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Maybe at some point I'll detail things, but for now, just notes and not in chronological order

• (Aaron's) Grandma has been going downhill, slowly, for a while.  She will be 95 in two weeks.  Originally, Sophie (Aaron's cousin) was planning a decent size party. 
• A little background: Grandma lives 6 houses down from us, and 3 from Aaron's folks. Her husband died a little over 20 years ago.  Two of the cousins were teens and were living with her then.  But for the last 15ish years, she's lived alone.  3ish years ago she has a mild stroke.  The only lasting effect was short term memory issues.  After that, my MiL started to distribute her meds, because she couldn't remember whether she'd taken them.  Then she started repeating herself, and just slowing down in general.

A couple weeks ago MiL went down to do the nighttime meds and found her on the floor.  She didn't know how long she'd been there.  She also had a little rectal bleeding.  So the ambulance came and took her to the hospital.  They did a lot of tests, blood work, CT, endo, colonoscopy and a few others.  She didn't have a stroke, and her head and heart looked ok.  But there was a large mass in her colon that was at risk of blocking her colon completely.  So she had a colectomy, and has an ostomy bag.  Ostomy is a unique challenge without being 95 and having memory issues.  The ostomy bypasses the mass, but the cancer is still there, doing cancer-y things.  She was discharged to go home on Friday (yesterday) and is now in hospice care.  She is in good spirits, but is very weak and tires easily.  MiL and Sophie have been taking care of her, since she can't get up, or about on her own.  I think some home health will be set up before too long, but it's Memorial Day weekend, so it'll have to wait til Tuesday.
So we've been trying to process all of this.  We went from planning a big party, to trying to set care. 

• While all of that was going on, we had to leave for Minnesota for Aaron's sister's wedding.  Traveling with kids and Aaron is always stressful. Aaron is a very anxious flyer.  (Though, he has gotten better at hiding it in recent years (which I appreciate)).  We left out of SFO, at 7am, so we had to leave our house at 4am. We checked our suitcase and and the kids carseats.  The flight was ok.  The kids did pretty well.  We arrived in Minneapolis, as did our suitcase, but the carseats were MIA.  That was stressful.  The airline had loaners, so that was ok.  (And our seats came, the next day.  I don't think they left SFO.  We all slept in one room, because a lot of family was there.  We had a bunk bed with a full on the bottom, and a pack and play.  Bertram won't sleep on the top bunk, and Bron wasn't thrilled with the pack and play.  But we made it worked.  The day of the wedding was super cold, like 46⁰.  The kids were the flower girl and ring bearer.  They did amazing.  (It was while we were at the reception that we got the news about grandma).  The flight home was fine, but bumpy.
• I had FINALLY weaned Bronwyn.  She nursed 22 months and 1 day.  I still have mixed feelings about weaning her.  I don't think either of us were really ready.  But it's worked out ok, she has only asked for "neh" a couple times.

That's all I've got for now.  It's 1am, and I can't think anymore.

Vacation etc

The trip to Virginia was somewhat awful.  We left SFO on time at 1pm.  We flew to Charlotte, NC.  But when our plane arrived, the airport was closed due to a huge storm.  So we circled around in the air for 45 minutes.  Then we were finally cleared to land, but because no one could move during the storm, there was a huge cluster-fuck of planes clamoring for gates.  So we sat on the tarmac for another 45+ minutes.  Some of the passengers were getting rude, because it was totally the flight attendants fault (eye roll).  We had been checking our flight to Richmond and it had been delayed (as all the flights had), but it wasn't delayed long enough.  Even if we had landed before it left, it was across the airport from where we came in.  Aaron talked to a gate agent, who confirmed the flight had left.  We had two options (I think it was 11:30pm at this point) either try to get on a flight to Norfolk (about 90 minutes away from my mom's house), or wait til 7:30 the next morning.  I made the unilateral decision that we would go to Norfolk.  If we didn't have Bertie, I would have said we could spend the night in the airport.  But we would need to find a hotel, a way there, spend money, likely have Bertie not sleep, not have our clothes, possibly run out of diapers, etc.  The plane to Norfolk was already boarding, but was only 10 gates away, so we ran, and got there.  In total, we spent 10 minutes in the actual airport.  (I should mention was Bertie was great.  He slept a bit, and was overall a good traveler).  We got into Norfolk around 1am.  Our suitcases, of course, didn't show up.  We talked to the American Airlines agents, and they said they would show up at Richmond on the next flight (8:30 the next morning).  Then we waited.  It was close to 2 before my mom and stepdad got there (even with him speeding some).  Aaron was unhappy, Bertie was having fun running around the abandoned baggage claim.  Bertie fell asleep in the car on the way to their house.  We arrived at 3:30am.  Bertram refused to sleep in him crib, so we put him in bed with us.  But he didn't sleep.  I took him out of bed close to 4:30, and we went downstairs.  I couldn't get the cable to work.  Around 5 we walked across the yard to the other house.  (My mom and stepdad were originally neighbours.  She moved into his house, and my older sister lives in what was my mom's house).  We turned on the tv, and watched cartoons.  I was exhausted, of course, but Bertie was going strong.  I think my mom and stepdad got up around 5:45.  I think around 8:30 (24 hours awake), I went back to the first house (where Aaron, and my dad (who had arrived a little before we did, and why my mom was so late getting to Norfolk) were sleeping).  I crashed for 2.5 hours.  Bertie finally fell asleep at 9:30 and slept til 12:30.

