Rubbing it in

This is my nephew David:

He's been the subject of many a blog post around these parts.  It's because he says the darndest things.

He's the type of kid that when you give him the consequence ahead of time, you can actually see him thinking about whether or not the punishment is worth committing the crime anyway.  Mischievous.  But he also has a huge heart.

Before Henry came around, during the infertility and cancer, David helped fulfill my desperate need to nurture.  He was also so sweet when it came to my neck scar.  I mean, this very restless, rambunctious little boy would very gently touch my neck and be very careful around me.  I never had to worry about him.

He was the youngest person in our family for quite a few years before Henry came around.  I was kind of nervous that he would resent Henry a little for taking his place as the "youngest" but I think the opposite has happened.

He likes the Henry looks up to him.  And boy... does he ever.  Plus I think he likes that his isn't the baby anymore.

David and Henry are buddies.

Henry and David went to the same daycare center last year.  And I would always ask David to "check" on Henry for him.  Their classrooms were right across a little lawn from each other.  David did a great job of checking in on Henry at least once a week.  When he graduated kindergarten, I was a little sad.  I miss having David there to keep tabs on Henry.

But I think it helped form a special bond between them.  Henry LOVES him.

Anyway, I have more stories about David on my blog than the other boys simply because I didn't have a way to document all the funny little stories about the older boys.  And I'm pretty glad I have this space because I can reread THIS STORY.  And THIS STORY.

So here's another sweet David story to add to the mix...

David and I have this routine.  I go up and give him a big kiss on the cheek.  He then takes his hand and wipes his face (for the nonexistent spit I leave behind I guess).

Then I say to him, "Are you wiping it off or rubbing it in?"

He always replies, "Rubbing it in."

It's our thing.

So a couple of months ago, before we said good-bye we went through our little routine.  At the end he said, "You ALWAYS do that!" which I took to mean that he was getting too old for me to kiss his cheek.

:(

But I don't want to be that super annoying relative that he dreads seeing, so I decided to give him some space in the future.  The next few times I saw him, I would just give him a hug and say good-bye.

While we were camping on the beach, we were getting ready to head home on our last day there.  After I gave him a hug, David turned to me and said, "You haven't given me a kiss in a long time!"

"Do you like it when I give you a kiss," I ask.

A cute little grin came across his face and he said, "Yes."

I quickly ran over and gave him a nice, big kiss on the cheek.  And you can bet money on it that I will every time from now on.  :)

Day 1

We survived our first day of daycare.

I say we because it was really a question more of me making it through than Henry.  To add to my professionalism, I cried through the whole staff meeting that day and get to experience the joy of milking myself at work (aka pumping).  Everyone at work seemed to understand and were very supportive.

I had a night meeting that night, so I had a good excuse to go pick him up early.  When I got there, he was taking a nap and I got to hear from his teacher what a great day he had.

He discovered his tongue, took the bottle, loved playing outside, smiled whenever the other babies were around him, laughed at his teachers, and did great in his crib with the crib mobile.

Basically, he rocked daycare.  And that made me feel SO MUCH better.

I was pretty excited to have him back with me at the office Thursday and Friday.  Can you blame me?  Look at this guy...

Did you notice his shirt?  Totally appropriate for an engineering office.

On another cute note... David was asked what his favorite part of kindergarten was and he answered that he got to see Henry every day.  Melt my heart.

Today is his second day there (he goes Monday thru Wednesday only for now) and when I dropped him off, he smiled and laughed at his teachers.  I unpacked his stuff, gave him a hug, and went to my car.  And I managed to do the whole thing without crying.

There was another mom there this morning and it was obviously he first day dropping off her baby.  Her baby was TINY.  I'm guessing 8 weeks old.  I wanted to run up to her and give her a big hug, but I didn't.  I thought that might be a little weird.

I'm pretty much willing the time to go by today so I can go pick him up.  I just hope the little guy is prepared for all the kissing and hugging that he is going to be showered with tonight.

1st Day

Today is Henry's first day of daycare...

Cue the tears.

I may have cried through the staff meeting.  Phil tried to cheer me up by bring me a Pumpkin Spice Latte (didn't work, but provided a nice distraction) and Joanna lent me a virtial cell-phoney shoulder to cry on via text message.  I've made it a couple of hours at the office without him and am proud to report I haven't called to check up on him yet.  I figure I need to wait at least a little longer or risk being dubbed "that crazy mom" by the daycare ladies.

