Happy Memorial Day.....Sale!

{image from Saltwater Kids}

It wouldn't be American to NOT have a sale today.

In honor and memory of those that have served our country

so we enjoy the freedoms that we do today.

I'm married to a Vet. I know the sacrifice.

Not the ultimate sacrifice but I know of his sacrifice.

He missed my whole pregnancy with Kaia while serving in Kuwait

and then turned around and left for Korea for a whole year when Kaia was 5 months old.

He missed all of her 'firsts' that year. 

It was hard. It was a sacrifice I made too.

So I  offer my heartfelt thanks to those that have and are serving our country.

And I stand up and offer a great big thank you...to their families.

Enter MEMORIAL for 10% off any item in my shop today only.

And...Have a Happy Memorial Day!

Insta Week!

A little glimpse into our week via our instagram pics!

Linking up with the big-hearted Jeannett for Insta Fun.

Found a 'grease' heart on the sidewalk. It made me smile.

My friend, Katherine, brought Blake and the family homemade donuts after his surgery.

The donut holes were my favorite. Blake loved the sprinkle ones.

Actually the family loved them all. They were gone that evening.

Guess who is 7 months old? Seriously. Little Mister!

Not only did he get a haircut a couple of weeks ago

but he is ready to start eating cereal.

Oh it is going to be messy. I'll be honest....

I'm not looking forward to it.

But if it gets him sleeping through the night again....

I will love cereal!

Hopefully last day at the laundromat.

Hoping to dryer shop this weekend with Memorial Day sales.

Yesterday afternoon and evening our power was out.

We were playing around and I jumped off of the couch and told Dave to lay on the floor.

I told Dave I wanted to try 'airplane' like when we were first married!

He laughed and thought with our age, weight, age....it might not be possible.

I said we had to try! When we were first married, we both worked.

At the end of the day...Dave would lay on the floor and 'airplane' would start.

It was how we spent our time chatting away about our day.

We actually had all kinds of circus tricks we made up 

including a back jump airplane with a kick over!

Too afraid to try that one now.

But airplane....we still got it.

Kaia grabbed a picture and Dave had just enough time to make a 'stressed out' face like

I was killing him. Please. Look at that form! I made it super easy for him.

*  *  *  *  *  *

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

We are going craigslist stroller shopping, Ikea shopping, dryer shopping,

and house project completing.

Right Now....

{warning...pics of Blake's surgery site below if you have a weak stomach}

right now....

I'd rather be watching the Bachelorette and doing my re-cap

but I remembered at 11:30 pm last night that I have a worker's comp audit

 today at 2:00 pm that I am nowhere near ready for.

Paperwork here I come!

right now...

Blake's Ace Malone is working great!

 He is so happy with the results

but we are waiting for a nurse to call us back about a possible

infection at his surgery site in his belly button.

It looked like this yesterday...

We cleaned up all the crusty gunk but it is still pretty red today.

The tube is in place through his belly button to allow

the stoma 'hole' in his belly button to heal open.

It is stitched in to hold it in place.

That is mostly where the redness is coming from.

No fever though. Thoughts?

right now....

I'm loving that Dave is home for the next FIVE days to work

on house projects but I fear that we will piss the time away

farting around doing other things like napping,

facebooking and trying to save the oceans from plastic bags.

Yes, I did just use piss and fart in the same sentence.

That's the kind of mood I'm in right now.

right now....

I am feeling alone in the friends department. 

Since getting the foster babies and having Blake home with me all day

I haven't had the time or energy to have girlfriend time.

I am full-time mommy right now. And that is not bad

but I am really feeling that I need some balance.

Definitely craving girlfriend time.

right now....

Perusing through Pinterest makes me feel inadequate.

Put Down Your.....Ice Cream!

{dirty dirty windshield}

Last week Dave and I were coming home from Target.

Imagine that!

There was a car in front of us at this intersection.

She was turning onto the highway and we were right behind her.

The light turned green and a lady started to cross the street on one side, while

a teenage boy rode his bike across the crosswalk coming the other direction.

