Discovery: Cooper

I have become a fan of the Discovery Channel over the years. That main channel has, however, expanded to reflect different focus groups. Now, there's Discovery Health, Discovery Kids, The Learning Channel, Nat Geo, the Food Network and even a Man channel. But, there is nothing more fascinating than the discoveries that occur in the home. Specifically, my home.

Lucky for me, I have the special honor of having front row seats in some of the most hysterical, hilarious discoveries that life can bring. And, lucky for everyone around me, my sense of humor significantly outweighs my anger button. Cooper is just a go-go-go as fast as he can toddler, and everything seems to call out to him "TOUCH ME!" A few weeks ago we went along with his sudden interest in potty training. This was awesome, as this was something that he decided all on his own and was so excited to do it. We purchased a new potty chair that played a funky celebratory tune when poo or pee hit the bowl, and he loved it so much. Well, one happy afternoon (thankfully it wasn't 100 degrees outside) I put Cooper down for his nap. As usual, he sang for quite a while. This day he sang a bit longer than usual, so I called in for him to hush and go to sleep. 10 minutes later, the singing resumed. Again, I called out a naptime reminder. A few minutes later, I heard more singing. The last baby had finally fallen asleep, so I went to Coop's room to see what the problem was. The problem hit me like a ton of bricks before I even turned the corner to his room, but the scene in his room left me at a loss for words. That poor baby had pooped in his diaper, but was runny and bothersome for him. So, he played. He painted his walls. He painted his crib. He painted faces on his toys. He covered his blankies, sheets and crib bumper. And, he painted himself. The only poo free part of him was his head and face. Everything else: brown. He knew it was gross, but he just couldn't help himself. Since then, he won't touch his diaper, and he won't use the potty chair well. He traumatized himself!! lol

Today, Cooper was helping me with his little sisters. I sat Mackenzie next to Coop and he put his arm around her. Very cute. His hand came around and landed just under her mouth, which happened to be dripping with drool. He pulled his hand away and looked at the drool. Most kids would wipe it off. Not my boy! He's so inquisitive that he had to TASTE it! I laughed till I cried and reminded him that we don't swap spit with siblings. Funnier yet, he did this shortly after she got a Tylenol dose, so her slobber was tinged with sweetness. He didn't care that it was wrong. He happily exclaimed "Num Num!!" Oh so stinkin' funny! I hope he doesn't do it again, though......

Also today - Yeah, it's been one of those days - Coop found my tube of Strawberry Chapstick. He opened the lid and must have smelled the sweetness, cause' just a couple minutes after he was out of my sight I heard "Ptooey, smack, smack, ptooey, blech, lnalanalanlanal, mama!" He ate the whole tube of chapstick. Swallowed it down! Well, almost all of it. Some of it remained on his teeth and in his cheeks in super sticky form. I thought he'd learned his lesson when just last week dad caught him with a tube of chapstick with a big ol' chunk bitten right off the top. Imagine if it was lip STICK - Oh what a mess that would be!!

What a blessing it is for me to be able to share these little incidents that bring such a smile to my heart. I am thankful that I have such a curious little boy and that he is bold enough to go where this mommy has never been before. I love him so and can't wait (believe it or not) for his next adventure. I do hope that poop is not involved........

A goal in moderation

Every one in our family has a goal right now, some of which require a little more determination than others. Occasionally a hilarious incident, or stupid action has brought on a laugh and even a tear. Allow me to share.........

First, Cooper. Now, he has entered the REAL period of toddlerhood. We're seeing sides of Cooper that we hadn't seen before and some are just too funny not to mention. When he hurts himself, he gets so angry with himself. He pulled a rope tied to a truck the other day and whacked his little eyebrow. By the sound of the crack we knew it hurt, but he was having none of mommy and daddy trying to kiss it better. Instead, he stomped his feet, slapped himself in the head, went behind the couch and started punching it. He was so stinkin' mad at himself. He hops out of carts in the grocery store. And, oh I love this one, he throws his dish full of food on to the carpet out of anger when we don't respond to him fast enough. I know, surely this sounds like he's out of control. But, really, he's just trying to do his best, and for the most part he's the most perfect, well behaved little boy I know. It's just funny to point out the not so great things for humor's sake! Coop's goal: Get through toddlerhood with as many memories, good and bad, that he can create.

