The Reason We Pay For Homeowners Insurance

This morning at 3:00 Sam woke up. I'm so thankful that he did! I was in his room feeding him and I heard Dutchess whining in the laundry room. I wondered why she was whining but thought maybe she just had to go to the bathroom. After I put Sam back down I went down to check. I got down the stairs, turned the corner, took a few steps and knew why she was whining. I stepped in a puddle of water. Our outside facet had frozen and burst and was filling up the laundry room with water! It was beginning to spill out into the entryway as well. I quickly ran upstairs and woke Matt up and we spent the next 45 minutes cleaning up the water.

Matt called his cousin Travis (a plumber) and he came over to fix the pipe. We also had someone come out to assess the damage. I didn't think there was going to be that much damage because it hadn't gotten very far onto the hardwood and carpet. But, there is water damage to the hardwood. Right now there are two ways this could go. We are drying everything out with really loud fans right now and then if the damage isn't too bad we will have to have all of the hardwood refinished. That is the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is that we will have to have ALL of the hardwood replaced! Those of you who have been to our house know that there is quite a bit of hardwood. But, it would be an all of nothing deal since they won't be able to match the pattern. Here are som pictures of the living room, bathroom, and laundry room. Needless to say, we are spending the next night or two upstairs.

Thanksgivng in Arizona

I'm still behind in my blog posts. We went to Tucson for Thanksgiving. My parents have a condo there and they go every November. This year we decided to go and spend Thanksgiving with them. Abby, Sam and I flew out on the Friday before Thanksgiving. We had a few days there and then Matt came the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. We had a great time hanging out at their place, swimming in the pool, Christmas shopping, and going to the Desert Museum. Matt got to play golf twice with my dad (even though it rained both Thursday and Friday). We had a great Thanksgiving dinner. On Saturday we drove to Phoenix to spend our last day with Amy and her family. It was fun hanging out with them and Abby loved being about to see Ashtyn and Kylan again. Rick and Amy have a Wii so after the kids went to bed we played that for a while. We played tennis and bowling. It was very fun but my right arm was sore for about three days after leaving! Here are some pictures of the trip.

Abby sporting the sombrero Grandma and Grandpa got her in Mexico.

Boppa with the kids.

Sam and I in the condo.

We spent quite a bit of time in the pool and hot tub.

It was nice to see the sun again...

One night we were in the living room and Abby disappeared for a while. She was in my parents closet getting all of my mom's hats and putting them on her head. She was quite proud when she came walking out without any of them falling off.

I was sitting on a bench in the bird part of the museum. I was right under a bird and made a comment about it being able to poop right on my leg. About a minute later it did! I just had to take a picture and share. :)

Boppa and Abby at the Desert Museum.

Posing at the Desert Museum.

Abby and Grandma Loon playing cards.

The four of us on our last morning in Tucson.

Having fun in the park.

Three princesses.

The four cousins.

Kylan LOVED Sam. I love this picture of the two of them.

Joy and Kylan

Daddy with his kids.

This is a video of Abby and Ashtyn playing at the playground by Ashtyn's house. I love the imaginations of six year olds!

Abby's Thanksgiving Program

Abby's class invited all the parents to come to a Thanksgiving feast the Thursday before Thanksgiving. Her class worked hard at learning a few songs and then we all feasted on Turkey. Here are some pictures of the event.



Guess where Abby is....yup, back row center.




Jingle Bells Thanksgiving Style



Abby and her friend Emily

Shopping Trip

I'm not usually very much of a shopper (I don't have the patience for it) but this weekend I went with the other women in my small group on an overnight shopping trip. It was so fun. We left Friday evening and drove to our hotel right by South Center mall. Dinner that night was at the Cheesecake Factory...yum! On Saturday morning we were at the mall at 10:00 and didn't leave until 4:00. I have never spent that much time at a mall in one day but it was great. I took my camera but forgot to take pictures except for at our morning stop at Starbucks. Here they are.



