December 23rd

We have had a lot of activities going on in December. We have been to the theatre to see several Christmas plays, Troy has turned four and for the first time we had a party for all of his friends, we have also been in for his 4 year check up with the nurse. To his disappointment he does not need glasses, and he was doing great on prepositions, colors etc. Yesterday they had their annual Christmas party at daycare and they ate a good dinner, got desert, and Irresistible (from the Norwegian X-factor) entertained the kids.

Troy is really getting giddy and is so looking forward to Christmas Eve and Santa coming. I am just hoping that he will not be disappointed, since what he really wants for Christmas is a telescope. Any decent telescope is really expensive so I could not afford that this year, and I want to see if he has an actual interest in star gazing before I buy one.
He is going to spend the first part of Christmas with his dad, but I get to have him for a few hours tonight since we have to make sure that Santa gets his porridge, cookies and milk. We are combining the Norwegian and American traditions so Santa will get Norwegian rice porridge, chocolate chip cookies and a glass of milk, all served in our barn. Troy wasn’t too sure what Santa would like the most, he thought the cookies, but just to make sure we are including the porridge.

Happy Birthday Troy Alexander

I can't believe that my little boy turned 4 years old yesterday.
He is so proud of being 4 years old himself. This morning he asked me if I had shrunk, cause I seemed shorter than normal compared to him. We celebrated his Birthday Sunday, one party for his friends, and one for relatives. Last night we went to the theatre to see a Christmas play, and he just loved it.

Troy's Wish List

Since Troy's birthday is coming up, and x-mas in not too long I figured I will put his wish list on the blogg. I have asked him what he wants and then I've added a few things that he needs.

Books (no Norwegian scary fairy tales).
Buzz
Costumes
Face Paint
Anything pirate related
Superundertoy (uten ull)
Varme votter
Whak-A-Mole
Magnetic letters
Science kits
He likes learning things so anything that is age appropriate learning would be good

If he comes up with more I will add it.

Money

This morning Troy spotted his wallet in the bathroom:
T: Look, my wallet
Me: I see it, but I don't think you have any money in it
T: I guess I am broke!

Vacation Pix 4

Vacation Pix 3

Vacation Pix

Good food in smaller portions

When going to Texas I was really afraid of what damage all the good food in Texas could do to my weight. The first thing I bought was a scale, and I had brought my sneakers so that I could exercise a little. It did not take long to gain a little bit of weight, so I had to adjust how much I ate, and make sure I burned enough calories throughout the day. I wanted to enjoy the food, but I was really careful about how much I ate. I ate burgers (and yes, there truly are some good burgers in TX), but I ate a third of one instead of finishing the whole thing.
I managed to loose 4,5lbs during my vacation, so some of the clothes I bought at the beginning are now a bit loose. I started out by fitting into a size 10, and by the end of the trip I could fit a size 8. Only 6lbs to go before I reach my final goal :)

Goodbye TX

We truly had a wonderful time in Texas. On our last day we tried to squeeze in as many activities as possible. We started off the day by going downtown to the bayou city art festival. We spent a couple of hours looking at the art, not hardly enough time, but I wanted to go the renaissance fair as well, so we had to move on.
We then headed to the Renaissance fair, and Troy was in pirate heaven. He really likes pirates, and a lot of people had dressed up as pirates. There was one in particular that looked a little like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, and Troy was so fascinated by him. This particular pirate was enjoying a beer when we got there and Troy just stopped in his tracks and starred at him. We saw him several times throughout the day. I was a bit worried that Troy would start to question why his pirate could barely stand upright towards the end of the day, but luckily he did not notice. The pirate however did notice Troy’s fascination with him and took the time to stop and chat with him, and give him a high five. Troy could not get over the fact that he got to high five a real living pirate.
They sold a lot of pirate stuff at the fair, and Troy wanted it all.
To end the day we headed over to the woodlands to see Sugarland in concert. By this time Troy was exhausted, and by the time Sugarland made it on stage, he was sound asleep in my lap.
The concert was awesome and a great way to end our time in Texas.
The next day we headed for the airport to go back to Norway. I did my best to avoid getting on that plane, and dragged everyone into a gift shop. Unfortunately they heard the announcement for last call for boarding and started running toward our gate (darn it), so we ended up making it.
The trip back was uneventful and we made it back to Norway, where a lot of people were really anxious to meet Troy again. Troy was really happy to meet his girlfriend. He had even brought her back a gift from Texas.

