We are Home!

We had an exhausting week and are so glad to be home!  We spent the day resting yesterday, in fact, Owen slept for all but three hours all day.  Our hotel let us do a really late checkout since Owen was feeling so yucky.  This cath has kicked his butt. 

Uncle Rustyn came down from San Fransisco to hang out with us in the hotel and we went to the Palo Alto Shopping center for lunch and to soak up the cool weather before heading back to the desert.  The flight home was quick and we saw a beautiful lightening storm as we approached Phoenix. 

Owen has had periods of pain and he will cry out saying his heart hurts.  He rubs his chest and whines.  During this, he starts to grunt heavily with his breathing, as if he's breathing through the pain.  I have been giving him ibuprofen and within 30 minutes he's either asleep, or feeling okay to watch a movie.  It's not constant pain, but intermittent, or else we'd be in the ER.  I called Dr Stock today, I hate to bug him on Sunday, but I needed to know what to do.  He said to trust my instincts.  If it continues on and I am worried, that I should take him to Phoenix Children's for a chest xray and EKG.  I try to avoid the hospital at all costs, but will take him if it continues. 

Currently, he seems okay and is playing Wii.  He slept from 8am to 3pm today after sleeping a solid 12 hours last night.  He had a few episodes of the above chest pain/breathing today, but it's been about three hours since his last one.  We see Cardiology on Tuesday AM, so I'm hoping things stay okay until then.

We received a script from Dr Rosenthal to triple Owen's lasix dose, but he is already pretty dry.  I told Dr Stock I was going to wait until we saw him before increasing the meds.  I'm just too paranoid at this point to make any changes. 

It's good to be home in our own beds.  We all slept so well last night!  It was nice to come home to a clean house and now I need to stock up my fridge.  It was a nice trip and now it's time to get ready for school, there are only 10 more days of summer break. 

Grateful Hearts -- Medical Results

Owen had a great night in recovery. He continued to be so sweet and polite to all the nurses, and laid flat with his legs straight for 6 hours post cath. No drugs needed. He's just a rockstar!!  Kamryn picked out a Darth Vader toy from the Starbucks cart that came around with coffee and snacks for Owen.  He loved it so much. 

Since they coiled 4 large collaterals in the cath lab and he was under anesthesia for over 6 hours, they kept him overnight in the short-stay unit.  It was our best hospital accommodations yet!  We had a huge private room and each got to sleep in our own hospital bed.  Kam and Carson headed back to sleep at the hotel around 7, so Owen and I got some one-on-one cuddle time in.  We both slept pretty well, but we are still dragging today.

Owen was discharged by 8 and we headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast with Sis and Daddy.

We then headed over to our meeting with Dr Hanley, Owen's cardiothoracic surgeon.  This is where things get complicated.  He started out by telling us that Owen is not going to be a good Fontan candidate at this time.  Obviously, not the information we were hoping for, but we are choosing to look at the positive side of the situation. 

There are a couple factors that we are dealing with...

Owen's Glenn pressures are at around 15 which are the pressures to his lungs.  His right atrium pressures are at about 10.  If they went forward with the Fontan, his pressures will increase with the new circulation to about 21, which is entirely too high and risky.  If his pressures were about 7 points less, then he would be in an ideal position.  The question is how do we lower those pressures.

Before Owen's tricuspid repair surgery, he had a cardiac cath in September.  His pressures were a little lower than they are now.  The biggest issue at that time was the severe tricuspid valve regurgitation, which over time will significantly decrease his heart function and wear his heart out.  We had no choice but to repair/replace that valve. 

In February, Dr Hanley was able to repair the valve and his regurge was significantly reduced to a mild regurgitation and remains there.   This is great news!  The issue now is the tricuspid valve stenosis, or blockage of blood flow from the right atrium to the right ventricle.  This is causing the increase in gradient pressures seen in the cath lab. 

There is no further surgery that would be beneficial on the tricuspid valve.  There is a mechanical valve that can be used, but it would essentially not work much better than his current valve and the surgery wouldn't be beneficial.. that's out.  A pig valve would solve all his tricuspid valve issues, most likely significantly reducing his pressures and the Fontan could be successful.. the biggest issue with that is quality of life.  Owen would be having open heart surgeries every 3-5 years or even more frequently as a pig valve wears out quickly, especially in small children.  It's not just the ideal option at this point. 

