Zilker Cracker Festival

The Zavala's enjoyed another fun-filled family day this weekend at the Zilker Kite Festival. Of course, for Hayden I have renamed it the Cracker Festival, because by the end of the day all of us and the wagon were covered in some form of cracker.

We splurged and bought the Odyssey Radio Flyer Wagon for the event, and I must say it was worth it!!! Hayden loved his wagon and it was nice not to have to lug around all our junk. The wagon held all of mommy and daddy's much needed supplies for the day.

Hayden, as usual, gravitated straight towards the guys playing soccer. I swear that boy loves anything sports. Too bad his momma doesn't have that same passion. Oh well, I guess I will now. His main concern with the kites was how to grab one and destroy it. The rest of the day was spent looking for bigger and better sticks. But all in all, I think we all had fun on Sunday.

Saturday I went to the Mothers of Multiples Sale downtown and got lots of goodies. I ended up with 2 double strollers - a jogging and regular double - for less than the price of just one stroller. No, they aren't the strollers I might pick out new. But hey, $40 for a jogging stroller? How can I say no to that. I also got an exersaucer to replace the great one M let me borrow. I figured, since I'm having a second kid, I should just bite the big one and get one of our own.

So this afternoon I'm thinking about testing out my new jogging stroller on the nature trails here in our neighborhood. Hopefully, no one looks at me too weird for pushing a double stroller with only one kid.

Not all news can be good news

I wish I could always have wonderful results to write about. I wish I never had to write anything that didn't have a wonderous happy ending. But, that's not life.

So we had the ultrasound today. The cysts in the baby's kidney basically take up the entire kidney. The doctor doesn't think the kidney is working because of this. So our little munchkin is down to one kidney.

The right kidney looked healthy though. I guess I can pray that it will always stay that way. It is very scary to think that if anything happened to this last kidney, that his life would be in danger. Of course, God is miraculous and had the forethought to give us two kidneys. If this was any other organ, he'd be up a creek. And I'm not constantly worrying that I only have one heart, liver, brain, etc. We don't get backups of those. So I'm trying to just accept this and keep faith that everything will turn out ok.

Today's the Day

Today at 2pm we go in for our follow up ultrasound to find out the status of the cyst on the baby's kidney. I'm praying that it will be good news or that we'll take it well whatever the news is. Regardless, at least we have a date night to look forward to tonight. I just hope we can enjoy it. I'm nervous about today, but part of me doesn't even want to think about it. It's not uncommon for these types of problems to just resolve on their own. I'm praying that happens. But I know the baby is doing OK because he started kicking last Friday! So now I can at least feel him. That takes some of the stress off.

Okay, we'll I don't think I can write much more about this. I'll update when I know something.

Whale coming through

So between vegging with a sick kiddo and being preggo, I think I've gained like 8 freakin lbs this month. I basically feel like a giant slug. And I still have 4 months to go, argh! My laziness knows no bounds. Cooking in this house has become extinct. Any semi-cooking adventures include only macaroni and cheese. Where is my energy???

Plus, I've recently entered the nuclear heat phase of the pregnancy. I am freakin HOT!! And no, not a sizzling hot mama. A grumpy, cranky, sweaty momma. Last night Mark comes home to a frigid house in which I'm STILL hot. Our usual 75 degree house was a shocking 71. Oh well, give me a break, I'm running around after a toddler!

And I've definitely reached the jiggly phase of being pregnant. You know, where everything jiggles, belly, boobs, etc. Hayden and Mark were playing on the couch this morning and I had to grouch at them for jiggling my boobs!!!

So yes, this is the complaint post today. I think one is allowed to complain when their bras don't fit anymore!! Bras are a necessary and important part of life and I'm down to one!!!

Speaking of that, I have a pile of laundry glaring at me that I'm completely unmotivated to touch. It's not the laundry part that bothers me, it's the folding!! And figuring out where to stuff things once they are folded. At least I get to leave the house today. Yay for playdates! They allow me to forget about all the stuff I need to get done here at home. Haha.

Oh and in other interesting news, last night Mark brought home an Amish Friendship Bread starter. It's a bit like a pet, I must say. Basically, you feed and water it and every 10 days you can make the bread and get some starters to give to other friends who might enjoy a pet too. It's taken on quite a few "lively" characteristics. For instance, I heard a "splat" a few minutes ago, walked downstairs and discovered my new pet had walked off the table. Creepy.