Brazos Bend State Park

We headed out early to take a hike in the park to see if we could see alligators, and we were not dissapointed. Troy was not too sure about the alligators laying next to the trail, but he did enjoy the day.

Back in TX

We decided to take it easy, so the kids got to realx a little. We went to Catriona's parents ranch, so the kids got to experience a real TX ranch. They have cattle, donkeys and horses. The kids got to ride on an ATV, the adults got some target practice and we really had a wonderful day out in the country.

Summary

So we went to Florida and had a great time, and we were so busy I didn't have time to blog.
We went to Universal Studios on the first day, and then we bought a 5 day park hopper pass to Disney World.
Day 1: Magic Kingdom, what a great place this is. I love it, and if you are going the end of Spetember is a great time to go since it is low season. It does not mean that you are not surounded by people at all times, but the lines are not quite as long as they could have been. I was sure that Troy would love this place as well, and for the first five minutes he did. He got to meet with Pluto, and that was fun. Then there was a show outside the castle and we got a good spot to watch it. Seeing Mickey and the rest of the gang was fun. Peter Pan came out and that was fun, but then Captain Hook came out and that was not fun. He turns around and tells me: this is scary, and before he is done telling me that the witch from Snow White came out and he is screaming bloody murder. He is desperate and wants to get away from there. We had to have a long talk about how even mean charachters have to be nice to he kids in the park, or they would not be allowed to be there. All they could do was pretend to be bad.
Day 2: Animal Kingdom, this place was great. No scary people, and going on a safari was great. We came to the park a little late, not knowing that they closed at 6pm, so we only got to see about half of the park.
Day 3: Hollywood Studios, this was a great place for Troy. They had playhouse Disney and a lot of fun shows and rides for the young kids. Both Troy and I loved the 4D interactive Toy Story ride.
Day 4: The Epcot Center, we went to the Norwegian Pavillion so the kids got to speak Norwegian with someone other than us. Troy kept telling them that even though he spoke Norwegian he speaks a lot of English. When Troy and I walked around by ourselves he wanted to speak English. He really kept practicing. Mommy, that's a window, that's a door. Mommy look there. His English really is improving by the hour.
We ended the day by going back to Magic Kingdom
Day 5: Magic Kingdom, Troy got to decide witch rides he wanted to go on, and we had a fantatic day at the park.
Day 6: The Florida vacation was over and we left the house we had been staying in. Troy was not happy about leaving Florida. He was not looking forward to a 10 hour car ride, he did pretty good though, and we made it to Alabama before we decided to call it a day.
Day 7: We left the hotel room early and decided we would make it back to TX that day. We stoped by Wal Mart and picked up a few movies for Troy and we took a long break at a mall so that the kids got to run around a little bit.

FL Day 1

We decided to spend the day at Universal Studios, and we split up. Johan and Geir did a lot of roller coasters, while Troy and I went over to the Dr. Seuss section. Troy loved it, and he really fell in love with the cat in the hat, and thing 1 and thing 2. Meeting the characters were both thrilling and scary. We swithced kids a little so that I got to try some of the roller coasters as well.

MS FL

Since the kids behaved very well in the car the day before we told them if they were just as good we would make it to Orlando that day and they could spend the next day in one of the parks. Though Troy complained a couple of times of being bored they were both good. We made it all the way to Orlando. Since the house was rented for the next day we found a hotel with a pool and the kids got to spend some of that pent up energy in the pool.

TX LA AL MS

Headed out early in the morning to start on our drive to Florida. We drove to New Orleans where we had a long break where I showed the crew a little bit of what New Orleans had to offer. After dinner we got back in the car and decided to just find somewhere cheap along the road to sleep for the night. We found a hotel in MS where smoking must have been allowed in not too distant a past. We got into the room and Troy said: this smells like dad.

TX Day 10

We had a quite day where the kids got to relax and just play at the house.

