TGIF/I'm addicted!/Open Forum

[jenstam]

TGIF! I just had to tell you guys I am addicted to Cameo apples! In my opinion they are the best of the best! I have been eating a large one every day. If they weren't so darn overpriced I would be eating more than that! I did some research on this apple because I had never heard of it before and it's kind of interesting. Anyhow, they are the perfect juiciness, crunchiness and in general the best apples ever! Can you tell this is my latest craving?? LOL...never thought I could get so darn excited over an apple ;) Guess it's a good craving though, considering that study that came out last week. Have a great weekend everyone!

[ally76]

Good thing your addicted to apples!  My latest craving is Dairy Queens  Hot fudge sundae!!  YUMMY!   I keep telling DH the baby loves them and he goes and gets them.  Ive lost quite a bit of weight b/c of MS, so I can afford to eat a few sundaes....and I heard there made with milk so its healthy right?  LOL!!  

[jenstam]

LOL!! Funny you say that. I have had some not so good cravings also. Milk shakes, fries, bad stuff. I use the same excuse-the baby wants it. Funny! My girls laugh every time I say that. Those little buggers and their cravings! ;)

[candie26]

I want cucumbers sprinkled with salt along with sharp cheddar cheese! Is that weird?

[Hulahut]

I want american cheese and mayo sandwiches - I know, that sounds so gross to some.  Oh, and Starbucks cinnamon scones.  So bad!  :)  Never heard of cameo apples - can't wait to try one!

[Jenny100]

I am craving capers--a lot of you probably don't know what they are. They are marinated unopened flower buds off a caper bush. Is that weird or what? I just LOVE THEM!!!! My nouth waters when I just think of them.

[jenstam]

Capers are DELICIOUS!!! I love them with this chicken and artichoke pasta recipe I have. They're a little bit sour but very good. Now my mouth is watering!!

[wait and see]

well i have been craving vegetables and roast chicken and potatoes my DH and kids are so sick of chicken and vegetables,they keep pleading with me not to cook it  but thats what the baby wants so the baby must have it, at least thats what iv been telling them

[AndiJ78]

If you love Cameo apples, I recommend trying Pink Lady Apples. They are to die for! I stopped by a road side produce stand on my way back from Spokane last year while pg with CJ and made the mistake of getting some, it was the best darn apple. My boys ate a few bites off of their and went to toss them, I found myselt picking theirs clean! Of course, a few months later when I picked one right off of my FIL tree, it was pretty dang good too! The perfect chill in the apple, perfect blend of tart and sweet, juicy as can be with a great crunch. Man, now I can't wait for fall again.

My strangest craving was meat. I had been a vegan for 12+ years before having my second. While pg with him, I suddenyl started craving Big Mac's and Whoppers. My dh was elated, problem was I would eat and then throw up. I still couldn't stop myself though.

[jenstam]

I live a few blocks away from an apple orchard. I think they have pink ladies there and I will definitely have to try some this fall. There is almost nothing better than a good, perfectly sweet and tart, juicy, crunchy apple.

[newbie2b]

I wish they had dairy queen in NY. I see the comercials sometimes and am tempted to go to NJ to find one. :( I'd even take a "Sonics" store. They have that vanilla waffer banana shake thing. YUM! I better find one before she comes because i wont be able to eat like this after.

[AnnieBrooke]

I'm nursing, and totally craving sweets, especially candies from my childhood like Snickers bars and Starburst chews.  No wonder I gained weight between my post partum checkup and now!

[nalla]

Are you talking about Spokane Wa? Do you live near Spokane? you don't have to be too specific if you don't want to, I was just curious because my son was born there.

[AndiJ78]

I was born and raised in SPokane and my firsr son was bron there. I now live over near Olympia.

[nalla]

When my husband graduates we are wanting to move over in that area. I have always loved Bellingham, and my husband wants to look into Olympia.
Right now we are about an hour from Spokane.

