Beautiful face

Just look at this beautiful face!


Ramy and I've both been suffering from an apparent summer cold, which completely sucks. We've been snorting Afrin and sucking down throat lozenges and generally complaining that we feel like crap. But we've been enjoying mindless reality television - Bravo definitely takes the cake for that. So it hasn't been a total loss. I have been working a lot on my comp paper and have actually been really productive with that. It will probably end up being about 60 pages of text. I hope to finish it this weekend, Lord willing. Then it is a short jump to being done with my dissertation proposal, and I still plan to propose it next month. So I'll be in good shape. I start my Old Testament class tomorrow night. Bleh. I have to admit that there are numerous things I'd rather do on a Thursday night than to be at Loma Linda talking about the book of Exodus. The nice part is that the only textbook we have is the Bible, so I'm glad to not have the usual outlay of cash for books that I'll never read, much less glean knowledge and wisdom. Now I just have to surreptitiously find out if Adventists have a different version of the Bible they use. (I'm kidding; they don't).

Say a prayer for my best friend Brenda. She's taking the Tenessee bar exam today and tomorrow. Also say a prayer for my Aunt Margaret, who'll be having a stent done next week.

Whole lotta shakin' goin' on!

Well, our city made headline news today. The earthquake we experienced this morning had its epicenter right here in Chino Hills. We're all fine and no damage. There was an odd roar, followed by a jolt and then the shaking began. It seemed like it lasted for quite awhile and then was followed by what I experienced as a feeling of the ground rolling underneath our feet. Ramy and I were unable to contact each other for awhile, and I couldn't get a line through to call Nanny Rebecca (who was here with Baby Rebecca) on her cell or at our house. Ramy called my mom and relayed to her that he'd talked to Nanny Rebecca and they were fine, as was he. So then I called my mom and learned that. The books all fell out of the bookshelf in our office, and we had a lot of pictures that were hanging funny. Other than the chandelier over our stairs swinging for several minutes and a lot of car alarms going off, that was the extent of it here. Ramy came home to check for gas leaks or cracks in the house. Luckily, Chino Hills was established after I was already in high school, so all of the buildings here are very new. I think there was some structural damage reported in Pomona but none in Chino Hills that I know of. So it was an exciting day.

Cute

Have you ever seen a little girl as cute as this one?

Mommy Rebecca

Rebecca has always been very loving to her baby doll and stuffed animals, but even more so lately. She will rock Baby Lucy, pat her on the back or the head, give her kisses, have us give her kisses... But this weekend, she was intent on feeding Baby Lucy. She would bring her sippy cup and try to make Baby Lucy drink from it. She also attempted to give Baby Lucy some cat cookies, but then Rebecca would laugh jysterically, so I'm not sure if she was just being silly or is she thought Baby Lucy was an idiot for refusing the cat cookies.

Still snotty, but she doesn't act as much like she feels bad today.

Darn ozone

Rebecca woke up not feeling too well today. Her allergy symptoms are back in full force - runny nose, watery eyes, and just generally not feeling well. She didn't sleep well last night, and she has pretty much just wanted to lay around today. When we went out and went to Costco and Target, she was content to just ride in her stroller the whole time (very unlike her - usually, after a few minutes, she wants to walk). We had been trying to figure out anything different that might have triggered it, and we couldn't think of anything. Recalling Dr. Jeng's suspicions that it might be environmental, I checked the local report for air quality. Yesterday and today we've been categorized as in the red zone, or "Unhealthful for all people." So it seems as though that may be the culprit.

We've had a very nice weekend. Friday was Ramy's 9/80 day, and he and Rebecca slept in, while I had to go get my TB test read. Hooray, I don't have tuberculosis! Rebecca and I went to Gymboree, and she had a perfectly marvelous time there. Then we picked Ramy up and had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. Yesterday, we did some stuff around the house, and I took a glorious two and a half hour nap, while Ramy took Rebecca with him to visit his mom and run some errands. Last night, we walked around some at the mall and had dinner there at Johnny Rockets. Rebecca thoroughly enjoyed the fifties music they played and watched attentively as the servers danced the Twist. She also entertained the table next to us. We went to 7:30 mass this morning and then ate breakfast at Panera. We've just been lazing around most of the day. I guess if Rebecca feels bad, no one feels good!

