, this little one should have James for his middle name, after Chris' father. As for the first name...we settled on Jacob. He can always use the nickname Jake if he wants something less biblical and serious. And anyways...are all Jakes hot? :o)
So, based on our initial scans, Dr. Tzeng is having us start seeing Dr. Samadi, the preinatal doc we saw for Parker's pregnancy. He'll take us through our genetic screenings and will also be handling the rest of our ultrasound scans. (The one bonus of having a baby after the age of 35 is that you get a ton of pictures as the doctors keep check on the baby's development.) So three weeks later, here's what's the baby looks like in 2D and 3D...
The thing I like about Dr. Samadi, aside from the fact that he's a known factor, is that he's not afraid to call the baby's "buds" arms and legs.
According to the doc, the baby's healthy. Actually, he said he was "textbook" perfect. ROCK ON! Based on his measurements, he's 12 weeks and 4 days old.
And did you notice the pronoun? Yeah, we're looking at a boy. We had a girl's name left over from Parker's pregnancy so we have some homework to work on.
The next day, the girls wanted to go swimming. Even though it's July, the pool is surprisingly cold. But the girls would not be deterred. Both Luxi and Niko suited up and hopped in. Brrrr. But no, even with chattering teeth, they would not admit that it was too cold to swim.
My mom, sister, Foxy, and the girls came down from the Bay Area for a SoCal visit. With all these people in the house, we figured we'd better break out the tent for the kids to sleep in. It turned out to be a big hit. Maybe too big of a hit. There was no way those kids would fall asleep before the adults ran out of gas. In the end, we had to split them up...Luxi and Parker slept in the tent and Niko shared Ah-mah's bed. (Smart kid.)
