AHA Walk

Today we participated in the American Heart Association Walk. It was so warm today which made for a sweaty 2 mile walk! My knee held up although I am sore pretty much all over right now. I'm so out of shape...
For over 1 mile of the walk we carried Ben but then grabbed the stroller once we made it back around to where we had left it.
There were a lot of walkers and runners and we were a team of 11 for It's My Heart Fresno. At least now I have some idea of how a walk works and won't be completely in the dark for our walk in February.
I've decided it will only be a 1/4 mile walk...LOL!!

Fun at the Coast

We had a fun time visiting Amber and family this past weekend. The boys are little beach bums!

Superboys!

Well Target finally got the cape jammies back in!

Another Year

Ben has been cleared for another year with the Cardiologist! :) Of course he always says the same thing; that he will need surgery someday and to watch for signd of heart failure because there are no guarantees. His Mitral Valve leak is moderate which is the same as last year he said although it was referred to as mild last time so that part took me by surprise. Either way he is growing well, eating great and showing no signs of needing surgery right now!

My recovery has gone well from my surgery. Still a bit sore but really doing better than I expected. Word of advice to myself: Don't let Gabriel yank on your arm and start pulling you. Now my left side feels like something is pulling at times just like my right. Only worse...

My Dad came to visit a couple weeks ago and it was great to see him and Debbie. Although their visit was cut short when my Dad became ill and ended up in the hospital after they got home! He ended up needing his gall bladder removed!?!
He spent several days in the hospital and even had the thrill of having a drainage tube just like I did. What a copy cat!!!

I will post more...I just got word that a friend is coming over. Time to put on the fake house. ;)

Goodbye

Kirsten left to go back up to Washington so of course I had to take some more pictures of her! I really like this one. :)

My Poor Neglected Blog

I really should rename this blog to the title of this post. Once again a lot has happened but most recently I had surgery for a total hysterectomy with a free tummy tuck. I just had it done last Wednesday so I still slow going. This is a much bigger scar than with a C-Section that's for sure! I have stopped taking the narcotics because I just don't feel good on them. I have switched to a couple Tylenol every few hours instead. So far so good. It's a little harder to move around but it feels better. I am stil quite sleepy throughout the day. I am off work (again) until mid September with this surgery.

Kirsten is here for her summer visit. She arrived July 1st and leaves on August 11th. It is so good to see her. She is so beautiful. :) She spends most of her time on the computer. Luckily I have borrowed a laptop for my stay home! The boys love having her home just as we do.

Sean will be here a week after Kirsten goes home. I tried to have their visits overlap but Sean is not done with school until the week Kirsten goes back. My Dad will be here next week for a few days for a visit. He is in for the heat of Fresno!!

The boys are doing good and growing so fast. Ben has a Cardiology appt next month but is doing great right now. Nate is still working two jobs and can't wait to wean down to one. Maybe after the holidays...

The B.O. Episode of Seinfeld

Have you ever seen the episode where Jerry has a valet park his car and when he picks it up later the car smells of B.O. and no matter how many car details he has done the smell just won't leave?

Well today I came out to my car to put Ben in to leave for work. I opened the door and was nearly knocked out by an odor. Not B.O. thankfully but an odor I can only best describe as sour juice and feet. I do a quick scan for leaking sippy cups and do not find any. Unfortunately we had to leave so I eventually got both kids in the car and we headed to daycare with the windows rolled down. The windows rolled down you would have thought would help. I guess so a little bit but the smell was not going away and I believe it was gaining force. By the time we got within blocks of daycare I was gagging.

After I dropped them off I did another quick scan for things that shouldn't be but did not find anything. After I arrived at work I kept the windows down and figured I would tackle this on my break.

On break I took a trash bag and threw out trash and went through everything. I have no idea what is stinky. I even scanned the engine for a dead rodent even though that is not the smell I don't think. Well unless the rodent had been bathing in some sort of sour liquid and then rubbed up against some sweaty man feet. Ugh.
Needless to say I have failed in finding the source. I had to spray with Febreeze and hope for the best.

It is now four days later and you can still faintly smell it. I imagine that after so many days most things would not smell as much as before but it is driving me nuts not knowing what it is/was!

At least the smell is not in my hair...

Three Year Olds Shouldn't Have This Much To Say

It's 8:30am and Gabriel wakes up and immediately lets the dog in. From that moment on Gabriel does not stop talking. Why does he have so much to say? I mean I love the fact that he talks and blows me away with laughter at some of the things coming out of his cute little mouth. But how can he talk so much? I can barely get a word in edgewise. I find this funny and frustrating all at the same time. He also says everything in three's. Perhaps that is because he is three. I dunno. Does this mean next year he will say things four times? Even if you respond to him right away he will still repeat himself. I think he knows what he's doing...trying to break me from the start of the day.
God love 'em.

One Year Ago Today...

Our baby boy Benjamin had open heart surgery for AVSD and PDA at Children's Hospital Central California. It was an experience to say the least but today Ben is a wonderfully plump growing boy with just about the best demeanor in the whole world!!
We love you Ben!!

Things To Do

The list is so long. I feel like I will never have my head above water for quite sometime.

