Securitas

We've hit our next milestone in the steps we have to take towards bambino numero dos. Before I get into that, and I will warn you if you are afraid of TMI you may not want to read the end of this post, I wanted to share of few other things that have been happening around here.

The Friday before last I came home to police and our community security in my driveway. I noticed them first and as I drove down the street towards my house I was wondering what was going on. My first thought was that they were there patrolling for barking dogs (I won an appeal on a previous complaint). I thought maybe the dogs figured out some way out of the house but that really did not explain why the police were there then I noticed this...

Someone hit & run our tree! They guy turns out to have a warrant and decided to run. Probably not a smart thing to do. Attached to this truck was a trailer and a stump grinder. All 3 were later impounded and will probably cost 1 year's salary to get out. Thankfully we have some insurance coverage for the damage but just like the economy bombing out this was not a great thing to happen right before Christmas. The tree will have to be cut down most likely and the soil near the tree dug up and replaced because the truck spilled oil and anti-freeze. Hopefully the neighborhood cats have stayed away.

As I spoke about in my last post Rooney is getting really excited for Halloween. I think he's really just excited to don his red Power Rangers costume (Felix is going to be Batman). Finally this weekend gave him cause to be really excited because he finally got to put it on. We have two costume birthday parties to attend which are good practice for mask wearing on the big day. Here Rooney is giving us a preview of some of his crime stopping moves:






















Finally the milestone...

On Wednesday I had outpatient surgery to remove the fibroid I wrote about last month. The surgery went well and was successful. The MD's felt it was necessary but due to results from other tests not related to the surgery, it looks like we will probably have to proceed with IVF for the next baby. The good news with the IVF is that it has a higher % of successfully getting pregnant but the bad news is that it is stressful, there will be alot of unpleasant procedures, alot of drugs and of course it is ridiculously expensive. Even with Microsoft's very generous medical benefits we hope we do not need to go past 1 cycle because we will have to make some serious decisions. The medication for 1 cycle I was told is between $5,000-$7,000! Makes my body sick just thinking of that much medication going into my body. Since the surgery I have been had sick stomach and alredy gained a few pounds. It was a real shock to try and put on my pants. I thought I was still being effected from the surgery but now I'm pretty sure that these are side effects from the huge dose of hormones they have me on.

We have a reconference on Oct. 30th and we will come up with our game plan for proceeding. I will be getting this stupid balloon removed and we can talk with MD about side effects. I am currently slated to start IVF in January but we'll know more after the 30th. Check back here for updates...

There Goes His Hero

Today Mike, Rooney and I took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch as a family. I drove so Mike would not have to get stressed out dealing with a crowded parking lot but thankfully the day went off without a hitch. The parking lot was crowded and there seemed to be a sea of people when you first walked in, but I was able to get a great spot (that made leaving really easy), we had the foresight to bring Rooney's wagon and the sea of people seemed to thin out as you got into the fields.


I think we timed this trip pretty well also. Last year Rooney ended up falling apart as we were leaving. I think that memory was still seared into our memories and we did not stay too long. That meant we didn't do the corn maze this year. However, Rooney and I are going to the corn maze at Farm Tots this Friday so he really won't miss out.

Fall, Halloween and crisp, breezy sunny days at the pumpkin patch really make me feel good. I remember this feeling as a kid but the warm fuzzy feeling was so short lived because Fall lasted about 1 day in LA. If you look at the news now the temperatures are pretty warm and they are having wild fires. Can't say I miss those Santa Ana's. Although I might be the first to admit my tune has changed when we are in the middle of our December wind storms!



All the talk of pumpkins lately is really gearing Rooney up for Halloween. This will be the first Halloween that he really goes Trick-or-Treating and I think we're both pretty excited. I was totally set to make Rooney a costume (the best type of costumes in my humble opinion)and I thought a robot costume would be perfect and easy to make. Of course Roon was onboard with that idea until we were shopping at Costco and he saw Power Ranger costumes.

Rooney was so excited by them and talked non-stop about the costume during the rest of the shopping trip that we decided to eventually get him one. Rooney had really big ideas about that costume too. He got the red Power Ranger and had it all planned out that Felix would be the blue one. Unfortunately Rooney did not discuss those plans with Aunt Renae before she purchased Felix a Batman costume. Rooney was only crushed for a moment and now tells everyone, including his MD, that Felix is going to be Batman. This is generally how the conversation goes: (You) "Rooney what are you going to be for Halloween?". (Rooney) "Power Ranger! And Felix is going to be Batman!"

Felix, Rooney's Hero

Best Week Ever?

What a fun week we've had! We celebrated Rooney's birthday on Saturday at the Bouncy Place. Not only did the kids have a good time but most of the adults had a blast too. I've received some photos from Dana and Renae. To view them check here.

On Tuesday we continued our annual pumpkin patch trip with our AMAT. We were so relieved to have great weather and the kids really enjoyed mucking it up in the mud.



Today was a really cool day. We did our monthly tot trek at a nearby Seattle park. We meet with a Naturalist through the Parks Dept. and we always have a new theme. Today's theme was Spiders. Of course just in time for Halloween. All the kids really seemed intrigued. They listened to the Naturalist speak about spiders and their webs with their mouths agape. She showed the kids big rubber spiders, then a real tarantula shell and then the kids were able to pet a live tarantula.

At first Rooney was afraid but once he saw the other kids do it he wanted to try too. My little follower. I think he thought it was pretty cool though.



After our "class" the Naturalist took us out into the park to look for spiders and webs with magnifying glasses. Rooney had a meltdown in the middle but by the end he had perked up and soldiered on for a little more spider knowledge.

How many people get to pet a tarantula...and live to tell about it? Pretty cool week. To view all the pics from the pumpkin patch and the tot trek check here.

In The Year Of The Big Boy

This weekend we celebrated Rooney's 3rd birthday. It's tempting to go through the whole sentimental roller coaster about how fast he is growing up but I'm not going to do that. This is definitely the year of being a Big Boy.

On Friday we took Rooney to his favorite restaurant for dinner...Red Robin (or as he calls it Big Red Bird). We decided not to make a spectacle of him at this point and didn't mention to the staff that it was his birthday. He'll thank us later. We had a good dinner then came home and opened gifts from Mom & Dad, Grandma and Pop Pop and Grandma Peggie. Rooney liked all his gifts and they were all pretty different so it worked out well. No cake on Friday night but Roon got a little ice cream.

Saturday Rooney had his big party at his favorite place on Earth...The Bouncy Place. He got to invite several of his good friends (and mine) and the kids bounced & then pigged out on junk food for 2 hours. Rooney got a lot of really nice gifts and thankfully he did not get too overwhelmed. When we got home we let him play with one of the toys (a fire breathing dragon) until nap time. It seemed that toy would be his favorite but he's against discrimination so he's giving them all a fair shake.

This year was the first year Roonster really got it. He talked about his party before he even knew there was going to be one! He talked about the cake and presents for months and would ask periodically "Are we going to my party?". Now that it's over he seems pretty happy to share the experience and is talking about Mommy's birthday and Parker's.

Rooney is so into birthdays that he is even talking about Nannie's birthday (Aunt Annie), which is in January, and according to Rooney she'll be turning 5.

I'll post more pictures on Flick when they come in!