Christmas 2010

Christmas was good to us this year.

Sean was interested in learning about who Santa is and what he does. He wanted to understand what Christmas was all about. So I took him to the store to buy a present. We donated that present to a family doing a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital. I don't know if Sean really understood what we were doing, but it will definitely become an annual event in the Butler household.

Sean drew a picture, and I put it in a frame. We wrapped it and gave it to Daddy as a present.

We made and decorated Christmas cookies. We made hot chocolate. Sean hated it! We made a wreath together. (Sean painted the "snow" onto the pine cones, and I glued everything onto the wreath)

On Christmas Eve, we taught Sean about our annual (borrowed) tradition of eating pierogies and mushroom soup. Pierogies are a bitch to make, and we spent the entire 2 hours making them discussing how much we're glad that we only do this once a year! We opened our traditional Christmas Eve presents of new PJs.

It took Sean 2 days to open all of his Christmas presents! His favorites were Thomas the Train stuff and a set of tools (just like Daddy's!).

Sean also gave the entire family pink eye. Thanks, buddy.

Finn definitely had fun watching Sean opening presents and playing with his new toys. He's still more of an observer at this point in his life!

Jamie got a new gun for Christmas and has been out duck hunting quite a few times now. He gave me a helicopter flight lesson. I can't wait to fly a helicopter! Who knows? Maybe it will lead me to a new career path...

Day Dates: The New Friday Night

Since we don't have family in town and since I have a difficult time trusting strangers with our children, we don't go out much. That's why we were so excited to have the week off while daycare was still open. We used the much needed baby-free time to catch up on housework, but more importantly, we took the opportunity to go out on dates. On Monday, we went out to eat at a local Chinese restaurant in Davis and then saw the new Harry Potter movie. On Tuesday, we did some shopping at Old Navy, ate lunch at PF Chang's, and took a motorcycle ride to the Honda retailer to replace the battery in my bike. I got lucky while we were there--I bought a new helmet AND leather riding jacket for a total of $170. Many of you probably know that a good helmet can cost up to $250 and a decent leather jacket and run you upwards of $400, so I really feel like I got a great deal! It was a great early Christmas present!

By the end of the second day, I actually felt like a normal human again. It's been so long since I've had the opportunity to make decisions about what I want to do with my day, and it's so easy to take it for granted when you don't have children!

On Wednesday, we took the kids for holiday pictures at JC Penney first thing in the morning, and then they went to daycare again so that we could prepare for Thanksgiving. We cleaned the house, did the grocery shopping, and started on some of the prep work for the holiday cooking. This was the first year that we brined the turkey, and it turned out to be delicious! Jamie really needs to describe the process of preparing the turkey in detail because it really was an ordeal! At any rate, it was so worth it. It was easily the best turkey I've ever eaten.

Now that the long weekend is here, we get to spend some quality time with our beautiful children. The best part is that since we've taken some time to ourselves at the beginning of the week, we appreciate our time with them so much more. Now we just have to make it until the week before Christmas when we might get the chance to do a day date again. I'm smiling just thinking about it!

Thanksgiving Break from the Routine

Since I've gone back to work, we've gotten into a fairly strict routine around here. Mostly because we have to if we'd like to survive with our sanity in tact. Our daily lives go something like this:

2 AM: wake to feed crying baby. Change diaper, feed, burp, back to bed.
5 AM: wake to feed crying baby. Feed burp, back to bed.
5:30 AM: wake to see a 2-year-old staring at me beside my bed. Pull down the bed sheets so that he can crawl into bed with us.
6:15 AM: wake to get a shower and ready for school.
**NOTE: sometimes sleeping doesn't actually occur after the 5 AM feeding--at that point I'm living on hopes and dreams.
7:15 AM: all four family members out the door. Stop at daycare to drop off 2 children. Stop at UC Davis to drop off husband.
8:15 AM: get to work...late, yet again. Damn. Pump, teach, pump, eat, teach, pump, teach.
4:00 PM: leave school. Repeat drop-off process in reverse: Pick up husband, pick up 2 children, pick up 2 children's soiled clothing (is there ever a day when they DON'T pee or poop on their clothing?? $#%&)
5:00 PM: arrive home. Feed baby. Make dinner. Feed family. Clean up.
6:45 PM: Start baths. Start yelling at 2-year-old who's not listening to directions. Listen to crying. Give out hugs as needed.
7:30 PM: Snacks and short cartoon. Lately it's been clips from "How to Tame Your Dragon" or "Ice Age".
8:00 PM: Put kids in bed.
8:15 PM: Catch up on bills, cleaning, etc. Despite best efforts to spend quality time with husband, fall asleep on couch.
10:00 PM: wake up from evening nap. Go to bed. Dread the fact that 2 AM is going to come too soon.

