30 of 30

The last of 30 pics for 30 days...

Exhausted

I have so much to do and the medication I am on makes it so difficult to accomplish all of these tasks. Two big ones are finish moving things out of the house and clean it and the other is getting my scrapbook pages done so I can order my books from Shutterfly. I have about 10 days to the latter and I am running out of time to move the house.

Here's another shot of Ian, just for kicks.
(this 30 pics for 30 days is almost over - man it's been kinda tough on me, lol!)

Circa 1966

Aren't I pretty?




Actually, it kinda creeps me out, lol!

In two hours, Dan and I will be joining the crowds of people out shopping on Black Friday. I'm excited!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My little man is a karaoke star. :) We have American Idol for XBOX 360 and last night, while all of us were playing, Ian picked up the mic and started singing. Adorable!



Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! Hope your holiday is spectacular. I can't wait to hit the stores tomorrow! Of course we will be going later in the morning to miss the huge store opening lines and crowds.

Week #3

Here is my Week #3 submission for Sunshine Studio Scraps' Wonder Girls' Challenge




You can join in the challenge here

Credit:
All elements are from the Wonder Girls' Sweet Afternoon Kit.

Wordless Wednesday 11.26

Ink Pen

And... Ian woke Daddy up with a surprise...

Follow Me!

I've added the new gadget (see above) for readers to follow my blog. :)

Just a Bit Ago

From just a month or so ago.. back when Aidan was in 0-3 month clothing... Doesn't Ian resemble his Poppa?

Sunday

...wearing daddy's shirt as a nightshirt

I ADORE This Kit!

Polka Dot Plum has designed an oh so heavenly kit. I am jonesing to do a layout with it. Heck, several layouts. This kit looks to be extremely versatile with ENDLESS layout possibilities. It's called "We Give Thanks" and features exquisitely designed embellishments and papers. I adore the brown satin ribbons and scattered gold glitter and I am already inspired by the spiral notebook style journal tags and infinite amount of paper combinations. I think my favorite thing about this kit is the color palette. I love doing my layouts with sepia or half toned photos and these colors would mesh perfectly with my style of digi scrapping.

Check out the kit at Sunshine Studio Scraps. And BUY IT! You will LOVE IT.

Reading On A Friday Afternoon

Just In The Nick of Time

I just realized I didn't post my pic for today! Oops! I almost ruined my 30 days of pics project. A half hour before midnight, here it is:

PS ~ Don't mind the tylenol stain on the pillowcase, lol

Tag, I'm It

I was tagged by my friend Elisabeth - the task: "8 things"


8 things I am passionate about
1. Spending time with Family
2. Renewing my relationship with God
3. My kids
4. Digi Scrapping
5. Photography
6. Starting a business
7. Chocolate milkshakes
8. Preserving family history

8 things that happened yesterday
I can't remember yesterday that well so I will tell you about today
1. Dan was offered a teaching job in Seattle (starting in March/Spring quarter)
2. I received a phone call for a property management job I applied for in Seattle
3. I saw my mom
4. I had many many TN (trigeminal neuralgia) pain episodes
5. Ian said "Hi Daddy" to Dan on the phone. (BIG accomplishment for Ian)
6. I wore Aidan in my Moby wrap in the grocery store
7. I blogged for a contest and in the process boosted my self esteem
8. I worked on designing my own embellishments


8 things I do now
1. I am a stay at home mom
2. I am researching plans for our own business
3. I digi scrap everyday
4. I am working on Christmas presents for the family
5. I breastfeed my newborn (go me!)
6. I teach and play with my kids everyday
7. I blog and I am addicted
8. I document and photograph so my kids can have a permanent piece of their childhood

8 things I cannot do
1. Exercise everyday
2. Give up sweets (I am addicted to cookie dough poptarts)
3. Function at 100% because I am either in pain or high on hydrocodone for relief
4. Hold a grudge
5. Keep a secret
6. Stop worrying about things I can't control
7. Eat chicken - even looking at the word grosses me out
8. Mop floors - (well, I CAN, i just hate it)


8 things I say often
1. Ian, No
2. I love you
3. Dan, can you get me _________ please
4. Good Job Ian!
5. What time is it?
6. Who's calling?
7. I'm hurting
8. Ian, Can you say _________
9. I'm tired
10. Help, please


8 favorite TV shows
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Desperate Housewives
3. Dog The Bounty Hunter
4. Californication
5. Weeds
6. Cold Case
7. Biggest Loser
8. Raising the Bar


