The Christmas Tree Adventure 2008

It's been raining for nearly two weeks here in Chattanooga. And with all the work in the basement, we STILL didn't have a tree. So...the sun peeked out for a mere 30 minutes this AM which tricked us into thinking we could have a pleasant drive through north Georgia.

As we got off the interstate, the perpetual fog rolled back over Lookout Mountain, and by the time we neared the Blue Goose Christmas Tree Farm, it was misting. Again. As we got out of the car, it was starting to rain. Lucky us! Despite the weather, we found a nice tree.Here in TN, the cypress grow better than the pines, so we picked a fairly tall Leland Cypress. Taller than my car is long, in fact. And quite heavy. Hefting this tree onto the car was an interesting event...especially because by this time it was starting to pour.

All in all, we got the tree wrapped and properly tied to the car. Where it remains. It's STILL RAINING!!!!

Our giggle bug

Elizabeth loves to be tickled. Everywhere. Daddy's gotten the best of her this time!

The basement is no longer a "basement"

Though not completely finished - the trim still needs to go in, the floor needs touched up, the TV isn't here yet, and the entertainment center is therefore not finished, and the backsplash needs to be tiled. OK, that's still a lot to do. But, it's ready to be lived in. In fact, we had the UTFP Holiday Party here on Friday night. 30+ people was nothing for our ground floor living space.

Where did it all come from? Well...I designed the kitchen area and entertainment center with a tool from HGTV.com; Jeff gutted the space of paneling, old carpeting, removed the linoleum floor, cleaned off the glue, and finished the concrete floor with products from Behr/Home Depot. The cabinets and countertops came from Southeastern Salvage, and were assembled and hung by Jeff and Casey. The drywall/framing/electrical/plumbing/carpentry were carefully mastered by Jeff with help from Casey (and a few tips from my dad). Did I mention that Jeff did all this while watching Elizabeth? The range was upstairs and we replaced it with a salvage model from the Habitat store until we redo the space upstairs. Our groovy vintage stove that was just too big to save went to the Habitat store. The dishwasher also came from upstairs, and we treated ourselves to a nice new Kenmore Elite for upstairs, which we worship daily. The fridge was in the house when we bought it, and will be replaced with the french door stainless fridge upstairs when we remodel the kitchen.

Before: Can you say dated and dark? And who puts carpet in a basement?











After:




This project has been 2.5 years in the making, and I think that we never thought it would be done. The office furniture will move down here once the trim is in, and we'll never need to be upstairs...This is why the "great room" idea is so functional. We're already enjoying spending time together as a family, instead of all of us in different parts of the house.

In fact...I'm sitting at our cool new mod pub table as I type...

Did I mention that we have a guest room down here? And that once the bathroom is finished, it'll be nicer than the Hyatt? And much cheaper...we're easily bribed with food and wine...

Fly away with me

Elizabeth now loves the beach. And the sand. And most certainly her "sto-l-er". It was so windy last week on the Isle of Palms that her jogger didn't need a "jogger". Nevermind the sprint it took to catch up with it before it headed for the surf.

One...two...four...

Elizabeth loves The Count. A few weeks after watching Sesame Street, she started couting all by herself. She just hasn't quite mastered the order of the numbers yet. Check out these two videos - one week makes a difference! She still has issues with three and eight...why is that?

Drowning in the shallow end of the gene pool

You know your dog is a moron when...he leaps to catch embers in his mouth as they waft out of your fire pit.

Never said he was bright.  But I didn't think he was THAT stupid.  I can see it now: "So, how did your dog get third degree burns on his tongue?"  DUH!!!!!

Going back out to enjoy the chimnea.  And an adult beverage.  With my hubby.

The birthday party - of sorts

Well, the theme to our party was...there was no theme. We had brats, homemade and homegrown mashed sweet potatoes, beer/"juice", cupcakes and presents. A good time was had by all. Especially when Auntie Karen "Ti-Ti" and Grammy and Papa all called at the same time and sang to Elizabeth collectively on speaker phone. (wish I had THAT on video!)

A newfound love of opening presents - For the first time she's got the realization that something fun is in that wrapping. I have a few "present opening clips", but we'll put the "un-PC"' one with Jeff and Casey making snide remarks on the back burner for now.

Despite the fact that her forehead bruises belie her inexperience in walking and her cheeks are proof she got in a fight with the cat, she looks good for two. At least it doesn't set a flawlessness precedent that she'll never be able to live down. We'll wait a few years to give her THAT complex.

Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

She's "two" today, and is happy to tell everyone just how old she is. Hasn't gotten the fingers thing down yet, though. Her birthday t-shirt is laid out on her dresser, and mommy needs to go get a little cake (wish I had time for baking one, but she'll never know...). And wrap her presents. And go to work. And hopefully get back in time for Uncle Casey and Auntie Kim to come over. Small "party" tonight, maybe we'll have a big one once the basement is done. When she's "three". ha. Gotta go make the salsa. Can't believe she's two.

ELIZABETH WALKS!!!

While at grammy and papa's, Elizabeth broke free from her baby walkers. On September 23, she walked from one side of the living room to the other, bribed by grammy of course. Here's a cute video proof. She loves to "wear" her bathtowel. It's wonderful to have her walking. Even in the few days she's been home, we can do so many more things. She can help put stuff away. She can follow mommy down the hallway. She can play on her baby slide without help. She's not running yet, so I'll get back to you on how wonderful walking is in a few weeks.

Weddings, basements or "why I spent two weeks without my kid"

A week after the KC incident, we packed up the Outback for a trip to Ohio for my cousin Nick's wedding. Elizabeth got to spend some quality time with Grammy and Papa. For pics from this stay, where she got to have an early birthday party, see: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0QYtGbRy4aMXEw

Nick and Allie's wedding was a lot of fun. The first time Jeff and I were back at Our Lady of Peace since we got married nearly 5 years ago. Then we checked into our hotel room at the Hampton Inn downtown, which ended up being a lot of fun. To see downtown from a tourist point of view was something we hadn't done in a while. But back to the reception. Held at the Union Club, a beautiful old private club in downtown Cleveland, Jeff and I had our jaws wagging at the architecture, paneling, stairways, art, blahblahblah. That was, until they started the swing music. For pics from the wedding, check out my Shutterfly album: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0QYtGbRy4aMXIA

Monday morning, Jeff and I left little Lizzy Beth in Cleveland and headed back to Chattanooga to "hit it hard" on the grim task of plowing through a huge chunk of work on our basement remodel. In case you haven't noticed, there is nary a day here at Casa DeFlinnerFranco where we aren't fixing something. Unfortunately for Jeff, I had to get back to work, so he was left to toil alone in a VERY QUIET house. Mudding, sanding, painting. Rinse. Repeat. We have an enormous basement space, and it's an enormous job for one man. And one can't do these things with a toddler. Mud, paint, sandpaper...hmmm...sounds like lunch for most toddlers.

If there's one thing you think we'd have learned in 6 years of home renovations in two different homes, it's that things take at least 3 times as long as you plan for. And they cost at least that much more than you planned on. This makes Visa happy. Oh, yeah...and they NEVER improve marital bliss. Until they're done, then there is much rejoicing. Needless to say, not done yet.

Two weeks without my kid. Now that she's back, I could sleep in her room I'm so giddy. See next post for Elizabeth updates

Adventures in KC

In early September, I headed to KC for a recruiting fair at my medical school. Usually, I'm quite excited to head to KC, but I wasn't feeling so good (thanks to a colleague passing around another stomach bug - my third one since February!). So things were not looking good as I headed out on my favorite, Southwest Airlines.

Despite "weather", we had an uneventful flight to KC. Where it was raining, and would continue to rain the whole 28 hours we were there. So, suffice it to say, this trip was shot. Anything fun to do to waste time in KC is outside. What to do when it's raining and cold? Eat, Drink, and go to the mall! Note that eating wasn't high on my list that week.

Went to the biggest Marshall's I've ever seen. Found a gorgeous red Italian suede purse on clearance, which lifted my spirits. Mistakenly celebrated purchase with large piece of cake and coffee, which would haunt me for the next twelve hours (remember, eating was a no-no!). Then spent next twelve hours in pure agony.

Managed to eek out standing for 2+ hours at recruiting fair (thank god my resident companion was NOT ill and took over for me!). Then headed back to said mall to waste 3 hours until flight back.

