Knill Family Theater

After playing outside together all day Lauren and her 2 friends were disappointed that the sun started going down and that meant, everybody in. Hunter was excited toward the end of the day because to him that meant, his 2 favorite people, his cousins, were coming to sleep over. So there I was pondering. . . how could I make all these kids happy? Well we seperated the sectional to make "movie seats" and downloaded a movie on our Playstation 3-so long Blockbuster! We just order up a movie through the video game system!

What's a movie theater without concessions? After all, it was the dinner hour so Todd and I teamed up, took orders and made pbj's, doritoes and grapes. Served with their choice of Gatorade.
What's concession's without cookie ice cream sandwiches? Of course, they were a big hit!
So at the end of the night, we were able to not only please everyone from 2-14 years old, but we had a ton of fun! The kids thought it was cool to make "rows" and everyone was asked to follow the rules of any other movie theater. They all behaved very well and enjoyed the show and Todd & I enjoyed having the kids over!

Sink or Swim

Ya'll know that saying "sink or swim". . . Well I was faced with that dilema last night at work and it makes me wonder, is there such a thing as "just bob around for awhile until someone finally comes along and saves your a**"? because that's exactly what happened to me at work last night~ welcome to nights. The reason I orientated to labor and delivery during the day is because that's when all the doc's are around, the scheduled c-sections, the inductions, it's a more controlled environment hence more opportunity to learn- right? Let me tell you, last night was my first night back and the you know what was hittin' the fan! So much so that the nurse I was "orientating" with had to leave to go "check" a newly admitted patient- who turned out to be 9cm!! So I came out of our active labor patient's room after checking my own patient who was complete and ready to push (with mec and a maternal temp = not a good thing) and I knew I needed to call the doctor. So I'm immediately scanning the crowd for my preceptor's face when all of a sudden she come's pushing a screaming woman, one cheekin' it in the wheelchair (ya'll know what that means) and when we make eye contact she says "You're on your own Mel". Now that is not a good thing and I stood there thinking "WHAT? Someone has to be responsible for me- I can't be trusted!" Then a brick hit me in the head with a message attached "you're responsible for yourself damn it- call Dr. Olson now" So I called one of the most intimidating md's on staff, first and foremost told him about the patient's condition and "oh, by the way, it's just me tonight" (he know's I'm new to all this). So THANK GOD he was there in a jiffy and it was just him and me! I joked with the dad that he and I were going to be delivering this baby- but you know how they say under every joke is an underlying truth!! Now I know cab drivers have delivered babies, and I know women deliver babies out in fields, etc. however, a woman sedated under epidural anesthesia with pitocin with meconium stained fluid with a maternal temp makes for a much riskier situation. I caught myself standing there literally thinking "sink or swim" and what motivated me most is that if I sank, I wasn't going down alone. This lovely little family was coming too and I couldn't let that happen. She gave birth to a beautiful little girl and requested my picture with their family because they know how hard I worked and what a contribution I made to her delivery. And even though I doggy paddled around for a little bit, that's what makes this job worth every bit!

Back to school!!!

There's Hunter off to HIGHSCHOOL! The highschool's about 1 mile west of our house. From the upstairs bedrooms you can see it and you can hear the band- so it's pretty close. Lauren's school is just across from that lake- just to the right outside of the picture above.

My little lovebug off to 4th grade. Her classroom faces right down the street to our neighborhood. Without the trees from the farm on the corner, she'd be able to see the house. I can look out my office window and see the window to her classroom- that's an awesome feeling!

Here's my adorable little Lauren off to 4th grade! It seems like just yesterday Hunter was going to 4th grade~ only HE at least let me walk him to the bus. Lauren was afraid she'd look like a baby if I walked her :0( I was outside though and did hear the bus driver call each child by name! It's the same sweet lady as last year- I'm so excited! A nice normal bus driver!
Not the best picture of Hunter but hey, how many freshman would even let you take their picture on the first day of school? He was so excited this morning! He has to leave the house at 6:30!!! Then with football after school he won't get home until 6:00- and on game night even later. That's a long day!

