I need peace of mind...

My 3 year old baby has been scheduled for surgery. He will be having his tonsils, adenoids, and remaining (ear) tube removed. Simply stated, I am terrified. It was nervewracking enough when he was 11 months old and went in for his tubes, an outpatient surgery; this time it's serious enough that they will be keeping him (and me!) overnight. It has been tentatively scheduled for the day before Thanksgiving...

How do I talk with Sean about it and make him comfortable with the thought of being in hospital and having an operation, when I am so scared? I know that the chance of anything serious happening is slim, I know that it's - generally speaking - a routine surgery, but the thought of my tiny boy (because he is still that tiny boy to me) being put under and operated on makes me sick to my stomach.

I really do like his ear (nose and throat...) doctor, I do. But when he started talking about the surgery, the recovery and how much pain Sean will be in, I wanted to punch him. How dare he do that to my baby!!! The thought of it has dominated my mind all day and, after my initial flood of tears, I have been on the verge of tears ever since it was scheduled. I know that it is a good decision, a necessary decision, but that doesn't make me any less of a nervous wreck.

If the question is "How messy can you get when eating cupcake mix?"

Here is the answer.....

To infinity and beyond!

Is he not the cutest Buzz Lightyear you have ever seen??????

Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho...

...It's back to work full time I go...
I have had such fun with Sean over the past 13 months, working part time. I am very sad at having to return to work full time but I take comfort knowing that the bond we share is even stronger having spent that extra time together each and every week. My memories of playgrounds, spraygrounds, museums, parks, movies, festivals, farmer's markets and so much more will always be with me. Now we must take full advantage of our weekends together and make time each evening for special Mummy and Sean bonding. He is growing up so fast and I am very fortunate to have been able to witness so much at such a crucial learning period in his life. He knows that his Mummy loves him and will always be there for him and that's the most important lesson I could have taught him.

Everything I know I learned from Toy Story

As I yanked open the sliding door of the moving truck, a wide-eyed Sean said, amazed..."Mummy! It's just like Woody Buzz!!!"

Oh precious laptop, did you miss me?

Yes! Finally! This evening the internet and cable was restored to the house. It is truly unbelievable how reliant we (I!) have become on the internet. I was completely lost without it! And why no internet for so long? We had the worst windstorm in the history of Dayton, Ohio....and all we got was the remnants of Hurricane Ike! Those poor, poor people in Texas had to live through the brunt of it! Hundreds of thousands of Dayton residents without power from the onset of the storm, tens of thousands without power for over a week...some still don't have it back.

There was astounding wind damage throughout the area, far more severe than in my photos. Our street is a very tree-lined street and it was pure carnage once the wind died down. We were at a classic car show that had to be shut down 3 hours early as tree limbs were falling on the cars (and on the track for the awesome trains Sean and I were riding!). While we were leaving, a large branch fell on some poor unsuspecting guy, breaking his leg! A rather large branch fell about a foot in front of me, large enough that had it fallen on me, it definitely would have knocked me out! We drove past trees that had been uprooted, pulling up the sidewalk with them. Stores that rarely close were closed for days. Major roads and intersections were without traffic lights, some are still out! Scary stuff!

Pretending to be Fangio



Innocently enjoying the trains....



Tree carnage



Not so lucky neighbours...could have been worse I guess!

Vacation '08!

I know we have been back for almost 3 weeks....
It's really late now and I have been working like mad to organize my free photo book from the wonderful Shutterfly (what great timing Shutterfly!! Right after our vacation!), so here are a few pics to tide you over...I know you have been waiting and waiting for vacation pics. These are a few of my very faves.


Fuzzy and blue...all over...





What hat?




Wheeeeee!!!! This is fun Mummy!




Big buddy Bert




All by myself





It is so good to see you again!!!



Sean loved his trip to Sesame Place! We really had so much FUN! The characters were wonderful and so great with Sean. As far as he is concerned the are all now his close and personal buddies! He speaks of them often...

More photos to come (eventually!). No one cares if they are all out of order, right?