Thursday was my orientation day at Casa Colina. I basically just met my supervisor and followed her around and saw patients with her and learned what paperwork is required and all that kind of stuff. I really like my supervisor, which is always nice. I'll be working there on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and then I'll leave myself Thursday for going to Loma Linda to do supervision and working on my dissertation. This week, I have to start going to my religion class - Old Testament Thought. Tuesday and Thursday evenings, but only for five weeks.

Oh yes, my friend Julie's baby was born on Thursday night. She didn't have to be induced after all! Baby Adelaide Rowan Woltil was born weighing over nine pounds and is perfectly beautiful. I can't wait to see her!

Ten little fish, swimming in a line...

Rebecca's current favorite book is one that my mom got her and gave her when we were home a few weeks ago. It has really beautiful pictures of all kinds of fish, and you count the fish numerous times (Rebecca knows how to count, by the way - did you know she was brilliant? Okay, she doesn't use words for numbers, but she has the prosody of the voice down pat, as she points to them one by one). Did I mention that Rebecca LOVES this book? Last night, she wanted it to stay on her high chair tray while she ate her fish sticks and sweet potato fries. This morning, we read it a couple of times before I left, and then apparently Nanny Rebecca had to read it to her several times today.

Another favorite thing of Rebecca's is to be naked. The baby who would scream in hysterics when she was a newborn, and we made up the naked song to sooth her through newborn well checkups, now loves nothing better than to streak through the house. A bath completely revvs her up, and sometimes that has dire consequences, because her little legs can move faster than she can control them sometimes. Monday night, she was shrieking and running in our room after her bath, and she fell against our bed and hit her mouth on the bedframe. That was her first injury with blood. Luckily, no real damage, and even though I cried along with her, within a few minutes, she was ready to tease Ramy again. What a funny little girl we have.

Please say a prayer for our church's 35 youth who are headed home from World Youth Day in Sydney, Australia. Their testimony after the last WYD was really amazing, so I look forward to hearing about their journey this time. Also please say a prayer for my friend Julie, who is being induced on Friday, if she does have this week-and-a-half overdue gigantopbaby before then!

Peaceful sleep

Our sweaty little girl enjoyed sleeping almost nude!


I love pictures of her sleeping face.

Snuggle time

I caught a really sweet daddy-daughter moment the other night. Ramy was laying in bed watching tv, and Rebecca snuggled up to him. It was so sweet, I had to snap some pics.

We had a nice weekend here. Friday, we ate dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant in La Verne. Then we went over to hear a colleague of Ramy's who was playing in an oldies band. Rebecca thoroughly enjoyed it! She was rocking and grooving to the music. Where she got that, I have no idea! Saturday, we ate breakfast at Carrow's and then went to Costco and other random stuff. I exchanged a pair of pants for Rebecca at Gymboree and spent the rest of my Gymbucks. She spied the apple purse that goes with their new line, and it had to come home with us. Saturday night, Ramy was in the mood for Lucille's Barbecue. Since that place gets mobbed with people on the weekends, we got there around 5 p.m. and immediately got seated. Then we walked around in Brea Mall for a bit, came home, and watched The Great Debaters (Denzel Washington). What I saw of it was a really great movie, but I'll admit that I fell asleep on the couch while we were watching it. Sunday, we went to mass at 9:00 (so annoying in the cry room) and then got breakfast at Panera Bread and went grocery shopping. We went out in the afternoon and I got my new super-cool cell phone. For dinner last night, I made pesto pasta and shrimp for Ramy and pesto pasta and chicken for me and Rebecca.