There's usually a 15 minute window where I get to choose an activity that I would actually like to do, such as reading the newspaper or browsing the internet. I remember that there was a time in the BC years (before children) where I could come home after work and never move from the couch from 4:30 on if I didn't feel like it. I remember that my TV choices involved news and prime time dramas instead of cartoons. I remember being able to go to sleep after 11:00 and still feeling rested in the morning. For that matter, I remember morning starting at 9 AM instead of 5 AM.

Both Jamie and I have vacation all of next week, and the great news is that daycare is open on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We are very excited to have 3 days worth of making our own decisions during the day, almost like before we had kids. We're already planning on seeing a movie, eating lunch at a restaurant we've been wanting to try, and taking a motorcycle ride if the weather cooperates. Hopefully, we'll also have time to just lay around the house and enjoy the silence that only a house without children has. In the back of my mind, I feel guilty for not keeping the kids home with us. After all, in a home where both parents work full time, how much quality time are our kids really spending with us? But then I remember that daily routine where I literally get 15 minutes a day to myself, and that's only if I'm lucky. Sorry kids, but Mommy needs to regain her sanity.

Dyno: 1/28/1999 - 11/1/2010

Dyno was laid to rest on November 1, 2010 after a long fight with cancer. She first lived with Jamie in Bruce Hall at the University of Pittsburgh where her favorite activities included snuggling with Jamie and urinating in his neighbors' dorm rooms.

Always the life of the party, Dyno loved to entertain random guests at her Panther Hallow home. Later, she made friends with Denali and the two moved to their new Whipple Street home where she happily resided for 5 years. During this time, her leisure activities included camping, chasing cows, and vomiting during car rides. Her favorite foods included T-bone steaks and hot dogs, and her favorite drink was beer. During this time, she also made friends with Yaeger. They loved to cuddle together.

In the summer of 2006, Dyno journeyed across the United States to her new home in California. She loved the new, warmer climate and spent hours laying in the sun. She loved taking long walks through the neighborhood and marking her territory with urine.

She is survived by her family: Jamie, Trisha, Sean, Finn, and Yaeger. She will forever be remembered as a kind, sensitive, cuddly dog who loved all people (except for those in uniform) and hated almost all dogs. We love you, Dyno.

Poo Update

If you read the last post, you know that Jamie was cool enough to clean up Sean's poopy undies from daycare last week. However, when I got them out of the washing machine, it turned out that they weren't Sean's undies! So, there are two possible theories. The first theory is that someone accidentally put the wrong undies on Sean and he pooped in them. However, these undies were a size 6 and Sean wears a 4T. You'd think that if you were a caregiver, you'd think something is amiss when you put these huge undies on a little boy. The second theory, then, is that they put someone else's poopy undies in Sean's cubby, and Jamie actually go elbow deep in another kid's poop. Ew.

Needless to say, we promptly went to our daycare and had words with the directors.

OH POOP!

One thing that nobody ever tells you about parenting is the time you must devote to handling excrement. Sure, we all know that parenting involves changing a lot of diapers, but this is not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about full out, hands-on, one-on-one, intimate contact with poo.

Today was Finn's third day without pooping. While this is completely normal with breastfed babies, the intuitive parent knows that an explosion is inevitable. You simply put on all diapers with a little more caution than usual and hope for the best. The best did not happen today. He pooped on me. It was all over my shorts, my belly, his onesie, his legs, you get the picture. Luckily, Jamie was home and could take Finn while I cleaned myself up.

Today was also yet another day where we got to bring home Sean's soiled underwear from daycare in a plastic grocery bag. I don't really know how much I should expect Sean's caregivers to touch his poop, but they literally take off his underwear and toss them in a bag. They don't rinse them or make any attempt to get off any excess chunks. Then the undies sit in a bag all day crusting over. The only way to get them clean is to get your hands dirty. It should really be a segment on "Dirty Jobs."

Luckily, Jamie handled the cleaning of the undies today. My job is to remind him of this fact in a few hours when I catch him biting his nails...

