August 1st - Unfortunately we never made it to Jeremy & Anja's wedding (thanks to jetlag) and yes, we heard we missed out on great food and fun. Congratulations!
August 8th - My dad's new wife (Hiam) arrived from Lebanon and friends of the family held a reception for them. It was quite the spread with every middle eastern dish imaginable. We ended the evening with a good snack of fresh figs the size of small pears. The highlight of my evening was my cousin Krista. She arrived with her husband and two children calm and collected. She made her rounds to say hi to everyone, and within seconds of talking to her, her little guy was playing with her earring and it popped off. She screamed "EVERYONE GET ON THE FLOOR AND FIND MY EARRING!" Never a dull moment with my dear cousin that always has me laughing.
August 9th - Dinner with our dear friends, Dave & Marianne. What can I say, always relaxing and cosy. Oh no, wait a minute...I forgot the kids were there too!
August 11th - Packed up the kids and visited with Sarah. We had a great lunch and soon realized that Reuben's obsession with stairs is pretty excessive. Hmm. Maybe we'll buy him a stairmaster.
Jon & Tina's - We had a wonderful dinner with chicken that left me literally begging for more. It was one of those meals that you will remember for years to come. And if I'm lucky Tina will share the recipe...hint, hint.
August 19th - Luau Kids Party - Portia & Reuben, were invited by Alina & Savannah for a Hawaiian party. They had fun splish-splashing away, playing games and hitting the Pinata but I know Portia's favorite were all the candies she got to bring home once the Pinata was broken. Yeah, Sylvie, I'll be sending you her next dentist bill.
August 21st - Luis & Chris' - Along with my in-laws, we enjoyed a wonderful Friday evening at the home of our close friends. A great meal, fine wine, good friends (Jonathon & Charlene were also there) and entertainment to boot! Luis has been learning to play the violin, and after 1 month of self-taught lessons, he impressed us with a mini concert. He also plays the piano and guitar. Imagine that. And imagine how I felt since I never even learned how to whistle. I've always wanted to sing, but by clear facial expressions, Alex has made it clear that it's just not my calling.
August 22nd - The Montgomerys - Our friends Bill & Sarah invited us up to Smith Falls for a visit with their
family. This is the 4th year we've gone and it just gets better and better every time. Bill's parents, Dave & Jean, have a cozy home right on the Rideau Lake with a backyard that leaves you at peace with nature and in appreciation for all things created. Simply put...it's beautiful! To top it off, the whole Montgomery clan are so good with children. Portia enjoyed our visit and Reuben was hands down, the guest of honour. Our day ended with a delicious bbq and gifts for the children. Like they need more gifts....Thank you dear friends once again.
August 23rd - Sunday dinner - We had a nice visit with Jasmine & Peter over an amazing Mushroom sauce my MIL put together. (For those that might be interested, she took 1.5 pounds of mushrooms and processed it in blender until fine. She added many cloves of ground garlic and fresh pesto and let it simmer over the stove. And voila, it was tossed with spaghetti and good to go. You can add Parmesan and a bit of hot oil over it for added taste.) Anyways, back to the visit...our friends also brought along their beautiful daughter Emma who's changed so much. You know when an adult would come up to you as a kid and say "I remember when you were this big." Well, it was sort of one of those moments.
August 25th - Mont Cascades - Carm was kind enough to invite Portia on their day trip to Mont Cascades. Portia spent the day slipping and sliding with Alyssia and was nicknamed "Kamikaze." (Like that is a surprise.) I must admit, it was amazing how much I was able to get accomplished around the house.
August 26th - Valleyview Little Animal Farm - Along with my mom and Pat, we took the kids to this great farm that caters to children. There was so much to see and do and we did it all...fed the little animals in the Little Animal Barn, toured the Old Farm Museum, visited the bigger animals, watched a puppet show and took a train ride around the farm twice. Portia and Reuben thoroughly enjoyed playing in the massive playground but hands down Reuben loved the puppet show. He danced and swayed through the whole time. This child loves music and dancing.
August 27th - Mother/Daughter Day - Portia and I got to finally spend some alone time together. We started our time at Starbucks/Chapters and read some books together as she sipped on a children's size Vanilla Creme and I on a caffe latte. My MIL treated Portia with a monetary gift so she bought herself 2 books and 1 for her brother (I thought that was sweet). We then headed to Ritchie Feed and Seed to buy a bag of cracked corn for the ducks we feed almost daily at a nearby pond. We then headed to St. Laurent Shopping Centre and within a few minutes Portia said "I'm just having the best Mother/Daughter day ever!" I know she meant that she was enjoying the shopping. Spoken like a true girl. We managed to find her PJ's with feet, which she's been begging for since she first saw Reuben in a pair. Then we went to get this darling white sweater for her at Gymboree. I had hoped the price would have gone down from the beginning of summer, but nope. I do love that store, but I must admit, I find it too expensive. Mind you, when they have sales, you can get a real good deal. We hit Ardene (one of Portia's favorite stores) and bought hair bows in just about every colour imaginable. What can I say? She's got an obsession with hair bows right now. Next month it might be a mohawk, who knows?! We stopped at Laura Secord for some Bubble Gum icecream. Yuck! Have you ever tried that flavour. It really is made only for children. Portia wanted to thank my MIL, so she asked if we could bring back an orange sherbert cup home for my MIL, so we did. I'm glad to see that she's starting to think of others around her. When I don't have to prompt her, it makes me feel like maybe, just maybe, she might actually be listening to us when we counsel her. We came home and were soon off to feed the ducks. Portia starting throwing some cracked corn and at first the ducks wouldn't budge. As she threw more, they started coming closer and then a back wind, blew the feed back towards us and the next thing we knew, we were all covered with cracked corn in our hair.
