The Seven Year Itch

The first verse was: "You changed into a red golf shirt and changed my world."  I can't remember the rest of the poem I wrote that term in Creative Writing senior year, but really the first line says it all.  It was October 1st, 1994 and on our first official date, you showed up at my house on 44th with not the typical t-shirt, but a golf shirt.  Bright red.  Hat turned backwards.  Clean shaven.  Those dimples.  Wow.  You took me to a pizza place downtown that no longer exists and then to ice cream on the waterfront.  We watched Stand By Me in your parent's basement and you drove me home.  Something just seemed right.

15 1/2 years later we are celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary.  Those first 8 1/2 years had some rocky moments, but the last 7 have been rock solid.  We have done so much.  Eugene, Moraga, FedEx, PSU, Murphy, our first house, PA school, Platt, Petie, OHSU, Providence, our second house, Chloe, the saga continues. We have grown up together.  And made this life our own.  Who would of thought I would ever have changed my last name or that you would have insisted in having bubbles blown as we left the church?  It is ever evolving, ever changing, but always working. 

You are my sure thing in a crazy world of who knows what is next.  You tell jokes that I don't like to admit are still funny.  I smile everyday when I see you in Petie.  Standing on the ottoman singing a made up song in his made up language, shaking his hips and loving it all.  You are painfully honest and loyal to the end.  You work too hard (in a good way).  Your family and our family are always first and you are a true friend.  There isn't much about you that is wishy washy.  You are real.  Happy Anniversary My Love.

Off to his happy place

We are waiting at Emanual hospital for Petie to finish with his dental work in the operating room.  Planning on 4 crowns and 8 sealants.  He did really well this morning with the routine of getting on the hospital jammies, having his temperature taken, and getting the happy medicine to make it all a distant memory.  I knew the Verced had kicked in when he let a very large male nurse (Kev said think Sloth from Goonies, no lie) pretend to tickle him and joke with him.  Petie with no reservations was a pretty funny sight.  He let the dentist and anesthesiologist take him away without a care in the world.  Now where is the Verced for the parents?

Surveying the damage:

Chillin with Dad:

Update:  We made it through the day.  Petie ended up with 4 crowns and 4 fillings.  He did just fine with most of the day.  The car ride home was a little rough.  He kept screaming "I want to go back to the hospital" over and over.  What?  Anyway, we are now finally home and he is fast asleep on Dad's chest.  Now to begin the serious dental program of flossing and "serious" brushing!  We vow not to return to the OR for dental work!

In Memory of Great-Grandpa Wellnitz

Kevin's grandpa, Dave Sr., passed away on February 23rd, 2010.  We went up to Seattle last week for the services.  Rosary, funeral with full mass, and burial.  You know how the Catholics roll; lots of prayers, lots of tradition, lots of food and drink.  It was strange having this funeral just 2 short months after Kevin's cousin Charley's death and service.  The mood was very different.  People were sad, but not shocked and heartbroken sad.  There's a big difference.  We honored a long life full of accomplishment and family.  "The Kennedy's of Wedgwood" the priest called the Wellnitz family of Seattle.  Pretty impressive legacy.  So many traits of his that were mentioned in the eulogy I can see and appreciate in Dave, Jr. and in Kevin.  Good with numbers. Slightly anal, okay, maybe really anal.  Family as the most important thing.  An honest, trustworthy man.  And of course there is the physical resemblance:

Link to the obit here.

And it was great to see the Seattle family and stay with Pat and Veronica and Finoosh (Finn) again.  We had probably one of the best sandwiches of my life here on Tuesday night.  And I don't make that comment lightly.  Sandwiches are serious business.  Thanks to Pat and Nika for the hospitality as usual.  When are you coming to Portland by the way?

Oh, and we had a few interesting conversations with Petie around the subject of death and funerals.  He asked very loudly at the burial, "where's the box?"  And when it was over I asked him to please not dance around on the headstones because that's where people are buried and he asked, "is this heaven?"  He also saw Kevin's uncle Doran (who has salt and pepper hair and uses a cane due to his MS) and said, "Poppa's Dad isn't dead Daddy, he's right there."  Oh, wow.  There were more that I can't even remember.  He doesn't miss a thing.

Portland sun

Hadley spent the night last night so this morning we took a nice walk to Laurelhurst Park.  Here are the buds getting ready to walk:

Hangin out at the park:

Chloe and Mom and Dad:

Happy girl:

First time on the swings:

If we could only have LA weather with Portland life!

