Monsters in Munchkin Land

Last day of work

2011-11-30T13:40:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it's already here! I was so happy this morning waking up for the last time to an alarm at 4:30am. A baby alarm will be in the near future but I have a few days to relax at home and get ready for the craziness to come.
Tomorrow are parent/teacher conferences for Selena's school and then Friday Joe and I get to go to the assembly for Selena winning Student of the Month. We are so excited for Joe's mom to come up Friday as she will be watching the girls for the week. Joe has his work holiday party on Friday night so we will steal some time together without the kiddos and then Saturday I think we may go out to a movie. FUN TIMES AHEAD! I had my last Dr visit and ultrasound on Monday. My blood pressure was higher than normal for me so they had a few concerns and hooked me up to the non-stress test. Baby was not moving much and heart was not getting high enough when it did move so they sent me for an ultrasound. Baby looked great, about 8lbs they think. I know it could be off a lb or so but this baby just feels pretty big so 8lbs sounds about right. They are thinking 8lbs 5oz or so by the big day. Selena was 7 lbs 13oz and 10 days late and Natalia was 6 lbs 4oz and 6 days early so already I know this is the biggest baby.
Natalia calls the baby Pam because she has a doll named Pam. I just hope it doesn't break her heart when we don't actually name the baby Pam. She tells everyone that it's a girl named Pam. Pam by the way, it totally not even on the list...
I think Selena is about ready. Time seems to drag by when you are 5 and really don't have much concept for weeks/months. Now that it's less than a week away it's easier for her to understand.
Both girls will be at the hospital Monday to meet their new sibling as we decided to pull Selena out of school for the day. And with a gift for each of them from the baby I'm sure they will welcome him/her to the family. Each girl also picked up a gift for the baby thanks to Joe. What a great dad he is!
So for now I'm signing off until after the birth. I'll post on Facebook as soon as anything exciting happens so most likely Monday afternoon. C-section is at 7:30am Monday. I'm accepting donations of vodka and Starbucks...
3 kids, what were we thinking!

Thanksgiving, yummy!

Last time as a family of 4!

Belly pictures 37 weeks

2011-11-22T12:07:00.000-08:00

With just two weeks left I'm feeling pretty big but very hungry all the time also. I want to eat all the time and sometimes I am able to eat a big meal but not always.

Selena also received a huge honor at her school:

We are so proud of her and can't wait to see her receive her award on December 2nd. She is such a sweet and helpful kid and this doesn't surprise me and I'm so happy for her. She if always offering to help me carry stuff in from my car after work and even makes her bed and my bed on the weekends. She is always sharing with Natalia and goes out of her way to rub Joe's back after a long day. What a sweet girl she is!

FALL

2011-11-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

2 Weeks

2011-11-21T11:43:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it is only two weeks from today and I'll be in the hospital. By this time we will know if it's a boy or girl and will have named him/her. Two weeks seems like no time at all and with only 6 days left of work the countdown begins. To say that I'm 100% at work when I'm at work would be a lie. I have a case of short timers now that all but one or two major projects need to be completed.
I'm also not sleeping well still. Still sleeping on the couch and waking up 4 times a night to pee and change positions. So I'm getting a good 4-5 hours a night if I'm lucky. I'm just happy this is a short week!

Now for some Tally Bug pictures!

What are we having?

2011-11-14T12:15:00.000-08:00

Feel free to vote right under the blog title, click on the boy or girl circle.
I actually have no clue either way but with the names done, room done and baby boy and girl clothing 0-3 months washed and ready I feel like we are getting closer. In fact 3 weeks from today is the day. Getting excited and at the same time wishing I had more time.

My quest:

2011-11-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

My quest to get Natalia out of pull-ups involves bribes like chocolate. Heck, it's cheaper than buying diapers!

The countdown

2011-11-09T16:27:00.000-08:00

With now less than a month left the pressure is on to get everything done. I am happy to say that Christmas shopping is totally done this year! I have NEVER gotten it all done by mid November but I started in September. Holiday cards and gifts are completed, birthday gifts for friends and family who are having birthday's in December and January are done and I'm preparing for Valentines day. Only kidding sort of about that part...
I've been sleeping on the couch for three weeks, the bed is just not working for me anymore. I think Joe actually likes having the bed to himself because last Sunday I told him I was going to start off in the bed and his answer was "Why?" Oh well only a few weeks left.
We pulled out all the baby clothing, bottles, bouncy seats, pack n play and other baby crap on Sunday and I must say, washing the bottles made me think "why the heck and I doing this again?!" I love my little independent kids and the ages that they are at. Do I really want someone relying on me for EVERYTHING? To late now...
I'm over a year behind on the photo albums so I have printed about 800 photos and not just need to organize them by month and then get them into the albums. I also only have 14 days left of work so I'm trying to train my replacement and leave everything in a good spot. I will also be working part time from home starting January 16th something I never did with Selena or Natalia but the opportunity came up and I jumped on it thinking about expenses and not being as prepared for the pregnancy and taking time off.
The next few weekend are just going to be about organization. Of course the fact that we have no clue if we are having a boy or girl does not help me unpack the baby clothing but I will be washing it all so that either way we are ready.
We finally picked out the middle names for each boy or girl. And actually both middle names start with "F."
I'll have to put a gender poll on here pretty soon. Any guesses?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2011-11-09T16:24:00.001-08:00

Stop this train I want to get off!

2011-10-24T14:18:00.001-07:00

I have reached that time in my pregnancy where I'm just not sleeping more than 4 hours a night and for sure not in a row. Whether it's because I'm just not comfortable or the sleep issues I have had with Lyme I'm just mot sure. I think it's a little of both as comfort is for sure an issue in bed even with four pillows an a body pillow. I have been taking Unisom off and on for the last two years for sleep. At first it was for Lyme related issues of sleep which was before I knew I had it so I thought it was just anxiety thinking about work. Now I take 1/2 tablet to fall asleep but after about two hours I'm back up going to the bathroom and then not able to get back to sleep.
After sleeping maybe 3 hours on Friday night I got out of bed and knew I was going to have to drag myself through the day starting with cleaning out the fridge. Yes, it kept me up thinking about that. Joe was putting a new transmission in the truck so I would have the girls all day. Typically something that I love and I make sure to pack the day with lots of fun. Only this day went awry at about 7pm after hitting my breaking point of being tired and I had some more bleeding which is my body telling me to STOP moving. I totally lost it and cried calling Joe to tell him to get home NOW. Which he did. He was able to calm Selena, put Tally to bed and do a load of laundry while I zoned out on the couch watching the Beaver game. It was a compilation of the week which caused me to lose it.
I'm happy to say by Sunday I was doing better. This pregnancy has hit me harder than the others, maybe it's Lyme, maybe it's already having two busy kids, maybe it's just the hormones but I will say I'll be happy to be back to myself in December.

The Naming Post

2011-10-19T10:29:00.001-07:00

I have this post each time we have decided on a name and with only 6 weeks left this is about the time with the other two pregnancies I have posted the name game. I'll post a gender poll closer to the date but for now here is a little fun for you.

The only rules are:
-You can guess as many names as you like but we will not confirm if you are right or wrong.
-No, we won't tell you which letter is for which gender.

So for now we have a boy and a girl name picked out. It was hard for us to agree on both and actually Joe picked out both. (Joe came up with Selena and I came up with Natalia.)
We have not nailed down middle names yet but have a few that we cannot agree on at all. Joe would say I'm stubborn but I think it's him. He must know everyone in the world because when I say a name he knows someone with that name or someones friend has that name or that is a name of a movie character form a 1984 movie, yadda, yadda, yadda...

So I will only give the first letter of each but not the gender that goes with either.

W
G

That is all you get. As of now those are the names we like BUT we still have 6 weeks so if something comes up or someone names their baby one of those names since we have so many friends having kids, then I'll keep you posted.

31 Weeks - 4 Days

2011-10-12T16:39:00.000-07:00

Here is a better picture of the big baby bump. I have been telling Joe that this is going to be a BIG baby I can feel it but until yesterday it was only me complaining. Now that I know for sure that it is over 4lbs I don't feel like such a complainer, that's pretty dang big! Natalia was just over 6lbs!

I think that all the medication I have been on during this pregnancy has helped this little one grow. I had Lyme but did not know it with Natalia and there was lots of concern about her growth and she was considered small and still is in the 35th %. Selena was average at 7lbs 13oz and 10 days late. While we don't know for sure of Natalia has Lyme I do have suspicions at times. Like with all the ear infections and seizure's, low birth weight and failure to grow while in the belly is a sign as well. I have taken her with me when I see my Lyme Dr. and while she is not treating Natalia and we have not done tests on her, my Dr. does pay attention to her. I also know that Natalia meeting milestones just like she should at each month and year means she is most likely fine and there is not concern. Lyme babies have trouble sitting up and walk later than healthy babies. For now we will just watch her.
I am happy that this baby is big despite me not being able to breath. I have been on four medications which ads up to 17 pills a day during this pregnancy and while they are not near strong enough to keep my Lyme symptoms at bay, they do provide protection for the baby. We will still do the cord blood testing to know for sure but I have a good feeling about this little girl or guy.
The countdown begins and I'll have to take a poll soon about the gender!

Dr. "Crapweasel"

2011-10-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

No this is not a bash on my Dr. I actually like Dr.Crapweasel very much!
My last post about Dr. Crapweasel was on 6/25/2009 when I was pregnant with Natalia and there were lots of growth issues. She was in the 20th % and none of the ultrasound Dr's seemed to give us any answers except "come back in a week and we will check the growth." Well after going back week after week I finally met Dr. Gavrila AKA Dr. Crapweasel who said to us in a very matter of fact way "Your baby is not going to be a dwarf!" That was all Joe and I needed to hear to make us feel better and trust that someone would tell us as it is.
Post of that day:
http://thealonzofamilysite.blogspot.com/2009/06/dr-crapweasel.html

So, why Dr. Crapweasel?
Look at this picture of Palo on Friends. Ross called him a "crapweasel."

Now look at Dr. Gavrila:

I know, Joe and I picked up on it right away! And the fact that both are from Brazil and have a thick accent just add to it.

So about him being very matter of fact about Natalia NOT being a dwarf but jyst being really small. He told me today that this baby is BIG. It's 4lbs 4oz and in teh 70th % for weight and 75th % for head size. He was worried about me making it full term and having to give birth and was trying to talk about options if this baby reached 9lbs. I said no worry I'm having a c-section and the relief on his face totally showed and he said "Good!" Now I'm not used to hearing "good" when I mention having a c-section, most people think it's a bad thing and say "Why?" He wen on to tell me that in his country of Brazil it was 100% of the chosen method and a great thing. Hummm, now that's a first. I never had an issue with having a c-section anyway.
Baby's heart rate is 128 and everything looks good so I'm very happy about that since I have had three minor bleeding episodes. No idea why, each time it was mid day 11am-2pm.
I was told to keep working out and do not eat more than 400 extra calories a day because the baby is growing so well. Totally different than Natalia when I was told to eat more and move less.
So I guess all is good in baby world!

Belly at 31 weeks:

Last travel

2011-09-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Being that my Dr approved me to travel until 9/30/11 it's a good thing I'll be flying home tomorrow. I have been in CA all week visiting 7 properties in 5 days and it has been busy! My feet hurt and I ended up buying a new pair of shoes since the three I brought were all hurting my feet, the heels were to high or they were cutting off my circulation. I think this is the latest in any of my pregnancies that I have traveled and I'm feeling it for sure. I am getting pretty tired mid-day and have to power up with a cup of coffee as spending all day on my feet and with people training and doing inspections require me to actualy be alert.
7-month belly yesterday:

I have been in Sacramento, Woodland, Elk Grove, Modesto and Turlock. Today is my last town, Turlock and I'll head back up north to fly out. I'm looking forward to gtting home to my body pillows, I have four total in my bed at home.

It's been over a month since I posted

2011-09-22T12:50:00.000-07:00

and the time keeps flying by. I only have a few months left until life really gets crazy for a while. Not that is has not been crazy the last few years already!
Lets see, as far as updates go...
I was right on track with all things good and healthy with this pregnancy and then after being told at my 20 week ultrasound "looks like we won't need to see you again. Baby looks great!" I have had to go back twice...
I had bleeding in August and then again two weeks ago. No one knows why but all still looks good with growth so I'm not worried about it much. I have to go in again in October for another growth ultrasound and have my cervix checked which I really hate. Since I just get to have a c-section I usually don't have to have anything checked, just get to be cut open. Speaking of cut open, December 5th is the date. 7:30am is the time so by 8:30am I'm sure Joe will have a chance to call family and post something to Facebook about the name, gender and other very important details. I on the other hand will be out of it after having a c-section, tubes ties and any hernias fixed. I have a lot to look forward to on December 5th, not just the birth of my 3rd and last child. :)
As far as other updates go, Selena has been out of school for 8 days due to her teachers striking. I hear rumors that it is going to end today and she will have school tomorrow but who knows. She has been keeping busy back in the pre-school classroom and getting a chance to wear flip-flops since her school does not allow them. I guess I never updated about her first day of school!
Sharpening pencils for the first day of school:

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

She really enjoyed the whole 7 days she was in school, liked her teacher and kids in her class. She is in class with one girl from her pre-school so that was nice that they are together. She has been really in to her clothes, needing to pick out her clothes and she usually does not like what I have laid out for her. She is also really in to her hair and how she looks.

It's pretty cute actually how much effort she puts into looking good except when we are on a time crunch.

Natalia is a very opinionated young person. She likes and wants to do everything by herself without help. She has started the whole potty training fun stage and is doing well using the potty at school but not so much at home. We are working on it slowly and she likes getting jelly beans for going in the toilet. We are using pull-ups on her during the day and when she is home with us we use big girl padded training pants or cloth pull-ups.

More updates maybe soon?? I'm starting to slack on the updates but the house is getting a makeover as I am in major nesting mode!

2011-08-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

The last few years have been a roller coaster that sometimes I just want to get off of. And generally I love all rides. I am a planner, I like things going the way I had in my mind. I have a hard time when things don’t since I am a creature of habit and feel most comfortable in a planned environment. I guess I am like a child who has a routine and when something deviates me from that routine then I am overwhelmed. With the birth of Natalia being a major up and her health issues being a major down and my Lyme diognosis and a surprise pregnancy I would say we have a full plate. With the pregnancy the Lyme has taken a back burner and not in a good way. The 28 pills I was one up until April 11th when I took that pregnancy test, were all working wonders and I was just starting to feel back to normal or at least like I had some control over my body. Living with Lyme is tough because you don’t always look sick but a lot of it you hold in and get used to living with issues that you push out of your way because the laundry is not going to do itself and you don’t want the kids to see you in pain or sick. I spent many days in a fog once alone but had to flip the switch once Joe or the girls were around. Even family I would lie to and say I was fine when really I was not.

Lyme and the co-infections are nasty bugs and they effect everyone differently the longer you go undiagnosed. Lucky for me I didn’t believe the first two doctors I saw when the first told me it was in my head and I was crazy and the second gave me 30 days of antibiotics and said I was cured. It’s to know you are sick and no things are not right with you but no one believes you or can diagnose all of what you are feeling. You get used to saying “I’m fine” as a way of trying to convince yourself that you are okay and making sure other family/friends don’t think you’re a hypochondriac.

