A Busy Week

Mom and I both got our hair cut last week. Here's Mom:

I decided I wanted hair that was fun and funky so I had Holly give me a short asymmetrical cut. I love it!
The weather was great this past weekend so we did some work in the yard and the garage. I did some pruning of the Plum tree:

The wisteria is just gorgeous. Even this picture doesn't do it justice:

My seeds I started on the sun porch are sprouting nicely:

Rob hooked up the bike trailer and he and Steven rode to the store and picked up groceries for a BBQ:

He also hung up his shop clock he picked up from Sears with the gift certificate he got from Ryan and Katie:

We capped the evening off with a BBQ where we ate outside and then had a fire in the fire pit.

Of course we roasted marshmellows and made s'mores:



Rob with a bit of roasted marshmellow on his face:


Mackenzie and Rob snuggling on the bench near the fire:


On Monday the weather was still great so Mom, Mackenzie, Steven, and I headed to Samoa Beach. It was gorgeous.



Mackenzie loved the sand. She even ate some.


I can't believe how big Steven is getting. I caught myself staring at his footprint so I took a picture of it.

Mom and I had fun covering Steven up with sand. He liked it too!

Mom and Mackenzie enjoying the sunshine:

Me, enjoying the day:


This is what life is all about!

Easter

In preparation for Easter, Mom and Steven dyed easter eggs together. They had a great time.

While Steven and Mom were dying easter eggs I caught this video of Mackenzie really crawling around on the kitchen floor.

Then Steven went outside and played a while in the backyard while Rob was mowing the lawn. He found a salamander outside under some outside toys. Of course he had to bring it in to show us girls.

Of course first thing in the morning the kids dug into their Easter baskets.

We went a bit worldy this Easter. We had an Easter Tea Lunch. Here's a picture of the spread.

Then for Easter dinner we did a Mexican dinner. Complete with tomales that were made by the ladies at the church and homemade margaritas!

Our good friend, Lisa, joined us for dinner.

Roberto got quite festive at dinner. He decided to place his drink umbrella behind his ear.

We hope you all had a lovely Easter as well. Happy Easter from all of us!

The Ladies Go To Ferndale

On Wednesday I had a dentist appointment to get a little filling. I'd never had one before just a little sealant. It was a little pit they had been watching since I moved here. Not so bad considering all the toothbrushing I missed while hospitalized. It wasn't bad at all.

Us ladies decided to enjoy Ferndale a little while we were there. We went shopping of course. The receptionist at the dentist said there was some really cute baby stuff at Ferndale Emporium. Oh there was! They were having a sale on these posh baby shoes. I can't think of the name now but, I would never think of payng $35 for a pair of baby shoes. But, buy one get one free made them reasonable! After trying some on we let Mackenzie pick the ones she wanted. She got an adoreable white pair and then these ones which she wore out of the store.

Here's the little shopper girl thoroghly enjoying herself.

Then we went to the Rose Cafe and Antique Shop for lunch and tea. It is such a cute place!

There is a limited menu each day there but I bet everything is always delicious. Mom and I had a chicken salad sandwich. There was a little curry in it which gave it the perfect little bite.

Then we shared a piece of Coconut Lemon Cake. So yummy. They were so sweet there to actually cut the slice in half for us. I even let Mackenzie have a little piece of the cake part. She loved it too!

The lady who owns the place is so creative. She was given this huge cabbage from her coffee delivery guy who lives in Petrolia and has a greenhouse. She said it is so beautiful she has to do something with it. So she made this centerpiece with these paper mache rabbits made with old newspapers, some flower plants and lettuce plants. What a cute idea.

Happy Easter everyone!

Pictures From the Previous Week

Here's Mackenzie looking as cute as ever before I left with the boys for Stanford:



I was going through old clothes of Steven's to send some to Jen, for Jacob, and Steven insisted on having Mackenzie try out his old bike helmet he had gotten from his cousin Shane:

Steven showing a little attitude with the Easter Bunny ears.

The week before we went to Stanford, Steven and I made a jungle play garden for his room.

After the plants Steven decorated it with his plastic dinosaurs and action figures:

I love this next one. I live for moments like this:

Good News!

Sorry it took me so long to post the result of my meeting with Dr. Parks. Even though it was good news it still took me a few days to process it. It is funny that I've been waiting so long for things to get back to "normal" and now that I can see the end of the tunnel I'm a little anxious and overwhelmed. I told Mom on our way to Ferndale yesterday. She said she wasn't surprised and was thinking I may be feeling that way. She reminded me that when I was a little girl I would always fret about starting a new school year. Would I like my teacher? Who would I be sitting next to? Would any of my friends be in my class? Mom nailed the feeling right on the head! Okay, I'll get to the good news:

Dr. Parks said my CT pictures show everything is healing well! I can wear a soft collar now and don't need to wear a collar at all at night. It has been heavenly to sleep without a collar the last few nights. He said I may find I need to put my hard collar on every once in a while at first because I may be more comfortable. He said I will likely get tired more quickly for a while and experience a little soreness and need to rest more as my neck muscles begin to get stronger. He said the difference now when I am wearing a soft collar is that my neck muscles will be supporting the weight of my head instead of the collar. Since the neck muscles have not been used much for the past several months it will take them a while to get back in shape.

When it came to picking up and carrying Mackenzie he said I carry her short distances like across the room. I asked him about when I'd be able to fully take care of her. I had to explain what goes into taking care of a baby since he seemed to think I was doing all that since I was feeding her. I don't think he knew how strenuous life is when you have little ones. I told him I wanted to know because my Mom has been living with me and doing all the things I can't do and needs to know when so she can plan on returning home. He said a couple of months. He said over the next couple of months I can gradually assume more of the carrying and such. So Mom is looking at returning home the first week of June. We'll all miss her. When we were talking about it at the dinner table Tuesday night Steven said, "Why does Grammy have to go back to Iowa?" Mom replied, "Who's going to keep Grandpa company?" He said, matter of factly, "Uncle Ryan can keep Grandpa company."