Lisa and Lyssie



Tricia and Robbi



Sam got to come too and he was so good. He was very content in his stroller. He was running a little bit of a fever after getting shots at his six month check-up the day before. While in the Macy's dressing room we gave him a little Tylenol which he promptly threw up. Lyssie did her best to catch it but ended up with a little bit in her cupped hand and the rest on the dressing room floor. We did manage to get some down him and he felt better after that.

Fall Festival

On Wednesday night our church had their annual Fall Festival. Here are some pictures from the event.


The Queen of Hearts ready to go.


It's hard to get strapped in a car seat when you have wings.



Mom with the Queen and her Bumblebee.




Abby shooting a squirt gun.



Her target.... our youth pastor, Mike Slofstra.

Ear Infections, Sinus Infections, Random Viruses...Oh My!

We have always been a pretty healthy family. I know that Sam is relatively new to the family but Abby hardly ever gets sick so I'm not used to what has happened to us this past week.

It started last Tuesday when Sam got sick. He is doing much better now. On Friday afternoon I started to get a headache. Usually Advil takes care of my headaches but this one was hanging on. I figured I just needed to sleep it away. What I woke up to on Saturday is the worst headache of my life! I am not joking about that...it was so bad. I could barely function. I had to sit in one spot and not move my head at all. Since I'd never experienced anything like it I thought maybe it was a migraine. Matt had to do everything for me which he did without complaining once. He had a Husky football game to go to that evening and said more than once that he was going to stay home. But, I did not want him to have to miss the game (even though the Huskies suck and it probably would have been more fun staying home taking care of a sick wife). So my mother-in-law and mom came over to take care of me. I was in pretty rough shape. I went in to the after hours clinic Sunday afternoon and it turns out it was a sinus headache. I thought I had had those before but nothing comes close to touching the pain that I felt with that headache. It started to get a little better Saturday night when I went to bed. I have some medication from the Dr. and am feeling so much better. The headache is still there but it is more of an annoying ache than a knife going through my head.

Last night Abby woke up twice in the night crying and saying that her throat hurt. This morning when she got up she started throwing up. She is white as a sheet and has barely moved or spoken all day. Below is a picture of her... you know she is really sick when she stays in one position longer than 30 seconds. I took her in to the Dr. today (the third time I've been there in a week). We brought a bowl in the car just in case but she also wanted to bring it in to the Dr. I didn't want to but gave in. I'm so glad I did because while I was checking her in I heard something and looked over to see her leaning over the bowl throwing up in it. Poor girl. They tested her for strep but the Dr. thinks it is a virus that has been going around. Hopefully it is a short lived one.

So, three of us have been sick but with totally unrelated illnesses. I'm pretty sure Matt and Dutchess are going to stay in a hotel for the next couple of days.

Beautiful Fall Days

It has been so beautiful out the last few days. Today the kids were all playing at our swing set and we got a few pictures of them. We even put Sam in his swing for the first time. He loved it.

He's Laughing....

...and we finally caught it on video to share with everyone.

A Boy and His Dog

I loved this picture of Sam and Dutchess. This is how Dutch usually sits, with her legs crossed in front of her...like she knows she is a Dutchess.

A First Time For Everything...

... including sickness. I posted about Sam's big week a little while ago. He rolled over for the first time and ate cereal for the first time. Well this week he got sick for the first time. He started coughing and had a bit of a runny nose last weekend. We kept him home from church because of the nose but his temperament was the same so I was not that worried about it. On Monday afternoon he had a fever. It went down with Tylenol but was back up again that night. He woke up a few times in the night which is not like him anymore. At 5:00 Tuesday morning his temperature was 100.7. He also had a rash all over his body. I called in sick on Tuesday and took him to see the Dr. that afternoon. She took one look in both of his ears and said that he had a double ear infection. No wonder he woke up in the night not happy. I can now add to my list of firsts....first sickness and first does of antibiotics. He does not like the taste of his medicine at all. We have to give it to him twice a day for ten days and each time is an ordeal. This morning was the first time that I think all of it got in his mouth. The good news though is that he is feeling much better. His cheeks are still pretty red but he hasn't had a fever since Tuesday evening and his ears must be feeling better because he is a lot happier during the day.

