We're Still Here

I know that I have been absolutely horrible about keeping up with this blog. I haven't really had anything exciting to post plus the kids and I were sick for several months. It got really, really old.

The twins both had RSV, Culp had a couple of ear infections, both twins had some sinus infections. Reed had an ear infection, sinus infection, strep twice. I had strep, ear infections, sinus infections, bronchitis. They thought I had whooping cough but fortunately the test came back negative. It was a rough few months. I ended up being too sick to walk in the March For Babies, so Mike walked for me. Talk about disappointing!

Culp's MRI was in April and came back fine. We reviewed the results with the Pediatric Neurologist and he thinks that Culp's issues are related to being hyper-reflexive. He does want to see him again at 1 year old but sees no reason to medicate him at this time.

Mike has been unstaffed for a few weeks now (since early April, I think) and we have been busy with projects around the house. We put in a new front yard with St. Augustine and two big stone ringed flower beds around the trees. It looks great! We've never had such a pretty front yard before. Hopefully, the plants will survive. We planted some Encore Azaleas and Gardenias as well as some other little plants. We've had good luck with the Encore Azaleas so hopefully do well. However, the last Gardenia we had did not fare well. We'll see how these do, I guess. I just love Gardenias though; I had them in my bridal bouquet. They are so pretty and smell just heavenly. We also planted some Fatsia in the backyard. I have been wanting some Fatsia for a long time. I just like the way it looks so lush and tropical. Hopefully, it will do well in the yard.

We fenced part of our backyard with a wrought iron fence. We were very limited to the area that we could fence since we have a HUGE drainage easement in our yard due to the creek. It will be a great area for the kids to play in though. We are also going to put a deck in - about 880 sq ft - but are waiting on the permits from the town before the builder can start. We're hoping that this doesn't become an ordeal due to the easement!

If we can ever get it in, I think the deck will be awesome! We're doing a redwood deck. The town requires no larger than a 4 inch gap for the railing. But instead of rails/boards, we thought it would look really nice to use steel cable instead. This picture is an example of how it might look.

In preparation for the deck, Mike has had to move a lot of the sprinkler lines in the backyard. This has been quite an undertaking! He has finally finished though so we're just waiting now.

Oh we did have a really relaxing weekend a few weeks ago. Mike's parents took all 3 kids for an overnight stay. They picked them up around 10AM on a Friday and they didn't come home until Saturday evening! WOW! I decided to use my Elizabeth Arden gift card that they had given me for Christmas and treated myself to a Desert Hot Stone Massage, a Phyto-Organic Facial and a Olive Oil Pedicure. Ahhhh...


Mike took me to dinner that night at Old Warsaw in Dallas. We hadn't been there for several years. They have been around forever. I had the Lobster Thermidor and it was yummy! We got up the next day and went to breakfast and then headed to the Dallas Farmers' Market to get some plants as well as fruit and veggies. We decided to stop in at our favorite restaurant in Deep Ellum - Pepe's y Mito's. Their fried tacos are SOOOO good. Wonderful! We capped off our date weekend with a visit to Half-Price Books. What a wonderful time! Thanks again, Gary and Judy!!!

Well, I guess I ended up having up more to talk about than I realized! I will try to do a better job going forward of posting here so that it doesn't look like I have abandoned the blog!

March for Babies

I am so excited! A couple of days ago, I signed up to do the March of Dimes March for Babies event in Dallas on Saturday, April 18th. I created a team named "Walking for Angelo and Daniella" in honor / memory of my friend Donna's babies.

Donna was originally pregnant with quads but lost 2 of the babies early on. She then PPROM'ed (Preterm Premature Rupture of Membranes) at 13 weeks but made it to ~27 weeks. She knew for quite some time that Angelo was not going to make it. It was his membranes that ruptured and unfortunately, his fluid did not replenish itself. We kept praying for a miracle but perhaps the miracle was that he was able to stay alive for as long as he did. He actually helped to save his sister's life since he was Baby A and blocked the cervix. He kept Daniella's (Baby B) membranes from rupturing and kept her alive.

The babies were born on January 28th and Angelo did live for a few hours. Donna and her husband, Joe, were able to spend time with him and say goodbye. Daniella is in the NICU still and has quite a haul ahead of her. She has episodes where she "forgets" to breath and the nurses have to nudge her to remind her to breath. So I believe that she is still intubated most of the time. She is just 3 pounds - so quite little.

If you would like to walk with us or donate to the cause, please check out out team's page: http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?SeId=651651&si=. I sincerely appreciate any support you can provide. This is a cause that is near and dear to my heart.

Buckwheat Honey

I have recently discovered Buckwheat Honey and I love it! I read a blurb about it in Parents magazine (or maybe it was Parenting magazine?) about how it is very good for children’s coughs. Particularly since the medical field is now recommending NOT to give cough/cold medicine to young children. A few days later, I was in Target (which is not my normal store) and I stumbled across Buckwheat Honey and picked some up.

It is very good but different from other honeys. It reminds me more of molasses. Also, it works phenomenally well on Reed’s cough. It stops it immediately and works through the night. He woke up coughing this morning at 5:30 or so and I started thinking “Oh no! It’s not working!”. Come to find out that Mike didn’t give him any last night.

It is kind of comical to see him running into the kitchen when I ask if he’s ready for the honey. He licks the spoon all over and says “YUMMY!!” repeatedly. LOL!
Here’s some information that I found interesting about Buckwheat and Buckwheat Honey.