TX Day 9

Today we did some more damage to my credit card. We had to exchange the rental car since the one we rented had a few problems. Geir took care of that while I took the kids shopping. It is fun to be able to buy clothes for me at any store. I don't have to buy my clothes at Lane Bryant anymore.
I decided to buy a scale as soon as I got here and I did. I have been able to make sure that I am not gaining any weight, and I have lost 0.5lbs. Not a lot, but as long as I am not gaining I am happy.
Troy had an accident in the mall today. He gave me about a 2 second warning that he had to use the bath room. We manged to get someone to come clean it up, and this of course was a good excuse for me to buy him a new outfit.

Today I asked Troy where he would rather live. Norway or Texas, I was sure he would say Norway since it seems like he misses Norway a little. He looks at me and says: Texas, I really like Texas. I would like to live here.

TX Day 8

Yesterday we went to the Houston Zoo. Our crew really looks different with 4 more or less white haired boys. We did get a lot of comments. Some lady came up to me and wanted to take Troy on a behind the scene thing, she had a ticket he could use. I however just had to wait. Yeah right, like I am going to send my kid off with a complete stranger. She either looked really nice, or like she belonged to some cult. I wasn't able to make up my mind on that one, but either way, Troy stays with me.

The other day I gave Troy some Kool Aid and he said it tasted like medicine (he used to get KA when he was sick when we lived in TX). Yesterday he got a slushie with cherry flavor, a taste he has only tasted on medicine when he was really little, and again he goes; mom, this tastes like medicine.

He is really picking up on the English. He asks what everything is called, and he has attempted to speak in full sentences. I am really proud of him

TX Day 7

We checked out of the ranch and headed back to San Antonio where we went to Sea World. That is one expensive place, and even though it was nice it was not worth it. Troy did not enjoy it, he thought it was a bit boring. He truly wanted to go to visit his friend Brayden, so when we started to head for Houston he was all smiles.

TX Day 6

Waking up at the ranch was fantastic. Troy and I started the morning feeding the longhorns, and we saw some deer. We then went swimming in the pool, and Troy spotted a hummingbird. Early afternoon we headed for San Antonio and did all the touristy things there. Geir loved the city, and the kids loved the Ripley exhibit. The wax museum turned out to be too scary for Troy.
After a busy day in the city it was great to head back to the ranch to realx.

TX Day 5

On day 5 we headed for the hill country. We took the kids to Austin and the state capitol biulding where they had Mexican entertainment. The kids enjoyed it for a while, but then they wanted to leave. We just spent some time walking around Austin, before we headed for Geir's birthday surprise. I had made a reservation at a B&B, and he did not know where we were going. The B&B, Canyon Lake Ranch was a well hidden treasure, and when I say well hidden, I mean it. The place was between Austin and San Antonio. It had no address, so plotting it into the gps did not work. I drove around for an hour before I found the darn drive way, but when we found it it was worth the wait. We had the starview lodge, so we had a house to ourselves. We had our own pool and outside the fence there were longhorns that the kids got to feed. The owners had a flowers, a cake and champagne ready for Geir.

TX Day 4

This morning Troy and I went shoping. We went to Target, and since Troy loves dressing up this time of year in the US is perfect for him. There are Haloween costumes all over the place, and he found himself a pirate costume. As soon as I had paid for it, he wanted it on. He is a very cute pirate, and he got a lot of comments from the people in the store about how cute he was.

After the shoping all of us went sightseeing. We drove to the Williams tower, and Troy loved the water wall. We then headed to downtown where we went to the Wells Fargo Plaza and the 59th floor where they allow tourists. Heading up in the elevator one of the guys in there asked us where we were from, and he then decided to join us and pointed out all the landmarks to us. That is another thing I love about the US, people are so friendly, there is no chance that a random stranger in Norway would help you out like that.

After lunch we went to the park downtown, to look at the old biuldings. When we were there the park keepers came over to us and asked if the kids wanted to feed the ducks and the turtles. The kids loved feeding the birds, and then got to see the turtles being hand fed by the park keepers.

Back at the hotel we joined the hotels BBQ party, and ate some good burgers. I then decided to take the kids swimming in the pool. Troy kept showing off how he can swim under water, and all of a sudden he looked at me with horror in his eyes. He had a bug on his finger, and he tried shaking it off. He managed to shake it off, but it landed on his neck, and it bit him. The bite site looked just awful and he was screaming in pain (and from being scared). I asked the people at the party if anyone new if it could be poisenous and they said that it wasn't. He is sleeping now but I am keeping an eye on him, just in case.

