Livin' La Vida Lowmon

Our Majestic tree

2011-12-17T22:16:00.000-08:00

Well this is it. Our beautiful Christmas tree of 2011. Decorated by Momma, Daddy, Jack, and Jeffie. (Jack got a hold of a corner of the tree and made his mark.) All in all, it turned out so beautiful. I love Christmas time.

Jack's mark on the tree.... I took a picture but then the OCD in me came out and I fixed it.

The Christmas Tree Hunt of 2011

2011-12-17T20:35:00.000-08:00

Another year Christmas tree hunting. A little later than we had hoped this year, but between my Dad's, my sister's, and my schedule it was the time that we could do it. The last few years by happenstance, we have gone late in the season and the pickins' were pretty slim this year just like last. It doesn't help that I'm a bit picky when it comes to my trees. I need to have a specific kind which is usually the more expensive of the trees. (Mike says, "You got that right....") It can't be too big, but a small tree won't do either. It has to fairly symmetrical and full all the way to the top. Of course there is a give and take that comes with picking a tree for NO TREE is truly perfect. I think that we found a very nice one, spotted by Daddy this year. 7 and a half foot Noble fir. In all it's glory it is now standing very tall and proud in the kitchen. We had our nephew Jeffie over to help with the tree hunting and also with the decorating. I don't know who was more excited, Jack or Jeffie. It's amazing to see the wonderment filled in a child's eyes when the Christmas tree is lit for the first time of the season. Jack actually started singing "Jingle, jingle, jingle. You can hear those sleigh bells ring. I am old Kris Kringle. I'm the king of jingle-ing." I haven't been feeling the Christmas spirit as much as I normally do by this time of year but now that we have our Christmas tree up I'm starting to feel the Christmas love. I think this might call for a claymation Rudolf and original Grinch who stole Christmas marathon. As I type, we are getting ready to put the finishing touches on the tree. I'll post pictures when we're all finished.

PS~ Thanks for letting me play with the new camera, Dad. Now I know what I want for next Christmas....

First snow of the season!!

2011-11-21T12:13:00.000-08:00

It’s SNOWWWWWWED!!! I’m so excited and sorry to all those who didn’t get to particpate in it but I’m so happy it came! Jack was super excited, too. I told him to go look out the window and he said; “it’s snow. It’s Christmas! Santa gunna be here in 5 minutes, right Mommy?” I did have to break the news that Christmas will come in about 5 WEEKS, not 5 minutes. He looked at me like I was nuts. We then got dressed and had a snowball fight while Daddy cooked breakfast. It’s a good thing we went to play when we did because it was all melted away after about 6 hours. We were happy to have it for the little time that we did. Our fingers are crossed that we will get more snow soon….

Halloween F.U.N. 2011

2011-11-21T12:05:00.000-08:00

Pumpkin hunting we went this year, but didn’t get home with any because they were all rotten, or really small. We did however have a fun day playing in the rain. Maris farm has lots of fun activities for kids which is one of the reasons we go there over other places. We got a nice break from the rain shortly after we arrived and it started raining harder shortly after we left. Maybe good luck or good timing but we had lots of fun. Jack had fun just running around. He was one tired pup at the end of the day.

Arkansas Lowmon family visit 2011

2011-11-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

Mike’s family came to visit us from Arkansas just before Halloween this year. Normally only Bill comes, but this year we were treated to Bill (Mike’s dad), Pat (Mike’s step-mom), and Grandma Dee (Pat’s mom). We all had a wonderful time. We hadn’t seen Pat in several years and this was my first time meeting Grandma Dee. We spent a few evenings over at Billy’s house visiting. Boom cooked for all of us. She’s such a good cook; she should open her own restaurant. We had a great time and were sad to see them go home. Bill and Pat did try to talk us into coming to visit them, but the jury is still out on that one… ☺

Pierce family fun 2011

2011-11-21T10:29:00.000-08:00

It’s been tradition for the last several years that my side of the family gets together some time in August to have a family BBQ. This year it was held at my Aunt Vicki’s new house out in Rainer. She and Daryl just had the house built this year and it is beautiful. I have since been dubbed the photographer for the event. This year, I was able to use my Auntie Linda’s NEW camera and I fell in love. This camera takes awesome pictures and they are crystal clear even with movement!! I sooo need a new camera. Hopefully there will be one in my near future, but probably not for awhile. We had the great privledge of having great uncle Dick and his family at the BBQ this year. He’s the only surviving member out of my grandfather’s 5 brothers. It was a real treat to have him and his family there with us. All in all, it was a great day. Lots of family, and really good food. What more could you ask for? Here are a few snapshots of the day…..

The pictures came out wonderful and auntie Linda if you camera comes up missing, I may have had something to do with that...

Summer Lovin'

2011-11-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

WELL, someone fell down on her blogging job and I couldn’t even IMAGINE who that could possibly be. Alas, I will fess up and say tis MY fault. The hustle of life coupled with the loss of internet for several months got to me. So here I sit on my free day off trying to catch up on 6 months of living. It shouldn’t be too hard beacuase this summer gave us so very little sun. Such a typical Washington summer…. We did make the most of the time that we did have and spent it with family. Here are a few of the highlights...

We took several beach trips. Some were sunny, others not so much…

We planted a garden.

We took lots of rides in the Jeep.

Jack had his first OFF Roading attempt. I promise he wasn’t taking after MY driving…

AND, we gave up the binkie this summer also. One day, I couldn’t for the life of me find any binkies and Jack told me that the dragon ate them all. I went with that story and he didn't seem too traumatized. He’s only asked for it once or twice since. I can’t believe how fast kids grow.

A busy, busy weekend....

2011-05-01T09:17:00.000-07:00

What a weekend, what a WEEKEND!! We had a really great 2 days in playing in the sunshine. On Saturday we met an old friend of ours, and his clan of 5 (soon to be 6) and all went to the Seattle Aquarium. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!! We took the Jeep out for the drive to Seattle and realized that it doesn’t like to go faster than 60 miles per hour. (A power steering pump later, we did figure out the problem.) None the less, we had a really great time. We got lots of cute pictures and most of the kids had a blast touching all sea life in the hands on are. I even got some great pictures of the octopus. So exciting. I just love watching Jack explore and learn new things. He’s so smart and does so well with new things. After we spent the afternoon at the Aquarium, we had lunch together at Red Robin’s, then headed back toward home. We stopped by the Bradley Lake park before going home to let the kids blow off some steam before heading home. The kids had a LOT of fun and I was thankful for a reason to be outdoors…

Sunday I decided that it would be a good idea to go to the beach. It was supposed to be sunny that day, but not all that warm. I decided that it didn’t matter if it was going to be cold or not, Jack loves going to the beach. Life is too short if you wait for the weather to warm up around here so off we went. (I did have to make a deal with Mike to fold the laundry and clean the dishes before we left.) When we got the beach, Jack was in heaven. He didn’t care that it was cold and the water was FREEZING! All that mattered was that we were at the beach. It makes me think that we need to come to the beach a lot more often….

We always make a stop at the Irish pub here in Ocean shores. I guess Irish pubs are popping up every where but this place has a gift shop and a great resturant. Good food, great whiskey, and family friendly. What more could you ask for? We celbrated Mother's Day this weekend since Momma decided to give up carbs on Monday. I had a bit of carb fest today and enjoyed every minute of it!!

Easter fun for everyone....

2011-04-23T15:12:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Easter this weekend and had a really wonderful time. My niece spent the night with us on Saturday, which is always a fun adventure. We took both kids to my parent’s house to have Easter dinner. We had an egg hunt that the kids had a blast with. They got more money and candy than they needed I’m sure, but that’s what being a kid is all about. By the end of the day, they were both exhausted and hopped up on sugar. FUN TIMES!! Here are some pictures from the day.

Family photos and an interest in T-ball

2011-04-14T05:42:00.000-07:00

So after Jack's birthday party weekend, we decided to have our family photos taken. I had booked a professional photographer several months in advance. The plan was to have an outdoor shoot with her but long story short, she cancelled on us the day of the shoot. Frustrated, I decided to call a portrait studio and book a session. Jack wasn't really liking the fact that we were taking pictures of him or the fact that we were even in the studio. I think he was a little scared by the whole thing. He eventually warmed up a bit and we ended up with some good pictures from the session. Here's a few of the best ones.

Mike had some things to finish around the house this last weekend, so Jack and I decided to go to my niece Quinlan's t-ball game. Jack was very excited to see everyone and was definetly excited to try to play t-ball himself. He put on a helmet and decided that he would wait his turn. The tee had to be taken home so Jack didn't get a turn, but he got a tee for his birthday so we eventually got that one out. He had a very good time for the few minutes he played before the rain started in. He was swinging the bat with one hand. I gave him some pointers and he got the hang of it. I can't wait until he can get into more activites. I don't want to see him grow so fast, but I can't wait to see him do more things. Our family especially loves baseball!!

Mike working on Mom's Jeep. Yes, I said MOMMA's Jeep. Don't let him tell you any different. :-)

Prep work, Pirate cupcakes, and Jack's 3rd birthday party

2011-03-20T01:09:00.001-07:00

So when I deceded to do a pirate theme for Jack's party, I was contemplating what to put on the cupcakes. I saw a picture of the pirate faces on the internet and thought, I could probably do that. It entailed making fondant which I have had NO experience in. I've heard of it before from people talking about it and seeing an occasional Ace of Cakes. I had never made it nor worked with it in ANY form. I did a little research online about HOW to make it and it's actually simple. You take marshmallows and sprinkle a little bit of water on them (1-2 tsp), then heat them in the microwave until they start to expand. Take them out and with a WELL GREASED spoon, stir in a lot of powdered sugar. Once the batter starts to become like dough, (keeping you hands well greased) you start kneeding the dough, adding powdered sugar until it's not sticky any more. Viola'!! It's that simple. The dough is better if you use it the next day or later. It stays fres for a very long time in the fridge and it even can sit out for a few days before the consistancy changes at all. That's a great feature for busy moms. I made the faces several days prior and kept them in the fridge for assembly on the day of his party. Score!

It's amazing to believe that the picture above turns into the picture below. (with a little added coloring)

Unfortunately since I took this weekend off, I did have to work on my munchkin's actual birthday. I worked Thursday night into Friday morning. After I worked a 12 hour shift, I had to run to the store for a few last minute items. Once I picked them up, I headed home to make the cupcakes. I was a little worried that they would get stale if I made them ahead of time, but I don't think I had any other choice at this point. The flavors I made were chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and Creamsicle cupcakes. I took chocolate cupcakes and filled/frosted them with a homemade peanut butter frosting recipe I also found on the internet. For the Creamsicle cupckaes, when I was blending the french vanilla batter, I added some orange extract to it. After the cupcake were all baked, I finished up a few last minute items in prep for the party. By the time I was cleaning up my mess after it was all done, it was like 4pm. Ouch! That's a 24+ day for me. I was feeling ok, but I know the pain that comes with staying up that many hours. I ran to pick-up Jack and Jeffie, then this Momma went to bed. Even though I was so very tired by that point, my mind was still racing about all the things that I needed to remember to bring. I slept a few hour but then woke up thinking that I needed to make the frosting. I was planning on making the frosting in hte morning just before using it but I'm glad that I didn't. I don't think that I would have had time. So at midnight, I started making the frosting. I made the peanut butter one first. It went really smoothly but the flavoring and consistancy was off. I winged it a little and when the frosting was fluffier and lighter in taste, I set it aside. For the Creamsicle frosting, I did use store bought frosting as a base but didn't like the texture of it either. I added a few things like orange extract, butter, and cream to make it smoother and lighter in flavor. Then I added a bit of color to both batches and was finished. The frostings got wrapped and put into the fridge overnight. I then headed back to bed to try to get a liitle more sleep. That IS what I got, a LITTLE more sleep. I slept from about 1am until 5am when I woke up with my mind racing, again. After resting in bed for a little bit longer, I got up and started filling and frosting the cupcakes. Jack woke up early and came out to help me. He did a few but when he realized that he wasn't going to be able to do it ALL BY HIMSELF, he lost most interest. When I finished up with the frosting, I pulled out the pirates, placed them on the cupcakes, and was finished. YEAH!! I love Jack and wouldn't have changed anything about today, but it was a huge relief to have the cupcakes finsihed. We loaded up the car and headed to Roundtable. A quick set up of decorations and the party was in full swing.

