Monday, February 19, 2007
Liska's Interview with Doctor Brian
So, being that I have been on the bench the past couple weeks, I have been much more involved in the kids lives...feeding them, changing them, putting them down for naps...enjoying their cuteness and enduring their not-so-cuteness. It has been a real learning experience. What have I learned you ask...I have learned to really appreciate every day I go into work. haha Just kidding....though I have learned that it is a tough, yet rewarding job that Kat performs. And I can only imagine what it was like when we actually had to keep the house clean...now that the house is off the market, it is back to being a dump! :-)
Anyway, I accompanied the family to the Pediatrician's office today. Liska had her 3 year wellness check-up and Hagen had his 9 month checkup. Liska continues to be average height and very light and Hagen is way above average height (75th percentile) and is VERY light. So much so that they had to run some tests to make sure he is ok. So, we will be keeping a close eye on that. I think he is just buring a lot of calories with all his screaming and crying, but I don't have the fancy degrees on my wall either, so we will wait and see what Dr. Brian has to say about that.
So, the real jewel of this particular doctor visit was that Brian interviewed Liska. Apparently, they do this at age 3 to see how they are progressing. So, here is a loose transcript of the interview:
Dr. Brian: Hi Liska, I am going to ask you a few questions, ok?
Liska: OK
Dr. Brian: Liska, are there things at home that you like to ride?
Liska: I like to ride my horsey
Dr. Brian: Oh, that's nice. Do you also have a bike or a tricycle?
Liska: I have a tricycle in the back yard, but it is all wet (EDITOR'S NOTE: it rained last night)
Dr. Brian: Yes, I am sure it is...it rained, huh. So, can you push the pedals on your tricycle.
Liska: I can, but the seat is all wet. (pretty adamant now)
Dr. Brian confirms this with parents.
Dr. Brian: That's great. Now, are you able to dress yourself?
Liska: I can put my pants on, but mommy and daddy put my shirt on for me.
Dr. Brian: So, they help with your shirt...what if they aren't with you, can you put on the shirt by yourself.
Liska: If mommy and daddy aren't there, then I yell for them to come help me with my shirt.
Dr. Brian: Ok, but can you do your arms by yourself?
Liska: Mommy and daddy help me.
Dr. Brian confirms with parents...yes, she can do her arms by herself
Dr. Brian: Liska, do you like to swim?
Liska: I love to swim
Dr. Brian confirms with parents...she does not swim at all, though lately, every time we pass the pool, she tells us how she loves to jump in the pool and make a big splash, but she gets upset when her pony tail gets wet. what a diva!
Dr. Brian: Ok Liska, let's see if you can make some shapes for me
He draws a circle and Liska draws a circle...he draws a plus sign and Liska draws a plus sign. We then (bragadociously) tell Dr. B that she can write her brother's name. He says "you tell her the letter and she writes it?"..we say, no, she just does it from memory. He says "let's see it." Liska then proceeds to blow his freakin mind and writes a perfect HAGEn. A very proud moment for the Knight family. Check it out:
So, on another note, I have decided to actually start working on the real novel that I wanted to write...my True Confessions of a Compulsive Liar was fun while it lasted, but I have been inspired by a fellow Longhorn to move forward with my little project. Just know, that it is a certain best seller and an even more successful screenplay, but I won't forget all you loyal blogaids when it goes big. I might ignore your phone calls and act like I don't know you when I see you on the street, but I won't forget you.
Much love to all!
jak
Friday, February 09, 2007
The Boy
MY LEVEL OF FRUSTRATION WITH BLOGGER HAS REACHED AN ALL-TIME HIGH...FOR SOME REASON, I CANNOT POST PICS RIGHT NOW...BOTH THIS POST AND THE "IT HAD TO BE YOU" POST WERE COMPLETED TWO WEEKS AGO, BUT I WAS TRYING TO POST PICS...HENCE THE DELAY AND THE POTENTIAL FOR CONFUSION RE. DATES AND TIMES. I GUESS I COULD GO IN AND MAKE SOME CHANGES, BUT THAT WOULD TAKE EFFORT AND THAT IS JUST NOT MY BAG BABY. SO, ENJOY THIS NONETHELESS.
