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| From skiing ANne Marie |
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Anne Marie skiing
Here is proof of her prowess. Also note the lack of snow in the background. We could use a bit of help in that arena.
Monday, January 11, 2010
2009: A year in review
Change was in the air this year in the Frandsen household. I guess when you have little ones, time just flies and the changes keep coming, but for us, this was an especially big year. I had a new baby, new job, two new cars (only one now), a few struggles, some sad times and a lot to be thankful for.
January:
It’s sad- I honestly don’t know how I rang in the new year. Probably I was at home. The end of the month was when change began.
My grandfather died Jan. 24, on Anne Marie’s 2nd birthday. He was 94. He lived a long, full life, but it was still sad to see him go. I didn’t really have a father growing up, and my granddad was one of the most important male role models in my life. I love him and still miss him.
It was a strange birthday for Anne Marie, I’m sure. My grandma insisted on buying a cake and celebrating. I think it brought some normalcy to the situation.
February:
Thomas came, ending February on a happy, crazy note. We all know how he’s working out so far. :)
March:
March was the month of colicky baby and NO sleep. In the beginning of March, I was asked to fill out an essay test of sorts for a job I’d applied for. They were kind enough to give me a two-day extension since I was still in the hospital with the baby.
In March, I didn’t think I was going to survive. Thomas would cry for 12 hours or more straight, and it seemed like that would never end. I had no idea how to put Anne Marie and Thomas both to bed, and since Matt was working night shifts, it was up to me most evenings. I remember crying one night that I had ruined Anne Marie’s life by having another baby. Luckily, by the end of March, it was a lot better.
In March we also bought a Ford Escape that turned out to be a total lemon and cost us several thousand dollars. It was kind of a rough month.
April:
I found out I got the job- and it was a really good one! Thomas was still colicky, but we were getting the hang of things, finally.
May
May was big! Thomas stopped crying. It was amazing. He cried almost straight from birth to 3 months old, then just stopped. He also sat up for the first time.
Also, started my new job, and found Amber, a wonderful person to care for Thomas while I was at work.
June
Thomas was baptized, and we saw our good friends Greg and Denise, also his Godparents. I’m excited to see them again soon!
July
July is always busy- we went to Massacre Rocks for the Fourth of July, and my family reunion at Redfish Lake.
October
We bought a van, ditched the Escape and drove to Yellowstone. It snowed the whole time we were there, and the road was closed past Old Faithful, but we still had a great time! Anne Marie was funny- she said her favorite part was staying in a hotel.
December
Anne Marie’s eye surgery. Uggh.
Really, since then life has been fairly uneventful. We’re just continuing on. Here’s to 2010!
January:
It’s sad- I honestly don’t know how I rang in the new year. Probably I was at home. The end of the month was when change began.
My grandfather died Jan. 24, on Anne Marie’s 2nd birthday. He was 94. He lived a long, full life, but it was still sad to see him go. I didn’t really have a father growing up, and my granddad was one of the most important male role models in my life. I love him and still miss him.
It was a strange birthday for Anne Marie, I’m sure. My grandma insisted on buying a cake and celebrating. I think it brought some normalcy to the situation.
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| From Anne Marie birthdays |
February:
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| From Thomas Michael |
March:
March was the month of colicky baby and NO sleep. In the beginning of March, I was asked to fill out an essay test of sorts for a job I’d applied for. They were kind enough to give me a two-day extension since I was still in the hospital with the baby.
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| From Twin Falls |
In March, I didn’t think I was going to survive. Thomas would cry for 12 hours or more straight, and it seemed like that would never end. I had no idea how to put Anne Marie and Thomas both to bed, and since Matt was working night shifts, it was up to me most evenings. I remember crying one night that I had ruined Anne Marie’s life by having another baby. Luckily, by the end of March, it was a lot better.
In March we also bought a Ford Escape that turned out to be a total lemon and cost us several thousand dollars. It was kind of a rough month.
April:
I found out I got the job- and it was a really good one! Thomas was still colicky, but we were getting the hang of things, finally.