We watched in horror as the lady in front of us drove right through the intersection.

Never stopping for the woman walking or the bicycle rider crossing. Not even pausing.

Although she was driving slow like she was distracted I'm pretty sure she never saw them.

RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER CAR.

The woman walking jumped out of the way. But the boy on the bicycle was hit.

He was OK. Pretty shaken up but she just clipped his foot

and back tire of his bicycle.

As we were all just paused there on the road the boy decided he was fine

and started to ride away in shock.

The driver took a few minutes to pull off the road down the off-ramp a ways.

I followed her closely.

She was an older lady with blue gray hair.

As she tried to get out of her car I slowed and unrolled my window.

I still wasn't sure she knew what really happened.

It was then that I saw it.

Instead of yelling....Put Down Your Cell Phone.....

which we do often in our car out of frustration for people not paying attention....

I yelled at her in horror....Put Down Your Ice Cream Lady!

She was trying to eat a square Klondike Bar while driving.

You know the kind where the hard chocolate shell falls off with each bite?

She was still trying to manage it and eat while getting out of her car on the side of the road.

As she took ANOTHER bite of ice-cream and looked at me quizzically 

I yelled to her again...YOU JUST HIT A BOY...

PUT DOWN YOUR ICE CREAM AND DRIVE.

*  *  *  *  *  *

Two weeks ago I challenged two of Kaia's friend who are driving...both boys,

to join me in a week of truly cell free driving. 

No glancing, touching, texting or checking our cell phones while driving. 

Because I know I am guilty of glancing and even sending short texts while driving.

While I have a driver age child approaching quickly I realized

what a bad example I am being to her.

Sure I've got more experience on the road....

but taking your eyes off the road for a few seconds

isn't even safe for the most experienced drivers.

I checked in with the boys mid-week.

They were doing pretty good.

I allowed us all 3 strikes because I know bad habits are hard to break.

There was a prize at the end of the week if they succeeded!

These boys drive my daughter around town occasionally

...so I wanted them to be successful.

I didn't want them to give up because they failed one time.

We found that the only way to be truly successful was to not have our cell phones within reach.

Which meant in the back seat or even in the trunk of the car.

A few times I couldn't help but want to check my phone...

so I pulled over to the side of the road to address who had called or texted.

I was anticipating some calls from Shriners Hospital that I needed to take.

I talked to one of the boys after we were finished with our week challenge and

He said he has pretty much stopped texting while driving.

I was so proud of him.

Both boys will be getting a treat from me this week as their reward.

Most of us don't have a problem eating ice-cream while driving.

But we are almost all guilty of cell phone use while driving.

Take our challenge this week.

Put your cell phone away.

Be aware of how may times you do take your eyes off the road

even just to check who is calling you.

Hand your phone off to your passenger....

or put it in the back seat where it will have to wait until you are parked to reach it!

And let me know how it goes.

There might just be a reward for you too...

comment on this post if you are joining in on the challenge!

Standing on my SoapBox....

We have a handicap registered license plate.

It is somewhat unusual for children with disabilities to

actually have the disabled license plate they usually only have placards.

BUT we have one.

And rightly so.

So please, strangers, do me a favor....

when we get out of the car to run into wherever we are going,

please don't try to stare me down, give me dirty looks,

or judge us because we look 'healthy'.

Instead, be grateful you aren't living with whatever disability

we are living with in our family and offer a kind smile instead.

Thank you.

BUT ....if you ever see a car pull into a handicap parking spot

without a disabled license plate or a handicap placard

please stare them down or feel free to give them dirty looks.

They are probably the same people that just gave me the dirty look

for taking the spot legitimately!

*  *  *  *  *  *

We actually don't do the above...but we do remind them kindly that they forgot to 

put up their handicap placard which usually makes them feel uncomfortable.

And for the record we follow our own code of handicap parking etiquette.

I have never parked in a handicap spot without Blake in my car.

And if a regular parking spot is available close by we will always take that one

and save the handicap spot for a wheelchair user who might need a little more room.

And if there are two handicap spots...we will never pull into the van accessible spot.