Only being on two pregnancy safe antibiotics has been a major setback in my treatment. I have spent thousands of dollars in the last three years to figure out what was wrong with me and then during out of pocket treatment since insurance only covers 30% of Lyme care. After 5 months of aggressive treatment, being sick from the treatment and exhausted, I discovered Hot Yoga which is a form of detoxing and helpful when you are on a cocktail of antibiotics. I also found gluten free and staying away from sugar to help with the process. I was for sure on the mend and feeling better than I had in years, the dark circles under my eyes were going away and I had the energy to keep up with my family.

I try to think of this pregnancy as a positive thing, the baby is healthy, growing and moving a ton which is a good thing for sure. But I also can’t help but think about the 9+ month setback to treatment for me. How can I keep up with soon to be three kids if I’m not 100%? I’m not just taking care of kids and taking care of the house but I’m also working 50 hours a week. That is the part that overwhelms me. Tying to do it all and something has to give but I can’t afford for any of it to give. Somehow it all needs to work out and me being the planning type, don’t like sitting in limbo.

I have begun the “nesting” phase. And no I don’t mean getting the baby’s room ready because that would entail moving and reorganizing all of Natalia’s things into Selena’s room and then organizing the baby’s room. That to me is so overwhelming that I just want to hire someone to do it, or maybe it will just happen. Nesting entails packing the hospital bag with the Lyme cord blood testing kit and Lyme breast milk test. Reading over the instructings, filling out the seven forms, typing up directions for my dr because I will have just had a c-section and am not going to be able to explain where she needs to sign and how long they have to FedEx the blood/milk to IGenX for testing. Things are a little different this time around. I do not have that excitement of thinking 3 months left I can’t wait! I am thinking, only 3 monthly left??!! Why did time seem to go so slow with Selena and Natalia and this one is moving to fast?

So slowly the Lyme symptems are creaping out. First it was the itching and rash, then headaches, nausea, exhaustion, overwhelmed, panic, twitching/burning limbs, trouble breathing (not the baby trust me it’s different) and now a cold which shows me my immune system is back to being low again.
I know this is a total downer post compared to the last few but saying what I’m feeling gets it all out there and I’m all about putting out all my dirty laundry for everyone to see.

Selena Elise is always up for a good time...

2011-08-15T09:52:00.001-07:00

Especially when playing with her friend Max!

Silly and Sweet Natalia Carlyn

2011-08-15T09:50:00.001-07:00

Monkey Face!

Big Sister to be!

Who cares that it's only 8am...

2011-08-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

I've been up since 4:30am!

It's Thursday and I need more than just coffee to keep me going. I hit that magic 22 week mark when I get up 2-3 times a night to pee. No more uninterrupted sleep for a VERY, VERY, long time.

I need a vacation!
I used to look forward to summers for a week vacation with my family. I used to look forward to summers for the sun. I used to look forward to the summers for the long days and evening walks after work. I used to look forward to the summer for all the extra energy. All of which I have had non of, with the exception of the three sunny days all summer. I don't count Monday-Friday since I don't get to enjoy those very few nice days that we have actually had. I might have to play hookie for a day soon to enjoy my family and feel like I had a summer vacation...

21 Week Belly

2011-08-03T10:26:00.000-07:00

I had my "big" ultrasound last Friday. The good news... growth is perfect! I was a little worried after Natalia but I have been eating more with this pregnancy so I had a slight feeling like this baby was going to be plump. Baby is considered "medium" sized at 12" long and 14oz. The head is measuring 1 week bigger but so were Selena and Natalia's big old heads. Belly is also measuring 1 week bigger but so was Natalia's. She is all head and belly now too!

Now for the pics:

It was Natalia's 2nd birthday last Saturday so I'll post some pictures soon and Selena's 5th birthday is today! Joe's 32nd birthday is on Sunday so lots of cakes and treats this time of year!

I'm as proud as if she were accepted to college

2011-08-02T15:21:00.000-07:00

A few months back we petitioned for Selena to go to Brown's Pointe Elementary School. We live a block away from NE Tacoma Elementary School but there are a few factors of why we decided against that school.
For one her daycare director recommended Browns Pointe as opposed to the other three schools in the area. Two, better test scores. Three, smaller class sizes. Four, umm how do I say this? Families that care? no... not gangster? no... Oh you get it I hope! And five, they don't have to wear uniforms. Seriously, I spoke to a little boy at Selena's daycare who is 7 and asked him if he liked wearing uniforms to school each day and he gave me this "are you kidding me!" look that said it all. They will have plenty of time to conform to "the man" but not in Elementary school.
So we got the supply list about a month ago but I was waiting for an official "You made it!" letter and it never came. Then I got a text from one of Selena's best daycare friends moms who said her son did not get in and panic set in. I was picturing myself having to buy super boring high waisted khaki pants and white polo shirts with red or blue sweaters. It gave me the chills. So I called the school.
When I heard the words "She got in." I jumped out of my work chair and did a happy dance. It was like she was accepted to an Ivy league school with a full scholarship. Then I thought, how am I going to break the news to her friends mom. I'll let Joe do it!

So here is her daycare summer group:

And I can't wait to see what her kindergarten class looks like in the fall!

QR Code

2011-08-01T16:39:00.001-07:00

If you have a smart phone you can roll over the QR code below and link to my site. Why did I create one for myself? Because I'm a computer nerd!

Need an app to be able to link to the code? No problem! On any smart phone you can go to the app store and grab a free app like Code Muncher. Apple or Blackberry phones have free apps. And if you want to create a free QR code for yourself go to:
http://www.qrdvark.com/qr-generator/
Click on URL for the format and create your free code. It's that easy to market yourself, your business or shamelessly plug your blog. Happy Monday!

Girls

2011-07-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe both girls will be getting older this week! Natalia turns 2 on Saturday and Selena turns 5 on Wednesday. Wow! Times flys!
Selena is having an alien space party and Natalia is having a firetruck party. Both parties are on Saturday so getting ready for those and working late all week due to dinner meetings has been interesting. I may be up all Friday night to make Selena's cake and decorate Natalia's cup cakes! Who needs sleep!

I have my big ultrasound tomorrow although it does not seen that big since we are not finding out the gender.

We pretty much have a boys name picked out and then Joe came up with a girls name yesterday that I just LOVE! We had a few girls names on a list but didn't really like then enough to have a front runner so I think now I have a front runner.

Pregnancy Thoughts

2011-07-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

I remember hearing through my last two pregnancies “oh you are waddling!” I hated hearing that because in my mind I was not waddling, I was walking totally normal and people just say things to be mean. “You don’t look pregnant at all from the back but the waddle gives it away.” I hated that one also. When you are pregnant you are self conscious enough. Your body is changing, your attitude is changing and you don’t need those things pointed out on a daily basis. I hate being asked “How are you feeling?” “How’s mommy?” “How’s baby?” I really just like to be left alone.
So back to waddling… I do not waddle I would think to myself, I walk just fine. Well this being my third pregnancy and I really just don’t give a crap anymore so I caught myself waddling twice today and I’m not afraid to admit it. Yes I am just 20 weeks but the waddling has begun. I’m not as young and spry as I once was so getting up out of my chair after sitting for two hours is quite a sight to see. I stand up like always but there is a shooting pain in my back so I stretch. Then I have to shake my legs out to get them working again. Then as I walk down the hall I twist my body from side to side to get my old bones moving. It’s the “I can’t get my body moving as fast” waddle. The second time I noticed it was after leaving a meeting, it was a typical Friday one hour meeting except my bladder is a lot smaller now and after downing 32 oz of water because I’m more thirsty now also, those two issues just don’t mix. As I walked out the door I found myself waddling as fast as I could to the bathroom, it’s the “I’m uncomfortable and have to pee waddle.” As soon as I was done the waddling stopped, as far as I know it stopped. Because as I said before, I don’t waddle.

Going from 2 to 3 kids or 4 to 5 person family!

2011-07-21T15:26:00.000-07:00

I think it finally sunk in that I am having a third. I mean 3 kids! When I tell people that this is my third I feel like they are thinking “are you Mormon?” Going form 1 to 2 took a bit of time to adjust to and I know that this will be the same at first but then you get in an automatic phase where is just seems “normal.” I finally felt like I was getting the hang of juggling work and home a few months back since Natalia was getting older and able to pick up after herself but now it will be time to start over. It is nice that Selena keeps her room clean and picks up every nigh, boy do I have her trained! And Natalia is OCD about everything being in its place so she also picks up. They both know dirty clothing goes in the basket, all toys are to be put away and dishes cleared on their own from the table. I know what you are thinking; boy you have them on a short leash. The answer is yes, yes we do. Everyone pitches in to help around the house. Everything gets put away so there is less work to do on the weekends. Selena helps with the laundry and Natalia helps load and unload the dishes. Everyone does their part and then we can play games and read books before bed. We don’t call these “chores” or have a chore chart, we don’t pay out money for helping around the house, it’s just expected that everyone pitch in. While Joe takes care of all the vehicles he doesn’t leave the house work to me. We all pitch in or one of us would go off the rocker. Probably me.

I have been feeling lots of movement the last two weeks. Since this is my last pregnancy I am enjoying feeling the little movements because it’s going to be a big elbow or knee scraping my insides. With baby only about 9”, which to me is still huge, the movements are slight but sometimes catch me off guard or surprise me. I’m 19 weeks and 4 days so ½ way there knowing that I’ll only have to go 38 ½ weeks before the c-section.

My belly is pretty obvious now but at work I still try to hide it, not sure why, maybe habit? As I walk down the hall I put my hands up even though I know my hands are not going to actually block the beach ball in my shirt but maybe it will be a distraction? There are still many people at work that don’t know and I like it like that. I’m not friends with anyone at work we just work together so I have no reason to tell anyone or talk about it. I’m getting the looks at the gym which are fun to catch people staring. I know when I saw a pregnant gal at the gym I would stare and wonder how far along she was. Part of me wants to get it all over with and get my body back, loose the 11 lbs I’ve gained and go back to hot yoga which I miss so much. But I know that this is my last time and really the next few months are going to fly by.

Selena like to read about the baby and see how big it is. Natalia likes to pound or bounce her rump on my belly while yelling “baby!” She has begun to pull up her shirt to show me the “baby” in her belly which is her belly button. It’s going to be interesting to see the dynamic by adding a little brother or sister to the family. Selena really is like a big sister, the perfect oldest child, calm, easy going, thoughtful, just as I was as a child and I am the oldest. (Things have changed if you ask Joe that is why I said how I was…) Natalia has a sweet side but sure loves her devious side and is a lot like Joe who is a middle child. So what will this one be like? Joe and I were laughing about the failure to launch youngest child syndrome and Joe said “I’ll make sure he/she is launched, I’ll launch her/him myself!” Selena looks like me, Natalia looks like Joe, and although they sort of look like siblings for sure have very different looks. Selena has fair skin, freckles and blond hair and light blue eyes while Natalia tans in about 5 min, has darker hair and deep steel blue eyes. It will be fun to see who this one resembles.

I have my 20 week next week and while usually this was a BIG excited ultrasound for us, this time since we are not finding out the sex it won’t be that big moment to start planning. It will be nice o make sure growth is on track since Natalia had growth issues. We pretty much have a boy name picked but are still in need of a girl name so any assistance would be GREAT! The only rule is the name can not be popular. So many kids at the girl’s school have the same name and then last names have to be used. So as always, names I like Joe does not like and Joe seems to come up with good names but I hear them all the time. They are not bad names, just a little too used for my liking.

Yes, I rambled on and on so if you are still with me thanks for listening. I though I needed a long wordy post since it had been a while!

Decisions, Decisions...

2011-07-21T14:12:00.000-07:00

What do I want to be when I grow up?

A pediatrician?

A heavy machinery operator?

A surgeon?

A veterinarian?

A singer! I need a smaller microphone!

I got some time... I'll just think it over at lunch.

Weekend

2011-07-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

With me in AZ a few weeks back, and Joe in Washington DC last week, it's been a few weeks since we have all been together as a family. Three weeks to be exact!
We took advantage of Saturday by heading into Seattle and picking up a bike for Selena's birthday. She has outgrown her small bike and since she has been training wheel free for a year we thought she needed a nicer, bigger, fancier bike so she can ride Whistler. She always talks about riding at Whistler so with a big bike she is on her way.
We also decided to take a walk around Green Lake and ended up trying out the paddle boats and boy was it a workout for Joe and I while the girls soaked up the rain/sun mix.

I can't believe in just two weeks Natalia is going to be 2 and four days later Selena will turn 5!

Where in the US

2011-07-07T13:22:00.000-07:00

I'm in Flagstaff, AZ this week. Summer months are busy for us in asset management, people moving out, people moving in, renting, renewing and resident retention. From May-September we are at the best time in our industry and usually I travel to help out.
So this week I'm in Flagstaff, AZ. No, it's not the HOT AZ you are all thinking of. When I flew into Phoenix is was 101 but Flagstaff is 2 hours north and sitting about 80-87 degrees. We are also in the middle of monsoon season so after a beautiful morning the cloudy come in and there is rain harder than is ever rains in the pacific NW, thunder and lightning.
Here is Sterling Pointe

I opened this property in 2007. Currently all the staff has quite! So it is just the regional manager and me here this week. It's been busy and we have been in the office from 7am-8pm but we are getting a lot done.

Flagstaff is a lot like Bend, OR. Nice a hot in the summer and snow in the winter. It's a cute college town, home of Northern Arizona University, about the size of OSU.

I'll be heading back to Phoenix tomorrow to stop in at one of our other properties before catching a plane home. It was a fast week!

I am feeling the baby move a lot these last few days! Fun feeling for sure, just enjoying getting a big belly. I only with it was just the belly getting big!

It's been almost a month...

2011-06-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

I am so sorry! It's been a busy June I guess and of course I don't have much time to post today but I'll give a few picture updates.

First up is my baby belly!
14 weeks

16 weeks

Second up is Natalia:

Last but not least is my big girl Selena:

Joe and I celebrated 7 years on Sunday, wow! Where does time go?

Joe and the girls are on vacation while I stay home to work. Joe is on the Rubicon this week with his brother and friends and the girls are at grandma and grandpa's in Ruch, OR. It's pretty quiet around my house. Carpets shampooed, laundry all done, house clean... Yeah, I have been busy!

12 Weeks 5 days

2011-06-02T16:52:00.000-07:00

So I told the 85+ year old front desk lady at my work that I am having another one. What is her response??

"What! Are you making this a hobby!"

Love it, if she wasn't so gosh darn cute with her British accent I might take offence to that.

And just some cuteness for your enjoyment...

Baby #3

2011-05-26T16:34:00.000-07:00

Well it's official! We are doing this, baby #3 hit the 12 week mark and I had an ultrasound today. Baby was moving like crazy, must have been that piece of cake I had after lunch. The tech said she was 90% sure of the sex and could tell me and I declined. We are just going to wait it out and be surprised either way.
3D-

Profile and hands -

Frog Position - it's just the umbilical cord don't get ahead of yourselves!

School Days...

