Friday, October 07, 2011

Reaching out...

Hubs and I feel like our relationship started at a wedding.  Our dear friend Allison married the love of her life Nick (an Australian) on November 11th, 2000.....and my BFF (her sister) arranged it so mark and I would sit together at their reception.   If not for them, who knows if we would have gotten together!

Allison and Nick went back to Australia and started their life together and had two beautiful and sweet little girls.   We miss them a ton, but luckily they have been able to come to the states at least once a year and stay for weeks at a time to visit their family here.
At one point during their last visit here, Nick was able to go dirt biking with a friend in the valley - and unfortunately contracted valley fever which turned into fungal meningitis.  Of course they didn't find this out until he was back in Australia and very sick...and it took the doctors over there forever to figure out what it was.  He's been so sick and it's been very scary.  They are desperate to save his life at this point and feel that he needs treatment here in the states...except since he's an Australian (allison and the girls are american citizens) he would have no medical insurance.  
They have started a website to explain the situation and I wanted to share it so hopefully we can get him here and get him WELL.
We really love this guy and his family, and we simply can't imagine any outcome other then him making a full and complete recovery from this nasty illness.
There are 22 million people in Australia and Nick is the ONLY ONE there with this disease.

I have no idea how many people read this silly blog - but I felt it was worth a shot to post his story here.  God works in mysterious ways...and we are praying so hard that Nick will be healed!

http://www.millionto1.org/

Please send a shout-out to the Man upstairs for our dear friend Nick and his family!

Sunday, October 02, 2011

As Requested...

Hair before...

I'm ashamed to admit that I had to search for this picture and it's almost a year old...so my hair was actually longer then this when I cut it - but you get the idea....it was LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG.
(I donated it which is why I let it get so ridiculously long)

Hair after...

 I always feel like such an idiot taking pictures of myself...
 I really like it...although there are times when I wish my hair was long again so I could just braid it or throw it up in a clip.  It's harder to get out of the way when it's this short - but it seems to suit me.  Hubs says it matches my personality better...ha! 

This is our new house....this is a crappy picture of the place - but it's the first picture I took of it when I was sitting in my car waiting for our real estate agent...before we'd seen the inside (which was a disaster) and before we put in an offer.   Who knew a little over a month later we'd have the keys in our hand!

I have lots more pictures to share...but for now, here's the facts:

It's in Nipomo which is about 15 minutes south of where we live now.
It's on a cul-de-sac which we LOVE.
Most of the neighbors seem to be about our age with kids about Adam's age...awesomeness
It's 3 bedrooms/2 baths...and a 2 car garage which we are absolutely giddy about (no garage where we live now)
We spent all afternoon hauling CRAP out of the place because the previous owners left a ton of stuff behind (will snap a picture of the trash pile tomorrow)
and we have ALOT of work to do...painting, painting and more painting.  Cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning.  New carpets, new flooring, new doors....blah, blah, blah.  It's a project house.  But we're just happy it's not a 2 bedroom 800 square foot shack like we almost bought 3 years ago for more money..ha!  

This house was sooooo meant to be.  I can't even explain all the little things that just fell into place...God seriously had plans for us to live here.  We are so excited...and so grateful.

Stay tuned!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Loves...

Love...that today I am officially 34 years old and I still get carded

Love....that I have a sassy newish haircut instead of the long hippy mess it used to be

Love...that we are days away from closing escrow on our first house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (ohmigodohmigodohmigod)

Love...that I sent pictures in of my broken stroller and that even though it's been almost 4 years and I have no reciept they sent me a BRAND NEW one.  Unbelievable.

Love...that our landlords are letting us store our packed boxes next door for FREE so we don't have to rent a storage unit, or stumble around boxes for the next month

Love....that although we have tons of work to do on the new house, it's OURS, so if we wanted to paint it purple with yellow polka dots we could (I won't...I'm just sayin I COULD)

Love...that my son really loves school - so much...and he's starting to write his name

Love...that we took him to Disneyland for the first time and he can't stop talking about how awesome it was

Love...that he loves roller coasters as much as I do - and that he scoffed at how not scary the haunted mansion was

Love...that we are all healthy - I'm trying to be thankful for that everyday....knowing what other people are dealing with these days :(

Love...that I married my best friend and after almost 10 years of marriage, we are about to embark on a new adventure together

Love...that my boy will randomly give me kisses and tell me he loves me....and that he'll says to hubs "daddy, you're my best friend"   Heart. exploding.

