Catching Up

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, I feel like time is disappearing. I am going to try to catch up on the blog this week. Here is a little rundown of what's been going on.

I got up at 4am and went shopping on Black Friday. It was insane. I got some great deals and got the one doorbuster that motivated me to go to Walmart at 4am and stand in line for 2 hours. I am happy to say I took a two hour nap in the afternoon with Owen, so I was well rested before our family get together that evening with Carson's family.

We took the kids to see Tangled this weekend and I will recommend it as one of my favorite Disney movies of all time. It was really good! Owen fell asleep, but only because we went during naptime. We came home and decorated our tree, but it wasn't long before Owen shook all the ornaments off of it and threw them around the family room. I'm pretty sure after a couple minutes in time out and a little chat, he won't be doing that anymore.

The only productive thing we did on Sunday was hang up our outdoor lights and I redesigned the blog. Kamryn and I made a ornament wreath and it turned out great. I'll do a post on that later. Owen pulled a few of the bulbs off and now I need to fix it. He was so sweet and apologized with a great big smooch. How can I be mad?

Today, everybody went back to work and school. Owen and I spent four hours cleaning the upstairs and it's still not entirely done. The toilets are sparkling and the fans are dusted so I am happy.

I'm trying to not let the craziness of the Holidays get the best of me. I am determined to finish all our holiday shopping this week and we have a lot of homeade gifts to complete to start.


We leave for Stanford next Wednesday... didn't that just creep up on us? I'm anxious to get some answers and to know what to plan for in 2011. I have a good feeling that 2011 is going to resemble 2008 in that Owen will be going under the knife a couple times. It's hard to say that it is a happy thought, but when I consider that we spent the last two years preparing for transplant and a better option could be possible... surgery is quite exciting. It's all in the way you look at it. We should have some answers by next Friday.


I'm off to do some shopping before picking up Kami. This week is going to be busy with Orchestra concerts, holiday parties and Daddy's Birthday. I'll have lots of blogging to do!

**Scroll down if you want to see how our Thanksgiving went

Thanksgiving 2010

We had a great Thanksgiving this year! We had my family over and we hardly had to cook a thing. It doesn't get much better than that.

My dad and mom brought the bird, stuffing and all the fixings while my sister brought most everything else. I made some rolls and homemade pecan pie. Owen sat at the big kid table this year and loved it! He nibbled on turkey but passed up all the delicious carbs. Kamryn ate mostly mashed potatoes and rolls. There is nothing more delicious than Thanksgiving dinner.

After dinner, we drew names for Christmas. We adopted this new tradition last year and it was really fun. Instead of getting a million gift cards from everyone, we now only shop for one adult. It has to be thoughtful, wrapped nice and it's amazing how much more time we have to spend together when it doesn't take hours to unwrap gifts. My family has always gone a bit overboard in the gift department.

When we were all looking through the black Friday ads and letting our food digest, Grandma decided to clean out her purse. She gave each of the grand kids a $20 bill and told them to go buy some candy or an ice cream cone with it. Owen started shoving his money in his diaper and said "pocket momma". Then Grandma realized she had more money and leaned over to ask me how many kids there were again. (she's starting to lose her memory a bit) I told her there were four kids and that they certainly didn't need any more money. She called them over anyway and gave them another $20 bill. Kamryn and Gigi were thrilled and gave Nana a million kisses. Owen shoved more money down his diaper and Livvy attempted to throw it in the trash. This went on for a while with $1 bills and eventually, Owen got the last $5. Grandma said "there.. my purse is clean." Just a funny story I don't want to forget.

Owen already spent his Thanksgiving money on Buzz and Woody which are really invaluable to him at this point. He LOVES them! Kamryn will save hers forever because she never spends her money. I should make her pay for her violin. Kidding. She did practice for her upcoming concert by performing for the family.
We spent the entire afternoon visiting and when everyone went home, we all cuddled in our bed and there is no question about what I am most Thankful for. My husband. My kids. Time.

Preschool Eval

Is Thanksgiving really tomorrow? This year is flying by so fast and I just wish I could pause time. I took Owen in for his preschool evaluation today. Yes. Preschool.

I sat him on the big boy chair at one of the little tables and he immediately started playing with the occupational therapist. She had him stacking blocks, sorting shapes, naming colors and drawing pictures. Then he moved onto physical therapy and he showed her his mad football skills. The speech therapist had him repeating words and naming objects in the room. There were two social workers asking questions and playing with him too. You would think that one little guy would be intimidated by so many strangers asking for him to perform... not Owen. He ate up the attention and was a brilliant performer!

