THE VERDICT

Terry didn't get back until 6:30 pm and I swear the anticipation was killing me! Turns out they had him go to the hotel to stay the night, got him up at 3:30 in the morning and then had him sit around all day until an appointment at 1pm at Sutter Memorial Hospital! What on earth? Couldn't he have just went himself? Anyways, here's what he told me about the visit with the doctor.

When he first got there he had to run on a treadmill for 10 minutes with a tube down his throat . After that the doctor stuck a bunch of moniters on him and left him for awhile. After all the testing and stuff he came back and explained it something like this.. A normal person's heart valve opens 4-5 mm per heartbeat. Terry's opens about 10-12 mm per heartbeat. The doctor said that the murmur that Terry has is very similar to the type of murmurs that many professional athletes have, and if they have it and are still playing pro football, then Terry should be fine! He did tell him that he should have it rechecked every year to two, but he also felt that Terry was born with this murmur, so he can't imagine it getting any worse. He said to Terry, "If it were up to me, I'd send you to basic training tomorrow". So the doctor that just did his consult faxed all the results to the ARMY this morning, and we just half to wait for the ARMY to approve it. We are definitely hoping that it doesn't take too long!

After Terry got back we went out to dinner at Johnny Carino's (my new favorite!) with the ladies from my class because we were celebrating the completion of the last YEAR we've spent in this class! It was very fun and I got a few cute pictures before my new camera's battery died (I never charged the battery fully, shame on me, I know)! Anyways, here's the pictures.
Our waitress brought Nathyn a chocolate sundae and we didn't even order it! As you know, Nathyn is not allowed to eat things like this and the second she set it down, he dug in. Shame on me for not taking it away, but I was NOT getting in a power struggle in front of my teacher and classmates! At least he enjoyed it.
One of my classmate's daughter.

Also, I've done a little playing with my camera and found out that it does some truly amazing things! Thought I'd share a few photos! It kinda makes me feel like I want to throw up a backdrop and become a professional photographer out of my house! haha Hope you enjoy!
I heart this baby boy!I used to edit my pictures and turn them black and white, then pull through one color.. It's called "A Touch of Color". My boss taught me how to do it. But now, this camera does it for me! It's AMAZING! I can pull whatever color I want to. Here's a couple different ones!

SECOND NIGHT ALONE

And I mean alone! Nathyn stayed with Auntie Kia tonight since Terry is doing his consult with the physician in the morning. He had to stay at a hotel again tonight, it's so wierd. I really don't understand why they have them do that still. Anyways, even Lily stayed the night at Nick & Melissa's! So it's just me, the cat, and Toby! And he's not much for company!Super lazy dog. And getting big super fast! Oh well, considering I've stayed up WAY too late now enjoying the QUIET, I suppose I'll go to bed now! Here's a picture I took of Nathyn before he went to Auntie Kia & Dammy's house.
Can you believe those eyes? I got a new camera and the flash doesn't make his eye color look all funky! I LOVE IT! We'll be sharing LOTS of photos! Anyways, I will definitely let everyone know what's going on tomorrow when I hear from Terry!

COMMENTS

I know I had said that anyone is able to post anonymously, but it turns out that wasn't true. Just wanted to let everyone know that I made some changes and now you really CAN comment anonymously. But please, sign your name! Any feed back is greatly appreciated!

Terry and I are SO excited about Wednesday! Only 3 more days and he goes for his EKG. I told him he better call me the minute he gets the results for the test, I'm going to so nervous all day! Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

I was sitting on the couch today and Nathyn ransacked me and said, "I wub you soooo way moooore Mommy!" It was so sweet, I LOVE IT! He's starting to talk SO much, it's incredible to me. Happy Monday! I gotta get to bed, Lord knows this is how I feel every Monday morning!!

MY POOR BABY :(

And my poor car! We're driving down the road and Nathyn informs us that he has to pee so I pulled over. He got out and tried to pee (we were next to a field) and after a minute he exclaimed, "I can't!". Terry picked him up and the second he hit the carseat.... baaarrff! All over! All over himself, my back seat and his new carseat! He cried for a minute but then he was over it. I have a few pictures from a couple weeks ago, the first time Nathyn sat in his new carseat. It's the Graco Nautilus. I LOVE it! It was a bit pricey, but where regular carseats only hold children in the 5-point harness up to 40 pounds, this one will hold Nathyn in the 5-point harness until 65 pounds! And I was just manufactured in December of 2008 so I have 6 years to get out of this bad boy! I'm very excited, it's so safe! I can't stand when people have 2-3 or even 4 year olds sitting in a regular booster with the car's seatbelt when there are options available like this great carseat! Nathyn is so worth the $180 I spent to keep him safe! Here's the pictures!