This is where it gets good. Standing in the KC airport, a friend from TN calls and says, "Aren't you in KC? There are TORNADOES in KC!" Hmmm. really. Sure enough, huge front showing on TV. Note, I don't do "weather" when I fly. And at this point was too sick to use the gin-and-tonic Xanax substitute. gack. So, what to do? Head to the bathroom! In the KC airport, there are no hooks to hang a purse on. Just this teensy little shelf above the toilet. I'm in this stall with a suitcase, a tradeshow display case, and me. So...the new-aforementioned dreamy soft suede purse is placed precariously on the shelf. I shift weight (no turning around possible here) to take care of the job at hand when I hear "Plop". No. no. Insert expletive here. Multiple expletives. There was my prized purchase, bobbing in the bowl. Quickly I snatched it up, in time to save my camera and cell phone. Furiously attempting to dry inside and out with thin airport toilet paper, I nearly forgot why I was there. The only thing my mother asked when I told her the story was "was the water, um, still, um, clean?" Yes. Thank God for small favors.

Now, back to the tornadoes. We sit a the gate, watching this horrid front on the TV monitors that are conveniently placed every 15 feet. Though late, they call us to board. We hear "Tornado warning, northwest Clay County". hmm. That's us. Like little sheep we hand over our boarding cards and head down the gangway. Only to turn around. Halfway down. Pilot says"they've evacuated the control tower, perhaps we should follow!"; Mentions something about three small sets of wheels in a vehicle meant to fly, but not horizontally. Gotcha.

Then they evacuate the terminal. To the adjacent underground garage. (In KC, the terminals are separate with walk-up gates) Thank god for imodium. Despite the seeming grim circumstances, airport personnel did a fabulous job, as well as Southwest Airlines personnel. Once the all clear was sounded, we were herded with priority back to the gate, used the passenger list and ID's to check us back in, both at the security point and at the gate, and had us in the air within 45 minutes.

What a day. We won't even talk about getting lost trying to find my hotel in Nashville.

Did I mention that book about my air travel adventures? Someday...

Did we mention we're busy?

After multiple comments that blogs need to be updated, I'm making an effort to update the last month of Doctor Mom-dom.

July through February is pure nuttycakes at work, because this is prime time for recruiting new residents to our program. So every few weeks or so, I head to some random city in the southeast to tell any student who will listen how wonderful it would be if they did their family medicine residency in Chattanooga. Though fun, this absolutely disrupts my life to no end. Add to that hours of reviewing applications on my computer at work, and, well, I just don't have much time for blogging.

It's not just a fluke!

She's done it twice...which is better than not at all. Elizabeth successfully went pee-pee in the potty on two separate occasions. *yeay* one step closer to not filling the landfill with Huggies (now into size 5!). The next kid gets cloth diapers from day one.

She also started crawling - for real - this weekend. For those who know Elizabeth's lack of gross motor skills, this is huge. We really feared she would never crawl, but Grammy and Papa did the trick, and got her going across the living room carpet. Now, hopefully only a few weeks from independently walking, I doubt she'll ever use crawling as a mode of transportation, but it has helped her to learn to climb onto furniture, and go up and down steps.

She also has words for everything. Purse. Wipes. Water. Milk. Wine (oops! well, it's better than calling it mommy-juice). Bed. Bath. Potty. Towel. Hurt. I could go on and on. As long as her next word isn't "margarita". :-) I'm sure her teachers at parent's day out think we're heathen alcoholics!

If only we could get to to say "grammy" instead of the incessant "papa". Like Grammy says, she just needs to learn that Papa doesn't change diapers! (which, of course, won't work when she doesn't need diapers anymore)

We also came one step closer to having cabinets in our basement! The third coat of mud is drying as we speak, and the mock up has been drawn in chalk on both the walls and the floor. Think we can have Elizabeth's 2nd birthday party downstairs? Your votes are welcomed.

Jeff and the Donald Duck impression

OK...ready for a REALLY good laugh? Got this video while we were trying to get Elizabeth to say "EARMUFFS!" and cover her ears. She wasn't in a performance mood, but she liked daddy's impression of Donald Duck. Until he made this horrible nasty horking noise. Which even Elizabeth found to be gross. (I love embarrasing videos of Jeff...see below for him power washing the pink flamingo)

How'd you like to be THIS garbageman?

OK, so every time I get frustrated with my job, I say I wish I were a garbageman, because they don't have to manage people, or solve complex problems. They just pick up trash. Until I saw this guy. This clip is from the city garbage pickup in Cumberland Gap, TN. Cumberland Gap is a wonderful teensy town on the KY/TN border, home to Cumberland Gap National Park. But apparently they only have one city vehicle, and this backhoe is it. This dude gets the privilege of touching the trash...no little compactor for him. Can you imagine the mess if a bag toppled off? He's probably the only city employee as well. Unfortunately for him, we got a good giggle at his expense. And hopefully, so will you.