Where does this leave us? 

We had an appointment with Dr Rosenthal this afternoon and he was as optimistic as ever!  We just adore the entire team at Stanford and have such confidence in their expertise.  They have such a positive outlook on things.  Back to the plan.

We are trying every trick in the book at this point.  Owen is currently on 1 liter of oxygen 24/7 and takes many medications.  That's only going to increase.  We are hoping to use a series of medicine and oxygen therapies to see if we can get Owen's pressures to drop, even a few points and get him to a safe Fontan candidate.  That is the long term goal.

Currently, Owen is on the following medications...

Captopril 60mgs a day  (heart function)

Digoxin 65 mcgms a day (heart function)

Lasix 13 mg a day (diuretic)

Aldactone 13mg a day (function and diuretic)

Carvedilol 10mg a day (beta blocker)

Asprin .5 tab a day (blood thinner)

Omeprazole 7mg a day (reflux med)

The plan is to increase a few of these medications.. specifically the Lasix will double.  We are also going to reintroduce Sildenafil at a very high dose (Owen has been off this for a year since the last cath).  There are some other meds we can try later down the road if these don't work.. we'll start here. Dr Rosenthal would also like us to try to increase his oxygen to 2 to 2.5 liters.  He certainly doesn't need more than a liter to keep his sats at 80, but the idea is the increase of oxygen could increase his oxygen in the lining of the heart allowing it to relax more. 

All of therapies could just be a long shot.  They may not work.  The hope is that they will decrease his pressures, even a few points. 

We will plan another cardiac catherization for six months, or February 2012.  Owen will be FOUR!!   We are going to reevaluate him at this time.

This was certainly not the visit I was hoping for and I really hoped that the Fontan would happen this fall, Owen could ditch the oxygen and would be starting preschool in 2012.  This was my plan.. not HIS.  I accept that. 

We are so happy that Owen is doing so great clinically.  He is getting physical therapy twice weekly, including gymnastics and pool therapy.  He is getting big at almost 33lbs and 39".  We are going to enjoy our fall, enjoy Owen Make-A-Wish trip to Disneyworld, and have one heck of a birthday celebration in January!

As the information of the day settles, I am getting excited at the idea of not sending my son into the OR in another month.  When I look back over the last 2 years that we have been traveling to Stanford, my heart is so full when I see how far Owen has come.  He was one sick little guy and we were talking transplant and antibodies.  We are now experiencing him grow up and his half a heart is still kicking butt!!  Owen is so brave, loves his cardiology visits and doesn't complain a bit.  We couldn't be prouder and we choose to accept the news of today with grateful hearts. 

Preliminary Cath Results

We just heard from Dr Fienstein (cath doc) and Owen is out of the cath lab on his way to recovery.  He did great for being under anethesia for 6 1/2 hours!  Here is the rundown..

His MRI took about an hour and a half and we don't know the results of those images... yet. 

The cath started around noon and they saw two large collaterals that they coiled successfully.  All his pulmonary arteries are beautiful.  His pressures are "okay."  His heart function looks good based on the echo results.. only a mild decrease in function.

It looks like his Tricuspid Valve continues to be an issue.  In February, Dr Hanley repaired the tricuspid valve and was able to take it from a severe regurge to a mild one.  By tightening the valve, we ran the risk of valve stenosis.  His valve stenosis is borderline.. not a mild stenosis, not a severe stenosis.  Moderate.  We went from severe regurgitation, to moderate stenosis.  Not the news we were hoping for.

We are now left with "will Owen be Fontan eligible?"  The answer we have right now is.. 'he's borderline' and the entire team will have to review the Echo data, the cath lab data and the MRI results. 

The good news in all this is that his Right Ventricle pressures are still okay.  I was hoping for great news today.. we didn't get horrible news. 

We have a meeting with Dr Hanley (surgeon) tomorrow morning and he will have had time to speak with the cath lab doc and also review all the data before meeting with us.  I'm hoping he can give us some idea of what his plan is. 

Tomorrow will be a BIG day of answers.. I'm hopeful.