Plagiocephaly

Don't ask me how to pronounce it but it stands for a head anomaly or as we call it, a flat head. We took Sam to Children's Hospital in Seattle yesterday to get his head checked out. There are five areas that they look at and they are rated between 0-3. 0 would be a perfect head which the Dr. said no one has. 1 is mild, 2 moderate, 3 severe. The first thing is the only area where he scored in the moderate category. It is called Posterior Flattening (flattening in the back). The other things they look at are Ear Misalignment (one ear higher or more in front than the other), Forehead Asymmetry, (a bulge on one side of the forehead or another which Sam has a little bit of), Neck Involvement (if the neck muscles don't develop properly it causes one side to be really tight), and Facial Asymmetry (where the face doesn't line up like it should). The Dr. said that for kids who score a 2 or 3 in the Posterior Flattening area they usually recommend a helmet. He scored a 2. But, she also said that there is usually quite a bit of improvement between five and seven months of age. So, we are going to continue doing what we have been doing and see how the next month or two goes. We keep him upright or on his tummy quite a bit of the day when he is awake. We also do what we can to get him to look to his left. The more he does that and gets even better head and neck control the more he will look that way when he is sleeping too. While we were at Children's we were able to meet with a Physical Therapist as well. She looked at his neck muscles and gave us some exercises to help him be able to have full range of motion when looking to the left. I'll keep everyone posted over the next couple of months on how he is doing.

Sam's big week!

Sam has had a big week. I started feeding him rice cereal a few days ago. He is doing great with it. It is so funny to watch him when it gets in his mouth. He doesn't quite know what to do but he is learning. Abby fed him yesterday and she did a great job. He ate better when she was feeding him then the times when I fed him. I took a video of it and have attached it below. Pretty cute! The other big news is that he rolled over yesterday. He has been looking like he was going to roll from back to front for a while now but still gets stuck on his arm. Yesterday we were playing on the floor and I pushed him all the way over to his tummy. He played there for a little while and then pushed himself over to his back. It was very exciting. Matt was working in the garage so I called him in and Sam did it again for him. He rolled one more time yesterday. After that I tried to get him to do it on video but he was tired of showing off and wouldn't do it again. My days of laying him on the couch are over...

Pumpkin Patch!

We went to the Pumpkin Patch last Thursday. It is a great patch with a lot of activities for kids. It has special significance to me because three years ago on October 15th Matt proposed to me after we spent the day there. Let me tell you the story...It was a beautiful fall day. Abby and I met Matt and his mom at the patch that morning. We fed the animals, road the train, picked out a pumpkin, and had apple pie. Then we all left and went back to our houses for the afternoon. That evening Matt came over and brought both Abby and I roses. The three of us carved the pumpkin out on the deck of my apartment and then we BBQ'd steak for dinner. As we got Abby ready for bed the pumpkin was brought inside and the candle lit. It sat on top of the entertainment center in the living room. I went and put Abby to bed and when I walked out of her bedroom I noticed that the candle had gone out. Immediately, I walked over to the pumpkin, took it down off the entertainment center, set it on the table, and took off the lid. Inside was a little box. I just starred at it for a while without saying anything. Finally I said, "What is this?" (I knew exactly what it was but I was so shocked that I didn't know what else to say). Matt got up and said, "Let's see." Then he walked over to the table, took the box from the pumpkin, got down on one knee, opened the box and said.... actually, I won't embarrass him by saying what he said (although I do remember every word). After a few more moments of shocked silence I said yes and almost lost my finger in the next few days wearing a ring that was two sizes too small for me. The surprise of the proposal was worth him not giving it away by asking me my ring size in advance.

Back to the present...last Thursday was also a very nice day. Matt and Grandpa were at work but Boppa, Loon, and Nana joined us for the day. It was Sam's first trip. We picked out our pumpkins and of course had apple pie with the works (ice cream and caramel). Here are a few pictures. Stoney Ridge farm will always be a special place to me.