From wikipedia:

Buckwheat refers to plants in two genera of the dicot family Polygonaceae: the Eurasian genus Fagopyrum, and the North American genus Eriogonum. The crop plant, common buckwheat, is Fagopyrum esculentum. Tartary buckwheat (F. tataricum Gaertn.) or "bitter buckwheat" is also used as a crop, but it is much less common. Despite the common name and the grain-like use of the crop, buckwheat is not a cereal or grass. It is called a pseudocereal to emphasize that it is not related to wheat.

From multiple websites:

Buckwheat honey is pungent in flavor with molasses and malty tones and a lingering aftertaste. Buckwheat honey is also very dark in color. As a general rule, darker honeys tend to be higher in antioxidant compounds than lighter ones. Because of this characteristic, darker honeys also tend to be higher in mineral content on average, as compared to lighter honeys. The buckwheat plant is an excellent honey source, sometimes planted by beekeepers specifically for honey production. The blossoms are rich in nectar and blooming can continue into the fall.

From medicalnewstoday.com:

If a child has a cough and cold a single dose of buckwheat just before bedtime may relieve the cough and help him/her sleep better, compared to giving nothing or an OTC (over-the-counter) cough medicine, according to an article in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine (JAMA/Archives), December issue.

The authors explain "Cough is the reason for nearly 3 percent of all outpatient visits in the United States, more than any other symptom, and it most commonly occurs in conjunction with an upper respiratory tract infection."

A cough can seriously disrupt a child's sleep. The researchers write that the most commonly used OTC medication for children's cough is dextromethorphan - a treatment which is not supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, nor the American College of Chest Physicians. "In many cultures, alternative remedies such as honey are used to treat upper respiratory tract infection symptoms including cough."

Ian M. Paul, M.D., M.Sc., Penn State College of Medicine, Hershey, and team carried out a study on 105 children - they were aged 2-18, and all were suffering from upper respiratory tract infections. They were ill for up to seven days and experienced symptoms during the night. 35 of them were randomly selected to receive a dose of honey, another 33 were given dextromethorphan, while the other 37 were given nothing - those receiving treatment got it 30 minutes before bedtime. Their parents had to fill in a survey assessing their child's cough and sleep difficulty twice - once for the night before treatment, and then again for the night with treatment.

The researchers found that honey helped children the most by far, followed by dextromethorphan. Honey helped alleviate the following problems - cough frequency, cough severity, the child's sleep, and the parents' sleep.

The writers concluded "While our findings and the absence of contemporary studies supporting the use of dextromethorphan continue to question its effectiveness for the treatment of cough associated with upper respiratory tract infections, we have now provided evidence supporting honey, which is generally regarded as safe for children older than 1 year, as an alternative. While additional studies to confirm our findings should be encouraged, each clinician should consider the findings for honey, the absence of such published findings for dextromethorphan and the potential for adverse effects and cumulative costs associated with the use of dextromethorphan when recommending treatments for families."

I'm Still Here

I know that I haven't posted anything on my blog in quite a while. It is just so busy around here with Mike out of town during the week. I've got my hands full. And I guess I've gotten tired of typing with one hand to some extent!

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still here and I haven't abandoned the blog!

25 Random Things

The "25 Random Things" posts are going around Facebook and I posted this a week or so ago there. I thought I would add it to my blog as well.

1. I am adopted and I do not have a desire to find my birth parents.

2. I became a Christian when I was 11 on September 9, 1981. I remember the date because 9x9=81. I was watching a Billy Graham revival on TV.

3. My sister died on January 28, 1978 when I was almost 8 years old. She was 16 months and in hindsight, I think it was probably RSV. My brother died on February 13, 1997 in a car wreck when he was 18. I hate being the only one left.

4. I married Michael George Gehlbach on December 2, 2000. We got engaged on December 11, 1999. We had our first real date on December 5, 1998. All our big dates are in December, including the birth of our first child!

5. Mike and I tried for 3 years before conceiving Reed with IUI, Clomid and an Ovidryl trigger. We used the same protocol to conceive the twins. I highly recommend Dr. Sam Chantilis and Dr. Karen Lee.

6. I am a mom to Reed Garrett, 25 months, Caroline Rose, 3 months and Culp Connelly, 3 months.

7. I have been a stay at home wife / mom for the last 3 years.

8. I thank God every day for my husband and 3 children.

9. My family lives within 20 miles of me or closer and I hope it stays that way.

10. I wish I could take a family vacation every summer or even a Mike and Tracy only vacation to somewhere tropical. ;)

11. I attended the University of North Texas but never graduated. Somedays I am ashamed of this and somedays I don't care.

12. I have lived in 7 states --- LA, AR, MD, TX, FL, NM, CA. I've lived in TX multiple times.

13. I am so proud of my husband. He has a very strong work ethic and is an extremely hard worker. He is so much smarter than he gives himself credit for. He works so hard to provide for our family and allow me to stay home.

14. I have reconnected with old high school friends, elementary school teachers and old coworkers over Facebook. I love FB!

15. I worked in the Technical Support / Help Desk industry for 16.5 years! WOW... I started as a co-op at IBM when I was only 19 and ended up doing Project Management at Accenture. I never felt completely fulfilled though until I became a Mommy.

16. I joined the Army when I was 23 and planned to be a Linguist and work in Counter-Intelligence. I took the DLAB (Defense Language Aptitude Battery) and qualified for Arabic - the hardest language to qualify for. My "dream" was to eventually work for the CIA as a Political Research Analyst. I ended up not shipping out to Basic because I couldn't get my Top Secret clearance due to having bad credit. If I could pass one thing on to my children, it's that every action you take has consequences and bad actions can stand in the way of something that you really, really want.