Love...that I have so much to be thankful for.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

The Darndest Things...

Scene:   Adam and I lying in bed reading an alphabet book together.

Me:   Letter H...H is for....
(picture of a beehive)
Adam:   Honey House
Me:  Honey House?  It's a hive!
Adam:  No mama, that's a honey house.

I may seriously call it that for the rest of my days it's so cute...

______________________________________________

Scene:   Me turning on the water at the tub for bathtime...

Me:  Hey monkey, do you know where the plug is for the tub?
Adam:   I don't knoooow
Me:  Well can you find it?
Adam:   (puts his hands on his hips and stands all proud)  "YUP!  I am FINDER BOY!"  (and then proceeds to pretend fly out of the room)

*he actually did find it...in his ROOM for some odd reason*
____________________

I feel like I should record all these wacky things he says because I know I will forget and it'll be fun to go back and read someday.  Nutty kid
takes after his dad

(and umm, hey hubs?  if you're going to take pictures of yourself like this and leave them on our camera....you should probably just assume they will be posted on the internet at some point.  love ya!  heh)

Wednesday, September 07, 2011

Bullets....


Hello my neglected little blog...and hello friends who have nicely reminded me that I'm a lazy non-blogging bum.  *I actually had a post all typed up with pictures weeks ago and then it lost all the pictures so I left it as a draft and gave up.  I hate when that happens...
We've just been busy.  Lots of work stuff going on, which is good because I was worried there for a bit that my job might be a goner - but now we are affiliated with another company which has increased my paperwork load quite a bit.  My nights are mostly spent in the office trying to keep on top of it all.
My days are spent keeping the boy busy with preschool, Library visits, playdates, park trips, etc....been a good summer!
So here are some tidbits of what's gone on since APRIL...sheesh:
  • After being sick since January, I was tested for Mono and Pneumonia and finally diagnosed with Viral Bronchitis...and told I would have to wait it out, awesome.
  • Adam turned THREE on April 15th (too fast, it's all too fast)
  • We skipped a party here and went to San Francisco...on his birthday we went to a place called Happy Hollow in San Jose - had a small petting zoo and rides, great place for the littles!                                                                      
  • this boy cried so hard when we got off that roller coaster...because he didn't want to get off!  I'm so glad he likes roller coasters!
    cake lovingly made by his auntie M and his cousins....
  • He had his 3 year well baby and they measured him THREE times because he only grew half an inch since he was two...go shawty - it's yer birthday!  Someday we will have to explain to him that it's totally our fault that he is short.
  • Then we did easter...note to self- don't use BLACK bowls for color or you won't know what color it is, ya dumbass.
  • My sweet angel boy grew horns right around that time and upon advice of his teacher I went to the library and got a book called "Your three year old; Friend or Enemy?"
  • He started biting and hitting at school and I was called several times to pick him up early....I was so stressed and worried, and not sure why his behavior changed so drastically
  • Around the middle of may he finally had a major turn around and started having fantastic days at school....Thank goodness his teacher worked us through that rough patch

