We’ve been having a great time in Fargo for the past few days. After a very successful 10 hour drive from Oconomowoc, that’s right, let me repeat that – 10 hour car ride….2 toddlers, 3 dogs, 3 adults, one of which is pregnant – and a 10 hour drive – we had a very pleasant trip. No fighting, no crying, just lots of movies and maybe a little bit of drugs….nah – no drugs, just excited kids.
Porter and Jack have been the hit of the family and have us constantly laughing. We had dinner at Steve and Kim’s (my mom’s brother) for a fantastic 5 course meal – that I actually kept down for most of the night – then tonight they came over for a delicious spaghetti dinner as did my mom’s sister and her girls. It was great to hear stories and share stories about the boys with them.
We did attempt church on Christmas Eve – Yikes. Porter did a great job, however Jack lost it after all his snacks were gone and I wouldn’t let him eat the ones that fell on the floor….
On a side note – Porter finished his medicine and when we get back home he will get his scooter – never be afraid to bribe your kids!
Yesterday we tried to swaddle Porter in a blanket and massage his adams apple to get him to swallow his medicine, sadly it did not work. So now, we have resorted to bribery to get Porter to take it. If you have kept up with our blog, you’ll remember this tactic worked when trying to get him to go poop in the potty. We went to Target yesterday morning and Porter got to pick out anything that he wanted. His choice – a spiderman scooter. The scooter is sitting right in the dining room just tempting him. However, he doesn’t get it until he is finished with his 10 days of antibiotics. And if he fights about it and we have to force him, then the scooter goes to a needy family. Oddly enough the last day of his medicine is Christmas Day.
This morning we went into his room to give it to him and after a little fussing – HE TOOK HIS MEDICINE! He said, “Me take yucky medicine, me get better, me get spiderman scooter.”
7 days to go – I sure hope we make it….
Porter has decidedly sworn off antibiotics, which in our case is not a good thing. The first round to prevent infection did not work and now he has horrendous breath and according to the doctor that means infection. If you have ever wondered what any type of rotting animal carcass smells like, I’m positive that Porter’s breath is the exact smell. So, now we have to figure out a way to get him to take ten days worth of antibiotic without one of us ending up in the looney bin. So far we have tried – mixing it in applesauce (he figured that one out the second time he tried it), letting him hold the syringe, bribery with candy and toys, sitting on him (which only sent meds flying into my hair), mixing it with tylenol (he likes tylenol!), and my final thing was to mix it with honey, because he loves honey. Although it’s cute when he says, “This medicine sucks.” This whole thing is trying my last nerve and I can barely stand it anymore. If anyone has any other suggestions, let me know. I’ll try anything.
Porter had his tonsils out on Wednesday. Today is day 3. Apparently day 3 is the worst. He’s been pretty good so far. We’re trying to keep him hydrated and drugged up so that he doesn’t have to go back to the hospital.
The day started with us going to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. The place is crazy busy with all sorts of kids and people and construction. Mortenson is actually doing some work there right now. Porter was in and out of surgery in about 15 minutes. The fantastic ENT, Dr. M, said his tonsils and adenoids especially, were enormous. So this was the right thing to do for him. Hopefully he will start to enjoy eating and gain a couple of pounds on his tiny little body.
His recovery in the hospital was not fantastic, but it was manageable. Tom and I stayed with him all day. And then I stayed with him overnight. Even though he had the wonderful medicine Zofran (used for nausea) he still threw up most of the day. So that made it a little harder on him. Porter did not like seeing the red light on his finger nor did he like it when the nurses came in. Eventually the nurses started bringing him things other than medicine, like toys and ice cream when they came to see him and he started to warm up to them.
At one point during the night, he said I was lying in his spot and he told me to go lay on the floor. So, I went and “tried” to sleep in the chair. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep the entire night.
Meanwhile, Jack got to have Grandma Margie all to himself. They went for breakfast, went to the bookstore and had a great time! At one point Margie was looking for his hat and eventually found it and Jack put his arms in the air and said, “HAT!!!!!!” Too cute. Here are some pictures from the hospital.
Today, Porter said, “Me having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!” He also said he wanted to “get those yucky guys out of me.” He has seen the Mucinex commercial where the mucus and germs are in that guys lungs, and he thinks those guys are in him right now and he wants them OUT!
xoxoxo
Porter is getting his tonsils out on Wednesday. Of course, he would get strep throat 7 days before his surgery. He’s done with antibiotics, so hopefully nothing happens in the next two days.
Last night he woke up and after a short conversation about needing something, he said, “now me have to go back to my dream about trucks and dragons, and cars.”
This morning he was making a thank you picture for his grandma and grandpa – he drew a picture of a dog which actually slightly resembled a dog. Most of his previous pictures are a bunch of circles all connected and messy. After he was done with the dog and before he scribbled all over the page he said, “Now he needs a penis!”
Also, I found out that when someone “tags” you in their blog (Thank you Leah!) that you are supposed to write 5 – 8 things about yourself that not many people would know. So here goes:
1. I love blood and guts. I wish I would have gotten a tutor in chemistry in college so that I could have had a chance at going to medical school.
2. I miss my mother every second of every day.
3. I have three tattoos and would like one more.
4. I am afraid of heights, but love to fly.
5. I hate playing monopoly. But I love Yahtzee.
6. I get really nervous speaking in front of large groups, even though I was a public speaking instructor in graduate school.