[AndiJ78]

We lived in Bremerton until we recently bought our home in a smaller town closer to Olympia. My dh still works in Bremerton, but the housing market is nuts there, so he does a vanpool type thing paid for by the govt (his employer) So at least we don't have the added cost of gas ; )

Are you north or south of Spokane? I have a friend that bought a house in Waverly last year. Wait, I think I rember asking you this before, you are near Pullman, right? Guess that dh goes to WSU?

Man I miss Spokane. AT least you get a range of seasons, here it is rain, followed by showers, and more rain ; ) But i do love living in the woods now. Nothing beats going out on the back deck and having 4 or 5 deer eating 15 feet away or being serenaded at night by a million crickets and tree frogs.

[nalla]

We are south of Spokane. We actually live in Idaho now, just right on the border. We are in Spokane a lot for Dr. app and my brother in law lives there.
DH goes to U of I. I was born and raised in Colfax Wa. a little tiny farming town south of Spokane. That is where I met dh, got married and had most of our kids.
We can't wait to move over closer to the coast. DH wants to get away from all these wheat fields. LOL
Have you been to Bellingham? What do you think of it there? It's been several years since I have been there, but loved it then. We are hoping that it's a good place to raise our kids.

[AndiJ78]

We stick to this side of the water. Wer do go over to Seattle for some things, but for the most part avoid that area like the plague!! Too many people, too much traffic, too many headaches. We are in Shelton, little redneck town. We are actually 15 miles outside of Shelton, in a cute little wooded housing devlopment. We literally have woods in our backyard. I am so happy to be away from traffic and people!

ID huh? Man that place has seen some changes in the last 10 years. That is so awesome that you live over there. Makes me shed a little tear thinking about "home."

[mum2beagain]

How is Nathan (hope I have remembered his name correctly) doing now after his shunt surgery?

[nalla]

Oh I'm sure I will be feeling the same way when we end up moving. I have lived in the same town my whole life (other than just moving to moscow) and am used to things being slow and quiet. Colfax only has 3000 people in it and I'm sure it's going to be an adjustment to moving to a city. Even though Moscow isn't that big, it's still somewhat of an adjustment.
It would be nice to have dh work in a bigger city and live on the outside of the city. That would be perfect for us. Dh is excited to see trees again. LOL  I'm a country girl at heart, and am sure I always will be. :)

[nalla]

Yes, his name is Nathan and he is doing wonderful! Everything has healed up nicely. His belly incisson got a little infected at first because his stitches got ripped out when he was climbing on the couch, but we took care of that before it could cause any damage. Of course the risk of the shunt getting infected is high for the first 6 months, but so far everything is going just as is should. He is back to his normal happy self again! :)
Thanks for asking!! :))

[pertykitty]

i have family in bellingham and they wouldnt live anywhere else! i still have not been to visit them, but i want to go so bad.

[AndiJ78]

Shelton is only about 20 miles from Olympia. Shelton proper has a population of 10k or so, but most of "us" live in outlying areas. Bremerton was  a bit bigger, though it pails in comparison so Seattle, Houston, or even Spokane. We lived right in the thick of it though and i was happy to get the heck out of there. besides, nothing beats finally owning our own home.

My only gripe with living out here is cell service is hit and miss and we are stuck with Direct TV and DSL. I miss my comcast!! I have made it my personal goal to everytime i have to call direct tv for something glitching (5 times in the first 5 days!!) I tell them they are not comcastic. I then at least get a little smile out of the frustration that involves calling those people.

[nalla]

AndiJ78 - Oh I understand about the cell phones!! Just driving through town you get cut off.
You had mentioned before that we were lucky to have the seasons? Is it really that different all year round over there? I have been to Seattle many times and it was always raining. So does that mean no huge snow storms?? I would love that!!!