17. I'm excited to start volunteering with the Faith 'N Fertility ministry at Fellowship Church.

18. I gained 120 pounds due to having Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. I have lost about 80 of that and am trying to lose the rest. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome contributed to our infertility issues. Do not be afraid to see a Reproductive Endocrinologist if you are having these issues!

19. I have a hard time making new friends because I often feel intimidated by other women. I hate the whole "Mommy Wars" thing.

20. I love having little boys and am really having to adjust to having a girl. This is the complete opposite of how I thought i would be before we had kids!

21. I am a big Texas Longhorn fan even though I didn't go there. Mike went there, my father went there and my mother-in-law and father-in-law went there. I am a Longhorn by proxy. ;)

22. I love to cook and experiment with new recipes and I miss having the time to really do it.

23. I love to go antique shopping.

24. Mike and I collect antique phonographs. I think we have 16 of them now. We also have an antique organ and an antique piano. The piano only cost us $99 and Reed loves to play it!

25. I am grateful for all the blessings in my life. God has blessed me so much.

Look At Us Grow!!!

We finally took a few pictures yesterday of the twins together. We hadn't gotten any pictures of the two of them together in quite a while. They don't sleep together any more since they wake each other up. These turned out pretty cute!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I haven't had a chance to post for several days now. It has just been crazy busy here with the 3 kids. It seems like someone is always needing something, crying, etc. Whew...

Culp's MRI is scheduled for Tuesday, February 3rd at Childrens'. He will have to be sedated for it, poor thing. I'm assuming that the results will be sent to the Pediatric Neurologist and then we will hear back from his office.

Some good news - I had an appointment yesterday with a General Surgeon since my OB was concerned that I might have a very large hernia at the top of my abdomen. Fortunately, it is not a hernia so I do not need to have surgery. Apparently, I have Diastasis Recti - basically my abdominal muscles have separated from being pregnant and especially from getting so huge with the twins. The surgeon made a comment about how he sees it in women who have had "too many children". That kind of irritated me. I didn't think that 3 was all that many! It's not like we're the Duggar Family! Plus, we weren't exactly planning on having twins. So, there's nothing that can be done about it unless I have a tummy tuck which he wouldn't recommend for several years since I wouldn't be able to pick up the babies. It's not causing any issues medically but it's fairly unsightly even through clothes. Oh well - battle scars, right?

Praise God!

I've sent an email to several of you already regarding the King family here in the Metroplex. They are the parents of 5 little ones - a 16-month old little girl, Eva, and brand new quads (two boys and two girls) - Preston, Parker, Madelyn and Dahlia. The quads were born at 25 weeks and are in the NICU.

Three of the babies have had pneumonia, two of them have MRSA, two have already had heart surgeries and one of the babies, Parker, has gone into kidney failure. The update on their blog the other day was very, very sad. Parker was very swollen and was hardly urinating at all.

Please check out their latest update from today! The day after they posted the last update, Parker started urinating like mad! His diapers were so wet that you could wring them out! Praise God! People are praying so hard for these babies and God is listening.

Please, please continue to keep this family in your prayers and particularly little Preston!

Here's a link to their blog: http://treverjennaeva.blogspot.com/

Update on Culp

I posted this update on my Facebook:

First, I want to thank everyone for all of your sweet thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it so much. One of the Children's Pastors at Fellowship Church and his wife brought us a whole turkey on Saturday (along with another meal and some sides!) to put in the freezer for a later meal. We are having it tonight and it will come in so handy since we are just exhausted. Culp has been put on the prayer list there as well as at our church in East Texas, North Shore Baptist in Avinger. We are so thankful for our church family at Fellowship and North Shore Baptist.

What a day. Culp had his appointment with the Pediatric Neurologist today. The EEG was a sleep deprived EEG. Meaning that Culp was not supposed to get more than 4 hours of sleep the night before. So, Mike woke him up at 3AM and he was NOT happy. I took over at 4AM to ensure that he stayed awake. I ended up having to strip him down to a diaper and wipe him down with a wipe repeatedly to keep him awake. He was exhausted.

The EEG results were normal. So, basically it didn't detect any abnormal brain activity. We met with the Pediatric Neurologist after he had reviewed the EEG. Our next step is to have an MRI done with Culp under sedation. While the doctor was examining Culp, he noticed that Culp has a tremor in his legs when the doctor pushed against his feet. We had noticed this before but I had chalked it up to an immature nervous system. The doctor said that it definitely could be that or it could be that he is just hyper-reflexive at this point. The worst option would be that he could have a mild form of Cerebral Palsy. We didn't get deep into the discussion about that diagnosis. It is definitely possible that the tremors in his legs and the seizures are related. If nothing else, the same thing in his little brain that misfires and causes a seizure also misfires and causes the tremors. (Mike - if you read this, correct me if I'm wrong here.)

So, we are waiting to hear back from the scheduler in the Pediatric Neurologist's office regarding scheduling the MRI. At this point, I have no idea if it will be tomorrow, this week, this month, etc. (Well, I would think it would be this month, but you know what I mean.)

I will keep you all posted when I know something.

Mug / City of the Day - Chicago, Illinois

I drank my coffee out of my Chicago mug today. Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the world. When I was traveling for Accenture, I went to Chicago quite a bit. It was a good central location for meetings. For example, there are direct flights from Dublin to Chicago, as well as other major European cities. We also used to have a huge office in Northbrook, Illinois which is a suburb of Chicago. The Northbrook office was an entire complex that even had a cross-country ski course.