August 29th - Easy Dinner with Dave & Marianne - Mmm. Chicken Wings, Salad, Oriental Beef & Beer. Let's not forget the amazing cheesecake.
August 29th - Took Portia & Reuben to get their photos taken at Loblaws. Good prices. You just have to be creative yourself in how you want the poses. The pictures turned out pretty good but was a bit dark in the background. Live and Learn. Regardless, they will be hand delivered to our relatives in Italy next week. We had a wonderful Family Anniversary Dinner. Man & Carm, Branko & Franca and Alex and I, celebrate our anniversaries within weeks of eachother so we have one big celebratory dinner every year. And as family tradition regulates, we ended it sweetly with Mocha Almond Fudge Icecream Cake from Baskin Robbins. Nope. Never get tired of it.
August 30th - Met my dad, Hiam, my sisters and Aaron at Mr. B's (excellent Italian food). Everything was going pretty well, until Alex asked me if I thought Reuben's lip was swollen. It was hard to see under the dim light so we took him outside for a quick look and then my heart started pounding. Although my son's lip was significantly swollen, my sister Stephanie suggested that perhaps it was a cold sore, however my mother's instinct took over and I started racing Alex out of there. I apologyzed and excused ourselves in a blink of an eye as we raced to the Childen's Hospital. In transit, my little man's hands, eyes and feet swelled up. I started begging Alex to drive faster and soon the wheels of our mini van were screeching as we drove up the wrong way to the Emergency doors. I ran in with Reuben to find a parent in line, casually asking about his daughter. It took miliseconds for the administrator to look at me and ask if we were together. I started crying as I said "No, my son is having an allergic reaction." He quickly told me to go to Triage 2 where one of the nurses was quietly sitting and writing. She looked up and before I could completely tell her what was going on, she whisked Reuben out of my arms and starting running. She must of pressed a button since within seconds the room was full of hospital staff, each with a clear-minded task on what needed to be done. I stood there crying as my little boy was stripped down and wheezing. First came the epinephrine shot in the thigh and countless other things that haunts my memory. The doctor confirmed that he was going through anaphylactic shock but that he would be okay. Alex, with Portia in his arms crying, ran in and were pulled aside to answer some questions. After 6 hours of IV drip, Ventolin and a watchful eye, we were told we could go home. Unfortunately, they aren't able to confirm exactly what caused this reaction, but we are leaning towards the spoon that Reuben grabbed that was used to serve the Calamari we were enjoying. We are currently waiting for an allergist appt. I went home realizing once again, just how precious life is. The good news is that the doctor felt that since we were waiting around, we might as well go for an x-ray to get a better idea of what is happening inside Reuben's little body. The results came back clean with confirmation of some of his pre-existing medical issues.
August 31st - I took Portia for a yearly medical check-up. And with Reuben, well, I addressed some of his medical issues since we will have to wait until November 3rd to see an Adoption Specialist. Reuben now weighs 16.7 pounds. I know it's not much of an increase but regardless, it's a step in the right direction. Portia starts school full-time tomorrow so we ran around getting last minute things off our list, organizing what she will wear, eat...I can't imagine what she will be like as a teenager.
4 comments:
Oh, I can feel your panic with that episode of anaphylactic shock! We almost lost Sara during a huge snowstorm one year when we barely made it to the hospital before her heart stopped. She now carries an epi-pen but hasn't had another episode that severe. We were advised to call 911 next time and identify it as anaphylactic shock because the medical crew will arrive with treatment. But, it's always a judgement call: wait for the emergency crew or jump in your vehicle and drive like crazy! Hopefully the tests that they'll put Reuben through will identify his allergens but in Sara's case, they couldn't tell us what it was---she had too many allergies.
oh my goodness, that must have been so scary. our son had an allergic reaction to amoxycillin once but only broke out in hives. i cannot imagine that kind of frantic worrying and rushing him in to emergency.
i am so glad he is ok.
sounds like you had a very busy August - it's nice to be home, huh :)
Wow, what a scare! My heart was pounding just reading it! I'm so happy the little man is okay. I hope it never happens again and that you can find out what it is that he is so allergic to. That's worrisome.
Oh, and just one thing...could we see some pictures of this little guy soon? We'd sure like to watch his progress. Not to say that the commentary isn't good...it is! LOL ;)))
Letizia, you had my heart pounding just reading about Reuben!
I hope since then Reuben has been doing well!
We think of your family often, especially when we refer to Xavier as Bon Jovi, after all you guys gave him his first nickname!
Talk soon!
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