Perttykitty - Thanks for the info. My dad lived over there for a few years before he met my mom and loved it there. We are hoping that it will be good for the kids over there. DH really likes Olympia though. We'll see who wins next year. LOL

[mum2beagain]

Ooch, ripping his stiches, poor little thing. Gald to hear he is back to his old self. We are really lucky (touch wood) that my son still has the same shunt they put in when he was a baby and he hasn't had any problems for nearly 3 years now, I hope Natahn's current shunt is the last one he has to have for a long time.

Best wishes Jo.

[AndiJ78]

Nope, no major snow storms, but it is amazing how much you will miss the snow. We get it more now than they used to have here, but the whole darn Sound shuts down and people panic. It really is a completely different climate over here. 6+ months of rain, better invest in some happy lights when you move over!

The weather has changed so muhc over the last 20 years or so. I remember gorwing up in Spokane and seeing nothing but rain and 60 year round. Now it does get around 90 or so for a few dyas, we do get some snow now and then, but then the rain is old faithful, can't seem to shake that!

[nalla]

So I'm assuming that your son has hydrocephalus? He was born with it? Does he have spina bifida too?
Thats great that he has only had to have one. This is Nathans 3rd shunt and he isn't even 2 yet. We will pray that this one is a keeper!!

[nalla]

I agree about the weather. It's changing so much. The summers here used to stay in the 80's maybe sometimes getting into the 90's, but the last few years it's been in the 100's for weeks. It's crazy!
And the winters have been getting stronger....a lot more snow. I didn't think the snow would ever go away this winter. Now it's been going back and forth between snow and 70 deg weather. Welcome to spring I guess.....
I know my kids will miss the snow, they love it. Especially my 3 year old. She is a regular little snow bunny. LOL she would stay out there all day if I let her!
But I'm sure we will be coming back for Christmas to see my family, so we can enjoy the snow then (or rather, they will :))

We have a little more than a year before we move. This has been something that we have wanted to do for the past 10 years. So a year is like nothing. It's getting exciting! It will be here before we know it!

[mum2beagain]

Yes he has hydrocephalus but not Spina Biffida. He wasn't born with it he was nearly eight weeks premature and he had a ventricular bleed which then led to increased CSF and enlarged ventricals, they just monitored it at first but his head got really large and there was a risk of more damage so they shunted him at twelve weeks old. He also suffered some brain damage at the time and has mild cerebral palsy, some developmental delays and sensory integration disfunction so he is in an early intervention program. We are so lucky that his shunt has been fine, it was done by fantastic pediatric neurosurgeon in Cambridge in the UK. We live in Canada now so we have to go to Vancouver for his check ups now. He is going into hospital on Tuesday to have botox injections to relax some of the spasticity in his right leg, hopefully long term it will help him walk better.

[AndiJ78]

We had a little bit of snow last year, at least some that stuck around enough to make a snowman. I have a cute picture of my two older boys eating the head of the snowman, silly boys!

Snow is fun, but the infrastructure is bad for snow here. Too many hills, not enough snow equipment, etc. We are waiting to see how many times we get snowed in down here. There are really only 2 ways out of where we live, should prove interesting. Not to mention that we are now in the sticks, and i believe this area tends to gte abit more snow than Seattle and even Bremerton did.

What is dh's major? Do you guys have an employer in mind? Hopefully the housing prices will remain stable for a little while. We have seen crazy booms in the last few years.

[nalla]

Oh what a hard start for a little baby.That had to be so hard on all of you! When Nathan was born he was in the NICU with mostly premature babies and one of his neighbors had the same thing as your little one.I saw how he was struggling, it was so sad! But I'm happy to hear that yours is doing well.