I think Jack had a good time. He got to play with friends that we haven't seen in awhile d/t illnesses, ect. He got lots of cool gifts AND he finally got to eat one of the cupcakes that he had been asking about for days.

Happy Birthday, Jack!! Some pictures of the birthday fun....

Once the hustle and bustle was over, we headed home. I had no idea how truly tired I was. I ended up falling asleep in the chair, then going to bed early. I guess that wasn't the smartest idea because it's 2am and I'm now awake, but what are ya goin' to do? It gives me quiet time to blog, right?

Here's to Jack's birthday. May there be many more to come, and may Momma keep coming up with cool ideas for them.... ;)

Jack celebrates his birthday at school.

2011-03-20T00:41:00.000-07:00

Jacke celebrated his birthday at school today. We brought in cupcakes with green frosting for the kids to enjoy. I think all of them enjoyed the sugar rush and I enjoyed creating it and walking away..... Jack was very excited about being sung to and getting to blow out his candle. That's all he talked about when he got home after school that day. He told me "Momma, sing Happy Birfday again?" holding the candle out. Well, alright. Just for you cutie.....

Billy decided to let Jeffie go to school with Jack on his birthday and that didn't go so well right at first. He was fine after we left but many tears fell before we hit the door. Jack's teacher said the boys did really well together. They said when one of them would get upset, they always comforted each other. All in all I think Jack had a fun birthday at school.

Happy St Patrick's Day to one and all!!

2011-03-17T05:42:00.000-07:00

It's early morning in the Lowmon household. Really early. Insomnia struck again. It am starting to think that my body knows when I need quiet time to do things so it wakes me up early..... Its about 5:45 am. Exactly 3 years ago right now, Dr Hitchcock came in and asked me if I was ready to meet my little boy. I was more than ready. A short hour later, a bouncing baby boy was delivered weighing in at 8lbs 6oz. It changed my life forever but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's been a long 3 years that has gone by so fast. He's growing up as they all do, but I still can't believe it. 3 years. Where does the time go? Yesterday I was feeding him a bottle. Yesterday, I was watching him croll over fot he first time. Yesterday, he was just a wobbley toddler, and now he wants to run everywhere. I guess it wasn't yesterday, but it feels like it. My baby isn't a baby any more.

There is a great big world out there, Jack and Momma knows that you're going to capture it. Just remember, you'll always be my baby.

NO. MATTER. WHAT.

Jack's surgery aftermath......

2011-03-15T03:22:00.000-07:00

The days that followed Jack’s surgery was not fun in the least. We knew that the recovery was going to be a hard road but both Mike and I were pretty surprised that is would be this difficult. Jack had been sick for a while and we had been giving him medicine since the middle part of January. He normally takes Ibuprofen or Tylenol with no problems, but after surgery his tune changed. Starting from right after surgery, getting Jack to take any medicine was a struggle that I was not winning. I knew that if he took the medicine he would feel better but how do you communicate that to a stubborn 2 year old. Jack did most of the recovery from surgery without much pain medicine at all. I could occasionally slip a med into whatever beverage he was sipping on through the day but the little smarty got wise to my plan. He would start watching me pour the juice and if it was out of his sight at ALL, he wouldn’t drink it. Really?!!? We tried every idea we could think of trying to force him to take his medicine. We pinned him down, shoved the syringe in his mouth, and then proceeded to get sprayed with spit and medicine as he fought so hard to not swallow. Most of the time I ended up washing the medicine off my face and then consoling him for the trauma he just went through. We did this for the first week, and then Jack spiked a fever of 104. We called the surgeon’s office and they told us to bring him into the Emergency Dept. We brought the pathetic little guy in and they fixed him up. They gave him IV fluids, pain medicine via the IV, Tylenol suppositories, and some steroids to decrease the inflammation in his throat. After a few hours there, they sent us home to carry on the battle. Jack eventually did get better but it took almost 2 full weeks. That was longer than I anticipated, but worth it in the end. I’m sure there will be a time that the trauma of the recovery will fade (for him and I) and that the only thing I will remember is that it brought better breathing to Jack. I’m sure that will be a year or more down the road, though…

Jack's Surgery.....

2011-03-15T03:20:00.000-07:00

5:30 am came really early this morning. We had to be at Mary Bridge at 7am and with an hour ride there, we didn't want to be late. Jack wasn't impressed with being woke up that early and was pretty cranky most of the morning. We headed into the hospital shortly before 6am and arrived on time. Jack got dressed into his hospital gown and pants. (He wasn't impressed with the clothing change.)

We took him to the play area but wasn't in the mood. I think that he could tell something was up. We finally got him to settle down watching Finding Nemo in his crib.

Shortly after he calmed down, the nurse came to get us to her pre-op assessment. That brought on more tears and fighting. Thankfully the assessment didn't take too long. We found out that Jack weighs in at about 40lbs and is about 3'5". (I thought that he was getting taller.) To help with the transition of the day, we bought 2 gifts for Jack. One present to open up before surgery, and one for after. No, I am NOT above bribing my child when it comes to things like this... After the pre-op assessment, Jack was pretty upset so we decided to give him his first present. He opened up a set of mini skateboards. Jack has had one of these contraptions floating around the house on and off for some time now, but now he has 4!! Super cool. He was very excited about them.

Shortly after opening his present, the nurse came in with an optional pre-op sedative for Jack to make the transition to going in for surgery a little easier. Do they have one of those for Moms? Mike and I talked it over and decided that the sedative would be a good idea. With as stubborn as Jack can be and as upset as he had been, we wanted to make it as easy as possible for him. They gave him Versed, which is a sedative with an amnesiac (won't remember) property. It takes effect fast and within about 10 minutes, he was definitely feeling the effects of the drug.

Once they called him for surgery, we went into the OR waiting room. We met with all the doctors and the OR nurse. We had a very short conversation about the surgery and were given reassurance that everything would be ok. It doesn't matter how much they say it, it still doesn't stop the worrying. They took him from my arms and carried him to the OR crying for me. That was one of the hardest moments for both Mike and I.

The surgery went well with the exception of placing his IV. At Mary Bridge, it's their policy for day surgery to administer gas to put the kiddos under BEFORE they attempt an IV site. Yes, I said before. Jack was asleep for the whole thing, which in this case was good. I counted after we got home and there were 10 IV attempts. Some with bruises, some without. 10, yes 10 attempts. They finally got one in his upper arm that worked. It was a pain in the behind because every time he bent his arm, it would alarm the IV pump. They finally gave up and just let it run to gravity.

He wasn't interested in drinking ANYTHING after surgery, not even eating a popsicle. After a dose of IV pain medicine, he slowly came around. We bribed him with the 2nd present to get him to take Ibuprofen in the vain attempt to keep the pain at bay. HUH. Little did I know what was to come. After he took the medicine, they observed him for a short while longer and then discharged us home. Mike and I both realized that neither of us had eaten much so we stopped by McD's on the ride home. Jack had fallen asleep the minute the car was in motion but in his Fentanyl induced daze woke up and said 'Burger. I need burger.' We were just happy that he wanted to take in ANYTHING so we stopped got him a burger and chocolate shake. Poor thing couldn't stay awake long enough to eat it, but by God he was going to have that burger. He did end up eating a few bites and drinking a little bit of the shake, which we were happy about.

Once at home we tried to get him settled in for some rest, but it was becoming all too clear that I was coming down with Strep throat. Compliments of being a Momma. Jack had it, and passed it to me.... Lucky! I started running a fever earlier that day and now was having body aches that were unbearable. I didn't want to drag Jack out of the house after he just had surgery but he wouldn't let me go anywhere without him. So, all 3 of us went to the doctor's to find out that yes, I have Strep throat. Duh, I could have told you that one. I got a prescription for antibiotics and we went to fill it at our Pharmacy. Once we got home, everyone (Daddy included) took a nap.

That's when it dawned on me that he hasn't been choking while he was asleep. He hasn't been snoring as loud as usual. By God, I think that they fixed him. Wonderful!! At least all of this work will be worth the fact that Jack can now breath.

Jack's first meal post surgery. Strawberries and candy, yummmm.

This face was the theme for the next 2 weeks of our lives. He was NOT a happy guy.

A very long road....

2011-02-13T02:44:00.000-08:00

Happy day before Valentine's Day to everyone. I hope that this post finds you all well.