I probably won't have any NEW pictures to share for a week or two. I lost the charger to my camera! I'm so sad. Hopefully if things work out right, I should be able to get one around the first. We will see though!

I've also decided that I want to start writing down all the hilarious things that Nathyn says and start sharing them here. There's just so many cute things, and people seem to like hearing about it, so that's the newest thing I'll be sharing. I only have one for tonight.

Mom: Nathyn, how 'bout you come lay down with Mommy?

Nathyn: Mommy, how 'bout NO?

Ahhh, I love it! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

CHANGES...

How exciting! I was talking with someone yesterday that had been talking to someone else, and come to find out... people really do follow my blog! THANKS! That really makes blogging worth while! BUT, if you are a regular reader, please feel free to leave a comment every now and then! You don't have to have a blogger account to leave comments, you have leave it anonymously (just sign your name on it so I know who it's from!).
Now, onto something that matters to me... CHANGES. I am definitely one for change. Change my hair ALOT, change my clothes, change the arrangement of furniture in my house. One change I am not fond of? Change of heart. Change of soul. It's hard for me to accept the changing of relationships between two people. The changing of personality, beliefs, attitudes. I totally understand that sometimes your ideas about life change, but how am I to accept what seems like a complete 180*? It hurts me to look at someone that I admired for so long, looked up to, loved unconditionally and all of a sudden start to wonder, "who are you?". It's sad. It's heartbreaking. Or am I just too sensitive? Or someone else... I've strived for this person's attention, love and devotion for as long as I can remember. I do what I can to make them happy and want to feel like the center of their world. And for awhile I do. And then there's that one day; that one harsh comment, that one small shove, and again... it's completely devestating.

Does change come with age? Will I not be the same person 20 years from now that I am today? I understand that it's a great possibility that my favorite color may change from red to brown, and then again to green. That's acceptable. But will I also stop loving those who I love now? Will my values change completely because of someone I met, or an experience that I've had? I suppose there is no way to know until the time passes and I'm actually 20 years down the road. I just hope that it's not the norm, I pray that I'm able to stay true to myself.

Speaking of praying, Terry and I haven't been to church in months and it's definitely starting to bother us both. We've decided to go back to going to service each Sunday and becoming active in our church community again. It's wonderful to have something to look forward to, to believe in.

CONSULT DATE!

I just got a call from the Sargeant! Terry's consult will be Thursday, February 26th. That means he goes to the recruiting station Wedneday around 5pm, his Sgt takes him to the hotel, and he stays there until Thursday. Thursday he'll get to see the Physician and get his heart checked out to see what's going on with that murmer! We're VERY excited! Nathyn will stay with Auntie Kia while I work on Thursday. I just know everything is going to check out! We're gonna be A-OK!

PARENTING FROM THE INSIDE OUT

I found a book at work about a week ago and decided that I wanted to read it. It's called "Parenting from the Inside Out" by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D. & Mary Hartzell, M.Ed. Here is the description from the back:

"How many parents have found themselves thinking: I can't believe I just said to my child the very thing my parents used to say to me! Am I just destined to repeat the mistakes of my parents? In Parenting from the Inside Out, child psychiatrist Daniel J. Siegel and early childhood expert Mary Hartzell explore the extent to which our childhood experiences shape the way that we parent. Drawing on stunning new findings in neurobiology and attachment research, they explain how interpersonal relationships directly affect the development of the brain, and offer parents a step-by-step approach to forming a deeper understanding of their own life stories that will help them raise compassionate and resilient children."

I am SO excited to be reading this book. I've tried very hard to do my best raising my son with good manners, healthy habits and to be strong and independant, loving and caring. I really think that this book with strengthen that in me even more! I started reading it today, and although I haven't gotten very far at all, I read a little something I'd like to share with all the other Mommies I know.