Nathan also is in with the early intervention program. He see's a developmental, physical, and speech therapist. From what the neuro has said there was no brain damage, but he is a little bit behind with a lot of things. So who knows.
Good luck with the botox, I hope it helps!  Does he walk at all? Does use a wheelchair or a walker? Nathan just got his first walker! He is so cute walking in it!! And Wed we are going up to get him some braces for his feet. Those should help him a lot. (to remind you nathan is 22 months) He loves being up and standing with this sisters!! :)

[nalla]

DH is getting his accounting degree and already got his minor in music. He has been privatly teaching lessons to a few kids. He would like to eventually get more into it and also start teaching vocal.
He has looked into different places to work in Olympia. I'm not sure with who though. I don't think he has looked too seriously just yet. We are planning on taking a trip over there this summer to check things out.
We are also looking at being closer to Seattle. We really like the Childrens Hospital there, and seem to have a really good program for my son.
How many kids do you have? I think I read that you have 3 boys?

[mum2beagain]

James can walk on his own now, he was 28 months before he walked on his own, he just wears an AFO on his right leg to help support it as this is his weaker leg and he has very tight tendons and heel cord so he doesn't have full flexion in that leg, he does have some problems with fine motor too; painting, holding crayons, doing puzzles and such. Our biggest problem with James is feeding him, he has real issues with texture, he chokes on pretty much all soft wet foods unless they are in small peices or mashed, but yet manages quite well with hard, crunchy foods, it is a mystery to us!? Eating out is not fun, he absolutley hates getting his hands at all dirty so will only feed himself things like crackers, cookies, sanwiches; stuff that doesn't get his hands dirty so for regular table foods we are still having to spoon feed him most of the time.

Nathan must be so happy that he has got on his feet and has freedom to move around with the walker. We saw such a change in James when he began to walk, it gives them more independance and with that comes confidence. Interestingly enough his speech came on leaps and bounds after he became mobile, I do hope you find the same with Nathan.

It is really good to chat with someone who has a son of a similar age and with similar problems, I really wish I could give you my email address then we could chat more but I don't want to get booted off the site!

[AndiJ78]

Mum2beagain, you won't get booted for giving out the email addy ; ) They have relaxed a bit with that and this thread is so far buried i think you will be okay.

NPD-You are right, I have three boys:Jonathan is 5, Tristan will be 3 at the end of May, and CJ is 5 months old. Chaos rules in my home!! As I type,Tristan is doing flying leaps onto his older brother! I think it is time to pull out the striped shirt and whistle!!

If you are looking to buy, stay away from Seattle! The average home price there will send you into a tailspin. the market is horrible here, it is still very much a seller's market. In an area over there, where you can get a really nice place for $150/k, you can't find a crappy condo for that in Seattle. But, there are some really great 'Burbs that are a bit more reasonable.

Children's has a good center. I have my own gripes with them, more of a personal thing, but they have great facilities. U of W has some great facilities as well. This would be a great place to raise Nathan, lots of opportunities for kids and for medical care.

[AndiJ78]

I didn't mean "NPD" ont helast post, I have bene carrying on two different conversations! Curse that "mommy brain" I meant Nalla!

Man I could go for 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep!

[nalla]

I know what you mean, it's been nice talking with another adult that understands somewhat what we are going through. There is no support groups near us. If you (or anybody) would like to email me my email address is ***@****  I have seen several people on here give out their address and not get booted, so hopefully I won't either. :)

[nalla]

Uninterupted sleep...what is that?? LOL   I haven't had that in 10 years I swear!! LOL  My house is crazy as well. I have 4. Johaunn is 10 (thinks she is 18) Andrea is 8, Isabella is 3 and Nathan is 22 months. I can't belive he is almost 2 years old!! The baby years are pretty much behind me now. Kinda makes me sad.
I don't think we would ever move to Seattle, if we did it would be a suburb. But dh really likes Olympia. Do you know anything about a childrens hospital in Olympia or would we have to drive to Seattle? If you don't mind me asking, what are your problems with childrens hospital in Seattle? I want the best care possible for Nathan when we move.
This post is getting lost so you can email me if you want. My email address is in the previous post. If not then we can talk here.