EDITOR IN CHIEF
As many of you loyal readers have probably noticed, I have made many a snide comment about my son, Hagen. From referring to him as a screamapillar to constantly referencing his inate ability to annoy me. Trying to include him as part of the sale of the house. Well, it has come to my attention that some people who may not truly understand my sense of humor are starting to worry that my love for my crying, whining, mama's boy son Hagen is not as great as my love for my beautiful, intelligent, perfect daughter, Liska. This could not be farther from the truth. :-)
Seriously, Hagen has evolved into an amazing kid. He has a lot of the same qualities of Liska in that he is quick with a smile, shows signs of great intelligence and is very observant. He is also a damn fine looking kid. ;-) To quote a 10 year old neighbor girl "when Hagen is older, girls will walk by him and say ooh la la." What he brings to the table that Liska did not is a real sense of adventure. He is into everything. He has already climbed the stairs in record time...will be walking before we know it and is making some sounds that are starting to sound like actual words (mommy and daddy mostly). Now, this doesn't mean that he and I don't duke it out sometimes...I think that is a good thing though. He pushes the envelope a little more than Liska and that is just fine. It is part of his endless charm.
Anyway, I wanted to get that straight. I love my son. For now. He better watch his step though...
EDITOR IN CHIEF
As many of you loyal readers have probably noticed, I have made many a snide comment about my son, Hagen. From referring to him as a screamapillar to constantly referencing his inate ability to annoy me. Trying to include him as part of the sale of the house. Well, it has come to my attention that some people who may not truly understand my sense of humor are starting to worry that my love for my crying, whining, mama's boy son Hagen is not as great as my love for my beautiful, intelligent, perfect daughter, Liska. This could not be farther from the truth. :-)
Seriously, Hagen has evolved into an amazing kid. He has a lot of the same qualities of Liska in that he is quick with a smile, shows signs of great intelligence and is very observant. He is also a damn fine looking kid. ;-) To quote a 10 year old neighbor girl "when Hagen is older, girls will walk by him and say ooh la la." What he brings to the table that Liska did not is a real sense of adventure. He is into everything. He has already climbed the stairs in record time...will be walking before we know it and is making some sounds that are starting to sound like actual words (mommy and daddy mostly). Now, this doesn't mean that he and I don't duke it out sometimes...I think that is a good thing though. He pushes the envelope a little more than Liska and that is just fine. It is part of his endless charm.
Anyway, I wanted to get that straight. I love my son. For now. He better watch his step though...
It had to be YOU
So, I was talking to Neil Armstrong the other day and I asked him "Hey Neil, do most astronauts wear boxers or briefs?" He responded "Depends."
Thank you, thank you...I've been working on that one all week. haha
So, Kat and I have embarked on the YOU Diet, made famous by Oprah Winfrey. Dr. Oz has made some appearances on her show and Kat was intrigued, bought his book (YOU on a Diet) and we are now 8 days into it and feeling pretty good. It is very basic...we walk 30 minutes a day, do non-weight exercises every other day...the nutrition part of it is the tough one. We had to go through our pantry and refrigerator and literally throw away anything that had High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Oil, Enriched Flour or Simple Sugars as the first 5 ingredients. Needless to say, the proverbial cupboard was bare once we were done. After a trip to Trader Joe's, though, we were set and ready to embark on the plan. I have already lost 6 lbs and am not fiending for pizza and queso like I thought I would be...My diet basically consists of Cheerios with strawberries for breakfast, Turkey Burger or pasta for lunch and fish or pasta for dinner with vegetables. Kat makes big portions, so we say "Lunch. It's what's for dinner." Anyway, it is going very well. We will keep you posted as to our results. :-)
During our second day on the YOU diet, we were walking along McBean toward North Park. See, one of the great benefits of this particular diet is that during our walks, Kat and I can chit chat about a myriad of topics...mostly around the house and the move to Tulsa, new job, etc. On this particular day, we were discussing the merits of keeping the house on the market or taking it off. Our thinking was this....the main season for buying a house doesn't start until late spring...our house had been on the market since November 5, 2006 without a bite. Maybe we could take it off the market for a couple months, put it back on in mid-April and test our luck then. We had basically come to the conclusion that was the right answer when Kat's phone started to chime that incessant Boomer Sooner song. Man, that drives me crazy...anyway, it was Wade. For those of you who don't know Wade, he is the husband half of our husband and wife realtor team. Wade told Kat that he had just spoken to another realtor and that we should expect to get an offer on the house in the next 24 hours...unbelievable! Here we were about to take the house off the market and we get an offer! So, true to his word, Wade called us last Saturday morning and told us we had an offer for the house. It was about $5K less than what we hoped for, but $5K more than most realtors told us we would get. We countered that same day and got exactly what we wanted! So, long story, short, WE ARE IN ESCROW! We had inspections on Wednesday, appraisal today...we are also meeting with the moving company today to get an estimate. We have to be out of the house by March 8! So, it will be a whirlwind around here for the next few weeks. We will end up moving our stuff into a storage unit in Tulsa for a while as we have the luxury of living with Kat's parents until we find a suitable home in OK. Craziness!
Of course, Kat and Liska were so excited that they spent the majority of Wednesday night taking turns throwing up...that's right, I think in total they each lost their dinners/lunch/breakfasts 8 times (4 each). Not a pleasant scene. Fortunately, Liska only puked on me twice. I felt lucky.
Hope everyone is doing well...we will keep you up to date with our progress in moving!
much love to all!
jak
Thank you, thank you...I've been working on that one all week. haha
So, Kat and I have embarked on the YOU Diet, made famous by Oprah Winfrey. Dr. Oz has made some appearances on her show and Kat was intrigued, bought his book (YOU on a Diet) and we are now 8 days into it and feeling pretty good. It is very basic...we walk 30 minutes a day, do non-weight exercises every other day...the nutrition part of it is the tough one. We had to go through our pantry and refrigerator and literally throw away anything that had High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Oil, Enriched Flour or Simple Sugars as the first 5 ingredients. Needless to say, the proverbial cupboard was bare once we were done. After a trip to Trader Joe's, though, we were set and ready to embark on the plan. I have already lost 6 lbs and am not fiending for pizza and queso like I thought I would be...My diet basically consists of Cheerios with strawberries for breakfast, Turkey Burger or pasta for lunch and fish or pasta for dinner with vegetables. Kat makes big portions, so we say "Lunch. It's what's for dinner." Anyway, it is going very well. We will keep you posted as to our results. :-)
During our second day on the YOU diet, we were walking along McBean toward North Park. See, one of the great benefits of this particular diet is that during our walks, Kat and I can chit chat about a myriad of topics...mostly around the house and the move to Tulsa, new job, etc. On this particular day, we were discussing the merits of keeping the house on the market or taking it off. Our thinking was this....the main season for buying a house doesn't start until late spring...our house had been on the market since November 5, 2006 without a bite. Maybe we could take it off the market for a couple months, put it back on in mid-April and test our luck then. We had basically come to the conclusion that was the right answer when Kat's phone started to chime that incessant Boomer Sooner song. Man, that drives me crazy...anyway, it was Wade. For those of you who don't know Wade, he is the husband half of our husband and wife realtor team. Wade told Kat that he had just spoken to another realtor and that we should expect to get an offer on the house in the next 24 hours...unbelievable! Here we were about to take the house off the market and we get an offer! So, true to his word, Wade called us last Saturday morning and told us we had an offer for the house. It was about $5K less than what we hoped for, but $5K more than most realtors told us we would get. We countered that same day and got exactly what we wanted! So, long story, short, WE ARE IN ESCROW! We had inspections on Wednesday, appraisal today...we are also meeting with the moving company today to get an estimate. We have to be out of the house by March 8! So, it will be a whirlwind around here for the next few weeks. We will end up moving our stuff into a storage unit in Tulsa for a while as we have the luxury of living with Kat's parents until we find a suitable home in OK. Craziness!