2011-05-26T14:46:00.000-07:00

Selena School Fun:

Natalia School fun:

Seizure

2011-05-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Natalia had her third seizure last night. To say that it is not as scary each time would be a lie. It's like the first time each time. We are pretty convinced that she is having seizures from Lyme but we are going to have to start at the beginning since it's pretty controversial and her Pediatrician even said there is no proof that it can be passed from mom to baby. We have heard it all before, all the doubts from Dr.'s, all the "you are fine," "it's normal." Joe is at home waiting to get her in to be seen. We are going to need to have some tests run. She had her last one April 20th and the 1st one in October. Each time her fever was not very high. Joe was home with her and Selena when she went into the seizure, by the time I arrived home from work she was coming out of it a paramedics were on their way. She was very sleepy when they arrived just after me and took her vitals. About an hour later once she took a quick nap and we had dinner I picked her up and she threw up all over me. Poor kid. It just makes me more scared about this pregnancy as I was only on treatment for four months before getting pregnant. Miscarriage, stillbirth and health issues, for the new baby are all on my mind today. It's scary just not knowing what the next few weeks/months/years will hold. I will be seeing a "specialist" and I use that term loosely, about Lyme during pregnancy. My Lyme Dr. is defiantly the best but this is something my OBGYN set up so I have to go along with it. I can't help but be skeptical about what this person will say since my OBGYN kind of shut down once I told her I was being treated for Lyme. Can't blame them though, it's the LDA and the CDC who are tampering with the actual severity of this disease to profit. Yesterday I was excited about baby names and today it's worrying about Natalia and putting everything else aside. Selena is feeling neglected and acting out at school, Joe and I are just going to need to balance some things out the next few days to give her support as well. If only I didn't have to work. I would love to be home with my girls today giving both extra special attention.

Names, names, names, names, names...

2011-05-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Boy oh boy did I not think I was going to have to rack my brain about names for a while. I know it's pretty early to start thinking names but this being my third I really don't need to read up on any pregnancy books, plan out the nursery or buy anymore baby crap so the name is about it this time.
We decided, well I decided and Joe is willing to go along with it, that we are not going to find out the sex at the 20 week ultrasound. I just want to know how it feels to not know like the old fashioned way. I was also pretty upset when I found out Natalia was a girl, you see I wanted one of each and then to be done, but finding out Natalia was a girl my mind went to "oh crap, I have to do this again." By the time the baby comes out of my tummy I won't care what it is I'll just be glad to be done. And it it's a girl great! No more! Tubes will be tied during the c-section, they are also going to repair the hernia from my last c-section, maybe they will throw in a free tummy tuck and boob job!
So names...
We need to come up with one boy name and one girl name. First and middle. We want them to be original like Selena and Natalia, not on the top 500 most popular names list, I think Natalia grazed the 700 mark and Selena was in the 900's. So coming up with two more names is going to be tough. Anyone not having any more kids and a few names to spare would be handy! Pass them along! So far we can't agree on any names and Selena suggests all the kids names at her school and they are pretty popular names, Madison, Addison, Regan, Collin, Max, Alex... You get the point. There are like three Max's and two Collin's and four Madison's just in her small school.
We got some time but it took us 5 months to pick Selena's name and seven to pick Natalia's so I'm starting now with seven months left...

The rundown

2011-05-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

I know it had been many, many weeks since I have been on here but a lot was going on that I just could not talk about so I was speechless.
So the due date is December 10, 2011. Which means that the c-section will be December 1-4, one of those days and I will know more in the months to come. I have been having mostly 2-7pm sickness, just not feeling well and VERY hungry but other than that and being tired I' doing good. Pulled out the maternity clothing last weekend to get all washed up and ready to go. I'm 9 weeks and 1 day today but I look more like I'm 4 months.

Thank you Ariel for the shirt :)

Here is a very late picture, Selena all dressed up for Easter. The only time you will ever see her in a frilly dress. Thanks Grandma Beth!

Here is Selena's new bunk bed, she LOVES it! Natalia slept in the lower bunk over the weekend and I think she enjoys it but I'm not ready to kick her out of her room just yet.

As we get closer to Tally's 2nd birthday she only has a few months left to enjoy the binky and I think deep down she knows she better enjoy them now.

Joe, Tally and Selena in the Hurricane Simulator.

You already know but here is the big fat positive

2011-05-09T12:26:00.001-07:00

Well I'm sure most of you know by now, news and gossip spreads fast.
I am having a third baby!
It sounds so strange to say and I'm still not totally over the shock of it all but I guess here we go again!
I have been waiting to tell work the last few weeks so I didn't want to post anything that someone could read and it would get back to them. I respect them enough to do it the right way, come up with a plan, sit down and just say it. I hardly slept at all last night just thinking about the last two times I had to tell work and how those two times did not go over very well. This time went much better and I think it had everything to do with the fact that his daughter works for this company and had a baby a year ago so he is more understanding. Of course he has not spoken to me since I broke the news so who knows how the week will go...

I wrote how I was feeling below, this is the day of and the day after I found out. Sometimes it just helps to write it down. Since then I have gone off the four medications for Lyme I was on and put on two safe ones for pregnancy, and seen my OBGYN to have an ultrasound. Saw the heart beat but that was it as I was only 6 weeks. I am 9 weeks today and very aware that anything could happen in the next few weeks since I was on a lot of medication but I'm not worried or stressing. Things happen for a reason and getting pregnant was no in my plan this year but it happend.

4/12/11
So I was sitting in my meeting on Monday April 11, 2011 at 11am looking at the meeting agenda with the date 4/11/11 on top. It hit me that 11/11/11 would be a cool birth date. You would never forget that. Just like a 10/10/10 or the dreaded 6/6/06 from a few years back. Then my eyes widened and I tuned out the meeting, sh**, when was my last period? It has been at the beginning of the months around the 5th or so. What is today's date? Oh right 4/11/11. I could hardly focus for the next hour as I was trying to remember just when in March I had my period. Okay not last week, not the week before since I was in AZ... I was trying to place myself each weekend and jog my memory. Finally I got out of my meeting and back to my desk where I have my calendar. If I remember I place an "X" on the date of my period, this is IF I remember. The last "X" was February 5, 2011. I was sure I had my period in March but the days, weeks, months, fly by.
I left to go workout and found myself turning into the Rite Aid parking lot. I gotta buy it, I need to check. I felt sick. The only times I had bought a test I pretty much knew I was pregnant and excited about it. This time I was dreading it...
I started thinking about work, finances, baby names, oh crap! I pulled myself out of the mundane thoughts and remembered that I am on five antibiotics for Lyme and each of them says "DO NOT, NOT, NOT TAKE WHILE PREGNANT!" Big and bold letters in three different places on the bottles. My heart sank, I see my Lyme doctor on Friday, three days away. Don't get a head of yourself. I browsed the tests and found one with three. No doubt I would not believe the first one I took, I knew myself well.
I went to they gym, yeah I know great place to take a test. I had to pee for about and hour. Changed into my gym clothing delaying, stalling. I took a deep breath feeling sick now I peed on the stick. Directions said it would take 2 min. It was instant, big fat positive. I wanted to throw up. "Good" I thought, "Maybe I'll loose some of this weight I was putting on." For the next 10 min as I quickly left the gym not able to focus on a work out, I repeated "Sh**, Sh**, Sh**." in my head or maybe it was out loud. I came back to work and went to my desk as I nothing had changed. Started answering emails, prepared for the 2pm meeting and then I had to pee again. I didn't want to be alone because I knew I would want to take another test. And so I did. Positive. I was hoping for a negative, praying, begging, I felt like I was 16 and just found out I was pregnant. I felt bad for not wanting this, I felt bad about thinking the thoughts I was thinking about this baby, I felt bad about people who were having trouble getting pregnant and here I was ungrateful, I just felt sick. I should be happy, feel blessed but I felt nothing but dread. It was 1:20pm, I needed to prepare for my meeting but I just could not focus, I needed to pass my grief onto someone. Joe. I felt bad knowing that this was the way he was going to find out he was going to be a dad again. I should have been happy. I should have come up with a fun way to tell him. Maybe Natalia wearing a "Big Sister" shirt. I didn't care at this point. I wanted it all to be over. I called Joe, he answered on the third ring. Gee what tool him so long! I should not have to deal with this, it's HIS fault! I asked him if he was sitting, if he was alone in his office and then I sprang it on him. I expected him to have all the words to make me feel better. No matter what he said I would not feel better, I worried about work, my meeting.
I pushed everything out of my head for the rest of the day. Every once in a while something up pop up. "Oh the name _____ is cute for a girl." STOP! "I don't think I want to find out the gender this time." STOP!
It went on like that until I got into my car to go home and turned on Howard Stern. I slipped away to radio heaven and forgot about everything until I got home and saw Joe. He gave me a hug and we went on with the evening like nothing happened, nothing had changed. He could since I was not ready to talk.
But I needed to talk, I needed to figure it out. If not to Joe and not to Selena because she can't keep a secret then who?
The only person I knew would not talk back to me. Would listen, have nothing to say, that made sense. Natalia was in bed taking her nap before dinner but when I opened her door her eyes opened and she smiled with the binky tightly between her gap toothed grin. "Hi mamma! Hi, mamma!" I came over to her and sat down by her bed, she was laying on her pillow looking at me and I told her. "You are going to be a big sister." She just stared at me and that was just what I needed. No words just needed to say those words out loud. I continued talking through everything as she looked at me with her steel blue eyes trying to read my expression, my mood. At the end of the one ended conversation I smiled at her and she smiled back. I rubbed her head and she closed her eyes. I knew my secret was safe with her.

4/13/11
24 hours passed sense I found out some very surprising news. The news that there will be a third baby and that crib we just turned into a toddler bed would soon be turned into a crib again. Joe looked into daycare costs, his insurance since both girls are on his and bought a new set of tires off Craig's list. I called my Lyme doctor, I'm off all meds for now. I called my OBGYN and see her in one week and continued with my denial of issues that I can't control. I am scared to tell work, things have been going great and I am worried that all this is going to change just like it did the last two pregnancies. I am worried about money, but what is new right! I'm always stressed about money, that is just the way I am.
I am worried that because all the medication I have been on that something is wrong. Forget the wine, beer, tuna and deli meat I have been eating, hot yoga I did a ton of, those are not even concerns at this point. Just a few days ago I thought the medication was making me gain weight since I'm up 3 lbs, now I know the real reason. I am worried that I just started the Lyme treatment and have to stop. I am scared about passing the Lyme to the new baby and Natalia has not even been tested yet due to the cost of $1000.
But even though I have all of these thoughts I have to tell myself to slow down. I hurried through pregnancy with Selena, I didn't enjoy my pregnancy with Natalia but this is the last. Slow down and enjoy each day of the last pregnancy, pain, bloating, weight gain, swelling and all.
I hope everything is okay, by the time I post this for all to read I will most likely be three months along. At 6 weeks I'm stressing, at 12 weeks I hope I will be excited...

Kindegarden? I don't even know how to spell it

2011-04-15T11:28:00.000-07:00

Joe here..... Apparently, the time has arrived to enroll Selena in to kindergarten. Although we live right next to NE tacoma elementary,we've reviewed testing scores and received a recomendation from the Daycare to send our kids elsewhere. SO, we have decided we want to send OUR kids to the "Harvard" of elementary schools. Ah, Browns Point elementary where the fish sticks are made of fish, the playground is lined with the finest of bark mulches, and each new student is equipped with a cubby AND a coat hook. POW! Well, last night was orientation and registration. With Selena and Natalia in tow, I took the girls to this "tryout" which will later be described as an "assessment of your child" We are a bit out of district, so Selena really needed to impress. Upon arrival, we see a few kids and parents standing in the bitter cold wind and rain waiting to be let in. We joined. And then waited....and waited.....while through the large glass doors, we could see 15-20 teachers walk down the hallway toward us smiling and laughing only to dart into a class room 3 feet on the other side of our glass door. "What a delightfully welcoming institution this is" I though to myself. (Oh yeah, while waiting, some woman in the front wearing a long skirt and appeared to be freezing herself was desperately trying to get in. Turns out, she must have been a teacher as the doors were unlocked just briefly enough for her to sneak through the barely open door, smile a-holeishly at the rest of us, and say "sorry" right before closing and locking the door again behind her.)

Once inside, we were corralled down this corridor into some folding chairs. We were handed a large folder full of forms as some woman rushed through telling us how to fill out all 68 pages of info. Sit still Natalia. We were then put into three groups based on the different colors of our folders. We were yellow group and selena had a friend from preschool who was in our group. Well, this is where it got interesting. You see, it was a 3 station registration. Station 1: Your kid has to complete 2 art projects while school officials rate your kids ability to take direction and assess their creative functioning. Station 2, a tour of the school, complete with question and answer sessions with kids where they must show their knowledge of computers, library, and gym athleticism. Station 3, ability to sit quietly and watch a video with out parents hovering (no lie, parents were not allowed in the room) while parents were outside filling out the damn 68 pages of documents.

Station 1: kids, Draw a picture of yourself and write your name on the page. part 2, cut out with scissors this star, use glue stick to glue down the stem of what will become your flower which is filled with tissue paper in the center.... Well, it became very clear to me that all kids are not on the same page. Selena and her friend from school jump right in taking crayons and paper and drawing, I see other kids begin to melt down. One kid begins to frantically get the teachers attention becuase he doesn't know what his name starts with. Another kid, can't decide which color to choose. Looks around naming each color, and then tells his hovering father, Daddy, I would like the turquoise one that she has as he points to Natalia, all 20 months of her, who has already begun the task assigned! Natalia, graciously enables this 5 year old to complete his task by giving him the turquoise crayon that she had been using to complete her project. Then, its time to use scissors. OH MY, the look of alarm on some parents faces. One kid cracks under the pressure and breaks down into a full blown cry fest. I see other kids being assisted by not one, but both parents as if they are difusing a nuclear bomb. Carefully, slowly, surgically cutting out the flower stem in a way that only the finest of brain surgeons could only hope to replicate. "Wow, there are some pretentious people in this room" I though to myself as I discuss steel machining with my fellow blue collar father of Selena's friend. One dad, if you've seen the movie "the Grinch" with Jim Carey, was the exact image of the mayor of whoville. Looked, talked, and acted just like him! Selena, Natalia and her friend Erika were all finished with their assigments and were chatting while each other kid in the room had multiple parents around the table stressing over their child's race against the clock. Sometime around the sound of the buzzer, an overly exited parent begins to panick and says Uh, uh, uh UH! The little one! She has gotten into the glue stick! I look at Natalia who has her right eye glued shut and the glue stick lid glued to her hand, while her hair looks like a scene out of "There is something about Mary". She seemed to be enjoying it all. The dad who notified me of this atrocious behavior, was not impressed.

In station 2, we toured the school. by this time, the hazing was getting to Natalia and her tolerance of this initiation without yet having dinner or a nap was wearing on her. The only thing she wanted to do was hang out with big sis. You see, they intentionally parade the soon to be school agers around in a large group ahead of all the parents who lag behind. Well, somewhere in there, I lost Natalia who was running like Jaquiz through all the adults to find her sister. Selena and Erika took Natalia by the hands, no big deal. WOW, the looks I got from the other parents. One girl, who was sweet, was like that big abominable snow man off of looney toons. "I will pat him and stroke him and name him george" This girl was fascinated with Natalia and was trying to pick her up, hold her hand, play with her like she was a real life baby doll! This was a bit of a distraction and Selena had to politely tell her.. This is MY sister.