Everyone agreed that he is a genius. Okay.. they didn't actually say "genius", but they meant it. They were amazed at how social and intelligent he is. With that said, he definitely qualifies for the preschool program. He will be in a mixed preschool class with kids that have delays and kids that have no delays. He will get OT, PT and speech therapy on daily basis and continue his at home therapies. I have no doubt this little guy is going to be an amazing student.. but not until next fall.
Owen is up on his feet and walking all over the place. He still butt scoots most of the time, but is getting up and moving those legs often. He wanted me to push him in the big boy swing today, instead of the bucket swing. My heart was sad. Then he wanted to go down the slide... by himself. Ouch. He's been talking up a storm and he's beyond ready to potty train.
Owen is a technical geek. The boy may not know his alphabet or count to 10, but don't let that fool you. He can turn on the tv, then the wii, he knows how to program the controller, put the games he wants into the wii, play the games, stream live Netflix videos on the wii, you name it. He also knows to charge the laptop (since the battery is eternally dead), turn it on, get to the website he wants and it's usually youtube music videos. He is a master at Sesamestreet.com and pbskids.com. He has been asking for an Ipod Touch for Christmas, not toys like the average 2 year old. Ha.
I am SO thankful for this little man and the way he's changed all our lives. We are all thankful that he is thriving right now. I never thought in a million years that Owen would be doing as great as he is today. My heart is full.

Toilet Paper Ninja

I usually let Kamryn be in charge of her little bro while I get dinner cooking and on the table every night. Last night, I was introduced to the Toilet Paper Ninja as he came karate chopping his way into the kitchen. "Hi... Yaaaaaah... Momma!"
As soon as I grabbed my camera, he started rolling around on the floor doing his best ninja moves. I wouldn't mess with this little ninja.. no way!

Of course, he couldn't have created this persona on his own. Kamryn said he wouldn't leave her alone in the bathroom so she started tying him up in toilet paper. I'm so glad these two have each other!

That toilet paper is now ripped up in tiny little pieces all over my family room carpet. I was going to vacuum it up, but I have a strange feeling that the TP Ninja will make another appearance this evening.

Shop-A-Holic

I'm not usually much of a shopper.

Carson, it's okay to agree to disagree on this one. I don't consider weekly, ahem, daily trips to Target "shopping". Diapers, toilet paper, food and shampoo just don't count as shopping.

Shopping is buying clothes, toys, and anything that isn't necessarily needed, but totally wanted. You with me?

Thanksgiving crept up on me out of nowhere. I was scheduling appointments this week and just like that, Thanksgiving is next week. While I love Thanksgiving and the idea of spending an entire day gorging on the most delicious feast, chatting with family and watching football while dozing off into many short naps.... (that was totally a run on sentence). What I really get excited about, is the day after Thanksgiving!

Not only does it start the countdown to my favorite holiday ever, but I get to shop. I finally have an excuse to shop for fun, unnecessary items. I get to spend money on everyone I love. I love helping the kids write their letters to Santa. I love helping them pick out gifts to make for their Grandparents. Can you feel my excitement?

I couldn't wait any longer and got a jump start on my holiday shopping this week. I have been searching for the best deals online and with everyone offering "free shipping"... why leave the house?

Have you checked out blackfriday2010.com? There are some great deals, but not much for what I need. Bummer. I did find out a little secret last year ... did you know you can get a lot of the same black friday deals online?? Instead of standing outside in the long lines at Walmart, freezing my tail off, and hoping not to get run over... I sat in my den at midnight, clicking refresh over and over again, until I got everything I wanted. I was a little sad to not be running from store to store with the rest of the hyped up shoppers, but then again, I got to sleep in.

I am addicted to my online shopping this year. My kids have no idea what is coming when the big brown boxes start arriving. It just stirs up their curiosity and excitement. Our kids are getting a BIG surprise in December and so it has definitely been a light shopping year for them.

Kamryn understands what Christmas is all about, but Owen will start getting it this year too. I know this post is all about shopping and I'm obviously loving it, but that is only a small bit of why I love the holidays. It's shopping, then crafting, then baking, then celebrating... I LOVE this time of year!!

Life at Two

Life as a 2 year old

is always

a good time.

Playing ball all day

especially

FooootbALLL!

I'm going to be a

quarterback

one day.

Just wait and see.

It pretty much stinks

when I don't

get my "Owen" way.

I can really

bring on crocodile tears

at any time.

Most of the time

I'm faking it.

Mom always seems

to know

the truth.

Sis asks Mommy to stop at
Sonic
everyday after school.
She usually says no.
Today she let us
have an Oreo blast.
I ate a ton.

I have so much

energy lately!

I love to chase people

down on my train.

Laughing. Hysterically.

Especially when I run over

Mommy's toes.

Life as a 2 year old is great.
Too bad I'm almost THREE!

Just three months left as
a 2 year old.
Life is good.

Normal

Normal.

That's how I feel lately. For the first time since Owen was born, I feel like life is normal. I can't even begin to describe how great he's been feeling. He's up on his feet more, getting into trouble, talking up a storm, interested in eating, and we are doing more than ever.

The weather is finally perfect and we have been spending the majority of our days outdoors. We took advantage of having the entire family home today and went to see Megamind. Owen laughed at all the previews while chowing down on popcorn, licorice and soda. Kamryn was thrilled to see her teacher and principal in the same theater. It was a beautiful day.