Here is my list:

Pull weeds

Plant the shrubs

Organize the garage

Finish odds and ends in the boys' room

Unpack completely

mop the floors

Organize the spare room/IMH office

Complete what is needed to stay IRS compliant for IMH

lose weight (just thought I'd throw that in)

Make the care packages needed for Children's Hospital that were requested

Keep bugging my ex about needing final dates for Kirsten to come out in July

Buy a fireproof safe or figure out where to keep important documents now that we're homeowners

Decide if I'm ever going to use all this tupperware

Clean the inside of my car

Figure how to get the dog to stop excreting in the house

Take the dog to get her overdue shot

Grizzlie Game

On Thursday, May 14th with work we had Employee Appreciation Night and we went to a Grizzlies game. It was such nice weather considering just days before it was 106 degrees. It was probably in the low 90's but breezy. It was great. We could bring guests so Nate and I brought Gpa Gabe. Everybody got a kick out him and his comments. :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Nate cooked me breakfast this morning. :) Pancakes, bacon, eggs and fresh fruit. Yummy. Unfortunately the boys are fighting fevers. Gabriel was down yesterday but feeling nearly 100% today but Ben is fighting it today. We had to cancel going to Yoshino's for lunch with Nate's family. We won't be making it to see my Mom either. Or Odie...happy birthday!
Nate started work at 1:30pm today and won't be home until probably 10:30pm tonight. The second half of the day is just a regular old day. I am getting my hair done tomorrow after work though! Yay!

Happy Mother's Day to all-

The 3rd Bday Party

I Can't Believe It

Gabriel turns 3 years old tomorrow!!
Unbelievable...
Saturday we will have his bday party and there will be lots of family and friends celebrating his birthday. :) He is growing up FAST!
Mama loves you Gabriel!

Fresno Baby Fest

Peg and I had an It's My Heart info booth at the 2009 Fresno Baby Fest this year. It was a nice day. There were not as many vendors and attendees by far this year but we did meet a couple of heart moms and we did get our name out there! :)

All Moved Out But Not All The Way In!

We're so tired. So so tired. Now I know why we haven't moved in ten years! We are all out of the rental and we gave the keys back last week. It was kinda sad really.
The new house is getting more unpacked everyday. It looks like we're done until you go into the garage...
We have to get a lot done this week since Gabriel's bday party is in one week! Nate got most of the stuff on the patio put in the garage but tomorrow will be spent organizing it. It doesn't look like either of us will be able to park in the garage. We have too much stuff! Even if we give more away it will be tight. The garage is much smaller than the last house. Thankfully we have a storage shed but of course I don't want my Halloween or Xmas stuff in there! What if it got wet?!?!?! lol

If Ben Was A Girl

This is what he would have looked like all the time! I picked the kids up from daycare today and Angela had put his hair in pig tails to keep his hair out of his face since it was so hot outside and then he napped with them in and this is what he looked like when she took them out and I picked him up!

It Would Have Been Nice

If the Title company had done their job and escrow closed on 4/2/09 like it should have and we would have our keys today!!!!!!
Now our plans are shot. We had 10 people lined up to help tomorrow...
GRRRRR
Now we will be moving on Easter weekend and only a couple people can help. On a brighter side we can clean and bug spray before we get in.
But still!!!!! GRRRRRRRR

Meet Wubbzy

Here is our first dog, Wubbzy!
She is over a year old and a Terrier Mix that we adopted from the SPCA.
She is doing really good with the kids and vice versa. She is very attached
to me but that may be because I was the one that brought her home! :)

The surgery

Wow. I never expected to really have knee surgery. And then I never expected it to hurt so bad. The first two days were brutal! Each day got better and better and now I am able to walk for awhile without crutches but get quite tired quickly and then some pain starts in. I return back to work Monday after being gone since March 10th!
And I thought I could go a year without needing time off for a surgery! Ha!
Thanks goodness I work for a great company and family. :)

Goofy Kids

What personalities these boys have! Ben has been doing this with his bottle caps lately and Gabriel loves to give himself "boobs". A trick sissy taught him long ago!

Our New House!

Moving day isn't until April 4th but here are some pics!! I can't believe we are all grown up and in great debt! No more wasting money on rent though!
The house is less than a mile from where we currently live so moving won't be too bad. We are about 80% packed and have lots of friends/family that can help us.
The house has a living and family room, two bathrooms and three bedrooms. It's much bigger than our rental. Our landlord is so bummed that we are leaving! This May we would have been here for 10 years!

It Has Been Awhile

I guess I'm not doing so well keeping this blog up! A lot has happened since January...Kirsten came home to visit last month for a week and it flew by SO fast, we bought a house and we move in at the end of this month, I tore my Meniscus in my knee and I have surgery this coming Wednesday, Ben turned one year old on Feb 21already, Nate turned the big 31 at the end of January, our computer crashed and I lost a couple months worth of pictures and I'm sure quite a few other things but those are the biggest!

Ben's Bday and Kirsten's Visit

It's hard to believe that Ben is already a year old. It seems like yesterday that he was born and only a few months since his heart surgery. Crazy how time goes by so fast.
Kirsten flew down for the week and we had a nice visit. I worked nearly the entire time but it was great having her home. We look forward to when she and Sean can come out together!
Ben's party was great. Lots of family and friends came and he liked his cake!

Extreme Home Makeover

Move that bus!!




Look who was only a few minutes away from our house! Last week the Riojas family was given a brand new home. A very deserving family! I went down two of the days on my lunch hour. It is amazing how fast this gets done and how many people gave their time.