I'm up in the middle of the night yet again, contemplating and worrying about things...thank you insomnia. As most of you know, our poor Jack has been sick for a while, now. He has had more doctor appointments in the last month than I think he has in his whole life. It all started with a cough. He had it before Christmas but after the New Year, it got worse. I didn’t want to rush him into the doctor’s so by the time we did go to the office, the cough been around for the last 3 weeks. Jack was diagnosed with a sinus infection and was given Amoxicillin for it. During the worst part of the coughing, Jack was staying in bed with us and at night, I realized just how BAD his breathing had become. Now mind you, Jack has snored since the time he was born and he hasn’t always had the most even breathing at night. This was something entirely different. This was much worse than I ever imagined. Now being a nurse and having pediatric experience I have a lot of guilt surrounding this. Shouldn’t I have seen this a lot earlier? Should I have made a big deal about the small interruptions in his breathing that had been going on for probably 18 months? When you are a nurse and a mom, you walk a fine line. Some times a little knowledge is too much knowledge, but then you kick yourself for not talking about things that you think aren’t that troublesome when you find out they are. Guilt, guilt, and more guilt. Those small interruptions in breathing had led to full on choking and apnea at night. After one particularly bad night, Mike called me in the morning concerned. I called and made another appointment with the Pediatrician and Jack was referred to an ENT doctor. They would evaluate him for possible adenoid and tonsil removal. After leaving the pediatrician’s office, I called and set up the ENT appointment. The referral appointment was less than a week from when I made the appointment, so I was pleased at how fast we got into see Dr Erwin. When Dr Erwin evaluated Jack, he said that he thought removing his adenoids and tonsils would be a good idea, but he also thought that Jack needed tubes placed in his ears. That one took me by surprise. I had several sets of tubes when I was a kid and didn’t have any problems but that is a very different story for my brother-in-law. Billy had surgeries on his ears multiple times and during one of the surgeries, they broke one of the small bones in the ear. He is now deaf on that side. Needless to say, Mike was not happy about the idea of tubes. He still isn’t fond of the idea. I keep telling him that it’s not Navy doctors performing the surgery but I don’t think it matters. He is afraid of re-living what happened to Billy with Jack. I can’t say that I blame him. We scheduled his surgery as soon as we could which was Valentine’s Day. During the course of Amoxicillin prescribed for the sinus infection, Jack broke out into a bright red rash. The rash looked like one I had seen when I worked at Mary Bridge called HSP but it had been so long ago that I wasn’t positive. There was a concern that he might be allergic to the Amoxicillin, so we stopped the medicine and waited for the rash to go away. After 2 days off the medicine, the rash was still there. I was advised to come into see the doctor so back to the pediatrician’s office we went. This time he was diagnosed with HSP. Momma’s hunch was right. HSP is short for Henoch Schonlien Purpura, which in short is a vaculitis of the small blood vessels that can show up in a characteristic rash, joint pain and swelling, and can also cause complications such as kidney damage and bowel obstruction. These are rare complications but nonetheless, they could happen. So, away we left from the doctor’s office with a new thing for Momma to worry about. With his surgery coming up and the HSP on my mind, I was getting a little stressed but nothing I couldn’t handle. We were also hoping that this would be the last illness before surgery. It had to be right?!? You don’t know how wrong I was. The rash that Jack had came and left pretty fast which IS unusual for HSP but I thought that maybe he just had a very mild case. I wanted to make sure that the sinus infection was thoroughly treated so when we found out that the rash wasn’t a reaction to the Amoxicillin, we finished the last 3 days. No rash came back, so we were golden. A few days later, Jack complained of some abdominal pain and told Mike that he didn’t’ want to “go shopping”. That’s pretty unusual because this kid LOVES to shop. I didn’t think too much of it until a few days later when Jack’s daycare called Mike concerned because he hadn’t moved from the spot where Mike had set him down when he dropped him off. He also wouldn’t let anyone touch his stomach and wouldn’t stand upright. He also felt really hot and refused to drink anything. I was at work when all of this happened so Billy thankfully was able to pick up Jack from school and met me in Tacoma. We got into see another Pediatrician (mind you of all the doctors we’d seen so far were ALL different) and said that she has been seeing a lot of nausea and vomiting coming through the office but because of Jack’s history, they wanted to watch him a little bit closer since he hadn’t had any vomiting. Ok, sounds like a plan. They brought me a container for him to pee in so they could check his urine for blood, and then he vomited. Perfect. At least it was happening 5 days before surgery and not the night before. Glass half full, right?!? At that point, I was exhausted because I worked the night before and I just wanted to take Jack home. They gave him a dose of Zofran and away home we went to push fluids. Apparently the illness that was running through the office lasted about 6 hours so I assumed that was probably will happen with Jack. That would give him plenty of time to get over this bug and heal in time for his surgery. No problem. Then the fever started. Jack literally felt like he was on fire. His temps got up to 102.6. I thought that was awful high for a simple stomach virus, but nonetheless, I was NOT about to run back to the doctor. When Jack still had the fever on Friday (it started Wednesday) and with his surgery scheduled for Monday, I hung my head and called the doctor’s office, AGAIN. Thankfully we were able to see Dr Ayer who is Jack’s primary pediatrician. I also noticed that Jack was sporting yet another rash. It looked like Scarlet fever to me but I never was good with rashes. Once we saw Dr Ayer, he said that it looks like a strep rash. OK. He did a rapid strep culture and it came back blaring positive. My 2 year old has Strep throat. Awesome. I asked him if the rash together with the Strep infection was Scarlet fever and he said that it was indeed. Great. Now, he’s getting more antibiotics the Friday before his surgery. Come on, kid..... After leaving Dr Ayer’s office to pick up his medicine, I called Dr Erwin’s office to talk to them about if this would cahnge the surgery date. No doctors or nurses are in the office today. Huh?!? Then why is the freaking office open? Deep breath. The instructed for me to call Mary Bridge short stay and talk to them. After one of the nurses discussed it with an anesthesiologist, the verdict was if it were his son, he would wait but it’s my decision. Great. I talked to Mike and we had decided to reschedule the surgery. When I called to cancel the surgery, I talked to the nurse who said 'we can’t tell you to cancel the surgery, it’s your decision.' I WAS aware of that, thank you. She also said that we could wait until Sunday night or even Monday morning to see how he’s feeling. Yeah, let’s do that instead. I had this gut feeling that if we canceled the surgery, the little booger would be fine by Monday and I would be kicking myself until he actually had his surgery. Since my gut instinct was right 2 times before I decided to go with it on this one. I was finally able to talk to the on-call ENT and he said that we should go in on Monday knowing that there is a slight chance they might cancel, but he thought that Dr Erwin would still perform the surgery. We started the antibiotics Friday afternoon, got 2 doses in, and his fever didn’t come back. He’s starting to eat again and is drinking a lot. NOW, I will not say or even think that nothing else will happen before surgery. NOT GOING TO DO IT. I’m going to wait patiently with both fingers and toes crossed that his surgery will go on as scheduled. I am starting to get a little nervous about his surgery, though. I know it needs to happen but I’m just not looking forward to the recovery that it will bring. I know there will be a lot of pain and fighting about taking medicine, but this is what we do for our kids. I have to be tough, I have to be strong but I feel like I just want to curl up in a little ball with him and cry. I have an internal struggle going on that I think most parents who are healthcare providers deal with. On one hand you’re a nurse and you know that tough love is a must when kids are sick but on the other, it’s YOUR child. It’s your flesh and blood that you are forcing to take medicine. To hear him cough and gag because he’s being too stubborn to take the antibiotic without a syringe shoved into his mouth. It’s the baby that you cared for since the day he was born. You cried when you heard him take his first breath. It’s JACK.

You have to be TOUGH. You have to be STRONG. It’s what’s best for him and that’s all that matters. That’s ALL that matters.

I will keep you all posted on Facebook the day of the surgery and blog about it when I’m able. Yes, I will be taking pictures. Wish us luck for no more sickies before surgery and for a swift and uneventful surgery and recovery.

JacK's FiRsT DaY of ScHooL!!

2011-01-17T08:35:00.000-08:00

Many more tears were shed by Momma today than anyone else in the family. Jack starts his first day of school today. I can't believe how time flies. Seems like yesterday he was just a baby. He still is a baby but has grown into such a little boy. I feel like we've hit a milestone today. Jack has a cubby, he has teachers, and he's going to make a lot of friends. He is growing up so fast and there isn't anything I can do to stop it. I'm not sure that I would want to, but there is always a part of you that wishes they would stay little forever.

Momma loves you, Bubba. Have fun at school.

MONSTER TRUCKS and a dude rocking an awesome mullett!!

2011-01-16T03:02:00.001-08:00

This last weekend, we went to Monster Jam 2011. Monster trucks and dirt. Jack was in heaven. He was being a pistol before hand because of a late night up and a short nap before the show, but as soon as her eard those engines, he had a huge smile on his face. Maybe it was the exhaust fumes, or maybe sheer happiness, I'm not too sure. We definetly should have bought an extra seat for him, but for the most part he sat in Mike's lap.

Mike in the spirit of things....

We had awesome seats this year. We were sitting right behind Iron Outlaw and Bountyhunter about 3 rows back. It made for some great pictures. At least with Momma's skillful picture taking, of course.....

Once we sat down and had to stay put Jack got a little antsy, especially when there was a longer time inbetween cars. He tried to climb away a few times but Mike managed to keep him in line with food and candy.

We met the Perez family there. We've kind of made it tradition. We always have fun hanging out with Ron, Crystal and the kids.

Just before intermission, there was a tank that came out that was essencially a transformer. The head and arms folded out of the top of the tank and proceeded to breathe fire and eat a car. Jack called him a dragon. He didn't seem too scared but was definetly watching the scene with a questioning eye.....

The drivers put on an awesome show for us. We saw 4 trucks flip and Grave Digger the Legend rolled the truck over and actually saved it during the freestyle event. He won the competition. All in all it was a great event.

AND the moment you've all been waiting for......BLEACHED BLONDE MULLETT!!!

Now I like Ron, but he's not usually the subject of most of my pictures. In this instance, we needed a picture.

An Irish Blessing

2011-01-08T21:08:00.001-08:00

Lucky stars above you,
Sunshine on your way,
Many friends to love you,
Joy in work and play
Laughter to outweigh each care,
In your heart a song
And gladness waiting everywhere
All your whole life long!

A new year brings new excitement for the Lowmon clan!

2011-01-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

HaPpY NeW YeAr FrOm My FaMiLy To YoUrS!!
Hoping that the next year brings all that your heart desires.

Mike and I have been working on getting Jack's room cleaned out of all his clutter. We sorted through all his clothes and took out the stuff that doesn't fit any more. Next, we are moving on to his toys, once he is ASLEEP, and we are going to go through and put away all the toys that he has outgrown. (Yes, we are still keeping everything for when we have the next one...) I'm hoping that trasition goes smoothly.... My resolutions this year are 1) to be more organized and cleaner and 2) to spend less money. We shall see how things go. Mike is pretty happy about my resolutions so I'm sure that he will keep me to them....
:-)

Merry Christmas....or as Jack would say 'Happy Birthday!'

2010-12-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

As the Christmas season rolled around this year, it snuck up on me like always. It was more dramatic this time, I think because Mike did a lot of the shopping this year. I didn’t have time to prepare mentally for it. I was also somewhat focused on the fact that I turned 30 this month. I’ve decided that I’m really ok with being 30, or 29 again.☺ I have a great family, friends to be thankful for, and my health is ever improving. I’m very thankful for my life so far and I’m excited to see what the next year brings.

The Christmas season brought lots of travel like usual. We spent an evening in Chehalis with Carol and Doug having dinner on the 23rd, spent the 24th traveling to and back from Bellingham where we visited Mike's great Grandparents and extended family, then spent the 25th at my parents house until I had to go to work. It was exhausting!! But it was also worth the trip to see everyone. We missed a few people this year but will hopefully see them soon after the new year comes. Here are a few pics from the multiple festivites we attended.

Jack decided that my parents carpet would feel better rolled up apperently. He was just trying to get comfortable....

Shortly after Christmas, my niece Quinlan came to stay with us. The kids always have such a good time together. The next day, Quinlan took Jack home with her and he spent the night with them. Momma and Daddy had a very peaceful night and then a quiet day. We loved the break, but still missed our little man. We were glad to have him home.

Lovely Lisa's Christmas party 2010

2010-12-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

Miss Lisa has a tradition of throwing a wonderful Christmas party in the begining of December every year. The tradition has gone on longer than I've proabaly been alive but this was my first year in attendence. Everyone had a great time. There was lots of food and lots of drinks. We all are so grateful fro her hospitality and look forward to many more parties to come.

Here's to you Lisa, and to many more parties to come!!

The first snow of 2010 and Thanksgiving

2010-12-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

As you can tell, Jack enjoyed the first snow of 2010 VERY much. He had lots of fun eating and throwing snow all over the place. It was very cold but it didn't phase him like it did Momma.....

Definetly NOT an off road vehicle. Even toy cars get stuck in the snow...

Percy the train also had a fun time in the snow. We had to wait until the snow melted to find him, though.

Jack and his first snowman (with a little help from Momma).

Thanksgiving for us was at my Mom and Dad's this year. Because fo the blizzard, we deceided not to chance going to Oregon like we try to do each Thanksgiving. I gives us an time to visit Mike's family. We had a nice time none the less. At least Jack and Quinlan had some fun sleding. Too bad a lot of the snow had melted....

Hope everyone's Thanksgiving was good and that the upcoming holiday find everyone well. Happy snow days to ALL!!