A busy month, a paucity of blog entries

Alas, here we are in early August!!! Another month without any blog updates. July is always crazy with new residents coming in and work being a zoo.

I can't think of much exciting that happened in July. Got some house stuff done, ran around like a headless chicken, etc.

But today, Elizabeth took a few steps without assistance before sitting back down, which lasted a whole 10 seconds but had us giddy. However, now she's caught on to my "mommy holding the towel" trick, and sits down the minute I let go.

Spent last weekend in Kansas City for work, which was a pretty fun time. It wasn't too hot, for once, and was just eventful enough without being overwhelming. Now I have one day of work, then we leave for a camping trip.

Oh - and the AC died while I was gone. Fun. Especially when it's 95 outside. Hopefully they'll be here this week to put in a new unit. Cha-ching!

AND - we got our trees trimmed (they're all enormous and old), so now we have a 20x5x5 foot pile of mulch in the backyard. And a huge burnt spot out front where their hydraulic truck sprung a leak.

Moral of the story: If you plan on your AC going down, don't have your trees trimmed. Shade is good.

Time for bed, more later. Bless my husband for jerry-rigging the old attic fan to blow cool air into our stale bedroom so we can sleep with comfort.

All work and no play means we got $%^& done!

As I was on OB call this weekend, we were stuck around the house. My parents were in town to visit and play with Elizabeth, and not necessarily in that order. So Jeff and I got all sorts of yard stuff accomplished.

I spent nearly all weekend stripping paint off the front door. This seems a horrible way to spend a weekend, but it was strangely gratifying. There were at least 6 coats of paint on said door, and I'm sure I fried a few brain cells with the stripper, mineral spirits, and all that lead! But I finally got to participate in the home renovations. I never get to do the fun stuff, 'cause I'm so darned busy with everything else. So, despite the raw fingers, aching back, and singed nose hairs, (and a few chemical burns...), I had fun getting dirty.

Don't forget the two deliveries this weekend in the midst of messiness. Never a dull moment around here!

Jeff power washed. and Washed and Washed some more. Our fence looks brand new, and the deck is set for guests. The house theoretically will be presentable so we can have *gulp* 40-50 people over Friday night for a dinner. Maybe I should get the wine a few days early...my hair is standing on end already!

Note: When power washing the fence, never forget the Pink Flamingo. She needs a bath, too. This is, perhaps, NOT how I would have done it, but hell, it worked... (yes, we have an original Featherstone stamped pink flamingo, and we quite adore her)

Old Jeff-ful

The power washer makes a geiser as we take on more yard cleanup. On a whim last weekend, Jeff decided to take the power washer to the fence, mainly to see if it would fall over. What we discovered is that the mildewy, nasty fence is actually CEDAR! Thank goodness we didn't tear it down. (I think Jeff got into some poison ivy, but he just won't admit it...he says he's not allergic)

Friday night, Elizabeth and I went to Nightfall, a weekly summertime concert series here in Chattanooga, to hear some reggae. A band called Ogya, that includes our favorite WUTC DJ Tommy Cotter opened the evening. See a pic of me and Elizabeth (in the Ergobaby!!), and a clip from the show.

For our budding electricians

This post is dedicated to my dad, the real electrician, from my husband, the apprentice.

You CAN'T get 10 lbs of %^&* into a 2-gang box

"What's Up?"

Elizabeth was in rare form last week, and here are her latest video impressions. More to follow on how much I love my new camera.

Both of these videos were shot with my new Canon SD 1100. NOT a video camera, it's this teeny little thing that fits in my pocket. OK, so my video camera (also a Canon) would probably be better, but for this ease, who cares? And it's SO CHEAP!!! For what this camera cost, I could have bought 2 of our last teeny camera (and this one has such a better picture, with twice the megapixels). Needless to say, I love this camera, so far my only beef is that to switch between camera/video/playback it's a switch, not a button, so it's not as fast to see your pics (ok, so it's milliseconds, but it takes brainpower to comprehend the switch thing).

The chocolate milk house goes neopolitan

After nearly two years of groaning and moaning about our "chocolate milk house", so coined by Casey, who noted that with the brown roof, brown gutters, brown trim, and brown deck that it looked like someone had dumped a glass of chocolate milk on it.

