harpers' garage

nekkid

2012-01-22T13:31:00.000-08:00

At 2 o'clock this morning -- an hour with which I'm all too familiar lately -- Tyler and I heard Miles crying in the baby monitor.

Tyler went to Miles's room to assess the problem, and he came back about 10 seconds later.

"Well, that's a new one," Tyler said, as he retrieved his glasses.

"What do you mean?" I half-consciously muttered.

Tyler continued, "Miles is sitting on a pile of books by his door. And he's completely naked."

i promise we're alive ...

2012-01-20T10:35:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess my resolution to ''update the blog on a more frequent basis'' has been altered a bit. I really have meant to be better about keeping this thing current, but we've had some bouts of sickness at our house over the past few weeks. Twenty-twelve hasn't been our favorite year, thus far. Things can only get better from here.

I spent 29 fun-filled hours in the emergency room on January 7th and 8th. My calcium levels were low, and I felt tingly and weak. For those of you who are thinking, "Wha?! I don't understand ...", I have ongoing complications from having my thyroid removed in 2008. I have consistently low calcium (known as hypocalcemia) and my parathyroids don't work (known as hypoparathyroidism).

To make a long story short, when my calcium levels drop, my whole body gets the pins-and-needles sensation that you feel when your feet fall asleep and wake up. You know the feeling. When this happens to me, I have to have calcium through an i.v., and that's exactly what I got in my 29-hour stint in the ER.

Tyler was supposed to work on the days I spent at the hospital, but he was able to work from home. He took care of Miles and ran the house and took care of me. The man is an absolute saint.

We had a couple friends from church help out with Miles and bring me food in the middle of the night. They're also saints. Seriously, I don't know what we'd do if we didn't have the church. People are so kind and willing to help. It's awesome.

Oh, and I'm okay now. I just have to eat 15 Tums a day and take an assortment of pills. I definitely prefer this regimen to spending hours at the hospital. Besides having my blood drawn 10 times (in 12 different attempted veins), I started to smell. Maybe I was the only one who noticed my I've-been-in-this-room-too-long stench, but it bugged me. Actually, Tyler noticed it, too. And he wasn't ashamed to tell me.

I love him.

On a non-medical note, Tyler begins his 5-day, 8-hour shifts this coming Tuesday. Up to this point he's been working 12-hour shifts that rotated every 4 days. This schedule was great, in that we got to spend 4 solid days off with him. However, it also meant that he worked a month of Sundays every 4 weeks.

This new schedule has him working Tuesday - Saturday, and he only works 8 hours as opposed to 12. Tyler even gets Sundays off, which we're thrilled about! Tyler misses going to church regularly, and it will be nice to have him there with me and Miles.

As for the man of the house, Mr. Miles continues to astound us with his discoveries and new-found interests. Last night he single-handedly scaled our bed, which is a good 3.5 feet up. Miles hasn't been able to crawl onto our bed before (although I don't know that he's ever tried), so I was a little shocked when I turned around to see him happily sitting on my pillow.

He's a busy toddler in every way, and we enjoy sharing his house with him.

Yep, you read that right.

oh, what do you do in the wintertime?

2011-12-29T19:27:00.000-08:00

... and we're back!

2011-12-29T15:08:00.000-08:00

After a 6-month blogging hiatus, the Harpers have returned. In a garage.

We thought it apropos to incorporate Miles's all-consuming car collection in our newest blog design. His fleet of cars is, after all, like another member of the family.

Or like 45 'another member[s]' of an abnormally sized family.

The cars bathe with Miles, and they're probably some of the cleanest things in the house! They're the first things Miles asks for in the morning, and they're what he plays with as he falls asleep at night. The cars sleep with Miles; they ride in the car with Miles; and they eat when Miles eats. They're not keen on pb&h sandwiches, though, which saves us some cash.

Since the final installment of our last blog, we've moved to a new townhouse; been promoted at work; traveled to Idaho; visited the ER more than we'd like; and continuously adjusted to life with an energetic toddler whose vocabulary, mobility, understanding, independence and limit-pushing are ever expanding.

Here's a peek of Miles with Santa Claus this Christmas:

Please note: there was an electric car track immediately to Santa's left, just outside of the photo's frame. Miles wanted nothing to do with the strange (and very nice) man in red; he wanted the cars that grown men were controlling with a remote.

Don't feel too sorry for the kid. Santa brought him 10 new cars on Christmas morning, and Miles has been occupied to the point of obsession. Eating is a burden, and sleeping? For reference on that, ask Tyler about Miles's new '5-a.m.-rising-every-day-after-Christmas-in-order-to-play-with-the-cars' schedule.

Welcome to the garage!