OB Confrence-San Fransico 2010

2010-10-03T13:44:00.001-07:00

Our flight to San Fransico was good. Take off for me is always a little rough, but it only took a few tears and I was fine. The flight was uneventful, which I guess is what you want for a flight.

The 3 gentleman that we met on the flight. They sure were smooth talkers......

Our baby booze bottles

Here's to us girls, and to a good trip!!

The view from the Sir Francsis Drake, 18th floor.

The carousel down at Fisherman's Wharf

My drink at the Sea Lion Cafe.

Apparently it's the Sea Lions 20th Birthday!!

Sun bathing sea lions.... must be the life.

Alcatraz as seen from Pier 39.

Love this!! Maybe we'll hang it Jack's room?

This one's for you Judy H!! Didn't make it for the coffee, but got a pic just for you!

At Ghiradelli square, there is a fountain of mermaids and I thought this was approperiate for our trip and confrence.

Ghirardelli ice cream.....YUM!!

We had soooo much fun riding the cable cars!! It was an amazing feeling hanging off the side.....

The first day of the confrence. Stef, Jaime, and me.

Hillary and Sarah

After the first day of the confrence, we went to Chinatown for shopping and dinner.

Very nice, Sarah.

This was the best dinner that we had, and also the cheapest. It was soooo good.

After Chinatown, I realized that I lost my wallet some where along the way. When we located it where we had lunch that day, we went out to the Mexican bar to celebrate. We met Matt there who recommended the drag club we went to. Thanks Matt!! Your F%CKING awesome!!

More drinking, suprise.....

After the confrence on the 2nd day, we went out to the Drag Show. After all, we were in San Fransisco.

The mandirin cosmo was yummy!

"Porcupines"

Filet Mignon was sooooo good and the Korean BBQ dipping sauce was to die for.

Tita was one of our our waitress' and also performed during the show.

After the other girls left to go back to the airport, Stef and I venture ont he city bus down to Haight and Ashbury to take some pictures, and get a few tshirts. Traveling on the bus was interesting, but we made it uninjuried.

This house was in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood. It is the most colorful house I've ever seen.

After coming home from Haight and Ashbury, we sat in Union square to rest. We met a homeless, toothless man named Steve that entertained us for about 45mins. After that, we headed to the airport a little early. We picked up some "smut" magazines that we shared on the ride home. Ot made the flight go sooo much faster. I wish that we could have stayed longer, but was very glas to be home in my own bed and to see my family.

Doin' the Puyallup fair.....

2010-09-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

We spent yesterday with the Perez family, doin' the Puyallup fair. We had a great time, spent too much money, and came home with some really cool stuff. Some pictures of the fun filled day!!

NW Trek with the Perez family

2010-09-10T04:44:00.001-07:00

This past Sunday, we met the Perez family at NW Trek wildlife area. It gave the boys, both big and little, time to play together. We decided to meet in the morning and spend most of the day there. We had a really great time. It wore the kids OUT, but Jack was the only one that took a nap. After MW Trek, we headed to our house for dinner with a little door framing by the big boys. Mike bought a new front door and since Ron was here, Mike had him help put it in. All in all, it was a really great day!!

Two best friends on a whirlwind adventure to NW Trek. Sorry, we have been wathcing a lot of Shrek, lately.......

My very favorite picture. Handing over $, no questions asked.....

I think these two boys will grow up to be just like their Daddies.....

I started trying something new with my camera. I have been attempting to take pictures in the manual mode on my camera instead of just in Auto mode. Some of the pictures turned out ok..... some not so good. I think I had as many good pictures as I would have just using Auto, but the pics of the animals came out pretty good.

All of the kids had a great time. Each of the kids was worn out by the end of the trip, especially my little man. He was the only one that fell asleep for the ride home......

Little Buddy's 2nd Birthday!!

2010-08-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

Little Buddy’s 2nd birthday was today. Ryan (little buddy) is Mike’s best friend, Ron’s son. Ryan was born about 6 months after Jack and we hang with them frequently. Crystal (Ryan’s Mommy) rented an inflatable bounce house and it definitely was a BIG hit. We got there early to be able to spend some extra time with the Perezs. It had been awhile since we were able to spend time with them so we wanted to give the kids, Mike and Ron included, enough time together. The party was a great success. The kids had tons of fun and Ryan got lots of presents. He was pretty excited. These are some pictures of the totally awesome party.

Ryan wasn’t a big fan of our singing. As a matter of fact, it upset him a lot. He was better after we finished singing and Jack helped him blow out his candle. We really didn’t sound that bad….. at least I don’t think we did.

This picture is Chase who is Crystal's sister, Heather's 10 month old son. Yes,.... he's only 10 months.

Seeing this picture, and knowing both boys fathers, Crystal and I know that we are in for it with these 2 guys. We have a feeling they are going to be just like their Daddys.......

Jack loved the bounce house. He was a little afraid of the slide. He was okay going down with someone, but he wouldn’t go down by himself. I think he was the only one, though. Ryan even went down by himself!!

Hope you had a great time Little Buddy, because we did!!

Carpenter Family Picnic 2010

2010-08-14T05:20:00.001-07:00

Family reunion #2 got off to a rough start. We had left home and were making good time, but we found a fairly big dog wandering Pacific Ave, a main street through Tacoma. We stopped, picked him up, and took him to the nearest Vet. He was microchipped, thankfully but it took a while to get a hold of the owners. Because of that, we took him with us to the family reunion. We also had Mike's niece Kennedy with us. With 2 kids and a big dog, riding in the Pruis was tight so we headed back to the house and got the big truck so everyone could ride a little more comfortably. We weren't too far from home, but by the time we got back on the road, 2 hours had passed. With a 3 hour drive to Bellingham and a 2 hour delay, we were now NOT making good time. By the time we got there, some people were already leaving.

The BBQ was held at a very nice city park in Bellingham which was great for the kids. There was a playground and water area. Jack and Kennedy had a blast. My photography skills had to take a backseat to chasing Jack around, and trying to get him to eat something. It's was also harder for me to take pictures at Mike's reunion, because his family is so big that I don't know who belongs to who and if the people are part of his family, or just happen to be hanging out near us. His family is pretty big. I think Grandma Glen said that the Carpenter family is the biggest family in Bellingham. We met Mike's Aunt Gert who came up from California to visit which was nice. After we visited at the park, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Glen at their house. All in all it was a very good visit. The entire weekend was very tiring and MIke had to go to work the next day. I'm sure that he was the most exhauted of all......

I'm pretty sure that this little guy was with the Carpenter family. He and Jack both had a ton of fun playing in the water area together.

Say CHEESE!!

The Farr Family BBQ 2010

2010-08-13T21:43:00.001-07:00

It’s summer time now, and the time for family reunions. Mike and I both had a family reunion the same weekend. Thankfully, the parties were on different days. My aunt Linda throws a party every summer and we always have a really good time. This year, she had someone come out and do professional pictures. It was super hot and we all were wearing black t-shirts. Jack was not cooperative as usual, but we got him to sit still enough to take some pictures. They turned out good for the most part, and we ordered a few to frame here at home. After the photo shoot, I was designated the photographer. I have a tendency to take a lot of pictures. I think the number this year was 220. Last year or the year before was 300….. Anyway, most of the pictures turned out good and here are several of the best ones.

Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of our hostess, Linda or of my brother in law, Mark. Some people are better at dodging my camera than others. :)

Mike's a workin' fool

2010-07-30T05:08:00.001-07:00

So starts the last day of Mike’s first week back to work. I’m up at 4am because I went to bed tooo early last night. I‘ll end up needing coffee later on today but it does give me some peace a quiet to do my blogging.

Mike was cleared by the doctor on Friday, and was back to work bright and early on Monday morning. He went to an 8am start so he which means he is in a truck all day. (He actually likes that…) The reason he took the 8am start was so he would be away from the facility where he was exposed to the chemical that injured him, for most of the day. It seemed like the safer option to take. The doctor still thinks that another exposure could be deadly, but Mike is minimizing the time he’s in the yard as much as he can. They also have special “gas masks” in case he starts to smell the chemical. He told me on Monday that he didn’t realize how much he missed driving. You can tell that he’s happy to be back to work but come Saturday, I’m sure that he will be sleeping in……

Mike’s sister Heather and family are up here staying with us tonight so that she and Brenda can take Kennedy to Wild waves for her birthday. We got to spend a little while visiting before I passed out asleep. ☺ While Jack and I won’t be attending the festivities, we send Kennedy all our love for her very exciting birthday trip. We will be picking her up on Saturday, and taking her to the Carpenter family picnic so she can visit with Mike’s side of the family. For that matter, she will be visiting my side of the family also, because on Saturday, we will be at my family reunion. 2 family reunions in 1 weekend will be fun, and tiring. The traveling will be enough to kill us. One is in Rochester just south of Olympia, and the other is in Bellingham. Talk about opposite ends….. At least the one in Bellingham isn’t in Anacortes this year. We got lost last time we went and spent 2 hours looking for it. At least we know where we are going this time. I will post pictures of all the events as soon as I get the time. I’m sure that there will be lots. My camera is goin' to get a workout this weekend!!

Zoobilee 2010

2010-07-25T06:11:00.000-07:00

A lot of you may know that I attended my very first black tie charity event this month. It was for the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium here in Tacoma. They essentially throw a party once a year at the zoo with food and beverages (mostly alcoholic). Aside from the food and drinks, they also set up stages throughout the zoo for bands/DJs. The festivities started at 7:30pm and go until 1am. I went with a group of co-workers and had an absolutely GREAT time. I think that it was the very start of what will be a LONG tradition of attending this particular event. The girls that I went with KNOW how to party so we get along pretty well. Needless to say that most of us closed down the evening at 1am. The weather was great. Sunny in the begining and then cooled down. I was drinking and had a wrap so I didn't get cold, but some of my girlfriends did so they took off early. What was nice for the men, was that “black tie” wasn’t as black tie as one would have thought. Most of the women were in cocktail dresses but most of the men were in some form of hybrid tux/sport jacket with shorts combo. It was pretty interesting. We caught a taxi to a co-workers house and camped out there for the night. All in all it was a great night, at least what I can remember of it. I found the Jameson Whiskey tent and the night started to get fuzzy after that. I remember most parts and I’m sure my girls would have told me if I had dome anything really weird. I'm hoping that I can get Mike to go with us next year. I guess that I have a whole year to convince him…..

3 years and counting...

2010-07-07T20:36:00.000-07:00

3 years ago today, Mike and I got married. 3 years. Seems like it's been longer than that. We have had plenty going on with us. Jack counts as a several..... Between my job and my illness, Mike's job and his injury, it's been a bumpy road but we've gotten here safe. Things are looking up. I'm feeling better than I have in a very long time. I have the energy that I used to have, also. Mike is doing better and will maybe be able to go back to work which he is very happy about.

I love Mike just as much as I ever have. He is becoming a wonderful father and I love him so much for that. I don't know what things will be like if he gets to go back to work. Jack will be at a loss without his Daddy around all the time. He freaks out if he's out of his sight now.

With the start of actual summer weather, we decided to break out the slip-n-slide that we bought Jack hoping that the weather would eventually get better. :) I wasn't sure for awhile if it would.... He had a great time with it. He didn't actually slide on it, although he did fall down once or twice. He just jumped over, and tried to drink the water spray. He also had fun jumping in the puddles on the slide part. We played outside until it was time to eat dinner. He wasn't happy about going inside, but he got over it as toddlers do. We made the most of the "first day of summer".