Katie will be going into middle school this year. She is a little nervous, and has a lot of self esteem issues to overcome. First of all, she has a little bit of a speech impediment - She can't say her "R's" very well. So, when Kate talks people hear "woad" instead of "road". She is actually much, much better now, but she is still very self conscious about this. She hopes that this year she can overcome this little thing holding her back and not be worried about how she speaks. Second, she's really tall, and, she sometimes feels like she doesn't fit in. She's always been astronomically tall for reasons unknown, and we have tried to find the humor in it for her sake. We'll tell her "You get to look down on everyone and see who has dandruff!" Or, "You can be the one to reach for things on the top cupboard for mom!" Still, she's about 5 or 6 inches taller than most of the friends she has, and she just feels like she's not fitting in as well. Unfortunately, there's no fix for that one. Katie's goal: Stop growing and say "road."

The twins are something else. They look nothing alike. They act nothing alike. They cry nothing alike. In fact, the only thing of likeness they have is their poop....But that's cause I feed them identical food. Poor Mackenzie laid predominantly on one side of her head for the first couple months of life causing her skull to form around that flat spot. So, at the moment, she has a very crooked head...Kind of a rhombus shape. We're doing some physical therapy and stretching to help her reconstruct that little head of hers into a normal, round, baby head. 7 weeks left to go until we find out if she has to get a helmet to do the job. We're hoping she doesn't have to have it. But, if she does, the worst part will be the fight Corey and I have about how we're going to decorate it: Flames or flowers. haha.
Rayla is just a cute little round person. In fact, her nickname at the moment is shortround for obvious reasons. She's shorter than Mac by a couple of inches, and she truly is about as round as a person can be! She doesn't seem to want to roll over and has no inclination to even rock towards one side. You would think that her "roundness" would make this super easy. But, movin' as such obviously has nothing to do with body shape and everything to do with will and drive. Mackenzie's goal: Round out the head and stay out of the helmet for the sake of avoiding flames! Rayla's goal: Rock and Roll, baby!

Corey has been through quite a bit this year on many levels. This cherry harvest has proved to be the most difficult that he has ever had to work through. Between the growers who refuse to listen to his well supported ideas and recommendations, to the long industrious hours he puts in 7 days a week to get the job done, he's just about as spent as one can be. I'm fairly certain that his brain is fried, his shoes worn down and his body is tired. He's worked so hard the past few weeks that he's dropped nearly 30 pounds. For that, I'm proud of him. Don't worry, he hasn't done it unhealthily. In fact, for some reason, we have found ourselves eating a little better over the past couple of months, and it shows. Corey's goal: Never look at another cherry for the rest of the year and take a vacation from it all. (He'll get a mini vacation next week, if all goes well!)

And, then there's me. Funny how I always write about myself last when talking about the family, but I guess that's the way it should be. Over the past couple of months I have gone through every emotion, every feeling and every facial expression that I think I have. First off, a couple weeks after I had the girls, I went on the Depo Provera......I will never, ever, ever, under any circumstance, recommend that to anyone. From about 2 days after the injection I began to get daily headaches that, over time, grew to daily migraines. I put back on 10 pounds. I was moody, emotional, angry, judgemental, and short fused. That was not the person I was, or that I wanted to be. Of course, being an injectable, the damn medicine was in my system until it was due to run out: 12 WEEKS after injection. Ugh. So, Corey saw many a side of me that I am sure he hopes never reappears again. After an unsuccessful attempt at an IUD, I am happily the wearer of an implant. It's called Implanon, and it's been the best thing for me so far. I have not had a headache since 3 days after I received the implant, have lost 10 pounds and have gained my happy go lucky self back. And, of course, have several years of baby blocker. I have invested in a triple jogging stroller which has been absolutely fantastic for walking with the kids. That, too, has assisted with my weight loss. Part of what was making me sad for so many weeks was that I was feeling a little lonely - Yeah, lonely with 4 kids. That's funny, huh? But my loneliness was more from my friends. I miss going out to lunch. I miss hanging with friends. I miss having friends over for movies, or just to chat. I know, these things change over the years, but I've decided I want some of that back. Even if it includes the kids, I'm going to make an effort to spend more time getting to know my friends, and maybe even having them get to know me. I've made some great connections lately, and I'm going to reap the benefits. I have ideas, and I'm hoping to implement them. I have friendship and I'm going to share it. Cara's goals: Lose LOTS more weight, do happy things and enrich my life with all the great friends I have.