I dropped him off and got all his stuff set up.  All the while, he was making smiley faces with his "teachers".  He'll be fine.

Joanna described it best though when she told me, "It's like starting each day with heartache."

I'm in need of a smile.  And who better to provide it than David, my super adorable youngest nephew.  David has been a source of smiles for me over the years.  And this video does not disappoint.

Park the Car from Natalie Janney on Vimeo.

He has a hard time pronouncing his "R" sounds and it is TOO CUTE!  I love it.

David love love LOVES Henry.  And he's going to the same childcare center (for kindergarten) than Henry is at.  So they promised me this morning that they would have David come over and check on him today.

Alright... BACK TO WORK.  If I have to be away from my baby, I sure as hell am going to get a lot done.

Ferris Wheels, Funnel Cakes, and Fried Food - The Fair

I've been so stressed out for, oh, probably the last month and a half and it is really starting to take its toll on me.  I'm sure this is a surprise to no one.  But I think the combination of new thyroid hormones, Thyrogen shots, extreme stress and a weird diet have done me in.  I'm tired and get grumpy pretty easily.  Plus my appetite likes to play a little game of being non-existant to totally raging.

Before your mind goes there... no... I'm not pregnant.  What proof?  How about that wonderful blood pregnancy test I was forced to have that probably won't be covered by my insurance last week before my iodine dose and scan that resulted in a lovely arm bruise?  Will that work?  Ok. 

And I think if my insurance tries to not pay for this one, I am going to call and cry gender discrimination.  This will be the 3rd pregnancy test I have HAD to have this year for my cancer stuff.  The first two were urine tests that cost me $25 that were not covered by insurance.  For $25 I could have walked to the Walgreen's across the street and bought a box of 3 for less than $25.  Not to mention that my almost 2 years of trying unsuccessfully to get pregnant makes being forced to have a pregnancy test kind of an insult.  But I think if a doctor is making me take the test, my insurance should cover it.  If I were a man, I wouldn't even have to have the stupid test.

Did I mention I get grumpy easily?

The point is... I'm tired.  If you couldn't tell from my pictures, we went to the fair this last weekend.  And we did everything you are supposed to do at the state fair:  Saw the animals.  Ate fried food.  Walked through the exhibit halls to see the crap they are selling.  Get yelled at by a salesperson (more on that later).  Eat fried food.  Ride some rides.  Have a scone (or two).  Watch the boys get into a giant hamster wheel.

{Pictures are kind of blurry, but whatever.  You get the idea}

Why didn't I think of this?  It's GENIUS!  Another lost opportunity.

David didn't get his face painted like the last two years.  And he didn't say anything super cute or hilarious either.  But he did ride one of the big people rides and loved it.

Jeffrey and I rode the ride too.  But we didn't enjoy it as much as the girl next to us.

But he couldn't go on all the rides.  He was pretty bummed he couldn't go on the giant swings I made Jeffrey go on with me.

{Phil took this picture and I love it.  So cute}

Next year, David.  You'll be big enough next year.  Then your problem will be your dad letting you go on the rides.  :)

Gone Fishing

While we were camping, my brother decided he wanted Phil to go fishing with him and his boys (Jacob and David) and Jeffrey. 

{Isn't their family cute?!?}

{This isn't our group}

{This is}

{Jacob being a fisherman}

We went to a stocked reservoir and fished off the bank.  Since we were at the Oregon coast, it was very overcast and the fog rolled in quite a bit while we were fishing, but it was so nice.

{Watching Phil get the fishing poles ready and bait the hooks was super cute}

{I don't think that is what the net is for}

{This is what timeout looks like while fishing}

My favorite part of the outing was when Phil taught David (who is 4 years old) how to cast.  And this wasn't with a little kids pole.  This was Nick's grandpa's fishing pole.

Phil did a great job being patient with David and explaining to him how to hold the line and flip the reel and how you have to release the line with you throw the pole forward.  Watching David's little pudgy finger grab the line with his tongue stinking out in concentration was a definite Hallmark moment.  And he got it right away.  So cute.

{He got it}

Nobody caught anything, but it was still a very nice little outing.  And it was extremely peaceful and beautiful.