Today, Mike and I decided to celebrate our anniversary day with a trip to the beach. It seemed fitting since that is where we went on our honeymoon. That and the fact that it was supposed to be like 90 degrees. We both thought that a little ocean breeze wouldn't be a bad idea. Jack had a BLAST!! All he wanted to do was run in the water. I think that I followed him for like a mile. Daddy tried to help him buld a sand castle, but all Jack wanted to do was destroy anything that Mike built. There a toddler for you.... We all had a great time and all got a little sun burned. After Mike had all the sun he could, we went for a drive to see if any houses were for sale. Maybe one day we will be able to retire to the ocean. At least one can hope, right? Then, we went to an Irish pub in town (apprently they are popping up all over the place) and had a very nice early dinner. I tried Guiness for the very first and probably last time. They mixed it with a hard cider, so that made it tolerable. It wasn't too bad, but I don't think that it will be my new beer of choice. I guess that I'd fail as an Irishman..... We are now sitting at home unwinding from the day. I'm on the computer blogging and Mike is watching a little TV. I'm sure he'd be on Craigslist if he could be but I called the computer first!! :) Well I should go nurse my sunburn, and his for that matter. Here are a few pics to enjoy.

Happy Anniversary my dear. Here's to many more......

4th of July weekend and Momma is ready for bed.....

2010-07-05T01:20:00.001-07:00

Happy 4th of July to one and all!! I hope this post finds everyone well and that all of your appedages are accounted for.

We had a busy weekend that actually started on Thursday evening. My niece, Quinlan who we call Ninny (short for Quinnie) came to stay with us until Saturday night. She and Jack always have a blast together, even though Jack is still learning to share his things.... We did the usual play at home Thursday night, and most of Friday because we were waiting for the sun to come out. It never actually did, so we played in the overcast grayness until it started raining. Jack and Ninny both took 2 baths which I think made up for it all. My bathroom mat is soaked to prove it......

On Saturday though, we met Ron and his family to go clam digging. The weather still wasn't great, but at least we didn't get rained on. This was my first experience clamming and it was pretty fun. The kids played around in the water, and Mike was able to make quick work of his, Jack's, and Ninny's limit on clams. We are going to be eating lots of clams tonight for dinner!! Here are a few pics of our adventure clamming.

2 buddies off to the beach to find some clams.....

What are those girls doing?? Keep wondering kid, you'll never actually figure us out......

This was post rock assault by the 2 year old. He was so cute that I had to let him do it again so I could get the picture....

The kids had a blast looking for crabs and splashing in the water.

Yummmm, seaweed...

Once in a great while, the artsy side of Momma rears it's head.

As for the actual 4th of July well, Mike and I took Jack to the Freedom fair on Ruston way. He had a pretty good time. He behaved himself for the majority of the day. He finally wanted down after we had wondered up and down the road for the 2nd or 3rd time. He said 'Baby down...BABY DOWN!!!' and then told me 'Run, Momma. RUN!!' and he did. He is fast for being so short. Mike chased him a good 1/2 mile, and he was still going strong. One of the problems is that he doesn't watch where he is going. He ran right in front of a group of bicycle cops and made them all stop. Mike said they 'crashed', but no one was on the road when I looked so I don't think that qualifies as a crash.... I didn't get too many pics because he was just in the stroller part of the day and when he wasn't, I was maning the stroller. Then, my batteries died just after the fireworks started. There's irony for you. We stayed specificly for the fireworks an then the camera has the nerve to die. Couldn't have possibly been operator error, could it.... Here are pics of what I did get.

Sweet Jack at the end of a long day.

Light saber vs Daddy's head. Sweet but not so innocent Jack. This one is for everybody that thinks Jack is such an angel.....

Happy 4th of July!!

It's been an awful long time.....

2010-06-23T00:33:00.000-07:00

Haven't updated my blog in awhile due to some overtime that I have been working. Our sister hospital went live with the computer system that we have been using for about 2 years. I volunteered to go over and help out when they finally switched over to mostly computer charting. All in all it went very well and I had a good amount of overtime to show for it.

So what have we been up to.....well not too much until more recently. Mike and I took Mike to the Zoo on one of the very few hot days at the June. We had a good time. I wanted to go to see the new snow leopard cubs, but they weren't been too social this particular day. Yep, that's them sitting up on top of their inclosure. Not much of a view....

None the less it was a good day. Jack got to play outside in the water, groom the goats, and hang over the aquarium to see all the fish (and made Momma very nervous). We didn't make it to see the polar bears this trip because someone was getting pretty grumpy without his nap..... No, I didn't mean Mike. hahaha Here are a few of the pictures that I was able to snap while he was holding semi still.

It's amazing that such small little hands hold my heart each and everyday.

Acupunture is going well....

2010-05-20T11:53:00.000-07:00

Most of you know that since Jack was born, I have been struggling with a lot of pain, fatigue, and a mirad of other annoying things. Most recently it's been the headache that never ended, palpatations that caoused chest pain, and so much pain that I had trouble just getting around. After seeing doctors that had no explanation (sooooo annoying) and offer help that wasn't helping, Mike and I deceided that I should try acupuncture. I've seen Mike, my acupuncturist twice now and there really has been an improvement. I haven't needed my pain meds for about 3 days now and that was something I couldn't even fathom 2 weeks ago. I just finished my second appointment and I'm finally hopeful that the pain might go away completely. I still have pain but it's much less severe and widespread. I'm taking hebs that I have NO idea what they are. I'd need a trasnlator to just to pronounce the name of them. You have to take a LOT of them in one day, but it's worth it to me if I feel better. They are pretty easy to take. I can take 36 of the herbs at a time which is one dose (they look like little pelletss for a BB gun). I take them twice a day because I never can seem to take them three time a day. I took a few pictures of the session because I thought it looked pretty cool. The needles are really fine and some times I can't even feel them go in. Other times, I feel them. Mike (my acupuncturist) says thats because I havve more blocked energy there. He says that it's good when the points throb. That means it's working well...... The overall pain of the treatment is nothing compared to the pain I was in everyday of my life. I'll take acupuncture over that pain any time. I do find it humorous when he talks about my liver Qi (pronounced chee) being too over active and my yin and yang. Some times I just raise my eyebrows and shrug my sholders. He seems to know what he's doing. As long as it's working, I'll let him try to balance my Qi. Most of the needles that I have placed are in my lower legs and in my lower arms. Mike says that is because in Western medicine, you have more nerve endings from your elbow to your hand (and also your knee to you foot) than you do in your entire body. It's similar in Chinesse medicine. there are more points on my meridians (little chuckle) in the same areas. I took some pictures of my legs with the needles placed. I would take pictures of my arms but it's hard to take pictures with needles in your hands....

don't mind the cellulite....

The needles are hard to see but I do have one on my right foot. See if you can find it.

Jack is a chip off the old Momma

2010-05-16T00:15:00.001-07:00

Apparently this is a look that I used to give my sister when I was little..... I think that I still give Mike the same look.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-08T09:38:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's day to one and all!! I hope that this post finds you all well. Not so in my household..... My mother's day started with Jack vomiting at 2am. Gotta love the irony. Celebrate your day with vomit and diahrrea!! Wooo hoo!! Motherhood.

I haven't posted much in recent days.... We've had a lot of doctor's appointments lately and with work, and my daily pain, I've been pretty wiped out.

Being such a nice day yesterday, Mike wanted to take the boat out on the water and test the motor. We had my niece, Quinlan with us so Mike, Jack, Quinlan and I went out on Spanaway lake and burned some gas. I think it was the happiest day that Mike has had in a long time.

Here's a few pictures from the day....

All in all it was a pretty good day. Hope that eveyone was able to enjot the sunshine like we did. :)

War paint....

2010-04-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

We bought Jack an easel a little while ago and he uses it, and likes it to color on but the main reason that I wanted to buy one was so that he could paint without sitting at our table. He has a tendency to get paint on alot of things so I thought if he was standing, away from most stuff, less things would get painted. We have had the easel for some time now and I haven't had him paint yet, so I thought that today woud be as good a day as any. Jack painted for the first time on his easel. He really loved it. He kept saying the color as he painted them. I really think that this kid is smart, but I guess every Mom thinks that about her kid..... He made 3 works of art. 2 on paper, and one on himself. Needless to say, he got a shower after he was finished.

One of Jack's paper works of art.....

Jack's SELF work of art.......

The proud artist with his popicle....(it's hard work being an artisit, you know....)

No matter how much you tell your child paint doesn't taste good, they will always taste it.

Sleeping Rock star....

2010-04-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

Jack is notorious for not wanting to take naps. (My parents say he gets that from me.....)So when we put him down for a nap, we expect yelling and crying most of the time. On this day, we happened to hear a toy guitar playing from his room. He wasn't upset, so we left him alone....... The rocksatr fell asleep with his guitar at his side.

Easter fun for everyone....

2010-04-06T06:03:00.000-07:00

Tis the season for Easter and as I sit here on my computer today, the Bunny has come and gone. The goodies he brought with him are scattered around my living room. Jack had a pretty good time. I wish that I had planned things out a little bit more, but with all the extra time I'm putting in at work, it sort of slipped my mind. Daddy was there to save the day. He went out and bought an Easter basket and a toy for Jack. The basket was cheaper than cheap....I think next year we will make our own. Mr Bunny did make a very good purchase in the talking Scoop machine he picked up. He's one of Bob the builder's machine and Jack does love Bob. Scoop moves, talks, and even sings. Jack was VERY excited when he saw him.

Happy Easter!!

He was saysing 'Ohhhh, Scoop...'

A boy and his machine....

Last weekeknd, we took Jack to Wilcox farms to an Easter egg hunt there. I was working extra that weekend, of course, so I wasn't in best of moods. We did manage to have some fun while we were there, though. The egg hunt was at 1pm so Jack didn't get his nap in before we went. That made for a bad combo. Between me being tired, and Jack being unruly we didn't spend too much time there. The Perez family did travel all the way from Gig Harbor to come see us and participate in the festiviites. We unfortunately didn't get a chance to visit too long because my fuse was short and Jack seemed to lit it upon arrival.... Shortly after the egg hunt, we left for home (Sorry, Crystal). I always have an internal struggle between not letting working nights get in the way of life, and paying for it later... or even during the event. I refuse to put Jack's life on hold because I have to work nights. Okay, enough of my rambling, I'm sure all you want is to see picutres, so here they are.

Jack had this real fascination with the Wilcox chicken (above). I guess this is Stand-off #2. Jack would just run up to him and stare. He gave him 1 or 2 high 5's with prompting but when he ran up to the chicken he would just stand there with a confused look on his face. I'm sure he didn't know what to think about a human sized chicken. We had to pull Jack away eventually, but still kept looking back at him.

The Egg hunt was supposed to start at 1pm but apparently there was a delay because it didn't start until 1:15pm. You wouldn't think 15minutes would be that long to wait but for a tired and unruly toddler, and a tired Momma, we were got pretty irritated that it didn't start on time. Eventually thry sounded the bell and Jack went hunting for his eggs. He got a lot of candy, which he was happy about.... not so much for Momma and Daddy, but what can you do. Tis the season....

Waiting.......

and waiting....

and more waiting....

Watch out eggs.... Here he comes!!

It's still amazing how time flies.....