It's funny that when I think about it now, much of our lives is about goals. Get up, get coffee, get kids ready, do this, do that, don't forget this and don't forget that. Goals, goals goals. Some of life's best memories didn't start out as a goal, but ended up being some of life's greatest accomplishments. If I'm gonna talk the talk, I should walk the walk. So for a week, at least, I'll make less goals, and more coffee. The caffeine just might make me do something great!

Lean on Me

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something. ~ Sandra Day O'Connor

Have I mentioned lately how proud I am to be a part of the Yasui family? Well, if I haven't, then I should have. From the moment I met Corey I knew he was part of a special family and I knew that I'd be lucky to be a part of it, even if only as a friend. Lucky for me, the man loved me and now I have the joy of sharing his name.

I mentioned in a blog several weeks back that Don Poole, a family friend, was in a tragic accident that resulted in the loss of his legs. He's a cherry grower and here we are in one of the craziest harvest seasons I've seen. Our family knew that there would be expenses this year for Don above and beyond anything he could imagine and those expenses would most definitely affect his ability to get his cherries packed and shipped out. Well, this family, as giving and loving as they are, offered up our cherry line for Don to use. Corey was able to gather tens of volunteers to work 2 evening shifts (we had to use the day shift for our own cherry sorting). The volunteer crew included all the field staff from Diamond Fruit, the Diamond CEO, CFO and many others from the Board of Directors. Office staff, line staff, Quality Control personnel, Operations personnel and even a couple who sorted at Diamond during the day shift offered up their hands to sort the cherries for Don. Those in Don's family who could be there were, including his son Adam. And, of course, our family - Corey, Flip, Maija, Tom, Leslie, Matt and Niko all took part and were there for the entire run of the cherries. It was quite a production and I was so proud to see our community coming together to assist one of our own during a time when he needed help most. Together, these families, friends and co-workers packed around 700 boxes of cherries. I stopped in with the kids on the last evening of packing and the scene brought a tear to my eye. Everyone was working diligently and with concentration - most of these people had never sorted or packed cherries in their life, but this night they looked as if they'd done it for years and they loved their jobs. Upon meeting Adam, Don's son, I could see that he was so incredibly humbled by what their family had been given. Through his exhaustion, the sweat dripping from his head and his dirt covered clothes, he had a smile that pretty much lit up that whole packing house. In fact, each person in that packing house was doused with dirt, sweat and a huge smile. Not one person that was there looked as if they didn't want to be there.

I am proud of this family for providing this opportunity for the Poole's. And, I'm proud of my husband for doing all the work to orchestrate such a successful community endeavor. Both evenings that Corey arrived home it was after midnight. He'd slept about 3 hours the first night and about 6 or 7 the next. I figured that he'd be overwhelmed with exhaustion. But, instead, he was overwhelmed with awe. He sat on the couch upon his arrival home each night, and boasted of all who were there, all the boxes they'd packed and how everyone worked so hard to get the job done. He was proud of himself for arranging everything, and proud of everyone who offered their time and energy. This experience enriched Corey's life a little, I believe. I am proud of my husband for all he has done, and that huge heart is just part of what made me fall in love with him.

Maija will be writing about this in her column and the Hood River News will be doing an article on the event, as well. I doubt I'll forget this for years to come. There are so many wonderful things about living in a small community, and events as such are proof of that. It's certain that all the people who helped with this have taken something positive from this experience. Whether it be a new respect for those who work the cherry lines, or whether it's a whole new outlook on giving back to the community, each person now has something that they didn't have before.

All proudness aside, we're hoping for all the best in Don's rehabilitation, and, if we're able to do this again for their family, we hope that Don can be right there, watching over his cherries, and see first hand the love that this community has. Now, hopefully soon I'll actually get to meet the man whose unfortunate accident brought this community together. For that, I thank him.