Station 3: paperwork. I have no idea what Selena did while we were banished from the room. I can only hope that through all of the "assessments," that she was able to resist the urge to be a kid. Jessica arrived late to assist with Natalia while I filled out paperwork.

I must admit, taking seriously all 68 pages of docuements without a smarta$$ response was challenging. We had to fill out tribal affilation forms although we are not tribal, we had to write in detail our childs acedemic strenghts, personality strenghts, learning style, and all sorts of individualized minute details.

What ever happened to just throwing a bunch of kids in a room and letting a little bit of pecking order take place.
sample: Strenghts: All of them
academics: whatever is on the agenda today
Learning style: does what the teacher says.

In summary, my observation is this: Whether this was a "weeding out" process or a "need to know how to best teach your kid" process, I don't like it. Many of the kids I saw seem ill-prepared for life outside the home.
And Why do we have to fill out a complete book of docuements individualizing out every little detail of difference from one student to the next? Why do kids have to be assessed, screened and have someone analyze every tiny detail to try to make a decision of what a kids special needs and learning style are? Today's kids don't need more accomodations. In my observation, some of those with the most parental accomodations are the ones most ill-equiped to handle the all-too stressful world of Kindegarten.
Kids are resilient and kids will adapt and rise to the expectations of their environment, including Kindergarten. Unless they are coddled and labeled with some excuse not to.

So, In the mean time We will keep our fingers crossed about Selena getting accepted into this fine school. And if she does, we will send her off with nothing more than a helmet and #2 pencil and tell her good luck!

Spring cleaning and organization

2011-04-12T14:42:00.000-07:00

I was thinking the last few days were going to be a rainy mess but the sun must have followed me back from AZ.
We have been doing a lot of spring cleaning the last few weeks in addition to the kitchen remodel. We have come to the conclusion that we have a lot of stuff! I went through my clothing closet the first time since September 2009 and totally cleaned it out. I had 8 very large bags full of clothing and shoes to take to Goodwill. I went through the kitchen while the doors were off and cleaned and organized and got rid of. It's nice to do this every so often. The downstairs TV room will be the next project to tackle. It may look pretty organized but there is a lot of "clean up" work to do. Once we get Selena a bunk bed I'll re-do her room turning it from toddler to little girl.
We have a ton of storage under the house and that seems to be where we put stuff to hide it. out of sight, out of mind. I finally pulled out Selena's old 2 year old clothing and washed it up for Natalia. I put all 12-18 months stuff into a bin and put it away. Pulled out the bigger cloth diapers and put the small away. Put about 10 pairs of now to small shoes away that are Selena's. I have been stocking up on size 6 clothing for her now since she is set for size 5. Selena has also decided that she would like to dress more "girly" so I have pretty much stopped buying "boy" clothing except for camping/hiking/outdoor time. Girl clothes are just to pretty to get muddy.
Can you tell I have gotten my energy back?? I go in to see my Lyme doctor on Friday so I'll see how the blood work from last week comes out.
Enjoy the sun!

Projects

2011-04-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

We have been busy the last few weeks with home projects. We have been wanting to do a kitchen remodel for some time and finally got around to it. It's almost complete so I'll show it off.
During(white are new, wood are old)

Mostly done, still need to do some clean-up and organization

We also replaced mirrors in both bathrooms. The new ones have a beautiful frame around them and really makes the bathrooms look nice.

We also changed Tally's crib into a toddler bed.

It took Selena a few weeks to figure out that she could get out of bed on her own when we changed her to a toddler bed but not Natalia, she figured it out the first night!
We will be buying a white twin bunk bed for Selena's room. She is running out of room on her toddler bed. Natalia and Selena like to snuggle in each others beds on weekends so the bunk bed will be great for sleepovers.

I have been following this Blog for about three years. It's about a guy who's wife died 27 hours after giving birth to their first baby girl. He wrote a book and I ordered it months ago, well it finally came out and arrived Tuesday so I'm sure I will be reading it this weekend and crying the whole time. His site is great, check it out if you are looking for some new reading material.

Selena and Preston

2011-04-06T12:01:00.000-07:00

Selena and Preston are best friends. She would call him a "boyfriend." They play well together but also fight like siblings usually over cars. I took them to see Rango a we weeks back but went to the mall for some play time on a rainy day first.

Thank you!

2011-04-04T16:54:00.001-07:00

Thank you to OVCD for being so supportive during these last few months of treatment. Without you we would feel helpless and defeated. Thank you for taking care of Selena and Natalia each day and loving them as much as their parents. We are so thankful we found you in June 2007 and happy to call you family!

Lazy Sunday

2011-04-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

daddy's little helpers.

2011-03-30T12:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics of progress from the Alonzo Kitchen project: the girls hope mama is enjoying her warm Arizona weather while they get down and dirty.

Check and make sure all the paint is off:

Then off for some exercise after being couped up in the house working!
Selena is ripping on her "big bike" while Natalia is more of a little marathon runner:

And some STYLE!

I'm back...

2011-03-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a busy few months since I disappeared from the blog. I have been focusing on getting better, eating gluten free (not working so much) and house projects. We have been remodeling our kitchen for the past three weekends and are almost done. No I have no pictures since I left my camera at home and I'm in AZ for the week for work. The only nice thing about being here is the weather, its 87 degrees so I'm loving it. Trying to pace myself so I don't get to worn out. I had been working from home on Friday for the last 6 weeks so that was a nice break but I'm back to a full week on top of traveling. Got to my hotel at 8pm last night so I'm glad one day is done.
Tally has been talking a ton and I am so happy! Her favorite words are fire truck and airplane. She also loves to sing twinkle, twinkle, little star. She likes all doors closed and everything in its place. She pushes limits on everything and likes to be independent.

Selena is now in all size 5 clothing, she seemed to grow out of size 4 in the last two weeks. She is spelling everything and LOVES singing Taylor Swift at the top of her lungs. She is very sweet and helpfull always wanting to clear the table and she asks a million questions like most kids her age do.

thank you

2011-03-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you Joe for taking over. And my new found love by the way is hot yoga. I am going three times a week. I have been having a lot of pain so this seems to help. Hopefully with Joe helping out we can get the family/friends caught up on the day-to-day. If you are even still there! (Thanks Erin!)

Mama? Mama?

2011-03-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

It seems that these are Natalia's most commonly used words at home. Mama went bye bye" I tell her. Well, Mama has been bye bye in the blog world too it appears. Time for Dad to take over. Yep, Jessica has relinquished all passwords to me and I will try to help her keep up with letting folks know what really goes on around our place. While Jessica battles her illness, we have and will continue to not let it dictate our lives. To keep her mind occupied, it seems she has found a newfound love of household "improvments". While resting..er, working from home, she politely finds projects for me to do around the house. Upon arrival home from busy day at work, I hear the dreaded "so I picked something up for you..." as if it were some new truck parts. Much to my enjoyment it is a new mirror to hang, or a new bed to put together, or some paint to splash on a wall..... Even Selena and Natalia are not excluded from taking on projects, and they both are now certified to use power tools. I will be posting up some pictures of the work that we've all been doing while mama is trying to feel better.

Nothing beats some hot wings after a hard days work.

Potty Time

2011-02-08T16:42:00.000-08:00

Natalia has taken an interest in the potty other than sticking her hand in and washing her toys. She actually wants to sit on the toilet, just sit there, for sooooo long.
Last night I was sitting on the couch watching her and she said "poop" and was trying to pull her diaper off. So I asked her if she wanted to to sit on the toilet and she ran for the bathroom. By the time I got there her jammies were down and she was attempting to take off her diaper. The disposable ones are a little more tricky than the cloth ones which she loves to remove. I took off her diaper and she sat, and sat, and sat, and passed gas, and sat some more. For 10 min she sat there trying to do anything, waiting for something to happen but nothing did. She was loving just sitting there and me sitting on the floor watching, waiting, playing with her cute 18 month baby toes. I am glad she has taken an interest in what goes on in the bathroom. No rush to get her potty trained but if she is enjoying this for now great. She may hate is next week but at least she is trying.

Monday Report

2011-02-07T15:56:00.000-08:00

Well another weekend passed by. It's been a busy few weekends. My mom and Emma came up two weekends ago to help me out. I have been up and down with sickness. With having Lyme it would flair up every other month or so. Now being on the meds give me constant symptoms so for 2 months I have felt sick. I guess I have to feel worse to feel better. The worst part is the exhaustion. I hit a wall by 11am and then another one about 2pm. But getting up at 4:30am and only getting 6.5 hours of sleep a night does not help.
My sister came up last Thursday and stayed with the girls on Friday. They had a great time with auntie and auntie also cleaned my whole house while I was at work! I came home to a clean home, happy kids and peanut butter cookies. I wish she didn't live 4 hours away!
My doctor suggested I do hot yoga to get rid of toxins in my body. I have never down yoga...yawn. To me yoga looks incredible boring. But hot yoga sounded right up my ally. Warm room was a plus but burning 600 calories an hour was an added bonus. We were going to do the 60 min class at 10am but Joe needed me to watch the girls so Ariel and I went to the 8am class for 90 min. It's 10 visits for $10 to get you hooked. I love a bargain, could not pass that up. We pull up and park and cars start pulling in the lot. A guy gets out of an SUV and Ariel says "He is hot, I hope he in the instructor!" Well he was. He got us all signed in and gave us the rundown of the yoga rules. They are pretty strict. He told us that our goal was to stay in the room for 90 min. We were fine for about 50 min but at 105 degrees and 40% humidity I was flat on the mat for the next 25 min trying not to pass out. I kept telling myself to breath but then I thought about the people on the news a year ago who died in the sweat lodge and said screw this! I walked out. I broke the number one rule. But by that time three other people had walked out also so I didn't feel so bad.
After spending the rest of the day pretty sick and dehydrated we decided to take the 60 min class on Sunday. We both made it through the whole class and 60 min seemed like nothing compared to the 90 min.
We of course watched the Super Bowl and ate tons of food. We earned it after all the calories we burned. The only bad thing is hot yoga is like a drug. When you are doing it you hat how it can make you feel but after you can't wait to get your next fix. I can't wait until Thursday night when I'll be there again. Oh sweet hot yoga!

I hardly slept last night. I felt like I had a fever and was so hot but my head was cool. I also felt like I had the flu. My alarm went off but I had been up for two hours tossing and turning. I almost called in sick but something told me to suck it up and go to work. I'm glad I did. The owner, who is my boss, cam into my office and said "you know I was thinking, why don't you work from home on Friday's for the next month. I can tell that you are feeling rundown and I need you healthy. Hopefully this will give you some extra rest needed to get better." My jaw hit the floor. I have never, nor would I, ask to work from home, change my schedule, cut my hours, nothing. I just work and not complain to anyone except my family and blog readers. :)
So starting this Friday I will be working from home. I'll be able to get the kids up, feed them breakfast and take them to school, come home and work in my PJ's and watch Regis and Kelly! Plus Howard Stern does not do his radio show on Friday so driving to work is no fun Friday's anyway. I am so happy to be able to work from home for a few days. I am so worn down my Wednesday but now Thursday will be my Friday.

Natalia is doing great. We are working on her speech, telling her to use her words and not whine. Ariel bought her some light up shoes and if she could she would wear them to bed.
Selena is doing great in school. Really spelling everything she can. Asking me how to spell something and then writing it down. Learning to read and just being her sweet self. The other day I said "Selena you are so..." while I was coming up with a sweet word to call her she finished my sentence and said "Complicated?" Not quite what I was going for but silly of her to say.
Joe took Selena out biking on some dirt trails and put the helmet cam on her so I'll have to watch it tonight. He said she was riding downhill faster than him. She is a shredder!

Cousins

2011-02-02T10:27:00.001-08:00

More Lyme yada yada yada

2011-02-01T07:59:00.001-08:00

I will try not to make my entire blog about Lyme but it is a big part if life right now. It is hard to be diagnosed with something that is so confusing and there is no treatment protocol.
We took Natalia to her 18 month check up. We watched the movie "Under Our Skin" about Lyme over the weekend and one of the ladies on there who has Lyme gave birth to a baby boy and passed on Lyme to him. So instead of just Joe going I went also. Now I knew that this was going to be a tricky situation since Lyme is not recognised in the medical world as a real tough disease to treat because that is what the CDC and LDA would like you to believe. Politics and insurance companies come in to play and cost is a big one.
Anyway, I knew what to expect going in to see her doctor. I love her doctor and wanted her to know what was going on but knew that there was nothing that she could do.
We told her about my tests and she didn't totally clam up but I knew she had no clue what to do. I asked for Natalia's APGAR score because my Lyme Dr. wanted to know. She did not have the score in her chart but would get it from the hospital she was born at. She also said she would look into treatment and if is can pass from mother to baby. She left for about 5 min and came back. "Yes, everything about treating Lyme and passing it along is murky." "Murky" was the word she used. Let me put it blunt. Lyme is on the same line as Syphilis. They both are a spirochete. Syphilis could be passed to a baby.

FROM CDC
Causes, incidence, and risk factors
Syphilis is an infectious disease.
Pregnant mothers infected with the disease can pass it to the baby developing in their womb. This is called congenital syphilis.

Symptoms
The symptoms of syphilis depend on the stage of the disease. Many people do not have symptoms.

In general, painless sores and swollen lymph nodes are possible symptoms of primary syphilis. Those with secondary syphilis may also have fever, fatigue, rash, aches and pains, and loss of appetite, among other symptoms. Tertiary syphilis causes heart, brain, and nervous system problems.

Signs and tests
Blood tests can be done to detect substances produced by the bacteria that cause syphilis. The older test is the VDRL test. Other blood tests may include RPR and FTA-ABS.

Treatment
Antibiotics are an effective treatment for syphilis. The antibiotic of choice is penicillin. The dose and how it's given (into a muscle or into a vein) depend on the stage of syphilis. Doxycycline may be used as an alternative treatment in individuals who are allergic to penicillin.

Several hours after treatment of early stages of syphilis, you may have a reaction called Jarish-Herxheimer reaction. Symptoms of this reaction include:

•Chills

•Fever

•General feeling of being ill

•General joint aches

•General muscle aches

•Headache

•Nausea

•Rash

These symptoms usually disappear within 24 hours.

You must have follow-up blood tests at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months to make sure the infection is gone. You should avoid sexual conduct until two follow-up tests show that the infection has been cured. Syphilis is extremely contagious through sexual contact in the primary and secondary stages.

Syphilis is a reportable infection. That means that doctors must report any cases of syphilis to public health authorities.

Expectations (prognosis)
With prompt treatment and follow-up care, syphilis can be cured.

Late-stage syphilis can lead to long-term health problems, despite therapy.