My New Honda Shadow and "The Applebees Incident"

When a baby is born, the new mom often gets presents. Two of my favorite presents came from our really good friends in Davis. When each of my boys were born, they bought me a necklace containing each boy's birthstone. Needless to say, I love them both! More typical presents for new moms are flowers, wine, and the like. But my husband is no ordinary creature, and he doesn't buy presents like the average Joe.

He bought me Chimay and a motorcycle.

OK. I should explain further. Last summer, I finally took the motorcycle safety course and got my license. We've been slowly looking for a bike for me, but we weren't in any hurry since I was pregnant and unable to ride. Jamie has been keeping his eye on Craigslist for good deals, and it just so happens that we found a great deal only one week after Finn was born.

The 2006 Honda Shadow 600 was being sold by a woman in the air force who was moving to Korea. She needed to sell it quickly, which meant that she was selling it cheap. It is a low profile bike, which makes it perfect for someone with short legs. It even has low mileage!

Of course, I haven't been riding it too much yet, since it's difficult to find the time with a newborn around and since my woman parts aren't quite ready to straddle anything just yet. However, I did ride it for about 20 minutes, and I can tell that it's going to be a lot of fun!

Here is where the story gets interesting. (gotta love adding children into any story...)

The bike needed new tires and some saddle bags, so the entire family went to the Honda dealer to check out prices. We only planned to be gone for about an hour, and so we decided to take Sean in his undies (he is currently potty training, and he does very well at home, but we haven't tested too many trips beyond the house yet). The dealer gave us such a good deal on tires since they had them in stock that we decided to have them put the tires on right then. It was going to take about an hour, so we decided to go to lunch at Applebees.

If you have kids, I'm sure you remember the first time you took a newborn to a restaurant. Inevitably, they demand to be fed in the middle of dinner, and we were no exception. I took Finn out to the car to feed him (I'm not quite ready for discrete breastfeeding yet) while Sean and Jamie stayed inside to eat their meals. As soon as I got back inside, I saw Sean starting to make his poop face. I felt his butt, and sure enough, he was starting to push one out. Jamie raced him to the bathroom, but it was too late. The undies were destroyed, and Sean was going commando.

Jamie and I were a little frustrated, but we were dealing. After all, accidents do happen. And often times, they happen twice in a row, as was the case for us. As soon as Sean got back to the table, he sat down, took one bite of mac and cheese, looked me square in the eye and said, "I peed." Sure enough, there was pee in a puddle on his seat and dripping down his leg.

Of course, we were not prepared for such a disaster. We were already down a pair of underwear, and now Sean's shorts were trashed, too. We did not have any extra shorts for him, so our options were limited. We had to shuffle him out of the restaurant in soiled shorts feeling like we had failed as parents.

Jamie has vowed to never again let Sean leave the house without protective padding covering his son's out-holes, but I'm sure he'll eventually get over it. Everyone has to learn somehow, and sometimes we learn the hard way. I know that I learned to never take Sean anywhere without a full change of clothes. Of course, this was a rule I strictly followed when Sean was a baby, but as he got older and less explosive, we began bending said rule to save time.

How silly we were.

Photos of Finn

Welcome, Baby Butler!

We knew there was going to be a new addition to the Butler family for some time now--about 9 months, to be exact. The only problem was that we didn't know exactly when the new Butler would be arriving. There's always the 5 week window between 37 and 42 weeks that the doctors consider full term, but that's still not a big help if you're a guy working during the busiest part of his year.

If Jamie could, he would most likely be working 12 hour days right now since the Law School is finishing its building expansion, everyone is moving into their new offices, and students are starting classes in new classrooms in just 2 weeks. Jamie is in charge of making sure everyone's computer works and all classrooms have the necessary technology.

Needless to say, he didn't have a lot of time to warn the office that he wouldn't be into work on Wednesday, August 4th. I started having mild contractions at about 2:30 in the morning after a very long day spent at the ER. In a mild twist of irony, the ER visit was not at all pregnancy related, unless you count being excessively uncoordinated a condition of pregnancy!

The short version of the ER visit is that I was trying to cut carrots for a pasta salad when I cut off the majority of the tip of my ring finger on my right hand. The slice started around a fourth of the way down my fingernail and into a good part of my finger. I immediately called Jamie to tell him that I needed to go to the hospital, and of course, he thought I was going for very different reasons. I felt a little sheepish telling him that I needed to go to get stitches in my finger because I don't know how to work a butcher's knife. At any rate, Jamie met me in the ER and watched the doctor irrigate and put three stitches into the tip of my finger. Oddly enough, those were the first stitches I ever had. On a side note, I didn't even know it was possible to stitch through a fingernail. I guess I am walking proof you can do it!