Long Whining Day

So, someone tell me, is this whining all day just a phase? I certainly hope so. I suppose it's a combination of his lack of communication abilities and overall frustration with me not understanding him. Or something. He's also not into shopping with me apparently. Today I went to USA Baby to browse goods for our newest Zavala. Not that we need anything, but thanks to a friend I had a nifty $25 coupon to spend, and I was determined to use it!! I've never seen a store give a $25 coupon, most are like $10, or heck $5. Woot. So I bought 3 items. Yeah, not the cheapest store, I could have walked out with 10 items at Walmart. I got a super cute T-shirt for Hayden that said "Big Brother: AKA 'The Boss'", and a onsie for little zavala that said "Lil Bro". I thought they were too cute. And I got this awesome cloth high chair thingie. Basically, it's a little harness that attaches to any chair so a baby can sit upright. Oh, so back to the story... Hayden was a grumps through the whole thing. Which stunk because I was actually enjoying looking through all the baby goods.

But, he does have his snuggly moments. Like tonight, he just wanted to snuggle up in my lap. And not just anyone's lap, my lap. So yeah, he gets some points for that. =D When I put him to bed tonight I laid down beside him for a moment and he had the biggest grin on his face. That's my boy.

Beautiful Day for Sidewalk Chalk

It's a gorgeous Sunday! Hayden and I stayed home from church due to his fever and cough. Fever seems to be down today, cough *might* be getting better. I'm just hoping it doesn't become a respiratory distress issue.

So after braving the busy world of HEB (local supermarket for those non-Texans), I decided to treat us both to a morning of sidewalk chalk fun. I can't claim the idea as my own, I got it off of a blog of another fantastic parent. But I figured stealing ideas for kid fun is always good. So while I drew rainbows and smiley faces, Hayden discovered the joys of throwing the chalk and watching it break. Hmmm...gotta love my kiddo, he always finds the most destructive aspect of an activity.

But the weather is gorgeous and regardless of the bits of chalk flying everywhere, it was fun.

I made the huge mistake of introducing Hayden to french fries. Now he prefers them above all else. I think it's time for a french fry intervention. All french fries consumed in this house will from now on be homemade. I figure that's the least I can do.

Oh, and in awesome news...I have been nurturing a plant I got as a gift over a year ago and finally, it bloomed!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. It was worth it. What an awesome flower. I must take pics of it. Makes me want to run out and get more plants, but this poor plant was the only one to survive the last year, so I'm thinking I should stay away from the plants.

The Joy of Viruses

Hola to everyone, I'm feeling a bit isolated holed up with my sick toddler. But I'm just so grateful his fever is getting more under control. Granted, I can't completely get rid of it, but I'm psyched it's down to 100.1. As parents everywhere gasp, compare this to the 104.7 we had yesterday. AAGH! Dr. checked him out, no infections, just a virus he thinks. I'd much prefer the fever to go away. Running nose and cough I can deal with, fevers drive me nuts.

And, of course, I've contracted his germs. But I will not let that stop me from enjoying tomorrow. WE HAVE A BABYSITTER PEOPLE!!! Yes, that's right. I real live babysitter. And I don't care if I have to crawl out of the house, I'm enjoying my damn date night. Well, minus drinking. That's out until July, or uh, later.

Woot, my munchkin is feeling better. I've been working on this post all day. Hahaha. He's still got a little bit of a fever, but it's not running out of control at the end of the four hour medicine cycle.

So, I'm wondering if toddlers can overdose on crackers and goldfish? Cause that's all my critter wants to eat this week. I suppose that's better than nothing, all things considered. I had a brief proud parent moment when my critter took a liking to celery last week. But, like all new foods, that didn't last. A few days later he was using the celery as a writing utensil, no longer fit for consumption. He even ate raw broccoli one day and liked it! This from my food connoisseur who spits out cake and even cheese. ?? This is not my kid, I swear. He may have escaped from my womb, but obviously picked up none of his food tastes from me.

Well, I'm gonna end this ramble by saying...YAY IT'S FRIDAY!!

P.S. Grandparents are evil. Mark's mom sent this seemingly cute valentine's day lion that sings "The Lion Sleeps Tonight". It has an on/off switch which took all of two seconds for Hayden to find. Now I'm being tortured by the first line of this song over and over..."in the jungle"..."in the jungle"...Hayden never lets it get any farther than that. To top it all off the damn batteries are running out, which gives it a nice creepy slow-mo sound. ARGH!!