Complications
Complications of untreated syphilis include:

•Damage to the skin and bones

•Heart and blood vessel problems, including inflammation and aneurysms of the aorta

You have to think along the same lines, there is no reason to recreate the wheel when looking into a microscope and seeing that both are very similar.
Natalia's doctor agreed that these diseases were very similar. She let us know that she could recommend us to a good doctor at Children's Hospital in Seattle but that most likely they would not be able to help us because of the recommended treatment of two weeks of antibiotics. I was infected in June 2008. In August 2008 I had the "recommended" two weeks of antibiotics. Here is it 2.5 years later and I'm in a 23 pill a day diet. I got pregnant in November 2008, at that time like clockwork I would get sick or be in pain every 45 days or so. But because I was pregnant I just figured it was all pregnancy related. After all, my infectious disease "specialist" said that I was cured so I must be. He is the expert. It was not until December 2009 that I was still feeling sick that I went back to him and he said he did everything that he could for me so I started to do a little research on my own. I found ILADS, International Lyme And Associated Diseases Society. These are Lyme specialists who believe that 2 weeks to 28 days of treatment is okay if it is within a week or two of the bite. After that because ticks spread co infections and and the spirochete drills into tissue, bones, heart, brain and multiply, it is harder to treat.

My intention is not to bore you and make you never want to read my blog again. It is to raise awareness of Lyme and that is is in the NW. I was diagnosed with depression, chronic fatigue and asthma. All very common diagnosis for many people with Lyme. Lyme also can be cause Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease, MS and Fibromyalgia. Many people like Micheal J Fox had Lyme and was treated with the recommended two weeks of Doxcy. Look at him now...
I believe that in the next 5 years the truth is going to come out about Lyme and the damage it causes. At least that is what I hope...

What do I have in common with George Bush?

2011-02-01T07:36:00.000-08:00

We both have been infected with Lyme Disease. This was revealed in 2007 when his annual health exam was made public.

There are other famous people who have dealt with this crazy disease. I just wish someone, anyone would speak out about it. It would really help bring awareness. It's just frustrating.

I researched and found some famous people who have been affected by Lyme Disease:

Michael J. Fox (He was diagnosed with Lyme Disease THREE years before being diagnosed with Parkinson's)
Richard Gere
Chelsea O'Donnell, daughter of Rosie O'Donnell, TV hostess
George E. Pataki, Governor of New York
Pete Seeger, folk singer and activist
Jamie Lynn Sigler, singer (Meadow on "The Sopranos")
Daryl Hall of Hall and Oats
Amy Tan, writer
Berkley Bedell, former Iowa Congressman
Neneh Cherry, member of musical group "Fine Young Cannibals"
Mary-Lynn Currier, marathoner
Nick Esasky, former baseball player
Julie Furtado, professional bike rider
Pete Harnisch, New York Mets pitcher
Rob Hill, TargetChip Ganassi Racing team crew chief
Rob Kress, former Detroit weathercaster, WXYZ (Channel 7)
Wanda Kurdziel - hiker/backpacker
Irene McGee, former cast member of MTV's "The Real World"
Tara McMenamy, three-time All-American cross country skier
Carrie Nye, Dick Cavett's wife
Gary Player, golfer
Kevin Salem, rocker
Tom Seaver, former New York Mets pitcher
Tim Simpson, professional golfer
Diane Varsi, actress
Alice Walker, author
Christie Todd Whitman, Governor of New Jersey
Michael Zaslow - Soap Opera, "Guiding Light", actor

My Family

2011-01-31T13:23:00.000-08:00

Thank you to my sister, mom and yes, Emma also for helping me out these last few weeks during my drug treatments. Gosh, it sounds like I'm in rehab. You gals make me smile.

Emma to boy at the playground: "This is my auntie Jessica, she is sick, she was bit by a tick."
Boy at playground: "you mean a vampire?"

Emma the things you say are so silly. A vampire bite would have been much cooler.

Thanks mom!

2011-01-27T07:51:00.001-08:00

I got flowers yesterday from someone very special...

Thank you MOM!

2011-01-25T07:51:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't know...finding a Lyme doctor is very difficult. There are very few of them because of the controversy in long term treatments. Once you do find one most people have to travel to another state to see them. A lot of people who see my Dr are from Canada as well. Most Lyme doctors don't take insurance because they could lose their license if they give long term antibiotic treatments. This is because the insurance companies don't want to pay. And the government has made it so easy for this to happen. The current guidelines for this disease are absolutely absurd! People are only allowed a few weeks or a month of medicine. Then they are considered cured. Which if you have had this a long time that is impossible. This bacteria leaves your blood stream and burrows into your body, organs, tissues, brain, muscles, bones...etc. Then it can hide in a cyst form so the antibiotics can not kill it.

So right now I am feeling angry. Angry that in the United States of America people can not get proper treatment for this illness. Angry that I feel like my doctor is against me because I have to pay out of pocket in reality it's not her fault that I have to pay out of pocket.
I am lucky to have a doctor that is in Seattle, 30 min from my home, there are none in Oregon. But she is under a close watch with the insurance companies right now too as she will not let me say I have Lyme. I have all the blood work saying I do have Lyme but I am to say I have "Tick borne illnesses." Lyme is a dirty word in the medical field. Angry that I am "Positive" for Lyme but "Negative" for CDC reporting. Meaning that thousands of cases go unreported each year so the CDC does not look bad for an increasing number of cases. (see picture below)

I am on four antibiotics right now, four vitamins and three Lyme specific immune system boosters. Got all of that? I have 23 pills I take a day and one shot glass of neon yellow goo. The yellow goo is $1700 a week. Thank God my insurance only charges my $34.
It is an awful feeling to live each day not knowing what your future will be, how long will I have to take meds, can I continue to pay for it out of pocket. I have turned in everything to my insurance but it is up to them if they want to reimburse me.

Anyways...I just needed to vent. So many people don't understand how bad this disease is and how hard it is to get treatment. I have met hundreds of people on line. All these people are having the same problems that I have. Some are worse and some are better. It depends on if you can get treatment and how your body responds to it.

So it is pretty bad when you feel like you would rather have a cut and dry disease that has no controversy about treatments. And people are willing to help you get better. The feeling of unknown is the worst feeling!

Does this look familer?

2011-01-24T10:43:00.000-08:00

THEN:

NOW:

My rash from pregnancy was most likely Lyme related. I had to look up those pictures as I am collecting pictures for my follow-up appointment today at 3pm. They look identical! I itched from December 26th-January 10th and it was SOOOOO bad. Rash went away and I was fine but I started itching on Friday again.

Fathers and Daughters

2011-01-21T15:22:00.000-08:00

I finished up my meeting for work yesterday and this message from Joe appeard in my in-box. I was lauhing so hard reading and wanted to share. As you know I was in AZ for work all week...

Jessica,

I wish you were here. Selena has an itchy Pee Pee. She was talking about it yesterday eveneing and then came and woke me up in the middle of the night saying that she couldn't sleep cuz it itches so bad.....

Here is where my commical problem arises....

WTF am I supposed to do about it??? I have NO clue about how to safely operate that type of equipment. So what did I do you ask?

I told her to go back to her room. I layed there for a minute trying to wake up enough to develop some type of plan. Stumbled into the bathroom to look at itch lotions - jock itch, probably not. Cortizone? Doubt it. Other prescription itch cream for Lyme disease. Definately not. Could kill her I bet.

Gold bond medicated lotion? I dunno. sounds okay to me.

Enter Selena's room. "here sweety, take a dab of this and rub it on the OUTSIDE of your Pee Pee." It is for external use only.

"no daddy, I want you to do it." Oh brother. Where the hell is the mom?????

So, I turn on the light, there I am at 12:09am rubbing lotion on her Pee Pee. I was careful to apply lotion externally and told her not to touch or scratch.

Then tried to fall back asleep semi-successfully after being fully awake and scared that I am not certified to be doing these types of procedures. try to sleep until my important 7am board presentation. I feared I would hear screaming about a burning sensation or something, or that the itch is still present because it is an internal itch.

faded to sleep remembering some ol commercial on tv that asked "Feminine itching getting you down?" Wish I could recall what that product was.............

Should I be concerned? schedule an appointment with someone? Home remedies? IS this normal? Like, how many in 100 get this would you say?

I have a weiner because God didn't want me messing with this type of stuff.

Truly yours,
Joe

Pressure

2011-01-21T13:22:00.000-08:00

I have always had ear problems. I had tubes twice growing up and if I get a cold it moves right to my ears. Well of course I fly a lot of work so ear issues and flying don't mix well.
Monday evening I left for work in AZ. At work Monday I noticed the cough, the sore throat the start of "somethings not right."
All six of us board the plane and spent the next 3 hours playing a board game and having a good time. This is typical for a "before" the trip behavior.
Sure enough descending into Phoenix there was more pressure than usual.
As the week went on it got worse, even the AZ sun didn't help. It was the long days of meetings and then dinners from 7-9pm that kept me form getting the rest I wanted. And the cotton candy I had for dessert last night didn't help me get to sleep very fast...

So today we take off, all of us are exhausted, meetings, long days, not being in our own bed, mt bike adventure 18 miles yesterday, you get the picture. So we hardly talk for the almost three hours to Portland where we drop one of the gals off. We hit the 20,000 ft mark on the decent and I cringe in pain. My ears have so much pressure that they feel like the could burst and they have many times so I am just hoping it does not happen on this trip. for the next 10 min, it seemed way longer, I had my fingers in my ears trying anything to stop the pain. Swallowing does not work, gum does not work, pretty much I have tried everything at one time or another. Once we get below 10,000 ft it starts to feel better but now I'm left with ear drainage if I turn my head with my ear pointing down. So gross I know.
I am thinking about having to descend again into Everett. One of the pilots, Mike, comes back to see if we need anything and I say "can we not fly above 10,000 ft it's killing my ears!" We all laugh and he says "Oh you have ear problems? No problems I can adjust the cabin pressure. Happens to me all the time when I'm sick." Thank the Lord! I was thinking of driving from Portland to Bellevue to avoid the pain. So it all worked out. I had hardly any pressure landing. If only I could fly private all the time. I have a feeling that a commercial pilot would not let me tell him to adjust the cabin pressure!

MY NEW WORD

2011-01-13T16:11:00.000-08:00

I'm so annoyitated! That is my new favoriate word. I love it so much I have been using it all day. Selena made it up at the dinner table last night. We sat down and she said prayer. "...and make dad not so annoyitated tonight." Both Joe and I looked at each other and smiled. Joe was telling me about how annoyed he was with bad drivers and irritated about our garage door on the fritz so Selena put them together. Love it, explains it all.

So back to why I'm annoyitated. I went to the doctor today for my c-section hernia. They call me yesterday to remind me that my appointment is at 2:45 but I have to be there at 2:30 to check in fill out paper and blah, blah, blah. I get there on the dot, I hate people who are late. Fill out my paper work in all of 5 minuets. And laugh at myself when asked to put down an emergency contact person who does not live with you I put Joe and have to cross it out. It asks for that persons phone number and address and I draw a blank. I have no idea my mom or dads address without looking in my address book which is at home. I do however know Joe's parents address so I laugh as I write them down and write down mother/father-in-law in the "relationship" area. Gosh I really need to learn my parents addresses! Then I wait. And wait. And wait. I read the most boring Newsweek from September 2010 and wait some more. Okay I was on time, early even. Where are you?
Finally I get called and go in and wait some more after the nurse asks me some questions.
Dr M walks in and I think CRAP! He is Asian. Okay I have to explain myself before you think I'm racist. My doctor, Dr. G, who told me I was crazy all those months because there is no such thing as Lyme disease in the NW was Asian. And ever since those bad months of him telling me I was crazy and depressed and have asthma, I have not trusted an Asian doctor. Yet my dentist is Asian and he is GREAT. Anyway, I got past it pretty quick when he told me to drop my pants as he put on a glove. He poked my lower abdomen until he said "Oh there, I felt it just pop in." I am so not good with medical stuff and just wanted to throw up. Gross!
He went over the procedure and my stomach started to turn. I really don't want to know. I had a c-section and even after I had been through one and then read about it again before Natalia was born it made me sick. I'm good Dr M, don't need the details just sign me up.
He told me I could get in next week and I was thinking ummmm, no. I have a job, can't just take off three days next week. Plus I'll be in AZ for work so it will have to wait until the end of Feb.
So I scheduled it still thinking I can cancel if I decided I to, like chickened out or something. My surgery will be on a Friday and I asked the lady if I would be fine to go to work on Monday and she gave me the "seriously lady!" look. The crazy thing is I was dead serious. If I have to use vacation time it better be for a vacation someplace warm not to get cut open for the third time!

Fun Friday Picture

2011-01-07T14:21:00.000-08:00

This was taken last Friday at OSU. Joe and his girls.

How's that "Free" Health Care working out for you?

2011-01-06T16:28:00.000-08:00

I have never been a fan of the whole nutty health care bill, heck I'm not an Obama fan either, but everyone knows that from other posts of mine.
So things started changing in 2011 with the whole health care fiasco, let me tell you a little story.

I take a new prescription in the pharmacy yesterday and ask for a refill of a Lyme med. No biggie, I know Lyme med is about $9 and new med I know will be about $10.

I go to pick up both prescriptions today and the lady rings me up. "That will be $194.94." She smiles at me. "Are you sure you have my insurance on there?" I ask with a smile back. She looks at me and says "Yes." I say "That seems way to high!" She says "I know, if you would have filled the prescription before the new year it would have been about $12." My old prescription was filled in 2010 and it was just a refill so it was 8 dollars and some odd cents. It was the new prescription that was costing me and arm and a leg for a three month supply. Fine print in the health care bill that no one read because they heard "FREE HEALTH CARE FOR ALL!!" Really? I pay for my health care and to cover all the yahoos that don't have health care now I get to pay for them with a little thing known as "Pharmacy Co-Pay." While I am working each day the people that sit home and do squat will ride on my coat tail and screw me over just like the Obama way. The pharmacy lady said there were many people all week in the same boat who said screw it on their prescriptions and left.
I was so pissed I said "Forget the prescription!" and went and called my insurance company. It's all in the way prescriptions are coded if it has a co-pay, and that prescription happens to be coded with a co-pay. Not just that but I would have to pay a co-pay each time up to a deductible, whoever heard about a "pharmacy deductible." Obama did. Did you? I didn't think so!

You know your getting old when...

2011-01-06T08:36:00.000-08:00

Or maybe I’m just old school!
Now I know 31 is not really old, I am comfortable with my age and love being in my 30’s. So let me explain.
Recently we have hired a few new admin assistants to help out. I have two new assistants. One came from the site level, meaning she was an apartment manager and has worked for the company for three years. The other is brand new to the company. Both 24. The site level one, I will call her D, is always appropriately dressed in a suit. I believe a suit is a business standard, call me old school I guess. This is a corporate environment, investors come through the halls and we are the look of the company. D understands this because this has always been our site level form of dress. Business suits only.
Some days I “dress down” meaning not wearing a suite coat but suite pants with a blouse or sweater, always heels. The other I will call N, wore a suit to the interview. I never interview anyone who is not wearing a suit. If they are not in a suit I have the nice front desk lady simply turn them away. There was one gal who was in a suit but with the Snooki hair and stripper shoes and that interview lasted all of 5 min.
Anyway, back to N. She dressed very business for the interview process and I interviewed her three times, I do that to see how they look each time. So the first few weeks she looked great. Lately I am noticing a few changes. Like today, my eyes almost popped out of my head when she walked by my office in a mid thigh skirt that was so tight I’m not sure how she got it on and a sweater showing cleavage. Crap! Was all I could think. She looks like a streetwalker! Many of the younger gals are very casual about their dress code including wearing uggs to work! For some of you it may seem a little strange that I’m ranting about uggs since I live in them when I’m not at work but I would NEVER wear them to work. Casual Friday, sure, but not Monday-Thursday. So there are two gals here that I believe are competing to see how can dress the slutiest. I always wondered when this day would come. The day that these young 20 something’s were dressing to “young” for me. Well, I now know the age is 31.
So N workes for me Monday and Wednesday and another guy I'll call S, Tuesday and Thursday. We both share her Friday. Anyway, I'm sure S has not noticed her today or if he did, probebly did not mind the way she looked. Men! :) So what do I do? Tell him to talk to her since she is his problem today? Talk to her myself? Ignore it and wait until she shows up in just underware looking like Lady GaGa? I chose to ignore it and try to get a cell phone picture of her when she is not looking and send it into the fasion police for when they do the "Starlet ot Streetwalker" portion of the show.
Is it just me or does the younger generations lack work ethic? Okay, so that is another rant for another time…

Happy 2011

2011-01-05T14:57:00.001-08:00

A few October pictures before I start trying to update on life with the Alonzo's...