Tonight.. I will cuddle my little fighter as we sleep in a tiny pediatric hospital bed together.  I'll update more tomorrow.

Half Moon Bay

After a long morning of pre-op, we decided we needed a little fun! We decided last minute, to head over to Half Moon Bay and we are SO glad we did! It was a gorgeous 20 minute drive. We live in the desert, so we never see greenery, wildflower growing on the hillside, the smell of pine trees and low clouds.

We rolled the windows down and between the smells of the pines and the cool breeze.. we were in heaven. 

Half Moon Bay was much colder than Palo Alto and the skies were overcast. It was a welcome change from our weather in Phoenix. 

Owen couldn't get his feet in the sand fast enough!  He made sure to pack his shovels and rake before we left and kept talking about the beach.  He was thrilled!! 

We played in the sand.. stayed OUT of the water.. and tried to avoid the sneaky tide that would occasionally get a little too close.  We didn't want to get wet and freeze.

There weren't many people at the beach, but a few flying kites and some crazies surfing.  The water was freezing, I don't know what they were thinking. 

Owen was having too much fun and wouldn't let me take a picture.  "Leave me alone".."I busy".."two mimutes".. those are the classic "owen" excuses when he doesn't want to do something.  Ha. 

Kamryn braved getting her feet wet and played in the wet sand. 

Kamryn is not really taller than me.. she is still 2" shorter than I am.. it must be an illusion.  My 11 year old will not outgrow me!

Carson and Owen spent the entire time building a giant sand wall and burying their feet. 

We had so much fun and it was nice to feel the chilly breeze in the middle of July.  We washed all the sand off and we were off to find a local place for seafood.  We ended up at Sam's Chowder House overlooking the bay.. it was so pretty.  Owen and I shared some clam chowder and we warmed up. 

The drive back to Palo Alto was just as nice as the drive to the Bay.  We drove through the fog, the kids slept in the back seat and it was silent. We had so much fun on our little trip to the beach, that we are planning to go once more before heading home.  It was a great time that we all enjoyed.. a little fun mixed with the not-so-fun days in the hospital.  It's all about balance. 



Cardiac Cath and MRI In Progress

We had such a fun day yesterday and I'll post about that next. For now.. Owen is in the MRI lab. Yesterday morning, Owen had his Echo and EKG. He was such a silly boy for the echo tech and chatted her hear off for the hour. My little guy has a sweet heart for the blond girls! He just loved his entire echo and found a huge water gun in the treasure chest when he was done.

We talked with the cath lab team and signed the dreaded consent forms. I always hate that we have to sign those, as if we have a choice. We spent the afternoon and evening at the beach.. more on that to come.

This morning started with the sun rising. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30 and Owen got some happy Versed. He was so loopy and just giggled. We signed more consent forms with the Cardiac MRI team and spoke with his awesome anesthesiologist. We headed back to the MRI lab around 9. Owen was totally zoned out and it was easy to get him to sleep with the watermelon flavored mask. He put up a little fight and I love to know that he still has it in him! He was calm and relaxed while I sang "Baby Mine" to him as he drifted off.

Today is going to be a long one. Owen has a cardiac MRI from 9-11. They are taking tons of pictures of his heart and creating a map of his heart. The cath lab Doctor came and chatted with just a second ago and said they just got the lines in and took his labs.

I didn't want to have him stuck in the lab yesterday, so they agreed to let the anesthesiologist do it before the MRI while he was sleeping. They always get a blood type screening and antibody match prior to the cath lab in case they need to transfuse him. Since we originally came for transplant 2 1/2 years ago, and his antibodies are extremely sensitized, they are very careful with the blood they use to transfuse him with.

After the cardiac MRI, Owen will be transferred to the cath lab, while still under anesthesia. Dr Fienstein will check the pressures in his heart and coil any collaterals if they need it. He is in good hands and we will have some basic answers at around 1:30 when Dr Fienstein comes to speak with us.

If things go well, we are planning to stay in the 24 hour short stay unit for monitoring. Unless, of course, I can convince them to let us go back to the the hotel. If they need to do intervention in the cath lab, or they don't like what they see, we will stay in 3West (the cardiac step down unit).

