So never a dull moment at the Boutilier household! On Friday night Andrea came by to watch Austin and G and I sent out on an actual date. It was so much fun. We went to Jane on the Commons for dinner (fantastic food) and then to Starbucks for coffee. I shouldn’t have had the coffee. It was my third cup of the day and sure enough on the way home I started to feel sick. At 2:30am I woke up with ridiculous pain and that didn’t let up until after 10am. By late afternoon I felt well enough to keep our play/dinner date with friends and off we went.


Austin had a great time playing with Graham and even ate his dinner at the play table without a high chair. I’m not sure who got more food though…Austin or Charlie (the dog). Around 7:30 I started to feel not great so we headed home. By the time we hit the highway I was in so much pain I couldn’t sit up straight. We went to the ER and I was seen pretty quickly. Apparently I am not having esophageal spasms…. I have been having gallbladder attacks! They pumped me full of gravol and were about to give me morphine when I had crazy flash backs of coming down after my c-section and wanting to take sandpaper to my skin all the while throwing up continuously…maybe I need to start listing that as an allergy. Thankfully I remembered before they pumped it through the IV port. I was given a dose of dilaudin and sent home and told to come back for 9am to get an ultrasound.

The next morning we dropped Austin off to hang out with Garnet and the boys and headed back to the ER. The Ultrasound technician was looking at the screen and I asked if it was a boy or girl. Funny right? …. G didn’t think so and actually come to think of it that wouldn’t have been funny at all. Anywho he didn’t find a baby but he did find a gallbladder full of stones but no inflammation, which would have meant immediate surgery.

Back out to see more doctors and nurses, got sent to the shiny new ER downtown, spoke with the hot surgery resident and then given the info to book an appt to see the surgeon. It was so great to get home to my little man at the end of the day. It was great that G and I got to spend some time together but that was really not what we were looking for!

I’ll keep you posted but hopefully it will be a few months before surgery. I’ll find out next week.

Friday weight in

Woo Hoo! Finally the scale has moved! I'm down 2lbs this week and pretty proud of that fact! Hopefully the trend continues. I am reading a great book right now called Master your Metabolism by Jillian Michaels. It is really interesting to learn about all the chemical reactions that happen in your body when you ingest something. There is a whole plan that goes along with it but I am not there yet. I'll keep you posted.

Last night after yoga, we skyped with Mom, Dad, Janice and their company. Austin happily blew kisses to Nanny, Poppy, Aunt Janice, Great Nan Coleman, Aunt Mary and Ian. Austin was a bit cranky given that he doesn't much like being made to sit in one spot for very long but he made sure to give a major dose of cuteness to tide everyone over! I really want to get a laptop, it would make doing the webcam thing so much easier because Austin could stand up and move around without too much disruption. It's hard to believe that this time last year Austin and I were home in Newfoundland for a visit. I miss having the freedom to just go and travel home and not worry about vacation days. Right now I'm stressing about how to manage next Thursday when Kelly is closed. I might bring Austin to the office for a little bit if necessary. We shall see.

I'm so excited for date night tonight! It feels like forever since Gordon and I have spent some real time together. I have no idea what we are doing yet but I am looking forward to it big time!!!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Another Year

By Joanna Fuchs

I’m wishing you another year

Of laughter, joy and fun,

Surprises, love and happiness,

And when your birthday’s done,

I hope you feel deep in your heart,

As your birthdays come and go,

How very much you mean to me,

More than you can know.

Have a wonderful day Mom!

Hump day update

So I didn't lose any weight last week. I'm not surprised given that I only got one workout and a yoga class in. I'm going to start cardio two-three days a week at work. We have a gym so I might as well use it! This week my goal is to get the 30 Day Shred done 3 times and to do my yoga class. I cut out my daily Starbucks (mostly because the gift cards ran out) and I have managed to stay on point every day so far.

I'm going to post a new recipe every week as I try to take my favourite foods and try to make them fit into my new way of eating. I will completely fail if I can't have things that I love so right now I'm working on some of my favourite soups. Below is a soup I reworked last week. It was so delicious!


Austin is finally on the mend! I'm so happy that my little boy is acting like himself again. He is eating and sleeping all-night and full of mischief! Last night he took all the baskets off the kitchen caddy and climbed up on the shelf and slid through to the other side. It was so cute. He is saying "happy" now. I was trying to teach him to sing Happy Birthday but so far no dice. He does start the happy part and then he sings his own song. Too cute!

Gordon and I are going on a date Friday night. I'm really looking forward to having some down time. I hate how I was adamant that a baby would not change the time I spent with Gordon and he totally has. We decided that we would start making a real serious effort to spend more time together. I really need that too. G is such an awesome guy and I really have fun with him. Friday night should be fun. I have no idea what we are going to do but I'm sure we'll have fun.