My mom bought a crib to replace her pack n play.  After the Florida Incident I told her the pack n play was not going to cut it.  That night we went to put him to bed, and the crib mattress was a little high.  He started panicking, and promptly fell out of the crib.  So after lowering it, Aaron and I camped out on the floor until he fell asleep.  After a couple nights of this, I got permission from his pediatrician to give him melatonin and benedryl.  That is like a roofie for babies!  He went to bed so easily.  We did that for 2 nights (as recommended), and then didn't have issue after that.

My little sister was sharing the room with Bertie.  She was staying over for the week prior to her wedding, so she and I could spend time together and also to get wedding stuff done.  The night before her wedding, she and Aaron swapped, and she slept with me, and he slept in Bertie's room.

The day after we arrived, my mom's friend Genie arrived (she lives in CA too, but more central than we do).  She is a level one badass.  She gets things done, and is a wedding expert.  Plus she's fun and funny.

On Thursday night there was a huge storm.  Lots of thunder, lightning and wind.  It seemed like a bad storm, but not terrible.  We didn't lose power, but the cable/internet went out.  We drove around the next morning to run wedding errands, and found lots of places had no power, roads were closed due to downed trees, and there was some flooding.  Yet, somehow, everything for the wedding was ok.  The venue didn't lose power, and didn't have any tree damage.  Her caterers ran on generators to make the food.  The hair salon had no power, but came to the venue for styling.  And the nail salon still had power.  (Many places only got power back yesterday).

The wedding was beautiful.  I cried like a baby.  My mom cried, my dad cried, the groom cried.  It was a moving day.  It wasn't too hot, it didn't rain, no one got too drunk.  Unfortunately, we had to leave before anything too fun happened, because we have a two-year-old.  We left after dinner, but missed the toasts, dancing, cake, and sparkler send off.  I got to read my dad's toast, it was awesome.

Now my sister and brother in law are in Aruba.  It's weird because it'll be the longest I've gone without talking to her.

Aaron and Genie went home this morning (on the same flight).  My dad goes home tomorrow mid-day.  Bertie and I have til next Tuesday.

I want to say I love how my family gets along.  My mom and dad get along way better now.  And my dad and stepdad get along too.  My dad said (more than once) that he didn't realized how much he missed talking with my mom's mom.  

Florida

Last week we went to Florida for Aaron's sister's wedding.  It was kind of a tough trip, off and on.  Aaron is hard to travel with.  He is a very nervous flyer, and being nervous leads to stress.  We had a first class ticket for the flights out there (actually I had a first class ticket, but we split it).  Aaron rode in first from Oakland to Phoenix, and I rode in first from Phoenix to Tampa.  It was nice, but it wasn't all I expected.  Though, I'm not sure what I was expecting.  Neither flight had tvs on it, which was annoying.  Bertie did well on both flights.

The rental car place was not at the airport, so we had to take a shuttle.  It was so hot!  Once we got in the car Bertie fell asleep.  We hit a lot of beach traffic.  It took an hour to get to Treasure Island.  We had the whole 2-bedroom condo to ourselves.  It was right on a canal.  After we settled in we went swimming in the pool.  Bertie really liked the pool.  When bedtime came around, Bertram wouldn't get in the pack'n play.  Actually, he completely freaked out.  So we put him in bed with us, and he eventually fell asleep.