TX Day 3

Yesterday we went to the beach, and on the way there I got to show Geir how Houston traffic can be. There had been an accident and traffic was at a standstill for forever. Even though I am just a tourist myself this time around, it is fun to see Houston through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time. Even when stuck in traffic, Geir used the opportunity to take pictures of cars and trucks we passed. He found the roads facinating, and he thinks the city looks really clean and neat (I have only taken him to the good neighborhoods as of yet).

Galveston was great, the temperature was just right, and the water was fantastic. Even I can get in the water when it is 30c. We ended up staying for 3+ hours, and I can feel it today. I managed to get sunburned on my shoulders and back.

Love, love, love TX

Pix 2

Geir

I hope this one is the one that chased Troy and I in the pool the night before. Karma

Petting Zoo. Better safe than sorry. Troy wanted to feed the animals, but he did not want them to get anywhere near him.

Pix

Heading to TX

Kemah

Troy did not like the speedboat too much.

TX Day 2

Yesterday we went to Katy Mills Mall for some serious shopping. It ended up being expensive but it was so much fun. I love American malls and how they are made to make everyone in the family to at least partially enjoy them. The kids lasted the entire day, and only when we were two stores away from the exit did they start asking if we were done. It was so much stuff to see and do, and they of course got to do some shopping for things they wanted. Troy wanted to spend some of his vacation money on a dinosaur.

After we went shopping we drove by the old house. I was not sure if I was ready to see it yet. I miss the place, but at the same time I was not sure if I wanted to see it changed and with other people in it. Reluctantly I drove by it, and it was hard to see other people smiling and having fun in my house. They were sitting in the garage where we used to sit, but I have to say the place has really not changed much. I knew they liked our style a lot, and they truly must have because they still have my curtains hanging in the windows. Some of the things we brought to Norway they've even bought and replaced. Flattering but a little bit odd too.

TX Day 1

Troy woke up at 4 am yesterday. There was no going back to sleep, so we got up and had a quite morning. As soon as the pool opened we went down to go swimming. I did not join the others in the pool, since I woke up with green hair from spending some time in the pool the night before. No matter how many times I have washed my hair since, it is still green. Today I'll try with baking soda to see if that will work (green is really not a good color on me).
We went to the children's festival down in Kemah yesterday. The boardwalk is a fantastic place, and we all had a fantastic day. At 4pm. we decided to call it a day, after Troy fell asleep on the train ride. Troy fell back asleep in the car, and there was no waking him up. We went back to the hotel to get ready to meet some friends at a rastaurant for dinner. Troy slept while we got ready, he slept in the car, woke up for about a second in the restaurant, and then went back to sleep. He slept until 4 am this morning. I managed to keep him in bed until 5.30, and then we got up and I took the kids shopping at wal mart

We are in TX

We are in TX and it is good to be back home. Getting out of the airport, feeling the heat, and the smell of TX was fantastic. It did not take Troy long to let us all know that he does not even remember how Norway looks like. He was jumping around so happy, letting everyone know that this was just perfect, he loved the heat.
The kids have played in the pool, and are now both sleeping. I'll be joining them soon.
I am not going to say much about the plane trip other than it felt like it lasted forever. A 3 year old who wanted to challenge me on everything and a 10 year old with some other issues. Not cool!
However all that is almost forgotten now that we are here.

BMI

I have been on a diet for a long time, and have changed my lifestyle dramatically. My goal has been to get my BMI to the normal range, and I am finally there!! The magical number is 24!! I am a little scared that going back to TX may push it back up a little, so the first thing I am going to buy when I get there is a scale. Luckily the hotel we are staying at has a gym.

The Countdown has started

It is less than a week until we are getting on a plane heading for TX. I can't wait to get there. Everything seems to be falling into place. The car is confirmed, the hotel rooms are confirmed. The only thing I am waiting for is the confirmation for the house in Florida.
Speaking of Florida, I told Troy that we are going to Disney World, and told him that the is going to get to meet Mickey Mouse and I have never seen a bigger smile. He was so happy he did not know what to do with himself.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

Not really, but it sure is getting cold outside. This morning it was just a few degrees above 32F when I woke up. I have 5 weeks of paid vacation a year, and I sure need it if I am going to survive living in a country that is this cold. I can't believe the summer is over already.