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| From Easter redone for Thomas |
May
May was big! Thomas stopped crying. It was amazing. He cried almost straight from birth to 3 months old, then just stopped. He also sat up for the first time.
Also, started my new job, and found Amber, a wonderful person to care for Thomas while I was at work.
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| From another zoo, Thomas sitting up |
June
Thomas was baptized, and we saw our good friends Greg and Denise, also his Godparents. I’m excited to see them again soon!
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| From Thomas baptism |
July
July is always busy- we went to Massacre Rocks for the Fourth of July, and my family reunion at Redfish Lake.
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| From massacre rocks and fourth of july |
October
We bought a van, ditched the Escape and drove to Yellowstone. It snowed the whole time we were there, and the road was closed past Old Faithful, but we still had a great time! Anne Marie was funny- she said her favorite part was staying in a hotel.
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| From yellowstone |
December
Anne Marie’s eye surgery. Uggh.
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| From eye surgery and random fun |
Monday, December 21, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving late and Merry Christmas early!
There’s so much updating to do! A month has passed, and it’s been a busy one. First, there was Thanksgiving in Missoula always a good time. Anne Marie and Thomas had the time of their lives. Someday, there will be more kids in our extended families, and those two will have to deal with not always being the center of attention, but right now they are the only kids on either side of our family in more than 20 years. They might as well enjoy it!
We also got to get to know Phil’s girlfriend a little better, although I called her by the wrong name for about 30 minutes, repeating it several times so I wouldn’t forget her name. Whatever I called her, she's very nice. :)
Then came December, both a really long and a really short month. The longest day was Dec. 2, Anne Marie’s surgery day. We got to the hospital at 6 a.m., and Anne Marie was a dream patient- happy, quiet and willing to do whatever the nurses wanted. Two hours later, she was out of surgery, and the doctor told us he couldn’t get the tube in the top of her tear duct, so he taped it to the outside of her eye. Then he said, “I don’t think we’ll leave it in for six months. We’ll probably have to take it out in six weeks.”
What?! He’s had kids. I can’t imagine why he would think a two-year old could go six weeks with something taped to the outside of her eye. Still, there was nothing we could do, so when she finally recovered from surgery, we got in the car and headed home.
In the van, I turned around to ask Anne Marie if she wanted ice cream, only to hear a huge scream and see a long piece of tubing hanging from the side of her eye. Her nose was bleeding and she was freaking out, yelling, “Get it out!” She had noticed something next to her eye and pulled it, just like anyone would do.
We drove to the doctor’s office and he patched it and told us she would have to have another surgery that day to either remove it or put it back in. I told him to take that sucker out, and that we’d hope that the probing was enough to clear the duct. He agreed and apologized. Anne Marie asked me to draw a frowny face on her patch. She wanted it off.
Since she had eaten jello at the hospital, we had to wait until 6 p.m. so her stomach was clear again. The poor kid hadn’t eaten anything but those couple of bites of jello for more than 30 hours, but we had to just sit it out.
We went back in, and Matt and I went to the waiting room for what we thought would be a 15-minute procedure. Two hours later, she wasn’t out yet. Turns out, she pulled that tube so far that they couldn’t find a piece of it. Our doctor called another specialist to help, but they still never found it. To avoid tears running into where the piece might be, they put in another tube, but this time the specialist was able to help get it inside the eye. When she came out the first time, she looked fine. The second time, the eye was patched and when we took off the patch later, it looked like she’d been in a bar fight. The best part was the next day at day care, they took photos and made Christmas ornaments of them. Now we have an ornament on our tree that looks like a police photo for child abuse.
But, the tube is in now, and will remain in for 6 months. I’m not looking forward to having it taken out. Anne Marie takes the anesthesia well, but I don’t think any kid really wakes up well from being put under. Both times she spent about 20 minutes screaming, another 20 minutes sleeping, then about an hour of alternating crying and sleeping. Awesome.
All that junk, however, was two weeks ago. Since then, we’ve had a few ear infections, strep throat and other incidents that make it hard to get things done.
Now, however, we’re all well and ready for a fun Christmas. Things are looking up!