The only slight issue that came up was when I talked to Dr. Parks about the numb spot on my left thumb that started about 6 weeks after surgery and is still there. He said, "Hmm, the fusion we did may be putting some stress on the vertebrae connections just below it and causing a little bulge there. This can happen especially since I already have neck weakness from my first tumor removal surgery that took the nerve that goes to my left deltoid. We won't worry about it unless it gets really painful or I start losing strength in my left arm." I do find wearing my soft collar that I have to be very careful with my posture and I've had a few episodes of intermitted tingling in my hand and pain in my bicep. I've also found that if my posture is really good and I keep my shoulders nice and relaxed I often even get feeling back in that numb spot. No more slouching for me!

It was nice traveling down to Palo Alto and spending time with my guys. Here they are when we stopped at the McDonalds in Ukiah. It has an indoor playground which was great since it was raining.

Steven got comments on his shirts from a lady at breakfast in the hotel. The shirt is perfect for him don't you think?

Thanks guys for going with me. You guys made it lots of fun.

Hanging Out at Stanford Hospital

I'm currently waiting for my appointment with Dr. Parks. It's pretty cool that there is a computer in the waiting area. I had my CT Scan this morning. Hopefully I will get some good news about my healing and be able to switch to a soft collar. At the very least I would like to not have to wear it at night. I would love to drop the collar altogether but, that is probably not in the cards yet.

A few updates:

Rob's Mom, Joan, is at home now which is great news. They had to put a shunt in her kidney because it was closed off. She sounds much better. I know just how good it feels to get to recuperate at home. Rest up Joan! We love you.

Rob also got the results from his colonoscopy this week. His two polyps were both precancerous! I am so glad, he is too, that he did the colonoscopy. He goes back in three years for another one. I to think what could have been should he have waited to do his first one until he was 50. He still has the pain in his side. The doctor felt around his abdomen during his follow-up appointment. They are thinking the pain he gets in his sides is muscular. Maybe even a little irritable bowel from stress. They just told him to keep an eye on it and notify them of any changes. They've checked everything in that area.

Well, wish me luck. I'll post more after my appointment.

The Rest of Us

Over this past week the sun was out quite a bit and I went to Ace Hardware and couldn't resist picking out a few plants. With Rob's help. Okay he was the main laborer and I was the foreman. (Sigh) I can't wait until I can do my gardening myself.

I picked up a flat of strawberry plants for two pots:

They also had small Meyer Lemon trees for $7.99 a piece so I picked up two of those since my other is definitely dead. We planted them in two large pots so they can be moved around if need be:

We put all the pots under the pergola. The wisteria on the pergola is just starting to bloom. I'll have to take another picture once it is in full bloom:

I made a roast during the week and tried a Yorkshire Pudding recipe. They came out lovely. Now I don't have to buy a mix in Ferndale.

Our "Wall Words" saying came in the mail and Rob and I applied it on the wall over the fireplace.

Tempor Felix, means "Happy Times." Rob closed a love letter email to me when we were dating with Tempor Felix. That was when he completely won over my heart. We stenciled it in our kitchen of our last house and wanted to put it up in this house too. This time we did it in Craftsman font.

Rob's been having some pain in his abdomen on his left side. Rob had his colonoscopy this past week. We have some pictures but I won't post them. They removed two polyps. One was large and the other was small. He has a follow-up with his doctor this Thursday so we'll hear then. He still has the pain but, it was still good he had the colonoscopy since he did have the polyps. They are thinking it might be nerve damage from an old rugby injury or muscle strain.

Rob's Mom also had her surgery this past week for diroticulitis (sp?). It was a little more complicated then they originally thought it would be going in. She was suppose to go home yesterday but she had a convulsion type episode Monday night so she needed to stay longer. They were hoping it was just a reaction to Vicodin and not infection. Hopefully she is going to get to go home today. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I have my follow-up with Dr. Parks and a CT scan this coming Monday. Rob, Steven, and I are going to go and stop in Merced to visit Joan. It will be nice to see everyone in Merced. Steven will have a blast with his cousins.

I hope I get to switch to a soft collar at least. I would love to be cleared for more lifting too. Keep your fingers crossed.

My First Baby is Growing Up!

Steven is definitely not a baby anymore. He did his first poop in the toilet on Monday. He spent most of the day with no pants on and kept going in to try and at 3 pm he did it! We took a picture so Daddy could see it. He wanted to show Daddy and I wasn't about to save the stinky thing until he got home. Don't worry I won't post it on the blog. After making a few celebratory calls we headed to Target to get the Star Wars helmet we told him we would get. He had some gift cards too and want the matching soft dart gun to go with it. Here he is:

Steven and Rob saved a bunch of worms from a puddle at the school down the street. They brought them home in a jar and set up a worm bin. Here they are with their worms:

Steven insisted on wearing goggles in putting the worms in their new hime:

The worm bin is now under Steven's dresser in his room. He even took his worms to school to share them.

Steven also had his 4 year pictures taken at Sears. Here's the link to his photo session: https://www.searsphotos.com/view_shared_roll_images.asp?shareid=S206782518l327SR79JVF&tag=C1590211225F4F1991C7C76012E917A80CBAE93A48BD4B2D9A45D95EA1181E65

Steven is starting to write his name all by himself. Not bad for just turning 4.