Eating machine!

For your viewing pleasure this week we have some new videos of our little eating machine. Well, I guess I should say SELECTIVE eating machine! He went from being a little boy who would eat ANYTHING to being a little picky, but I hear that is pretty normal for toddlers. So we will continue to look for the things he loves and work with it. These are from the past week. We made our weekly trip to the produce stand for fresh fruits and veggies and Lucas has quickly learned that mommy and daddy buy apples there! So as soon as I got back in the car he was asking for his apple :) Of course I obliged....I tried to get him to "chat" with me during our ride/snack....



Whenever I have cake class in the evenings I pick Lucas u from school and we go have our special mommy -son dinner out. We frequent Chick-Fil-A (of course!) but decided to switch it up this week and try this great new place in Mechanicsville- Noodles and Company. Well, the menu sounded yummy and Lucas LOVES noodles so I figured it would be a perfect fit! And it was a hit with us both, definitely recommend it! We had the mac and cheese and the pesto cavatappi with parmesan chicken that we shared. He chowed down most of his and about 1/3 of mine! As you listen, "doodles" is noodles for all of you out there who don't have a chatty toddler around! :) I remember friends having to translate their kiddos for me in the past. I love to hear him talk and want to catch it all on tape cause I know it will change so fast...these are my attempts.....







I'll be back with fun pics and stories from Memorial Day weekend. I try to take advantage of the faster PC to get the video's loaded...emmm..at work... SHH! ;)

Happy Friday everyone!!!

4 Wheelin' fun!

Thought that everyone could use a good laugh :) We sure got a kick out of Lucas' first attempt at driving his fun new outside toy a few weeks ago. I am sure this will bring endless hours of entertainment for us all this summer. He gets it out just about daily now as soon as we get home. I got a great deal on it from Craig's List, I love that site! Used toys are absolutely fantastic I must say....Look out cousin Casey, here he comes ;)
Sorry that it is a little dark, this happened at dusk! ;)

Is May really half way over ALREADY???

In case you haven't noticed, I seem to have a running theme here...Take a look back at the last few months and you can see that life is freakin' nutz!!! How can it possibly be almost summertime already? Didn't we just send out Christmas cards? (Oh yeah, ours were New Year's cards..)... Now school is over in 4 short weeks....Didn't we just have 10 inches of snow on the ground?... Now it is 80+ degrees and the humidity is creeping in...

So I guess we have been super busy running this rat race that is called life. I am most definitely ready for a slow down as are most of you. Work is insane (I could say many more choice words BUT, who knows who might read this ;) ) Let's just say 6 missing bodies equals way too much workload on the remaining poor souls, and with government....NOTHING happens fast....maybe we will have at least one new hire in the upcoming weeks, I am not holding my breath or anything! Plus every time I turn around an instrument has issues and needs repair, etc. Not to mention meetings, playing with blood, extra responsibilities, etc. Oh yeah, did I mention-no raise AND of course parking is going up, insurance is going up.....Gotta love it!!! :) Don't get me wrong, just like I said before I am thankful too...Really I am...

Hmmm... I wonder if this is all explains why my visit to the neurologist last week ended with a betablocker Rx in hand to help control my horrible DAILY headaches. She seems to think that I have classic symptoms of serious stress and or depression (???) and that these will help alleviate the pressure in my brain's blood vessels. I think I will go with the stress option. When she was asking me all of the questions and stress came up as a possibility I thought, well let's see- I am working at a crazy busy job full-time, and I am a mommy to a wonderful 19 month old (umm, toddlers?!?!..) not to mention all of my other responsibilities- attempt to keep a clean house, food in the fridge and our bellies, be a good wife, daughter, etc. Well you get the picture- I can see that possibility at the moment! So far the medicine has worked great but don't think I didn't mention this to my boss ;) And I hope to try to control the other aspects some on my own. If only I could find a few more hours in the day to take care of me ;)

Ahem.... I think that is enough venting for now... on to bigger and better things :)

We got to spend the first weekend of the month visiting with Dad during his recovery and the rest of our family in Fredericksburg. Todd helped his mom move into her own townhouse which is really nice. I know she is excited about this new journey in her life and we are happy for her! Kellen is growing like a weed, well a heck of a lot more than that! He is a big boy but so stinkin' cute or so his Aunt Heather thinks! Lucas is really starting to check him out and seriously protested me holding him, he does not like to share his mommy- how do you break that? I guess time.... I fixed some yummy Brunswick stew for Dad and John in hopes that they wouldn't have to cook to much throughout the week. ;)

Mother's Day weekend was fantastic!!! I was off for 4 1/2 days straight!!! It was a mental health break that was so deserved. I decorated cakes, played with Lucas LOTS, cleaned, did laundry( I actually saw the bottom of the laundry basket-that is SO very rare in our house...), got beautiful azaleas and hydrangeas for around the deck and got them planted!!! Not to mention Saturday Kristi and I went shopping and then we all went out for a yummy dinner to celebrate Mother's Day with his mom. Todd did a great job spoiling me too :) He and Lucas took me out for breakfast, then we headed over to Ed's Nursery and Pole Green Produce to get my plants and spent the afternoon together at home relaxing and planting the bushes. Even Lucas helped! Todd fixed a scrumptious supper of seafood, and yummy banana pudding for dessert :) He capped it off by doing complete daddy duty that evening and allowing me to get some much needed R&R. I am so thankful for my fantastic family and feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to be a mommy ;) Thanks guys!!

