Poor Baby

Oh just as the day couldn't get worse yesterday, it did. Harry came down sick. He has a runny nose, couch, congestion and a fever. It was 103 before bed. Needless to say, we had a long night and didn't get much sleep. You can see this little angel sleeping and how adorable he is. But you can also hear all that congestion. Hopefully this is a 24 hour thing and William doesn't catch it. We were supposed to have a play date at the pool today. I am so glad I didn't tell them about it!

Oh Boys! And a medical update

I am having a pretty bad day. I had to have a procedure done today and not a fun one (like there are fun ones?). I visited a urologist a week ago due to a lot of pain. It turned out that I developed a very large cyst on my urethra and had an infection. I seriously felt like someone kicked me in the crotch. I wondered if the boys did since they have been sleeping in the bed. After a visit to the Gynecologist and he said everything was ok, I wasn't convinced since the pain was getting worse. The urologist was surprised I could walk by the size of this cyst. It was protruding out and he was shocked the OBGYN didn't catch it. Yeah too much information. Basically I had a gyno visit for fun. Anyhow when the urologist was doing the exam, he found I had a very large bladder stone as well. I can't catch a break, huh? I have to be the most unhealthy "healthy" person I know. Apparently I developed these urinary problems because of my heart medication and additional salt to my diet for my low blood pressure. So my day did not start off good with having to have a procedure to have the stone broken up and the cyst removed. Luckily the cyst ruptured and is not as large so I don't have to have it removed ASAP (as of now). It isn't causing me a lot of pain now so we are going to wait. So after my procedure I headed to church to do some volunteer work. And on my way, I took a different route to pick up the payroll checks. This isn't a normal route I ever take. And what do you know? I get pulled over by a new cop. Yes I found out he was new because our neighbor is a police officer and he told me. I got a ticket. Not even a warning. I haven't even been pulled over in ten years. And my ticket? For turning right on red between the hours of 10am and 3pm on a weekday (I didn't see the sign). Ugh!
Then I come home and find that part of the lunch I ordered is not in the bag. And when I think all is bad, my babysitter whom I absolutely love is moving! Not a good day. The boys love her and she is so good with them. I am happy for her but sad for us :(

But the boys cheer me up. I see them rocking their babies and I get a little worried that they may ask for a little brother/sister. But no, they were "fishing."

Can we erase this day and start over?

In other medical news, here is the skinny on my heart issues. I saw a new cardiologist at Cedars Sinai for a second opinion. He has done a lot of research and has consulted a team of cardiologists and neurologists on my case. They are in agreement that my current cardiologist is not correct with his diagnosis. In looking at my medical records, "there is something very unusual and dangerous." My symptoms combined don't make sense together. He is going above and beyond in my book with all the research he is doing. He is even consulting doctors at UCLA. As of now, he is waiting to hear back from a doctor at UCLA who is an expert at cracking mysterious cases. But he is on vacation until August 11th. They have requested more medical records from my family physician (not related to my heart) in hopes of maybe finding something else. He said he likes the term "mystery" for me because my condition is very odd and not easy to diagnose. It's not comforting knowing I have something "critically wrong and dangerous" with me but it is nice to know that I have a team of doctors searching for a solution. So my fingers are crossed that we figure something out.

Harrison's Two and a half!

Wow, it is so crazy that my baby is 2.5 years old. I decided to make him cupcakes because he deserves the best :)

Sprinkles Cupcakes are the best! But it isn't always easy to drive down to Beverly Hills and wait in a long long line to get them. The last time I was there, I bought two recipes. I thought making cupcakes were easy until this little venture of mine. You have to follow the instructions to a tee and I really felt like a little chef in my kitchen. I'm used to throwing everything in the bowl together and mix. Nope, not with these. It was such a process. But in the end, all worth it and it tasted like I just bought them from their bakery! And the boys were quite happy too!
Their friend, Nick, came over to have some cupcakes as well :)

Ahh, my babies are growing up!

Thursday's field trip

Yesterday we went to Santa Barbara zoo with our good friends, Ms. Shawn and Nicholas. First of all the drive to Santa Barbara is just beautiful. It is right along the coast line. But before you get to the coast, we drive through the farm lands. The boys just love it because they get to point out tractors and what chores they are doing. My boys know more about farming than I ever will. Ha.

We rode the train.

The thing about this zoo is that it is so beautiful. It is like lush botanical gardens. Every time we go, we make sure to pack a lunch and eat in the grass to enjoy the views.

They have this big hill that the kids sled down on cardboard boxes.

They even helped little Harry.

All the running and playing ended up like this on the way home :)

Sunday School and Nursery: *UPDATED*

Where to start? We have become very involved in our church. We enjoy going and we have come to love the members. Unfortunately, our church did not have a very nice nursery and it lacked a Sunday School program. We find it very important that William and Harrison receive the benefits of a church family and learn from Sunday School. We also think it is a very important part of the church to be able to grow as a congregation. Our church is over 50 years old and it has been very neglected over the years.