[AndiJ78]

Oh, my only problem with Children's is that despite claiming they accept all patients regardless of insurance and such, I have known two very significant cases that they denied children care. My mom is a pediatric nurse in Spokane and two of her patients were denied care and another instance happened with a former coworker of my dh's. His son had severe scholiosis that was actually becoming life threatening and he was also denied care. Kind of irked me.

now, that being said, the expertise found there is second to none. Hence why it was so devestating to those families to be denied access to the care. I do not have experience with Olympia's Children's, this was all Seattle. And my own son was seen at Seattle's for his heart. The staff was amazing there and their diagnostics were very accomodating.

I doubt you will have any problems. Even if you did, there are so many hospitals in the area you would be bound to find a great fit. Neurology is a specialty over here, so your son would be in great hands over here. Ironic as Spokane is world reknowned for its heart care and i got stuck over here!! I had one of the top pediactirc cardiologists for my son when he was born and we moved over here when he was 15 months old. It was hard to say goodbye to his old doc. Now with the issues of an unknown blurb on Tristan's pulmonary artery, I wish I could go back to SPokane and get his opinion!

On a side note, diggin on your daughter's name. there aren't enough Andrea's in the world!! (wink, wink!)

[mum2beagain]

I will drop you an email in the next day or two, for some reason ours is playing up today and I can't send or recieve. When I was in England I was with a support group that was a branch of ASBAH, they have a great wesite
http://www.asbah.org/
it has some great info and they do a fantastic range of childrend books about a bear that has hydrocephalus.

[nalla]

Is Andi short for Andrea? I'm assuming so. I love that name. Her name is Andrea Dawn. You are right, there are not many Andrea's around. btw I spelled my oldest name wrong, Nathan was jumping on me at the time.:)  It's actually Johaunna. I think I left out the 'a' before.

They denied them? Don't most hospitals set you up with payment plans? Thats too bad! I would hate to be denied the best treatment just because you don't have the right ins. We were in contact with Seattle Childrens about a month ago looking for a peds orthopedic, but they wouldn't take Nathan because he wasn't going to be using the whole "package" so to speak. If we were going to be needing a neurologist, urologist, physical therapist, etc. then they would set him up with a ortho. but they wouldn't let us go with just the ortho. It was a big mess because the only peds ortho around here is at the Shriners Hospital in Spokane and they won't take Nathan untill late July because it's not an emergancy. Nathan was supposed to be hooked up with a peds orthopedic from birth and nobody told us this. Somehow Nathan got slipped through the cracks. We were pretty upset about that!!  I still don't know why they won't let Nathan just see the orthopedic over there and not all the other Dr.s.

I understand, I think it's going to be hard to leave Nathans Dr.s behind when we leave. They have literaly saved his life, and then provided a better life for him than expected! It's good to hear that there is a good neuro over there. That is one of the most important Dr.s that we need to find. A downside though is that there is no Shriners Hospital over there.

You are right about Spokane being a great heart hospital. Or at least Sacred Heart. Not sure about Deaconess.  I have heard that people are actually flown from Seattle to Spokane with heart problems.  So your son has heart problems? Is he ok now? You said that they have found something? I hope everything turns out ok!!

[nalla]

Thanks for the site. I will check it out. That book sounds great too! It might help my other kids understand a little better. I have been looking for some good childrens books about spina bifida and hydro, but so far haven't found anything.

I look forward to your email. :)

[AndiJ78]

My oldest was bron with a VSD but it appears to have closed. My second one has a blurb that the docs here have no idea what it is. kind of bites, not something a mom wants to hear "Uh, we found something but don't know what it could be, we'll check it again in 3 years" Gee, thanks buddy.

Sacred Heart is one of the best globally, we send folks there for heart stuff and we get folks from over there for traumas and neuro. Also for serious NICU problems, they hop a chopper and head over the Harborview Medical Center.

I think you will like it over here and I am not 100% sure what the deal was with Children's, it could have been an issue like you had, they didn't want the package deal. I do miss Shriners, it is a great place.

Hey, you can email anytime. I keep losing this thread ; ) ***@**** or ***@****