For the Children

A few weeks before Christmas Kevin and I worked with Petie to clean up his room. We knew more toys from our generous families were on there way, so we tried to clear out some clutter. We taught Petie that some of his toys we were giving away to children who didn't have as many toys as he did. He didn't seem to pay much attention to the clean up and was just happy we were all in his room spending time together.

Fast forward to just a few minutes ago. Petie comes out of his room after playing quietly by himself for the past 20 minutes (rare these days) and says to me, "here mom, I want to give this fire truck to the children. I already have another firetruck and I want them to have this one." I said, "are you sure honey? I know how much you love firetrucks (more than any other vehicle he tells me) and I just want to make sure you want to give it away." "Yes mom, the children don't have many toys so I want them to have this one."

I squeezed him extra tight. I almost cried with pride.

We are blessed for sure.

Twenty ten begins

Here was our only snow day of the season. Technically this was 2009, late December. There was just enough snow for Petie and Kev to play for about an hour outside before it got too dark. By the next day it was all melted. It paled in comparison to the Artic Blast of 2008 that gave us many days of the white stuff and Chloe among other things!
Chloe at 4 months, in the bath. Starting to get big enough in the little tub that she really makes a big mess kicking and splashing all over the place.

Starting to like tummy time more and actually look around some before declaring defeat and getting her diapers all in a bunch.

Petie and mom's craft hour. He's a dinosaur and I'm a bunny if it isn't blatently obvious.

Just looking cute as always. She is only interested in sitting up now. No more of that baby lying down when you hold her nonsense. Thanks to Katie for her trippy new outfit.

It's been a long time

A whole lot has happened since I last posted more than 3 months ago. We celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas, Petie's 3rd Birthday, New Year's, and Chloe just turned 4 months old. Both kids are thriving. Petie is talking and taking in more than ever. He is doing well at school and talks about his friends and all the latest gossip. He finally stopped crying at drop off which makes my morning much less stressful and the guilt factor has gone down exponentially. Unfortunately, he is the proud inheritor of 4 (yes 4) cavities and will have to undergo crowns (and his first experience with general anesthesia) in March. We haven't had the heart to tell him yet, but he has made strides with cutting out juice and chocolate milk and eating what mom and dad eat (instead of all the processed crap we were giving in to appease him). Chloe started Sunshine School with her brother and is a big hit! They just told me this morning how she is way past the developmental milestones for her age. As if I needed the reassurance of her brilliance! I am back at work and enjoying the relaxing environment of a surgical clinic compared to the days with 2 kids at home. Does that sound bad? If so, whatevs, it's true.

On a sadder note, Kev's cousin Charley (30) died the day after Christmas. Technically it was Christmas night in a freak accident he fell 5 stories from a roof and died almost instantly. We went to the funeral in Seattle and it was the saddest ever. The church was beyond packed. Kev's uncle Jim just kept telling us, "hug your kids tight." The tears were freely flowing. Patrick gave a really nice eulogy and it was good to be around family even if the reason truly sucked. I don't think there is ever a good reason when someone young and healthy and so full of future dies like that, but it has definitely helped me put some perspective in my own life.

1. Life is fragile. Don't take it for granted. Live in the now. You know all the cliches, but really, you just never know...
2. Family is great. My family (and extended in-law family and friends that are like family for that matter) is amazingly awesome. Don't take them for granted. Don't fight over the small crap. Get over it and appreciate each of them for who they are.
3. Say "I love you." I consider myself pretty good at this. But there is always room for improvement.
4. Appreciate each stage your kids are in. Embrace it. If Petie is convinced there are ants in his bed at 3am and wakes you up for the 3rd time that night - take a minute to take in the moment and give him hugs and tell him what a great kid he really is. He's only 3 little years old. Why try to make them grow up any faster than they have to?

So those are my deep thoughts for today. Just needed to put into words what I've been thinking about for the last few weeks. And hopefully I can get better at blogging because I really do enjoy it and I like the record it creates for the fam. Photos to come soon.

Black Butte Trip with the Wellnitz Family

I wish I could say I had an amazing time in Black Butte. If you call breastfeeding and blowing your nose all day while breastfeeding and shaking with the chills all night amazing, then maybe it was. The kids had a blast at least.

My birthday. Don't I look awesome? I think this was the worst of my days with the flu.

Poppa trying out the hooter hider and breast friend. What a good wet nurse.

Oh, and now that I'm home I have a stye in my eye and a fever blister on my lip that is hideous. Can it get much better than that?