  • after NINE MONTHS of preschool he finally stopped crying/pouting when I dropped him off....and would run off happily with his friends.  I no longer feel like a terrible mother on school days - yippeeee!
  • Middle of May and I FINALLY felt human again, ears mostly unclogged and able to leave the house without an inhaler
  • Had a wonderful mother's day and talked hubs into getting a pedicure with me...super fun
  • Went to see Cars 2 at the drive in - Adam was stoked even though we froze our asses off and the movie sucked.  (okay I shouldn't say SUCKED...but it wasn't the sweet, small town story as the first one)
  • Hubs made a sob-inducing father's day video for my dad, with pictures of my brother and I from babies until now...I must have watched it 30 times throughout the process and cried every.single.time.   We decided to make my dad a "privacy box" so he wouldn't be embarrassed about getting emotional...we even put a tissue dispenser inside - ha!
  • July 4th we decided to keep it mellow and had friends over for a bbq and lit our own fireworks leftover from last year
  • Mid July we had this cutie stay with us for a week...friend Allison's sweet puppy Baker (who turned a year old while he stayed with us!)
  •  he even got to go to the beach with me and a friend early in the am and run around off leash
     and a trip to my parents house to run around the hills and be chased by the boy
     we kept him so busy, this is what he looked like at night...hee!
Adam learned how to use the hose - not necessarily a good thing
  • At some point in July - hubs decided to grow a beard...and cover our kid with tattoos. 
Mostly we are just enjoying our boy and soaking up every minute we can...embedding it in our brains because we know this time is so fleeting.
    He suddenly seems so grown up
    LOVE this munchkin!

***catch up on August will be posted soon - promise!***

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Another Day, Another Haircut...

I know I've posted many haircut pictures before - but since alot of this blog is simply for me, so I can look back and say "awwwww" about my little man - I'm posting more haircut pictures.  This kid's hair grows like wildfire, seriously.

The "helmet" was making it's appearance again - and the bedhead was getting funnier and funnier, but he has refused to let me touch his hair lately, so it got a bit more out of control then usual - observe:
 Mid cheeze-it - ha!

 Eeeeh - whatcha doing ma?





Serious bedhead..and almost enough for a combover - OY

After about an hour of convincing and bribery with a lollipop and the movie Cars, he FINALLY let me snip away.  *one of these days I gotta learn how to use those clipper things because the comb/scissors method is testing his patience and something tells me it's not going to last much longer*
 There were a few times where he would get up and run around shouting "NO HAIR CUT!" - but I persisted and now he looks ready to carry a briefcase and attend a republican convention:


 Kinda wish I had lips like that!

 Everytime I cut his hair he just looks older to me...sob!
Especially when he wears our shoes...

My Boys...

I'm still sick.   So the other day my mom offered to watch Adam for a while so I could rest.   I took him up to their house and passed out on their bed.  It's been a long time since I've slept in that house, kinda wierd, but also comforting.  Having my mom tuck me in and take care of me was kinda nice :)  Isn't there that small part of us as adults that still wants to be taken care of by our mom?
Anyway, when I woke up it was 5:45pm and Adam was passed out on their sofa.  Which is weird because I have tried EVERYTHING to get this child to nap, and 9 times out of 10 it doesn't work, but yet, we go to Nana and Pop's and he falls asleep on the couch.  No rocking, no singing, no benedryl, just OUT.  Mom said she was just sitting with him and rubbing his feet and the sun was shining on him so he was warm and relaxed and he just fell asleep, just like that.  By that time my dad was home and he joked about the whiskey they gave him, ha!  I was just in disbelief that he was actually asleep.  Adam is a good nighttime sleeper, but the napping has gone by the wayside.  I am holding onto it for dear life, but most of the time my nap attempts are a giant fail.
Around 6pm, I finally tried to wake him up and put him in the car, he kind of stirred, but fell right back asleep in the car.  We got home right at the same time hubs was rolling in, so he got him out of the car and into the house where he promptly fell back asleep.  It's been a while since hubs has had a sleeping munchkin in his arms (let's just say his biological clock has been ticking for a WHILE) so he sighed a happy sigh and sat with him on the couch for a while, cuddling his boy:


Our every attempt to wake this child up resulted in him screaming at us and curling up and falling back asleep - so we put him to bed.  He'd been asleep since around 5pm, so we desperately hoped he wouldn't wake up at 3am and think it was time to be UP!
Since my ears are clogged and I can't hear much - I didn't hear him open his door at 4:30am, but I did feel a tug on my arm and when I opened one eye, I saw a very sleepy kid with 24 stuffed animals in his arms wanting to crawl in  bed with us.  Too tired to argue, I pulled him into bed, and he fell back asleep until 8am.   FIFTEEN HOURS that child slept.  Growth spurt?  Who knows, but it was wierd...and fabulous.
I loved seeing my boys snuggle on the couch together like this.  Another heart-catching-in-my-throat-moment that makes me feel so blessed and thankful for my family :)

Tuesday, April 05, 2011

It continues..