Today, Rebecca and I laid around at home. Ramy came home and had lunch with us, which is always nice. I got my review back from the LLU IRB on my dissertation project. Luckily, all the things they asked for are super-easy - just clarifications or other really simple stuff. The changes will take all of 15 minutes, and then I just have to resubmit and should be good to go. I expect to get the official approval in a few weeks, but the full IRB basically just rubber stamps whatever the committee says is good to go. So that's a huge relief! Now I just have to hear back from the University of Redlands IRB and we'll be rocking. And of course I have to get my comp paper done. And propose my dissertation. And apply for internship. But, yeah, things are going along well, even though I'd really like to fast-forward a few months.

Oh yeah, I made a really good cake today. It's one from the Pioneer Woman. But like most things, I can't just make the recipe the way they call for it to be done. I have to tweak it a bit. Here's the recipe, as I made it:

Yogurt-Marmalade Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup of plain yogurt (I used whole milk yogurt, because that's what I had, but she uses lowfat)
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. prepared orange marmalade
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup Canola oil
1/2 cup prepared orange marmalade
1/4 cup yogurt
Zest of half an orange

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour loaf pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl, mix together yogurt, sugar, 2 Tbsp. marmalade, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and canola oil until just combined. Pour over dry ingredients and mix by hand until just combined. Pour into loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes. Remove and allow to cool slightly. Remove from pan.

While cake is cooling, pour 1/2 cup marmalade into pan. Heat until melted, stirring occasionally. Add yogurt and orange zest to pan and turn off heat. Stir to combine, then pour slowly over the top of the cake, allowing icing to pool around the sides.

Forgot to mention

Dr. Jeng called the other night to tell us that the results of Rebecca's RASTs were back. Negative for everything they tested for! Unbelievable, especially coming from my family (awash with allergies) and Ramy's (lots of asthma). Maybe breastfeeding was worth it after all. But, actually, they couldn't test for pet allergies, and Dr. Jeng believes her allergy symptoms are probably highly specific seasonal allergies (like to honeysuckle - which is what was blooming at the height of her allergy problems) and to environmental pollutants (e.g., smog). For now, she's staying on the Zyrtec and Singulair.

Also, I'll be starting at Casa Colina next Thursday. I have to get a TB skin test, but otherwise I'm good to go!

Friday, July 18

I haven't done a very good job of updating the blog this week since we've been back. It's been a good and largely uneventful week.

On Wednesday, I did the feedback session with the family of the little girl I did the neuropsych testing on. It's a hard thing to tell a family their child will never be able to live independently or to function at more than a second grade level. On a happier note, I got all my IRB stuff submitted to both institutions and a lot done on my comp paper this week. I'm moving along well with that.

Rebecca is back in her routine. She went on a playdate this week and had fun. She and Nanny Rebecca went swimming yesterday. This morning, she started her new Gymboree class (Level 4) and had a blast. Now we're just waiting for Ramy to come home so we can let the weekend begin!

Before I sign off, I wanted to mention a couple of people who need your prayers. The first is a little girl named Kate. I worked with her dad years ago at Amtec, and she had a bone marrow transplant from her brother when she was 2 because she had a rare disorder called Diamond Blackfan Anemia. Now she is in Birmingham Children's and they believe she has a mitochondrial disorder, which doesn't allow her body to produce the things she needs to function. She has a sweet, wonderful family who loves and cares for her, and they will be needing a lot of strength in the days and weeks ahead. Please pray for the Burnett family. Also please say a prayer for a family friend - Lisa. She has 4 precious little boys and has been diagnosed with cancer. They haven't yet learned the staging of it or the treatment plan. So please also pray for the Grubbs family. And for good measure, say a prayer for my friend Julie, whose very large baby girl was due 2 days ago. After 4 false trips to L&D and about 3 weeks of contractions, they'll be inducing her next Wednesday if she doesn't make an appearance before then. Say a prayer for a safe and easy delivery for Julie and Baby Girl Woltil.