Loving her

First bath. Otherwise known as Chloe planning her world domination.
Snoozin. Thanks for the outfit auntie Shannon.

Hadley and Petie hamming it up.

Holding her (for about 5 seconds).

Snoozin with Dad. Can you tell she sleeps a lot during the day? Now if we can just switch that around to nights we will be "money in the house!"

Chloe Suzanne

So at about 12 o'clock on Sunday the 13th, after spending the night with a low dose of pitocin running on the IV, the contractions started to become not so funny anymore. The nurse anesthesist was called and the most perfect epidural was placed. Things after that were smooth sailing. I was dialated to 6, then 8, then ready to go by about 3:15pm. The nurse got everything ready, our doctor put scrubs on and we were ready for go time. At about 3:25 I was ready to push and after about 5 pushes at 3:39pm Chloe quietly made her appearance. She looked great right away and started crying shortly after being born. Kev cut the cord and we were all doing well. At 7 lbs and 10 oz and 21 1/2 inches she looked a lot like her brother (although head size much less bowling-ball like). Visitors including Petie came in to see her right away. Petie held her once, then focused his attention on a new toy from Aunt Jody and Uncle Jeff. He is proud to tell you he is the BIG brother.

We stayed 2 nights in the hospital, and now are home and doing very well. She is precious in every way. Her hair is brown in my opinion, with a little red coming through in the light. Kev claims to have seen a dimple in her left cheek, I haven't seen it yet. He's hoping one of the two might actually look like his kid. I think he may have a chance with this one, we'll see. She has been an eating and sleeping fool for now, not trying to jinx our luck with mellow babies by making any sort of prediction about her temprement.

We are truly in love. She is amazing and beautiful and perfect and I can't get enough of her.

Okay, so this is what Petie would rather be doing - puddle stomping with Dad while taking out the garbage!

She'll be comin' 'round the mountain...

Checked into the inn at 8 pm last night (9/12/9). Got admitted, signed my life away, and got settled in. They got the IV on the 3rd try, lucky for them I am so tough when it comes to the needle poking. It's what I do to people all day long, so I tried to suck it up for their sake. The IV ran Pitocin slowly, then opted for the Ambien at about 11 and slept on and off until about 6:30am. Surprisingly my OB/GYN was here bright and early at 7am and broke my water. The pitocin has now been upped from 2 to 4 to 6 in about 30 minute intervals. 20 units is the top number. We ate a light breakfast (ordered food really for Kev, way too healthy for what he wanted of course) and now Kev is showering while I wait patiently for things to really happen. Contractions are coming and are pretty regular, we just need them a little stronger and quicker to get things going. Let the party begin!

First Day of Preschool

Petie (okay, Kevin and I) survived our first day of preschool. According to all reports (from Petie and Mrs. Sarah, his new teacher) all went well at Sunshine School. He was a little sad right after Kevin left, but quickly settled into the routine. He ate, made handprints, slept on his little mat for an hour and a half, and did not have a single accident. I will try to also attach the video report from Petie himself and see if that works too.

(The picture and the video were both after school. I mean, who can tolerate a photo shoot at 7am?)

25 days and counting

Okay baby-to-be, here is the proof we are ready for you. You already saw the new room. I tell you everyday. But if you need more proof, here it is.


Exhibit A, the Bob the Builder underwear on an acutal road trip to Hood River. No diapers used! No accidents had! Petie is officially potty trained. We may acutally get a solid month in without diapers before it all starts again...


Exhibit B - the big boy bed. He is in it! I bribed him with a new firefighter blanket I made. He picked out the fabric (with some suggestion against a few prints that looked a little too Nascar for my taste). And with a new fancy nightlight from Target, we are in business. He relinquished the crib to the nursery without really caring at all (we of course were more worried than he was).

Exhibit C -I finally took the cousins on the tram ride I've been promising for over 2 years, so now we're all set. Hear that kid, you can join us any time! Signed, your loving yet rather uncomfortable mom.

And the newest Wellnitz is...

Grace Ann was born on 8/20/09. Weighing in at 7'10'' 19 and 3/4inches. She is a sweet little thing with chubby cheeks and dark skin and hair. Drew is attempting to contain himself (or mark and sarah are attempting to contain him) as he is excited beyond belief! So happy Chloe will have a little girl cousin playmate so close to her own age.

I support our troops, I swear

Is it unpatriotic that I haven't had the heart to tell Petie that these are soldiers and not "skateboarding guys" as he likes to call them?

A proper little room

We are officially ready!