Arizona Sun

Matt went on a football golf trip to Arizona last weekend. He went with his dad, my dad, and my brother. They flew out on Saturday and went to the Husky Arizona football game (in case you were wondering, no, the Huskies did not win). Then they spent three days golfing at my parents place in Tucson. Sam, Abby and I stayed here and had a fun weekend with Grandma and Nana. Before he left for the trip I told Matt that I would like it if he would take the camera but if he wasn't going to take any pictures then I'd keep it and take pictures of our weekend. He assured me that he would take pictures. The picture...yes, just one picture...is above. I guess I should be thankful that I at least got one. :) They had a great time.

How many of you?

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. http://howmanyofme.com">How many have your name?

I saw this on a friend's blog and wanted you to see it also. Click on the link to see how many people with your name are in the US. Of course I am one of a kind so there is only one of me. :) Leave a comment and tell me how many of you there are.

Our Family

Just wanted to post this family picture. It was taken last weekend at my cousin's wedding. Aren't we a good looking bunch?

Six Year and Four Month Check Ups

Both Abby and Sam had their well child check ups today. Here are the stats. Abby is 59 pounds which puts her in the 95th percentile for her age. She is 4 feet 1 3/4 inches tall which puts her in the 98th percentile (anyone surprised by that). She is doing great, her doctor was very pleased.

Sam is 17 pounds 8.5 ounces which puts him in the 90th percentile for weight. He is in the 95th percentile for height at 26 3/4 inches. He is also doing great. He is developing just as he should. The only concern we still have is the flatness of his head. Our pediatrician recommended that we talk to a Craniofacial doctor. That is a fancy word for a helmet doctor. Any advice for us about this, Lisa? She said that the problem is cosmetic and not medical but we would probably feel better making that kind of a decision after talking with a specialist.

Don't Ask....Don't Smell

We have hit the blow out stage in Sam's life. We can almost count on one a day. Yesterday we were all ready for church (luckily we were ready early) when 'it' happened. All up his back, on his onesie, his overalls, the fabric of the exosaucer... He had to have a bath before we could leave. Here is a picture of a onesie I got him a while ago that says it best.

Neighborhood buddies

Abby and the next door neighbor Faith have such a great time together. They played a lot this summer. Now that school has started they have not been able to play together as much. Today both families are home and the girls are running back and forth from one house to the next. Just a few minutes ago Abby opened the door and said, "Mom, are you ready to see the style show?" This is what I saw and thought I share it with all of you too.

Sam's Head

Those of you who live around us have seen how flat the right side of Sam's head is. For those of you who do not see him very often here is a picture. We have been doing what we can to keep him off of that side of his head. During the day he spends a lot of time on his tummy or sitting up in the Bumbo or Exosaucer or on our laps. But when he sleeps at night his head turns to that side automatically. We go back to the pediatrician on the 26th to have his four month check up. I'm anxious to see what she says about it. Have any of you had this issue with any of your kids?

Sam is...

...four months old today! Here is a video of him playing. He is getting much more interactive and is so much fun!

Happy Birthday Abby!!!

Abby turned 6 on September 8. We had a family and a couple of friends party for her on Sunday. It was a beautiful day. People came over at 1:00 and we had a taco bar lunch. After that Abby opened her gifts and then we had a banana split cake for dessert.

Here she is on her actual birthday getting ready to go meet the bus to school. The pink vest she is wearing was a gift from Grandma Loon and Boppa.

I took cupcakes to Abby's school. This picture is of her class as a birthday cake. She got to choose 6 people to be the candles. There are six other girls in her class but two of them were absent that day. As she was choosing the birthday candles she chose each of the four girls and it was very funny to see her face when she realized that she was going to have to choose two boys. The candles went into the middle of the circle with their hands up. Abby was in the middle of them as the whole class sang Happy Birthday. Then Abby blew out the candles and those kids all fell down. It was very cute.

After they sang to her Mrs. Thomas prayed for her.

Then the best part....the cupcakes! It was so fun for me to be there and see her interact with her classmates.