Saturday, February 19, 2011

February 18 - Day 49


Today we took the kids to an Earth Cache down by the river. It was educational and I had fun teaching them about the formation of the rocks and the river, as well as the early history of Indian camps here. We tallied 9 geocaches today.

February 17 - Day 48


Another day of caching. Aidan's holding our cache kit, complete with trackables, pens, paper, and ziploc bags. He loves "treasure hunting."

We also saw the aftermath of an accident today. Thank goodness no one was seriously injured. The garbage truck one this round.


February 16 - Day 47


While Ian was at school today, we took Aidan out for some geocaching. We've missed caching and were happy to find their were some new hides near our home. This is a photo of Aidan holding the first find of the day. 

About an hour into our quest, Ian's school called and reported Ian had plugged his right ear full of Play-Doh. 
Off to urgent care we went to get it removed!

February 15 - Day 46


Our new bed. We got rid of our old Sleep Number Bed after 7 years and finally decided on a Pedic Solutions foam mattress from QVC. We were hesitant and waited about 3 weeks before going for it. Today, it arrived. It took a couple hours to completely expand. I'd hate to think how the heck we'd return it if we end up not liking it! We'll see how it goes.

February 14 - Day 45


It's Valentine's Day. Dan and I celebrated early by going out to dinner last Friday. We knew today he'd have to work and Ian had swim therapy.

Today, Ian volunteered to be the "target" while his therapy buddy (another little boy) tossed inflatable beach balls to him, trying to make it through the hoop. Ian loved it and giggled constantly. I am loving how much he is loving the water and how he really tries hard to socially connect with the other little boy. His progress is just amazing. 

February 13 - Day 44


Tomorrow is Valentine's Day and that means 3 parties at the kids' school. Two for Ian and one for Aidan. The boys helped make more than 30 dipped marshmallows for Valentine treats. We got the idea from Our Best Bites and sort of used whatever we had as chocolate and topping. I did buy the special chocolate swirl marshmallows, as well as the strawberry marshmallows. We melted 3 kinds of dip - semi sweet chocolate, white chocolate, and a pink candy melt that had a vanilla flavoring. For toppings we used crushed graham crackers, crushed Oreo cookies, mini dark chocolate chips, candy sugar sprinkles, and chopped up conversation heart candies.

Ian had the most fun dipping while Aidan was mostly interested in just eating the chocolate chips :)

February 12 - Day 43


Happy Birthday June! 90 years young!
Dan's maternal grandmother celebrated today with a huge party and an intimate dinner afterward. She's really 90 going on 65. This woman is the epitome of youth and staying active. She still golfs, bowls, writes, and drives! She's a rock :)

At the party, Dan and I were able to present the photo slideshow of her last 90 years. Dan's mom (June's daughter) scanned over 200 photos for us to put together with music. It turned out quite lovely. 

I didn't have my camera out much during the actual party since Dan's uncle Jay had the better camera out, taking photos. I did happen to get this lovely shot of Dan's forehead. Aidan accidentally stabbed his daddy with a fork. Oops. 


February 11 - Day 42


CoastalContacts.com was offering their Facebook Fans a code for a free pair of complete eyeglasses. The catch was that there was only a 2 hour window to snag the free lenses and only for the first 10,000 orders. I hopped on that bandwagon. I SHOULD have gotten a new pair of lenses for my three year old Vogue frames last Dec (before my insurance benefits renewed in Jan), but I didn't. Too much procrastinating. I couldn't pass up this deal. I was a little leary of picking out frames without trying them on but since free is free, I figured I had nothing to lose. I chose these Vera Wang frames. 

February 10 - Day 41


So I am supposed to be taking it easy and I have had a mani/pedi appointment scheduled for the last 6 weeks. I really didn't want to miss it and since it's mostly sitting, it's still taking it easy, right? I got the super duper package with paraffin wax and all. Pampering myself!

February 9 - Day 40


Home from the hospital today. I am still mostly couch bound for the next couple days but the boys are making some Martha Stewart recipe brownies. 

I love this shot of Aidan licking the mixing paddle. 


February 8 - Day 39


At the hospital, with only my iPhone to snap a photo. It's almost 1:00am and I am waiting for a breathing treatment. I was admitted after 2 hours in the ER on Monday afternoon. I have 4 residents and an intern managing my care and it's like a science project gone bad. On one hand it's great for them to suspect and check for everything, on the other hand I've ended up going through a lot of unnecessary treatments like a scan for blood clots in my legs and lungs. And it goes to show you that doctors don't always ask the right questions OR read your chart - for some damn reason I had an ultrasound done of my gallbladder to check for gallstones...guess who had their gallbladder removed in 2004???