Owen's sats have been stable, except for the 32% he pulled last night when he was wrestling us on the bed and turned the bluest I have ever seen him. As soon as I told him to chill out, his sats popped right back up into the 70's!

Everything is going so well it's almost too good to be true. Our life has become so normal. I catch myself planning for Owen's future... preschool, baseball, piano... instead of being so worried that he's not going to wake up tomorrow. I have changed so much from those first days when I didn't know if we'd ever bring him home. I refused to buy him clothes, diapers, a car seat. I was so scared. Now, I can't stop talking about his future.

I am still scared. I think I just feel a little security in his stability right now. It doesn't stop me from putting my hand on his chest every single night, just to make sure his heart is still beating..

I know that our normal may only be temporary as Owen will definitely be needing more surgeries soon. I am going to choose to live in the moment, rather than fear the unknown at this point. Time has been so precious lately. We are so blessed.

Mountain Getaway

We decided about a month ago that we needed a vacation. An escape into the high-country where we could break away from the heat and just enjoy time outdoors. My Uncle "Gog" (as Owen calls him) reserved his company cabin and we spent the weekend there. It was heaven.
We took walks in the woods, saw some big ol' buffalo, played in the leaves, played board games indoors, sat by the fire, played pool (because all cabins have a pool table), and ate way too much food!

It was nice to finally put on a coat and bundle up a little for the chilly mountain mornings. The pine trees smelled delicious and I just love the smell of campires.
Owen loved to sit on the upstairs deck and blow bubbles. It was a gorgeous 60 degrees in the daytime... so beautiful!
Kamryn gave him the idea. :)
He wasn't a fan of the campire and preferred to stay indoors watching cable. We only have like five channels at home and my kids never have the TV on, so they were thrilled to have 500 some channels to pick from.
Owen refused to wear shoes the entire time, so we stayed in his stroller and enjoyed the walks. Now this little rugrat was the complete opposite of Owen. She wouldn't stop. From the moment she woke up she is on the go.
Gigi and Kamryn had leaf fights and gathered up pinecones that we wouldn't let them bring home. I'm not a nice mom like that. Each kid wanted to do the "throw the leaves in the air and say cheese" photo. We don't have leaves falling off trees and changing colors in Phoenix, but the high country had some dried up ones.
I suppose if Owen would wear his shoes, his socks wouldn't look like this after playing in the leaves. He had leaves everywhere... even in his diaper.
Livvy bug. She was hilarious running all around. Here's Owen's leaf throwing shot.
I love this picture. Owen is minding his own business and Kamryn is antagonizing him. Payback. That's all I'm going to say.
And here's Kamryn's leaf throwing shot.
How did this get in here... love you my mountain man.

That's about all we did. We made some smores at night but those pictures never turn out. We were careful to keep Owen away from the campfire ... oxygen + campfire = explosion. We were sad to have to go.
We all had a great time! My parents, Uncle Rog, Kelli and Chris, Gigi, Liv, Kamryn and Owen were all there. We had plans to take family pictures in the mountains, but Liv woke up with a nasty cough on Sunday so we hightailed it out of there to avoid the germs.

Cardiology and Early Intervention

November has already proven to be a busy month around here. Yesterday was Owen's cardiology visit with Dr Stock and all things seem stable. He's finally tipped the 30lb mark and is 37.5". His oxygen is steady on 1 liter and we just have to increase his meds a little due to weight gain. Overall, he's doing great!!

I talked to Dr Stock about the upcoming MRI and how the many metal coils around his heart are going to affect the imaging. Apparently, you etiher get a good picture or you get a bunch of reflective imagines. It's hit and miss. So we'll be hoping for some great images!!

We talked about the surgeons at Stanford and anticipated what they might say. We're hoping for no more than a mild decreased function at this point so that the Fontan has a chance of being successful. I'm so anxious for this appointment! I'm sure Dr S. is anxious to hear what they have to say as well.

Owen had a meltdown when it was time to take his shirt off for his ekg. He never does that. He was happy as can be when Dr Stock was in the room but as soon as I put his shirt back on to leave... another meltdown. Totally out of character for him. Poor guy was just exhausted from Halloween weekend.

Today was Owen's 6 month review for Early Intervention services. A little part of me gets bummed out when we do those because he still NEEDS all of his services. I wish I was able to say "he's graduated out of that!" A bigger part of me is proud of him for improving SO much in the last six months and rewriting new goals for him! He won't stop getting early intervention services at 3 years like most kiddos because of his "global delays". He will continue at home therapies three days a week AND get therapy while at preschool next fall. We'll have him all caught up in no time! One things for sure...that little guy is much smarter than he lets on most of the time... he sure can catch me off guard! Oh.. and the arm... I'm pretty sure we have either a baseball pitcher or a quarterback in our midst.

That's a wrap for now. We have OT, Early Release, Speech and a little weekend getaway coming up this week. Happy November!