I let the MRI and Cath team know that we have a meeting with Dr Hanley tomorrow morning at 9am and with Dr Rosenthal at 1:30. They said they will have everything ready for the surgeon and cardiologist tomorrow, so we should have a pretty good idea of what's to come before we fly home.

The weather is so beautiful here at around 60 degrees. I am sitting in the courtyard outside of the surgical waiting area. I have a few nerves, but I feel so confident in the team here. I know Owen is in great hands and we feel so lucky to have him here.

Carson took Kamryn for a little drive into downtown Palo Alto. She had a hard time seeing Owen this morning in pre op with the versed. She is a strong big sister, but she worries so much about her baby brother. They will be back to eat lunch with me and to talk to the doctors. Keep Mister Owen in your prayers and his big sister too!

Hello Palo Alto!

We made it!! I will admit I was completely stressed out last night. Owen's portable oxygen concentrator was blinking and beeping red lights.. not good. Then I tried to do online check in for the rental car and they said our reservation was cancelled and that it would be double the price for a new reservation. It was a long night. :)

We left Phoenix as the sun came up. Owen's concentrator settled on a yellow blinking light and I'm assuming it was okay. Carson spoke face to face with the rental car company and they honored our original reservation. Everything fell into place, as it always does!

Owen chattered on the plane the entire 2 hour trip.. he just talked and talked. He fell asleep just as we were landing, which equates to no nap today. He loved his Dr Pepper, pretzels and peanuts. Kamryn was so quiet sitting next to Carson in the seat behind us.. we are SO trading places on the way home.

We ate lunch at the Palo Alto creamery and then stopped at Sprinkles on our way to the hotel. We not only got early check-in, but the oxygen was already delivered and ready. Awesome!

Owen is begging to go to the beach and that was the original plan, but it is freezing here!! I can't imagine how cold it's going to be at the beach. We are relaxing in our hotel room while we try to figure out if it's worth the drive.

Both of my kids favorite thing to do is sit at the hotel room desk and write notes on the free notepad. It's the first thing they do every time we check in. It gives me time to get things settled and organized. Owen is walking around the room with a handful of paper notes that Kamryn drew pictures on for him.

It's time for me to run to the store and get some food for Owen's blended foods. We have a busy few days ahead of us.

LAZY

Carson's car bit the dust this week so he's been taking my car to work everyday. This leaves us with no transportation and I must admit.. it's really nice. Aside from the obvious that we can't leave the house to spend money, we are forced into laziness. Our days have been full of Wii battles, Netflix browsing and making crazy lunch concoctions.

I dread going to the grocery store, more so than scrubbing floors. With that said, we have very few options for lunch and so we have been getting pretty creative. If I had my car, I'd probably just load up the kids and run to In-n-out or Chick Fil A. So having no transportation this week has proved to be a nice break for us all.

On Wednesday, Carson had his stent removed that was left after his Kidney Stone removal surgery. I'm sure it was uncomfortable and I drove him so he could take his pain killers ahead of time. Today he woke up with the same horrible pain in his left side... this last kidney stone was in the right. It's probably another stone passing as he's been vomiting at work and in pain. The good news is that he had a CT scan a few weeks back and it showed a small, < 1mm stone, on his left kidney. It's small enough to pass on it's own. Poor guy.

We should be packing and getting ready for our trip to Palo Alto.. but instead I've been enjoying long afternoon cuddles with my kids. Kamryn only has three weeks before she's a sixth grader. I'm so sad, but at least it's not middle school. We are praying that Owen's cath/mri next week will show that he is Fontan eligible... wouldn't that be so great?!

I'll be updating a few times each day next week as it will be a big week.

For now.. I'm going to go back to being lazy.

Or making a tuna on a bagel with feta cheese.

Or cuddling my little man to sleep and laying in bed chatting with Kamryn.

These are the best days of summer.

In case you are curious.. the picture above has nothing to do with this post. Owen wanted me to take a picture of him chewing on his iPod ear phones... he's nuts.

Resort Fun!!