From wikipedia:

"Chicago incorporated as a city in 1837 after being founded in 1833 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. The city soon became a major transportation hub in North America and the transportation, financial and industrial center of the Midwest. Today the city's attractions bring 44.2 million visitors annually. O'Hare International is the second busiest airport in the world.

Chicago attracted a combined 44.2 million people in 2006 from around the nation and abroad. Upscale shopping along the Magnificent Mile, thousands of restaurants, as well as Chicago's eminent architecture, continue to draw tourists. The city is the United States' third-largest convention destination. Most conventions are held at McCormick Place, just south of Soldier Field. "

In my opinion, visiting the following attractions would be an ideal way to spend a day in Chicago!

Art Institute of Chicago

The Art of Institute of Chicago is a neat place to spend a morning or an afternoon. There are some great exhibits there. In fact, parts of the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” were filmed there.

From the Art Institute of Chicago’s website:

“The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879 as both a museum and school, first stood on the southwest corner of State and Monroe Streets. It opened on its present site at Michigan Avenue and Adams Street in 1893. Built on rubble from the 1871 Chicago fire, the museum housed a collection of plaster casts and had a visionary purpose: to acquire and exhibit art of all kinds and to conduct programs of education. The collection now encompasses more than 5,000 years of human expression from cultures around the world, and the school's graduate program is continually ranked as one of the best in the country. Within the next decade, a new complex will continue this process of growth.”

Magnificent Mile

Several years ago, Mike and I flew up to Chicago to spend a weekend in late fall. We did some Christmas shopping on Michigan Avenue and also got to see the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival and the lighting of the Christmas tree. It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season.

From wikipedia:

“The Magnificent Mile is the portion of Michigan Avenue in Chicago, Illinois extending from the Chicago River to Oak Street in Near North Side community area. Located one block east of Rush Street, which is known for its nightlife, the Magnificent Mile serves as the main thoroughfare between Chicago's Loop business district and its Gold Coast.

Real estate developer Arthur Rubloff of Rubloff Company gave the nickname to one of the city's most prestigious residential and commercial thoroughfares in the 1940s. It includes fine restaurants, hotels, and stores and several of the tallest buildings in the world. In addition, numerous prestigious buildings are located along the Magnificent Mile, such as the Wrigley Building and the John Hancock Center, places listed on the National Register of Historic Places such as The Old Chicago Water Tower District and Chicago Landmarks such as Tribune Tower and the Allerton Hotel.”

Giordano’s

If you like food, Chicago is an amazing place to visit. Take your pick – any type of food you want is available. I’ve had Italian, Greek, Cuban, etc there. But my favorite is probably the stuffed pizza. Everyone in Chicago has a favorite – Giordano’s, Pizzeria Uno, Gino’s East. My favorite is Giordano’s. Their pizza is out of this world! You have to wait about 30 minutes but it is so worth it!

I just found this on the Giordano’s website and I am now seriously thinking about ordering one (three??)!

“Giordano's will now partially bake and freeze our famous stuffed pizzas. They are packed in an insulated container with dry ice for shipping anywhere in the USA. We ship 12" pizzas which serve 3-4 people. The shipping price includes transportation via UPS, dry ice, and an insulated container. Your pizza will be made fresh to order, frozen overnight, and shipped the next day.”

It looks like it’s about $50 for the shipping but you can get multiple pizzas for not much more than that price. Hmmmm…

Jilly’s

Jilly’s is a nightclub in Chicago that plays all Sinatra music and music from other artists of that same era. The place is typically packed. I had so many fun nights there. I was finally able to take Mike there a few years ago and we had a great time. Jilly’s is named after Sinatra’s good friend, Jilly Rizzo.

From the Jilly’s website:

“Located in the heart of Chicago's nightlife district, this Rush Street landmark is one of Chicago's original spots for the rich, famous and flashy. The Piano Bar is among the few places to offer live entertainment without a cover charge or drink minimum. Just like Ol' Blue Eyes, the bar serves up a lively swagger, from the outdoor sidewalk Café to the tables for two located next to the dance floor. The after-work crowd starts off the evening with people watching & lively conversation, to when the joint gets jumping and swinging into the wee hours of the morning. From bright and bold to dark & discreet this is the place to be and be seen. Come join the party.”

Mug / City of the Day - Ottawa, Ontario

Today’s Mug / City of the Day is Ottawa, Ontario. I have been to Ottawa so many times that I have lost count. At one point, I had a Canadian work visa since I was working there so much. When I worked for Accenture, I was part of the Help Desk Services organization. One of our Help Desk locations was Dallas, where I was located. We also had Help Desks in Ottawa, Ontario; Dublin, Ireland; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Bangalore, India. When I first started traveling to Ottawa, all of our Help Desks were decentralized. We were going through a big push to centralize all of the Help Desks and bring them into the same organization. Part of my role was to ensure that we were all following the same processes basically.

Ottawa is the capital of Canada and the Canadian Parliament is located there. There are a lot of travelers in the city of Ottawa since it's the capital. There is definitely a huge international flavor there with a lot of diversity.

From wikipedia:

"Ottawa is the capital of Canada and the country's fourth largest municipality. With a metropolitan population estimated at 1,190,982. Ottawa is also the second largest city in the province of Ontario. It is located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa lies on the banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway that forms the boundary between Ontario and Quebec.

Foreign born residents in Ottawa made up 22.28 percent of the population in which many come from China, Lebanon, northeast Africa, Iran, and The Balkans. Members of visible minority groups (non-white/European) constituted 20.2 percent, while those of Aboriginal origin numbered 1.5 percent of the total population."