8 Favorite Foods
1. Chocolate Milkshakes
2. Cookie Dough Pop Tarts
3. Ben & Jerry's Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream
4. Homemade breakfast bowls (hashbrowns, eggs, sausage, cheese, topped with sour cream)
5. Arizona Green Tea (Plum Juice, Pomegranate, and regular)
6. Supreme pizza
7. Homemade French Dip
8. Costco Cheesecake

8 things you may not have known about me
1. I am pretty shy
2. I wanted to be a forensic pathologist when I grew up
3. I love seeing the inside of houses
4. I love to do laundry, it's relaxing
5. I am extremely ticklish
6. I look in every single glass before I pour anything into it.
7. I hate to wear socks
8. I want to get my nose pierced with a tiny stud

Babywearing Week

This past week was International Babywearing Week. I can proudly say that I have worn my baby around town here and there the last 7 days. I have a Moby Wrap and it is the most comfortable babywearing device I have tried. I got mine in Seattle at Urban Kidz Play (their store is amazing!). Too bad I didn't buy this wrap first! The other two I tried (one was a sling, the other was a similar wrap but less quality) would have driven me to Motrin, had I worn them long enough. Did everyone hear about the Motrin ad faux pas? Babywearing moms & dads all over the country were incensed by the poor taste in marketing. Honestly, it didn't bother me, although I can definitely see how it could be offensive.

Here's Aidan snoozing in the Moby @ the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle


And here's Ian taking ride on Dad's back

Self Love

Kadi over at A Womb at the Inn(sane) is promoting self esteem and self love! She has encouraged bloggers to list reasons why they rock. She's also dangling a super neato fun necklace from Annette's Touch of Class as a motivational prize, :)

Reasons Why I Rock:

1. I make the best damn pumpkin cheesecake EVER
2. I can digi-scrap with the best of them
3. I birthed two of the most beautiful kids
4. I love my body no matter what size of jeans I wear
5. 9 times out of 10 I put my family's needs before my own and I wouldn't have it any other way.
6. My husband is the most important human being to me, and I am proud that we have a blessed marriage.
7. I don't always have a clean house but I always have time for my kids
8. I'm a pro at Trivial Pursuit
9. I'd rather give than receive.
10. I've grown to be a pretty good mom.

Now YOU list the reasons why YOU rock!! Link your blogpost back to me and then head over to Kadi's blog and link to hers so you can enter to win a fabulous necklace from Annette's Touch of Class.

Wordless Wednesday

Second Submission

Here is my second submission for the Sunshine Wonder Week contest.

You can visit Sunshine Studio Scraps here and check out the Wonder Girls and all of their designs, as well as the Sweet Afternoon Kit.



Credits:

All elements are from the Sweet Afternoon Kit by the Wonder Girls at Sunshine Studio Scraps

The Alpha is from my collection

Leading up to a Smile

Pillsbury Giveaway

The Holidays are a great time to be with Family. Pillsbury's Home is Calling campaign is all about enjoying your time with family.

Also, when you forward along this link to friends and family from the web site, Pillsbury will make a donation to help deliver more than one pound of groceries to America’s food banks



There's also a Giveaway - Head over to For The Love of Baby for more details about how to enter!
For the Love of Baby!: Home Is Calling Gift Basket from Pillsbury-THREE Winners!:

"Pillsbury is giving away a Home is Calling Gift Basket. The basket is complete with coupon for Pillsbury refrigerated crescent rolls, a magnetic coupon holder, a house-shaped mouse pad, pot holders, a cookie sheet, a bread basket and a loveable Pillsbury Doughboy figurine.
THREE Lucky For The Love of Baby readers will be getting one of these awesome gift baskets!"

Visiting Tanya

When we were in Seattle this weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting with my sister, Tanya. She came to the zoo with us and I know she had a fab time with her nephews. I love you, Sis!

New Blog

To all my lovely readers. I have officially started my new blog about Trigeminal Neuralgia.

You can view it here

Pics of the boys to come...

Urban Sudz Giveaway

Beth @ Urban Sudz Soap Factory is giving away a fabulous bar of soap. Jess @ Nothing But Purple is facilitating the contest. My favorite is the Frosted Pumpkin - YUM it looks so delicious!! I also like Chocoalatte - (seen here)



Go here to visit Beth's blog for Urban Sudz Soap Factory:
Urban Sudz Soap Factory: Frosted Pumpkin Bars

And visit Jess @ Nothing But Purple to see contest details and how to win soap!
Nothing But PURPLE: Review and Giveaway: Urban Sudz Soap Factory#comment-form#comment-form

Saturday Evening

We are back! Details to follow -

For now, here's a pic of the boys



And a Happy Birthday to my Mom today! I LOVE YOU

Road Trip

As this is being posted, we are driving to Seattle. Dan is going to explore a job opportunity and I get to visit my sister and see her new digs. We'll be back on Saturday - probably evening. And I KNOW we will have plenty of pics to post upon our return. We plan to take the boys to the Woodland Zoo on Saturday. Ian will just LOVE it, I know. Since I am not sure if I will have access to the internet while we're away (gosh darn laptop), I am scheduling my posts so to keep with my 30 days of blogging this month.