He is back

Troy and Odin came back yesterday, and it was amazing to see my little guy again. He gave me so many hugs and kisses and kept telling me that he had missed me. He told me that he had had a great time in the US, and that he no longer spoke Norwegian, since they do not speak Norwegian in America. He told me this in Norwegian, but he had learned some new words in English.

When we got home we went to visit Farmor and Farfar who had missed him just as much as I had. The first thing he wanted to do was to go swiming in their pool. It was cold outside, but the water temp was probably close to 90F, so I let him.

Vacation

Troy and Odin has now been in the US for a week. I miss Troy a lot, but I know that he is having a great time. I have talked to him on Skype a couple of times, but he barely has time to talk to me. He is having a great time with his cousins. It is not that long until it is my turn to take Troy to the US. I can't wait. I have been looking at some Disney packages. I think I may surprise him by taking him there.

Geir and I have started to look at housese. We went to look at one yesterday that was great, but it sold today for a price that was a bit higher than what we were willing to pay for it. It looks like we may be building a new house. We have found a lot that we like, and a house that we like, now if only we could put the two together for a price that we like.

Swimming

Troy's farmor has a heated pool, and Troy has used it a lot during his vacation from daycare. He loves being in the pool, and over the weekend he actually started swimming. For now he can only swim under water, and only a few strokes at a time. I am really proud of him.
Tomorrow his 3 weeks off from daycare is over, and he has to go back. He is not happy about it, but I think he might enjoy seing his friends again.

My little charmer

Troy has never had much success in whining or throwing tantrums. I've pretty much ignored him when he has tried to use such measures to get what he wants. That said he has figured out how to get what he wants though. Knowing that I will give in if he is really sweet.
Phrases that he often uses:
Mom, I love you so much
Mom, I didn't know it was possible to get a mom as great as you
There is no better mother in the entire world than you mom.

If I get mad at him he looks at me and says: Mom, I think that I should stop whining and you should stop being mad. Let's just be friends!

Troy's Stomach

The doctor's have finally figured out why Troy keeps having stomach aches. It seems like he is a little impatient when he goes to the bathroom and is not able to get out as much as he should. That creates a build up that causes pain. It feels great to finally know why he keeps having pains. Now we just need to make sure he gets enough fibers, fluid and a little medication and he should get rid of the stomach aches.

Garmin 305

Today I bought myself a Garmin 305. It is a gps sports watch that has a built in gps so it can tell you how fast and how far you've run at all times. I tried it out today and it was fantastic, it really kept me on track with the pace I want to run at this time.

I did it!!!

Yesterday we went to Aare to a cabin to have some team building before the race today. We had a few beers and and ended up staying up way past my bedtime. This morning was the race. I was scheduled to run my distance at about 12:30, and at exactly that time my team-mate came running into the stable where I was waiting (not sure why they chose a stable for that, but it worked). I had been having nerves all morning long and when I saw how beat my team-mate was I knew I had a challenge ahead of me. Good thing I didn't know how much. I know I am not in good shape so I started out at a speed I knew I could do. Being that the weather has been crappy until today I did not take into account how much harder it would be to run with the sun blazing. By the time I hit the 1K marker I was starting to kick myself for joining the race. Around the 2K marker my work buddies showed up to cheer me on (I think this was around the time this little ten year old passed me). I forgot to mention that I thought my stretch was supposed to be downhill and flat, and it turned out to be a small incline the entire way (at least it felt that way, looking at the picture it sure looks like it was downhill). By 3K I looked up to see how much further I had to run, and when I saw how far 1K is when you are exhauseted I let out a yelp, and the people on the sideline found my torture amuzing. The last leg of the race was on grass, and that is not easy to run on when your legs do not want to keep moving, but seeing the my team-mate in his blue shirt waiting for me I gave it what little strength I had left. I am not sure about my time yet, but I am sure it was pretty crappy. I am proud of myself for completing the race without any walking. I am glad I have one full year to improve my time, because I will compete again next year!