BEING MINDFUL
Mindfulness is at the heart of nurturing relationships. When we are mindful, we live in the present moment and are aware of our own thoughts and feelings and also are open to those of our children. The ability to stay present with clarity within ourselves allows us to be fully present with others and to respect each person's individual experience. No two people see things in exactly the same way. Mindfulness gives respect to the sovereignty of each person's unique mind.
When we are being fully present as parent's, when are are mindful, it enables our children to fully experience themselves in the moment. Children learn about themselves by the way we communicate with them. Whe we are preoccupied with the past or worried about the future, we are physically present with our children but are mentally absent. Children don't need us to be fully available all the time, but they do need our presence during connecting interactions. Being mindful as a parent means having intention in your actions. With intention, you purposefully choose your behavior with your child's emotional well-being in mind. Children can readily detect intention and thrive when there is purposeful interaction with their parents. It is within our children's emotional connections with us that they develop a deeper sense of themselves and a capacity for relating.

I know it was super long, but it's soooo true! I can't wait to read more and more and I'll probably share every now and then. At the end of every chapter there are "Inside-Out Exercises" that are meant to help me explore new possibilities for internal understanding. I'll update about my journey to becoming a "better Mom".

REDDING & NATHYN'S 1st SNOW TRIP

Me and Terry got really bored Sunday afternoon and decided to take a drive up to Redding to see my family. I only get to see them maybe once a year, normally less than that even. But we're grown now and it's up to us, so without calling first, we laoded up the car and headed up I-5 to Redding, Ca! And boy was the weather NASTY! It was raining the whole way and the already loooong trip seemed to take even looooonger! Lucky for us Nathyn slept the whole way so we didn't have to worry about him being bored.

We got there around 6pm and OH MAN, they were surprised! We sat around and talked for a little bit, then me and my aunt went into town to get stuff for spaghetti dinner. We got back, cooked, ate, watched a movie and then went to bed!

Nathyn singing with his Great-Grandpa Joseph Blasingame.

And with his Great-Grandma Linda Blasingame.

The next morning my Aunt woke me up with a hot cup of hot chocolate (I still have that cold!) and told me that breakfast was almost done. What a treat! We had good ol' country fried potatoes (spicy!) with scrambled eggs and sausage. LOTS of sausage! After that we all got ready, packed up the car and went to the snow. The whole way there Nathyn could see mountains in the distance and he was SO excited! All he talked about the whole way was SNOWMANS!

We got there, got stuck in a ditch, Terry got us out, and then we went to play!! Here's some pictures!

Mommy & Daddy being silly on the way there!

Daddy and Nathyn went right into making that snowman! Ta-da! Nathyn's "baby snowman".
Lilly stayed in the car, but Toby was running and bouncing everywhere!

He even ate TONS of snow!

Nathyn said his snowman needed a Mommy. Aren't they cute?

Aunt Netty pushed him down the hill! :)

After our snow trip we went back to the family's and packed up to leave. My Grandma sent me home with TONS of new clothes, some really cute stuff! Nathyn got a bag of Disney movies, and we also got some home-made quilts that my great grandma made. That would be Nathyn's great-great grandma! WOW! It was a great trip. We'd really like to make it more often!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY =)

Let me just start by saying, this was the absolute best Valentine's Day EVER! Valentine's has never been much of a big deal for Terry and I (although I always secretly wished it would) but this year it was full of WONDERFUL surprises! I think I fell in love all over again. :)

I woke up this morning with the worst stuffy nose I've ever had due to the wonderful cold I've had the last few days. I quietly nudged Terry to tell him I was going to take a hot shower (he tends to get worried when he wakes up and I'm not in bed). When I got out and walked into the room, there was a beautifully stuffed present waiting for me on the couch! He got me a super sweet card, a collage picture frame (I love them!) and a wok! A REAL wok, and authentic Asian wok that has to be seasoned! I've wanted one for so long! HOORAY!


Terry also totally fulfilled one of my dreams I've had for a LONG time. I've always wanted a black lab. I think they are absolutely gorgeous, and I like the idea of having a big dog to hold and cuddle with (the chihuahua isn't up for it so much! haha). Anyways, after I opened my gift, Terry went to the garage and brought this back... Aawwww! After much thought, his name is Toby.After we got dressed we left to take Nathyn to Maurine's house for the day. However, on our way there they were doing the "Fill the Boot for Burns" drive at the corner of Sunrise Ave & Greenback Ln. Because of that they had firetrucks, ambulances and rescue helicopters in the Sunrise Mall parking lot to climb into and explore. We thought it'd be fun to take Nathyn so we did. Here's a few pictures. He got grouchy so we didn't stay long.