We had so much fun at the Westin resort over Father's Day weekend, so today we went back for more! I didn't take as many pictures today as I did here, but I guess that means I was enjoying the moment. My dad took the week off and they got a room for a few days, so we headed up for the day to swim. My sister came up with Liv and Lucy to join in the fun as well.
It was a blistering day at 110 degrees, but nothing unusual for Phoenix in July. You can choose to stay indoors, or you can go outside and swim. Those are your only options. We choose swimming 9 out of 10 times. The pool and lazy river were empty today so the kids had the run of the water play area.

We floated around the lazy river a few times with my Dad, then headed to the splash pad. Then we headed to the beach entry pool for a little football fun. After only 2 hours, we were exhausted so we ordered some pizza and ate lunch in the cabana. The kids love the fruit, frozen grapes and complimentary cookies. They brought pitcher after pitcher of ice water to keep the kiddos hydrated as well. It wasn't too long before the kids had a second wind and we were back in teh water for a couple more hours.

We went through a ton of sunblock, burned our feet on the pavement and had so much fun! Fun until Owen had enough and puked and puked and puked some more. Too much fun for him. It was miserable getting into our oven of a car at 2:30pm, but we were so exhausted we didn't even care about the heat. Nothing beats a cool shower after a day like today. We are all in our jammies and it's only 4:00. I know a couple kiddos that are going to crash early tonight.

We love summer!! Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us come up and play!

Kamryn's Hair Makeover

Kamryn wanted a new look for sixth grade, but nothing too drastic. She likes her hair long and she likes it low maitenance. As she's getting older, her hair is getting thicker and is starting to get a loose wavy curl to it. My hair is super naturally curly and so I always secretly wished my kids would get a little of my bounce. I called Danny, our go to hair guy, to get his opinion. At 11, I initially thought she was too young to get color, but Danny convinced me that a few highlights wouldn't hurt.

Kamryn wanted bleach blond highlights for her honey blond hair, so Danny got the foils started. She sat under the dryer for a few minutes and quietly enjoyed it.
Danny gives the best head massages ever! He gave Kamryn a good conditioning treatment and moved back to the station for a trim. He cut only a couple inches off, but it was just enough to make her hair look fantastic.

Here is the final look. She LOVES it!! It's not too drastic and she looks great! I may be creating a little salon junkie between getting her toes painted at the salon this summer and her hair colored, but it's all fun and something we can do together. Nothing is more precious than time together. You want to know our favorite salon secret? We give ourselves little pedicures at home with our feet in the tub, then head to the salon for a polish and it only costs $5! We pay a little extra for diamond flowers or fireworks, but it's so much fun to be pampered even if it's only to have your piggies painted. Kamryn loves it!!

Operation: Kidney Stone Removal

Operation kidney stone retrieval was a success!! Carson had his second surgery to remove his kidney stone yesterday. They removed the stent that was placed a few weeks back and lazered the stone. They removed the stone pieces with a tiny basket and said it was about 5mm in size. The surgeon placed another stent that will removed next week. Carson is sore, but is thankful to be done with the stone.

We woke up early for a little physical therapy in the pool. Owen can't go to Gymnastics for the next two weeks because I'm trying to keep his exposure to germs low as we get ready for Stanford in 10 days. Owen's PT had fun ideas in the pool to keep him moving. He stood on the 3rd step, chest deep in water, and the two therapists made big waves and he had to work hard to balance. Then we threw foam letters all over the pool and he had to kick around on a noodle trying to find letters to certain words (ie: his name). He had to swim the letters back to the wall and stick them on to spell the word. He did so great! Another fun trick we did was have him sit on the noodle and it was so hard to balance, but great for his core work. He had a blast for the full hour!!

I don't have anything huge to update and I have been giving my camera few days off. I really just need to empty off my many memory cards onto the external hard drives. It's always so much work that I end up just buying more memory cards.

Tomorrow I am taking Kam to get her hair done. It will be the first time I let her put color in it. It won't be drastic, just some cute little blond highlights for fun, a cut, condition and style. She deserves it for all she does!! In the afternoon, we are going to get out of the heat and take the kids to see the final Harry Potter. Owen will sleep in his stroller during naptime so the rest of us can enjoy the move. Owen loves his "Hairty Potter" movies though. I'll have pictures of our fun this weekend and we have a crazy fun week next week!