2010-03-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

2 years......I can't believe it's been 2 years. My sweet baby boy is 2. People will tell you that time flies, and you believe them, but you will really never know how fast until you yourself look back. Jack never has been a "little" boy, but he was my baby. Now, my baby is a toddler and amazing me everyday. My "little" boy is growing into a small person right before my eyes. Being a parent is the hardest job I have ever had, and I love and cherish every minute of it.

2 years ago today, I was still in the hospital. I was recovering from the infection that cropped up after my delivery. I spent 11 days in the hospital after Jack was born and I wasn't able to be there on Jack's first night at home. There were a lot of scary times while I was in the hospital. Times when I wasn't sure that I would be okay, but in the end things worked out and I have a happy healthy boy to love. Over the past 2 years there have been more problems, but looking back I realized a few things.

I have spent:
2 years (actually more than that) working nights.

2 years balancing working as a nurse with being a mom.

2 years dealing with daily pain and fatigue left after I had Jack.

2 years of doctor's appointments...his and mine.

2 years changing wet and poopy diapers.

2 years waiting for and loving every time I hear the word 'Momma'.

2 years watching this little baby boy grow into a little man.

2 years, huh........It seems like a lifetime, that passed in the blink of an eye.

My first trip to Ikea

2010-03-15T08:19:00.001-07:00

So on Sunday, Mike and I decided that we would venture up to Ikea in Seattle to pick up a few things for Jack. We decided that we needed to put a smaller table in the front room and I wanted to get Jack an easel so he hopefully colors less on the tables. We made the venture up there in the big one ton but by the end of the trip realized that we really could have just take the car. Anyway, we left the store with a table, 2 stools, and easel with rolls of paper, a few cups for Jack, and a cool new light for Jack's room. It projects colored stars, moons, and planets onto the wall. Jack thought that was pretty neat. There is one star that hits about in the middle of his room and he loves to stand right in the middle of it. When we first hung it up and tried it out he pointed to the wall and said 'blue star'....he was actually pointing to the blue star. This kid is smart. Well, at least I think so. Here are a few pictures of the redecoration of the living area, and Jack's bedroom.

Jack's Pool Party

2010-03-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

Jack had his pool party today and it turned out great. We were hoping to get set up in the room a little before we actually did but it was fun none the less. A big thank you to Michelle for taking pictures....they turned out great. Thank you to everyone that showed up. Jack was very excited to see you all.

This was the basis of Jack's party. I decided to make frog cupcakes. I found the idea on the internet and thought, it can't be that hard. It wasn't really but there was a bit of trial and error.....

I made a lot of cupcakes. It was a lot. 48. From start to finish I was standing in the kitchen the whole time. I was pretty sore after ward, but they were worth it. My army of frogs......

Well, hello froggie dear......

One stickey boy helping Momma bake.

Quentin and Jack are 10 days apart. No, really.... 10 days.

Pool Pictures. Jack had a blast, except for the time he was floating face down in the pool. I snatched him up pretty quick, but it still scared him..... scared me a little, too. It wasn't too bad because he was still moving. If he wasn't flailing about, I would have been more concerned.

Hailey

Joy and company

Monkey man Jack hanging on the pool railing.

Jeremaiah

I bought some inflatable frogs for the kids to take home. They were pretty cute and made for a nice decoration.

KIds playing in between eating

Kyle just chillin'

Jack in all his shirtless glory....

We had pizza and cupcakes. Mmmmmm......

Brooklyn thoroughly enjoying the green frosting on the cupcakes.

The birthday boy.

The kids brought down most of the balls to play with. Seems like they had a blast.

After we finished with the party, we met the Perez family at Chuck E Cheese. Jack got in a few more hours of playing before heading home. Here are a few pictures of the event.

Jack's Bellingham birthday party 2010

2010-03-08T03:52:00.000-08:00

On Sunday this weekend, we took a trip up to Bellingham to visit family and celebrate Jack's birthday. Jack is making several stops on his birthday tour and this was stop #2. His 3rd stop will be his pool party here in Tacoma, and 4th will be on St Patrick's day (his actual birthday) at my parents house.

Mike was the designated driver because I worked 12 hours the night before/morning of. My attempt to go home early was in vain because at 6:30 am when we had 5 people on the verge of delivery and no one free we were crossing our finger that no one delivered until the reinforcements of day shift came. I was there an extra hour charting..... so much for trying to at least get out on time. I got home, got cleaned up, and then we left. I was asleep within 20 minutes. The drive there and back was uneventful...at least that's what Mike tells me. We got there in time to visit and spent most of the day there. Jack had a shorter than normal nap in the car. He fell asleep about 10 minutes before we were at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so we drove around Bellingham a little to extend the nap, but it wasn't really much longer than 30 minutes. We had planned on going to Louie's restaurant for dinner, but Jack wasn't in a good enough mood. We decided to take a rain check on dinner and head home a little early. Although we love Louie's restaurant and the food, I didn't have enough energy to fight with Jack to keep him happy. These are a few pictures from the party. I would have taken more, but narcolepsy took over shortly after opening presents and eating cake. Jack did enjoy both his presents very much. We're sorry that we missed the Walton family but understand about the long trip home and being worn out from traveling. I have a lot of sympathy for being exhausted. Shout out to Uncle Monty's team, though. They took 2nd place in the state championship!! Great job!

Jack loves it when he is sung to and having 'Happy Birthday' sung to him is no exception. He was too excited about diving into those cupcakes.....

Great Grandma Glen helping Jack with his cupcake. (Mike's grandma)

Mmmmmmm....cupcakes

Jack, tearing into yet another present......

Jack got a Firemans helmet with speaker, which he thinks is hilarious and a Webkin Pug that just might rival Barkley.....well almost.

Grandam Glen had a display of beautiful carnations on the table and Jack now has a facination with "sniffing" flowers. He doesn't actually sniff the flowers. He blows through his nose. It makes the same noise so he thinks he's doing it right. Here, he decided that everyone else should smell the flowers, too.

My little picture poser......Say Cheese!!

We had a wonderful time as always and wish that we could have stayed longer. Love you all!!

When your parents get sick......

2010-03-03T00:58:00.000-08:00

Awake after midnight again..... Can't blame this one on night shift. More worried than anything. They placed a stent in my Dad's heart today. Didn't know that he had any heart problems until he was admitted into a Japanese hospital yesterday. He had some shortness of breath and a little chest pain. Apparently it was an angina attack. They took him into the hospital and ended up doing a cardiac cath to determine what if any blockages there were. They ended up placing a stent in an artery that was 90% occluded. That seems odd to me that he didn't have more symptoms than her did but what do I know. I just help deliver babies. How far occluded the artery was is a moot point I guess because the stent is already in place. Dad was supposed to come home on Friday and will be released from the hospital in time to make his flight, but he's so exhausted from everything, not to mention the timing would be tight, he decided not to come home on his already scheduled flight. We think he will be home some time on Wednesday next week. I just hope that he comes home soon so I know that he's here safe. Your world really get shaken when your parents get sick. It seems like they are immortal and nothing could ever happen to them. Reality checks like this one are hard....at least for me. Dad travels a lot for his job and that can be nerve racking enough. Then he has the nerve to go and get sick over there?!?!? I'm going to have to down a few Klonopin to settle my nerves after this one....

That's my Dad.......

Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad.
~Author Unknown

Jack's first 2nd birthday celebration....

2010-02-28T13:42:00.000-08:00

Went to OR this weekend to celebrate Jack's 2nd birthday since we aren't having a big family party up here. Everyone who we expected was there and we had a really nice time. Jack was his crazy self and had a great time testing Momma and Daddy's patience. There were lots of stairs to slide on and oh, he did. Here are some pictures from the event.

Jack and one of his many presents. This boy is spoiled. Jack latched on to this small tractor and wanted out of the package.

Jack got a Handy Manny motorcycle. He was super excited. Apparently you can make it into a custom chopper. I can see Daddy working on that for him......

Jack actually got the hang out tearing the paper this year. This is the first time he didn't have to have someone else do it for him.

Jack was so excited that he just HAD to pick his nose. Boys and their orifices.......

A boy and his cake. Thomas got snatched off that cake like lightening......

Train cleaning..........

Mmmmmmm, cake and ice cream. For Jack, there's always room for cake and ice cream.

Jack at the park in Lacey

2010-02-28T13:14:00.000-08:00

On one of the nicer days this last week, Mike and I took Jack to a park in Lacey that isn't too far from our house. It has a round asphalt track for bike riding and a pond for fishing. It also has a nice playground and lost of room to run. Jack wasn't really impressed with the playground, maybe because he didn't care or maybe because there were a lot of kids but he didn't stay in the playground long. This is a picture of Jack playing under, rather than on a large web design that was there.

After his short visit with the playground, he then took off and ran about 1/2 of the asphalt track with me following behind him. For a chubby little boy, he sure can run fast. If you look real close in the picture, he's sticking his tongue out....

We brought out Jack's 4 wheeler that he has ALMOST outgrown, although he did show us that he still can ride it....

We were only there a short amount of time, but he got tired pretty quick. (A mother's dream......)

The view from our drive home......

Momma testing the new camera batteries.....

2010-02-22T14:31:00.000-08:00

My camera batteries have been on the fritz for awhile and i had been too forgetful to replace them....until now. Once I got new batteries, I had to test them out....

I get this look ALLLLLLL the time.........

The pictures turned out WONDERFUL!!

2010-02-21T09:34:00.000-08:00

The pictures turned out GREAT thanks to Sherry's wonderful photography skills. I got the CD and prints last night. Here are a few highlights from the photos. Thank you sooo much, Sherry. I love them!

Picture Time....

2010-02-18T19:03:00.000-08:00

Today, we met my friend and co-worker Sherry with her brood at Wright's park in Tacoma for a picture taking session. Jack was his uncooperative self as usual, at least for pictures anyway. He doesn't want to hold still and when he gets into a cute pose and you get ready to take a pic, he sees you and bolts. Grrr. Sherry did a great job and was really patient. I've seen a few of the pics and they turned out great. When I get them on a CD, I'll post them for all to see. I can't wait.

Olympic Game Farm in Sequim

2010-02-16T07:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we went to the Olympic Game far in Sequim with the Perez family. They have been there a few times, but this was our first adventure. It was a long drive up there especially from our house. It was well over 2 hours to get there. We always have a good time with the Perez family and yesterday was no exception. Most of the animals roam free and come up to your car for food. Mike bought 6 loaves of bread and we ran out half way through. Jack was throwing out 4 slices at a time, but well..... There were a few animals that were caged or corralled like the lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!! I didn't have much luck getting pictures of the tigers or lions but the bears posed nicely for me. Crystal said that some of them used to be circus bears so I guess they know what they are doing, right? :) Here are a few pictures of the expedition. After the long trek home, we visited with the Perezs' at home and inadvertently crashed their dinner.....We always seem to do that...and I swear it's not on purpose, either.... All in all it was a very good day.

Little buddy is always smiling....

Jack enjoying the scenery of deer and antelope.

This one tried to stow away in our car.....

The bear actually could catch the bread in his mouth.... It was pretty cool.

Jack had no fear until the bison stuck it's head INTO the car. He just set the bread on the ledge of the window and slowly backed away.....

Another stow away...... I'm going to be wiping bison and antelope snot out of my car for awhile. ~sigh~

My little 'Duke of Hazzard'

For all of you familiar with Madagascar....(Jack has watched it non-stop recently) Runnin' is crack-a-lackin'!!

Busy day for a busy boy....

Introducing the next generation Bono. Now I just have to teach him to speak with an Irish accent. hahaha

A few pictures of Jack exploring the mud and rocks there.....