We solved the roof issue in December with a nice new one with Tamko Mountain Slate shingles, not brown at all. A few weeks ago Phil helped me to start the prep work, and took out some large boxwoods that only served to hide the house. Yesterday, I embarked on painting the expanse of trim that fronts our 60's rancher. So now it's half brown and half a nice shade of french vanilla.

Before:
After:

"My Kid Has Gas"

Go Ahead, Sing it! (to the tune of My Dog Has Fleas)

I was trying to get some video of Elizabeth playing Pat-A-Cake, but when asked to perform, she firmly said "no". So I thought we would play with the ball.

Listen closely as she toots across the room.

June bugs (me).

Just as May was busy, so shall be June. It's the life of academic medicine. The graduating residents finish June 30, the new ones start July 1. And every professional organization seems to feel the need to meet in early June. So herein starts our month.

Jeff took Elizabeth to Ohio that last weekend in May for his friend Will's wedding. He had a guy weekend, while Elizabeth got spoiled by Grammy, Papa, and Auntie Karen.

As I was stuck here at the homestead, I thought I had better be productive. So Phil (Allison's huband) who happens to be very tall, helped me get the front of the house ready for trim paint. Allison, one of our third year residents, was on hospital call, so it worked out all around. Unfortunately, it poured all day Sunday, so I didn't get to sand and paint said trim. So I finished painting Elizabeth's toy box, which was my toy box as a kid. Eventually, it will match her room, complete with little dragon flies. But for now, I'm happy to have the box painted...we'll get to the artsy stuff later.

Later that day, quite by surprise, I got an email that someone wanted to buy our motorcycle. The bike has been for sale for over a year, as we never ride it (baby seats on cruisers are frowned upon). A man from Red Bank came by, liked the bike, and returned an hour later cash in hand. So here are the last pics of our sweet Honda before she rode off into the sunset...driven by someone that's not Jeff.

Then the rat race started...I left for Knoxville on the 4th for the Tennessee Osteopathic Medical Association annual meeting. Initially not looking forward to another weekend away, it was fun to see some old faces, learn some new things, and visit the osteopathic school at Lincoln Memorial University, where we had an entire day of OMT in their new lab. Jeff and Elizabeth joined me Friday afternoon, though with record high temps, it was way to hot to do the hiking we planned on, so we shopped a little at Mast General Store, and enjoyed First Friday in downtown Knoxville, when all the art galleries are open late.

On the way home we stopped at Gander Mtn. and bought our first massive family camping tent for a trip we'll take in August. Jeff set it up in the front yard last week, it's enormous. Big enough for the Pack-n-Play and a nice air mattress. So much for ultralight backpacking.

As you all know, our house is a constant project. If it's not one room it's another. This month it's the hall bath. Anyone who saw it before would understand the dark hideous wallpaper and the 40+ year old vanity. Well, the wallpaper has been gone for a year now, and we finally decided to buy a nice white toilet and replace that old vanity. Easier said than done, with old plumbing, and trying to fit the new vanity into the space left by the old one. But Jeff and the marble guys prevailed for a GORGEOUS result. Makes me want to buy new towels and a new window treatment. Check out the finshed product - nice, huh?


Since he's not working between now and the move to Alaska with Allison in July, Phil saved the day again, by nearly single-handedly busting out our rotted deck, blissfully revealing the not-so-pretty but way better than what was there asphalt topped patio beneath. Though my rose bushes are toast from fatal injuries gained during the project, it's been so worth it. You see, the deck was setting directly on top of the patio. No air flow = rotted wood. Lots of trees = rotted leaves stuck in rotted wood. All that = mucho mosquitoes. All are much better thanks to Phil, Casey, the leaf blower, and the power washer.

Through all this, Elizabeth has been crusing more and more, and getting more and more ornery. Don't think she's going to do ANYTHING she doesn't want to. (Luckily these things are few) She's into using sentences now, and though most of the time she might as well be speaking in Greek, it's fun to finally hear her opinion. (remind me of this in a few years...)

Her newest activity is trying to undo/redo the buckles on her high chair/car seat/etc. Though her gross motor skills leave a little to be desired, she's very intent on those fine motor activities. Lucky for me, she hasn't really figured it out yet.