I start the neurontin today, here's hoping for pain relief. I decided that I am going to start a different blog completely devoted to trigeminal neuralgia. There isn't much on the internet besides the textbook definitions. I have found minimal information coming from people who have TN. Therefore, blogging will help others seeking info as well as help me keep an entry of pain management, triggers, episodes, etc for my doctors.

Here's the pic of the day:



Credits:
Brown circular border by Julie Marie @ Julie Marie Scraps
Tag is part of Sassy's So Funky Kit @ Sunshine Studio Scraps

Trigeminal Neuralgia

It all started...

with a toothache in August. I had a molar (#30) with an old amalgam filling that had some decay hiding beneath it. Dr. Hood said a root canal was in order. So I went in for some root canal therapy, initially just a pulpectomy and then I would come back for the gutta percha. Anyway, he also did a filling (MO) on an upper molar (#1, yes a wisdom tooth, I have no #2). After he worked on #1, he began working on #30. As soon as he opened up #30 I felt intense pain radiate in a C shape from my lower right side of my jaw to the upper right side. He kept giving anesthetic (Marcaine because I was pregnant) and eventually had to drill into the bone to inject it directly because the pain would not subside. After the procedure my OBGYN prescribed 10mg hydrocodone and I went home to recover.

Around Oct 17th the pain came back. Not toothache pain but the intense shocking pain I had during the procedure. I called the dentist. He dinged #30 with the end of his explorer and asked if it hurt - NOPE. I couldn't tell where the pain was coming from, it was just there. He decided to open the tooth back up, clean it out and close it again (Waiting on the whole procedure of RCT and Crowning until insurance kicks in Jan 09). He didn't see any more decay but when he put that barb down into the root I had another pain shoot deep into my ear. So here I was bathing in pain. He prescribed an antibiotic just in case and I went home. I ate Tyelenol, Ibuprofen, Asprin, and Clindamycin(antibiotic) in a potentially lethal cocktail for a week until I gave up. The pain was so excruciating. I called the dentist back and he suggested another antibiotic but I was desperate by now. I called my general practioner and got in that day (Nov 5th). She was so empathatic and caring - She put me on Prednisone to help with inflammation and prescribed hydrocodone for pain. After the Predinsone was up I called her back and told her I was still having episodes. She referred me to an ENT and prescribed more hydro.

I went to the ENT on Tuesday and it was a bust. There was no ENT related diagnoses for my pain. Instead he wanted to refer me to an endodontist. Now I'm not an expert but I feel pretty sure (knock on wood) that the tooth is not infected (no fever, antiobiotics aren't working, no localized pain, no relief from palpating the gums around the tooth, etc). So I called my GP back and begged for a neurology referral. She emailed me this morning and told me that all of the neurologists in the network (Group Health) are booked until after the new year. HOWEVER, she was going to consult with a colleague and get back to me. She called me an hour later and told me that the colleague agrees with my suspicion of Trigeminal Neuralgia. My symptoms are exact and it's not uncommon for TN to be brought on by dental work.

So tomorrow morning I start on Neurontin to control the pain. GP didn't think I could still nurse Aidan though. So I got on the phone to the boys' pedi (whom I would trust with my life) and he gave me the go ahead to continue nursing Aidan. I just have to keep them informed of any dosage changes.

So that is that. I have included a link below about Trigeminal Neuralgia - since it's hard to really explain the pain in words. It's been called the most excruciating pain ever felt and some dub it "The Suicide Disease" (yikes!)

Trigeminal Neuralgia Association

Oh and for an uplifting note, here's my pic of the day:
Our niece, Kenzie, just started ballet. Isn't she adorable?

2 Months

Yesterday, Aidan turned 2 months old. Today, he visited Dr. Lee for a checkup and vaccinations.

Weight: 14 lbs, 12 oz (97 percentile)
Height: 24" (85 percentile)
Head: 16 3/4" (96 percentile)



Little man is quickly becoming the Big Chunk on Campus around here. He's filling 6-9 month clothing and will soon be in 9-12. We received about 700 diapers as gifts before Aidan was born and I am trying to get through most of them even though he's ready to be in size 3.

