Irritation.

Yipee!!!

The pediatrician just called and Katrina's lab results for this month are in ... her iron levels are rising and the celiac tests came back negative!!

A Love of Bananas

This is what happens when I leave our daughter alone for a few moments.


I was back in the computer room looking up an address and Katrina was playing in the living room, or so I thought. I came back to find her with a pair of bananas in her hands. Upon closer inspection, I found that she had already eaten half of one of the bananas ... peel and all! She loves bananas and most fruit, especially nectarines and mangoes. (More about the mangoes later.) Yesterday morning she ate two whole nectarines by herself, yet she doesn't like peaches. I love peaches! I don't get how she can like nectarines but not peaches.

I posted some other recent pictures of Katrina here: http://xar.us/gallery/Katrina-14-months-July-2006

We got some couches at Costco this weekend! Er, well, a couch and a loveseat. They are dark brown leather - for the basement. Now I just have to convince Ryan that the walls would look good if painted orange. :) And we also got a Love Sac! It's a funny name for a huge bean bag. We got it in a medium brown suede cover so that it will coordinate with the basement couches and the living room furniture (which are a sage-y green color).

After I took the bananas away from Katrina and looked for something else for her to eat, she reached in the grocery sack on the floor and found a mango. And proceeded to eat it, flesh and all, too. She loves to eat the lemon wedges that come as garnish at restaurants and will often eat the whole thing - fruit and rind. I guess it's time we teach her to peel her fruit first. :)

A trip to LabCorp

I took Katrina to the pediatrician for a weight check on Wednesday, as well as a follow-up iron test. Katrina's complete blood count (CBC) last month showed her iron levels were low, and the lead test came back with elevated levels (she scored an 8.5; at 10 the EPA investigates your house ... in comparison, a coworker's son scored 2.0). So she was due for an iron recheck and the nurse said they could do it in office. I had plenty of hours from last week and took Wednesday afternoon off. What a day.

Katrina now weighs 19 lbs 6 oz, meaning she has gained just about a pound in two months. The pediatrician ordered a couple of other tests, in addition to the CBC. LabCorp (the lab covered by our insurance) drew four vials of blood from our poor baby ... tests include determining if Katrina's body makes the protein needed to carry iron in her bloodstream, as well as a couple of antibody tests to determine if she has celiac or another type of autoimmune disease. I'm hoping we'll hear the results today so we don't have to wait over the weekend.

The visit to LabCorp was almost humorous. Katrina did fine during the draw. She fussed only a little and sighed, but that was it. All heck broke loose, though, when the technician removed the needle. Katrina freaked out and jerked her arm away. The tech placed a piece of gauze on the draw site with a band-aid and Katrina ripped it off and threw it to the ground! At this point blood was going every where (from the baby jerking her arm around). I couldn't hold her still, she was jerking and flailing so much! The worst part was when the technician gave Katrina a sticker that said, "I'm a brave patient!" ... and Katrina threw it in the technician face. I was so embarrassed!!

Oh, yeah ... and Katrina is 14 months old (as of yesterday!) and can still wear size 3 - 6 months clothing. We have friends whose babies were born wearing size 3 - 6 month and went to 6 - 9 month clothing at 8 weeks. Today Katrina is wearing a top I bought for her last summer (size 3 - 6 months) that was too big for her all last summer. It finally fits her now, although it's still a little big around the straps (it's a tank top/sleeveless blouse).

There was an EARWIG on my toothbrush tonight. I. Hate. Earwigs. Intensely. Extremely. Pure hatred. They would appear out of nowhere in the big piles of laundry we had to do my first summer of Conferences. Sooooooo groooooooooosssssssssss.

Earwigs and other things I hate (but not JB - I don't hate her!)

Welcome home, Daddy!

Yay!!! Ryan just called to say he's in the car on his way home from the airport. I'm SO happy! I've missed him like crazy, and I think Katrina has, too. He's been gone basically since June 11, save a 12-hour stretch one Thursday night to Friday morning. Three weeks is a long time to be gone, darn it!!

We made a banner to greet Ryan when he gets home. It says "Welcome Home, Daddy!" and has handprints of Katrina and the two cats. Surprisingly, Avery was a lot more cooperative than Davis! Davis dashed off as soon as I let go, so I'm finding pink cat paw prints all over the house. And Avery's pawprint is one big hairy blob. :)

EDIT: Argh. I'm trying to add some photos and our upload speed is bottom slow.

I gave up on trying to get the pictures in here and posted them to our picture gallery instead. You can see them here.

Famous Last Words

Mine:

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"Nice doggy."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

I made a few guesses and this is what it said Ryan's famous last words will be:

Your Famous Last Words Will Be:

"I dunno, press the button and find out."

What Will Your Famous Last Words Be?

Too funny. :)

Hee hee. Sorry, Marte!! :) (Davis gets around a lot more than I realized she did! She must lead a secret life while I'm at work.)

What You Really Think Of Your Friends

Shawna Rushing is your soulmate.

You truly love Laura Yanchick.

You consider Bobby Rushing your true friend.

You know that Sara Taylor is always thinking of you.

You'll remember Cayden Reynolds for the rest of your life.

You secretly think Ryan Herbert is creative, charming, and a bit too dramatic at times.

You secretly think that Me is colorful, impulsive, and a total risk taker.

You secretly think that Sidra Schkerke is loyal and trustworthy to you. And that Sidra Schkerke changes lovers faster than underwear.

You secretly think Davis is shy and nonconfrontational. And that Davis has a hidden internet romance.

What Do You Think of Your Friends?

Try this... it's fun (and interesting)!!

1. Grab the nearest book.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

5th sentence: "I know."
2nd sentence is much more interesting out of context: I nodded and told Sue what Malachi had said about the chicken being the sacrifice and the eggs being only an offering.