Happy Birthday!

My sister Liz is 41 I mean 31 today.

Here is a list of famous people who share her big day:

1921 Deborah Kerr
1931 Angie Dickinson
1937 Johnny Mathis
1950 Victoria Tennant
1961 Eric Stolz
1971 Jenna Elfman
1982 Kieran Culkin

*Also, she is 11,322 days old.
*On this date in 1955, James Dean died.
*On this date in 1982, Cyanide laced Tylenol killed the seventh and final victim, resulting in a nationwide Tylenol recall and the eventual creation of Tamper Proof packaging.
*In 1868, Little Women is published.

There, now you know.

Happy Birthday!

Our Little Hyena...

Check out our new toy--"Lily Laughs A Lot."

Girl With Clip On Earring...

Someone's grandmother has gotten Lily confused with Dress Up Barbie.



***

Update!

Well, day by day, things are getting slowly better. (I know it's only been two days.) I'm still very sore, and my back is killing me, I guess from being in one position for several days. I had some more blood work done this morning and I have my post op appointment next Thursday. I did lose 9 pounds in the hospital, and I'll find out next Thursday if I've lost any additional weight. I'm on a clear liquid diet right now and through Monday. I haven't been hungry at all, but I've wanted to taste every food that I've seen on TV since the surgery. I know the commercials were there before, but I never realized the quantity of commercials that are food related. (And toy related, for that matter.) I've been having coffee, chicken broth, water, Crystal Light, Sugar Free Jello, apple juice, and popsicles, and I've been doing pretty well with it. I "graduate" to what are called "FULL" liquids next week, so I'll be able to have creamy soups, milk, and the protein shakes I was drinking before the surgery. That will last a couple of weeks and then I can have some soft foods, pureed stuff, mashed potatotes, etc.

Since the surgery, I've gone down to one diabetes pill a day rather than two, and no pill for blood pressure. My blood sugar has been dead on perfect since Monday every time I test it. I'm looking forward to seeing my bloodwork results next week and see what my overall prognosis will be as far as continuing ANY diabetes medicine. If nothing else, getting rid of the diabetes and blood pressure medications will have made the surgery well worth it.

Oh, and if you're up to it, here's a picture of the incision, just CLICK HERE. The spot on the left is where they placed an anesthetic pump, the middle is the surgical incision, and on the right is where the doctor placed the drain, which was removed at the hospital. Yes, I've taken a bath, that's just what it looks like. The rest of the picture is just my normal attractiveness, try not to be overwhelmed by the Greek-like beauty.

I'm Home...

I'll post some stuff in the next few days when I can type more comfortably. The surgery went well but I'm in some pain at the incision site. I go to see the doctor again next week to have the staples removed. Thanks for all of the emails, letters, and calls. I'll write more later!

Tomorrow's the Day

The surgery is at 8:00 AM, I should be in recovery by 10:00, and in my own room by early afternoon. The scout for Chippendale's is coming around 7:00 PM and as long as I'm not too sore to dance, I should have a new career by Tuesday morning. Oh, and I'm thinking of changing my last name to Swayze, you know, for professional purposes.

More info when I get home from the hospital.

A Day in the Life of Lily

12:00 AM Makes gurgling noises, is discovered to have thrown up all over herself.

12:10 AM Mom and Dad consider calling 911 because breathing is labored and baby is crying hysterically.

12:22 AM After a dose of Gripe Water and Infant Gas Drops, baby throws up very interesting bubble of an unknown substance.

12:23 AM Baby calms immediately and falls back asleep.

1:37 AM Baby up again to play/eat. Has bottle and goes back down.

7:25 AM Baby awake and cooing. Has diaper changed.

7:26 AM Baby laughs on the changing table and says "D-12". We don't know if she knows anything about Bingo, or whether she really likes Eminem's band, but either way, "D-12" came out, crystal clear.

7:28 AM Baby comes to bed with Mom and Dad who are not ready to get up yet.

10:00 AM After rolling around in the living room in only a diaper, baby screams bloody murder at the thought of having to wear clothes. Oh, the humanity.

Later in the day...

1:30 PM Baby, in Target, screams at random people, but is curiously silent when Mom and Dad put snow hats on her and giggle.

1:34 PM Baby tries to eat a DVD. Slobbery DVD placed back on shelf and area vacated quickly.

3:30 PM While rolling on floor, baby discovers garbage can, tips it over, and begins eating a plastic baggy. (This was after she tasted the tissue and decided the plastic was the better snack. See Picture) For those that think child abuse is involved here because I took a picture before I took the baggy need to realize that Lily is virtually a goat and can eat anything. Anyway, I cleaned it up before she could eat the entire contents of the garbage can. She did however manage to eat a couple of tissues, the plastic bag, and most of a Tim Horton's cup (without the lid), as well as Milky Way wrapper and the "Borat" DVD. (Though I'm sure her grandmother Barbara would have liked for her to eat the "Gimme A Break" Season One DVD's as she does not care to watch them when Dad gets home from the hospital later this week.)


4:35 PM Baby is hysterical laughing while Dad tries to talk to Karen Ragusa.

5:22 PM Baby eats a little, throws a little food, laughs a lot at Mom trying to feed her, and takes food out of her mouth and wipes it into her hair.

7:00 PM Baby has much needed bath to remove Sweet Potatoes and Bananas from her hair, ears, inside her fingers and toes, and curiously from within her belly button. (Which was covered by two layers of fabric at dinner time.)

8:42 PM Baby finally goes to bed after last bottle and Mom and Dad are close behind her.

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone how old you are! But, if they want to do the math, 1950 was a good year!

Happy Birthday! We love you!