Last weekend we celebrated with our third year residents at the graduation dinner. Babysitter-less at the last minute, Elizabeth came along and behaved like quite the lady, eating her pasta with a "big fork", and drinking her water with only one big spill. My first class of residents, we will miss them as they head all over creation. Strangely, two of them are going to Alaska. Hmmm. Not my first choice, but apparently it's the place to be these days.

Saturday was also Millie's Birthday Party. Millie is in Elizabeth's class at school, and, for some reason, she absolutely loves Jeff, and runs/crawls to him whenever he comes to get Elizabeth. Should I be jealous?

I really need to update this thing more often. That way it won't take an hour! Time to head off to work.

Mayday! Mayday!

May has been quite the month, and many of you have not-so-subtlely mentioned that my blog has been sorely neglected. You're right. Does the fact that I was seeing patient labwork from May 6, today, on May 29, tell you how the month has gone?

May started out fairly well. As attending on our inpatient team, I knew it would be a busy month, as it inevitably always is. At least this month, I never had to return to the hospital in the afternoon to finish seeing patients as I have had to do in past months. Nevertheless, we were busy most of the month.

The first weekend was great, with a party at Jenny's house to celebrate the Kentucky Derby (we made derby hats and had hobby-horse races in the living room) and Cinco de Mayo. Margaritas and mint juleps, who could ask for more?

The next weekend was equally crazy, as we decided to finally rid ourselves of our rusty wrought iron mailbox in favor of a nice wooden one that Jeff fitted for a coach light (which isn't easy, BTW); in the midst of driving back and forth to Lookout Mountain taking items to and from Allison's yard sale (we sold nearly nothing, the reason I don't do yard sales). We squeezed in a trip to the marble fabricators to pick out a countertop for the bathroom (did I mention we're remodeling as well?)

After spending the weekend in the yard, I was beat, and figured I felt bunk because of it. Until I noticed the fever. That kept going up. And down. For nearly 5 days. Two doctor visits and bloodwork for mono (negative, thankfully) later, we had to pack up for a recruting trip in NC. Initially excited to head to the Triangle for the weekend, I could barely drag myself out of bed. Luckily, my fever finally broke Saturday AM in the hotel room (at the not-so-shiny Millenium hotel in Durham. Don't stay there.).

Only at Duke would they plant poison ivy on purpose. Check out this picture from the Native Plants section of Duke Gardens, which we visited during our trip. Wonder what sorry sap got that job!

Despite my disdain for all things Duke, the Gardens are beautiful. So much so that we didn't leave time for anything else. Jeff took many pictures of every manner of arbor you could think of (because they had them all) and I enjoyed the roses and paths, and bridges. Allison and Phil also enjoyed the flora and fauna. Elizabeth enjoyed the ride in her new Ergobaby (http://www.ergobaby.com/) carrier, which we absolutely love.

Sunday had us dining at a glorious German bakery in Durham (http://www.guglhupf.com/), then off to Chapel Hill for a short walk around campus. Elizabeth enjoyed the scenery, mommy and daddy enjoyed the quiet time. Elizabeth has now hung out in The Pit, and is an official Tar Heel after her attempt to drink from the Old Well. Then it was on to Charlotte to visit with Mary and Matt and the boys - a much needed reconnection with old friends(http://nevernegotiatewithtoddlers.blogspot.com/).

Returning home feeling refreshed and nearly completely recovered from the fever, the rat race resumed with fury, with a busy inpatient service and a full office schedule. Looking forward to a weekend at the lake with some girlfriends, I muddled through. Until Thursday at noon. When my stomach turned upside down and inside out. Repeatedly. Convinced I had a giant gallstone, I called my PCP in a panic. Turns out, my little germ-monger was just sharing a wonderful little bug she brought home from school. I've never been so sick in my life! First the fever thing and now this?!? Two and a half days of missed work in a month???? (Don't forget the missed days in January and February, too!)

Luckily, though not eating a whole lot, I was able to enjoy a weekend with the girls sans children, at Lake Weiss in Alabama, and get back home to my bathroom-without-sinks.

(Is this sounding like the psycho month from hell or what???)

Our home is a constant state of remodeling. Moving from room to room in some fashion we claim to be orderly, we have again halted the basement renovation. To do the upstairs bathrooms. Because who wants to have to redo the basement ceiling in a year when we do the bathrooms? So the hall bath, which "only" needed a new vanity, toilet, countertop and fixtures is next on the list. Having found a long enough vanity at a salvage place here in town (http://www.bennettsalvage.com/), we didn't quite fathom the finagling it would take to install it in the space vacated by the old vanity. It's in, though, and the marble guy was here today to measure for the countertop, and the faucets are in the mail. The bonus of finishing the hall bath? We get to gut the master bath! YEAY!! (wanna move in?)