Of course, Kat and Liska were so excited that they spent the majority of Wednesday night taking turns throwing up...that's right, I think in total they each lost their dinners/lunch/breakfasts 8 times (4 each). Not a pleasant scene. Fortunately, Liska only puked on me twice. I felt lucky.
Hope everyone is doing well...we will keep you up to date with our progress in moving!
much love to all!
jak
Sunday, February 04, 2007
LIfe's Been Good to Me so Far
Many of you can relate to the title of this post...I think that most of us have had very good lives...some rough spots for sure, but, in general, we are all blessed with friends and family that love us, roofs over our heads, great jobs and a secure future. Considering what we see on the news from our country and abroad every day, we should all feel blessed.
I was thinking about this as I sat in the first class cabin of a Continental jet, sipping a cocktail on my way to a business trip where I would be staying four days in the Ritz Carlton in Cancun, Mexico. Yes, life is going to be a bit different at my new job...;-)
For those of you blogaids that don't know, my last day at Nestle was last Friday. I lasted about 19 months in the corporate world and have now gone back to the consulting world. Back with the 'band'. This will be my third go-around with EquaTerra and my fourth with my unofficial mentor, Patrice. So, as luck would have it, the EquaTerra annual summitt was occurring two days after my last day at Nestle...so, I was off to Mexico to reacquaint myself with my former colleagues and to meet the many new peeps that have joined the team since I left...EQ has become more international and is up to 160 advisors (I think I was employee number 10 the first time, number 50 the second time...number 150 something this time).
Anyway, I will be on the bench/beach for the next couple weeks waiting to be staffed on a job. Playing a little golf...doing some work around the house...hopefully doing some research projects for EQ. Not sure where I will be first, but could be Chicago...that would be my preference.
Still no word on the house...it has now been on the market almost 3 months. We have some peeps who have looked at it 3 times and our realtor thinks an offer may be pending...just not sure how much...soft market is a thorn in our side. :-/
Liska and Hagen continue to be wonderful kids. Liska is doing great with her alphabet and counting and Hagen is a crawling king and has even started crawling up the stairs! We expect him to be walking before his first birthday. And if he is not, we will just put him on eBay and be done with this whole "two kid" experiment.
OK...more pics next time...much love to all!
jak
I was thinking about this as I sat in the first class cabin of a Continental jet, sipping a cocktail on my way to a business trip where I would be staying four days in the Ritz Carlton in Cancun, Mexico. Yes, life is going to be a bit different at my new job...;-)
For those of you blogaids that don't know, my last day at Nestle was last Friday. I lasted about 19 months in the corporate world and have now gone back to the consulting world. Back with the 'band'. This will be my third go-around with EquaTerra and my fourth with my unofficial mentor, Patrice. So, as luck would have it, the EquaTerra annual summitt was occurring two days after my last day at Nestle...so, I was off to Mexico to reacquaint myself with my former colleagues and to meet the many new peeps that have joined the team since I left...EQ has become more international and is up to 160 advisors (I think I was employee number 10 the first time, number 50 the second time...number 150 something this time).
Anyway, I will be on the bench/beach for the next couple weeks waiting to be staffed on a job. Playing a little golf...doing some work around the house...hopefully doing some research projects for EQ. Not sure where I will be first, but could be Chicago...that would be my preference.
Still no word on the house...it has now been on the market almost 3 months. We have some peeps who have looked at it 3 times and our realtor thinks an offer may be pending...just not sure how much...soft market is a thorn in our side. :-/
Liska and Hagen continue to be wonderful kids. Liska is doing great with her alphabet and counting and Hagen is a crawling king and has even started crawling up the stairs! We expect him to be walking before his first birthday. And if he is not, we will just put him on eBay and be done with this whole "two kid" experiment.
OK...more pics next time...much love to all!
jak
