Sick at MVC

The sickness bug hit the Gates Family in a unique way last week. As usual, Lincoln brought something home from school and passed it to Lydia and Henry, but with our trip to Columbus for the Midwest Veterinary Conference, we got to sprinkle in some new sleeping environments with our up-all-night crying and coughing. Lydia slept in bed with us, which is a major no-no at our house. After two nights of less than half-sleep, Jenn and I called an audible and we left a day early. The kids have done a bit better, but Henry is taking monster naps trying to fit this thing, and on the other end of the spectrum, Lydia, who doesn't do sick well at all, has been a basket case.

On the professional side of life, a bombshell hit the New York Times Sunday Business section with this title: High Debt and Falling Demand Trap New Vets. It is exactly on this subject that I've been attempting to publish in the industry and push for some change, but the professional inertia is ridiculous and frustrating. I've been teaming with one of the veterinarians quoted in the Times piece for some time now, and we've got a number of articles written, but as our commentary is not warm and fuzzy about the profession (we get into greater detail than the NYT piece, as well as offering solutions), we're not getting a bite from JAVMA or the like. I'm curious to see to what extent we'll garner interest now that one of us is recognized as an authority on the issue.

On the photo phront, Google recently changed their Picasa format to merge with Google+ and it suuuuuuuuuucks! Embedding photos from a Google+ album isn't possible, so I'm going to have to figure something out soon. Hopefully Google will get their act together soon.

Henry's Talking!

You know your blogging frequency has fallen off the map when you get an e-mail from your sister asking if everything is okay. Things are okay with the Gates Family. There has been a perfect storm of busy-ness and a good bit of stressors that have combined to make finding the will to blog more of a challenge lately. Managing two 2-year-olds and a nearly 5-year-old is proving to be difficult in this particular stage of life. I don't suppose it's any different than anyone else in our situation, but as we have to live in our situation, there have been some difficult times for us.

(Some of the photos on this page are from a visit the kids paid to the Clinic with me yesterday to check on a kitty.)That's not to say the kids aren't growing up and doing well. Henry is on is own little verbal explosion. Over the past three weeks, the words have flowed from his mouth at an amazing pace. Clearly he was mentally banking words until his mouth could figure out how to make the sounds. He and I can't read a book without him pointing to something saying, "Look! Look!" and then repeating the word several times after I tell him. "Horse! Cow! Meow! Geese! Tractor! Etc."

I've been getting some photos printed to update our frames around the house. I also posted some of the photos in Henry's room and each night we say goodnight to those in the photos. Part of the photo collage is the photo of Jenn and I along with Henry and one of his nannies. What a different experience, going from Lincoln and Lydia to Henry, but as all of that is part of his past, we're going to include it right up front for him. And he loves the photos. Ever since I put them up, he loves to stare at them and call out the names of everyone. "Pictures! Pictures!" he says. I think his favorite one is with his birthday cake.Lydia is getting sassy. Just last evening, while Jenn was washing dishes Lydia kept turning off the kitchen light. Jenn said, "No, no, Lydia." Lydia's response? "You're not the boss." She's just the cutest thing, though, with her mannerisms and the stuff she comes out with, but today Jenn said something at lunch about having to crack the whip with her. As hard as it is to get tough, it'll never be easier to start than now, I imagine.

Jenn made more cake pops for Lincoln's preschool.

Lincoln is learning to sound out words and is on the cusp of genuinely reading. He's reading some very basic things with practice, but it's looking like things are going to click with him real soon. Jenn and I completed his initial paperwork to enroll him in Summit Christian School in the fall. We're also going to enroll him in some of the summer actities at his preschool. They've got some really neat activities going that he'll love to be a part of, and it'll keep in somewhat of a routine so that all day Kindergarten won't be too much of a step for him.

He's also impressing Jenn during the day with his abilities with some of his building toys. What once used to be a budding imagination is now an ability to think three dimentionally and come up with some pretty creative designs.This time next week we'll be getting ready to head down to Columbus. Jenn and I will be attending the Midwest Veterinary Conference while the kids get some grandparent time with the Parkinsons.

Cake Pops

It's been hard to get motivated to blog lately. Not too many new developments, and lots of things taking up my time that aren't exactly blog material. I'll include a couple of photos here, including Jenn's first real foray into cake pops. They looked great and tasted even better!