New Food Wednesday

Roasted Butternut Squash soup

Servings: 8 (1 ¾ cup per serving)
Points: 3

1 butternut squash cut in half, seeds and pulp removed
salt
pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp sugar free syrup

Drizzle the squash with the oil and syrup, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast at 400F for about an hour.

8 cups chicken stock
6 fresh sage leaves
1 steam fresh rosemary
2 medium potatoes, cooked in microwave, skins on
salt
pepper

Cut the potato into chunks. Add remaining ingredients. Add the roasted squash. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Using an immersion blender puree the soup. Add salt and pepper to taste. For thicker soup add less stock.

Sick boys and stiff legs

Well it has been an interesting week. Austin has been very sick and I am exhausted. It all started on Friday when Austin came home from Kelly’s. He got through the door and wanted to cuddle. By 6pm he had a fever of 104 and the next thing I know he started throwing up. I have honestly never seen so much come out of someone so small! We decided to take him to the walk in clinic. The Dr at the clinic took a look and said that he didn’t have an ear infection and that if his fever didn’t break to take him to the IWK. Gordon was also feeling like crap and I thought he had an ear infection but it turns out his ears are just still clogged from the flights home.


Saturday started out as a normal day…well as normal as it can be when your child doesn’t sleep all night. G and I tried to get all the Christmas decorations down while trying to feed Austin (he refused food all day…not like him at all). At 5pm he became very clinging and attached and at 6pm he had a fever of 104. We decided to pack him up and bring him to the IWK. 5.5 hours, a pee test and a chest x-ray later we went home. Chest is clear, no ear, kidney or bladder infections. No sleep for mom and dad either.

Sunday Austin was acting more like himself and his temp was down to 100 so we went to get some groceries. We got home from the grocery store at 5pm. He became attached and by 6pm had a fever of 104. I decided to take him back to the IWK in the morning if his doc couldn’t see him.

Monday I find out that his doc is away so back down to the IWK we go. This time they say that he does have an ear infection and gave him antibiotics. I’m not sure that they are 100% right and have an appt to see his doc Thursday morning. He isn’t eating much and isn’t sleeping unless it is on or with someone.

Given all of this, I’m not surprised that I haven’t totally been on track this week. I did manage to stay on points so far and got my workout in yesterday. The plan is to do the 30 Day Shred 4 times this week, plus my yoga class on Thursday night…although one day in and my legs are killing me….why can’t I just wake up skinny? Although if I could wake up and have anything I want I think it would be to win the lottery so that I could stay home with Austin…skinny I can pay for! Lol!

Friday Weigh in...oh joy!

Well today is the day I get back on track. I was suppose to start Wednesday on my Valentine's Day challenge to lose 10lbs by February 14th but I haven't been doing so well. Yetsreday I had 17 of my 27 points used before 10am! Christmas was not kind to me and when I stepped on the scale this morning I was up 4lbs from where I was before the holidays.

Last night I had yoga and I feel so much better today. I am starting the 30 Day Shred again tomorrow. Should be fun! Austin slept all night in his own bed and for the first time all week I feel rested.....now to tackle the massive amount of work that I have to do before Robbie gets back in the office on Monday!

New Year- New Commitments

So I decided not to make "resolutions" this year. I made commitments to myself and to my family instead.2010 is the start of a new decade and a time for me to have a new mantra. I can no longer spend so much energy worrying about other people in terms of what they think about my decisions or about what I am doing. If it is out of my control I am not going to stress about it (see sega in previous entry...I was very proud of myself for maintaining my composure the whole time).

I have been trying to lose weight ...it seems like forever. 2010 is the year that I do this. I know I started this blog to keep my family up to date on news in our world and I am going to continue that, but I am also going to use it to help keep me accountable. Maybe I can help someone else who is struggling or find some support. By the end of 2010 I am going to have lost a minimum of 50lbs. I always resolve to lose weight for Gordon or for Austin. This time I am doing it for me and I am hopeful that that will make all of the difference in the world. I have to the tools, I just need to be dedicated and diligent. I can do this! (Especially because I can't get pregnant again until I do, and we want another baby!)

So keep checking in for Austin news and the boutilier household babblings but know that I am going to be talking a lot of my weight, food, cooking and balancing the world on my shoulders while trying to do it.

New Year and a travelling adventure already!

Happy New Year! Our trip to Newfoundland was eventful…to say the least. Our flight home was great, G and I both had sinus pain on the decent to Deer Lake but Austin slept through it, which was great. Our bags arrived and we headed to Corner Brook. On the 23rd Austin started to get sick and by the 24th he had a fever of 104. He was up bright and early Christmas morning and seemed to have fun opening presents but was pretty lethargic the rest of the day. His fever broke that afternoon and he finally started to come around on the 27th. He had a great time at Mom and Dad’s and they all loved having him. The only bad thing was that I couldn’t leave the room. He would freak out if he couldn’t see me. I went out a couple of times without him and he was fine once I was gone but if he knew I was around it was a whole other story!