The Westin

I primarily stayed at the Westin in Ottawa. I think I may have actually stayed in the room in this picture. It was when I stayed over the weekend so it was great to have an extra nice room for a longer stay. The Westin was a good location because it was attached to the Ottawa Rideau Centre, which is a mall in downtown Ottawa. That makes me sound like a big shopper, which isn't necessarily true. It's just that Ottawa can get pretty chilly in the winter time and the mall provided something to do that was inside and didn't require me getting out in the cold. I could walk around and window shop and not just sit and stare at the four walls of a hotel room.

Byward Market

The Westin was just a couple of blocks from the Byward Market which has lots of neat little shops and restaurants.

From the Byward Market website:

Established by Lt-Col. John By in 1826, the ByWard Market is one of Canada's
oldest and largest public markets. The legendary builder of the Rideau Canal,
Colonel By himself laid out the street plan of the Market, designating George
Street and York Street to be extra wide to accommodate the creation of a public
market and gathering place.

I used to love to go to the Lush store in the Market. I would pick out some neat body or bath products to use while I was there in the hotel and smell all the different products.

Poutine

My absolutely favorite food in Ottawa is Poutine. I still crave it. It is horrible for you. Just horrible. And it is like drinking a bottle of WD-40. Do not ever under any circumstances eat Poutine on the day that you have to fly back home. Just not a good idea. Poutine a dish consisting of French fries topped with fresh cheese curds, covered with brown gravy. This is not a joke - I one time sat in the Market on a curb waiting for a "chip wagon" to open so that I could get Poutine. I just couldn't wait to get my fix. It is best if you let it sit for a few minutes so that the cheese gets all melty. So good!!!

Mug / City of the Day - Milwaukee, Wisconsin

This isn't really the mug for today. I just decided to take this from a previous post and move it here.

I got this Wisconsin mug when I went to visit Mike in Milwaukee in August 2006. I was pregnant with Reed (around 22 weeks?) and Mike was staffed at Miller. I actually really liked Milwaukee. The people were all very friendly. We rented a pontoon boat and went out on a lake nearby for a few hours. To show how different it was from Texas though - it was August and it was way too cold to get in the water! WOW.

Restaurants

We went to some great restaurants while we were there. I think that Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro was my favorite. It's a French restaurant overlooking Lake Michigan. The food was AWESOME! Also, we got lost on the way there - it is pretty difficult to find and I'm actually usually good with directions. But, they were so nice about it and easily accommodated us once we got there. I highly recommend the Escargots de Bourgogne en Croûte.

We also went to Three Brothers - a Serbian restaurant. I wish I had tried the Burek but I had heard (from reviews and Mike) that it was huge. We didn't have a fridge in the hotel to take any leftovers home with us so I got something else. Last but not least, Karl Ratzsch's German restaurant. You can't expect a Gehlbach not to go to a German restaurant! It was REALLY good. I think that the food was better than Bavarian Grill here actually. The service was awesome too.

Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum

On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, we visited the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum. This place is beautiful!!! It overlooks Lake Michigan and the views are amazing.

From the museum's website:

THE VILLA'S 16TH CENTURY ITALIAN GARDEN

The stunning project that graces the yard of Villa Terrace as it sweeps down to Lake Michigan recreates the classis elements of a 16th century Tuscan landscape, while accommodating the vagaries of the Wisconsin Climate. Rose Standish Nichols designed the original villa gardens in collaboration with the Villa's architect David Adler.

In 1997, the Friends of Villa Terrace along with landscape architect Dennis Buettner created a restoration plan that focused on the classical elements of the original landscape.

Enjoy these Garden pleasures at Villa Terrace:

- A dramatic "water stairway" - the classic Scaletta d'Aqua - flowing down past three terraces of flowering crabapple trees to a Vasca (a fishpond used historically to keep the day's catch free)

- Two secret gardens and a thicket (where, in the past, birds would be caught for a meal) Grassy spaces and benches, bordered with culinary and medicinal herbs, potted citrus tress, unusual plantings, dwarf fruit trees and statuary

- Our monumental wrought iron "Neptune" Gate inspired by master craftsman Cyril Colnik

- A Tram carries passengers from the upper terrace to the lower garden

The Museum's goal is to create an Italian Renaissance Garden appropriate to the architecture, setting and decorative arts mission of the Villa Terrace Museum and to provide education through lectures on topics ranging from landscaping architecture to history.

Milwaukee Art Museum

If I get a chance to go back, I would really like to visit the Milwaukee Art Museum. The building itself is amazing!!

From the museum's website:

The graceful Quadracci Pavilion is a sculptural, postmodern addition designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Highlights of the building are the magnificent cathedral-like space of Windhover Hall, with a vaulted a 90-foot-high glass ceiling; the Burke Brise Soleil,
a moveable sunscreen with a 217-foot wingspan that unfolds and folds twice daily; and the Reiman Bridge, a pedestrian suspension bridge that connects the Museum to the city.

Prayers for Culp

The kids and I were at my parents' house yesterday and my father was holding Culp. He was facing outwards so I had a good look at his face. My father walked into the kitchen and all of a sudden Culp turned bright, bright red, his little arms stuck out and he started shaking and making a weird noise. It lasted maybe 30 seconds or so and then he started crying. Then, he got really, really tired.

I called the pediatrician and they told me to take him to the ER at Children's Medical Center. It took me a couple of hours to get there because I had to get Reed situated at my parents' and then wait for a sitter to come to stay with Caroline.

When we were getting into the car to leave for the hospital, it happened again. He was in the car seat this time. It was just me and him too because Mike is on a project in Calgary, Alberta. Why do these things happen when your husband is out of town?!?!?!