The days kind of blur together.  The wedding was beautiful.  The kind of wedding I would have wanted.  Bertie played in the sand during the ceremony.  I cried like a baby.  We only spent one day at the beach, I wish we'd spent more time there.  Bertram didn't really get in the ocean, but he loved the sand.  Aaron and I tried stand up paddle boarding.  It was really fun.  I fell in, of course.  We saw a lot of pelicans, and some cranes and even a couple dolphins.  I was hoping to see a manatee, but we didn't.

Bertram didn't nap at all, except falling asleep in the car, or stroller.  That made for a rough and stressful trip.  Overly tired 2 year olds are terrible people.  It was hard to get him to settle into bed at night too.  So we were all a little sleep deprived.

Aaron's bio-mom took great care of us, and overall, we had a lot of fun.

We had some time to kill on the way back to the airport, so we went to a mall to get lunch.  I tried to had Bertie to Aaron, and he freaked out and stepped in/kicked Aaron's food, which then got all over our (me and Aaron's) pants.  So we ran into Old Navy on the way out and got Aaron new pants.  I changed into a pair I had in my bag.  Then we returned the car and waited for the shuttle.  And waited, and waited.  We got to the airport with 50 minutes til our flight.  By the time we got through security, there was less than 20 minutes.  It was really stressful, but we made it.

We all sat together on the flights home.  Bertie did pretty well.  One flight had tvs, which was great.  Baby fell asleep on the 2nd flight for about an hour.  We got in to San Jose around 10pm.  So it was another late night.

But today (our first day back) he is back on schedule.  A 2.5 hour nap, and in bed by 8:30.  I'm glad we didn't ruin him for sleeping in his own bed.

And now, some complaining...

Bertie is definitely in the terrible twos, or maybe a two-nager.  He is always saying no, or when it's time to be done: one more, or one more time.  (Why am I trying to have another again?)

Today he wanted to draw with markers, then paint stamps (dot markers?  I'm not sure what they're called) then real paint.  I like him doing these things, so that was all fine.  When he paints he get super washable crayola paints, a palette and a cheapie brush.  Lately he wants a cup of water, but doesn't understand the water is for washing the brush, and then just keeps adding paint to the water.  Anyway, he was painting, then spilled the water cup.  No big deal, I had him continue on, but no.  He needed the water cup.  I said no, then the threw the palette across the floor.  He got a timeout, and I got to clean the floor.

He refused to nap today.   I tried 4 different times to put him down.  No dice.  Which means I didn't get anything done.

I have either a sinus infection or some terrible allergies.  My face/head hurts.

After his non-nap, we went to buy groceries.  There are always cookies there, so I got him a cookie.  Then he wanted another snack.  I had a squeezy pack in my purse, so I gave him that.  Then he wanted another snack.  The store sells individual squeezy yogurts.  He seemed excited, and chose a flavour.  I opened it, then he said no.  So I closed it, and let him hold it.  He was upset about me closing it, and threw it on the ground.  And the package split open.  Then he wanted it again, and, stupidly, I obliged.  He, then, of course, spilled it everywhere.  (Fortunately, the grocery clerk was nice, and didn't charge us).  Also, he bit into an unripe avocado, skin and all (and then was upset when it didn't taste good).  I'n not sure if that will ripen properly.

We had to go to one other store.  There he grabbed onto a gallon of water, by the strap.  He wouldn't let go, so I tried to unwrap his fingers.  But when I succeeded, he lost his balance and hit his eye on the cart.  (Mother of the Year).  Then he started crying.  So I carried him for a minute.  When I went to put him back (because he was reaching for everything, again), he threw a fit.  I had to wrestle to get him back in the cart, and buckle him in. (At which he was screaming "too tight", because that's what he says when he is unhappy).  And everyone stared, and I was "that mom"

My bridesmaid skirt came in today! I was so excited, because I thought it was really cute, and I could wear it again, unlike other bridesmaid dresses.  And if I'm pregnant I can still wear it with no issue.  Following the description I was a Medium, but following the size chart (which they said to do) I was a Large.  I opened the bag, and said "well, this looks huge.".  I tried it on, and said "this feels huge"  And it's very long (supposed to hit at the knee, but falls to my mid calf.  Then I looked in the mirror.  Oh Lord.  It was even worse than I imagined.  Like wearing a large tulle garbage bag.  I filled out the return paperwork tonight (since you have a mere 10 days to return it. (Thanks Obama. (Lol)).  Now I'm not sure what to do.  Do I order the medium and hope it doesn't look like garbage?  Do I order a dress, and hope I don't get prego, or huge and that it actually fits?  Also, this company is 15 miles from my house, and they have no show room.  Grr.