We finally got to Maurine's and set Nathyn up to have brunch with them of scrambled eggs and heart pancakes. Then Terry took me out to eat at Johnny Carinos Italian Restaraunt. YUM! It was very good, I'd definitely like to go there again. After dinner we picked up Nathyn, took Auntie Kia and Dammy their gifts, and then went to Sunrise Mall to see the movie "Bedtime Stories". It was a very cute movie and although Nathyn wasn't super interested, he behaved very well! That closed the night, we came home, put on our jammies and played with our new gifts, tried on clothes and took pictures. Here's a few!

It came in a box that said,

"You've got me hooked, line and sinker!"

I just screamed Terry!

Me & Toby: I'm SO in love!

The doggy's ears go up & down when he sings.

Nathyn loved it!

The boxers & t-shirt I got Terry!Me and my Beebes! <3

I got these shirts at Walgreens and they have tons more of hilarious shirts for infants and toddlers.

The green one just had to have been made exclusively for Nathyn... it couldn't be more true!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

look for updating of the past week and a half previous to the post. i'll be doing all my updating over this three day weekend! :)

MOMMY PERKS

Aahhh, isn't the site of a crowded hospital hallway at 2 in the morning just one of every Mommy's favorite things? No? Oh, well I particulary don't care for it either. Middle of the night ER trip #2 went as follows:

• 12:30am - Mom & Dad finally go to bed!
• 01:30am - Mom wakes up to hear Nathyn making funny noises. Mom elbows Dad and shouts, "GET UP!" and turns on the light, locates Nathyn's backpack and retrieves his inhaler. Mom believes Nathyn is having an asthma attack. Three puffs (max according to doctor) is administered. Nathyn's wheezing, choking and coughing continues.
• 02:00am - Nathyn's wheezing has slowed but breathes are shallow and he is still unable to calm his breathing and himself down. Mom decides it's time to head to the ER for a nebulizer treatment.
• 02:15am - Arrive at Mercy San Juan Hospital (not Mom's favorite). Nathyn is taken straight back ahead of the lobby full of hacking, bleeding and barfing waiters. His blood oxygen level is checked and is borderline brain damage. Doctor listens to Nathyn's chest and coughing and diagnoses CROUP.
• 02:40am - Nathyn is given a shot of steriods in his leg. As soon as the doctor stuck the needle in, Nathyn screamed and ripped it out! Crazy kid!
• 03:00am - A breathing treatment is administered.
• 03:30am - Nathyn's breathing is not getting better. Doctor decides to keep him to monitor him. We then sit and wait for hours...
• 06:00am - Doctor informs us that although Nathyn's breathing is not getting better, it also is not getting any worse and decides it's best to just send him home. We get a prescription (that I had to pay cash for) for a saline solution for his nebulizer and a medicine to curb the Croup.
• 06:40am - Time for bed... FINALLY!

And then, lucky me was up at 7:20 (YES, less than an hour later) to go to work. It sucked. But that's what happens when you're a Mommy. I'm sure he'll be just fine!

DINNER & BATH TIME!

Wanna know what happens when you take a 2 year old out to dinner?

At least he has the decency to use his napkin!

Nathyn drew his very first GHOST while waiting for Mom & Dad to finish eating! When we got home, it was straight into the tub..
He always puts bubbles on his head. Then he says,

"Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!" I love it! Just a tip, Moms! An old butter tub with holes cut in the bottom is one of the best bath toys I could have ever given him! He LOVES it. And it's good for storing toys after bath time so the water can drain out of the bottom. Try it out!

Nathyn got brave and decided to go under water!

He did it about 20 times!

Time for some cheesey pictures! Even got a super cute one of him and Daddy!
Nathyn got attacked by a swarm of mosquitos at Uncle Nick & Auntie Melissa's house the other day. He was scratching super bath and I wanted to give him some relief for the night so I got some anti-itch cream and covered them with band-aids so he couldn't itch. He loved it!!