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| From Thanksgiving 2009 |
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| From Thanksgiving 2009 |
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| From Thanksgiving 2009 |
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| From Thanksgiving 2009 |
We also got to get to know Phil’s girlfriend a little better, although I called her by the wrong name for about 30 minutes, repeating it several times so I wouldn’t forget her name. Whatever I called her, she's very nice. :)
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| From Thanksgiving 2009 |
Then came December, both a really long and a really short month. The longest day was Dec. 2, Anne Marie’s surgery day. We got to the hospital at 6 a.m., and Anne Marie was a dream patient- happy, quiet and willing to do whatever the nurses wanted. Two hours later, she was out of surgery, and the doctor told us he couldn’t get the tube in the top of her tear duct, so he taped it to the outside of her eye. Then he said, “I don’t think we’ll leave it in for six months. We’ll probably have to take it out in six weeks.”
What?! He’s had kids. I can’t imagine why he would think a two-year old could go six weeks with something taped to the outside of her eye. Still, there was nothing we could do, so when she finally recovered from surgery, we got in the car and headed home.
In the van, I turned around to ask Anne Marie if she wanted ice cream, only to hear a huge scream and see a long piece of tubing hanging from the side of her eye. Her nose was bleeding and she was freaking out, yelling, “Get it out!” She had noticed something next to her eye and pulled it, just like anyone would do.
We drove to the doctor’s office and he patched it and told us she would have to have another surgery that day to either remove it or put it back in. I told him to take that sucker out, and that we’d hope that the probing was enough to clear the duct. He agreed and apologized. Anne Marie asked me to draw a frowny face on her patch. She wanted it off.
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| From eye surgery and random fun |
We went back in, and Matt and I went to the waiting room for what we thought would be a 15-minute procedure. Two hours later, she wasn’t out yet. Turns out, she pulled that tube so far that they couldn’t find a piece of it. Our doctor called another specialist to help, but they still never found it. To avoid tears running into where the piece might be, they put in another tube, but this time the specialist was able to help get it inside the eye. When she came out the first time, she looked fine. The second time, the eye was patched and when we took off the patch later, it looked like she’d been in a bar fight. The best part was the next day at day care, they took photos and made Christmas ornaments of them. Now we have an ornament on our tree that looks like a police photo for child abuse.
But, the tube is in now, and will remain in for 6 months. I’m not looking forward to having it taken out. Anne Marie takes the anesthesia well, but I don’t think any kid really wakes up well from being put under. Both times she spent about 20 minutes screaming, another 20 minutes sleeping, then about an hour of alternating crying and sleeping. Awesome.
All that junk, however, was two weeks ago. Since then, we’ve had a few ear infections, strep throat and other incidents that make it hard to get things done.
Now, however, we’re all well and ready for a fun Christmas. Things are looking up!
Monday, November 23, 2009
No worries anymore
It looks like the creepy site that had my blog on their site doesn't have it anymore, and I've been able to keep my blog public without having people randomly come across it. All is well, and I'm public again. :)
Friday, November 20, 2009
Spooky
After I've had some strangers viewing my blog and putting it on their sites, I'm going to make this private for awhile, then I'm going to move it and open it up again. Sorry!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Another blog
I've decided I need to better control my grocery bills, so I've made a blog, mostly for myself, to keep me accountable. I'm going to budget $65 per week for groceries, plan my meals and tell all about it. If you'd like to take a look, it's here:
I'm going to keep track of my grocery bill, along with what I buy, my meals for the week and some recipe links that I'll put on my almost-dead recipe blog. They'll be quick, easy, and at least partially able to be made ahead. Wish me luck! It will be blogtastic!
I'm going to keep track of my grocery bill, along with what I buy, my meals for the week and some recipe links that I'll put on my almost-dead recipe blog. They'll be quick, easy, and at least partially able to be made ahead. Wish me luck! It will be blogtastic!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Happy Halloween!
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| From Halloween 2009 |
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| From Halloween 2009 |
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| From Halloween 2009 |
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| From Halloween 2009 |
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| From Halloween 2009 |
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| From Halloween 2009 |
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| From Halloween 2009 |
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