The alien ship!

When we got home from Hunter's pep rally last Friday night, the sky had these really cool blue stripes- like the sun's rays only blue not yellow. So I grabbed a photo since we love animals, nature, yadda yadda. When we were looking at the pictures later, we saw it- the alien space ship!! It wasn't there when I shot the photo! Everyone thinks it's a shooting star but Lauren and I know the "truth is out there"- it's an alien ship coming to recapture their offspring- my children! They will then return the beautiful angelic children I gave birth to, and take home these demon monster children. (they're being really bad today) I can't wait till tomorrow- school starts -or- the extraterrestials claim what is rightfully theirs- whatever comes first!

My new favorite number!!!

That's my boy!!!

Hunter's across from number 56

79

Hunter's football number this year!! He tried for "43"- a Knill family number. It was Todd's football number and is Van's racing number- but apparently 43 is special to someone else too so Hunter just took what they threw at him and has his own special number!! And I of course am the mom in the stands SO PROUD as any mom is, of her boy!!! They had their scrimmage game and pep rally last Friday. It was so fun!!! I love the band and the pom pom's- sorry but the cheerleaders get so annoying!! Lauren has no desire to cheer and I am so grateful!!!! Games are Thursday nights and Saturday mornings. Hunter's already got a fan club of all of our neighbors and friends. Go Wolves- wahooie!!!!!!!

What I'm excited about today. . .

My new Nikon Coolpix- Eco Green. Yes I've jumped on the bandwagon and I'm all about "going green". Really, what have we got to lose by working to make our earth a better place? We've got plenty to lose- and so do our children, and their children - if we sit by and do nothing while the earth and it's species deteriorate in front of us. They say the earth will be at it's maximum capacity by 2050- and what kind of earth will it be if we don't do things now to protect it! That's enough of my preaching, but really, this is a pretty cool little camera for being so cheap. This is what makes me excited today, what I dream about tomorrow is the Nikon D80- OH I have to have it!! I went into the camera shop and said, "I need a camera that can capture my toddler in the blink of an eye. I have to capture these moments, now. I need a camera that can grab my 14 year old playing football down on the field. And I need a camera that can encompass all the beauty that is my daughter." and this little gadget will do it (at least until I get my Nikon D80!!) and while I take great shots of my children, I know that I've also done my part to help keep their world safe and clean. Such a great feeling!!!!! If you're in the market for a new digital, this is it!!!

Your Purchase of this Exclusive Camera Model will help the environment and make you Carbon Neutral For One Month By Offsetting Almost 2 Tons of Carbon Dioxidewhen you purchase the Eco-Green CoolPix S52.*
*Your Purchase will fund the reforestation efforts of Carbonfund.org and through these efforts will offset 1.91 tons of carbon dioxide per camera sold during this promotion. This amount represents one month of the average American?s carbon footprint based on U.S. Department of Energy data.
The goal is to eliminate over 40,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the environment.

visit: www.ritzcamera.com to learn more!!

Having a dumb blonde moment. . .

Well I tried to find a cute picture of a "dumb blonde" to give you a visual of the moment I'm about to share. Unfortunately all the dumb blonde images are not only dumb, but well stacked and a little inappropriate for my blog. . . so here's the story minus the visual aid- you won't need it- trust me. . .