Blake can run, walk and play like a champion.

But keeping up for the whole day long is tough for him.

Doctors would rather see him save his energy for the activity than

use it all up in a parking lot. Plus we store all of his medical supplies

in our car which sometimes we need to get to quickly.

And just to keep my 'soapbox' light and remind you that we do have a good sense of humor

still when we are being stared down....because we always feel it coming.

Before getting out of the car Dave always asks...

'who's going to be the DLD?'

{designated leg dragger}

Really, not funny, but sometimes it's the only thing that keeps our blood from boiling

during those situations.

Blake's Surgery Update Part Two....Spina Bifida and the Ace Malone

Sunday morning was Mother's Day and part of Kami's package included a sweet

handmade sticker for Blake to give me to wear on Sunday.

He was so excited!

I forgot to mention that Kaia had her last volleyball tournament this weekend also.

We were so lucky the hospital and tournament were in the same town!

It was convenient and I was thrilled to be able to watch some of Kaia's Volleyball games too.

My sister and her family came to visit Blake on Sunday morning and it was his first morning free from his pole....bride! They all went down to the second floor and played foosball and rode around in large wagons! The visit was fun and so much appreciated by Blake.

But Sunday afternoon found Blake hooked back up for more drugs to finish his clean out.

Grandma and Papa Kennedy played card games with the kids ....

and they all found the pinball machine in the Teen Room on our hospital floor!

The nurses all got a kick out of the Goal that Dave and Blake came up with on Saturday.

He actually made it to seventeen and then the 3rd floor ran out of Jello. It was hilarious!

Sunday night Blake settled in for bed to get ready for his big day on Sunday.

 I stayed with Blake each night in the hospital.

They actually had fold away twin sized cots that were pretty comfortable!

I got up to use the bathroom right before midnight and found these outside of Blake's room....

Two gurneys prepped and ready for him and his roommate's surgery the next morning.

All of a sudden I was not OK. My heart raced. I had a pit in my stomach

and I never stopped praying until I finally fell asleep an hour later.

Monday morning Blake was anxious. They wheeled him into pre-op earlier than planned and I was still at the hotel getting showered and ready for my day. They were AHEAD of schedule by almost two hours. Really?! It was a good sign, but threw off Blake's plan.

He was placed on the gurney while Dave had run to grab a pop tart from the second floor thinking we had another hour until they took him. Dave and another nurse ran up to him just in time to take him to pre-op. I met him there 5 minutes later. By then though....Blake was out of sorts. They tried to give him the calming drug orally and he wanted nothing to do with it. He was determined he was going home and not doing the surgery.

He was panicking and the anxiety attack was coming. Soon we would be holding him down as he tried to escape from the bed and the gurney. For his own safety they decided to surprise stick him in the leg with a heavier sedative and he screamed. I held his hand and whispered into his ear the whole time trying to calm him. He fought that sedative harder than any child they had seen. As long as I talked to him he stayed calm, so the nurses told me not to stop. His body finally gave in to the heavier sedative and they wheeled him quickly into OR because of the emergency sedative drug they had to use without IV or tube.

Minutes after wheeling him in a CODE BLUE came across the speakers. The nurse in our room ran in the same direction as our little boy. I looked at our Child Life Specialist that had been trying to play video games with Blake to keep him distracted and she tried to assure me that it wasn't for Blake but I wasn't sure I believed her. She kept trying to talk to me and ask me questions and I was sure she was trying to keep me calm. Dave said the whole time she was asking me questions he was thinking...'Great I just held down my son so they could give him a drug that just killed him.'

Then we all realized at the same time that the CODE Blue was followed by ICU and a room number. Our nurse came back in. Blake was in the OR and was doing fine. I burst out crying finally allowing all the emotions from this past weekend break through.

We found out later that Kaia had freaked out a little also when she heard the CODE Blue but Grandma and Papa quickly explained that ICU was different than the operating room and she felt comfortable too.

Little Mister was with us, at Blake's request and we nibbled on him to distract us as we waited together while the doctor performed the ACE malone on Blake in record time. I had also bought a chocolate cupcake but never had the stomach to eat it.

