A few night ago we were at my Mom's house and Tyler said he needed a drink. I asked him if he remembered where her cups were and when he said yes I said "well, go get yourself one". A few minutes later he came back and said "But where is the water Mom?". He is so used to our fridge with a water/ice dispenser that he didn't realize you can get water from a tap!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Movie Review...Two Thumbs Down!
Warning: Spoiler Alert (although I wouldn't recommend wasting your money anyway)
Several weeks ago Brad and I went to see a movie, like in a theatre. We never do that. We saw 'Seven Pounds' with Will Smith and I was so disappointed with the inaccuracies that were portrayed there that at times I bordered on livid. As most of you know I work in Organ & Tissue Donation and it is a huge part of my life. A passion you might say. Well, I feel like this movie set the O&T Donation community back by the untruths they told. Here are just a few that really chapped me:
1. Directed donation is a possibility in the event that your loved one is brain dead and the family has chosed to pursure donation. Directed donation is when you have a family member, friend or other person who is in need of a transplant and you wish for a specific organ to go from this brain dead family member to this other specific person where possible. We make every effort for that to happen but certain things have to be met too (like blood type & HLA compatibility, the other person is listed on the UNOS list for a transplant, etc). You cannot commit suicide with the intent to donate your heart or other organ to your loved one. It is irresponsible of the makers of this movie to imply that. Infact, it is ludicris. Unfortunately, directed donation does't happen as often as we would like it to.
2. Will Smith's character, you find out at the end, was a living liver, lung, kidney and bone marrow donor prior to killing himself so that he could donate the rest of his organs and tissues. That is not realistic either. No doctor worth his weight (or credentials) would allow even the healthiest of persons to donate that many parts of their body while alive- it would be unethical not to mention dangerous to the donor. I was a living kidney donor. I am living a healthy life with one kidney but if I were to donate a portion of my liver or lobe of my lung too it might just put too much strain on my kidney. Plus, when you donate a lung lobe it takes two lobes from two different donors to go into one recipient.
3. In the movie Woody Harrelson plays a blind man (with blue eyes). After his cornea transplant he miraculously had brown eyes like Will Smith did. Hmmm. Lets go back to basic human anatomy and remember that the CORNEA is colorless, the IRIS is what contains the color and it is the cornea that is transplanted. So, when you get a cornea transplant you retain your natural eye color.
Those are just a few of the things that irked me and still bug me today. Our office has been inundated with calls from people in the community with questions about this movie. I believe that the movie makers have good intentions when making this movie- they wanted to show a man making restitution for something that he blamed himself for. But divvying up your body and ending your life for someone you love is not the answer. Am I taking it too personally? Probably. Brad liked the movie and didn't see why I was so upset. (Like I said, it's the passion thing).
Did you see the movie? What did you think of it?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Happy Birthday Brad!
The same day Tyler got his cast off happened to be Brad's birthday so the boys and I decided to meet him for lunch and surprise him with a mini birthday party. Since Brad works two jobs he is gone from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. 4 days of the week plus Saturday night. The boys and I miss him terribly and I wanted to do something special for his birthday. The four of us went to Wendy's for lunch and then I brought in the mini cake and presents I had bought for him. I'm sure other diners thought we were lame celebrating a birthday at Wendy's but it was special for us to get to spend an hour together in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. Happy Birthday darling- I love you!
His gifts are a red U of U polo shirt and a U of U tie.
And the cast came off
On November 19th (after just 3 weeks!) Tyler got his cast off. When we went we weren't sure if they would be taking it off and then putting another one on so I had been preparing him for that. He kept asking me how they were going to take the cast off and I explained it to him in the least scary way possible but by the time we got into the exam room he was feeling a little antsy.
Once the lady started cutting the cast off he freaked out. He was crying and acting like it hurt. I took multiple pictures in a row and his faces were hilarious (I know, I am a mean mom). Can you imagine that this clinic at PCMC is so busy that this lady spends all day on Wednesday's going from room to room cutting off casts? That is all she does! Crazy.
In the end he realized that the cutting off of the cast didn't hurt but that his elbow and wrist were rather sore from being immobile for so long. I was surprised when the doctor told me they were not going to put another cast on. He said it had healed enough and that keeping an elbow immobile like that for too long can cause problems and lead him to need extensive physical therapy. I'll pass on that and was happy to take him home cast free (I had been hit and scraped by that thing plenty of times- all on accident of course). He wanted to keep the cast so now I have 'The Jolly Green Giant' sitting on top of my fridge.