So, we went to the ER and they got us in a little room right away. He had a doctor, a nurse and 2 paramedics assigned to him. My sister-in-law, Amanda, came up there though so I wouldn't be by myself. So, they drew blood, catheterized him to get urine and tried to get an IV started. But he popped the IV out because he was so upset. Amanda stayed with him because I had to leave the room since I was getting upset. Apparently, he had scratched himself earlier in the day on his forehead and he got so upset that it burst open and bled everywhere.

They decided to do x-rays and a CT scan. What a nightmare that was trying to hold him down. He fought and fought. They had to strap him down for the CT scan and put his head in a vise like thing to hold him still. All the tests came back fine. So, they gave me the option of being admitted for observation or going home. They felt that he was ok to go home but left it up to me. We ended up going home and I snuggled him for the rest of the night. The sitter stayed and took care of Caroline.

He has not had another seizure (as far as we know) since last night so that is good. If he does have another one, the pediatrician told us to take him back to Children's and have him admitted for stabilization / observation. They really were fantastic last night.

Our pediatrician referred us to a Pediatric Neurologist for further testing (probably an MRI and EEG). We are hoping to hear from them in the morning regarding when they can get Culp infor an appointment.

Mug / City of the Day - San Jose, California

I'm drinking my coffee out of my San Jose mug this morning. I couldn't get all the text in the picture though, so you'll just have to trust me that it says "San Jose".

My first trip to San Jose was way back in the early 90's. I think it was sometime in the second half of 1992. I was working at IBM in the RS/6000 group doing support for AIX. We attended a trade show in San Jose and I went out there with some other members of the team. I was only 22 and I remember going to a vegetarian restaurant with the rest of the team. It was HORRIBLE! It was the only restaurant we could find nearby. I remember on the menu that there was one dish where it described it as 'tofu injected with ham flavoring'. I was like ugh... I would probably fare better with it now but back then, no way.

Before we actually moved to California, Mike was staffed out there. Technically, that was in Milpitas but it's pretty close to San Jose. I went out there to visit him at least once, especially since we were preparing to move there. I don't have any other California mugs oddly enough so I'll expand this to more than just San Jose.

Winchester Mystery House

One place we did visit that really is in San Jose was the Winchester Mystery House. The house belonged to Sarah Winchester, of the Winchester gun fame. Basically, she believed that she was being haunted by the souls of the people who had been killed by Winchester guns. So, to pacify the ghosts, she felt that she needed to keep the house in a constant state of construction. Here are some amazing facts taken from the Winchester Mystery House website:

Number of rooms: 160
Cost: $5,500,000
Date of Construction: 1884 - September 5, 1922 (38 continuous years!)
Number of windows: Frames 1,257; panes approx. 10,000
Number of doors: Doorways 467, doors approx. 950 not including cabinet doors.
Number of fireplaces: 47 (gas, wood, or coal burning)
Number of bedrooms: Approx. 40
Number of staircases: 40, total of stair steps - 367
Number of skylights: Approx. 52
Number of gallons of paint required to paint entire home: Over 20,000
Number of ballrooms: 2 (one nearly complete, and one under construction)
Blueprints available: No, Mrs. Winchester never had a master set of blueprints, but did sketch out individual rooms on paper and even tablecloths!

It's pretty odd. For example, there are staircases that lead up to nowhere which were built to confuse the ghosts. Very strange!

Strait's Cafe

Another neat place is Strait's Cafe in Palo Alto. It's a Singaporean restaurant. Here is a description of Singaporean food that I found online:

“Deriving from the rich culinary traditions of each community’s ancestral lands with flavours that are often robust, it is natural to follow that the food of Singapore is extremely flavoursome, frequently spicy, and consist regularly of a mix of Chinese condiments, with Indian spices and Malays ingredients of tropical herbs and fruits of chillies, coconut, lemongrass, galangal and the like.

Singapore cuisine was often described as parts Chinese, Malay and Indian. This is somewhat true, yet certain dishes that seems to be “Chinese” or “Indian” are now distinctly Singaporean in character, and far different from their original cousin.”

Yummy!

Wente Vineyards

I would also highly recommend visiting Wente Vineyards in Livermore. You're getting into the East Bay there and farther north but I think it's worth the drive if you're down in San Jose. There is a golf course that winds through the vineyard that is just gorgeous. When my parents came to visit, Mother, Daddy and I went to lunch at Wente and then my father played golf. My mother and I followed along in a separate cart and enjoyed the views. I remember it was freezing though in March so be prepared for any kind of weather!

Their Sunday brunch is amazing. The food is really, really good. I highly recommend going on a sunny Spring day and sitting on the patio. You might even be able to catch a wedding going on in the gardens. They grow their own herbs on the grounds and you will see the chefs going back and forth with a little basket to gather herbs for your meal. It's just a really gorgeous location.

Mug / City of the Day - Dublin, Ireland

Yesterday's post got me thinking that I have so many different coffee mugs that I could do a Mug / City of the Day post and tell a bit about where each one came from.

So, today I'm drinking out of a Guinness mug that I got in Dublin. I don't remember exactly where - airports are a good place to find mugs for whatever city you're in, so it might have been there. However, I have actually spent time in Dublin. I've been there three times. Once on vacation and twice for work. Mike and I went to Ireland in August 1999 for vacation. I know I went to Dublin in February 2001 but I can't remember the date of the other trip.