So the story goes, Todd and I want to take the kids camping at the dunes before summer's over and they go back to school. I went through all our camping stuff this weekend and our tent is missing all these bits n' pieces, so I've been thinking "it'd be really nice to get a nice new tent"- a bigger one, now that Gavin's here too. With that on my mind, Hunter and I went to Ace Hardware to buy paint (we're getting his room "teenage" ready- details later). Well imagine how excited I was to walk up to the door and see the sign posted in big red letters "Giant tent sale today"- OH YIPPEE, here's my chance to get that new tent we need to go camping!! I walked in and enthusiastically asked the salesman where the tents are!! You should have seen this guy's face!!!! And mine for that matter- all smiley and happy that we're going to get that new tent we're needing! When the kid sees that there's no "oh I'm just joking" following my inquiry about where the tents are, he explains to me, in quite simple terms, "no, we don't sell tents, we're having a tent sale, and he gestures outside to the big red and white tents covering the sidewalk- which of course are full of goodies that are in fact, on sale!! Then I started laughing uncontrollably while Hunter chimes in "don't mind her she's having a blonde moment". It was just too good not to share with you! Now, graduating from nursing school with honors was no easy task, so for those of you who don't know me, I'm really not that dumb :0) I just have a good time anywhere I go!

Okay all you ladies out there. . .

Although it's not technically "Breast Cancer Awareness" month, I believe that every day we have to be on guard and know our bodies enough to know when something isn't right. After a friend of mine just had a lumpectomy, and her mom is waiting for the results of a second biopsy, I got on the ball and made the appointment for my first mammogram. It came back neat n' clean. Now this is your reminder to make that appointment if you've been putting it off. Being adopted, I consider myself "at risk" for everything. Are you at risk? Do you preform monthly self breast exams? When I was a mother/baby nurse I was shocked to learn that I was the only nurse to include breast self exams in my patient's discharge teaching- even if it was their second or third child. My only response was often, "if you don't take care of yourself, how will you take care of your family?" We all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer. Don't let it be you!! visit: http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm and learn what you can do to help protect yourself, your daughters and those you love!

Things I didn't know about my new job in Labor and Delivery!

This is actually a sad post, but Todd's not home, mom fell asleep in her chair and it's too late to call my sister or my girlfriends (except the nurses at work right now but they all already know) and I just have to get it off my shoulders. . .

I knew that being a labor and delivery nurse wouldn't always be happy. I knew that women miscarry their babies and then have to deliver them, sometimes very early, sometimes a full term otherwise healthy beautiful baby. But very rarely anymore- do you hear of women dying during childbirth. I had my first experience this week. There's a disease process called chorioamnionitis in which the the amniotic fluid gets infected, the baby obviously then gets infected and can result in the mother also getting infected. This week I had a patient who wouldn't give up her infected baby thus, infected herself with this "bacteria" which got into her bloodstream and very quickly shut down all of her major organs. She was transferred to ICU where our team of OB nurses had to abort the fetus and then the mom went into a type of shock called DIC (I'll spare the fancy medical terms) but it's when you hemorrage and clot at the same time- very hard to control as you can imagine. Well this little baby boy was so infected and so sick, and his mother is not expected to live. The ICU nurses explained that they are no longer trying to save her life- just prolong it until her family can all come and say goodbye- including her 6 year old son. It's been the saddest day for me and my heart is aching for this baby and this family. She had been in the hospital a couple of times in preterm labor and we tried to fight it, but her water broke and she didn't come in right away because she knew that meant impending birth- that's how bacteria was able to invade her. A beautiful 27 year old who was just trying to save her baby-and now they're both gone and I know why I'll never be an ICU nurse. There's been a lot of sad stories at work lately; a women who was pregnant with twins but one of them had a chromosomal anomaly called Trisomy 21 and she lost him (his twin sister is doing good), another patient who's baby has "Dandy Walker Syndrome" (multiple anomalies) and another who we flew out to University of Chicago so that when her baby is born he can immediately go on "bypass" (when blood is pumped out, filtered, and pumped back in). Needless to say, I am learning a lot and seeing a lot. There have been many many many happy stories too. I've cried with my patients and for my patients. I've delivered beautiful happy babies and sick, premature babies. I've learned why Obstetrics is so specialized- we're an ER for pregnant women, an ICU for premature babies, we take care of the woman and the "invisible" patient. We're responsible for 2 lives when they walk through those doors-one of which we can't see but they're there. And despite all this, I do love my job. Many of these babies will grow into remarkable human beings- and some will not. But their souls have meaning. Their presence was for a reason- no matter how short a stay it was.