Tyler turned 6!
On November 15th Tyler had his sixth birthday. It's so hard to believe that he is now 6 when it doesn't seem that long ago he was born. He's such an amazing kid, here are just 10 things I love about him:
1. He's very smart and inquisitive. He is in kindergarten and doing very well in his class. He's always asking questions and likes to learn.
2. He's a great helper. He always wants to help his Dad around the house and yard and wants to help me in the kitchen and with cleaning.
3. He's an awesome big brother. He is gentle and loving toward Trevor and is always asking when we are going to have another baby because he is just sure he is going to get a little sister.
4. He loves music. Tyler has been singing since he was very little and is always singing along to the radio in the car or listening to music CD's at night while he falls asleep.
5. He's a great artist. He loves to draw and is always drawing me pictures.
6. He's brave. During this past few months he has worked hard to overcome his fear of cats and dogs and I am so proud of him for doing it.
7. He's handsome. He has the most beautiful blue eyes (thanks to his Daddy!) and an adorable smile.
8. He still likes to cuddle with me. When we watch movies or Utes games he likes to snuggle with me in the recliner. He also never forgets to give me a hug or kiss when he is leaving the house without me.
9. He's a good sport. This past year he played soccer, T-ball and took swimming lessons and even if he wasn't particularly good at something or didn't like it, he stuck with it.
10. He's funny. He's got a great sense of humor and has had us laugh since he was teeny tiny.
This year I didn't feel up to doing a birthday party with friends so we let him choose any place he wanted to go as a family and he chose Jungle Jim's. It was there that I learned that I can no longer tolerate roller-coasters, even if they are the little kiddie ones. After we rode it I had to sit on a bench, beads of sweat on my forehead and willing myself not to lose my lunch. The boys had fun riding the rides though and so it was all worth it. We ate pizza there too but it was gross.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Silver Lake
This is from many weeks ago but I forgot to post about our evening at Silver Lake. We had never been but had heard how lovely it is up there so we went to check it out as soon as Brad was given the OK to walk again. We fed the ducks which the boys loved until one brave duck jumped up on the little deck and then both boys flipped out! To me and Brad it was hilarious to see how scared they were of a little duck who just wanted some bread! We also stood just a few feet below a squirrel nibbling on a pinecone. How cute is that?! It got cold too fast & we had to leave but it was so nice that we decided we'll have to go next Spring.
No more broken bones!!
Cute, energetic 5-year-old boy:
Every Kindergartener's rite of passage:
The result:
I really did not need this!
Tyler fell while playing on the monkey bars at recess last week. At first his injury seemed to be pretty mild but when it continued to bother him I took him to the doctor and an x-ray revealed a lateral condyle fracture as well as fluid in the elbow joint. We've been referred to Primary Children's fracture clinic for orthopedic services.
Oh, and not to be outdone, Trevor has an "owie" too. This was taken before "The Incredible Hulk" cast was put on. For the three days Tyler was in a splint and sling Trevor made us wrap his arm in an ace bandage too.
Halloween Fun
Enchanted Woods at the Treehouse Museum in Ogden
We rode Frontrunner to Ogden and then walked three blocks to the museum for this awesome Halloween event. The museum closed early for the night and they had people dressed as Heroes (characters) from storybooks that would tell a little bit about their story and then give the kids a candy or toy. We dressed the boys in their costumes and it was a lot of fun. It took about an hour and then we walked next door to Fat Cats where they have a Pizza Factory and had dinner. They have these yummy breadsticks that are on skewers and it was funny to watch the boys eat theirs. We then walked back to the train and rode back to Salt Lake. The boys loved being on the train and it was a nice break from driving. The ride took about an hour each way and was really smooth and the train car was really clean. It was a great night.
Storybook Night at Red Butte Gardens
The whole* Newman clan went up to Red Butte for a Storybook After Dark event and it was so much fun. We were lucky to go before the colder nights hit so we weren't too uncomfortable that way. We were given a map of the gardens and all throughout they had crafts and activities for the kids to do and also bon fires set up and if we visited all 6 bon fires we would get a prize at the end. The boys got their faces painted like tigers, they made little monster heads (from grass seed), spider hats, monkey puppets, ran through Alice in Wonderland's tunnel, heard stories and played other games. It was a lot of fun, especially being their with our cousins and Grandma & Grandpa.