New Year’s eve we had a bbq and then had family game night. We played Wii games and then set off fireworks at midnight. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday came and I got us all packed and organized. There was a big storm in Halifax and I was waiting for the flight to be cancelled but it wasn’t so we headed to the airport. Our flight was delayed 45 minutes and then another 35 minutes. We finally boarded the flight at 8:20pm and my mom and dad headed back to Corner Brook.

After sitting on the runway for 20 minutes they decide to cancel the flight because of winds in Halifax. The airport shut down. They told us that they would stay in Deer Lake overnight and then leave in the am. I called my parents and got them to come back to the airport (they were almost home at this point). Another 20 minutes pass and they announce that instead of staying in Deer Lake they were going to send the flight to Montreal. I asked if we had to go to Montreal or if we could get off the plane. They told us that if we went to Montreal we would get to Halifax for sure on Sunday because there are flights leaving every hour but if we stayed in Deer Lake it would be Saturday before we could get a flight. By this time my parents have come back to the airport and decided not to leave until we were off the ground. Gordon had also left his id in Corner Brook and they let him on the plane with his Costco card for id. (Great security) So we were worried about that. The Gate agent put a note on his file so that we wouldn’t have any issues in Montreal.

At 10:45 the plane finally left Deer Lake for Montreal. We arrived at midnight eastern time (1:30am NL time), get off the plane and were told that there were no flights and that it might be a day or two before we all get to where we are going (so not what they had told us before take off!) We got signed up for a hotel and then went to get our luggage. At 1:15 we had our luggage and were waiting outside in the bitter cold for the shuttle. Austin was a trooper and didn’t cry or act like a monkey or anything. We tried to get a cab but were told that was going to take 30 minutes and at this point the shuttle had arrived but because we were out of the line we missed it. G took Austin in the airport and came back out when the shuttle came back 17 minutes later. At 2am we were finally checked into our room and trying to get Austin to sleep while I was on hold with the number that they told us to call for 2 hours! I gave up at 5:30am NL time and finally closed my eyes to get some sleep.

2 and a half hours later my cell phone rings and it’s my mother asking if we were all checked in and ready for our flight. I had no idea what she was talking about. Apparently we were rebooked to go on a flight to Toronto and then to Halifax. The gate agent had given my mother our flight itinery but no one had communicated that to us. I was livid. I was so tired and stressed that I just sat on the bed and cried for a good 5 minutes before pulling it together.

I decided that we would get dressed, feed Austin breakfast and then head to the airport to deal with it there. We arrived at the airport at 9:35am. I got in the ticket line and called the 1-888 number again. G took Austin for a walk around the airport to entertain him. I got through on the phone (I had only moved about 5 feet while I was waiting) and she booked us on a flight from Ottawa to Halifax and told me to go to the baggage check in line to get put on a standby flight to Ottawa.

I get to the check in desk and explain to the agent that G only has 14 hours of insulin left and that I’m out of diapers and we needed to get to Halifax that day or G would be out on insulin and in a hospital somewhere. After about 30 minutes of working with the system and her manager she had us priority standby on a flight direct Montreal Halifax leaving at 1:30. She put notes on the file for the gate agent and told us to check with her when we got to the gate. We check our bags and went on. She was wonderful and even gave us diapers for Austin.

We went through security and went to the gate to wait. The gate agent comes and I go to talk to her and she brushes me aside and refuses to hear me out. At one point she put her hand in my face and told me to sit down! She left the booth and I spoke to the other agent and explained our situation and told her how I tried to speak to the other lady but that was useless. They had already filled the flight at this point and could not put us on. G lost it and swore very loudly and threatened to go find the manager downstairs himself! At that point I sent him away and apologized. There was a younger gate agent there and she immediately asked me my name. She looked up our file and all the notes were there. The other lady wouldn’t even look. I was so upset but I kept my composure. The younger agent then took us over to the next gate where a flight was leaving for Halifax at 2:30. She spoke with eth gate agent and then handed me boarding passes for the flight. We were so relieved! We boarded the plane but didn’t get off the ground until close to 4pm because we needed to de-ice.

As we were seated on the plane I could see them loading luggage on the plane and I watched ours go up the ramp onto the plane. We arrive in Halifax with no luggage. Don’t know how that happened! They gave us a loaner car seat that didn’t have any anchors or anything like that on it. Needless to say I took a mental health day yesterday. Austin woke up at 9:45am and then I sent him to Kelly’s. G and I had coffee, went for groceries and then had a nap. I’m still exhausted today but at least we are home.