The Water Bill

So I'm a bit perplexed.

I got my utilities bill in the mail a couple days ago and was a little annoyed because of something NEW! An extra $10 flat rate charge, in addition to the metered water charge! Mark and I have spent time and money on buying high efficiency appliances (washer, toilets & showerhead). As a result we'll be saving over 20 gallons of water washing our clothes, 2.5 gallons of water each time we flush, and over 35 gallons of water during a shower! Even though we're saving the EARTH we're still forced to spend an extra $10 on our bill each month!! What the heck??! That doesn't make any sense! We should be rewarded for our efforts, not have to pay for it!

That is all.

The Baby Song

When my siblings and I were babies, my mother would make up or alter songs/rhymes for us. Each of us kids had our own song and if you ask any one of us, we'd be able to spout them all off for you! My song was to the tune of, well, I'm not sure the title...The Garden Song? It went like this:

Inch by inch,
Ripple by ripple (I was fat),
We're going to make our Brooklyn grow.
All it takes is a kiss and a hug,
And lots and lots of love.

I feel really bad, because although I think I'm fairly creative, I haven't been able to find a song for Isaac! I just make up silly little songs about changing his diaper, or falling asleep, etc. The latest one was to the tune of "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina"...you can probably guess how I changed the lyrics. Last year when he was first born, I'd sing him "What Child is This" and change the words to be about him. I guess I have to be satisfied with that...making up songs as situations come. How disappointing!

The Helper

I'm sure all of you mothers out there can agree that HELPING children do not always equal HAPPY mothers. I have bred a HELPER. Ok, so maybe he's more of a kid who has a FASCINATION with dishwashers, garbages, plants & brooms and doesn't intend of helping, but it's just as irritating. I've learned how to load my dishwasher in the duration of a nap, or if neccesary, load it with the door cracked open. Maybe I'll give it up all together and just hand wash every....uh, no chance!


A common occurence at  the Ellingsons

 Isaac is so curious! He loves to check out what his Momma and Daddy are doing and when we say "Nooo" he just gives us a huge grin! Maybe we'll just give up on buying toys for him, as he loves to play with random non-toy things. He's able to get through almost all barriers we make. Although he's a handful (7 months till nursery!!) I love him! He's adorable and the greatest snuggler there ever was!

Just enough space for me!



The perfect windows for a little boy!



The Halloween Hurrah!

Ever since Isaac was born, I was planning for this Halloween...well, before that actually. I planned that if we had a girl, she would be Little Bo Peep and Mark and I would be her sheep! Aww, CUTE! But we had a boy. Too bad. There were other plans in my head after Isaac was born. We were going to go as Mario characters. Mark would be Luigi, I would be Princess, and Isaac would be Toad. I later figured out that involved a little too much work on my end with sewing, so I thought of a Plan B. Mark would be Inspector Gadget (he owns a grey trench coat), I would be Penny, and Isaac would be Brain. I could not for the life of me find a grey fedora for Mark to wear. Scratch that plan. In the end I decided Isaac would just go as "Little Bo" a boy version of Little Bo Peep, and Mark and I would be his sheep. This was the plan...until we went to Old Navy, 2 hours before our party we were attending...

We found a little shark costume for 5 BUCKS! I couldn't resist. As I was waiting for Mark in the fitting room, I devised our costumes. We would dress up like fishermen, complete with rain coats/boots and life jackets, and Isaac would be the shark we caught. It was perfect! I guess I'll learn my lesson for next year and start planning and SEWING with lots of time to spare before Halloween!

The End of the Eye Era

Caution: The following blog entry may contain content that may not be suitable for the faint of heart.

If you have been out of the loop, I have been receiving treatment for ocular histoplasmosis. It's a condition of new leaking blood vessels, growing in the retina, which for me caused limited vision in my right eye. After Isaac was born I went to my optometrist who discovered this condition had returned since I first was treated for it back in 2003.

When I was 16, the only treatment was laser, which left blind spots...now the treatment is injections of medication in...your eye (this is where the faint of heart cringe). These injections are supposed to stop new blood vessels from growing and allow the blood to be absorbed, restoring lost vision . Since the discovery, I've had 4 injections.

Today was a great day! I went to my appointment (in Red Deer, not Edmonton which was so awesome...the trip doesn't take the whole day!). They dilated my eyes and after taking the ultrasound pictures of my retina and checking my vision, my doctor examined my eye. He said that the blood was all dried up and another injection would be unnecessary. Although the blood has dried up, it still impedes my center of vision (which looks like a dark shadow, so if I looked at your face with only my right eye, I wouldn't be able to see your features.) He said that usually that spot shrinks so you can see better.

So that is all great news! They still don't know exactly what causes this condition, but in what they've seen, it's most common in young women and usually affects only one eye. I had a new doctor today and he asked me if I had ever been to Ontario...I had to think about that and I had when I was in High School around the time when it first occured. I guess this condition is more common in the Ottawa area and he said something about a fungus found there causing a cold and flu. That's totally weird, but it's interesting to make that connection!

It's still something that I have to keep checking, but I'm glad this part of my medical history is well, a little more HISTORY!

Here are some pictures of my retina 7 years ago when it first occured (the top picture is my normal, left eye. The bottom is my right eye before any treatment.)

The Mommas & The Dadas

So I've figured it out! Isaac loves his daddy when he is happy, when he is not happy he loves his Momma. I did an experiment today and while Isaac was happy and playing I observed him saying "Dada.. dada". After he fell down the stairs, however, he said "Mummma, mummma" between cries. There you have it!

P.S. Isaac chewed on my camera USB cord thingy and I have yet to buy another, so until then, I haven't been able to load pictures onto the computer...SAD!