The Shelbourne Hotel



When Mike and I went to Dublin, we stayed in a bed and breakfast. I cannot remember the name of it but it was nice. Nothing extraordinary but decent room and food. The first time I went for work, I stayed in a great old hotel across from St. Stephen's Green - The Shelbourne. They have High Tea on Sunday afternoons. I was there for two weeks so I enjoyed going to the High Tea. However, it would have been more fun if I had had someone with me.


The Schoolhouse Hotel

The second time I was there for work, I stayed in the Schoolhouse Hotel. The Accenture office had moved to a new location and this hotel was closer. It was a neat hotel; however, they didn't have any room service and weren't really close to any restaurants. So, when you're working late, it doesn't work so well to not have those options.


Powerscourt

Mike and I visited Powerscourt while we were in Dublin. If I remember correctly, it's like an hour or so south of Dublin. Most of the old house was destroyed in a fire but the gardens are still there. It is GORGEOUS. Just absolutely beautiful. You could probably spend a whole day there just exploring the gardens. From what I understand, they've built a Ritz Carlton hotel there. There is also a Powerscourt Golf Course there so it would probably be a neat place to stay.

Date Night

My parents came over yesterday late afternoon to watch the kids so that Mike and I could have a date night. We laughed about how date night has certainly changed in the last 10 years or so! We went to church, then we went to Sam's and then got some dinner.

Church was good. Ed is starting a new series - Crazy Pill. Ultimately, the message was that to keep from literally going crazy, like Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel, we need to keep God on the throne instead of trying to put ourselves there. Ed provided a list of 11 actions that would help you to identify someone that is "crazy". Some of his illustrations were hilarious (Prophecy Conference, anyone?)!

We went to Sam's and bought more formula. We are going through it like mad! Then we went to dinner at Po' Melvins. Nothing on the menu is remotely healthy and everything is good!

We split the Cheese Fries (SO good!!) and both had a bowl of the Seafood Gumbo. Mike also had a Meatball Po' Boy that he said was awesome. For deesert, we had the Peach Cobbler and the Pecan Cobbler. So, we basically consumed enough calories for the next week.

It was really nice to get away for a little while. We had a really great time!

The Twins' Names

I know that many of you have wondered how we came up with the twins' names, particularly Culp's.

Caroline is named after my mother, Carol. As for her middle name, Rose, it's just a name that we like.

Culp is named for Mike's great-great aunt, Oveta Culp Hobby. She was a very interesting woman. Oveta Culp Hobby (January 19, 1905–August 16, 1995) was the first secretary of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare, first commanding officer of the Women's Army Corps, and chairman of the board of the Houston Post. She was also married to Texas Governor William Hobby. She also made the decision to legalize Jonas Salk's polio vaccine. Mike's maternal grandmother is also named after her. Culp's middle name, Connelly, also came from another Texas Governor, John Connally. And yes, we know the spelling is different.

How Do I Do It?

Several of you have wondered how I manage to post on a blog, keep up on Facebook, etc with three little ones.

First, I spend A LOT of time in front of the computer. My laptop is on a little table by the couch where I usually sit to feed babies. And newborns eat very often.

Second, I am a very fast typist. It probably comes from my many years doing technical support and help desk. You only have so much time to enter information and move on to the next call.

Third, I often am typing with one hand. As I am now.

The most difficult thing about the blog is getting the pictures in and the text spaced correctly with the pics. Otherwise, it goes pretty quickly! So, that's how I do it.

Go West Young Man

So it looks like Mike is going to be staffed in Calgary, Alberta for the next many months. He flies out tomorrow morning and comes back Wednesday night this week. He'll be meeting with the client and assuming that they want him (why wouldn't they??), he'll potentially be staffed there until at least September. I can't remember enough of the details for you Accenture folks so I will have to garner that from him at a later date and provide more information.

When I was travelling for Accenture, I started collecting coffee mugs from my destinations. I don't even know how many I have now. At one point, I remember being in 3 or 4 different cities in a week so my collection really added up. I guess I will have to live vicariously through Mike now and have him get a mug for me from Calgary.

Here's what I am drinking my coffee from this morning. I think that I got this one when Mike and I went on vacation to London and Ireland in August 1999. However, I could have gotten it when I went there for work in 2000/2001. So, I'm not sure. I haven't spent much time in London though aside from the couple of days we were there on vacation. To be honest, each time that I've been there, I've either just hung out in Gatwick waiting for a flight or had really bad jet-lag when I was actually staying overnight. I did become fairly familiar with Harrods in Duty-Free though. But I like this mug a lot - I think that the colors are pretty.


Here's a blast from the past! There aren't many people around who still work at Accenture and were there when it was Andersen Consulting (me included). Something like 5%, I think?



And I saved the best for last. My parents got this for Mike after the Longhorns beat USC in the Rose Bowl. Hook 'em, Horns!!!

Caroline's Attempted Fashion Shoot

I tried to get some good pictures of Caroline today but wasn't overly successful. She didn't really smile for the camera. I know, I know - she's only 2 months old. You can see her red hair pretty well in these pictures though. She's hanging out in her swing and enjoying it for the moment. She's unfortunately pretty fussy these days and cries A LOT. So, I was pleased to get some pics while she was in a decent mood.

Of course Reed had to have his picture taken at dinner tonight. He is such a ham. He counted "one, two, three" and then smiled for the camera.

Make Your Own Book

Someone on my MoM's board told me about this website: http://www.blurb.com/. You can make your own books here. You can even turn a blog into a book but I'm not sure that it works with Blogger yet. It is REALLY neat though!

Welcome Caroline and Culp!!!

POST UNDER CONSTRUCTION

I think I will finally be caught up after this post. I wanted to include everything from when the twins were born and forward.