The Countdown Begins...

This time next week the surgery will be over. I go in Monday morning bright and early and should be done and out of recovery by noon. I'm getting a little nervous, but really just want it all over with. Next Monday is to be my re-birthday...the beginning of a life I've not known in a long time. It's been a long time getting to this point, and I'm as ready as I can be. I hope to be a loser very soon.

Standing Tall...

Look what prissypants did tonight...soon, she'll be walking down the street.

Lily, the Big Girl...

Lily joined the adults at the table tonight in her new high chair. She wanted to grab everything in sight, and she flung a couple of handfuls of baby food around, but all in all, she did pretty well. We may let her eat with us again someday.

HEAT

I had to turn the heat on in the car this morning...can SNOW be far away? I've also been working on closing the pool and thought I was going to need gloves - the water is freezing! It's in the low 50's today and there's a frost warning tonight in the Southern Tier and I'm LOVING it!

A Little Bit of the Baby...

A few new pictures of the bambino, starting with Aunt Paula and Uncle Steve (whose baby will be here in March! We'll have a sonogram pic soon--hint, hint, Paula!)

Lily loves Steve and Paula, and Bob Evans!

Lily's starting to cock her head to the side now...very entertaining!

We've been having a couple of rough days as we think Lily is starting to teethe.

Somebody's getting to big for the baby bathtub!

Lily is like a goat, and puts practically everything in her mouth.

Dressed for our nightly walk--we're having to bundle up now, it's starting to get colder!

Back To School!

We went back to school this week, leaving Lily with Liz's mom, Barb. She did okay during the day but when we walk in the door in the afternoons, she has this seizure of delight we've not seen before. She's starting to say "Ma-Ma" now and on a couple of occassions, we've heard "Une Da-Da." We're not certain it's not some sort of tribal grunting but we hope it's on the path to acquiring language skills. Her next words will probably either be "Tim Horton's" or "Egg Roll."

Lily goes incognito as Fidel Castro.

Somebody LOVES cantaloupe!

Sweet Baby.

After the bath with Dad. We're ALL happier when the baby is clean!

Happy Birthday to my Mama!

Happy Birthday, to you!
Happy Birthday, to you!
We went to Olive Garden in your honor!
Happy Birthday to you!

We love you!

First Bee-sting...

We figured we would eventually have to deal with Lily getting a bee-sting, but we hardly thought it would be this early, and we definitely didn't think it would happen in Walmart. When it happened, Lily screamed out, but then she was fine. Liz and I were a nervous wreck, worried about an allergic reaction and imagining ourselves huddled over her body screaming at Walmart employees and customers in a scene reminiscent of a third installment of "Terms of Endearment." After it happened, we just wanted to get out of there, but we wanted to tell someone what had happened, so we told the cashier. Her response, nonplussed, was, "Well, it doesn't get any better up here, I've got chicken pox." Then, the guy beside us turned to show off his swollen eyes and face from his poison ivy reaction. It was like being in a Typhoid Mary museum. We couldn't get out of there fast enough. We left Walmart and went to Walgreens, to ask the pharmacist if there's anything we should do. During this time, I should mention that Lily is in the back seat, giggling away, with a little angry red mark and a splotchy face, intermittently licking the side of her car seat. The pharmacist told us to give her a little Benadryl for children and put her to bed. She was fine of course, but we were a basket case. I would rather have just been stung myself. At least that way, Liz would have had some experience in dealing with my dramatic theatrical complaining.

Videos of the Boys

Laura posted some videos of the boys playing video games. You can see them below. I commented that the videos remind me a lot of Adam and I when we were little, except that neither of us has red hair, we would have been fighting, and the game system would have been Atari.

Gastric Bypass: The Musical

In preparation for my upcoming Gastric Bypass surgery, I have written a song to the tune of “What’s Love Got To Do With It” as my weblog announcement. Didn’t know the surgery was upcoming? That’s okay, neither did a lot of other people. I haven’t tried to keep it a secret, but I’m not standing on my roof addressing the nation either. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever decided to do and has been 4 years in the making. I’m including some illustrations at the bottom if you have the stomach (no pun intended) for them or if you’re just curious as to what is actually going to happen.

“What’s Fat Got To Do With It”

You can’t understand
‘Til you’ve stood where I am
And see how others react.
But besides those blank stares
It’s my health in despair
And I want it back.

It`s painful, yes.
But it’s fixable
You must try to accept
That I’m more than my snacks.

[Chorus]
Oh what’s fat got to do, got to do with it
What`s fat, but a little more to love?
What`s fat got to do, got to do with it
Who needs this crap
When I can just rise above?

It may seem to you
That I’m acting confused
But let me assure you, please
Gastric bypass is not
The easy way out
That most think it to be

It’s a major thing
And nothing else has worked
But whatever the reason
I’m doing it for me

[Chorus]

I`ve been thinking of a new direction
For over a decade
I`ve been thinking of living my life
Instead of acting what I weighed.

Oh what’s fat got to do, got to do with it
What`s fat, but a little more to love?
What`s fat got to do, got to do with it
Who needs this crap
When I can just rise above?

[Repeat until you understand that this is not something I’ve undertaken lightly, and that I am more scared of what will become of me if I don’t do something. I’ve had a lot of experience being fat and I’m done with the way it makes me feel. I may not be a Chippendale’s dancer when this is all over, but I will still be here in 50 years, and that matters to me more than anything. However, I was looking in the mirror the other day and analyzing my reflection. I probably will be hot a year from now, but I don’t want to brag yet. I’ll save that for Act II of the musical after the surgery is completed.]

Here are a couple of pictures:



And, if you are interested further, here is a quick animation: