This is only a test

So, I have this here blog to chronicle my life and to let my far away family know how we're doing. Sometimes it morphs into a Seinfield-esque what-I-think-about-the-world sort of thing, but I have a hard time keeping that going. Maybe because I don't think a whole lot about the world these days because my brain is slowly turning to applesauce and oozing out my ears.

Anyway, the point is that it's time for a general update that will probably only be of interest to you if you actually know us.

Lillian. As you may remember, Lillian has a really small head which caused much concern and grief for her doctors and us as her parents for her first two years of life. She had blood work to test for a multitude of genetic disorders, x-rays, and a CT scan of her head. She was evaluated a few times by a pediatric neurologist who gave her a clean bill of health and told us we should follow up with another neurologist once we moved to Arizona if she had any delays. I don't think she has any delays, so I wasn't going to follow up. Apparently, the neurologist wrote in her notes that we should follow up with a specialist once Lillian turned 3, something our new pediatrician is interested in making happen. At this point, I see that it is better to be safe than sorry, but I just want this issue to die and be buried and not bother me anymore.

Also, Lillian's blood pressure is on the high end of normal. I wanted to tell the pediatrician what the doctor told me when I went in because my heart rate was 88 bpm at rest: the high end of normal is still normal. But, because we have a family history of kidney problems, he wants to check her out and make sure she doesn't have any issues. He ordered some blood work, "some urine tests," and an ultrasound of her kidneys. I briefly scanned the lab slip and saw that he wanted some routine tests done, put it in my purse and didn't think of it again. So I was surprised when the man behind the desk at the lab informed me that the MD ordered a 24-hour urine collection. Is he nuts? Has he met Lillian? Or any 3-year-old for that matter? I get that a 24-hour test would give you a really accurate picture of how your kidneys are doing, but pretty much, yeah right.

The blood draw went fine. She was more freaked out about being held down than the actual needle. Now she won't let me take off the band-aid.

Nora. Nora is very large. I just bought her some 3T pants and hemmed them because no other baby is her size. Some of that is the cloth diapers, but she's still r e a l l y big. But happy, and has 6 teeth.

Tyler. There was some concern over Tyler's company. They are subcontractors for a larger aerospace company who subcontracts for NASA. In July, the larger company did an audit that didn't go so well, and things looked shaky for a bit. But, his company has since passed two audits and is still hiring new people, so it looks like he's in the clear.

Me. My efforts to find a job (largely spurred by the uncertainty brought on by the failed audit) continue to yield little to no results. It's lame, and I hate it.


In creepy-crawly news, I found this guy in our orange tree. At first I thought it was bird poop.


Then I realized it was some sort of caterpillar. All I know was that it gave me the hee-be-da-jee-bies.


I made Tyler knock it off and throw it over the fence.