As I write this, Jeff is hopefully in bed, resting up for his trip to Ohio with Elizabeth. I'm on call this weekend, and his friend Will is getting married in Columbus. Grammy and Papa will get to have free reign over baby spoiling this weekend while daddy hangs with his homies. So what's mommy going to do (besides possibly deliver some babies)???? Put up her feet? Read a good book? Of course not! She's going to pull up errant wisteria, weed, weedwack, and hopefully not get poison ivy. NO rest for the weary!!!

In preparing for her trip to Ohio, Elizabeth tried out her Indians visor. Which she insisted on putting on herself. Check out this video!

I must get to bed so I can moderately function tomorrow, my last day on service. What a month! Sorry to have been blog-absent. Hopefully next month will be better!

Here's that movie I was talking about! It's kind of dark...

What does the dog say?

After a harrowing 10 days of traveling (both to Boston and Nashville), all-nighters on labor and delivery, and mounds of paperwork at the office, this Doctor Mom was ready for a few days (really only about 24h) of R&R. Or, should I say, E&D (eating and drinking). And playing of course.

Elizabeth continues to win friends and influence people at all points, including the 4 Bridges Art Festival here in Chattanooga this weekend. This is a venue where we were quite happy of her immobility, as stroller confinement at least prevents expensive "oopsies".

Her newest trick is animal sounds. She especially likes cat and dog, but is getting better with duck and cow. She's also started spearing food with her baby fork, which, for our lazy eater, who would rather smear with her fingers, is quite an accomplishment.

(Of note, I've been trying to upload a video clip since last night, and after the third failed attempt I'm giving up. It was a really good clip, too.)

Time to head to work!

More milestones, more tears

Dr. Mom went to Boston last weekend for a big doctor conference (that wasn't the least bit boring - how geeky of me), and Elizabeth and Daddy got to stay at home and play. While I was away, she had her first official PT visit, and miraculously started moving around more. (maybe the mean physical therapist scared her into not being afraid of her push-along lion anymore)

Since Saturday she's been making laps around the house and up and down the hallway pushing Mr. Lion and looking totally cute, giggling when he plays a little song. Tonight, she cruised for a mere three steps around her Neurosmith activity block. Now we're cooking with gas! And when she fell down, she actually caught herself!

Little Lizzy Beth has also become quite the scat master. No, not that which comes out the backside of wild animals. Music. She's been making up her own little songs, they go like this: ba-ba-bum-bum-daa, da-da-da. Or something similar. With a melody and little dance to go along. It's hysterical.

She's also continued to sit herself up in bed, get stuck in the bedposts, and scream bloody murder. Sunday night, it lasted for at least 2 hours. Tonight, not so bad - only 30 minutes. Hopefully her next milestone will be laying back down.

Off to write a lecture for tomorrow on the wonders of the IUD. We'll call it, "how not to procreate like rabbits 101"

Up on her own

Usually, Elizabeth goes to bed without so much as a peep. 20 seconds of "no, please, mommy not bed not now" crying and she's done. Tonight, she screamed bloody murder for nearly a half hour.

When I went into her room, presuming I would find a teething not-quite-toddler seriously pissed off about bedtime, I was more than abruptly surprised to find her sitting up in the corner of her crib, straddle-legged, with one leg stuck out one side of the crib, and the other stuck out the back. She was stuck - and apparently had something to cry about. You see, Elizabeth is a wee bit slow in the movement department, and has only once before, in 18 months, been found upright in her crib. So we had a little celebration in her room (after I carefully removed her poor ankles from between the crib rungs) about what a big girl she is.

I don't think she understood the significance of our little celebration, but it made her daddy and I think she may move on her own after all. She just enjoyed the attention, the Tylenol, and the cup of "wahwah" she doesn't usually get at such a late hour.

Fork? I don't need no stinking fork!

18 month olds don't like veggies. But they DO like pasta sauce. And they WILL eat veggies disguised as spaghetti smothered in sauce and cheese.

My 18 month old eschews manners and utensils, in favor of a more visceral food satisfaction. It's full contact dinner. It tastes much better when she's up to her elbows in it.