With Thanks

Veterans' Day -

A day to say thank you to the men and women who have selflessly given so much for our country and our freedom.

Thank you to Adolph Lund, Eugene O'Brien, Mel O'Brien, John Syverson, Isaac Lund, Kevin O'Brien, Jason Cooley, Joe Marshall, and everyone else who has proudly saluted.

Please pray for Kevin O'Brien and Joe Marshall as they serve our country overseas and in war.

Your service is appreciated and will not be forgotten. Thank you.

Sweet Afternoon

The Wonder Girls over at Sunshine Studio Scraps have a new kit, Sweet Afternoon. They have a swell challenge going on right now that encourages scrappers to design layouts with this kit as pieces of it are being released weekly. I submitted my first layout (first ever submission!).

You can visit Sunshine Studio Scraps here and check out the Wonder Girls and all of their designs, as well as the Sweet Afternoon Kit.




Credits:

All elements are from the Sweet Afternoon Kit by the Wonder Girls at Sunshine Studio Scraps

Just For Fun

Nicole, at Digi-Designs by Nicole, released a freebie from her Wonderland Kit. I decided to see if I could do a quick layout using her papers. Here's what I came up with: (*Note - in photoshop Aidan's name was glittery looking but for some reason it's not showing up when I save it as a jpg of png file. Any advice?"



Credits:
Papers - Digi-Designs by Nicole, Wonderland Kit
Brown bow - Blue Dream Designs' Neopolitan Kit

A Challenge

My friend Elisabeth is paying it forward with a Challenge for the holidays.

"I challenge every one of my readers to come up with at least 2 organizations to GIVE BACK to this holiday season."

Well, coincidentally, Dan and I have been kicking around ideas to give back to those less fortunate than us. Because face it, no matter how tough you have it, there is always someone else worse off. Since we're moving at the end of the month, I have been going through things to keep or donate. However, I don't feel "good" about donating to places like Value Village or Goodwill because those two stores always seem to jack up the prices and end up reselling things back to the not so needy people who donated it in the first place. Therefore one of my attempts to give back this season will be to Ian's pre-school. Ian has so many toys in great condition that he doesn't play with. I talked to his teacher and she said I could bring them into the classroom and anything they can't use or don't need, they will send on to some families they know who could use the toys.

(Ian's preschool also caters to families who are financially struggling and also get some kind of government assistance for preschool, child care, therapy, etc. It's a great program and the staff is wonderful.)

I also have a TON of non perishable food items for the food bank as well as some diapers for Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery. Maybe the giving will take off from there?

As Elisabeth noted in her blog:

"Comment and link back to my page if you decide you are up to the challenge and want to pay this forward this year. I'd love to hear how you and your family are going to give back this year."

Thanks to Elisabeth (and her friend Annemarie) for the ideas and the motivation.

Shutterfly Book

I am working on a 12x12 book and thanks to many designers, I am having tons of fun creating the layouts.


I revised this one a bit and added the credits:


Green/Brown Flower by Julie Marie @ Julie Marie Scraps
The circular frame is part of the "After Dusk" collab and by Digi-Designs by Nicole
White flower by Melissa @ Sentimental Style


I might add some journaling to this one, just not sure yet.
Credits:
Brown circular border by Julie Marie @ Julie Marie Scraps
Tag is part of Sassy's So Funky Kit @ Sunshine Studio Scraps


Credits:
The butterfly/string/glitter embellishment by July Designs
The circular frame is part of the "After Dusk" collab and by Digi-Designs by Nicole

Daddy is the New Mommy

Usually I am Aidan's go to girl. Tonight, he needed Daddy to fall asleep. Aren't they adorable? Almost live footage, taken just minutes ago... wow, it's 2:30 in the morning! Where did the night go...

Wide Asleep

October 6th, 2005

The night I saw Dan for the first time since graduating high school (over 5 years earlier)

Awww... memories :)

30 Days of Pictures

I am "blogging" every day for 30 days but instead of stories or little notes, these blogs will consist of pics...mostly. I may throw a few shout outs in there. lol

Day 5 of 30.

Happy Birthday

Happy 19th Birthday to my sister, Tanya.

I love you so very much and I am so proud of you.

Love,
Sisi

V-O-T-E

Get Inspired

5 More Friends

One of My Faves

AyyyyyOhhhhh

Halloween 2008

Ian & Aidan in their costumes

Ian modeling the lion costume at 3 weeks old....


...and Aidan wearing the same costume at 7 weeks old.


Ian trick or treating at the mall


Brothers