A special message to my mommy:

We love you and miss you so much each and every day. Mother's Day is bittersweet for me. On one hand I am so blessed to be a mom, and I thank God for that amazing blessing everyday. On the other hand I don't have you here to celebrate these everyday joys with and honor. Thank you for being the best mommy and role model in my life. There are days that I get upset at the fact that you aren't here and are missing so much of this wonderful life, sharing so much with you, and seeing you be a great grandma to Lucas and Justin, but-I try to remind myself that you are still here in spirit and watching over us and all that we do. We are blessed to have you as our angel looking down from heaven. I am so thankful for the 28 years we did have together in this world and know that one day we will see each other again. Happy Mother's Day- I love you!!!

"All that I am or ever hope to be I owe to my Mother"

I love these days when you can see the suns rays poking through. One of my closet friends and I always say that these are our loved ones in heaven looking down on us. I love to snap these pictures whenever I get a chance. I took these pictures when we were in Fredericksburg(yes, that is the mess that is Route 3) visiting Dad after he came home from the hospital. We know you are there mom! :)

Utter craziness!

That about sums up the last uhhmmm month?!?!

But we have come out of it unscathed for the most part, so for that I am UTTERLY GRATEFUL :) So much to update on and so little time...

We spent the first half of April enjoying our weekends and making it through the work weeks as usual. It seems like that it was we do these days, live for the weekends and the few hours that we share in the evenings. I try to remind myself to be thankful that we do have jobs to go to since there are so many who are experiencing the awful rocky road of the poor economy and job loss. So we will continue on our journey and LIVE for the weekends AND BE THANKFUL FOR OUR BLESSINGS... There are lots of fun pictures to share from the Spring Fling at Lucas' daycare in which he thoroughly enjoyed himself playing games, trying out the big kids playground, and playing with his friends :) We also had a great Easter weekend in Fredericksburg spending time with family and friends. Lucas was spoiled by several Easter bunnies apparently ;) but did not object to say the least! We also got to catch up with some other great friends for Tracy's surprise 30th birthday party. They too lead a crazy hectic life and we really enjoy the times that we do get to spend together! Plus Todd rounded out the month with a run to support kids with cancer- what a fantastic cause! :)

So that is the highlights in a very brief summary....well, with one major part left out...

Most of you know and have been following the last few weeks with us via email, phone, Facebook. My dear sweet dad had a VERY scary spell back on April 26. He was having a really hard time breathing(I guess that is an understatement, he told us that he rather would have died then to feel like that-of course we are glad that that was not the case!) and he and John ended up calling 911 at 2am. They got him there and after evaluating him- discovered he had congestive heart failure (CHF). He was sedated,put on a ventilator, and given Lasix to get rid of all of the fluid that had built up around his heart and in his lungs. His heart was enlarged and the ventricles were only functioning at about 15% when they should be about 50-55%. The doc met with us and explained that he needed a defibrillator implanted to help his heart beat the way it is supposed to in a normal sinus rhythm vs. scary fast or slow arrithmyias. But he needed to recover some under observation and get rid of the blood thinners that were still in his system before they could operate. So he spent that Sunday in the CICU and a few days on the regular cardiac floor. They performed a cardiac catherization to assure that there were not any blockages. (He has had 3 heart attacks in the past and a quadruple bypass back in 1998, plus a pulmonary embolism only two weeks later). Not to mention the poor guy has a blood clotting disorder which is why he is on blood thinners. That weaves a very sticky web with him for these procedures. Although either one is not major surgery, they still need to get into his vessels which means working in the bloodstream. Well, if his blood is too thin, he could hemorrhage. If it gets too thick he could end up with another clot- a heart attack, embolism, or stroke = all are BAD! So they had to get him at a good point (his INR-blood thickness measurement) in order to move forward with the two procedures. The did both successfully and he went home last Thursday. I spent Sunday through Wednesday up there and John was also around alot. He really scared us all but seems to be recovering great thus far. All of his doctors and nurses were fantastic and I must admit modern medicine amazes me... This nifty little device is a miracle and will help keep his bum ticker in check! God has given him so many extra lives already, guess that means he still has lots to do here, I know we think so!!!


I think that just about sums up the rest of April for us. I'll be back hopefully tomorrow with updates on May thus far! Stay tuned :)