St. Olavsloppet

Tomorrow is the big race. It is about 6 months ago since the Christmas party where I promised to be a member of my jobs team that will run from Norway to Sweden. Each runner have a distance varying from 12K to 3K. My distance is 4K, and I will run tomorrow. Since I figured I could get out of my commitment I did not start practicing until May. Since there was no getting out of it, and the last time I ran for anything was about 20 years ago I had a lot of catching up to do in a short period of time. The first day I put on my running shoes and decided to go for a run, was scary. I decided to try to run 3K, running may be too strong a word here. I took off and realized that my body did not remember this activity at all. I managed to get through the 3K, and I thought I was going to die, and that after keeping the “impressive” time of 8,5 minutes per K (according to some of my fitter colleagues, that is walking speed). I kept practicing whenever I could find the time, and I finally managed to get through 4K, the time has improved some, but not much. I am now down to about 7 minutes per K for 4K. I am scheduled to run at 6,5 minutes per K tomorrow, heh. I feel a little bit sick to my stomach about this commitment I made, but I am going to do it, and my goal is to get through it somewhere between 6,5 and 7 minutes per K.
I must be a wee bit crazy, since I’ve already promised I will run next year as well.

Sony Ericsson w995

I am not happy with my phone right now. When I came back from San Jose, the battery became uncharged really fast and I could not understand why. I almost had to have the thing on the charger for it to work. That is when I noticed that there was a little globe symbol on my phone. I thought that was odd, being a little technically challenged I did not at once undrestand what it meant. When I figured out that I was probably online I tried everything I could think of to get offline. After an hour I finally managed to get it off. The next day at work my phone started beeping saying I had no battery left, and I noticed the darn globe was on again. Me and a coworked kept trying to turn off the internet connection but the darn thing managed to go online as soon as we turned it off. I finally got it off, and I called the cell company who told me that I had $100 worh of online time. What?!! I told them to remove my option of being online, but that sucks cause I do like getting online with my phone when I choose to be.

San Jose

Two weeks ago I had to go to San Jose for my job. I got 3 days notice, but I pulled it off. It was so nice to be back in the US. When I arrived in San Francisco I was pulled in by immigration to do a second interview, since I've had a green card I guess they were affraid that I was about to move back. After an hour of questioning they felt safe letting me enter the country. Being back felt awsome, and just getting in a car driving from San Fransisco to San Jose felt great. I had really long days at the office so I was a little scared that I would not be able to go shopping, but on my last day I managed to get some time off, and I managed to spend a lot more money than I have, but it was worth it.
Being away from Troy was hard, thank God for skype.

Pee

Yet another little talk between Troy and I
T: Mom, I accidentally peed a little on the floor
M: oh?
T: Don't worry about it, it will dry up all by itself

Laila

Blue Eyes

A little conversation between Troy and I this morning:
L: Troy, you have such pretty blue eyes
T: If you really like them mom, all you have to do is buy yourself blue contact lenses

I have no idea who has told him about colored contacts

Richard

Seems like my entire family is sick, Troy has his stomach aches, my mother broke her ankle (she was at a party, and there was some alcohol involved, but don't tell her I told you ;) ). My brother was admited to the hospital today, with a crp over 200. He is feeling pretty awful, and I hope they can figure out what is wrong with him and get him treated soon.

Back to the doc

Ask me what I think of the Norwegian health care system...
Today we took Troy back to the doc since he did not have acid reflux, and she wanted to see him again. He continues to have stomach aches, and it is almost on a daily basis so I want this figured out. He will now be tested for celiac disease, and they will take an x-ray of his intestines to see if it could be backed up in there, and that's why he is having all this pain. I am sure it will be a few weeks until we can get an appointment for the x-rays though.

Tattletale

Troy's teachers probably knows a lot more about me than I even want to think about. This morning when we arrived at daycare, Troy ran over to his teacher and told him that Geir slept over at our house last night.

Horrible Mom Moment

Yesterday was Farfar's birthday, so Troy wanted to make him a cake. I pulled got the Betty Crocker box ready and put out the ingredients. He mixed everything together and then he had an accident and droped the bowl on the floor. I asked him what he was up to, and mumbled somehting about him not usually being clumsy like that. I am not sure excactly what I said, but when I was done cleaning I realised Troy was gone. I found him in the living room looking really sad. I asked him if was going to come finish making the cake. He looks at me with really sad eyes and said; But you said I am not really good at it.
That made me feel like a really horrible mother. I spent some time telling him how fantastic I think he is, and that even though he had an accident he could make cup cakes from the batter we had left. Definitely not getting a mother of the year award after yesterday.