A Checkup and Lazy Days

Kamryn had her 11 year well check up and immunizations this morning. Where has the time gone? My baby girl is still 5' 3" and 102 lbs... she hasn't changed in the past three months. Dr Robin projects her height to be around 5'8"!! Kamryn was asked about her diet, her exercise, daily activities and school. I'm serious when I say we couldn't have been blessed with a more perfect girl. Well.. I guess except for when I ask her to do chores and she says "I don't feel like it right now." That part I might want to change a little. :) We had a relaxing weekend and it's overflowed into our week. Mondays is scrub down day and my clean house is making me happy! I've spent a ton of time on the phone trying to make last minute appointments and reservations for our trip to Stanford. I just called Dr Hanley's office to schedule a post cath/mri sit down with him. I have a million questions about the Fontan and I'm curious on his thoughts of the Tricuspid Valve repair he performed in February. I also scheduled a pre-op visit with Dr Rosenthal (heart failure cardiologist) while we're up there.

The rental car is still in limbo, but I found and reserved a portable oxygen concentrator. I am such a planner, so I'm trying to pinpoint the best beach to visit and also where we are going to eat. I should learn to just go with the flow more.

Owen and Kamryn has been busy playing Video Games and watching Netflix. Kamryn bought a new Zelda game the other day and Owen can't get enough. Every once in a while they come up for air and want some watermelon or carrots. I figured a couple days of mindless play won't hurt them. Owen is so enthralled he won't even look at me while I take his picture... at least he smiled!

The past week.. Kamryn has been practicing her violin religiously and Owen learned his days of the week! We have a full day of swimming and outdoor play tomorrow followed by Carson's second kidney stone retrieval on Thursday. I like to call these our lazy days of Summer and we are enjoying every last one of them. There is only 4 more weeks of summer vacation before Kam starts school and Owen is going to have a busy fall as well. Speaking of lazy.. I'm off to take an afternoon nap with the kids.

Museum of Natural History

We are having a really fun summer and this Friday was no exception. Our morning started bright and early at gymnastics. Owen earned a "froddy" sticker for all his hard work and was so proud of himself! It was a warm, humid morning so I'm glad we had plans at the Museum of Natural History. We met up with my sis-in-laws and the cousins had so much fun.

They were on tv in an old wild west flick.

Then we walked through the old mine and played in the jail cells.
Owen stayed in his stroller the entire time and there were no real "hands on" exhibits. We stayed away from anything he could touch to avoid germs. I did let him play outside and pan for gold. That lasted about 3 minutes and after showing him lots of fools gold, he decided this leaf was a much bigger treasure!! "I found a leaf mama!!! I'm all done."
The rest of the kiddos found baggies full of gold but it wasn't too hard to get them out of the nasty heat. It was so hot!! We headed back into the museum to discover the Dinos.
Owen gets a little bored at this museum because there isn't a whole lot of interaction in the exhibits, but there is a cool flash flood dino exhibit that keeps him interested.

The older kids checking out the dinosaurs. Kamryn look so tall here in comparison to her cousins.. They are only a year or two apart in age.

We found a little play room with interactive "stuff". The kids played for a second and Kam made Owen a dinosaur drawing. We then took Owen to the cave with a strobe light and a giant mammoth which was his favorite part of the museum.

We weren't there longer than an hour and the kids were getting hungry. Aida and I took the kids to a super yummy mexican restaurant in downtown Mesa called Mangos. It was really good! We then walked the kids a block down to the Sugar Shack and let them pick up a icy treat. Owen picked a green Otterpop, while Kam settled for ice cream. It was so fun to catch up with Aida and the kids. We don't live far from each other, but our lives just get so crazy busy.

We hadn't had enough fun, so Aida and the kids came over to play. Then Larissa dropped off her girls to play as well. The cousins all get along so great! I've said it before, but I love that Kamryn has such great relationships with all her cousins on both sides of our families and we are so lucky to live so close to all of them!!

It was a really fun day and since Owen missed his nap, we all crashed early. Today is a down day around our here.. no chores, very little cooking and a long afternoon nap. It's been great!!

Storms and Traveling

Owen is progressing leaps and bounds lately! He has more energy than ever, he is talking up a storm and so long are the days of scooting on his bum. He follows us around the house chit chatting about whatever he can think of. He is constantly asking for snacks and I am scooping his cheek less and less. We are in awe of how well he is doing. I don't want to jinx myself by saying it, but he hasn't puked in months!!! Amazing.