Whew... It was a hard road but definitely could have been worse. I had morning sickness pretty badly until about 24 weeks with this pregnancy. Then, it subsided for about 6 weeks and started up again around 30 weeks. I was anemic again like I was with Reed; however, this time, my iron never came up to normal levels. I was taking prescription iron supplements and just couldn't get enough.

I started having contractions at 29 weeks and had two visits to Labor & Delivery. Unfortunately, the medication that they gave me to minimize the contractions combined with the medicine that I already take for Meniere's Disease caused my blood pressure to drop constantly. I was SO dizzy, my heart would race, I couldn't concentrate, etc. I was drinking between 6 and 8 liters of water a day! Any less than that and I was constantly thirsty.

By the time that I hit 35 weeks, I was DONE. I honestly didn't think I could make it any further. My OB and Perinatologist scheduled an amnio for the next week to check fetal lung maturity. If one of the babies' lungs were mature, then we could do the c-section at 36 weeks. If not, we had to wait until 37 weeks. Fortunately, we passed the lung maturity test and were scheduled for the c-section for the next day.

I gained a total of 28 pounds with the pregnancy. I had almost 15 pounds of baby plus my OB said that my placentas were the largest she had ever seen with both of them together weighing more than at least one of the babies. Wow. So, that's around 22 pounds of just babies and placentas. At 35 weeks, I was measuring 50 weeks. I was HUGE.

It took them quite a while to do my epidural. They had to give it to me in three doses because my blood pressure kept dropping so low. At one point, they said "no more visitors" and were scrambling around giving me meds through the IV, an epi shot in the thigh, etc trying to get it back up. I still had a bruise from the epi shot a month later!

As soon as the babies were out, I felt dramatically better. The doctors said that they were putting so much pressure on the Vena Cava that it was cutting off oxygen to my brain. Shame on you Mike for teasing me about being out of it! ;)

NOW FOR THE PART YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR...

Caroline Rose was born on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 2:02pm. She weighed in at 7lbs 3oz and measured 18 3/4 inches and had a fair amount of light blonde hair. Culp Connelly was born on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 2:03pm. Culp weighed in at 7lbs 6oz and 19 1/4 inches and had a lot of dark hair (kind of brownish).

The babies came out totally healthy and did not spend a single minute in the NICU or even Special Care! No breathing issues whatsoever. They slept like little angels in the hospital and ate well too.

My OB, Dr. Kimberlea Roe, was great. She delivered Reed as well and I trust her completely. This was her first time to ever hold twins like this even though she has delivered many sets and even delivered triplets.

It is pretty stressful with 3 little kids. There are times where 4 of us have been in tears at times during the day and Mike isn't one of those 4! I knew that twins would be hard but nothing can really prepare you for it until it happens to you. It is definitely a challenge and one of the hardest things that I have ever done. I have had to learn to deal with a lot of crying on their part - you can only do so much and someone just has to cry while you are feeding / changing / consoling another one. It feels like someone is always left out, not getting enough love.

Each of our children is a blessing from God. Although, I'm not sure why God felt like I would be a good Mommy to three children. I feel like I am struggling constantly. I pray daily that God will help me to be a better Mommy to each of them!

Fellowship Church and Baby Dedication

We already were members of a little Baptist church out in East Texas - Northshore Baptist in Avinger. However, we're obviously not out there all the time, so we wanted to find somewhere we could attend while we are at home. In September, we joined Fellowship Church in Grapevine as non-resident members. Ironic since we are actually residents here. However, the only way that you can be a member of two Southern Baptist churches at the same time is to be a non-resident member of one of the churches.

I am embarassed to admit that I was not a big proponent of Fellowship. I had visited there in the early 90's and was not impressed. Granted, I went to the College & Career Sunday School class and didn't attend the worship service. But, the people in the class were not friendly at all and I was really turned off. Not to mention the fact that it is a mega-church and seemed VERY overwhelming. Plus, I knew that it was VERY contemporary.

So, my friend, Jill, invited us to attend her baptism this past May at Fellowship on a Saturday evening. We went to the baptism and were overwhelmed...but in a good way. The people were so friendly and there were kids EVERYWHERE. Everything was so well organized. We decided to visit there the next morning. We had visited several other churches in the area - Baptist, Methodist, non-denominational - but there was always something that we didn't agree with or care for. At Fellowship, we really enjoyed the sermon and were also very impressed with the nursery. We visited several more times and felt the same way.

Is the music our favorite? No. Is it what I would choose? No. Do I still like the old hymns best? Yes. But we had to decide on what was most important to us and that was raising our kids in a church where we agreed with the message. We could really like the music like at the Methodist church we visited but if we don't agree with the message, then that doesn't make sense.

So, short story long, that's why we joined at Fellowship. We haven't really gotten involved yet since we joined in September and the twins were born in October. Hopefully before too long, we can start.

Fellowship only does their Baby Dedication once a year, so we decided to go ahead and participate in the Baby Dedication service on Saturday, November 15th. The twins weren't even a month old yet but we wanted all of our family to be able to attend and didn't want to wait until the next year. Unfortunately, since there were so many kids in the service, I couldn't tell you at all what the minister said. My parents said that it was a very nice service though. LOL... There was a least one other set of twins there - 2 girls that were 9 weeks old at the time. We still plan to have the twins dedicated at Northshore as well.

That was also the weekend of the infamous Seven Days of Sex Challenge sermon. You can even watch it online by selecting Part 1 using the link. It was actually a very good sermon and didn't deserve the bad press it received.

If any of you are interested in visiting Fellowship with us, just let us know. We would love to have you join us!