Good old Murphy's at it again!

You know that old adage regarding "Murphy's Law: Whatever can go wrong, will". Well I frequently credit that guy for alot of goings on in my life. When it comes to stress, I tend to deal with it with humor as I chuckle to myself and say "you can thank Murphy for that one!" He cursed us all with that stupid saying!! Anyway- you know how you go through the drive thru for dinner, or what have you, and more often than not they've screwed up your order. In fact, it's happened so many times that you're just not surprised anymore. Tonight at Jewel I bought those cute mini graham cracker cakes to fill with pudding- it clearly states "6 in a package". Well. . . . there were only 5! That's right folks. I've been had. I've been taken for a baby graham cracker cake. Isn't that odd? I couldn't even take a picture for you because my camera's broke. Then when I went for Hunter's- his batteries are dead! My turkey casserole burnt, the mashed potatoes were too mashy and I was short a pudding pie for dinner! I just have to giggle and actually share that I feel so grateful that that was the brunt of my problems today. Things like this always put so much into prospective for me. There a children starving, animals dying out, families facing crises and my problem today was that I was shorted a Keebler graham cracker cup. Just a reminder, to especially be grateful for the things we take for granted every day. I thank God everyday for my blessings. And I thank Murphy for helping me to appreciate them!

For my friend Julie

Can you believe it's already been a year since our excursion downtown to see Wicked? And a very expensive excursion I might add- but worth every penny. This was one of the funnest nights- ever- from start to finish. It started with an all too handsome trainmaster ticket taker guy who was just too good looking to be taking tickets for Metra. If I recall, I had to apologize for staring! Something along the lines of "I am so sorry- I think I've been married too long"!! It was all in good fun!! I think we laughed the whole ride down!

But the fun didn't stop there. We had dinner at "Chicago 1-2-3" and after paying $20 something dollars, Julie was surprised to see her piece of meat was only the circumference of well, a filet mignon! After carefully observing that everyone else in the restaurant was drinking wine or some kind of mixed drink or another, Julie and I opted for Pepsi- with lemon- so there was a little embellishment on our glass in our attempt to be fancy.
Here we are during intermission-after this, I can't recall much else of the show. We spent the second half laughing over what happend during intermission. Sorry, but that's between Julie and me!! (and the people sitting in front of us who had to turn around and ask us to be quiet) :0) Some things are better left between friends! (and strangers who overheard/oversaw everthing!)
Now after the show, as we tried hailing down a cab, I was distracted by a flock of people crowded around a large glass window. In my attempt to rush up and get my own peek I heard Julie cry out "Melanie- be careful!!!" Much to my surprise I tripped over a homeless guy who took up residence alongside the garbage can in front of the building with the mysterious glass window. "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry" I said to the man as I continued on my way. I really was sorry but just too damn curious to know what was going on. I quickly got over it. Well. . . it turns out, we were outside the NBC or ABC building-whatever news channel Mark Geingrecko is on because here he is. . . in the flesh. I was like a 6 year old waving and yelling to him that "I see you on tv all the time Mark. You're my favorite newscaster"!! (It must have been all those pepsi's) But he saw me and he waved back! After I got my jolly's we waved down a cab, headed back to Union Station and learned that because I just had to see Mark Geingrecko, we just missed a train home and had to wait AN HOUR for the next one (I still say it was the cab driver's fault- the one time we needed him to drive like a maniac, he was actually pretty decent) and that's okay because the bulk of our fun was spent at Union Station-during that hour we were waiting. Again, some things are just better left between friends, but Julie and I will never forget that hour- and I'm sure we missed that train for a reason!!! Now the midnight trainride home was just as fun as the ride down- even though the handsome ticket taker wasn't there for the ride home, we still had a great time! You're probably wondering how you can have a"great time" on a train in the middle of the night- with Julie and I, all things are possible!!
Thanks for this wonderful night full of memories Jewell! We're over due for another night out! You're the best and I enjoy every single minute we're together!!!