Rebecca enjoyed a good day yesterday with Nanny Rebecca. They met up with Nanny Rebecca's cousin and her little girl, who is a month younger than Rebecca. So they had a nice little playdate. She also took a 3 hour nap for Nanny Rebecca. How do I never get those long naps from her? I could get so much done!!! I worked on my dissertation comp paper yesterday and met my friend Julie (whose due date is today!) for lunch. Last night, Ramy took Rebecca to visit his dad. Rebecca was a sweet girl and patted his arm and blew him kisses. I stayed at home and made fresh corn chowder for tonight's dinner. Then we got ice cream at Dollar Scoop Night at Baskin Robbins.

This chowder is soooooooo good! I can't wait for us to have it for dinner tonight with sandwiches. Here's the recipe:

8 medium sized ears of corn
4 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. flour
3 cups chicken stock (homemade is best, but low sodium chicken broth will work fine too)
2 medium-sized red skin potatoes (about 3/4 lb), cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 tsp. minced fresh parsley
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/3 cup shredded white cheddar cheese

Cut kernals from 4 ears of corn (about 3 cups of kernels); set aside. Working over a bowl, grate remaining 4 ears of corn on the large holes of a box grater. Scrape pulp from cobes (about 3/4 cup) using the dull side of a knife; set aside.

In a large pot over medium-high heat, cook bacon for about 6 minutes or until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on a paper-towel lined plate.

Add onion to pot and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until golden brown. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add flour and stir constantly for 2 minutes.

Whisk in chicken stock/broth. Add potatoes, parsley, milk, and grated corn and pulp. Bring to a boil. Reduce head to medium-low and simmer for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Using a potato masher, press down on the potatoes 4 to 5 times. Stir in cooked bacon.

Add whole corn kernels and heavy cream and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until corn is tender but still crunchy. Stir in salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Ladle chowder into bowls. Top each serving with a little cheddar cheese, dividing equally.

Still waiting

I'm a bit annoyed that Dr. Jeng had said it would take about a week to get the results of Rebecca's RAST tests back. It's now been 3.5 weeks, and still no word. Actually, last week I called, and the nurse looked it up and one of the panels (they did 8 or 9 panels) had come back but not the others. It was one of the grass panels and all were negative. I don't know if their lab is just freakishly slow, or if Dr. Jeng just has no idea how long it takes to get these tests done. I seem to recall him saying it would be about a week on the metabolic blood work they did last fall when we had the freak out over the vanilla scent; it took more than two weeks to get the results back then. So I have yet another call into LLUMC Pediatrics. I think Dr. Jeng isn't in on Tuesday, so I probably won't get any info today. I'm an instant gratification kind of girl, and waiting just isn't my cup of tea.

Please say some prayers for Katie May Burnett. She is a 7 year old little girl who is very ill at the children's hospital in Birmingham. I worked with her dad Darryl at Amtec several years ago, and Katie had diamond blackfan anemia when she was an infant and received a bone marrow transplant from her brother. Now she has some kind of mitochondrial disorder, and her prognosis looks pretty grim. Her family could use lots of prayers to help them through whatever they will have to face in the coming days, weeks, and months.

It never rains in Southern California...

I call myself the So Cal rainmaker. Generally speaking, we only get rain in the winter, never in the summer. You can count on no rain from May until October - not a single drop. The first year that I lived here was the record-breaking rainiest winter in California history, which was responsible for all the landslides and mudslides. Then winter before last, when I was staying in Tennessee while my dad was ill, there was no rain in So Cal. Last night, on our way home from dinner after Ramy picked us up at the airport, we noticed lightning and commented that we might get brush fires because of it. After we got home, it started raining! Unbelievable - a summer thunderstorm in Chino Hills. So, apparently, nature was blessing us because I was home again. ;-) Of course it only lasted a few minutes and did nothing productive, but we'll forget about that.