Aunt Natalie, why do you have a neck scar?

Remember David?

He's my super cute 4 year old nephew.  He's got a lot of spunk and says some of the funniest things.  Not to mention, there is nothing quite like watching someone discover the world

Every time I see him, he tells me that my neck scar is looking good.  And he's been very gentle with my neck ever since my first surgery, which is a little unlike him.  He's got a lot of energy.  :)  A couple of weeks ago, we were at my parents' house celebrating my sister's birthday.  I went to find David to tell him it was time to eat.  After tickling him profusely, he once again told me that my neck scar looked good.  He said, "It doesn't look as red."

I said (like I always do), "Thanks David!  It is getting better."

That's when he got this serious look on his face and asked, "How come you have that scar?"

Crap... How do I explain surgery to a little kid without giving him nightmares?

I said, "I had to have a gland taken out of my neck because it was making me sick.  So a very special doctor (didn't want him to think his regular doctor was going to cut open his neck or something) had to very carefully cut my neck to get it out.  So it wouldn't make me sick anymore."

He just kind of looked at me.  Dang it... I freaked him out.

So I kept going, "This doctor had to go to school for super super SUPER long to learn how to do that."

David replied with, "Was the doctor old?"

"Yeah," I said.  "Old like your dad."  :)

David laughed and we went to get dinner.  Hopefully I didn't give him nightmares or terrify him of the doctor.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was a good and hectic one, filled with friends, family, and projects.  Here are some highlights:

I spent Friday night with Jenna and Danielle at the OSAA Dance and Drill State Compeition.  It brought back lots of memories.  Mostly of disappointment.  Hard work leading to no pay-off.  Dance team would have been a completely different experience if our team had been good.  Or had actual coaches.  It is nice to see other teams do well though.


Saturday, I went shopping by myself and found this gem:

It is currently being transformed.  I was only interested in the frame which cost a whopping $10.  Phil wants to keep the picture and the pink matte, but I said no.  A girl's gotta put her foot down sometimes.

I made low-iodine spaghetti sauce which required me to chop an entire head of garlic.  I think my hands may still smell like garlic.

We had drinks and dinner with our Irish friend (it was St. Patrick's Day afterall), Ian.  And we discussed the restaurants poor adverstising of Boddington's (which they pronounced Buddingtons) as an Irish stout (which it is totally not) and the fact that St. Patrick's Day parades always have men playing bagpipes dressed in tartan kilts (while bagpipes and tartan kilts are Scottish, not Irish).  Then we watched Michael Collins while I folded all of our laundry in front of Ian.  He's now seen all of my underwear.  The best part is that I don't think he had noticed until I pointed it out.  Awkward points for me.

Sunday we went to my brother's house to celebrate David's birthday.  Since David is 4 (and thus a certified tattle-tell), he was really concerned when my oldest nephew, Daniel, had gone to the bathroom and locked the door.  He proceeded to tell my brother that it was wrong and wanted to know what Daniel was doing in the bathroom.  That conversation went like this:

David:  But Daddy, why does Daniel have the door locked?

Nick:  Probably because we wants some privacy.

David:  But with the door locked, I can't get into the bathroom.

Nick:  Which is probably why Daniel locked the door.

David:  But what he is doing in there?

Nick:  He is probably going to the bathroom.

David:  But he is not peeing or pooping.  What is he doing in there?

Nick:  It's none of your beeswax.  Just leave him alone.


Then Sunday evening, we went to Josh and Joanna's house for a home-cooked meal.  It was crazy good.  The best part was when Josh was holding Braxton on his lap and trying to get him to sit down with the phrase, "Sit down Brax or Daddy will shoot the Easter Bunny."


It was a great weekend.

He's Feeling Better

Go Fish.  Popsicles.  Headbandz.  And some dinner.  Thanks to Children's Tylenol and Advil, David is feeling much better.  He says his throat still hurts and by 7:00 last night, he was a little pale and very sleepy, but he RAN up to answer the door and was very goofy so I think that is a good sign.

He was a very brave boy.  And his older brother, Jacob, was a very good helper and big brother (for the most part).  :)



{Phil with his Fair Godmothers card.  Such a good uncle.}

Oh shoot!  No one took a picture of me with my headband on.  Dang.  :)  Maybe next time.