I bet you thought you would never hear from me again. Dang it I'm back!
I guess the last real post was before Halloween so I'll do my best to run through the last few months.

HALLOWEEN

Selena and Natalia's daycare had a party where I had a pirate and turtle by my side. Oh and Joe was there but he thought he was to "mature" to dress up.

Actual Halloween night:
I had a pirate and a pumpkin this year.

Natalia is just wearing all of Natalia's old costumes and though Joe is not a fan of Natalia getting anything new and always in hand-me-downs I think it is just fine since she is only 18 months. Once she starts asking to dress up in a costume then I'll get her one but for now she can wear what ever I have stored under the house. (Under the house is like our attic, I know it sound strange)

We went over the our friends the Smiths house and I made dessert. Yummy!

We did the whole trick-or-treat thing and and ate way to much candy! Natalia had fun, as much fun as a 15 month old can have. Her candy bag was so heavy that she would just drag it from house to house but never wanted anyone to carry it for her.

THANKSGIVING:
We had Thanksgiving on Friday so on Thursday while everyone was eating we went to the mountains to snowshoe, make snow angels and play.

Oh and I got a new car sometime in November. I paid off the Magnum and went for an all wheel drive. My new Subaru Outback

Wow, I guess I failed to take picture of the actual Thanksgiving! Sounds about right. My mom, sister and niece came up for the weekend and we ate and ate and ate. After that we took all the girls and Joe to see Tangled.

A few more pictures of my girls. I love 'em!

Natalia is a BIG eater, I mean BIG!!! She LOVES food and eats twice as much as Selena. Here is proof, just look at that big belly!

She is also into making you laugh...

Heck so is Selena!

I am always laughing at these two and their goofy smiles!

Natalia learned to drive(that is how long it's been since an update!)

DECEMBER:
Thanksgiving weekend we did our annual Christmas tree killing trip with the Smiths.

Selena took that picture! I know, I was impressed!

After eating, drinking and freezing we went looking for a tree and took the picture that we used for the Christmas card.

After that we went home to decorate the tree, don't you love my long underwear?

Selena and Natalia each got a little tree for their room to decorate.

The next weekend was Selena and Natalia's daycare Christmas party. Natalia was a lamb and lazy bones got carried by one of her teachers and Selena was an angel. Both girls wore beautiful dresses that my mom made.

Then the next 1/2 of the month was a blurr. Starting with my Lyme diease kicked back in and I went into see the specialist in Seattle. My health started getting worse and I took a day off work to get 30 vilas of blood taken. I am not joking 30! She brought out the tray and I thought 10 at most were mine. By the 15th she switched arms to do the next 15. I also had to fast for 12 hours so I was feeling pretty sick after that, not just from that but from Lyme in general. That same day I went for my annual OBGYN visit to be told that I have a hernia and need to be seen. I guess it's comon in women who have c-sections. So that day was not the best.
I started on two medications so I have to take 14 pills a day and they pretty much detox your body and kill all the good and bad. I have been up and down on how I feel. Some days I'm fine and some I get sick or very tired. One of the medications can cause a Herxhimer Reaction once the toxins get into your blood and this causes other things, rash, anxiety, nausea...
Well on Jan 16th I had the worst anxiety attack. I was driving home from work when all of a sudden I thought "I am going to get fired from work tomorrow!" I started going back in my head about the day and thought for sure I am going to get fired. I told Joe and he asked me why I though that and I had no idea why I felt that way I just did! I tried to tell myself it was the medication but I could not get it out of my mind.
I woke up on the 17th just knowing this would be my last day. Well, it was not. And I won employee of the year at our annual party.

I tried to do my best to give a speech but I don't remember what I said I was in shock with feeling the lowest low about to loose a job to the highest honor at work. I was in a fog the rest of the weekend trying to process all that had just happened.

Alright! So that gets you through December 22, 2010. Next post will be the trip to OR for the holidays!

Giving Thanks

2010-11-29T13:40:00.000-08:00

Oh my it's been way to long and I feel really bad. I will get back to blogging very soon and give the updates and new pictures of the crazy and sweet gals. But first I have something to share.

It's the little things in life that mean so much, even at work, it's the little things. Imagine my surprise when I received a Thank You card from a co-worker. This co-worker and I have worked together for 5.5 years and we really never see eye-to-eye on anything. Him and I have had many arguments, many, many arguments and Joe has heard many, many stories. Well the VP is no longer in the picture, there are three of us working together to take over her old work load and things have gone pretty well. We had it out a few weeks ago but it's nothing personal, just business and a miscommunication.
I checked my mail box and found this:

In that envelope was a Thank You card:(A winning lottery ticket would have been nice also though)

I had to read it three times...

Because I didn't quite believe it was from Kevin.
It's the little things that mean a lot...

A little political fun on a Wednesday...

2010-11-03T07:36:00.000-07:00

The liberals are asking us to give Obama time. We agree . . . and think 25 to life would be appropriate.
--Jay Leno

America needs Obama-care like Nancy Pelosi needs a Halloween mask.
--Jay Leno

Q: Have you heard about McDonald's' new Obama Value Meal?
A: Order anything you like and the guy behind you has to pay for it.
--Conan O'Brien

Q: What does Barack Obama call lunch with a convicted felon?
A: A fund raiser.
--Jay Leno

Q: What's the difference between Obama's cabinet and a penitentiary?
A: One is filled with tax evaders, blackmailers, and threats to society. The other is for housing prisoners.
--David Letterman

Q: If Nancy Pelosi and Obama were on a boat in the middle of the ocean and it started to sink, who would be saved?
A: America !
--Jimmy Fallon

Q: What's the difference between Obama and his dog, Bo?
A: Bo has papers.
--Jimmy Kimmel

Q: What was the most positive result of the "Cash for Clunkers" program?
A: It took 95% of the Obama bumper stickers off the road.
--David Letterman

LOVE IT!

S stands for...

2010-10-25T13:10:00.001-07:00

Sassy

Silly

Spunky

SELENA!

Party and Beaver Game Day

2010-10-18T10:05:00.001-07:00

Selena went to her "boyfriends" 5th birthday party on Saturday. Preston had a firefighter party and the fire engine even showed up which the kids LOVED!

My dad got Selena and I matching Beaver hats!

We went to the Beaver/Huskies game and OSU played terrible! The worst I have seen them play in 8 years. It was fun to go to the game but not fun to lose to the Huskies after beating them 7 years in a row!

Long Night

2010-10-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday evening started out like any other evening at the Alonzo house. Dinner, baths, play time, snuggle time...
I noticed Natalia felt a little warm after getting her out the bath but since she always has an ear infection she pretty much is always warm. Her ear was draining on Monday so we knew she had an infection and started the ear drops to clear it up.
Thursday evening she seemed okay, just tired. I was laying on the couch on my back and she was laying on top of me chest up. I felt her head again and noticed that she was very warm and made a comment about it to Joe. He told me to give her some Tylenol and since I would be getting up in a few min to help brush Selena and Natalia's teeth then I thought I would give her some then.
Not even two min later I felt her body start shaking, almost like a vibrating feeling. I picked her up and said "Natalia what are you doing?" She stopped shaking but her eyes were rolled to the back of her head and she was limp. Joe jumped up and grabbed her and put her on the ground and started talking to her. She was not responding and he said "She is passing out call 911." At that moment Joe and I both thought she was dying, we had no idea what was going on. I called and in a blur told them our address and what was going on. Joe felt her start shaking again and he knew that is was a seizure but I had no idea. The paramedic on the phone said that I was describing a Febrile Seizure and to take her out of her jammies and get a wet cloth and cool her off. Joe did this while I kept checking for the ambulance. Natalia started to come around but was very daised and just stared up at us. Selena was crying and saying "can we keep her? I want to keep her!" It was so sad to think what was going through her mind.
The paramedic's arrived and took all her vitals, she had a high temp so was given Motrin to bring it down. After about 20 min she was looking better and they asked us if we wanted them to transport her to the ER or if we wanted to take her. Well we had calmed down by then and decided to take her. We had to go the the Children's Hospital in Tacoma and that was only about 10 min away.
All four of us loaded up in the car and Natalia started to fall asleep and we kept a close eye on her making sure she was still breathing. About 2 miles from the Hospital she started throwing up all over and again Joe and I started panicking. We were in downtown Tacoma and all the lights we came to were red, Joe started running red lights and swerving around cars to get us to the hospital. He had no idea if this was normal or if she was going to have another seizure. He made it to the ER and they got her right in and gave her some meds to bring the fever down since she threw up the last dose. After four hours in the ER it was determined that her ear infection cause the fever. And if a fever spikes really fast then it can cause a seizure. I had no idea this could happen. We had to give her meds every 6 hours over the weekend to keep the fever down and antibiotics and ear drops for the ear infection. What a scare this kiddo gave us, we spent the rest of the weekend being thankful that she was okay.

New family member

2010-10-11T07:19:00.000-07:00

We added a sweet little family member to the Alonzo household on Saturday. No I'm not talking about an animal even though it sounds like I am. We added a 2011 Subaru Outback 3.6R Premium.
After saying goodbye to the Magnum on Thursday night and watching her drive off with Paul and Debbie, there was a void in our life. We have the truck, we have the super fun 4-wheeling vehicle, we just need a car. But if you ask Joe, we also need another 4-wheeling vehicle and Saturday morning him and Selena were out by 7am looking at one. Two vehicles in one day? Well it was not in great shape so it was a no go but hopefully we can add a family wheeler to the driveway soon enough.
We drove up to Shoreline(N Seattle) and within an hour we were on our way home. The process was smooth and I paid what I wanted even though many dealers laughed at me when I told them what I wanted to pay. I even received an email that said:

Hi Jessica,

I just spoke with my management and we have two options. We can order you a vehicle directly from the factory and include all the features who want and none of the futures you would rather not pay for. If we are looking at the same vehicle we can do that price excluding sunroof. If you can get that vehicle for the price quoted I would recommend buying that car today as we can't figure out how they can sell that car at a $1000 loss to the dealership. If you get up there however and it was just a hook to get you to the dealership to try and sell you the vehicle at a bumped price or a factory order please call me and we can already have everything in the system and ready to go. Let me know what you would like my next step to be. I would be able to sell you a comparably equipped Outback minus the sunroof for the quoted price.
-Matt

So I was able to email Mr. Matt back and let him know I bought the one I wanted with the sunroof at the price I wanted to pay but thanks for trying to earn my business. I have yet to hear back from him... :)

Here is Joe who sold me my car. Doesn't he look like the Fonz!

I am loving all the features that the Subaru has and although Joe was the one that wanted the sunroof I think I'm going to like it also.

Old car, new car and the car I had to drive...

2010-10-08T15:05:00.000-07:00

I sold my Magnum last night. I don't know who cried more, Selena or me. I'm thinking it was Selena but I was pretty depressed. I know what you are thinking, how can you be that sad about a car. I really loved my car, it had quirks of course. It was a first year model but I absolutely loved the look of the car. It's going to be hard to beat. Strike that, I will never beat it but I have found something that is close second.

Tomorrow I will be getting the 2011 Subaru Outback 3.6 Premium. The color is graphite gray and interior is a dark gray. It's a looker and will be great in the snow and ice that we are suppose to be getting more of this year. It's also taller than the Magnum. Driving Maggie felt like you were riding a low rider and you pretty much were. It was hard to clear speed bumps she was so low.

Today I had to drive the Samurai and just so you know, Samantha is not a fan of pavement.

She definitely prefers the mud. It was slow moving on the I-5 with top speed of 55mph. And if you talk to Joe, he thinks I drove her perfectly because I said so. I did not have trouble shifting, I never grinded any gears and I certainly never put her in third trying to find fifth, nope not me. After pulling into the parking garage I most certainly did not park her on the top level because I was afraid that if I went down I might not be able to stop on a hill heading to the exit. I did not take a different route to the gym at lunch trying to avoid stopping on a hill and I had no trouble changing into my gym clothes in the car the size of a dog door. Nope, why would today be any different that any other day? Lets just say, I'm ready to get a new car sooner than you can imagine. Because I think after today Sammy has fired me as her driver. Please let me get home!
I did like parking her between a Porsche and a Jaguar this morning though.

Viva Las Vegas

2010-10-08T14:01:00.000-07:00

I wrote this the day after we got back form Vegas.

VEGAS TRIP SEPTEMBER 18-21, 2010
Our final trip of the summer has ended, hard to believe it’s going to be October next week. Joe and I have fond memories of Vegas so we have been looking forward to this trip for 9 months since we planned it.
We left for sunny Las Vegas on Saturday morning. Airfare was taken care of thanks to the countless work trips and Joe took care of the resort for my 31st birthday. Saturday morning we were up at 4:30am so we could get ready for our flight. I am used to traveling on my own and am very used to air travel but with two kids and Joe this would be a little different. I try to be at the airport one hour before the flight on my own because you never know if it’s going to take 15 min or 45 min through security and being a Saturday morning I didn’t know what to expect. With kids and more stuff I wanted to be there 1.5 hours before. Joe has been on two flights, Selena has been on one and this would be Natalia’s first. I thought it would take us at least an hour after getting up to be ready but 30min later we were all up, dressed and ready to go. I figured there was no need to just sit around for 30 more min so we left. First stop was to drop the car off at Master Park and take a shuttle to the airport. We had three carryon bags, a diaper bag and umbrella stroller. By the time Joe got out of the car the shuttle driver had all the bags on the shuttle and we were ready to go. I’m used to this routine but Joe was a little shocked how fast it all went.
We were at the airport in no time, I printed out the boarding passes the day before so we went right to security where the line was very short.
Getting me though security is a no brainer but add three more people and it went surprisingly well. All four of us took our shoes off, Joe and I took our belts off, bags on the scanner, three bags of toiletries out of our bags and in bin, sippy cup with milk in separate bin, boarding passes in hand… You get the picture. Selena went though the “doorway” first and did fine. I went though with Tally and Joe went last. Once we were through and got re-dressed and re-packed we took the tram to the gate where we had time to get breakfast. I should mention that Selena rolled her suitcase the whole trip, Joe and I never had to help her which made it very nice and easy.
We boarded no problem and were off to sin city. Natalia fussed for a little since she was ready for a nap but she really did great. Joe will tell a different story about how she threw a fit and would not shut up but since I travel a lot and hear kids on planes she was a 2 on 10 being the worst acting kid. She also has 4 top teeth coming in which added to her irritability. She was out the moment we took off and slept for the first hour. Selena was busy looking out the window at the clouds below and before we knew it the clouds cleared and we were in sunny Vegas.
We caught a taxi “Britney Spears style,” Natalia on my lap and Selena with no booster seat. The ride was all of 7 min and $15.