A very tired boy several hours past his naptime.

New adventures from Momma

2010-02-14T21:01:00.000-08:00

Since Jack is turning 2 soon, I decided to have his pictures taken and my co-worker and friend Sherry graciously offered to take them for me. I bought Jack a new outfit that included a baseball cap. I was hoping that he would learn to wear it, but he really only likes knitted hats. I looked on the internet for hats to buy and then thought, I could just make one. I found a pattern for a hat on-line and then just kind of winged it. I happen to think that it turned out pretty well.

And a few other sayings that keep me truckin' through the bad days........

Love this one Eileen, Bev, or who ever decorated my locker. Darn it when those panties get into a bunch.

This one is thanks to my friend Crystal. Somehow, it fits me perfectly......

Here's hoping that you had a good Valentine's day whether you were with friends, lovers, or by yourself. Know that you are loved whether you have a Valentine or not. I know that I am thankful for all the love that receive from family, friends, and co-workers. I am sending all my peeps lots of love, peace and happiness vibes this Valentine's day. Love you all!!

A fun trip to Seattle Aquarium

2010-02-14T05:11:00.001-08:00

This weekend we decided to make a trip to Seattle and go see some of the main attractions there. We drove up in the late morning and did a little sight seeing. It's amazing all the things in the Ye Ole' Curiosity Shoppe, especially if you are trying in vain to keep a toddler from touching/breaking it all. After we visited there, we stopped and had lunch at Ivars. I didn't know that Ivars had a NICE sit down restaurant. Fancy water glasses and everything. The food was good and I found a few wheat free menus items to chose from. I had the salmon with veggies. Mike had halibut tacos, and Jack had tartar sauce with a side of fish and chips. He really did love the fish, but man that tartar sauce, whew! He thought that was some good stuff. He even dipped his cookies in it...... Nice. After eating, we went to the Aquarium and then to Pike Place Market. There unfortunately aren't many pics of the market because by that time, Jack had fallen asleep and I had put the camera down. (Step away from the camera!!) Overall, we had a good time and hope to do it again when Jack is a little older and can hold still for more activities but I'm not sure that will ever happen....... Here are the pics I did get of our day.

Mmmmmmmm, tartar sauce.......

A happy boy is one with a full belly. ~PS: This is one of his 'Cheese' poses. hahaha

Jack and the Jellies..... At the aquarium there was a circular glass enclosure where the jelly fish swim around and around (you'd think they would get dizzy) and Jack thought that it was pretty cool. He tried to climb it but didn't have any luck. In this picture, he trying to talk (to Jack that means yell) at them......or maybe he's trying to lick them....I'm not really sure.

Daddy and I both held Jack up so he could touch all the sea creatures that they have on display. My very first concern was for the poor sea creature that would soon be ripped from it's home due to Jack and his uncanny strength and curiousity, but he did well with some GENTLE!! coaching from us. Then, I don't know what it is about Jack but any water that gets on his hands must go in his mouth. Jack, GROSS!!! Stop that!! Arggh. They keep the water somewhat clean, right? At least that's what I keep telling myself......Gross.

I didn't pose him like that, he did it himself. I think that after 2 years of pictures, he's finally getting the hang of posing for mommy, not to mention he now says 'Cheese' when I go to take his picture. Do you think I take too many?.....Nah.

These 2 pics are self explanatory. Jack exploring the Aquarium....

It was octopus week at the Seattle Aquarium so Jack thought that he would join in the festivities and don an octopus costume.... Meet Octo-Jack. All the same energy but 8 times the ability to get into things! I think we are in trouble. :)

Now I posted this picture to all of you people out there who think Jack is just a little angel. Here is photographic evidence that this "little" boy can get unruly..... Daddy can attest to that.

For those of you familiar with Bear in the Big Blue House, here is a picture of Pip and Pop. I was disappointed that they weren't in their beautiful shade of purple like normal. Jack was disappointed too. None the less, they were pretty darn cute.

Momma's sweet little man after a long, tiring day......

Yelm Gymnastics Center

2010-02-12T19:08:00.000-08:00

So in my quest to wear Jack out, I found a gymnastics center near our house in Yelm. Mike and I were looking at putting Jack in classes, but they also have an open gym for toddlers twice a week. With my odd schedule I think that we might just take him to the open gym verses the classes because I'm not sure that he could sit or deal with a structured class. He really just like to run around. He even runs the length of the big trampoline. Jack loves it when I bounce him after he runs to the end of it. We bounce off onto a big soft blue mat and he just giggles. He has a great time and lasted the whole hour and a half. We were both exhausted by the time the class was over. This is the second time we went and I think that we will make it a regular event. Here are a few pictures of the event. It's harder to chase a toddler around and snap pictures than you would think....

More adventures from Jack

2010-02-11T23:49:00.001-08:00

Mischievous little Jack........

Daddy doing a little work around the house. By the time Jack is 5 he'll be able to run a bulldozer and a tractor. : )

Jack and his chickens......

Wheat free again........

2010-01-21T21:18:00.000-08:00

Okay, I've decided that I'm going to go wheat free again and see after a few months if the pain continues to increase or not. I still think that wheat free is for the birds so to speak, but I'll keep doing it for my health....as hard as it is. The short break was nice and I pigged out on Krispy Kreme and "human" pizza. Oh, wheat....how I will miss you. I hope that you make a repeat apperance after time.

Wheat free is for the birds!!

2010-01-19T14:07:00.000-08:00

So as many of you know, I was diagnosed with Celiac disease in Nov and have been on a wheat free diet since around Thanksgiving. My major symptom was pain, all over and to the point I needed pain medication to function. When I went wheat-free just before Thanksgiving, I had almost no pain and was feeling great. Now, not even 3 months later, I'm starting to feel like my old self, which is not good. I've been VERY religious about keeping out foods that contain wheat and limiting my diet to gluten free things but to no avail, the pain has come back. So after talking with Mike, we decided to start me back on wheat and see how I feel. Last night we had Papa Murphy's pizza. Wheat, of how I've missed you so..... It was the most delicious pizza I have ever tasted and today, the pain isn't any worse than it was on the wheat free diet. So right now, I'm not sure what to do. Should I keep with the wheat-free and see if the pain gets worse, or stay on wheat and see if the pain gets worse? My other problem is the fact that Mike's insurance is going to run out soon and we can't really afford a bunch of medical bills because my insurance SUCKS. You'd think that a hospital would give their health care workers good benefits, but no. Sorry. Apparently we are just supposed to never get sick or have any medical problems at all. Yeah, nice try!! With all of the stress of Mike being out of work and sick, insurance changes, and money worries, maybe it's stress that's making things worse. Who knows. Nothing ever shows up on my blood work so maybe I'm just crazy. Isn't there a pill for that? Oh yeah, I tried it and it didn't work. I just hope I can find an answer soon. If not, I'll be drivin' the crazy train right along side Mike. We sure are 2 peas in a pod.

Mike's follow up appointment after his pulmonary function test

2010-01-15T13:48:00.000-08:00

Mike had his follow up appt with Dr Darby today after he did his pulmonary function test. Apparently, he doesn't fit the "diagnostic criteria for asthma". I guess he's not "sick" enough. On the day he did the test, he was completely wiped out. He had a headache for 2 days afterward. But his O2 sats were fine. Something tells me that there is damage in his lungs but it just didn't show up on that test. Mike is scheduled for a follow up test (a different one) on Jan 28th. It's a meta choline challenge test. Basically, they make Mike breathe increasing amounts of meta chlorine and at a certain point, he'll have an asthma attack. The doctors will treat him for the attack and then they will judge how much of the chemical it took to induce the attack. Maybe then they'll make the diagnosis of asthma. Either way, Mike has a reactive airway, diagnosed with "asthma" or not and he's still unable to go back to work where he was due to the risk of exposure again. We still aren't getting paid from his initial injury, so money is tight around here. Mike is also going insane not being able to do much around the house. Between the weather, and the fact that exertion causes an attack, he's going crazy and he's trying to take me with him!!

Keep us in your thoughts. We need all the help we can get. Mike is hoping to go back to work soon, but I don't think it will happen. I'll let him dream, though. If not, I'm likely to kill him. Hope life finds you in better spirits than us!! Lots of love.

The Lowmon Clan

I found pancakes....AND PIZZA!!

2010-01-11T10:35:00.001-08:00

So this year, thanks to my secret santa I had a chance to broaden my gluten free horizions. In my last gift, there was gluten free pancake mix and a pizza dough package. First, I made the pancakes and with a little help from cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla they were not totally disgusting. They actually were edible and we might eat them again. Mike even commented that these were so much better than the last batch we tried. I'm very happy to have an option when it comes to Sunday morning pancakes.

The next day, I decided to try the pizza dough package. It took some odd ingredients but it turned out pretty good. Mike even ate it AND liked it so that's saying something. I needed to cook it a little bit longer or split the dough because it was not done in the middle but over all it was very good.

A new look for the New Year.

2010-01-02T14:08:00.000-08:00

New Years Eve, I was lucky enough to get 12 hours of low census and got to spend the evening with my wonderful family. So for those of you who haven't seen us since New Years, Mike shaved his beard off. All of it. He has no facial hair what-so-ever. He hasn't been clean shaven since his time in Iraq. He looks like he's 12, which is why he doesn't keep himself shaved most of the tome, but I guess he decided that it was time for a change.

During my 12 hours off from work, I had a chance to rearrange the pictures on my fridge. The space available to work with keeps getting smaller and smaller as Jack gets taller and taller, but I think I got everything I needed. All the pictures of friends and family that I have (minus Christmas cards) plus a few sentimental things I like to keep around. I think that it is safe from the reaches of a 22 month old monster. Here's a picture of all my hard work.

That was the extent of our New Years excitement and Jack would just like to send his love for a very great New Year!!

An amazing morning....

2009-12-27T00:20:00.000-08:00

Once in awhile I am thankful that I work nights. It's not often, but occasionally there is an upside to it. This morning was one of those days. During the drive home from a long 12 hour shift, I saw the most beautiful horizon of Mount Rainier just as the sun was coming up. I just happened to have my camera with me in my purse from Christmas so I decided, while I was driving, to take a picture. (I don't recommend doing that on a regular basis.) Every once in awhile I'm reminded of just how beautiful the scenery of life is and that it's something that I should pay more attention to.

Christmas Day at my Mom and Dad's House

2009-12-25T22:28:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning at home. We all woke up and I thought that I would make pancakes for breakfast and try out a new gluten-free pancake batter. I whipped up the whole package and it made a lot of batter. The pancakes cooked well and I topped them with raspberry jam and cool whip (Mike's favorite). The pancakes themselves didn't taste too good. Jack didn't mind the flavor (he's not a picky eater) and Mike just tolerated it. I don't think I'll be buying that brand again. I probably will try another type eventually, but I'll have to get up the nerve first. After breakfast, we opened up our presents at home and headed over the bridge to Gig Harbor/Port Orchard. We stopped by the Perez household in the morning and the kiddos got a chance to play together. We left for my mom and dad's house about noon. These are some pictures of our breakfast and our Christmas together at home.

Pictures of Christmas at the Lehman household. Jack was a little tired from our Christmas Eve festivities, so he wasn't in the best of moods. I wish that I would have been able to spend more time with the family, but I had to nap because I WASN'T getting low census. Jack got a lot of good presents and we are thankful for the extra Christmas money.