David has surgery

David (my youngest nephew) says a lot of funny things.  He is almost 4 years old.  Pretty soon, he will be an older little kid.  Still cute, but in a different not as innocent kind of way.  Just last week, I asked him why a little girl at his daycare had given him a hug and he said, "It's none of your business."  Funny kid.

{David at the State Fair in 2010 | David looking at a caterpiller Phil found in Oct. 2010 | David at the State Fair in 2011}

This morning David had to have surgery to remove his tonsils, adenoids, and have an endoscopy done at the same time.

Last week when he had to have his blood work done pre-surgery, he asked his mom if it would hurt.  She told him it would feel like a pinch, but it wouldn't hurt for very long.  After it was done, he said to her, "Momma you lied!  It felt like a shot!"

His surgery was this morning and my brother said it went well.  Then he sent me this picture:

Doesn't that break your heart?

Since I just had surgery, I tried my best to make sure he knew that he would be ok and that it wasn't too scary.  I promised him lots of popsicles and games of Go Fish and Headbandz the evening of his surgery.  So when his doctor told him he would HAVE to eat lots of popsicles after the surgery, David replied, "That's ok.  My Aunt Natalie is going to bring me popsicles and play Go Fish with me."  Melt my heart.

I bought him like 40 popsicles.  Hope it's enough.

Ten Little Things, vol. 3

E is hosting another link-up today and after several moments of "oh crap there is no way in h-e-double hockey sticks I can come up with ten things" I decided I will give it a whirl.  I still think the first and second lists I made are better though.  Just fair warning.

10.  It has been raining A LOT here in Oregon.  Shocking, I know.  Oregonians are used to a little bit of rain a lot of the time, not a lot of rain in a little bit of time.  So now we are all worried about flooding.  Freaky.  It freaks me out a little more because I am a civil engineer and part of my job is to calculate detention storage, drainage systems, and grading so that things (like houses) don't flood.  Watching my boss freak out and frantically check out projects he did 10 or 20 years ago does not make me super excited for my stress level in the future.

9.  Today is the 5th anniversary of the death of Phil's brother.  Every year, I try to prepare myself for how Phil will act because I can not relate to such a tragedy.  I have no idea what it is like to lose a sibling (thank goodness).  In the past, Phil and I have gone out to eat for a steak dinner on this day (something his brother really enjoyed doing).  Last year, Phil decided he wanted to change that tradition and rather than go on the day his brother died, he wants to go get a steak dinner on his birthday.  I think that is MAJOR progress in his grief and I am so proud of him.  So tonight, we are going to the Mongolian Grill and going to a movie. 

I never got to meet Nick (Phil's brother.  I also have a brother named Nick), but Phil says I would have liked him.

8.  Our puppy search is going well!  We found 2 breeders that we are really excited to work with.  We filled out the applications and I think Phil sent them to the breeders.  We are SUPER excited.  All this talk of getting another puppy has caused Taylor to get showered with love and affection.  I'd say it is a win/win for everyone.

Don't forget to vote on a name for the puppy!

7.  Last Friday night, Phil was going to be late coming home from school so I decided to go to the gym (for the first time in a long time).  I figurded the gym would be empty... NOPE.  There were so many people there.  And my neck was all, "What is this crap?!?"  I haven't been back since.  Maybe tomorrow.

6.  Last Saturday Phil and I went to an early dinner at Red Robin.  We sat in the bar (no wait) at a booth.  We both ordered our food and were eating in peace, despite the group of men sitting at the bar watching the 49ers game.  They were all rooting for the 49ers like they were betting on it or something.  We are talking lots of hooping and hollering and "up top!".  It was super annoying.  I wanted to tell them, "You're not at a sports bar.  Stop."  After several annoyed glances over at them, I noticed they each had like 3 milkshake glasses in front of them.  We were about done eating when Phil told me to look over at them...  The largest guy's pants had slipped down and he hairy crack was hanging out for the world to see.  It was bad.  And I don't mean that in a judgemental kind of way, but in a "please don't show me your pooper while I am trying to eat" kind of way.  Needless to say, I was done eating after that and it still took the waiter 15 minutes to bring us our check.  For every minute that guy emulated a plumber, the tip dropped.