Today, we did grocery shopping and I've been trying to get unpacked and stuff put away. Rebecca is all settled in and has rediscovered all her favorite toys. She was overjoyed to see her daddy, and the feeling was mutual. I've been getting used to my new Bluetooth. California went hands-free for driving on July 1, and since I use my cell phone recreationally, Ramy got me a very nice one. I hate seeing people walking around with their Bluetooths in their ears like they are so important, but I admit that I walked all over Trader Joes this morning talking to Brenda. It is rather nice to not have that cell-phone crick in my neck all the time!

Headed home again

Tomorrow Rebecca and I will be heading back to California. While we'll both be happy to be back with Ramy/Daddy, it sure is hard to leave home and Mom/Grammy. We've had a lovely visit, as always - lots of shopping and good food. Rebecca and her Grammy have delighted one another with their constant songs, reading books, playing games, and love and kisses. Last night, we had dinner at Cahoots with all the Girl Posse. Today we took Aunt Margaret to the doctor, then picked up some stuff for my mom to applique and embroider custom made-to-match stuff for Rebecca and ate lunch at Macaroni Grill. Tonight, we had dinner with Tim and Shanna and made homemade ice cream while we tried to get stuff packed up. Hopefully it will all fit into three suitcases!

New pics of Rebecca

We had pictures done today at Portrait Innovations. As usual, Rebecca made it impossible to narrow it down to only a few, because there were dozens of good pics. I love that we get to come home with the CD so that I can post pics from her photo shoot. I've (hopefully) embedded a slideshow of the pics over there on the right side of the screen, but here are a couple of my favorites of her and one of the ones they took with me with Rebecca. If they look a bit pixelated, it is only because Portrait Innovations saves them for you pretty small (so you can't get cheap copies of enlargemeents made elsewhere) - the real pics don't look that way at all!

Safari girl

Rebecca is modeling one of her new Janie & Jack outfits.

Weekend update

Rebecca and I are still in Tennessee and enjoying our visit with "Geh-geh" (Grammy). On the 4th of July, we went to a fireworks display in Athens and took some barbeque sandwiches and pie with us. Rebecca loved it and wasn't scared at all...until the finale when they set off a whole string of really loud and bright fireworks. Then she screamed in terror and was torn completely to bits over the whole debacle. Then we got lost on the way home, but it was still a quite enjoyable trip. Yesterday we had lunch at O'Houlihans and bought some things for my mom to make some cute things for Rebecca. Then we had dinner at Carrabas. They were out of lasagna, so they comped our entrees, gave us some other stuff, and gave us gc's for free lasagna - pretty nice, I thought. We went to church this morning, and my mom was the worship assistant, so Rebecca and I sat with Aunt Margaret. Rebecca was very good, thankfully, but it reminded me of why I'm glad our church has a cry room! After church, we went to Madison to the Cracker Barrell and met Lynn, Kathryn, Jessi, Jenni, David, Shelley, and Kendall. Kendall is a precious little thing with beautiful blue eyes, but she's about 6 months old and bigger than Rebecca!

This afternoon, we let Rebecca play in her little baby pool and she had a wonderful time splashing and leaning over to try to drink water from the pool.



Then she came in and enjoyed playing the organ...naked!

We are having a really good trip. Rebecca loves her Grammy sooooooo much. My mom wasn't feeling well this evening and lay down for awhile. Rebecca kept going to check on her, saying "Geh-geh? Geh-geh?" But we sure do miss Ramy. Rebecca points him out in all the pictures she can find and she sings songs in the car in which all the words are "Dada."

All American Girl

Rebecca is wishing everyone a Happy Fourth of July!

Happy Independence Day!

We are enjoying our time in Tennessee! Rebecca is loving soaking up all of her Grammy's love and attention. She also really enjoys the dogs. She shouts at Lillie to be quiet. She's been playing in her pool, riding her car, swinging in her swing, and looking at the dogs. We've been shopping, eating well, and just hanging out. I got my IRB proposal done and mailed it out yesterday, so that's a relief. Now I can concentrate on doing my comp paper. Hopefully I can get it to a draft point before I leave here next week.

Here are lots of pics of Rebecca! These first pics are of her gazing at the dogs in the backyard.