7. I wrote my graduate thesis about the globalization of Latin music in the United States, and I could actually care less about it….shhhhh….don’t tell Marwan Kraidy, my advisor.
8. I really have no idea what I want to be when I grow up…
And two more, just for fun….
9. My proudest moments were getting married to my wonderful husband, giving birth to my two children…one of which was without an epidural and finishing a half marathon after having two kids!
10. I love doing taxes….isn’t that odd?!
xoxoxo
Kirsten
This morning Porter woke up at 4 am coughing.
Porter: Mommy, me have bad cold.
Me: I know.
Porter: Me need more honey. (We gave him some honey before he went to bed to help with his cough.)
Me: You can have some more in the morning when you wake up.
Porter: My nose not working right.
Me: I know, it’s stuffed up with lots of snot.
Porter: Get boogers out of this nose. (Pointing to his right nostril). This one yucky.
A later conversation:
Me: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Porter: A Doctor or a toy garbage man.
Me: Huh.
Porter: You need a check-up. (After he found some latex gloves and thermometers in the closet). Put these on me.
Me: Okay.
Porter: (Putting his hand on my chest and then on my back) You sound like a car.
We traveled to Indianapolis for Thanksgiving this year. Thank you to Mike and Carole and their kids for hosting this year. We had a great time and Porter loved hanging out with his “friends”. That’s what he calls all kids around his age – my friends. Then whenever he is sad, or he gets in trouble he says, “Me miss my friends…” Ha, ha. Like that’s going to get him out of being in trouble!
While on the trip Jack found his voice and discovered many words – he copies absolutely everything you say, so now we really have to watch ourselves!
Did I mention that I am the Thor family Yahtzee Queen?
Right before we went to Indi, Tom and I went to Sacramento for Garry and Ewa Kelley’s official church wedding. What a wonderful wedding and such great people. They complement each other very well. We also got to spend some time with Tom’s friends Scott and Kristi Stryker, who are so great! We travel well together – even got to go down to my favorite city in the world (thus far), San Francisco. Top picture is at the wedding with my wrinkly hair (so says Porter). Next picture is us at Alioto’s on the Wharf – Tom had his first full crab meal – he said it was awesome! Kristi and I are both allergic to shellfish – so we didn’t get to enjoy, bummer since we both love it! Nice bibs boys!
Huge THANKS to Margie and Terry the best in-laws a person could ask for! They stayed with the boys while we went on vacation. It’s so nice not to have to worry about them when we are gone!
I’ll post some Thanksgiving pictures soon.
Porter is getting his tonsils and adenoids out next Wednesday – so that’s a big thing coming up for us. Then it’s off to Fargo two weeks later to spend some time with my family for Christmas.
Spray 9×12 pan, Layer pan with frozen sweet bread dough (thawd). Pull the dough apart into small pieces and put in bottom of pan.
Mix together – 1 stick softened butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 large package vanilla pudding (cook and serve), 2 Tablespoons milk. Pour over dough.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover the dough and let rise for 30 minutes. Bake for 30 minutes or until top is golden brown and center is not doughy.
Here are a couple of hints we’ve learned over the years:
I put down one layer of dough and then pour the mixture and then put down another layer in between the other dough.
You don’t really need to measure out the topping – we add a ton of brown sugar – at least two cups, because the more the better! We also add at least a 1/4 of milk it makes it nice and creamy.
The store sells frozen loaves or buns of sweet dough – I usually get the buns. I also let them thaw over night – it often explodes, so don’t be alarmed in the morning if you’ve got a huge pile of dough on your counter.
Cooking times of course vary – sometimes they are done in 25 minutes, sometimes 45 – so check often.
My dad likes to use dark brown sugar and half and half to make them extra rich. He also likes to add nuts to them, so you can put them on the pan before you pour the mixture on the dough.
If you have any questions, just ask! Do not however eat a whole pan in one sitting – Alli and Angie can tell you that you will get sick!
For the two of you that read this, you know that I have an aversion to pig meat, well, most meat actually, but, today, we made pull-aparts and bacon for the boys, and the BABY wanted bacon, so I had some, and boy was it GOOD! I also enjoyed a fantastic glass of orange juice, another thing I don’t enjoy while not pregnant. So, bring on the bacon!
June 13th. Well, sometime between June 11th and June 13th – new Thor baby arrives. It seems so far away. Yet, I know that the next few months are going to fly by. It’s practically Christmas already! Jack will be 2, Porter is going to start preschool – my how time flies…
Porter has become aware of who Grandma Sue was and where she is. It’s quite sweet. He says he misses her and he knows she died. I wasn’t even sure that he knew who she was. He looked at a picture of her on his dresser and said, “Grandma Sue!” Of course, I cried my eyes out. It is truly amazing what kids know. He said that she was in Heaven with God. And tears….. I am amazed daily at what he does.
Jack is a ham. He’s getting two new molars – which makes it pleasant, but he is saying several words and loves to snuggle – which I LOVE!
We’re going to Sacramento on the 20th for Garry Kelley’s wedding. Margie and Terry are coming to stay and Porter can hardly contain his excitement! It will be nice to get away for a couple of days.
Hugs and Kisses.