We are looking forward to our trip to Stanford in three weeks. Not because I have to send Owen to the cath lab and for an MRI, but because I am so hopeful that we are going to hear great news! My reality may be crushed terribly, but I am choosing to be hopeful.

Traveling to Stanford always proves a challenge. I got decent deals on airline tickets, but reserving a portable oxygen concentrator for the plane is always a pain. I had one reserved, but they suddenly have no availability. The search continues....

We are looking forward to visiting the beach, San Fransisco and Carson's siblings. We are all pretty excited to get away from this heat!

Speaking of which.. we had a huge dust storm roll through here yesterday. The meteorologists were calling it a Haboob.. I like to call it a dust storm. It sounds better. Monsoon season is one of my favorite times of year in the desert. Check out this wall of dust....

(photo courtesy of azcentral.com)

Speaking of storms... there is one rolling in right now.

Time to go bake some cookies.

July 4th!

We had a fabulous time celebrating the 4th of July this year! We woke up early, had amazing donuts for breakfast, and then I decided to take the kids to see Monte Carlo. When I say kids, I mean Kamryn, Owen just likes to go along for the show. About 20 minutes into the movie, Owen was sound asleep in his stroller.

We were home by 11:30 and decided to relax, play wii and pick up the house. After grilling up some burgers for lunch, Owen insisted on climbing into bed with Kam to watch Curious George on his iPad. She was such a sweet sister to cuddle him and watch it too.
I felt crummy for most the afternoon, so a little downtime did this Mama some good. My family came over around 4;30 and we headed outdoors to the pool. We all jumped into the water to discover it was like swimming in a bathtub.. it was so warm.
Kamryn and Gigi love throwing in diving rings and blocks. They both jump at the same time and race to see who can get to the bottom the quickest. Then one usually ends up pouting because the other one won. They are more like sisters than cousins in so many ways!
Owen likes to sit on the step and play catch with the beach ball. He gets bored and wants to jump off the side into the water. Then he decides he wants me to carry his oxygen tank in one arm and him in the other and I am to swim across the pool and back over and over. It's good exercise, but someone really needs to invent a floating device for the oxygen tank. I'm sure the tank isn't supposed to go IN the water, but we do what we have to so Owen can have fun!
Kamryn was a good swimmer really early on. Owen would be a fish if I could get his little nose under water. I'm not sure, but common sense tells me that getting his nasal cannula full of water won't do the oxygen any good. So he bobs with his head above water for now. What I am getting at is ... while my kids are pretty brave and strong swimmers (including Gigi)... I have never seen a 24 month old like Livvy. Wow!! The first time she got in the water this year, she just went for it. Under the water, kicking those legs, she is gonna be a fish!! She runs around the pool and jumps in like it's no big deal. It doesn't matter if someone is there to catch her, if she sinks to the bottom, or if she floats on her back. She's just a daredevil!

Kelli put on her floaties and dropped her in the water and she immediately started bobbing, blowing bubbles and working on her back float.
After 2 hours and many wrinkly toes later, we decided to get out. Livvy was all dried off, in her towel and decided she wasn't done. We all saw her run to the edge of the water and we all ran after her.. but she was getting back in the water. She just jumped off the edge and her Daddy grabbed her as she sank. She came out with the biggest grin like "let's do it again!" Yikes.

Owen likes to get out and lounge on the chairs. He is such a chill guy. He loves being around family more than anything!! He grins from ear to ear watching Gigi and Kamryn jumping off the side, Livvy getting into mischief, Uncle Rog doing cannon balls, you get the idea. He's just happy to be soaking it all in.
We came inside just in time for fried chicken and apple crisp. It doesn't get any more American than that! The kids changed out of their wet clothes and they got crazy! Toys flying, kids wrestling, squeals of excitement.. I love it all so much!! Owen was tackling Gigi and it appears that he had the upper hand in this take down.

We called it an early night. I bathed Owen and he crashed. Those 9pm fireworks didn't stand a chance. I caught the end of the Macy's firework show on TV and now I am off to dreamland. I loved celebrating our freedom and independence with family today! I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!!