Overall, we all had a really wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to a bright New Year!!

A Christmas Eve Tradition

2009-12-25T00:07:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Christmas Eve at the Glen's in Bellingham (Mike's grandmother) and we had a wonderful time as always. I'm always so happy to see everyone and it reminds me of how little time we get to spend with our extended family but I guess that's what the holidays are for, right? Here are a few pictures from the event.

And more pictures.....

And some of a very tired boy opening his presents.

Curses to night shift working....

2009-12-24T01:30:00.000-08:00

Once again working nights has screwed with my natural body clock and I am fully awake here at 2am on Christmas eve knowing full well that I have to get up in 4 hours to get ready to make the long trek to Bellingham. Maybe no one will notice if I don't shower, humm.... Thinking about it, I bet someone who worked nights probably started this whole blogging idea because they were up when no one else was and they couldn't make a lot of noise doing fun things so they started typing and posting it to the internet. Well, maybe that's just my imagination running wild at 2am. I can't be too sure right now, so you tell me.
: ) So while I had the time, I thought that I would put up new pictures of our Christmas adventure so far.

Jack's Christmas present this year was a train table and set. Mike and I had a lot of fun putting together the track and setting up the scenes on the table. I had to take a picture because I KNOW it will never look this cute again....

This is Jack on psuedo-Christmas morning. We are going to be lots of places near Christmas time, and we had set the table up already so he got his Christmas present a little early. I think Mike was as happy to get the train set as Jack was......
Boys and their toys.

After the very nice dinner out with Carol and Doug, (where I was a ding-dong and forgot that I had the camera with me) Mike and I stopped by my auntie Linda's house to visit with her and my uncle Tom. When she gave Jack his present, I had a light bulb moment that I HAD packed the camera and apparently it got shoved into the deepest depths of my purse. I love that bag because it eliminated the need for a diaper bag, but come ON! It hid a large camera. It's like freakin' Mary Poppins with this bag. The first picture I posted is of Jack helping Linda clean the magnets off of her fridge. He's very helpful, albeit not always in the most helpful way.... The second picture is my auntie Linda lovin' on her some of Jack. He protests some, but gives in eventually because he know she relentless until she gets her way. (I know Uncle Tom would agree with me on that one!) As Jack explored my auntie's house he came across an old light up chapel that was my great grandmother's before she passed away. To me, it's amazing to see things like that. They have so much character and heritage. Jack was VERY interested in it, and I was VERY scared that he would break it. After through inspection, he was satisfied and thought that it should be turned off. He kept pointing to it and saying 'Off, off!' It's good to know that he will be trying to save me electricity when he grows up. : )

PS ~ Who knew that Mike was a Christmas ornament?

Another birthday come and gone....well, almost.

2009-12-22T21:48:00.000-08:00

I am 29 years old. I'm almost 30. It took a minute to sink in today. My birthday had kind of a rough start. Mike and I went to bed just after midnight and welcomed my birthday with a short marathon of 'That 70's Show'. I was having trouble sleeping so I ended up taking some Benadryl and just as I was dozing off to sleep, Jack let out a huge cry and when we went in to check on him, he was completely awake. Being a decent mom, I knew he was teething so I gave him some Ibuprofen just before bed, so Mike and I still haven't figured out what set off the crying fit. Long story short, Jack ended up in our bed for the night and I didn't sleep that well all night. Between Tornado Jack, and the Snoring Symphony (Jack AND Daddy) I slept from 1-4 am and was up after that. So when Jack woke up at 7 am, both of us got up reluctantly. Mike was nice enough to let me try to nap, but my body was so on edge for some reason, I'd just start to doze off and something would wake me up. Ahhhh, life with a toddler. After Jack went to play at Holly's, I got showered and ready to go out for my birthday dinner. I was hoping to go to Famous Daves' for some ribs but I thankfully called ahead to see if they have any menu items that are gluten free.......yeah, NO. I think there was one dish if I didn't get any seasoning on it that I could eat.....No. I'm trying to be good, so we decided to go to the casino and eat crab instead. We had a little time to kill so we played some slots. We didn't loose too much. I broke even, but Mike lost a little on video poker. All in all that was a good evening. After the casino, we went to Mike's co-worker's house to pick up a train set and table for Jack for Christmas. I think that he will really like it when we get everything set up. We took Jack to the Learning Sprout store and he was in love with the train table they had set up. I'm just hoping he'll be as interested in it, if it's at his own house. So now I'm just catching up on some blogging while MIke comes home from picking up some more train pieces. Mike is doing fine, albeit about the same as before. Not having such cold weather lately has helped his condition. When he stays indoors like he has lately, the condition is more easily managed. Now we just have to keep him inside more..... heh, like that will happen.

So here's to turning 29, feeling like 50, but I'm goin' to keep trucking no matter what comes up.

Happy 29th Birthday!!

Setting up the Christmas tree

2009-12-10T21:30:00.000-08:00

Things around our house are starting to look like we actually do celebrate things, such as Christmas. Here are a couple of pics of our decorations.

The tree is up....yes, the tree is up.

Our very first Christmas tree is standing majestically in our kitchen. We set up the tree and put the lights on while Jack was gone, (thought there would be less of a fire hazard that way) but he was there when we put all of our decorations on. We are using the wooden ornaments that my mom painted for my sister and my Christmas tree when we were very young, and I bought white sparkly snowflakes at Target. We were planning on using only white lights but they didn't quite make it all the way down the tree. I had a good 1/3 of the tree that didn't have any lights. Since we were in a pinch, (neither of us wanted to run to Costco at 8pm) we decided to put on the larger lights that were supposed to go around the deck, onto the tree. It helped me realize, I want colored lights instead of white lights on my tree next year. I kept both sets on my tree so it has lights all the way down, but next year I'm buying 2 SETS of colored christmas lights. Jack wasn't really interested in decorating the tree this year which for me was disappointing, but he did love it when we turned the house lights off and then turned the Christmas tree on. He kept trying to sniff the light bulbs like they were flowers. He also went around to all of the bulbs he could find and had us name ALL of the colors. Jack and Daddy put our tree topper on the tree. Jack wasn't too impressed with helping Daddy but I got a picture anyway.

My wonderful house husband.....

He's going to kill me for that!

Happy Holidays!!

The wind storm of the North and Mike's doctors appointment

2009-12-08T06:52:00.000-08:00

Saturday was an interesting day all together. After getting our tree and coming home with an extra passenger (my niece Quinlan) we got settled into home. After the kids played together, and we watched a few movies, we all headed to bed. Apparently during the night a wind storm started up. I woke up at about 6 am to the dogs barking and some very eerie sound. "Creeeeeek-boom. Mike, what was that? What was what? Creeeeek-boom. That!' Mike got up to check things out and noticed that the car canopies that we have to park under had moved several feet and that his car was still parked under it. So both of us bundled up at 6 am and had to rescue the car from under the canopy before there was any more damage to the paint. After things had settled down, Mike took a picture of the canopies.

On Monday Mike and I went to see Dr Darby who has been following Mike since the injury at work. Overall, Mike is doing well. His condition is stable, albeit very limiting. I asked Dr Darby about the prognosis of him making enough of a recovery to be able to work again and he said that most of the cases he's seen there is little improvement after the initial injury. He said that over a few years, it might get slightly better but only time will tell. Mike wasn't very happy with the news that he's not going to be able to go back to work. He really loves his job and his co-workers. He's having a hard time trying to wrap his head around what to do next. On top of everything, they are still denying his claim to the Longshore L&I, so we have very limited cash flow coming in and Christmas is right around the corner. We have people working on getting the claim passed through as quickly as possible, but it's still scary to think that we might loose our house. We are both trying our best to be strong, but at times it's hard. When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? I just hope the lemonade stand is enough to keep our little family afloat. Please keep Mike in your thoughts because he is having a pretty tough time with all of this.

A Christmas tradition has died.....

2009-12-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

Snowy Owl christmas tree farm is dead..... Last year it changed to Christmas traditions tree farm but Christmas traditions my arse. What kind of Christmas tree farm isn't open on Saturdays? Hello? Saturdays? The most popular day to go do anything (at least in my book) and you are pretty much closed. They were open from 4-5pm so you can pick a pre-cut tree? Why on earth would you go to a 'cut yourself' farm to pick out a PRE-CUT tree? Dumb arses! This little set back didn't stop our Christmas tree hunting, though. We found another tree farm called The Wreath Company not too far away and we went there. Over all, the experience was much better but in my heart a Christmas tradition still has died. I guess that we will start a new tradition at this farm and Jack won't know any different, but it still makes me sad. We have gone to Snowy Owl tree farm for over 20 years and the fact that i would drive from Roy to Port Orchard to get a tree should tell you something. I'm a sucker for keeping tradtions alive. Hopefully this new tree farm will be around for a long time and we won't have to find another farm any time soon.

Here's to our new Christmas tradition of going to The Wreath Company's tree farm! Hope you enjoy the pictures.

Preparation for tree hunting.....

Treking through the forest to find the perfect tree....

Loading up the trees.

and to all a good night!

Downloading the camera...

2009-12-04T07:55:00.000-08:00

Sitting in the morning quiet before everyone has woken up, I decided to download the camera. I'm getting sooo very forgetful about the pictures that I take. I completely for forgot about all of these.....

Who knows why little boys and even grown up boys are fascinated with these. Any way, Jack found himself a new hat.....

Jack and his first grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup!! Fall and Winter are here when you can pull out the tomato soup and have grilled cheese. Love it! Jack loves him some tomato soup too. He kept signing 'more, please.'

My mom bought Jack his own set of boots at the start of Fall and he loves to put them on himself and run around the house. He's always soooo proud that he can put on his own shoes. He's so independent. This particular time he was running around in just a diaper and he thought that boots would be the perfect thing to finish his outfit. I think he was right! LOL

This was my first attempt at doing art with Jack. His first try at painting went very well. He painted himself some, but was fairly clean. I thought that was great so I can let him paint and it won't be an ordeal. Ha, ha.... How a mother can be sooo wrong. Jack's second episode of painting wasn't so neat as I thought it would be. Apparently paint is something that must be tasted when you are 18 months. Not a pretty picture as you will see but the pictures turned out very cute none the less.

The second attempt at painting.....

The dentist.....

2009-12-03T21:24:00.001-08:00

Mike had a very successful dentist appointment today. He was thoroughly drugged the night before AND the day of, so I had to run home after work and make sure Jack was up, dressed, and feed before we left for the appointment. I waited in the car and sleep while Mike was getting his teeth cleaned. It only took 2 hours when the office thought it would take 3. Afterward, we filled Mike's Rx for pain killers and got him something to eat. When we got home, we both crashed in bed and slept most of the day away. Mike made a regular dinner and ate it without any problems so we are both happy. Thanks to Aunt Linda's office for taking such good care of Mike and his teeth. I'm sure that he'll do fairly regular check ups and not wait over 20 years for the next visit, at least let's hope not.....

Thankful for my life.

2009-12-03T05:00:00.000-08:00

Once again while at work, I'm reminded of everything that I am thankful for that most of us take for granted. Even with all of my complications before and after having Jack, I am so thankful it went as well as it did. Taking care of pregnant patients shows me how much can go wrong and it usually happens to the nicest people. Some of our patients wait their whole lives to have a baby and become too sick to carry that baby to term, sometimes not even long enough for the baby to make it. Every time I see it, it reminds me all that I have to be thankful for. Jack is a big, healthy boy and I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to him.