We decided to commit ourselves to remodeling and redecorating a nursery/Sunday School room. The room was used as daycare but really ended up being a storage room for the church. And wouldn't you know it, the storage closet was actually a bathroom! We spent about a month working on this project. Every free moment was spent there. The boys even stayed up there till mid-night several nights while Scott and I worked. I am happy to say it is finished and Sunday School is starting! Here are some before and after pictures.

Bathroom: BeforeBathroom: After (I need to add a picture or something in here). A cute toddler toilet Before: Nursery

Before: NurseryAfter: Nursery

After: Nursery
Before: Sunday School
After: Sunday School portion of the room There's also a cute polka dot bulletin board on the right wall that isn't in the picture.
We will wait a little bit but here is the next project: The backyard of the nursery.

*I apologize for not acknowledging those who helped with the nursery in this post. That was never my intention. Thank you to Steve (Scott's Dad) for all his work cleaning, painting and with the base boards. He spent a LOT of time during his trip out here at the church. Thank you to Nita (Scott's mom), Stephanie and Kelly (Scott's sisters) for helping prep/clean the nursery to get started (and keeping the boys entertained). And Nita for the beautiful window treatments! Thank you to Shelby for all your hard work with shopping, decorating, assembling, etc. And a big thanks to recruiting your brother to help with assembling furniture. I'm so excited for Sunday School to start. And last but not least, thank you to Mario, our plumber, for doing all his work and for FREE! Talk about community service! I am sorry I didn't mention you sooner. I am very thankful for every one's work on the project!*

Weekend fun

Hm, what trouble can we get in? No we actually had so much fun this weekend. We neglected all other needs of the weekend and headed to the beach both Saturday and Sunday. It was so much fun. It had been too cold to go to the beach and overcast but this weekend, it all turned. It is officially beach season so you know where to find us every Saturday.

The boys are pretending to take naps. Belle made new friends. June and Cash were picnicking right next to us so they played all day together on Saturday. Scott and I boogie boarded. It was so fun. Well this isn't a good picture since there are no waves :)

We had fun running and dancing.

Making sand castles. Harrison is still a little leery of the water.

We played soccer. Football.
We were exhausted when we got home. He is really sleeping here :)
But we had to celebrate. Saturday William turned three and a half! Where did the time go? William is such a smart cookie too. I told him earlier in the week that Saturday was his half birthday. When we got home William said, "don't forget my surprise. It's my half birthday." He has quite the memory. But to top it off I feel like such a horrible mom. A few months ago, he saw a large Buzz Lightyear at the store. He really wanted it and I told him no but maybe on his half birthday. This was seriously about 2 months ago. So he got all excited Saturday and said, "oh, don't forget my big Buzz mommy." And of-course I had :( But we did have some cake.

Sunday we stayed at the beach till the sun was going down.

And the weekend was perfect all the way up until the last couple minutes. The entire time we were there, I made sure to take off my sunglasses every time I went out into the water. Right as we were packing up, I took the boogie board out to the water to wash it off and forgot to take them off. So what do you know, a big wave comes up and hits me in the face swallowing my D&G sunglasses. I am still so upset with myself. I have to get over it but it sucks! All in all, it was a fabulous weekend of sunbathing and family bonding.

Busy Week

It has been a busy *short* week. Tuesday night we had our neighbor from Utah over. It was nice to catch up. Wednesday we took the boys to their very first baseball game. It was a Dodger game and we had tickets through Scott's work. I still couldn't get Scott to wear a Dodger shirt. He did wear his St. Louis Cardinals hat-ha. The boys did good up until the 6th inning. Then it was time to make our exit. I was surprised they lasted that long honestly. See the little hat cup we were eating fries out of?

William just could not wait until we were finished to wash it. Well Scott and Will came back from the bathroom and William was sporting a brand new LA Dodgers cap. Scott just said, "don't ask. You didn't see his face when he realized the cup didn't fit his head. He was devastated." Talk about being wrapped around his finger :)

Thursday I took the boys swimming with some friends. The pool was perfect because they had a kiddie pool there. The boys would not get out of the pool for three hours. They had such a blast. Unfortunately by sitting outside in the sun that long I started developing a migraine. As the day went on, it got so much worse.

Thursday night I had plans for a girls night out with my friend, Shelby. We went to PF Changs for dinner and then to the Greek Amphitheatre for the Sugarland concert. I never listened to Sugarland before. It was a great concert and their tunes are pretty catchy. They put on a good show. Will Hoge and Michelle Branch opened for them. I really enjoyed myself.

And check out our seats! We were so close.

We even had better seats than LL Cool J. Ha. He is wearing the gray hat.

By time it was over though, my migraine was absolutely horrible. I had to concentrate the whole way home not to get "sick" in her car. I barely made it home. And I have been sick ever since. I hate migraines and that I get them. It just kills the weekend.