We stayed at Tahiti Village, a condo community on Las Vegas Blvd south of Mandalay Bay. We checked in by 10:30, changed and hit the pool for the next few hours. The pool was incredible, sandy beach, wading areas for the kids and there was a lazy river.

The temp was in the 90’s and the water temp was bathwater warm. To warm for Joe but perfect to me. We spent the rest of the day by the pool, eating and more time by the pool followed by beer drinking and eating. At lunch we went out for pizza and after Natalia ate a piece she fell asleep sitting at the table!

Sunday we woke up early and hit the strip.

We made pancakes in the microwave since there was not a stove and they turned out great!

The resort has a shuttle service every 30min to the strip so we boarding the first one at 9am.

It was already 85 degrees + and we knew it would be a hot day. We were dropped off at New York, New York and worked our way down to Luxor and Mandalay Bay for lunch before heading back north. We ate at a nice burger place where Natalia fell asleep (again) at the table. People were pointing and laughing, the waitresses’ were all coming over to take pictures and take a look.

We hit every casino all the way to Treasure Island (mid strip). We went to the M&M Factory and a few more candy stores, rides, arcade game and gift shops were we found out Selena has a thing for key chains. Each gift shop we came to she went right to the key chain section. In the M&M Factory it was 4 floors and I told her to pick out anything she wanted. What did she pick? A $4 key chain.

It was about 100 degrees and we caught the shuttle at The Mirage back to the resort for an evening of swimming while a wedding went on behind me!

Monday was pool day and Vegas nightlife.

We were at the pool by 9am where Natalia could not get enough of the water and Selena was learning how to swim. Natalia was not so sure of the sandy beach at first but after 20 min of nervous wining she decided that sand was not that bad and tasted it. After the taste test, Natalia and I spent the next hour in the sand while Joe was teaching Selena how to swim. I picked her up some swim goggles and she loved putting her head under water.

We were at the pool until 3pm and Joe started to realize we all probably needed to drink more water than we actually did. Leave it to the responsible adult to think of that! So it was back to the room to hydrate and shower before checking out some Vegas nightlife. Both girls had 60spf on that I reapplied all day but one look at Natalia’s legs told me she has the Alonzo gene. Little Natalia had such a beautiful brown tan everywhere the sun hit her. I was envious that she was so tan and I was well, maroon ish. The places that don’t usually see sun were a little redder than I would have liked. Even Selena, who takes after me a bit more, was showing a slight tan and a few more freckles. But Natalia, with the brown hair, blue eyes and tan skin looked just too cute I wanted to eat her up.

We were out of the room and on the shuttle by 4:30. We had been telling Selena all day that we would see the Pirate show at Treasure Island, the volcano at The Mirage and the water show at The Bellagio. We took the tram to Treasure Island where we decided to live it up and have an expensive last night in Vegas dinner to celebrate my birthday. Natalia was a little fussy but with those teeth coming in we figured we knew why she was a grump. We sat down and ordered, drinks came, bread came and Natalia started fussing a bit more. Get got her some water and tried to get to her eat bread but she wouldn’t. She started to cough and made a chocking sound and then projectile vomiting all over the table and the floor. I think the first words out of my mouth were “does she have the flu?” Joe of course knew that the most likely cause was heat stroke. I was covered in puke and so was she. I took her to the bathroom where I calmed her down and changed her clothing. I tried to clean us up as best I could with wipes but I knew I needed to find a bag incase she threw up again. The cleaning cart was outside the stall I was in and I swiped a small bag. Once she was calm she was passing out on my shoulder. She was tired also by this point. I took her back to the table where Joe and Selena were and they had switched tables and our food had started to arrive. Yeah! Food was not sounding too good by this point. There was a lot of discussing between Joe and I about what to do while Natalia slept for all of 5 min before it started again. She didn’t have much to throw up and I caught it in the bag this time but now there were people in the restaurant looking at us so we had them pack up all the fancy food to go. The watress felt bad, she said to get some Gatorade and give it to her every 3 min until she held it down. With our two huge bags of food we decided that we would get Gatorade and head back to the tram and take the tram to the shuttle and the shuttle to the resort. Well Selena burst out in tears because she wanted to see the pirates.
By this time I had Natalia in the snuggly face in on my chest like a newborn and she was falling asleep and waking up screaming. We knew there was not much we could do for her except try and get her to drink. We picked up the Gatorade and decided to see the pirate show for Selena.

I would give Natalia a sip and she would throw it up into a plastic cup I swiped. So there we stood waiting for the pirate show. Two bags of food, Selena whipping tears from her eyes, a screaming baby on my chest and a throw up cup in my hand and Joe and I looked at each other and smiled. The whole thing was quite funny, if not at the moment at the restaurant, an hour later. The show started and Selena was mesmerized. I was trying to calm Natalia and get her to drink and for the next 10 min it was drink, throw up, drink, throw up, drink, throw up… Until the cup was ½ full of regurgitated purple Gatorade. The show was great, what I saw. Fireworks went off and I looked up, at that moment I felt me chest get warm and looked down in time to see Natalia throw up all down my front. The joys of parenthood…
We made it back to the tram, to the shuttle and to the resort with very little throw up. I showered, Joe warmed up dinner and we finally ate. Joe spent time with Selena and I nursed Natalia back to health. Joe and Selena took the bedroom to sleep and I stayed up waking Natalia up every 10 min to get her to drink until she finally kept it down. By 6am yesterday she was up and ready to rally. So the only person who was hung-over on the Vegas trip was Natalia.
Our plan for yesterday was to hang out by the pool until we had to be at the airport at 4pm but since Natalia had too much sun the day before we didn’t want to over do it. We went to the outlet mall and then just decided to spend the day in the cool airport until our flight.

The girls took at nap before the flight.

Flight went well until we were about to land and Selena burst out crying because “I miss Begas! I want to go back to Begas for my birthday!” There were lots of tear from her and laughter from people around us.
So we got home about 9:30pm, were all in bed by 10pm and I was up at 4:30am for work. Joe let the girls sleep a little longer this morning but Selena was excited to wear her new “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!” shirt to today.

Right after I wrote this post Joe came down with the flu and then I did so now we think Natalia had the flu and not heat stroke.

My Pre-schooler

2010-09-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

Joe asked Selena to write "mom" and she did, then he asked if she could spell "dad" and she did that to. My baby is growing up!

Suckramento

2010-09-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

Suckramento is just a little nickname Joe gave the CA capitol when I was spending so much time there a few years back. I think a good two years of my life were spent in Sacramento. I used to travel three weeks out of every month there for two years. Well I have not been there since Dec 2008, I was newly pregnant with Natalia and I have enjoyed not having to travel to Sacramento. Well today, I came back "home" for the whole week.
I arrived about 5pm and as I was driving from the airport into downtown, with the sun shining off the buildings and the temps hitting 97 degrees, I found myself smile. I felt like I do when I go to Whistler Canada. I know this town well and feel very at home. I never have to use GPS. I know Sacramento better than Seattle, Bellevue and Tacoma combined.
I checked in at my home away from home, the Hyatt. They welcomed me back and ask why I haven't been there in a while. I found my way to my room and everything smelled the same and looked the same.
I decided to hit the 24 hour fitness center a few blocks away to take a step class. It was packed like always, I know this club well, where every machine was, some of the same people, it was as if I never left.

It's going to be a full week, tomorrow I'll be at:
The Monticello at Southport - West Sacramento, CA

Laguna Creek - Elk Grove, CA

Change is good and girls update

2010-09-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

We just received notice today that the VP will not be coming back at all. I had a feeling since she has been MIA for the last few weeks with very little contact from her about what was actually going on. I had some questions and it all seemed pretty strange. I obviously won't get into it but the whole things was odd to me and I brought this to the attention of the CEO last week. So as always change is good I guess. We are going to be restructuring and figuring out what to do and this is very new information just received this morning so for now there are still two of us, Matt and myself who have her duties split. We were met with separately this morning about abilities and responsibilities for the next week until an actual plan is put into place. We will see where this leads, I have now been with the company for 8 years, can't believe that!
Anyway, I travel all week to CA, leave tonight and get home Friday eve so I'm sure next week we will have a plan in place so for now the work front is going to be very busy!

I narrowed down the car to the Subaru Outback over the weekend. Still love the third row seats in the Mazda but don;t like the gas mileage. I have the exact model, style, color narrowed down and there are two in the state of WA that fit the bill now I just have to get it for the price I want to pay. I'm working with both dealerships to see which will give me the best deal.

Selena is in preschool, well she was always in preschool I guess since she is in daycare everyday. But actual "pre-school" is Monday-Friday 9-2 and she has been enjoying writing. I was packing my suitcase for the trip and she slipped three pieces of paper filled with letters into it and told me not to read them until I get to CA. I can't wait to see what they say, silly girl! She can usually be found playing in her room with a ballet outfit on and lightning McQueen hat. She is a girly tom-boy I guess. She has a karaoke machine in her room that grandma pumpkin pie and grandpa pookee gave her and she has been a big fan of singing along to Puff the Magic Dragon(thanks to grandma Beth) and anything Taylor Swift.

Natalia has now moved up the the bigger room for kids her age though she is still the smallest one by far, she is just so tiny compared to kids her age but just as tough since she is used to wrestling with her older sister.
She goes in for a hearing test next week for a follow-up to the follow-up. She has four teeth coming in on top so she has been pretty cranky. She loves to say: hi, bye, mommy(when sad), Daddy(all the time), wat dat (What's that), der (there-as she points to it), uh-oh, eeeeaa (Selena) and she has the most wicked and mischievous laugh. When she needs a diaper she brings it to us and will lay down so we can change her but everything is on her terms. If we notice she needs a diaper then she will take off running. She like to be in charge.

Something new

2010-09-24T07:28:00.000-07:00

Time to buy a new car. I hate to say it I really do. I LOVE my car but there are so many things about it that are just not convenient about it. It's finally paid off so now the looking begins.

I have always loved the look of my car, the moment they came out in 2005 I knew that I had to have one. I did a lot of research about car buying, decided that I wanted the one that was called cool vanilla, and set off on my quest. I chose a price that I wanted to pay that I would not go over and visited many dealerships to find the exact one I wanted. I needed the SXT, the mid model of the three. For sure not the base model but one step up with lots of power. I knew what I wanted and I was going to get it.
Joe and I would visit the dealerships and the first thing they would ask it "How much do you want to pay a month?" I would say that doesn't matter, what matters is the actual price that I will pay for this car. After visiting about two places and walking out of both places we tried one in Everett, WA. I got as far as actually talking number and negotiating price at this place. I was arguing every bogus "fee" that is tacked on. Hidden fees actually that dealerships put on the MSRP to pad themselves for when negotiations go down. These fees can add up to thousands of dollars that you actually do not need to pay if you tell them you wont. But they prey on people who have not clue and just accept these fees and that's how they make money. I decided not to trade my current car in, it was paid off and we could use three cars just in case. I had gotten them to remove all the fees except a $550 Advertising Fee. The lady we were dealing with said that there was nothing we could do, that was a fee that had to be paid. I said no, you are wrong I do not need to pay for your advertising and told her my max that I would pay for the car. By this point we had been there for two hours. We said we were going to leave and she said "Good luck finding this car for that price."
That is where my new little Internet salesperson in Eugene, OR came in to my life. I was able to find the car in OR, tell him what I wanted to pay and to take out all the bogus fees and guess what? No hassle, I went down that next weekend and bought the car before I even drove it.
The sweet little lady who pretty much told me to go to hell a few weeks earlier called and asked it I was still interested in the car and that they could probably work with my numbers now. It felt to good to say "I did find it for the price I wanted to pay and I'm driving it right now."

So now begins the process all over. I'm going to try to sell my car outright but it not then I'll trade it in. I have it narrowed down to two vehicles that I like.
The Subaru Outback

The Mazda CX-9

I have to have all wheel drive is my main qualification as my car does not have it and it is needed for when the weather turns. The Subaru is most like the car I currently have size wise which is fine. The Mazda has third row seating which is a nice option but has worse gas mileage than the Subaru. I'm going to check out some cars this weekend while Joe is 4-wheeling on Saturday to kind of get a feel for which one I like better and options, then I will narrow it down to one, choose what I want to pay and start the negotiations all over again. This time I'm going with a black car.

Sickies

2010-09-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

I'm a failure at keeping this blog up. Hopefully by the time travel winds down for the year and things slow down I'll actually be able to get back to posting more. Well no Las Vegas post today. It's been a long few days and again I left my camera at home.
Getting back to work after four days off was tough. We didn't get home until 9:30 Tuesday night so it was a quick turnaround for all of us going into work the next day.
Wednesday evening we grocery shopped, something Joe and I really dislike having to do but it needed to be done or we were just going to be eating cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
For those of you on facebook you probably saw my post about us thinking Natalia had heat stroke on Monday evening after being in the sun all day in Vegas. Well Wednesday night Joe started complaining about a stomach ache and went to bed by 8pm. Thursday morning he again was dragging himself around the house complaining about how bad he felt. So yesterday about 2pm it hit me also. Stomach ache, chills, aches, head pressure...
By the time I got home I was feeling pretty bad and just laid there. Joe was feeling a lot better and that was great because I went to be about 7:30 and was very restless in my sleep all night while my body tried to recover. By the time my alarm went off this morning I feeling a bit better but still weak. I got ready for work, skipped breakfast to take a 20 min nap on the couch before leaving at 5:45am. I arrived at work by 6:25am in record time and took a nap in my car until 6:45am.
So now Joe and I are wondering if Natalia had the flu and not heat stroke.
Joe and I have been so sick all summer I'm scared to think about what fall/winter will be like!

It's been to long...

2010-09-22T10:58:00.001-07:00

I am beginning to get hate mail! I have a new post already written I just need to download the pictures to add to it.
We went to Vegas for my 31st birthday and it was quite the adventure but good and bad, silly and serious but mostly fun and relaxing. More soon!

Fun with auto-tune

2010-08-30T09:50:00.000-07:00

This had me laughing all the way to work. It was on Howard Stern.
First video is the actual news clip, at 1 min in is the part I'm referencing. Watch the clip of Antoine Dodson, the victims brother.

Now watch this ummm, song parody from the BREAKING NEWS REPORT. Try not to laugh :)

I kind of wish all news was that entertaining. :)
If your wondering what Antoine thinks of his new found fame. He just wants to get the word out that the intruder will be caught and he is enjoying his 15 min of fame. I see a reality show in his future or a rap career.

You can even buy a t-shirt or download his song on i-tunes.
http://www.zazzle.com/antoinedodson24+gifts

Catch up

2010-08-24T16:39:00.001-07:00

I have been off the blogging world for a while but hope to be back soon with lots of fun posts and pictures.
I have been busy at work and home so there has not been enough hours in the day.