5.  After Red Robin, we went to my brother's house and played canasta.  David (my youngest nephew) and I also played Disney Headbanz.  He is way better at it than I am.  We also made up a new super hero.  David is so stinkin' hilarious and cute.  There are some good David stories HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE.

4.  I haven't talked about it much on here, but part of my thyroid cancer treatment will include radioactive iodine.  That will happen about 12 weeks after my holiday surgery.  To prepare for this, I have to be off my thyroid meds and on a low-iodine diet for 4 weeks.  "What foods is iodine in?" you might ask.  Apparently lots.  Iodinized salt, everything from the sea, meat, dairy, some beans,egg yolks, soy, red dye #3.  Basically I will be eating a lot of salads, no processed food (not hard since we don't do much of that now), 5 oz. of meat a day, only 4 servings of grains a day, a lot of fruits/veggies.  It will be super healthy which is good since I will have no metabolism.  But the thought of no milk makes me want to cry a little.  It will be fine.  I'll do it because I have to do.  Besides, I am rewarding myself afterwards with a puppy.  :)

3.  I have struggled a little bit with blogging lately.  I read a lot of blogs and so many of them show the absolute flawless life of the blogger.  Everything perfectly in its place.  Everything going totally according to plan.  And that is really hard for me right now, where nothing is going the way I had planned it.  And some of these blogs and a ton of followers!  It feels like high school all over again, where everyone wants to be and wants to be friends with the popular girl.  I was not the popular girl then and I am not now either.  But I realized this week that this blog has been a real blessing lately.  I have made some good friends through this blog.  Friends that have reached out to me and helped me during this cancer stuff.  Friends who have had thyroid cancer and have answered A TON of my questions and concerns and have asked others to pray for me.  And while I may not have a ton of followered, I have super high quality blog friends.  And I think that is MUCH better.

2.  Joanna sent me this video last night.  Braxton likes the sound of his dad tenderizing meat.  It is like his own personal dance beat.  I expect tickets when he is a contenstant on "So You Think You Can Dance."

1.  I bought new mascara about a month ago and put it in my purse.  Since then, I keep forgetting to take it out of my purse and put it with my makeup.  So every morning I put on my makeup and think to myself, "Oh dang!  My mascara is still in my purse!  It's ok, I'll put it on when I get to the office.  Or while driving.  Whatever."  Then I drive to work and get to work and forget to put it on.  Then at about 3 in the afternoon, I have a meeting or something and remember I don't have any mascara on.  At that point, why bother?  But you know it looks really weird to have dark eye shadow on with no mascara.  I just need to move my mascara.  We'll see if that happens.


This is my 200th post.  I think that is cool. 


This was by far my lamest Ten Little Things post.  I'm sorry.

A Dolphin Tale

After church, my sister-in-law, Stephanie, was holding two plastic dolphins.  My parents, Phil and I were all, "What's with the dolphins?"

Stephanie told us this story...

They have been watching "Dolphin Tale" at their house and David is apparently REALLY into it.  He is so into it that he took his two plastic dolphin figurines and tried to make them match the dolphin in the movie.  That meant needing to remove the tails.  He go as far as finding scissors and then Stephanie stopped him.  She explained to him that in the movie, the dolphin eventually gets a tail so he shouldn't cut the tails off.

{image source HERE}

David took the dolphins to church with him and as he was going into sunday school, Stephanie told him he couldn't take them in with him.  She was afraid he would do tail amputation during sunday school.

I think it is super cute that he was trying to make the dolphins match.  I'm only slightly concerned that what David took from the movie is that dolphins need to have their tails cut off.

Mr. Bones

Sunday, our family got together to watch White Christmas.  We do this every year, right before Thanksgiving.  We used to do it the night before Thanksgiving, but we had to change the date when Phil and I started travelling to Georgia.

This year, Jake and David were super excited about watching it.  While we waited to start the movie, I asked the boys what their favorite song from the movie was.  Jake coudln't pick a favorite, but David definitely know which song he liked:

Mr. Bones

Or Minstrel Show, as it is referred to in the movie.

He then performed a concert for us.

Personally, I like the hat.  When he finished, we clapped.  I asked him what the name of the song he performed was...

"Mr. Bones," he said with a smile on his face.

I am going to be sad when all of my nephews are "cool teenagers" and aren't this cute anymore.