Friday I had to go back to my doctor because 5 days after finishing antibiotics for the sinus infection, I had developed a nasty, rattley cough and felt like utter crap.  "Virus" he said.  and I said "really?  again?  I've been sick since January, what the hell?" and he said "it's a bad season.  People just seem to be catching things over and over and over".
Apparantly the "virus" triggered my asthma, (which I havent' had issues with in about 6 years) so he gave me a couple of inhalers, one with steroids, and sent me on my way.
I got home that afternoon and a few hours later had a fever of 101.5, not bad, but bad enough to make me feel all shivery.  So I popped in a movie for Adam and curled up next to him under a blanket and dozed for the duration of the movie.  Fever broke, thought I was on the mend.
That night, I woke up with shooting ear pain.  I figured it was a symptom of the "virus" and popped some tylenol and put a hot compress on my ear.  It was a struggle to sleep that night, but at least Adam who was finally on antibiotics was sleeping peacefully.
Saturday morning, I woke up with clogged ears.  Like I was underwater.  Like everyone was talking to me through a brick wall.  Boy does that suck.
Shooting ear pain continues Saturday and Sunday and on my way to the airport to get hubs (yay!) on Sunday night, I notice white patches in the back of my throat.  I know that's a sign of strep, so I inwardly moan because I know this means I'm going back to my doctor on Monday.
Poor hubs came home to a MESS of a wife, but boy are we glad to have him back! 

So yesterday I went to the doctor and now it's confirmed.  I have strep and a double ear infection.
I'm now on two inhalers, nose spray, antibiotics, and I'm doubling up on Tylenol and Motrin for the ear pain.  My ears are still clogged and achey.
At least hubs gets to watch whatever he wants on TV because I can't hear the damn thing anyway, and I'm getting some reading done.  But I can also hear myself breathe, and swallow, and chew, which is just disgusting...and I'm annoying myself by the minute with the nasal breathing.  I'm like a bad date for my own self over here.

I think the phrase "This Totally Sucks" pretty much sums it up for me.

Cheers!

Monday, April 04, 2011

*sigh*

Cat food in my washing machine....something tells me three years old is gonna be tough

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Private moments

So once I became a mom...I quickly realized that doing almost anything bathroom related ALONE was a thing of the past.  Especially now, when Adam is too big to contain anywhere, but not big enough to leave alone - which is why I have to keep the bathroom door open when I'm doing my business.   Hubs is baffled at this act, but hey - a mom's gotta do, what a mom's gotta do.  I'd like to see how he handles pooping when he's in a house alone with a toddler.
Nine times out of ten this means that I might steal a few seconds alone but then inevitably Adam will follow me and start asking questions "whatcha doin mama?" - "hey mama, you got stinks?" - you get my drift.   It's awkward....and annoying that I can't poop in peace...but to avoid him running amok while I'm in there, it's what I gotta do.  I am the fastest pooper in the west.
Today, Adam was all involved in watching Max and Ruby (is anyone else annoyed that these bunnies seem to have NO parents whatsoever?) and I thought it would be a safe time for me to steal away and have a private pooping moment.  I actually took a chance and closed the door and took longer then 3.8 seconds....a relaxing poop if you will.  At least it was, until I walked out of the bathroom and realized that my sweet little angel was NOT sitting on the couch.  In fact I came upon this in the hallway...
And then I stepped into the kitchen and saw this:

Following the trail further into the kitchen:
Into the bin apparantly...
Further still into the laundry room....basket of CLEAN clothes (or at least they were)
Even the dog food bin got the wrath:

When I turned to go back into the kitchen, I found the culprit - completely oblivious and happy as a clam...

2 minutes in the bathroom = 1 hour clean-up

What - A - STINKER

* I know he needs a haircut, but I am lazy
**Hubs is in Chicago all this week for work - but today is his 35th birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUBS!!!!
We miss you so much, and we love you to bits :)