Heading home

Troy enjoying a Fanta on the ferry

Brayden

I told Troy that we are going to Texas, and while there we will visit his buddy Brayden. At first he became concerned that we have to fly to get there, since he is scared of flying (he does not trust that a plane can stay in the air). I told him a little bit more about Brayden and then he got excited and yelled. I am going to meet my brother! I tried to tell him that Brayden is his buddy, not his brother but he does not believe me.

And it is not

Acid reflux. Troy's doc called me with the results from the test and he does not have acid reflux, so she want's him back in her office for more testing. I feel so bad for him, and I wish we did not have to go through any more testing. I wonder if him having NEC as an infant could be the cause of all this. I tried to google long term effects of NEC but did not come up with anything useful. I really miss American doctors right about now.

Getting stuck

Today we woke up to clear skies and sunshine, so my mom invited us on a boat trip. We decided to take the boat across the fjord and we found this really nice area where we set up camp. We had a really good time, grilling and making bread on a rock we placed on top of the camp fire. We realized that low tide was coming up so kept moving the boat, but suddenly the water moved to quickly and we did not move the boat in time. No matter what we tried, the boat was stuck. I checked my cell phone and realized that the next high tide would happen around midnight. This is Norway mind you, so being outside at the beach until midnight did not seem tempting. After making a few calls, Odin said he would come pick us up. A trip that was not too far by boat was considerable longer by car, and we did not know exactly where we were. We managed a general description and then Geir, me, Celina and Troy went looking for the road. To make it exciting for the kids we said that we were super spies looking for the road in order to save Mormor, Morfar and great grandma. We had to climb a the cliffs down by the fjord, then walk accross a field, walk on a dirt road until we finally made it to a paved road. We then started heading for the main road. Luckily Odin found us before we had to walk all the way to the main road.

Troy and Celina thought that being stranded on a deserted island, and then being super spies was super exciting so I don't think they will forget this day anytime soon. It was not our (read the adult's) proudest moments, but I would say it was a great trip since the kids had so much fun.

Boating

We took the boat to the other side of the fjord. Morfar is baking bread on a rock

American Treats

Today I had to change the tires on my car, and while we were in the city Geir surprised me by taking me out to dinner. We went to a Chilean restaurant and it was fantastic. It was great listening to people speaking spanish around me, listening to the music (who'd ever thought I'd miss that). Since I became super nostalgic we went by the movie theatre where they sell American candy. I got Jelly Beans, Milk Duds and some Skittles. I decided to take it all out so we went by a grocery store where they have a lot of American food, and we ended up buying several boxes of Betty Crocker, Ranch dressing, Ben & Jerry's cookie dough ice cream and several other treats. We also stoped by Cornelias House where they sell Yankee Candles. Changing the tires ended up costing me about $25, but I do not even dare to think about what I paid for all the other stuff.

Whining

This morning Troy and I got up late so I was in a bit of a rush trying to get everything ready. I was running around telling Troy to do this and not do that. He finally stopped, looked at me and told me that I had to stop my whining :)

Bowling

Troy's first time bowling. He scored 57

Barn party part?

Richard

Barn party

Ingrid at wy sister's barn

May Lill

At the barn party

Buzzador

Inger-Lise is exited that she gets to try Dr Greve shampoo for kids

Heading home

On the way home from the hospital. Still not feeling all that great

At the hospital

Troy with a concusion

Art

Making easter eggs. The kids lasted about a sec. The adults had fun for a long time

Mom, are you going to die?

That is what Troy asked me today. I am not a fan of lying to him so I try to answer as honestly as I can without scaring him when answering his questions. I had to stall on this one though. I told him that when I get really old I'll die, then I asked him if he knew what dying was all about. He told me that it is about laying down, and then you move to Jesus. OK, we will go with this one for now. If anyone has a good way of explaining to a 3 year old about dying I am all ears.