A quick update:
Natalia is walking... er running all around the house. She seemed to pick it up two weeks ago and now she is running everywhere with a book in one hand and a toy in the other. Selena has been keeping her toys up a little higher now.
Speaking of Selena, she has been growing and now totally out of size 3 clothing. It seems like one day they fit her and the next week the pants were above her ankel. Time to hit Goodwill for some new...gently used... clothing and that is just what we did over the weeked. For about $50 we picked up five pairs of pants, 4 coats, 3 t-shirts, 3 long sleved shirts, 2 track suits and a pair of shoes. I love Goodwill!

The VP at my company is pretty sick and will be off for four weeks so the Director of Operations and I will be splitting her job duties. You know, with all the extra time we have...

Joe is Joe, working in the garage every spare moment :)

Monster Jam

2010-08-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

Selena turned 4 and wanted a MONSTER JAM party. So of course we had to have a MONSTER TRUCK CAKE. I started it but since I'm not the creative one in the family I had Joe finish it. Cars and trucks are more his thing.

Natalia, our more girly girl had a bee party.

More on the parties later...

Selena still having fun and not missing us yet...

2010-08-11T14:07:00.000-07:00

Selena went to the Enchanted Forest today, lucky girl!

Do you think she misses us yet?

2010-08-10T14:07:00.000-07:00

Ask her in a few days...

Walking and Talking

2010-08-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

Joe and I have been spending some quality time with Natalia since Selena is at grandma's this week. We are trying to get her to walk. That lazy bum prefers to crawl and scoot all over the house but we really started working with her last night. We found that she is best trained like a dog, with treats. Now I know that is harsh to compare my child walking to training a dog but it just so happens Natalia's weakness is a yogurt melt which is like freeze dried yogurt balls for those of you unfamiliar. As long as Joe and I had a "treat" she would walk back and forth between us. At first it was a little shaky but as time went on she was more stable on her little feet.

We called Selena at 8:30pm to see how her day was and Selena asked to talk to Natalia. It was very cute when Selena said "Hi Natalia!" and Natalia kept saying "Hi... Hi... Hi..." I think they miss each other although I'm sure Natalia is enjoying the one-on-one time from us.

The school said she wanted to be a loner yesterday, pretty anti-social. Not sure if she was missing her sister or because she was transitioned into a different age group classroom that was the cause of that.

Natalia

2010-08-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

Natalia dicided that she would forgo the nap today at school, therefore she is having quite time by herself at the table. :)

Happy Birthday and a wedding

2010-08-09T11:01:00.000-07:00

Joe turned 31 on Saturday and to celebrate his birthday we went to a wedding in Portland. No, we actually all took Friday off and celebrated his birthday that day with dinner out.
Saturday we drove down to Portland to see Matt and Melissa get married after dating for 10 years!
It was a fast trip down to OR, we pulled into the hotel about 2pm, checked in and went for a swim before getting ready and out the door by 4pm.
The wedding was at Bridal Veil lakes, only a 20 min drive on I84. It was a beautiful location and the weather was cloudy but warm.

The beautiful Melissa (or "Princess Melissa" as Selena called her) and her "Prince" Matt.

We really didn't get many pictures as we were to busy dancing the night away but Joe managed o get a few of Selena.

I got one of Joe and Selena.

And Selena took quite a few of Natalia and me.

Selena even snapped one of Matt's sister and father since they were at our table.

We got back to the hotel just after 11pm and slept until after 8am. My mom and Sister picked Selena up in Portland and she will be staying with them for the week to play with her cousin. They are going to have so much fun together! My mom has planned many fun activities and trips for each day. I'm sure they will be very tired each night!

Summer Dresses

2010-08-05T08:17:00.000-07:00

My mom made the three cousins dresses out of pillowcases and an old bedspread and they are the cutiest thing I have ever seen. Although Natalia's face tells a different story. It was her party and she cried cause she wanted to.

Fun with photoshop:

Some big smiles!

2010-08-05T06:42:00.000-07:00

I was able to leave work yesterday at 4:30 so that I could be at the daycare by 5:30pm to pick them up. They were both really excited to break out a few min earlier than usual and I used this time to do a little playing before dinner. Joe called and said they were having fun biking in Whistler and that they are feeling a little sore after two full days of riding and one to go.
Selena was more interested in playing with her monster trucks than talking with daddy and Natalia just wanted to play with her new laptop that she got for her birthday. The night was fast but I was amazed at all I got done. I did laundry and cleaned both bathrooms and put away clothes all while the girls took a bath. After baths Natalia actually fell asleep by 7pm and refused to get up at 8pm when I tried to give her a bottle so I put her back down. Selena and I cuddled on the couch and caught up on my DVR'ed shows before going to bed by 9pm.
Today went much more smooth with the kiddos. Natalia only did some wining and Selena only did some grunting when I woke them both up. I tried the whole "bed bouncies" thing that my mom and dad would use to wake me up when I was little. Pushing down on the bed and making it bounce while saying bed bouncies over and over. It actually worked on put a smile on Selena's face. After breakfast, getting dressed and teeth brushed we were out the door on time and I got them to daycare with both awake. There was no crying today just "I'm going to miss you so much when you are at work." I'm looking forward to having tomorrow off. Joe should be home tonight and we can relax and sleep in tomorrow before heading down to Portland for a wedding on Saturday. Selena will be staying with my mom in Salem all next week so she can play with her cousin and get some good grandma time. Joe and I will also be able to give Natalia some special one-on-one time and get that lazy bones walking. She can walk a little but prefers to scoot-crawl so she can keep up with Selena.

And only one of us gets coffee...

2010-08-04T07:50:00.001-07:00

It was an early morning, much earlier than a usual work day. My morning started out a 4am, it's only 30 min earlier than usual but let me tell you that is 30 min I could use for sleep.
You see, Joe is up in Whistler biking and he left yesterday morning after dropping the kids off at school. I am very happy for him because this is the first time since having kids that he took off during the week and left me with the kids. His birthday is Saturday so this is like a birthday celebration with his guy friends.

I tried to get everything pretty organized last night so this morning went smooth. I laid out but girls clothing, breakfast and toothbrushes.

Alarm went off, I woke up and stumbled to the coffee machine wishing that I would have set up the automatic brew timer because I could not get my eyes working yet. I dragged myself to the bathroom to get ready and turned on the light in Selena's room to gently persuade her to wake-up. I opened Natalia's door to let some light and sound in. I got myself ready while I drank my over sized cup of coffee and then went about getting the sleepy girls up. Natalia first, bottle, snuggle, bottle, cereal bar. Then went to get Selena up who is just like me in the morning and I was afraid that she would punch me in the face. As a bribe I got her breakfast ready and it was 1/2 cinnamon roll and blueberries. I carried her out of her bed crying for sleep and tried to snuggle her awake a bit but ended up putting her on the chair and said "Cinnamon roll!" trying to get her excited about eating. She kind of cried-ate all through breakfast saying that she wanted to go back to bed. I got her dressed, Tally dresses, teeth brushed, myself dressed and we were out the door by 5:25am.
I got to the daycare which is only a 5 min drive and both kids were asleep. So I had to once again be the barer of bad news that it was time to get up again. The very perky Nicki and Jessica were there waiting for us as they knew we were going to have two early days this week. They were the first kids to arrive at this god awful hour and I tried to get my zombie like girls to smile while we put away their backpacks. I handed Natalia to Jessica and she started crying, I said she was tired. I hugged Selena and she would not let me go and as I walked away she had a major breakdown crying for me and saying she wanted to go to bed. Day one down and one to do.
I guess we are all going to have to go to bed earlier tonight.

Happy Birthday Selena

2010-08-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, it's been 4 years since Selena monster was born. The years have both been fast and long at the same time. She has grown from a fussy baby to a very mellow little girl. She is sweet and sassy but mostly calm and easy going. She is polite and thoughtful and a wonderful big sister. She is a lot like me in ways and a little like Joe in other ways. When I look at her I see my little girl face but also some Alonzo traits.
It's hard to believe she is a walking, talking, four year old darling with a big personality like daddy and a shy side like mommy.

Happy 4th birthday Selena, honey bunny, beana, baaba, monster, Elise Alonzo.

THEN:

NOW:

We celebrated last weekend and I'll post pictures soon. This morning Selena woke up to a special breakfast of a cinnamon roll with a candle on top and a bracelet with her name on it. Jewelry! What else could a girl little gal want?

Happy 1st Birthday Natalia Carlyn

2010-07-30T08:11:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that a year ago at the very moment I was getting prepped for surgery, Joe was dressed in his scrubs and for some reason was speaking with a French accent and Natalia was about to come into the world.

Alot has happened this year but looking back it really flew by. And in true Natalia fashion, she woke up this morning with a nasty cough, runny nose and pulling at her ear.
Joe made her a heart shapped pancake and we sang her Happy Birthday a few times while she wondered what all the fuss was about.
But because of my selfishness getting her up at 5:30 am to see her eat her birthday pancake, she was tired by 5:50am so I put her back to bed full and dressed in her birthday shirt to go to school.

Happy Birthday Tally Bubbles!
THEN:

NOW:

Last year...

2010-07-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

Last year on this day I was ready to have a baby.

Last year on this day it was the hottest day ever recorded in Seattle history. 103! And they only way to cool off was in the pool.

Last year on this day is was WAY to hot in the house.

Last year on this day Selena was an only child.

Last year on this day Emmalee only had one younger cousin to pick on.

Last year on this day we were to hot to sleep. Or maybe to excited!

Last year on this day it was my last day to be a mom of one....

Summer Fun

2010-07-28T09:19:00.001-07:00

My poser Selena at the Auburn spray park.

Vacation Part II

2010-07-28T08:31:00.000-07:00

Continued...
The next day we figured we would leave the Scout and take the two good wheelers and make the trip to Buck Island Lake where we had hopped to camp but were happy to at least play there for the afternoon.

We met up with another group heading to Buck Island...

We arrived at Buck Island for lunch and a break just in time for some thunder showers.

We slipped and slided our way back to camp.
Somehow I came down with a headache that evening that I just could not get rid of it with meds. I went to bed early but could not sleep. Some time in the night I got up to go to the bathroom and came back to bed. About 30 min later Joe woke me up because a bear was in our site rummaging through the food. I was just feeling like crap by this time and sat there listening to the bear. An hour or so later my head was pounding so bad that it made my dizzy and I sat up, grabbed a plastic bag and threw up. This meant that Joe had to get up and get out of the tent hopping the bear was gone. The bear got away with bagels and marshmallows.

By morning I was feeling better buy my hear was still pounding and nothing was working. Somehow I managed to pack up camp and we got on the tril heading home but there was one problem. The Scout now only had rear wheel drive which meant the four hour slow moving trip back to the trail head could take all day. We had to head up Catillac Hill with out 4 wheel drive.

We were all excited to be heading out but unsure of how the day would go.

Bottom of Catillac Hill.

It was a struggle and for a time we were in the same spot for two-three hours just winching up the steep rocky terrain.

And more winching...

We finally made it to the top!

But the adventure was not over as we still had many hours to go before we were free and clear.

When we made it to the trail head it had been about 8 hours since we began. We were hot, dusty, tired and hungry. After showeres and dinner we all passed out early knowing that tomorrow we would be going home.

The girls were so happy to see us for sure!

Vacation Part I

2010-07-28T07:54:00.001-07:00

I know I'm just finally getting around to posting vacation pics that are almost a month old. This work stuff really gets in the way of blogging.

We drover down to Alonzo's and arrived about 2am Thursday morning. It was a long drive down and I got really grumpy with Joe the last 30min but the girls did great.
We spent the first few days with Alonzo's, visiting family, seeing friends, enjoying the SUN! We finally saw the sun for the first time in months and had to use sun block.
It was hard to leave the girls in July 5th at 5am. They were both asleep for one and I was officially done breastfeeding which was also sad. I really enjoyed the special time with Natalia for the last 11 months and was sad for it all to end.

We picked up Kelly at his house and hit the road to Tahoe. As we got closer to Tahoe the weather got better and better. More sun, more warmth and the sweet smell of freedom. Joe and I finally had no responsibilities and how strange was that. As much as we REALLY missed the kids it was kind of nice to just be. Thank you to Grandma, Grandpa and uncle Davy for watching them!

As we arrived in Tahoe about 1pm we got the news that we would be going into the Rubicon that evening around 4pm. This was a day earlier than planned so the race was on to get everything ready to go. We arrived at Kelly's family cabin and got organized and shopped for food.

The drive to the trail head is only about 15 min away.

We met up with the group that would be in our caravan for the week. This included Dustin(D-Flo), Papa Flo, Kirk(Diggler) and "Diamond".

The tires were aired down and it was Rubicon time!

The first few miles are pretty tame, there are a few water crossings but since you are going like 10 MPH it's slow moving. We were all VERY pumped up about the next few days.

The excitement of everything got the best of Kelly when he took over driving for Kirk.

There was a little misshap that caused some dammage and the Scout had to limp back out of the Rubicon to be fixed which meant we would be continuing on with two less people and now we would be doing Cadillac Hill in the dark. Cadillac Hill is extream in the day but at night it's very danerous. One wrong move and you could roll off the cliff.

We made it into camp about 11pm and I know I was ready to just call it a night.

The next morning was beautiful and once that sun hit the tent I was ready to get up and enjoy some camp coffee and eat some breakfast cooked by Papa Flo.

Even though it was dark when we arrived the night before we picked a perfect site at Rubicon Springs.

The Scout was fixed and they met us at our camp and we went out to play and take a few silly pictures!

And play some more...

Before the Scout broke again...

Then it was back to camp to lick it's wounds.

To be continued...

Rafting

2010-07-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

As you can see I never got wet :)

I actually fell on Kevin a guy I work with and the owner of the company who is behind me fell into Brandy who is behind Kevin. Super fun trip! I commuted via private plane from Bend, OR to Bellevue, WA this morning and now am back in the office looking forward to getting home to see my girls tonight!

Sunriver

2010-07-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

I arrived Monday night in this

I know, pretty sweet ride and great weather.

The last two days have been full with meeting and great food. We even got in a little tandem bike riding which I am not a fan of. First I like control of my own bike and second I'm not very good on pavement. I prefer riding downhill in the rocks and dirt.
Meetings are over for the day and I'm getting a little work done

or blog updating before I head out to get some exercises before the group dinner tonight. Since we are done with meetings, tomorrow we will be white water rafting on the Deschutes river all day. Should be fun!
Anyway, just enjoying the sun and the break before actually having to return to work on Friday.

Back to the grind

2010-07-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

Oh vacations go way to fast, can't believe we are back after 11 days off! I will post some pictures and stories of our adventures soon but I'm about to catch a flight. It's hard coming home from vacation and spending one night in my bed only to fly out for work and spend four nights in a hotel bed! At lease we are taking the company plane so I won't have to deal with the hassle of airport security. I just have to drive my car up the the hanger and hop aboard. I can have all the diet cokes and peanuts I want. We are having our company meeting in Sunriver for the week so it's a pretty short flight.
But to tide you over for vacation pictures here are some fun shots of Selena on Grandpa's Harley, my little motorcycle model.