The Ace Malone is a form of an enema that starts from the top end or front end instead of going in the back end. Essentially the doctor goes into the abdomen through a hole in his belly button and a hole in the side of his tummy and uses the appendix, which is already tube shaped, and he connects the opening in his belly button to his colon using the appendix. Each evening we will hook Blake up to an IV bag of waters and insert a catheter into the hole in his belly button and run water into his belly button, through his appendix and into his colon for a nice powerful clean out.

Each day the procedure will take 45 minutes to an hour

and he should be bowel continent throughout the day!

Our doctor came out with a nice smile on his face and he said that the procedure when smoother than he expected and that Blake would be ready to use his ACE in 3 days!

Because of all the excess drugs that Blake needed...recovery took a little longer.

 

We kept the room dark and quiet. It was nice we were alone in the room.

The nurses had moved Blake's roommate to another room while we were in surgery to

give us all a little quiet. Dave and Kaia took advantage of nap time.

Blake held tight to Dave's hand and everyone got rest!

Later that evening Blake was given a light dinner and he was so excited.
But two hours later...it all came back up.
Our discharge for Tuesday morning was put on hold.

He slept peacefully through the night and ate a pancake and a sausage for breakfast the next day while I prayed that it would stay down! It did...as well as lunch so at 1:30 pm we were given the go ahead to head home!!

We had the best care while at Shriner's.

Blake and I had planned before we left for the hospital to bring sweet little gifts

for him to give to his nurses each day.

He loved handing them out and one of the nursing students, who was just finishing up and it was her last day at Shriner's before she graduated, cried. We told her she was going to be an amazing nurse!!

We had her 3 nights in a row and she was one of our favorites.

We head back to Shriner's tomorrow morning to learn how to use the ACE.

I should probably warn them that a sedative might be needed to touch the surgical site.

Blake won't let any of us get near it without hyperventilating.

Oh and the amnesia drug they gave him that they said he would remember nothing about the stick in the leg and everything before surgery....wasn't strong enough. He remembered it all!

Blake wants to make sure that I thank you all for the prayers and comments and cards.

I've been reading them to him and he is so grateful.

THANK YOU!

Blake's Surgery Update Part One..Spina Bifida and an Ace Malone

Blake is doing great.

The nurses at Shriner's are amazing. All great with kids.

His comfort is their number one concern.

Anything he wants....he just has to ask!

Movies...check. Jello...check. Video games...check.

Someone to challenge him in a video game....yup...they even have that!

A Child Life Specialist met us when we first checked in on Friday.

She told Blake her job while he was here, was to make sure that he had FUN!

He beamed.

Our plan for this surgery was for Blake to get an Ace Malone.

Essentially for Blake, bowel wise, he was never continent.

With Blake's level of Spina Bifida, L-5, the nerves aren't connected to the intestines, so bowel builds up in the intestines. There aren't nerves there to keep it moving. Blake constantly had bowel accidents all day long...and/or becomes very backed up. Neither are ideal.

The Ace Malone provides a bowel regimen will keep him moving regularly and also act as a bowel clean out DAILY to keep from having accidents.

But back to the fun.

In pre-op on Friday, the Child Life Specialist hooked Blake up with a movie and a portable DVD to take his mind off his upcoming procedure that day...a placement of an NG tube in his nose and an IV all done under a heavy sedative performed by an anesthesiologist. 

The calming sedative worked and they wheeled Blake into the OR with no problem.

He waved good-bye tentatively to us but was excited to get the show on the road.

Once the NG tube was in it was time to get to the business at hand.

He was hooked up to a very strong laxative drug called GoLytely

that was delivered through the NG tube in his nose directly to his stomach

all during the night Friday into Saturday.

Saturday morning the drug started working and Dave was busy.

17 changes in 6 hours.

Such a deceiving name for that drug. Trust us!

Saturday afternoon it was time for some fun.

My friend Kami from No Biggie sent Blake a fun little package for his hospital stay.