*We missed Chris, Chad, Rachel, Mike, Ashley, Lincoln and Ruby!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Bodyworlds update
So I went to the BodyWorlds Exhibit (see my earlier post about it) a few weeks ago and LOVED IT! I spent 3 hours in there and probably would've spent another 2 hours had I not been kicked out because it was closing for the day. I was a little miffed that I had spent so much money for tickets and they kicked me out! Brad and I went with my sister Jeanette and BIL Nate who is a PhD student at the U. They were having a group showing for his cardiac radiology program so I bought tickets for the same time so we could go together. It was so much fun to be with them! Now I am planning to go back with my Mom so I can see the part of the exhibit that I was rushed through.
If you've never seen BodyWorlds I highly recommend it!
Trevor Update
We had Trevor evaluated for speech and language to see if he qualified for early intervention speech therapy but he didn't. It was a little bittersweet to be honest. I was happy that he is doing enough that they consider him "on target" but I was disappointed too because I know that he is quite behind his peers in language and I was hoping that working with a speech therapist would help him. He was evaluated and in every aspect except expressive language he was testing on the level of a 36 month old (he is 30 months). For expressive, meaning he can hear and understand what we are saying but he has a hard time telling us what he wants and needs, he is only on level with a 20-24 month old. Of course, in July he was on the level of a 14 month old so he has made great improvements but he still refuses to say some things. It is so frustrating when we try so hard to get him to say new words and he won't even try. But then on the flip side he will sometimes let a new word slip out and it will catch us off guard. When he does we make such a big deal about it he will continue to say it. I figure one of these days he will decide that all the attention he gets from saying new words will be so much fun that he will be willing to try new words ~or~ the flood gates will open and he will just start using all the words that I know are in his brain but cannot get out. The other day we were playing that little kid game called Lucky Ducks and he brought us a duck and said "yellow duck"- it was the first time he had said duck and I couldn't get enough of it! He is so cute and I really want him to have a great future.
Sometimes the truth hurts....BAD
My self-esteem has really taken a blow lately. We got a Wii Fit several months ago and although I have wanted to play the games on it I have been much too busy. Well, Brad and Tyler convinced me last Saturday to create a Mii and a profile and start playing so I did. The stupid electronic piece of plastic labeled me as obese. Now, I know I am overweight but obese? Really? Then when I was doing a balance test I didn't really understand what it wanted me to do so I didn't do very well on it and my score wasn't all that great so it says to me "Do you find yourself tripping a lot when you walk?" What is up with that? Why did Nintendo make a system that was so critical! Oh, and it made my Mii fat and Tyler pointed that out. Of course Brad is in the "normal" weight range (I know, I thought he would be in the underweight category too!). It even said he lost weight since he was last on. It was at that point that I almost threw the controller at the TV.
But this isn't the first time this has happened. About a month ago all four of us were sitting on our bed playing when out of nowhere Tyler said "Daddy, you're skinny and Mommy is fat". Yep, out of the mouths of babes.
And as I have always said about me and Brad, we represent the nursery rhyme about Jack Spratt and his fat wife.
So sometimes the truth hurts.
Grandma & Grandpa & the boys
In September we had a combined birthday party for my mom's parents 75th birthdays. At this we had a potluck, games for the kids, family pictures and a walk down memory lane for the adults. We took this picture of G & G with the boys.
Grandpa is doing pretty good right now. We have given up on getting him a bone marrow transplant because there simply is not a donor. His platelets and red blood cells have been holding steady until just recently but the hospital is treating him as best they can. We hope to have him with us for a lot longer and pray each day that the Lord will keep him healthy.
Round Two
Tyler is playing T-ball again, this time his team is the Phillies. His friend Parker is on his team and they are having a lot of fun. I like getting to talk to my wonderful friend Stacy twice a week. Of course, I have a tendency to talk and laugh so much that I miss all of Tyler's good plays but I am trying to pay attention!
Ugh! These are terrible pics! I will work on getting better ones.
Back to School
Tyler'sfirst day of Kindergarten was September 2nd. I went in to work a little late so that I could wait at the bus stop with Tyler and then I followed the bus to school and watched as he played on the playground with his friends until the start bell rang. He wasn't nervous at all- he lined up with his class, said "bye" to me and went in. I was on pins and needles all day wondering how it went. When I went to pick him up from the babysitters at the end of the day he was happy and said he liked school. He has way more homework than I think a kindergartner should have but we are managing. He's teacher, Mrs. Sharp is really great and Tyler is at the top of his class.
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