After my visit to the ER, I went next door to my midwife appointment. My appointment was already made and we finished up at the ER just in time. Everything went well at the checkup, although they said the baby's heart rate was a little high, probably due to the stress of the knife wound (or the Chai tea and sugar cookie I had for lunch). There was no indication that labor would start anytime soon, so I went home to eat dinner with some friends.

So, back to the birth story. I awoke at 2:30AM with a mild contraction. I didn't think anything of it, but 10 minutes later I got another one. Contractions continued to be mild and occurring about every 10-20 minutes. I watched an episode of Phineas and Ferb, checked my email, and began watching the 4AM news. I finally decided to wake Jamie at 5AM when contractions got a little more intense and frequent. The next hour was a bit of a blur as Jamie got showered and we put everything in the car for a trip to the hospital. At what can only be described as "light-speed", Jamie drove us to Doug and Judy's house in Davis to drop off Sean. The toddler handoff took all of 45 seconds and we were speeding off towards the Davis Birthing Center. We arrived at the birthing center at 6AM. By then contractions were intense and I walked into the Birthing Center strongly suggesting that someone should get me drugs. In all honesty I could have handled the pain on any other day had my finger not throbbed as well. The next 20 minutes were spent checking me into the hospital and getting vitals on me and the baby. I was still asking for drugs when the midwife came in and told me that I was already 8 cm dilated. This meant that I was past the point of receiving any type of medication. I couldn't even get a Tylenol. So I continued to intensely grip each bedrail through contractions that were coming every 30 seconds. At some point, Jamie gently reminded me not to grip so hard with my right hand because of my stitches, and I think I may have told him off. After about 5 minutes of these contractions, I heard the midwife say that we were going to have the baby. The nurses scrambled to get all of the baby gear into the room. I think I only pushed for a few minutes, and our new baby was here. They laid him right on my chest, and we got to stay like that as a family for about an hour before they weighed him and gave him his shots and eye cream. As the nurses moved me from the labor and delivery room to the recovery room, they noted that they were impressed to see the delivery room so clean. They said that the rooms normally get fairly trashed throughout the course of labor. Apparently there wasn't enough time to get out any laboring tools, such as music, birthing balls, etc. I've been through 2 births now and have yet to have the time to labor with the help of such luxuries.

Finnegan Andrew Butler was born at 6:38 AM on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010. He weighed 8 lb 11 oz, and measured 20 inches in length. We plan on calling him Finn for short, but I'm sure it will turn into something even more affectionate, like Mr. Poops-a-Lot or Cocoa Phineas (Sean's preferred name for his baby brother). I will post pictures as soon as we get them downloaded from cameras and phones.

One Busy Day

Jamie and I never bothered to visit the State Fair before we had kids. However, since Sean is now two (picture Sean holding up 2 fingers and saying, "this many"), we thought he'd really enjoy the experience. We mostly stayed near the farm exhibits and got to see cows goats, and a lot of baby animals. Sean loved the pony ride, and he even smiled this time! Our past experience has been that when Sean gets on amusement park rides, he keeps a poker face the entire time. The only way we would know if he liked the experience is if he asked to do it again.

The State Fair has a monorail system running through it so that fairgoers can get a birds eye view of all the fair has to offer. As parents who both have graduate degrees and in our infinite wisdom, we didn't get on this ride until we were ready to leave the fairgrounds. From the monorail, we saw a lot of really cool exhibits that we never found on the ground (such as the new Camaro test driving area), but we were simply too pooped to find them after we got off the train. There's always next year, I guess.

After a long afternoon nap, we took Sean to his first baseball game. Sacramento is home to the minor league team, The Rivercats, which feeds the Oakland A's, and their stadium is officially in West Sacramento. Since the game didn't start until 7:00 PM and Sean's bedtime is usually between 8:00 and 8:30, we assumed that Sean would make it to the 5th or 6th inning before we would have to leave. And believe me, Jamie and I were completely OK with that. But Sean LOVED the game. He stayed in his seat completely interested in what was going on for ALL 9 innings. The first time he got restless or mentioned wanting to go home was when the fireworks started after the game. He doesn't like the loud noise of the fireworks, which has disappointed us on more than one occasion this summer!

Today is a much more relaxed day. We didn't bother getting dressed until mid-morning, and we have yet to leave the house even though it's already mid-afternoon. All in all, it's been a really good weekend.