Light Bulb

Troy and me went to the mall today to buy Morfar a birthday gift. Troy wanted to pick something special, but being a little man he also wanted to get out of the mall as quickly as possible. He walked into one of the stores, picked out a light bulb and told me he was sure Morfar would love it. There was absolutely no need to look further for something else. I finally managed to convince him to get something else, but then we had to leave the mall, no browsing for him.

Sledding

Troy on his snow racer. At least he enjoys the snow :)

Where was I?

Troy was looking at a picture of me that was taken when I was 15 years old, and he wanted to know how come he was not in the picture. I tried to explain that he did not exist yet, but this was a concept that was hard to understand. He wanted to know if I had tossed him in the trash (not sure where he got that idea from). We ended up agreeing that he was an egg inside of Mom at that time, and he thinks it is hilarious that Mom has eggs just like the chickens. He is not too sure that he likes the idea that he started out as an egg.

Buzzador

After reading my cousin’s blog I learned about buzzador, a place where you sign up and get to try products for free. My first campaign was for Bonytt, a magazine about interior trends. I received a magazine, and got several to hand out to my friends. I’ve never read the magazine before, but I love it. Now that there is a slight possibility I may start looking for a house, this magazine is perfect ;)

Innbydelse fra Laila
Hei
Jeg har registrert meg som Buzzador på Buzzador.com og foreslår att du også gjør det!
Som Buzzador får du teste nye produkter och tjenester gratis.

Klikk på denne linken, så vises det at det er jeg som har invitert deg (mitt brukernavn som Buzzador er Texanna):
https://www.buzzador.com/buzzador/index.php?file=u-regstep1&lang=NO&refstr=Texanna

Hvis du vil vite mer før du bestemmer deg kan du klikke på denne linken:
http://www.buzzador.com/?refstr=Texanna&lang=NO

Done

Waiting for the meds to work

Pirate Troy and Celina

Testing part two

Tomorrow we're going back to the hospital for re-testing. We're bringing Troy's cousin for moral support. The poor guy cried when we told him that he has to go back. Man, I am dreading this.

Lucky

Noooo!!!!

The hospital called me to tell me that the computer they used for Troy's testing malfunctioned!!! They have to re-test him. I have promised the poor guy that he does not have to get another tube stuck up his nose, but with this fantastic well functioning health care system, I turned out to be a liar. Come tuesday he will have to have another tube stuck in there, and he will have another 24 miserable hours. I am not even sure when or how I should tell him about this mishap. There are days I am really tempted to move back to Texas, and this for sure would be one of them.

Wow

I managed to get Troy to look at me while taking a picture

Train ride

He was looking forward to riding the train, it was just a bit too comy

Testing

Today was Troy's big day at the hospital. He has had stomach aches since this summer so the latest test is to see if he still has acid reflux. We arrived at the hospital and the doctor was really nice, but you could see that Troy was dreading the test. She tried to insert the tube into his nose, but he started gagging and crying so she had to stop. She gave him some meds to relax, and came back after 10 minutes to see if the meds had started working. It did not seem to work, so she gave him another 30 minutes before she came back. At that point I had to hold him down, while two doctors worked on him to get the tube in. It was horrible, and I felt so bad for him. We had to take him to get an x-ray to adjust the tube, and when we came back, the meds finally kicked in. He was no longer able to walk, his speech was slurred, and he kept giggling. We had to put him in a wheel chair to take him to get some food, since he had not been allowed to eat since the night before.
Today has been hard on him, the tube is bothering him, and the backpack with a little computer in it is not all that comfortable. He will get to take the tube out tomorrow at 9am, I am going to have to stop by the toy store on my way home and pick out something nice for him. Farmor got him a Captain Sabertooth costume as a price for her little trooper.

It worked

The medication worked and my poor boy acted as if he was drunk

Waiting

We're waiting for the medication to take effect

Hospital

Tomorow we are taking Troy to the hospital. He has pretty much complained about his stomach hurting since this summer. So far the testing has confirmed that he has no allergies, and seems to be pretty healthy. Tomorow we are going to check and see if still has acid reflux and if that could cause him the pain. They will have to put a tube up his nose, down to his stomach, and he will have to have it in for 24 hours. I am curious to see if he will accept having it in there. I have tried to prepare him, and he does not want to go to the hospital. He wants the pain gone, but not if it means a tube up his nose. Poor little guy

Making brownies

At least he was until he started tasting the cake mix