White Gloves, Hair Fluff and Helmets

The past four weeks have been pretty overwhelming, not for just me, but for millions of people around the world. I was once told when I was younger: "You know you're beginning to get old when the famous people you know start dying frequently." Well, I guess I'm getting old, then. Last week Ed McMahan died...Ok, he WAS old and his death could have been expected. Then, news broke that Farrah Fawcett was succumbing to her illness. A day after meeting with a chaplain, she passed away. Sad, though expected. That same day in the afternoon came the news that the world wasn't prepared for: Michael Jackson had died. What??!! I was sure that the news was another hoax of a famous person's death. But, it was true. The King of Pop had died. I know, he had his period of controversy, but, he was a great artist and I loved his music.

I watched his memorial service today and was somewhat disgusted with what I saw...It was obvious that some people used the service to gain popularity. I loved Maya Angelou's poem, read by Queen Latifah. I loved how Smokey Robinson and Lionel Ritchie spoke from the heart. I half-wit loved the performance by Mariah Carey...But it was quite "showy" for a memorial service. I think that having the kid from Britains Got Talent was just plain tacky.....After he performed, a speaker said "I just wanted you all to know who he is." Way to go! Use a worldwide watched funeral to introduce a British kid singer. Thank goodness I forgot his name already.

So, back to reality.........It's harvest time and we all know that there's nothing more real than harvest season stress, long and dreadful days and one thing or another that just doesn't go right. The economic downfall over the past few months has affected cherry farming this year, and in a NOT so great way. The market for cherries is crap, everywhere. Nobody wants to buy cherries. Which means the houses can't store them. Which means that the farmers can't pick. Which means that unless they can sell these cherries via peddling, thousands, if not millions of dollars, will be lost. That, my friends, is our scenario this year. Hundreds of growers, Yasui's included, have been instructed to "dump" the cherries or hold off picking altogether. This is disastrous on so many levels. Corey is a field man to about 30 growers, and though he doesn't disclose information to me, it would be unlikely that some of his growers don't have a picking halt, too. The stresses that are brought on by this are astronomical, and honestly, I'm keeping a close eye on my hubby to make sure that he doesn't succumb to the stress. Oh, holy July!

After the twins were born we always thought it was so cute how Rayla faced the left and Mackenzie faced the right when we laid them together. It was apparently the way they faced while in the womb, and the pictures of them snuggling together as such were so adorable. Over the weeks we noticed that Mackenzie always seemed to face to the right, but we didn't think much of it. She was beautiful, happy, and I just figured that it was a twin thing. Rayla, on the other hand, is kind of a spaz, and her head flings around in all sorts of directions to catch a glimpse of this or a glimpse of that. So, her head is about as round as a basketball. But, Kenzie's one way head lay has turned out to be a negative thing. Unbeknownst to us, her little head was forming around a flat spot that developed on the right side of her head, because she constantly laid to the right. This wasn't really noticed until about 3 weeks ago, and over the couple of weeks that followed it got progressively worse pretty quickly The result of this is a misshapen head, which, if not corrected, could pose problems with her facial development as well. The medical term for this is Plagiocephaly, and it's more common than I realized. It's also more common in preemies and doubly so in twins. In doing research one, or both, of the girls had a 50% chance of developing this. Shouldn't we be so lucky to not have dodged that bullet. Ugh.

So, once I realized that her little head didn't look quite right, I took her to her doctor for a look-see. He confirmed my suspicions and referred us to Doernbecher Childrens Hospital in Portland. Tomorrow, Maija will be going with me and the girls for Mackenzie's first exam. I'm a little nervous, but if all goes well, the worst part will be that Mackenzie wears a helmet for a few weeks to reconstruct her little head. Hopefully, that's all that has to be done. But, we'll find out tomorrow! My little girls are tough cookies, and as we've seen so far, there's nothing they can't overcome. In fact, on a lighter (haha) note, Rayla has chunked out so much that I'm pretty sure she slightly resembles the Michelin Man. They're both just so stinkin' cute, so incredibly smart, and just a couple of beauty bugs!

It's no surprise that my blood pressure hasn't gone down in a few weeks. But with the cherry harvest craziness, two busy little beauty bugs, a potty training toddler and the intense desire to lose weight, my head is spinning like a top. So, on that note, I'm gonna go do something that works something in this body besides my head and fingers!