Included in it were these drinking straw glasses. Oh how we all got a kick

out of them. Even the nurses loved them. Blake was on a liquid diet for three days

so the glasses made apple juice WAY more fun to drink.

Blake had lots of visitors on Saturday also to help him keep his mind off food. Uncle Richie came to visit and the boys talked North Shore surfing quotes. Both sets of grandparents came too as well as our friends the Brummers! Grandma and Grandpa Erickson played card games with Blake and grandma read Blake all the cards he had received in the mail.

{Thank you my sweet friends/readers!}

Once the visitors left, and our hospital roommate {a 5 year old boy also having the same surgery as Blake} went for playtime downstairs it was time for a little family fun!

We found that when Blake laughed...it helped with his clean out.

So it became Family Laugh Time so Blake Could Poop Time!

We each took turns in the bathroom making Blake laugh.

Kaia went in last and oh the giggling began.

Lots of giggling from both of them.

Loud laughter.

Dave went in to check and they came out a few minutes later....

Complete with bow tie...Kaia was going to perform a ceremony with Blake and his GoLytely pole which was decked out with a veil and bouquet of flowers all made with toilet paper.

She started with how they met and how they have been attached at the hip....eeer NOSE since they met. She also talked about how much GoLytely has been giving, giving, giving and how Blake has been receiving, receiving, receiving. We were all crying in laughter.

Part TWO of his surgery stay tomorrow with more details of the ACE Malone.

Bachelorette Re-Cap here!

We were scheduled to come today but

Blake ended up throwing up all of his food late last night.

If he can keep down breakfast we get to go home today.

If he can't we will stay another day.

Bachelorette Re-cap

It's here...and I'm kind of excited about Emily.

She is a doll. But I'm afraid her baby talk might get on my nerves soon.

Please don't cry over Brad...he's not worth it.

Let's see these men....

Ryan is going to be golden with his job with children.

He's cute too!

Jef from SLC...you have jacked up hair and are missing an F in your name.

Oh the race car driver might hit too close to home.

I'm guessing her one liner that she uses with all the guys is...

"I know...right?!'

Her dress is GORGEOUS.

Sean...Insurance Agent...OK

David...Songwriter....Artsy

Doug the Hugger....Big Daddy with a boy

Jackson...Fitness Model...Too planned with the moment talk. Dorky

Joe....Overly Excited

Arie...Race Car Driver...Hair's too long. Not when it's messy!

Kyle...Financial Planner...A little old

Chris....Tall, Dark + Handsome and SMOOTH

Aaron...Chemistry Teacher...Captain Cheesy

Alessandro....Brazilian Old Dude

Jef...you are a skateboard POSER
{that stunt was too young for this classy girl}

Lerone....Tall drink of water.

Stevie...Footloose boombox guy

Charlie...Nervous

Tony...Prince Charming...Where's the match?

Randy...Old lady

Nate....Hello!! My fav so far + Dave's too.

Hello...My Name is Brent! 

John....Wolf

Egg Head Travis...Weird analogy with the egg.

Music Mike from Austin...he called his own nickname.

John Paul....Stuffy

Alejandro....Latin Lover

Ryan...Nervous, Honest, Love HIM and his notes!

Kalon...really the helicopter...a little pompous.

NATE & RYAN are my favs.

Chris...my tall dark and handsome guy bringing out the bobble heads.

Not sure if it was funny or cheesy.

the role play was definitely cheesy...

Jef you don't look a day over 14...quit trying to act older than you are!

Doug...Austin might be bachelor number 26. That was too sweet..

I'm surprised someone hasn't picked up the First Impression Rose

as a joke yet and brought it to the Bachelorette and say...here I brought this so you could give it to me! BUT that would be awkward...huh?

Kalon you might be cooler than they all know.

So they will HATE you.

Green shirt guy...you are a turd disturber.

Doug the hugger {aka single daddy} gets first impression rose

thanks to his son Austin.

Egg man reminds me of the masked man.

PUT THE EGG DOWN.

c'mon...Chris, Ryan...yay...now I just need Nate

and I will feel complete!