We remodeled part of the attic off our bedroom to make a quaint little peaked room of love. The light purple wall color compromise with Kevin turned out to be a little more on the pink side than I was expecting, but not enough to repaint.

The vinyl monogram and dandelion (very subtle) turned out great, a little more difficult than expected to get up on the walls. My future career in wallpaper installation will have to be rethought. I truly do not have the patience for that kind of thing.



Kev’s estate sale find of the 4 little pictures around the window I think turned out very sweet.


The cubbies are lined with 4 different fabrics, in Kevin’s words, “you are bringing out your inner clown side.” Whatever that means, I took it as a compliment regardless.


This is the little chandelier I painted. Laurelhurst garage sale find.

This is the view from our bedroom.

And even though I almost fired the jerks at Marion’s carpets before it was even installed, I am happy now about the carpet. The crib is ready to house it’s 5th baby (Jake, Sean, Molly, and Pete previously) and the dresser is mine from childhood (made by my Dad’s Dad I’m pretty sure). Still need a window covering and to finish the little doors to the closet and attic, but the room is finished enough for me to do some proper nesting and less stressing. Thanks to an amazing husband who has the strongest work ethic and the most passion for decorating than any straight man I know.

This is getting ridiculous

We tied a record of 103 degrees for yesterday and today and tomorrow are supposed to be even hotter. Native Oregonians do not fare well in this heat. Our typical weather pattern is one of the major reasons we are still Oregonians. 8 month pregnant native Oregonian pale redheads especially do not fare well in this heat. Thank god for window AC units and basements.

Platt (where Kevin works) is too cheap to have AC in their storefronts and warehouses. I think it is against some kind of labor law to subject their employees to that kind of abuse. I mean really, 105? No AC? Kevin had to go to Staples to buy his own clip on fan for his desk yesterday. Again, ridiculous.

Is there any chance you could be retarded?

So I went last night to Bouffant to have Sarah get my rapidly growing hair back under control. She gave me a great and much needed cut and I got up from her chair feeling like a new woman. Until I went to check out. One of the two women at the counter was being very sweet, asking if I knew the gender, name, etc, of the baby-to-be. The other women upon hearing that the due date is 2 months away, asks, "is there any chance it could be twins?" I just looked at her with my best look of death and disbelief and let out a big "ughh" type sigh of disgust. This is the first idiot comment I have had with this pregnancy and I was totally unprepared. Obviously people have no idea what they are really saying and to whom. What she meant was that she was not used to what a 32 week belly should look like. What she ended up saying esentially was, wow, you look really huge. Saying this to a woman, nonetheless, a very pregnant woman, is about the most annoying comment you could ever make. She followed up with "well, I'm a twin myself" as if that made me not want to hit her in the face any less. Too little too late as she could tell I was not amused. So I drove home trying to think of the best possible comeback for these types of comments. I want something that shows I am not amused, but doesn't come off as too terribly rude. Any ideas?

Happy Independence Day

We spent the 4th of July weekend in the fancy resort town of I - ron - da - lay, Washington. It's about 7 miles south of Port Townsend on the beautiful Port Townsend Bay waters of the Puget Sound. Okay, so it's really just Irondale, and barely considered a town, but it's been our forth of July destination going on the past 5 or so years. Kev's grandma Sylvia has a place there and Kev's aunt Barbara and uncle Ron have permanent residence (a beautiful new home) just one cabin down the street. We traditionally set up "tent city" in Grandma's backyard and call it home. Ron's sister and bro-in-law also have a place next to grandmas so quite a few of us take over the place and try to stay out of too much trouble.

This year we invested in new self-inflating air mattresses from REI that are seriously the best thing since spray-on sun block. (Okay, so I know spray-on sun block hasn't been around long, but do I ever love the stuff). Petie still fits in his port-a-crib so that left Kev and I to a lovely bed on the ground. Sheets from home and our down comforter instead of stupid sleeping bags. I swear it was as comfortable as our mattress at home. I slept like a baby. Like a 9 month old baby who has been properly sleep trained, that is. Did I mention I am worried about the lack of sleep that is creeping up upon us in the next 2 months? Afraid, very afraid. Trying to block it out and enjoy the next 2 months!

Anyway, a great time in Irondale. The usual family drama mixed with great firework displays, tasty food, and great times for the kids to enjoy their cousins. Thanks to Grandma and Barbara and Ron for the use of their facilities and to Marissa for organizing the "general fund" this year.

Looking forward to many more. As usual all of the photos are here. Password: wellnitz.