The RNs have been great though. I can't say enough good things about their bedside care and knowledge. I love me some nurses. 

I get to go home though as soon as my breathing is under control and my O2 sats are up from 93 to at least 97.  It's looking like bronchitis combined with a severe uncontrolled asthma attack. I've been given an IV steroid and albuterol inhalation (every 4 hours). I will continue to take the pill form of the steroid for the next 5 days after my release. 

February 7 - Day 38


Dan snapped this photo. Statistically, don't men tend to run out of gas more often than women? ;)

I'm also not doing well and a trip to the ER is in order today. It's been guessed I have pneumonia but the antibiotics aren't working. Whatever it is, must be viral. 

February 6 - Day 37


Ian LOVES to climb the walls. Literally. 

February 5 - Day 36


Too bad this one picture came out blurry. Ian got a new computer game today, a Dora the Explorer adventure. He can work the computer like a pro, I see a technical genius in the making. 

February 4 - Day 35


Who me? I always catch Bonesy the Cat sitting in Ian's chair. And he always acts innocent, especially when I tell him to get down. 

February 3 - Day 34


My Ponytail Palm is thriving! Love the greenery it adds to the kitchen :)

February 2 - Day 33


Flashback! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture today. I've been sick for weeks, and only getting worse.

This photos is from when Dan and I lived in Kenmore, WA in 2006. I was about 7 months pregnant with Ian and that summer was extremely hot. It was a dry August night and we all of the stores in the area were sold out of air conditioners. We resorted to buying an Aero Bed and put it on the ground floor of our townhouse, in the living room, to escape the 90 degree temps upstairs. 

Saturday, February 5, 2011

February 1 - Day 32



It's been chilly outside. Not much to report today except I think I'm getting much worse with this cold. Last night I could hardly make it home from Dan's grandmother's without having a coughing fit. I can't tolerate moving around much because it interferes with my breathing. However, I did manage to get this great shot of a tree in our neighborhood. I want to take a photo of this tree once a month to document the seasonal changes. Hopefully, I'll remember next month!

January 31 - Day 31



Today we celebrated the life of Dan's maternal grandfather. It was a beautiful but very cold day. There was a military service in addition to the regular service and both were done so beautifully. I wanted to be invisible and respectful, taking a few remembrance photos. I particularly love this moment of Dan and our two boys placing roses on Grandpa J's casket.

In loving memory of J.S.

January 30 - Day 30



My grandpa had given me a stack of slides he wanted me to scan and in the process, I found a photo album that included photos of me as a toddler. My baby photos are few and far between (lost in a move!), so it was awesome finding a few more in his collection. I had to post this photo because it's one of my favorites. I am on the right (with my eyes closed, laughing) and the other two kids are my cousins. Our son Aidan is pretty much a carbon copy of me at that age!

January 29 - Day 29



Aidan had his first swim lesson today. It was part of a group session for 18 to 36 month olds. Dan was the co-pilot in the water. Ian and I stood on the sidelines and cheered him on. He also got his first "dunk" today! (see video). I took several pictures but these were the best at showing how happy he was to play in the pool.

January 28 - Day 28



I stayed up with Ian all night until 5:30am this morning, while he coughed in his sleep, on the couch. The steroid didn't kick in until then but after the coughing stopped, it was peaceful. I headed to bed for a few hours and heard the kids and Dan get up around 9:00am. When I woke up, Dan had snapped this shot of Ian, lying in bed and reading a book. (too cute!)

January 27 - Day 27



We've been battling colds in this house. Everyone but Dan has bronchitis. Whenever a respiratory infection arises, so does Ian's asthma. He'd been on inhalation albuterol for about a day when after the last 3 treatments, it just wan't cutting it for him anymore. At 9:30pm, we took Aidan over to Dan's parents' house and drove Ian to the emergency room. He ended up getting 3 more back to back breathing treatments and a steroid. This is a great photo of him watching Dora the Explorer in between treatments. Ian's a trooper in keeping his spirits up despite how sickly he's feeling.

January 26 - Day 26




Tonight I had a major craving for Lemon Meringue pie. I don't always give into my cravings but this was a strong one that had been building up for a few days. Dan graciously drove over to Marie Callender's and lucky for us, this was the pie of the month, which meant it was on sale :) This is probably the best lemon meringue I've ever had.