Long pause in the middle of a first rose ceremony means she forgot his name!

Yes..Nate!

Travis was nervous...he almost made scrambled eggs.

This re-cap came to you from Shriner's Hospital with Dave's comments included.
Thanks to no roommate tonight and Blake fast asleep.

Was purple shirt guy really crying....REALLY?

Insta Week..... x 2

I love that my sweet friend Jeannett made Fridays

so fun with her Insta Week linky party.

I'm joining in with two weeks worth of pictures!

Little Mister is finally sitting up in the bumbo!

Yay for new views and playing with toys.

And yummy toes.

A sweet handmade doll gifted to Little Miss.

And speaking of Little Miss...guess who is giving kisses and hugs?

Yup...she has fully settled in and loves us back now.

And, is hugging and loving on this sweet doll.

Adding a few new things and taking out a few old things from Kaia's room

for a little room update! It is coming together so nicely...can't wait to share in a couple of weeks.

We still need to buy a rug...but that means finding a new home for the dog.

OK...kind of kidding. Kind of not!

And the afternoon that I was re-doing Kaia's room and taking out a whole bunch of trash and donate-able items to our hallway....our dryer caught on fire. In the back of the housing unit...not the lint tube. 

I had to call 911 while hallway was filling with smoke, smoke detectors were blaring and I was managing two babies, Blake and the dog out the door. So scary...but we are OK and so is our house.

The Fire Dept. was so sweet to us. They came quickly and were my heroes!

I brought them a whole flat of strawberries the next day as a thank you.

And, since the fire....I've hung out here twice. Once with Dave where he tried, remember, to get me to take off all my clothes to wash while we were at the laundromat! And another time with Blake.

Dave hung out with Blake on Sunday at church when he had a hard time going to his own class.

Silly boys...of course they came up with 'table surfing!'

Dave and the kids were thinking ahead last Sunday and knowing we would be spending Mother's Day in the hospital with Blake....they prepared me some of my favorite snacks as a Mother's Day lunch!

I LOVED it. I sat and ate for 45 minutes!

Lots of work was done this week to get Mother's Day orders out in time.

And when they were done I went and sat in my backyard and enjoyed my little reminder to 'simplify' which is exactly what I did by eating out almost all week long!

The one night we did cook...it was a yummy BBQ Chicken salad for dinner.

On Wednesday I had a little Instagram Sale. Only available on instagram. There were 4 sets of grab bags. They were a steal and they went fast! I will be offering a few more here and there on my shop in the next few weeks.

Little Mister got a haircut. He still has curls...but they are way shorter.

He looks so old now. :( 

But still super cute. :)

Still need to catch a picture of the new do.

Today is the day! He is admitted to Shriner's Hospital in Sacramento this afternoon.

He started a clear liquid diet this morning that he will be on for the next three days.

Heaven help us. He is still feeling very calm and somewhat excited about his surgery and hospital stay!

We are so grateful.

Thank you for the prayers, cards, notes, and packages for Blake.

He is so excited to open them all up once he gets to the hospital.

We've been saving them in a special box for him to bring with him.

Something to look forward to and keep his mind off of food.

I will be blogging, tweeting, instagramming from the hospital with updates throughout the weekend.

Keeping fingers crossed there is internet access there!

What We Wore.....Stripes

Kaia and I are still loving stripes....

BRIGHT + BOLD stripes!

New Striped Jersey Skirt - Stacy Lynn Designs

{i wear a medium in her skirts and i'm a size 10}

Green Cardigan - Nordstrom BP

White V-Neck T - American Eagle

Belt - Thrifted

Coral Wedges - Target and so so comfy

Kaia's Striped Dress - Target

Turquoise Cardigan - Forever 21

Yellow Shoes and Skinny Belt - Target 

Navy + Green Color Blocked Wedges that I fell in love with and HAD to have....

Target....and they hurt and I can't walk in them...boo.

I'd stick with the Coral Wedges above...in every color!

Linking up with Lindsey from The Pleated Poppy for inspiration and accountability.